Brewing trouble (Razia)

[HG]

What a day! He was sick to death of ridiculous chores that drudges should be doing. His usually smooth hands were calloused with labor. He had had to go to the wash room and clean up before coming here. Worst of all, Koldyn had been separated to do other chores. Apparently they didn't want the Northerner's becoming too chatty while they worked. Chatty! PAH! When his father found out about his treatment here the Weyrleader would be in for it. Although even Nevarre had to admit the man was in much better shape now than his father ever had been.

In any case, he was sick to death of this place. Even if the people had been nice, he would have hated it here. Scraping for a decent living. Well that was fine for THESE people but certainly someone like himself had higher standards. He was deep in his thoughts, ignoring everyone and everything around him. Briar was curled around his neck, tail coiled around his right arm. She was dozing as she often did when he was sulking. The little flit had long ago learned about his moods and generally tried not to bother her master when he was in such a negative frame of mind.

What came of all this work he was doing? Nothing. Not a damn thing. He was working for his food the Weyrleaders said which could easily be avoided if they would just send him home. Oh but they would not do that now would they? No they wanted him Standing on those hot Hatching Sands when the eggs Hatched. It was all part of their plan to keep the Expedition here. He didn't like the sneakiness of it all. His father would never approve of such a failure at diplomacy. The idea of impressing a dragon had at first sounded beneficial but it would be two full Turns before the Weyrlings were mature! TWO! He didn't have that kind of time. His father had made it clear that war was imminent. What if after all he had done he found his family gone? Deceased, failing to live!

Fuming both inside and out he cared little about what other people were doing. He had always been a self centered sort so it was no surprise when he rounded the corner, not thinking to look where he was going, that he hit something. The something became a someone as he heard a female voice. What was she saying? He really couldn't care. She should have been watching where she was going. It wasn't his fault she was an ignorant southerner. “What is your problem? Learn to look where you are walking woman.” He said holding back a snarl.

[Ise]

Razia loved her family, she truly did. But ever since she had come to the Weyr, Akorma had spent most of her time trying to tell Razia what to do, and what not to do. And when Akorma hadn’t been right there, her fire lizard had been around to keep an eye on her. It was growing harder and hard to not try and strangle her sister.

Today though, today there seemed to be freedom from it all. A chance to finally enjoy some peace and quiet. Akroma had been sent out to do some Shield thing and had taken the brown flit with her. Razia had taken care of her chores already, enjoying the hard work. Sure most of it was rather pointless but it needed to be done. And there were worse jobs in the Weyr then just cleaning up dirty rooms.

She was passing a corner, wondering what she was going to do now with her free time when someone ran into her. She stumbled back a few steps, scowling a little as she looked to see who it was. She recognized the face as a fellow candidate but couldn’t put a name to him.
“You know, next time you should look where you going.”

Razia was about to just keep on walking, letting the whole thing go when Nevarre opened his mouth. She stopped and turned slowly to look at him, wondering if she had heard him right. His accent gave him away for being one of those Northerners so it was some times hard to figure out what they were saying.
“Excuse me? I must have misheard you, I mean I can barely understand what you’re trying to say with that horrible accent you have but I thought I heard you say that I need to watch where I’m going. Now clearly that can’t be right since YOU are the one that ran into ME.”

She put her hands on her hips, staring him down. Some little voice in her mind told her she should just drop it and leave it alone. That it wasn’t worth starting some fight up with this jerk just because he had no manners. That voice was quickly silenced by the rest of Razia though. This guy was far, far from home, he should be a little more respectful to the people that were allowing him to stay here and even stand on the sands when it was time for the hatching. If the weyrleaders weren't going to make sure these Northerners had a better attitude about things then someone else was going to have to do it.

[HG]

His eyes narrowed. She did not just say what he thought she was saying. He was already well over all these Southerners and she had just placed him on the precipice between acting like any sane leader would and going off on her. Couldn't understand him? She was the one talking like she was from some back woods place like Nerat. “Are you dim? I said learn to watch where you are walking woman.” He spoke his words slowly, deliberately and somewhat as if talking to a child. He should have left it at that. Of course he should have.

