Penelope Brennan
| Name | Penelope Brennan (PennyBrenny) |
| Gender | Female - switches to male when immersed in water (and back again when dry) |
| Homeworld | Twoarth (human) |
| Class | Freshman (20kk) |
| Nut | not |
| Totem | Sloth, the 'jesus, keep your shirt on' totem. Middleman operator supreme, smugglers, fencers, used car salesmen. +3 S/GM, -2 Bod, -1 RWP, +1 Luck, -2 Drive, -1 Looks, -1 Cool, +5 Extra KK's. |
| Smarts | 11 (!) |
| Bod/Feet | 2 |
| RWP | 2 |
| Luck | 4 |
| Drive | 2 |
| Looks | 3 |
| Cool | 3 |
| Bonk | 8 |
| Powers | A Natural Born Talent* - you've got a Cluster of skills (or 2 related Skills) at +3 and can buy more related Skills at half (1kk each). |
| Clusters | *Spacial Skills (angles, lines, geometry, distances, vectors, etc) +3 Odds and Betting +3 |
| Skills | *Mapping +3 *Dodge Bullets (or other stuff coming at her) +3 Trends/Statistics +3 |
| Knacks | Make Excuses Not To Swim/Bathe in Public +2 Always Land On Her Feet +2 |
| 1 | Nexus Geohistory with T.Kshau |
| 2 | Genetic Engineering with Paveh |
| 3 | Dungeon Crawl Team with Ashigaru |
| 4 | Political Science with Talshoy |
| 5 | Dragon Riding and Tactics with Hollis |
| 6 | Epic Poetry with Rayne |
| 7 | Chaos Geometry with A Caroline Clone |
| 8 | Dragon Care with T.Kshau |
| Partner/s | Machell Vahh (Borealis Vasquez-Wheeler/Nohaa Vahh) ((yes that's Moraga and Bart's spliced kids)) Ohmbarr Vahh (Madrigal Vasquez-Wheeler/Nohaa Vahh) ((and yes that's Kallah-Vahh's son)) |
| Children | Munell and Ohmun Brennan Vahh (879/883) |
| Pets | None |
| Post-Rookery Contact Teaching Schedule (RY 3/2020s) | |
| 1 | -(gender-counseling) |
| 2 | Gender Studies |
| 3 | Political Science |
| 4 | -(gender-counseling) |
| 5 | Political Science |
| 6 | Gender Studies |
| 7 | PsychOut |
| 8 | PsychOut |
Penny had always been a bit... odd. Obviously gifted with an intelligence worthy of world-class renoun, she kept herself apart from even members of her family at times. Only her mother and father knew her 'other' secret, which had been plaguing them since she was a baby. It seemed that Penny had inherited a weird 'curse' of sorts from her father's side of the family. Long ago, one of his ancestors apparently pissed off a mermaid or a nymph or something - and ever since then, members of his line have had odd reactions to water. One great-grandfather could only drink water that was boiling hot, another distant cousin repelled it entirely (he made a living walking on water, until he was burned at the stake for being a witch), grandnanny Goldie sank like a brick every time she stepped into water deeper than a few inches.
So now, here was the latest recipient of this curse, their little girl, who while she was soaking in a bathtub, swimming in a wading pool, or even just doused with a generous bucket of water... was a boy.
Penny kept this secret well, though a few times she was close to either revealing it to her friends, or they almost solved it themselves. But thankfully for Penny, her mind was always three or four steps ahead of nearly anyone else's, and she could easily distract people from their goal of learning more about her simply by getting an idea of what else they liked. Ooh look it's Elvis. Oh, didn't you hear about Justin breaking up with Nan? How ridiculously easy it was to manipulate people, for Penny.
She didn't want to. She didn't want to have to. But it was self defense, it was her only defense. It didn't seem to matter to her or her parents, that other children in the world and particularly at Carramba High were also gender-switchers, this was just not something they could handle.
For PE, she was almost always excused for "religious reasons" from showering with the others, though pool sports were harder to avoid she managed to forge a doctor's note, something about 'petrifying fear of inhaling water' or the like.
Most of the time in school, however, Penny was a pretty typical science geek. She was absolutely smashing at math and sciences, but her more favorite classes involved people - Political Science in particular, because it gave her the opportunity to apply herself to understanding just how people acted.
Early in her first year, Penny had been "searched" - the dragons of the area were quite interested in her. They claimed that the clarity of her thoughts was ideal for a Pernese type dragon, as they required more guidance than other sentient types. So, Hollis made sure that she got her training in, Care and Tactics, both of which she excelled at. Hollis actually wanted to ... well, pair her up perhaps, with his father's young clone Skie. Between the two of them, there might be whole new realms of tactics, subversion, and clever solutions to extremely difficult problems.
