A Different Angle

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 8th April 2019

Characters: R'fal, T'lin
Description: T'lin helps R'fal with a report
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 15 of Turn 9

T'lin

~*~

R'fal sat with his back to Marlath's side, looking out over the lake as
the evening shadow crept across the Weyr bowl. He'd decided to avoid the
dining cavern this evening, as he knew he needed to concentrate on this
assignment, but he didn't really feel like working alone in his weyr either.

The weyrling leaned back against his dragon's warm hide, feeling it rise
and fall with his sleepy breaths, and visualized the patterns they'd
practiced that morning. That wasn't too hard, but putting them into
words on a page was proving difficult. He'd learned to describe a place,
or a person, or even a sweepride - but a formation was a challenge.

"Hey R'fal." T'lin waved to his fellow weyrling. He'd come out to
enjoy the evening breeze coming off the ocean.

"Hi, T'lin." R'fal looked up from his work. He suppressed a pang of envy
at the thought that T'lin had likely already completed a flawless report
on the formations, and smiled. "Out for an evening stroll?"

"Yeah." T'lin put his hands on his hips and drew in a deep breath.
"Taking in a little cool air."

"Me too. I'm hoping it'll clear my head and help me study." He
gestured towards the work he'd brought out with him.

"Struggling with formations?" T'lin guessed.

"Yes. I understand them when we're in the air, or when the
Weyrlingmaster explains them. But writing about them..." R'fal shook his
head, frustrated. "It's harder. And I really want to do well on this
assignment." Like all the weyrlings, he knew that their training was
almost over. There wouldn't be many more chances to prove his written
work had improved enough to graduate with his classmates.

"Need any help? I'm good with patterns. I specialize in design for my
Craft training so I have experience with diagrams and descriptions."
Wing formations had some similarities with machines, the parts
intended to move a certain way to keep the whole unit running.

"I could use some help. I've been staring at this for a while and
getting nowhere," R'fal admitted. "But you were out for a relaxing
evening. I don't want to ruin that."

T'lin shrugged. "I don't mind. I wanted to be outside and here I am."
He moved to sit next to his fellow weyrling.

"I've drawn the diagrams. That wasn't too hard." R'fal showed him the
drawings he'd made of the formations they'd experimented with earlier.
He'd actually enjoyed that part of the class, until he realized they'd
have to write it up. "And I know they're based on the formations the
Weyrlingmasters taught us. But then we have to write down how they're
different, and what effect it had..." He sighed helplessly. "I can see
the pattern, in my head, but I can't think of the right words."

"I know that feeling." T'lin looked over the formation drawings with a
thoughtful frown. "Could you explain to me how the formation works?"

"This one's like the V-shaped formation that we learned." R'fal pointed
to one of the diagrams. The standard shape had been one of the first
that they'd learned, even before they'd started flying, in ground
drills. "The Weyrlingmaster said that it's good in strong winds, so the
smaller dragons can shelter behind the bigger ones. I wondered how it
would be if one of the legs of the V was longer than the other, like if
the wind was coming from one direction...but it didn't work as well."

"Lengthening one side of the V to compensate for a wind coming from
one side?" T'lin said. "So you'd have bigger dragons blocking from two
sides, the front and side?"

"Yes, that's what I thought. But when we tried it, the dragons on the
shorter leg had an awful lot of work to do to flame their ropes, and
some got through. Plus, when the wind changed direction slightly, the
greens on the end of the longer leg weren't as protected. We had to
shift them to the other side, which was complicated, even without Thread
falling." He frowned. "Maybe it's because we're only weyrlings. If we'd
been more experienced, we might have been able to do it better."

"You should write all that out," T'lin said with a smile. "I think
it's just as important to understand why something _doesn't_ work, and
you understood that just fine."

"Well, talking about it helped, too. It beats staring at a blank
hide." R'fal picked up his pen to make notes. "Somehow that makes my
brain lock up. All I can think of is what will happen if I don't write
something."

"Oh yeah, the dreaded blank hide. Sometimes you just have to look at
things from a different angle."

"Yes. I never thought of writing about what didn't work about the new
formations we tried," R'fal said. "I was racking my brain to think of
what went well. But the standard formations the Weyrlingmasters taught
us must have been in use for hundreds of Turns. When you think about it,
it would be more surprising if we weyrlings did come up with a better
one." He smiled. "And if someone did, it would likely be you, not me."

T'lin laughed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. We're all good at
different things, though. I think you're smarter than you give
yourself credit for."

The brownrider ducked his head. "If I can just be smart enough to
graduate to the Wings with the rest of you, I'll be happy. I don't want
to let Marlath down, you know? He wants to fight." He rested a hand on
the brown's side. "More and more, every day."

"You'll graduate, don't worry. And if you need help, don't be afraid
to ask." T'lin didn't want his clutchmate to be left behind.

"Thanks." The words lifted R'fal's spirits. T'lin was one of the
cleverest people he'd ever met; if he thought he had a chance at
graduating with the others, it must be possible. "But even if I don't,
it won't be so bad. I'll still have Marlath, and live here in the Weyr.
That's more than most people get in life."

"True. And you _will_ make it into the wings. You'll get to risk your
life just like the rest of us." T'lin laughed to lighten up the
comment.

"I can't wait." R'fal picked up the hides with a grimace. "But I
definitely won't if I don't get started on this."

Last updated on the April 12th 2019

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A Different Angle