Opportunity

Writers: Jane, AL
Date Posted: 5th October 2008

Characters: Cerra, Eshmeir
Description: New harper apprentice Eshmeir meets female apprentice Cerra.
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 12, day 15 of Turn 4

The ship had docked late - after dark - by the aid of electric lights around the wharf. Eshmeir had been fascinated enough by that without it also being his first glimpse of the Weyr. Any Weyr. Actually, only the third or fourth place he'd visited in his life other than his home hold some thousands of dragonlengths along the coast and up a small but marginally navigable river.

He been met at the wharf and been led across the ancient volcano to the part of the Weyr that the Harper Hall used and there he'd been fed and put to bed in a guest room. Quite luxurious, compared to what he'd grown up with.

And he'd been told to come down at the second bell and eat his breakfast with the other apprentices. One of them would show him where to go and what to do.

After that he was to report to the Master of Apprentices. Again somebody would set him on the right track for that.

But Eshmeir was up at dawn, dressed and packed ready to move into the apprentice dormitory, and since he thought there might just be a while before breakfast he trotted around the corridors until he found a door out onto the gritty floor of the Weyrbowl.

And there he stopped. Awed by the Weyr, the sea, and most of all by the very fact that he was _there_.

"If your mouth hangs open any more, a wherry is going to fly into it and choke you to death." The words were tinged with laughter and the person to whom the voice belonged had a bright smile on her face. Her eyes twinkled, also laughing at the expression that washed over the young man's face.

"I guess it might at that," Eshmeir agreed unashamedly, dragging his eyes away from the view to look at the girl. "It's amazing, though. I didn't realise how incredible it was when I arrived last night." He caught sight of knots at her shoulder and realised she was an _apprentice_ just as he would be today.

It was one thing to know that the Harper Hall took girl apprentices, defying the Craft Ban, but quite another to actually _see_ a living example of that defiance. More afraid of what his unwary tongue would blurt out that wherries flying in, he shut his mouth and tried to keep his surprise to himself.

"A wherry must have already flown in and gotten your tongue." The girl looked to be about his age. She was fairly tall for her age, not overly thin, but pleasantly plump, her gently rounded face sprinkled with freckles. Her blond hair curled and bounced with every step and her brown eyes were warm and twinkled with a merry light. "I'm Cerra. You must be new."

"New as can be," he admitted ruefully. "Eshmeir. From - well, from a long way from here. Our journeyman harper sent me here. Said it was an opportunity too good to miss - while the Harper Hall was so close by." He grimaced. "I suppose he must be better travelled than most because it certainly seemed like a long way away to me."

"When did you get here?" The girl pressed as she moved closer to the new apprentice and let her gaze run over the length of him.

"Last night. After dark. There were lights around the wharf but otherwise I couldn't see any of -" he waved his arm around, nearly hitting the girl apprentice as he did so, "- this."

Cerra managed to step back in time to keep from getting smacked in the chin and grinned broadly. "Lovely, isn't it? I think you'll like it here. Did you train at all before coming to the hall?"

"Not very much. The journeyman who visited our place always left me lots 'to occupy me', as he would say. But he couldn't stay much longer with us than he could any family. He thought I should come to the Hall, though, if I could." The fifteen Turn old couldn't help but glance around again at the sea. "My sister got married and her man came to live with us so I - Well, I wasn't exactly unwanted but they could get along without me."

"So why not take the opportunity when it presents itself!" The girl chuckled softly. "A good choice I would say. Well, would you like a tour of the place? It will take some time to really get to know your way around, but it might help to have someone guide you and at least get a look."

Eshmeir was grateful for the girl's offer and her friendliness. Perhaps girl crafters wasn't such a bad thing, after all. "That'd be great but I have to get to breakfast at the right time. Don't want to be late on my first day."

"I have a great sense of time." Cerra assured him as she moved forward and hooked her arm through his. "We'll be there on time."

The young man looked in surprise at the girl's arm through his. How ...
odd. How ... intriguing. He couldn't help but follow her now and he certainly couldn't get lost on their tour of his new home. How ... exciting.

Last updated on the October 5th 2008

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Opportunity