Helpful

Writers: Estelle, Halyonix
Date Posted: 21st October 2024

Characters: R'ayl, O'dyn
Description: R'ayl helps O'dyn make his first riding straps
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 2 of Turn 11

R'ayl usually spent his evenings with Delorth or his family, but this
sevenday, after his dragon had settled down in his couch to sleep, he
headed back to the weyrling barracks. It was an important time in their
training, leading up until the day when the new pairs would fly together
for the first time, and there was a lot of preparation to be done -
including making riding straps.

He remembered working on his first set himself, and how one of the
assistants had helped him when he was unsure of what to do. Perhaps now,
he could help someone in his turn. And maybe, he thought with a hint of
nerves, he could get to know them outside of class.

}: You are concentrating very hard on that thing in your hands, :{
Genireth remarked as he watched his rider try to split the leather _just
so_. He tilted his head. }: Does sticking your tongue out help with
that? :{

"No," O'dyn growled as he tried to be very, very, very careful to cut
the leather _there_ and not _there_ because if he cut it _there_ then he
wouldn't have enough _there_ and then he'd have to start over for the
third time and he really didn't want to start over again.

}: Perhaps you should ask -- oh, here comes help. :{ Genireth, having
spotted R'ayl, perked his head up and made a chuffing sound in greeting.

"Good evening, Genireth," R'ayl said politely as he approached the blue
pair. He'd recognized the expression of someone concentrating hard, and
saw the discarded pieces of leather nearby. He raised a hand in a shy
greeting. "Hi! Sorry to disturb you. I wondered how you were getting on
with those...and if I can help?"

}: Yes! :{ Genireth answered for them both, pointedly including R'ayl
in. But he let his rider explain further.

"This is my second time doing this and I've been really, really careful
but I'm just not lining up the pieces right after I cut them!" O'dyn
said, showing R'ayl what he was trying to do.

"Oh, right - I can help," R'ayl said, doing his best to sound more
confident than he felt. Cutting out had come more easily to him, thanks
to all the time he'd spent helping his mother make the best of small
patches of cloth for mending, but he was still nervous about making
matters worse. "I think there's some old straps in a box in the barracks
- I could go and get those for you, if you want? Sometimes it helps to
look at a set that's already made. You can tell how the pieces fit
together and work back."

"I tried that and...." he said in frustration but stopped. "Okay, I
tried it but I didn't _understand_ it," O'dyn admitted. His tone turned
plaintive. "I thought I could do it on my own. Everyone else is."

"A lot of them grew up around here, though. They've probably watched
their parents or brothers and sisters doing it their whole lives," R'ayl
reassured him. "Back in a moment." He ducked into the barracks and, a
few minutes later, emerged with an armful of riding straps. Although
they were sized for a weyrling blue, they were still a lot for him to
carry, and once again he thanked the stars he hadn't Impressed a bronze.

"Okay, here they are." He set down the straps on the ground with a sigh
and started to rearrange them from their tangle. "Which part were you
working on?"

O'dyn pointed to one of the straps that wrapped around the dragon's
neck. "It has to connect to the main strap but not chafe," he explained.
"But the way the straps connect, I just can't get it to work."

"This one here?" R'ayl pointed to the same strap on the harness he'd
brought over. He loosened it from its buckle and laid it out next to
O'dyn's piece of leather. "Oh, I see. Maybe if you turn it a bit, you'll
have room to make the curve deeper? One of the weyrlingmasters told me
you can always add padding if the strap's loose to stop chafing, but you
can't do much with too tight. Except give it to a greenrider."

The other weyrling smacked his forehead. "Padding! We can do that! We
can turn it like you said and then cut it and then pad it -- you're a
genius!" he exclaimed excitedly. He laid down the leather to match the
one R'ayl had found and then began cutting very, very, very carefully.
"No trips to the Infirmary, no trips to the Infirmary," he chanted.

His words made R'ayl smile, but he refrained from speaking until O'dyn
had finished, not wanting to distract him and be the cause of an
infirmary visit. "That looks good! And you'll be fine as long as you're
careful. All those stories about weyrlings chopping their fingers off
are made up by the senior class to scare us."

