Fit in Mind and Body

Writers: Devin, Suzee
Date Posted: 31st May 2024

Characters: R'lor, J'lor
Description: R'lor interviews a fellow bluerider with a much-needed skill set.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 8 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Ç'pier, J'ackt

R'lor

J'lor

R'lor smiled as the man walked into his office. His _new_ office,
which was still a wonder every time he thought about it. "Welcome to
Dolphin Cove, J'lor. My duty to Luruth."

J'lor looked slightly startled at the knots; they were those of a
bluerider but with the rank of Weyrlingmaster. A slow smile spread
across his face in appreciation of this man's accomplishment. The
Weyrleader of Dolphin Cove was known for his acumen but never would he
have suspected a bluerider could rise to such a leadership role.

He recovered himself and held out his hand. "A pleasure to meet you
sir," he said. "And my duty to Kularth.

R'lor shook his hand. J'lor was . . . easy to look at. "I was very
recently promoted and one of my first tasks is to, uh . . . replace
myself." He chuckled.

J'lor chuckled as well. "One does have a job cut out for them then,"
he said. "I've been in the fighting wings now from the beginning of
the Pass. I'd like to pass along that knowledge and also help our
weyrlings adjust to what is a very adult mindset." Privately he hoped
that tackling them from both an experienced rider and a mindhealer's
perspectives could help with weyrling survivability.

"I was very excited when I saw you're a mindhealer. I've had some
major issues lately with Weyrlings and Candidates needing urgent care
from a mindhealer, and I would love to have someone qualified on the
'Staff. But more broadly, I think if we can assess and address mental
health issues in the Candidates and Weyrlings, we can have them fit in
both mind and body when they join the fighting Wings." R'lor was both
nervous and excited at the idea that he could simply enact his own
plans and choose his own assistants and he was now only answerable to
the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman.

"Well, thank you," he said. "I believe that I can help. Of course you
have to deal with the self centered mindset of a teen. They don't have
the maturity to realize that everyone on Pern isn't thinking about
them and judging them. Nor can they believe that anyone has ever felt
what they feel. It takes some time to get through to them
successfully. But we'll certainly make a start!"

R'lor nodded. So far this man seemed very promising. "So you like
working with teenagers?"

“That might be an overstatement,” said J’lor. “But I do enjoy helping
them understand and redirect their angst”

"Ah. But you do want to help train young dragonpairs more than you
want to fight Thread at this point?"

"Luruth always wants to fight Thread," J'lor smiled. "But even he has
been infected with my desire to help our young people fit into the
wings seamlessly. So, yes I do want to train young dragonpairs more
than I want to fight Thread at this stage."

R'lor needed to make this decision thoughtfully and carefully. "Other
than mindhealing, what skills and strengths do you think would aid you
as part of the weyrlingstaff?"

"Well," he said thoughtfully. "Blues and greens really are the
backbone of the Wings and I've been in the fighting wings since the
beginning of the Pass. Experience is a great teacher and with all
sorts of experiences I can tag an adrenaline junky when I see one.
See who's going to do something stupid and hopefully educate them on
the reason's it's a bad idea."

"I was a Wingthird before and a significant part of my job was making
sure the bronze boys didn't get themselves killed." R'lor smiled.

J'lor chuckled. "I can totally see that." He shook his head. "With
all the current unrest around us, are we teaching any self-defence
classes?"

"We've always had general self-defense training for weyrlings, but I'm
considering expanding that." There were a lot of things to think about
and much work to do now that R'lor was Weyrlingmaster.

J'lor nodded "I've heard there's a young bronzrider who is great with
a sword. Do you think he'd be willing to teach an advanced class?" He
was thinking that if word got round about the riders training perhaps
the agitators might think twice before taking one of them on.

"J'ackt. He's one of the of the self-defense trainers for both
Weyrling and Candidate classes. I'm not sure if he has the time, but
he'd be at the top of my list." He was an intense man with an edge of
danger to him, and R'lor was glad he hadn't been in charge of his
training.

"Yeah," J'lor nodded. "Bronze riders are busy men, but perhaps we can
ask him." He thought for a moment. "I'm thinking we might need to build in
some awareness, like waking them in the middle of the night for some
kind of drill. Keep them edgy and watching their backs."

"I don't know about that . . . I don't want them to feel terrorized in
their own home." Being constantly on edge wasn't healthy.

"I didn't mean that kind of terror," he said seriously. "But that very
brozerider was attacked. I'm certain his awareness of his surroundings
because of his life experience gave him enough warning to draw his
sword and defend himself."

"We'll see how the extra self-defense training goes." R'lor knew he
had to consider all the dangers they faced, but he wanted to spend his
time thinking of how to prepare the Weyrlings to face Thread rather
than training them to fight random attackers. "My goal is to turn
Weyrlings into healthy, capable wingriders and I'll do whatever is
needed to help get them there."

J'lor nodded acquiescing to the Weyrlingmaster's decision. He'd been
told before that he was overly cautious at times so he recognized that
in himself. "So do we have any specific weyrlings you'd like me to
talk to?"

"C'pier. He's the only weyrling right now, actually. His class
graduated in month seven but I held him back as punishment." R'lor
sighed. "He's the one who tried to kill a fellow Candidate and then
lied about it. He's been seeing the mindhealers, but I'd like someone
else to help with his training as well. He hurt a Candidate under my
care and then lied to my face. It feels too personal."

J'lor sat completely still for a moment. "And he Impressed?"

The Weyrlingmaster sighed again, deeper this time. "Yuliuth is a
sweet, gentle dragon and I have no idea why he made such a choice.
Maybe . . . riders are made better and stronger by their dragons, and
I can only hope Yuliuth's influence makes a better man out of him."

"Yes," J'lor said. "You know? The incidents of social instability
within the general population is significantly lower for riders than
non-riders. But that is not to say, nonexistant." He nodded while he
mused. "I'll chat with him and let you know the results."

Last updated on the June 1st 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Fit in Mind and Body