Literary Blues [Riki]

[pandoraMisfit]

“Are you sure you can carry those, I will do if for you if you like?” Nwalme directed a sweet smile at the girl asking her these things before giving a negative to the question. Turning back to the scrolls she had just collected from the library, she rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. Sure it was very nice of Meliata to have followed the weyrleader’s orders out to a ‘T’, but she wasn’t that much of an invalid! Not that she’d say so out loud of course. Meliata was doing her best to help however she could, and Nwalme couldn’t just throw that back in her face. Putting the scrolls down on a table, she turned to face the girl, who was hovering uncertainly. “Surely you must have things you’d like to do for yourself?” She said very quietly, the tone indicating none of her annoyance. “I’ll be okay for a few hours yet; all I’m going to do is read these and then put them back. If I need you again, I will find you.” She did her best to put on a smile for her helper. Meliata paused. Evidently Nwalme didn’t need help reading. “And I promise you, I won’t try to lift anything heavy on my own. “The ebony haired girl gave a wry smile at this. It was one of Meliata’s main concerns – if Nwalme harmed herself, then B’ach might think that she hadn’t been devoted to her task. Upon hearing those words the girl gave a bright smile, saying that she’d probably be in the dining hall r their shared room if anything was needed. Then, she left somewhat hesitantly, casting her glance over her shoulder as if Nwalme was a naughty child that might run away at any moment.

When Meliata had finally vanished, Nwalme slumped into a chair and gave a huge sigh of relief. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but she wasn’t used to having constant company. Shards, she even shared a room with the girl now. So for the meantime, the quiet was bliss. She wasn’t ungrateful for the help at all – she just wouldn’t have coped with some things if Meliata hadn’t been there. At this thought she scowled at her arm, encased in its sling. If she caught it the wrong way, or accidently knocked it off the corner of a table or some such other object, it twinged abominably. And then there was the underlying ache. She’d been so stupid during the test and she had paid for it. At least she had passed.

Pushing these thoughts away, she settled herself more comfortably at the desk and unrolled one of the scrolls. These weren’t from the section that her pass now allowed her to access. They were just common scrolls about any number of herbs to be found around the island and what they could be used for medically. The librarian, upon spotting her badge, had asked if she wanted a quick tour around the archives; but while she wanted nothing more than to explore the musty old tomes, she had ‘homework’ to be getting on with. Due to her injury, the healer had assigned her more mundane tasks. She wasn’t allowed to participate in any active healing when it came along as her bandaging and the use of only one hand had made her somewhat clumsy. And so it was back to hoarding away knowledge like a bird hoards berries for the winter.

As the time passed, Nwalme grew more and more relaxed. The silence –and emptiness- of the library acted like a balm to her soul. Not much of a social creature by any means, she had missed the quietness of her solitude. She rolled her head in circles to loosen up the tension in her neck. But for some reason, she couldn’t concentrate on her studies. The more she tried to take in of the information, the more she felt like she was reading gobbledegook. It was probably a lack of sleep that was doing it. Every time she rolled over in the night, she ended up lying on her arm. And it always woke her up. The appendage just couldn’t cope with the weight of her body bearing down on it and protested each and every time this happened. And so Nwalme was living on a few hours sleep and copious amounts of klah. Reluctantly she rolled up the scroll she had been examining and put it back into its protective tubing. Dragging another of the ones she had collected over to her, she opened it up and tried to set her mind to the task. This one was about keeping conditions sanitary. Things she already thought she knew like the back of her hand. Sighing, she resigned herself to skimming the text. Maybe she would learn something new, maybe not. But all she really wanted was to be back in action. While she loved studying, there was nothing she loved more than hands on learning, and for now that was out of her range.

[Lyrikitty]

Riki had spent the last few hours getting thoroughly filthy in the pens where the runners were housed. She'd mucked out the pens and given one of the foals a good rub down. The little thing had stretched out happily with her touch, head twisting in sheer joy and when she'd finished, he nuzzled around her hands looking for more attention. Laughing she shooed the little one away, her stomach growling at her in protest to not having eaten yet today. She hadn't been told by anyone to tend ot the pens, in fact she'd received a few disbelieving looks from people who walked by, but it was a pleasure for her. It reminded her of the few times back home she had enjoyed herself and experienced some form of freedom. It also kept her from getting lazy, the hard work involved helping keep her figure leana nd healthy.

She considered heading directly to the kitchens, but one sniff of herself changed that. She needed to clean up first. With a shrug she returned to her weyr, grabbing a clean change of clothes and heading for the bathing pools. Communal bathing had been a bit hard for her to get used to. She'd been raised with private baths, as well as someone who was eager to wash her hair for her. She didn't have that luxery anymore, and now she had to bare herself to anyone else who happened to be in the pools. It was why she made a point of bathing at odd hours when almost no one was in the pools.

Her luck held out today, the bathing pools empty and she was able to clean up quickly in privacy.

