Daydreaming and Cloud Gazing (Bushy)

[theknightwhosaysni]

Amara lay on her back, examining the clouds far above her, her hair spread beneath her head in a pillow of sorts.
Absently, her fingers traced a pattern against the ground, which eventually became a dragon, though her attention was mainly focused on the sky.
A small smile danced across her face, as her eyes picked shapes from the sky, and her mind chased the shapes into stories...
That one, for example, could be a Wher, and the one next to it could possible be a 'Handler.
And maybe the Wher was an Iron, and his 'Handler had gotten lost in the forest, and they were trying to find their way home, they were trying to navigate through the maze of clouds that was their 'forest'
Amara noticed that the cloud had been chased across the sky by a small breeze, and she raised a hand to give it a small wave, listening as the wave lapped against the shore beside her.
The waves could be the wind in the trees, the trees that the Iron Wher and his 'Handler were lost in.
Maybe if the Iron's name was Mask, and his 'Handler's name was Mattrey, and they were lost because the Gold Wher of the Weyr had gotten lost...
Amara had nearly lost herself in the daydreams, and around an hour later, Amara realized that time had been passing without her.
She lifted herself onto one elbow to examine her surroundings, wondering vaguely if she'd forgotten to do her chores, or if she didn't have to do them yet...
Oh well.
It didn't matter, really. If she missed chores, she could always do them tomorrow with an apology to the Candidate Master - definitely not Savrent, though - and she could live with that.
It was worth this time by the quiet lake shore, with the warm sun beating against her exposed skin.
Amara blinked her eyes slowly, raising an arm to shield her eyes as the sun blazed in her eyes.
"It's noon already?" Amara wondered lazily, considering hurrying back towards the Barracks, though she decided not to.
A few minutes later, the matter of time had slipped her mind completely, and Amara was back to tracing stories in the sky...

[hatori3070]

Jasra was enjoying an hour of freedom, taking a lazy walk around the lake. She hadn't been able to really enjoy the lake since she'd arrived about a sevenday ago. Everything was so exciting and new, the classes in the morning were interesting, and the chores hadn't begun to wear on her yet. Now though, she was glad for an hour's distraction. Her eyes had grown bleary from working on her miniatures, and she'd decided to get some fresh air and spring sunshine.

She decided to take off her shoes and wade through the water, just to enjoy the cool feel of it. During the summer, everyone would probably be taking up positions around the lake. It would be full of dragons cooling off, their hides shimmering in the sunlight. Her eyes partially glazed over as she though about it. By then, she may even have her own dragon to play with in the water. They might still be small enough to chase without too much difficulty, and a smile spread across her face at the thought. A shy little Black maybe, or a lithe, flirty Green. A dragonet still slightly clumsy on its feet.

As her mind drifted to thoughts of flight, her eyes followed and began drifting toward the sky, and stopped as they found another candidate enjoying some free time at the lake. "Hello there!" She called as she waded out of the water. Her feet were wrinkled and a little cold, but they quickly warmed in the sun. "I don't think we've met. I'm Jasra." Few at the weyr were considered her friends, and she was eager to meet other candidates. They would be the ones she worked most closely with in the future, after all. It would be best to get to know them, and interesting to see how they changed when they became weyrlings.

[theknightwhosaysni]

Amara had been daydreaming about a Dragonet of her own - that cloud just above her head had looked like an awkward just Hatched Dragonet at one point - when the girl's voice reached her.
Amara gave a startled squeak, hauling herself onto one elbow so that she could examine the girl, who quickly introduced herself as Jasra. It took the girl a moment to realize that this Jasra character would want a reply, most likely.
"Name's Amara. I don't think we've met, you're right." Amara gave a slight shrug before scrambling to her feet, giving Jasra an awkward smile.
"Sorry I didn't see you sooner, I was kinda daydreaming." This Jasra might be a nice person, hopefully, maybe...
Amara shrugged again, this one directed towards her inner thoughts, as Amara forced herself to not be distracted - it wouldn't do to come across as someone who didn't care about others around her, not if she wanted to be friends with this new girl.
A cautious smile stretched across her features as Amara stuck her hand out, a small gesture that was, to her, rather a big one. This was a more monumental moment in her life - if she managed to become friends with Jasra, it would be a rather new experience - and Amara wanted to pull it off properly for once...

