Seeking Knowledge [Riki]

[Desert]

Thus far, Kendrik wasn't making much progress with the old records. He was proficient enough in reading the old tongue that he could skim through them with a decent level of ease; the first thing he had done was to identify the records from the particular wraithqueen, Caleianth, during whose reign the records were corrupted. Noting which records were the right ones was a simple task, one that he had accomplished rather quickly; looking through the Turns of trivial data such as tithes, population changes, and executive orders was the challenge.

In order to spare his brain from another slate of meaningless numbers dictating the economic state of the island, Kendrik had put that aspect of his search on hold and gone to seek out the other half. Generally it wasn't hard to track down any of the current candidate class, but the newcomer Riki had a tendency to go off on her own to explore the Weyr's catacombs whenever she had the time free and the energy, making her slightly difficult to pin down when he also had the time to speak to her.

But now, he had that opportunity. The dinner hour was winding to a close, so after grabbing himself a meatroll and some greens, he carried his food to the table where Riki was seated and slid onto the bench across from her, though enough to the side that he wasn't directly across and invading her privacy.

After eating a few bites, Kendrik reached a hand up to rub his temple, trying to massage away the faint tension headache that had been forming from hours of staring at old slates. "I will be much relieved when all is said and done and the Hatching is over," he commented, glancing at Riki. "If the Trials are any indication, this should be an interesting event."

Subject breached, Kendrik dropped his hand. "Speaking of the Trials. Has anyone spoken you about the Trial of Knowledge? I realized that since you're new to the Weyr, you might have a harder time at them than the rest of us." Better to approach it obliquely; just blundering in would probably make her wary that something was up.

[Lyrikitty]

Riki had found herself a seat in what she'd assumed was a secluded and rather isolated part of the overcrowded dining area. No one else was sitting near her when she took the spot, and grateful for the peace she'd scanned over a scroll she'd borrowed from the library inp reparation. Zenith had told her that two of the questions would be answered for her, but the third... Well the third she was going to have to figure out on her own. So naturally the girl had taken to scouring scrolls an absorbing as much knowledge as she could.

It startled her to the point of jumping and quickly closing the scroll when another sat down across from her and slightly to the side, rubbing his temples and talking to her after a few moments. Another candidate? Who was... Well it seemed he was native to the Weyr, and instantly she went on guard. Her last experience with a native candidate hadn't gone well, and she'd been warned to keep an eye out for anything else.

Not that she was honestly expecting anything to happen, but her life had taught her to prepare for the worst in these sort of positions. Her eyes flickered around those gathered, searching for perhaps a friendly face and unfortunately landing on none.

It seemed she'd have to fend for herself.

She sucked in a deep breath and turned her saphire eyes on the candidate she vaguely recognized. "Aside from it being nearly impossible for an outsider like me to pass, and that it will be happening soon? Not really..." She had the feeling that if she announced Zenith had told her a great deal about it, she'd be digging herself a deep hole that she could ery well have trouble scrambling back out of. Better to play it a little dumb than let anyone know she was much more clever than they'd be expecting.

[Desert]

Riki's initial reaction of wariness, with her eyes darting briefly before settling with careful alertness on his face, was not unexpected. From what he'd gathered of the general reaction to her, she had every right to be careful, and Kendrik thought that much better of her for showing caution and prudence.

He gestured to the scroll Riki had nearly crumpled in her hands in startlement. "I see you're studying nonetheless. So have I, for that matter; even though I was born here, I spent the past few Turns at the Harper Hall in an apprenticeship, so I've had to cram and play catch-up with most of these others." He snorted slightly and folded his arms over the table.

"It rather surprises me that no one has offered to assist you. Some of our number at Skrull may be so insular that we shun outsiders, but they are the exception rather than the rule." One shoulder raised and dropped in an idle shrug. "But perhaps my perspective is skewed.

"Regardless, if you ever feel so inclined, I would be more than willing to help you however I can. Many of the records we have in the library are in the old tongue, and I learned how to translate them at the Hall, so I could give you transcriptions of some of the pertinent ones if you wish. It is surprising how relevant some of the oldest record we have are to the current situation." A rather neat segue, especially if Riki took his offer. They could sojourn up to the library, and Kendrik could show her the tablet B'ach had shown him.