Now clean and smelling much better, Riki headed for the kitchens. She wanted something to eat, as her stomach was positively roaring it's protest instead of meekly grumbling at her. With a few smiles and some small talk she was able to get a plate of meatrolls and a cup of steaming klah, which she headed to the tables wih. To her dismay, it seemed she wasn't the only one who was hungry right now. She frowned, and shied away from the crowd of weyrfolk eating, turning away to go and fnid a more peaceful place to eat. Wandering for some time she ended up in the library. She had been spending a large chunk of her free time here lately, trying to prepare for the Test of Knowledge, and so she was familiar with at least part of it. She headed for the nearest table, realizing only as she was getting ready to set her cargo down that it was already occupied. However, it was occupied by Nwalme.

Riki faultered, unsure if Nwalme would be mad at her for the incident that resulted of the first test. Her eyes flickered to Nwalme's arm, her gut twisting no longer in hungry but guilt. She hadn't seen the other girl since then, but she'd felt terrible about what happened. She wanted to talk tot he girl again, Nwalme was really the only person who had been directly friendly to Riki without a underlying motivation and Riki badly wanted to have a friend in the Weyr other than, apparently, Zenith. Shuffling her feet with her head down, she nibbled her lip for a moment until she gathered up the nerve to speak. "Do you mind if I sit here, Nwalme? I could go elsewhere, I'd understand. I mean, all things considered.."

[pandoraMisfit]

Ugh, these texts just weren’t holding her attention properly enough. For a short moment, Nwalme considered retreating to her rooms to enjoy the quiet on her own. But then, that would be just lazy, she decided. She had things that needed doing, and she supposed they had best get done. Shuffling the scrolls around again, she pulled one out that detailed the types of dragon present in the weyr. Well, most of them at any rate. It was one of the scrolls that B’ach had given her during their ‘meeting’. And it stayed with her at all times. She had made herself a small bag out of a tunic that had somehow managed to shrink when it was washed, and it was in this that she carried the precious documents. Before her lay these scrolls, separated in a different pile from the ones she had retrieved from the library itself. Unrolling the parchment, she smoothed it out almost reverently before she set to the task of digesting the information properly. Of course, the girl had read it through before, but some details always escaped her, and each time she took it out, she picked up a little bit more. Now this scroll was able to hold her attention, unlike the previous one.

Each time she read the scroll, she started from the top again, re-reading the entire thing from start to finish. Something about these dragons fascinated her, meaning she couldn’t put the thing down until she’d reached the bottom. Focussing on the particular oddities about the Ghost’s made her think about B’rac, and how kind he had been to her.

Deep in concentration, it took her a moment to work out that she had been spoken to – she had been that absorbed in her reading that she hadn’t even heard anyone approach. It took another moment for her brain to process what had been said and the identity of the voice. Looking up helped her brain kick into gear and a shy smile spread across her face. Riki. She shuffled to one side, sweeping the scrolls across the table to provide the room. The tubes clinked together softly as they rolled across the table, and Nwalme had to quickly reach over with her right arm to stop them from falling off. As she did so, her injured arm glanced off the corner of the desk and she winced a little. Righting herself, she looked up to the girl who hovered, on the edge of leaving again. She brushed a dark lock away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Of course you can, I don’t mind.” The girl’s voice had gone quiet again. Even though she and Riki had been paired up for the test of courage, and the events that followed, the girl standing beside her was still technically an unknown entity. But still, if she had asked, then of course she may sit, who was Nwalme to refuse?

The thing that puzzled her, once her brain churned over the final part of the request, was what was meant by ‘all things considered’. Gesturing to the empty seat next to her in case Riki hadn’t heard her soft voice, Nwalme shifted in her own seat to face the girl properly instead of looking over her shoulder. It was a bit awkward for long periods of time. “I am… not sure what you mean…” she began to say, until she realised her voice was barely audible. Coughing a little helped. Sometimes her voice got stuck in her throat when she was talking, especially recently. “What do you mean? I can’t see anything that would be a problem…” She faded off again. The last part was phrased almost like a question, as she was truly puzzled. Did Riki think she had done something wrong? If talking to a weird girl and making her smile was wrong, then shard it, what was right? It was more than some people had done. Then again, she supposed, if she opened up a little and stopped acting like a clam, maybe more people would talk to her. Bah, that way pain and hurt lay. Or at least she thought.

However, something was different here. Another girl, seemingly similar in her demeanour. Something lay behind that and the social butterfly inside of her fluttered its wings feebly. It had been a while since she’d had someone she could call ‘friend’ And a part of her, no matter how scared of letting someone in, was longing for interaction on a somewhat meaningful level.

