A Fitting Tribute to the Brave

Writers: Aaron, Halyonix, Iluva, Steel
Date Posted: 13th October 2026

Characters: H'yazi, L'tos, Tindral, Zaidi
Description: Several junior weyrlings make a golden discovery, and H’yazi wants it for his own purposes.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 27 of Turn 12

Zaidi

The weather was positively dismal. It had stormed most of the morning, the waves were choppy, the sand was wet, and the shore was soggy. Most everyone else had decided they had better things to do now that the wind and rain had ruined their beach day plans.

But H’yazi was not about to give up. This rest day was supposed to be a beach day, and by Faranth’s egg, he was going to make it a beach day. They could build a sand hold! They could… well, there was bound to be something to do. They could even get their feet wet, even if it was not safe to go into the water.

“Well… here we are,” he said as he slid down off of Iarlath’s back onto the sand. It was not quite so squishy this high up. Mostly.

“It's not so bad.” Zaidi smiled cheerily. She was mildly skeptical about why their classmates would opt out of a little wind, even though Bharboth's wing was still half-raised and blocking the brunt of it for her. With her bulging beach bag and her towel and her hair wrapped up in a brightly patterned scarf -- on the off chance they _could_ swim -- she slid down into the sand, too.

Aaaand quickly set about tying her towel around her waist as the cold sea air hit her bare legs. “Ooh, we have the place to ourselves!” She said brightly. That almost never happened here or in the Weyr. “I'm going to write my name in the sand!”

Bharboth surveyed the wet sand oozing around her talons and snorted.

Nearby, Mdorith agreed. }: This does not seem to be the fun that we were promised, :{ she remarked to Bharboth. }: When Iarlath’s rider told us about the beach, I was expecting sun. Warmth. Not…moist. :{

}:Well… to be entirely fair to H’yazi, you know, and I do think it best to be well interested in fairness-- the beach was much sunnier and warmer when he promised that. I mean, who can predict the weather, right?:{ Perhaps someone could. But not H’yazi.

Iarlath lifted up his feet two at a time to try to avoid the wet. Unsuccessfully, of course.

“Here!” H’yazi plucked a long bit of driftwood from where the surf had reached back when the waves were at full swell. “You can use this. Oh.” He looked down at his hand. Was there ichor on this stick?

}:The water should be more down _there_.:{ Bharboth grumped to her sister with her nose pointing towards the fierce chop of the water. She did a few circles in place, half perplexed, half irritated, fanning her wings to play up her displeasure. To Iarlath, she said, }:Yours really should have picked another day. Mine is cold.:{

Zaidi watched her dragon, giggling. A free beach day was a free beach day and you got out of it what you put into it, as her mother often said, though usually it was for when Zaidi didn't want to do something. She skipped over to H'yazi with only a little extra effort to overcome the squish. “What happened? Did you get a splinter?”

“Not me…” H’yazi was fairly sure Iarlath had not cut himself, either, but just to be sure, he went and checked all four of his feet.

}:Actually, ah… Look there. There's a trail,:{ said the blue.

“And it wasn’t any of ours, either…” He followed the trail of ichor down toward the water a little ways across the line of drift wood. The trail disappeared where the surf had washed it away.

“Something was bleeding. A firelizard, I think. Iarlath, can you--”

}:Already on it!:{ He flew back up into the sky until he could see where the trail continued. }:Uh oh. Bad news, I think.:{

“Come on!” H’yazi ran toward where Iarlath had seen the trail resume. And there, covered in wet sand and ichor, its wing and hind leg broken and its throat destroyed, was the corpse of a gold firelizard.

“Oh… oh, no.” H’yazi’s hand covered his mouth.

}:We were too late,:{ said Iarlath.

Hallisenth had been quiet until now as she tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid getting mud between her claws. L’tos had lingered at her side, awkwardly, but only now did he step forward, following H’yazi. His own eyes widened, in horrified sympathy. “H’yazi…”

**Hallisenth.** he sent, and his green snorted, reached out to Bharboth. }:Mine advises that Yours not come over here. He thinks Yours will be upset.:{

Bharboth puffed up in sudden, blistering offense. }:She's _my_ rider. I can decide what she should--:{ Her eyes went slightly yellow. One look at the massacre had her turning around and pressing her big head into Zaidi's hands, wings half-opening to block her line of sight.

