Tomorrow

Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 30th July 2015

Characters: Alina, L'pin
Description: The day before the Blooding, Alina can't sleep...
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 13 of Turn 7

Alina

Alina bit her lip before lifting her hand to knock on L'pin's door. Tomorrow she and Imarith would be seeing Thread for the first time as they ferried firerock to the fighting Wings. Tomorrow their Blooding would begin.

She felt sick with dread, and she knew that L'pin knew it.

"Come on in," L'pin called. He was ostensibly re-reading an old book, but in reality, he was waiting for his weyrlings. It seemed a tradition for some of them to stop by, and it was one he dreaded and welcomed on about even terms.

"L'pin? Do you have a moment?" Alina stuck her head around the door and was grateful to see that her teacher was alone.

"I have plenty," he reassured her, setitng the book aside and settling back in the chair. "Go ahead, take a seat on the couch. How's Imarith feeling?"

"Excited." Alina crept into the room, closing the door behind herself before sinking into the couch cushions. "Well, she was. She's worn herself out and is asleep now."

"It's something about the thought of going up there. Chaneth always hates being held back to stay with all of you."

"Well, we appreciate it." Except Chaneth wouldn't be with them tomorrow. It would just be them and the sky, the weyrlings and Thread.

"They know what they're doing, and drills this last sevenday have been excellent. Did you have any followup queries?"

"Not really. I just..." **Don't want to do this.** But that wasn't an option when you had gone and Impressed a dragon. Alina looked down at her feet. "I'm nervous, that's all."

"I'm not worried about you, not at all," L'pin lied. He was in fact very worried about her. But telling her wouldn't help anything, would it? "You have a good head on your shoulders and have both performed excellently during drills."

So had Helvada. "Thank you," she said softly. "You know... I've never actually seen Thread before. I never snuck out in Threadfall." Except in her reoccurring nightmares.

He couldn't share what she was feeling at this moment. She knew what she was getting into, even if vaguely, even if they hadn't seen it. It was the specter that had hung over their heads from Impression to Blooding. His generation hadn't known any of that, had been carefree and invincible - until Thread fell again, breaking bodies and land and dreams and innocence all at once. The world he knew was too different from theirs.

But he could try his best to offer comfort, regardless. "We demonize it so much for so small a thing. In high altitude it looks like little wisps and tendrils, like the yarn we toss. On the lower levels it unspools more and becomes bigger. What you would have seen on the ground is nothing like it from the air."

She shuddered and rubbed her arms, trying to drive away the sudden goosebumps that rose on her skin. "You make it sound harmless."

"It's not entirely harmless. But it's not entirely a nightmarish menace, either. It just...is. Like a hurricane is, if that makes sense."

"I didn't like those much, either," she admitted. The hurricanes that swept through shook the foundations of the Weyr with thunder, uprooted trees, and stranded fish up on the cliff side.

"They're not the best thing in the world," he agreed. "I liked living at Weyrs that didn't do anything like that. But a hurricane doesn't mean to do what it does, and when we attribute too much to it, we make it worse on ourselves because of our fear. If that makes any sense at all."

"I know Thread isn't an animal." But that didn't make it any more understandable, or any less terrifying. She sighed. "Does anyone know what it is? I mean, what it's true nature is?"

"I think we knew long ago. We must have known, to make it go away for some time. It eats and burns kind of like an animal, but it's not very aware. I think some kind of parasite."

She shivered again. A parasite, or a natural disaster? Or neither at all? "Do you think it was people that made the Interval so long? Maybe we made it come back, too."

"I don't know how we could have. If anyone knows about that, the Starsmiths would."

"If they knew, they'd say something." Alina hesitated, then rose. "I'm sorry. I'm not really sure why I came here. I should probably go back to my weyr and try to get some sleep before tomorrow."

"You don't have to have a reason to stop by. I like seeing my students outside of lessons," L'pin reassured. "And not a lot of people humor an old teacher by discussing philosophy."

She wrinkled her nose. "You're not that old. And I'm certainly not smart enough for that." Although the implication that she _was_ smart enough to talk about philosophy was very flattering. Alina liked being smart.

He shook his head. "It's just thinking about the universe, and anyone can do that, even if few people do. Other perspectives is a good thing to have."

And it was also a good way to not think about Thread for a while. "I suppose. But... I should still go. Goodnight, L'pin."

"Good night, Alina. I'll see you tomorrow." Alive and well, he hoped.

She smiled faintly, then left to return to her weyr in order to try - and fail - to sleep.

Last updated on the July 30th 2015

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