A Girl And A Bronzerider (Part I)

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 31st October 2008

Characters: Briata, T'vanen
Description: T'vanen takes Briata to the hatching with some rather unexpected results.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 5 of Turn 4

Briata

Despite his worry about when the Hatching would be it was daylight and a
reasonable time of day when T'vanen and Qwarith landed as close as
possible to the small Hold. There was no time to waste if they wanted
good seats, for on Hatching Day the somewhat meagre rank of being
another Weyr's bronzerider counted for little when it came to getting a
good view of the event. Briata had promised she wouldn't take long but
T'vanen wasn't dawdling as he strode across the flagstones toward the
main doors of the Hold.

The call that the bronzerider had arrived had reached Briata's ears
almost as soon as he had appeared over the hold. They knew what his
appearance meant - the hatching! By the time he finally made it through
the doors, she was hurrying into her gather dress with the help of her
step mother and other girls. While they tied her ties, she reached up
and quickly tamed her hair into a decent braid. Hopefully she would
have time to do a little better job after the hatching, but until then,
it would do. She was ready by the time it would have taken him to reach
her quarters and she greeted him, eyes shining, smile rippling with
excitement.

"You're ready?" he asked, surprised and pleased. "Really?"

"I said I would be, didn't I?" Briata laughed and swept past him,
skirts teasing his boots. "Come on! We don't want to miss all the
excitement, do we?" She didn't pause, but kept on walking though she
did glance back to flash him a bright grin.

He hurried after her, with a grin on his face that he didn't need a
mirror to tell him was a foolish one. She was a wonderful girl, this
Holder's daughter. "I brought a cloak, in case you didn't have anything
suitable as a riding jacket," he said when he caught up.

"Oh." That made Briata pause and her eyes widen a bit at her
carelessness. "I had completely forgotten about that! I'm glad you
didn't."

"Why would you remember unless you spend a lot of time going about on
dragons. Have you?"

"No, I haven't." Briata began walking again and picked up the pace.
"Well, don't dawdle! We've got a hatching to attend!"

"Have you ever ridden on a dragon?" he asked, elnghtening his stride to
keep up with her as they left the building and headed out to where
Qwarith waited.

"No, I haven't." Briata admitted as they hurried toward the bronze.
"Though I've talked..." She hesitated but a moment before continuing,
"Talked others who have." She stopped as they approached the beast and
smiled to him.

"This is Qwarith. Qwarith, Briata. He says we have to hurry. Can you
climb up there? Put your foot on his and then -"

**Hello Qwarith.** Briata stated as she allowed T'vanen to guide her up
onto the bronze's back. The girl took a moment to lean over and gave
him a gentle pat.

"I think we're ready. Though - is there any chance you could be
pregnant?" He went on in explanation of the question since it might be
considered rather too personal to a hold-bred girl: "Because going
/between/ can cause miscarriages, so it's important to know."

Briata's eyes widened and a sudden flush crept over her cheeks. "Of
course not!" While not normally shy, the girl couldn't help but draw
her gaze away from the bronzerider.

"That's all right then," T'vanen said easily. "Hold on and we'll get
going. As soon as we're high enough I'll give a shout and we'll go
/between/. Once we're at Dragonsfall, though, it'll be fairly hectic.
A lot of dragons, a lot of manoeuvring for space. We'll be fine,
though. Qwarith's an expert at that sort of thing. Ready?"

"Yes, ready." Briata relaxed as best she could. How exciting! Even if
she weren't going to a hatching, simply finally getting to ride a dragon
was an adventure in itself. The beast beneath her was warm and she took
comfort in his size and strength. "Let's go!"

Qwarith took that as a command and T'vanen only had a moment to brace
himself before the bronze's bunched muscles launched them into the air.
He laughed at his dragon's eagerness and told him to climb to a decent
altitude for going /between/. Slightly surprisingly the bronze made a
point of turning over the Hold, presumably so that their passenger could
see her home from the air. Qwarith must like Briata, the bronzerider
thought, and it was always a good thing when dragon and rider were in
accord on such things.

"Going /between/ now!" he shouted into the wind of their forward movement.

And then they were.

Briata had expected cold. After all, the cold of /between/ was talked
and even sung about. Despite that, its bite was a lot worse than she
had anticipated. The darkness was frightening and the hold she had upon
the rider in front of her tightened though her body couldn't quite
register that his was there. Three coughs...three coughs...three
coughs...then they were out! The girl shivered despite herself and
opened her eyes to blink in the light and wind that was such a stark
contrast to /between/.

"Dragonsfall!" T'vanen asked Qwarith to find somewhere close for them
to land and the bronze rumbled a complaint about the crowds of dragons
flying to and fro on the flat land in front of the Hatching Grounds.

}:I shall land when it's my turn,:{ he assured his rider. }:And I have
told them that Briata is very important.:{

**_Briata_?** the dragonrider echoed mentally in surprise. Bronzes
might be better with names than some dragons but Qwarith had never shown
much skill (or interest) in remembering them.

}:Yes. I have told them.:{

If she was afraid of the heights, Briata did well to hide it. She
laughed, partially at what Qwarith said, partially at the exhilaration
of the flight. **I am not important. I'm just a visitor.** The wind
whipped at her face and almost as soon as her mental words faded, other
words filled them. Then more. Then more. Voices, a cacophony of them,
rising and swelling like the sea in a storm were milling about in her
head. Of course, she had expected there to be more, but...

But what? What else would it be like? The girl's hold tightened as the
voices continued to rise. As more dragons came from /between/ their
voices were added the din that raged in her mind. She had expected more
voices, yes, but that? It was intense. It was...almost overwhelming!

}:Briata is not ...:{ There was an interruption as they thumped rather
heavily to the ground, indicating that Qwarith's attention was elsewhere.

**Anybody would be shaken up by that landing,** T'vanen grumbled at his
bronze as he released the straps that held him in place and reached
around to help Briata off the dragon's neck. "We have to keep moving.
This space will be needed by plenty more dragons yet."

"Y...yes." Briata allowed T'vanen to lead her off, her head reeling
with the voices, an incessant chattering of high and low, flowing,
rustling, whispering, until all together they were almost shouting. She
felt dizzy, stumbling forward and latching on tightly to the
bronzerider. How did the dragons do this? Were they constantly hearing
all the voices at once like she was? How did they keep from going mad?

"Is something wrong?" T'vanen asked as they walked, concerned at her
uneven steps and her tight grip on him that was definitely out of
character. "Did the flight make you feel sick?"

"No." It wasn't the flight, it was the constant drum of voices. They
never ended, but swelled more and more as more dragons arrived from
*between*, some carrying other passengers. She managed a small,
tentative smile. "Then...maybe. I guess it is rather overwhelming."

"If you'd like to go somewhere else -" He looked at the cavernous mouth
of the Hatching Ground and wondered if taking her in there would be such
a good idea. "We can sit in the dining cavern, or something."

Briata shook her head. "No, we came here for a hatching. We will
attend a hatching." And hopefully she wouldn't go crazy before it was over.

"All right." He took a firmer hold of her and led her into the cavern,
explaining to her what would happen. "We might have to wait a while ...
It's all rush-rush to get everybody here in time and then - Well,
nobody can tell the eggs to start just as the last backside settles onto
stone."

Briata nodded slowly, letting him lead and taking strength from his
support. The voices! They were going to drive her insane! She wasn't
very responsive at all to T'vanen, her mind preoccupied with doing its
best not to explode. She sat down, much like someone in a haze when he
brought her to their seats and stared down at the eggs without words or
emotion.

Last updated on the November 1st 2008

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A Girl And A Bronzerider (Part I)