Don't worry, I'LL find him. [Ophelia]

[ooc: -maniacal cackle- XD]

It was true that someone had left the flap open to the barracks, and despite everyone's assumptions, it had not been Ophelia. In fact, she'd awoken rather abruptly in the night to shivers that racked her from head to toe and promptly cursed aloud the dimglow who forgot something as simple as closing a piece of cloth. Alerted by the noise, Shade had promptly lifted to his feet from where he lay at the foot of her cot and whined, resting his muzzle on her arm. With a sigh, Ophelia turned onto her side and stroked the canine's soft head, the repetitive gestures soothing her. After another moment, a soft smile crossed Ophelia's face, a rare expression that no human had seen in a few Turns.

"Come on, boy," she whispered, and patted the bunk beside her. Immediately Shade bounded up beside her and crouched low, his muzzle resting against her shoulder so that his warm breath brushed against her cheek. Jerking slightly at the sensation, Ophelia wrapped one arm around the large canine and sighed. Shade's body head slowly but surely crept over Ophelia until she was able to fall back asleep. Thanks to her companion, Ophelia woke in rather good spirits that morning and took a bath before she changed. While the other candidates shivered she merely put on her brown whoolen pants and tunic, then stamped into a pair of wherhide boots and grabbed her cloak. When she saw the chore listing, however, her expression fell into a brooding mask. Eavan? Who was..."Oh." The night they had met in the Candidate barracks had been...interesting, to say the least. The little twit had glared at her the whole time without saying anything.

With a deft sigh, Ophelia wrapped the cloak firmly about her body and left the barracks. As she did so Shade slunk after her, his brown fur standing out starkly against the snowy day. Upon entering the Kitchen, Ophelia acknowledged Eavan with a bland stare and then promptly dismissed the girl and began doing the dishes. She fell quickly and easily into the pattern of scrubbing, washing, rinsing, with Shade lying at her feet, and quickly lost herself. That was, until wet, high-pitched sobbing reached her ears. Unable to help herself, Ophelia paused and lowered the dish she was holding to glance over her shoulder. A young boy was talking to Eavan, of all people, and he seemed to be in distress. Something about Eavan's posture and her tone irked Ophelia, and abruptly she set the dish down she'd been holding and strode forward.

"What seems to be the problem?" she said smoothly, and came to a stop beside Eavan. "Two Candidates helping out are always better than one." Ophelia added dryly. It was hard to tell whether she was being serious, or...

As the two continued conversing, Ophelia absently rubbed her fingertips together. They'd become wrinkled from constant use in the water, and she disliked the rough feel of it against her skin. However, this proved to distract her as Eaven continued talking to the boy, but despite her apparent inattention she was drinking in every detail that the boy was saying. She did notice that the other girl failed to respond, and couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

Thus, when Eaven mentioned that 'we' would go look for the dog, Ophelia arched a brow in what was quickly becoming a trademark look of hers. Her eyes became thoughtful as she studied the young woman before her, clearly taking her in for the first time. She was beautiful, that was obvious, and Ophelia wondered if that's where her sense of entitlement came from. After all, it wasn't just any candidate who would take it upon herself to help a young child and shirk her chores in the meantime. Wasn't that some sort of infraction? Personally Ophelia didn't care, but something told her that Eaven would. Thus, she scoffed lightly and rested her hands lightly on her hips, most of her weight resting on one foot to show off her tall, languid body.

"We?" she repeated, quietly enough that only Eaven could hear. "And here I thought you hadn't noticed me come up," she added sarcastically, referencing Eavan's lack of a greeting. As the little boy ran off, Ophelia glanced over, and called one of the other drudges. "Narla, will you please get the boy some cheese and fruit? I'm sure he's tired after that crying fit." As her strong voice exploded into the air, the drudge jumped then quickly scurried into the kitchen, and Ophelia turned back towards Eavan. "Hm? Did you say something? Oh, yes. I'll be there in just a moment," Ophelia shouted at Eavan's back, then turned and strode over to the little boy.

By that time Narla had brought him cheese and fruit, and he munched on it happily, despite the flour that dusted his fists. A soft, hidden smile crossed Ophelia's face as she knelt down to the boy's level. He immediately glanced up at her, his eyes red-rimmed and still wait. "Hello there. Could you do me a favor?" The boy simply stared, so Ophelia pointed to Shade, who was currently reclining on his haunches by the dishes. The canine wagged at the gesture. "Would you watch him for me until I get back?" "It's like Shaggy!" The boy instantly perked up, so Ophelia nodded. "Right. An older version of Shaggy. Think you can do it?" The boy nodded and instantly darted off to the canine, yelling happily. Shade's tail thumped happily at the little boy's approach as Ophelia rose to her feet.

