It's Really You!

Writers: Estelle, Steel
Date Posted: 6th September 2026

Characters: Gilbek, Kuhaji
Description: Kuhaji and Gilbek reunite
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 27 of Turn 13

Gil returned to his duties still dazed by the unexpected appearance of Kuhaji at the Weyr. In the early months after his escape he’d been too ill and memories of White Hollow too painful, but lately he’d begun to wonder about some of the people he’d known back there. The Headwoman, the Holder’s wife and some of the maids - and Kuhaji. He knew the hold had changed hands, and he’d hoped they were all still safe and under the protection of the new holder, but he hadn’t yet felt ready to ask Tr’vel or another rider to take him there or carry a message.

Now, though, he could find out. More than that, he could imagine how the young man must be feeling after the sudden change from an isolated hold to the Weyr, and hoped he might appreciate a friendly face. When his day’s work was done, after cleaning up he headed over to the candidates’ barracks to look for him.

Kuhaji was just emerging from the Barracks, in fact, now wearing the knots of a Dolphin Cove Candidate, and still looking a little shell-shocked and wary. He saw Gilbek, however, and brightened just slightly at the sight. “... Sir.” he greeted, careful. He couldn’t presume that he was who Gilbek was looking for.

"Kuhaji!" Gil showed no such caution, his smile wide with an unaffected delight he'd never shown at White Hollow. "I'm so glad to see you again. And you don't need to call me that, not any more. You're a Candidate!" He shook his head in wonder. "I thought I'd come by to see how you'd settled in, maybe show you around a little if you'd like. I imagine you have a lot of questions..."

Kuhaji faltered, but only for a moment longer before he nodded. “I'd like that, sir-- I mean, Gilbek.” he offered up. “The Weyr is… it's _enormous_.”

"Took me a while to get used to it," Gil admitted. The magnificence of the sheer, soaring cliffs, studded with dragon weyrs, could still catch him by surprise and make him wonder that this was his home now. "I had...someone to accompany me, when I was first here, so I didn't get lost so much, but they say out here in the Bowl is a good place to start to navigate." He walked a little way from the barracks, then turned, facing the cliffs. "The two big cave entrances? Hatching Sands in the center - you'll want to remember that - and Lower Caverns to your right."

“There’s a _lot_ of people.” Kuhaji agreed, and unconsciously stuck a little closer to Gil’s heels than he’d really meant to. “... And dragons.” His gaze swept the Bowl again, studied the two cave entrances. Hatching Sands in the center, Lower Caverns to the right. He’d have to learn it quickly.

“I’ll try not to get lost.” He added, after a beat. “I got used to Hold life. I can adapt to here, too.”

"It is very different," Gil admitted. "One thing I'll warn you about right away; weyrfolk think nothing of walking around wearing very little, so don't stare if you see anyone like that. It's not just the heat. They don't get embarrassed about people seeing them that way. And the bathing rooms are communal, shared between men and women. _That_ took some getting used to."

Kuhaji swallowed, and nodded. “One of the Candidates I met earlier was saying something like that.” The tips of his ears turned red. “I'll just have to keep my eyes closed in the bath. I… can do that.”

"It's better if you don't," Gil advised, though he remembered with sympathy his own discomfort in those first days, his embarrassment about his thin, scarred body. "Easier to get accustomed. Try to focus on what you're there to do, get clean. Though I have to admit I spent a lot of time staring at my feet at first. Shall we go and see the Lower Caverns?" he suggested, hastily changing the subject. "And you can tell me about your Search! What happened?"

Kuhaji nodded. “I want to see as much as I’m allowed.” he repeated. “As for the Search… when the rider came, some people were nervous.” He added. “I only really stepped into that line to show them that the dragon probably wouldn’t do anything. But when the rider said it liked me… what else could I do?”

"They are difficult to resist," Gil agreed. He considered Kuhaji's words as they walked towards the Lower Caverns entrance. "I can imagine people were apprehensive. Those lurid tales about the dragonkind...well, you know I always said they were exaggerated." He'd done so quietly, as much to reassure the younger folk as out of any sympathy to dragonriders; to speak out would have been to contradict the Holder. "It's more than that, though. All the dragons I've met are gentle, and wouldn't hurt anyone unless their rider was in danger. And though there is - the shared bathing, and a lot of teasing and flirting, no one will make you do anything you don't want to."

“They said that. The rider. I mean.” Kuhaji offered up. “That the dragons were friendly. I… about the rest of it, I can handle myself.” He added, shoulders squared. “Defended myself before, and I can do it again.” He wasn’t afraid of a fight.

"You won't need to," Gil said hastily. "Not here. Weyrfolk aren't like that." A memory flickered - that guard who'd hurt the young drudge, back at White Hollow, the one he'd challenged. The dusty circle in the old quarry, the man's clumsy attack, the cold, clear, channelled anger and the blood... He closed his eyes and pushed it away. That was the past, it was gone. But he couldn't risk Kuhaji losing his chance to Stand. "If anything does happen, you should go to the Headwoman or the Weyrlingmaster. Don't take it on yourself. Chances are it'll be a misunderstanding."

“I don't lose fights.” Kuhaji responded. “Remember that one time? That idiot was probably three Turns older than me.” And yet Kuhaji had soundly thrashed him. And then his friend, too.