Painfully shy, however, Penny only blushed and begged out of any setups. She wanted to impress Hollis with her skills, but she really didn't want to get cornered into a ... what, a relationship that would surely mean she'd be found out for a 'switcher? It was more the pity because almost anyone that did find out would most likely shrug and "meh" it off.
Well, except for the people at the Weyrs. When Penny was finally considered 'of age' enough to start being moved around to Weyrs to see about impressing a dragon, it was more difficult than ever to disguise her condition. And now, at Sedona particularly, she had to.
Fortunately she'd had enough Nexus Geohistory to tide her over: She knew how to distract these people as well as those on a more high-tech world like her own. There was still gossip to be had, rumors to spread and distract, and even shiny fights and spats to cause attention to move away from her.
But in a Weyr, the general consensus of 'privacy issues' was to "get over it". She couldn't just get over it, and the excuses would run thin some time.
Bathing was a communal thing, though there were plenty of private baths, and she made extra sure that whenever she entered one, she had plenty of towels to dry off with. Without those, she'd go in as a girl, and come out sopping wet as a boy. And the beaches. Now, Penny could swim, she'd been taught privately by her dad so she didn't actually drown should someone finally get her into the water. But ... beaches. Getting all wet was out of the question, though she induldged herself just once. No one was around, she'd made extra sure. She splashed around in the waters and then stretched out on the warm sands to dry slowly... Had anyone seen her change, it was quite odd to see certain parts vanishing over the course of a few minutes, and others blooming up again.
She stood with the others in a line, inspected by the Weyrling Master and given chores to do. While she liked the hard work of mucking out weyrs, she had to be very, very careful not to be caught up in any of the candidate-style shenanigans of water fights and buckets being dumped from higher ledges. Penny applied herself and got in good with the Weyrling trainers though, because she was exceptionally good at reading star charts, Threadfall charts, and maps. Her memory for the 'fall patterns was better than almost anyone, so they allowed her to more concentrate on those aspects as well as dragon healing and anatomy, instead of getting all dirty with the other candidates.
There would always be some which that didn't sit well with. Penny and one of the other more local-world girls had become almost instant rivals. "Too good for us drudges, huh?" She'd say - though the girl was hardly a drudge. She was a Lady, searched and proudly standing, willing to do whatever it took to impress.
And girls will be girls. Penny wasn't immune or even above petty squabbling. She was only sixteen, after all, and what 16 year old girl didn't have her share of fights with her peers? Nelanie stalked her every move, until one evening they encountered each other near the baths.
"Why don't you ever come watch the boys with us," Nelanie asked, innocently sounding enough - but anyone who knew her knew that tone of voice. "I mean, there are some very handsome ones to stand with us. Unless... you don't like boys."
"I like boys plenty," Penny said, "I just don't need to oggle at them like you girls do. I like what's inside their heads." She paused, snugging her pile of towels to her body, "now if you don't mind, I'm going to bathe alone. Again. Without the boys." She turned and headed into the nearest private chamber, but since there was only a hide curtain she could hardly stop Nelanie from barging in behind her.
Nelanie wasn't running, but she did abruptly push Penny - hard - and Penny headed directly into the water. Along with her towels. Penny sputtered and shook the long hair from her eyes, and realized... She saw the tan colored cotton towels all bunched up and sinking slowly into the warm water.
"Oh no," she whispered, "oh, no no no..." Splashing around wouldn't help, but she did it anyway, trying to rescue even one of them from its fate. It was too late, the whole pile was just drenched. "No..."
She heard Nelanie's cackling laughter from behind, and glared at her own reflection, distorted in the roiling water before her. Penny turned in the water, hair dragging across her now-flat chest. She cast her grey-steel eyes up at Nelanie, who was so full of her own laughter at the prank that she didn't notice for a moment. Then, when Nelanie did see that Penny was facing her, she tried suppressing her chuckles. It worked better, once she realized...
"What... happened to you? What--"
"Shut up, Nelanie," Penny growled. "Close the curtain."
Nelanie did as she was instructed, out of pure shock. In a very low voice, Penny said, "and now you know - I'm not from here, I'm not normal, and I have secrets to keep. Just like you do."
"Pfff," Nelanie finally recovered with that, "no secret's like that, you freak!"
