Quiet Conversation
Who: Rilkie, R'dur
What: Rilkie and R'dur speak of fighting Thread, and learn that their browns are very much alike.
Where: Weyrling Barracks
Peeking just barely into the door, R'dur hesitates there as he scans the
barracks quickly, looking for someone in particular to judge by his manner.
He steps further in when he apparently doesn't find that person, moving to
get a better look around.
Rilkie is sitting near her dragon in their couch, talking in low tones to him
so as not to disturb anyone else. Their conversation is animated anyway, and
Rilkie speaks quickly in order to keep up with the voice of her dragon in
her head. An eavesdropper couldn't be completely certain what they're
talking about, but the words "Ista" and "home" can be caught now and then.
R'dur, still unsuccessful, finally gives up trying to find his person and just
looks over to the nearest: in this case, Rilkie. He waits a moment for a
pause in her conversation, choosing to wait patiently by the cot rather than
interrupt. When he finally gets a chance, though, he asks, "Ah, Rilkie. I'm
sorry. But, um. Have you seen Olwyn today, by any chance?"
Rilkie only looks up at a word from Ancaith, finally pausing in her chatter.
"Oh! Hello R'dur, sir," she says, then thinks back over her day. "Not
recently. This morning, I think. What do you need her for? I can let her
know you were looking for her when I do see her." She pauses, then adds,
"Have you looked by the lake? I think she often spends her free time there
with Aleith."
"I'm her mentor, so I was going to see if she'd like to do something,"
explains R'dur. "I didn't see her outside, so. I hate having Alidaeth ask
because I'm always terrified he will wake whoever up; he's not exactly...
well." His shoulders lift helplessly. "I'll see if I can't find her later.
But how are you and Ancaith, Rilkie? He's getting very big. It always
surprises me to see it, even after, well. Turns. And my own Alidaeth, too."
"Tactful?" Rilkie asks, with a lack of tact in her own question. "Perhaps it's
a brown thing? Ancaith is the same way. And we're good," she says brightly.
"He /is/ growing big. I keep telling him the same thing. I can't really
believe that such a dragon ever hatched from an egg." Her smile is warm and
full of love for her dragon, and Ancaith echoes the comment with a bugle.
"He's also very vocal," Rilkie adds, amused.
"Alidaeth is very... mischievous," offers R'dur after a moment. "He doesn't
/mean/ to mess things up, but he's always into everything. Ancaith is...
four months old now? Five? It's amazing how quickly they grow--I wish
sometimes Raija and Ysalia grew that quickly. Then I try to get them dressed
and realize they really do," he says with a bemusedly mournful expression.
"Vocal, hmm? Alidaeth, too. Maybe it /is/ a brown thing."
"Or a browns-with-names-that-begin-with-A thing," Rilkie says, laughing. "And
children /do/ grow fast. The only real difference is that they don't grow
quite so big. A good thing, too. We'd have quite a trouble finding
dragonriders if that were the case." Another laugh escapes from the girl. "I
used to work in the nurseries, if you didn't know," she explains. "So I have
plenty experience with children, though I have none of my own."
"Maybe that's it," R'dur laughs, too. "I don't think a dragon could carry
them, in that case, although they /do/ say that dragons can carry whatever
they think they can carry," he adds. "I've only two, myself: Ysalia, who's
about six and a half; and Raija, who's almost two now. About twenty-two
months or so. They're... handfuls. But I like to think what I learned with
Ysalia helps me now with Raija. And it helps that I have Raija all the time,
Bri and myself. Ysalia lives with her mother Yselle most of the time."
"That must be hard," Rilkie says. "But even if you don't see her all the time,
at least you care about her, clearly. I saw a lot of weyr children that only
had one parent involved in their life. One didn't care, or wasn't known, or
the father was from another weyr and only came to visit occasionally. I love
weyrlife, but it has its ups and downs." She gives her dragon a loving pat.
"I'd love to have my own children someday, but for now, he's more than
enough!"
