Anaiya

"Today, you will eat fish. Tomorrow, you may die."

-Moiraine Damodred, *The Wheel of Time*

**RETIRE INFO:** Character - Retire, Dragon - Adopt

**NAME:** Anaiya. Birth name Nai; she uses this as a nickname

**GENDER:** Female, assigned male at birth

**PRONOUNS:** she/her/hers

**ORIENTATION:** In the general direction of the nearest food (mostly likes femininity romantically, gray-pan-asexual)

**BIRTHDATE:** Mid-fall 2743

**AGE:** 23 as of spring 2767

**LOCATION:** High Reaches Weyr

**OCCUPATION:** Sr. Flightleader/Wingrider

**WING:** Starfall Wing

**EYES:** Dark brown

**HAIR:** Light brown, shoulder-length, usually down

**HEIGHT AND BUILD:** 5’ 2”, on the lean side

**PLAY-BY:** Carmen Moore

**FULL APPEARANCE:** Anaiya is cute; potentially pretty farther down the line, but for now, she has baby fat on her cheeks that shows few signs of fading. The rest of her doesn't have as much fat; she's small but surprisingly strong, able to hold her own against people bulkier and taller than she. Though dragonriding has expanded her wardrobe options significantly, she sticks to plain, drab clothing. She does have a penchant for black high-heeled leather boots, which click satisfyingly on the floor as she walks and have the unintended effect of improving her posture.

Due to a nasty Threadfall incident, she has lost her right foot below the ankle. She still stubbornly wears a high-heeled boot on the left side, but has a crude prosthesis on the right. She tries to keep as much of a boot as she can on her right leg.

**PERSONALITY:** Being told for Turns to keep your head down, shut up, and do as you’re told has an effect on everyone, and Anaiya is no exception. Her seemingly public self is reserved and passive, slow to offer opinions and always alert for instructions or reprimands. Candidacy, and most recently her transfer, have allowed her true personality to start coming through.

One of the most noticeable things about Anaiya, something that stays true no matter what, is that she really loves food. Violently loves it, one might say. She’s not picky, and will always offer to finish your plate if you don’t want it. Heck, she’ll eat right from the serving bowl if there are leftovers, a source of contention between her and the long-suffering kitchen staff. Do not get between Anaiya and her food. You will regret it immensely.

Anaiya has a very short temper, “almost as short as she is,” according to her brother, though she keeps it on a low burn rather than exploding at every provocation. She’s generally kind of grumpy, and mornings are definitely one thing that increase her surliness. Smiles are a rare expression to see on her face, though they’re always well-deserved. She actually laughed when she Impressed Adasheth, an occasion only repeated when someone says something aligning with her dry, morbid sense of humor. The only times she explodes are when someone threatens her friends, family, and recently her dragon - she will do anything for the people she loves. She’s pretty adamant about people not touching her food, too.

Though she hasn’t had much opportunity for formal education outside candidate lessons, she displays a lot of practical intelligence. She’s good with her hands, able to fix anything from flamethrowers to riding leathers without formal training, and is often fidgety when she has to sit still for long periods of time. Perhaps correlated with this is her practical outlook on life - she’s level-headed, having trained herself not to let her temper overrule logic, and thinks idealists are just wasting their time. She lives in the now and the future, and hates dwelling on the past.

**FAMILY:** Maili (foster mother, +27), Alric (foster brother, +2). She knows who her biological mother is and has worked with her, but doesn’t really care about her.

**SIGNIFICANT OTHER:** Cheese

**BIRTHPLACE:** Benden Weyr

**HISTORY:** Anaiya was born to a drudge mother and a brownrider father who never knew she existed, nor would have cared. Her biological mother didn't want her, but luckily for Anaiya, Maili had lost a baby just before Nai’s birth, and took her in and cared for her as the child she would have had. While she was worked just as hard as any other drudge, and picked on for being small, she had a family to return to at the end of the day, a mother and an older brother.

As soon as she turned fifteen, Anaiya started standing for candidacy. It was a chance to improve her life, and maybe the lives of her family as well. After three Turns, she Impressed green Adasheth. When the green was about a Turn old, a bronzerider swiped Anaiya’s stew bowl as she was filling it, told her she was “just a pretty little slip of a greenrider who shouldn’t be eating so much, want to keep me company tonight?” when she asked for it back, and ended up with a broken nose. In the resulting drama, Adasheth's first firestone lesson was quite forgotten. Life was not fun for the next six months, but it was no worse than some of her childhood had been, so she managed. As soon as Adasheth hit eighteen months, the pair transferred to High Reaches. It was beneficial for all parties - she could make a fresh start, High Reaches got another dragonpair, and Benden was rid of a troublemaker.

She had no reason to be disrespectful at High Reaches, and adapted well to the less color-based hierarchy. Her mechanical aptitude caught the eye of her wingleader, and after some discussion with the High Reaches leadership, Anaiya and Adasheth decided to forego firestone for the foreseeable future so that Adasheth could contribute to the dragon population and Anaiya could fight with a flamethrower. The pair are excited to get to know High Reaches - well, Adasheth is, and so Anaiya is too, if only to make her dragon happy.

UPDATES

* Fall 2763 - Adasheth had her first flight, which resulted in her first clutch.
* Summer 2764 - Anaiya somehow got roped into adopting fellow greenrider Lirael's feline after Lirael transferred to Telgar. She suspects A'ric and wine were both involved.
* Fall 2764 - Anaiya got her right foot stuck in a Thread burrow and later amputated. Is still adjusting.
* Spring 2765 - She's gotten to the point where she has a prosthetic leg and heavily modified boot, since she didn't want to give up her precious boots. Adasheth dragged her into the attack on Benden, not that she's complaining.
* Spring 2765 - Promoted to Jr. Flightleader.
* Winter 2765 - Bronzerider Schneizel is promoted to Junior Weyrleader, the greenrider and briefly-Senior Weyrleader Zeresh is murdered, and Anaiya is very unhappy. Even though she's promoted to Sr. Flightleader.
* Spring 2766 - To add injury to insult, Anaiya sprains her remaining (left) ankle during Threadfall.
* Spring 2767 - Anaiya is reelected as Senior Flightleader, and gets pantsed during Threadfall. One of her wingmates dies during this Fall, and Anaiya is furious at herself for not doing a better job coordinating.