Cool Kids Club
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, Corrin, Sia
Date Posted: 11th March 2025
Characters: Sybana, E'kirim, Z'renh
Description: As their dragons play, (or don’t), the weyr’s newest metallic riders discuss their new positions
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 4, day 15 of Turn 12
The cold rain had frozen overnight into ice, hardening the ground and making the weyrbowl slippery. Norrianth was awake after breakfast, now that he was big enough that he wasn't cycling between exhausted and starving every few candlemarks. He was allowed to be out exploring his surroundings as long as they were relatively contained or supervised, though 'supervised' was relative when an eighteen turn old had to be involved. In this case, E'kirim didn't supervise much at all. He went straight to the Lower Caverns for klah and a quick breakfast he could eat while watching the dragonet. Norrianth hadn't gone far, as expected, though at the sight of his rider the bronze rumbled happily and tried to sprint towards him.
The bronze slipped on the ice, his legs flying out from under him and slamming hard into the ground with a _thump_. He was up again before E'kirim could really react, shaking himself and flexing his wings as if he meant to do that.
E'kirim snickered, almost ignoring the wave of indignation that came from the bronze. "Smooth." He called, "Did you have a nice trip, buddy?"
Norrinath huffed.
“He seems happy to see you,” said Z’renh. He was almost a bit envious. Adamanth had never been so excited to see him, with the possible exception of the moment before they found each other on the sands. Possibly.
"Seemed." E'kirim corrected. Norrianth was now pretending that none of them existed, his large nose as high in the air as he could while hop-hopping like a massive rabbit. "It's too early to be learning about ice."
“I’m not sure he’s learned. Jumping around with his nose in the air like that…” Sybana left the dining hall in time to watch the fall and carefully picked her way over the ice to join the boys, the guard assigned for her protection following at a moderate distance.
Galgiath, waiting for her across the bowl at the entrance to the weyrling barracks, was eyeing the ice intently.
**Don’t even think about it. Did you see what happened to your brother?**
}:I would not fall like that,:{ Galgiath declared with great certainty. }:He looked foolish.:{
"The morning is still young, he could learn." E'kirim said with a grin, though he stood up straighter at her approach. "At least until it warms up in the afternoon and he rolls in the cold mud."
Adamanth regarded Norrianth with something akin to morbid curiosity. He lay still a short distance from Z’renh and merely watched. He had no interest in making a fool of himself, but there was no reason he could not enjoy Norrianth doing it.
“Well. They’ll need baths anyway.”
"Pff. If only he'd roll before the bath and not after." E'kirim said with a small shake of his head. Norrianth wouldn't wait for E'kirim to get the oil that would soothe the after-bath itches, and the dirt was the next best thing he could do himself while also risking a strain to his wing. Taking a gulp of his quickly-cooling klah, he glanced over at the guard and then back to Sybana.
"How are you doing, Sybana? Z'renh and I have been given' each other shit for a while before we Impressed, but you were practically fresh off the Search dragon."
As if to make a similar point, Norrianth made a show of hop-hopping over to give Adamanth a gentle but firm thwack with a paw.
**Don’t,** Z’renh admonished Adamanth.
}:He _assaulted_ me! I will not suffer indignity!:{
**Find a way to bait him into making a fool of himself. You don’t have to start another fight to get your revenge.**
}:My _justice!_ And he started this, not I.:{ Adamanth swiped back at Norrianth’s foot, hoping to knock him off balance.
Sybana glanced at E’kirim, still trying to decide what to make of him. He was personable enough, with the easy confidence expected of a bronzerider and the brawny looks to match the cliches, but the rumors she’d heard after the Starstones didn’t quite fit the mold-- something about him and S’yen. Things that weren’t very bronzeriderly at all. What exactly did he _mean_, that he had been giving Z’renh shit?
He _was_ friendly though, and that was enough for Sybana these days. “I think managing is a fair way to put it. I knew weyr life would be different, but it’s been one thing to know that and another to live it.”
Her lips curved slightly as she glanced toward Galgaith, who still sat at her post, watching her brothers intently. “I miss the Hold, but Galgi makes it easier… What about you? Did you find the transition hard?”
Norrianth did wriggle off balance and hopped back, lowering himself down as if preparing to pounce. }: Play? :{ It was more of a feeling than a question, emphasized by the next 'bap' of a paw on Adamanth's hide.
}:I will not play.:{ Adamanth glared at this ridiculous, undignified runnerbeast foal that pretended to be a bronze dragon.
"I got lost in the Lower Caverns a lot." E'kirim admitted. "And trying to figure out who's related to who is way too much work, but I like not having to worry about who's watching. Most of us don't have chaperones." He tilted his head towards Sybana's guard.
Sybana blinked at him in disbelief. “Not having to worry-- You’re a new bronzerider, of _course_ they’re watching you. They’re watching _all_ of us.”
She gestured between the three of them and didn’t bother to lower her voice, it wasn’t a secret. They were being scrutinized constantly -- by the weyrlingmasters, by the older riders, by the leadership, by every ambitious dragonrider who wanted to see how the new batch of metallics would shape up. That E’kirim didn’t seem to notice was baffling to her. She looked to Z’renh for backup.
