Third Encounter of the Close Kind

Writers: Estelle, Halyonix
Date Posted: 15th January 2025

Characters: Iskara, M'trel
Description: Iskara and M'trel keep running into each other
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 9 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Cosani

It happened over a span of a few days.

The first time, he bumped into her in the Dining Cavern, catching her
drink before it could fall to the floor. "Sorry about that," he
apologized with a smile. And that was it.

The second time was after Threadfall. The Wings had just been dismissed
and there was a rush of dragons and riders, weary, ash-stained and
sweltering under the sun in their riding leathers, towards the lake.
Candidates and weyrbrats hurried out with cleaning gear and buckets of
sweetsand and set them down near the shore - and two riders, perhaps
distracted by their dragons, both reached for the same scrubbing brush.

The greenrider looked up, startled, and let go of her end. "Oh - sorry,
Wingthird."

"No apology needed," M'trel answered. "You take it."

The third time might have been planned or it still might have been
coincidence. Either way, by that third encounter, which was another bump
as they turned the same corner going the opposite way, M'trel exclaimed
with a chuckle, "Okay, let's stop for a moment."

"Yes, Wingthird." Her response was formal, but there was a glitter of
amusement in her green eyes as she recovered her balance and realized
that she wasn't going to be reprimanded. "I apologize, I was talking to
Hylith and wasn't looking where I was going."

"I have been caught doing the same thing before as well," M'trel assured
her with an understanding smile. "Hylith, you said? You're in Cyclone
Wing then."

"Yes, that's right," she replied, with an inward smile. It wasn't all
that unusual in the Weyr to know the dragons better than the riders, but
she was pleased on Hylith's behalf that her name was known in the
Weyrleader's Wing. "We transferred here about a Turn ago. I'm Iskara,"
she added, offering a hand.

As he took it to shake, he asked, "Where were you before?"

"Windswept Islands. Do you know it?" Iskara asked, curious. She knew
most of the riders who'd spent time at the Islands. There weren't many,
but sometimes people with a sailor or dolphineer background knew of it,
or had visited.

"Of it, yes, but I've yet to visit it. Well, longer than a moment to
deliver a package or two," he admitted. "Beautiful layout, though, yes,
aptly named. How bad do those winds get?"

"Pretty bad, sometimes. When they get really high it's hard for Hylith
to stay in formation, and you get Thread coming at you from all
directions. But you get used to it," Iskara said. She'd been proud of
her green's ability to handle those tricky gusts and shifting air
currents. "The flying's not nearly as hard here, but there's more land
to cover, and I've been told you get hurricanes?"

"We do but I wouldn't worry much about those," M'trel assured her. "We
know they're coming days in advance, thanks to the dolphins, and the
Weyr is still standing even after that really bad one a few decades ago.
We're a sturdy place for sure!"

"That's very reassuring." Her eyes glinted with amusement. "Look, I was
heading down to the dining cavern for some klah - you're welcome to join
me, if you want to? Then next time we run into each other we'll at least
know each other better."

He tilted his head to the side in quick, jovial thought. "That sounds
like a good idea, actually," he said to her. "I have sweep in about an
hour here and something warm in my limbs would do me some good aloft."
He made a sweeping gesture with one arm for her to lead on and fell into
step beside her easily. "So what do you like to do in your spare time?"
he asked conversationally.

Iskara smiled a little to herself, deciding she'd better not tell a
Wingthird about the games she and Cosani had been playing with the
unwitting holders. "Well, it's hard to beat flying with Hylith. We've
been out exploring the coast any chance we get since we came here,
finding new places to swim and explore. I always hope I might find
firelizard eggs, but no luck so far."

"I've always wondered if firelizards are more trouble than they're
worth," M'trel said with a chuckle. "First, they hide their eggs so that
we can't find them. Then, the untrained ones -- and there are a fair
amount of those -- relocate our stuff because it's a game to them. But I
do suppose a clutch would catch you some fine marks with Holders. They
do have their uses in the Holds."

"Do they? I've never thought of that - all I know is that Hylith likes
them helping to scrub her hide." She thought for a moment, the first
inkling of a cunning plan starting to form in her mind. "They kill
tunnelsnakes, don't they?"

"Believe so. With probably more reliability than felines or canines do.
And hopefully they won't leave it on your doorstep as a 'gift' like
felines and canines do."

"I imagine that'd be worth a lot to holders. I'll have to step up my
egg-hunting!" As they entered the dining cavern, Iskara filed away her
scheme for when she'd get a chance to talk to Cosani and collected a jug
of klah and some mugs. "What about you, Wingthird? Do you have any hobbies?"

M'trel paused before answering that, absently falling into his habit of
patting his pockets like he was looking for the answer there. "All
boring ones, I'm afraid," he admitted with a laugh. "Reading. Uh...well,
I do like trying new foods. Gathers. A bit of dancing, though I'm
convinced I'm terrible at it."

"Those aren't boring," Iskara protested, though she wasn't much of a
reader apart from occasionally picking up a book to make fun of the
author's idea of weyrlife. "I like Gathers, you meet all kinds of
fascinating people. And I'm sure you're an excellent dancer; it's the
people who think they're tremendously good who are usually terrible."
She grinned. "If you'll forgive me for contradicting you, Wingthird."

That earned her an appreciative chuckle from him. "You know, from you, I
don't mind the contradiction. I'm a stickler for it during practice
sometimes, I'll admit, but out of practice? I'd rather not stick to
ranks. Not when talking to someone like this." It was refreshing
and...enticing? Playful, in an intriguing way. Yes, that was it. The way
she went back and forth like that, bold one moment, deferrential the
next. "If you want someone to accompany you on your adventures, you let
me know. Noruith likes to remind me that there's more to life than
hidework--"

}: No, I don't. :{

M'trel didn't miss a beat. "And there's still plenty of the territory
that I haven't explored. Or other places."

"Still? We'll have to make sure you get out of your office more," she
teased, taking him at his word that she could get away with a little
irreverence. She sipped her klah, considering. "Actually, there is a
Gather I was thinking of going to. There's a sea hold that was founded a
couple of Turns ago - they rebuilt after the same bad storm that took
out Topaz - and they celebrate the anniversary of their return. I heard
it's a good party, not too formal, and very welcoming to dragonriders."

That sounded like an opening for M'trel. "A seahold Gather? And you're
going?" he asked, his eyes twinkling a little.

"I was planning on it," Iskara replied, her own gaze mischievous. "But
it's so much more fun if I don't have to go on my own..."

"Well then. It sounds like we should go together or else I have a
feeling we'll be running into each other there as well. Literally,"
M'trel teased. "When is the Gather?"

"It's the last restday of the month. The sea hold is called Renegade's
Bay." She grinned. "It sounds a little piratical, but I'm told that's
all in the distant past and it's now mostly safe and law-abiding."

Well, being around pirates did not sound nearly as fun as Iskara seemed
to think, in M'trel's opinion, so he was glad to hear that the times had
changed. "Shall I meet you in the Weyrbowl early that day?" he offered
with a conniving grin.

"All right. And don't worry, Wingthird..." She drained her klah and
winked at him. "I'll protect you from any swashbuckling rogues we happen
to meet."

"I look forward to it," he answered. And he was! Suddenly glad that they
had taken this moment to talk, M'trel wondered other interesting moments
would come of this.

Last updated on the January 27th 2025

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Third Encounter of the Close Kind