Of Dragons and Dolphins

Writers: Devin, Jelena
Date Posted: 16th February 2012

Characters: D'ren, Naton
Description: A dragon comes to play with the dolphins.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 6, day 3 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Qorri

Naton had soon learned that dragons weren´t an unusual occurrence at the
Southern Dolphin Hall. He knew he shouldn´t be surprised, being that close
to the Weyr, but in the sevendays since his arrival, the Journeyman had
seen more dragons than he had seen in his entire life previously. Or at
least, it seemed that way to him. Yet, every time he spotted a dragon in
the sky, he still couldn´t help but stare in amazement. Such majestic
creatures. So it came that when he spotted a bronze dragon circling down to
towards the Hall as he dismissed his class, his attention was immediately
drawn. Now where were they going?

Menanth set down near the Hall, but not too close. D'ren didn't want them
to interfere with any duties. The excited bronze barely gave him time to
pull off the harness. }:Dolphins!:{ Menanth said as he looked out at the
water. D'ren shook his head. Sometimes his dragon seemed like an overgrown
hatchling.

As the bronze landed near the Hall, Naton had already made his way into
that direction and arrived at his landing site but a few moments later. He
waved at the rider in greeting as he drew in closer. "Greetings,
bronzerider!" he said cheerfully as he approached with an offered hand.
"I'm Senior Journeyman Naton. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"He loves dolphins," D'ren said with a bit of a smile. He took the man's
hand. "I'm D'ren, and that's Menanth. Well met, Naton."

"Well met, D'ren, Menanth," Naton said with a smile. "And who doesn't love
dolphins? I'm sure the pod is delighted to have such honourable visitors!"
Naton gestured to the water, were dolphins were already picking up on the
movements on land.

Menanth waded into the water, his eyes whirling blue. }:Dolphins are fun.:{

D'ren chuckled. "He's liked them since he was a hatchling. Good thing we're
so close to the Dolphin Hall."

Watching the dragon head into the water, Naton smiled. "Yeah, a good thing
indeed! Then again, he wouldn't have known what he was missing, right?"

"I suppose. Unless he heard about them from other dragons." Which was
possible. Menanth had heard about snow that way.

"Dragons talk to each other about such things?" Naton asked curiously. He
had absolutely no idea of what a dragon conversation would be like, nor had
he ever really thought about them conversing amongst themselves, strangely
enough.

"Yes. Dragons talk about things that interest them, just like people do,"
D'ren said with a smile before glancing out at Menanth. The delighted
bronze had a few dolphin playmates already, with more coming in.

"Well, that makes sense," Naton said with a smile. "Just never really
thought about it. Do dragons make friends like people do, too?" Naton
couldn't help but ask questions. Like almost anyone on Pern he was quite
curious about dragons and now he lived so close to a Weyr he could finally
satisfy that curiosity.

"Yeah, they do. Menanth has friends he likes to spend time with. And greens
he likes to flirt with," D'ren chuckled.

"That's quite interesting," Naton said with an enthusiastic look on his
face. "What do they do together? Just talk? Or play games?"

"Mostly talk, but they play a little too." D'ren smiled. "Are you a recent
transfer?"

"I transferred in last month," Naton said with a nod. "I have to admit I
love it here so much, I'm starting to wonder why I didn't head south turns
ago."

The bronzerider laughed. "It _is_ a nice place to live." Although the heat
got to him sometimes. And there were hurricanes to deal with, but no place
was perfect.

"It is indeed!" Naton said cheerfully. "And I've never been this close to a
Weyr before. It's exciting." He couldn't begin to describe how exciting it
was for him, who had never really seen a dragon up close before and now saw
many of them on a single day!

"Have you ever been to a Hatching?"

"No, I haven't," Naton said with a shake of his head. Then something dawned
on him and his eyes grew big with excitement. "You mean I could visit a
Hatching at the Weyr?"

"Uh-huh." D'ren smiled, remembering how dragon-mad he'd been before he
Impressed. He would have been thrilled at the chance to go to a Hatching,
even just to watch.

"Wow! That is amazing!" Naton exclaimed as his eyes lit up with joy. "How
often does a hatching happen anyway?" Of course he had thought about the
perks of living so close to a Weyr, but he had never dreamt of witnessing a
hatching.

"Oh, about every five or six months. We've got a clutch on the sands right
now."

"Oh, that's pretty exciting. Do you know when it will hatch? How long does
a dragon egg take to hatch?" Naton had all these questions in his head and
he hoped D'ren didn't think it was annoying.

The bronzerider chuckled. "It takes about a month for eggs to hatch, so it
shouldn't be long now. No one knows _exactly_ what day, but when the eggs
are about to hatch, the dragons know."

"Well, it seems I arrived at just the right time, then!" Naton said
eagerly. "How do I go about attending? Do I need to apply somewhere?"

"Well, if you have any dragonrider friends, you can ask them to have the
Headwoman put you on the guest list. It's mostly so she knows how many
people are coming so she can plan. The Stands are huge and we have plenty
of room for our dolphineer neighbors." And with some of the Harpers already
gone, they might have a little extra room.

"I did meet the Headwoman," Naton said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure how I
feel about going up to her and asking her to be put on the list, though. I
wouldn't want to feel like I was bothering her. Is she always such a
serious woman?"

"Serious? No. She's usually really nice." Too nice if you happened to be a
young man in her sights. "I could get someone to ask for you." One of his
wingmates probably wouldn't mind.

"Could you? That would be so appreciated!" Naton said, barely able to
contain his boyish enthusiasm. "I'm amazed by how friendly everyone at the
Weyr is."

"I'm glad we've made a good impression." D'ren smiled. "Sure, I could make
sure you get on the list. I've got to go. My dragon wants me to join him."
The bronze was pointing out tricks the dolphins were doing as if he hadn't
seen them before.

"Of course," Naton said, looking at the dragon in wonder still. "And thank
you so much, I hope we meet again!" With every new meeting Naton was more
convinced of the absolute hospitality of dragonfolk and it made him all the
more happier with his decision to move to the Dolphin Cove hall.

Last updated on the February 16th 2012

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Of Dragons and Dolphins