Starry-Eyed Weyrlings

Writers: Estelle, Leigh M-F.
Date Posted: 2nd March 2018

Characters: R'fal, L'exan
Description: R'fal gets advice, a wake-up call, and a glimpse into the past at the Feast.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 17 of Turn 9

R'fal watched the dragon carrying his parents soar above the Weyr, gaining
height and diminishing in size until they finally vanished /between/, and felt a
tightness in his throat. He wished for a moment that they hadn't had to leave so
early. He was on his own now, that was for sure.

Except he wasn't. In the back of his mind he could feel Marlath's warm,
reassuring presence, even though the little brown hatchling was now fast asleep,
filled with food. Which reminded him - Marlath might be full, but he wasn't, and
mouth-watering scents were starting to waft out from the dining cavern. He
hurried inside and queued to heap a plate high with food before looking around
for a place to sit. The cavern was crowded with weyrfolk and visitors, and he
wandered about a bit before spotting an empty space at a table, just big enough
for him to squeeze into.

"Excuse me - is it all right if I sit here?" The people there were mostly adults
and he hoped he wasn't pushing his way into a table that had been claimed by a
group of wingriders, but there was nothing else for it - he was starving!

"More than all right, weyrling!" L'exan jovially exclaimed, immediately shifting
over as much as he could so the newly Impressed lad could have a seat. "Quite
the handsome brown you got there, kid. How you holding up?" Some weyrlings wound
up in a daze that lasted for at least a couple days, others practically exploded
with glee, and still others felt doubts and insecurities about their worthiness,
or how to adjust to another mind meshed with theirs. Thus, it never hurt to ask.

"I'm..." R'fal tried to find words. "I can't quite believe it's real! I only
just got here, and this amazing thing's happened to me, and Marlath is the most
perfect brown ever..." He realised to his embarrassment that he was babbling and
probably not making much sense. "I mean, I think I'm holding up fine, bluerider,
sir."

L'exan guffawed and a few of the other diners also cracked up, but not
maliciously. "We know the feeling, kid," the bluerider said, giving R'fal a
friendly clap on the back. "You got enough to eat there, right? You're going to
need bigger meals for a while now," he added with a hint of parental concern.

"I am?" R'fal started tucking in to his dinner with relish. There was definitely
more to eat here than he'd ever had back at the hold, although perhaps that was
because it was a Hatching day.

"Of a surety, as my daughter would say," L'exan told him. "You're gonna be
working hard, man. Being a weyrling's exhausting. Lots of physical and emotional
work, so be sure to nap when you can, get klah when you can, and eat hearty
whenever you can.You gotta be at your best for this, so all that will help."

The new weyrling's eyes widened. He hadn't really considered what would happen
after he Impressed, mainly because it had seemed so unlikely. Of course, he'd
daydreamed about the glory of flying and fighting Thread, but he'd never thought
of those as work. What if he couldn't live up to what was expected of a rider?

Trying to put those fears aside, he managed a slightly nervous grin. "Well, I
don't have a problem with eating hearty!"

"And that's as good a start as any," L'exan assured him. "You'll pick up the
rest in no time during your classes. And there's bound to be people who can help
out should you need it."

"I hope so. I think I might need it more than most, being from a hold and all.
Do you know the Weyrlingmasters?" R'fal asked, curious. He'd not been in the
Weyr long enough to get much of an idea of what they were like, although he
suspected that was about to change.

The bluerider shook his head. "Not well," he admitted. "The staff was different
when I was a weyrling, and that time was a while ago."

"Are you actually admitting you're old?" another male rider at the table sassed.

"Not as old as you, gray-beard," L'exan quipped, and raised his glass to the
other man, who just laughed. "But if it helps, I haven't heard complaints about
the current staff. Especially not L'pin. He's a real caretaker type."

"That's good to know." Hopefully he'd manage to follow his mother's advice and
stay out of trouble and on the right side of the weyrlingstaff, but R'fal had to
admit his good intentions hadn't always been enough in the past. "So, you
Impressed here at Dolphin Cove? You didn't transfer here?"

L'exan shook his head. "I Impressed at Thayan Peak," he corrected. "Lots of us
did, actually." For a moment, the admission made him pause and realize just how
much had changed from the time he was nineteen to now. But then again, so much
was still the same. Like starry-eyed, newly Impressed weyrlings.

Thayan Peak...R'fal thought he remembered his parents mentioning that name, and
an earthquake. Not for the first time since he'd come to the Weyr, he wished
he'd paid more attention to his history. "That must have been before the Pass!"

"Now you're really making me feel old, kid," the bluerider cracked, smiling to
show he wasn't offended.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean..." It did seem like an awfully long time ago to
R'fal, who had only vague memories of life before the return of the Red Star,
but he realised it probably wasn't to most people. "I just thought it must have
been so different then, without Thread to fight."

"Hey, hey, relax; I was joking," L'exan said quickly, trying to be reassuring.
"And it was different. We enjoyed it while we could. But it was still hard work,
mind."

"Did you fight Thread that first time, when it came back?" the boy asked, his
eyes wide. Now that sounded exciting!

"Of course we did," L'exan said with abrupt, surprising seriousness. "We all did
unless we were too sick or injured to fly. We had to."

"It was scary, no doubt about it," a lady with greenrider's knots and graying
hair said with a shudder.

"Wow." R'fal looked at the dragonriders surrounding him in awe. They had all
fought in that first Fall - an event for harpers to sing of - and he was sitting
and eating dinner with them. It made him feel slightly dizzy. And yet, they
didn't seem prideful at all. Sad, maybe, and solemn. Perhaps they'd lost
friends. He'd known that Thread was deadly, of course, but he'd never actually
seen it and somehow it hadn't quite seemed real until now.

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it - not at a Hatching feast," he said,
hesitantly. "I'm really sorry, sir, ma'am. I haven't been here very long, and I
don't know the customs."

"Eh, maybe," the greenrider said with a shrug.

"Or maybe it's the best time to ask," a slim, older man in bluerider's knots
commented. "You Holder kids are always, always unprepared for anything
Weyr-related, or the danger and hard work involved with Threadfall. All you hear
about's the harper tales of glamor and-"

"You shut it, B'dorb," L'exan chided, and brazenly took the man's goblet away.
"You always get this way when you drink too much, and yes, I know that's rich
coming from me. Go get some food, sober up, and find your mind-healer." He
turned back to R'fal. "Don't listen to him just yet. Maybe Holder kids don't
know Weyr customs, but you already got a wake-up call that you were willing to
listen to, and that means a lot." He gave the weyrling a friendly pat on the
shoulder. "Your apology's accepted on my part-"

"Mine too," the greenrider broke in.

"-so try not to worry, okay?" L'exan finished. "Like I said, you'll get it all
figured out. Just love your brown, get your rest and klah and food, and pay
attention in lessons. It'll work."

"Eat, rest, study, love Marlath." The new weyrling smiled. They were right - he
had enough to concern himself with for the moment without worrying about Thread.
"I think I can remember that!"

The burly bluerider nodded approvingly, and went back to his own food.

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Starry-Eyed Weyrlings