Usual Meeting Spot

Writers: Francesca
Date Posted: 7th April 2024

Characters: Arrilon
Description: While Arrilon waits for his sister, he meets Lindora and they chat.
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 13, day 14 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Kamalia

It was early afternoon as Arrilon left the Hall, his green firelizard
excitedly flying above him. She knew it was time for their monthly
outing with her favorite dragon, Alaudath. When he had transferred to
the Hall, Arrilon had been worried the meetings with his sister would
become less frequent, but so far, it had not been a problem.

The sun shone down from a cloudless sky, feeling good on his neck and
back. He had a bag with some items from the kitchens, as well as a
towel and bathing suit. At their last meeting, they had decided to go
to a beach, which is what they usually did. While he was glad to have
left Dolphin Cove Weyr, he did miss being able to go to the beach
every day. He was still surprised sometimes at how pale his skin was
when he looked in the mirror, having spent Turns with a tan.

Arrilon reached their usual meeting spot and took a seat on the grass
to wait. Joy came down to sit on his knee, begging for food and
caresses. "No food yet," he told the firelizard with a smile, but did
rub an eyeridge. "When we get there. You know the rules." Joy gave a
small noise of complaint but happily accepted his touch.

When about a quarter candlemark had passed and the greenrider and
dragon did not appear overhead, he became mildly annoyed. "What's
keeping you?" he muttered to himself, thinking back to other times
something had interfered with their meeting. He did not think Alaudath
was due to rise and it was not a Threadfall day, so she should be
there. He gave a frustrated sigh and stretched his legs out, preparing
for a longer wait.

"Everything ok?" a voice said from behind.

Arrilon started, head whipping around to look at who was there. His
eyes met the light brown eyes of a young woman in a simple light green
dress. She had long dark brown hair pulled back into a braid and it
took him a moment to place her.

"Lindora," she supplied, noticing his confusion.

"Ah, right. I've seen you around the Hall. You work in the kitchens?"

Lindora nodded and gave a small smile. "I heard your sigh and, I
didn't mean to interrupt, but I just wondered if everything is all
right."

"Yes, I'm fine," Arrilon replied. "Just waiting for someone." It was
not against any rules to leave the Hall with a dragonrider, especially
as a journeyman. However, he preferred not to speak about it, knowing
some would view this as another sign that he was not really fit for
life at the Hall.

"Ah. A lady friend?" Lindora asked, her smile widening.

"No!" he said quickly. "My sister." After a pause, he decided it was
better to just tell the truth, hoping to forestall any strange rumors.
"She's a greenrider and we meet up when we can."

"Oh! That's nice. Is she at Dolphin Cove Weyr?"

Did everyone at the Hall know his story? Arrilon assumed the other
journeymen did, but had not thought beyond them. It was strange to
think the kitchen staff might talk about him. "She's at Dragonsfall
Weyr. We're originally from Amber Hills Hold, so that's where she was
Searched." He didn't mention his own failed Candidacy. "Did you grow
up at the Hall?"

Lindora nodded, approaching and taking a seat a few feet from him. "My
father is Dalinor. He works in the archives. You might know him?"

Arrilon absolutely knew him. Aside from the Master Archivist, Dalinor
was the Master he worked with most frequently in that space. It was
both interesting and a little nerve wracking to be having a
conversation with his daughter. Would she mention the conversation to
him? Was this even appropriate? They were outside, and sitting at a
distance from one another, but he had walked a ways from the Hall to
meet Kamalia and her green to avoid creating a scene.

"I've worked with him a bit" he acknowledged. Then, not sure what else
to say, asked, "Were you out for a walk?"

Their conversation continued, Arrilon not sure why Lindora had decided
to speak to him but unable to leave the location. He learned about her
siblings, her dislike of most vegetables, and her interest in reading
stories of adventure. He kept hoping Kamalia's arrival would interrupt
them, but after at least another quarter candlemark had passed,
decided she must have completely forgotten about their meeting.

When their conversation reached a lull, he said, "I'm going to send
Joy to figure out what's going on." The green was not a reliable
messenger in general, but did enjoy seeing Alaudath, so he was fairly
confident she would listen to her instructions.

After a chirp, Joy launched herself into the air and disappeared /between/.

They did not have long to wait before Joy returned, sending him a
series of confusing images: Alaudath with what looked like a wound,
Kamalia luckily looking ok, and a man Arrilon had never seen before.
After some coaxing to try to get as many images from the firelizard as
possible, Arrilon was fairly sure they were not in their weyr, meaning
Alaudath was probably in the infirmary. He kept track of when Thread
fell over Dragonsfall Weyr's territory and knew Kamalia and Alaudath
would have fought Thread three days prior. Had they been Scored? If he
had stayed at Dolphin Cove Weyr, would she have been able to tell him,
rather than him finding out this way? He kept cycling through the
images from Joy, trying to see how badly Alaudath was injured, and if
Kamalia had any wounds, but he did not have much to go on.

Joy suddenly took off /between/ without giving any indication of where
she was going, and Arrilon's attempts to call her back were met with
silence. His mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to go to
Kamalia. Even though he logically knew he could not help, he felt an
enormous urge to be in the same room as her. Even just hearing the
story second hand, or in a letter, was not going to be enough.

Lindora's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are they going to be ok?"
She had pieced together his words to Joy enough to know something had
happened.

"No. Something happened to Alaudath. Maybe a Threadscore?" Arrilon
quickly stood, automatically brushing the grass from his pants. "I
need to go find a way to get to her." And without worrying about being
rude, he headed off at a brisk walk back towards the Hall.

Lindora watched him go, surprised, but not offended. With an internal
shrug, she stood herself and headed back in the same direction, albeit
at a much slower pace.

Last updated on the April 11th 2024

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Usual Meeting Spot