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Darison
He found the sands and signed his name on the board with the others. Then he headed for the barracks, he found a few of the other male candidates when he got there and introduced himself to each with a smile. A couple of them looked at him strangely but he shrugged it off and chose a bed, leaving his things in the trunk at the end of it. Then he turned to the young man standing near him and smiled. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Darison asked and the young man shrugged. “Not much so far,” was his reply and he looked towards the other boys. “We’ve been getting all our chores done so they gave all the candidates a day off from lessons. Last time everyone went swimming in the weyrlake, I assume they’ll be doing that again.” Just then several of the other young men ran from the room, and Darison could hear someone yell, “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” He laughed and nodded his head. “I see you were right!” he smiled to the other young man, whose name he did not know. “Aren’t you going to join them?” “Nah,” he replied with a smile, “I’ve got other plans. I’ve got to go meet Jralli. I’ll catch you later.” The young man started to walk off but Darison tagged along. “Who’s Jralli?” “A friend, and a candidate for the queen’s egg. You can come with me if you like, but I’ll warn you right now, she’s a little weird about good-looking men.” “Weird about good looking men?” asked Darison, his eyebrows raised in surprise and confusion. “Yeah,” the young man laughed, “you’ll see when you meet her. I’m Kirfon by the way.” “Nice to meet you Kirfon, I’m...” “Darison, I know, I heard you introducing yourself to everyone else.” Before long they were emerging into the light of the weyrbowl and Kirfon strode off in the general direction of the weyrlake but off to the right a bit. Darison followed him and could soon make out a young woman sitting on a rock watching the other candidates cavorting in the lake. Kirfon hailed her as they got closer and she looked up with a contented smile. Then she saw Darison following Kirfon and her eyes grew large and almost frightened. Darison slowed his pace, not wanting to scare her, and let Kirfon reach her first. He could still hear their conversation from where he stopped, but he didn’t approach. “Hey, Jralli,” said Kirfon, obviously glad to see the young woman. “How are you today?” “I’m fine, Kirfon,” replied Jralli in a distracted manner, still looking past Kirfon at Darison. “Who’s that who followed you out here?” “That’s Darison, a new candidate,” replied Kirfon, turning and beckoning Darison over. “He’s coming over to talk to us?” “Yeah, why not? He doesn’t bite,” replied Kirfon with a shrug and a smile as he settled himself on the ground beside the boulder. “I suppose that’s alright.” Darison jogged over and extended his hand to Jralli with his usual winning smile. “Nice to meet you Jralli, I’m Darison.” Jralli’s face turned bright red at his smile and she turned her head away from him. Darison arched his eyebrows and looked at Kirfon questioningly. Kirfon just stifled a chuckle and shook his head. Darison shrugged and sat down on the ground. “So, what do you guys do around here for fun?” “Fun? Do you remember the last time we had fun around here, Jralli?” asked Kirfon with a laugh. “Well, I don’t know about fun, but the last day off we had was almost a month ago when we first met,” said Jralli, glancing at Kirfon with a small smile on her face. “Hey, do you mean to tell me you don’t enjoy my company?” laughed Kirfon teasingly and reached up to shove Jralli playfully. Darison watched the two interact with a puzzled look, wondering what the relationship actually was. Kirfon had put a great deal of emphasis on the word ‘friend’ earlier, but Darison wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t until later that he actually understood. Jralli made a reference to an Arinza at the FGPC and though Kirfon didn’t notice her tone was not friendly. It all fell into place for Darison then and he almost laughed out loud when he realized it. Apparently Kirfon was in love with some girl named Arinza and Jralli was jealous, though she kept up the pretense of being just his friend very well. The next day Darison started talking to some of the other candidates, still socializing with Kirfon and Jralli but not wanting to become too involved with the two of them. He’d seen some of the kitchen staff at Runner Hold try to use another man to get the object of their affection jealous and that was the last thing he wanted for himself. Jralli was nice, but not outgoing enough for him. Though she did blush prettily. He shook his head and went back to his chores. Someday he’d find the right woman, he knew he would, and his mind wandered a bit, dreaming of a bronze dragon and a golden beauty and her rider. He grinned and shook his head. It was much too early to make such plans, he’d have to wait and see what the hatching would bring. |