Everybody knows (open)

[HG]

Tell me now if you came sneaking up behind
Would you know me and see behind the smile
I can change like colors on a wall
Hoping no one else will find what lies beneath it all
I think I hide it all so well

Stepping out, everyone can see my face
All the things I can't erase from my life
Everybody knows
Standing out so you won't forget my name
That's the way we play this game of life
Everybody knows

Another day. Kreallie mused to herself as she walked as quietly out of the Weyr as she could. She wasn't above doing chores but she often was given less strenuous chores due to the nature of her brother's position and the unarguable fact that Kreallie was never in trouble. Perfection had its costs in the end. She hid herself so well from the world that every now and then she had to get away from the glass world she lived in and find something more solid to surround herself with. Element of choice today was water. Swimming would relieve all the stress of the day.

Kreallie slipped out of her dress, her undergarments were suited for swimming. The slim girl's legs were growing long and shapely. Despite or perhaps in spite of her current hormonal upheaval the girl had decided to accept the changes and move on. Life was constant change after all and although she often wished to stay a child forever she also wanted freedom from it. As an adult she could make her own choices. Kreallie could choose to be a lady or not to be one. At times she preferred the solace being above everyone her age provided and at others the loneliness was overwhelming.

Solitude at the Weyr was not something she expected to find but she fervently hoped that none of her enemies decided to show up and ruin this for her. Wading into the cool waters she shivered. The days were so ghastly hot that a little cool water actually felt really good. The sweat coming from her skin would soon be gone and she would feel more clean and certainly much less hot. She swam out to the middle of the lake where it was most deep and began to float on her back with her eyes closed.

[Inadua]

Speaking of being a child forever... Neande had seen Kreallie approaching the lake from afar. Glancing skyward, Neande shielded her eyes from the blazing sun with one hand, and as beads of sweat trickled down the back of her neck, matting her hair, she figured in this terrible heat, a little swim wouldn't be a bad idea. The girl picked up her pace, skipping across the bowl toward the lake.


From a rocky ledge, the pale, blonde headed candidate who'd only recently arrived to the weyr, began shucking off her clothes. First her shirt, then her pants -she couldn't remember where she'd left her shoes. But that didn't matter. There was little modesty to be had when it came to Neande, but only in the most innocent, childlike way. It was only by a stroke of luck that she wore an undergarment to cover her bottom half AND her top half. Of course when wet, they were probably a bit see-through.

Untying her straggly hair, the girl took an athletic leap into the lake.

"WWAAAHHHOOOO!!!"

Hair, limbs, water, water.. and more water.. went flying everywhere. A tremendous splash went up and came crashing back down, disturbing much of what had previously been a peaceful body of water.

Neande's head broke through the surface of the water again, brushing hair back from her face, turning to swim toward Kreallie.

"YAAYy!! Krelly! THIS WAS SUCH A GREAT IDEA!"

[HG]

Tranquility was what she had thought she had found but that was before an overly loud and uninvited guest made an appearance. The sound of the girl entering the water in an excited and loud manner caused Kreallie to dip her legs down bringing her to an upright position in the water. Treading where she was she rolled her eyes although she was far enough away that the other girl would not have seen it. Reminding herself not to be completely rude, after all she had an appearance to keep up, she put on a smile.

Neande was a child of D’seus and no matter what the girl said or did, she was never going to like her much. Her brother and D’seus did not get along well and then there was his pack leading son, who had unfortunately Impressed to a Bronze, whom she felt was an arrogant asshole. Now as for Neande, she barely knew her but at least she was not thinking of being in charge of anyone, least of all Kreallie. So long as the other girl was not going to boss her around she could be a good girl and play nice.

My name is Kreallie and the lake was a good idea until someone came and ruined it! She thought to herself quite grumpily while maintaining a much more gracious and kind demeanor outwardly. “ Thank you Neande. The weather has been horrible, so hot and humid. The best place to be is in the cool water. I’m sure more people would be here if they had time to spare. Did you finish your chores early too?” She asked while treading water. Kreallie was thinking the scatterbrained blonde might be a good ally against H’nuk.

Twitching her nose a moment, she mused on the idea. Neande did not seem the type to cross anyone really but that did not mean she could not be useful at some point in the future. And she had to face it, she had very few friends in general. It might be nice and might appease her brother if he saw her interacting with other teenage girls. Neande was three Turns older but one would never guess. Actually, she never really thought about it but Neande should be a Candidate.

Why had the girl not been on the Sands at the last two Hatchings? Curios, she thought as she ducked under water a moment, coming back up for air shortly after. “I was wondering, this is simply out of curiosity, why have you not become a Candidate?” Maybe the girl had other plans for her life? Kreallie would rather they were not competition in the future anyway. She had enough competition from that dimglow, Seirsha. As much as she hated her, one had to admit the other girl had clout.

[Inadua]

The blonde headed one was apparently oblivious to the fact that she'd become a nuisance to Kreallie. Managing a doggie paddle to make her way to the other girl, she stopped just shy of being close enough to splash her while swimming so awkwardly.

