A Brand New Black Hole (open)

(Figured why not XD)

Yalenia couldn't believe it. Here she was, in a Weyr so completely different from Telgar. Not only was the whole setting different but the people were new, different, strangers. This she didn't mind too much. However, she didn't particularly like spending too much time in the Candidate Barracks. Even though there were not too many years difference between her and most of the Candidates it was still somewhat frustrating to be around them. Of course, she just figured spending a little time wandering around the Weyr was a better option.

She walked into the Dining Hall and took a tray. Looking around she saw absolutely no one she knew. It was a somewhat lonely thought even though just previously she was thinking how wonderful it was to simply wander around without a care in the world. She studied each person wondering who she'd get along with best. Spotting a woman about her age she walked over and slid across from her on the Bench.

"Man, the food here is amazing. I never thought I'd see the day really when food made for about a thousand people could be so amazing." She laughed heartily, "Yalenia, Wher candidate. How are you?"
She spoke at a moderate speed, happy and hearty clearly not too concerned whether or not the other woman wanted to speak.

Yalenia grinned when Kalenna introduced herself as a Wher candidate also. She was probably here for the Gold egg. Well, not necessarily only the Gold egg but the call had gone out as such and people had responded. Nothing wrong with that. Yalenia hoped to have the opportunity to at least be interviewed for the position and possibly stand. It was something she'd wanted her whole life but she was hardly the only one. No crime in wanting something... Right?

She laughed a little and speared some food on a fork.
"Well, I've gotta say, young Weyr, young people, young dragons young just about everything. I'm even feeling it a little. Most of the candidates are in their teens. I think I saw a thirteen year old Bronze Rider! I mean, it's not so odd but, wow." She shook her head in amazement, "It's quite different to Telgar."

She ate some of the food off her plate and quietly observed the other woman. She seemed a little older that Yalenia herself but, all in all, the older candidates had to stick together right!? Yalenia smiled again. She wasn't too bothered by anything. What would happen would happen. Nothing to worry about.

Yalenia was pleased to note that the other woman found it a little surprising that there was a thirteen year old Bronze Rider. It was amazing that the boy had impressed so young and to one of the most coveted dragons for young males. Good luck to him, Yalenia thought happily, he would have a lot of support in the turns to come. It was another thing she had noticed, how excited the other candidates got about hatchings. She assumed that there weren't that many who had stood for more than one and, perhaps, not impressed in one of those.

"I agree." Yalenia replied, nodding, "I mean, it's nothing wrong with them at all. It's just so strange to go from one Weyr where you probably know a lot of people, to one filled with young folk I suppose."
She smiled again and took another bite of her food.
"Well, hopefully we'll learn as much from them as they can learn from us, eh?" She asked after a moment.

She was certain that her Smithing knowledge could be useful to some let alone her understanding of how Wher hatchings were often run. She was rather certain that they sometimes ran differently in each Weyr. Some liked to give the Whers the choice and others simply worked on a basis of whomever paid the most. But for the Whers staying to protect the Weyr, she was certain it was a different matter entirely.

Yalenia was pleased to hear that the other woman agreed. There were plenty of younger candidates and riders around who obviously had something to say. She was just pleased to have the opportunity to come to this young Weyr and understand how it worked. She'd heard that there had been some problems in Dalibor and hoped that she might be permitted to assist in any way. Even if she didn't impress... She could easily work with one of the Weyr Smiths. She was certain there would be a couple around to fix something.

"Oh yes, it's a completely different environment. Telgar, in the mountains, Dalibor, on an island and those are just the basics. It's not only that but there are differences in just about everything. I mean, you could live your whole life in a Weyr, transfer, and things would be so different. I guess everywhere has their own knowledge" Yalenia rambled.

She usually didn't speak too much but she'd always been a little curious about how things worked together, how things ticked. It was, perhaps, one of the reasons she had wanted to become a Smith. She liked the physical side of learning but the psychological side, she knew, was just as important. After all, how was one to know the properties and uses of different metals without actually learning, reading and understanding.

Yalenia shoveled food into her mouth, though not in a disrespectful or messy manner. She nodded in response to the statement about Telgar. The climate, atmosphere and even air was different. Telgar's air was a little thinner, being in the mountains, Dalibor had very different air. Strange that she'd be thinking about air at a time like this. Then again, she had been born near Benden also so it wasn't as much of a shock as it could have been. She was rather thankful for that in all honesty. It was part of the reason that she had been getting accustomed to both the air at night and during the day.
"Yes, it is rather different. The air's a little thicker."

