Official Gossip

Writers: Corrin, Heather
Date Posted: 5th April 2025

Characters: Sybana, A'ris
Description: The dragonets can now OFFICIALLY fly on their own, but that still doesn't mean they do it with grace.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 5, day 21 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Nosarre, M'thos

Sybana

A'ris

**Little to the left buddy I think you're going to -** A'ris hissed
and winced as Kyllavath swerved to avoid dinging his left wing on a
fence post near the feeding pens.

"Shards and shells," he breathed out a sigh of relief, and then
glanced over at Sybana. "I didn't realize how nervous seeing them
flying on their own would make me." They'd only just completed the
lesson this morning, complete with an extra check up with the
dragonhealers to make sure all the dragonets were fit and able after
their misadventure almost a sevenday ago. Now they were officially
free to fly about and strengthen their wings and discover their
bodies.

Sybana, who had been watching Galgaith take to the air with the same
mix of pride and unease, let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was
holding. “I know what you mean,” she admitted. “She’s so big, but
she’s still just a baby. It’s hard to wrap my head around.”

Galgaith, for her part, was climbing (relatively) high above them, her
already massive wings pumping with raw strength as she sampled the
freedom of flight. But even in her newfound skill, she remained
distinctly Galgiath -- less a creature of grace and more of sheer,
bullish determination.

}:Look how high I am!:{ the young gold crowed with delight.
Reflexively, she preened, fanning her wings high above her head-- and
promptly plummeted a few feet as the less than aerodynamic move failed
to hold her aloft. She foundered for a heart stopping moment before
her wings, flung wide, caught the air again and held her into a glide.
}:I meant to do that.:{

“She meant to do that,” Sybana relayed as the panic subsided. “But I
suppose I don’t need to tell you. Is it very distracting, hearing them
all?”

"It can be," A'ris admitted, "but that's why I don't listen all the
time. I had to work with a mind healer when I first got here, a lot,
to be able to tune them out. So I try _not_ to listen in, too much,
you know... Try to give the dragons their privacy." He chuckled a
little. "Sometimes it's hard though, when they're particularly
enthusiastic about their conversations."

Sybana considered that, tipping her head slightly as she tracked
Galgaith’s ascent. It made sense, she supposed--dragons weren’t
exactly subtle, and Galgaith was particularly loud, in every sense of
the word. The idea of hearing every conversation happening in the
Weyr, unfiltered, all the time… well, no wonder A’ris had needed help
learning to block it out.

“It sounds hard,” she agreed. “Galgi’s the only one I hear, and that’s
overwhelming enough sometimes.”

}:You like hearing me,:{ Galgaith corrected, utterly assured in this fact.

**Of course I do, darling.**

Sybana’s lips quirked, but she didn’t argue further. Instead, she
flicked a curious glance toward A’ris, a glint of amusement warming
her green eyes. “What’s the most entertaining thing you’ve ever
caught?”

"Well," A'ris hesitated, glanced around to make sure no one was near,
and then said in a low voice, "Weyrlingmaster M'thos, he and his
weyrmate, they uh... exchange messages between their dragons...." He
shook his head. "I can't repeat them without blushing and I wouldn't
want to tell them to a lady."

}:You look glorious,:{ Kyllavath said adoringly to his future queen as she flew.

}:I _feel_ glorious,:{ Galgaith replied, broadcasting pleasure and
pride at his words, his recognition of her greatness. Kyllavath was
being generous, there were a lot of inelegant moments that day as they
all tried their wings together. More than once, Galgaith lost altitude
due to inexperience and came plowing down in clumsily landings, but
the bronze had a point. There _was_ something admirable in the way she
galloped back into the air again, muscles rippling under the rich gold
of her hide. _This_ was what her bulk was for, what she was made to
do.

On the ground, it took Sybana a moment to digest what A'ris meant, and
then a rush of color bloomed high on her cheeks. It had never occurred
to her that dragons might say things like _that_.

"I didn't realize--" she began, then hesitated. She didn't really want
to pursue that awkward topic further, but that did bring to mind
something else that had been bothering her, something else she was
still trying to understand about M'thos.

