Keoki

Name: Keoki
Age: 24
Birth Turn: Late Spring, 1493
Gender: Female

Wing/Shift: n/a
Weyr Rank: Titania Weyrling
Crafter Rank: Hunter

Bonded to: Bronze Ekinth

Appearance:
At a very imposing 5’3”, with ever so exotic brown hair, skin kissed by the sun, and dark hazel eyes… Well, yeah, no- Keo isn’t typically one to stand out in a crowd. Diminutive height aside, she’s rather plain to look at, average and unremarkable. Her hair is a warm toned thing that falls on the darker side of medium brown, and on the rare occasion it’s not braided, cascades to her shoulders in loose, frizzy waves. Almond shaped, her hazel eyes might be mistaken for another color at a passing glance, a brew of brown and a mossy sort of blue. Her nose possesses a shape man might’ve once called Greek, but now may simply be described as straight with narrow nostrils. Her brows lack any meticulous grooming, leaving them unshaped and fuzzy edged, with a few rebellious hairs sticking up at odd angles. Her skin has long since tanned to a warm caramel hue, at least in the areas which see Rukbat’s rays. A modest smattering of freckles dust her face and arms, in addition to a few scars typically hidden by her top.

In build, one may find her surprisingly toned beneath her modest garments, no stranger to a hard day’s toil. Weight settles naturally upon her hips, lending more to a pear shaped silhouette than the more favorable hourglass frame. Her hands are calloused, with any hint of softness to be attributed to the near religious efforts to ensure her beloved firelizards remain well oiled, gleaming hide supple. Perhaps a little long proportionally, her legs possess a tad more muscle than the rest of her. While her shoulders are a touch too narrow, making her neck seem longer and head larger than they actually are. Her bust is certainly nothing to write home about. Only large enough to aid in making her gender apparent, and even then, typically being bound snug to keep any wiggling or jiggling to an absolute minimum. Scars are scattered about her frame, a handful being from her chosen career, while the majority come from over a decade having a firelizard climb all over her.

As for attire, one might regard her tastes quite bland. Favoring drab, neutral tones that might best blend into the wilds, asking her to procure something colorful from her miniscule wardrobe would be met with an awkward look. Shades of brown and grey, and something that maybe once could have been called cream, some would think her so very dreary. Not helped by the fact that the types of garments she wears are similarly lacking in variety. Tops which may button at the cuff, but which are more commonly rolled up to the elbow. Pants usually, with any skirts being only of a split, or else convertible, riding kind. Dark boots, nice and sturdy leather, well worn and showing their wear, but just as clearly cared for. A thick coat of supple leather and warm fleece, as well as practical accessories in the form of a good belt, and bags to carry tools, provisions, and anything else she may deem necessary that day.

Personality:

At face value, one might make the mistake of thinking Keoki isn’t much of a troublemaker. Typically a quiet soul who seems to go by the old adage that women shouldn't speak until spoken to, it would be easy to mistakenly believe her upbringing was of a more traditional lean. No, conversation simply isn’t her strong suit. Her social graces are, admittedly, quite lacking, and her efforts are bumbling at best. Her blunders are honest however, and Keoki is genuinely apologetic when her actions or diction fall short of what others view as proper. She does not intend to offend anyone, nor to upset them, and when in doubt, it is always better to apologize too much than not enough. The same policy goes for compliments as well- if she can think of nothing else to say, a few kind words is (usually) less awkward than stilted silence.

Idle hands suit her poorly, as she’d much sooner work, do something, than to ever be bored. Perhaps it’s a dull slog to some, but it’s productive, and typically leaves her with something to be proud of at the end of her toil. Pipit is an absolute treasure in the dullest of those moments, as the flit shall happily regale her human with the latest in firelizard gossip while her hands are busy. While Keoki has little use for knowing which blue caught which green, or who stole that one bronze’s favorite sunning spot, the little picture-told tales can be rather entertaining. It’s hard to be too cross with anyone, no matter how unpleasant, when one can’t help but remember seeing a firelizard run off with their wig, and the merry chase that followed. The activities Keo favors most for relaxing, being those of swimming, attending to Pipit, and toying with scraps of leather.