She wrinkled her brow as she thought of something she could possibly say, something that might connect them. And all she could see that they had in common experience was the trial. “I hope… I hope you aren’t too shaken up still… You know, after the trial.” She paused, thinking for a moment. What was it Riki had said to her afterwards? Ah yes. “How are you enjoying the newfound ‘celebrity’?” She wrinkled her nose up at the word as she said it. Certainly people had begun to treat her differently, something which she found quite uncomfortable. Whilst before she was able to blend into the background, now people noticed her and wanted to speak. Like the librarian earlier. Sometimes she just wanted to throw the bronze emblem on her tunic as far down the shaft as she could manage, but that wouldn’t change matters and would probably only anger the Weyrleader. And THAT was something she didn’t want to do again anytime soon.

Busying herself tidying the scrolls, she tucked the few to do with her healer training away in the bag. She could read them later. Despite having Meliata hovering about her like a lost fire lizard, one to one contact was still hard for the girl and the small task helped her divert her a little, stopping her from freezing up.

[Lyrikitty]

She held her breath as Nwalme first didn't respond. Was the other girl really so upset she would simply ignore Riki entirely? Her heart threatened to sink, but was cast a line of hope as Nwalme realized she'd been adressed and responded, first in a tone that was almost impossible to hear, then rephrasing herself at a louder tune. Riki's jaw wanted to drop as Nwalme asked why it would't be alright, then going so far as to ask if Riki was alright after the trial, and how the girl was handling the newfound celebrity status. She processed this as quickly as she could, noting the seat which was gestured to. She moved to it, setting down her plate and cup and sitting.

She was dumbfounded though. It seemed as if Nwalme had either forgotten or forgiven Riki for the error in calculation which ended with Nwalme hurt, as was evidenced when the girl had banged her arm and winced in pain. That expression had made Riki want to crawl into a hole and disappear for good, however she fought it back, holding her ground and sitting beside Nwalme.

She decided she'd hold her tongue about her guilt. Nwalme seemed okay about it all, and there was no reason that Riki should unload on the other and make a situation which could be positive into something awkward and terrible. "Thanks. I was going to eat in the kitchens, but... Well there were so many people..." Her tone portrayed the discomfort she'd felt at the very thought of sitting with such a crowd, and it was easy to see how she had ended up in the peace of the library. "I'm doing... Well I guess I'm alright. I don't like having to hide all the time. Nor do I like having people wanting to kill me." That particular part was more than a little worrisome. Had Nwalme encountered anything of the like? Riki would likely never forget the images which were burned into her memory now, of the two boys turning on her with malice, and the one dropping like a felled tree.

The explanation she'd been given didn't help matters either.

Just thinking about it made her shudder, and look around as if expecting something to happen. Realizing what she was doing, she forced herself to stop, instead directing her attention to the plate of meatrolls. Looking at it now she realized she'd grabbed too many to eat by herself, and she looked sheepishly at Nwalme. "I don't suppose you're hungry? There's no way I could possibly eat all of these myself, so feel free to have some if you'd like." Should Nwalme refuse, Riki could always save them and feed them to one of the various pets of the Weyr.

[pandoraMisfit]

Ah. Yes that was a feeling she knew all too well, although her own solution was to retreat to her own rooms and eat alone. Nwalme let a timid smile creep on her face. But it swiftly vanished when Riki said about people trying to kill her. “Seriously?!” her voice went shrill, drawing the attention of the librarian who shot her an annoyed look and a ‘shush’. Mortified, she ducked her head down, pale cheeks flaming crimson. Looking up from through her fringe, her face was a picture of incredulity. In more quiet tones, she managed to convey her shock and horror at such a thing happening. “Did they get caught? I can’t… can’t imagine why on earth someone would do that!” She fumbled for words. Such an incident was virtually impossible to imagine in Nwalme’s world. Bullying, yes, attempted murder most definitely not.

Now she counted herself lucky. No such ill had befallen her, although there was probably plenty more time for someone to try something. She’d just have to keep her guard up a little more than usual.

She fidgeted a little. The old Nwalme would have thrown her arms about the girl and held her for comfort. But this version of the girl wasn’t sure if that would be apt. She wanted to, but that would be showing herself too plainly. And this Nwalme was all about keeping closed off. Dear Faranth, but she felt awkward. Instead she found herself glancing about, almost mimicking Riki’s own action.

She perked up a little bit at the offer for food, her stomach letting out a small growl as if to accept the generosity before her lips could. Her blush flared up a little again as she daintily took one of the rolls and nibbled at it, not unlike a small animal would. “Thank you.” The tone of her voice had resumed its normal soft cadence and volume.

When she had finished, she rolled her shoulders, working out some of the stiffness that had accumulated. “Ermm…” A false start. She took a deep breath and began again. “I don’t know where your rooms are now… and I mean you obviously handled yourself really well with whoever tried to… you know...” Oh but getting her words out was a struggle. The one person in the weyr who’d shown signs of being genuinely friendly towards her and she was getting all tongue tied over it. Shard it. “If you wanted… and only if, don’t feel obliged… maybe you could move closer to me?” Her way of thinking was that if there were people trying to make attempts on the girl’s life, that perhaps it would be safer if they stuck together for a while? She explained as much to Riki, and lest she think Nwalme was insinuating that she couldn’t look after herself, the dark haired girl added that maybe a larger group would be less of an appealing target.

