Haircuts

[nike]

Nike nodded. "Yep. Stevn liked it a lot." She said grinning as she remembered her one friend.
The tall, miner boy. His dark hair, strong tan face, and his bright blue eyes which stood out of his strong, dark body.
He was a great friend. Same with Alantia and Paroo.

Malenie glared at Tikka. She grinded her teeth as the hairdresser talked.
Oh how she wanted to back talk that woman! Once her hair was done, it felt light. Too light. She looked over the people who were snickering at her.
Nike, had turned away and was hunched over, trying to controll laughter.

The Candidate picked up the mirror. She gave one look into it, and let out an ear splitting shreik. The girl dropped the mirror and ran away. The mirror had shattered. Malenie couldn't help it. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, falling onto the stone floor of the Lower Caverens. Once she was in her Barrack, she packed her things up quickly.

She would leave this place forever! Never come back! She would go to Kalanre Hold and stay there. Making the dragonriders of Dark Moon have a bad reputaion! Once she was packed up she ran out of the Caverens, and ran down towards the road out of the Weyr.
Nakum fowlling behind, cherping softly.

At that time Sh'iron came to the table and glared at them all.
"What did you do?" He asked with his arms crossed over his chest. He glared at them all. Mad, and angry.

[Dragon]

"Well I would have liked to have seen how my hair looked with it being long but now I will have to wait longer. "G'han it wasn't me that told Nira but all the same you should get one too", he said to the bronzerider jokingly but a bit spiteful. He played a bit with Nike's hair wondering what hers would be like with length.

[nike]

Nike smiled as K'dan played with her hair.
"G'han, you do need a hair cut." She said before turing to see Malenie's hair.
The white rider turned around and hunched over, holding laughter in.
Zim cherped, confused at her bonded.

[Kandarra]

T'rin's eyes were rather wide at what Tikka had done to the Candidate's hair; it was completely ruined. Surely this wasn't random, he thought. He hoped he wasn't next when Tikka reassured him he wasn't in for the same treatment.

T'rin took a last glance at Amparath, who only stared and encouraged him with odd scoldings and comments about his horrible hair. He didn't bother looking at Kia, because he knew she would, and already had, sided with his dragon. He sighed and sat, saying, "Long, but not shaggy, please. If it's not short enough, I'm sure Amparath over there would be glad to tell you."

[Miki]

Kia stared wide eyes as Malenie ran to her barracks.
She just stood for quite a while.
Tokagae chirped worriedly.

Kia took a second and placed Micra on t'rin's shoulder.
She ran after Malenie but the gril had run out of the Weyr.
Kylath ran after her and was suprised when Kia ran out of the Weyr.
Her first thought was that her bonded was leaving her.
[shadow=red,left,300]Mine, where are you going?![/shadow]Kia ignored the Copper.
"Malenie," she called.

[Spirithawk]

Tikka smiled. "I guess she didn't like it." She set about to cutting T'rin's hair. "That short enough bronze Amparath?" She asked the weyrling dragon.

Christae bit back a laugh but her face sobered when Sh'iron walked up. "Malenie cut Kia's hair out of spite. She insulted Miya and Reinath from what Kaith tells me. She insulted me. If I am not mistaken I think she insulted Akki too. The flitts were about to pull her hair out or flame her." She shrugged, not ashamed of what she had done. "Tikka just took care of that for us. She offered and we accepted."

[nike]

Malenie wipped tears from her eyes as she walked quickly from the Weyr. She'd rather live holdless
than live in a Weyr where the Weyrwoman and the riders plotted against her!
Nakum cherped sadly and conftorbaly in her ear.
Then the Candidate heard her name being called. She didn't turn around, but walked faster.
She didn't have any food, or anything really warm, but she would get to Kalanre quickly.