“Hm?” Z’renh blinked and tried to process what they had been speaking about. He had been practically holding his breath, waiting for Adamanth to snap at Norrianth and cause another horrible incident. “Oh, uh… having a lot of spectators can make for an awful lot of pressure to perform…”
E'kirim looked between Sybana and Z'renh, confusion clear on his face for a solid moment, before he seemed to come to a conclusion. "Norri! Get away from him, you overgrown poult." He called to the bronze, who backed away as if he was being physically corrected.
Norrianth snorted a mild protest before he turned and padded back towards the weyrling barracks, slipping a little as he went. }: Play? :{ He asked Galgiath.
E'kirim turned back to the pair, shrugging. "I hadn't really thought about it before. What's the worst anyone can do? Z'renh and I are going to fly Threadfall, and you're going to do….whatever else it is goldriders do. We've already Impressed, they can't take-backsies the dragon."
Behind him, Galgaith surged forward to pounce on her brother and tumble with him around the yard. }:Play!:{ she thundered.
Sybana barely spared the dragons a glance, too aghast at E’kirim’s utter lack of concern. “They can’t take back the dragon, no, but they could take a good deal besides that.”
Did he not understand? Or did he just truly not care? The Weyr was always watching people like them, and public opinion was not a thing to be dismissed so lightly. “Your future here depends on how they see you. Bronzeriders, goldriders -- our positions are about more than just flying Thread. These are leadership ranks, but you can’t be a leader if no one will follow you. Our dragons chose us, but the Weyr still has to _accept_ us.”
She looked again to Z’renh. “You’re weyrborn, aren’t you? The son of a bronzerider? Tell me I’m not going mad here. As far as I can tell, weyrfolk take a keen interest in their so-called metallic riders. I _know_ they bet on us before the clutches, speculating who was suited for what.”
“Yeah, they bet on us,” Z’renh nodded. “But that doesn’t mean much. The dragons, uh… They’re the ones whose choices and opinions really matter.” It would have been a lot easier to say these things like he meant it before he had Impressed. Well, it would be, still, if he spoke of them and not himself.
“You, especially. There’s only so many goldriders. If Saibra were to, you know… keel over unexpectedly in a few months, and Galgaith rose first, you’d be Weyrwoman. And if Norrianth caught her, E’kirim would be Weyrleader.” He snapped. “Just like that.”
There was a shriek and a thud somewhere behind him, but E'kirim only felt glee radiating from the bronze. "Pff, yeah. I think I lost some folks a lot of marks." He said good-naturedly, "And I don't want you thinking you're mad either, Sybana. Now that you got me thinking about it, the Wingleaders are the ones that pick who goes in one Wing, right? So that makes sense that they have an interest. But the chances that we'd end up Weyrleader and Weyrwoman _right now_ are so small"”
“That’s just it though. People don’t _wait_ until something happens to start forming opinions. They decide long before that, before a flight, before a position opens.” Sybana crossed her arms, frustration mounting despite E’kirim’s somewhat conciliatory words. She shot Z’renh a particularly exasperated look. A bronzerider’s son. She had expected him to have an outlook more like a highborn holder’s -- more like hers. “Impressions and flights may grant rank without public input, but there’s still a vast difference between just sitting in a position and having real authority. People will make your life a lot harder if they don’t respect you. You should be mindful that they’re watching _now_.”
Z’renh wished that he had never invited any additional scrutiny. At the very least, he could have abandoned the whole ‘bronzerider’s son’ persona if he had gone somewhere else, anywhere else but where his father was when he left Dolphin Cove. Then no one would have known that he was supposed to know what he was doing. How far he had come if he actually wished he could be invisible. Certainly not in the right direction.
“Oh, believe me. I know they’re watching.”
E'kirim looked between them both, frowning a little at Z'renh. He thought getting Norrianth away from Adamanth would have helped the noticeable change in demeanor, but it hadn't. "I dunno." He said, "I didn't come here because I had any intention of becoming a Wingleader. Norri chose me. I try to be a likeable guy, but I can't impress everyone. Folks will like me or they won't."
“I suppose we’ll see how that works out for you,” she said, her voice milder than she felt. His ease, his lack of awareness and ambition, still appalled her, but it seemed pointless to argue the issue further. Maybe he’d see the error of his ways in time and put forth more effort. Or maybe… maybe it would all work out for him anyway. It was an irritating thought, but there were more bronze than golds. Maybe he could just fade into the background, a small cog in the inner workings of the weyr. Maybe that would be enough for him. It wouldn’t be enough for Sybana.
“Anyway, I have an early lesson with Tsaera.” She gave both boys one last appraising look and, with a flick of her dark curls, turned and strode off. Galgaith, called from her play, fell in step beside her, the guard a shadow to both of them. They could not be late. People were watching.
E'kirim looked over at Z'renh, eyes wide and looking more confused than ever. "Why did that sound like an insult?" Norrianth, no longer pinned and swiping ineffectually at Galgiath, hopped back to stick his nose on his rider's shoulder.
“Some folks are carrying around a lot of weight on their shoulders,” said Z'renh. “Whether it’s for a good reason or not. If you ask me… don’t ever pick it up. It’s a trap.”
Last updated on the March 26th 2025