We'll See How the Shell Cracks

Writers: Kaysea, Vix
Date Posted: 21st August 2007

Characters: Treya, Tamaca
Description: Treya gets a little hot under the collar over Tamaca's lack of enthusiasm.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 5, day 9 of Turn 4

"She's looking as fit as ever," Tamaca remarked, noting the green dragon who waited patiently for her rider to free her from the firestone bags still tied to her harness.

The girls the face was familiar, but it took a few moments for Treya to remember her, as her mind was still on the near-miss she and Cenith had had in that last candlemark of Fall. "Er, yes she is, thank Faranth." Treya agreed, patting Cenith's shoulder affectionately.

"So you're Standing at the next Hatching, Tamaca?" she asked finally, as the girl's name popped into her head.

The young woman nodded. "I'll Stand. Of course, at the end of the Hatching I'll probably still be Standing." She said this last with a little laugh, not really caring either way whether she Impressed or not.

"You've got a good attitude to go in with." Treya half smiled - half grimaced. "Go in thinking that way and you can't be disappointed." Reaching up she undid the first of the firestone sacks, "You're really not interested in Impressing?" she wondered if that was more to do with T'din's death, than a true reflection on the girls feelings.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind Impressing," Tamaca admitted. "But it won't be the end of the world if I don't. I'll take whatever life deals me."

"You've no craft these days?" Treya asked, remembering the gossip she had heard after T'din's death. She had hoped at the time she had heard wrong, but speaking to the girl now, she realised that gossip was probably true and that she truly had thrown away her craft training.

Tam shook her head. "I decided that it wasn't for me, though I still act as a scribe. Just minor copying, nothing important."

"Enough to give you some spare marks, here and there?" Treya asked, not willing to pry further. Though it wasn't much of a life, no ambition one way or the other. It had been hard for all after T'din, but now Treya realised the effect on his sister had been worse.

The candidate shrugged, gently stroking the green's hide. "Enough to get by. My needs are simple."

"Really?" Treya asked, lifting the last sack from Cenith's harness. "So this is what you have planned for the rest of your life - if you don't Impress?" she asked, a little shocked at the attitude of the younger woman, she had to bite her lip to not ask if T'din would have approved.

To this Tam uttered a derisive sound. "What difference does it make? I could make plans for what I'll be doing next turn, five turns from now, twenty. And yet it could all end tomorrow. I'd rather take each day as it comes."

"That's a rather sad way of looking at things, don't you think?" Treya asked, sure now the young woman was acting this way purely as a defence against what had happened to her siblings. "Taking each day as it comes, instead of living each day." She was finding it harder to keep T'din's name out of it. Surely he wouldn't have wanted his sister to be this way - because of him?

"It may be sad, but it's realistic." The young woman did not meet the other woman's eyes. "I enjoy each day because it may be all that I have."

"That's no way to live. In fact I'd hardly call it living." Treya shook her head. "Is that the way I should be?" Seldom did she get annoyed, but the apathy emanating from the younger girl was like bile in her throat. "After all - at least once a sevenday Cenith and I rise to meet Fall. Should I live as though each day will be our last?"

"Isn't there that possibility?"

"Should I live with that in the forefront of my mind? Especially each time we rise to meet Fall? If I did that I would be sure to meet my - and Cenith's - end." Treya could feel the anger and hurt bubbling below the surface, and took deep, lung-fulls of air to calm herself, when all she wanted to do was shake the other girl until her teeth rattled.

Tamaca frowned at this statement. "When others are injured around you, you think about it, don't you? Does that make you throw yourself into the next clump?" She stepped back from the dragon with a sigh. "How you handle life is your affair, but I want to enjoy the time that I have and not spend time planning for a day that may never arrive."

"Ah, but that's the thing, Tamaca - do you enjoy your time? It doesn't sound to me as though you have much enthusiasm for anything ... You've given up your craft, you don't seem to care whether you Impress ... "

**Food or bath first? Your choice.** she offered to Cenith, who had nuzzled first one of the women, then the other.

}:Bathing first - but I would like you to be there, you need to calm down:{

**I will dear one, I will be calm. It just upsets me that she has given up on so much since T'din died.** she shook her head, glancing back up at the younger woman. "I'm sorry Tamaca, I guess I'm just a bit on edge."

The candidate listened to Treya's words, formulating and discarding possible answers to the greenrider's question. How could she explain to Treya - to anyone - the fear she felt each day, the fear that her caring was cause for injury to those around her? Instead, she shrugged. "My life is what it is, and it doesn't really matter if it suits anyone else." She stretched and glanced around her. "But I do have duties and if I don't get them finished, I won't have time for myself. It's been nice talking to you, though."

Nice wasn't a word Treya would have used, but she smiled in reply to Tamaca's words. "Take care, Tamaca." she nodded, then - almost as an after thought, she continued, "I'll look forward to seeing you Impress on the Sands, this time will be your time."

"Maybe," was the girl's reply. "We'll see how the shell cracks." With that, she waved and was gone.

Last updated on the October 24th 2008

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We'll See How the Shell Cracks