Nelve looked around her, feeling a little lost. She knew that being at a Weyr would be different than her hold, but it seemed to her that she was the only different one there. Things were lonely. There were candidate classes in the morning, then chores, more classes in the afternoon, and then more chores. The chores, she didn't mind, because it gave her something to do. The classes were informative, but she usually sat be herself, because the other candidates never left her a place. She missed Quetensha, and hoped that the young woman had been searched as well, although she had a feeling that she wouldn't be a candidate at this Weyr. Tripaldi was nice. She felt most at home when the massive beasts would come in, telling their riders they wanted to be bathed. Nelve gladly helped, and the dragonriders soon knew that she could be counted on in anything that had to do with their dragons. True, cats normally didn't like water, but then, she was only half, and the human half of her loved the feel of being weightless, and the warmth that came from the water.

Sighing one morning, Nelve felt her loneliness hit hard: classes had been cancelled, on account of Killora being called away. She watched the others run right by her room, shouting to each other about how they were going to spend the "free" day. She sighed as not one looked into the little room that she'd acquired for herself. Usually, candidates shared two or three to a room, but two days into Nelve's stay found dead mice in the clothes that she'd laid over a chair the night before, a snake in her bed, and meat scraps on her plate when dinner had been served. Xalia had had to step in, which Nelve had hated, for she was used to taking care of herself. The Weyrwoman had moved the halfing panther to a room of her own, and disciplined the others she'd found to be the culprits. To say the least, Nelve's popularity was in the minus zero category.

Deciding that the best way to spend the day was to explore, she finished her chores quickly, then set off down the corridor. It was spacious, and she liked that there was room to walk freely. Of course, the Weyr was empty, for everyone was outside, enjoying the sunshine, but Nelve found solace in the fact that there was no one around to jeer at her. She'd become accustomed to being accepted, as she had been at Himmel Hold for the past two years, and it was hard going back to being different, an outcast. Turning down a passage, she came to a door, and stumbled through it, for some reason, feeling pulled here, and loosing her balance in an attempt to follow the pull. There was a young woman sitting at a table, a green firelizard perched on her shoulder. She looked up as Nelve entered the room.

"Are you here for a firelizard??" she asked, knowing no other reason to be where she was than that. Nelve shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't know that's where I was." The girl raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you see the sign on the door??" she asked, and Nelve blushed when she looked at it, for the door was open. It did indeed tell that firelizard eggs were often kept here. The girl motioned towards the hearth, where a pile of sand lay. "We've got eggs, if you'd like a firelizard. They should be fairly hard, and we've had one or two hatch already." Nelve went to the sand, and the girl called, "don't forget to grab a bowl of meat!!" Doing as she was told, she knelt by the sand, watching the eggs, taking a deep breath as she tried to steady her nerves.

It seemed like forever, though it was only minutes, before an egg began to rock back and forth. Holding her breath, Nelve watched it crack, and heard it pop before she saw the little green head emerging. Feeding the little creeling thing as quickly as she could, Nelve thought that it had a bottomless pit for a stomach. When it was finally sated, she gathered the little green in her arms, and headed for the table, where the girl sat, smiling. "Wha'cha gonna call her??" Nelve shrugged, fascinated with the littleness of the creature in her arms. "I don't know yet," she replied, and the girl let of a soft huff. "Well, you gotta decide on a name, so I can register you, and her." Thinking for a while, she looked around, hoping for an idea as to what to call her, but she found nothing to her liking. Finally, she spoke, softly. "My mother's name was Jadedine, and she would have loved her, so I think I'll call her Jadedi."

The girl at the table nodded, and asked for the spelling. Nelve gave it to her, and, cradling Jadedi, left the room, feeling her spirit lift. She loved the little flit already, and hoped that this would make a difference. After all, if she could impress a firelizard, then she was normal too, right??