[Lyrikitty]

She eased a hair when he said he'd spent time away fromt he Weyr. Perhaps he wasn't so devoted to hate as those who had lived within the Weyr since birth, no interaction with the world outside. "Yeah. I was told to study up so I could stand a chance, though it appears there isn't much hope for someone who knows almost nothing about the Weyr, when the questions all pertain to important stuff about it." She sighed and smoothed the scroll back out gentley. His offer seemed odd, but if he was genuinely going to help her she couldn't afford to deny.

A small, thoughtful nod was given first, before she spoke consent to him helping her with some of the translations. "I'd appreciate any help I can get. And some of the stuff I've read so far was actually fairly interesting." She smiled honestly, knowing it was likely odd for her to take much pleasure in the grueling study but she did all the same. "I'm pretty much done with my meal. If you don't mind we could get a little bit done now. I just need to stop by my room for a moment." More acurately, she needed to stop by her room so she could slip a bit of paper under Nwalme's door to let her know where she was going to be. Now that she and Nwalme were neighbors Riki had taken up the habit of letting the other girl know when she was planning on doing something out of the ordinary, or which might end up being dangerous. That way, if she went missing someone would know where to start looking.

Paranoid? Yes. Foolish? Not at all. She liked and trusted Nwalme, and had started to consider the girl a friend. Why shouldn't she pt faith on the only person in the Weyr save Zenith and maybe B'ach (when he wasn't furious with her over her personal opinions) that she felt she could trust?

[Desert]

"Of course," Kendrik said with a nod. He held out his hand, gesturing to the empty plate in front of her. "I will take your plate and meet you in the library shortly. Feel free to take your time finishing up your business; I am in no hurry." He pulled her plate over to him and stacked it under his. After stuffing the last of his roll into his mouth, he took the two plates and stood up, nodding to Riki that she could go on ahead with what she needed to do. As Riki went off, Kendrik carried the two plates back to the kitchen and handed them off directly to one of the drudges responsible for cleaning.

That task done, he left the dining hall at a stroll and made his way unhurriedly to the library on the third floor. As he entered, the attendant at the front desk scoffed at him. "So are you just going to move all your things in and live here, lad?"

Kendrik paused and quirked one corner of his mouth up in a smirk. "Why, no; would you prefer that I did?"

"With the amount of time you spend in here, you might as well," the attendant grumbled. There was no ill-feeling in his tone, though; Kendrik made sure to be a respectful guest in the library. Among the weyrfolk who staffed the Weyr, Kendrik had made a point to give himself a good name by being amiable and helpful to them: being on the good sides of the ones who cooked your food and kept your environment clean was always a good thing.

Kendrik lingered at the front and chatted with the attendant for another moment or two until Riki arrived. Then, he beckoned for her to follow him, and took her back to the niche near the restricted records where he had set up his area. There were still a few scrolls laid out from his session before dinner, and even the slate B'ach had first shown him.

"Most of those are in the old tongue, but the ones that are not, please help yourself to while I get another glowbasket," Kendrik said to Riki, gesturing with a sweep of his hand before he backtracked to the front to appropriate a fresh basket.

When he returned, Kendrik set the glowbasket down and picked up the slate, which had been serving as a paper-weight for the scrolls. "Skrull's penchant for recording the past is amusing, in a way. If only we had not lost the Ancients' methods for storing information; these slates are the only thing we can do to keep our oldest records from being lost." He shrugged and put it down. "There are still mysteries, no matter how religiously we strive to preserve the truth."

[Lyrikitty]

Riki nodded, rising and hustling off to her room, scribbling a quick note to Nwalme with location and rough time, and grabbed a bag which was currently stocked with a variety of items. Among them were several scolls she was done with and needed to return, some blank hides, writing utensils, and the odd part: rocks. The rocks were there to use for protection, her paranoia making her take measures she would have never considered in all her life prior to Skrull. As a second thought she also grabbed her beltknife and strapped it to her leg before doing a final scan of the room and leaving. The note for Nwalme was slipped beneath the girl's door, and Riki was off.

By the time she made it to the library, Kendrick was already there waiting, chatting with the attendant. He wordlessly bid her follow, and with a wary glance to the atendant she did, following the lad to the back of the library and to an area which apparently saw a lot of use. Which meant he wasn't likely going to try and kill her right here for fear of messing up his work space. Good. She relaxed a little and when he wandered off to find a basket, she sifted through some of the scrolls. She was a quick study and she skimmed the surface of the scrolls which seemed most important. She';d have to come back and look them over at a later date, she decided.