"Is it true his 'weyrmate' is a bronzerider?" Her voice was lower now,
and she leaned closer to A'ris lest any of their still milling
classmates overhear. She had heard M'thos' sons talking about their
'dads' before, and frequently seen the weyrlingmaster in the dining
hall with a giant of a man, but the notion still seemed so strange to
her, so at odds with everything the hold had told her about those most
heroic of men. "I thought bronzeriders weren't... like that."

A'ris leaned toward Sybana automatically. His eyes glanced from side
to side. She'd lowered her voice and everything, as if this were a
secret and... Shells, she did smell nice, A'ris thought. "Like what?"
His voice was now as low as hers.

She smelled like white lilies and wealth.

And she was flustered, blushing again as he failed to catch her
meaning. Did she have to spell it out? She had a wild urge to just
abandon the subject, but there had been enough of that already and
A'ris _had_ mentioned the ‘weyrmate.’ This was her chance to get some
answers. Surely he knew more--was he being obtuse just to tease her? A
glance at his warm, earnest eyes quieted that cynical thought.

“I thought…” she said at last, voice barely above a whisper. “That
bronzeriders didn’t like men. Not like that.”

"Ooohhh," A'ris said slowly, but now his burnished skin also bore a
light blush. "I take your meaning now." He cleared his throat as he
watched Kyllavath testing out an air current. "I guess I didn't
realize that... Well... The color of your dragon doesn't really have
anything to do with who you sleep with... does it?" **Shards, I have
so much to learn about the Weyr.**

"...Apparently not," she said at last, dropping his gaze. Yet the
words felt strange on her tongue, a quiet challenge to everything she
thought she knew. Mortified, but determined to recover as gracefully
as possible, Sybana pulled back to a respectable distance and smoothed
her skirts with a wry laugh. "Please, please forget I even asked."

The stocky brownrider shot her a wink. "It'll be our secret."
Kyllavath went in for a landing, his wing tips digging rivulets into
the ground as he attempted to slow himself down. "Unfortunately, that
is _not_ a secret," A'ris said as several heads turned to look at his
brown's near-crash landing.

Sybana winced in sympathy before glancing over to check on Galgaith--
who was pushing roughly off a cliff face after a turn took her too
wide. "Nor that," she said, her tone dry but clearly fond. "I'm glad
they seem to enjoy practicing. They'll need a lot of it if we're
supposed to be on their backs in a sevenday."

"Do you ever feel like those who had dragonrider parents
might have an advantage there? I mean, I've only ridden a dragon one
time... and only remember half of the ride since I passed out when we
got to the Weyr." A'ris made a face. He still remembered the
overwhelming thrum of dragon voices that had clawed at his brain.

"Oh, absolutely. And I think they know it too-- that's why Nosarre
is... Nosarre." She waved vaguely at the other girl, who appeared to
be scolding her poor green across the weyrbowl. "I-- you passed out?"

"Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing, I mean, in hindsight since I wasn't
aware of anything at the time. Bluerider M'yvak, one of the
Searchriders, brought me in, but coming into the Weyr with _all_ those
dragons voices was overwhelming."

"I can't imagine. It must have been intense." If it had been a matter
of heights or bravery, she would have thought less of him, but a side
effect of his unique ability... That was understandable. "All this
time I'd been assuming that hearing them all must make you, well, more
powerful or something. Better with dragonkind. I didn't realize there
were drawbacks like that."

The thought of being seen as "more powerful" made A'ris laugh since he
saw himself as exactly the opposite. "I would say the drawbacks are
less now that I know how to control it. Although, I've heard from
other people that hear all dragons that things get rather intense when
a gold rises." His eyebrows lifted. "I guess I'll find out."

There were just no safe topics at the weyr, were there? But this one,
at least, was going to be her life. She shouldn't shy away.

"We'll both find out," Sybana said, almost grimly. "I've heard it gets
pretty intense in general..." And for the goldrider especially.
"That's another advantage the weyrborn have, I suppose. I've ridden
adragonback a few times, but I've never experienced... that."

**’That’? The intenseness of a flight or sex?** A’ris wondered but the
manners his mother had embedded in him forbade him for asking for
clarification.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine. Galgaith picked you, after all. That has to
count for something, right?”

Sybana straightened with a faint smile, cheered by that reminder.
"Yes. Yes, she did. And I intend to prove that she did not pick
wrong." High above them, the young gold wobbled through the sky.
"We'll get the hang of it, I suppose. And they will too."

Last updated on the April 15th 2025

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