Off To A Great Start

Writers: Aaron, Estelle
Date Posted: 26th November 2024

Characters: Ç'pier, R'ayl
Description: R'ayl starts to learn to sign from Ç'pier
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 4 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: B'lyse, R'lor, N'vanik

Ç'pier

R'ayl watched the senior weyrlings finishing their class with a nervous,
queasy feeling. He would much rather be helping the juniors, or working
on a project in the weavers' workroom, or any of the other tasks he
could think of to put off this particular one. But the Weyrlingmaster
had asked him to do it, and nothing would be worse than letting the
Weyrlingmaster down.

The group were dismissed, and R'ayl gathered his courage and hurried
after the one weyrling who'd been standing apart from the others.
"Excuse me... Ç'pier?"

Ç'pier's eyes focused from where he has been staring off into /between/.

"Hm? What's up, kiddo?" He had never had much reason to speak to R'ayl
before. He had always gotten the feeling he was afraid of him, and he
was doing his level best _not_ to make anyone any more uncomfortable
than he had to just by, you know, existing.

"I'm sorry to bother you." R'ayl gulped and had to lean on the bond with
his dragon for reassurance. Like all the weyrlings and staff, he'd heard
the stories about what Ç'pier had done. He didn't think he was in any
danger, exactly, but that wasn't the only reason why the brownrider made
him nervous. "The Weyrlingmaster says you know how to sign. Like, to
talk to someone who can't hear, not just dragonrider hand signals."

"Yes, I know how. And you're not bothering me," said Ç'pier. He liked to
mess with people. But R'ayl was a child. An innocent one. Ç'pier did his
best not to be intimidating, but he was also cognizant of the fact that
if he overdid it, it would be even more suspicious.

"Did he send you to learn how?"

R'ayl nodded. He wasn't sure how much he was supposed to say about
B'lyse, although he imagined Ç'pier would be able to figure out why the
Weyrlingmaster wanted his assistants to learn sign language. "He thought
it would be a useful skill. And he said you could teach me instead of
some of your extra chores," he added, hoping that would be an incentive.

"Well. It's best to learn to sign from a deaf person," said Ç'pier. "But
I know we don't necessarily have a lot of those hanging around here with
time to spare. So I'll do my best. When did you want to start?"

"I'm free now." R'ayl was interested in the idea of learning to sign, if
not the teacher, and so far Ç'pier had seemed...okay. He hadn't said
anything unkind or threatening, at least. "If you are?"

"Heh." Everything Ç'pier did was whatever R'lor (or his flunkies) or
N'vanik (or his flunkies) told him to do. So, of course, he was free if
this was what they wanted him to be about. "Now's good for me, buddy.
Any place in particular you'll feel safe?"

"By the lake?" R'ayl suggested. It was quiet there so they wouldn't be
distracted when he was trying to learn, but there were still plenty of
dragons and riders about, bathing and sunning themselves.

Once they had found a spot they could settle down work for a minute,
Yuliuth had joined Delorth.

"We'll start with learning how to finger spell. If there's anything you
don't know how to sign, you can spell it. Plus, this is how you'll sign
your name."

"Okay." That made sense to R'ayl. He relaxed a little in the comforting,
nearby presence of Delorth. "Do we learn the alphabet first, like
writing, or start with our names?"

"Bl..." Ç'pier choked on the name. He coughed and rubbed his eyes. "My
teacher had me learn the whole alphabet before I learned my name.
Because that was what his teacher did. But we can do it whichever way
you like.

"Here, I'll show you." He signed and spoke slowly at the same time.
"[[My... name... is R - ' - a - y - l.]]

"That is how you spell it, right?"

"Yes, that's it." R'ayl repeated the signs Ç'pier had made, saying them
aloud at the same time. "My...name...is...R..." His brow wrinkled in
concentration as he tried to remember what came next.

"That's all right," Ç'pier encouraged. "The letters can take some time
to really memorize. Here. We'll go slow, one at a time. Follow what I do."

One by one, he went through the letters of R'ayl's name until he was
comfortable that he had it down. They would have to review it later, of
course, but for now, at least, he was forming the signs readably.

R'ayl repeated the signs again, less haltingly than before, and smiled
unselfconsciously, forgetting for a moment to be nervous about who he
was with. "At least my name is short! Oh, but what about Delorth? Can I
learn his name as well?"

"Of course. Watch. [[D - e - l - o - r - þ.]]" At the end there, he had
said 'thorn'. "The th at the end of dragon names has its very own sign,
just like the ' in rider names," he explained. "And it's the same as the
sign for a thorn, like on a vine or a stem."

"That's clever." R'ayl was intrigued by the idea of an entirely new
letter. "It must save time, talking about dragons anyway." He slowly
repeated the signs Ç'pier had made. It was a little easier, since the R
and the L were familiar from his own name. "Is that right?"

Ç'pier wished he had been the one to think of it, but he was sure it was
some Harper who had devised it all.

"That's it," he said. The R was the hardest letter among these, as far
as Ç'pier was concerned, and R'ayl had already done that one properly.

The boy beamed. "Delorth! Look at this!" He jumped to his feet and waved
at his dragon until he turned his head to look at them, and then signed.
[[My... name... is... D - e - l - o - r - þ.]]

}:No, _my_ name is Delorth,:{ the blue replied, sounding puzzled. }:And
I can hear you very well without those gestures.:{

**It's not for us, it's for me to talk to one of the weyrlings.** R'ayl
sat down again. "Thank you!" It occurred to him that might be a useful
phrase for a student. "I mean...how would you say, 'thank you'?"

"Ah, that one's easy. [[Thank you.]] And, 'you're welcome' is the same,"
said Ç'pier. "Even easier."

[[Thank you,]] R'ayl repeated, looking up at Ç'pier to check he'd done
it right. "What about 'please'? Oh, and 'hello', and 'dragon', and..."
Remembering that he was supposed to be learning the letters first, he
stopped himself, looking abashed. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about, kiddo-- here, let me show you." One by one,
he signed, [[Please. Hello. Dragon.]]

"Now, check this out. Tell me what I'm signing." [[Hello. My name is
R'ayl. This is my dragon, Delorth.]]

The boy frowned, concentrating. "Hello, my name is R'ayl..." The first
part he knew, but he wasn't so sure about the second, except that it
ended with "dragon" and Delorth. "And my dragon is Delorth?"

"Almost! Watch again." Ç'pier signed more slowly as he spoke along.
"[[_This_ is my dragon, D - e - l - o - r - þ.]]"

[[This...is...my dragon...Delorth,]] R'ayl repeated, slowly. [[Hello. My
name is R'ayl. This is my dragon, Delorth.]] "Did I do that right?"

"You nailed it!" Ç'pier smiled. "Off to a great start."

R'ayl grinned, for a moment forgetting his fear. "Thank...I mean..."
[[Thank you.]]

"[[I'm happy to help,]]" Ç'pier signed and spoke in reply.

The young bluerider thought for a moment, then repeated the first part
of what he'd seen, accompanied by a tentative smile. [[I'm happy]].

Ç'pier returned the smile. And something deep inside him wondered for
just a moment if maybe he could have had a different life. If he could
have done better.

Last updated on the December 4th 2024

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Off To A Great Start