A kind heart, a bit of a dimglow, but an honest worker who gets the job done- to some, that's all they ever see.

To those who know her better, or perhaps just have better timing, it's easy to tell that the young woman isn't quite so placidly bland. Impish devilry is no stranger to those hazel eyes, and trouble of the man-made kind isn’t very frightening, to her. Perhaps one day that shall change, but as it is now mankind is not nearly so frightening as territorial wild whers and raining Thread. In the meanwhile, one shall be sorely disappointed if they think extra chores or water rations will scare her straight. Keo is who she is, and that does include a dose of attitude. The brunette can prove sassy with a good dose of snark to go with it, though such quips are usually meant more playfully than a stranger might assume. Her temper, while possessing a long fuse, does most certainly exist, and she’s not about to shy away from getting her hands dirty, or taking underhanded revenge. Nothing terribly malicious, mind, but when pushed far enough even mice will bite, and she’s far from being a rodent.

A life led half wild lends itself to different lessons than those commonly found in the Holds and Halls, and a patchwork education says nothing of one’s intelligence. What use are manners and conversation skills when one is tracking wayward herdbeasts, or a pack of feral canines? What use is writing or politics, when one is gathering herbs in familiar territory at the healers’ behest? What good is a map, lost as soon as it gets wet, when the stars and landmarks serve her so much better? Keo is a decent student, naturally quite curious, and dutiful when she sets her mind to learning. But there are gaps to her knowledge, glaring and obvious, which she never quite had the chance or cause to remedy. Yet one who writes her off for that lack, may one day find themselves startled by the depth of what she does know.

History:
Kleyonna - Mother (+26)
Leoki - Father (+19)
Pipit - Bonded Flit (-10)

As a child, Keoki didn’t understand what the odd mark on her mother’s skin meant. Didn’t understand why Kleyonna’s face would twist, shadowed, when the youth asked about it. She didn’t see anything odd about the trio of flits who followed the elder, each an impossible treasure. No, what stuck out the most was how the woman would never join her spouse or daughter when they went to the Hold, never sell pelts or enjoy the Gathers with them. Would always part ways, well before anyone could see the group together. Of course, Keoki needed to be older before her mother would answer her questions, she was too young, far too young- once she was ten, old enough to apprentice… She’d be old enough then. Yonna would tell Keo, then. Only, the day never came. This procrastination meant Keo would never hear the tale from her mother. Returning from the Hold one trip, only to find the woman gone. No signs of struggle, no hint as to what happened. Just… gone.

The truth to remain shrouded in mystery, her father knowing only parts of a tale, which may or may not have been true. But whatever Yonna’s history was before meeting Leo, it made for an unusual beginning to Keoki’s own story.

With her mother Holdless and her father in nature more often than not, Keo knew the wilds before she knew civilization. She grew up chasing tiny dragons, crying over the game her father brought back, and discovering which signs meant danger lurked nearby. She learned as skills proved necessary; torn clothes reminding her mother Keo didn’t know how to sew yet, supper each night a lesson in how food was to be prepared, plants taught as her father went to gather them. Bonding time spent alone with her mother when Leo was off hunting, with the reverse true when Leo took hides, herbs, and eggs from her mother’s flits, into the Holds to barter. Growing up on the fringes of civilization, with nature enforcing the rules her parents laid out. Listen, child, lest the fire burn, the snake bite, the flit snap, the plant poison. Keo was given room to grow, to make mistakes. There being too much to explore, and her parents having more to mind than just her, for her not to have some space to test the boundaries of their law. Learning in this way, that it was not for nothing that her parents told her to do, or not do things, no matter her own opinions on the matter. It was best to listen, and so she did, more often than not.

