Living with No Regrets
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: Halyonix, Heather
Date Posted: 16th February 2026
Characters: Thayde, Oriene
Description: Oriene asks for advice from the Hallmaster
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 13, day 3 of Turn 12
“Hey Ada,” Oriene greeted as she spotted the familiar mottled and streaks of the Hallmaster’s partnered dolphin. “How are you today?” The young woman was sitting on the dock, her arms wrapped around her knees, as she watched the sun starting its set.
“Preeeeetty daaayy!” Ada replied, raising up out of the water to tap the bottom of Oriene’s foot with her nose. “Have treeeats?”
“Always begging for treats,” a voice said behind Ada said. It was the Hallmaster. He was in his swimming gear, having just come from some diving lessons he’d helped instruct.
“They’re so like dragons in that regard -- always thinking about playing and treats,” Oriene said as she smiled at the Hallmaster. “Hi, Hallmaster,” she said. “How was diving?”
“It was good. We are getting some more practice in with the aqualungs before we go to Barrier Lake and try diving in their lake.” Thayde lowered himself down and sat beside Oriene on the end of the dock. “I’ll need someone to keep Ada company while I’m gone.”
Oriene tilted her head to the side. “Is that a request?” she asked with a smile.
“She likes you best of all the others,” the Hallmaster admitted. Ada’s head peeked out of the water, her bottle nose bobbing rapidly as she nodded enthusiastically.
The apprentice’s smile, however, turned thin, dissolving of its usual sunny trait. “Can I ask you something?” she asked quietly.
Thayde glanced sideways at the apprentice, noting the change in her demeanor. “Of course.”
Oriene fidgeted nervously. This was the most pressing question in her mind and the most complicated one. “How…did you know you wanted to be a dolphineer?”
“My father was a seacrafter and my mother a Master Dolphineer. I grew up on the sea. It’s in my blood.” The Hallmaster tossed a small fish treat out where Ada snapped it up easily. “While I appreciated the work my father did, I saw the connection my mother had with her dolphin partner and knew that was what I wanted.”
It was the same answer that her parents had given her. And probably the same answer that everyone expected her to give. And it would be so easy!
But there was just _something_ that Oriene couldn’t say. She knew that if she followed down that path, it wouldn’t be for her. She’d be doing it for someone else. And yes, maybe, she’d be happy but she’d always wonder if…
Well, what if? Where if? Was it the Weyr she wanted to be at? Her friends were there. By’ler was there. She blushed a little to think about him again like that. They weren’t _together_ together but…still. He was a reason. Tirraze was a reason. Saedyna, Cirina…all reasons. But they all had dragons. Well, except Cirina but still. Could she stay at the Weyr if she didn’t have a dragon?
She was back to the same old question, the unanswered line of reasoning. Oriene sighed. “I…I don’t know what to do, Master. With my life. And I’m getting to a point where I really thought I would have that figured out but I don’t.”
“It feels that way at your age,” Thayde empathized. “The need to get everything figured out quickly, but you have time. If you’re afraid of regretting what you'd miss at the Weyr, then go back, see through your Candidacy until you either Impress or age out. If you Impress, then you’ll know it was meant to be, and if you don’t, then you know you can always have a place here. Dolphins aren’t as picky about your age as dragons.” He said the last part with a wink.
“Dolphhhhins smarrrrrrt,” Ada squeed.
It sounded like such a grounded plan. Except for the part about rejection. Oriene exhaled. Thayde was right though. It was a plan that made the most sense. She could always come back to the Hall to finish her studies if she didn’t Impress. “I’ll be the oldest apprentice at the Hall,” she said in humored complaint.
“And therefore the one with the most common sense and maturity,” Thayde said, tapping his temple with his forefinger, as if he’d thought all this through and it was all a great plan.
Through another exhale, Oriene chuckled. “You’d think that but how do you explain Pershal?” she joked weakly. The journeyman and his partner had been the troublesome duo Turns ago and only now had started to mature.
“Men mature more slowly than women. It’s a shame, really. I’ve only just become a responsible person myself,” Thayde grinned.
Last updated on the February 21st 2026