"Really?!" O'dyn said. His eyes went wide. "I thought...I thought they
were real! You mean...they were lying to us?" He looked up to the senior
weyrlings! Why would they deceive the junior weyrlings on something so
important like that??

"Maybe they mean well, and it's to remind us to be cautious around sharp
knives," R'ayl suggested. He suspected that some of the seniors thought
it was funny, having been the victim of similar pranks back at the
Weaver Hall. But the Weyr was different, and O'dyn seemed so pleased
about his success that he didn't want to ruin it.

The little blue weyrling considered this. Maybe R'ayl was right. Maybe
it was a lesson wrapped up in different leathers. It was still a lesson
though! But it still seemed deceitful on the senior weyrlings' part.
They should be role models! "Maybe. I mean, knives _are_ sharp. Maybe
some people need to hear it in a different way besides how their mothers
used to always say it. Harp on it! That's a good word -- harp." He was
intently focusing on cutting the next piece perfectly, though he asked,
"Did you start at the Weyr? Or come here from somewhere else?"

"I came from the Weaver Hall," R'ayl said. "So I had a bit of a head
start on cutting and stitching!" He'd been trying to focus on the good
things about his time there. "And before that I lived at a cothold with
my mother and sister. What about you?"

"Printer Hall!" O'dyn said proudly, his little chest puffing up. "I was
at a Hold before then too. Hey, we both have crafter backgrounds! That's
cool! What did you like about being a Weaver?"

"I liked how it made me feel," R'ayl said. "Repeating a stitch over and
over, it sounds simple but you can lose yourself in it - and then
suddenly, you have a length of cloth, or something to wear or use, or
mended good as new. It's calming." He looked down, a little shy at his
own honesty. "What about printing? That sounds exciting - all those
machines!"

Honestly, hearing that description of a weaver made it sound boring but
O'dyn wasn't about to poo poo on someone else's passion. "I like words!
I've always liked words. And I wanted to learn how to make words for
others. I can't sing, not like harpers do, but I wanted to do something
with words and history and stuff like that. Reading. I just...always
liked it!" He looked a little crestfallen for a moment as he said, "I
wasn't there long though. Not long enough to really learn everything
that I wanted."

"You can pick up your craft again when you finish training. The
Weyrlingmaster says it's a good way to spend your time, until you're old
enough to join the Wings," R'ayl said earnestly. "Although, there isn't
a press or anything here...at least, I don't think there is." The Weyr
was so big and there were still corners he hadn't explored yet. Maybe
there could be a printing press hiding somewhere. "But you have
Genireth! You could go to the Hall together."

"We could!" O'dyn realized. "And I could show him all of the books that
I'm always talking about! Like a dictionary!"

R'ayl giggled. "Oh - I was just imagining a dragon reading. Peering down
at a little book in his claws...and trying not to set it on fire."

O'dyn giggled too. "They better not put their books on fire!" He looked
over at Genireth and said, "No setting books on fire when I take you to
Printer Hall, okay?"

}: I wouldn't dare! I know how to behave. Even if I don't know how to
flame just yet. :{

"Okay, let's try these on Genireth then," O'dyn said to R'ayl. The blue
dragon obliged by sweeping his wings out of the wing and letting the two
riders secure the buckles. "How does that feel?" O'dyn asked.

Genireth flexed his muscles and shrugged. }: Perfect! It doesn't pinch,
it doesn't chafe. :{

"He likes it! We did it!" O'dyn told R'ayl.

"You did it!" R'ayl stepped back to admire the young blue. "And you look
very handsome in them, Genireth. You're going to really like the flying
classes - they're the best." Not as scary as going /between/, or as
repetitive as formation drills, just the thrill of taking to the air
with your dragon.

"We can't _wait_!" O'dyn exclaimed. "Thanks a lot, R'ayl! You were
really a great help!"

"No problem," R'ayl said, blushing a little. He was starting to
understand why the Weyrlingmaster liked his job so much. "It's what I'm
here for!"

Last updated on the November 4th 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Helpful