The Apple Fell Far From The Tree (Boo)

[Kiran]

Dione shivered as she and her father blinked from Between. She never cared for the coldness of it, the utter void. But she would do it a hundred times over if it meant she got a dragon. And hopefully, her banishment here wouldn't affect her being a candidate. She had no clue what her mother would think of this... If she thought anything. As far as Dione knew her mother had no clue she was coming and that was fine with her, it meant ample opportunity to escape and make her way down to the Candidate's barracks and talk to the Candidatemaster there and just avoid the whole situation altogether.

Though she had to admit, she wasn't happy about being uprooted from her home. And frontier was her home, and Dione was far from happy to be leaving it. Her father was beyond furious, though, and there was no chance that she was going to be able to come back anytime soon. The look on his face when he found out her prank, when he was pulled from his duties and lectured with Dione by the weyrleader, the silence for that evening and the few after that before he had finally ordered her to pack up, it all said that there was not going to be any discussion about this.

Her stomach twisted with a hunt of fear. Few things scared her, but this was getting to her, she knew nothing about Dalibor, really, beyond the basics they learned in Candidate classes. And even more than that, she knew nothing about her mother.

Her mother. The word was beyond strange to her. Her entire life she had given no thought to anything like a mother since she had the crèche women and her friends besides, and above all her father. Mother? Dione hadn't considered it until he had said he was packing her off to Dalibor. Even then she only recovered the barest bits of information since that was ll he had: She was an Orangerider, and that she lived at Dalibor. Nothing much to go on.

It left Dione with a bajillion questions and only a few were at the forefront of her mind. Did her mother know she was coming? Did she care? Would she even like Dione? The last question surprised her a lot for having crossed her mind, but even moreso that she cared what her mother thought about her. Why did she care? Dione didn't know. But she did, and that was that.

Her attention was caught only a few moments later by the Weyr that they spiraled above. Dione clenched her arms even tighter around her father's waist, a sudden burst of nervousness going through her as she realized how sharding final it all was. How she wasn't going to see her gang again or get some leniency from the crèche mothers and riders that had known her her entire life. Nothing. No one knew her. She knew no one. Dione was alone here at Dalibor. She would be on her own. Taking a deep breath, she watched as her father made for one particular ledge where an orange dragon was resting.

Dione started to undo her straps but her father was faster, hauling her out of them before she could blink and hauling her into the space where she was confronted by a woman who she vaguely resembled.

Her mother.

"She's your problem now." Her father's words in his deep baritone managed to ring out over the rushing blood in her ears. Within moments he was gone, leaving the two alone.

With that, Dione swallowed, then stood up straight and crossed her arms. "So. I'm Dione. And apparently you're my mother. So what now?" It was a tone of bravado to help ward off the nervousness she was feeling at this moment. It was something she desperately needed.

[Boo]

They had flown Thread that very morning and after a long, relaxing bath, the pair had decided to spend some time together, perhaps flying without fear of Thread scoring their wings. Lirone pulled her hair tight and then turned to look at her orange dragon, smiling softly as Agrippith tugged at some of the straps on her body. As she watched, the great orange froze and then turned her head towards the skies. A dragon had just burst forth from Between and there was no mistaking this one. Agrippith remembered him.

Lirone was left puzzled as the dragoness suddenly touched the dragon’s mind.
What are you doing here?
There was no reply but all the same, Agrippith turned to her rider.
Ahenobarbuth and His are here.
Di’ness?
As you say.
The reminder of Agrippith’s birth Weyr hit her heart like a stabbing pain. Memories flashing through Lirone’s mind and then quickly suppressed for this was the only way to prevent it consuming her.
Did he say what they wanted?
He said nothing… They are coming here.

In a moment, they were at her Weyr and a second later, Di’ness had dragged his bundle from the straps. There stood a girl Lirone would always be able to recognise no matter what time passed between them. Yet she was a stranger now, Lirone would never forget her daughter’s first moments. The rider could not forget Dione.
“What?”
She received a steely look from the brownrider as he mounted up again and flew away, leaving the child with her.
I thought we left the squishy thing behind for a reason.
The orange straightened herself proudly and glared down at the girl.

Lirone stood quietly for a moment after the girl had spoken, still processing what had just happened. They’d left Frontier and all their memories behind for a reason yet how could she explain that to a child with whom she had never truly connected?
“Yes, I am.”
It stung somewhere deep down that Dione didn’t remember her but at the same time, she couldn’t muster the affection most mothers showed their children. There was no embrace.
“Have you been well?”
Ugh, honestly I swear you are one of the worst mothers ever. Let me show you how it is done, I am far more proficient at this whole stupid thing.
Agrippith got to her feet and padded over to the child, staring her down.
What have you done that Mine is to be saddled with you? Hm?

