Post by Rii on Sept 13, 2013 23:18:36 GMT -5
{desc=That's good enough for me}Nori was quite happy to be at Dalibor. A couple seasons of settling in had given her ample appreciation for good meals and warm beds, all of her brothers were here, and there were dragons - how cool was that? The dragons thought they had potential. Her and Ranthian too, and probably even Joshu and Lanorun even though they were too old and Lanorun had grumbled and gone into the wher program even though he didn’t really like the Weyrs, because Lanorun was like that. Joshu was happy in the kitchens and as fussy and overprotective of her as ever, so she still had that comfortable family feeling in this new place. And there were plenty of nice new people to meet, starting with her fellow candidates and spreading out to - well, to everyone!
Of course, there were chores, too. And lessons, but chores were her current aim. The chore roster was posted on a slate in the common room and changed daily. If she had to claim a bane of her existence - which was a horribly melodramatic thing to say, there wasn’t any such thing of course! - it would be the chore roster. Not because she didn’t like work. Okay, work was work, but with a little imagination and some company, she could get through anything. Besides, it wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as scraping an existence in the wilds.
No, the chore roster was her enemy because, as the youngest in a holdless family, Norilana hadn’t learned harper-taught skills the way the children of Hold, Hall and Weyr did. She could do basic adding and subtraction, with the assistance of her fingers. She knew a few stories whispered by her mother, before Thread got her. But she hadn’t started learning to read and memorize the traditional ballads until she’d come to Dalibor. It was interesting, and she liked it too, but… well, it did make certain things a little difficult.
But she had a strategy. First she hunted for the letters that made up her name - the first full word she’d learned. Then she worked out what the chore next to her name was. Sometimes that took looking at the other chores that she didn’t have and going by process of elimination. And then, if she felt like it, she tried to read any names with hers. The last part wasn’t entirely necessary, but she was trying to learn and practice was good, right?
Hands on her hips, the former holdless girl stared at the chalked-in words, slowly sounding them out the way her teacher here at the Weyr had taught her. Norilana, okay, there was her name, good. The chore… “Mo...ping… mop-ping… can… can-dee-date… candidate, bar-racks… bar racks? OH, barracks! Mopping candidate barracks. Halls and com-mon room.” Nori grinned, quite pleased with herself for getting that far. She squinted at the name next to hers. “Tal… Tal-oo-bar-a? I wonder who that is...”
Of course, there were chores, too. And lessons, but chores were her current aim. The chore roster was posted on a slate in the common room and changed daily. If she had to claim a bane of her existence - which was a horribly melodramatic thing to say, there wasn’t any such thing of course! - it would be the chore roster. Not because she didn’t like work. Okay, work was work, but with a little imagination and some company, she could get through anything. Besides, it wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as scraping an existence in the wilds.
No, the chore roster was her enemy because, as the youngest in a holdless family, Norilana hadn’t learned harper-taught skills the way the children of Hold, Hall and Weyr did. She could do basic adding and subtraction, with the assistance of her fingers. She knew a few stories whispered by her mother, before Thread got her. But she hadn’t started learning to read and memorize the traditional ballads until she’d come to Dalibor. It was interesting, and she liked it too, but… well, it did make certain things a little difficult.
But she had a strategy. First she hunted for the letters that made up her name - the first full word she’d learned. Then she worked out what the chore next to her name was. Sometimes that took looking at the other chores that she didn’t have and going by process of elimination. And then, if she felt like it, she tried to read any names with hers. The last part wasn’t entirely necessary, but she was trying to learn and practice was good, right?
Hands on her hips, the former holdless girl stared at the chalked-in words, slowly sounding them out the way her teacher here at the Weyr had taught her. Norilana, okay, there was her name, good. The chore… “Mo...ping… mop-ping… can… can-dee-date… candidate, bar-racks… bar racks? OH, barracks! Mopping candidate barracks. Halls and com-mon room.” Nori grinned, quite pleased with herself for getting that far. She squinted at the name next to hers. “Tal… Tal-oo-bar-a? I wonder who that is...”