Zaidi put a hand on her green's muzzle, confused. A cold feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach had her staying put. She shot a worried look in Tindral's direction and craned her head slightly at their classmates, trying to see their faces over Bharboth's bulk. “What… what is it?”

Behind them, Mdorith, catching on to Bharboth’s mood, let out a concerned crooning sound.

“You don't want to see it,” said H’yazi. “I… Why didn't she fly away?” Something must have caught her unawares at first. But how?

}:Well, I can think of one reason a gold would, ah, you know. Be grounded. Maybe there are eggs involved,:{ Iarlath suggested. He made sure the other dragons heard him, too.

“Ohhh… and then she tried to lead… whatever it was away?” he guessed. “She must have come from that way.” He pointed back along the trail of ichor the poor gold had left behind her. “There are footprints, too-- it… it looks like it was a feline.”

Tindral, hearing that one word, gulped audibly. “F-F-Feline?”

Hallisenth snorted, shifted her own weight at L'tos own sudden unease. }:Mine…:{

“If there's trouble, maybe we… maybe we shouldn't be over here.” L'tos offered. “It's upsetting Tindral.” He added, with a glance back at the other Weyrling. “Don't worry. No feline would be dumb enough to mess with so many dragons.” He told her, with more confidence than he felt.

Then he looked at H’yazi again. “We should bury the firelizard before we do anything else.”

Behind the wall of dragon, Zaidi shifted from foot to foot, eyes darting along the beach. Just in case.

“You’re probably right… It's… whatever it was is probably long gone by now, so… even if she was protecting a nest, we're probably too late to save it,” said H'yazi. “I don't think we can bury her in the sand, though. I think… the water will just make her come back out. Maybe… we should bury her between?”

By now, Tindral had ventured just close enough to see the tragedy, particularly the ruined body of the beautiful gold firelizard. An overwhelming sadness took her. That gorgeous creature, mauled to death, and left here in the cold rain with no one to hold her during her last moments! She was only trying to protect her nest!

Mdorith let out an equally sad sound at the terrible unfairness of the natural world as Tindral jumped in with a watery, “Yes! She…She d-deserves…she deserves a burial! A tribute! She shouldn’t be cold and lonely and left here and..and…”

“Do you… want to say a few words for her?” H’yazi asked Tindral. She seemed to have a better idea of what to say at a memorial, anyway.

She did but she didn’t know what to say. She should say something! What should she say? “She…she w-was brave. She…she…she sh-shouldn’t h-have died alone.” Her throat constricted. She forced out, “Sh-sh-she is b-b-beautiful and b-brave and I..I…h-hope that feline gets eaten b-by a tunnelsnake.”

H’yazi nodded. That seemed fitting.

“Hear, hear. I'll carry her between. Do you all want to fly with me, or… just wait here?”

Iarlath helpfully waddled forward toward them to give H’yazi less space to cover to get back to him.

Tindral’s tiny bit of bravery failed after that speech. She shook her head. Mdorith, crooning, nuzzled her rider gently.

Hallisenth spread her wings, looked toward her rider. L’tos looked between Tindral and H’yazi, for his part, before he decided. “We’ll go with you.” He told the blue’s rider. “Zaidi, Tindral, are you okay here just for a bit?”

Zaidi's voice came clear and steady despite the fresh chill in the air, the heavy sadness falling over the day. “Yes. We’ll be fine.” Quietly she did hope the boys wouldn’t be too long. Bharboth didn’t like her leaving her side nor being left behind, but Zaidi edged around her and went to Tindral to hug her tightly, eyes squinted shut against the sight and the tears that pricked up like needles.

H’yazi scooped up the poor firelizard and climbed up onto Iarlath. He waited a moment for L’tos to be ready and then they took her between to rest.

When they emerged again above the beach, H’yazi noticed a bit of a trail back toward the scrub and brush at the edge of the sand. Surely, he thought, it must lead to the eggs she was trying to protect. And she surely would never rest easy if they did not ensure her eggs got good homes.

Iarlath set him down beside the trail but close enough to wave the girls over.

“I think we found her nest!” he shouted. “Let's see if any of the eggs are left!”

Drying her eyes, Zaidi rushed over, not tall enough to see over H'yazi's shoulder, so she poked her head around one side, her bag squishing down beside her. The thick scrub made it hard to see. The webbed branches were cracked in a few places and covered the earth. But the unmistakable swell of shells nestled there made her heart leap. How many had survived? Eyes wide, she didn't dare count. “Oh!” Zaidi breathed, amazed. “They're so tiny.”

