Getting Settled In

Writers: Cali, AL
Date Posted: 15th September 2008

Characters: Sorsha, Raise, Lenlee, Karai
Description: Sorsha makes friends her first day at Willet Grove.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 11, day 11 of Turn 4
Notes: Willet Grove

When Sorsha had left Green Bend, she had packed what little she had, a few sea books her father had given her on her birthingday, and the dresses and work clothes she could claim her own. She'd hugged her little sister goodbye who'd cried that she would be without a bedmate, and said farewell to her two older brothers and father before hopping in the back of the wagon Serend and Karai had arrived in. Her cousin, Thanric, had also been allowed to foster to Willet Grove and he was riding up front with Railen, leaving her all alone to watch Green Bend disappear behind them.

She had fallen asleep as they had traveled and woke already within site of the Hold. Willet Grove was larger than Green Bend, but not by much, so it wasn't as awe inspiring as when she'd arrived at Dolphin Cove Weyr. They were greeted by a large group and she had been introduced to everyone, and while not remembering their names, she had felt that they were friendly enough. Soon after she had been escorted by a girl Karai had introduced as her daughter Lenlee, up to her new room on the third floor of the main hold.

"Are you finding places for all your things?" Karai asked, entering her two daughters' (and now Sorsha's as well) room after giving the girls a few minutes to settle in.

"Um, yes, thank you." Sorsha said hesitantly. The room wasn't very large, it seemed like it would have been comfortable enough for the two beds on the long wall, but with her bed added to the corner, it looked a bit cramped.

Karai smiled, pleased that the girl wasn't a complainer. "If you don't have room in the wardrobe for your dresses, Lenlee can show you one in one of the guest rooms you can use for storage." Serend hadn't wanted to give up one of the guest rooms for either of the fosterlings, but he couldn't begrudge part of a wardrobe... men just didn't understand the need for versatility.

"We've made room for her." Lenlee piped, flashing a smile to Sorsha. "We went through all our clothes and took out the ones we can't wear any more, so now there's more room. I'll help you put them away."

Raise, who had jumped up from the bed when her sister hand, nodded enthusiastically. Karai's smile broadened and she gave her two girls a kiss before turning and heading out of the room, leaving the three to get better acquainted. Once her mother was gone, Lenlee turned to Sorsha. "I hope you can sleep tonight. Raise snores."

"I do not!" The younger girl stamped her foot in annoyance and Lenlee giggled.

"Come on." The elder stated, "Let's put away your things. We'll have the rest of the day to ourselves!"

Sorsha grinned and followed the girls' lead. As they dug through her bags and helped her put things away she relaxed. They really were very nice and Raise reminded her of her of her little sister back at Green Bend. "This is it, just the two bags." she commented as she placed the sea books she'd brought under her bed.

"Oh, what are those?" Raise immediate scuttled under the bed and pulled out the books again.

"Raise!" Lenlee quickly stepped forward and snatched the books away from her sister and thrust them back under the bed. "You don't just go around and look at people's things without permission. It's rude!"

"Oh it's okay," she assured the young girl, "I don't mind, just be careful with the pages, they're pretty old." Her father had given them to her over the turns as presents when he'd made trades with visiting ships.

"Hey, ships!" Raise had taken advantage of Sorsha's acquiescence and immediately pulled the books from beneath the bed. "Is this the sea? It looks big. I've never seen it."

It was hard for her to imagine someone who had never set eyes on the sea before, she didn't even know how to _start_ describing it. "Yes, I mean, it's just a drawing of it, the real thing is a lot bigger. My father has sailed his ship for sevendays without seeing land when he traveled to the Northern Continent through the Southern Sea."

"Wow...wow!" Raise's eyes grew large at the thought and even Lenlee seemed impressed. "Maybe we can go see it and sail on a ship some day." The younger girl chirped merrily.

Sorsha nodded emphatically, she didn't want to speak for her father, but she was sure he wouldn't object. "Of of course! If you come to my hold I'm sure my father would be happy to take you both out for the day."

"That would be great!" Lenlee piped up as she too began to look at the pictures upon the book of parchment. "Have you ever gone on a ship?"

"Oh plenty of times, I was practically raised on them." Sorsha started, then realized she might sound like she was boasting so she added, "Probably like how you've been on runners all your life."

"Wow!" Both of the girls exclaimed as they perused the drawings. Lenlee pointed to a rather detailed drawing of a ship that spanned two pages and was lined and marked. "Hey, they give information about the ships too, what the names are and how they work. This is really neat."

Sorsha grinned, she'd forgotten how unusual it must be to landlocked people to be around the sea and ships and even dolphins. "You can keep it for a while if you want to look it over some more. Just put it back with the others when you're done."

Raise clambered up onto her bed then took the book from her sister. Lenlee paused to get a bit longer at the picture, then turned to Sorsha. "I'll look at it when she's done. How about we take a tour so you can start getting used to Willet Grove?"

"I'd appreciate it." Sorsha said with a smile. She desperately hoped that she would like it here.

Last updated on the September 15th 2008

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Getting Settled In