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[Journye]

Salem paused outside the entrance to the building that housed the candidate quarters. He paused so suddenly that his sister ran into him. Calysta squeaked in surprise and stumbled backwards, dropping her pack, the tinkling of broken glass could be heard. Salem winced and slowly turned to look back at his younger sister who looked up from the pack now growing a puddle of a flowery smelling liquid under it to glare at him. "Um....sorry," Salem muttered, barely dodging to kick she aimed at his shins.

"What did you stop for?!" Calysta asked angrily, her high cheek bones turning crimson with her anger, her nose wrinkling at the nearly over powering smell of the perfume that the now broken glass bottle had been holding. All of the sudden she grinned wickedly "Some of your clothes are in there too," she informed him sweetly.

Salem groan and narrowed his eyes at her "Well if you had been watching where you were going instead of staring at all those dragon riders you wouldn't have run into me," he informed her, glaring toward the mentioned dragon riders, especially the males. He had heard rumors about the relaxed attitude of the Weyr toward bed partners and such and well he didn't like the thought of his sister living in this atmosphere, but he hadn't had a say. He absently rubbed at the bandage on his chest where the rider that had searched them had pricked him with his knife. Calysta glared harder at her older brother, pouting. "That was my favorite perfume," she muttered, not denying his accusation. The dragon riders were all fit and handsome men, who could blame her.

Calysta sighed and her expression softened when she noted Salem rubbing at his bandage under his shirt "Leave that alone or it won't heal," she told him as she lightly rested a slender fingered hand on his arm "I know you don't like being here anymore then you like me being here, but we were picked for something special, something important if what they say is true and I'm inclined to believe them," she said softly, her anger already forgot. Salem sighed and nodded, forcing a slight smile "The rider said I was nearly to old, I might not get lucky you know," he said with almost a sad note in his tone.

Calysta brushed her hair out her eyes and looked at him with a mock stern expression "Don't be so negative, besides even if you don't impress you might find that Weyr life suits you. I'm sure they need more then just riders. I don't know if Weyrs have stewards, but I'm sure you skill would be handy," she said with a smile. Salem chuckled and nodded before bending to pick up the pack "I'll help you wash these," he said, wrinkling his nose at the flowery smell.

[Felina]

Long sleeves were more than unnecessary in such a warm climate– they were a downright heat stroke waiting to happen. But there were those who would eschew the comfort of a cooler garment in favor of the comfort of knowing that they could almost appear normal. Felina was one of those, meandering aimlessly down the corridor, her long stride carrying her rather quickly, if not with any particular purpose. At least she had no purpose to begin with, having taken to the corridors simply to escape the stifling rooms. She hadn't expected the corridor to be even more so than the room she had temporarily vacated. But, then, the corridor didn't typically smell strongly of flowers, so who could possibly blame her for the mistake? She wrinkled her nose after accidentally taking a judicious whiff, and intended to breathe as little as was physically possible until she found the perpetrator of a crime so hideous as befouling the air.

"I'll help you wash these."

The voices carried down the stone corridor rather easily, and Felina could only assume that she was nearby; it was too loud for it to be particularly far away. And then she suddenly stopped short, fingers going automatically to the twisted and pitted hunk of metal in the small pack she wore. A good luck charm, of sorts. Ironic that it, too, had been ruined in the same spurt of bad luck that had struck her. The need for luck was apparent as she turned her dark eyes to the pair just outside the open door. Older candidates, it was the only plausible explanation. Instinctively, she pulled her sleeves even farther down her wrists, wanting to hide her whole self within them as she did her scars. Nobody here had to know about those, not just yet. With luck, not ever.

"I–... Do–... Need any help?" she finally asked, after a couple of failed attempts at asking. This, this was one thing that she never had been particularly good at. Tanning, there she had excelled. Associating with other people, especially those who were older and made her nervous with their patronizing stares; there, she was not nearly so skilled. But it was too late to start running, now.

