Feeding Time [Closed and Graded]

[Vanir]

The 2nd Day Of Summer, 510 AV The Communal kitchens were busy. It was feeding time for the Drudges. The Dek were only fed twice a day, it was enough to keep them alive. As a Dek, you never wanted to miss a meal, Vanir had made that mistake before. Sure, it was only some soup, bread and maybe some water or hot tea, but it was better than nothing. The Dek worked as hard as they could, the tiny meal was well deserved. The Inarta couldn't let the Dek just starve, if they did who would do their bidding? Dek were relied on to do so many things, it made the Inarta race sound lazy. It was a hard day for Vanir. Dirt was covering his face and Lontev thanks to cleaning numerous things for numerous people, each one a higher rank than Vanir. In all many years that had passed since he became a Drudge, every time he came to the Communal Kitchen he was covered in something from his last job. Cooks were preparing the food for the Drudges who waited for the small meal they ever so deserved. Days were filled with work for Vanir, he got three breaks, the two feeding times and when the sun set and everyone retired for the night. Then the next day would be the same. He would work, eat, work, eat, work and then sleep. Then the cyce would repeat. It would repeat until Vanir dies, or if he moved up a caste, but there was a slim chance for that. Most Dek just worked until they died, but a select few moved up a caste and lived a good life. The other Dek could only hope for that. Most Deks lived short lives, so the would probably die before they could ever become another caste. Vanir could almost taste the food because he was so hungry. Many people would consider this meal a bland meal they wouldn't want to eat. But, as many wise man say, beggars can't be choosers. So many Deks looked like they were just as hungry as Vanir was. The kitchen was filled with sounds of cooks cooking or stomachs growling. It was always like this during the feeding time of the Deks.

[Kellan Lucia]

Kellan had been at the aeries all day so he headed to the kitchen for some food. When he got there he saw lots of Drudges waiting in line for their food. He picked out one in particular. A drudge named Vanir. Kellan knew it wasnt the nicest thing to do but he really liked to mess with the drudges. He mostly just pestered them to no end like a small child for the simple reason that he could. He got a kick out of it. He felt a bit of remorse because he knew if his twin brother Toran was still alive he would have been a drudge. Toran was always too weak to be even a chiet. 

He walked up to where Vanir was and cut in from of him "Pardon me drudge." he said with a sly smile. He knew there was nothing Vanir could do about it. He looked at him covered in dirt and decided to really mess with him. "wow, it has been a long day at the aeries, I am so hungry." he said dramaticly. "it's tough work with the eagles but very worth it." he could see Vanir was extremely hungry, as most drudges were. The line was not budging so he looked back at Vanir "So bud, tough day?" Kellan asked. He could see Vanir was about to answer so he started to talk again "Yeah, that's why it's great to have skills and abilities. That way the tough work doesn't have to be done by me." he said. He could tell the tall was annoying but he justified it in his head. At least he wasn't beating Vanir up. Others would have done much worse to him, at least he was only pestering him. 

The line moved up slightly and Kellan moved forward. He was once again feeling bored so he turned around and started messing with Vanir again. "Well after this meal I think I am going to take a nice long shower." he said with a smile. He had noticed how dirty Vanir was so he continued the pestering. "I just hate being dirty, you know? Hah, who am I kidding, you obviously know." he said with a small laugh.

When they finally got to the cooks Kellan got his food and looked at Vanir. "Looks delicious huh? Maybe I'll share some with you." he said. Kellan saw how little the druges were receiving and then looked at Vanir. "Naw, looks like you got enough for your scrawny little body." he said ruffling Vanir's hair. 

Now Kellan was satisfied and walked off to find a table to sit at. He sat down with the other eagle riders. He watched as Vanir got his food and started contimplating whether or not he would mess with him again this meal.  

