Advancement
Apr. 7th, 2013 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feredarStory: Advancement
Year: 1005 FY
Characters: Kes and Dev Hantree
Warnings: Islander anti-Unthreaded prejudice
Kes stared at Dev, positive she'd heard him wrong. "Sorry, you mind repeatin' that?"
The old man smiled faintly. "Kor and I discussed this before he died. It was always gonna be you, just had to wait for you to grow up some."
Kes sat down, hard. "You're jokin'. You're fuckin' jokin'. You've gotta be."
"I'm not," the Clan Head insisted calmly. "You're one of the most skilled Captains we have, Kes. You're one of the few in the known history of the Clan to have more than five ships. And you've only been a Captain for fifteen years."
All of which was true--Taz had left Kes her command, despite everything, when she retired and move to the North. Since the Glory was gone, Kes had been given a rickety Old Warrior, the Black Eye, well past his prime but still usable. She'd worked her ass off, building an impressive coterie of seven ships answering to her, with sub-captains and all. She even had a navigator, though Reshti wasn't necessarily something that had to go into things.
On the other hand, she was from an incredibly low-ranked line, her older sister's heroics not withstanding, and...
"I'm an air-mage," she finally said. "You know that, right?"
Dev rolled his eyes. "Clan Head's got the right to designate his successor, same as any Captain. I've done my research, Kes. And Kor would've left it to you, 'stead of me--I'm not really the leadin' type--if you'd been old enough."
"The rest of the gods-damned Clan will revolt."
"Have a little more faith in them than that," he said, a clear reproof in his tone. "Now, you can turn me down, but if you're only gonna do that 'cause you're afraid of facin' assholes who don't like your magic, then you're sure as hell not the woman you've represented yourself as."
Kes flushed, an angry one. "I'm not afraid."
"Good. So, you gonna take it, or not?"
Kes was silent for a long minute. It was...hell, Clan Head. Her, Kes Hantree, the air-mage with few Captains in her background, forever compared to her flashier older sister, as the fucking Clan Head. Even Taz hadn't dreamed that big.
And she did have a flair for command, and even if she, despite Kor and now Dev liking her, had to work twice as hard as any other Captain to advance, she'd damn well proved herself.
And she'd be lying if she said the possibilities didn't excite her.
She took a deep breath, and flashed an imitation of her sister's crooked smile. "Fuck the assholes. I'm in."
Year: 1005 FY
Characters: Kes and Dev Hantree
Warnings: Islander anti-Unthreaded prejudice
Kes stared at Dev, positive she'd heard him wrong. "Sorry, you mind repeatin' that?"
The old man smiled faintly. "Kor and I discussed this before he died. It was always gonna be you, just had to wait for you to grow up some."
Kes sat down, hard. "You're jokin'. You're fuckin' jokin'. You've gotta be."
"I'm not," the Clan Head insisted calmly. "You're one of the most skilled Captains we have, Kes. You're one of the few in the known history of the Clan to have more than five ships. And you've only been a Captain for fifteen years."
All of which was true--Taz had left Kes her command, despite everything, when she retired and move to the North. Since the Glory was gone, Kes had been given a rickety Old Warrior, the Black Eye, well past his prime but still usable. She'd worked her ass off, building an impressive coterie of seven ships answering to her, with sub-captains and all. She even had a navigator, though Reshti wasn't necessarily something that had to go into things.
On the other hand, she was from an incredibly low-ranked line, her older sister's heroics not withstanding, and...
"I'm an air-mage," she finally said. "You know that, right?"
Dev rolled his eyes. "Clan Head's got the right to designate his successor, same as any Captain. I've done my research, Kes. And Kor would've left it to you, 'stead of me--I'm not really the leadin' type--if you'd been old enough."
"The rest of the gods-damned Clan will revolt."
"Have a little more faith in them than that," he said, a clear reproof in his tone. "Now, you can turn me down, but if you're only gonna do that 'cause you're afraid of facin' assholes who don't like your magic, then you're sure as hell not the woman you've represented yourself as."
Kes flushed, an angry one. "I'm not afraid."
"Good. So, you gonna take it, or not?"
Kes was silent for a long minute. It was...hell, Clan Head. Her, Kes Hantree, the air-mage with few Captains in her background, forever compared to her flashier older sister, as the fucking Clan Head. Even Taz hadn't dreamed that big.
And she did have a flair for command, and even if she, despite Kor and now Dev liking her, had to work twice as hard as any other Captain to advance, she'd damn well proved herself.
And she'd be lying if she said the possibilities didn't excite her.
She took a deep breath, and flashed an imitation of her sister's crooked smile. "Fuck the assholes. I'm in."