Familiar Fields, New Neighbors (Serah)

[Kaya]

| 74.11.01 | En route to the southern fields | Morning |

It was raining as the small group of about a half dozen people made their way along the main jungle path. There was one particularly uneasy woman who kept glancing about nervously, and it made Holt tense. They were in a group, on the main path, and the Weyr was without tragedy now for months. Something must have thrust her back into those dark days. It just made the senior weyrling walk faster. He didn't want to think about that day. He wouldn't let it give his hazel eyes a gloomier cast.

He saw the fences and fields coming up, and that helped distract him. He turned his thoughts to Korith, who was awake and feeling very much cooped up in the rain. He missed the cool, faint mist of Dragon Ridge whenever the tropical rain came like this. Maybe he would see about becoming a Watch Rider for a few turns...N'kio seemed to like his job well enough.

Something is weighing on you, the Blue commented.

Holt rolled his shoulders and turned his face up to the open, grey sky over the grass. It felt freeing. Yeah, but it won't keep me, he thought back, wiping his plastered hair to the side of his forehead. Gunna be inside and cleaning and earn a well deserved lunch today.

Like you won't earn dinner too, Korith remarked. Our flight instructor will have us out in this rain in the later afternoon. More practice, the Blue's voice decreased in volume as he spoke.

Anyway, we're part way there and I should find out if the new girl knows the routine. And idle thoughts weigh more than rain, Korith. Do do something with your morning, Holt finished.

I'm sure your parents would be proud of your skill in sounding quite like them.

Better than sounding like you, he retorted back. Both had amused expressions that they knew the other couldn't see, half way across the Weyr, but they had a feeling they were there.

"Hey," Holt approached the girl about his age that had been assigned to come help clean the farmers' resting quarters. "Enjoying the rain?" he smiled, the expression he gave answering "no" to his own question. "Someone's filled you in on what today's work is, ya?" The group was walking into the building on the edge of the field nearer the mountain ridge around the valley. Holt felt the once warm rain feel much cooler as it ran off him onto the floor. Their group would make a nice puddle on the floor just to clean it up.

[Serah]

The rain just kept falling that morning. As the newest person to the Weyr in the group, Aelynn felt both sadness and confusion. Why was she sent on this errand? The question just kept repeating in her head.

With no idea what was in store for her today, Aelynn kept to the middle of the group. She believed she would be noticed quicker if she were in the front or back rather than in the middle. Though, with her luck she was noticed sooner rather than later. A boy had walked up to her. He looked to be about her age, though Aelynn was a bad guesser when it came to age, or anything really.

"I can't say I really enjoy the rain, though I understand the necessity of this kind of weather." Aelynn told the boy. She gave one more look around to see that the group was walking into a building. "The only thing I have been told is that I needed to come with this group and help them with their task." She sighed. She was hoping this task wasn't going to be something to crazy.

Walking into the building, Aelynn shivered. She had forgotten that the rain would feel cold once she stepped inside. Though she was more than happy to be inside and out of the rain, at least for a little while.

[Kaya]

"I don't understand warm rain," Holt complained, throwing a hopeful glance towards the fireplace. It wasn't lit. Then it dawned on him why. "It's always cold later..." He looked over to the group that was removing their dirty shoes in favor of not making their chore harder. "Really? No instructions? Ah, well, must be a busy day then," he continued, happy to throw his thick shoes off and into the pile. No point in cleaning them if they'd just be walking back on the wet, muddy ground.

"Wellp, this'll take a while. Should get started," Holt kept on to himself, looking about the area when he saw a woman approaching with a bucket. She'd know where the rest of the things were too. "We're to clean this place out, by the way. Farmers' Quarters needs a good cleanin' now and then. You'd think these folks were made of dirt the way this place gets," he joked, grabbing a rag from the woman with the bucket. "Start high and work down," he tossed out into the open, though most knew the drill. "Hey- what's your name, anyway?" he asked, tossing the rag over one shoulder to free a hand to offer.

"An' watch ya'selfs," the woman told the crowd. "Y'know a'times in the rainy months we get guests." The workers nodded. The latter the building had was set against the wall for the highest spots while the others worked on wiping off the dusty walls and racks that lay about.

[Serah]

Aelynn shrugged an agreement to the comment about the rain. Warm rain just didn't make much sense, but it was warm for sure. She shrugged the thought away as she removed her shoes. "They did seem busy." She commented, remembering the hurry everyone had seemed to be in. "I wonder why..." Her thought trailed off.

