What's Your Story?

Writers: Devin, Chelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 21st July 2013

Characters: J'ackt, N'vanik, Qorri
Description: N'vanik and Qorri speak to the new arrival
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 1 of Turn 7

J'ackt

N'vanik

N'vanik ran into the headwoman on the way to the infirmary. "Hey,
Qorri. Going to check out our mysterious new arrival?"

"Indeed. After all, whoever he is, if he doesn't belong anywhere else,
I might have to find work and a place for him to sleep." That is, once he
was healthy. "And we both don't want just anyone staying around our
weyr." The boy's condition and how he'd been found was a bit odd, to say
the least.

"Once he's up and about, if does stay on here, I'll have someone watch
him. Just to be safe."

A healer directed them to the boy's cot. "Hi, I'm N'vanik, the
Weyrleader. And this is Qorri, the Headwoman." N'vanik gestured to
her. "We need to ask you some questions."

Jenackt had lain quietly, his mind working as his tired body rested.
He'd thought about trying to quietly leave the infirmary, but it
seemed there was always someone nearby who would see him. And, the
fact that he didn't know the sharding way out was another problem. He
also knew that eventually there would be questions; he just had to
find some good answers.

He hadn't been expecting the Weyrleader himself. As the pair entered,
his eyes swung to them and he went still. His eyes flicked over them
for a moment as he nodded, his voice betraying his wariness. "I
suppose you do."

"Let's start with your name." N'vanik studied him, already filing away
the boy's wariness.

That at least, he had an answer for, and a plausible one. "Amitko." It had
come easily enough to him earlier; his mother's name wasn't well known.
Backwards, it sounded male enough. Blue eyes flicked over the Headwoman and
then back to N'vanik.

Qorri allowed N'vanik the floor to get his questions answered first.
She just watched and listened. Having dealt with people for so long,
she had seen just about everything under the sun and something didn't
add up here just yet. Besides,
even though N'vanik was taller, Qorri liked to think she cut more of
an imposing figure. Especially since this boy would probably be her
responsibility if he stayed, and under her control.

"Amitko," the Weyrleader said. "How did you end up so far from any
hold? And how did you get that injury?" There was something in the
boy's eyes, a guarded, calculating look that N'vanik had once been
familiar with. Still, he didn't want to assume.

His father had always told him that the best lies were always close to
the truth; he decided to follow that advice. He shifted slightly, his
eyes watching both of them. He swallowed roughly. "Never lived in any
hold." That much was true. "I lost my family and met up with a small
group." He closed his eyes. "They said they were traders but...they
weren't. They took everything from me and tried to kill me. I ran,
but one of them shot me through the leg. I just kept running. I don't
remember much else after I passed out."

"So you're holdless." N'vanik had thought so. "How long ago did you
lose your family?"

N'vanik's pronouncement immediately put him on the defensive. Deflecting,
Jenackt stared at Qorri for a moment. "Why is she just standing there
looking at me?"

"Because it's the Weyrleader's turn. I will have mine, don't fear." Qorri
nodded slowly to herself, going silent once more.

"What, you're each going to question me? I haven't done anything
wrong." His jaw set as he turned back to N'vanik and he spoke
bitterly. "My mother died when I was twelve. Childbirth. His jaw
tightened even more. "My father died over a turn ago I think. Anything
else?"

Part of N'vanik wanted to feel sorry for the boy, but his instincts
kept warning him. "We just want to understand what happened. What did
you do between the time your father died and when you met up with this
group that tried to kill you?"

Again, Jenackt reminded himself that the best lies were the ones
closest to the truth. But he couldn't keep the bitter loneliness of
his previous life from creeping into his voice. "I was on my own."

N'vanik considered him for a long moment. He turned to the Headwoman.
"Would you mind giving us a moment alone?"

After so many turns, Qorri had learned to read people and something was not
adding up here. The boy was too suspicious and anxious and aggressive.
Granted- living a life holdless wasn't the best of situations and it might
have done a few things to the boy's disposition, but she didn't think she
liked his attitude.

Jenackt fell silent, looking at the pair and stiffening slightly. The
thought of any authority figure wanting alone time with him immediately put
him on his guard.

Knowing N'vanik as she did, Qorri nodded before slipping back to speak with
the
healers that had brought the boy in.

N'vanik sat in the chair next to the cot and leaned toward him. "I was
holdless when I was young. Did a lot of things I regret. I believe in
second chances but I have to know that if I let you stay you won't
make me regret it."