“ Thank you Neande. The weather has been horrible, so hot and humid. The best place to be is in the cool water. I’m sure more people would be here if they had time to spare. Did you finish your chores early too?”

That question seemed to stump her for a moment, as her head canted to one side with a curious sideways glance as an index finger rose to tap the side of her temple.

"Chores? Mmmm.. chores? Ah! I remember now. We were all given chores."

As if that answered everything.. She stared blankly across the surface of the water at Kreallie while her head slowly dipped beneath the surface to where just her eyes and nose were above it while blowing little air bubbles below.


“I was wondering, this is simply out of curiosity, why have you not become a Candidate?”

Neande regarded Kreallie thoughtfully for a moment, her mood taking a turn to become more serious. As if such a thing were possible?

"Well. You see, I should be a candidate soon. I only just returned to the weyr, having been released from my kidnappers. For so long I was lost to the wilderness, whereabouts unknown. But my father came to rescue me. All of the dragons did, and they found me in a cave near the inland ocean. My mother was killed,..but now I'm here. D'seus brought me back with him. He's such a kind man. It's too bad he has no other children. It would be nice to have brothers or sisters. It gets lonely sometimes.

"Hmmm.. How long have you been at the Weyr, Krelly?"

The way she spoke was in such a matter of fact tone that it might be possible she believed it to be the truth. Her demeanor had become so calm ... there was no telling.

[HG]

How did they find her?? Kreallie wondered to herself while trying not to be rude or unnecessarily cruel to the older girl. Everyone knew they had chores at the Weyr except for apparently this strange girl child of D’seus’ breeding. Although that probably explained at least half of it, Bronzeriders were not typically prone to insanity even if they could be arrogant sons of bitches. Maybe there was one in every family…except for hers. Seeing as there were only two of them at the Weyr at the moment. Although judging by her brother’s attendance on Sakorai, that might change in the future. All male riders, her brother included, had trouble keeping away from the temptations and charms of women. Someday she might be able to use them to her advantage too.

Neande seemed to avoid answering questions directly on purpose which irritated Kreallie to no end. But had she not just decided she would endure it all in order to have a weapon against H’nuk and his gang of pranksters. Smiling before she ducked under to cool her head and her obvious irritation, she came up to listen to her explanation of why she was not a Candidate. Kreallie was prepared for Candidacy. No doubt her perfect dragon would find her and soon. While girls like Seirsha and Neande would wait and wait and never impress anything. That did not mean she did not need to befriend the girl. People who had crafting backgrounds were always useful later on.

The story the girl told was unbelievable. Literally. Kreallie did not believe a word to be true although it may well be the story the girl told to herself to keep from despairing over her mother’s death. They had something in common. Neither of their mothers were alive though Kreallie had also lost her father. “D’seus has several children. In fact he’s quite well known for his numerous offspring though I do believe you are the first of them. H’nuk your half-brother, Impressed to Bronze Imhoth last hatching. “ Most of the Bronzeriders were well known throughout the Weyr even those in Weyrling training.

In any case Kreallie was no simpleton. She knew D’seus went to get Neande because her mother had died. All she wanted to know was if Neande would be Standing for the next clutch. Talking in circles did nothing to improve the red head’s temper. She ducked back under the water, loving the cool face she had when she came back up. There was a good chance her cheeks would be sunburned before she came in out of the water.

She’d been at Refuge since the Haven Weyr attack. “I moved here with my brother after my parents were killed in the attack on Haven Weyr. He was transferred in exchange for a Gold and her rider.” She remembered that day because of the chaos. J’ldaem had taken her with him on a visit to Refuge Weyr so that she would see the place and because he wanted to spend time with his sister. Haven was attacked in their absence, both Queen dragons were dead and their riders as well. More importantly to Kreallie, her parents too were dead. Living at Haven might have been torture but it was almost as bad living at Refuge and knowing you would never quite belong in it.

[Inadua]

There was no telling exactly how much of Kreallie's talk about moving to Refuge weyr Neande actually heard, because slowly, the girls' happy expression melted into pouting lips and big, sad eyes once the mention of D'seus having more children was brought up. The blonde headed girl started crying a little sniffly-like, but soon broke out into a wail of tears.

"I thought it was lies!! Liiiiiies!!!! WWAaaaaahHHHhhahhh!"
It took a moment, but the tears eventually ceased -they usually didn't last long- and Neande's lower lip puckered up again. Even as she went on to speak, her tone becoming absurdly mellow-dramatic, a bubble of snot appeared in one nostril, each breath making it blow out and in just a little.
She clutched hands together at her chest in a tragic motion, "OOooohhh!! My life is a lie! How can I go on living?! Cruel world...!!!! Goodbye!!"

Neande gasped in a single breath and then her eyes closed; tipping under the water the girl began to slowly sink, leaving tiny bubbles of air drifting to the surface. By all appearances, she was about to drown herself.