Your Future

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 5th April 2010

Characters: E'rae, Sabonus
Description: E'rae and Sabonus talk while washing Leith.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 17 of Turn 5

"Leith, you're killing me. Get in the water!" The bluerider looked
ridiculous, shouting at the dragon who was standing on the bank.
Presumably for some reason, the blue wasn't going near the water. His
flanks were covered in sand and it was clear that he needed a washing.

"Take your time," Sabonus said, bucket and brush in one hand and bag of
sweetsand in the other.

E'rae fixed an eye on him. "The longer he takes to get in, the longer
you have before you can eat midday meal you know."

"Oh, I know," the carpenter said with a sigh. He had been mildly
sarcastic with that statement. He absolutely _hated_ wasting time just
standing around.

**Please get in the water. We have things to do.**
}:I really don't want a bath today:{
**It's supposed to rain tonight, so you're going to get one no matter
what**

Leith seemed to consider that, his blue bulk turning to one side.
}:Fine, but you will oil me. I have an itchy spot:{
**Of course**

Then, he finally made his way into the water. E'rae hooted and gestured
for Sabonus to come on.

The Candidate muttered "About time..." under his breath, but smiled at
the bluerider and gave the dragon a respectful nod of greeting. "Where
shall I start in?"

"You take the left flank and I'll worry about the right." E'rae waited
until Leith had fully submerged and then come back up to be sudsed up
and scrubbed.

"Yes, sir." If there was anything a seacrafter knew how to do, it was
to scrub. Though being able to stand upright while doing it was a bit
of a treat! "Do you want me to start on the neck?" Some riders, he
knew, were rather particular. As were some dragons.

"Aye, always better to work from front to back on most things." E'rae
grinned at Leith, who was stealthily eyeing the candidate. The blue
didn't know this one.

"So Sabonus, where'd you come from?" Curious, he decided small talk was
appropriate.

The candidate was already hard at work, not afraid to use a bit of elbow
grease in his scrubbing. "Jade Harbor, though I was leaving it at the
time I was Searched. I was a ship's carpenter."

"Oh aye? Did you ever go around on a boat then?" E'rae knew nothing
about seacrafting and wasn't afraid to admit it.

Sabonus didn't mind answering questions. Some carpenters did specialize
in working on the docks. "I pretty much lived on the water. I think
this is the most time I've spent on dry land since... Harper Classes I
suppose."

"So do you like it? I mean..do you think you can get used to it? If you
impress, no more water." E'rae was making good progress and not for the
first time he was thanking Faranth that Leith wasn't brown.

The candidate was keeping up easily. "Well, I still have a chance to
work down on the docks, so I don't miss it. I suppose I might if I
Impressed and wasn't allowed to work down there anymore."

Humming slightly as he worked, the bluerider scrubbed at an especially
muddy spot. He didn't know how Leith managed to get this filthy.
"Where's the best place you've been?"

"Hmmm... I don't know." A little beach with a beautiful young
greenrider came to mind. "It's hard to say. There are so many places.
And I would rarely stay long."

"So why do you want to be a rider?" He gave special attention to Leith's
legs. They seemed to receive more dust than everywhere else.

"I can get places faster than by boat. It's a new adventure."
Sometimes Sabonus wasn't rightly sure. R'sedel had convinced him to
give it a try. And it wasn't that he regretted that decision in the
slightest. If he had, he need only jump on a boat and sail back into
his old life. But he was willing to give just about anything a try,
even being a dragonrider.

"Oh it's much more than that. You don't have children, do you Sabonus?"
E'rae guessed not, but one never knew these days.

"No, I don't," the candidate said with a smile. He was definitely not
ready for such a responsibility.

"I suggest you borrow one for a sevenday. Then you'll know about half of
what's involved in being a rider." He'd offer his own daughter, but she
was too old. Werenn had enough turns to be useful.

That certainly didn't make the candidate want to run out and Impress
right away! "Are you trying to warn me then?"

"Everybody should know something of what they might be getting into
before Hatching day." E'rae grinned. "Though really there's no real
knowing till you find yourself there."

Sabonus smiled, shaking his head as he continued scrubbing. If this man
kept giving this speech to every candidate who helped him wash his
dragon, the Weyr was going to have a candidate crisis in no time! "And
did you know what you were getting into?"

"Of course not. Well maybe something of it. See I'd been working with
animals a long time before. And I know what Leith's hunting/fighting
instinct is all about." E'rae's lean frame was testament to that.

"Eating and self-preservation, I should think."

"I mean more about..what it feels like. To know you're more powerful
than everything else. To rip something into pieces.. and of course to
face threadfall knowing it could kill you." The bluerider bit his lips
slightly, tasting the cut before he finished with his half.

"Ah, well, in that way a life at sea has prepared me well for facing
Thread. A sailor would have to be foolish indeed to imagine that the
sea was not out to kill him the first chance it got." And it had killed
many a man caught off guard.

"Very true. Funny how we think the sea is a woman and yet thread
is a nothing." Making Leith get back into the water to rinse the sand
off, he pulled out the towels and the oil pot.

Sabonus thought about that statement a moment before a smile spread
across his face. "Well, Thread is a creature we can fight against and
defeat. The sea, like a woman, will beat us every time."

"Oh so true." Smiling, E'rae bowed to Sabonus before he tossed him an
oiling rag and brush.

Last updated on the May 3rd 2010

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