Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Writers: Duskdog, Sia
Date Posted: 24th April 2024

Characters: T'lonas, E'kirim, Kemira
Description: T’lonas tries to convince Ekirim to Stand
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 14 of Turn 11

T'lonas

T’lonas sighed. Not every Searchrider knew how to take notes, it seemed. Or… at least not _good_ notes, with adequate detail, in an organized fashion. Was it really so wrong of him to want the Weyr’s Search tokens accounted for?

Probably not, but that was only the half of it, really. The truth was, he just wanted to know who was accepting Search and who was turning it down. It was good data -- it painted a picture, however small, of who viewed the Weyr favorably and who didn’t, and of places that they perhaps were overlooking, or not checking in on as often as they should.

Okay, that wasn’t the entire truth, either. He also just wanted to be able to hunt down those who were hanging onto tokens for whatever reason, assess them himself, and convince them to accept their responsibility and present the Hatchlings with a broad choice, if deemed fit to do so by the Weyrwoman. It wasn’t _precisely_ part of his job, but it surely didn’t hurt for him to take an interest, did it? They might be under his charge eventually, after all.

Also, it was exciting and he was enjoying himself.

He looked at the door in front of him, glancing down the hallway and counting again, and then looked back down at the journal in his hands, his own neat and even handwriting staring back at him from the page. Yes, it seemed he was at the right door, if the directions he’d gotten from the staff were correct. Luckily, this Searchrider _had_ taken good notes, so that T’lonas at least had the likely lad’s name and the fact that he was a Weyr resident, and from there it hadn’t been too hard to find where he hung his hat.

T’lonas snapped his journal shut, tucked it into his belt, and knocked on the door.

Ekirim wasn't expecting anyone. His sisters were out again and he usually met up with J'ler in the Dining Hall. He didn't _think_ his mom had a date, but he second-guessed that when he opened the door and stared, confused, at T'lonas.

"Hi? Just a second." He stepped back from the door, inviting the bronzerider in. "Mom! Do you have a date tonight? He's here."

Well. T’lonas hadn’t expected that.

“No no,” he said, though he did step inside as invited. “I’m sorry, I’m not here to see your mom. Unless her name is Ekirim and she’s seventeen, which somehow I doubt?” His lips twitched in a smile. “I do hope I’m pronouncing that correctly, by the way.”

"Yeah, you are." Ekirim said, still clearly confused and a little stuck on why an old gentleman caller would come around looking for him. "You're looking for _me_?"

Kemira appeared in the doorway to the space, smiling welcomingly. "Come in, sir. Can I get you anything?"

T’lonas smiled back at her. “Oh you must be ‘mom’. I don’t need anything, but thank you for offering -- hospitality is always such a pleasure to encounter!” He inclined his head to Ekirim. “I’m here to speak with your son, actually. I’m T’lonas, the Weyrlingmaster here at Dragonsfall. I’m to understand that you’ve been Searched and haven’t reported in to the Headwoman with your token, Ekirim?”

Kemira's eyebrows raised. "Oh? Well, have at it."

"_Mom_." Ekirim said. "Yeah, I don't know if I'm accepting it or not. M'yvak said I could hang onto it while I decide. Is that all right?" He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up between his thumb and forefinger.

“Of course! You can hang onto it for as long as you feel you need, if you aren’t sure yet whether you want to accept.” T’lonas nodded. “I just thought I’d check in to see if there’s anything in particular that has you hesitant. It’s good for the hatchlings to have as much of a choice as possible, so ideally I’d love to welcome every Searched candidate onto the Sands, barring any issues that might disqualify them.”

"Well yeah, it seems like everyone forgets about like, actually fighting Thread when I pull out the Search token." Ekirim said. "Babies are cute and all, I guess," He hadn't actually seen them, but other babies were cute. "But I don't know if it's worth dying over."

T’lonas frowned thoughtfully. “Yes, that _is_ a fair sticking point. It might be better, in fact, if more Candidates thought more about that before accepting. I won’t lie to you -- it _is_ dangerous. You may end up sacrificing yourself for the good of all of Pern, and injuries are common. But it _is_ a sacrifice of the most glorious sort, if that’s something that moves you!” His frown melted into a small smile. “And… dragons are far more than just cute babies. I don’t think I’ve met many riders who wouldn’t say that the risk is absolutely worth having your lifemate.”

