Getting to Know You

Writers: Devin, Steel
Date Posted: 2nd June 2024

Characters: Saedyna, V'tian
Description: Vytian meets Saedyna and they have a polite enough enough conversation.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 28 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentor Approved

As soon as the morning class was over, Saedyna got up to hurry back to
her cot. She needed to put her new ring away before going to chores.
Many of the other Candidates were in a hurry as well, bunching up at
the doorway, so she took the opportunity to admire the ring again. The
thin band of silver held a pretty little chip of emerald. She would
have preferred gold, but she already owed money for the new Hatching
dress being made.

"... Hi." Vytian told her, when he saw the pretty girl, and her shiny
ring. And then he immediately kicked himself mentally. "... Hello, I
mean." He added, hastily. "I'm Vytian. It's nice to meet you. Are you
from the Weyr?"

She turned to him. "I was Searched. I'm guessing you were too." She
hoped he wasn't trying to flirt with her. Maybe he was just lonely, or
a friendly sort who wanted to meet everyone.

"I was." Vytian told her, not put off by the bit of bluntness. He
would like to prove himself, and how better to start than with this
girl? She was pretty, after all, and her jewelry was nice...

"What's your name?" He asked, hopefully, and trailed after her. "I
haven't actually been here all that long, but I'm excited to see if I
can Impress when the eggs hatch. Or even before, if we're allowed to
look at the eggs. I hope we are."

"I'm Saedyna." Her shoulders unconsciously tightened as he followed
her, but her tone was light. "They take us in to touch the eggs, so
you'll be able to do more than just look."

"Truly? We can go look? The dragons... The dragons don't mind?" Vytian
asked, instead of the dozen other things he wanted to ask.

Saedyna's reaction was noticed, and Vytian faltered a moment, before
he rallied. "Of course, we're both going to Impress!" Maybe that's what
she was worried about?

"Well we can't go _any_ time," Saedyna said as they walked the short
distance from the classroom to the barracks. "It has to be arranged
with the Queen and her rider and the Weyrlingmasters. And it depends
on the gold and how she feels about Candidates touching her eggs." She
could almost feel them now, warm and smooth beneath her hands, wishing
and wanting for impossible things.

"I'm not going to tell the Weyrleaders what to do!" Vytian looked
plainly scandalized. "Of course we'll see the eggs only when the gold
mother wants to, or she'd probably eat us." he added. "I just... I
would very much like to Impress. I need to, even, or they might send
us home..."

"They won't send us home." After a moment of thought Saedyna added,
"Unless maybe you do something really terrible." She wondered what
would have happened to C'pier if the Weyrleaders had found out what he
did before he Impressed.

"I'd never do something terrible to anyone at the Weyr!" Vytian
asserted. "I haven't been here long, but I'm _going_ to Impress, I'm
sure of it!"

He frowned. "... Wouldn't being terrible disqualify you anyways?"

Saedyna sighed. "You would think. I have no idea why dragons pick some
of the people they do."

"... Well." Vytian huffed. "... I'm sure I'm going to Impress. And
it's going to be a bronze, surely!"

Saedyna rolled her eyes. "You and every other holdbred boy." At least
some of the weyrbred ones had sense.

"Yes, but I'm different." Vytian responded. "And no, I'm not just
saying that. A bronze... Getting one would change everything, so
there!" A pause, and then he added, "If I had to, I guess a brown
could work too... I just need a chance."

"Well, you'll get your chance, and the dragons will decide if they
want you or not." Saedyna felt a pang. Vytian _did_ have a chance,
he'd actually been Searched, while she was just here pretending to be
a Candidate until she aged out and had to find something else to do.

"... Have you watched many Hatchings?" Vytian asked. "I'm sure we'll
both have as much a chance as possible. A dragon has to want both of
us, if we’re showing ourselves as the best option."

"I've Stood for two, and there are others who've Stood a lot more than
that. You should think about what you'll do if a dragon never chooses
you." Saedyna knew she should take her own advice, but she had some
time left. The idea of taking on a Craft seemed . . . intimidating.

"... But I have to be a dragonrider!" Vytian protested. A pause. "I...
I need this. But... Maybe I'll get lucky. And maybe you will too."

"You shouldn't base your life on luck." Saedyna fiddled with the ring
on her finger. "You have to make things happen, and since you can't
_make_ a dragon pick you, you should find something you _can_
control." For now, she was happy just to be a Candidate . . . and to
have marks coming in regularly. Even with the classes and chores and
rules, Candidacy was freedom to her, and she'd taken control of her
own life.

"I made it here, didn't I?" Vytian countered. "And I'm the first in my
family to, as far as I know." A brief pause, and then he relented.
Just a little bit. "... I asked to join the Dragonhealers. That can
only help."

She gave him a skeptical look and then relented. "Well, it can't
hurt." This one was going to have a rough time if he was left on the
Sands.

"No, it won't." Vytian agreed. "And you'll see." A pause, and then he
stepped back. "I'll... let you get back to what you were doing,
Saedyna."

"Yeah." She nodded absently. "See you."

Last updated on the June 7th 2024

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Getting to Know You