Nevarre was not about to let a woman have the upper hand though. Especially not a Southerner. “Disrespecting someone of higher rank should not be tolerated even in a backwater place like this. Women here need to relearn their place.” The green firelizard clung tensely to the young man's tunic. If this chit of a girl wanted to start trouble she would get it. He was determined not to back down. Nevarre was always in the right, even when he wasn't. That was the best part about being a Lord Holder's son. You got your way.

He intended to do just that here. “ Do you need that repeated to you as well? Maybe a translator would help though I doubt understanding even your kind of speech comes easily to a dim glow like yourself.” If Nevarre had just crossed the line, he didn't care. She was annoying him and irritating him and she should damn well know her place by now! Women were supposed to be inferior to men. Especially Lord Holders and he was not going to take any such disrespect to himself.

[Ise]

Her eyes narrowed on Nevarre as he spoke, her lips going down into a scowl. Just who did this Northern brat think he was? Razia couldn’t help but laugh though when he called himself a higher rank.
“Higher rank? You? When has a prisoner or hostage ever been a higher rank then someone who’s still free?” She laughed again, a gleeful little sound. The little voice that had told her to behave was now eager to teach this rude little boy a lesson. She let out a little inner sigh, what a shame that she would have to try and mess up his pretty face.

“Why don’t you come a little closer and say those things to my face Northerner, I’ll show you what a good Southern woman can do.” Her hands stayed on her hips though she kept her body lose, ready to try and throw a punch at him as soon as he got close enough. Having to hear one an Akroma ‘I’m so disappointed in you Razia’ speech was well worth this.

Her eyes widened as he called her a dim glow and she let out a shriek.
“Me?! You’re calling me a dim glow? You’re the sharding idiot that’s walking around like your something special when you were sent here just because no one would miss you with that stick shoved so far up your arse! You’re the one too stupid to actually try and be decent when no one here likes you and even your own people don’t like you!” Her face was flushed red and she trembled with rage, barely stopping herself from just attacking Nevarre. One step closer though and she would be all over him.

[HG]

“I'm the son of a Lord Holder!” He said loudly, getting slightly irritated that the young woman wanted to continue the ever sad debate about her intelligence level. “I can come and go as I please. Do you see me in cuffs or chained. Is anyone following me about. No one is forcing me to stay or any of the others either.” In fact the Weyrleaders had so far been more vague than anything on what they wanted of the young group. While he admired them for being skillful diplomats, he was growing more and more insecure about what was going to be required of them to get home.

He was almost shocked at the fact she saw him as LESS than her. Less! HAH! “The Weyr needs me as much as you think it needs people of your...kind.” While he would not indulge her by saying exactly what her kind was, he was definitely thinking a number of worse things to say. Why were women always so infuriating? Why couldn't women act like men? Men were so civil and logical. They didn't get angry over silly little things, they listened and gave counsel easily. Why weren't women more like that?

“My own people think highly of me. What would you know of Northerner's? Silly little Southern girl. I think you are far too used to having men fawn over you and do as you like. Well I'm going to dissapoint you by saying your charms hold nothing over me. Men in the North like women who know their place. Having children, taking care of the household, treating men as the head of the household and most of all respecting people of higher rank. You think you are better than me little brat? Why don't you prove it?”

As usual, Nevarre did not take kindly to women who thought they could out do him. He could knock her down easily should she attack him. He was larger, male and had some training back home. He could protect himself. All Lord Holder's learned basic combat in order to keep themselves from harm if they were attacked. This woman would fail because he was simply put, better in all ways that mattered.

[Ise]

“So you’re the son of a lord who holds no power here? And yet we’re still suppose to bow down to you like you’re something special? Look around you boy, your daddy isn’t here to get you out of trouble. You’re stuck here. And if you don’t think you’re a prisoner here then you’re probably the only one unless everyone else from the North has a head as empty as yours. No one needs to put you in chains, if you try to harm our dragons they’ll just eat you. And if you try to run away, well there are quiet a few nasty creatures in the forest that wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of you either.” She gave him a grin filled with teeth. Everyone Razia had talked to knew that the Northerners were basically prisoners here. No one was sure why they were being allowed to stand at the Hatching, though Razia hoped that they would be there in case a dragon got too hungry before finding a mate, but that didn’t make these Northerners special.