He returned, and her attention was brought to a slate of stone. That was something she hadn't noticed before... "Oh? Such as...?" She arched a brow curiously and flicked her gaze to his face for only a moment, before she resumed peering at te tablet he held curiously.

[Desert]

Interest piqued; excellent. Kendrik turned the slate so that Riki could see the engraved writing. "Do you see how the text leaves off before the edge of the slate? This entry, written by a Weyrleader about two Intervals ago, is cut off in the middle of a sentence. The other journal entries are similarly truncated, and soon they end completely. This particular Weyrleader died about a Turn after he wrote this. He was in his third decade and in good health, so no one knows why he suddenly died."

Retracting it so that he could scan the slate, Kendrik continued. "This entry begins describing an incident when his wraithqueen was giving a certain candidate his Trial of Will; the queen began flailing and screaming as soon as she mind-touched the candidate. The candidate himself was found to have fallen down the Shaft and died."

Kendrik lowered the slate once more, tapping it on the table with a pensive, intent look boring into Riki's face. "I understand that something unusual happened to you when Zenith administered your Trial of Will; not exactly like that, but it was not something our omniscient Weyrleader expected." He smirked slightly at that. "I do not wish to pry, but would you mind telling me about what happened? I have been digging through the records to solve this mystery for days."

[Lyrikitty]

Riki listened, and frowned as Kendrick asked about what had happened for her Trial of Will. Obviously he knew something of what had happened. She would have to make sure not to share too much information, though the idea of Zenith being so pained as the Wraith he'd described worried her. Riki was rather fond of Zenith. If giving a bit of information might help prevent something painful or bad happening to Zenith, Riki would offer what she felt comfortable with giving.

Carefully picking her words, she explained. "Well... I was attacked, and Zenith had been linked to my mind when I was. One of the eggs reacted to my... Well my rage and lashed out at one of my attackers." Her brow furrowed in thought.

"Zenith explained that it was my emotions that triggered the egg's reaction, but what you told me doesn't sound like that at all. I don't think whatever reacted to me would want to harm anyone unless it felt justified." Why she had this thought she wasn't sure. She'd seen a Magma though, in person, and knew what a creature which wanted to cause ill looked like, what it felt like.

It was unpleasent and terrifying, but what had stirred when connected to her didn't seem that way. It had seemed perfectly in tune with her, not like it was forcing itself on her. All of it was terribly confusing, and it made her wonder just what she'd gotten into by agreeing to come to this Weyr.

[Desert]

Well, that was interesting. So her experience hadn't been similar at all to his.

It made sense in a way, since they were candidates for a completely different set of eggs. She was eligible for the wraithking; he, anything but.

Kendrik allowed his brows to furrow in thought. "Interesting. You were attacked by an outside source? Ah - Kali's cronies, no doubt. I heard how B'rac put them through the wringer not long ago." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you aware of what Zenith experienced during that episode? The link went through her to connect your mind to the egg's, so she cannot have been ignorant of this."

This was curious, very curious. A totally different response than he had anticipated, and yet another layer of complexity over the previous. He had learned that he was not the only one to experience an odd occurrence during his Trial, though he had not had the opportunity to find out who else had felt what.

[Lyrikitty]

So he knew enough that she wouldn't be able to let slip anything to secret to him. She absently wondered how he knew so much but decided not to ask, his question about Zenith distracting eh4r and putting a deep crease in her brow. "Zenith didn't say she really felt anything, just surprise about the occurance as she wasn't aware our minds were still linked. She explained it likely happened because my mind is dragon-touched and so it's easy to maintain a link without even knowing it. You don't think I caused Zenith any pain, do you?" The genuine note of concern which had entered her voice bestowed the knowledge of the girl's feeling toward the giant Wraith. Which unintentionally hinted that Riki knew Zenith on a level deeper than just having seen her or perhaps heard her once or twice.
　
"Do you think when it happened to Nwalme it hurt?" Concern now for her new friend raised it's head, and Riki shifted uncomfortably. She rather disliked this situation, where those she was fond of were finding themselves in pain or discomfort. Next time she saw B'ach she was most deffinately going to talk ot him about it, even if he did get mad at her and send her away again. He couldn't revoke her rights as a candidate for just broaching a subject after all, the most the Weyrleader could do would be to rage at her again and then tell her to get out of his sight. She was fairly certain he'd forgiven her for the last time by now, so it should be relatively safe to talk to him again about this new issue.
　