Yalenia frowned thoughtfully when asked the question about Dalibor's dragons. It mustn't have had as many dragons. That much was obvious, but she'd not thought too deeply about it until now. She nodded.
"Yes, but I hear they have a lot of Queens and some of the newer clutchers. I guess that's good for them. It's also probably one of the reasons that there are so many Dragon Candidates running around. They couldn't possibly let those eggs go without riders." She replied after a moment, "I suppose that transfers must be fairly common too..."

She didn't know how common they would be at the moment considering the rumors but she figured that all the Weyrs needed to stick together. They probably had some agreements as to who would transfer.

Yalenia agreed with what Kalenna was saying about the dampness of the climate in Dalibor. It was strange to think that something that seemed so basic could actually be so drastically different. Not only were the people different but just about everything they took for granted changed. Yalenia couldn't imagine how she'd deal being in the middle of the desert at Igen Weyr.

She also thought the same thing about the Dragons. At least the Whers could impress to someone there on the sands... More to the point, they didn't actually need to impress. She was pleased that they did, to be sure, but it was indeed tough to see a Dragon Between when they could not find Theirs. She was thankful that her sister had impressed. She remembered the disappointment when she had not been chosen to Stand but had also been so pleased when Lalir impressed to Pink Erith.

"Oh I think there have been a few people transferred here from Telgar. A couple of Riders I'd heard of had transferred here. I mean, if Igen and Telgar have sent transfers surely Fort or Bendan have also." She agreed, "I think that by Pass Dalibor will be fairly well protected. The other Weyrs will probably assist when they can..."
Perhaps she was being hopeful in that thought. There were some tensions she'd heard of between the Weyrs but Yalenia liked to think that, no matter what, the Weyrs would stand together. She strongly suspected that her guesses were correct.

Yalenia wondered herself that too. She supposed that if the Weyr needed candidates for the Gold or, indeed, if they needed the Gold Wher egg in the first place it must have indicated that there was only one. She surmised also that there must have been another who was currently some kind of acting Alphahandler or perhaps even a permanent one. Whers didn't seem to mind too much what colour was in control when they were with their handlers... She'd met a couple that didn't even seem aware that there was any difference in sizes.

She shrugged a moment later.
"Well... I guess that must be the case. It makes sense. Perhaps their other Gold was not able to produce a Queen." She mused.
She'd heard that some draconic beings seemed to produce a Queen every other clutch whereas others were lucky to produce one in their whole lifetime. She sometimes wondered what it would be like to gather a wild Wher's clutch. Probably painful but the different genetics the wild Whers could bring into a Weyr clutch was certainly a curious thought.

"The Weyrwoman must have expended all her political capital securing the Gold egg. She's clearly dedicated to the entirety of the Weyr and not just specific aspects of it." Yalenia continued with a smile.

There were some who seemed to care little for the ones who guarded their Weyr at night only that they kept anyone from sneaking into their personal quarters at night. Yalenia was pleased to see that there was an almost entirely contrary opinion within Dalibor as shown simply by Weyrwoman Fajra's clear desire to ensure the survival of the Night Guard.

Yalenia had heard some strange rumors along that vein but not as specific as that. She had tried to fill in the blanks herself and had surmised that it had perhaps been a case of the Wher being unable to produce any Queens. A Weyr without a Wher that could produce the next generation of Wherlings was troublesome. She supposed that they must have attempted to transfer Kings first but having little time to investigate this for herself she couldn't know for certain. Getting a new Queen egg must have been something of a last resort.
"With the hatching just passed and Pass so soon I'm supposing that the Queen would be their last resort." Yalenia agreed, voicing some of her thoughts, "And I chose to transfer here for a similar reason. I'd also heard that there was some need for Handlers and also wanted to get away from Telgar, experience new leadership."

She nodded and continued eating her food before nodding her head at Kalenna's assertion. Yes, there was always more to a Weyr than just the Draconic creatures they were known for. Some people forgot that when thinking about Weyrlife. Of course, she couldn't blame them. Any sign of the Dragons flying overhead seemed to push any understanding of Weyrlife from the minds of the onlookers.

Yalenia liked how Kalenna thought. She was the type of woman she'd happily follow into the heart of Thread Fall without any qualms.
"But the gossip I'd heard about Dalibor seemed somewhat construed. Sort of like each person who heard it added a tiny bit until it becomes vague or too detailed to be true. What I'd heard was the former." Yalenia explained with another laugh.

