Destined to be nothing? (open)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

73.13.22 | Early Morning | Weyrling Barracks/Kitchens

((Ooc: there's a good part in the following for this: Soundtrack))

The boy lay stiff, holding himself perfectly still. He was nearly buried under his sleeping furs, only the very top of his head, covered with its night-black hair, was visible. He could not have named what it was that alerted him, but he knew without a doubt that he was not where he expected to be. He could feel his Aurora flitt, Guyaky, sleeping beside him, but he couldn’t feel Crimson Atanek, and Sinok appeared to be absent as well. Cautiously, he slid an eye open, slitting it, and looked around. He was definitely not where he expected to be.

The ceiling looked subtly different, and the bed was on the wrong side relative to the door, and… starting to get worried, the boy stood up and stepped forward, and that was when his eyes landed on the one thing that he’d scarcely dared to hope had been more than a dream. There, curled up on the far side of his cot, was the most handsome creature he’d ever seen. The dragonet’s hide was somehow both black, and containing a shine more pure than even the finest silver.

“Azeriuth,” Tam… T’ruk breathed. It hadn’t been a dream. T’ruk barely had names for all the feelings that swept over him, only knew what they represented. He, T’ruk, would never be alone again. With a glad cry, for once not caring if he made noise, the boy flung himself at the dragonet, pulling up short only to envelope Azeriuth’s wondrously soft neck in a hug.

No, neither of us shall ever be alone again, Azeriuth stated, opening one eye to look at His person, the eye swirling blue-green, fast enough that it could have made a watcher dizzy.

They lay like that for a few moments, before slipping out on their way to the kitchens to get something to eat. They might have been nervous, but it was early yet, and there wasn’t enough of a crowd to override a growling stomach. Besides, they were together, they had each other, and at that moment, that was enough.

[Cait]

((I can’t help it >>)

She might have Impressed to Korinath and become a Weyrling, but turns of getting up before the sun wasn’t a habit easily broken. Though the Moonlight initially complained—it would take a while for her love of the dark hours to settle into place after the tiring ordeal of hatching—she finally rose and followed sleepily along behind her Korvalia as she affixed the apron about her waist. The young woman, of course, wasn’t expected to report to the kitchens, but some semblance of routine would be nice until her entire way of doing things was completely upended later that day when lessons began.

It didn’t take long for the pair to reach the kitchens and once there, after waving away the insistence of the other cooks that she should still be in bed, she directed Korinath to an out of the way spot next to one of the large hearths that was already crackling with a fire and the Moonlight obligingly curled up against the warm stone and before long was snoring softly.

Getting down to the business of getting food prepared for both the morning meal and the afternoon meal, Korvalia began to work on making the slightly sweet morning bread, mixing large quantities of the dough before rolling out smaller loaves to be baked and then later cut. Once she’d prepared three score of the loaves, she moved to the far more delicate task of making the flaky pastry like bread that would be just part of what went into the spiced meatrolls that were always to be found in the kitchen. Between the teachings of her mother and one of the elderly, and now retired cooks, Korvalia was one of the few woman in the kitchens with the secret of how to make the flaky bread just right.

It was while she was gathering the ingredients she would need that a small commotion erupted near the entrance she had come through nearly two candlemarks before and when Korvalia looked up, her blue eyes became chips of ice and narrowed slightly. Silverlight. She’d since heard about the male’s Impression to one of the Weyrborn lads, but hadn’t witnessed it for herself until now. While the male to male Impression appeased her need for order, she wasn’t at all sure how she felt about the dragon to begin with.

Sensing her sudden shift in mood, Korinath rumbled softly—the sound more like a low pitched trill—and lifted her head, her eyes whirling slowly as she peered sleepily around the kitchen before spotting her clutch brother. Perking up, she pushed to her feet and uncoiled herself, prancing merrily towards the Silverlight, agilely avoiding a woman carrying a stacked tray of already baked loaves of bread that would be for the retiring wherhandlers. Finally reaching her sibling, she hopped from left to right on her feet, talons clicking against the stone floor.

Hullo there Azeriuth! Why are you up so early? Does your Mine like to cook too? My Korvalia is a wonderful cook, did you know that? I’ll bet you didn’t. Oh! Did you hear that there is to be a party for one of the Weyrlings in a few days? Are you and Yours going to go?[/b][/color]

Korvalia sighed and shook her head, continuing her task as she avoided actually looking at the Silverlight and his rider. It was too early to form a solid opinion just yet though her current opinion of the Silverlights wasn’t likely to help one bit.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Azeriuth stopped in the entrance to the kitchen. The place was crowded! There people bustling all over the place. Surely, surely, there must be one moment of time in which there wasn’t such a crowd. Unnerved, the Silverlight looked up at T’ruk, who had also come to a complete standstill in the entrance.

