Beyond the Farm

Writers: Duskdog, Heather
Date Posted: 8th November 2024

Characters: T'lonas, A'ris
Description: With another Hatching imminent, T'lonas interviews Aedris
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 27 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Eyvia, Lanniya, L'val, Neldor (rando NPC)

T'lonas

A'ris

Neldor caught Aedris in the middle of chores, leaning in through the
doorway just enough to give a tap on the wall to get his attention.
"Hey, Aedris, right? Weyrlingmaster told me to send you down to his
office. He's interviewing everybody, I guess, and your turn is up."
He grinned at him, bright and feral. "Don't have _too_ much fun."

He popped a candy in his mouth -- one of the handful that he'd
snatched from the dish on T'lonas' desk on his way out from his own
interview -- and disappeared back down the hall.

A sinking feeling entered the pit of Aedris' stomach. He'd been
avoiding the attention of _any_ of the Weyrlingmasters for as long as
possible. He was the perfect student in class. He completed all of his
chores. He stayed out of trouble. He did anything he could to take
attention away from the fact that he did not know how to read and
write. So far he'd had good luck with paying another Candidate to
write down any written work that was expected of him.

**It's okay, you can do this. Just get through the interview. And quit
sweating so much.**

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Aedris asked, poking his head in T'lonas' office.

T'lonas waved him in. "Aedris! Yes, I did -- come on in, have a seat!
Get comfortable, take a candy if you'd like. With eggs on the Sands,
I'm just giving everyone a good check to make sure that you're all
ready to face those dragons safely. And the consequences, should one
choose you." He grinned. "So, just in general: how are you feeling?"

A trickle of relief swept down Aedris's spine, allowing him to relax
enough to take one of the offered candies. "Good, sir. The only thing
I'm worried about is being able to keep my mental block up during the
Hatching. I've been working with mindhealer Eyvia and, for the most
part, I can block out the dragon chatter enough to focus. Events with
heightened emotions, however, are a little more difficult. I've never
seen a Hatching, but I imagine that might be an intense moment." That
was probably the most words Aedris had ever strung together before in
a single conversation.

T'lonas nodded slowly. It was something he worried about, too. "They
are definitely intense, with all the dragons focused in one place and
quite a lot going on. I'll confess, it may be a problem -- our most
important task during the Hatching is seeing to the safety of the
hatchlings and candidates. You becoming overwhelmed is obviously
unhealthy for you, but may also be distressing to the little dragons.
We've a month to go before the eggs crack, though, so still plenty of
time for you to work at it. I'll check in with Eyvia to see if there's
anything we can do to help you strengthen your blocks. I don't want to
have to bar you from your first Hatching, but we may need to if you're
not ready yet. Can I trust you to be honest about how confident you're
feeling, as we get closer to time? For your own sake, and the
dragons'?"

"I'm twenty Turns old, sir. I may be near the end of my time to Stand.
Please don't make me sit this Hatching out. I'll work very hard to be
ready by then, I promise." It was true that Aedris had never actually
planned on living at a Weyr. His highest hope had been to obtain work
as a kitchen drudge or some other physical work at Amber Hills. If he
had to scrub latrines to stay at Dragonsfall, he would. Now that he
could hear dragons, he didn't want to go back to being some nobody cot
farmer.

"We have to consider the safety of the hatchlings first and foremost.
But I promise, lad, we'll do everything in our power to help you so
that we don't have to make that choice." T'lonas smiled wryly. "With a
gift like yours, Impression may be more likely than most, though not
guaranteed. And we don't want to deprive that dragon of its choice...
if indeed yours is among this clutch. I'm glad to hear that you're
ready to work hard to secure your chance. It's a shame our
Searchdragons didn't find you sooner so that you had more time to
learn. Have you had the chance to speak to anyone else here who hears
dragons? L'val perhaps?"

"I spoke with Lanniya, sir, and I've been attending mindhealing
sessions regularly with Eyvia," Aedris said quickly, as if to prove
that he _was_ working on harnessing his ability to hear all dragons.
He might be Turns behind in Weyr knowledge as compared to the weyrbred
Candidates, ut Aedris was determined to bridge the gap with work
ethic.

"Everything I've seen indicates that you've been working hard, and --
perhaps more importantly -- working _willingly_. It does you credit,
young man. We all want you out there if at all possible, and I want
you to know that you'll have whatever support we can give to try to
make it happen." T'lonas nodded again decisively. He typically chose
to have faith by default -- they had another month to go, and with the
progress Aedris had made so far, he fully expected him to continue to
gain control of his ability. "Now, let me ask: why do you want to be a
dragonrider? There's no wrong answer here, necessarily, it just tells
me where your head is at right now."

Aedris knew why, but he wasn't sure he knew exactly how to explain it
to the Weyrlingmaster. "I guess, sir, I want to be a dragonrider
because I want my life to have... purpose? Not that other people
don't. I mean, I grew up on a farm, I know farmers have purpose,
but.... That's just not the kind of purpose I want. I'm hoping for
_more_."

"I see. And you're aware of the sacrifices that might be necessary?
Your life is obviously the biggest one... but even if that never
happens, there are other things that could happen. Impression changes
your life, and your priorities, forever. You'll never be alone again,
which can be a bit of a double-edged blade sometimes. And weyrling
training itself is difficult. A lot of work on very little sleep,
feeling feelings that aren't always your own, while learning to do
dangerous things. You're aware of all of that, and prepared to face
it, should you Impress?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I come from a farm in the middle of
nowhere that produced barely enough for us to even live outside the
Hold walls. If I had stayed there, my life would have consisted of one
parcel of land, and farming it until I died. So all of the things you
said, never being alone? Perfect, I hated the isolation of the farm.
Difficult Weyrling training? I've worked long, physical hours from sun
up till well past sundown since I could walk. Feeling feelings that
aren't always my own? Perfect, then I won't have to just dwell on
myself. I'm not trying to say I think being a dragonrider sounds
_easy_, just that, I'm ready for my life to change in every way
possible." Aedris wondered if the Weyrlingmasters always tried to get
Candidates to drop out of Standing, or if there was something in his
pedigree that the Weyrlingstaff at Dragonsfall secretly found lacking.
Maybe they didn't want him for one of their dragons.

T'lonas smiled, nodding, as he wrote some notes on that. His job, as he saw it, was to make sure that every potential weyrling pair was as healthy and harmonious as possible -- which meant finding out who might not be suitable to stand at all, true, but also finding out any potential issues that might not preclude someone from Impressing, but might still cause issues with their bond or their well-being in general. He liked to be prepared.

"That's... well, that's good to hear. Not that you've lived the sort of life that makes you need such a change, I mean, but that you're more than open to it. It's not unusual for candidates -- particularly the holdbred, though not always -- to know what to expect in a general way, but not necessarily be prepared for the real nitty-gritty of it. The fact that you do is refreshing. And you seem very sure of what you want, what's required, and you're willing to put in the work." He closed his notebook. "I believe I'll be proud to have you in my weyrling class, Aedris, should your dragon be on the Sands now."

Aedris felt relief trickly through him. He had successfully convinced the Weyrlingmaster that he could stay. At least, that's what it felt like to him. "Thank you, very much, sir. I promise, I won't let you down."

Last updated on the November 9th 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Beyond the Farm