[nike]

Sh'iron glared at Christae and turned her around roughly.
"You have no idea what you have just done Christae! THink about this!
You are the Lady Holder of Kalanre Hold, and this holdless girl comes crying up your stairs.
Her hair is cut like it was done in the dark. And she tells you how bad Dark Moon Weyr treated her.
You would have only one impression of the Weyrwoman and the Weyr. And the tithe that you give to the Weyr, you would stop it! Then you would tell all the other Holds that would tithe to the Weyr to stop giving them their goods. THink about it.
Think how much trouble Malenie would cause if she got to Kalanre. We would have nothing to support this Weyr. And it would be all you fault!" He glared at Christae. "Now go get her back or we will have nothing to support us!" The Weyrleader pointed after Kia and Malenie.

[Miki]

Kia did not let Malenie get away.
"Malenie, please wait," she called.
The Weyrling did not know what she was doing.
Was she defending somebody so rude?

[nike]

Malenie slowed down, and then stopped. She still kept her back to the Weyrling. She used her fingers to wipe closely
to eyes. "There I'm waiting." She said after a while. Her cheeks were red, and tear stained.
She did only have one pack, it was slung over her shoulder. Her arms were crossed, and her hands were on her shoulders.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and wet.

[Spirithawk]

Christae drew herself up to her full height when her weyrmate turned her roughly. "She had not right to treat Kia in such a manner. She deserved to get her hair cut for doing that to Kia, JUST for that, not to mention the manner in which she treated the rest of us. That girl needed to be taught a lesson. I agree, perhaps it was out of spite and a want for revenge for what she did to us. But I will certainly NOT run after such a despicable girl."

Kaith winged down from her weyr. He is right. You are worrying about tithes as it is. Go. Christae sputtered in outrage, first her weyrmate and now her dragon?!

"Well, I never...!" She cried. Kaith snaked her wedge-shaped head around the people and pushed her rider in the direction of the Weyr's exit.

Go. Christae stood glaring rebelliously at her dragon and weyrmate.

[Miki]

Kia nodded and stood silent behind Malenie.
What could she say?
Where should she start?
The Weyrling sighed and told Kylath not to worry and that she had not abandoned her.
"I am-" Kia paused, trying not to cry herself, "Sorry."

Was this just to show she was very soft?
Did it mean she listened and bent over easily?
She had to restrain herself.
She wanted to run away herself and cry into her pillow, just hating how she was.

[nike]

"Well that doesn't matter. You could have punished her in a different way!"
Sh'iron said, still glaring. When Kaith came in and pushed her rider, Sh'iron nodded.
"Well they way you all treated her, I think you did change her a lot." He said.

Nike sighed, then shook her head. "Oh well. Atleast she learned a lesson." She said, grinning.

"Sorry for what? You didn't do this to me!" Malenie said turning around. Her hands were spread over her chest, and more tears poured down her already
wet face. "You just have no idea what it is like to be hated everywhere you go! Southern Boll I was shunned away for having different ideas to play when I was younger! I was always alone, and the others made-fun of me because I was mostly quite. So I came back with comebacks which made me even more shunned and hated! No one liked me! They thought I was strange, mean and cruel! My parents even abused me! Just because I did things in different ways! You just don't know!" Malenie cried then put her face in her hands and cried. She just cried.

[Miki]

Kia wanted to give Malenie a hug but she didn't.
Diffrent?
She knew quite a bit about being hated or ignored.
At home she was completely uncared for.
Only her family cared and they were family.
Maybe this girl's family did not like her but even with her dad caring, Kia knew how it was to be hated.
All that happened to her was being made fun of or picked on.
"No, but I didn't stop them and I could have.
I am sure they all say you have learned a lesson but you could have been punished in a diffrent way.
I just want you to learn something, one chance is all I need.
Maybe you hated Nike because she was loved but I was completely ignored at home.
I was treated like dirt but I didn't put them on my death list.
I just heard my brother was called to a Weyr and Impressed a Bronze.
With just that, all of my family but my dad thought he was better.
I'm not going to hurt him, though." Kia spluttered out.
She just couldn't explain it.

