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PERSONA: Jadis
GENDER: Female
AGE: 15
ORIGIN: Danach
OCCUPATION/RANK: The daughter of Jidom, the paard-tender at a Keep
HAIR: Rusty-orange
EYES: blue
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Lanky and muscular, with pale skin and messy straight hair. Freckles all over.
VOICE QUALITY: Alto
LITERACY: Literate enough to read and to write efficiently.
CLOTHING: Jumbled and scruffy, earthen tones. Usually a tunic and loose leather leggings. Hardly ever any shoes. Carries knife at waist.
FAMILY: A father--Jidom--who loves her very much. No siblings. A mother--Kitt--who she never knew.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION/ RELATIONS: Open to any relations. None so far.
PETS: A bunch of cats and a golden chen named Agnes.
SKILLS: A good hunter, skilled with knife and bow. A fast runner, good climber, swimmer. She is strong and has proven it several times in several scuffles. A tomboy. Also plays flute and writes and draws well.
PASTIMES/HOBBIES: Playing, reading, writing, enjoying alone time in a place in her father's field near a little creek.
PERSONALITY: Smart and tomboyish. Friendly.
CLUTCH (@ DARK MOON) IMPRINTED: # 10, green Iraith and copper Riamoth
She rubbed them, wondering what it was that had awoken her. The answer came when she tripped over a cat who had been yowling at her door for the past half hour.
"Oh, SHARDS!" Jadis yelled, and she tumbled in a complete sumersalt. The cat screeched and ran out of the room.
Jadis sat up, and rubbed her aching limbs until the soreness had gone out of them somewhat. Then she stood, pushing her tawny, very short straight har out of her intelligent blue eyes. She went back into her room, and shut the door firmly.
She folded her sleep-wear and set them on the end of her small bed, and pulled on pale tan leggings under a short red skirt with black and yellow designs, and put on a short white sleeveless shirt and a vest that matched the skirt. she pulled on stockings and heavy boots, as well as her gloves. She buckled her lightweight belt around her slim waist--too skinny, according to her father, who worked with the paards at the Keep--and slid her long dagger into its sheath at her side. Prepared for the day, she sneaked out of the lower halls of the Keep, and into the kitchens. The drudges there were still fast asleep, and she gathered leftover fowl, cheese, bread, some red fruit, and a flask of a warm, sweet brown liquid. She quickly ran out of the Keep, and into the fields beyond, to her secret hideout, where she had escaped for many weeks from the Keep and all who dwelled there. In her soft, grassy nook, where a cheery stream babbled nearby, on its way to the sea not too far away, and the trees of a small redfruit orchard stood a few feet from her spot.
Jadis took out her journal, and began to weave a tale of two travelers, lost somewhere, far away. While writing, she nibbled at her food. She drew little people and creatures in the margins of her journal; when that bored her, Jadis took out her flute, and made up songs to the stream's tune, thinking about her life. Inspiration hit, then, and she picked up her journal, and began to write again.
The night Jadis was born, it was clear and peaceful. Dark clouds loomed on the horizon, however, and the pitter-patter of a beginning rain could be heard on the roof of the Keep where a woman was laboring to give birth to a stubborn child who would not come. A wind grew, drowning the cries of the golden haired woman, with blue eyes and a lovely, almost perfect face. Sweat rolled down the woman's face, and her terrified eyes rolled in her head. The woman's name was Katt, rider of one of the starry dragons at Utopia. Usually Katt resided at Cathair Utopia, but she had fallen down the stairs of her cathair, and her distressed dragon had called the last man to sleep with her--but not the first. As Kith had thought, Katt had gone into premature labor. The man who would father the child stood now, patiently, worry in his eyes, gripping Katt's hand so hard she cried out, cursing him, her starry dragon bugling outside in rage and terror.
Finally, Katt gave a final heave, and lay there, unable to try any more, breathing heavily. But the pain in her abdomen had abided. A wail of protest split the air, and a writhing babe with hair the color of sand and eyes the color of the ocean, too small, with pale skin, was held in Katt's arms.
The next day Katt was gone, and the babe--named Jadis, by her father, as her mother would have nothing to do with her own spawn--cried louder than the dark-eyed father who wept at the cradle's side.
And thus Jadis had come into the world.