"Wait for me," she shouted loudly across the cavern, even as she walked sedately across the dining cavern. "Oh, and I thought you should know," Ophelia continued to shout after Eavan, who had decided to walk off without her. "The storage rooms are usually locked to prevent looting, so I doubt a tiny puppy would be able to get in. But I'm all for trying to get in if you are."

unfortunately, Ophelia didn't have a chance to respond to Eavan's apology since she'd already strode off, but the words still stuck in her brain. She chewed over them as she acted, her mind analyzing the tone, the way her face had looked when she'd said it. It intrigued her how Eavan could so clearly feel the exact opposite of what she spoke. it made Ophelia distrust the girl, and wonder what was really going on in that head of hers.

These thoughts occupied her as she closed the distance between them with quick, brisk strides, her long legs working effortlessly. It seemed Eavan was speaking, and Ophelia tried to listen as she approached, catching the tail end of her comment. Her expression was inscrutable as she regarded the other Candidate, her hazel eyes sharp as she took in every detail of her expression. The smile was fake, that much was obvious. However, despite that...Ophelia waited patiently until she was done speaking, then simply said, "Your rudeness is forgiven." It was a comment in response to earlier, since she hadn't had the chance to react. Other than that, Ophelia merely rolled her shoulders in a shrug, turned, and started walking towards the storage room. Luckily for Eavan, Ophelia's attitude was not personal; it was simply who she was. So if she was irritated, she said so. If she had an opinion, she expressed it. But Ophelia didn't wish the other girl harm, so when she became friendly Ophelia reacted in kind.

"He was sad," she said simply in response to Eavan's words. "I couldn't let him...disturb the drudges." It was clear that Ophelia had been about to say something else but caught herself. The young woman shook her head and reached up to run a hand through her black hair, waiting for Eavan to open the door to the storage rooms. "Tell me," she said abruptly, and glanced sideways at the girl, "does it get difficult to smile and be nice when you don't really want to? Or does it come naturally to you."

As they walked down the hallway, Ophelia allowed herself a moment to study the girl at her side. She walked with a sort of self-assurance that could only be Weyrbred, as Ophelia herself was, and kept her eyes straight ahead. At the moment, Ophelia honestly had no reason to dislike the other girl. It had been the Candidate barracks that had set her off. But why? The young woman couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was just something, some sort of fundamental difference between them that set both girls on edge. A slight frown creased her brow as she pondered this, her hands resting languidly in the pockets of her pants.

"Right," she responded simply, not much of a small talker. However, the next comment got her attention. So much so that she paused in the process of stepping into the storage room and turned fully to regard Eavan, her hazel eyes roaming sharply across Eavan's face. "You know," she responded slowly, still searching the other girl's face. "I know that you are intelligent, and that you have your own opinion, but..." Ophelia paused for another moment, still pondering what it was. "Don't lecture me." That was the quickest way she could put it. "The way you talk to people speaks wonders of what you think of them, so I can tell you don't like me. I have nothing against you personally besides the way you speak to me, and-" A realization crashed over Ophelia abruptly, and she cocked her head to the side.

"Oh." A wide, almost devilish grin spread across her face. "I think I just figured it out." However, rather than share her revelation, Ophelia turned dutifully and glanced into the storeroom. A pensive frown creased her brow as she considered the situation.

"Well to be honest, the puppy probably won't come to us right away, so here's what we do. I nabbed some meat when we left," she added, and held it up for inspection, "so I'm going to go in and look around. If he's in there, I'll try to offer the meat, but if he runs, you'll have to catch him." After pausing a moment and staring intently at Eavan to make sure she understood, Ophelia walked quietly in the room.

"Are you in here, little guy?" she said, her voice pitched to be a quiet, soothing tone. As she walked into the dimly lit room, something rustled in the far corner of the storage room.

[ooc: I'm going to apologize in advance for this -- my muse is weird today...hah]

Unfortunately for Eavan, Ophelia had become focused on her task and thus the girl's next few words fell on deaf ears. She subconsciously nodded before the darkness of the room enveloped her, and then she relied on her other senses as she moved about the room. Luckily for her, she'd been born and bred in a Weyr as well, and thus knew the typical layout of the storage rooms. So when she heard a rustle in one of the corners, Ophelia immediately spun, her boots scraping across the stone, as her hands flew up to shield herself from whatever was there. Then the rustling came from another direction, and Ophelia glanced there, as well.