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean here. I guess I don't really get it." Ekirim said. "Although uh, if I had to choose between a glorious end and a long mediocre life, I think I'd choose to stay here instead." He shot a look at his mother, who nodded. "Flying and /betweening/ and stuff looks neat and all, and convenient, but I don't know if all the benefits outweigh the risks, y'know?"

“Flying and /betweening/ _is_ ‘neat’,” T’lonas acknowledged evenly. “But that’s certainly not the best part of having a dragon. It’s… difficult to describe. Can you imagine having someone who knows you better than you know yourself, and _still_ loves you more than life itself, no matter what you may have done or will do? It’s not a matter of deluding themselves, or refusing to acknowledge your flaws -- they _know_, and still love you, anyway? And they’re always with you, a warm and comforting presence. Your other half, a part of you that you didn’t even know you were missing until it found and completed you.”

What had started out as a calm reassurance had become increasingly passionate as he spoke. Perhaps remembering, finally, that he was speaking to people who just didn’t _know_, he stopped himself with a rueful smile.

“As I said,” he continued, “Difficult to describe. But surely you’ve heard stories.”

"Well yeah." Ekirim glanced over at his mother again as T'lonas got a little too intense. Everyone kept saying stuff like that, and it was really starting to feel like everyone here had read the same three ballads as kids and never let it go. "And all that extra responsibility is totally worth it? Even with Threadfall?"

“For me? Absolutely. For you? Well, that’s harder to answer.” T’lonas cocked his head thoughtfully. “I’ll admit, I _did_ come here with the intention of convincing you to Stand. But it would be irresponsible of me to dismiss your concerns, wouldn’t it? It doesn’t do any of us any good to have a reluctant or frightened or entirely unprepared weyrling. But, for what it’s worth, I think the fact that you’re willing to question things, and put real thought into whether this is something you want to do or not, means you have the makings of a good dragonrider.”

He laughed a little, scratching the back of his head. “I suppose I’m not so good at selling my product, am I? Well, that’s alright. It’s not a product. It’s the lives of a young man, and a baby dragon. Are there any questions I can answer for you to help you with your decision?”

"Uh." He considered a moment, frowning. "I don't know. My brother is a dragonrider too, right, and he's always had this drive to make some big name for himself. I could have stayed at Amber Hills and been just fine as a farmer. But I guess I've been so hung up on what happens if I do Impress, that I'm not really thinking about what happens if I don't. It just all goes back to normal, doesn't it?" He mused.

“It does, I suppose. And normal is fine, if that’s what you want. But have you ever given yourself the chance to consider something else? Would you be fine with saying, for the rest of your life, that you never even gave it a shot when given the chance? Maybe you would. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But maybe you should think on it.” T’lonas smiled. “If I hadn’t Impressed, I would be a harper. Maybe a master by now. And I suppose that life would have been fine, because I would have never known this one. I would have never known what I was missing.”

"Yeah, I have been thinking about it. And I guess you're right, really, but on the other hand, if it does happen and I do Impress, I won't get to choose anything else, either." Ekirim pointed out. "But yeah, I get where you're coming from. It would be neat to try it out and see what happens, at least once."

"You don't need to decide anything tonight." Kemira said. She hadn't moved from the doorway, though she watched the two of them closely. "It was nice meeting you, Weyrlingmaster."

T’lonas recognized a dismissal when he heard it, polite though it may be. She was protective of her son, perhaps, and he could hardly blame her.

“Your mother is right. No need to decide now. If you do decide you’d like to try, just let the Headwoman know. And if you have any other questions, I’m not difficult to find -- so long as I’m not actively with a class, my door is open to you. It was a pleasure to meet you, Ekirim, regardless of what you decide.” He inclined his head to Kemira. “And a pleasure to meet you as well, madam. I hope you both have a lovely rest of the evening.”

He let himself out.

Last updated on the April 26th 2024

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Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained