Fort Weyr

Alexa stands just shy of five and a half feet, with a frame that leans toward long and lanky despite the subtle curves that distinguish her as an adult woman. She has a soft oval face, full lips and wide green eyes. Her pale skin speaks to a northern heritage and burns easily in the sun, often pink across nose and cheeks and shoulders. Long, golden-blond hair is often pulled up in a manner to keep it away from her face, either braided or tied into a messy bun at the base of her neck, it's true length a mystery.

Alexa tends to dress for function rather than form, though someone in her life seems to have insisted upon a little frivolity. Though her normal attire is often a simple blouse, riding pants and leather boots, the cut and quality of the material used speaks to her station in life. Her blouses often hold hints of delicate details in the form of embroidery, usually in thread the same color as the cloth. Her favored colors are earthy greens and rich, wine reds. In colder weather, a riding jacket or cloak, scarf, hat and gloves are worn. At her shoulder is the knot distinguishing her as a goldrider of Fort Weyr.

Necklace
Clear glass has been molded into an oval shape. The front is gently rounded while the back is contoured to rest comfortably against the skin. Within the clear glass, a fragment of eggshell is forever preserved: glittering gold and ruby red, opulent and rich. It was once the Road to Riches Egg, before it shattered to birth Raaneth into the world. Edged in gold, a small loop at the top allows a simple braided thong to secure it around Alexa's neck. On the back is stamped the date: Day 24 of Month 2 of Turn 2721

Look. There really ain't much to tell, alright? Green dragon goes up. Brown dragon catches. Nine months later, my brother and I are born. Twins. Tiny, scrawny, sickly little things. But stubborn. Can't forget stubborn. Stubborn enough to fight and somehow, stubborn enough to live. Some people didn't think we would. In fact, I think most people thought we'd die. Our mother certainly did. But we proved them wrong. We proved her wrong. We do that a lot. Not that she cares. Straight from the womb and into the arms of some woman who'd love for us to call her 'mom', even if she's not.

But whatever. She was nice enough. I kinda liked her. I kinda miss her. She would do this thing at night… gather up me and my brother, snuggle up in a giant blanket, read us stories… I loved those stories. It's probably why I wanted to be a Harper. Those stories. But anyways. That's over. Five turns old, and we're shoved off again. Not her fault she died, but definitely sucked for us cause the next woman? Ugh. It's not like she *beat* us or anything. Shards no. The rest of the Hold wouldn't stand for that. But she definitely didn't give off those warm, fuzzy feelings, you know? She was kinda strict. OK like, real strict. It was seriously chafing. But I guess I should thank her, because if it wasn't for her and her stupid rules, Alek and I never would've realize we could pull off that whole 'passing as each other' thing. At least until I got boobs. (But now I'm getting ahead of myself, cause those didn't come until I was like, fourteen. And they're still kinda small and just… it's not fair, Okay? At some point, I wanna stop looking like a weed!)

Anyways. We stayed with her, and her husband, and her bajillion other kids (that might be a slight exaggeration, but only slightly) until we managed to escape to the crafts. The one good thing I can say about her is that she encouraged me to read. Not really her intention but… The library was my sanctuary. It was one of the very few "acceptable" places for a young woman to go, and so that's where I went. Any chance I got. And I would drag Alek with me, only he wasn't as interested in the books. At least not about anything except those stupid plants of his. So, it was only natural that I join the Harpers (even if I can't sing to save my LIFE. I can categorize and alphabetize like a boss. Librarian all the way!) and Alek went to the Healers (pharmacy? Botany? Something with plants and not people, that's for sure) which at least kept him close. Which is good. He's the only family I got, after all.

It was fun. I learned a lot. Like. A lot. And not just the stuff they wanted me to learn. But I was a good student. I really was! It's really not fair… anyways. We did good. Good enough that we got posted to a Weyr. And of course, we went to the SAME Weyr. Because there's no way I'm losing my brother. None. It's him and me for life. For. Life. But the only Weyr that could take us was Igen. Probably cause it's in the middle of the friggin' desert (which is as good as being on the face of the sun, I swear) and everyone else is smart enough to say 'Shells No!' when they're asked to go there. Except us. We were dumb enough to say 'Yes!' if just because it kept us together.

Of course, I can't complain too much about the desert. While it's hotter than heck and sandy AF (seriously. The sand tho!) It turns out it has some kind of cool features. Igen Weyr's library is one of the best I've seen. The dragonriders are kind of cool (especially N'sir) and… I totally Impressed a dragon. A queen. Sometimes, I still can't believe it! Raaneth is amazing. She is the best thing ever, and I can't imagine what I would do with out her. And you know? Being a weyrwoman it's too bad either. I mean… sometimes it feels like people see my rank and not my face, but I guess that's true of everyone. I'm still pretty new at it but, I mean… optimistically speaking (which almost never happens. WHO am I anymore?!) I think it's going alright.

Course, the downside of dragonriding is dragonflights. I would never begrudge Raaneth anything, but dang it all, she picks the oddest bronzes to win! First Nymionth from Fort. Then Leketh from Fort (and can we just take a moment to appreciate how freakin' terrifying J'en is? So OF COURSE I'd get pregnant from that one. He does make pretty babies though…) and then Nymionth AGAIN (and also, pregnant AGAIN! Which I'm not that mad about except, well… F'inn. He's very… F'inn.). But on the whole? Yeah, I guess life at Igen isn't as terrible as I thought it would be.

Maybe that's why I decided to move to Fort? Why stay happy when you can shake things up and ruin your life. All I wanted was a little snow. Some changing seasons. Trees! And what do I get? I suppose that remains to be seen.

TL;DR - My Life in Dance