Talk to the Experts

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 21st March 2019

Characters: Alina, Palbran
Description: Alina needs expert help to deal with Stumpy
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 5 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: J'ackt, Elana

Alina

Imarith came out from /between/ late in the day, long after drills were over and the sun was starting to edge toward the horizon. It was twilight at the Weyr but here, at Nadol Cothold, the day wasn't quite done. The fields beneath the green dragon's wings were beginning to blush with green as spring made the land soft. Imarith circled twice over the cothold before landing in the little courtyard. It wasn't long before a few children had gathered around Imarith to scratch her eye ridges.

Alina have a hello but didn't bother dismounting. "Where's Palbran?" she asked the children.

"Picking stones in the south fields," one of the older children, Carlith, said solemnly. "When are you going to take us to the Weyr, Alina? I want a dragon too."

"You'll go if you get Searched and if your parents let you," she replied crisply. "Imarith?" To the children's dismay, she coaxed her dragon back into the air to make the journey to the south fields. It was a relief to get away from the cothold brats she'd grown up with. Neither she nor her twin sister, Elana, had been asked to babysit very often, but the children were still too familiar and all of them were getting so much older and bigger. The greenrider found that she had no desire to see any of them Searched and having to figure out the Weyr. They were better off where they were.

The road from the cothold wound along the river until branching off to the south fields. She could see several stooped figures pulling stones from the unplanted field and piling them near the wall. One of them straightened long enough to spot the approaching dragon and waved. Alina held a hand up in greeting and directed Imairth to land near the wall, away from most of the workers. From dragonback she could hear one of the cotholders shout, "Palbran! It's your sister."

A moment later and her little brother was running across the field toward her. Alina managed to undo her straps and slide down Imarith's side before he reached her. Palbran hit her with a hug that was enough to make her stagger. "Hold up!" she said, laughing. "Hello to you too!"

"It's good to see you! But why are you here?" Palbran pulled back, then wrinkled his nose. "You're wearing _pants_!?"

Alina looked down and suddenly wished she'd remembered to change before visiting her home. "I, uh... yes?"

"Women don't wear pants. What if someone _sees_ you?" He looked over his shoulder at the other men in the field, and then back at her with wide, worried eyes. "We should go talk on the other side of the fence. Unless we're going flying?" he asked, suddenly eager.

Alina shook her head. "I actually just wanted to come talk with you."

Palbran made a face, then shrugged. "All right. But on the other side of the fence." He took a couple of running steps and vaulted over the stone wall, landing lightly on the other side.

Alina followed a little more sedately, although she did mentally chuckle a little at the fact that her brother was concerned about her dignity but didn't bother to offer a helping hand over the stone wall. They sat on the other side with their backs against the sun-warmed stone. Alina closed her eyes for a moment and let the familiar scent of woods and grasses and tilled earth roll over her. Beneath it was the spicy musk of a dragon. The old and the new. For a moment, she let herself drift in the liminal space between her fractured lives.

"So how come you're here?" Palbran asked, interrupting her daydream.

The greenrider sighed and opened her eyes. "I have a problem that I hope you can help me with. I'm... taking care of my friend's canine while he's ill, and this beast is..." she shook her head. "He's chewed up several of my riding straps and one of my sandals. And every time I go to take him out, he pulls on his leash so hard I feel like I'm going to lose an arm. And even though I don't want him to, he climbs _onto_my_bed_ every night. It's only been three days and I'm losing my mind. You've trained canines. What do I do?"

"Wait." Palbran held up a hand. "The canine is in your _bedroom_?"

She shrugged. "I know, it's weird. But the Weyr is more like a Hold than a cothold. Some people want pets and there's just not the space to have them all outside."

"But on your _bed_. Gross." Palbran leaned over and inhaled deeply. "Yup. You stink."

"Do not!" Alina shoved him over and the boy flopped to one side dramatically. "And I don't want him on my bed at all!"

"Uh huh." Palbran sat upright again with a gleam in his eye. "Sure. You want someone to cozy up to at night..."

"Just stop. Tell me what to do."

The boy thought for a moment. "Does the canine know how to sit on command?"

Alina thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe? I never really thought to try."

"If he doesn't, start with that one. You can get something tasty from the kitchens and put it in a belt pouch. Just little pieces is fine. Then put him on a leash and tell him to sit. You can put the treat in your fist and put it just beyond his nose, then move it back behind his head. Like this," Palbran said, demonstrating the movement. "He'll probably sit. When he does, give him the treat and lots of praise. And then do it a bunch more times until he gets it." He paused. "Then do it every day, a couple times a day, until he _really_ gets it."

That seemed doable. "What about the pulling?"

Palbran thought for a moment. Just then, Imarith stuck her head over the wall and arched her neck so that she was within reach of Palbran's fingers. The boy grinned and started scratching exactly where she wanted, and the dragon closed her whirling eyes with bliss. "Hey... who makes Imarith's harness?"

"I do," Alina said. Her brother looked at her in surprise, and she shrugged. "Every dragonrider makes their own harnesses. They teach you when you Impress."

"Huh." He was silent for a moment. "Maybe make the canine a harness to, with a ring at the front, on his chest." Palbran stopped scratching Imarith to poke his own chest, right in the middle. Imarith rumbled her disappointment and he went back to scritching her. "Next time you take the canine out, put the lead there. Then if he pulls, the leash will pull him off balance. He won't be able to get as much traction as when the leash is around his neck."

"And the chewing? The Headwoman will kill me if I go ask for more shoes."

"He's probably bored, being in a weyr instead of running around outside. Maybe run him more in the evenings, and give him stuff to do."

What did canines like to do? Alina thought for a moment. "Like, give him a bone or something?" She wrinkled her nose. "I don't want a smelly bone in my weyr."

"So give him something else. Some leather scraps or something. Or a ball." Palbran shrugged. "Anything, really."

The greenrider sighed. "I'm desperate enough to try anything you suggest. Thank you."

"Must be some friend, if you're taking care of his bad canine," Palbran said. He paused hopefully, transparent in his desire to hear stories of the weyr.

His sister was not obliging. The last thing she wanted to do was reveal that J'ackt was the friend she was taking care of Stumpy for. The bronzerider might have been able to shake his past at the Weyr, but his past lingered in the minds of many cotholders. "He's a good friend, and Stumpy's not _that_ bad a canine. And _I_ want to hear about Nadol. What's mother mad about these days?" she asked, steering the conversation away from the Weyr. Palbran was only too happy to regale her with tales of home, and by the time Alina and Imarith went back to Dolphin Cove Weyr they had a whole lot of new stories to go with Palbran's training advice.

Last updated on the March 23rd 2019

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