“And why would a Weyr ever need some stuck up brat? We already have gold dragons after all, who needs dim glow boys who just prance around looking pretty?” She could only laugh as he told her what women up North were like, no wonder they were all in trouble.
“So you’re use to spineless women? No wonder you hate it here, actually having to put up with women who will tell you to your face that your own fire lizard is probably smarter then you. Though I have plenty of respect for those of a higher rank, but unlike the North, you have to earn that rank down here.”

Razia gave Nevarre a wicked little grin. Oh she knew she was better then this Northerner. Sure he was bigger then her and probably stronger but after teaching Akroma, their father had learned how to adjust his teachings to better suit his daughters. There were always those rumors that the dragon riders were rather… lose people and when she had been searched out, Razia’s father had made sure she knew how to defend herself against any grabby men. Neither he nor Akroma would approve of her doing this but by this point Razia didn’t care.

She widened her stance a bit, spreading her weight out more evenly between her legs. Razia was glad now that she had stuck to wearing a tunic and pants along with nothing that dangled, just simple studs in her ears and a necklace with a charm on it under her shirt. He wouldn’t be able to accidently grab either thing and pull it. She watched him closely, wondering if she could get just one good punch in and send him crying for his mother, grinning a little as she pictured that. If she did that then she wouldn’t have to worry about getting in trouble either, Nevarre didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would go around telling people he had been beaten up by a girl.

She suddenly closed the distance between the two of them, just a couple of quick steps before threw a punch at his face. Nothing graceful or pretty but it wasn’t a weak looking hit either.

[HG]

He was holding back. He was holding back... oh shard it! She deserved what was coming to her. Nevarre felt he was above reproach on this. She wanted to be a boy well then he would treat her like one. He could hit boys, girls, no but boys he could. This was how she wanted things to be. “You think I'm pretty? Maybe thats because the women here aren't?” Not that he had given much thought to the women here. The ladies at court were turned out to look nice, wear what was in fashion, they were easy to flirt with. These hardened Southerners were just that. Hard. He didn't like the look of this one at all.

“I've earned my rank little girl. Rest assured I've earned it. Better to be who I am than to be you. A woman without a rank, without a place and without the good grace to know when she's fighting a battle she can not win.” Nevarre was already bored to death with this. If she insisted on continuing to insult him he would have no choice but to treat her in kind. He watched as she smiled and changed stance. He knew what it meant.

Nevarre changed his own foot placement and waited. She would have to strike at him first. While he was slightly caught off guard by the fist coming towards his face, he did begin to move away as she grew nearer. He felt her knuckles force themselves into the side of his chin. His head tilted back slightly though he made no sound, quickly taking up a better stance. His own fists were up now, protecting his face. His feet were moving and although he was JUST a Lord Holder's son, who was most likely going to have to fight in a war, he was a good match for the woman, despite what either of them might think.

When he saw a chance to strike at her he took it. His fist moving at an upward angle towards her jaw. She might see it coming but he doubted that she would be able to black everything he threw at her. He continued to watch his footwork which had always been his weakest point. Nevarre would not give in though. Not until she killed him. He was determined to show the Southerners their place. This girl would be the first example.

[Ise]

Razia felt her knuckles hit Nevarre’s chin, though not as hard as she had hopped. And she was a little disappointed that he didn’t just run off crying. She was also surprised to see him adjust his stance and hold his fists up, so he had gotten some training after all! Razia wished that she had paid a little more attention to the lessons that Akroma had gotten, their father had gone into much greater detail with his oldest daughter then he had with Razia and Razia didn’t want to lose to this arrogant Northerner.

She made sure she didn’t stand still either, it was far easier to move if you were already moving then if you had to start while standing still. Her eyes were narrowed as she watched him closely, trying to find some opening or something else that would let her win this quickly. Instead all she saw was his fist suddenly coming at her. She leaned back, trying to get out of the way but was still clipped in the chin, taking a couple of stumbling steps backwards as she regained her balance.

