Moongazing (1/2)

Writers: Yvonne, Devin
Date Posted: 8th June 2024

Characters: Alina, T'lin
Description: T'lin and Alina go to watch a lunar eclipse and chat about friendship.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern, Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 27 of Turn 11

Alina

T'lin

"This is so neat!" T'lin said as he secured a carefully packed blanket
to Calaroth's riding straps. It was night and both Calaroth and
Imarith's eyes showed bright in the darkness.

"You've got the telescope, right?" Alina asked for the third time.
While the eclipse would be beautiful without it, she was excited to
see shadows move across craters.

"Yes. I had to swear on my dragon's hide _and_ mine to bring it back
safe." He pointed to the well-wrapped bundle tied to Calaroth's
harness with extra straps.

}:The moon will turn dark and red? Like the glows?:{ Calaroth's eyes
whirled curiously.

**Yes.** T'lin had demonstrated with a glow basket and a piece of colored glass.

Alina finished strapping the jug of klah to Imairth. "I have klah and
chairs, and you have blankets and the telescope. I think that's it?
Unless I forgot anything?"

"Snacks!" He laughed and pointed to the bag near Calaroth's foot.
"Luckily I remembered."

She flushed. "I-- I can't believe I forgot. I'm so sorry." It wasn't
like her-- but then, she'd been so excited to go for days now. T'lin
had helped her calculate the path of the eclipse and she'd chosen
their location based on it. "Thank you."

T'lin waved off her apology. "I've known for Turns to always bring
extra snacks and I _still_ forget sometimes." He lifted the bag and
attached it to the straps before mounting. "Ready?"

She nodded, and a moment later the two dragons were in the sky and
going /between/. They went from dusk to full dark, the sky above
dominated by the two moons and spangled with stars. Alina guided
Imarith to the top of a bald hill, and she was grateful for her warm
flight jacket. It was colder here than at Dolphin Cove Weyr. She
looked anxiously at the sky to make sure that the eclipse hadn't
somehow started yet before dismounting. "Thank goodness the weather
held. I think I might have cried if it had been overcast."

"That would've been _so_ disappointing." T'lin slid down Calaroth's
shoulder. "Can you help me with the telescope?"

Alina held out her hands. "You'll have to tell me what to do." The
only ones she'd looked through had already been set up by the
Starsmiths at the Weyr, and not in pieces like the one that T'lin
handed to her.

T'lin laughed. "I meant help me get it down to make sure I don't drop it."

"I know!" She hadn't, and was grateful that it was dark enough that
T'lin couldn't see her blush. She was too excited, and was making a
fool out of herself as a result. The greenrider carefully lifted the
telescope parts down. "This is probably a stupid question, but... why
are there only eclipses when Belior or Timor are full?"

"Because Rukbat, Pern, and the moon need to be lined up. Then Pern's
shadow falls on the full face of that moon." T'lin finished taking the
telescope from Calaroth's riding straps and passed the last part to
Alina. Then he took down the blanket and snacks.

She was quiet, picturing the three objects lined up in space. Then she
frowned. "But Pern's shadow still must partially fall on the moons.
Why can't we see that?"

"The moons only pass into Pern's shadow when they're full." T'lin
carried the food and blanket to their viewing spot. "You'll have to
ask a Starsmith for more details. I'm no expert." He smiled and bent
to lay out the blanket.

"Well, you seem like an expert to me." She carefully set down the
telescope on the blanket, then went back to Imairth for the little
chairs and jug of klah.

Her dragon was staring at the moon, her eyes whirling with excitement.
}:When will the moon turn red?:{

**Soon, love.** Alina scritched Imarith's eyeridges fondly before
carrying the chairs and klah back to T'lin. "I don't think Imarith's
ever really thought about the moons before. I don't know why it
surprises me... the moons affect the tides and the animals, so I
always just sort of assumed they would affect dragons, too. But no."

"Calaroth has always been curious, which is fun when he forgets half
the things I tell him." T'lin pulled out the tripod and set it on a
level piece of ground next to the blanket.

She watched him set up, although she did use the time to unfold the
chairs and pour them both a mug of steaming klah. "Imarith is curious,
too. I wonder if green dragons are so curious _because_ they forget."

}:I am not so forgetful!:{ Imarith protested. She swished her tail in
aggravation. }:I am smart. Calaroth thinks I am smart!:{

}:You are curious and ask questions. That is how you get smart,:{ Calaroth said.

T'lin attached the last piece of the telescope. "Do you ever get a
feeling like she's digging through your mind?"

"All the time. She peeks through my eyes a lot too." Alina sighed and
looked at her dragon, who snorted. "I don't know why you like watching
me sew so much. You don't even _wear_ clothing."

The bluerider laughed. "It was _so_ weird at first. Hmm, okay. Now I
just need to find the moon and get it in focus." He looked through the
eyepiece and then squinted up at the sky. After shifting the tilt of
the telescope up and to the right, he went back to the eyepiece. T'lin
did this a few times before he said, "Ah, got it! Well, I still need
to focus, but I can see the moon." He fiddled with a knob near the
eyepiece.

"You can see it?" Alina's fingers tightened around her mug. To see a
moon so close, and during an eclipse-- **It's just a moon...** The
thought whispered in her twin sister's voice. Just Beilor, but in
shadow. Being so nakedly excited over a _moon_ was... immature.
Embarrassing. She glanced at T'lin, then down at her hands.

Well, she'd already revealed herself to T'lin, and T'lin was a
friend... he wasn't going to use her joy against her. And if he did,
so what? She sipped her klah to help find an equilibrium. "Any luck?"

He frowned as he kept adjusting the focus. "Ugh this is so finicky."
He was impatient to get everything set so they could enjoy the sight
of Belior for a while before the eclipse started. A slight turn made
the view much more clear. "Oh! Oh! Almost!" He bit his lip as he
carefully moved the knob. "There!"

}:I want to see.:{ Calaroth's presence grew stronger as he looked
through T'lin's eyes. }:Oh, it looks very much bigger through the
tube. Can you touch it?:{

T'lin laughed. **No.**

He only stayed at the telescope for a moment before he stepped back.
"Take a look."

She bent toward the eyepiece and drew in a sharp breath. There was
Beilor, so close and so... _real_. Mountains and valleys, pockmarked
craters-- she could feel Imarith behind her eyes watching as well.
"Oh... that's amazing. I feel like we could just... go there. Go
/between/ maybe."

"Not if you want to breathe," T'lin chuckled. "There's no air."

"Really?" Alina wrinkled her nose. "Then..." How could there be _no_
air at all? She'd never really thought about it, but the air did get
thinner the higher you flew. It stood to reason that there was no air
on the moons, then. Once again she cursed her lack of education. There
was so much that the travelling harpers didn't teach. She bent to the
telescope again to hide her embarrassment. "Well. I still think it
would be neat."

"The eclipse should be starting soon, right?" T'lin sipped at his klah.

"I think so." The greenrider reluctantly leaned back from the
telescope. No sense in hogging it before the show began. They sat in
silence for a while, staring at the stars, until Alina pointed back at
Beilor. "Is-- I think that it's starting!"

Last updated on the June 12th 2024

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Moongazing (1/2)