Float

Writers: JR, DL
Date Posted: 30th September 2011

Characters: S'ryad, Gabrylle
Description: S'ryad meets Gabrylle
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 19 of Turn 6

Gabrylle was settled deeply into the sand of Dolphin Cove's beach, her head
resting on a folded towel and basking in the sun. The warmth of the Southern
sun was a treat after the cooler Northern weather that she'd transferred
from. Her parents were busy settling in at the Dolphin Hall and had shooed
her out to give them space to unpack.

At some point she'd be presented to the Weyrleaders here as a Candidate, but
for today she had the time to do whatever she wanted - for now, that was
sunning, and in a little while, a swim in the ocean waters. Her eyes closed
and she drifted into a doze. She was woken a few moments later when a nose
prodded her side and a male voice could be heard coming near, shouting,
"Eldoranth! Leave her alone! She was sleeping!"

Her dark eyes opened, blearily squinting in the sunlight to see a brown
dragonet hovering over her, head cocked curiously and someone yelling in the
background. "It's okay," she called out. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep,
I'd get sunburned staying out here too long, anyway"

"Sorry, sorry," the boy replied, herding Eldoranth out of her personal
space. "He gets so curious about everything." He scratched the dragon's
eyeridges and then cocked his head at her. "I'm um...I'm S'ryad. And this is
Eldoranth."

"Gabrylle," she responded with her own name as she moved into a sitting
position. "Nice to meet you." She studied him now that the sun wasn't
blinding her and was startled by the instant tug of attraction. Just watch,
she thought cynically, he's probably a jerk. Still, she'd just met him so it
would behoove her to be friendly. "And you as well, Eldoranth."

Eldoranth cocked his head at her and approached again. "Gently!" S'ryad
instantly chided. "You're getting bigger every day and you don't want to
knock people over. Sorry," he said to Gabrylle, "He's really interested in
you. I think he wants you to pet him."

"He's fine. They're like puppies at this age," the young woman laughed,
pushing her dark hair back out of her face to get a better look at the
dragonet. Reaching up, her fingers sought and found the soft spot behind the
brown's jaw, scratching gently.

}: What's a puppy? :{ Eldoranth asked as he crooned appreciatively.

"A puppy is a baby canine," S'ryad explained. "A little canine. You know,
those furry barking things you see."

}: Noisy things, :{ Eldoranth commented, scooting closer to Gabrylle for
more affections. S'ryad crossed his arms over his chest and watched his
dragon interact with the girl with a slight smile on his face.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, noting that she seemed to know a
lot about baby dragons. A weyrbred girl?

"I've only been at Dolphin Cove for a few days. My Ma's the new Hallsecond
for the Dolphin Hall," she explained. "I came South with her and Da, to be a
Candidate here instead of at High Reaches."

"Oh, wow, High Reaches!" S'ryad said. "Is it...well, I've never seen snow,
so is there snow there?"

Gabrylle couldn't help the laugh that came out. "Enough snow that we're sick
of it long before spring comes around each turn. And the _cold_! Warmth like
this feels wonderful." The girl shifted her attention to a different spot on
Eldoranth's hide, her smile widening when the brown leaned into the touch
with a blissful croon.

"Maybe when Eldoranth gets older, we'll go up there," S'ryad said with a
grin, "Even if just to see the snow. I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it.
And I'm sure you'll be cursing the heat and humidity like the rest of us in
no time."

"Possibly, but that's what the ocean is for - swimming and cooling off," she
grinned up at him. "I was thinking about going in. Is that why the two of
you are down here?"

"Yeah," S'ryad said, "Well, Eldoranth was wondering what the sparkling light
was so I let him investigate. He's seen big water before but he forgot."
S'ryad grinned sheepishly.

The candidate grinned at the dragonet and his rider. "Have to love dragon
memory. I never could figure out how they can be so smart and yet not
remember important things for very long," she shook her head as she got to
her feet and stripped her tunic off, preparing for a swim. "Going to come in
with me? I'd like the company."

S'ryad froze. "You...wait, what? You want me to go-"

}: Swimming! :{ Eldoranth said gleefully, hop-walking ahead to the water.

"Apparently, I'm outnumbered here," S'ryad said softly. Swimming? With a
girl he just met? That had to be against the weyrling rules somewhere,
right?

Gabrylle's eyes followed Eldoranth then turned back to his rider curiously.
"You _can_ swim, right?" She didn't understand where the sudden hesitance
was coming from.

"Um...a little?" S'ryad said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"Eldoranth swims better than me. Which is a little embarrassing. But I can
swim." Marginally.

Eyeing the angle of the sand sloping down into the water, Gabrylle frowned.
"This isn't a good place for you to swim, then. I haven't done much
exploring here yet. Is there anywhere that the beach is flatter than this,
going into the water? On the far side of the cove, maybe?"

"Um...yeah I think there is. Hey, Eldoranth, wait! We're going to swim
somewhere else," S'ryad called.

