A Little Hint of Family

Writers: Rochelle
Date Posted: 17th September 2007

Characters: Ariau
Description: Ariau sorts through her trunk to find something appropriate to wear to the Hatching Feast.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 5, day 27 of Turn 4

Ariau wasn't alone in the candidate barracks, but it was pretty close. The only others were all newer candidates and clustered in the far corner, huddled around some classwork. All the older candidates were doing chores or classes. She was only free because the journeyman who'd taken over instructing her and several other senior apprentices had been called to his weyr by his greenrider weyrmate.

Glancing at the others to make sure they weren't watching her, she knelt in front of the small trunk that had been supplied to hold her belongings.
She undid the knot holding the battered object closed, and with a final glance at others, lifted the lid. She shoved aside the scattered selection of classwork, assorted odds and ends such as hairties and styluses, and a few broken hairbrushes, digging unerringly for the layer she knew was somewhere under her daily mess.
Under the utilitarian selection of travel and work clothes, beneath the riding gear that had been a birthingday gift from her grandmother, was a layer of more brightly hued fabrics, carefully separated from the rest of the chaos by a pair of brightly patterned shawls.

Carefully disentangling the shawls from the chaos atop them, she scooped the entire contents of the bottom right corner of the trunk into her arms, letting the rest of the clothes and assorted stuff fall into the sinkhole she created. Standing quickly, she shoved the top of the trunk down with her hip, and scurried around to drop the bundle on her bed.

Another hurried glance revealed that the other candidates were still ignoring her, so she turned back to the small pile of finery she'd brought with her from Fort Weyr. She hadn't brought everything she could have with her. She'd used the move as an excuse to sort out the various things she'd accumulated like a packrat over the turns as gifts but never worn, that were too heavy for River Bluff's weather, or had long since grown out of. But there was still enough there that she had to consider what she would wear to the Hatching feast if some little green -or beautiful gold!- didn't want her. Smoothing the colorful skirts and dresses across her bed, she separated the collection of patterned shawls and other accessories as she fingered the fine fabrics. There was the green skirt, embroidered with a pattered of fellis leaves along the hem that her grandmother had sent her from Ista. A tunic in a matching green and a blouse with a similar embroidery pattern were carefully laid on top of it. An ultra light dress in a shimmery bronze-like color had been a gift from her brother E'laj for Turn's End -she was almost certain he'd gotten her grandfather's help to commission it, since there were details in the dress that Aothart was particularly partial to. An attractively multicolored colored skirt and tunic set she'd bought on a trip to a South Boll gather, and...

Gently, Ariau smoothed the skirt away from the treasures on the bottom. A lovely gown came to light, the smooth fabric sliding over her fingers as a memory came unbidden.

***
"I look like a giant freckle!" Ariau moaned at her reflection in her aunt and uncle's treasured full length mirror. Balari looked over her shoulder.

"No, you don't." Her aunt said firmly, continuing to lace up the back of the dress. "It's a good color for you."

Ariau ran her hands through the smooth fabric of the skirt. It was a good color, she would admit that. The cloth was just the right shade of wine to highlight her hair. But the neckline curved too far down for comfort, cupping her almost nonexistent breasts and seemingly exposing every one of the thousands of freckles that decorated her torso.

"I liked it better on me." Aelari said critically from the bed. "Don't be mean, Aelari." Balari frowned at her daughter. "You don't fit it anymore anyway, and Ariau does. It's a good color for her." She repeated.

Ariau glanced up at her aunt as Balari reprimanded her cousin. Her aunt was taller than her, and so was Aelari even if she was fourteen.
Unfortunately, the only ones in the family who weren't taller than her were her male cousins and Lishae, who hadn't even reached ten yet. Which was why she was trying on Aelari's old gather dress to see if she could use it for Turn's End. Most of the other apprentices had thought that having a grandmother who sent her gifts was the neatest thing on Pern, but Shaelis couldn't supply everything for her, condemning her to hand-me-downs from her younger cousin. She wrinkled her nose.

"Are you sure this is all right?" She asked her aunt doubtfully, ignoring Aelari. Privately, she agreed with her cousin. "I don't have as much to hold it up with." She gestured at the embarrassingly low neckline, and her obviously inadequate bust.

"I think so." Her aunt said with a definitive nod. "A few tucks along here wouldn't hurt." She gestured along the armpits where the seams were bagging for the lack of anything to fill out the top. "But I like it much better than the blue one. It flatters your coloring better."

***
Ariau swallowed as she contemplated the wine-colored gown puddled on her bed. Aunt Balari had been right. With some tucks and an attractive necklace, the gown had looked really nice on her, although she had spent the evening feeling embarrassingly exposed and clutching a shawl around her shoulders.

The blue gown she'd tried on that same night was also in the pile, but she hesitated before reaching for it. It usually looked nice, but, for a Hatching, if she failed, she would want something to lift her spirits a little.

Like a little hint of family.

Blinking burning eyes and swallowing past the sudden lump in her throat, she swiftly packed the other dresses away. Some of the other candidates didn't own any finery, and she didn't want to suddenly find her precious memories and dearly spent marks going missing. Like the wine-colored gown.

Selecting a some nice jewelry, she tenderly wrapped her choice in a flattering shawl that would work if the weather was cool that day, and hastily repacked all the dresses back into her trunk, not daring to let the tears burning her eyes fall for fear they would stain the dresses.

Last updated on the September 17th 2007

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A Little Hint of Family