[Rider] Amodine of Gold Alkaneth [Approved]

[Zaikt]

Name: Amodine
Age: 21
Nameday: 3555.13.27
Sex: Cis woman
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
Weyr: High Reaches Weyr
Rider Rank: Junior weyrwoman
Previous Rank/Craft: Apprentice Woodcrafter, botanist specialty.
Physical Description:
She's perhaps a bit average on first glance, intentionally cultivating that appearance in order to escape much more notice. Even still, there's just something about her that draws the eye, a perk from Impression that she's given up trying to shake; Amodine is pretty, that much is true, but she's still giving a halfhearted attempt toward hiding it. Her features are delicate, although often hidden behind a rather haphazardly-attended cloud of dark natural hair; it fades out from black toward a warm brown at the tips, faded by time spent in the sun, and is most often kept gently pinned away from most of her eyes. Her skin is a warm, rich brown, speckled with slight freckles, and she only has a few small scars from tiny adventures in her childhood. Her eyes are a bright silver, often slightly magnified by her glasses into looking more bewildered than anything else, and whether or not the nervous tilt to her eyebrows is natural or a near-constant expression is a bit of a mystery at this point.
Amodine stands at roughly 5'8", although she slouches just enough to knock that down by an inch or so, and she's definitely built up a solid layer of muscle from all her training as a rider, not to mention all her craft-related work in her youth. She's stronger than she gives herself credit for, and doesn't give off the impression of being a frail waif. She tends to avoid particularly bright, flashy outfits, but does enjoy rather restrained uses of pastels and floral patterns.

Personality:
Amodine is, to put it bluntly, a nerd. She's an enthusiastic and bubbly one, sure, but she seems like she'd be much more at home in a library or Harper Hall than up in the air with a dragon. While she herself feels a bit like she's very out of her depth now, she's at least good at putting on a brave face and soldiering through it. She loves spending her free time reading or participating in other similar (usually single-participant) activities, and tends to throw herself completely into her interests the moment she's able. Amodine is excellent at taking in as much information as is possible in a short amount of time, and this has the advantage of making her somewhat of a walking encyclopedia--the only downside is that the assorted facts and trivia she knows isn't always useful, and is very likely to center more around things she's found interesting than pertinent subjects. Botany is still near and dear to her heart, and she's got a bit of a nurturing streak that comes out when working with plants and leafy green things in general, not to mention with those younger than herself. Weyrlings and weyrbrats are her favorites, and she truly delights in helping them out with whatever they ask of her--to a reasonable extent, that is.

She's used to being somewhat of a wallflower, but since Impressing Alkaneth, she's found herself to be much better in social situations than she ever was previously. This can easily throw her off-guard when she realizes it, often startling her out of her comfort zone, but before that point, she can be every bit the junior weyrwoman that's expected of her. Amodine would love to grow into that role better and be more of a graceful swan than the awkward duckling she feels she is, but she's got a long way to go on that front, even with her dragon's more subtle forms of assistance. Unfortunately, she tends to be a bit reductive about herself, and although the self-deprecation has been largely dealt with now that Alkaneth is there to root it out, old habits do die hard.
Although she tries her best to appear as a confident, collected Goldrider of High Reaches, Amodine is rather skittish at heart, and is usually no small degree of wound up about something or other. What exactly's gotten her in a knot is anyone's guess--she's not likely to go to others for help, partially out of fear of hearing exactly what she doesn't want to. It's not that she refuses to face the facts when it comes down to it--it's more out of a bad case of nerves than anything, and hearing her fears confirmed remains a scary prospect that she knows she needs to deal with. Amodine was comfortable staying in her shell, and being faced with big changes in her life or hard decisions spooks her more often than not; while she wouldn't trade Alkaneth for the world, she still can't help but wonder if her beautiful Gold may have been better off picking someone else. She knows that she Impressed for a reason, but she's a bit daunted by everything that lays before her now--it's a lot of responsibility and authority to handle, and she's worried she'll find some new and 'exciting' way to mess everything up in spite of her best efforts. On her better days, she thinks of herself as more of a work in process, and it's easier for her to stomach the thought of growing into her role.