Once she had finished stumbling over her words, she looked back down at the table. Considering she had been wanted her solitude not five minutes prior, this was an odd move. But dwelling on it, no matter her awkwardness in company, Nwalme did want to have someone she could talk to – and by her own choice, not through enforced contact. Not that she would admit it to herself, but she was starting to get a little lonely in the big weyr and the girl sitting beside her seemed more than nice enough company. In fact, in the short span of time they had spent together, something told Nwalme that this was a girl she could depend on if need be, and that was the reason she was willing to let her guard down. ‘Everyone needs a friend’ she remembered someone telling her way back when she was living her reclusive existence back in crystal caverns. Back then she’d sniffed at the saying and disregarded it completely, pushing the person who had said it even further away. This time around ,it made sense to listen to the advice and take it to heart.

[Lyrikitty]

Nwalme's shrill question in response to Riki's statement said all the girl needed to know. Apparently Nwalme hadn't had such an experience. It was an isolated event. Maybe no one else would try it? Well, one could only hope. Nwalme peppered questions at her, and with the final suggestion of the other girl, Riki felt a little hopeful. She wouldn't mind staying closer to Nwalme, not because she was particularly scared, but because she liked the other girl, and she didn't want anything to happen to her. If they stayed cose to eachother it would be a lot harder to knock one of them out of the running for Impression.

"Yeah, all but one of them were caught. We don't know what happened to her..." She frowned slightly, pondering the disappearance of the one girl. Something in her gut said that bad things had happened to her. It wasn't something she wanted to dwell on though. "From what I gathered, they did it so they could get one of the native girls to Impress to the Wraith egg, and have one of the boys involved end up Weyrleader after killing B'ach later on." She shuddered, remembering the unholy rage that had filled her at the thought of such a plan pulling through. It didn't help matters that her emotions at the time had caused such a violent reaction from an egg. To distract herself from this she took a meatroll and nibbled on it slowly. "I would feel a bit more secure if we put our rooms closer together. Plus, if they tried to do anything to either of us we'd be withni earshot." She was liking the idea more and more, the more she thought about it. "I didn't really do much when it happened. I chucked a rock at the head of one of the boys hoping to knock him out, which only got their attention. I got really lucky. Zenith said that one of the eggs had reacted to my feelings and created a physical manifestaton of them, disabling one of the boys. The other threw himself to the ground and started groveling after that." She had the feeling she maybe shouldn't have said that part, but she needed to talk to someone about it, and badly.

Zenith had helped a lot in her understanding, but what Riki needed was someone who knew just as little as she about the inner workings of Skrull, so that she wouldn't be alone in her freaked-out-opinion of what had happened. Even if it made sense what had happened, it was very odd and very scary. She finished her meatroll and took a second, watchign Nwalme thoughtfully. "You're really a lot nicer than the other girls here. I'm glad we were partnered in the Trial, though I'm sorry about what happened." Her tone implicated the feelings of guilt she'd been carrying around with her in relation to the event. If she had any intention of being friends with Nwalme, she wasn't going to start keeping things like that from the girl. Riki had always been open with the few people she was close to, telling them all as long as they wanted to listen. It built trust, and gave them the chance to do the same.

[pandoraMisfit]

Nwalme sat, awkward and fidgety as she listened to Riki’s’ explanation of what had happened. Oddly, as the girl spoke more, despite the strange occurrences that she was telling her, Nwalme began to relax a little. Her eyebrow raised swiftly when she heard that an unhatched dragon had influenced something outside of its shell so profoundly. She had never heard such a thing, and she was pretty certain it wasn’t common knowledge either. “I never knew they could do that… so… one of the eggs has perhaps taking a liking to you? Maybe… it’s just Skrull thing?” She rambled a little bit, pondering deeply. Never, not in all her life had she heard of anything like this happening – and she was weyrbred too. Creasing her brow, she tried to remember if there was anything about this on the dragon information scroll she had been studying. Shuffling through it for a moment, she furrowed her brow further, dark blue eyes searching for some secret the scroll might give up. And there was nothing. Just details about Ghosts and Shades. Oh, the odd bit about the resident greens and blue, but as B’ach had said, no mention of the Wraithqueen. And it proved fruitless looking for the information she sought. She let out a gusty sigh before shoving the scroll back away from her. It wouldn’t do to get food on it.

Then she realised that in her scramble for lore, she’d missed what Riki had said about moving closer. That made her smile. The urge to hug the girl was getting stronger, and ice-Nwalme thought she might even crack eventually. Having someone close by that she could actually stomach the sight of would be wonderful. No, that seemed almost an odd way to think about it. Having someone close by that she enjoyed the company off would be wonderful. That was better. Her shy smile began to crack into a wider grin, her inner light almost spilling through. By Faranth but it was nice to genuinely smile.

