Adjusting To What It's Like

Writers: Aaron, Halyonix
Date Posted: 4th September 2024

Characters: S'kand, R'vkal
Description: Ryvankal helps S'kand wash his dragon and asks questions
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 21 of Turn 11

Notes:
Mentioned: N'vanik (not by name)
~~~~~~~~~

After being recruited by the Weyrleader once to wash his bronze, Ryvankal then began feeling as though he could offer that service to other riders. Bronze dragons were big. Ryvankal could understand the magnitude of having to complete a project, even if it wasn't steel and fire, if it was hide and wings.

"Rider," he greeted with a respectful nod as he approached a bronzerider washing his dragon. "Need any help?"

"Hi!"

S'kand's son, Kariskan, appeared from the other side of Jagobroth on hearing someone approach. This one was a Candidate. His eyes widened with delight as he saw who had addressed his father. Not that he knew him personally, but he had seen him in classes, and wow, was he pretty. Maybe he would take his shirt off.

"Heel, Kariskan..." S'kand half-muttered, half-laughed. "He's at least five Turns too old for you to be ogling. I'd love some help, if you don't mind the kiddos." Too quietly for Kariskan to hear, he added, "I can send the big one to help with his brother's blue if you don't want to deal with being ogled."

Two more, much younger children appeared around by Jagobroth's tail, one boy and one girl. While Kariskan was clearly able to contribute, these two were much more likely to be "helping."

At the mention of being ogled, Ryvankal froze. He'd been at the Weyr long enough to know how...different...it could be and he wasn't one to judge but he was still...adjusting. Maybe he'd always be adjusting. He wasn't sure.

S'kand nodded. Well, that was that.

"Kariskan. Jagobroth says S'tall needs help. Run along."

"Daaaaad!" the boy whined. But S'kand needed no more than a stern glance to convince him to run along.

"Are you all right, lad?" S'kand asked Ryvankal.

The Candidate nodded stiffly but already showed signs of relaxing, grateful for the intervention. "Yes, sir. Just...still getting used to Weyrlife, sir. Takes a bit of time, especially when you come from the Hold."

"The boy's never lived anywhere else, and frankly, I suspect someone he knows has been a poor influence on him," S'kand grumbled. "Sometimes it seems I need to keep him on a leash. I apologize for him."

Ryvankal shook his head. "No need to apologize, sir. No harm done. Can't fault him for not knowing otherwise." He rolled up his sleeves. "If you're still wanting my help, I'm Ryvankal. Just point me where you'd like me to start."

"Of course! I would appreciate it," said S'kand. "Want to climb up top and get his back?" Most kids seemed to relish the opportunity to be atop a dragonâ€" and it would save S'kand a backache of his own, too.

"I can do that," Ryvankal agreed. He approached Jagobroth and bowed like he had Loseth. He figured it was still a good thing to be polite even though he had already been granted permission. Using the dragon's forearm, he managed to get up on the high shoulder and get started. Atop, it was definitely a different feeling, somewhere between awkward and exhilarating. Ryvankal hadn't had many chances to ride a dragon, even though he was surrounded by them here at the Weyr, so he still wondered what it would be like astride his own. On a bronze, it was easy to see how a dragon could fly with a rider or two. But some of the other colors... "They say that...even the smallest dragons, they fit their riders. Or their riders fit on them. Is that true, sir?"

"I've never seen a dragon who couldn't carry their rider," said S'kand. "Even the littlest ones. With the biggest riders!"

Still scrubbing, Ryvankal asked, "What's the largest gap of that you've seen?"

"Shells, it's hard to put a finger on just one," said S'kand. "I had a second or third cousin who was about as big as me who rode green back at Thayan Peak, and she was pretty tiny."

Ryvankal considered this for a moment before deciding to ask another question. "And riders, they...there's no way to tell what color they'll Impress? Who'll get...a green?" He was thinking of his cousin in that moment, the one who had lied about Impressing a green.

"We always thought we knew," said S'kand. He wondered if this had anything to do with the lad's great discomfort over Kariskan ogling him. Or, if the two both had something to do with the same thing, anyway. Hold lads could be a touch... out of touch with certain parts of themselves.

"Well, thought we knew once they'd been picked, _why_ they'd been picked. But that was back when clutches were small. Maybe the dragons settled into that during the Interval because it was easiest and they had enough to choose from to be choosey. Nowadays, the clutches are huge compared to when I was a lad. So the dragons are starting to do things we didn't expect."