Hope, as fragile and small as Tindral herself, sprouted within the young girl. The eggs had survived? The lovely golden creature’s death hadn’t been in vain? Cautiously, she crept up behind Zaidi to get a look.

H’yazi winced. As soon as he started digging, he realized the nest beneath the branches was a mess of sand, shells, and egg goo. But… he could swear that was not the whole story.

One by one, he unearthed eggs that had not been crushed. One, two, three… Was that all?

But wait.

It was removed from the rest just a bit… but he would have sworn that bulge of sand there…

Yes. One last egg.

A golden one.

“Oh,” H’yazi whispered. For half a moment, he considered what it would be like to keep such a treasure for himself. But almost immediately, he realized what he truly needed to do with it. He had to offer it to Hayarall and Liazi as an apology for everything that had happened the last time he saw them. Maybe then, they would be able to forgive him.

“Eeeee!” Zaidi carefully cupped her hands around the first one and held it up in the sunlight. “Look, L’tos!” The perfection was undeniable, irrefutable.

“Careful!” L'tos cautioned, dropped to his knees beside the nest, gently cleared away some of the bramble.

The sheer joy of it all made Zaidi insist a little too zealously back, “I am!” She cradled it close to her chest. Curled inside was one of the poor gold’s sweet tiny babies, _safe_!

“We don't want to hurt any of the eggs by accident.” L'tos countered. “... Here. We… We should check that they're not hurt.”

He _gently_ scooped another of the eggs into his own hands.

“This one's fine and I _am_ being gentle,” Zaidi said at a much more reasonable volume, though no less excited. She angled back so Tindral had more space, looking beseechingly at the bluerider. “Right, H'yazi?”

“Right!” H’yazi’s eyes flitted to each of the others as he wondered how long it would take them to notice the color of the egg he cradled.

“W-We…w-we need to keep them warm,” Tindral reminded them all as she looked at the tiny, perfect egg in Zaidi’s hands.

“Especially after all this rain,” said H’yazi. It was not exactly cold. Cold was a rarity on the coast. But it was less hot. He held the egg closer.

“We should try to pad the eggs. Keep them warm and safe.” L'tos added, and cradled the one he'd picked up with utmost care. “Does anyone have any containers?”

Staring down at the egg, too, feeling the warm shell radiating against her palms, Zaidi realized the precious truth of Tindral's statement. With a sudden gasp, she tentatively held the egg out, offering it to her friend.

“We can use my bag,” Zaidi suggested. The bulging thing she emptied of snacks and the magazine she had found next to the bathing pool and now happened to have, until it was just a towel inside.

There would be no avoiding it now, for sure. If all the eggs rode home in the same bag. But H’yazi could hardly fly back holding it like a baby.

“We should go now. Maybe they'll let us have some dry sand from the Hatching cavern,” he suggested.

Tindral nodded her agreement as she handed the egg back to Zaidi to put into the sack.

L'tos kept his own egg close, tugging open his riding jacket and easing the egg into a spacious interior pocket.

H’yazi eyed L’tos. Maybe it would be better to try something like that. Except he had no pockets that could comfortably fit the golden egg.

Well. There was always just talking about it.

“I… I need to give this egg to my…” It was not quite accurate to call them his foster parents, though it might have been the closest thing he could have chosen that would not sound absolutely unhinged. “I need to repay someone who helped me. You’ll give it back to me when we get there, won’t you?”

Zaidi looked very confused, almost offended, until she looked down.

A _gold_ egg.

Her mouth hanging slightly open until she remembered herself, she said, flustered, “Of _course_ I'll give them back! I'm not a thief! There's one for each of us, and I…” Already, in a way she couldn't explain, she felt deeply attached to the first egg she held. It was meant for her. She could feel it. Why else would she have this wonderful swirling feeling? “I want my egg, anyway. Besides, I… don't really want to… carry it. The bag.” She flushed deep crimson. Someone older was better suited to that precious task.

“I’ll do it!” H’yazi offered immediately, holding out his hand for it.

“And you'll give it back, right?” She echoed, still red. Bharboth's head angled in with a snort and stared at H'yazi.

“Cross my heart!” He drew the sign over his chest, seemingly missing the implication.

Smiling with relief, Zaidi handed him the bag.

H’yazi smiled back and carefully took the bag.

“Let’s get back,” he said. “I think this has gone on long enough.”

Last updated on the October 27th 2026

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A Fitting Tribute to the Brave