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https://www.angelfire.com/rpg/sashapages/
https://www.angelfire.com/rpg/sashapages/
"You have the look of a Southerner about you," is how Sasha was described once by someone at High Reaches Weyr. Sasha was unable to confirm her birthplace to this person because she never knew her parents.
She was brought up by a group of travellers pretty much as a servant, always suspecting that she had been abducted, and constantly feeling lonely. She put all of her energy into the care of the herdbeasts, belonging to the travellers, and especially loved working with the runners. Her 'foster parents' found that she was especially good at this, and from an early age her many chores were mainly animal based. Consequently she often preferred the company of animals to that of the humans who called themselves her family, but were seldom kind. She learned to take care of herself, getting a reputation as a fighter amongst the traveller brats, and willing to black anyone's eye should they dare to cross her. She became an excellent rider, able to spend long hours in the saddle, and had a knack for taming wild runners, which the travellers found very useful.
Once, when threadfall caught the travellers unexpectedly, three of the runners were badly scored. One unfortunately died, soon after, but it was Sasha, in the absence of a trained healer who lovingly nursed the other two back to health. It was at this point that she realised that living with the travellers was not what she wanted out of life. Taking care of living creatures fascinated her and she began to dream even of a time when she might aspire to becoming a healer for the great dragons that occasionally could be seen soaring overhead. She longed for a stable home and one night, taking her few belongings (including an intricately linked gold chain which had been given to her by one of the more kindly elderly women of the traveller camp, mysteriously saying "Keep it safe. It was your mother's",) she stole away from the camp, telling no-one where she intended to go. Her greatest regret was leaving behind her favourite runner, Wildmoor.
Travelling on foot for most of the way, she traversed the northern continent from Keroon, occasionally cadging a ride with a farmer, or fellow travellers, always avoiding large bands of people who might know her 'fosterparents'. A tomboy from early youth, Sasha had always been able to stand on her own two feet, hunting and fishing to sustain herself, proud of her independence, and yet secretly desperately lonely - a fact that she staunchly refused to admit, even to herself. Eventually, she reached her destination - High Reaches Weyr - a place completely different from the warmer climes she had been used to as a child, which was part of the attraction - and she began to explore the surrounding area. Mustering her courage, she introduced herself to people there and became a resident, where she spent her days watching the runners and dragons, later managing to become employed as an assistant in the Infirmary. This job, she hoped would be the first step towards working with dragons, as well as having a useful role in the weyr which was fast becoming the home that she had always yearned for.
At age 17 Sasha was settling in comfortably at High Reaches Weyr, making herself as useful as possible, and although still wary, just beginning to relax a little. It came as an enormous shock when one day in the Living Caverns, she was informed by the Weyrlingmaster D'renn that she had been Searched for Candidacy. She was filled with incredible excitement and naively believed that it was only a matter of time that she would have her own life mate, and be able to fulfil her youthful dream of becoming a dragon healer. She consciously made the unaccustomed effort to make friends with her fellow candidates, and found for the first time in her life very real affection and respect for them, finding in Pyrene especially, a close friend and confidant. Barriers of fear built up over many years began to come down and by the end of the prank-filled candidacy, she was a new person - kinder, more generous, and a much more useful and worthy member of a team. When the hatching finally happened, she watched with genuine joy as her now good friends impressed, but was crushed with disappointment as the last dragonet to hatch stumbled away with her new lifemate R'gis.
From that moment on, the hope that had kept her going for so long, died within Sasha...any belief that she was suitable for partnership with a dragon had gone. She kept herself to herself for a while, rising early to complete her chores in the infirmary, and then taking herself out of the Weyr for long walks, where she would be sure not to meet the new weyrlings. For a few months this continued until one morning, as she was clearing out and auditing the cupboards in the Infirmary, she was approached by Catia, who made the suggestion that it was time to move on from her humble position as Infirmary Assistant, that she ought to think about progression to Apprentice Healer. Sasha was stopped in her tracks by this idea and on her usual walk that day began to think seriously about the rest of her life. With all grandious ideas of becoming a dragon healer reluctantly left behind, she strode purposefully back to the Infirmary and acceptd Catia's offer. However, her love and feeling of acceptance at the Weyr made it very hard for her to consider leaving, to live in the Healer Hall, and so she was delighted when Catia offered to be her mentor, saying that she could still live at the Weyr but could attend lessons at the Healer Hall, when she was able to cadge a ride with a dragon. When her old friends, now fledgling riders, heard of her need for transport occasionally, she was deluged by offers of help, and in accepting, she renewed the close friendships that she had avoided for a while, because of her feelings of guilt of her sheer jealousy of their good fortune.
As time passed, Sasha became more and more mature, both physically, and in her demeanor. Gone was the defiant, tomboyish urchin who had trekked across the country in search of a home - now she was blossoming into an attractive young woman, allowing her short spiky hair to grow, and no longer unconsciously hiding her femininity. She no longer exhibited fear of strangers and became more relaxed in mixed company. She took immense pride in her new role as an Apprentice Healer, and her tutors were pleased with the enormous effort she put into her studies. A subtle aura of contentment and satisfaction surrounded her, and all efforts and plans for the future were channelled, into becoming the best healer she could possibly be.
Sasha once would have said that her goal was to be a rider, and to serve her beloved Weyr in that role. However after she failed to impress, she realised that she couldn't have been right for a dragon, that maybe she was not good enough to impress, genuinely convincing herself of her unsuitability. After a long period of coming to terms with this idea, she pulled herself together and began to work towards rebuilding her life on a different path. Putting aside what she regards as her childish dream, she has thrown herself into her apprenticeship as a healer, hoping one day to become a Journeyman, and possibly specialising in animal healing (specifically equine). She loves the Weyr, the only place that she has comfortably called home, and one day would like to work and carry out research, based in the Infirmary there. She still longs to find out the origin of the antique gold chain which might tell her about her lost parents, but at the moment is putting all her energies into working to improve herself. Her mistrust of other people, and specifically men has waned considerably over the time since the candidacy, and she is far less adverse to involvement of an emotional nature, and there is room for development in this area.
When R'gis and Thesy out of the blue handed her another white candidate's knot, she was less than pleased....disbelief coloured the whole of her candidacy period, a time which she enjoyed hugely, and yet never allowed herself to believe would lead to anything other than the disappointment she had already experienced. So as one of the exquisite eggs on the sands cracked open, and the glorious green dragonet Branwyth staggered towards Sasha and claimed her for her own lifemate, she was unable to immediately come to terms with her good fortune, shocked and dazed and having to yet again rethink her plans for the future.
Branwyth filled her life...never had Sasha had such a love, or known that she had such a capacity to return love. As Branwyth grew, and they learned more and more about the new role that Sasha was to play, she blossomed with confidence, revelling in the close friendships that had developed between herself and the other weyrlings, and becoming more able to fight back the old fears.