He had been.... Jenackt stared at him, his eyes searching N'vanik's
face for long moments and he swallowed hard. Was he telling him the
truth? What was his angle? What did this man want out of him? Nothing
was free. Uncertainty flickered on his features and for a moment, he
looked like just what he was, a scared young man who had seen far too
much for his years. "You'd...you'd let me stay here?"

"If you can promise me you won't do any harm. I have to protect my
people." N'vanik hoped he was reading the boy right. "But if you want
a new life, if you want to stop worrying where your next meal will
come from or if the man on the road might slit your throat for the
quarter mark in your pocket, this is your chance."

His reply was quick, defensive. "I don't want to hurt anyone. " He bit
his tongue and looked away for a moment, his fingers flexing. Could he
stay here? But at what price? His gaze moved back to N'vanik.
"Nothing's free. If you were Holdless, you know that. So what do you
want from me?"

"I want you to work, like everyone else here. I want you to stay out
of trouble. I want you to realize you can be more than whatever you
were out there." Looking at the young man was like looking into his
past. "Amitko, this is a bargain. I'm taking a higher risk than you."

Jenackt swallowed hard and stared at N'vanik. He'd never been offered
anything like that. But it came with a double aged blade. If they
found out about Emerald Falls, they'd send him back; he was a risk. He
would have to remain Amitko. Was it possible though? Could he hide and
have a home? Something he had never had? If no one ever found out...it
was possible.

Hope flared, but it was tinged with ingrained caution. And his voice
was soft. "I can work. I can stay out of trouble." The rest...he
didn't know how.

"Good." N'vanik leaned back with a little smile. "Now you just have to
survive Qorri. Oh, and one more thing." He turned serious again. "The
part about me being holdless, that stays between us."

Jenackt nodded slowly. "I understand."

N'vanik got to his feet. "Maybe someday you'll tell me what really
happened." With that, he stepped out to find Qorri.

He stiffened but kept his mouth shut. That someday would never come.
Ever. He'd leave first. He was never going back to Emerald Falls and
he would do whatever he had to in order to insure it.

She was standing outside, chatting with some of the healers about supplies-
never one to waste time and all that. And there might have been a question
or two about which of her staff would be ready to work again.

"Your turn," N'vanik said. "I'm letting him stay, so don't be too hard on
him."

"Fine, but if something happens, I will protect my folk." Qorri didn't trust
strangers that arrived in such a fashion. Sighing, she walked inside and
then sat down beside the boy. Her arms crossed over her chest. "So if you
stay, you earn your keep. What can you do?"

It was obvious to Jenackt that Qorri didn't trust him and certainly
didn't like the fact that he was here. This was a woman he'd have to
be careful around. Eyeing her, his chin went up. "I can hunt. I can
skin animals and butcher them. I can fish and I know how to forage for
food." He wisely left out his skill with a blade. If anything, it
would make her more suspicious of him. He'd have to find something to
practice with in private, he realized...

"Well, we don't do much of our own hunting or foraging here, but from time
to time, I suppose it might be useful. Your butchering skills, though......
Elaborate."

The reply was dry. "Which animal? Tunnelsnake, herdbeast, wherry, or
dolphin?"

**He killed a dolphin!** Qorri, being Qorri, kept her cookies, but it was
tough when faced with that. The shipfish were treated with reverence much
like the dragons and she couldn't believe he had just said that. And it
revealed just how desperate perhaps the boy had been. "The middle two since
we don't eat the others. We also do runner meat from time to time rather
than waste it. Generally don't get the felines in this part of the south too
much so them neither."

He kept a straight face. "Are we talking the whole animal, or just the
choice bits? I couldn't carry a whole animal for the most part, unless it
was a smaller wherry, but I tried not to waste much." He continued,
describing the process of gutting, skinning and butchering both animals. "I
normally didn't keep the hide. Not a lot of chance to tan or treat the
things."

"Well we keep them here. And we use everything that we can." Indeed
there wasn't much on an animal that couldn't be used, whether it be for
tools or whatever else Qorri could manage. "And bedfurs too, of course."

He nodded shortly. "Understood."

"Allright whenever you get cleared by the healers, report to me. I'll get
you quarters, clothes, and get you to work. So rest up now." Qorri rose up
and
left the boy, wondering just what was happening in his head.

Last updated on the July 24th 2013

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