Almost a Turn?

Writers: Avery, Estelle, Suzee
Date Posted: 7th February 2024

Characters: K'tu, Tokallya, Jayzine
Description: K'tu remembers how he and Tokallya arrived at Barrier Lake and met Jayzine
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 11, day 13 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Dunrik, Bilpen

Jayzine

K'tu gazed out over the Weyrhold as his brown Kadidyith circled, soaring
on the air currents above the lake. They were awaiting a wingmate to
ride sweep, but B'gorn was always late - only just dragged himself out
of bed, despite the mid-morning hour. It didn't bother K'tu. He leaned
close to his dragon's warm hide and looked at the neat rows of craft
buildings, the trader ship tied up at the docks and further out across
the lake, the sparkling fall of water gushing through the hydroelectric
plant.

So much had changed since he'd first arrived, blinking out of /between/
over a scene of dust and scaffolding, half-built cots and carts going to
and fro with supplies, and the constant sound of hammers and saws
drifting up from the Weyrbowl...

*** Flashback - month 12, turn 10 ***

"Wow! They've done a lot already," K'tu called back to his passenger as
they glided down towards Barrier Lake. The last time he'd flown over
here, it had been a placid lake by a sleepy minor hold and the remnants
of an old mine.

Tokallya had gotten enough rides from K'tu to know to hold her breath
for /between/. She gusted it out in a big relieved sigh when they
appeared over Barrier Lake, and she peered down to see what she could
see. The place looked like a construction zone for sure, with
partly-done buildings on the rim of the lake, and people and carts
bustling everywhere, and here and there the bright spots of dragon hides.

Tokallya's arms were wrapped around K'tu's waist and she leaned forward
to say into his ear, "It looks so full of potential!"

"Lots of work for us, too." Kadidyith's flight curved over the crafter
village, where buildings were going up at an even faster rate. He picked
out the smithy, with smoke rising from a chimney and the faint clinking
of hammers on metal, before they left it behind and skimmed over the
lake. The brown backwinged to slow as they approached the opposite
shore, and settled to a gentle landing in the Weyrbowl.

K'tu turned back in his straps, grinning widely. "Here we are."

"Wow, look at that." Her eyes were wide as she stared around at the
people moving place to place, the construction. "Is it me, or does it
all look bigger from the ground than it did in the air?"

"It certainly looks busier." As he unbuckled the riding straps, another
brown, this one carrying logs in a sling, descended to the ground not
far off and a group of craftsmen approached with a cart. In moments, he
was unloaded and taking off again. The scents of sawdust and freshly dug
earth filled the air. "I guess we should find the Headwoman first. Where
do you think she'll be?"

"I think she must be in whatever the equivalent of the dining caverns
are here." She scanned around and said, "Look at that big building over
there. That looks like some kind of central area." It was half-built,
with a single story and a broad foundation.

"Let's go and take a look. If she isn't there then I expect we'll find
someone who knows where she is." K'tu turned in his seat and swung down
to Kadidyith's leg before jumping lightly to the ground. As Tokallya
dismounted, he reached up a hand to scratch his brown's snout. **I'd go
and find somewhere to rest if I were you. It looks like they'll have us
hard at work before long.**

Kadidyith whuffed out a warm breath and turned to look at them both. }:I
will go and sit on the cliffs. There's a lot to see here.:{

"That sounds good to me. And if we take a bit to find her, well, it just
lets us look around the place." She fell into step with K'tu, and was
fairly quiet during their walk, head turning from side to side like an
baby wherry as she looked at the mix of construction on the ground,
deliveries coming in from the sky, and tried to imagine what her place
in this would be. When she'd decided to push to come to Barrier Lake to
expand her Smithcraft training, she'd known it would be a lot of work,
and she was excited for that - it would let her finish off her
apprenticeship learning about so many aspects of Smithing and she loved
that.

When they got to the big building, she waved down a passing drudge.
"Excuse me, can you tell us where the Headwoman is?"

"She's most likely in her office, if she's not meeting with the Lord
Weyrholder or the goldriders." The drudge, a young man in his late
teens, glanced at the Dragonsfall knots which marked them as new
arrivals. "I can show you the way, if you'd like," he offered, his
eagerness to help no doubt partly due to the prospect of a short break
from work.

K'tu grinned. "Thanks. I'm K'tu, Kadidyith's rider, and this is my
friend Tokallya, a talented Smith."

"I'm Sabilar, from the hold up there at Barrier Hills." He gestured
vaguely towards the cliffs and led them into the building. Inside it was
bright and clean, filled with the scents of freshly cut wood and new
paint. "A lot of us came down here when we heard they were building a
new Weyr, looking for work. There's plenty of it, that's for sure. But
I'm hoping that when one of the queens rises, there'll be a chance to
Stand for the eggs..." Sabilar's eyes were bright with the hope of one
day becoming a dragonrider. "Here we are." He stopped outside a door and
knocked smartly.

"Come," the headwoman's voice called from inside her office. She stood
as the door opened. She wasn't quite certain who was at her door. She
was expecting the Weyrwoman shortly and never greeted any rider
without a friendly expression.

The young brownrider stood back to allow Tokallya to precede him into
the office, then followed her in. "Good day, Headwoman. My name's K'tu,
rider of Kadidyith, and this is Tokallya. We're both smiths, just
arrived from Dragonsfall Weyr."

Tokallya nodded with her own smile. "Here to help however we can, ma'am."

Jayzine nodded and smiled at both the newcomers. "Excellent," she
nodded. "I'm certain Master Dunrik and Master Bilpen will be very glad
to see you both." She pulled a hide from her side table that contained
a drawing of the Weyr and environs. "I'm sure we can accomodate you
both either together or separately?" She looked up expectantly, her
eyes shifting from one to the other.

She blushed. "Separately. I'm fine with where ever in the crafter
region you put me - it seems busy enough maybe it's all barracks?" she
queried.

"And Kadidyith and I can bed down anywhere," K'tu added. There was
still enough of the holder in him to be a little embarrassed. "We saw
some dragons in beach wallows on the way in - I guess there aren't
enough cliff weyrs finished yet for everyone?"

Jayzine nodded with a pleasant smile still affixed to her face. She
looked up at the woman, "Tokallya, I can put you in the crafter
village across the bay, near the docks you probably saw when you came
in." She pulled a token from her drawer and pushed it across her desk.
"It's a double and you'll be rooming with another female crafter."

"Brownrider K'tu," you and your dragon will lodge in the temporary
housing just north of the crafter village. That is likely where you
saw all the Wallows. You'll both want to see Dunrik for your crafting
assignments. You'll also wish to report to the Weyrleader. You can
get directions to his office from any dragonrider. Any questions?"

"I don't think so - thank you, Headwoman." K'tu glanced at Tokallya in
case she had any. "I can fly us across to the crafter village, so we
can find the Mastersmith and then drop off your bags?" Kadidyith had
informed the watch dragon of their arrival, but he also silently asked
the brown to let the Weyrleader's bronze know they were ready to
report whenever it was convenient.

"Feel free to come back here for dinner. The dining hall is here along
with much of the housing for our lower caverns workers. The infirmary
is in the building across the road if you have the need later." She
stood with a pleasant nod. "Welcome to Barrier Lake."

"Thank you, Headwoman." K'tu smiled warmly and bowed. Dinner sounded
wonderful, though he did hope he wouldn't need directions to the
infirmary any time soon!

Last updated on the February 10th 2024

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