Juvenile spats and fits of temper were, of course, present. Frustration no stranger when tasked with unpleasant drudgery, yet they all had to pull their weight as best they could. If she refused to sew, her own clothes would be left unmended, to chill and at one point sicken her until her lesson was learned. If she refused to hunt, or gather, or help to prepare a meal, she’d go without until hunger won out over belligerence. Any tantrums were ignored, only serving to tire herself, with nothing else about her situation to change. Harsh lessons, perhaps, but ones taken to heart. Keo always had a choice, or at least an illusion of one. Simply, every choice had a consequence. And often the best choice, the least unpleasant one, was the one her parents wished her to make. They taught her to listen, so that when harder lessons came, Keo would not fight them. Could hopefully learn the easy way, trusting that there was a reason the elders wanted her to pay attention. Curiosity was encouraged, and most questions were answered to the best of her parents' ability.

Such was the life she knew, a happy if unusual family, until two months before Keoki was to turn ten. Father and daughter returned from a Gather at Igen Hold, to find Yonna gone. The pair would linger, would search, wondering what had prevented the woman from joining them at their meeting point. Yet their hunt would prove fruitless, even when two sevendays later, a familiar garnet flit appeared. The sullen metallic glowering at them from the long dead ashes of the night’s campfire, curled around a small clutch of four. The firelizard would offer little insight as to what fate befell her bonded, though the red’s waspish demeanor didn’t bode well. Without Yonna there to soothe the flit and collect the eggs, the clutch remained with their dam. And Fera, the garnet, remained begrudgingly with them, accepting the protection they offered but nothing more… until the day her clutch hatched.

A blue, two greens, gone into the wild. The last of the quartet wobbling, struggling, as the metallic darted up, away, and between. The egg would go still, a pause long enough Keoki feared for the youth inside. Without the ill-tempered and protective garnet around, Keo would reach out to gently pluck the egg from it’s nest, heart in her throat as she considered helping the flit inside break the shell. Wondering if doing so would do more harm than good… When a final, desperate lurching effort saw something silver and wet spilling into her hands, with all the greenish goop of egg innards. A delicate, ungainly creature, quick to squall out a weak and piteous plea for food, exhausted from the hatching. Keo, of course, obliged.

It was different, taking care of a hatchling, compared to the many times Keo helped her mother tend the elder’s grown trio. More demanding, for one, though at the time such was welcome. It helped to keep her thoughts from returning to Yonna, pondering the woman’s fate. The preteen worried, and wondered, of course she did. Yet Pipit was a distraction, one more demanding than the chores she might otherwise attend to. Dead furbeasts don’t scream at someone when they’re hungry, after all. Clothes in need of a wash don’t beat little wings against the side of one’s head when they dawdle too long. Pip was a pushy little hatchling, fussy and imperial, until time and maturity saw that personality evolving into what it would eventually become.

The world continued to turn, day into night into day again. The absence of a loved one never forgotten, but the small group left behind would endure, and move on. Adapting as best they could, a little more time spent in the Holds, a little less in the wilds. Different. Neither bad nor good, but different. It granted Keo time to interact with others her age, to sit in as harpers sang their teaching ballads. Gave her a chance to develop bonds with people beyond just her father and flit. Yet, it also served to underline the fact that Keo was odd, to the other children. A novelty, this weird wildling who talked to her tiny dragon as though Pipit were a human. A stranger with fascinating stories, who didn’t know simple things everyone else did, who talked funny and didn’t know how to talk to them. Kindness and cruelty walked hand-in-hand, and Keoki wasn’t quite sure if these prolonged stays in the Hold were actually worth it. It was what it was, and it was... okay.

Life carried on, Keo growing and learning along the way, and so too did Pip. Five turns, until Thread made its reappearance, turning an already dangerous craft even more so. Pretty and terrifying, to see the menace for the first time. Watching it fall, ribbons and sheets as silver as Pipit’s dappled hide. Dragons quick to meet it, fire to fill the sky. Stupid as it might have been, the teenager couldn’t help but watch from the mouth of the cave she and her father had found shelter in. Curious, fascinated, in awe of the deadly dance playing out in the sky above… And her heart in her throat, terrified once she realized that Pipit was out there. Nothing her father said or did could pry her from her vigil, then. Like an accident in progress one can’t look away from. Such a tiny, delicate thing, to be joining a war which so easily felled creatures so many times stronger.

