Taking a tumble (S'jiro)

Veya listened carefully to the other girl. Emerene was Weyrbred and understood the way of things here. She had also made it her mission to keep the Candidates organized and help the newcomers out. She appreciated greatly the kindness of the other girl. If roles were reversed, she would look out for Emerene as well. Perhaps the other girl would come to be one of her friends here. She certainly hoped so. Veyani didn’t think she would ever agree with the mentality of some in a hierarchy. Believing that one was better than someone else was one thing, it was quite another to act on it and pretend that every bad thing that happened was because of said person.

Now she did understand Queenriders and Bronzeriders acquired higher ranks. She could not have known S’jiro was a Bronzerider by looking at him. Veyani would certainly try to be polite to everyone here, now that she knew he wasn’t the only one who was too arrogant to care about those whom he perceived as lesser. It made her more determined than she cared to admit, to have him see things differently. He must not have befriended many people who were not of his rank, so how could he understand them?

“You flush just slightly, when you talk about Sh’nar and S’jiro…especially Sh’nar. He must be very handsome.” Even if he sounded like a complete ass…and probably was one. “Do you think they are the way they are because they can afford to get away with it? I mean in a hierarchy like the Weyr, it is probably much easier for them to treat other people in a dismissive manner than at the Hold.”

Veyani’s interest was piqued even more when Emerene spoke about how they couldn’t pick on her. “Oh? Why is that?” Veya might be a simple farm girl but she was catching on to things at the Weyr. Weyrfolk named their children by combining parent’s names. Emerene, Emerene. It sounded a lot like Karene. If she lied about who her parents were then Veyani would know and if she decided to speak the truth, Veyani would be happy to ignore the fact as long as Emerene wanted. It seemed to her, having such an auspicious parentage would put a lot of pressure on a person.

It wasn’t that dissimilar to her own upbringing. Her parents had wanted her to be a good farmer. She was never going to make a good farmer, no matter how hard she tried. She had trouble not being distracted by the wondrous sights and sounds of the world. Her inquisitiveness often took her far from home and back in time to miss most of the work. Her parents expected her to grow up and become more responsible but she had never been meant for the boring life of a farmer. Exploring the world on the back of a dragon would be so much more entertaining.

“Well it won’t be hard to spot them I suppose. Although I hardly think it would be necessary to have their own table. I’m sure they don’t have that many people who would enjoy eating with them. It is far better for people who aren’t brave enough to watch beautiful things from a distance, where one cannot be harmed. Beautiful things always seem to do the most damage.” Veyani had no desire to give up on befriending S’jiro, even after Emerene’s tale.

Normally she wasn’t fixated on anything for long. So clinging to this idea as she was, she felt odd. Why should she not flit onto the next thing? For some strange reason she had a strong desire to learn more about S’jiro. Maybe they didn’t know the real truth. The tales Emerene told her could be mostly rumor. The truth would be far less entertaining probably but it would make more sense to her.

“I’ll be off to the infirmary. I hope I don’t miss the Harpers, they are to teach us the alphabet. I know some of it. My ma, taught us some of it but she mostly used a song. Much like harpers do, so I don’t know what the letters look like but I know the song. “ She said sighing. Knowledge would be hers! She would be able to write down things when she thought of them and then she wouldn’t lose so many brilliant thoughts! She couldn’t wait to be able to do things like that. It would be amazing. Without a second thought, she skipped off to the infirmary.

Emerene seemed to ignore the comment about getting flustered over the Bronzeriders. She got flustered over a lot of boys; and she would have agreed that many of them were good looking. In any case, Veyani went on, and so she tried to answer the next question with due consideration. "Why, of course. Being holderbred and a Bronzerider just means double trouble -they can get away with almost anything. Mmm..but I don't know about the Hold. I've never been to one." It went without saying that a holderbred like S'jiro was raised knowing that he could do just about whatever he pleased, and he knew it. It probably also went without saying, that he was used to getting what he wanted from a young age; even if he wasn't completely pampered from the time he was born, he would have still been presented with more opportunity than most in that regard. But it may have also been the case that his parents had created the circle of friends for him that they wanted him to have, limiting his contact with those they did not see as desirable, or necessary acquaintances, which was kind of sad, when Emerene stopped to think about it.

The girl seemed to flush again, considering the handsome Bronzeriders. She couldn't help it! The rosiness in her cheeks lessened when her thoughts were brought to another topic. Veyani sure had a lot of questions. But being new to the Weyr, that should be natural. Emerene smiled, hoping that her new friend's attitude about her wouldn't change for the worst when she found out about her family. "My mother is the Weyrwoman. That's why." Emerene let that thought sink into Veyani's thoughts for a moment; and though she did not like to find herself recognized for that fact alone, she had found in the past that it was mostly Weyrfolk who treated her special because of it. She'd already had a bit of a chance to cultivate a friendship with the new Candidates outside of their knowledge of her familial relations with the Weyrwoman, and none of them had had any preconceptions about what kind of person she was or with what kind of respects to treat her. It had been a level playing field when they first met. Because of that, she didn't mind being honest with the girl about her parentage. She'd find out soon enough anyway.


Emerene seemed to think that Veyani would have fun in class, learning how to read. Emerene actually tended to like most of her classes, even if she sometimes tired of hearing the same ballads over and over again.

Emerene waved farewell to Veyani, heading back toward the Candidate Barracks.