[hatori3070]

Jasra saw a shy girl in front of her. She'd dealt with shy people before, and quite often they turned out to be wonderful people under the shyness. Amara had stuck out her hand for a handshake, a good sign. Some people were too introverted to be able to reach out to others, but Jasra was glad to see that Amara wasn't one of those people. She took her hand and gave it a gentle squeaze and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Amara. How long have you been here?"

She was loving weyr life by now. There were always so many people to meet and no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn't know everyone. Someone new was always arriving. Case in point, Amara. Jasra had at least met most of the female candidates, so Amara must have just arrived relatively recently. Unless Jasra was completely wrong and had totally spaced and not noticed her. She'd feel terrible if that was the case.

[theknightwhosaysni]

Amara shrugged as Jasra spoke, dropping her hand to her side with a small smile, "I've been here a while," she replied absently, "Though I'm not surprised we don't know each other, you're new, right?" Amara glanced at Jasra, raising an eyebrow - she'd spent a long time working on being able to do that just right - and smiling lazily.

Still, it wasn't long before a puff of wind shaped one of the clouds just above Jasra's head into an interesting shape, one that looked suspiciously like a firelizard "Hey, look at that!" Amara said excitedly, pointing at the cloud, and nearly jumping up and down with excitement, "It looks like a . . . a . . . a . . ." it took her a while to come up with the right words, "Oh! It looks like a firelizard!" she was quite pleased with herself for finding the right words, and Amara grinned widely before remembering that there was someone else there.

She laughed slightly in an attempt to draw attention away from her outburst, "Sorry about that, I just thought that cloud looked kinda cool..." Amara trailed off uncomfortably, shifting her weight from foot to foot awkwardly, watching sadly as the cloud shifted in shape again, this time, she couldn't decide what it looked like, and she didn't want to embarrass herself again, so she didn't say a word, instead looked even more awkward than she had before.

[/blockquote]

[hatori3070]

Despite being a bit introverted, Amara seemed friendly enough."Ya, I just got here a sevenday ago. I've been trying to meet the other candidates, but there are just so many." Jasra laughed and smiled. It did seem like there were just too many candidates to be able to know them all. She'd have to spend pretty much all of her time talking to other people to be able to do it, and she just liked being alone too much. Not that she's antisocial, but there was nothing wrong with enjoying the quiet and solitude. With her dragon, she knew it would be different. The bond between a dragon and their 'rider was unique in every way, and it changed people. Once she had her dragon, nothing would ever be the same again, and she relished the opportunity.

She was broken from her reverie when Amara exclaimed about a cloud. Jasra turned to look, and it did indeed look like a firelizard before it was blown into a different shape. "Hey, it does!" When the girl became suddenly awkward and seemed embarrassed by her outburst, Jasra looked up into the sky and pointed out another unique cloud shape. "Oh, and that one looks like someone riding a dragon!" She looked back down at Amara and smiled, trying to help put her at ease. If she could get Amara to relax, maybe they could be friends. It would be nice to have this shy girl as her friend. It felt like there was a wonderful person in there. If she could just gain her trust, maybe she could see her.

[theknightwhosaysni]

Amara grinned, "I remember when I was new. It wasn't the best, but eventually it gets better." she shrugged, reflecting back on her first few sevendays at the Weyr hadn't been the best - oh, she'd been trying her best to make her brother proud, not that it had really worked - but it got better when you stopped pretending to be what you weren't so you could make a good impression on the other Candidates. All that mattered was the Dragon, if you Impressed, which Amara quite hoped she would, and even if you didn't, there were Whers, and Firelizards, and all kinds of stuff. "But you seem to be taking it pretty well, being new and all." Amara grinned, "Better than I took it. she commented.

