Challenging Views
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: Halyonix, Heather
Date Posted: 28th October 2026
Characters: Rasme, Sareya
Description: Rasme and Sareya discuss the holdless at BLW. Rasme is disappointed by her granddaughter's perspective.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 3, day 22 of Turn 13
Notes: Mentioned: Y’rim, Q’vettan, Thiseta, D’men
“Hi, Piketh!” Sareya greeted as she lightly took the steps up the ledge. Her hands were full of klah and pastries -- a sweet breakfast start to the day. “Is Grandma up yet? She should be.”
Piketh’s head swiveled to regard the girl. She liked talking to this one. }:She has risen. Whether she shines is doubtful.:{
Rasme was indeed awake, she’d gone for an early morning powerwalk around the Weyr before participating in a “ridiculous” stretching class led by one of the healers. (Despite being ridiculous, the retired goldrider somehow had attended every class for a month.)
“You’re just in time,” she called out to her granddaughter. “I could use your hands.” Her normally frizzy hair was tamed, for the moment, still wet from her bath. She had never been able to braid it on her own, even before the loss of her eye, and Sareya was by far the best of her grandchildren at executing the task.
Beaming at hearing Piketh, Sareya set down the klah and pastries in front of Rasme as she said, “Your hair? I can do that!” Barely waiting for confirmation, Sareya slid into being helpful. She was determined, dragon or not, to establish herself as such because she believed that that’s what a budding leader should be! Not just someone who was shouting down orders, but someone who was making a difference, like she saw her grandmother doing.
“What gossip do you have for me?” Rasme asked as she reclined back into Sareya’s hands.
“Most of it is wagers about who Imbeth will choose. She’s due to rise soon, or so everyone says.” Sareya wrinkled her nose. “Not that I’ve placed any bets. I think Q’vettan is just fine of a Weyrleader, don’t you?”
Her grandmother’s lips twisted a bit. “He’s a bit of a bully, but the results haven’t been horrible. Worse could win, that’s for sure.” Rasme pulled her eyepatch into place as Sareya finished up. “How are your… parents… doing?” She believed at some point they’d added a “third parent” in there but she hadn’t been around the greenrider much.
“Oh, they’re fine! All lovey dovey happy and all that. Y’rim’s great. Quiroanth, that’s his green, she loves being around us kids. And Y’rim doesn’t treat me like a kid. He talks to me about adult stuff.” This made her happy because she was eighteen! She was an adult! “He was talking about those Holdless boys who Impressed the bronzes at the last Hatching. Wow, he was _not_ happy finding that out. He said that one of the boys had to have played a trick in order to Impress because Holdless aren’t dragonriders. But…no one can trick a dragon, right?”
“No, they can’t. Dragons know who their rider is and it’s as simple as that.” Rasme didn’t know if she liked the impression she was getting of Y’rim. “Did he say why he felt a Holdless couldn’t be a dragonrider?”
“He thinks they’re all thieves,” Sareya explained as her fingers slid Rasme’s hair into a tight braid, one perfect for working in the Infirmary for the day. “So he said that if a Holdless Impressed, it was obviously because he had figured out a way to steal a dragon. Or played a trick on one. And I didn’t think that was possible but I didn’t want to tell him that.” She _could_ have but she doubted Y’rim would have believed her. He had been very adamant and seemed stuck in the belief that no Holdless was worthy of a dragon.
Rasme doubted that Y’rim was the only rider in the Weyr to think such things. The Holdless had a bad reputation for many valid reasons, it was true, but Rasme tended to trust a dragon’s judgement. “What do you think?” she asked her granddaughter. “Have you met one of them yet?”
“Ummm…” Sareya fumbled. What was she supposed to really say there? What would a leader say? “I haven’t,” she admitted shyly at first but then she gathered some confidence, “because I think Y’rim is right. Well, in some ways. Holdless are Holdless for a reason. I mean, who would _want_ to live outside without stone cover? It’s way too dangerous!”
“That’s small-minded, Sareya,” Rasme cautioned her granddaughter. “Surely some of them have had some chores to tend to in the dragon infirmary? You should make it your goal to meet at least two of them. A male and a female. See what they’re like.”
While there was nothing chastising about Rasme’s tone, it was still the words that made Sareya stop in her braiding. “I…should?” she echoed, confused. Why should she meet Holdless? Shouldn’t she be doing the opposite and avoiding them? Well, unless she had to work with one in the Infirmary, because she wouldn’t shirk her chores or her craft work. But…go out of her way?
When she returned to braiding Rasme’s hair, her brush strokes were slower, more thoughtful. “Isn’t that…dangerous?” she asked her grandmother timidly.
“Why would it be? Have they been misbehaving here at the Weyr? Do we have some in solitary confinement?” Rasme wanted to thump her son, D’men, over the head for allowing his daughter to be so afraid of meeting someone different than herself. “The answer is no, we don’t, which means they’ve been behaving themselves, haven’t they?”
Sareya couldn’t argue with that logic.
With her biases under fire, the apprentice dragonhealer felt uncomfortable. Who should she believe? Y’rim had never led her wrong before. Neither had Rasme. But obviously, _someone_ was wrong in this situation. With uncertainty in her tone, she answered, “I guess they are. I mean, I haven’t _heard_ of anyone misbehaving.”
Rasme rose, patting her newly finished hair. She surveyed her granddaughter with her solitary eye before her expression softened, if only marginally. “An excellent job as always, Sareya,” she said, indicating her now neatly braided mane. “Let’s go grab some breakfast, hm?”
Still working through her emotions, Sareya’s tone was lacking its usual bravado but still she said, “Sure,” and followed her grandmother out.
Last updated on the November 2nd 2026