Weyrling Chatter

Writers: Heather, Clancey
Date Posted: 26th March 2012

Characters: F'aen, K'dall
Description: F'aen and K'dall chat on the way to breakfast
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 3 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Naevyn

They had just finished bathing and oiling the dragons and were due for
breakfast in a few minutes, and so K'dall, leaving his brown relaxing
after his bath, headed off to the barracks to drop his cleaning things
off. In front of him, many of the other weyrlings were following the
exact same path.

One, a greenrider, he thought, who had a particularly carefree
attitude had dropped his brush. One of the benefits of having a dragon
was access to names. He touched Tallandrath gently, with love in the
voice, and said, **who is the pretty dark green's rider? she was
bathing next to us...**

A sleepy Tall answered after a moment.

}:F'aen, Scarleth says:{

Chuckling, he thought that his dragon's outgoing nature was a benefit
in one way - there was not one dragon in the entire clutch that
Tallandrath hadn't made sure to 'meet' at some point or another, and
so he knew all their names, even if he didn't use them for the most
part. Like most dragons, he referred to the dragon. Like -
Scarleth's - is what he would normally have called F'aen.

Calling out to the older greenrider, K'dall said, "F'aen! You dropped
this!" He held out the brush.

Once again,despite coming from a Hold, his lack of any 'pre-conceived'
ideas about dragonriders stood him in good stead. He had none of the
prejudice against male greenriders that some of the Holdfolk had
shown. They just were another person to get to know, another person
belonging to the marvelous beasts that protected Pern.

F'aen was tired, the kind of feeling that seeped into the bones and
made you exhausted inside and out. As a harper he'd never done any
sort of physical labor, and now having a dragon to wash and care for,
as well as chores, was tiring him out more than he had expected.
Still, he loved it and wouldn't trade his Scarleth for a moment. Every
time her raspy voice filled his mind he was filled with a sense of
belonging and purpose. Scarleth was his family now, his everything,
and that was all he needed.

When a voice called out behind him he turned slowly and saw that
K'dall was coming towards him with his brush in hand, "Thank you
K'dall." F'aen was good with names, mostly because he could remember
them even if he'd only heard them once before and in passing. It was a
skill, he supposed, that served him well as a harper.

K'dall smiled genuinely at his fellow weyrling. He didn't know much
about him, but he was trying to get to know all his fellow weyrlings.
It was very hard for him to remember how to do such a thing, though,
since he was used to beasts, and not humans.

"You're welcome. Scarleth is very lovely, F'aen. Tallandrath says
he likes to talk to her." He chuckled, not really understanding why
his dragon would like another, or mention it to his rider, but taking
it for truth all the same. Tall was alright so much his other self,
he had forgotten what it was like not to have the brown in his head.

And his heart.

Without thinking, he said that aloud, but quietly, "I don't remember
what it was like not to have him."

F'aen smiled, both from the compliment given to Scarleth, and from
K'dall's nearly whispered confession, "I agree, it's almost as if
Scarleth was in here the entire time," he tapped his temple. It was
quite fascinating how Scarleth's personality seemed to mold to F'aen's
and fill all of the voids and empty places he'd had before.
Since most of the group was headed for breakfast, F'aen fell into step
with K'dall, "Were your weyrbred?" He asked curiously.

Thank Faranth for people who could start a conversation, K'dall
thought absently, as they walked toward breakfast.

He was remembering a similar conversation he'd had with Naevyn and it
made him laugh in his head. He was really very unoriginal.

He was still happy to chat with his fellow weyrling, so he answered
F'aen's question easily. "Not me. I was bred in a cothold. The
middle of seven children. I went on to study at the Beastcraft hall,
though, when I was old enough. I earned my journeyman knots just
before I was Searched for this clutch. Still, spending all that time
with animals, it hasn't seem so strange to be surrounded by these
beasties." He waved a hand toward their dragonets. "What about you?
Hold or Weyr?" He knew enough to know that a male greenrider was
someone that _some_ people said bad things about, but his family had
never really been ones to put down others.

"Weybred." F'aen said while flashing an easy grin to the brown
Weyrling. While some would probably assume that being weyrbred would
make it easier when it came to Impressing, F'aen found that he still
had issues of his own. Since he had no idea who his dragonrider
parents were, and his foster mother had been preoccupied with other
children his entire life, F'aen had no one to share the joy of his
Impression with.

}:You obviously have _me_.:{ Scarleth reminded him matter-of-factly.

**Of course, dear, of course.** F'aen soothed.

"I was in the harpercraft, though, this was my first time Standing."

"Oh! Was it easy for you, then? To make the transition from
weyrbrat, Harper crafter, to Impressed weyrling?" He asked curiously,
not really knowing, but finding he was interested. Was it so
different then, F'aen's experience from his own?

K'dall found the Weyr to be a nice place, full of nice people and nice
beasts. Trapper liked it too, lots of interesting smells and things
to chase. Although, he'd yet to figure out how to 'herd' Tallandrath.

}:He nips sometimes, but I just chase him. He is alright, and fun to
play with. When he doesn't nip. :{ His brown chipped in, even in
the midst of his relaxing after his bath.

F'aen gave a shrug to indicate that it really hadn't been that bad, "I
didn't know the first thing about Candidacy, even after growing up
here because I'd never been one, but I didn't have to go through the
whole homesick thing like some. When you grow up in the Weyr you just
get use to taking orders from anyone." He grinned a bit at that.

K'dall laughed aloud, finding that funny. "Being an apprentice in a
Crafthall teaches you to take orders too." The pair flowed along to
breakfast and found seats in the busy dining hall. After heaping his
plate with food - the usual way he ate - he sat down by F'aen again
and picked up his conversation as if he'd never stopped it.

"You grew up in the Weyr? Was it very exciting? I mean, being around
the dragons all the time? And why did you just now decide to be a
Candidate?" Apparently, he was full of conversation all of a sudden.

"I guess it was as exciting as 'home' can be, you know? Since I grew
up around dragons I probably didn't appreciate, or notice, them as
much as someone that's not from the Weyr. At least, I didn't until I
Impressed Scarleth, now I notice _every_ dragon. Before Impressing I
never realized how different each dragon truly is, before a dragon was
just a dragon, all the same in my book." F'aen took a spoonful of hot
cereal to his mouth. Washing the hot substance down with some fruit
juice, F'aen tried to answer the other question as well.

"I decided to be a Candidate on a whim, really. No one ever thought I
would stick with the harpercraft long enough to get anywhere, so once
I became a Journeyman I decided I would just try something completely
different. Candidacy was just that." He was so glad now that he'd
decided to Stand, already he couldn't imagine life without Scarleth.

}:Of course you can't, because I _am_ your life.:{ Scarleth said
matter-of-factly.

F'aen agreed.

K'dall grinned at F'aen and raised his fork in a mock salute. "Here's
to our lives changing... for the better!"

Last updated on the April 2nd 2012

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