A Whole Dragon

Writers: Estelle, Yvonne
Date Posted: 25th April 2021

Characters: Gienah, R'hil
Description: Gienah congratulates R'hil on his Impression of Dath
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 9 of Turn 10

The last of Aglayath's eggs had hatched, and Gienah's spirits, which had
lifted briefly seeing that one of them was a green, sank again when she
made straight for a boy, off to her right in the half-circle of
remaining Candidates. As she left the Sands, she saw more than one of
those who'd been left looking across to where Chioneth brooded over her
clutch. Maybe her dragon was there, curled up in her shell, waiting. And
even if she wasn't, there was still time. Gienah put on a brave face,
again, and headed out to congratulate the lucky weyrlings.

Most of them had family gathered around them - she saw the Weyrwoman's
son, who'd Impressed the only bronze, with several people - but then she
saw Rushil feeding a brown dragonet. She wondered whether his family
were here - perhaps they were still making their way down from the
stands - and waved.

"Hi, Rushil. Congratulations." She smiled. Although she was a _little_
bit jealous, it was hard to feel too sad around a young dragon. "Oh -
what should I call you both?"

"Dath." Rushil looked dazed and clearly missed the second part of
Gineah's question. "I-- I can't believe I Impressed a whole dragon."

}:More!:{ The dragonet in question shoved his nose against Rushil's
side. He was a stocky thing with a deep brown hide, and his eyes
whirled with hunger. Then his belly growled. }:More!:{

"It would be kind of weird if you Impressed half of one." Gienah
wondered for a moment how that would work, then decided not to.
"Wow. He's stuffing down more food than...well, you."

Rushil grinned broadly. "He's a growing boy!" The meat cleaver he was
wielding sliced another bit of meat off the herdbeast leg he was
holding, and he tossed it to Dath. Dath ate it up in one snap.

}:More!:{

Rushil paused. "I'm sorry you didn't Impress this time, Gineah. I bet
you will at Chioneth's clutch."

"Thanks. I hope I will. At least there'll only be the one queen next
time." As unusual and exciting as the double clutch had sounded, it was
less so when you were the one on the Sands with both golds snarling over
their precious eggs. "So, have you decided what your new name's going to
be?"

He froze. Rushil had known that if he Impressed he'd have to change his
name, but now that it had happened he wished that he'd put more thought
into it. It felt important. "Uh... maybe R'hil? Does that sound okay to
you?"

"R'hil," Gienah repeated slowly, letting the sound sink in. "It sounds
good. Like a real dragonrider." It was strange to think of her friends
changing their names, as though they were becoming new people. "What
does Dath think?"

The dragonet nudged R'hil's elbow with his fat snout. }:Hungry!:{

"Sheesh, I know," R'hit muttered, although he was grinning as he said
it. "He's just hungry," he said, turning back to his butchery. "It's
weird. I can _feel_ how hungry he is. It's like being hungry, except...
different."

Her brow creased as she tried to imagine it - being hungry and
not-hungry, all at once. Sharing someone else's feelings. "Like...how if
you see someone stub their toe or shut their hand in a door, and you
wince for them?"

"Kind of. Except you feel it too." He shrugged, not really knowing how
to explain it any better. "I just... can't believe I Impressed a dragon."

}:_I_ chose _you_,:{ Dath said imperiously. }:Feed me.:{

"I'm working on it," R'hil muttered.

Gienah shook her head, unable to quite imagine it, and wondered if she'd
ever know. She watched as the flood of spectators leaving the hatching
grounds began to slow. "So, um... Have you got family here, to see you
Impress?" She tried to remember where he'd said he was from. One of the
Holds, she thought.

"Dunno. I think so." He looked up again, smiling. "I really hope Mam
brought all my brothers. I think they'd like it here."

"I think anyone would." Gienah couldn't imagine any better life than
living at the Weyr. She grinned, teasingly. "If your brothers are
anything like you, I hope the cooks made a lot of food for the Hatching
Feast. How many do you have?"

"Three!' R'hil hesitated. "No, two. I have an older and younger brother,
and I used to have a cousin that was basically a brother, but he... we
don't know what happened to him," he ended with a shrug.

"You don't know what happened to him?" She looked confused. "Did he -
like, run away or something?"

R'hil shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "He didn't run away. He just...
disappeared." Hhe fed another chunk of meat to his new dragon and his
expression softened. "What about you? Is your Da here?"

"Yes, he wouldn't miss it," Gienah said, distracted by what R'hil had
just said. People didn't just disappear, in her experience. Well, they
did, but usually they turned up, sometimes with someone they shouldn't
have been with, and sometimes worse. However, she sensed he didn't want
to talk about it. "I hope I'm lucky next time. I really want to make him
proud, you know?"

"Yeah. I hope my Mam's proud." R'hil smiled affectionately at Dath and
his red-stained teeth. "She wanted me to Impress a bronze, but hopefully
a brown dragon will be good enough."

"I should hope so! Anyone would be proud of Dath." She looked down
fondly at the faceted eyes of the hatchling. "He's really sweet." Apart
from the gory jaws, but that was easy enough to overlook. She tugged at
the sleeve of her Candidate's robe. "Well, I'd better go get changed for
the feast. I'll see you there, okay?"

"Yeah." Rushil-- no, R'hil, looked up with a smile. "I'll introduce you
to my brothers, if you want. I bet you'd like them."

"Okay! I'd like that." She couldn't help but be intrigued by the thought
of meeting R'hil's family. Most of the time they'd been candidates
together, he'd seemed normal enough, but there were some moments - it
was hard to describe exactly how he was different. Things he didn't know
that she thought everyone did, songs he hadn't heard, little
mannerisms... Maybe he came from a very isolated hold?

Then again, she was hardly a typical holder girl herself. Gienah waved
goodbye and headed off back to the Candidate barracks, keeping an eye
out for her Da in the crowd.

R'hil watched her go until a small, bloody snout nudged his elbow.

}:I'm _hungry_,:{ Dath said plaintively.

"Right! Right..." The new brownrider turned back to his new dragon,
amazed all over again at the sound of someone else's voice in his head--
a dragon. _His_ dragon.

Last updated on the July 21st 2021

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