New Lives
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: Devin, Corrin
Date Posted: 30th March 2026
Characters: M'sar, Q'helias
Description: Two weyrlings touch base after their dragons reshape their lives.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 15 of Turn 12
It was way too sharding early and M'sar did _not _ want to get out of bed, but Nazoth's hunger was enough to get him up. Still half-asleep, he pulled his clothes on. "I'll get you food, don't worry. I'll never let you starve."
Nazoth didn't like the way that word felt. _Starve_. }:Of course not. You are my rider and you'll take care of me.:{
They headed over to the feeding tables, M'sar's steps a little unsteady as he tried to shake off sleep. He spotted Q'helias with his pretty little green and nudged Nazoth. "Let's go over there." Everything had been such a blur, M'sar hadn't had a chance to talk to him.
"Hey," M'sar said as he walked up. "She's a pretty one."
Nazoth snorted, a hint of red swirling in his eyes. }:Stop thinking of greens. I am a _brown_!:{
Q'helias' dark curls were rumpled, there was bright blood on his hands. The image was a far cry from how M'sar usually saw him, so neat and tidy in his harper blues-- but some of that sharp attention to detail was still there. It was in the way his sleeves were folded carefully back above the elbow. Folded, not merely pushed. It was in the precision and regularity of his knife cuts, the intense focus that he had for his task-- and now turned on M'sar.
"She is."
}: I am! :{
He couldn't help but smile as Lyrasanth sang her pleasure and assent in his head. She danced from foot to foot at his side, waiting for the next bite. His feelings on his Impression were... complicated, but the bond was all it had been promised to be. "I see you've gone and done it as well... And a brown no less."
"Didn't expect that at all." M'sar laughed and Nazoth's eyes grew more red. "Hey, calm down." He rubbed the hatchling's head. "He's mad I keep thinkin' about how I wanted a green."
}:You were not meant for them. You are _mine_!:{
}:He is obviously yours,:{ agreed Lyrasanth as she chewed the meat Q'helias just handed down to her. }:Why did he want anyone else?:{
"Why _did_ you want green?" echoed her rider in near unison, eyeing M'sar thoughtfully. "You'll have a lot more doors open to you on brown, when it comes down to it. Things are changing, but not very fast."
"Didn't think it was possible, with me bein' into men." M'sar cradled Nazoth's head, trying to soothe him. "Thought I could only get a green, or maybe a blue. Wasn't sad about that, either. Some guys here talk about greens like it's settling for less, and I never felt like that. They're fast and they can fly circles around the bigger dragons. Plus I liked the idea of winnin' every flight I was in."
"Flights? Seriously?" Q'helias scoffed softly, more at himself than M'sar. Of course he would be thinking about flights. Of course he wouldn't think it was settling for less. Not when he came from nothing.
"But it is less," he said softly, reaching out to comfort Lyrasanth as she felt the change in his thoughts. "Not in love--there couldn't be any love greater, sweetling--but in opportunity." He wasn't really talking to M'sar now.
M'sar quickly cut a few pieces of meat and started feeding Nazoth. "Didya want to be Weyrleader?" With someone else, M'sar might have been ready to tease the guy about being full of himself. But Q'helias was a Weyrleader's son, not just some holder boy with grand ideas.
Q'helias was quiet for a while, stroking his green's neck. When he spoke his voice was soft, as if that made the words easier and Lyrasanth less likely to spook. "I was a harper. A full harper, M'sar," he began by way of explanation. "I brought the light of knowledge to distant cotholds. I advised men twice my age on matters of law and finance and life. If I had continued, I might one day have guided the great Lords of the land."
His voice, his smooth harper voice, roughed and _cracked_. His eyes were bright with unshed tears. "I wanted to be more than a tiny cog in the machine."
Lyrasanth crooned-- or did she wail? She threw back her head and the noise rose and rose in pitch until Q'helias dropped down and wrapped his arms tight around her. "It's not your fault," he murmured. "It's not your fault," he lied.
The green's distress was enough to distract Nazoth from stuffing his maw. His eyes shifted to a hint of pale yellow. }:Why are you sad, Lyrasanth?:{
M'sar had stifled and ignored his sympathy for so long he did it by instinct. But he wasn't Holdless anymore. He was a dragonrider, and he didn't have to be cold to survive. He let that little prickle of unease in. Q'helias was always so put-together, so in control, almost emotionless. And now here he was, honest and vulnerable and almost broken. "You ain't less cause her hide is green. If anyone acts like you ain't good enough, I'll stab them. And that includes your fancy Weyrleader da."
}: I hurt him, :{ snuffled Lyrasanth, sad and confused. }: I hurt my Q'helias. :{
Face buried in his green's neck, Q'helias huffed a faint, dubious laugh. More a sharp breath than a laugh. "That's a lot of people to stab. Greenriders are barely starting to be accepted in rank these days. And I'm sure you know how the holds view them."
"I got a lotta knives," M'sar said. "And haven't stabbed anyone in _months_. Got some catching up to do."
Nazoth crooned and nudged Lyrasanth with a slightly bloody muzzle. }:It will be fine.:{
"You can't stab all problems," said Q'helias, finally looking up. "But... I appreciate the sentiment."
M'sar hesitated and then briefly, awkwardly, patted his shoulder. "Don't let anyone make you feel small."
"...Thank you." The words meant more to Q'helias than he would care to admit. The logical part of him protested that they were wrong, that it wasn't a matter of _feeling_ it was simply truth: his world was smaller now. But he was no smaller, no different. Not in his intellect or worth. One day he would prove that.
"We'd better get back to feeding," he said, straightening.
Last updated on the April 1st 2026