[Vanir]

As Vanir and many other Drudges waited for their food, one jerk of an INarta slid right in front of him. The man obviously knew Vanir, as a Dek, could not stop a higher ranking citizen, which Vanir was sure he was. Vanir glared at him with an annoyed expression as the man revealed he worked with the eagles. The man declared he was hungry, then he asked Vanir if his day was tough. "What do you think?" He muttered paying very little attention to the man as he looked around the Kitchen. The man began to pester him about how he was going to have a shower, seeing how dirty Vanir was. Vanir forgot how long it was since he had bathed, he did stink a bit, like all Drudges. If you were a resident of Inarta, you would be used to it. He pestered Vanir about how he hated being dirty. Vanir hated being dirty, but he was used to it after many years of having to get on his knees to clean up messes, obeying whatever an Inarta wanted him to do, and other tasks. Vanir just glared at him again as if to say "Shut up" but he didn't say it knowing what this Inarta could do to him. Then the man got food a lot better than the small meal the Deks would get. He started to make fun of Vanir and ask if he wanted some. The answer was obvious, a bowl of soup, some bread and a glass of water is not the best dinner imaginable. He would have eaten tons of other things but he didn't get a choice. Then the man walked away to eat, and Vanir felt relief as he left, he wouldn't hurt him know, the temptations left him. He almost muttered a curse word as the man left, but he didn't knowing what could happen to him. Vanir finally got his food. He walked to a table, that was busy with other Deks eating. He sat there, sitting away from the arrogance of the other Inarta. He took a spoonful of the soup and poured it down his neck. It warmed him right up, it wasn't the best tasting but it filled his stomach. He then took a piece of the bread, it was stale, but it gave him something to chew on. He gnawed on it like a mouse until the piece was gone. He then took a sip of the glass of water, it was cool and felt good being the only drink he had in a while.

[Haya]

Haya wiggled aside to make place for the young man that seated himself next to her, studying his dirtied face for a short while before turning her attention back to her food. She´d watched the immature display of power the young man had been subdued to with slight abhorrence, but it could not disturb her for long, it was a scene that was all too common. Sometimes she wondered how people with such shallow minds could hold a Chiet rank, or even higher, while there were Dek walking around with more capabilities, and certainly a more mature attitude. But she knew all too well that there wasn’t only skill involved, luck played a large part too when it came to rising up in society.

Without any haste, the redhead dipped a small piece of bread in her bowl of soup before bringing it to her mouth. Even drenched in the salthy liquid, she had to chew it thoroughly before swallowing. Despite that she enjoyed the meal, she was hungry enough for it. Over the years she had learned to take her time, instead of stuffing herself as fast as she could. This way she’d feel fuller, keeping her stomac a lot more satisfied.

Haya cast another sidelong glance at her neighbour, again noting the amount of dirt on his face. Compared to him she was rather lucky. The young children she came across at the nursery were usually pleasant, having no experience or real understanding yet of the different casts. And the commoners that led the nursery were by nature softer, caring people. Also, with the children around, she was simply required to bathe regularly as to not be a danger to their health. Yes, she was rather gratefull for the place she’d ended up in.

A light scowl graced Haya’s features when she noticed her meal was coming to an end. Folding her hands around her bowl she lifted it to her mouth, drinking up the last of it’s contents before setting it down again. Well than, here we go again.
Haya placed the glass that had contained her water within the empty bowl in front of her, making it easier to carry in one hand. With her right hand she grabbed her cane, using it’s support to stand up from the table. Over time, she’d become rather handy with both her right and left hand, knowing how to balance and support things with one arm, instead of two. But on a bad day, it could still go wrong. And today was definitely a bad day.

She did not exactly know how it happened. Had she simply tripped? Missed a step? Had someone intentionally made her trip? That wasn’t an all that unusual joke either. But in the end the cause did not matter. As she fell to the floor, shielding herself from impact with both hands and hearing that awfull crash and tinkling of breaking pottery and shattering glass, she knew she had it coming. She knew she had it coming big time.

[Vanir]

Vanir was eating him meal pretty quickly, he remembered many times that if he spent too long trying to eat, someone would interrupt him form his eating. He wanted to eat everything, not leave a drop of soup, not a crumb of bread behind. He needed everything he could get if he was to serve the Inarta. He ate another piece of his bread like he did before, then took a few more spoonfuls of the soup. He looked beside him to see a girl, who kept seeming to study his face. Everyone liked to stare at the pieces of dirt covering his face, which was odd but he got used to it after a while. He looked at his bread, he was almost finished with it. He took a sip of his water, then finished the bread. He started to feel better than he did before, because he hadn't ate in a while. Food always seems better if you're starving. He watched as the girl beside him finished her meal and left her table. He took note that she had to use a cane, he took some pity on her. He imagined it must've been hard to serve everybody who asks you to when you rely on a cane to walk. Vanir went back to eating his meal when he heard the sounds of breaking glass and, what he guess was, pottery. He saw the girl had tripped on the floor. He left his table and rushed beside her. He bent down beside the girl. "Come on, let's get you up." He whispered. Vanir took pity on this girl for many reasons. For starters, she was a fellow Dek, the Dek always kept close, it was hard to make friends with arrogant Inarta of higher class, so the Dek usually made friends with other Dek. And secondly, she had a cane, she was injured. Vanir always helped his people, and helping an injured Inarta is another way of serving your people.

