You're not alone (2/2)

Writers: AL, Corrin
Date Posted: 12th June 2025

Characters: Sybana, Meledei, T'gyrlan
Description: Sybana visits DCW and meets Meledei
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 5 of Turn 12

Sybana

T'gyrlan

The tour of Dolphin Cove was pleasant, even if the heat left Sybana feeling a bit wilted. By the end of it, she was grateful to retire for refreshments in one of the weyr’s smaller meeting rooms.

The meeting room was lovely, a breezy stone alcove draped in gauzy curtains that stirred gently in the ocean wind. A low table held carafes of chilled juice and water, both beading with condensation; a small bowl of fruit; and delicate crackers with a creamy fish paste Sybana had never seen before.

T’gyrlan accepted a glass of water before slipping back outside, murmuring something about giving them space.

Sybana watched him go before turning back to Meledei with a rueful smile. “I hope you don’t think we’re terribly excessive,” she said, waving a graceful hand to indicate herself, the bronzerider, and Dragonsfall as a whole. “Only we’ve been hearing such rumors about unrest in the other weyrs… But I notice you yourself are unguarded. Has the situation with the holds around here improved?”

“If I have an ‘escort’, then I don’t know it and I prefer it that way.” For all Meledei knew, they could have sent someone to watch her covertly, which would be better in her mind, mainly because she didn’t like the idea of having to trudge along with someone on her heels. Waiting for Sybana to sit, she only did so herself, then motioned to the drinks and food. “Would you care for something?”

“Oh, yes. Something to drink would be lovely,” Sybana said as she took a seat and accepted a cool glass of juice. It was tart and crisp and refreshing. “So-- no overt guards, and you don’t seem especially worried. That’s encouraging.”

“I’m not.” Meledei shook her head. Although what happened was awful, she didn’t want to stop living life simply because of fear. That wasn’t really living, was it? “But I understand the caution from your Weyr, and certainly don’t resent it.”

“Well, I’m glad,” Sybana smiled warmly. If she was disappointed not to get a little more detail on the Cove’s situation, she had grace enough not to show it-- nor would she push more. Picking out a few slices of fruit, she changed the subject, “I hear you’ve been a dragonrider for some time? Even served in the North? Do you have any advice for a weyrling?”

“Trust your dragon, trust your training, trust yourself.” That was easier said than done, and Meledei recognised that. Maybe she had been weird as a weyrling, finding herself far more comfortable with her position and role as a dragonrider, and even as a goldrider, than most might have thought. Then again, she looked back to the path with a set of eyes that had experienced much since then. Perhaps she didn’t remember the truth and coloured her own history in a different light than what others might have seen. That didn’t mean her advice was any less sound. “You’re smart and capable. The fact that your gold chose you is evidence of that fact.”

“You must be weyrborn,” laughed Sybana, gentling the statement with a teasing smile. “You have such faith in dragon choice.”

“I suppose I did, too,” she amended thoughtfully. “But then I got to know the other metallics of my class and they’re hardly like the ballads. E’kirim and Z’renh are more mild-mannered and laid back than most of our blueriders. If their bronzes saw fire and ambition in _them_, then they must be looking where the rest of us can’t.”

Toying with a slice of redfruit, her smile faded to something more thoughtful. “Don’t get me wrong, I _do_ think I’m smart and capable-- is that terrible to say? Well, I do-- I’m just not yet sure it’s in ways the Weyr respects. Things are… so different here.”

Meledei smirked at the mention of Harper tales and shook her head. Pouring herself a bit of tea, she lifted it to her lips and sipped slowly, the sweetness of the herbal blend coating her throat pleasantly. “I am weyrborn.” She confirmed with a nod as she set down her cup and reached for a piece of red fruit. “And the ballads are always full of tales, but you have to remember, they are bombastic renditions. If they contain truth, it’s always hidden beneath layers of silk and gold. Nothing is ever as exciting as the Harpers tell it.”

