Anyone else but you (R'ko)

[katgod]

The afternoon was a warm one. Too sticky for Netory's taste. She would have preffered a good snowstorm to this any day. The dragons seemed to love it. Whenever she saw them they were out on their ledges. At Telgar they came inside more. After her lessons the young girl had contemplated what she should do with her choreless afternoon. She was helping with the laundry later and one of the older ladies had promised to teach her to sew a stitch when she arrived. Netory was looking forward to it. Skills like that were useful at the Weyr.

When at last she came to a decision she realized she had already been walking in the right direction for some time. She wanted to see her half - brother, R'ko. He was a brownrider and he was the person in her life that she loved the most. She loved her mother too and her father. Her foster parents were also well liked but R'ko held a special place for her. She saw him as her best friend and confidant as well as her family. His dragon, Deshenoreth, was her favorite dragon, even if she did like Sheluth the Gold was a little more distant towards her. Desh was a sweet one if one were to ask her.

It never could have occured to the nine turn old that her brother would be busy and not want to spend time with her. If he was busy, it would be too late for him because she walked right into his weyr without a knock or anything, as if she lived there. There were times she had threatened to move in with him, in a teasing way. Although the girl would never admit that that was one of the secret wishes of her heart. She would have loved for him to be able to foster her but he was almost as busy as her parents, especially now that they were at a new Weyr.

"R'ko! Guess who!" She said loudly as she walked through the doorway. Netory was wearing her usual attire, a wool dress and working shoes. Today her hair was half up and half down but it wasn't bothering her any.

[TheDreamerLady]

Stitching leather harness was not a fun job. Even after over twelve turns of practice, there was still the risk of jabbing your fingers, and the needle, thick and strong as it was, hurt.

And the distraction R'ko gave himself with thoughts of how unfair it was that he be trapped in a menial position, not even a Wingthird, in a Wing controlled by some slack jawed Igen inbred Wingleader didn't make it any better. And while R'ko generally was well natured, and generally was forgiving, he wanted his rank back, his respect back, and he wanted to return to Telgar were it wasn't so infernally hot!

And that was when Netory walked in, and in the moment it took R'ko to put down his needle and harness, and turn around, all his anger had washed away, and he was all smiles for his half sister. Shards, it was nice to have family.

"Heyya, Lady." R'ko said brightly, standing up, quickly adjusting his orange lightweight shirt, and bending down to the Weyrbrat a hug.

"I haven't seen you in ages- what have you been up too?"

[katgod]

Netory spotted R'ko as he stood up and said hello. She smiled more brightly knowing that his demeanor had changed as well when he saw her. She walked closer and opened her arms around his chest. "I missed you R'ko." Her voice was soft and very sweet. She had missed him more than anyone knew. Even if the rest of the family understood the closeness, it was interesting how very like her mother and uncle the pair was.

"The usual, getting under the kitchen drudge's feet, annoying Candidates and causing the usual mayhem that Weyrbrats are responsible for. Other than that I've been completely innocent. " Her eyes however contradicted the last statement. The truth was she never was caught doing anything bad. She had a streak of mischief in her that was much like that of her uncle, luckily the only person who really knew about that was her brother, though she suspected the Headwoman was on to her.

"How about you and Desh? I know he must be enjoying the sun. I see more dragons at the Lake then I ever did at Telgar and there are less of them here!" Netory loved water and it was no suprise she spent time watching dragons and dreaming, like many Weyrbrats before her.

[TheDreamerLady]

R'ko kissed the top of her head, and spun her around. Laughing at her impish comments, he shook his head slightly.

"As long as you don't drag me into it, yeah?" He stated, mock serious. He really didn't want to get on the bad side of the Headwoman, but doubted that a Weyrbrat could truly get on the bad side of a Headwoman. Headwomen were practically chosen for their ability with children, or so it seemed.

As with most dragonriders, R'ko's eyes lit up about her question about Desh. He could, and had gone on for quite a bit of time about his Brown, but doubted that Netory cared. She was a proper Weyrbrat, and loved dragons.

