A Cold Reception

Writers: Devin, Eimi
Date Posted: 3rd November 2008
Series: Proving His Worth

Characters: N'vanik, U'kaiah
Description: N'vanik gets a cold reception from U'kaiah. Very, very cold.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 23 of Turn 4
Notes: Late due to LOAs, ect

Added to site, but no marks due to lateness of post

N'vanik

N'vanik hesitated outside the door. He had to have heard the news by
now. The whole Weyr -- _both_ Weyrs -- had to have heard by now. He
wondered how U'kaiah would react. The younger bronzerider couldn't be
happy about this, but would he be pissed off? Should N'vanik be
prepared for shouting, or worse? He had to talk to him, though.

N'vanik lifted his hand and knocked.

"Come in," the Wingleader called from behind his stack of hides.

N'vanik stepped in, closing the door behind him. "Hey," he said quietly.

U'kaiah recognized the voice without looking up from his hide. He had
been expecting that face to walk through his door today, though he had
hoped Trae would have been first. Setting down his pen his rose to his
feet. "Weyrleader."

"I didn't think I'd win." It was surreal to be standing here in this
position. A few days ago, he'd assumed U'kaiah would be the one to
win, but U'kaiah hadn't tried, and he had, and now ... now they were
having this impossible conversation.

"Yes, sir." No one would have thought N'vanik would win. Time would
only tell if the dragons knew something they didn't, or a lucky wind had
blown his way.

N'vanik sighed and slumped against the wall. "I don't know what I'm
doing! I shouldn't be leading anything, let alone a whole Weyr!"

}:We were meant for this,:{ Loseth assured yet again.

"I suppose many men who have found themselves in your position have felt
that way, sir." Though he tended to agree with that assessment of the
situation.

"Quit calling me 'sir'."

"I'm sorry, sir, but you are going to have to get used to it. You are
'sir' now." Which was rather ironic considering U'kaiah couldn't think
of a single time in his life N'vanik had actually said 'sir' to someone
without it coming out as some sort of insult.

"Maybe at Dolphin Cove, but _you_ don't have to call me that." It made
N'vanik uncomfortable.

U'kaiah stifled a sigh. Leave it to N'vanik to think you could pick
and choose who you show respect to. "Wherever you go, you are a
Weyrleader, and you outrank me, sir." **For now.**

"Well, fine. You want to treat me like you don't know me, fine. You go
right ahead." N'vanik crossed his arms. "If you were gonna be this
pissed about me winning, _you_ should have been chasing."

"With all due respect, sir, you admitted yourself that if I had wanted
to win I would have. I don't want your job. If you didn't want it,
perhaps you should have thought your actions through clearly, sir. But
it doesn't really much matter. It's too late now."

"Yeah, it is." N'vanik couldn't believe he'd come here looking for
_advice_. U'kaiah obviously didn't care about him at all. Or the fate
of Dolphin Cove, for that matter. "Strange, isn't it, that rank was
more important to you than Trae, and Trae was more important to me
than rank. And yet here I am, a Weyrleader before you."

U'kaiah shook his head. "No, sir, see, there's where you went wrong.
Trae should never be more important than the rank, and the rank should
never be more important than the people. You are going to have to
realize very quickly that Trae is one of thousands whose lives are now
in your hands. You can't do it for Trae, you have to do it for them
_all_, or you will fail."

N'vanik straightened. "I'm not going to fail. I'm not going to fail
_anyone_. Not Trae, not the riders. I'll show you and I'll show
everyone else that I'm not what they think I am. I'm not a failure.
I'm not incompetent. I'm going to make Dolphin Cove the best Weyr on
Pern!" His words were punctuated by Loseth's bugle.

Well it was about sharding time N'vanik grew a pair, U'kaiah thought.
Now hopefully it will last long enough for him to do some good. The
last think Dolphin Cove needed right now was a weak leader. "I'm sure
you will. Until I become Dragonfall's Weyrleader at least. Sir."