For a moment they remained as they were, both boy and dragonet unwilling to continue forwards into the crowded kitchen. Before one of them could make up his mind to enter, another form straightened up from near one of the hearths and approached them. Both of them immediately recognized Azeriuth’s Moonlight sister, Korinath.

Azeriuth tipped his head to one side, regarding his sister. She’d probably make a great friend, for she was friendly and talkative, even though the barrage of questions was a tad overwhelming.

My rider and I were hungry, so we decided to come down here for food, Azeriuth replied. I had not heard that there is to be a party. When is it? T’rukMine has an engagement already for the evening of Turnover’s Eve, but if this party does not conflict than we may well be attending. Azeriuth didn’t mention that he hoped that if they attended, it would not be when there was a huge crowd around. He really didn’t even like thinking about such a thing, the thought alone was enough to make him want to head back to his weyr.

T’ruk glanced from Azeriuth to the Moonlight and back. He could tell they were talking about something, but he did not know what. It was piquing his curiosity, this not knowing.

There is to be a party for one of the other Weyrlings, Korinath wants to know if we plan on attending.

T’ruk hesitated, then shrugged. He wasn’t sure if attending sounded like a great idea, or some kind of torture session. Certainly it might be fun. He hadn’t been to any parties at the Weyr yet except the Hatching Feast, and that had been fun enough.

[Cait]

As the Silverlight tipped his head in one direction, Korinath mimicked the action only in the opposite direction, her tail coiling about her as she sat. True it made it rather difficult to navigate that particular portion of the kitchen but for the most part the kitchen workers managed with only a few muttered complaints under their breath.

Food! Oh, Korinath knew where she could find some of that! Now that Azeriuth mentioned it, she was getting rather hungry as well--never mind that she'd woken Korvalia up in the middle of the night to eat.

KorvaliaMine, will you feed us? This is Azeriuth and his rider, aren't they shiny? I just invited them to that party that Niekolgoth's rideris planning. When did you say it was again? Turnover? Oh...trundlebug.

Korinath had twisted her head around at what looked to be an uncomfortable angle, practically looking at Korvalia upside-down from across the kitchen, though before even allowing the woman to answer, she'd realized that there was a bit of a scheduling conflict. If Azeriuth and his rider had previous commitments... Well it is on Turnover's Eve, but maybe you could come a little early? I think it's supposed to be a surprise party. Mine says that's when everyone hides and then pops out and shouts SURPRISE. Sounds silly to me, but it might be fun. And there will be food there. Oh! Did you hear about Xinalinth's rider? The girl ignored our sister when she tried to Impress![/b][/color]

Korvalia sighed and lifted a hand, rubbing at her brow then hissed when she realized she'd likely just smeared flour all over her face. Grabbing a nearby towel and inspecting it to make sure it was clean, she wiped her face and hands before disappearing into the bustling kitchen in search of food enough to feed two constantly hungry dragonets and a weyrling rider. She might not know what she thought about the boy but that hardly meant she wouldn't feed him. Chances were that she'd been feeding him long before he Impressed, so it would make no sense to deny him food now because of some...Silverlight.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Azeriuth was pleased by Korinath’s suggestion. Parties seemed like a lot of fun, and surely the Weyrling who was being celebrated would be happy. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of a whole huge crowd being there, but perhaps he and T’ruk could hang on the sidelines, then they would be attending, get to have food and fun, and they wouldn’t be in the middle of a massive crowd. They could have fun all evening. It was an excellent idea. Naturally, Azeriuth being Azeriuth, the Silverlight didn’t waste a moment thinking of what might go wrong. Everything would work out perfectly.

We should be able to come in time. Though we will have to leave early, T’ruk must get dressed up for the later party.

T’ruk glanced over towards the kitchen, only to see a blonde woman gathering up food that looked like it might well be intended for a couple of dragonets. He’d never managed to learn her name, but he remembered that she had been a Candidate, so he guessed that she must have been the same blonde that had Impressed to the Moonlight, Korinath, who was currently talking to Azeriuth.

“Wait here,” T’ruk told Azeriuth, heading over to the kitchen, dodging moving adults with the practice of years spent as a drudge at the Hold, to see if his fellow Weyrling needed any help.

Azeriuth, meanwhile, was feeling a little bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t that he preferred quiet necessarily, it was just that he had suddenly gone from silent companionship with His T’ruk to a barrage of questions from his Moonlight sister. He gave T’ruk a startled look, but His was already partway into the crowd, focused on the main food preparation area.

"Do you need any help, ma'am?" T'ruk called, trusting that his focus on the blonde Weyrling would make it clear who he was asking.