"I couldn't imagine not being involved in Ysalia's life," admits R'dur,
shaking his head. "For all mine and Yselle's problems, I couldn't not be
involved. I mean, even my brother has been involved with his children--Cyrra
is one of them, my niece. And Tiriana, though you may not know her; she's
not a weyrling. It's such a sad situation when... But. Oh. That's--that's
not a very good topic for conversation." Blushing, he clears his throat.
Then, determinedly lighter: "So, how are your lessons progressing? Breena
was my weyrlingmaster as well; I quite liked her."
"It's okay," Rilkie says. "I don't mind discussing these things if you'd like
to." Her voice is soft then, but she goes on to answer the rider's other
questions in a happier tone. "They're progressing very well, thank you. I
like her, too. She's done a very good job of teaching us so far. And, you
must be so proud of Cyrra Impressing. It's wonderful when there are
generations of dragonriders in one family."
"My brother was the first; he's a bronzerider," explains R'dur. "At Ierne
now--their Weyrleader. I impressed a few turns after that, and of course
Cyrra now--both her parents were also riders. She's, well. Not really my
niece by blood, but more my brother's adopted daughter with his, ah. With
Tiriana's mother." A lift of his shoulders categorizes that relationship.
Then: "Is anyone else in your family a rider, then? Or do they do something
else?"
Rilkie nods with understanding of the complexity that weyr relationships can
have. "Ma and Da are weyrfolk, but not riders. Both of them are healers,"
she explains, all far more simpler than R'dur's family. "I'm the first rider
in our family, though my parents are hoping now that my younger siblings may
follow someday."
"One of my younger brothers did, too, at Southern: a blue," adds R'dur with a
nod. "So it seems to be in the family, at least. It terrifies me, though, to
think of us now, fighting Thread. Or if Ysalia or Raija impressed--I don't
think I could bear sending them to fight it. Or even you; you're far too
young to do that, you and all of you weyrlings. It's... it's not right." He
shakes his head, frown deepening.
Rilkie's face quickly reflects R'durs somber expression. "It's certainly not
/fair/," she says, "But I do think it's right. I mean--" She searches for
the words to explain herself, carefully so as not to seem rude in
contradicting the rider. "All citizens of Pern have a duty to do their part
to fight thread. For many, it's simply clearing away greenery, making sure
that none grows around their Holds and Halls. But we were chosen by dragons,
and so our job is to fight." Her eyes dance with fire, as if she's
determined to do so. "The teaching songs say it-- 'dragonmen must fly when
Thread is in the sky.' It's not fair at all, but it's the most /right/ thing
in the world."
R'dur's frown remains, for all it's more resigned at Rilkie's words. "I know,"
he tells her, quiet, as he glances down and studies his feet a moment,
shaking his head. "But it's still--I don't like it. I don't think--it's
not--oh, never mind.""We'll be okay," Rilkie says, not finding it odd at all to be the one
reassuring the older rider. "We'll fight Thread, and we'll protect Pern like
we always have." Ancaith gives a soft croon-like sound. "And this one here
says he /wants/ to fight."
"He would," remarks R'dur, with a glance sideways at Ancaith, a half-smile for
the brown. "Alidaeth, too; he wants to fight, too. All the dragons seem to;
it's just... bred into them. It's us that doesn't have that, and I'm not
sure whether it's better or worse like that. I suppose it really just is
what it is." A shrug.
"Maybe we're meant to balance each other out," Rilkie suggests. "Ancaith
certainly compliments me in many ways that I'd never have expected. If we
all wanted to fight thread so much, perhaps we'd be too rash."
"I expect that's it," agrees R'dur. "Alidaeth is my... well, he's as opposite
me as I think almost anyone could be, and it's taken us a very long time to
make our relationship work. But I expect you are right: we have to keep them
balanced, and they us, or we'd either be hiding underground our whole lifes
or killed very quickly indeed for foolishness."
Rilkie nods. "Ancaith and I are quite different, but we've never had
difficulties. Not yet, anyway. He's changed me so much, and I think he'd be
a very different dragon if he didn't have my influence all the time."
"The same, for Alidaeth and myself," concedes R'dur. "Without Alidaeth, well.