Jadis paused a moment in her furious scribblings to look back upon the day she had met her mother again. Kat had brushed past her, chatting seductively with a man with a look of greed, clutching his cap in his hand as if he wished to clasp something else to him. Jadis grimaced, disgust written plainly on her dirty features. When Katt had looked upon her by chance, she glared haughtily at what she thought to be a impish drudge's child sticking her tongue out at the golden dragon's rider. She strode angrily toward Jadis, and slapped her quickly across the face, leaving a red handprint. When Jadis had spat in her face, the man following Katt picked her up, then dashed her to the ground. The two walked away, laughing raucously. Jadis had run back to her father and told him of the event. The pain and furiosity in his eyes saddened and scared her. From that moment on, she hated her mother.
However, she had been grieved by the death of the lovely dragon. Oh well, she had thought, now the thing will never spawn an abandoned child again! She's too busy spewing suicidal attempts.
Jadis had grown up under the watchful eye of her father, Jidom. She learned how to cope, and survive, although her impatient nature often got in the way of her good sense. She had a fiery temper as well, and never paid attention to the look-before-you-leap advice her father gave, resulting in several sprains and a break of her left arm one year.
But now, Jadis felt trapped in her Keep life. The paards no longer held so much interest for her. What she really wanted to do was fly. Many times Jadis would stand at the edge of a cliff, and imagine what it would be like to vault off the rocky face and dive and twist through the sky in aeriel acrobatics. One day, finding a fairly high rock above a pool that her stream led to, she dove off, and taught herself to swim. And for awhile that amused her. She was almost weightless in the water, and could perform such tricks as she saw the dragonchen on the beach execute, only underwater. But eventually the murky green depths ceased to send delightful chills up her spine, and she took to climbing trees.
Her father often spoke fondly of his fiery-tempered imp, and would rub her sandy hair until she dozed off at night, contentedly safe within his strong arms.
Jadis closed her journal, satisfied with her writings. She stood, and was surprised--and angry--to find a pair of eyes watching her.
"Who are you?" she demanded of the curly-brown/gray haired boy.
The boy stood with an air of self-confidence, and grinned at her.
"Nido, if ye really wan' teh know."
"What are you doing here?"
"Tis public prop'rty, or doncha know that?"
Jadis stamped her foot.
"The public only consists of me! I own this nook.."
"Ah, n'b'dy own this 'ere place. Not ev'n you, m'lady of the right fierce temper."
Jadis drooped for a second, knowing that his point struck true, but bristled at his observation, and stood proudly once again.
"I am Jadis, not your lady, not anybody's lady! I found this place. I've come here every day. Why have I never seen you?"
Nido grinned.
"I never deemed dis 'ere 'prop'rty' worthy of my appraisal, so to speak."
Jadis sprang at him then, dagger uplifted.
"Take that back! My nook's the best in the world, and you know it!"
"I thought you'd rise teh that. Well, I be off now, Miz Jadis."
Jadis fell back, confused, then sheathed her dagger and raised a hand in protest.
"Wait...!"
Nido turned, his face serious, but a twinkle in his deep-set green eyes.
"What d'yeh want, Miz Jadis?"
"Don't call me that."
"Okay, then."
"Just...Jadis."
Nido tilted his head to the side.
"Hmm? I'm allowed teh use yer name, now, yer Ladyship?"
Jadis stalled for a moment, torn between indignation and relief that he'd stay so she could give him a proper talking to.
"Yes."
"Well then, Jadis. I've got to get going. I think, however, that you should go back to your Keep. Your father wants you."
Jadis' face burned.
"You...You..You.."
"Messenger? Yep."
Jadis turned, gathered her things, and ran toward the Hold, his words echoing in her head:
"I thought yeh'd rise teh that."
When Jadis entered the Keep, she found her father there, waiting, smiling at a stranger.
"Hello, Jadis. I'd like you to meet a rider from Cathair Dark Moon . This is Cheche."
Jadis curtseyed awkwardly, then chose instead a deep nod.
"Welcome to our Keep. We hope that your stay will be as pleasant as possible, by the shells of the dragon you Imprinted." Jadis recited her proper greeting of a DragonRider, heart racing in her mouth.
The DragonRider grinned, and bowed.
"Thank you," she replied in a pleasant alto voice. "And now, I think, we'll look around some more. Care to act as my guide, Lady Jadis?"
"Of course, lady Cheche," Jadis replied coolly. Her father beamed his pride and appreciation at her. She grinned and winked back.
Shardings..my stomach's got dragonchen in it!
Jadis showed Cheche around the Hold. When she requested seeing her room, she led her to the small, quaint little place she called home.
