A Familiar Face

Writers: Francesca, Jane
Date Posted: 26th July 2009

Characters: Leiana, Renada
Description: Renada and Leiana catch up and discuss how life is at the Southern Hall.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 3, day 14 of Turn 5

"Renada!" A wide smile spread across Leiana's face as she caught sight of the other woman sitting in the dining hall. Taraglan had pointed her in the right direction before joining their children in the water to spend time with the local pod. Before leaving, she had made him promise not to go to the Weyr without her.

They were acquaintances, Renada having lived at the same Northern Hall as Leiana and her family until recently. Leiana was fully looking forward to learning not only how Renada's transition had been but also that of her children and grandchildren.

"Leiana. What are you doing here?" Renada got up from her chair and hugged the other woman in delight at seeing a familiar face from her former Hall.

"Taraglan came here earlier in the sevenday to meet with your Hallmaster about the Hallsecond position," Leiana explained. "I'm here to see what I think of the place. The rest of the family came today too." She waved in the direction of the entrance to indicate that they were outside. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Are you really thinking of coming to live here? It'll be nice to have familiar faces around. Are all the children with you?" Renada peered at the doors to the dining room hoping to catch a glimpse of the children she hadn't seen for over a Turn.

Leiana smiled at Renada's eagerness. "The three are here. They immediately went to introduce themselves to the dolphins. I'm sure they would like to see you and," she added, "the boys need some convincing that a move here is a good idea."

"The _boys_ do?" Renada asked, puzzled. To her mind moving to the South was more of an issue for the women of the family. "What's their worry?"

"They have a negative opinion of the South." She tried to explain, "They have an image of all Southerners as prejudiced, closed-minded people. But," coming to their defense, "they have never had much contact with anyone from the South."

"Well, they'll get that here," Renada said with a smile. "Most of the apprentices are locals, though with a fair few being from the Weyr they're probably not representative of real Southern-bred youngsters."

Leiana nodded, remembering that Taraglan had met one of the weyrbred apprentices. "Was it a big adjustment for you, coming here? How different is it?"

"Not all that different, within the Hall," the older woman said slowly. "Because this is a Northern-aligned Hall. And of course I'm mainly teaching, these days, so I don't have to interact too much with people outside the Hall. I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask - perhaps somebody like Trellyn? You'll know her if you see her since she usually has a gold firelizard with her. I haven't _heard_ about anything more than just surprise and a bit of bad manners - talking to the male dolphineer only - though. But it's different for you, since you're not a dolphineer."

"Hmm," Leiana replied, thinking. "I'll see if Trellyn is available today." The more points of view she heard, the better. "From what the Hallmaster told Taraglan, I'm not worried. I just want to know what to expect, if we move here."

"Shall we go and look at the schedule now? It'll tell us who's going to be within reach for you to talk to."

"That would be wonderful." Leiana smiled, glad she had run into Renada of all people. "And then, I'm sure Taraglan and the rest will be glad to see you."

"I'll be glad to see them again," Renada admitted. Though she hadn't been particularly close to the family in their former Hall they had been friendly and the chance to see familiar faces again meant a lot after nearly a Turn in the Southern Continent. But on the subject of familiar faces ... "Did you realise Tarehg got a posting here, too? At the same time as me?" It seemed ridiculous that their Northern Hallmaster hadn't mentioned to her or her former husband that they were both applying for positions in the same Southern Hall, but in the case of Tarehg Renada rather thought the Hallmaster had been having his own little joke by _not_ speaking up. "_That_ certainly put a dampener on things when we came face to face."

"Oh!" she said in surprise. "Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing something about that soon after you left. Do you two see each other much?"

"Not if we can help it," Renada muttered. "But it's a small Hall as you'll find out. Come on, let's check that roster and find you a working journeywoman to talk to."

Last updated on the July 26th 2009

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A Familiar Face