“Agrippith!” Horror flowed quickly through Lirone as she turned to look at her dragon. Surprise at the fact the orange had touched another’s mind out of something other than necessity as well as at the words she had used.
“She doesn’t mean it like that dear.”
I do. Apparently she is a problem.

[/blockquote]

[Kiran]

Dione was a bit surprised at how unemotional her mother - Lirone, she should call her by her name and get used to it - seemed about all this. She opened her mouth to answer as neutrally as possible when Agrippith decided to confront her instead. Agrippith. She remembered the orange's name. Something from her childhood had stuck! Dione was far too pleased by this to be put off by how she was spoken to. In fact, it made her feel a bit more at home since that was often how she was spoken to by others... Especially after pulling a prank! Dione relaxed, a genuine grin lighting up her face.

"Oh, a lot of things, to be honest. See, painting the weyrleader's dragon while everyone slept was just the last straw. Before that I had put numbweed in some bully's tea, flooded the bathing rooms and weyr lake with bubbles, tinted all the bread made purple, and did a dozen other things that weren't quite as bad on their own but since I managed them all... Sort of, some of them I did with help from my friends, another thing that they didn't like back at home... They just got fed up with me. Told father that he had to get me under control somehow or risk having me transferred with him somewhere else. Father doesn't wanna leave, so he decided to transfer me somewhere else. Hoped you would have better luck."

As she spoke she took a few confident strides forward so she was right in front of Agrippith's maw, far closer than the distance the orange had intended to intimidate her with. Her smile had turned positively devious. "And don't worry about her sounding mean, she always was a grump. Doesn't sound any different from those old stuck-up boring wherry heads back at Frontier. Sorry you had the poor luck to impress her! But she'll be good fun to hang around, won't you, Agrippith?" Dione had reached out with the intention of clambering on the dragon. The one thing Dione had never been shy about was getting friendly with dragons!

Dione also continued to talk, figuring Lirone should know a bit more about her present circumstances. It seemed the least she could give the poor woman. After all, it had to be about as pleasant to have her dropped here as it was to be dropped, and the girl could feel a bit of pity about that! "You know, I'm a candidate and nothing I did was quite bad enough to get me blocked from being one, so I can still Stand here, I'll just.... Well... Dad wants you to try and turn me into something respectable. So. Yeah. Good luck!"

She settled for simply sitting on the orange's tail and swinging her feet back and forth, unable to stop the good mood that had filled her.it wasn't hope, no, but that was a two-sided coin. New people to meet! New pranks to be thought of!

"So. Wanna get me settled down in the barracks? And then I would LOVE to see the rest of the Weyr!"

[Boo]

The orange’s teeth bared as the child stepped closer to her, calmed only by her riders mind and the knowledge that she would never hurt a child.
A grump she says? She doesn’t even know the half of it.
A bemused expression flitted over Lirone’s face at the willingness Agrippith had to confirm Dione’s summation all in the name of aggression? Who knew why Agrippith was so happy to agree. It was probably just an unwillingness to back down. In some ways, though, Lirone knew it was also because the orange disliked the thought of too much change.
Do you think living…
“Agrippith,” Lirone warned with a cold tone, looking sideways at the dragon. She didn’t even have to hear the rest of the threat to know the general direction it would take.

The orange cast a sideways glance before narrowing her eye ridges and then, with a lot of willpower on the part of Lirone, finally stepped back as Dione reached out to touch her. She would not have grubby hands touching her nose like that, she kept herself clean for a reason and it was not so that she would have little humanlings wander up to her and climb all over.

As her daughter finished speaking, fear pierced Lirone’s heart for the first time. They had just witnessed a hatching where a young girl had died. If that were Dione on the sands how would she feel? Would she be pleased that her daughter was on the sands where she could watch her impress? Yet if she… If something happened… Lirone knew she couldn’t stop Dione from standing, it wasn’t her right or her place but all the same it brought up all her anxieties all at once. She couldn’t lose another one.

As Dione then sat on Agrippith’s tail, she flicked it slightly intending to make the girl tumble off as she ignored the humans with all the dignity she could muster.

“You’ve been standing already?” She asked in an odd tone, “Things are… Different here…”
The rider clasped her hands in front of her and then looked at her dragon who had suddenly become quite still.

“Well if it is to be, then it is to be. Your life is what you make of it, Dione, and it would be wrong of me at this point to turn you into anything. However, I would be happy to show you around.”
There was a hiss from somewhere hidden away and Fish came darting out. It was only at the last moment that Lirone was able to grab the red firelizard before she got particularly agitated and calmly hold her as she nodded her head towards the doorway.

[/blockquote]

[Kiran]

Dione didn't mind one bit Aggripith moving away from her. She didn't want to be touched, eh? Normal, definitely what she remembered from her childhood. Never liked being dirty or around children.... It brought a devilish gleam to her eye. She could work with that! Dione didn't mind her mother's silence as she tried to clamber onto the orange and bother her some more. There was some success when she was tumbled off of Agrippith's tail, which made the candidate giggle.

