Friendly Greenriders

Writers: Ames, Paula
Date Posted: 29th March 2011

Characters: Cardella, Aileyan
Description: Cardella and Aileyan chat about dragons, mating and babies
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 11 of Turn 6

Cardella

It was amazing how in such a short time it seemed as though life as a
weyrling was changing for Cardella. They had just had _that_ talk, and she
still couldn't quite seem to rid herself of the blush that had colored her
cheeks nearly the whole time. At least now Awenth was eating less often and
Cardella actually found she had more free time in her hands. They'd even
been told that soon they'd be able to go back to pursuing their craft work
in the evening candlemarks as their dragons continued to grow. Cardella
found she couldn't wait. That was why she found herself standing just
outside the kitchens at the moment, breathing in the scent of baking bread.
She missed it far more than she had realized. Hopefully, soon she'd have the
chance to at least do _something_ with all her skill again.

Aileyan came out of the dining cavern and spotted. She hesitated a moment.
Approaching people was never easy for her. But she hadn't forget her talk
with the weyrling girl and wanted to know who she was doing. Besides, she
had seemed to be nice, perhaps they could become friends. She walked closer.
"Hi Cardella," she greeted with a shy smile.

Cardella turned at the sound of her name and her face immediately lit up
into a smile. "Hello Aileyan. It's nice to see you again," she greeted the
more experienced greenrider.

"Nice to see you too. How are you been. Awenth growing all right?" Aileyan
replied. Cardella's friendly tone relaxed her.

"I've been alright," Cardella replied, "And Awenth is definitely growing,
though she's not nearly the size of some of the others. I think she might be
one of the smaller greens when she matures."

"Kjarliheth was like that too. Every time I looked away, she had grown some
more and she is still one of the smallest green," she said with nostalgic
smile.

"Oh," Cardella replied, looking at the other rider with interest. "Does
being smaller than the others effect Kjarliheth in any way? I mean, Awenth
doesn't seem to mind, but I don't want her to be upset if...well, I dunno,
if she realizes she's small."

"No, it doesn't bother Kjarrie at all. Her small size makes her able to dart
around the bigger dragons and leave them to her wake. She's very pround that
she's small and agile and very, very quick."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Maybe Awenth will be the same way, fast and
quick around the bigger dragons." Cardella replied, feeling like she now had
one less thing to worry about.
"It's easier to dodge Thread, when you're small and agile," Aileyan said,

"Now _that's_ great news!" Cardella replied. "I'd love to make sure Awenth
and I never get caught by the Thread." She paused and looked at Aileyan.
"Have you ever been scored fighting Thread?" It was a fear that Cardella
had, and as the time of her training moved onward, it was something that was
becoming more and more real to her. At first, Impressing had been nothing
but sheer excitement and then exhaustion. But now, the thought of _actually_
going up in the sky and fighting that menace scared her half to death.

"No, thank Faranth for that. My only scar comes from a childbirth," Aileyan
said.

She had forgotten that Aileyan had a child. She furrowed her brow a bit in
thought, "Why did you get a scar in childbirth?" She asked, then thought
perhaps it was a bit too personal a question. "Maybe I shouldn't ask
something so personal. I'm sorry."

"It's not a secret. I'm too small to have babies safely. Ravyan didn't fit
out the normal way, so the healers removed him with c-section," Ailayn
replied.

"Oh, I didn't know that," Cardella replied. She wondered what such a thing
would actually be like, but decided not to ask for fear it would make
her_never_ want children of her own. She had enough things to worry about
with her new life as a dragonrider, there was no need to complicate it with
other worries before their time.

"I heard _after_ I got pregnant how to prevent it happening," she had really
been innocent back then.

"You can prevent a c-section?" Cardella asked, genuinely curious for she
thought that was what Aileyan was referring to.

"No, pregnancies," Aileyan corrected and actually blushed a bit.

Cardella blushed a bit as well at the sight of Aileyan's blush. She shifted
a bit uncomfortably, uncertain what to say to the other woman now.

Aileyan hated this awkward moments, she never could figure out anything
smart to say. "So, how far you've progressed in your weyrling training?" she
asked clumsily.

Cardella knew that that was something she could easily talk about. "Overall,
things are going well. I'll be a senior weyrling soon, which is scary and
exciting all at the same time. I'll get my own weyr, and lots of other
things will start happening." Cardella paused as her eyes lit up for a
moment, "And Awenth is doing wonderful. She flew for the first time on her
own just the other day and while it wasn't flawless it was such a treat to
see her in the air. I can't wait until I can join her!"

"That's wonderful. And the first flight together is worth waiting for,"
Aileyan said.

"I'm worried about a different kind of first flight, if you know what I
mean," Cardella's voice had dropped to a whisper. She still found the idea
of what would happen during _that_ Flight very difficult to wrap her mind
around.

"Oh. Well, at least you're better prepared to it than I was. You at least
know what happens between man and woman before hand," Aileyan said. She
fought another blush. Thankfully the brown rider who had won that flight had
been gentle and realized in time that Aileyan was still virgin.

"Oh," Cardella blushed a bit herself, "well, I don't know much myself. I
mean, I've, well," she looked at the other woman as though she should know
her meaning, "you already know about _that_." She of course was referring to
J'nev. "But I don't really have _much_ in the way of experience."

"Even little bit is better than none," Aileyan said.

Cardella shrugged a bit, deciding that she didn't have much more to say on
this at the moment. Her thoughts were an inner battle at the moment, trying
to shed her hold-bred ideals, while also finding herself more and more
curious to explore the parts of herself that she'd only allowed out once
before. Soon, though, she'd be given the go ahead to explore, if only she
could get her mind to accept that and allow her to do it without fear or
shame.

Aileyan fell silent too, staring the tip of her shoes and trying to find
something to talk about that didn't led to blushing.

Last updated on the April 26th 2011

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Friendly Greenriders