To Riding Green

Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 3rd February 2014

Characters: Talwynn, Harki
Description: Tal tracks Harki down to catch up
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 5, day 18 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentor Approved
Mentioned: Onnyth, Rhosyn (not by name), Tsaera

Talwynn waited until a half-candlemark after Azure's drills were over
before bothering her lifemate. **Riveth, can you ask Cerillith where
her rider is?**

The large green complied. }:Cerillith, mine wishes to know where yours is.:{

}:We are in the underground lake,:{ came the immediate reply. }:But I
do not think we will be here long. Harki wishes to go back to our
weyr, and says that she will meet yours there.:{

}:That is fine,:{ Riveth said to the other green.

**Well?** Talwynn asked.

}:They will be at her weyr,:{ her dragon replied.

Harki's weyr wasn't an unmanageable trek, so Talwynn shuffled in that
direction and loitered outside the door. "How was your swim?" she
asked when she saw her fellow greenrider.

"Ugh." Harki rolled her eyes as she brushed past Talwynn. "There were
too many dragons in the water for swimming, you know? Everywhere you
look it's claws and flopping wings and tails waiting to trip you-- and
would Cerillith go to the other end of the lake? No! Stupid dragon
insisted on being in the thick of things. Washing her took twice as
long as it usually does because she had to pose pretty every time she
moved. I love her, but-- ugh!"

"Does she do it all the time or just when she's proddy? Riveth has
done that when she's about to go up, and it drives me insane."
Especially when it already took her so long to wash her green.

"Nope, she's not due for a flight for a while. She's just being...
green!" Harki smiled as she held the door to her weyr open for Talwynn
with one hand and balancing her riding straps in the other. "What
brings you over to my corner of the Weyr?"

Talwynn ducked in the door, nodding thanks. "Wanted to catch up and
ask some nosy questions about your experiences while gone."

"Fair. I am pretty interesting. Make yourself at home!" Harki gestured
negligently to her weyr, which was a mess. Two half-unpacked bags were
shoved into a corner, clothes were draped over her wardrobe, and the
table was cluttered with leather working supplies for fixing straps.
"Sit anywhere... I think I have a bottle of wine left somewhere, if
you're interested?"

"That would be great," Talwynn said, taking a seat next to the table.
She fidgeted with the hem of her tunic before blurting out, "Did you
come back because you were homesick?"

Harki paused, then carefully hung her straps on their hook by the
entrance to Cerillith's ledge. "No. I mean yes, I missed it here... a
lot." She bit her lip, thinking. It had been anyone but Tal, she would
have laughed it off. But Tal had never been much interested in playing
around with words. You couldn't talk her to her like things didn't
matter-- she was too smart for it. "It's home here,," she finally
said. "Azure is home. I didn't think I knew that until I left, but...
the Wing is my family. And after B'lac and I fell out it got really
rotten over there for me." She shrugged. "Why? Are you leaving?"

"Sorry you two fell out, but it's nice to have you back," Talwynn said.

Harki's reason for coming back resonated. "I visited Dolphin Cove to
catch up with a friend and I was reminded of growing up there. The
weather is certainly nicer," she said with a laugh.

"Really? You think so?" Harki shook her head as she unearthed the
promised bottle of wine from beneath a sweater. "I think I'd melt if I
had to live there forever. Visiting's nice, but shells...!"

"You should have seen me adjusting to here in the winter. I wore
multiple tunics for a while. I must have looked ridiculous," she
admitted. "It's nice for the dragons, though."

Harki pulled a pair of glasses from her sideboard and ambled over to
join Talwynn at the table. "I did think you looked pretty lumpy for a
dragonrider the first time we met."

"And now I'm stick and bones," she joked. More seriously, she added,
"I don't want to give up, and part of me feels like going back would
be giving up."

"Don't go." The greenrider pressed a glass of red wine into Tal's
hand. "I came back just for you!"

Talwynn nodded her thanks and took a sip before replying. "Because
fellow greenriders are better than men any day?"

"Obviously. Except you're not nearly as beddable!" Harki's smile faded
as she looked down at her glass. "Because it _is_ giving up. I crawled
back here with my tail between my legs like a whipped canine, and the
endless questions... people don't want to know why I came back, not
really. They don't care about that. They just want to hear that I
failed so they can feel smug and good about themselves. Don't do that
to yourself if you don't have to."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of happening," Talwynn admitted as she
listened to Harki's explanation of how they felt. "Also, do you want
me to 'accidentally' thwap someone with a cane as I'm making my way
through the Dining Cavern?"

Harki smiled and shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but the only
one who deserves a thwapping is this greenrider right here-- and I'll
pass."

"You're too nice to thwack." Tal took another drink. "Are you excited
about Onnyth's clutch?"

Nice... her?! Maybe that was why Harki liked Talwynn-- the greenrider
actually thought she was _nice_. Harki shrugged. "Yeah. It'll be good
for the Weyr to have another goldrider hanging around. Well, good for
the Weyr, but bad for us greenriders! All the dragonriding men get
stars in their eyes whenever a goldrider Impresses."

Talwynn snorted. "It's ridiculous," she agreed. "But a good
opportunity for people-watching. The bronzeriders are going to start
preening like idiots, and we can judge them from the corner."

"Heh. Yeah." Harki sipped at her wine as she thought. "But it _is_
good for the Weyr. Did you hear what happened over at River Bluff? The
Weyrwoman got herself knocked up and they had to bring in the old
Weyrwoman who retired to lead the fighting Wing. Poor planning, if you
ask me."

"I guess they couldn't have had a greenrider leading the Wing, with
both golds grounded. Think it'll be permanent?" Talwynn made a face.
"I'm beginning to think goldriders are crazy, with only a few
exceptions. Been a lot of flakes this Pass."

"It can't be permanent-- Tsaera's got to be too decrepit to fly at
this point," Harki said. "I wonder if every Pass was like this. This
much change in leadership, I mean."

"I imagine it must have been. Weyrleaders change all the time, and
between Threadfall accidents and sicknesses, even gold riders are
immune. I'm so glad Riveth wasn't the gold from that clutch. Riding a
green is much smarter."

Sort of. Harki knew her place in the Weyr-- greens were common as
dirt, and just as expendable. Just look at Tal-- Threadscored and
retired with nary a fuss. In the end they weren't worth the bother.
"Yeah." She looked down at her glass. "I hate hidework."

"I don't mind some of it, but shells! I couldn't do it every day."

Harki shuddered. "Let's not think on it. Here's to riding green," she
said, raising her glass.

"Indeed," Talwynn said, raising hers and draining it.

Last updated on the March 15th 2014

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

To Riding Green