Failed Peace Talks

Monaco Bay Weyr - Cove Beach

Sparkling black sends are gently washed over with crystal blue waters, creating a playful blend of colors that twist and meld under the alternating rays of sun and moon. The cove stretches out from the mouth of the river towards the ocean, mixing saltwater with fresh for an invigorating rush that teems with life.

The coast curves eastward, the waters growing more quiet along the broad expanse of beach before finally meeting a large cove. Here there are few waves, the oceans movement reduced to little more than slight swells. What might have been an idyllic and peaceful area however, is interrupted by a brilliantly gleaming structure that stands on the edge of the sands.

Large steel poles sore upwards, supporting a staircase that leads to a pair of water slides. The height of the structure is remarkable, standing at a height comparable to that of a small gold dragon. Pipes pump water upward, creating small pools at the entrance of both plastic blue slides. The rush of water moves with the slides, following their twisting course downwards while easing their passengers journey. Parts of the slides are open and others covered, creating a thrill for each voyager before unceremoniously dumping them into the still waters below. For the safety of all patrons, a large net has been drawn across the mouth of the cove to prevent any accidental drifting away.

Not far from the slides is a small stand that also seems to have been built just recently. A menu is posted on its side and displays a variety of drinks and snacks for beach goers.


Despite Aanisah's ornery disposition, she's a hard worker. The petite girl can be seen whenever she's not working on her regular candidate duties, in the out-of-the way corner of beach that has been claimed for the boat project. Her blueprints are on top of a crate, weighted down by stones at the edges, but her current task is not an intellectual one. She runs sandpaper down the length of the timbers that have been laid out, polishing them to smoothness. It's hard labor and she's sweating, but her focus is absolute (even if she's still scowling as she does it).

Heading down to the beach is Briari, who is currently wide awake and plucky. She is carrying a pitcher of water with icecubes floating about. Today she is wearing a pair of light sandy colored pants and a bright blue tunic. Seeing that Merius is not around, she shifts her jaw slightly, then powers forward towards the girl. "Hey. I brought some water out. Figured you may be thirsty. I know how hot the sands can be." She says, holding up the pitcher as if it was hopefully a peace sign.

Aanisah pauses in the stroke of paper across wood, and turns her chin sharply to look at the older girl. Her look is suspicious at best. Perhaps she wonders if there's poison in the pitcher! Aanisah probably has to worry about that kind of thing, but her expressing becomes less hard after a moment of thought (which isn't to say it becomes soft, it just isn't quite so pinched; it's a different degree of grump, backing off from Extra Grumpy to Usual Grumpy). "You mean you thought Merius might be thirsty," she concludes, with some sourceless rancor. That doesn't stop her from getting up and brushing her hands off on her trousers to approach the other girl. "Thanks." Peace offering accepted - even if Aanisah has waterskins handy, they're not cold in the heat of the late-morning sun.

"I brought two glasses." Briari says once she puts the pitcher down and produces a pair out from her pockets. She fills one glass with the water, then holds it out to her. "Look, I think that we are going to have to find a way to work together.. If by chance that we both impress, we will be in the same wing together, and we will have to depend on each other. Up there." She points. "It can be life or death if we are not in synch. My father was the Weyrling Master here for a number of clutches and I have seen so many clutches come and go. I see what happens when people do not get along and it carries over." She gives an awkward smile to her. "So, can we please .. um… be civil with each other? I really want to have fun this candidacy, make friends and have great memories. I want to support you and everyone else that comes through the barracks"

Aanisah's look turns vaguely annoyed and her lashes flutter in a way that suggests she's resisted rolling her eyes at the older girl. "What makes you think we can't work together? You don't have to like the people you work with," is pointed out as she reaches to try to take the pitcher and a cup from Briari to pour. She'll even pour the second cup if she's successful in taking the pitcher in the first place. Her words aren't a 'yes,' but they're not an outright 'no,' either, so that's something.

"I know, but it helps. It helps out a lot." Briari says as she takes a sip of her water once she puts the pitcher back down. "I just feel like you never really gave me a chance and I do not know why you make the comments that you do towards me. You said something the other day about your life sucking. I get it. Believe me, I /get/ it. My father was a big deal around here, my mother is a gold rider who is batty and domineering and controlling. I felt suffocated my entire life." She rocks on her feet a bit. "If you want to talk about it, I am willing to listen. I may not have any good advice but if you want to get it off your chest I can at least do that for you." She rubs at her nose gently. "I just don't want us at each other's throats, especially not over silly stuff. You know?"

The teen's eyes narrow the more Briari talks, the cup being set down on a pile within reach without her having taken a sip. "You don't know me. Don't pretend to." That's simple, direct and paired with a serious look. "I don't want to talk to you, I don't even know you. All I know is that you've made assumptions about me from the beginning, and this nice person bullshit act you have going on," a single finger of Aanisah's wiggles to indicate Briari on the whole, "is not going to make me like you or want to tell you anything about myself. You want us to be civil, this is me civil," and grumpy, "You want me to stay civil? Be real," which apparently she doesn't think this is.

"I -am- a nice person!" Briari sighs out in exasperation. "Why would I have any reason not to be? I live on the greatest beach in the world in which we hardly ever have bad days. My family has been here for many, many generations. I am surrounded by great people who's company I enjoy. I -like- people. You haven't even tried to get to know me, you just sling insults and I don't know why! What did I ever do to you? I never made any assumptions about you outside of what you have shown me, which is insults and anger." Her brows pinch together in frustration as she runs a hand back through her hair.

"Wait, wait, wait," Aanisah's hands come up. "Why would you have any reason not to be? Weren't you just saying about how you felt suffocated your whole life? How your mother is some goldriding bitch and your father a pompous moron?" Evidently, the teen is done attempting to make nice. "You can't have it both ways, Briari. You can't in one moment tell me all about how you understand what it's like to have your life suck, and then in the next tell me that you have no reason not to be nice." At least her claws haven't come out yet.

"Just because I understand how much life has sucked for me growing up, doesn't mean I have to take it out on the next person either. My family now lives in Telgar. My brother impressed and he lives in Fort, who by the way is my best friend. Just because my mother was a controlling bitch who tried to make me out to be just like her, doesn't mean I had to. I wake up every day trying to figure out how to have a good day. Do you know what being mean gets you? No where. People laugh at you behind your back, they whisper about you. You get stuck with the crappy candidate chores like mucking the dragon shit. You go to bed angry, you wake up angry. It's not fun. I learned when I was probably around your age that being the mean girl makes life not only harder for everyone else, but for you." She scuffs her foot against the sand. "I had a huge wake up call a few years ago I guess you can say. I just … I don't know." She swirls the water about in her glass, then shrugs as she turns a bit away to look at the boat progress.

"For Faranth's sake, Briari, I don't want your life story. I don't give a shit about your life's story." Aanisah answers, her tone exasperated as if she can't even be bothered to summon the energy to be angry. "It doesn't matter to me. You do your candidate stuff and I'll do mine. Your life lessons are not my life lessons; obviously, we're very different people." She exhales hard, lips pinched a moment before saying, rather soberly, "When we have to work together, we work together. Life goes on. Some of us don't get hung up on sucky childhoods or insults. Being nice takes effort and you are so not worth it." Then again, to Aanisah, there are precious few who are.

Briari shrugs her shoulders upwards and takes a sip of her water. Pushing off her foot, she starts to walk away from her, leaving the pitcher of water behind.

The pitcher and the cup that Aanisah had taken but never drunk from are left to warm in the sun while the candidate turns back to her task. No peace today.


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License