Her attention was brought back to Lirone when her mother asked whether she had already been Standing. It wasn't so much a question as a need for it to be repeated. "Of course I've been Standing. Have since I turned twelve turns! After all, both parents are riders, so I get to automatically. But how are things different here? They won't let me? Why not?" Dione's expression furrowed into a mixture of anger and disappointment. "I do what they ask of me. I never broke any candidate rules! Sure I played a prank or two, but that's not going to bar me from the Sands, is it?"

Looking over her mother at the bit about not making Dione into something she wasn't, Dione felt uneasy. There was something obviously bothering Lirone. But what was it? Dione, unfortunately, wasn't nearly at skilled at deducing the cause of people's anger or sorrow as she was at pulling a prank or two. Frowning, Dione got up and slipped towards the door, expecting her mother to follow.

What she hadn't expected was a flash of red appearing and her mother grasping it. "Hey! A flit! That's so neat! Dad wouldn't let me get one, he said that all I'd do is corrupt the poor creature and get it into trouble, too. But I still hope that I'll be able to get one sometime, and you got a red! That's so neat." The appearance of the miniature dragon had immediately dispelled the thoughts of her mother's distress from Dione's mind. She came closer to get a better look at it, excited about seeing the little red. "Hey, if she clutches can I have one? It would be so neat. I can be a good caretaker to it, I promise! And it will give me something to do while I'm waiting to Impress. It could be a while, I know, so why not?"

She turned hopeful eyes on Lirone. Dione might not have been standing for long, but she was fully aware that for some it took turns before they got a dragon of their own. Dione was certain, however, that she would definitely get one someday. No aging out for her! Not when both her parents had Impressed, and Impressed rankers... Though she definitely hoped that she didn't get a ranker herself. Too much responsibility.

"Come one, let's walk and talk! I don't know anything about you, really, and I guess you don't know much about me, either. So since we're going to be living here together, might as well get to know each other?"

[Boo]

The orange snorted and lifted her head high when she did manage to knock the candidate off her tail. This was why people couldn’t have nice things as far as she was concerned. Candidates would always remain foolish barring those who had Impressed her own children. The dragoness snorted and remained still as she flicked her gaze to her rider. Agrippith then relaxed slightly and shifted so she was more comfortable.
I doubt any dragon would want this one, Agrippith stated coldly but a look from Lirone forced her to speak again, Then again, there are many dragons out there and some of them are probably silly enough to look at this one.

Lirone was aware that Dione may have misunderstood but she didn’t want to put fear into the girl’s mind. That would likely come with candidate lessons, rather unfortunately. What was more, she honestly didn’t even know where to start. Two candidates had died standing, one had become a Weyrling whilst the other had not.
“There’s no reason they won’t let you stand,” she responded, still holding the struggling firelizard.

Still, her daughter seemed to move on rather quickly and began asking questions about the firelizard.
“Yes, her name is Fish, named so because I was a journeyman fisher before I Impressed Agrippith over there.”
It was a start, opening up to her own child as she would a stranger was difficult. It hurt her more than she realised. Perhaps she should not have been so distant from Dione throughout her younger years, those formative years. She stepped out of her weyr and then continued speaking.
“I agree…” She said in response to her daughter’s enthusiastic suggestion, “I think learning a craft is perhaps one of the most useful things you can do before becoming a rider.”

[/blockquote]

[Kiran]

Dione sighed with relief when she knew that she would be allowed to Stand. Aggriptih's words had only made her worry for a moment, thinking that Dalibor's dragons were different than anywhere else's on Pern. Well, then again, they were different. She had caught word of a new color hatching recently and had definitely not been surprised. Not when all of the new ones had come from Dalibor. And honestly, the prospect excited her a lot. The opportunity was endless for her here!

"Huh. A fisher." Dione was familiar with those, they had a few at Frontier. But it never interested her. "I think I might try my hand at some other craft. I like the sea and all, but I get seasick after a while. Dad says I'm like him like that." She kept eyeing the red, trying to decide if she should reach out and pet it. "Weaving takes a lot of patience, though, and forges are a bit scary, they're so dark. I unno. I don't really think I have any talents for a Craft." She gave a careless shrug. "I've done well enough without one, probably don't need to start one now." The tone and expression she had was like she was a woman of fifty turns instead of one that was barely into twelve.

"So I heard that there was a hatching recently, and that there was a new color! So... What was it? What was the hatching like? I'm sorry I missed it, I suppose, even if I'd rather be back home than here. And you. Do you have other kids? What about a weyrmate? Am I going to be in the way if I come by on occasion? I'm happy to make trouble, but that's the sort of trouble I'd rather avoid. I'd love to come by and visit Aggy some more, though! She seems downright unhappy to see me, and it's pretty hilarious. I think that she did that to me when I was little, it felt familiar, but sort of not? I dunno. It's weird. I have bits and pieces of you and her, but nothing much for certain. Not enough to say I'm familiar with you both."