“Don’t get me wrong.” Meledei leaned over conspiratorially, a grin on her face, and a twinkle in her jade green eyes. “I like Harper tales as much as anyone, but don’t let them fool you into thinking that’s the way it is in reality.” She leaned back in her chair and allowed herself another draw of her tea before she inquired further of the other goldrider. “It’s not terrible to say that you’re smart and capable. I am curious to know what ways you think you’re smart and capable, and why you think it’s not in ways the Weyr respects.”

Sybana eyed her thoughtfully, weighing the risks, before ultimately deciding on honesty. “I was raised to be a lady. Not a silly storybook one that sits around to be rescued--a real one--an asset to my Hold, my Blood. I’m well-versed on all the classics, the histories, the lineages that matter. I grew up in a Great Hold with over a dozen other fosterlings-- all from families of import, all with immense power and wealth and ambition. It was a very pretty pit of vipers.

“You need a certain measure of wit to survive a place like that-- to thrive in it. You learn to speak carefully, to smile strategically, to spot a weakness in a sentence and turn it to your favor two days later at dinner. I was good at it. Still am, I think.

“It’s a quiet set of skills, and maybe they’ll be useful in a Turn or two when I’m entrusted with more, but I worry people will have already made up their minds by then. Weyrlinghood doesn’t ask for subtlety. It asks for endurance, physical strength. I am certainly the weakest of my class in our drills-- and people watch.

“And in general, everyone is so much more… direct than I’m used to. A bluerider propositioned me shortly after I made senior weyrling, bold as you like. He just offered--” She broke off, blushing. “I’m just not used to that sort of thing. At the hold, everything is wrapped in a certain layer of manners.”

“Don’t be afraid to hold to your own standards. You might not be Weyrborn, but you are just as good as anyone else.” Meledei was born and raised in the Weyr, but she had respect for the Holders, even if she didn’t always agree with their ways. “And I think you underestimate yourself. That ‘quiet set of skills’ will definitely come in useful. There’s more to strength than physical strength, though you’ll need plenty of that as well.”

Shaking her head at the idiocy of those who decided to judge someone without really getting to know them, Meledei knew very well she’d struggled with people’s views of herself, and especially of her gold. Staring down into her cup of tea, she caught her reflection in the lightly murky water. Over the Turns, she’d learned to ignore what people said and simply appreciate her dragon the way she was - well, she had always done that. Initially, though, fears about her size plagued her, but over time, she simply let it run off her back.

The jade green eyes flicked upward to study the woman across from her. There were other aspects of the weyr that the goldrider would certainly have to get used to, and it was better she do so sooner rather than later. “You don’t have to compromise everything, but you will have to learn how to adapt. However, that wit you have developed will serve you well.”

Lifting her cup, she sipped again at her tea, but that gaze watched the other from over the rim of her cup. Sybana was quite lovely, very different from Meledei, who likely wasn’t the sort to really catch anyone’s attention. Across from her sat a beauty one might have imagined in the very Harper tales she had mentioned earlier. The wavy hair, the perfectly sculpted features, the graceful manner with which she held herself. By contrast, Meledei wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t pretty. She was just…Meledei. Yet, they both found themselves in the same position, riders to golds, and they had extra responsibilities because of it. “And don’t feel bad if you struggle. Expect to struggle. But also know, you’re not alone.”

“That is all very good of you to say, I will try to remember that,” Sybana smiled, warm and real. She hadn’t known what to expect from the other goldrider, one of her closest agemates in their small sorority. A cagey rival perhaps-- but instead she found Meledei both sympathetic and generous and far more open minded than she expected weyrfolk to be.

“I’m terrified of struggling. Of people seeing me struggle…” she said, a moment of vulnerability from someone who frankly hadn’t struggled much at all in life. “But it’s nice to hear that I’m not alone, especially from someone who’s been there before.”

“I remember what it’s like.” Meledei offered a lopsided grin just before she sipped her tea again. Sybana was a sweet girl, and she was glad the Dragonsfall resident had come for a visit. “I’m glad you came - and I hope you’ll come back again soon.”

“I certainly will,” Sybana promised gladly.

Last updated on the June 23rd 2025

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You're not alone (2/2)