[nike]

Malenie didn't look up and sobbed on. Then her crying slowed down and she spoke.
"Nike's mother died in childbirth, and her father died when she was ten. She was only loved by her friends, and that wasn't much. Our foaster mother had too many children to take care of to love them all. Nike was one of the worst treated.
All her clothes were hand-me-downs, and she got the last meal. But she never complained. I didn't know how she could be so strong! And then she got friends. I only saw her cry once! And that was when her father died!
I was treated better by our foster mother, but my real parents hated my guts.
No one liked me because all I gave out was hate, and no I have no friends because of the way I acted to them when I was younger! No one gives me second chances! No one!" And then Malenie ran down the road. As she ran, she tripped and fell.
after she tumbled down, she lay face first, crying still.

[Miki]

Kia walked up to Malenie, not touching her but quietly talking.
"If you knew that by hating them they would return the favor than why did you?
I guess Nike and i shared that we did not get any love.
My only friends were in my family.
I don't care if you hate me but at least give everyone else a chance.
I'll give you a second chance and I won't care if you hate my guts and I remain on a list of those to hate but try and let the others be your friend," she said.

[Spirithawk]

Kaith nudged her rider again. Christae lowered her eyes but she was still fuming. She disliked being humiliated by both her dragon and weyrmate in front of half the weyr. She would be a disgrace, and to have to apologize to such a wretched girl.

You were no better. Kaith said. For the first time since they were bonded Christae closed her mind off to her dragon. She was furious. Christae stalked off, not even looking at her dragon even though she sensed the gold's hurt at being shut out of her bonded's mind.

She walked out of the Weyr and up to where she saw Kia and Malenie. She heard the tail-end of the girl's words.

"No, we don't know. You didn't give us a chance to know anything." Christae said coldly after she had listened to the rest of Malenie's confession about her youth. " You judged us the minute you walked into this weyr and did not give us a chance to know you. Granted what we did was wrong but I still think you deserved it. Kia did not deserve to get her hair cut in such a manner but yet you did it. You should not have insulted the others. I apologize for our actions and ask for a second chance. If you want a chance so much then we will bargain. Give Dark Moon Weyr a second chance and we will give you a chance to redeem yourself in our eyes" Her eyes were snapping with barely-contanined fury. To be reduced to begging such an insolent creature to remain in HER weyr was humilating. She did pity the girl, but Malenie didn't have it any worse than any of the riders here.

"Some of our riders have painful pasts too. Rhia lost both her parents and two siblings, everything she had ever known to the plague. G'han lost his family to raiders. They aren't the only ones. Think about that before you go about hurting others because you think YOU have it bad. I was not accepted where I came from. Only my family seemed to care before I came here and look at me now."

[Dragon]

He looked over to Nike, "But you just said I don't need one. That is contradicting yourself", he said to her and stuck his tongue out at her.

[Akki]

When she saw Malenies hair fall to the ground, she wanted to pump up her fist in victory except when she saw the girl run off, tears streaming down her face something inside her scolded her, asking how could she be so cruel to go along with the plan. It did probably do the job however, telling the girl that what she did would never go unpunished when it needed to be but still, one could not but help feel bad for her. She followed her friend, going towards the lower caverns. She didn't exactly want to apologize, but she didn't want to gloat. Then again, apologizing probably would seem like the best idea since she was in on the plan. As the girl exclaimed how they didn't know how it fel to be hated, Akki could barely contain herself. Didn't she? Didn't she have to put up with her father's anger, loathing, spite and shouts all because she smiled a long time after her mothers death?

[meggums]

So that’s the infamous Malenie R’dan thought when Malenie sat in the chair cutting in front of T’rin. “Guess that answers my question then.” R’dan said as Malenie’s hair was chopped off by Tikka. He felt rather guilty, even though he’d remained silent during the plotting of the candidate’s punishment. R’dan watched as Akki followed Kia who was following Malenie out. Had he said something wrong? He started to follow Akki but Jesseth stopped him.
~You haven’t met the troublesome candidate she’ll think you’ve just come to mock her or something… Akki, Kia and the Weyrwoman can handle her. Besides you need to get your haircut.~
R’dan frowned, Jesseth was right, the girl had been crying when she left and he didn't want her to assume he came to make fun of her. The brown rider sighed and got in line to get his hair cut.