The Weight of Waiting
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: KC
Date Posted: 1st June 2025
Characters: K'daen
Description: Kaedin is ruminating with a special token
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 28 of Turn 12
The quiet of his quarters pressed in like a living thing.
Kaedin sat on the edge of his cot, elbows resting on his knees, shoulders slightly hunched as though trying to fold himself smaller than the thoughts circling in his mind. The lamp on the small desk burned low, its flame flickering and casting long, restless shadows against the stone walls. The familiar scent of redwort and numbweed lingered faintly, but even that comfort tonight felt distant.
In his hands, he turned the small cloth pouch over and over, feeling the faint weight shift inside. The soft scrape of sand against fabric filled the silence, steady, rhythmic.
It wasn’t much. Just a simple drawstring bag, nothing special to anyone else. But to Kaedin, it held more than the handful of grains nestled inside. A pinch of sand from the Hatching Grounds, gathered after each time he had Stood. After each time he had walked off the Sands alone.
Not a new addition tonight. No recent Hatching. No new chances gained or lost. But sometimes, even without a fresh disappointment, the weight of the waiting crept up on him.
Kaedin squeezed the bag gently in his fist, feeling the familiar grit shift beneath his fingers. The sands were always hot beneath his feet during the ceremonies, burning just enough to remind him he was alive, standing in hope, standing in possibility.
And then, each time, walking away again.
He exhaled slowly through his nose, jaw tightening against the growing pressure in his chest. His amber eyes stared ahead, unfocused, seeing nothing and everything at once.
What if this is as far as it goes?
The thought whispered, unwanted but persistent. What if I Stand until I age out, and the Sands never call me back?
He clenched the bag tighter for a moment, then forced himself to release it, letting the pouch rest lightly in his open palm.
The bag wasn’t heavy. But the meaning of it was.
He thought of I’mrei and the others who had Impressed, of the bond he watched form again and again, that he quietly yearned for even as he cheered for his friends. He thought of the dragons he worked with daily, their vast presence, their personalities, their strength; and the space inside himself that still waited for his own lifemate to speak his name.
Kaedin closed his eyes briefly, grounding himself in the steady rhythm of his breathing.
**I still have work. I still have purpose. Even if they never choose me.**
But beneath that quiet resolve, the raw ache still pulsedn small, but alive.
His fingers brushed once more across the worn fabric of the pouch, then carefully, almost reverently, he placed it back into the small wooden box tucked beside his bed. It rested there among his few personal treasures: a carved dragon figurine, a polished stone gifted by his mother, and the neat stack of copied notes from his dragonhealing studies.
As he closed the lid, Kaedin straightened his back, drawing in a breath like armor slipping into place. The ache was there. It always was. But so was his resolve.
One day, he promised himself silently, as he always did.
The lamp flickered once more before he finally reached out to extinguish it, letting the darkness settle in, calm and steady.
Last updated on the June 10th 2025