The Girl Who Watched
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: Duskdog
Date Posted: 3rd May 2025
Characters: Yik
Description: Yik explores the Weyr and makes a connection.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 10 of Turn 12
The warmth of the Weyr’s lower caverns was thick and welcoming, a heat that settled into the walls and promised Yik respite from the cold outside. It was nothing like the holdless encampment outside -- too frigid, too open, snow-covered ground being stomped down into mud. Out there, it smelled like wet canvas and smoke, and the great wide sky stretched endlessly overhead in a way that unnerved her. Down here, it smelled of baking bread, clean cloth, and a touch of leather -- strong, honest smells, all encapsulated in a familiar cocoon of stone.
Yik liked it down here.
It helped that no one really noticed her. She moved along the edge of the stone hallway, eyes flicking to movement before dropping again, half-lurking, half-loitering. Not hiding -- not exactly -- but… not participating, either. She had gotten good at that: the art of being nobody. And it served her just as well at the Weyr as it had back home in her caverns. Just one girl among many displaced holdless -- small and dark and lean, with oversized boots and a short and choppy head of hair that stood out all over the place if she forgot to smooth it down. People passed her and rarely looked twice.
She liked to watch the bakers the most. They worked with their whole bodies, kneading and shaping and laughing in a rhythm that she didn’t understand, but wanted to. There was an old woman who always tapped the top of the rising loaves as she passed, and a young man who spun the paddles like toys before sliding them into the ovens. Yik counted how many loaves each person shaped, and tried to figure out who was the fastest. She watched one of them -- a tall fellow with a gruff voice and flour up to his elbows -- pause to talk to a girl with her arm in a sling. The girl laughed. The baker ruffled her hair, then called for more water. Yik tilted her head. The girl wasn’t working. She just came in to say hello. That was allowed?
She wandered further.
Nobody stopped her. She had learned young that it was easier to move when she kept her hands tucked into her sleeves and didn’t meet anyone’s eye. That way, she wasn’t challenging anyone. Not trying to take. Just passing through.
The laundry caverns were loud, full of voices that echoed too much off of the walls. The smell of soap stung her nose. She lingered near the doorway, watching a boy dump a pile of clothes on the floor and get scolded by a matron with a sharp voice. He took it with slouched shoulders and a roll of his eyes. Yik didn’t think she could do that. She wouldn’t even let herself be seen dropping the clothes in the first place.
She kept walking.
The deeper tunnels were quieter, used for storage more than anything else. Just baskets, cloth, tools, and a dozen other things she didn’t really pay much attention to. She climbed a shelf and sat there on top with her knees under her chin, just to be still for a while. She liked the stone against her back in the darkness. It felt familiar. There were no breezes, no sudden yells. And no crowds.
Eventually, a shadow moved in the corridor below, the light of a glowbasket bobbing along the wall.
She could see him, though not well from this angle. It was a boy -- maybe her age -- standing with his hands behind his back, looking at one of the shelves like he was searching for something. He had the look of someone born in a Weyr -- comfortable, upright, not worried about taking up space. Yik curled tighter and kept her eyes on him. He didn’t see her. Not until he climbed up to the second shelf and looked to the side and froze.
Their eyes met.
He blinked. “Uh… hi.”
Yik stared.
The boy gave a nervous half-smile. “You, um… need something from up here?”
She shook her head once. Her mouth opened, closed. “…Just sitting.”
He nodded slowly, like he was trying to pretend this was normal. “Okay. Um. I’m Kessan.”
She said nothing.
He glanced down, then back at her. “Are you from the holdless tents?”
She shifted slightly, unsure if it was a question or a test. “Yes.”
“Is it rough out there? It must be cold.”
She shrugged.
Kessan rubbed the back of his neck. “Well. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to sit on the shelves. Or on those baskets you’re flattening. But I won’t tell. As long as you don’t fall and blame me, I mean.”
“…I don’t fall.”
He chuckled. “Okay, then.”
For a moment, they just looked at each other. He wasn’t trying to chase her off. He wasn’t asking anything more. She liked that.
“…Are you… in charge in here?” she asked tentatively, uncertain if it was something stupid or wrong to say.
His eyebrows lifted a little. “Me? Nah. I just fetch stuff, move crates, count barrels. You know -- grunt work. Mostly I just try to stay out of the way.”
Yik’s lips twitched. “Me too.”
“Yeah, I figured out that’s the way to live somewhere around the second time I got underfoot to a cook with a meat hook.”
A puff of breath escaped her nose, almost a laugh. _Almost_.
He grinned. “You come here a lot?”
She hesitated. Then nodded. “It’s warm and dry. And… _quiet_.”
“Well, if you ever want to help carry things, I don’t think anyone would mind.”
She tilted her head, confused.
His smile faltered just a bit. “If you want to, I mean. Sometimes it’s nice to be busy. And… not _alone_, you know? If you want to talk. Or… not talk. That’s fine, too.”
Yik studied him for a moment longer. He didn’t pity her. He wasn’t offering charity. He wasn’t even trying to draw her in… at least, she didn’t think so. He was just… there. Just a boy in the stores who counted crates and made jokes and didn’t make her feel small.
“…You don’t talk too much,” she said.
“Thanks?” he replied, baffled.
She climbed down, not hurrying. And then she looked at the baskets thoughtfully. “I can help?” she ventured uncertainly.
He smiled. ”I already told you that you could. I meant it.”
Yik smiled back shyly, picking up a basket.
Last updated on the May 19th 2025