She laughed cheerfully when Jasra agreed, drew into a conversation about cloud shapes rapidly, "I saw one that looked like a Wher once. That was kinda funny, and there's one that looks like a wherry, too!" Amara pointed happily at a cloud, laughing again when Jasra commented on the cloud that looked like a Dragon and a 'Rider, "Hah, it does!" Amara laughed again, grinning as she tilted her head back to examine the clouds she could see, trying to decide what that oddly shaped one just above her head looked like, having completely forgotten about the girl she'd been talking animatedly with.

[/blockquote]

[hatori3070]

"I certainly hope it does. It seems like they never run out of chores. No matter how much we do, there's always more." She knew the needs of the Weyr, and knew that part of being a candidate was helping to meet those needs. That didn't mean she had to enjoy every task given to her. The hated bucket toting, for example. Still, it was nice on her down time to talk to other candidates who knew the workload they had to endure before Impressing. There would still be many things to do after Impression, and more as their dragons grew and required more attention, but they would be far more enjoyable with the constant presence of their bonded.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you doing better now?" Jasra was genuinely concerned. She didn't like people being left out intentionally, or picked on for whatever reason. It was wrong, and if anyone tried it around her, they'd be in for it. She could think of no reason why anyone wouldn't like Amara. Still, she saw more and more that people defied logic a lot of the time, and quiet people bore the brunt of their ignorance and hatred of anything different.

Jasra laughed, enjoying the slightly silly conversation. There was no need to constantly talk about serious subjects, and it was boring to do so. Everyone needed a bit of silliness once in a while, just to remain sane. Amara appeared to forget she was there as she contemplated the clouds. She looked where she thought Amara was, also trying to figure out what it looked like. "Maybe a runner?" It could be considered a bit of a stretch, but she couldn't really think of anything else it might be.

[theknightwhosaysni]

Amara inclined her head in a slow nod, "It's like they're plotting ways to make us do every chore under Rukbat..." she allowed herself a small, awkward chuckle before continuing with a genuine grin on her face, "Free help, you know?" Amara laughed again, "But at least when," If, that is, "We Impress, we'll have somebody to at least talk with while we're doing our chores. I could live with that." Amara enjoyed talking with this girl, she was pretty nice, and didn't seem to be making any judgments without all the facts, and Amara appreciated that.

Of course, Jasra could also be faking it, but Amara really didn't want to believe that, so she refused to think about it, and instead focused on what the girl had to say next.

"Oh, Tylar got a handle on his behavior, so I followed suit. I didn't want to be all alone, you know?" Amara chuckled slightly, "Of course, I was trying to make him proud in the first place, but it doesn't matter anymore. Mostly people have forgotten about that kind of stuff by now. It's only me that clings to those memories with a vengeance." She gave a little half shrug, a small movement of her shoulders that showed that she honestly didn't care either way, that she was perfectly willing to move on and all that kind of stuff.

She giggled as Jasra went on, "A runner, a runner..." she mused, "Perhaps it is a runner. I can't think of anything else it might be, but that one could possibly be another wher?" so easily sidetracked, she pointed at a cloud that did look suspiciously like a wher, "A wher named Frisk, even." she went on with a smile, earlier discomfort forgotten as Amara examined the cloud, her eyes narrowed slightly as the light of Rukbat shone in her eyes, and Amara vaguely considered shading her eyes, before deciding not to, she was feeling far too lazy to move her arm from its comfortable position at her side. "A green named Frisk." she decided at last, grinning happily.

[hatori3070]

Jasra smiled at the other girl. "I could definitely live with that." She replied, joining in on the small joke. That was all their lives were about now. Impression meant everything now that it was within their grasp. "It's kind of funny how I never really thought seriously about getting my own dragon before I was searched, but now that's all I can think about. My life really has changed completely since coming here." For the better, she hoped.