Just then, she saw a woman approaching. The woman had a bucket in her hand. Aelynn groaned to herself. She barely noted that the boy had said something else until he continued talking. She sighed. "Oh how the home never leaves ones life." She muttered, more to herself than anyone else. "Well, these farmers stand all day in what we just walked in, granted it's sometimes less wet than it currently is." She said to the boy. Catching the rag, she started cleaning. "My name's Aelynn. What's yours?"

Just as the woman walked away, Aelynn heard a trill in the air. She looked up to see Camo had come. She just gave a stern look at the Flitter before getting back to her work. Camo landed on the floor next to her and gave a quizzical chirp. Shaking her head, Aelynn looked at Camo and pointed to a shelf on the wall. "Could you stay over there please Camo, you silly thing? Look, that shelf is a high enough place that you'll still be able to see me and work on your camouflage skills." After a quick chirp and a look at the other people in the room, Camo went to the shelf.

[Kaya]

Holt just stared as she snatched the cloth from him. He hadn't intended to pass it off to her. What did she say her name-? he grasped at the fading sound that she had offered. His eyes darted to find the rags again. He'd need a new one too...

"Oh, uh, my na-" he winced as a particularly strong gust rattled the shutters loudly. Holt was glad to be inside. He didn't notice the arrival of the firelizard at all. Aware his conversation wasn't finished, he made his way over to the noisy shutters. It was enough to clean without more cold and wind getting in. He checked the latch and tried to make it fit tighter, but discovered it was a loose fit.

He left the window, grabbed a soapy rag from the bucket on the way back towards the girl, and took up a spot near where she was cleaning. "Apologies," he paused, "My name is Holt," he said with a firm smile. "Would you mind tellin' me your name again? And perhaps a bit of your story too? I got a few tales of my own if you'd like to trade," he asked. Work still on the brain, he found a particularly grimy patch of wall near the corner and turned give it a good scrub. "Are farmers always this messy?" he asked, a hint of jest added to his question. He was from a mining camp. He knew about messy...or, well he had. What was it now? Over a Turn since he came to the Weyr. It was hard to believe- sometimes. Sometimes not.

[Serah]

Aelynn had started going in little circles with the rag. It was a bit more work, but everything seemed a little cleaner when she finished an area. She tried to work at a steady pace, but sometimes found she was working either faster or slower than other times. There were a few times she had to stop and take a breath, but she kept working other than that.

A burst of giggles came up as Holt began introducing himself. Aelynn tried to stifle the giggles, but her attempt was too late. The giggles came through clearly. But when he closed the shutters, she stopped all giggling. Camo had spread his wings, upset about the shutters. Aelynn made every attempt to stop him without words, but they didn't work. So she sighed, getting onto her feet. "Camo you silly thing! The outside is still there even though you can't see it!" She scolded him. He hissed, then settled back down.

"Apologies accepted if you can excuse Camo. He's not the brightest. Anyway, nice to meet you Holt. I'm Aelynn. There's not much to tell. I'm an only child. I come from Golden Flight Hold, my family is in the farming craft." Aelynn said, holding back memories. "Farmers aren't usually this messy. Though, every person is different. One person could be neat, while another could be messy."

[Kaya]

Her laughing didn't bother him. It was a small battle between humans and the weather, and with no harm done, he could see the humor in it too. "That's a fair reasoning," he commented when she'd finished. "So not all firelizards are as dim as yours then?" he joked, a slight apprehension tinging his comment. He hoped she didn't mind others making fun of her pet. He seemed nice enough, hadn't scratched him or anything. "Miners are this messy," Holt commented, wiping a patch of grime off his hand just to leave a different colored streak on his skin. He frowned and ran his hand on his pants. Those would have to be cleaned too anyway. "So then, Aelynn, how'd you find yourself here?" he asked, though considering it, he wasn't sure if his to-the-Weyr story was that much more interesting. He'd been headed home to the camp from the Hold when a DarkBlue showed up, offered him Candidateship, and not long after he was off to the Weyr with his things. And now here he was, still at the Weyr and with Korith too.

Simple story enough, but I like it, Korith chimed in. Holt smiled. But looking up he saw a rather upset face looking down at him, and not a human one. "Duck!" he called, trying to hurry Aelynn down with a push on the shoulder. The bird dove at them with an angry cry, trying to drive off the invaders in its home.

"Move on, ya scraggly bird," the team leading, older woman proclaimed, waving about a broom. It cried back at her, the more territorial type avian. The farmers had barely noticed him and those who did left him alone, but these people were getting into all the cracks and some had disturbed a few of his food stores already. Now they were too close to his roost and he would see to it they left. With another angry cry he swooped over Holt and Aelynn.