[Journye]

Salem looked up he head someone speaking and smiled. "Well if you can keep my sister from beating me up because I broke her perfume the I'd be happy to have help," he said in a teasing manner toward his sister who simply stuck her tongue out at him and turned her attention to the other girl who only appeared a little younger then herself. She tilted her head and was able to keep the from she felt tugging at the corners of her lips from showing as she noticed the scars on the poor girl's face. She opened her mouth to say something, then smiled gently "I wasn't going to beat him up honest, but he sure did make the whole barracks smell of flowers now I'm sure. The perfume really isn't that strong in small doses," she said, holding her hand out to the girl "My name is Calysta," he said with a genuine smile.

Salem too had noted the girl's scars and couldn't help but wonder what had caused them, but no it was not right to ask about such painful things. He instead smiled and bowed deeply, careful not to allow the perfume soaked pack to bump against him, he most certainly did not wish to smell of flowers "I am Salem" he introduced himself "I really am sorry for the smell, it is my fault for stopping so quickly in front of her," he said with a slight shrug "We just arrived here, but I'm sure we can be smelled coming from yards away now," he said with a wrinkle of his nose "Do you maybe know where we can wash out things?" he asked, not sure how long Felina had been here herself.

[Felina]

Trust her to get into a situation where there was no way out. Just her horrendous luck. But, then, she'd had worse. And so she went with it, and just allowed things to happen as they would, for she really couldn't do much about the current situation save to go with the flow. Not fighting the rain, but letting it just fall. Or rather, reign, as the black luck truly did seem to be ruling her life far, far too often for her liking.

"Well if you can keep my sister from beating me up because I broke her perfume the I'd be happy to have help."

Felina was able only to frown slightly and shake her head. How were her younger brothers getting along? Come to think of it, she hadn't seen them in a few Turns, not since leaving to apprentice to Master Environ. Would they know where she was now? For that matter, would they even care, or were they too much like her parents, glad to be shut of her? "Sorry; can't help with that." And it was true. She'd rarely scuffled with her brothers, they quickly learning not to bother with their sister who was so much larger and stronger than they, they being a few Turns younger. And she'd usually kept clear of anyone else in the Hold, and why would anyone want to pick a fight with one who they so rarely saw?

"My name is Calysta."

"I am Salem. I really am sorry for the smell, it is my fault for stopping so quickly in front of her. We just arrived here, but I'm sure we can be smelled coming from yards away now. Do you maybe know where we can wash out things?"

She shifted her weight from her right foot to her left. Had they known her habits, they would have known it to be a good thing. As she was primarily right-handed (and footed), shifting weight to her less-dominant leg meant that she wasn't intending on running away any time soon. But still she was wary; she had long grown accustomed to the faint flicker of eyes when people noticed her face. But she allowed herself a faint inward grin. Perhaps they thought she'd gotten it fighting or some sort, and wouldn't bother her too much, not wanting to face her wrath. But, then again, if she'd scars from fights, wouldn't it mean that she was a poor fighter? She never really could decide which it would be.

At the very least, she could introduce herself, and she did feel for the older boy. To have that smell on his things... she wouldn't want to imagine it. She was already convince she'd have to wash the tunic she was wearing especially well, for she was certain that it had absorbed the smell from the air. "I'm Felina," she said at length, nodding slightly. "And you're... forgiven for the smell. I'd be more sorry for you, really, if it's on your clothes. You can wash over that way," she said, indicating the corridor to her left, opposite the direction she had just come from. "I can show you, if you like."

[Journye]

Salem smiled brightly and carefully held the pack away from him "That would be very nice if you could show us the way," he said, his nose wrinkling as he remembered that Calysta had said that some of his things were in the pack. He glanced over to his sister who was sticking her tongue out at him again

"IT was silly of him to ask you to keep me from beating him up, I would never do such a thing, besides I've already had my revenge since one of his nicer tunics is in the bag," Calysta said then sighed softly "Though it was partially my fault as well for not watching where I was going" she admitted with a slight blush coloring her cheeks for a moment and then her smile returned in full force "Oh Felina is a beautiful name!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Salem nodded in agreement "How long have you been here Felina?" he asked with genuine curiosity, at least it hadn't been some handsome male candidate to come along and offer help, it was hard enough to keep Calysta's gaze from the male riders. He shook his head and chuckled to himself as he glanced at his sister who was heading toward the corridor that Felina had indicated "We really appreciate your help Felina" he said with a grin.