She let out a growl before she rushed at him, not wanting to give him the chance to celebrate his hit and hoping to hit him before he could center himself again. Instead of aiming for his face this time, she went after the larger target of his chest, just trying to throw a few quick jabs at him. Really all she wanted to do was to throw herself at him and knock him to the ground and beat him silly like that. It was a pleasant thought that made it easy to ignore the dull ache in her chin but she wasn’t dumb enough to think it would work. Fighting was just as much a mental game as it was physical, if she was going to win she needed to think and not just let her emotions control her.

Think think think. She used her peripheral vision to take note of their surroundings. An empty hallway that forked here. Nothing that she could really use unless… Her thoughts only took moments to pass through her mind and as soon as she had finished with her jabs she took two quick steps back and one to the side, anticipating a retaliation. She kept her fists up, though one drooped a little lower then the other, leaving the side farthest from him open.

[HG]

Before he became the leader of the Weyr, he had thought himself to be a busy man. Now he knew he was much too busy. There were events happening that were out of his control. While he considered himself to be a great leader he had to listen to other people's counsel. Even if he did not like the words that they were going to say. Therefore he was preparing for a meeting that would be held after the eggs were safely hatched and off the Sands. Raelwyn's time had been completely sapped dealing with the Headwoman, sustaining the Weyr and of course Aeriath's clutch.

D'seus was perfectly okay with waiting. It gave him time to collect his thoughts and prepare for the onslaught of questions that would surely come. He was carrying a bound record under his arm as he turned the corner. Unlike the two fighting he had been watching where he was going and was being rather courteous to the people he passed. Common decency had never been lost on the Bronzerider. Even as a youth he treated other people with a fair amount of respect. Although he did believe himself to be better than the average person he strived not to be as aloof now that he was weyrleader.

The girl he recognized. You always recognize the ladies. Keep your opinions to yourself. I believe the other one, the boy...he's one of those from the North. You should pay more attention. Nevarre, youngest son of the Lord Holder of Keroon. That would explain it... He had been amused slightly up to this point. The girl actually struck the Northerner and then the Northerner struck her. Fighting was prohibited among Candidates. He watched them a moment more then cleared his throat.

“Stop. Immediately.” His tone was firm and authoritative. It imposed on them the fact that he was watching and they were in trouble. Taller than both of the Candidates he walked closer until he was standing not one foot in front of them. “Now tell me why I shouldn't keep both of you from Standing? Razia, you can go first.” From the tone of his voice it was easy to see that he meant what he was saying.

–

Nevarre, pleased that he had gotten some of his own back, did not notice someone approach. He was so involved in trying to find another way to get at her that even when he heard footfalls and the clearing of a throat. In fact he continued to protect himself from her as she seemed so determined to win (which would be impossible). The voice he heard next sent a shiver up his spine. Oh, Shards! The Weyrleader was standing in the hallway. Not only that but he was coming towards them. The last thing he needed was to be on the Weyrleader's bad side.

The Northerner remained calm, slowly backing away from Razia. He did not take his hands down till he was well out of her reach. The Weyrleader was not happy. The man was tall, obviously the women found him attractive and he had more authority than any other man here. Well, Nevarre thought to himself. There was no harm in him letting her go first with the explanations. It would soon become quite evident that he had been in the right and she was acting on some need to prove that women were the same as men.

Which she should know was impossible to prove. He was better than her in every way that mattered. He was going to listen to what she was saying. How far would she bend the truth to make herself the innocent victim? He had to wonder if she cared at all whether to tell the truth or if she was going to make the story up entirely. The latter was more likely knowing women. Nevarre began to go over in his head how the events had transpired that had brought him down to the level of fighting a dim glow Southern girl.

[Ise]

Razia’s head snapped to the side as she heard the throat clearing before the Weyrleader spoke. She immediately dropped her hands to her sides and took a small step away from Nevarre in case he was dumb and hadn’t noticed that they had an audience. She turned to face D’seus, keeping Nevarre in her sight though, and gave the Weyrleader a slight bow with her head before she stood up straight again. While D’seus was an intimidating figure, she kept her eyes up on him trying hard to not let any discomfort show.

