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 Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:20 pm
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Things at the Hold had been miserable since Vitre impressed. Nebbi was even more irritable than usual, spending much of her time worrying about what V'tre was getting up to up there all alone. More than anything, she wanted him to be safe. Visions of silver rain and disappearing dragons had plagued her since the hatching. Even if she knew, in theory, that he was still a turn away from seeing any real thread, that accidents were unlikely, and that she definitely would have heard if anything had happened to him, she still couldn't shake the feeling. After that, she wanted him to be happy. She wanted to make sure he was getting along without her, and had friends and they were treating him well and he wasn't lonely. But then, also, maybe, a tiny part of her wanted him to be hurting too. Because it was torture here without him. And even if she'd never admit it, out loud or in her own mind, she'd be heartbroken to find out that he hadn't missed her at all.
She knew deep down that Vitre was her best friend and he always would be. That truth existed clearly in her mind. But in the months since he left, other versions of him had popped up as well. Ones that thought of her as a nuisance. Ones that would laugh and say things like 'that girl I used to know'. They weren't true. She knew that they weren't. But she just needed to see him. To scatter the shadows of doubt that had crept into her mind.
Which is how she found herself here, on the back of a tithe train on its way to High Reaches Weyr. She'd heard a rumor one would be coming through this and staked it out, sneaking in where she knew the caravans liked to stop for a break along the way. The plan was to wait until she got into the Weyr, kick something off the side of the cart, then slip away while people were distracted. But tucked between the warm bed furs that were bound in tithe for the Weyr, and lulled by the gentle rocking of the cart down the mountain roads, it wasn't long before the fourteen year old girl was fast asleep...
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:14 pm
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Laelia didn't mind tithe duty. Something about it felt like unwrapping gifts - seeing what would become available to the Weyr in the next few weeks, something she might even receive a part of, if she was lucky. She liked seeing the food the best, but the artisan crafts were beautiful, too, and she certainly didn't complain a bit about the exercise she got from the work.
Things had been improving, it felt, since the hatching. There was word of a clutching that had recently occurred at Western, and Laelia immediately put her name in for a candidate swap, her sister be damned. Sorcha had appeared to be taking care of herself just fine, and Laelia was sick of waiting for the time where they would be considered equals again, when she could hover around her like the overprotective older sister she was. Maybe it was about time Laelia cared for herself a bit - at least, that's what she kept telling herself. It was too late, anyway. Once she made the trip to Western, that would be the end of it, she was sure.
The tithe was bountiful this time, and doing the menial work kept her mind off of the more troubling aspects of her situation. She was able to focus on moving objects off of carts, getting them sorted into piles, making sure everything was perfectly intact. Someone else handled logging the tithes, and she didn't care much for counting, anyway. The evening had been rather uneventful, until she moved a box of fruit aside and saw a body in the cart.
Laelia had to stifle a scream, clapping her hands over her mouth - she thought the girl, wrapped in furs, might be dead. But then she saw the slow, even breathing, the serene expression on her face. And - oh, wasn't she that wine girl from the feast? Had she grown homesick for the Weyr? Maybe she had come to skip the Search, try her hand at begging for Candidacy. It wasn't unheard of, anyway. But Laelia wasn't sure what to do when she found someone stowed away in a tithe cart like this - she had never been instructed on how to react to such a situation.
"Hey," she said, reaching out and shaking the girl's shoulder a little bit, hoping it would be enough to wake her up. Laelia couldn't remember the girl's name for the life of her. Maybe it was best to give her the benefit of the doubt - the girl might have been running from a bad situation. "Are you okay?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:27 pm
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Nebbi was nice and warm and sleepy when she felt a hand gently shaking her shoulder. "Mmmmph.. Dad.." she grumbled, as she often did on a morning whenever he tried to get her up. Still, she should probably wake up soon. There was a lot she had to do before she left for classes. Today was the day she was planning to- Nebbi's eyes suddenly flew open and she sat bolt upright, the last 24 hours coming back to her at once. She'd already left for the Weyr! Already snuck on tithe wagon.. So then who..?
Her eyes shifted to the person in front of her, realizing what had happened. They were at the Weyr now. She must have fallen asleep somewhere along the way and not realized how close they had gotten. But the young woman, at least, was someone she recognized. The candidate from the feast. What was her name..? Lea.. Laelia?
Poking her head out to glance around the caravan, Nebbi quickly grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her inside, out of view. Fortunately, it seemed like no one else had noticed her yet. She clasped her hand in front of her chest tightly. She was supposed to have spent the ride up thinking of excuses in case she got caught, but clearly she hadn't had time! "Pleeeasssee don't tell anyone I'm here!" she begged instead, whispering. "I'm not doing anything bad, I just want to see my friend, I promise!"
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:50 pm
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Laelia was shocked at the girl's strength when she pulled her into the caravan, gasping a little as her hand was grasped. She was clearly desperate - but sneaking into the Weyr, just to see a friend? That seemed a bit... extreme. Letters were allowed to and from the Weyr, right? Laelia had written her own father a few times, just to update him on how Sorcha was doing, because she was sure Sorcha hadn't written a word with him in mind. But anyway, she wasn't even sure who she would report this girl to, if she had to.
Honestly, Laelia was kind of up for an adventure. Things hadn't been too exciting around here, and she was itching to do something. This girl might have proposed the perfect solution. But how was she just going to get off her chore shift? She eyeballed the other Candidates who were working nearby. Maybe she'd come up with some kind of an excuse, and explain away this stowaway in the process.
"Okay, fine," she said quietly, soothingly, to put her at ease, retracting her hand from the vice grip. "I just, uh... why were you hiding like that? It seems a bit extreme. Who's your friend?" Her words were a bit distracted, though, as Laelia was primarily concerned about how the girl would get home - it wasn't like the tithe cart driver would be exactly willing to bring her back home knowing that she had stowed away in the first place, and a rider wasn't likely to give out joy rides. Unless she begged Sorcha, but she hadn't talked to her sister in, well, weeks.
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