}: Not here? :{ the brown asked, his wings drooping.

"Just a little further that way," S'ryad said, nodding his chin in the
direction they were going. "That little cove you like." To Gabrylle, he
said, "It's calmer water. Pretty little beach. Easy for a little dragon to
swim in."

The young woman nodded. "The grade of the sand tells you how strong the
currents are. I could probably do alright here, but I'd have to work at it -
it wouldn't be very relaxing," she said, nodding as she fell into step
beside him, letting S'ryad lead the way toward the other area. It wasn't too
far of a walk, well, not for the humans anyway. Eldoranth was complaining by
the time they reached the softer sloping sands.

"It'll be easier when you can fly," S'ryad explained with a grin to his
lifemate. "See? Nice, calm water." And he motioned to the little inlet with
all of its tidepools and beautiful water.

Dropping her things well up the beach, where the water wouldn't reach them,
Gabrylle beamed. "This is near perfect!" Her voice was warm and
enthusiastic, "C'mon, let's swim." Leading the way, she waded into the
gentle waves until the water was past her waist before turning to see if he
and the brown were coming along.

Eldoranth was definitely on board for swimming, his previous gripes
dissipating with the promise of the water. S'ryad, though, hesitated,
stripped off his shirt and came to stand in ankle deep water. He shot a
nervous grin at Gabrylle.

She wrinkled her nose at him, moving back toward the beach to hold a hand
out to the weyrling. "Trust me, I won't let you drown. Swimming is fun once
you know enough to relax."

"Okay," S'ryad said, taking her head. "But don't laugh at me if I flail
around like a fish out of water. I never learned how to do this." He let her
lead him a little deeper, bobbing with the small waves that passed. "You've
always known how to swim?" he asked, hoping to quell his nervousness with
conversation. Eldoranth paddled along side them.

Gabrylle nodded, "My parents are both dolphineers. They had me in the water
so early that I don't even remember learning how to swim, I've just always
done it. I've helped with teaching plenty of others though during my own
apprenticeship, so I can teach you if you like."

"Eldoranth makes it look so easy," S'ryad said, jerking his chin fondly at
his dragon, who was diving, paddling, diving and resurfacing around them
like a brown sea serpent. "So, how do I learn? What's the first step?" he
asked, deciding that if he was going to get this deep, he may as well learn.

"Floating," she said promptly. Judging the depth of the water, Gabrylle led
him out another few feet until the water was up to the weyrling's ribs.
"Water is interesting in that it will hold you up if you relax enough to let
it. Here, watch," she said, turning sideways to him and letting her feet
drift up until she was casually bobbing on the small waves.

"And you don't sink?" S'ryad asked, watching the waves come dangerously
close to washing over her face but never quite reaching it. He decided to
give it a try, though he never quite relaxed into a full supine state.
"Oooh...okay, maybe not," he said, when a wave got too close to his face.

Gabrylle smiled at him, amused. "That's why I picked this spot. If you do
get water in your face, you can put your feet down and stand here easily,
and there's almost no current. Just relax and try it again, okay?"

"Okay?" S'ryad said, though he didn't sound convinced. Eldoranth reminded
him to relax and it took a few extra breaths to agree to it. S'ryad focused
on the ebb and flow of the ocean, the pull and release, and how the waves
gently buoyed him along. After he got over the initial fear - it actually
felt...nice.

}: See? Easy! :{ Eldoranth said, diving under and popping up next to his
rider with bright blue eyes. S'ryad laughed.

"That is sort of a nice," he said to Gabrylle with a grin.

"It's relaxing, once you get used to it. The thing you have to remember is
that you're getting a lot of sun out here, so on a bright day you need to
make sure not to stay out too long," Gabrylle advised. She casually reached
and twined her fingers with the weyrling's again, relaxing into a floating
position herself. "We'll take a little bit before moving onto the next
lesson. Keep hold of my hand so you don't drift too far off from me."

"Drift?" S'ryad echoed and his stomach did a flip-flop when she grabbed his
hand. Okay, there definitely had be a weyrling rule against this - right?
The Weyrlingmasters were always so strict about relationships and affections
and sex and all that...hand-holding had to fall in the fire and firestone
preaching right?

She tipped her head to the side to look over at him. "Yes, drift," Gabrylle
laughed. "The waves will push you a little bit at a time until you're not in
the same spot you started." He was adorable, she thought to herself, even if
he seemed too innocent for her usual taste.

"It does?" S'ryad asked, "How fast?" Was he going to drift out into deeper
water? The thought scared him enough to have Eldoranth's eyes whirling
faster.

"Depends on the current," she answered, not picking up on the fear. "Here?
You could close your eyes for ten minutes and might find you hardly moved.
Back where I was sitting before, you could have moved fifty feet. That's why
it's best to have someone with you when ocean swimming - dragons and
dolphins count, too. They won't let you get into much trouble."