Who was Tylar? Was he another candidate, or a sibling at the weyr, or both? "I haven't met a Tylar. Is he your brother or something?" After she asked, she realized it might have been a bit too forward a question to ask someone she had just met. And the way she'd said it was just so blunt. Amara seemed like a really nice person, but she was so shy Jasra didn't want to do anything to chase her off.

This was what she liked about her, that carefree joy in such simple things. She was off on another tangent, imagining a back story for a wher-ish looking cloud. "What do you think her handler's name is?" She asked, looking at the cloud along with her. Jasra hoped to be able to be friends with this girl. She seemed like a good person on the surface, and she was curious about what lay beneath that surface. Curious enough to want to spend more time with her, if possible.

[theknightwhosaysni]

Amara nodded her head in agreement, going dreamily on, ”I wonder what it would be like to Impress. The ‘Riders I’ve asked say it’s a wondrous thing… It would be amazing to Impress, you know?” she smiled cheerfully, ”I always wondered about dragons, but I never really considered anything about Impressing ‘till I was Searched by Bivneth.” for a moment, she was silent, remembering the Impressive Brown who’d searched her, until she at last remembered that she was with someone else, and hastily continued on, ”My life has changed, too.” she commented at last, with a small smile.

Amara blinked as Jasra questioned her, answering quietly, ”He’s my brother.” she answered slowly, musing over what to say next. Should she go into more detail about it? Perhaps she should, ”Tylar’s a Candidate out here.” she added with a shrug, ”But I don’t see him much. He doesn’t really like to hang out with me, though.” another shrug, and a quick, apologetic grin, and she went on in a low whisper, ”He kinda thinks I’m a little weird. Not that I really blame him, though.” the last sentence was added in a louder voice, as Amara snorted cheerfully. Clearly, that didn’t really touch her; she couldn’t care less about what others thought about her. Well, she did a little, but her brother was perfectly weird himself, she didn’t mind what he thought.

Amara considered for an instant or two, ”Fritta.” she answered briskly with a nod, ”Fritta, I should think. Unless this would be a male ‘Handler, then maybe it would be Fritto… Not really sure.” Amara shrugged, grinning lazily, ”Or maybe something else entirely.” she nodded slowly, ”But I think Fritta. It fits the idea, I think. Fritta’s a pretty name.” Amara commented, nodding again. ”Makes me wish my name was Fritta… Kinda. Meh, not so much.” Amara shook her head vigorously, ”I like my name. It fits me…”

[hatori3070]

Jasra smiled, knowing that Amara was going back to that wonderful moment of being Searched. She drifted off a bit herself, thinking of the Green pair that had changed her life forever. It had been a normal day, she was delivering some of her father's work, when she heard the cry, "Searchdragon!" taken up all over the Hold. She knew it would've been almost impossible to find some of the people she was making deliveries to after that, so she had decided to go take a look. She knew that her father wouldn't mind terribly, he was a bit over-indulgent at times. Her feet had moved almost on their own, and before she knew it she had arrived at the, at that time, huge Green, and the 'Rider was approaching her. It had all happened so fast from there.

She snapped back to the present, realizing that Amara was talking. "I've noticed that siblings who are a few years apart typically don't hang out together." Her next statement was bit odd to her. Amara didn't seem weird. A bit odd, but who wasn't, to be completely honest? She knew there had to be people out there who thought she was weird. Case in point, Dekistee and her tantrum over the flitts. "I don't think you're weird." She said with a small smile. Her self-esteem seemed pretty low. Someone had to do something about that, so why not her?

"Fritta. That is a pretty name." Happier subjects were necessary at this point, and a conversation about clouds was perfect for lightening the mood. "Yeah, Amara fits you well." She really meant it. It was kind of hard to really explain, but something about the way it sounded really fit Amara. She gave a mental shrug. She agreed with her, so she most like wouldn't have to explain.