And then it occurred to her than she was being watched, somewhat closely, bringing another blush to rise to her cheeks. She wasn’t used to the scrutiny. And her cursed colouring made her look as though she’d wiped her face after peeling red roots. Riki spoke. The blush deepened when the compliment reached her ears, and she mumbled something back much the same. The soft voice then took on a tinge of something she took a moment to place. Was that, guilt?

Well today was a day for blushing and getting confused. Why should Riki feel guilty? She followed the girl’s gaze to her broken arm and something clicked. “Ah, um, huh?” Not the most eloquent sentence in the universe, but there you go. Nwalme was both confused and concerned that Riki had thought that the injury washer fault. How long had she felt like that? Ice-girl broke. As best she could she lurched forward somewhat unsteadily to envelop Riki in her most recent version of a hug. Then as quickly as she had done it, she drew back. “There is no need to apologise… we both thought the design was sound after all.” She thought back to the day. “And anyway, I should apologise to you, you could have died.” She went quieter. Even though it had been an accident, it still frightened her to think that she could have been an instrument of this girl’s death. If she hadn’t caught the necklace with the wing of the glider, if she hadn’t been caught. If, if, if. But an accident it was, and both of them were alive, which was the best outcome she could have hoped for. “A broken bone doesn’t matter.” She smiled, pulling her healer’s knowledge to mind. “Anyway, it was a closed fracture, so at least it won’t become infected. And as far as I can tell, it was a clean break – it will heal quicker than if the bone had split.” Wow, full sentences which no breaks. Well there was something .Maybe it was because she was talking about something she was passionate about.

“Mm, I’m glad too.” She had lost her roll, but thought it best to reply more clearly. The trial had actually turned out to be more fun for Riki’s company. In the morning she had been dreading it. “It’s so strange being here, so I’m glad too…. that you’re here to talk with…” She fiddled about with her hair before taking another meatroll as Riki had done. Her stomach gurgled in contentment. Oh yeah, she’d skipped on lunch to study. She looked about surreptitiously. Good, she wasn’t there. Meliata no doubt would have taken account of that. And for the meantime, she was enjoying some ‘alone’ time away from the girl, even if it was shared with someone else. Well, actually it was made the better for having someone she genuinely was enjoying the company of. “Umm, could you do me a small favour, please? If you see Meliata, just tell me to duck, okay?” She smiled wryly at herself. Like that would fool the girl, but the words would hopefully take the conversation in a less serious direction.

[Lyrikitty]

She was... Absolved from guilt? Well that was a shocker, certainly. Riki's jaw nearly dropped as Nwalme moved in to give a one-armed hug, and the gesture caused Riki's eyes to mist with tears that threatened to fall in gratitude. She'd never really had anyone hug her in such a manner. Her father's affection had always seemed forced, as if he would rather be doing something else, or rather her not even exist. While she wasn't dislike by the drudges or holdfolk, none wanted to get too close to someone their Lord treated like the plague.

Her main source of affection had come from animals, sneaking into the stables to stroke a runner's side or throw her arms around it's neck, playing with the canines and felines, even the little flits were friendly enough when offered bits of food.

Now, for someone who barely knew her to show such a friendly and kind gesture... Well it was a lot to swallow. Hoping to erase the wetness pooling in her eyes she scrubbed with a hand and smiled at Nwalme. The girlw as going to think Riki was nuts. Getting teary-eyed over a hug. Foolish.

As soon a she got herself under control she smiled sheepishly and gave a little shrug, as if to dismiss what had happened as nothing of importance. "Meliata? Oh! That's the girl who was assigned to helping you." Her nose wrinkled, not in dislike of the girl herself, but the idea of having someone at her side all day long and being made to feel helpless. That had to be infuriating. She nodded as she thought about this. Nwalme had to be dying for some time away from that. "Yeah, I'll do my best. We could always go back to one of our rooms if you'd rather?"


OOC:: Blech... My muse is not wanting to cooperate for Riki right now. >.>

[pandoraMisfit]

Nwalme smiled and kept her voice to herself. She surreptitiously looked about to give Riki the time to recompose herself. She could understand the feeling – maybe not on the same level – and she understood that it wasn’t nice to stare when someone was obviously trying to ignore the fact that they had become a little emotional.

She wrinkled her nose too when Riki spoke about Meliata. Shards but it was getting annoying. She perked up when her companion suggested they go elsewhere. “Sure, sounds like a plan… although.. I guess not for long… or else I’ll have a mother wherry after me.” She resisted the urge to crack up at this. Something had lifted from her shoulders, ever so slightly that put her more at ease around the girl. “Ermm, can we go to your room? She might not think to look for me there.”

Standing, she started to tidy her scrolls away into her satchel. Annoyingly, she managed to knock one with her slinged arm, sending it clattering to the floor. The librarian looked over in disapproval once more. Cursing under her breath, Nwalme knelt down to pick it up. As she knelt, a sudden spasm of pain pinged through her skull, to settle into a throbbing ache. She winced aloud. Steadying herself against the table, she breathed through her mouth loudly, the twinge playing havoc with her balance. She breathed in again, the oxygen not helping to stop the dizziness that took over her.