[Desert]

"It happened to Nwalme?" Suddenly, Kendrik was leaning forward, his expression intense. "What happened to her?" Realizing that he had reacted, Kendrik withdrew, calming himself and reimposing a neutral expression over his face. "Apologies. Something strange happened during my Trial of Will as well, and I am trying to figure out why it is so."

He paused, scanning Riki's face to judge whether to tell her. Well, why not? Perhaps it would make her more willing to tell him about Nwalme's experience. "During my Trial, I found my mind overtaken by another, and all my senses blinded. When B'ach found me I was stunned, just released. He told me that during that time, Zenith had been struck with pain, exactly as described in that four-hundred-Turn-old record." Kendrik let his hand rest on the slate. "Whatever happened then is happening again now. It can't be anything other than some of the unhatched dragonets buried in the Hatching Grounds, so deep down that they have been forgotten. Your case is clearly not like mine - or, evidently, Nwalme's - but it is still worth noting."

Now Kendrik was struck by an idea. He bid Riki wait and strode off, back to the restricted room; he hastily opened it and trotted inside, ignoring the encroaching walls whiel he feverishly searched for the slates he needed.

A few moments later, Kendrik returned with an armful of slates, which he placed on the table and began sorting through immediately. His eyes darted and lips moved in silent thought; he seemed ignorant of the rest of the world, absorbed in the account he was reading.

A few more long minutes later, his hand halted in the middle of a slate, and his expression changed to grim triumph. "Ah, finally. Weyrleader G'sel of wraithqueen Caleianth." He muttered to himself as he read. "Time... Cause of death! Heart failure?" His brows furrowed. "Autopsy revealed that G'sel's heart had been... crushed? Damn." He pulled his head back, perplexed. "Crushed. That's the exact word it uses."

[Lyrikitty]

Riki's eyes were wide as he told her what had happened, and managed somehow to grow wider still when he fetched the slates and read one off to her. A... Crushed heart? How was that? Physically crushed, or emotionally? Her head spun with questions until she realized she hadn't said a word the entire time, and she shook herself physically out of her thoughts and forced herself to focus on the present. She wanted to help Nwalme, and it seemed like Kendrick was a start in the right direction for that goal. Her friend might get mad at her for sharing what wasn't technically her's to share, but she could deal with that if she could figure out what had happened to the other girl, and if anything dangerous could follow.

"Nwalme... She passed out while we were in the library. When she woke a few seconds later she said it was like she'd been dreaming, only it was real. Like there was a voice which had called out for her, just once, and she wanted to hear it again really badly. She also complained about ehr ears ringing, I think." She drummed her fingers on the tabletop to try and spur anything else which had stood out from the occurance, to try and make sure she wasn't forgetting anything of importance. "She seemed alright after she woke up, a little fuzzy and unstable, but klah helped her snap out of it pretty well. We retired back to my room afterwards for a bit. She didn't seem to be in any real discomfort after it. Is... Is Nwalme in danger?" Her pinned her saphire orbs on the lad, and a strange mixture of emotion fluttered through them. The obvious concern and dedication to a friend, and an authority which was very similar to that which had flared up when B'ach had asked her what to do with those who had attacked her. The sort of thing which was hard to ignore. The girl was unaware of it, she hadn't noticed it before when it happened, nor did she notice it now. She was simply seeking an answer, and her deserate want for that answer triggered the natural leadership within to stir just a little.

[Desert]

Having found a tantalizing new set of data in the form of the centuries-old medical records, Kendrik quickly lost awareness of Riki's presence in favor of delving into the records. There seemed to be something on the slate he had that was significant; unsettling, perhaps, by the set of his lips and the stony look in his eyes.

Kendrik scanned the slate, then read it again meticulously, lips moving silently to himself as he translated each sentence one by one. Once he could glean no more from the slate he leaned back, expression still somber. Then, he glanced at Riki, and took a moment to figure out what she had been saying. "So she was not maltreated by the entity that overtook her mind?" he asked, mostly rhetorically. He'd heard her fine and was only clarifying to make sure he hadn't misheard her.

