" Grieve not for we who live
In the amber dawn of morning
In the untamed wheat and the feral ryes
Here in the land of the living skies "
BASICS
RETIRE INFO: Adopt Tokugath
NAME: M'sha
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: He/Him/His
ORIENTATION: Heterosexual
BIRTHDATE: Early Winter 2734
AGE: 33 as of Early Fall 2768
LOCATION: Semaca Weyr
OCCUPATION: Rider, Assistant Weyrlingmaster
WING: Nocturne Wing
APPEARANCE
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Black
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5'11", average
PLAY-BY: Alfonso Herrera
FULL APPEARANCE:
M'sha isn't really one to stand out. He's a little smaller than average height, and of average build. His black hair and dark eyes make him rather the average Pernese man in that regard as well. He has a somewhat angular, oval face with a prominent nose and thick eyebrows. His skin tans easily. He keeps his hair short for reasons of practicality, and often grows a short beard for what he calls reasons of efficiency.
He tends to wear comfortable clothing, things that won't be ruined if any of the Candidates cause trouble, because that's a near guarantee most days. His voice is a light tenor, almost airy, and doesn't really carry well even when he wants it to.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
M'sha is patient, slow to make decisions or speak. He's one to let others say their peace, and then say his—but that doesn't mean he's about to let others run roughshod over him. He's put up with enough of that in his life, and he's sick of waiting for things to happen; he's not going to get in anyone else's way, but he's not going to sit idly by, either. He's slow to anger, and quick to forgive; he doesn't seem at all capable of holding a grudge.
He's fond of teaching, and likes finding little teachable moments in things that seem ordinary. Perhaps in another life, he might have been better suited to being a creche worker, but in this one he works with Candidates. He's compassionate, but doesn't always do well at empathizing with teenaged angst. He's more likely to point out what can be learned from an experience than to commiserate over it, though he truly does want to help.
M'sha is not especially fond of klah, as he has more than a bit of a sweet tooth. Klah is too bitter for him, but he'll wait next to the kitchens for bubbly pies as eagerly as any child, though of course he has to at least pretend to be adult and dignified.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Mother, Sharie, Smith
Father, Elmahe, Smith
Older brother, Heriel
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
BIRTHPLACE: High Reaches Hold
HISTORY:
Mahesha was the second son of two rather successful Smiths who had decided to settle permanently at High Reaches Hold. Life was quite kind to him despite the war, and he grew up happy and surrounded by friends. One girl in particular, Hilawa, was most decidedly not his friend, though he'd remember her as one later, memories being fickle, tricky things.
However, his parents and her parents were all well-to-do Crafters who wanted their children to be well settled, and so an arrangement was made over her protestations. It was to happen when both were of age, though that was such a far-off thing, Mahesha promptly decided that she'd change her mind by the time any of it came about. After all, they were supposed to like each other, right?
They were both sixteen when Hilawa was Searched, whisked away to the Weyr to be considered for a dragon. Mahesha was not. He decided to wait and hope that she returned, or that in time he might join her at the Weyr. Frankly, he was terrified for her. It was war, and he knew riders were dying.
Six months before his eighteenth Turnday, he began to hope that she would fail to Impress, that she would return home. He rather missed her sarcastic wit. If she chose him over the Weyr... But she didn't. He heard word that she had Impressed, and that perhaps he could come to the Weyr someday. It wasn't an end, and so Mahesha continued waiting. And waiting. The war ended, life moved on. He started learning to cook, though it wasn't his favorite thing. He sensed his parents were disappointed in him. Twenty-five, not apprenticed to a "proper" Craft by their reckoning, not married, continued to long for a girl that even they admitted would certainly never take him now.
A fire lizard arrived with a message from the Weyr. Mahesha didn't need to open it to know what it said. Hilawa had never sent him letters in such a manner; those they'd exchanged had been by runners. He opened it anyway, to be certain. It said she'd died in Threadfall.
Unbeknownst to him, she hadn't. However, angry at him, at their parents, at everyone for the arrangement she'd never wanted, she'd quietly transferred, and asked the few friends she'd had to say nothing of it. Her wingleader agreed, and so to those back home at Benden Hold, it was the truth.
Mahesha grieved, though he wasn't sure how or why. He knew they'd never been friends, never more than acquaintances, one of whom could barely stand the sight of the other. Still, he couldn't help but hope that wherever she was, that it was a good place, that place beyond between.
And then he was Searched, by a Weyr once more on the brink of war, and he accepted. He was a Candidate, well under the notice of those who were busy trying to drive a rift between High Reaches and Fort, trying to incite violence. Little changed for him when Golre died. At least not until an Igen gold came and was flown by a green, resulting in a clutch that was nonetheless viable. And, most importantly, it had his dragon.
Hey! Why are you looking so bothered? Tokugath here, stay here and we gotta make things right. You and me.
And somehow, everything was all right. Tokugath grew quickly, though he was more than a bit of a handful at times. He meant well, and that was what really mattered. But M'sha never did figure out what he was meant to be. He wouldn't have a family the way his parents had; such things weren't for riders. He wondered for a few Turns, until Semaca was discovered and later opened to transfers. And so he and Tokugath went.
