The Wallflowers
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Halyonix, Iluva, Len, Shawna, Sia
Date Posted: 3rd February 2025
Characters: Katora, Nosarre, Lyndana, Tiyo, Sylvian
Description: Some of the lady Candidates try to bond over the bonfire
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 10 of Turn 12
Notes:
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Katora wasn't really sure why she had come up to this...party thing. It wasn't like a Gather party with harpers and dancing. It was more like a "get too drunk to function" party. And they still hadn't figured out which side of the Barracks had won the contest. She stood just far enough away from the group playing some variation of Truth or Dare but still close enough to the firelight to see everything, holding her little cup of wine but not drinking it.
"Do you think we're going to figure out who brought the most alcohol or do you think they're just going to drink it all before we figure it out?" she asked the Candidate close to her.
"It wasn't about winning, darling, it was about getting enough liquor to get us drunk." Nosarre drawled. Her dress and shawl were too nice for a party ready to take to the forest at the slightest sign of getting caught, and much too nice to be worn by somebody drinking wine straight out of a bottle. "They better not actually go yell down into the Weyrbowl. My father's weyr is right below the Starstones."
Katora eyed her suspiciously. "Your father?"
Nosarre met Katora's eyes with a smirk. "The Weyrsecond weyr is right below. I'd think it was bold, if I wasn't sure whatever boy suggested a party in the woods wasn't smart enough to think who might be nearby." She offered a drink from the wine bottle to the person next to her.
"What's a Weyrsecond?" Katora asked. She'd heard of Weyrleader, Wingleader, Wingsecond. Was a Weyrsecond someone who was second in charge of the Weyr? How did that work?
Lyndana tried to catch Nosarre's eyes, and she took a deep breath and let it out in almost a sigh. Newcomers. She did resist the urge to roll her eyes, however, and said, "They're the Weyrleader's 'second," as if that actually explained anything at all. "And if he comes up here, I'm with you, Nosarre, not the rowdy ones," Lyndana said, as if that would save her from any scolding.
"It just means second in command." Tiyo told Katora mildly, ignoring the other two -- though that didn't stop her from taking a swig from Nosarre's bottle. "It doesn't mean much unless the Weyrleader falls ill or gets injured or dies. If he can't do his duties, the Weyrsecond steps up to lead the Weyr. Temporarily." She let that word have a polite pause. "Kinda like his understudy, if that makes sense."
Katora nodded. "Where are you from?" she asked Tiyo, who seemed like a much nicer option to converse with than the other two so far. They seemed like prissy Holder girls, even though one was from the Weyr.
"River Bluff," Tiyo answered immediately and fondly. It still brought a pang of homesickness to say it, to think it. To remember, even as she tried to keep the cool night air from infiltrating her jacket. But tonight was all about the party, and she was quick to let it go. "Nosarre is too." She added with a nod. Shifting a little on the flat rock that was her seat, she offered Katora the bottle. "What about you?
"Everywhere," Katora answered. She eyed the bottle cautiously but then took it and topped off her drink. Handing it back to Tiyo, she added, "I'm a Trader. Trader family anyway. Met a Searchrider at Amber Hills."
Sylvian had drifted over to the more sensible looking girls after the more obnoxious boys had made a spectacle of themselves. When she heard one girl mention a search rider at Amber Hills, she pipped in, “I was searched close to there too, at the Vinter’s Hall.”
Nosarre caught Lyndana's look and rolled her eyes. "How quaint." She drawled as she reached for her bottle and took another drink. "Travelling the world in a wagon. It's like you're fresh out of a child's storybook. Do you know how to make wine, Sylvian? You could have brought us a little something."
"You're right, Nosarre. It sounds kind of romantic!" Tiyo smiled, sincere for Katora, impish for someone else. "You're at home wherever you are." It also meant you could never really lose that home, either. A bittersweet thought. Reaching for something solely sweet, she popped half a cupcake into her mouth, taking her time to lick fingers. "So does that mean that you have _two_ names?"
Sylvian stiffened at the way the other girl rolled her eyes and her cynical remark. “Any good wine would be wasted on this crowd,” she said, looking at the cheap stuff in her own glass. Already she was missing home more than she ever thought she would.
Katora shrugged one shoulder to Tiyo's question. "Not really. I mean, I guess. I don't really talk with the Holders when we stop. That's all the leaders' job. But they do introduce us all as the Sevensis Caravan so I guess I'm Katora Sevensis." She hadn't really put much thought into that aspect of her identity. She had been spending more time trying to figure out if Nosarre's comment had been snide or not. It was hard to tell with some girls.
Enough wine of cheap, mixed and dubious origins passed around made Tiyo's amusement quite plain as she said to Sylvian, "It's not always like this, but you are not wrong." Truly, this lot would drink out of a bucket or a puddle if it came to it.
Still intrigued at Katora's origins, she added, "Shells Katora, that's fascinating." There was quiet weight to it, the same as introducing a dragon or hold title -- heavy with certainty and belonging. Something beyond earned titles, beyond the work of one. "You know, I don't think there are many Traders among us. Or Vintners, for that matter. What do think of Dragonsfall?"
Katora shrugged one shoulder. "It's...loud," she answered honestly. "The road's quieter. Here, the dragons are always making noise." She shrugged again. "But it's not so bad. It's got its own interesting things." She was beginning to wish someone else would talk. It was a bit odd for her to be the center of attention. She tried redirecting towards someone else. "What about you?" she asked Sylvian.
It wasn't the most engaging conversation over the wine but at least it was a bit calmer than whatever was going on over at the bonfire. And that was a win.
Last updated on the February 11th 2025