Ready
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Jane
Date Posted: 30th December 2006
Characters: R'haran
Description: R'haran and Evielenth decide they are ready for the new Turn.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 1 of Turn 4
**Another Turn.**
A volley of cracks and rustles followed the man's observation and the wind generated by Evielenth's flapping wings buffeted him. Green wings marred with scars folded back against her body, then one was extended again and a blunt muzzle nosed at the leading edge.
}:Did you say that before?:{ she asked, having finished investigating the patch of newly oiled hide.
**Yesterday, probably.** It was a sad thing when his dragon could remember more than he could. R'haran smiled at the thought and fastened the lid of the oil pot. It wasn't too surprising though that the new Turn was on his mind. Getting through Turn Over and into the new Turn had once been easy but nowadays it was a time for introspection and evaluation. For a while he had tried to get through without getting caught up in the past but now he didn't bother. During the two days between the end of one Turn and the beginning of the next he wallowed a bit. Felt a little sorry for himself and Evie – }:Sorry for me?:{ Evielenth flapped her wings again to underscore that everything worked.
"Ahh," he said aloud, his love for his lifemate in his warm tone and gentle expression. She couldn't remember the scoring he had caused when he had directed her to jump forward in time. They had come out in a Threadfall he had no knowledge of how to face, but it had proved the point; Thread was coming back to Pern. It was knowledge gained at a terrible cost to Evie, and he regretted that in the wallowy self-pitying days of Turn Over.
But then this day arrived. The first day of the new Turn and a rebirth of sorts. He liked to come out early and wash and oil Evie, and she invariably managed to remind him that she thought she was fine. Perhaps she could see that other dragons had more perfect hides, and perhaps she knew that they could fly so much better than she could, but still she seemed to feel no frustration, nor any real understanding that her abilities were less that those of others of her kind. It was always a balm for his regrets.
And when they had finished they would leave the plateau and drop down to the ground level of the Weyr to start their day with the weyrlings. Two things made that a reminder of all they had: Evie's ability to carry him in limited flight, something nobody had initially expected after her injury; and working with the weyrlings which was life-affirming in itself.
}:I am ready,:{ Evielenth announced, with a brassy bugle that punctuated her announcement and rang out over the plains below them and off toward the great inland sea. She lowered her muzzle then and nuzzled the front of his tunic. }:Are you?:{ She might not have a memory to speak of, and might be unable to make connections between causes and effects, but nobody could ever say she didn't empathise with his emotions.
Empathy, bone deep and abiding, and a placidness of nature that evened out his own highs and lows. Evie shaped him every day into the man others knew.
A man who was ready for the new Turn.
The first day of the first month of the fourth Turn of the tenth Pass of the Red Star.
"Yes," he said in the firm, carrying voice of a harper, imagining his words going out over the plains as Evie's bugle had. "I'm ready."
Last updated on the December 31st 2006