Dione's conversation had drifted from the exciting to perhaps a bit of the mundane. And, of course, she had never been one to shy away from being blunt. "What about me? Dad saw a decent amount of me, but I don't know what you knew or saw." Honestly curious, that was what she was. It didn't hurt that her mother didn't know her like most Holders knew their kids, she was just like most of the other weyrbrats. Honestly her father's attention had hurt more, since because she knew him and liked him it had hurt when he had passed her over for his other offspring. Her mother, though? Simple, genuine curiosity.

[Boo]

The orange was almost smugly aware of the effect her words might have on the girl. Agrippith had never been known for her compassion and although she had the most minimal of motherly instincts, they were not at the forefront of her personality. One thing she and Lirone had abundantly in common. Lirone was aware that any advice given was probably not particularly useful but she could try, at the very least. She had tried enough, though… Putting the thought into Dione’s head was enough parenting for Lirone at this time as they started walking from her weyr.

The conversation moved quickly back to the hatching causing Lirone to pause a moment before speaking again.
“So many questions.”
In all honesty, she rarely spoke of herself, of the issues she had been overcoming throughout the past few turns. Dalibor had worked wonders to distract her but each time a dragon fell from the skies… Each time she was in the infirmary with an injured rider became difficult.

“Yes, the hatching was…” Lirone paused, “Unlike anything I had seen before…”
That conversation was best left to the candidatemasters. She took a breath and then smiled at Dione.
“I don’t have any other children but I did have a Weyrmate once, back at Frontier so I can’t imagine you would be in my way. Agrippith’s maybe but she needs to learn how to share anyway. It’s in her personality to be… dignified.”
The rider chose her words carefully but offered a knowing smile to Dione. Being bonded to Agrippith didn’t cloud her mind to the orange’s habits. She clapsed her hands before her at the next question and statement about the orange dragon.
“Sometimes lives can change dramatically, we see it happen every hatching. I always wanted to be involved in your life but circumstances made that quite difficult. Agrippith, like all dragons, is very demanding. I only hope I can make it up to you in some small way.”
There is nothing owed this child, My Lirone. Agrippith offered to her rider privately.

[/blockquote]

[Kiran]

Dione couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Yeah, dad said I'd have a lot of questions. I admit it! I'm nosy. Better to know what I'm getting into than going in blind, right? Can't say I'm a wherrybrain. I might be whatever else you want to say, but I'm no dimglow!" That seemed pretty obvious to her. There was no way she could have pulled off the stunts she had and the pranks she had pulled if she didn't have some modicum of intelligence. Of course, thinking on it there was no way for Lirone to know that. Maybe it was too much like bragging?

Naaaaw! Dione decided that it was okay for her to have a bit of pride in her work. If it came off as bragging, so be it.

She let the comment about the hatching pass by with a hum of understanding. That was okay. Most anyone else would be willing to talk about it if it was that big a thing. Even if her mother didn't want to, there were loose lips most anywhere in a weyr. But the news about not being in the way was definitely a bright spot. "Fantastic! I'm glad I'll have someone I can come and talk to. Don't know why being dignified means she doesn't know how to share, I'll be happy to help her learn, though." Her grin had a deeply mischievous look to it. An unmistakeable invitation to trouble.

The Candidate also waved off Lirone's mention of trying to make her absence up to her. "It's not like I missed out on anything not having you there.... I don't think.... And even if I did I don't know how you could make it up. I mean, dad was really only there incidentally by virtue of having fathered 'the worst disaster to befall the weyr'. But I had other 'brats and the creche mothers, and is there really anything else that I could have wanted?" Small lie. An itsy-bitsy lie. Dione did want someone there to look after her a bit more and give her more attention. If it hadn't been for her tricks and mischief then her father wouldn't have looked at her twice, and in the fullness of the creche the mothers were busy with the younger kids after a certain point anyway.

Her shoulders shifted uncomfortably at that thought but it was brushed away easily enough with a grin at her mother. "You don't owe me anything." It was true. Things were the way they were in the creche, and her upbringing was no different than the vast majority of the other kids there. Her attention turned to the wending hallways, eyes seeking out various points to help her remember her way around. It was the glimpses she had of the creatures moving along the hallways. It made her stop in her tracks and stare for a few moments. "Lots of people have flitts here, don't they? That's great, I want one as well, but.... Mother, what are those?!" Dione pointed at a large insect-looking creature that was scuttling across the floor.

There for sure hadn't been any of those back at home! Dione slowed down, waiting for an explanation.