Painting the Dawn

[HorseMage]

The sun had not yet risen above the horizen when Angela snuck out of the Candidate Barracks with her easel, canvas, paints and runnerbeast-hair paintbrushes. It was a beautiful dawn, and Angela was determined to paint it.

She hadn't painted for a while, and she was worried that perhaps her skills had waned some. However, as she set her equipment up and stared at the blank canvas, her paintbrush dripping with red paint, she realised that her skills were there, as they always had been.

Without thinking, Angela got to work, and colours scrawled across the page, each the opposite of the colours that surrounded Angela. Where she saw browns and greys and faded green, she painted yellow and red. Soon a landscape began to develop before her on the canvas, but it was not the same as the landescape that surrounded Angela.

[Myuuchan]

"Whatcha doin'?" The question was small, sweet, and innocent - Posed from a boy that looked like he couldn't have been much older than 17. His pants were torn at the knees and his shirt was dirty with firestone dust, his hair darker at the roots than the tawny tips, his eyes bright and blue and as wide as the smile he wore.
He hadn't tried to sneak up on her, but as immersed in her work as she was, Angela likely had not noticed his approach.

He leaned forward over her shoulder, but not too close, peering at the work she'd laid down on the canvas. "Whoa... Where're you seeing that? I don't see it anywhere! Do you think that's what it looks like when you're drunk? Hey, you're not drunk, are you? Do I know you? Are you new here?" The questions came out in a flurry, his smile growing into a grin, dark blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

"My name's R'llyn! I know I'm young, but don't mistake me for a weyrling!" R'llyn scowled at that statement, but it hardly lasted a moment, his smile quickly returning. "I'm a fully graduated rider! I'm visiting family here right now. Are you visiting? Are you a candidate or an apprentice healer? They've got a pretty good healer lady here I guess, but I never talk to her whenever I get any bumps or bruises, I always get sent to the nice healers. Have you been here long?" One after another, the questions came, barely leaving her any room for response.

"What's your name?" The final, perhaps most important of his questions posed, R'llyn dropped to the ground to sit, sucking in a deep breath to replace what he'd lost with his long-winded string of inquiry. At last, he closed his mouth, looking at the girl in front of him with cheerful curiosity, waiting for some form of response.
That, or waiting for her to run in terror.

[HorseMage]

"Whatcha doin'?"

Angela turned at the sound of the voice, curious as to who was up so early in the morning. A boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen, was stadning there in shabby clothes. Angela frowned, and drew in a breath to answer him.

"Whoa... Where're you seeing that," the boy asked as he peered at the painting, not giving Angela time to reply. "I don't see it anywhere! Do you think that's what it looks like when you're drunk? Hey, you're not drunk, are you? Do I know you? Are you new here? My name's R'llyn! I know I'm young, but don't mistake me for a weyrling!" The boy scowled, as if being mistaken for a werling was distasteful. "I'm a fully graduated rider! I'm visiting family here right now. Are you visiting? Are you a candidate or an apprentice healer? They've got a pretty good healer lady here I guess, but I never talk to her whenever I get any bumps or bruises, I always get sent to the nice healers. Have you been here long?" The questions came out much to fast for Angela to reply. "What's your name?"

There, and easy one. Angela could answer that. For a moment thought, she had to pause and think.

"I'm Angela," she said simply. She couldn't remember any of the other questions, so she turned back to her easel, and began to paint in the finer details into the painting. Suddenly, she realised she should start a conversation.

"I'm painting the sunrise," she said. "However, the sun hasn't actually rose yet. If I tried to paint it when the sun rose, the pretty colours would disappear too fast for me to paint them. That's why I'm starting on painting the sunrise, before the sun actually rises."

She smiled at the boy, hoping she wasn't scaring him away. Most people were some how afraid of the way Angela painted, when she explained it to them.