"Are you worried about Impressing a green?"

Ryvankal nodded. "Yes sir. See, sir, no issue if that's your thing, being into boys, men I mean. But I was engaged back at the Hold. I'm into women. And greenriders..."

S'kand nodded. "I take your meaning. Well. It's a risk you take if you step onto the Sands. There are more greens than any other color. And if a green decides you're for her, then, well. You get everything that comes with being a greenrider. For young men who said they didn't like men and Impressed green anyway, we always said they must have simply not known that about themselves... but these days, I'm not so sure we were right. Or maybe we're just not right anymore. So there's no guarantee that just because you don't have a man-loving bone in your body, you won't end up on green anyway."

The Candidate mulled over those words. Had his cousin not known something about himself because he had Impressed a green? No, the bronzerider said that they weren't really sure about that anymore. Dragons were choosing differently now. It was still a roll of the dice, stepping out on the Sands like he said, but was it a risk he didn't want to take? Would it be that bad, getting a green?

Only way to find out was to ask, Ryvankal had discovered. "But I hear that they love you so much that it doesn't really matter their color?"

"They absolutely do love you enough to make up for a whole host of things," said S'kand. "And it will make dealing with difficult things worth it. But. It won't make dealing with them any less difficult. While I'm happy to tell you anything I know, I'm sure you'd find a much more useful perspective if you asked a greenrider. Especially one who didn't think he would Impress a green."

Ryvankal doubted that he would find what he was looking for by talking to a greenrider but he still entertained the bronzerider. "Makes sense. Anyone you'd recommend? Maybe someone Hold-bred like me?"

"Aye, exactly," said S'kand. "Of course, I'd rather have recommended someone from my own wing if I could, but all of my greenriders are weyrbred or women right now... I don't know him well at all, but you might have some luck speaking with A'dryn from Weyrleader N'vanik's wing."

The Candidate nodded. A'dryn. He could ask around at meal time maybe. "Think he'll mind me asking questions? If I mention your name, sir." There were a lot of things that Ryvankal was still figuring out about Weyr etiquette and while everyone seemed really open to talking, he still didn't want to misstep.

"I couldn't say for sure," said S'kand. "Like I said, I wish I had someone I knew better I could recommend. But I can't imagine he would snap at you just for _asking_ if you could ask him questions. You are welcome to send him my way for an apology if he needs one."

Another nod. "Thanks." A pause, and then. "But being a bronzerider, that's all about being a leader, isn't it?"

"Not every bronzerider is a leader," said S'kand. "But every bronzerider should stand ready to lead. Any one of us could find ourselves behind the Weyrleader's desk whenever Panitath rises, and any one of us could be asked to lead a wing in Fall."

"Are you ready to learn how to lead?"

Ryvankal paused. Thought about it. At the Hold, his father and uncle, they were leaders there, not just in ranks. Leadership wasn't always about titles, that was something they had told him. But was he ready to learn?

He hadn't considered that.

"Learn? Think so. Do it? No," he answered. "Still a lot for me to learn. About the Weyr, dragons. All that. My da, he always told me that leadership wasn't just a title you held. It was a thing you did, even from the background. The forge, that was his domain. He knew each of those crafters, talked to them, cared about them. And he was teaching me how to make it mine. Guess that's the closest I understand about leadership."

"He's a wise man," said S'kand. It was an attitude not everyone who needed to understand did understand. "And it sounds like you understand more than you think."

Ryv shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe. But it's all up to the dragons anyway. I could be going back to the Hold in a few Hatchings. Unless I decide to stay. Haven't thought that far ahead yet, honestly. Shouldn't count my firelizards before they hatch, I guess. Just trying to learn what it's like being any type of dragonrider in case..."

"You're doing well," said S'kand. "And you'll do well wherever you go. Leaders are everywhere. And I think you'll make a good one someday, no matter what the dragons decide."

"Thank you, sir. Appreciate that," the Candidate answered genuinely.

"It's my pleasure." S'kand would have to keep an eye out for this one. If he Impressed, he definitely wanted him for his wing.

Last updated on the September 8th 2024

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Adjusting To What It's Like