What It Takes: Reflection (4/4)

Writers: Shawna, Corrin
Date Posted: 11th April 2026

Characters: Sybana, Zariah
Description: Sybana and Zariah reflect on the night’s outcome.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr, Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 22 of Turn 13

Sybana

Zariah

“Let’s go.”

The echoes of Panitath’s rising still hung in the air when Sybana ran up to Relsath in the bowl, face flushed, curls loose and wild under her helmet, wearing an over-large shirt that clearly wasn’t her own. She reached the green and went straight for the straps, hands unsteady but determined, climbing up with more haste than grace. She didn’t wait for Zariah.

Zariah didn’t try to hide her smile as she rose to her feet. “Everything alright?” She didn’t actually wait for a response, pulling herself up onto Relsath after the goldrider.

Relsath, for her part, gave Sybana a side-eye, but otherwise didn’t flinch while she got settled, and as soon as her rider finished checking straps, the green launched herself into the air. After the brightness of Dolphin Cove, the darkness of Dragonsfall left Zariah practically blind as Relsath glided back to her ledge at a much more leisurely pace than she’d used to land at Dolphin’s Cove. “Well, how did it go?”

“Not well,” said Sybana in a small voice, her fingers tightening on the straps. “He gathered his wits faster than I did… He wanted to know my name. I-- I panicked. I told him it was Zariah.”

“Well, unless this was his second time, too, he has more practice than you would re-gathering your wits,” Zariah pointed out with a small smile. “But… you are very lucky you apparently didn’t pick a reader from the bunch.” After a pause, she clarified by pointing at Relsath and saying, “Book dragon.” She leaned against the wall by her door, surprisingly not inviting Sybana in to sit down. It was dark, the odds were good there was still a bronzerider waiting in her nice warm bed.

“I didn’t even think of that. A reader--” Sybana let out a breath, sharp with regret and relief. “That would have been bad.”

But the relief was short-lived.

“That’s still a bronzerider who’s seen me. A lot of me,” she went on, agitation creeping in as she climbed down to join Zariah in the ledge. “Do you… do you think he'll remember? Do _you_ remember all your flight partners?”

She remembered L'keri quite keenly, but then, he had been her first and only.

Zariah was quiet for a moment, trying to decide if it was kinder to say yes, or no. Ultimately, she decided on the truth, “I think the fact that he had the wits to ask your name means he won’t completely forget. I HAVE had flights I barely remember anything from, but those weren’t the flights where we talked afterwards.”

Her smile broadened, “At least you made enough of an impression he asked your name. I once had one cry and leave without doing that.”

“I wish he _had_ just cried and left,” Sybana insisted forcefully, oblivious to the fact that the man from that particular anecdote was currently sleeping in Zariah's bed, as he frequently did these days. “I wasn't supposed to make an impression! This was just meant to be a chance to practice, to learn _something_ before the next clutch is on the line, and now--” she broke off with a helpless, frustrated gesture. “Now there’s a bronzerider out there who knows my face, and your name, and I've learned almost _nothing_ new!”

“I’m sorry you didn't get what you wanted from this adventure, but you did get more experience with flights. You’ll be going into your next flight with more experience than you had yesterday. And I can promise you, it gets easier with time.“ Zariah took a half step towards her.

“I don't _have_ time,” Sybana snapped and immediately flinched because she heard how ungrateful and petulant it was.

“I’m sorry, it's just-- Ashela’s gone. Lanniya’s gone. Tabanirth doesn't rise. How many small clutches can Chioneth compensate for? Dragonsfall dissolved a wing recently. We need more riders, not fewer. I _have_ to improve. This has to be something I _can_ improve. Otherwise--” Her words, though hushed, were coming out in a rush, a rush that faltered and fractured abruptly as it butted up against her fears.

“Otherwise what _am_ I, Zariah? Just a prize for them to catch?”

Standing in the predawn gloom, Sybana sounded young and desperate and frankly overtired.

Zariah sighed, closing the distance between them and pulling the younger woman into a hug. “No, you’re a clever young woman.” Her hug tightened further for a moment, “You have value entirely unrelated to Galgaith and how many eggs she clutches.” Releasing her, she stepped back and said, “Is this really the first time you’ve ever not been good at something on your first try?”

“No,” said Sybana defensively, straightening from the hug-- though not before drawing a deep, steadying breath against it, as if she could take some borrowed strength with her when she stepped away. “...Maybe.”

“I've always been good at the important things in my life,” she said, sounding more bewildered than boastful, as if she had never really paused to consider it before. “I’ve worked very hard to be… and it's _always_ been enough before now.” Except when it came to Corofel, but that seemed more trivial by the day. “I've never had anything go so wrong as that flight or that clutch and now this…”

Zariah was glad it was dark and Sybana couldn’t see quite how hard she was trying to keep from smiling. “Galgaith’s clutch wasn't ideal, but still it's hardly a reputation ruining disaster. There’s nothing wrong with a brown catching a gold, and we got fifteen new riders out of it. In a few months they’ll be joining the wings. It wouldn’t surprise me if K’valdran has to expand them again-- disbanding Teal was premature. We ran lean wings often enough at the beginning of the Pass.”

“I appreciate your dedication to the Weyr-- I do, but Dragonsfall survived the long Interval when most other Weyrs didn’t. We’re a tough lot, and we’ll weather these little storms, too.” Zariah’s voice was warm-- and proud. “Trust me on that-- my family has been here since it was founded.”

The words settled over Sybana, meant to soothe, but they didn’t quite reach where the ache lived. “I don’t _want_ to be something Dragonsfall has to weather,” she said quietly. “I’m supposed to be making her _strong_.”

“You will,” Zariah said, “just give it a little more time. I figure we should give our goldriders at least three solid chances to figure everything out about flights,” she said, a teasing tone in her voice. “After all, they don’t get nearly as much practice as a greenrider.”

“That’s very generous of you. I hope the rest of Pern agrees with that allowance,” said Sybana, a little cynically, a little sulkily, but some of the frantic edge to her voice was fading and underneath the oncoming fatigue there was a glimmer of something like hope. “Thank you… for taking me today. And for talking with me-- believing in me.”

“Well, I have to;” Zariah winked. “It's my reputation, too; yours was the last search token they gave me. But for now,” she moved towards the door. “There is a nice warm bed and a warmer bronzerider calling me. And you should go try to get at least a little sleep. Do you want to walk, or do you want Relsath to take you back? We can tell everyone you’ve taken up knitting lessons.”

Sybana had been planning to walk, but she hadn’t been relishing the idea, especially in her ‘borrowed’ shirt. It was probably best she didn’t risk walking past anyone just now. “A ride would be lovely. Thank you.”

“Relsath would love to.”

Relsath in fact, did not love giving rides to anyone who wasn’t her rider, but she nonetheless settled back down into a low crouch to let Sybana get back on with no more than a long suffering sigh at her luck in life. “If she goes too fast, just tell her to slow down.” If Sybana had expected Zariah to join her, she would have been surprised instead by the door to the weyr thunking shut behind the greenrider. She trusted the green with her children, she trusted her with Sybana.

Relsath didn’t go too fast. She considered it, though.

Last updated on the May 1st 2026

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What It Takes: Reflection (4/4)