}: I won't let you float away, :{ Eldoranth promised. S'ryad tried to relax
again, concentrating on the lull of the ocean and the feel of Gabrylle's
hand in his own. Would she be around often? Maybe he'd get to see her again?
He didn't have a lot of free time as a weyrling but he wanted to meet more
people - he was tired of being a shut in Holder boy.

"Dolphins...um...they can talk too, right?" S'ryad asked. Boy, he sounded
dumb right then.

"Sort of. They talk to each other in clicks and squeaks. It's amazing to
hear and try to figure out what they're saying. When it comes to human words
they're limited to simple things, usually single words at a time, although
occasionally short phrases or related things," she glanced over at him
curiously. "I guess that means you've never seen a dolphin up close before?"

"Um...no," S'ryad said sheepishly. "I was raised at a Hold and I never got
out much. All I ever saw of anything was the nearby fields and the
occasional dragon. Til...well, til Eldoranth."

The brunette beamed over at him, her face half-tilted into the water to keep
an eye on the weyrling, "Well! That's easy enough to fix! Want to come meet
a couple of them next restday?"

Her exuberance was infectious and S'ryad found himself smiling back. "Can I?
I can bring Eldoranth, right? I bet he'd love to meet dolphins!"

}: What's a dolphin? :{ the dragon asked curiously, his eyes whirling blue.

**Something you can't eat but you can play with! At least, I think dolphins
like to play with dragons,** S'ryad replied.

Gabrylle chuckled at his enthusiasm, "Sure, bring Eldoranth along. They're
friendly and love dragons. I don't know the pod here all that well yet, but
there's always a few hanging around the docks."

"They do?" S'ryad said. "Hey, Eldoranth, did you hear that? Dolphins like
dragons. So I guess you can play with them. He'll like that a lot." The last
was directed back at Gabrylle.

The candidate laughed and moved to stand again, giving the weyrling's hand a
tug. "I'm sure he will. Just like I'm sure you'll enjoy swimming, once you
learn. Next lesson is putting your face in the water."

"What?" S'ryad gasped. "How...but I have to breathe," he said with a nervous
laugh.

"Silly!" She shook her head at him, "Take a deep breath, put your face in
the water and look around. When you need to breathe again, lift your head up
and breathe." Gabrylle demonstrated again.

Nodding, S'ryad took a deep breath and stuck his face in the water. He
waited what seemed like a long string of heartbeats but really, in his
nervousness, it was only a few seconds before he came up for a gasping
breath. He decided that he didn't like the threat of the water that close to
his nose.

"That's um...that's not so bad," he said anyway. Maybe he'd get used to it?

"You'll get used to it," she said, unconsciously echoing his thought. "All
this will get easier with practice and getting more comfortable in the
water. If I had time, I'd try to find somewhere else, like a lake, but I
doubt there's anything suitable close by."

"Um, maybe when Eldoranth is older?" S'ryad suggested. "Because right now,
walking is a pain in the butt for him. And later, he can fly us anywhere."
The thought of being aboard Eldoranth made S'ryad beam. How long would that
be? He was still little but how fast did dragons grow? He made a note to ask
the Weyrlingmaster.

"Sure. I'll make a deal with you. I'll introduce you to dolphins, and when
he's big enough, you can take me flying," Gabrylle looked at him
questioningly, hoping he'd agree. He really was cute, and although he was a
weyrling, she didn't necessarily object to waiting awhile to see if they'd
suit.

"That sounds like a plan," S'ryad said, even though Eldoranth longingly
asked if he could visit the dolphins with S'ryad. "Hey, they aren't too far
for a dragon to walk, are they? Eldoranth really wants to meet them."

Gabrylle shook her head, "I don't think so. It's only about a half-mark's
walk down the coast to get to the Hall. I came over just to go sunning,
after all. You have a better beach than we do."

"Maybe when you get a bit bigger," S'ryad said to Eldoranth. "You wear out
pretty fast right now. But in a few sevendays, you won't. Then we'll meet
the dolphins. Sound good?" The last was directed to Gabrylle.

Her voice held a hesitant note it hadn't before, "Sure, but... will I see
you again in the meantime? You're the first friend I've made here."

"Sure!" S'ryad said brightly. "Maybe next restday? You can teach me to swim
more?" he suggested.

The slight droop that had pulled at Gabrylle's smile disappeared, turning it
into a genuine expression once more. "Sounds great! I should be heading back
to the Hall for the afternoon anyway," she admitted. "Um... Hm. Meet me here
at the twelfth candlemark next restday? I'll take care of lunch."

"Sure thing!" he replied as they walked back up the beach. "Come on,
Eldoranth, let's get back. See you in a few days, Gabrylle!"

"See you!" The Candidate beamed at the weyrling before turning and headed in
the opposite direction - back toward the Dolphin Hall. Pleased with her
day's work, she practically danced over the sand.

Last updated on the October 15th 2011

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