It was the question that Riki asked that finally stirred Kendrik's facial muscles to unlock. One corner of his mouth tugged up into a smirk, eyes narrowing with what might have been sardonic amusement. "Well, according to these records, the Weyrleader was not the only one to die that day. At the same day and time, seven others perished: all of them weyrlings of the class that had Impressed a Turn previous; by my calculations, not long after the corrupted journal entry G'sel entered. Those seven deaths are given an approximate time - and that time is within an hour of the Weyrleader's - but nothing else. No cause, and no other explanation. G'sel's entry is not much more descriptive: the only thing I know for sure is that his heart was, literally and physically, crushed. '...as if a hand had reached through his chest and squeezed until the organ gave in,' is how the translation goes, more or less."

Kendrik drummed his fingers on the slate, leaning some of his weight forward to bring him slightly closer to Riki. "The two incidents are connected. There is no concrete proof since G'sel did an excellent job of systematically destroying all of his own records that referred to whatever happened, but the pattern is there. I have been through all of the records this Weyrleader left, and all mention of the Hatching and weyrlings in his last Turn of life is gone. And since wraith-laid eggs can incubate for Turns if kept buried, I am certain that whatever it was that touched my mind and Nwalme's have hatched before, and something happened that made the Weyrleader at the time want to erase knowledge of those eggs from memory. Seven hatched, and died a Turn later, taking with them the only one who knew anything about them."

[Lyrikitty]

She was utterly ignored for several moments as Kendrick seemed to get heavily absorbed in something he was reading. She didn't mind. Truth be told it was a little odd for someone to be so eager to hear what she was saying, the break from it was a welcome relief. The only part she wasn't thrilled with was that her question was going unanswered for longer than she'd like. That part made her a little nervous, however he answered her in a most unsettling manner.

Seven... Seven aside from the Weyrleader to die in the same die? She couldn't help but shudder and wrap her arms around herself. Surely something like that wouldn't happen again, would it? She nibbled her lower lip as she pondered this, and decided that /if/ she managed to Impress to what it seemed she was expected to she was going to do everything in her power to protect her friend. She wasn't looking forward to seeing anything happen to Nwalme. It made her stomach turn She closed ehr eyes tight and drew in a deep breath to steady herself before she re-opened her blue orbs to peer at Kendrick. He didn't seem as disturbed by any of this as she was, in fact he seemed relatively alright with it.

"So... What you'er saying is B'ach, Nwalme, you, and anyone else who might have experienced this thing could very well all die within a year?" She wanted to make sure she understood clearly. "I can't say I'm thrilled about that.. The records didn't mentions anything about the dragons the weyrlings had Impressed to, did it?" A vague hope that perhaps the dragons had been Gold and Bronze, and died from some cause which Nwalme wouldn't suffer from now that such colors were gone from Skrull.

[Desert]

Slightly irked, Kendrik shook his head impatiently. No, there was no record of what Impressed; he'd just told her that all the Hatching records were gone, hadn't he? Stupid, slow girl. "No. Nothing. The records for the previous Hatchings under his rule are there, and most of the records keeping track of how many of each dragon class. There is evidence that he tampered with those before his death; certainly, he corrupted his own records in the last Turn of his life. Only the data pertaining to the eggs and what those eggs hatched into have been touched; everything else he reported faithfully."

Kendrik drummed his fingers on the table for a moment, then shoved away to begin pacing. His eyes were dark and distant in thought; he made it a few laps before he remembered Riki was still there. "Well, we will find out one way or another soon. The Hatching festival will start in a few days. Ah-" He remembered his offer to help Riki study; it may have been an excuse to get her to talk to him, but he didn't want his motives to be that transparent.

"About your Trial of Knowledge. I doubt you will have too much to worry about, unless B'ach has decided that he really doesn't want you to stand. If you wish I can bring out a few of the scrolls that I have been using to study so that you may peruse them." There. She would have better resources, since Kendrik knew which resources were more useful, and she would be preoccupied for a while studying them on her own, so he could finish analyzing the ancient records.


ooc; anytime you're ready to end this thread, go ahead and move it.