Only, Pipit returned, tired and triumphant, as well as completely unharmed. Relief far too mild a word, to describe the emotion which swept through her then. With the return of Thread, things changed. The two humans trying to avoid being caught out in the fall, not ranging nearly so far from the safety the Holds provided. Sometimes failing, weather shifting unexpectedly to keep them out longer than intended, or else some other unpredicted bit of trouble. Each time, however, Pipit would answer an age old instinct to join her kin in the skies, and Keo would wait. Watching when she could, frustrated and helpless as she prayed for her companion’s safe return. Protective of her dearest friend, and feeling as though she were failing in some way, being unable to do more for the grey. Neither able to convince the flit to remain safe at her side, nor capable of following the firelizard into the sky to protect the metallic.

Even turns later, older and supposedly wiser, it’s not any easier for her to watch Pipit leave her behind, left to wonder if the grey will survive the encounter, or not. It digs, a burr beneath her skin, ash upon her tongue, being unable to truly do anything as Pipit risks her life high above the human’s head. Given half a chance, the brunette would gladly join the fight.

Recent History:

In the summer of turn 1516, V'los of brown* Shunahath Searched the huntress from Telgar Hold. Interrupting an argument between her and her father as the two returned from a successful hunt. Keo jumped at the chance to become a dragon candidate, agreeing to travel to Meraki without any hesitation.

Two days after arriving at the Weyr, her first proper lesson was an unorthodox one. Candidatemaster N'thain having suffered an injury, leaving his younger sister to take over that day. The brownrider happily hurling sandbags at the candidates, some of which were also full of stones, with her dragon's assistance. A lesson Keo enjoyed, even as other candidates left the sands one by one after suffering blows to areas such as the head and groin. The huntress met fellow candidate Jhana that day, managing a brief introduction before the lesson began.

Come Autumn, with no eggs on the sands, the candidates were taken on a three day trip to the ruins of Telgar Weyr for a unique opportunity. Able to see the skeletons of dragons long passed, and learn about draconic anatomy. Yet on the third night there while candidates gathered around to share spooky stories, a toddler and two teens stumbled across the group. A blade pointed at one of her fellow candidates, Keo moved to extract Nysa from the situation before it could escalate further. Only for Candidatemaster Tyka's dragon, Byareth, to scold her and all the others nearest to the action. The needlessly harsh rebuke over actions the huntress felt were justified, after those in charge had screwed up making sure the area was safe, swiftly saw the brown* on Keo's blacklist. And with the dragon, came Byareth's rider as well.    

A visit to the Elessar Hold to visit her father earned Keo a small green egg, which would hatch into an undersized blue firelizard she would name Cricket. 

Pipit would rise around the start of winter, being caught by Jhana's brown Rock, and eventually laying a clutch of ten.

Winter and Turn's End would see Keo gaining even more firelizard eggs, much to her surprise, not having expected to gain green Niffle's egg from a raffle. While a local glasscrafter, Kekoa, managed to convince the huntress to enter a talent competition- winnning brown Zennio's egg. Despite doing quite well and managing to successfully avoid setting everything on fire, the experience proved to be one Keo swore to never repeat. A circus act to gawk over, she was not.

With her father traveling further north and unlikely to reach a hold in time to sell the eggs, the huntress gives the lot of them away to people who have left a positive impression upon her during her stay at the Weyr. A grey going to Nysa, a black going to Nyota, three blues going to Raynor, Vin, and Danael, with five greens going to Gersh, Jhana, Ol'van, P'ol, and _???_. Raynor giving his egg to Gersh, and Danael giving his to Vel'mir.  

Grey Aossith and garnet Vykalith rise, caught by black Lobinath and grey* Ravanath, respectively. Producing two clutches, the first containing four eggs, and the second boasting five- a total of nine eggs hardening on the hatching grounds as spring bleeds into summer.

Pipit manages to convince Keo to take on another firelizard egg, adopting a large one from a gold the grey had befriended in their time at the Weyr. The egg would hatch into gold* Raiza, an oversized terror who caused both females to reconsider the wisdom of their decision. Four firelizards really would have been enough. 

Meraki Weyr sees its fourth hatching, where Keo Impresses to bronze Ekinth.