[Felina]

"Ehm, thanks?" Felina said tentatively, flushing pink in response to the compliment and following behind Calysta, who was already headed towards the washroom. She shook her head imperceptibly and shrugged. They weren't staring at her constantly, at the very least. And in her book, that was always a very, very good thing.

She frowned slightly in concentration, trying to remember. How long had it been? "I think... I've been here for a little over a week or so," she said, her long legs allowing her to quickly catch up to Calysta. "It's a little ways on, and to your left."

[Journye]

Calysta smiled and paused for a moment as Felina caught up with her "A week? What is it like here? How many candidates have they brought in?" she asked, her cheeks flushing in her excitement to know anything she could learn about the weyr. Salem shook his head and stepped carefully around the girls so as not to touch them with the pack. He stepped into the indicated door way and looks around, seeing a small sink like alcove with a good supply of sweet sand. He pours the pitcher of water into the basin and unpacks the cloths from the back and wrinkles his nose. He quickly submerges the three tunics and pair of pants into the water and starts to scrub them vigorously with the sweet sand.

[Felina]

"A week? What is it like here? How many candidates have they brought in?"

Felina shrugged noncommittally, counting up the people she had met before speaking. Well, there were these two, another brother-sister pair with a loud little fair of fire lizards, an older boy who spent all of his time outside the barracks with some girl who hadn't been Searched, two sisters who argued rather frequently, and then some more. She couldn't really remember all of them. "It's sort of boring, actually," she admitted at length. "I'd thought there would be something exciting to happen, but so far there's been little to do. I didn't bring any of my tools, either."

It was apparent that she was slowly beginning to grow comfortable around these two, for her answers were more than the two-to-three word sort that she was typically inclined to give. Following Salem into the washroom, she perched, birdlike, on a window ledge and continued. "I think there are twenty or thirty candidates. It's hard to say, as some people look rather alike and none of them ever stay put long enough for me to count. I know of at least fifteen for sure, so I'm certain there are more I can't remember."

Twenty or thirty candidates, all of whom would Impress before she did. That was the way her luck would run, had always run. It was a rather pessimistic thought, but, then, there had been enough of a precedent. Of course, there was always a chance, that slight chance, that being Searched had ended that unfortunate streak, and she clung to that chance like a drowning man to a spar of wood. She would give anything to be here; and she would give anything to fly Thread so well that no-one would need use those agenothree tanks again.

[Journye]

"Twenty to Thirty? Wow I never imagined there would be so many, but then again I don't know how large a, what was it the rider called it, oh yes clutch a Queen dragon can lay," Calysta said as she followed Felina into the washroom, smiling when noted that Salem was taking care of the laundry. She leaned against the wall and looked thoughtful a moment "All in all its a bit over whelming. The fact that a dragon can simply look at you and know if you worth standing on the sands. Its a bit frightening," she admitted with a slight little sigh.

Salem looked up and nodded "I was also surprised by just how pushy that rider was even though he said I was nearly too old. I really don't understand the desperation, its not like we made them reappear, they did that on their own," He said with a frown "And why now? Is thread really going to be coming back like they say or are they just trying to become a tyranny?"

Calysta gasps "Don't say that too loud! We don't want to cause trouble," she says, looking at Felina "What do you think?"

[Felina]

"Well, they lay a lot of eggs, more when there's one queen or there's a time of danger for dragonkind," Felina said quickly. For once, her obsession with the Riders as a child paid off, for she seemed to know more about them than most of the other candidates. Not that it was likely to help any, but it was worth a shot, at least. "I don't think the dragons'll be deciding who Stands, though," she whispered conspiratorially. "They can only know their own people, and how can they know us? I think it's got something to do with the Riders, but I don't know just what. Know, though, that the only dragons with much say in this are the hatchlings. Nobody can deter their choice."

She thought for a moment before nodding sharply. "Queens don't lay many eggs unless there's Thread or they're in danger of dying out. They've come back from the dead once, and I've heard more than one Rider mention Thread. Some of 'em are mysteriously scored, too, and won't give any explanation for it. I think there's something that they're not willing to tell us, and I think it concerns Thread. I think... I think that Thread's coming again."