An Infinitely Better Life

Writers: Miriah
Date Posted: 8th November 2017

Characters: Ninaine
Description: Ninaine reflects on the past Turn before a Threadfall
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 24 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: N'call, Teseada, A'kua

Ninaine

Ninaine finished strapping herself in as her wing got into formation.
She found the actions to be automatic, a far cry from just a Turn
previous when she
would have been a flurry of nerves. The past Turn had changed her, she realized,
even as she began to pull on her gloves. She felt far more content that she had
ever imagined possible. Living with N'call every day, talking to him,
and finding
more understanding of what her life was and should be…she felt happy.
She was happier by
far than she ever had been at the Hold. It wasn't the life she had expected for
herself; it was infinitely better.

Her gaze lifted to seek and find her weyrmate. He was not in her wing,
but it wasn't hard to pick him out of the assembly. She felt her face flush with
warmth at the memory of how he had wakened her that very morning.
Though he had never won
one of Luneth's flights, he was always there when she came home to show her the
difference between a flight and sharing a bed with someone who truly
loved her. He drew her out, made her laugh (and honestly infuriated
her sometimes),
but it was never dull. The man sometimes made an effort to prick her
temper, just
to get her riled up and as he called it, "fiery." And even though
occasionally he spent time with others, he came home to her and loved
her. She had grown to accept that aspect of
him too, even if sometimes she was struck by a bit of jealousy. But
she woke up to him in the morning; he'd never stayed away at night
unless absolutely
necessary. They'd agreed on that. He'd even said she could as well, but as of
yet, she'd not made the attempt. She was not quite yet comfortable
with that idea,
though one day perhaps she would be.

Even Luneth had changed. Her green had become relaxed and content as her rider
had become so. No longer did she snarl and snap at strangers, though
on occasion she glowered just to be prickly. She was a far cry from the manic,
neurotic hatchling she had once been. Ninaine felt that the bond
between them that had started so
tenuously was now firmly entrenched and held no doubts on either of
their parts. Luneth even sought affection from N'call and A'kua on a regular
basis, something that warmed her completely.

Yes, she was happy. She had found the life she needed. Even as a mother, though
she didn't spend a great deal of time with Callaine due to her duties.
She felt more secure there as well; no longer did the rambling toddler
fluster her
mother. She found her time with her daughter to be enjoyable and
sought out the child's
company when she could. She discovered that when N'call and Callaine
were both in
the weyr with her and sometimes even Teseada's child, and they were
enjoying dinner
or playing, she felt complete.

She settled her flight helmet over her head. The shorter hair cut had
shocked N'call; he'd not been expecting her to cut it again after she
had trimmed it
to shoulder length. She'd loved seeing that befuddled look on his face
and knowing that she'd surprised him yet again. After seeing so many
weyrlings cut their hair, she had
come to realize that the finger-length locks not only didn't make her look less
feminine, but it was also easier to manage and wash. Her parents
wouldn't have recognized her
and she knew now that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Patting Luneth, she double checked her straps and checked the
firestone bags. They were ready. At the signal, they leapt into the
air, following the
formation that they'd been given. Visualizations came and when ready,
they /betweened/ to
begin the fight for a wave of Thread.

When it came, they were ready. Luneth maneuvered though the wing with steady
grace and verve, searing the enemy with gouts of flame that would have made any
rider proud. Both were focused, Ninaine giving Luneth more firestone
as needed, then making signals for more stone. The wind picked up and
it was then that a mistake was made. A younger blue, recently
graduated, didn't correct for the shifting of the wind
and tumbled towards Luneth while furiously trying to right himself.
Quickly, Luneth went /between/ to dodge the errant blue and emerged
outside of the wing. Her
annoyance quickly asserted itself and she began to scold him for not
being careful and not paying attention.

Unfortunately, so irritated by his mistake, Luneth and Ninaine made
the same mistake he had. Focused on scolding the blue, Luneth didn't
dodge the wind swept Thread
that sheared right into her left wing. The roiling mass bit into her
wing sails and joints
even as she shrieked in pain and blinked /between/ to rid herself of
it. When they emerged, Luneth began to tumble wildly downwards, her
shredded wing
flailing and unable to sustain any semblance of flight.

Overwhelmed by Luneth's pain and terror, Ninaine could only scream and
hold on as they tumbled through the sky. She saw the ground growing
closer and before she closed her eyes to what she thought was
inevitable, saw a flash of bronze hide. Luneth hit the larger back in
a half tumble, and Ninaine heard a
sickening crunch and pop, then another flash of pain. Before she could
react or even know if it was from her dragon or herself, her own head
bounced against
something hard and blackness swarmed over her.

Last updated on the November 27th 2017

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An Infinitely Better Life