[Cait]

A later party? Why hadn’t Korinath been invited to this one? Her rider probably wouldn’t make a fuss about it, but the little Moonlight narrowed her eyes slightly and huffed at the thought that she had not been invited to a gathering. Of course the obvious reason escaped her; the gathering likely had nothing to do with her. Still…

There is another party? I did not hear aboutit. Who all is going to be there? Is it a secret party? I bet that it is! Where is it going to be?[/b]

And so the interrogation began. She just had to know about this party. Who was going to be there, what it was for, and most especially if anything happened. Maybe if the little Moonlight played her cards right, Azeriuth would be her inside man at this party. She wasn’t so uncouth as to just invite herself along, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to stalk the crap out of the party for any bits of gossip she could find. She was sure that Korvalia would want to know about this.

Speaking of Korvalia, she was currently balancing a wide, shallow pan-like dish that was filled with raw chunks of meat that she’d pulled from the cold storage between hip and arm while using the other hand to skillfully appropriate a platter with several slices of bread, a piece of imported fruit from the south, five meatrolls and a helping of clotted cream. It really was a feat when one looked at the young woman, but it was all in a day’s work for her. She’d been learning to balance odd things since she’d started running around the kitchens.

When T’ruk approached, Korvalia paused from scraping the cream into a small dish and looked up briefly to see the rider of the male Silverlight standing there. Raising a brow she was silent for several long seconds until it would seem she wasn’t going to respond. Then she jerked her head towards the pan of meat and offered a congenial—if not particularly friendly—smile. ”You can set this on the stones in front of the hearth over there to warm a bit. I’ve found that Korinath prefers it warm over cold. More natural I would suspect.”

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

The silence was a bit unnerving to T’ruk, even with experience at the Weyr he still fell into old patterns of thought easily, and those patterns said that nothing good would come of silences like this one. At one and the same time however, his patterns of thought from the Weyr indicated that the silence, if odd, was no particular harbinger of badness. The other Weyrling spoke then, and so the silence ended with nothing worse than a request to take the meat over to the hearth so that it could warm up.

T’ruk stepped closer and eased the pan of meat from the woman’s grasp. He couldn’t balance it one-handed using a hip, like she could, so he just carried it in front of his body. He was glad he didn’t have to carry it far though, for while it wasn’t truly heavy — at least not to someone accustomed to work — it was made unwieldy by virtue of its size.

Throught all of this, Azeriuth had been watching his rider out of one slow-whirling eye, while answering his curious and talkative sister’s questions. She wasn’t like many here, who were silent yet tenacious and full of pride and honor, rather she struck him as one who adored being with and interacting with others. Certainly her friendliness was infecting him.

It is not a secret, it’s just a smaller gathering. One of the LifeWing Riders is hosting it for a few of her friends. She invited T’rukMine before our Hatching.

Right as Azeriuth finished speaking, T’ruk had just placed the meat on the hearth. Azeriuth immediately darted over. Like all newly born creature, his concentration could be entirely diverted by the presence of food.

[Cait]

Had she known how unnerving the other Weyrling found her silence, Korvalia might have been mildly amused—not that she’d show it. Instead she waited until he took the wide and shallow pan from her and then turned her attention to piling more human friendly foods onto the tray including a mug of freshly brewed—and perhaps a bit strong—klah. Once everything was organized just so on the tray; as there was a proper way to do such things, she lifted it deftly and turned to watch with practiced eyes as T’ruk did as she’d asked of him.

He was neither clumsy nor graceful but he was steady and familiar enough with navigating the kitchen that she half suspected that he’d worked in one before or a place very much like it. To work in a kitchen required a great deal of spatial awareness to avoid both messy and often times dangerous accidents. Of course she wasn’t able to focus on the lad for long.


Korinath tilted her head in the most adorable way, her pale nose twitching slightly in time to the tip of her tail. Not a secret? That was a shame, she rather liked secrets. Like how her Korvalia was secretly disgusted by the other young Silverlight pair. Okay that wasn’t a particularly well kept secret, however, it was still a secret in the eyes of the Moonlight.

Have you met a LifeWing? I’ve heard they’re strange and that they come from DarkWings. I’m not sure what that is exactly, but it doesn’t sound good. I wonder why KorvaliaMine wasn’t invited. Is she not friends with this woman? Maybe she…food![/b]

Of course, Korinath was no different from any other hatchling and when her brother spotted the meat near the hearth and scrambled across the worn stone floor, she twisted about and pranced after him, tripping one of the kitchen lads with her tail in the process; not that she noticed. When Azeriuth looked as though he might lunge at the meat, Korinath quickly wriggled her way in front of him and plopped down, her eyes whirling merrily. Wait for it to get warm, Azeriuth, it’s so much better![/b]

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Azeriuth cocked his head to one side. He was confused. Food was food, why would it be better warm? More importantly, why should one wait? It was food! He’d waited to eat when he’d Hatched though, because he’d had to find His, so, maybe he should give this waiting and warming thing a try. To take his mind off his stomach, he diverted some of his attention to answering Korinath’s questions.