Yalenia figured that much was true. With a smaller Weyr compared to some of the larger ones it was important to have more transfers and people in these newly established Weyrs. Of course, the same must have happened throughout the course of Pern’s history with new Weyrs slowly building itself from the ground up with the help of transfers. After all, any Weyr technically started from transfer Riders… She was glad to be at least a small part of Dalibor and, with training, she could possibly be a larger part of that. But every single person in the Weyr was important from Drudge to Queenly Dragon.

She laughed at the question and thought back to some of the rumors she’d heard.
“Well, I’d heard that some were replacing Flitts with pet Fish. It was extremely confusing to hear that. I’m not even certain what they were referring to. And I’d also heard that there was some kind of problem with people trying to fight the Wild Whers. Suffice to say, I think they may be just a little untrue.”

She laughed again at the thought of Flying Fish following a Girl through the halls of the Weyr instead of Flitts. Considering that there were sometimes more Flitts than dragons (actually, more than likely) the concept of Fish was indeed a humorous one.
“I’ve only really heard less than substantive rumours. A little further for them to travel to Telgar and so there’s generally more time for them to become construed.”

She’d heard another rumor about attacks on Weyrlings whilst training but she didn’t want to bring up something that might pain a member of the Weyr to overhear it. She assumed that Dalibor’d had some difficulties in moving past the deaths of some of their next generation of fighters… It would have still been somewhat painful in the minds of the Weyr.

"Oh, I suspect there's as little substance to that rumor as there is to just about any rumor about the Weyrs. It seems like an odd suggestion. I really can’t imagine that people would prefer fish to Flitts… Then again, there are a whole host of different people on Pern.” Yalenia agreed.

She agreed that the Wild Whers was a more likely suggestion. The Whers were all over Pern and there would be a few more likely to take chances than others. The thought though that there might have been some sort of group as such was somewhat disheartening. Still, Yalenia guessed that too had become misappropriated in the time it took one tale to reach another Weyr. She set more store by the rumors Kalenna had heard about the Goldhandler being demoted than by the thought of fish being pets or groups of people fighting with Whers.

She normally took each rumor as a tall tale as soon as she heard it unless it was something from a nearby Weyr or Hold. Even then, she didn’t generally consider them all that truthful or even important. Not only did it take a while for just one person in the Weyr to hear the information it took even longer for the ‘information’ to reach the whole of the Weyr.

Some of them were simply humorous for the inherent silliness of a suggestion and others were not really things she wanted to believe. Once Thread started falling again she imagined that the tales they heard from other Weyrs would be rather more somber… Nothing like the things they heard at the moment. Fish pet rumors would slowly phase out.

Yalenia wasn't entirely certain whether they were Fishermen or Dolphineers. She didn't think the rumor true at all. For all she knew she'd heard wrong entirely. What could have been 'water looking Flitts' could easily have become 'water swimming fish'. Then again, what other type of fish was there. Yalenia guessed that Kalenna was perhaps a little correct in what she had guessed. Probably had been some children standing there naming the fish in the Lake and offering them food, calling them their pets.

"I'm guessing it's probably something like that. Perhaps, also, it may be another thing entirely. Could be water Flitts, or some sort of water Dragon. That would be rather interesting to behold." She thought about that for a moment, "I can understand perhaps that being something becoming a little misconstrued in the time it takes information to travel across Pern."

Now she was almost completely enamored at the thought of there being some sort of water dragons. They sounded somewhat interesting to her. She doubted very much that being the case simply because she suspected that the news would have been slightly more accurate than fish for pets, flying around after Theirs.
"I guess they could also have been merely started from someone wanting a flying fish for a pet and expressing this to enough people."

Yalenia had seen it happen more than once really. A canine whose howls sounded like he was saying 'hello' became a dog who could speak. It was truly a marvel how things could become so far removed from the truth of the matter. She found them amusing all the same. However, Kalenna made an interesting point. If the Riders were actually bothering to talk about it between their duties at differing Holds and Weyrs then it must have been somewhat important. Yalenia figured there must have been a lot more to the rumour than she thought.

Still, the thought of some form of dragons in the water was both a little disconcerting and absolutely fascinating. She suspected it was fanciful dreaming by others but the thought of some Flitts being marine creatures was certainly a plausible explanation. Yalenia somehow thought it was not the case and their prior thoughts about the information being stretched was far more likely.

"Definitely, if it's been brought across Pern it does probably have some founding." Yalenia agreed, "I don't think Runners or Riders would waste their time bringing information that had no truth to it whatsoever. As slight and, perhaps, wishful as it may be. Like I said... I haven't heard anything I actually believe myself."
She grinned and laughed at the thought of one person being plagued by questions about their flying fish.