Prey Drive (1/2)

Writers: Aaron, Estelle
Date Posted: 24th July 2018

Characters: K'don, R'fal
Description: The dragonets are hunting, and Marlath steals Maciath's kill
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 5, day 16 of Turn 9

K'don

Maciath was practically vibrating with anticipation even as he stood
still, watching intently. He had waited his whole life for this moment!
He focused intently on his prey, taking note of its every move, the way
it walked, how it looked this way and that...

**You seem like you're gonna shake right out of your hide, buddy.**

}:I am ready to strike,:{ said Maciath. }:Swift, strong, and true. And
then I will taste the blood of my overcoming!:{

**That's pretty... intense, Mas.**

}:Is it not fitting? Ach. You made me lose heed...:{

Maciath began the process over again, despite the fact that the beast
had not moved in the slightest.

All of a sudden, a loud roar split the air and another young brown
pounced on the herdbeast in a clumsy blur of wings and claws. The animal
squealed and tried to flee, but although Marlath's attack hadn't exactly
been a model of elegance and precision, he had managed to get a grip on
its back. He clamped his jaws around its neck and tore at the soft hide,
dark gouts of blood spurting and staining his muzzle.

**Marlath!** R'fal winced as the beast collapsed under his lifemate's
weight. **That one was Maciath's! We saw him stalking it.**

}:He was taking forever,:{ Marlath replied, unrepentant. }:I was faster.:{

**It's still rude to steal someone else's meal. And look at the mess
you've made! If you'd taken your time, like him, you'd have made a
cleaner kill.** R'fal just hoped none of the Weyrlingmasters had seen.
He jogged over to join K'don.

"I'm really sorry," he called out. "He went for it before I could stop
him. Do you want me to tell him to give it to Maciath?"

Emotion welled up in K'don. He hated when this happened. Perhaps he had
reason to be upset with Marlath, but it frustrated him that his first
response was to cry. He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to
tamp down on the urge to let his feelings out through his eyes. No one
was going to take him seriously if he cried every time something
frustrating happened to him.

Maciath could barely keep still doing as I asked. And then the beast
died horribly anyway. And I had to watch!

Many of K'don's classmates probably noticed K'don taking breaks to
compose himself over the course of their training. It was something that
rarely came up as a Candidate, but things as a weyrling were different.
Opportunities for failure and conflict were manifold.

K'don shook his head.

R'fal apologized. Don't yell at R'fal.

At the same time, Maciath was not about to be placated to receive the
kill he had not made himself. His careful waiting and calculation was an
act of supreme self-discipline for the ordinarily impulsive brown, and
now his waiting had been for nothing.

}:You see what it gets me to wait and watch!:{ he said to K'don.

"I know!" K'don shouted back.

}:I will not try this again.:{

Maciath growled.

}:I started again once, but not another time. For you, I tried. Call it
back to mind that I tried for you. Now I will do as Marlath did, for
that is how a dragon takes his fodder.:{

K'don had been so proud of Maciath's willingness to make a clean kill.
He looked away and covered his eyes with his arm as Maciath bounded
after another beast, terrifying it as he made a kill even sloppier than
Marlath's had been.

K'don's breath caught as he struggled to keep a sob from escaping.

"Sorry," he said to R'fal, feeling all the more guilty for being unable
to face him.

}:You should not weep for these. They are only food.:{

K'don gritted his teeth.

**They have feelings. They feel pain. They shouldn't have to suffer for
you. I'm really mad at you right now.**

}:Why?:{

**Eat your food. I don't want to talk to you for a minute.**

Maciath slouched a bit, but then he continued eating.

}:K'don is truly upset with me over this,:{ he said to Marlath. }:He
would not be if you had not stolen my food. That was not a friendly
thing to do.:{

Feeling the weight of both his rider's and his clutchmate's disapproval,
Marlath hung his head. }:I am sorry. My rider says I should have waited.
He says you were doing it properly.:{

}:It was hard to wait, and I was truly hungry. K'don says I have done my
food wrong by making it to bear such pangs and fear as I killed it,:{
said Maciath, relaxing a bit at Marlath's apology. His tone was full of
guilt, though less at harming the beast than at disappointing K'don, who
was clearly deeply affected by what he had done.

}:K'don is a man of great feeling for his fellow living things,:{ he
said. }:I am ashamed to have besorrowed him so. Mayhap I should not lay
all the guilt on you when it was I who could no longer wait as I was
bidden.:{

Maciath wanted to comfort K'don with his touch, but bloodied as he was,
the brown doubted the contact would do much but reminded K'don of what
Maciath had done to upset him.

K'don did his best to pull himself together, but he could never be
comforted with thoughts that diminished the importance of the beast's
life or minimized the value of its suffering.

It deserved to die quickly. Even if it was meant to sustain Maciath, it
deserved to die quickly.

R'fal watched K'don with growing concern. He'd turned away so R'fal
couldn't see his face, and at first he'd thought he might just be angry
that Marlath had robbed his dragon of his kill, but he was starting to
wonder if that was all.

}:Maciath says that his rider is sad because the beasts died.:{ Marlath
sounded confused. }:But they are our food. What else are they for?:{

**Well, they want to live, too, even if they don't think and speak like
us. We can't help eating them, but we shouldn't let them suffer.** R'fal
had spent enough Turns on a farm to know that. **Besides, you made your
kill right in front of him, and it wasn't pretty. It's not surprising
he's shocked.**

"K'don, are you all right?" he asked the younger boy. "Do you want me to
get the Weyrlingmaster?"

"No!" K'don shouted, quickly wiping his eyes and shaking his head
vigorously as he turned to face R'fal. Definitely not crying, honestly.
Pay no attention to the red eyes and damp cheeks. The last thing K'don
needed was for his grandfather to see him like this. He was not about to
disappoint anyone like that.

"No, I'm sorry. It's fine," he insisted. "Maciath took too long."

}:I did only as you said! If you are to be angry with me for making a
sloppy kill, then you must not lay guilt on me before your friend for
striving to do as you said to keep from that outcome!:{ It was Maciath's
turn to be angry. And he was right. It was not fair for K'don to blame
Maciath for what happened just to avoid a confrontation with R'fal.

"Actually," he said, "that's not fair. I made him take too long. I made
him try to do it right, and he lost his patience after Marlath took the
beast he had his eye on. But. I'm not trying to make a stink about it,
alright? There's no need to call K'sedel. Or anyone else. I'm sorry. I'm
fine." He shuddered as he took one last deep breath to calm himself.

Last updated on the August 26th 2018

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Prey Drive (1/2)