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Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 21st October 2005

Characters: Traelyn, Karaleigh
Description: Traelyn meets Karaleigh
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 7 of Turn 3

Karaleigh noticed a golden haired stranger walked slowly past her classroom door, thinking nothing of it. And noticed when she walked past again and shrugged it off. But then, there she was again. Finally the fourth time she wandered past the harper peeked her head out. "Excuse me, but are you looking for something?"

"Your name's Karaleigh?" Traelyn asked with a small smile.

"Yes," the harper nodded slowly. "Can I help you with something?"

"My name's Traelyn." The Weyrwoman offered her her hand. "I wanted to introduce myself to you."

The harper recognized the name immediately. "To me, Weyrwoman?" she asked as she took the offered hand with a bit of hesitation. Why would the Weyrwoman want to meet with _her_? She didn't remember them saying she had brought a family with her, and no new children had been enrolled since the mating flight...

Trae's smile turned into a grin. "O'dan mentioned you when I was talking with him. He said that I should meet you."

"Oh, you've made friends with O'dan already?" Karaleigh wasn't sure if that fact supported the less than flattering rumors she had heard about the new Weyrwoman or not...

She shrugged a shoulder slightly, her expression slowly becoming guarded at the tone in Karaleigh's voice. "I've spoken to him." Shards. Maybe it had been a bad idea after all to come here.

"Well, I have klah inside. Would like to come in and chat for a while? My classes are done for the day." She gave Trae a friendly, though equally guarded smile. As a harper she was trained to be impartial in the face of rumors. Karaleigh decided that she needed to see this Weyrwoman for herself before she formed an opinion either way. Until then, she was determined to stay neutral.

Trae followed her inside. "You must love children, to do what you do."

"That I do," Karaleigh nodded. She indicated a chair for the weyrwoman as she went to retieve the klah pot. "I would rather work with older children, apprentice age. But I'm a female, and female's don't teach at the Hall. Eventually I hope to teach apprentices here."

"Did you grow up at the Hall?"

"Far from it," the harper replied as she set a still steaming mug in front of the Weyrwoman. "I grew up in a minor hold far from Dolphin Cove. I left for the Weyr when I was 18, and last turn I transfered here. And you?"

"I was born and raised at Far Island Weyr." She took a sip of the klah, feeling it warm her. "Which isn't _too_ far from here."

"You just transfered from Dragonsfall, didn't you? How did you end up there?"

"A call went out for someone to fill in the Weyrwoman's Second position there. The Weyrwoman at Far Island knew I was capable, and so she sent me." She paused, her eyes growing a little distant. "I was reluctant to take such a high position...but I'm glad I did."

"Oh?" The harper asked curiously. She tried hard not to read too much into that statement.

Trae's eyes flickered up to Karaleigh's face at her tone. "Yes. I made friends there. Good friends."

"You miss Dragonsfall, then?" The harper searched the Weyrwoman's face for any hint of insincerity and found none, especially in her lonely eyes.
Perhaps this was all an accident. Perhaps she _wasn't_ the power hungry goldrider she had heard about. Perhaps...

Traelyn didn't know just how much her emotions were showing through her eyes as she said softly, "I do. Very much."

Karaleigh nodded. "It takes some adjusting, doesn't it. I have been there before. O'dan was a good friend to me then, too." Once she had pounded it through his skull that she was not in the least bit tempted to have any kind of sexual relationship with him.

A half-grin curved her lips at that. "He seems to like being good friends with women around here."

"Yes, you could say that he has known many women," Karaleigh agreed. She wondered if the new Weyrwoman would be counted among that number when O'dan had his health back. Why not, the last Weyrwoman had...

"But I suppose he wouldn't be a bronzerider if he _didn't_..."

Karaleigh snorted. "I suppose. He's just especially good at being a bronzerider, it seems." She had to shake her head as she thought of what an unlikely friendship they had developed - the shy and reserved harper who would not give in, and the cocky bronzerider who would never give up.

Traelyn grinned. "They're all good at that, it seems. Why else would they hold such a...flattering reputation?"

The harper smiled. The reputation never seemed to work on _her_... "Yes.
Well, I suppose you have much more experience with bronzeriders than I do."

She shrugged an eloquent shoulder. "I suppose I do. But it's hard not to, when you ride a queen."

Karaleigh inclinded her head in understanding. "Of course. I prefer to hide from bronzeriders in my Weyr with a stack of hides to grade and my feline. O'dan is an exception, however."

"I'm sure he loves that, Karaleigh," Trae grinned.

"Yes," she laughed, "I think my feline is worse than a bronzerider!"

"I've never had a feline... Are they good pets?"

"Yes, I don't know what I would do without Nabi. He can be temperamental and moody, but he more than makes up for it." Karaleigh smiled with tender affection as she thought of her feline. He was a warm body to come home to, and sometimes that was a comforting thought.

No doubt the feline welcomed her when she got home, and then curled up in bed next to her at night - a warm body to sleep next to, even if it was just an animal. And that was more than Trae herself had right now. Her thoughts strayed to N'vanik, and a shadow crossed her eyes. Shards... "Affection of any kind can mean so much."

"Yes, I suppose so." The harper could see something in the Weyrwoman's eye, and it raised questions. But she would not push. "I guess I was never the overly affectionate kind. I don't seem to _need_ it like many women do. I have Nabi and that's enough for me right now." Though, she had to admit, affection could feel sharding good sometimes - the kind with read feeling behind it, whether it be friendly, romantic, or just loving.

Trae gave her a smile. "You're lucky then."

"Perhaps," Karaleigh replied, wondering if she should ask just who it was the goldrider's eyes saw when she spoke of such things, but decided it was not her place to ask. "The conversations are a triffle one sided though. It seems a little easy to predict what the next thing Nabi is going to say will be."

"And what does he say?" she asked with a grin.

The harper laughed. "He says 'meow', which in feline means 'you silly human, if you would pet me as much as you talk to me this relationship would be a lot smoother, and if you don't hurry up I am going to go wash myself'."

The Weyrwoman laughed. "He sounds like quite the drama lord!"

Obviously the goldrider had little experience with the beasts. "No, not really. He's just being a feline."

"Reminds me of how Nyith can be sometimes..."

"Huh," Karaleigh said thoughtfully. "I never thought it was possible to compare feline behavior to dragon behavior."

"Well, to an extent. Felines aren't the only creatures on Pern who're demanding," Trae grinned.

"I'm beginning to learn that," the harper smiled. "Well, perhaps you can come by my weyr and meet Nabi, and then you can decide which is more demanding, a gold dragon or a self-absorbed ball of fur."

Traelyn smiled. "I'd like that, Karaleigh."

"Good, we'll set a date then." Karaleigh still wasn't ready to form an opinion on Trae yet, but, despite her terribly predictable bad taste in male friends, so far she didn't seem that bad. She would certainly need to get to know the new Weyrwoman a little better...

Last updated on the October 21st 2005

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