"I'll make sure to tell everyone about your baby brother, then, won't I?" Penny shot back, eyes still fixed on Nelanie's. The girl's face blanched, and before she could say another word, Penny added, "I'm sure that your father would love that, wouldn't he? Proud as he was of his wife's last child? Shame she hid her pregnancy until it was too late, and ... well, until you stepped in to help deliver the baby that killed her... "
"How do you even know about that?" Nelanie hissed, and sank abruptly to her knees. It unnerved her to suddenly be closer to face to face with Penny, but by now the shock was mostly over, and she furrowed her brows. "I... It doesn't matter. You win." She raised her eyes a little, trying to avoid looking at Penny's flat chest, and failing. "This... is ..."
"It does matter, and yes I do win," Penny said flatly. "And yes," she added after a moment, in a slightly more soft tone, "it's weird. Really weird."
Penny offered a truce, her secret kept, for keeping Nelanie's. Whatever the girl had done to get that little boy her father proudly held on his shoulders when families came to visit the Weyr to pass as her 'brother', it was obvious to Penny that no one else realized it yet. She didn't press the issue, it was obvious after Nelanie had nearly turned white and passed out that it was a dread secret. Penny didn't like holding things like that against people - she knew the secret business well enough already.
They chatted, decided to part on reasonably good terms, and Penny got to actually clean herself... Though she did have to wait for herself to dry, before heading back to the Candidates chambers. She saw how Nelanie watched her bathing as a boy, and chuckled. While it had occurred to Penny that she could embrace her masculine - wet - shape, it was a little too inconvienent. After all she'd have to be wet all the time to really get anything out of it!
***
When the eggs had finally hardened properly and were trembling on the sands, every available candidate was brought down in the heat of the summer evening to stand.
Penny along with all the others were eagerly awaiting any and all of the hatchlings. There were so many! But plenty more candidates. Penny knew there was the chance... but when that chance came and went, she along with a score of others went back dejectedly to their dorms - alone. Unbonded, failed.
Penny considered, as she lay with her arm over her face, that it was a wonder she didn't turn to a boy from the tears streaming down her face.
But life would go on... wouldn't it?
She congratulated Nelanie, genuinely happy to see the girl was paired up with a lovely green dragon. And of course, Nelanie could now brag that she'd Impressed first... Which made it plain that, while Penny was an excellent candidate, she wasn't Pernese. She wasn't necessarily exactly what any dragon wanted out of anyone.
Back to classes and learning more about dragons and flight tactics, Penny put herself deeply into it. She didn't really need to study as constantly as she did, but she noticed the others who had stood and been refused did the same. In time, the pain faded. And she was positive that the pain of not Impressing would be nothing compared to having Impressed, and lost a dragon. There were one or two older riders, shells of people really, that had lived longer than their dragon. To see them in such a state made Penny wonder whether it was all worthwhile.
But she also knew that when the time came she would be returning to Carramba and Crescent City, she would not be a thread-fighting rider in a wing here on Pern. Perhaps that was what distinguished her from those who Impressed? Maybe if she wanted it badly enough...
No, no, that was silly. She had to want the dragon, certainly. But to want to fight? Well, that wasn't all what it was about. There could be many ways a rider would serve, even here, and even during Thread.
Penny smirked a bit, the next time she took her private bath. What if ... a bronze ...
She laughed that off, that was even crazier than normal!
***
Since there were several queens or greens in line on the sands, mating flight after flight had been flown - and the current batch of eggs were abruptly announced days later than they had been expected. Everyone had been on edge, not just the weyrwoman and her bronze-riding partner. It was clear that the eggs weren't duds, they were warm and strong. Penny and the others who had either had to wait or arrived since the last hatching were hurried down to the sands, and now were wide awake. It was never less than thrilling, Penny thought, to see these beautiful creatures begin their lives!
She'd been giving a lot of thought to what she'd be doing if and when she went home to Carramba and Talon City. She had watched, like many had, the popular 'So You Want To Bond A Dragon?" show, and the assorted cop, rescue, sitcom and other such dragon-related tv shows. While some folks treated the events as though they were just staged, Penny knew how the tears and the exclamations of joy were real on those rare contestants who actually bonded.
Penny knew that the hatching of a bronze was a great sign, this clutch was definitely going to yeild some significant results. Not as big as that first one, this clutch was brimming with hope. The bronze paired off, blues broke shell. Then greens, and then... the greatest egg on the sands shattered oh so slowly. As befitting a queen, the golden hatchling came from her shell with grace and an almost practiced style.
Other girls along with Penny moved in closer, this would be their only chance, some of them anyway... But the gold hissed and beat her still-wet wings into the air, chasing off the more timid of the group and thinning them out so that she could approach the only candidate who met her standards.
And that candidate was Penelope.