I doubt I'd be nearly so outgoing and talkative as I am now." He has to
laugh at that notion, though, sheepishly amused at himself.
"Really?" Rilkie asks, surprised. "Ancaith has made me so much more talkative
and outgoing, too. Not that I was shy before, but he is just /so/...
verbose." She laughs. "Is that a brown thing, too, or are our dragons just
alike?"
"I think they must just be alike," says R'dur with a shake of his head.
"I'm... I have always been terribly shy and quiet. Alidaeth is very much an
encouragement for me to /not/ be that way, though. Though I have to check
him from being /too/ over-the-top sometimes. He's, like I said, very
mischievous and into everything."
Rilkie laughs. "Sounds like Ancaith, exactly. They didn't hatch from the same
shell, did they?" More seriously, she says, "I'm not shy in that I don't
have problems speaking when I need to. But I've always been quite content in
solitude. If I lived in a small hold somewhere, I'd be perfectly fine for
sevendays all on my own. But Ancaith's changed that about me some."
R'dur laughs, shaking his head. "I think Alidaeth is a good deal older than
Ancaith, at least. I am... not so bad as I used to be--there was a time when
I couldn't say anything hardly. But, well. I'm past that, now, I think. For
the most part. But I do enjoy being /around/ people, at least, even if I'm
not exactly the, er, best at interacting with them."
"Of course, he's quite a bit older," Rilkie says, laughing. "And I think
dragons are always good at helping people come out of their shells-- Oh. No
pun intended." She smiles a little at her own inadvertent joke.
R'dur grins, shaking his head. "That's a horrible one," he notes of that pun.
"But I should probably be getting back; I'll come back and see if I can't
find Olwyn another day. She must be very busy--all of you are, if your
experience is anything like mine with Alidaeth. Which I gather it must be,
he and Ancaith, at least, being twins separated at birth, or something like
that. I'll see you later, Rilkie?"
Rilkie laughs. "An understatement! It was nice to talk with you, R'dur. I'm
sure I'll see you again sometime."
"Goodbye," adds R'dur in parting as he turns and heads back out into the bowl.
What: Rilkie and R'dur speak of fighting Thread, and learn that their browns are very much alike.
Where: Weyrling Barracks
Peeking just barely into the door, R'dur hesitates there as he scans the
barracks quickly, looking for someone in particular to judge by his manner.
He steps further in when he apparently doesn't find that person, moving to
get a better look around.
Rilkie is sitting near her dragon in their couch, talking in low tones to him
so as not to disturb anyone else. Their conversation is animated anyway, and
Rilkie speaks quickly in order to keep up with the voice of her dragon in
her head. An eavesdropper couldn't be completely certain what they're
talking about, but the words "Ista" and "home" can be caught now and then.
R'dur, still unsuccessful, finally gives up trying to find his person and just
looks over to the nearest: in this case, Rilkie. He waits a moment for a
pause in her conversation, choosing to wait patiently by the cot rather than
interrupt. When he finally gets a chance, though, he asks, "Ah, Rilkie. I'm
sorry. But, um. Have you seen Olwyn today, by any chance?"
Rilkie only looks up at a word from Ancaith, finally pausing in her chatter.
"Oh! Hello R'dur, sir," she says, then thinks back over her day. "Not
recently. This morning, I think. What do you need her for? I can let her
know you were looking for her when I do see her." She pauses, then adds,
"Have you looked by the lake? I think she often spends her free time there
with Aleith."
"I'm her mentor, so I was going to see if she'd like to do something,"
explains R'dur. "I didn't see her outside, so. I hate having Alidaeth ask
because I'm always terrified he will wake whoever up; he's not exactly...
well." His shoulders lift helplessly. "I'll see if I can't find her later.
But how are you and Ancaith, Rilkie? He's getting very big. It always
surprises me to see it, even after, well. Turns. And my own Alidaeth, too."
"Tactful?" Rilkie asks, with a lack of tact in her own question. "Perhaps it's
a brown thing? Ancaith is the same way. And we're good," she says brightly.