I haven’t met a LifeWing yet, Mine doesn’t know about DarkWings. We haven’t talked about history much… Kyuuki doesn’t know many people. Turning to look at T’ruk, Azeriuth asked: T’ruk, Mine, what are DarkWings?

T’ruk, who’d been watching the dragonets watch the food with a truly puzzled expression on his face, tensed at the sudden communication. He hadn’t been expecting Azeriuth to talk to him, so he’d been startled by the voice. Closing his eyes, he focused on simply thinking, instead of speaking out loud. He dug through his memories, hunting for some hint of the phrase DarkWing, but he didn’t find anything. I don’t know what a DarkWing is, he answered. I think Gillian might have mentioned them, once, or maybe it was DeathWings… Yeah, it was DeathWings! He said that LifeWings used to be big and evil and all black with razor beaks, and they killed people, but then they somehow realized what they had done and changed themselves. He tried to think of anything else, but that was all that came to mind.

I’ll ask Kyuuki about it at the party.

Thank you T’rukMine, Azeriuth replied. Turning back to Korinath, the Silverlight said: T’rukMine will ask Kyuuki about it on Turnover. Questions attended to, the Silverlight returned his attention to the food.

T’ruk glanced over his shoulder. The older Weyrling was carrying a try of food, which remained him of how hungry he was. He tracked her movement, wondering if he should go and help himself in the kitchen, or were there rules about that.

[Cait]

As was the nature of gossip, Korinath had gotten a slightly altered version of the truth; well not exactly truth but fact. DarkWings, DeathWings…was there really a difference? Korinath watched her brother intently as he turned his head towards his bonded. As T’ruk explained what he knew to the Silverlight, the meat continued to warm so that by the time Azeriuth turned back and relayed whatever it was his little boy had said, it was properly warm enough to eat.

Is that all he said? You will tell me about them won’t you? I would like that very much.[/b] Of course she probably could’ve asked Korvalia about it but this way was much more fun. Azeriuth was going to have his Mine tell him after a LifeWing rider told the story. She’d be getting fourth-hand knowledge!

Oh! The food is ready. After you.

Meanwhile, Korvalia moved towards the younger boy and slid the tray onto a counter beside him before walking away. No “here you go” or “enjoy” just a simple delivery of food; and fairly good food at that. It was, after all, her job to feed dragonriders and weyrfolk alike. It wasn’t T’ruk’s fault if he happened to ride a dragon that Korvalia wasn’t entirely sure about. Then again, she wasn’t entirely sure about the boy either. Only time would reveal his character and the nature of his dragon.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Azeriuth, not being nearly so exuberantly social as Korinath, was a little confused about why Korinath was excited about receiving news that had traveled through so many people. On the other hand, it certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone if he were to provide the information, and it would be best if he could encourage Korinath’s interest in talking and being engaged with others. Certainly such open-hearted friendliness was a good thing.

Mine is rather quiet most times. I will tell you more about LifeWings when I see you next after Turnover… Azeriuth had fully intended to say more, but that was when Korinath mentioned that the food was ready, thus neatly diverting the young Silverlight’s attention from the conversation to the bowl of food that had been warming on the hearth.

Azeriuth immediately darted forward and gulped down several pieces, taking the edge off of his hunger. Having accomplished that, he stepped back so that Korinath could access the food as well. It was, after all, her human that had prepared the food, even if his had been the one to carry it to the hearth.

T’ruk didn’t even notice the dragonets, he was too busy staring after Korvalia, his gaze going from her retreating form to the plate of food and back again. Despite having stayed in the Weyr for the months that he had, he hadn’t eaten in the kitchen often, and was thus completely surprised at being brought food. In fact his first impulse had been to look around in an attempt to determine who he was supposed to carry it to. It hadn’t taken more than a single look around the cavern to ascertain that there was no one who appeared to be waiting for food, so he had decided that it must be intended for him.

He’d gotten a thank you out, though whether the other Weyrling heard it was something he would probably never know. He spent a few more minutes staring after Korvalia, then turned his attention to his food, even as was Azeriuth. He ate with a single-minded focus which would have been the envy of a hungry dragon, and finished the food in record time.

T’ruk dodged into the main kitchen to deposit his dishes in the massive sink, then slipped back out. A quick glance over to the hearth confirmed that Azeriuth was done eating, so he started towards the door. The kitchen and dining cavern was starting to become more crowded anyway, and T’ruk really would much rather not be there around a large crowd of loud, rambunctious people.

Azeriuth was clearly in agreement, for he followed T’ruk out of the cavern without any prompting at all, his tail swishing from side to side. He was full, His was near, they likely had time for a nap, life was good.