“Forgive me for not being more respectful to you Weyrleader but it’s never smart to take your eyes of the enemy, even if you have been forced to stop fighting.” She clenched her jaw a bit as she thought about his question. The idea of lying never went through her head, she had been raised better then that. Of course that didn’t mean she was the cause of the whole problem, it wasn’t her fault that the Northerner had been so rude and insulting. Her shoulders sank slightly for a moment, she was probably going to get herself kicked out of Weyr for this.

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t keep both of us from Standing. Fighting between Candidates is against the rules and we both know it.” She glanced slightly at Nevarre, wondering if he would pull an ‘I’m a stupid Northerner and didn’t know it was against the rules’ argument to get out of this.
“We both ran into each other and while I know everything I said is true, I should have been smart enough to keep it to myself and just walk away. I let his rude and ignorant comments get to me though.”

Razia looked down for a moment, clenching her jaw and grinding her teeth a little. She didn’t want to babble but when else was she going to get a chance to talk to the Weyrleader like this?
“Why are they even being allowed to Stand though? Some of them don’t seem so bad but this one,” She pointed a finger at Nevarra, glaring at him a bit, “Is rude and arrogant to everyone but you and Weyrwoman Raelwyn. They don’t care what happens to us here so why are we even giving them a chance to take our most important resource away from us? What happens if one of them Impresses the gold and takes it away from us?” Razia looked back at D’seus, her gaze unwavering even as her eyes grew shiney and moist from her pent up emotions. She refused to let any tears fall though, she was angry and upset and didn’t understand why their leaders were so willing to risk their gold egg or even bronze dragonets to the people who had exiled them in the first place.

[HG]

His face remained passive as he watched the two Candidates move away from eachother. After hearing what Razia said he looked at Nevarre. Then she continued. This time she was almost ranting. Was she questioning his judgment? He did not like her disobedience one single bit. Even Weyr bred people knew to respect the decisions of the Weyrleader. Whatever that decision may be. His eyes had met hers and he found she was being rather childish despite her convictions.

“I see.” Was all he said, in a non committal tone. Then turning to Nevarre. “And what have you to say?”


Nevarre did not protest when she said the things she had about him. The Weyrleader did not care about that. There was no reason for them to have been fighting other than that she was obviously a woman without any sort of respect for those of rank. He saw clearly enough that what she had said was not pleasing. So he looked over at her with a smile almost too sweet for even a nice person. “Weyrleader D'seus, we had a disagreement which became rather heated. The discrepancy became less of an argument and more of a physical disagreement. I promise on my mother's life it will not happen again.”

D'seus looked from one to the other. “I suggest you both apologize sincerely to one another. Report to the Headwoman for latrine duties at first light. You will learn to work together.” He did not comment right away on what Razia had said because he wanted to give Nevarre a chance to speak and dismiss him.

Nevarre spoke, “I am truly sorry to have hurt you in any way.” His voice was as sincere as it could sound at the moment. Which was good enough for D'seus but he knew better about Razia. She was probably seething at him inside. Let her feel unhappy. He could care less. All he knew was that he had saved them from not being allowed at the Hatching and she should be grateful. Pah! He knew better than to hold his breath on that one. She would never be able to show gratitude to a Northerner with her attitude.

“Nevarre, you are dismissed.” D'seus said, watching the other leave. When he was down the hall way, he commented on what Razia was saying earlier. “I feel you are being predjudiced and cruel to the Notherner's. As much as you may not like them it is not your decision to say who should impress and who should not. The dragons Searched them and found them to be good to Stand for Aeriath's clutch. If you do not trust either the dragons or your leaders, perhaps this is not where you should be. Think carefully about where your feelings are leading you. Emotions can blind you to the truth.”

