Dreaming
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 28th August 2015
Characters: Alina
Description: Alina's nightmares disturb Imarith.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 7 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Zith
They were flying. Imarith had a belly full of fire and a gleam in her eye, and they flew confidently to meet the leading edge. But they were delivering firestone, too, and Alina threw until her arms ached while Imarith belched great gouts of flame to sear silvery Thread. But then the wind changed and Thread grew thick. Imarith screamed, then went silent as Thread wrapped itself around her neck and severed her head from her body, leaving Alina to scream alone as she fell from the sky.
~*~
Alina sat up and fought off the light sheet covering her legs. Her breath came in gasps. A dream-- she could feel Imarith stir on the ledge outside. Imarith, whose head was still attached to her fragile body.
The dream kept coming back in one form or another ever since she'd first Impressed. The Thread remained the same. Alina reached for the glass of water she kept by the side of the bed and downed it in one heady gulp. Just a dream.
}:What is wrong?:{
**I'm fine.** She set the glass down with a shaking hand. **It was just that dream.**
}:We will not die in Thread!:{ Imarith's mindvoice sounded strained.
**I know.** Wearily Alina put a lid on her own fear, taking deep breaths to help force it back down to manageable levels before rising and going to where her dragon crouched on her ledge. Imarith was pressed against the door, her back hunched and her wings drawn tightly around herself. Alina rubbed her hands over her dragon's snout and up to her eye ridges. The soft scrape of hide against palm was soothing to both of them. **We're going to be fine. We've seen Thread. We did fine.**
}:Then why do you dream that we will die?:{ Imarith asked plaintively. }:We are fast and strong!:{
The weyrling sighed and rested her forehead against her dragon's. **I don't know. Thread scares me, and sometimes people dream about the things that scare them. They don't do it on purpose. It just happens.**
Her dragon huffed, a slightly stinky exhalation of fear and spicy dragon musk-- and maybe a bit of the ovine that Imarith had eaten the day before. }:You should not be scared of Thread. I am not scared of Thread.:{
**I know.** How to explain it...? The night air held a bit of a chill, and Alina snuggled a little closer to Imarith to share her warmth. **Ever since Thread came back we were taught to be scared of it. Holders don't go outside when Thread is falling.**
}:You are not a Holder,:{ Imarith shot back. }:You are a dragonrider.:{
Alina sat between her dragon's forelegs and stared off the ledge and up into the stars, too awake now to go back to bed. Even if Imarith would let her. She could feel her dragon beginning to settle, but the green was still upset from her dream. For a moment she felt sorry for herself. Even her nightmares were no longer private, and had consequences. **Before I met you on the Sands I was a Holder, and since Thread came back all Holders are taught to stay inside when the warning bells ring. Thread that touches the ground will eat everything, and that's scary when you don't have your own dragon to protect you. You and I have only been together for half a Turn.** She rubbed the backs of her thighs through her nightgown, remembering the pain from Zith's claws, and the joy and terror of Impression. The puncture wounds had healed into a constellation of pink scars. The joy and terror remained. **A part of me still remembers all the warnings we were taught. All
the scary stories. And a part of me still wants to go inside when the warning bells ring instead of flying out to meet the Thread.**
}:I need you to fly with me.:{ Imarith curled her neck around her rider, tilting her head to look at Alina. }:We must go together. I will protect you, and you will protect me. That is the way it is.:{
**Of course I'll fly with you. I know I can't hide inside anymore.** They'd fly Thread with the Queen's Wing again, although there would be a hole where Satai and Talureth once flew. And soon her class would be real dragonriders. **I don't want to hide anymore. I want to be in the sky. I can't just do nothing...** Her mind circled back to Satai and she shuddered. Thread had eaten through Talureth's wing so quickly, dissolving it into ichor and air right before her eyes. If it hit the ground... intellectually she'd known what Thread could do and why it was so important to have the dragonmen in the air. But now that knowledge had become visceral. Bloody and real.
**We will be fine. I'm sorry to have woken you with my dreaming. Dreams mean nothing,** Alina said.
Imarith huffed quietly and rubbed her snout against her rider's legs. }:I chose you because you are the only one for me.:{
**I know. And I wouldn't have it any other way,** Alina replied. The night was so still, the view over the Weyrbowl speckled with stars. She wished she'd brought out a blanket, but the heat from her dragon's body soon made her drowsy. Her eyes closed, and she spent the rest of the night in a dreamless sleep, safe in the embrace of her dragon's wings.
Last updated on the September 1st 2015