Rise and Shine Weyrlings!
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Aaron, Curious, Devin, Duskdog, Estelle, Halyonix, Iluva, Len, Suzee
Date Posted: 1st July 2024
Characters: J'lor, Sh'del, Tirraze, R'lor, Naradis, C'rand, B'lyse, Ç'pier, O'dyn, Saedyna, R'fayne, R'ayl, L'fael
Description: The Weyrlings feed their dragons the morning after the Hatching.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 6 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Zelah
The sun wasn't yet up when the Weyrlingstaff roused the new Weyrling pairs and herded them toward the tables filled with raw meat. "At the Hatching the meat was prepared for you, but from now until your dragon is old enough to hunt for themselves, you'll be chopping it up for your lifemate." R'lor had a fair amount of sympathy for the new riders who were yawning and rubbing their eyes. It was a candlemark earlier that Candidates needed to get up, and they'd had an overwhelming day yesterday. "You need to make sure the pieces are small enough and that your dragon chews thoroughly before swallowing."
J'lor was behind the Weyrlings making sure none were left behind. "Come on ladies," he said to a couple who were still in their beds. He pulled off blankets and tossed them over the bottom of their beds. "Let's go Zelah, Naradis. Up and at 'em."
It would have been difficult to wake up early under the best circumstances. With the pitiful amount of sleep that an over-excited Naradis had gotten the night before, she felt like something half-dead when she peeled her eyes open. However, her exhaustion was easily overridden by the simple fact that she now had a _dragon_. With a cry of, "Yes, sir!" she jumped out of bed, walked over to Maylith's couch, and scooped the drowsy green up in her arms.
Tirraze had yet to shake the feeling of distance and detachment from everything around her, and she still had her thousand meter stare as she quickly dressed and walked with Riamorth " pausing once to pick up and refold his errant wing to stop him from tripping over it " to prepare his breakfast.
He sat on his haunches and watched, mouth watering, as she diced the meat for him.
Sh’del had taken responsibility for the boy’s side. “P’nel! Get a move on,” he said not unkindly to a young lad who was struggling with a very large brown. Still on his bed sat one boy who looked spaced out. “L’fael, come on, no more daydreaming, Sojanth needs to eat.” **Loranth, is he talking to every bloody dragon in the Weyr?**
}:Pretty much,:{ was Loranth’s amused reply. }:Young man, yours needs to eat.:{
After those two were shooed out to R’lor, Sh’del took one more look around to make sure he hadn’t missed anyone.
B'lyse often required quite the rousing wake-up call, as it took a very loud call indeed to rouse him from slumber. But today was different. Azureth heard the wake-up call very clearly, and instantly, he was awake and chattering in B'lyse's head. He had leaped out of bed, startled at the sudden noise. It would take some getting used to hearing Azureth so clearly, so sharply, so perfectly in his mind.
Once he was satisfied that Corland was ready to come with him, he took his new dragon to the tables and began chopping the meat for him. Or attempting to. It was not going to work one-handed.
And there _he_ was again. Was R'lor really going to just let him be there? He avoided making eye contact with B'lyes.
}:Ç'pier cut some up for you already,:{ said Yuliuth to Azureth.
}:Why?:{ Azureth did not quite understand exactly why B'lyes did not like or trust that man, Yuliuth's rider, but he knew that he did not.
}:Because your rider is injured, and it isn't safe to wield the knife with one hand. It is Ç'pier's responsibility as a part of his restitution to help those who need it.:{
}:Restit... tu... What's that?:{
}:It means he is working to pay for the wrong he did.:{
}:What did he do?:{
}:It isn't important to know. Only that you may ask your rider to feed you from the bowl he has prepared.:{
The weyrling from the boys' side that needed prodding was O'dyn, who was normally up early and eagerly but was just so exhausted from _everything_ that had happened yesterday that he didn't hear the call and it wasn't until Genireth was climbing into his cot that he even noticed something was happening. "Wha--?"