He waited a moment then continued. “Are you afraid that a Northerner will impress or that a Northerner will impress instead of you? I think you will find you are more concerned about your own impression than who else impresses. I suggest that you take the time to search yourself. Dragonets respond better to people who are not in fear, even if that fear is fear of rejection.” D'seus was fairly sure she would not be happy with their talk, however he would not have her denouncing Northerner's on the whole. While he felt similarly about them, he had more to think of than his own feelings. What was best for the Weyr? That was his main concern. Right now it seemed new blood was what was best for the Weyr. They would also have quite a bit of leverage on them while their children were in Weyrling training. He had plenty of time between then and now to plan out how to proceed past Weyrlinghood.

“You are dismissed Razia.”

[Ise]

Razia gritted her teeth and stayed quiet for a bit longer. She didn’t want any sort of emotion showing through in her voice.
“And I’m sorry I hit you,” And didn’t hit you harder, “and that we got into this fight.” She was sure Nevarre was thinking something along the same lines but it at least came out sounding like she meant it.

She glanced at Nevarre as he was dismissed and wondered if she was going to be in more trouble now. She watched the Weyrleader, wondering what was going to happen now before he started talking. She frowned a bit at his words. He was half right at least. Yes she was probably being a little prejudice against the Northerners but she didn’t care that much about them overall. Some of them seemed nice enough, it was only their leaders that seemed like such arrogant jerks.

She listened to him silently, taking in everything he said and thinking about it. When he dismissed her she stayed where she was standing. Voicing her opinion the first time had gotten her stuck here a little longer and she thought about just accepting what he had said and going. But she just couldn’t do that. She felt a little less worried about D’seus telling her she couldn’t stand at the hatching, she wasn’t trying to fight with him or anything, she just wanted to understand this better. Not that she expected that to happen.

“I trust the dragons and I trust you and the Weyrwoman. And I’m not worried about the Northerners Impressing before me or anything like that. I’m sure most of them a good people and that it’s just Nevarre that rubs people wrong. And I know perfectly well there’s a chance I won’t Impress. I might be a little disappointed but I know it’s not the end of the world. It’s just…” She chewed her lip a bit as she tried to put her fears into words.
“What if they’re right and Thread is coming. Are we suppose to leave the South and our families here to go save people who don’t care about us? Am I suppose to save his family over my own?”

[HG]

D'seus thought the conversation was over though the girl did not leave right away. She was obviously thinking about what he had said. Good. He was about to continue on his way to meet Zorometh at their weyr when she brought up a whole other question. Damn these young people and their urgent need to be the one who thinks of everything. Did she think the Leaders of the Weyr had not thought this through at all? Did she really think they were siding with the Northerners? It made him shake his head just thinking about it.

“No one has said anything of the sort.” He was kind of tired of her emotional outbursts actually. This was better left to women. D'seus could be as cool and aloof as Nevarre seemed to be. Although he genuinely cared about the Weyr and its inhabitants he was not always in the mood to entertain their thoughts and questions. “I suggest you put that thought out of your mind. Having diplomatic relations with the North is necessary, however, no one said anything about not protecting our own people. Thats a silly notion to take into ones head.”

The Northerner's children were a pawn in this game. He was using them. Although he could easily see the idea of treating them the same as the Weyrbred bothered her, he could not treat them differently. They were being used. Only the Weyrwoman and A'lez were aware of the plan thus far. The other riders would begin to be informed after the meeting the ranking members of the Weyr were going to have. By then it would be too late for some of the Northerner's. They would have impressed or not. Those that impressed were going to be used as leverage.

[Ise]

She was still unhappy with some of the answers but even she wasn't dense enough to keep asking questions. Really she felt lucky that he had even bothered answering the ones she had asked. While the situation with the Northerners bothered her, she at least felt better knowing that they weren't just going to abandon the south.

"Thank you for answering my questions. I'll be sure to speak to the Headwoman bright and early tomorrow and I won't cause any more problems with Nevarre." She even promised to herself that no 'accidents' would happen while working with the Northerner. The last thing she wanted was to do something else that would get her in trouble after this. She knew she was lucky to get away with only having to do extra chores, even if they were nasty chores. She gave the Weyrleader a quick little bow before she hurried off to do something that would keep her out of sight and out of mind.