Don't Give Up

Writers: Devin
Date Posted: 31st October 2008

Characters: Cosani, N'vanik
Description: N'vanik does his best to comfort Cosani.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 5 of Turn 4
Notes: Follows "Rejection"

Cosani

N'vanik

He stepped past a pair of Candidates holding hands and talking in
hushed voices, and a girl lying with her face pressed into her pillow,
obviously crying. Cosani was turned away from him, staring down at the
floor. "Cosani?" he said gently.

She startled at the word and her head whipped around. Her surprised
expression turned to a frown. "Go away." What did _he_ want, anyway?

"You'll have lots of other chances." Faranth, that was so cliche. But
what else could he say?

"Yeah. Sure." But what if she kept getting rejected? And what would
happen in the mean time?

"Cosani ... this was only your first try. As long as you don't give
up, you'll find your lifemate." This was so hard ... he sounded like
every speech ever given to a failed Candidate.

"How many times did you Stand?"

Shards. This wasn't going to help. "Just ... the once."

She glared. "Then you have no idea what it's like to be rejected."

"I don't know what it's like to be left on the Sands, no." A shadow
settled in his eyes. "But I know plenty about rejection."

She gave him a sharp look before turning her gaze to the floor.
N'vanik sat next to her on the bed. She scooted away, keeping distance
between them. He tried to ignore the gesture. "You came all the way
here by yourself. That took a lot of courage," he said. "That's a good
quality for a dragonrider. You'll Impress, Cosani. You're good
enough."

It shouldn't have meant anything, coming from the man who'd abandoned
her and her mother. But somehow, it did. "If I'm good enough, then why
did they all reject me?"

"I don't know. The right dragon for you just wasn't in that Clutch."
Another common reassurance, but that was all he had.

"What if there never is a 'right one'?"

"There will be. You just have to keep trying. The important thing is
not to give up. Never give up."

She glanced up at him. He looked sincere enough. Did he really believe
in her? "So I just ... stay here and keep trying?"

"Yeah."

"But what if ..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "What if grandda
comes for me?"

So that's what she was really afraid of. "No one is going to take you
away from here. You can stay here as long as you want."

Cosani looked up at him. "Are you _sure_?"

He put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little, but didn't pull
away. "You're a Weyrleader's daughter. No one can take you away from
here if you don't want to go."

"But you're not here anymore." She couldn't help feeling like he'd
left her _again_, abandoned her to go live at another Weyr.

Well, why not? "Do you want to come with me?"

"What?"

"I can take you to Dolphin Cove."

She frowned and looked at the floor. "You're just saying that to make
me feel better."

"No, I'm not. Come to Dolphin Cove with me. We need good riders."
Although he had mixed feelings about the possibility of his daughter
facing Thread. "You can stand for Loseth's first Clutch. The first
Clutch from your father's bronze ... that has to be good luck, right?"

Her frown deepened as she considered. Moving half a world away would
certainly make it harder for her grandda to come get her. And being
the Weyrleader's daughter, as much as it brought her unwelcome
attention, _would_ give her more protection. Maybe he was right, too,
about his clutch being good luck. "You'd really want me there?"

"Of course." He smiled. "And besides, the weather's _much_ nicer."

"I ... I guess."

"Good." He patted her back awkwardly. "I can make arrangements and
come back to pick you up in a few days. Unless you'd like me to send
someone to get you?"

"You can send someone else." She didn't want all the attention she
would get by having the Weyrleader coming to pick her up. She was
getting enough attention because of him as it was.

"Alright." N'vanik stood up. "I know you probably don't feel like it,
but you should still come to the Hatching feast. There's great food.
You could even grab a plate and sneak it back in here. No one will
probably notice."

"I'll think about it." She could almost believe he cared about her.

Last updated on the December 12th 2008

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Don't Give Up