}: It's morning and we are late! I'm hungry! Up, up! :{ the sky blue dragon ordered imperiously. Blinking blearily, O'dyn got up. Genireth basically had to push him out of the Barracks, yawning. If one was stumbling because he was suited more for flying than walking, the other was stumbling because he was rubbing his eyes clear of sleep.
“It’ll get easier, lad,” Sh’del said as he followed the slowest weyrlings out of the barracks. He gave O’dyn a pat on the shoulder and looked around, making sure no one had been left behind. R’lor had everything in hand at the tables, so he stayed with the slowest ones to make sure they were okay.
}:Hungry!:{ Avarith pawed at Saedyna's leg as she started chopping meat.
"I know, but I have to make this nice and bite-sized for you." Saedyna had prepared carcasses before so she wasn't that squeamish about raw meat and blood, she just wasn't used to so _much_ of it. The idea of Avarith choking was terrifying so she cut the pieces even smaller than what they'd been given at the Hatching.
C'rand had to swallow down his fury at the realization that Ç'pier was here, lest he upset Berlinarth. Baby dragons were sensitive to strong emotions, or so they'd been taught, and he didn't want to risk his beautiful lifemate for anything -- especially not for that rotten tunnelsnake who had hurt Blue (_B'lyse_, he reminded himself).
}: He hurt Azureth's rider? :{ Berlinarth asked, curiosity and mild consternation in his tone. He personally didn't care about B'lyse, but he could feel that his rider did, and that was reason enough to be concerned. }: Then I will tell Yuliuth to begone! He will learn his place. :{
**It's okay,** C'rand assured him, tamping down on his own emotions _hard_. It was no different than trying to control his temper any other time, he told himself. He hated losing control, even before he Impressed. This was no different than that. Just... the stakes were higher. **He can't hurt him now. He just shouldn't be here, that's all.** He moved closer to B'lyse, though, as if daring Ç'pier to approach. Why did the Weyrlingmaster think this was okay? Wasn't R'lor supposed to _protect_ them? It felt like a betrayal, and he couldn't deny that it hurt.
It seemed he would just have to protect B'lyse _himself_. And Saedyna, too.
"If Azureth needs more meat, I'll chop it for you," he told B'lyse. "Tomorrow I'll get up earlier to chop for you, too. You don't have to take _anything_ from that guy."
J'lor saw a developing situation and stepped up next to C'rand. "Calmly," he said under his breath. "We know and we're watching out for the new Weyrlings. You must remain calm and positive with your lifemate. Look at his eyes. Nod if you understand."
Azureth very helpfully repeated what C'rand had said to B'lyse. Well, mostly.
}:He says that guy can take off and pound sand,:{ said the blue. }:And he'll chop the meat instead. Why does he have to get up early?:{
**If he's going to chop meat to be ready for breakfast, he has to be awake before breakfast to do it,** said B'lyse. **Ask Berlinarth to tell him he doesn't have to do that. He wasn't the one who broke the law. Let Ç'pier be the one to lose sleep over it, not him.**
}:Berlinarth,:{ said Azureth. }:B'lyse says he thinks the bad guy should be the one to have to wake up early and do extra work and not your rider.:{
As he walked to the tables piled high with meat, L’fael couldn’t help but catch bits of what the two dragons were talking about. Who was the bad guy they were talking about? He felt nervous as he took a seat close to them.
Sojanth nudged him. }:Forget the bad man and feed me:{ Her eyes whirled red with annoyance that her lifemate was paying attention to other dragons and not her. She growled low in her throat at the other dragons.
Loranth related to Sh’del what the weyrlings were talking about. Taking note that J’lor was already with them, he quickly strolled up and squeezed J’lor’s shoulder to let him know he was there. To the three weyrlings, Sh’del said in a stern voice, “We need you all to concentrate on your lifemates. This is the beginning of your first and most important lesson as a weyrling, and that is forming a strong bond between you and your dragon. So clear your mind, everyone, and think loving and reassuring thoughts towards your lifemates as you feed them.”
R'fayne didn't need help and he definitely didn't need attention. A muscle jumped in his jaw at J'lor's sudden proximity, then Sh'del's, his hands functioning in independent repetitions of slicing and tossing meat to an eagar maw.