"No way, U'kaiah. I'm better than you, and I'm going to prove it. In
one way, I already have." Although he was sure that had U'kaiah been
in that flight, he would have been the one to win. N'vanik also
couldn't help wondering if he'd only won because he and his dragon
were familiar with the gold pair.

The Wingleader couldn't hide his amused smile. "Considering I was not
in the race, sir, I'm not sure what you think you've proven. You never
have, nor will you ever, beat me. I am not your competition anymore.
The only one you have to compete against is yourself. Perhaps instead
of trying to prove you are in some way superior to me, what you should
be more worried about is proving you are adequate to the task you have
been given. It's a huge responsibility, and you had better be wondering
deep down inside yourself if you are really up to the job, because the
very best of men doubt themselves in the face of it. You are going to
face difficulties and choices that you can't even imagine yet and each
of your Weyr's glories, and even more so, each and every one of it's
failures will be on your shoulders. You can try to spend your days
proving you are better than another man if you must. But being
Weyrleader will kick your ass faster than I ever could. Swallow your
childish pride, N'vanik. It's time you grew up and acted like a man."

"Faranth, you're so sharding full of yourself. I don't need lectures
from you." And he never had to listen to them again. U'kaiah wasn't
his Wingleader any more. N'vanik wouldn't have to deal with his
lectures, or his threats, or his oh-so-superior attitude ever again.
"And I seem to recall you _have_ chased Nyith before. And failed. This
was my first try."

U'kaiah fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, sir. I purposefully
held Kalamath back once he told me what was happening. I couldn't stop
him from chasing, but I slowed him down. I have never tried to win one
of Nyith's races."

Uh huh. Sure. "And this was the first time in a long time that I
_didn't_ hold Loseth back. Who knows, I might have been Weyrleader a
long time ago if I hadn't been playing mind games with myself. Maybe
that was for the best, though. At least now I'm somewhere warm. And
with Trae."

"Yes, sir. That is indeed good news for you, sir." U'kaiah knew
N'vanik was trying to get a rise out of him, and he found it utterly
pathetic. Was this _really_ the one Nyith chose to lead men? He had
hoped better for Dolphin Cove, and for Trae.

"Has she come by yet, by the way?"

"If you want to know, perhaps you should ask her. My relationship with
your Weyrwoman is none of your business, sir." Of course U'kaiah was
pretty sure that would not be any deterrent at the moment. N'vanik
obviously was swinging blind.

He shrugged. "Just curious to know if she's forgiven you yet. Looks
like the answer is no."

If N'vanik really wanted to play this game, U'kaiah was willing to
oblige him just once, seeing as he was trying so hard to prove himself.
"How's Talryne settling into her new Weyr, sir? I'm sure it will be a
good thing to have so few reminders of her dead lifemate."

N'vanik's eyes went dark and his jaw clenched. "You don't get to talk
about her. Not ever again. And don't bother trying to come see her.
I'll make it clear to her just how much of a 'friend' you are."

"Well," U'kaiah said with a helpless shrug, "at least I didn't kill her
lifemate. How much of a 'friend' would I be then, sir?"

N'vanik clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms. "I
don't think D'wrayt would be too happy if I punched you out. And more
importantly, it would make _me_ look bad." He turned and yanked open
the door.

"Well, sir, you certainly don't need my help with that." Though U'kaiah
certainly hadn't proven himself the better man by stooping to his level,
and no matter how gratifying it felt it was certainly nothing to be
proud of. "Oh, and N'vanik, I want to make it perfectly clear that if
anything happens to Trae, I will hold you personally responsible. You
better prove me wrong about you. Her Weyr is counting on it."

N'vanik slammed the door behind him.

Last updated on the November 14th 2008

[Prev: The Replacement] Series: Proving His Worth [Next: Decisions]

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Cold Reception