At her best, she's charming, infectiously peppy, and fervently supportive--she's an intensely loving and vibrant person when you get past her walls, and she has no trouble sharing her love and excitement with others. It can be difficult for her to let herself be this version of herself, though, with all her concerns and anxieties chaining her down; in the meantime, Alkaneth has done well to lighten her up and inspire her toward being a bit more outgoing and sure of herself, although there's still work to be done yet. She truly adores life at the Weyr and all the people it's brought her into contact with, and while she's not an incredibly common sight in the middle of a throng of people, she's more than happy to chat with a much smaller group of people simply to learn more about them. She finds most everybody interesting, and is a great listener; it's no trouble to her at all, and as long as they're willing to tolerate her perhaps doing a bit of work during the conversation, she'll be delighted to talk for as long as possible. Large crowds in social situations are something of her enemy, by contrast, but she's trying to grow to be more comfortable with them.
She's stubborn as anything, and once she's set herself on a goal, she'll keep pushing for it until she can see it through--while she's not one to steamroll others out of the way in the process, she certainly won't stop just because there's someone in her way. While she'll be as delicate as possible in the process of moving around them in order to keep going, she won't just drop her plans at the first sign of opposition, and will often fight all the harder just because there's pushback to work through. She's highly empathetic in her own right, although nowhere near as bad as Alkaneth, and while her empathy does well to motivate her, it also means that she tends to idealize the causes she's fighting for simply because she gets so impassioned by their appeals. To her credit, however, Amodine is far from gullible or naive--she knows when she's being taken advantage of, and will quickly grow to resent it. In this way, her and Alkaneth are perfectly matched; they have something of a tendency to share their grudges as well, although Amodine is perhaps less intense about it. The main issue is that she isn't the best at setting her boundaries, and will have a hard time making it clear that she's not okay with something until she's been pushed too far.

Positive Trait List Studious, hard-working, organized, high-energy.
Negative Trait List Timid, slow to change, hard-headed, tense.

History:
Amodine's story begins at Lemos, and she's still quite proud to call it her place of origin even though the Weyr has since become her home. Modius, a Journeyman Arborist, met Andionne, a soon-to-be Master Botanist, when they were both training, and had hit it off quite immediately--it wasn't long before they were wed and started a family together, first with Dimaine's arrival and then Amodine's. The couple ensured a loving, supportive environment for both of their daughters, and they were surrounded by nature both within the Hold itself and their parents' work. Although Dimaine quickly proved to be a headstrong, outspoken young girl, Amodine tended to hide behind her sibling when possible, her shyness apparent from a young age. She was far more inclined to stay out of the general spotlight than her older sister was, and tried to find her place elsewhere--after years of watching Andionne work and hearing stories of her craft, it seemed only natural to her that she follow in her mother's footsteps as she grew. Her interests aligned well with Andionne's craft, and having a master for a mother certainly ensured that she'd be able to pick up plenty of tricks of the trade before she went off to become a part of the Woodcrafthall herself; in contrast, Dimaine took after Modius, their father, and trained under his wing, although she was careful to keep a close eye on Amodine in case of trouble. The siblings got along quite well, with Dimaine often acting as Amodine's protector--although she had a relatively uneventful childhood, Amodine did tend to get made fun of by some of the local children, and Dimaine was quick to put a stop to that whenever possible. Aside from that unpleasant attention, Amodine seemed to do whatever she could to avoid being noticed, and tried her best to make her family proud all the same.

Things began changing when a Searchrider breezed by, searching for Candidates for the Weyr--Amodine was a young apprentice of 16 at the time, and when the rider asked her if she wanted to stand as a Candidate, she thought that it must have been a mistake. Dimaine was right there, after all. Surely her sister was the better option--but the Searchrider knew exactly who their dragon had pointed out, and assured her that they'd made the right choice. It was a honor to be searched, and with a little encouragement from her family, Amodine found herself on the way to High Reaches with the assurance that her life at Lemos would be waiting for her whenever she wanted to come back. She could always resume her training, but Candidacy was a much more time-sensitive offer--she told herself that it might be good for her, trying to drum up enough excitement to push her toward enthusiasm rather than attendance out of obligation.
Unsurprisingly, Amodine was a model Candidate, afraid to step even an inch out of line--she wasn't prepared for people to actually befriend her in the process, and slowly began to let go of some of her trepidation regarding the whole affair. It looked as though she'd been right after all, and Candidacy was good for her; her budding excitement was dampened twice when she was left standing after two clutches, but her newfound friends among her class assured her that this was simply normal. It was exactly what the Candidatemaster had said, anyway--not all of them would Impress right away, and that was fine. It was nothing to worry about. Sure, she had to keep that mantra practically on a loop throughout her head, but it went a ways toward ensuring she wouldn't completely psych herself out. She wasn't incredibly hopeful about her chances, but was slowly coming around to the idea that that in and of itself was fine, too--if this didn't work out, she had her family and the pursuit of botany back home.