"He /is/ growing big. I keep telling him the same thing. I can't really
believe that such a dragon ever hatched from an egg." Her smile is warm and
full of love for her dragon, and Ancaith echoes the comment with a bugle.
"He's also very vocal," Rilkie adds, amused.
"Alidaeth is very... mischievous," offers R'dur after a moment. "He doesn't
/mean/ to mess things up, but he's always into everything. Ancaith is...
four months old now? Five? It's amazing how quickly they grow--I wish
sometimes Raija and Ysalia grew that quickly. Then I try to get them dressed
and realize they really do," he says with a bemusedly mournful expression.
"Vocal, hmm? Alidaeth, too. Maybe it /is/ a brown thing."
"Or a browns-with-names-that-begin-with-A thing," Rilkie says, laughing. "And
children /do/ grow fast. The only real difference is that they don't grow
quite so big. A good thing, too. We'd have quite a trouble finding
dragonriders if that were the case." Another laugh escapes from the girl. "I
used to work in the nurseries, if you didn't know," she explains. "So I have
plenty experience with children, though I have none of my own."
"Maybe that's it," R'dur laughs, too. "I don't think a dragon could carry
them, in that case, although they /do/ say that dragons can carry whatever
they think they can carry," he adds. "I've only two, myself: Ysalia, who's
about six and a half; and Raija, who's almost two now. About twenty-two
months or so. They're... handfuls. But I like to think what I learned with
Ysalia helps me now with Raija. And it helps that I have Raija all the time,
Bri and myself. Ysalia lives with her mother Yselle most of the time."
"That must be hard," Rilkie says. "But even if you don't see her all the time,
at least you care about her, clearly. I saw a lot of weyr children that only
had one parent involved in their life. One didn't care, or wasn't known, or
the father was from another weyr and only came to visit occasionally. I love
weyrlife, but it has its ups and downs." She gives her dragon a loving pat.
"I'd love to have my own children someday, but for now, he's more than
enough!"
"I couldn't imagine not being involved in Ysalia's life," admits R'dur,
shaking his head. "For all mine and Yselle's problems, I couldn't not be
involved. I mean, even my brother has been involved with his children--Cyrra
is one of them, my niece. And Tiriana, though you may not know her; she's
not a weyrling. It's such a sad situation when... But. Oh. That's--that's
not a very good topic for conversation." Blushing, he clears his throat.
Then, determinedly lighter: "So, how are your lessons progressing? Breena
was my weyrlingmaster as well; I quite liked her."
"It's okay," Rilkie says. "I don't mind discussing these things if you'd like
to." Her voice is soft then, but she goes on to answer the rider's other
questions in a happier tone. "They're progressing very well, thank you. I
like her, too. She's done a very good job of teaching us so far. And, you
must be so proud of Cyrra Impressing. It's wonderful when there are
generations of dragonriders in one family."
"My brother was the first; he's a bronzerider," explains R'dur. "At Ierne
now--their Weyrleader. I impressed a few turns after that, and of course
Cyrra now--both her parents were also riders. She's, well. Not really my
niece by blood, but more my brother's adopted daughter with his, ah. With
Tiriana's mother." A lift of his shoulders categorizes that relationship.
Then: "Is anyone else in your family a rider, then? Or do they do something
else?"
Rilkie nods with understanding of the complexity that weyr relationships can
have. "Ma and Da are weyrfolk, but not riders. Both of them are healers,"
she explains, all far more simpler than R'dur's family. "I'm the first rider
in our family, though my parents are hoping now that my younger siblings may
follow someday."
"One of my younger brothers did, too, at Southern: a blue," adds R'dur with a
nod. "So it seems to be in the family, at least. It terrifies me, though, to
think of us now, fighting Thread. Or if Ysalia or Raija impressed--I don't
think I could bear sending them to fight it. Or even you; you're far too
young to do that, you and all of you weyrlings. It's... it's not right." He
shakes his head, frown deepening.