[Kellan Lucia]

Kellan saw that Vanir was somewhat enjoying his meal so he dicided to get up to get a glass of water. He really wasn't though. It was just an innocent way to get over to the table where the drudges sat. He looked at the other riders sitting with him and motioned to Vanir. "any of you guys wanna help me pester the drudge?" he asked. Most of the riders were older and to busy eating or bragging about their most recent flight to listen to young Kellan. They knew he was capable of his duties and knew he was a good archer but still, he was one of the younger riders so he was treated like a kid brother. He got respect but he had to earn it. Along with him being only eighteen he was also on the shorter side standing at 5'6 on a good day. That brought about lots of pats on the head and hair ruffles from the taller riders. He kept his spirits up though. Even if he was harassed at least he was respected by the riders closer to his age.  

He decided to go alone to harass Vanir. He walked over to the cook and asked for a pitcher of water. The cook happilly handed it over and Kellan walked over to where Vanir was kneeling on the ground next to a woman who had fallen over. As he walked he pretended to trip and poured the entire contents of the pitcher over Vanir's head. Kellan stood up straight and put on a fake look of surprise "I am so sorry drudge, I must have slipped." he said in a very fake voice. "At least you got your bath right?" Kellan gave him a sadistic smile and played with his necklace. "You are looking cleaner already buddy." he said ruffling Vanir's hair. He really had not intended this to go as far as it had but he couldn't stop. "Next time I'll bring soap, okay?" he said with a smile. He waited for Vanir's response. He was half scared that he would freak out on him but he knew if he did his fellow riders would make quick work of Vanir. "Whats your name anyway drudge?" he asked now playing with the pitcher in his hands. Kellan had a really short attention span at times. "Don't be scared little guy, I won't hurt you. I don't believe in the physical abuse, just friendly pestering." he said. Kellan knew very well that his actions went far beyond "friendly pestering" but really, what could a lowly drudge do to him?

Kellan looked sideways to see the woman Vanir was kneeled next to. He tried to look like he didn't notice because he did not want to be the one who had to punish her for breaking the kitchen wear. His golden eyes darted around to see if anyone had noticed her fall and it seemed as if no one did. He walked over and picked up the broken peices and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm covering for you this time Drudge, don't let it happen again. I may not be one for punishment and physical harm but I can say that for anyone else." he growled quietly to her. Then as quickly as he bent down to help her he stood up straight. He gave the woman a warning glare and then walked over to the cook. "I dropped these plates. I'm very sorry, I will pay for them if that is needed." he said. The cook shook his head and told him it was okay. Kellan looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes "That was for you brother." he said quietly in Nari. He knew his Toran would have been proud. 

[Haya]

Instead of the thourough scolding she expected (and maybe a hit or two), Haya was surprised when she was lifted back up on her feet by two strong pair of hands.
On her left she recognised the dirty young man who had been seated next to her. His lips moved as if he were talking, but his whisper got overruled by the reprimanding she got from the other person. She did not need to look at him to recognise who he was, his voice told her enough. Her eyes widened with disbelieve for a moment to find that person covering for her. Before she could properly respond though, he’d already left.

Haya steadied herself, gripping her cane a little tighter. “Thank you,” she softly spoke to her fellow drudge, sliding the fingers of her free hand past his wet locks. A frown fell upon her face. She couldn’t make sense of this situation, not even if she tried. But there was no time to think about it, or keep sticking around for idle talk, there was still a lot of work waiting for her at the Nursery.
The redhead turned around, ignoring the pain in her knee when she headed over to the entrance. It was a minor contusion she'd earned when she fell, nothing she couldn’t handle or wouldn’t heal on it’s own.
She passed the kitchens again on her way out, thereby coming closer than she liked to the Chiet that had helped her up. Unintentionally, she overheard his whisper, and a sudden fire welled up inside of her. “Oh,” she swiftly turned to the young man, careless in her absolute lack of respect or gratefullness. But at this moment, she did not care, this boy’s thought-pattern was too ridiculous and the words left her mouth before she could think them over. “And what was throwing that pitcher of water about, hn? You did that to honour your brother too?”
She immediately bit her bottom lip, directing her stare back to the ground, but the anger was still flaring in the gold of her eyes. She knew she’d stepped way out of line, but thruthfully, she didn’t regret it. Not yet.


