She sometimes seems to tend a bit towards sarcasm, but the laugh lines that she's already getting around her mouth betray the fact that she smiles a great deal too. Up a bit higher, her blue eyes reflect the rest of her emotions, when they're not hidden by a bit of hair that always manages to escape the complicated knot she wears it in. The light brown color sets off the faint peach of her skin. Her clothes are of the sort that work well for her craft, with sleeves that are easily rolled up, and a blousy sort of tunic that is loose, but not loose enough to get in the way. Its pale green color was picked as much for the fact that it'll show dirt easily as for the fact that it looks rather nice. Light pants, in both color and fabric, and a pair of sandals with straps complete the outfit.
Mineira was born in Igen Weyr, to typical rider parents..and she grew up in almost stereotypical weyrchild style. Hanging around the lower caverns, running through the tunnels, helping bathe dragons, trying to poke her nose where it didn't belong..just basic kid stuff. She was happy, pretty much carefree..and, of course, sure, as all the weyrbrats were, that someday she'd grow up and become a dragonrider.
Things certainly seemed to be heading in that direction when, just after her thirteenth turnday, Min was asked if she'd like to stand for the next clutch. She didn't waste any time saying yes, and was soon deeply involved in all the things that candidates do. Which, when you get down to it, isn't all that different from being a weyrbrat (aside from the chores ;). When it came time to go to the sands, she was as eager and as nervous as the rest, marching out in white robes in hopes of finding that one dragonet who'll be their lifemate. Unfortunately, not everyone can impress, and Min was one of the ones who discovered the pain of being left on the sands, surrounded by empty shells.
However, she was still pretty young, and resilient. She talked herself out of being depressed, telling herself that there were other hatchings, other dragonets..next time there'd be one for her. So, when the next hatching rolled around, Min stood again, a little older, a little wiser (maybe :) but not any less hopeful. But hope alone can't do much if the dragons all look you over and then move on..this second failure (at least in her mind) was just too much. She spent the next several months moping around the weyr and getting on everyone's nerves.
Someone, most likely her foster-mum (though she'd never admit it :) had the sense to get the weyrhealers involved, thinking maybe they'd know more with their training. One of the assistants, a Senior Apprentice named Jacsel, became a good friend, and even managed to convince her to stand again. The third hatching went much like the first two, except that instead of the emotional ride the others had been, this one didn't really affect her as much. Or perhaps it did and she was merely getting better at hiding it. Either way, she seemed to remain in normal spirits both before and after the hatching, and her friendship with Jacsel continued to flourish.
Shortly before Min's sixteenth turnday, and just after yet another clutch had been deposited on the Igen hatching sands, Jacsel was transferred back to the main healer hall. Feeling a bit despondant about that, she barely even noticed when she failed to impress for the fourth time. She spent a lot of time by herself in the first few weeks following that hatching, thinking, working things out..and coming to a few conclusions. Later that year, when Jacsel was reposted to Igen, now a full Journeyman, she knew what she wanted to do.
He was more than a little startled by a few of her suggestions, but being a sensible man ;) went along with them. One of the things she'd decided, you see, was that she didn't want to be just friends..that, in fact, she was quite in love with him. Other than that (and sortof more importantly :) she'd decided that she was going to accept the fact that she'd never be a dragonrider and move on to other things. Jacsel saw that the idea of completely abandoning any contact with dragons was causing her distress, even though she tried to hide it--it was he who came up with the notion that perhaps she was meant to help /all/ dragons, which was why she couldn't be attached to just one. A fanciful idea, perhaps, but Min seized on it, making it one of the central thoughts of her life.
She apprenticed to the healer hall, advancing quite quickly to Senior Apprentice, getting posted out to Fort Weyr to further her studies in dragonhealing. During this time her relationship with Jacsel continued to deepen, and upon her promotion to Journeyman, they decided to get married.
The next ten or so years were relatively uneventful, but Min spent them all in a general state of contentedness. She remained at Fort Weyr, eventually earning a promotion to Master for her DragonHealing work there. Jacsel was also promoted to Master, actually gaining the position soon after their marriage, and was posted back to the main crafthall at Fort Hold. Though they didn't get to spend as much time together as they wished, they both knew the other was happy, and that made it okay.
During the spring of Mineira's twenty-eigth turn, Jacsel was asked to become CraftSecond by the current MasterHealer. He and Min were both surprised and thrilled by this, and failed to see the semi-political reasons behind the appointment. Later, after returning to Fort Weyr, Min started to hear of some odd things going on back at the hall, several odd promotions and postings..but she didn't think much of it until the MasterHealer suddenly retired that summer. In the confusion surrounding the decision of who would be Craftmaster next, Jacsel suddenly fell ill and died..
Mineira was shocked..hurt..and in the swirl of feelings she found herself in, was more angered by the lack of response from the people she'd considered to be friends than anything. She made a few accusations, which, true or not, set off a large flurry of rumors that threatened much of the administration of the Healer Hall. She was consequently 'banished' to Ista Weyr, to be their senior Dragonhealer. She had no illusions about why she was sent there, but didn't really care, intending to make the best of the situation.
She spent a long lonely turn at Ista with only her grief and her rather bitter thoughts for company. After that she started to come out of it a bit, taking more of an interest in things other than her job. She shortly became friends with a bronzerider, V'ger, and his lifemate, Janeth. This friendship was unlike most she'd had before, and she found it stimulating. V'ger was not much like the other bronzeriders she knew and had known in the past. Eventually she decided she'd like to be more than friends; after a bit of prodding on her part, he agreed to try it. The two weyrmated under unusual circumstances -- Janeth, having never won a flight in his life, caught Sarina's gold Varrenth and made V'ger Weyrleader. Later that same day, V'ger (quite suddenly) asked Mineira to move in with him.
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