Then she fell.

Strange. It was pitch black. She could have sworn she was in the library with Riki. The darkness surrounded her told her otherwise. Perhaps it was a dream and she had woken in the dead of night?

No.

This was something else. The pitch black was different, cloying, clinging. And cold. Freezing cold in fact. But that wasn’t what made her realise. She was floating. Her brows knitted together. How was she floating? Trying to move proved somewhat of a difficulty, the darkness seemed to want her there. Still, she tried, struggled to bring a hand to her face and to brush the hair out of her obscured vision. Not that it helped much. There was nothing but the black empty void. She struggled a little more, wanting nothing more than to chafe her arms with her hands, to bring a little more warmth into her body. No. Movement definitely was off the cards for now.

Time passed. Hours. Weeks. Aeons. She didn’t know. Floating, she saw nothing but obsidian swathes of more nothing.

Wait.

It wasn’t just black.

Far away, there was… something. She squinted. Colours. And then she had to close her eyes. The colours were shifting, twisting and swirling, enough that the girl’s eyes were momentarily pained by the sudden sensory input. Eventually she peeled back the lids of those midnight eyes to view the colours. Odd, they reminded her of dragons eyes. And there was something there, but no matter how much she squinted, how much she struggled, she couldn’t get closer, or make out what it was. On the edge of her hearing, something sounded. Perhaps it sounded like her name? She wanted it to happen again. She pushed, trying to get closer and…

The world came back into focus, fuzzy and seasick. A persistent ringing whined away in her ears. Blinking blearily, she noticed that she was on the floor. Something caught at the edge of her memory, but before she could grasp it, it winged away. A dream? Moving just provided an instant sick feeling, so she settled for turning her head slightly. The librarian looked startled, on the edge of movement as if unsure whether to come running over or not. What had happened? Had she passed out? The whining wouldn’t go away and she frowned, turning her gaze to Riki. So they were still in the library. All she could manage in the way of speaking was an inarticulate “huh?” She was still on the floor, but thus far no inkling of an intention to get up again had passed through her mind. The ringing continued. A sure sign she had indeed lost consciousness, and from the state of everyone else she could see, not for long either. Maybe even just seconds. But to Nwalme, it had felt like forever.

[Lyrikitty]

Riki was about to respond to Nwalme, and consent to going to her room to hide fromz Meliata for a bit, when Nwalme went down. Riki jumped up and managed a relatively gentle catch of the falling girl. Her arms supported Nwalme and eased her down as Riki raked her brain to try and think of what to do. She wasn't a healer, she had know knowledge of what one was supposed to do in a situation like this. So she settled for laying Nwalme down, supporting the girl's head carefully on her bag, and filling a cup with the cooled klah she'd brought with her so she could offer Nwalme a drink when she woke.

Her gut had knotted itself into a tangled mess she was starting to doubt would ever come undone as she waited, unable to do anything to help, and when Nwalme finally opened her eyes Riki gave a sigh of relief so great she seemed to deflate from it. She held out the cup with worried eyes and creased brow, watching Nwalme closely as if expecting her to faint again. "Are you alright? Did you bump your arm or... Um.... Well I don't really know what makes a person go down like that. I've got a drink here if you need it, my klah, it's cooled now and I don't know if you like any sweetener or if you even like it cool or not, but um..." She realized she was a worried mess as she started to ramble, and shut her mouth promptly, settling instead for keeping a concerned eye planted on Nwalme firmly.

She wanted to know what had happened. Badly. It didn't seem right for Nwalme to just drop like that, and she was uneasy. What if it happened again? What if it was a sign that something worse was about to happen? What if she was overreacting and making it out to be worse than it really was? The last one helped calm her a bit, and she breathed carefully, measuring each inhale and exhale so to soothe her racing heart and ease the pounding in her ears.

[pandoraMisfit]

Eventually, Nwalme realised that she was being spoken to. Shards but passing out really played having with her cognitive skills for a short while afterwards. She frowned, blinking furiously to adjust her wavering vision. There was a cup floating in front on her. No, not floating, being held by Riki. Pulling herself upright sent her head reeling again, and she felt almost on the verge of another blackout. Thankfully, some steady breathing helped to stabilise her. Shakily, she took the proffered cup shakily and drank little sips. The cool liquid slid down her throat like a blessing. She licked her suddenly parched lips and then took another mouthful of klah. Slowly but surely she was returning to normal, the sustenance the beverage offered helping to ground her back in her body.

She managed a weak smile as Riki rambled. “It’s... fine. Thank you.” Her voice was just as weak as her smile, as though she was about to slip out again. She had never had the best reaction to passing out and every time it happened, she hated it all that bit more. But this was different.