Jadis allowed her to look at her drawings, her flute, her daywear, and her journal. She saved the story of herself for last. The rider exclaimed at the interesting story, remarking that she knew someone quite like Katt, sadly. Closing the book, Cheche walked back into the Receiving room. Jadis' heart fell. She had hoped that she would get to see her dragon, at least.
"Well, I've made my decision. Or at least, my dragon, Raimith, has." Cheche turned to Jadis and her father. "You have an excellent Keep, and many wonderful young people, I'm sure. But I have already chosen the person to stand on the Sands at Cathair Dark Moon."
Jadis slumped, downcast. She had not really believed she would go to the Cathair, after all. She shouldn't have let her hopes rise so high.
"She stands before you, plain, wonderful, and perfect for the clutch on the Sands at this very moment. I give you, Lady Jadis!"
At first her statement did not register. But then Jadis replayed it in her mind, and joyfully bounced around the room. She ran upstairs to pack her belongings, then raced back down and kissed her father.
"I'll visit you, daddy! I promise."
"You stay true to that promise, my golden girl, my sapphire-eyed sweetling."
Her father had tears in his eyes, but he smiled, and bade her good luck as he waved good-bye.
Jadis hurried after the grinning Cheche, and the rider helped her mount the blue dragon Raimith, and the trio launched into they sky, toward a hopeful future.
Apparently, thought Jadis, the life of a weyrling is not quite as exciting as I'd hoped
"Oh well," she sighed out loud, and her thoughts drifted back to the events of that day. She fondled the pages she had inscripted with her scratchy, hardly legible writing, and remembered when, just the day before, she had visited the Keep where her true mother, Katt, now Kitt, lived. As she knew, her mother was dragon-less, but she had not expected that Kitt would be married, and happily devoted as well. Another surprise--with a feeling of jealously and depression, she recalled--was that Kitt had given birth to two new daughters, one four- and the other one-year-old. Callilli and Brachet. Tears rolled down Jadis' cheeks as she returned to the present, the memory fading, and she stamped her foot childishly.
"She didn't even remember me!" Jadis screamed. She heard the sound of running feet, and Anaess, the Cathairte from Cathair Utopian, who was visiting on holiday, opened the door adjoining the Halls of Dark Moon.
"Candidate Jadis? Is all going well?"
Jadis brushed away her tears and smiled faintly at Anaess, who was looking rather disheveled, and eyed her bulging stomach, impregnated, probably, from her gentle new Catharix and lover. Tears came anew as she was reminded of her replacement, and Anaess embraced her, maternal instinct taking over once the confusion disipated.
"Come, come," crooned the woman, "What could be the matter?"
Jadis, unused to benevolence, especially that from a loving mother figure, huddled close and whimpered.
"I h-haven't got a m-mother! Th-that is, n-not one who r-recognizes m-me, or l-loves me."
Anaess hugged Jadis tighter, and kissed the top of her head.
"Oh, sweetheart," she murmured, knowing indeed who Jadis' mother could be, "Kitt has abandoned many a lover and newborn babes, even though she birthed them. It was her nature."
"Was? Was!" Jadis howled.
Anaess patiently patted her head.
"Come now, this is no way for a fifteen-year-old girl to act. You are strong, brave, and tough, and you'll weather this storm. Females have since the beginning of their existance, no matter what problem they must face."
Jadis nodded, smothered against her bosom, and pulled away slightly. Anaess stood up and walked into the kitchen unit, and boiled a pot of fresh kaffee. She handed a mug to Jadis, and kissed her cheek.
"If dear, you ever need help 'weathering the storm', just hitch a ride on Raimith to Utopian. I'll be there."
Jadis smiled, fully, a real smile, and bade Anaess farewell, showing her to the door with a final hug.
Jadis Imprinted special green Zayinth!
Excerpt from Iraith's hatching and Jadis's imprinting:
As the pair was led off of the sands, three eggs burst out simultaneously. Two greens and a blue were left standing among the shards of eggshell, one of the greens with two strange lighter bands on her right forearm. The blue was small and dark in color, while the other green was average-shaded and large.
Although the dark blue was the one who picked himself up from the sands and began to walk over to the male Candidates first, the two greens scampered over quickly to the female Candidates, and beat him to Impressing.
I am Zayinth, Jadis! The green with the banded arm declared happily as swirling blue-green eyes locked with the Candidates. I love you a lot, too! Whoever left you doesn't deserve you... But you are mine and I am yours! We will be together always!
Jadis fondly rubbed the green scales of Zayinth with the pride only a Rider knows, when their dragons reach full maturity.
"Ah, lovie, you've turned into a real beauty!" |