[OOC: getting a little confused here with what happens when]

[Kellan Lucia]

Kellan turned to see the woman drudge that he had helped standing beside him. She questioned him on why he poured the pitcher of water over Vanir's head. He scowled at her. He was an eagle rider and he was not going to be talked to like that by a lowly drudge. His golden eyes burned into her. "I was nice, I covered for you. Don't push your luck though. Just because I helped you it does not mean you are suddenly uneffected by caste." he growled. "What you do may be my business but what I do is in no way any of yours. You got it?" Kellan was usually a nice person but he did have a sort of feral side. Not that he was an animal but he did love a good fight, especially when it was no weapons. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He would not hurt this woman. He conjured up Toran's image in his mind. If he laid a hand on this woman he would be no better than the boys who killed Toran. 

He opened his eyes and looked at the woman. "Maybe you're right and I shouldn't have poured the water on him but it is truely not your concern." he said trying to hint at the fact that he was a little sorry. "Just be careful drudge, I may not hurt you but if you speak out of line to someone else they will." he said. "Wind Reach is a place of order and if you think you are suddenly uneffected by the caste system you are messing with the order. Just remember that." he warned.

He could understand why the woman drudge was stepping out of her caste. Everyone wanted to have a happy life. Kellan knew if he was a drudge he would have done the same thing for the sheer fact that he was so hot headed at times. Maybe all this pestering the drudges was just Kellan's way of still pestering Toran. They were so much like him. Unskilled, weak, and too scared to stick up for themselves. They had that same look of fear in their eyes that Toran had everyday.  In some ways maybe it was a blessing that Toran died when he did. Kellan could not imagine ever letting anyone treat Toran like had had treated Vanir. On top of that he had been acting just like Toran's past tormentors. Kellan gave one past look at the woman drudge and walked over to the kitchen to get a towel. He walked it over to Vanir and threw it at him. "Sorry..." he muttered and then looked back at his fellow Eagle Riders. Maybe he didn't have to torment the drudge so bad. Although, he could not seem to nice to him. It was like he said, if he was to nice to them it messed with the order.  

[ooc: totally my fault, I will fix it]

[Haya]

Perhaps this was her lucky day after all.

The young man tried to reprimand her again, using words to remind her of her position, but his method had the opposite effect of what he was trying to accomplish. In fact, by talking to her, even going as far as to say she might be right, he was treating her very much like an equal. A simple denegrating slap in the face would have been easier, and much more effective.
Haya kept her eyes down, not wanting to betray the slight amusement creeping up on her features. He had her in no way convinced of his authority, but she would not press her luck any further. There were others watching now, after all, who would probably be a lot less hesitant about a rough treatment. Her feelings of defiance had been tempered enough for her to not want to get into trouble any further and she gave the man a small nod, only turning around after he had clearly finished talking, heading in the direction of the exit once more.

[Vanir]

Vanir was enjoying his meal when the same rider who annoyed him from before, spilled a pitcher of water on him. He glared at him with evil eyes as his hair dripped with water. The man started to make jokes and a conversation. When he asked him his name, Vanir barely muttered "Vanir, don't waste your precious breath on it." The man started to state he was just friendly pestering him, but Vanir had other ideas on that, but he saved his breath. Vanir was surprised to see what happened next. The eagle rider who had pestered him was helping the girl with the cane and even paying for the pottery that was broken. His mind thought different about this man know. Maybe it was just some friendly annoyance, did he really mean any harm to him? He then heard the girl thank him for his assistance. "Don't think nothing of it, us Dek have to help each other." He replied. He then got back to eating when the man who pestered him came back. "Oh great..." He muttered as he looked at him. Then man went to the kitchen and got a towel, then he came back and threw the towel at him and apologized. Vanir quickly used the towel to dry his hair, and anywhere it else it felt wet. Then he looked at the man and muttered a thanks. He then went back to his meal which was depleting quickly. He knew that the day would be just as normal as the others. He would finish his meal, then go back to serving his people, then sleeping and starting a new day filled that would entitle serving, eating, and sleeping. The cycle would go on until he died, or he moved up a caste. Which was unlikely.