A little while passed where she just sat, sipping at the now cold drink. It wasn’t the most pleasant in the world, but it was what she needed. After a little of this, she raised her good hand to rub at the spot on the back of her head that had been so painful. Odd, it was completely gone now. But that blasted ringing hadn’t. Alas, yet another nasty side effect that would follow her about for a few hours. Nwalme noted the intense watch Riki was keeping on her, and she had to smile again. “Don’t worry; I think the worst is over now. I won’t go out again.” As if to prove this, she grabbed the side of the tale for support and lurched upwards. Which in turn set her equilibrium rioting and she had to it back on the chair she had only recently vacated fairly quickly.

Wincing at her own foolishness, she motioned that she was okay. A little confused mayhap, she thought. But none the worse for wear physically as far as she could tell. A bruise here or that would only add to the collection that was just beginning to yellow off and begin their fading departure. Riki was obviously wondering what on Pern had happened, and something like this was owed an explanation. Anyway, her friend might be able to help her fathom it out.

Slowly and carefully she explained what happened, omitting nothing. She faltered when she was recalling the voice she had heard. “I don’t know what it was or quite what it said. It could have been my name? It’s going fuzzy already, like a half remembered dream.” She frowned. It wasn’t something she felt she should forget, just in case the episode was actually important. It seemed like it could be – nothing had precipitated the headache. It had come out of nowhere, for apparently no reason, and that she found, in itself was odd. Aches and pains could usually be explained medically. This, she felt, couldn’t.

She downed the rest of the klah, the last dregs in the mug being string and bitter. Not to matter, it actually brought some clarity back to her mind. “I, don’t suppose you’ve heard anything like this happening?” She enquired of the girl still watching her carefully. “It all seems so surreal and yet like it wasn’t just a dream. Something about it seemed very…. now.” She pulled a face. That was a very inadequate way of describing it, but it was the best she could come up with. Her mind was coming back online in full capacity, and yet she still couldn’t explain what had happened. Maybe it was worth asking B’ach about? She shook her head to herself. He probably had other things to contend with, especially with what Riki had told her about the… assassination attempt. This seemed trivial in comparison.

[Lyrikitty]

Riki was calmed by Nwalme's reassurances, at least once the other girl was seated in a chair. She still wasn't certain if Nwalme was going to be alright, but at least her friend was starting to look a little better. Before she'd looked positively dreaful! Riki listened as Nwalme described, or at least tried to, what had happened. Her head slowly swung from sid ot side in a negative response. "No... I've never heard of anything like that happening. I mean, it isn't as though I know a whole lot about medicine or anything related to it... Just how to occasionally patch myself up so I can work still." This though put a frown on her face, the source of the knowledge being an unpleasent one. She shoved it roughly aside though, in order to maintain focus on Nwalme.

"Perhaps we should go see B'ach? I can only imagine if this is a common occurance here in Skrull he'd be able to tell us." She said 'us' so very easily that it didn't even cross her mind, just as letting Nwalme face the issue alone never touched her thoughs for even a second. Rki had every intention of staying with Nwalme until things were sorted out and everything was alright for the other girl, though Riki wasn't exactly sure why.

Maybe that was part of what it meant when you started thinking of a person as a friend?

((Bleh! I'm sorry about this being short and crappy. >.> Calliope has other plans for me, rather than doing lovely posties.))

[pandoraMisfit]

She pulled a face again, though it wasn’t unkind, nor entirely directed at Riki. B’ach probably was the only person in the weyr who might be able to tell them what had happened, excepting Zenith of course. Nwalme shook her head. ”No, he’ll most likely be busy doing… Weyrleader-y stuff.” She grimaced. Not that she’d have a clue as to what he was doing right now, nor did she much want to. His business was his own. There was a man who probably disliked disturbances. ”At any rate, I’m feeling better now.” Her voice still wavered, showing exactly how much of that statement was bravado and she could hear it all too well. That wasn’t going to fool Riki. She signed, grabbing a cold meat roll and then leaning back a little more solidly in her chair. ”Okay, maybe I’m not. It’s nothing medical insofar as I’m aware, but then, I am only an apprentice.” She shrugged her ability off, downplaying her skills, for some reason. Maybe it was perhaps because she was just so used to doing it.

Nwalme blew a strand of hair out of her vision. Shard it but it wanted cutting! However, she found it quite useful for hiding behind in company. Hair out of the way, she nibbled delicately on the food, slowly so as not to send her stomach into jitters. It seemed to stabilise her a bit more. The only really annoying thing left now was that afore mentioned, thrice-blasted ringing.

“If I see him on the off chance, be sure that I’ll mention it. Just, I don’t exactly feel like playing ’20 questions’ right now.” Her tone and full lips curved in slight annoyance at the very thought, created the image of a petulant child pouting. To some extent, she was, but mostly she just felt exhausted from all the attention she’d been receiving of late. Truth be told, all she wanted was to have some nice company and few worries for a little while. Company that she had chosen for herself.