"Desh is as always, enjoying whatever makes me feel wonky. This stifling heat is leading him to fully appreciate how miserable it makes me, and how shiny it makes him. On the up and up, the beach is wonderful here- have you been yet?"

[katgod]

She laughed as he spun her. Netory felt so comfortable here, warm and welcome. "I wouldn't dream of getting you involved in it, for all I know you'd blow my cover." Netory sent back at her brother. Honestly she had little to worry about as far as trouble making went. No one wanted to tattle on her so none of the kids were going to snitch and she was rather covert.

"I agree its very..." She looked for the word though it sat on the tip of her tongue, "sticky." Perhaps not the most descriptive word in the world but it worked in this situation. Even in the morning it was sticky and warm. She missed the cold and the snow on the mountain range. Home was an awfully long way away. The word Beach recapturned her attention though she took a minute to figure out what he had asked.

"Oh! I have been dying to go but no one has been able to take me. You know how I love water... I hear the ocean is much more fun than the lake!" She was excited and hoping perhaps he could bring her. Oh that would make her day! Then she could tell people she had been to the Beach and not sound like a dimglow when she didn't understand what the beach was like.

[TheDreamerLady]

"No one's taken you yet?" R'ko asked, retaking his seat, and working on his harness absentmindedly. Then the brownrider actually thought on it, and realized that unless he took his sister himself, it was highly unlikely that anyone else would. R'net was busy, Neory was busy, Netory didn't have any other Rider friends, and her foster family wasn't that high on the totem pole.

"Well then." The redhead smiled, and his eyes unfocused as he spoke to his dragon. After a quick talk to Desh, R'ko returned to Netory.

"So, me and Desh would like to make you a deal." R'ko said lightly. "Keep me company while I finish this harness, and I'll take you to the beach when I'm done."

[katgod]

Netory shook her head, with a bit of a pout forming on her face. She had wanted to go so badly since they had arrived here in the Southern Continent. She had been told how beautiful the beach was and warm. Plus the ocean was supposedly a much more fun place to swim than a lake or a river. Something that was hard for Netory to imagine for she dearly loved to swim.

The moment that R'ko took to speak to his dragon, Netory went to touch the leather of the harness that her brother was working on. It was softer than she thought it would be. Just as she pulled her hand away R'ko spoke to her. A large smile graced her childish face and with a jump for joy she said, "YES!" Then she hugged her brother tightly. "You are the best brother in the whole of Pern and Desh is the best dragon!" Netory didn't care what she had to do to go to the beach, she was going!

"I would have kept you comapny anyway, just so you know." Netory added slyly and sat down next to her brother. She wanted to tell him about the people she had met this morning. "I met a couple of Candidates at breakfast this morning. The boy was nice. He's from near the sea and he says he has seen shipfish! I'd like to touch one." Maybe they would even see one when they went to the beach later!

[TheDreamerLady]

"Thank you 'Tory*," R'ko said with a smile, hugging his sister back and then continuing work on his harness with more speed than before, though not fast enough to risk weak spots. After all, it was risking broken bones- or well, death of both him and Desh.

"And some of the dragons have said that the Shipfish swam with them. Maybe Desh'll be lucky, hm?" Press, stitch, tighten, stitch, tighten, adjust. R'ko's thick fingers made quick, deft work of the large supple harness.

Beach! Girl! R'ko smiled at Desh's ecstatic cheer, though it robbed his brown of the natural loquaciousness afforded to his Dragon.

"What else did you learn about this candidate?" R'ko wanted to know.

*Is it okay for me to call her Tory?

[katgod]

((OOC: It is fine with me.))

Netory smiled at the use of her nickname. Only her family used it with her and rarely. Her name wasn't very long to begin with. Not that it could compare with R'ko. That was a very short name, Deshenoreth made up for it. "I am sure Deshenoreth will be able to swim with them. I bet they would love him." Who could dislike Desh?