After taking a silent moment to consider the situation, Ophelia groped around in the dark until her fingers closed around something sturdy: it felt like a bag full of something. That would have to do. Lifting two from the shelf, Ophelia turned, sucked in a deep breath, then tossed them towards the two corners. If the puppy was there, it wasn't close enough to actually hit it, just to startle it into movement. However, a chorus of hisses assaulted her ears, and then she heard movement. Immediately her heart began beating faster as she darted for the door.

"Watch out!" she called to Eavan, pushing her unceremoniously out of the doorway as she grabbed the nearest glow basket. Whirling back around, the Candidate held it out to see two relatively small tunnelsnakes skittered past the doorway. "Well," she said with a wry grin. "I don't think the pup is in there. And if so...we shouldn't tell the lad." Her expression was grave, as the two tunnelsnakes were enough to fell a small puppy.

Although Ophelia kept her gaze trained warily on the tunnelsnakes, a small part of her attention was also directed towards Eavan. As much as she didn't care for the other girl, she wouldn't let her get hurt while in Ophelia's presence; she didn't need that on her conscience, nor did she want to have to explain the incident to J'ain. The anonymity between them was obvious, and Ophelia smartly assumed that anything that happened to Eavan would probably be labeled as her fault. Therefore, when Eavan flailed slightly Ophelia outstretched an arm, then withdrew it silently as she regained her balance.

"That's one thing we can agree on," she murmured in response, leaning forward to peer into the room once more. As far as the light of the glowbaskets reached, there was no puppy. Despite the fact she was fairly certain there was no puppy, Ophelia gritted her teeth and waited, a tad impatiently, for Eavan to scour the room. Once she re-appeared the black haired woman nodded, her expression brooding. "If you ask me, we should check with the drudges. They see a lot of what goes on behind the scenes in a Weyr, especially when they clean." A dry, almost bitter note crept into Ophelia's voice as she spoke, but her expression remained as smooth as glass. "I know a few." With that, Ophelia strode off back towards the Weyr, passing the Kitchen on her way.

As they headed towards the living caverns, Ophelia spotted a pair of drudges lugging some dirty laundry back towards the kitchen. Swiftly, she stepped in their path, startling the poor drudges. One of them dropped her side of the basket, but the other managed to right it with a muttered oath. "Sorry to bother you," Ophelia said, her voice actually kind, "but I was wondering if you'd seen a puppy around? It's probably about this tall," Ophelia bent over to gesture to her shin, "and brown." The two drudges explained a look. The one who held the basket shrugged, but the other, who had a narrow, nervous face, gestured hesitantly towards the Weyrbowl. "I thunk I saws one ther," the drudge responded. A frown creased Ophelia's brow as she realized the woman was illiterate. Let Eavan see what her perfect Weyr did to its subordinates.

"Thank you," she added, still kind, and allowed the women to pass. Once they had hobbled out of sight with their load, Ophelia glanced towards Eavan, who she'd presumed to follow her all this way. "Well, looks like we're searching the Weyrbowl next," she announced simply before striding off towards the lake.

As Ophelia continued her slow stride, her eyes glued to the ground, she tried to keep the drudge's illiteracy from bothering her. But that didn't mean it wasn't simmering in the back of her mind. If she knew that the same thoughts were currently distracting Eavan, she probably wouldn't know how to react. As it were, however, they both approached the situation from their own vantage point and mulled over it. In the end, Ophelia acknowledged that there was nothing she could do at that particular point in time, and instead focused her attention once more on the task at hand: finding the puppy.

Ignoring the crunch of snow and sleet beneath her feet, and the way the bottom of her shoes were already growing damp, Ophelia was looking for signs of the pup. A second later, her keen hazel eyes darted over to a shadow in the sleet, and she noticed a slight indent in the slush. "Eavan," she called, gesturing for the girl to join her. "The puppy was out here." Once she was sure the other girl had seen, Ophelia turned and attempted to follow the indentations, which lead to a rather large clump of rocks next to the frozen weyrlake. As they approached the sight, the young woman slowed, her dancer trained feet making barely any noise on the frozen ground.

"Wait here," she whispered to the other girl, as she crept around the side of the rock. Once she disappeared from view, a moment of silence ensued. Then, abruptly a thump rang through the air, followed by scuffling and a high pitched, reptitive whine. A second later and the figure of the small puppy darted out from behind the rocks, heading directly towards Eavan. As for herself, Ophelia limped around from the other side of the rocks, placing her hand against the outcrop for suppotr. "Eavan, the puppy's headed to you!" she called out.