The next Hatching she stood for saw a Gold emerge on the Sands, and the little queen pushed botany right out of her mind. Why worry about all those plants when Her Alkaneth was right here? She was far more entertaining than weeds and leaves, after all!
Amodine couldn't believe it. She'd Impressed--and more than that, she'd Impressed a Gold. The most perfect Gold ever to be shelled on all of Pern, at that; it felt like a dream, something far too good to be true. Alkaneth's love and reassurance hit her like a wave, and much of the hesitant, awkward jumble that had been Amodine before was washed away all at once. She wasn't just some apprentice from Lemos anymore; now, she was a Goldrider of High Reaches.
Unfortunately, that also meant that she was a Goldrider. Of High Reaches.
The responsibilities and duties that had been placed upon her were nervewracking in their scope, but Alkaneth assured her that they'd get through it just fine. Why wouldn't they? They were a perfect pair, even though they had a lot of growing to do. They'd be fine!

As if things couldn't get more stressful, Thread returned.

For a few brief weeks, Amodine was sick with anxiety. It was almost enough to make her want to leave the Weyr entirely, simply out of fear of confronting Thread head-on--but she couldn't, and she knew that. The thought of abandoning her duty and her Weyr was unthinkable, and she couldn't just...abandon everything she had here. Since she'd Impressed, High Reaches had become her home, and every dragon they had was needed for the fight.
Now, her biggest challenge aside from Threadfall is growing into her rank and role in the Weyr. Amodine is almost desperate to finally come into her own as a junior weyrwoman, and she's trying to do whatever it takes to make it work.

Other: Her favorite color is lavender, she presses flowers in her spare time, and is genuinely terrified of the ocean. it's just so big and deep.

DRAGON
Name: Alkaneth
Age: 3
Color: Gold
Size: 100' (50' old scale)
Physical Description: Long and lanky, Alkaneth is somehow very well-proportioned all the same, and is very much a handsome Gold. Her wings are a bit narrow and have a more noticeable curve to their sails, making her quite maneuverable in the air despite her size.
Personality:
Relaxed, cavalier, and the exact opposite of tight-laced, Alkaneth is simply here to have a good time. She doesn't have much reservations about doing anything at all, as long as it's fun or enjoyable, and doesn't yet have a full grasp of her responsibilities as a Gold of High Reaches. She can be immature, capricious, and temperamental, but her hearts aren't black and rotten--she genuinely loves life and those around her, and her hedonistic tendencies spring from a desire to both experience life to the fullest and help others enjoy themselves as they deserve to. Truly, she doesn't think of herself as an incredibly important part of the Weyr's hierarchy, and hasn't yet come to realize that she matters to more than just Amodine--she has a difficult time thinking of the future and planning for things too far ahead of her, which can prove to be her downfall when it comes to being prepared. She's great at thinking on her feet, but working anything out in advance is certainly her weak spot.
Alkaneth is a giving, warm-hearted dragon who's highly sociable and friendly, and has a tendency to take others under her wings in order to show them whatever constitutes as a good time. Sure, whether or not she's having fun is important to her, but it hardly means anything if she's the only one doing so! If there's anything she can do to help, she absolutely wants to know--unfortunately, this does mean that she can pry or be too nosy, simply because she has a hard time accepting that others might not actually want her help. Alkaneth is a bleeding heart through and through, and is incredibly sympathetic to others; she's only recently coming to realize that she needs to have some degree of restraint with her generosity. Amodine is usually the one to try and rein her in, and Alkaneth is usually begrudgingly compliant. The best way to get on her bad side is to lie to her, especially about needing her assistance, and Alkaneth is not one to forgive and forget. While she's more than happy to let most things go in favor of living in the present, bad blood is something she'll carry with her for Turns at a time, and it's incredibly difficult to earn your way back into her favor once she feels she's been slighted.

Dragon Art or Proof of Obtainment: [ the girl! ]  

[Zaikt]

bumping these two back on up b/c they're done now! c:  

[Tsunake]

Approved!