The topic quickly changed back to her previous thoughts on the Candidates. "Oh, well I hope he impresses, he is very nice but he doesn't know much about the Weyr yet. I had to make sure he knew he was to report to the Candidate Master as he insisted that he had no chores or lessons!"Netory said calmly though at the time she was very suprised.

Her face made a slight frown, "The girl wasn't as nice. Actually, I'd call her rude. That is simply what I got from her. I've come to the conclusion that she is antisocial." Netory said with a tone of almost dissapointment. She didn't have many "friends" that were girls. Only one that was her age and she was her cousin who was still at Telgar.

[TheDreamerLady]

R'ko smiled in agreement over Netory's comments about Desh. Everyone did like his dragon, if simply because he was a nice looking Brown. And his personality was great, even if everyone knew him mostly secondhand through R'ko. And while R'ko wasn't precisely jealous of his dragon's affections, he did enjoy being the only one who his dragon would speak too.

"I'm glad you've been raised well enough to tell him what to do." R'ko said, finishing the third section of the the harness. He just had the forth, and all of the sections that were in need of repair would be repaired. Then they could leave.

"That sucks." Stitch, twist, pull, stitch, tug, stitch. R'ko's eyes narrowed, carefully placing the stitches. If they were done wrong, they would rub Desh uncomfortably. "It's never good for someone to be antisocial in a Weyr."

[katgod]

"I wonder if the Searchriders didn't tell him or if they did and he was confused..." Netory had not really had any reason to think about things like being Searched. She was from the Weyr so she didn't have to be Searched to stand and even if she never impressed a dragon she had a home here. Of course no one here would ever tell her she wouldn't impress unless it was some other brat trying to insult her.

There was little about her life that was not connected to the Weyr. That might be why the quieter Candidate was more troublesome to her than the other who had little knowledge of the Weyr. Here people were very social, overly so in comparison to the Holds. "It can't be a good thing anywhere. I mean if you don't talk to people how do you get things done or even know what people want of you."

Maybe she was looking too deeply into the situation. SHe could meet them both again under different circumstances and everything might be different. Not that they were unpleasant she just wasn't expecting the girl to be rude or the boy to have no idea what he was going to do while waiting for an egg to Hatch. "Do you think Desh will want to swim with me as well as the Shipfish?" She changed the subject back to something she'd rather be doing.

[TheDreamerLady]

"Probably. Desh likes you and your brother both." Desh also liked the brood of children who were basically R'ko's cousins, but he wasn't about to mention those who'd been left behind, despite how good of candidates the boys would have made.

R'ko quickly finished the last eight stitches, tied a careful knot, and placed all of his supplies back into a box in which they are kept.

"Can you help me put Desh's harness on? I'm looking forward to getting out of here." R'ko asked, while standing. The brownrider began to put away his thread/practice harness, and pulled out a lighter, easier to put on joyriding harness.

[katgod]

She thought the dragon must like her more than her baby brother. Netory spent more time with them and she was the one who admired him most after R'ko of course. Maybe she just wanted to believe that the dragon liked her more because she wanted R'ko to love her more than her little brother. "I'll make sure to let him know that I like him too." The girl watched how quickly R'ko got his harness together. Someday maybe she would be as good at that.

"I'd love to!" She jumped to her feet in an instant, waiting for her brother. Netory was nine and because of her age, she had at least two turns experience helping with harnesses. Her mother had shown her and her brother, she even remembers helping her uncle with one once. Having a dragonriding family certainly had its perks.

"And now we go to the Beach!"

[TheDreamerLady]

(do you want to just start the next post at the Beach?)

It was always nice to have help with Harnesses. Really, it was as though they'd designed them for those with family or Weyrmates, or even dragons with cleverly crafted claws. But Netory had it finished in less than half of the time it usually took.

"Thank you kindly." R'ko replied with a smile, and offered his halfsister his hands. At this point, she was tall enough that with a boost she could reach the top of Desh herself, and he merely had to secure her. And he was certain she preferred it that way. After doing his best to hook her in safe, he mentally gave Desh a tap. The brown jumped off his ledge, and hovered in the air.

With a quiet command, dragon and brown shifted Between, ready to be at the beach.