She sat up and stretched her back out. When had she developed so much tension? She mused on a title of a book her eyes had come across in their travels of the shelving. Maybe she’d have to pick that one up later. And then she remembered they were supposed to be doing something. “Say, we were going to go hide weren’t we?” An almost – and very nearly almost, for it was closest it had been in a long while – mischievous glint sparkled through her eyes. She was as recovered as she was going to get, for a while at least, and now she really wanted to get out of there. The librarian, having assessed the situation and deemed it as the silliness of a young girl, was surreptitiously shuffling through scrolls nearby, tutting audibly.

Nwalme made as if to stand, before remembering her fallen bag. Gingerly she lowered herself down to retrieve it before fixing Riki with a smile. It shone brighter than before. This girl had stayed by her side in a moment of madness and was genuinely concerned. She had tried to help where another might have left her alone to get someone else. That touched her. And so she smiled openly, the expression touching her eyes. “So, my room or yours? I can’t quite remember which we said.” She hefted her bag onto her shoulder, being careful not to bash herself with the pendulum swing that always came after such a motion. She was more than ready to leave the library and out of the sight of anyone who might bug her any more.

[Lyrikitty]

Riki nodded, keeping an eye on Nwalme. "Yeah. We were going to go to my room, since Meliata probably won't poke in there unannounced and it'd be a good place to hide." When Nwalme rose, Riki did as well, ready to move close and support the girl who was fast growing into a close friend. However, Nwalme seemd to do alright and Riki eased a little bit, leading the way out of the library and to her personal room, though she still kept a cautious eye on Nwalme in case anything happened. She really had no idea what to think, and though Nwalme did seem a lot better, she had seemed fine before she fainted the first time.

Riki held open the door to her room with a mock flourish and a grin, chuckling softly. "Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home." Scolls were scattered across the surface of a desk against one wall, the bed was made and the comfortable furs smoothed over it neatly, a table and two chairs sat to the side opposite the desk, with an empty pitcher from her morning klah, as well as a single cup sitting on it. The room was neat and well kept, everythin in it's place. Even the trunk at the foot of her bed looked orderly and as if it belonged. It meant one of two things. Either the room had been much like this when she'd arrived and the only thing which saw a great deal of use was the desk, or Riki herself was the sort of person who kept her areas organized. It was the latter, Riki didn't particularly enjoy her area being messy an unkempt. The only thing in the room which seemed disorganized was the desk, with the various scrolls and hides on it all from her study of the Weyr's history.

((Err... -makes muse-kebobs- Want a snack? Calliope is being rebellious for this post and for the life of me I don't know why.))

[pandoraMisfit]

Keeping a sharp eye on her surroundings, Nwalme made note of exactly where it was they were going. She’d gotten a little lost in these corridors before, and so wherever she went it was a constant worry it would happen again. Obviously Riki could direct her back to the library later on and she’d make her way to her own room then. In the future it would be easier to see each other as they would be neighbours of sorts.

As they arrived, Nwalme took in her surroundings – it seemed much the same as her room. Excepting the fact that there was an extra bedroll on the floor. She frowned. Meliata certainly wasn’t the most organised of people, although she kept wishing that would change. Ah well, beggars can’t be choosers she thought.

Setting her bag down neatly against the wall, Nwalme fidgeted a little bit at Riki’s invitation, before finally deciding it would be best to sit down . After all, it would be rude, and Nwalme thought that they had probably gotten past standing on ceremony. Usually she disliked making herself comfortable in someone else’s space, but her arm was beginning to ache and she’d be grateful for having the table or back of a chair to rest it on. Selecting a chair she strode over and sank down into it. She gave a small sigh of happiness.

Time passed fairly quickly as they spoke with each other. Mundane conversations like what professions they were most attracted to, what they might have liked to do if they hadn’t come to Skrull. Both of them managed to steer clear of their respective histories though.

It didn’t seem like a long time before an echo of a voice caught Nwalme’s hearing, even through the thick door to the room. “Nwaaaaaalme!!!!” Hoping it would go away, she ignored it for a moment. “Nwaaaaaalmee!!!” It was getting louder, shard it. She grimaced before standing. “I believe that would be my cue to go let her know I still live. “ She grimaced at the prospect, her nose scrunching up as she did so. Retrieving her bag, she returned to Riki and gave her a shy hug. “Thank you for today.” She said, her gratitude beaming through. Meliata’s voice sounded again, and so Nwalme pulled another face before ducking out of the door giving a little wave as she did so.

Meliata had passed Riki’s door, so her ‘ward’ had to jog a little to catch up with her. The other girl, hearing footsteps turned with a look of concern written across her features. She brightened noticeably when she saw who it was, but that didn’t stop the scolding. All the way back to Nwalme’s room it was “I was worried sick,” and “What would I tell B’ach if you had been hurt” and so on and so forth. Nwalme gritted her teeth and let the other girl get it all out of her system. Once she was healed, the splint could come off and Meliata could resume her normal residence. The next few weeks just couldn’t move quickly enough!