Rilkie's face quickly reflects R'durs somber expression. "It's certainly not
/fair/," she says, "But I do think it's right. I mean--" She searches for
the words to explain herself, carefully so as not to seem rude in
contradicting the rider. "All citizens of Pern have a duty to do their part
to fight thread. For many, it's simply clearing away greenery, making sure
that none grows around their Holds and Halls. But we were chosen by dragons,
and so our job is to fight." Her eyes dance with fire, as if she's
determined to do so. "The teaching songs say it-- 'dragonmen must fly when
Thread is in the sky.' It's not fair at all, but it's the most /right/ thing
in the world."
R'dur's frown remains, for all it's more resigned at Rilkie's words. "I know,"
he tells her, quiet, as he glances down and studies his feet a moment,
shaking his head. "But it's still--I don't like it. I don't think--it's
not--oh, never mind.""We'll be okay," Rilkie says, not finding it odd at all to be the one
reassuring the older rider. "We'll fight Thread, and we'll protect Pern like
we always have." Ancaith gives a soft croon-like sound. "And this one here
says he /wants/ to fight."
"He would," remarks R'dur, with a glance sideways at Ancaith, a half-smile for
the brown. "Alidaeth, too; he wants to fight, too. All the dragons seem to;
it's just... bred into them. It's us that doesn't have that, and I'm not
sure whether it's better or worse like that. I suppose it really just is
what it is." A shrug.
"Maybe we're meant to balance each other out," Rilkie suggests. "Ancaith
certainly compliments me in many ways that I'd never have expected. If we
all wanted to fight thread so much, perhaps we'd be too rash."
"I expect that's it," agrees R'dur. "Alidaeth is my... well, he's as opposite
me as I think almost anyone could be, and it's taken us a very long time to
make our relationship work. But I expect you are right: we have to keep them
balanced, and they us, or we'd either be hiding underground our whole lifes
or killed very quickly indeed for foolishness."
Rilkie nods. "Ancaith and I are quite different, but we've never had
difficulties. Not yet, anyway. He's changed me so much, and I think he'd be
a very different dragon if he didn't have my influence all the time."
"The same, for Alidaeth and myself," concedes R'dur. "Without Alidaeth, well.
I doubt I'd be nearly so outgoing and talkative as I am now." He has to
laugh at that notion, though, sheepishly amused at himself.
"Really?" Rilkie asks, surprised. "Ancaith has made me so much more talkative
and outgoing, too. Not that I was shy before, but he is just /so/...
verbose." She laughs. "Is that a brown thing, too, or are our dragons just
alike?"
"I think they must just be alike," says R'dur with a shake of his head.
"I'm... I have always been terribly shy and quiet. Alidaeth is very much an
encouragement for me to /not/ be that way, though. Though I have to check
him from being /too/ over-the-top sometimes. He's, like I said, very
mischievous and into everything."
Rilkie laughs. "Sounds like Ancaith, exactly. They didn't hatch from the same
shell, did they?" More seriously, she says, "I'm not shy in that I don't
have problems speaking when I need to. But I've always been quite content in
solitude. If I lived in a small hold somewhere, I'd be perfectly fine for
sevendays all on my own. But Ancaith's changed that about me some."
R'dur laughs, shaking his head. "I think Alidaeth is a good deal older than
Ancaith, at least. I am... not so bad as I used to be--there was a time when
I couldn't say anything hardly. But, well. I'm past that, now, I think. For
the most part. But I do enjoy being /around/ people, at least, even if I'm
not exactly the, er, best at interacting with them."
"Of course, he's quite a bit older," Rilkie says, laughing. "And I think
dragons are always good at helping people come out of their shells-- Oh. No
pun intended." She smiles a little at her own inadvertent joke.
R'dur grins, shaking his head. "That's a horrible one," he notes of that pun.
"But I should probably be getting back; I'll come back and see if I can't
find Olwyn another day. She must be very busy--all of you are, if your
experience is anything like mine with Alidaeth. Which I gather it must be,
he and Ancaith, at least, being twins separated at birth, or something like
that. I'll see you later, Rilkie?"
Rilkie laughs. "An understatement! It was nice to talk with you, R'dur. I'm
sure I'll see you again sometime."
"Goodbye," adds R'dur in parting as he turns and heads back out into the bowl.