After a moment, however, he relented. “I… won't start trouble. Promise.”

Gil gave him a long, measuring look. "I'm not going to tell you never to fight, Kuhaji. Weyrfolk are more easy-going than you'll be used to but there are idiots here, like anywhere else. You shouldn't let yourself be pushed around. Just...remember what I told you. A fight is a last resort, same as it ever was. Don't lose your head and your chance for a dragon with it." He grinned. "Unless you're on the training grounds, of course. My weyrmate and I are often there, if you get any free time as a candidate for sparring practice."

“... Weyrmate?” Kuhaji echoed the unfamiliar term. “And I'm not going to take a Craft like they were talking about, so I'll have time to keep training.” He added. “I don't want to shame myself. Or you. I'll behave as long as everyone else does.”

"Good. I want to be cheering for you when those eggs start Hatching, so stay out of trouble." Gil knew Kuhaji wasn't the sort to start anything, at least, but he hoped no one would say anything stupid in the candidate barracks.

He quietened for a moment, considering. He wasn't certain how Kuhaji was going to take what he was going to say next - it would have been unthinkable at White Hollow - but he wouldn't have hidden it even if he could. "My weyrmate is a dragonrider, a bluerider called Tr'vel. They don't marry like holders do, but it means that we live together, as a couple."

Kuhaji nodded, absorbing the caution. The next words, however, made him come briefly to a stop, and pale blue eyes cut almost sharply toward Gilbek. He opened his mouth. Hesitated.

He _knew_ Gil. He _trusted_ Gil, even if he wasn’t sure anyone _else_ here was worth trusting yet.

A slow breath, in and then out. “... He treat you decent?” He asked, finally.

Gil's face was transformed by the most natural, easy and unselfconscious smile, like nothing he'd ever revealed at White Hollow, not even in private. "He does. He's the most wonderful man. Kind, gentle and loving, generous, funny... I'd like you to meet him, if you'd be comfortable with that. We train together, so if you come along I could introduce you."

Kuhaji hesitated, but only once, before he nodded, expression shifted into something once more reserved and wary. “I'll meet him, if you're certain.” He responded. “Tr'vel, I mean.”

A pause, and then he added, “The Weyr just… lets couples be together? _Whoever_?”

"Well, there are some limits. Close family, and I gather wingleaders are meant to avoid their wingriders. But as long as both sides are happy about the situation, then pretty much. It never crossed my mind that I'd be with a man, much less a dragonrider, till I got here, but...I fell in love." He clearly couldn't stop smiling about that. "Perhaps you'll meet someone here, eh?"

Kuhaji could not look more scandalized if he'd tried, both brows narrowing in a baffled sort of scowl. “But… _why_? If I don't Impress, I'm just going back, I think. Besides,” He muttered, “I'm just… me. Some ex-Holdless scrapper.”

"An ex-holdless scrapper who a dragon thought was worthy of a hatchling," Gil said, the warmth still evident in his voice. "That means a lot. Even if you don't Impress, they won't just throw you out. You could stay, if you want to and you're willing to work hard. Maybe learn a new skill, if not a Craft. Though I do hear that Calaroth has an excellent record with his Candidates," he added, optimism lifting his tone. "I wouldn't bet against you."

“... You think a dragon would _actually_ want me?” Kuhaji said, finally, expression sobering as he absorbed Gil’s words. “I just… I came here to prove to White Hollow that it was _fine_, like you always used to say. And even if it wasn’t, who’d have missed _one_ guard?” That… had gone darker than he’d intended, and Kuhaji shrugged dismissively, gaze dropped away.

“.... Anyway. I can take up duties, if that’s what they want, but I’m too old for a formal Craft or anything.”

“You, too old?” Gil’s brow lifted in mock-surprise and amusement. “Don't let your age hold you back, Kuhaji. A lot of dragonriders practice a craft alongside their duties, which is slower, so it's common for apprentices to be older than they'd be in a Hall. Others take up crafting if they can't fly in a fighting Wing any longer, and they become very skilled,“ he explained, thinking of Talryne's tapestry of Eboroth. “Some of the girls who come here as candidates do, too, where they couldn't have at home. Or if they don't craft, they learn new skills, even training as guards. It's surprising to see…but best not to question, unless very, very politely.”

“... Seelana could read and write.” Kuhaji huffed, but it was amused. “Who do you think taught me? If they want to learn, it's not my business to stop'em.”

A pause, and then he shrugged. “I'll… think about a Craft. But doing odd jobs is fine, hopefully.”

“The Headwoman will find you something to do. She's a good person, used to be a holder, too, so she understands what it's like to be new in the Weyr.” They'd reached the entrance to the lower caverns now, and Gil decided to leave the full story of how he'd warned Alyena about the danger she was in and all that had followed to another time, preferably over a drink. “For now, I'll show you around. We'll skip the bathing rooms to start with,” he said with a grin, “but we can see the dining cavern and the kitchens, and the laundry and crafters’ workshops.”

“I'd like that.” Kuhaji told him, and offered Gil one of his own rare smiles. “I… it's good to see you again, Gilbek sir.”

“Likewise, Candidate,” Gil said, eyes bright with amusement. “But keep the ‘sir’ for the Weyrlingmaster, or people will think I'm giving myself airs…”

Last updated on the September 13th 2026

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It's Really You!