Weyrling Ambition (1/2)

Writers: Aaron, Avery
Date Posted: 25th January 2018

Characters: K'don, V'rel
Description: K'don and V'rel talk during exercise time
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 25 of Turn 9

K'don

V'rel had always enjoyed that his morning habit of running around the
Weyrbowl kept him in shape. He'd heard all the warnings about how
weyrlinghood was physically and emotionally exhausting, but he'd
assumed that he would be in good shape for it. He ran. He worked out
with weights sometimes, and he knew basic stretches. Surely it would
be sufficient and he wouldn't have as hard a time with weyrlinghood as
some other people…

As he looked at the list of strength and stamina exercises they'd been
assigned for the sevenday, he groaned aloud. Maybe he wans't going to
be as ready for this as he thought he was.

K'don, too, had overestimated just how much his beasthealing had
prepared him for the physical demands of weyrling training. But he
would not discover that fact until midway through the exercises or so.
For the time being, he was still feeling rather optimistic.

}:You and I are stronger than iron! Nothing can overcome us,:{ Maciath
proclaimed.

"What have we got on the schedule?" he asked, concerned as he heard
V'rel's groan.

"The stretches don't look so bad, but then it's pushups, situps, and
squats and lifts," V'rel reported with a frown.

"We can do it!" K'don said encouragingly. He flexed. "Look, we're
strong. All we have to do is get to it, and before you know it, we'll
have big burly muscles. Bigger and burlier."

"That's something to aspire to, being burly. As long as I don't get so
muscly I pop out of my clothes," V'rel mused. "Some of the holder
girls seem delicate. I hope they're going to be okay."

"The weyrlingmasters know how to help everyone get strong. And we'll
help them, too," said K'don, still as optimistic as ever. "I bet
they'll even get you new shirts if your muscles spill out." He smiled.

"Then I'd have to tailor them to fit, because the ones from the
storerooms are always so shapeless and never fit," the bluerider
muttered. "I just think the girls are going to have a harder time with
some of these."

"And then when you get even musclier, you'll just have to do it
again!" said K'don, giggling. He had never been terribly concerned
with his appearance except when it was an appointed time for such
things, like Gathers. "I bet the girls will be OK. There's been loads
of other girls who have done it before them, right?"

"That's true. But look at how different the girls in our class are.
Aleika isn't built anything like Tallis. Are they going to be able to
perform the same?" The weyrbred Aleika was very solid in the build of
her shoulders, whereas Tallis was broad-hipped but flabby armed.

"Maybe not just the same," said K'don. "But everyone has different
strengths and talents, yeah?" He had not worried about this kind of
thing before, but now he was starting to. Still, he was inclined to
trust that the Weyrlingstaff knew what they were doing. They surely
knew more about how to handle the situation than he did.

}:We only need to bid our friends take heart, and they will rise to
meet their lot!:{ said Maciath cheerfully.

K'don did grimace a little at that. **It might be a little more
complicated than that. Take a little more.**

"Yeah. Some people aren't good at academics. Others aren't good at
physical stuff. But we're all going to have to get better at, well,
everything, if we want to keep going..."

"We will," said K'don. They had to. Generations of riders before them
had, and generations after them would, too. "We'll help each other.
That's how riders always do it, isn't it?"

V'rel shifted into the next set of warm-up stretches. "I guess that is
how it is. Clutchmates keep each other up. What do you think you're
doing well at so far?" he asked.

K'don followed along with V'rel, pondering to himself as he did. He
usually liked to think that he was fair to middling at most things,
not really good or bad at anything except maybe caring for the beasts.
"Well, I'm pretty strong," he said, "since I have to carry around
heavy stuff all the time. Or. Had to." It would probably be a while
before he really had time to start learning dragonhealing. "What about
you?"

"I'm good with my hands since weaving uses them a lot, and I know a
lot of things because my dad's a rider. I know you've got the same
advantage," V'rel said. "I think that will help me with some of the
academic classes, but the later ones..."

"We'll just have to keep on trying until we can do it," said K'don. "I
don't guess it'll do much good to worry about it. It'll just make your
stomach hurt. And we'll need strong stomachs, too."

"Yeah, to deal with cutting up meat for the dragonets, or first aid
classes..." V'rel wrinkled his nose. It grossed him out.

"Did beasthealing prepare you for that?"

"Oh, for sure," said K'don, laughing a little. "It doesn't take very
long either for beasthealing to cure you of a weak stomach or for a
weak stomach to cure you of beasthealing. Are you having trouble
cutting up your meat?" he wondered.

"A little bit. It's very..." V'rel made a face. "I let Rymeth help me
through it. When he looks through my eyes he gets excited about that
and it helps me mask my own nausea. But it can make it hard for me to
focus on how to cut right."

"Gotta be careful not to cut yourself, at least," said K'don. "That'll
mess you right up, seeing your own tendons and stuff, if the beast
meat already has you queasy. Mostly, I just had to decide it wasn't
going to bother me. And you'd think it would, considering I can't seem
to keep my hands out of my mouth."

The idea of cutting up his hand and seeing the tendons *definitely*
made V'rel queasy. His brain cast around and settled on the slightly
less horrifying part of that statement. "Even after you've touched
gross things? And you haven't, like, got real sick?"

K'don shrugged. "I mean, I do wash my hands. And I can usually manage
not to gnaw on them while they're covered in anything too gross right
this second. But even nasty taste doesn't seem to stop me from
chewing. I can't really explain it other than I just gotta."

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

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Weyrling Ambition (1/2)