I am hungry, I am Meradoth. You are my one, strong, good for me. I have chosen you. Hello! Hungry!
Penny heard in the stands many people cheering her on, as the golden hatchling flopped into her arms. Was this real? She'd expected a ... well, a green, a brown maybe because she was something of a boy sometimes... but...
Hun-gry!
"Yes, I know, I know! Meradoth, you're hungry!" Penny laughed and blinked away the tears in her eyes. Now she'd have to find out what her life would be like... one day at a time.
***
As they practiced, Penny grew bolder, enough so that she felt it time to confess to her weyrlingmasters her little secret. It shocked her once more, to learn that they'd known but said nothing - it was her secret after all... But who'd told them? It couldn't have been Nelanie, she was far too preoccupied with her own dragon. They wouldn't say either, but warned her that if she did decide to bathe with the other girls, that nothing untoward happened... After all, their dragons were still too young for that kind of thing.
Penny's blush made the weyrling master guffaw, and she slunk back to her dorm to think about it more. It didn't take her more than a dozen paces back and forth near Meradoth's piled up thatch, for her to realize. "Hollis, that jackass," she muttered. Of course he'd told them - he knew, and he was if anything at least as smart as she was, but he was much older and probably much wiser. It had been a good idea, she realized, that he told them before hand. Plus, he had that kind of mental command that allowed him to insert ideas into people's minds and they never even noticed... The weyrling master was okay with it, not stressed, not surprised.
Fine.
Well. Time passed, Meradoth learned to actually fly, pretty well - lithe and surprisingly agile for one which would grow to be a reasonably large size. Then it was time to head back home... Meradoth would not be fighting Thread, but they learned much about tactics, and gained strength from their exercises.
Because Penny was so smart, even though she'd missed more than a year worth of school at Carramba, she tested in to the Junior grade and resumed her classes as much as she could around a still-growing gold dragon.
"She's very quiet," Hollis remarked during one class. "She hardly speaks to the others, except when they're in her space."
"That's all right," Penelope chuckled, "trust me, she's talkative enough for me to last a lifetime, and very little of it makes much sense..." She never bothered to accuse him of doing anything bad, her secret had been kept and he didn't make a deal of it either. But now, there would be a gold dragon for the school to show off - the dragon parades could attract tens of thousands to the school, and well worth the gawking and begs for rides. A dragon of her size could hold a family of four in addition to Penny, for a small fee donated to the school, and the trip over the city and beach would make a memory of a lifetime for most.
***
The years had been kind to Penny in ways that she could never have imagined. While she finished up her traditional schooling, she realized that it was important to come out of that shell she'd been in. Their eventual lifestyle would include posing for pictures, escorting dignitaries on tours over the coastline, but also Penny would return to help as a councelor for the school when people like her, with gender-issues, needed some help. While those things netted her a reasonable income, it would indeed be a few years later when she did hook up with someone... and the face of social engineering would never be the same...
Mostly because the people she hooked up with were... highly unusual and from perhaps the best place they could be from. Zekira, but descended from someone who'd been apt to drop in now and again and talk with the other profs as time went on. She learned from a few of the professors, in fact, how weird time behaved when you took into account the fact that numerous Zekiran people were ... immortal and living on another entire planet several million years after their planet had died out?
But Machell and her brother were also cousins, and their mother and father were spliced siblings who were humans living on Zekira. While that might have all made anyone else's head spin, Penny took it in stride. After all, Machell was super hot, and didn't mind hanging out in a hot tub with Penny-Boy. Ohmbarr helped Penny-Girl figure out ways to safely bathe and carry a child at the same time. Their kids Munell and Ohmun reside on Zekira for the most part though they're both quite capable of genrehopping without a dragon. That's never stopped Penny and Meradoth from visiting their 'homeworld' of Zekira, where they acquired a lot of help and acceptance!
All of that made Penny realize that her calling really should be more focused on social work. She got a teaching degree at C4 shortly before the entire system combined with Carramba's, and in the mid-20s she came back to Carramba to work full time.
Name: Meradoth
Species: Pernese Dragon
Gender: Female
Color: Gold
Size: medium-small 9' s / 44' l / 80' ws
Parents: Gold Ykauth x Bronze Shyveth
Abilities: Telepathy, Teleportation, Assisted Firebreath
Personality: Sensitive
Sociability: Only talks to her rider
Intelligence: Ditzy
Mating: Agile for her size
Threadfighting: Doesn't like to fight
Other: N/A
Bond: Penelope
Parents:
Clutch 3
Gold Ykauth & Bronze Shyveth
Bonded at: Sedona Weyr