Of all things he'd been sure of -- which made him distantly wonder if he'd ever feel sure about anything again-- it was that it wouldn't be a blue in front of him on the Sands, let alone his first morning as a Weyrling. Yet that's what was there, mistaken, marvellous. Perfect, just like the day before. His entire being was held rapt by those eyes, softly luminescent against a dark hide. It was _confusing_ and it kept happening. Confusing that it kept happening.
}: You are not well? :{ and that voice. That voice was so, so gentle. His stomach ached, at war with what was supposed to be impossible.
**No, I'm fine.** R'fayne insisted, also not focusing on the silent pain of disappointment-- of _being_ a disappointment.
}: But... you're not. :{ Skadith insisted back. The taste of iron lingered on their tongues as his chewing slowed, the little dragon growing thoughtful. Faranth, those eyes. _That face_. He fed the dark muzzle another piece and the world crinkled and brightened and there were no boundaries around what could, should, or shouldn't be there. }: You feel ill? :{
Not knowing what else to do, R'fayne sighed. **No, it's not that. You don't need to worry.** Skadith rubbed along his hand, his hand immediately reciprocating. The forever confluence of their minds tore through him faster than any fever. No, love like this was no illness, though it was in no way what he'd ever imagined or desperately desired his future to be. It was all at once amazing, terrible. _Real_. And he'd never known anger quite like this, either.
R'ayl had arrived early as usual, not yet being old enough to want to linger in bed - especially when there were new weyrlings to meet! His first few days as an assistant had been scary; it had taken him a while to get out of the habit of deferring to the older boys, even though he supposedly outranked them, having graduated. The passing months and his growing familiarity with the weyrlings had built his confidence, and now he anticipated the new class with excitement as well as nerves. Would any of them be near his age? Sometimes he still worried they'd mistake him for a weyrbrat in borrowed riding gear.
Today, his task was to look out for anyone who might be having trouble keeping up with their hatchling. Stopping at one of the tables, he smiled at the weyrlings. "Everyone okay here?"
"Hm?" Tirraze looked up from where she had previously been frozen, knife in hand. Riamorth was patiently waiting, mouth open and tongue lolled out. Stomach growling. "Oh. Yes." She went back to cutting the meat into cubes.
R'lor glanced over and saw both Sh'del and J'lor next to C'pier. Confident they would handle any issues, that left him free to check on the others. "Cut the pieces a little smaller," he told one Weyrling.
Berlinarth considered what Azureth relayed to him, and then lifted his chin. }: I see. That sounds appropriate. _Just_. I will tell C'rand that this is how it will be. :{
C'rand, aware of J'lor's presence, did as he was told. He looked at Berlinarth's eyes, which were not reflecting alarm, but were not exactly calm, either -- a concerned yellow tinge around the edges of his whirling green/blue eyes. Having to shut down his own emotions was not one of those things he'd expected to happen as a weyrling. He knew they had to be _careful_, but he hadn't expected how helpless it would make him feel to have even his right to feel his own feelings taken away. There was something intensely violating about that, which he couldn't quite explain.
He couldn't think about that. Berlinarth needed him. He glanced back at J'lor, swallowing hard, and nodded once, forcing a smile to his face. Shoving those thoughts aside and looking into Berlinarth's eyes, which were now focused on him again, made the smile abruptly real. It was hard to _keep_ feeling bad when his lifemate was right there in front of him... even if he wasn't actually able to share his _every_ thought with him now. **You really are a handsome dragon, do you know what?**
}: Yes,as a matter of fact, I do, :{ the brown replied proudly, and, after a moment, nudged C'rand's hand in an almost embarrassed fashion, sending feelings of "and so are you" without so many words.
J'lor made eye contact with C'rand his eyes lit and lips curved in an almost smile. He nodded and Luruth crooned his approval from the sidelines. "Not easy," he said. "But Berlinarth is more important."
Naradis watched the other weyrlings with a curious eye, not interrupting, just... watching. And maybe, on the inside, just a little, laugh
Last updated on the July 10th 2024