Release

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 26th May 2007

Characters: U'kaiah, Traelyn
Description: Traelyn is offered a moment of comfort from an old friend
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 19 of Turn 4

It had taken many, long candlemarks to pass, but Nyith had finally settled
enough to cease her agitated pacing around the perimeter of Dragonsfall's
Hatching Grounds. But her nerves still were not completely soothed, and
they wouldn't be, Traelyn knew, until she was back on Dolphin Cove's soil.
The queen's eyes still held tinges of red and flashes of yellow, but they
were beginning to swirl at a more neutral pace, which was a positive sign.
But every now and again, she would force her exhausted body to rise from
her crouched position to nose each soft egg, as if to reassure herself
once more that they were all there.

Traelyn watched Nyith do another such round, and her heart constricted
when the queen finally turned her great, golden head to look her, whining
softly. Not all of her eggs were accounted for, and she mourned the loss
of her babies who would never hatch, never be paired with a lifemate,
never live. Swallowing thickly, Traelyn stood and extended a hand down
over the rail towards Nyith, and the queen brushed those fingers with the
very tip of her snout.

**You need to eat, my love,** Traelyn told her dragon gently. Shards, it
pained her to see the gray tinge dulling the usual bright sheen of her
dragon's hide. **Won't you permit one of Dragonsfall's own to bring you a
wherry? Or a buck?**

Nyith shifted in the hot sand, swinging her head around to gaze out over
her brood. }:No.:{

**They will not touch your eggs, dear heart. I promise you they won't.**

}:I do not want any to be near them!:{ This last was accompanied by an
angry, despairing cry, and it was enough to make the burning behind
Traelyn's eyes grow worse. The young Weyrwoman reached down again to
caress the top of Nyith's head with her hand, needing to touch her dragon
as much as her dragon needed to be touched by her.

Traelyn had spent most of this day alone. Nyith had not permitted anyone
inside the Hatching Grounds after Corvera had left her to prepare for
Threadfall. Not a one. A little news had come through to her from
Dolphin Cove, but Traelyn still didn't know if J'darin had woken, or which
parts of her Weyr had been completely destroyed by the storm surge. Or
who else had died. She'd be a naive fool to think that the only lives
that had been lost this day were those of the bronzerider and his dragon
who had miscalculated their jump /between/ with two of Nyith's eggs.

Struggling against the turmoil inside of her, Traelyn's hands closed over
the rail, gripping the bar so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She
couldn't give in yet. She had to stay strong for her dragon queen. She
had to stay strong for herself.

}:Mine would like to bring food for yours. Would you permit him to
enter?:{ Kalamath asked the brooding queen gently, knowing full well of
the gold's temperment at the moment.

Nyith craned her head around to look out behind her at the Hatching
Ground's entrance, eyes beginning to glow with a little more yellow, swirl
a little faster. If it had been anyone else inquiring after Traelyn, the
gold would have snarled them away. But _this_ bronze's lifemate was good
for hers. }:Yours--and only yours--may come.:{

U'kaiah walked through the entrance with a basket of food in one hand and
his riding jacket and helmet in the other. He gave the massive gold a
polite bow as she eyed him warily. "May I approach?" The bronzerider had
warning of the gold's intense paranoia, and who could blame her after all
they'd be through that day.

Nyith watched him pointedly for a moment before dipping her head slightly
in acquiesce. Traelyn let loose a breath she hadn't known she'd been
holding, and slowly let go of the rail, dark eyes turning to the
bronzerider as he bowed once more, courteously, to Nyith before climbing
the stairs to her tier. Her nostrils flared as she took in the scent of
charred ash and firestone, but she couldn't detect any hint of numbweed.
"You're all right?" she asked quietly when he was close enough to hear
her.

He nodded as he set the basket and riding gear down on a handy bench.
U'kaiah thankfully had suffered no more than the usual aches, pains and
fatigue that followed Threadfall. "I came as soon as I could."

Suddenly it was hard to speak--even swallow. Traelyn gazed up at him, her
dark eyes filling with tears that she just couldn't hold back anymore.

U'kaiah stood to his full height and suppressed the desire to give in to
his weariness and flop back on the cold stone Stands. He wasn't here for
him. Turning, he opened his arms in invitation to her. "I smell
horrible, I know."

"I don't care about that," she whispered, burying herself against him as
those sharding tears trailed down her cheeks.

He rested his cheek against the top of her head as he surrounded her with
his arms. "Everything's going to be all right now, love."

Shaking her head, her fingers curled tighter into his tunic. "We've
already been through one catastrophe, U'kaiah, but to go through another
in such a short amount of time... T-the storm surge was so terrible. It
destroyed everything in its sharding path. It flooded the dining cavern.
The lower caverns. The Sands. We lost a bronzerider, and two of our eggs
/between/." Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks as she shuddered,
remembering that awful keening as their paradise world came tumbling down
around them. "A-and Nyith was so upset, so _enraged_...it took everything
I had to keep her in check, but even then it wasn't enough..."

"But you're here now, and you and Nyith and her eggs are safe," U'kaiah
murmured, rubbing her back reassuringly. But his aim was not to stop her
tears. Tears were called for, and he hoped would be a release of sorts.
He just wanted her to know he was with her, and that he wouldn't let
anything more happen to her. As long as he was with her, he'd protect her
with everything he had. "I'm here."

Traelyn allowed herself to relax in his arms, and she didn't even make an
effort to stop the silent tears. It was unlike her to cry so openly
without trying to hide away or trying to force the tears back. At first
she thought that it was the shock of this terrible day finally overcoming
her, but it was more than that. She trusted U'kaiah. She trusted him
enough to cry in front of him. She knew he wouldn't perceive her tears as
a weakness, but as the release it was. Softly she rubbed her cheek
against him. And it was a release. Once it had run its course, she would
be Traelyn, the Weyrwoman of Dolphin Cove again. But until then, she
would just be Traelyn, the woman who needed to believe, even if it was
just for a little while, that everything would be all right.

Last updated on the May 27th 2007

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