Feeling sleepy himself, Khunoth decided not to respond to Haayath, opting to just continue to glare at the smaller dragonet. Time would tell, sure enough, who would be the first in the air, the first to flame, and the first to prove oneself against that ancient foe. Khunoth was quite certain that he would surpass the rest of his clutchmates, even the bronzes, once those times came. No need to quarrel with a green now!
Gh'lan had to admit that looking beyond the here and now had held a certain obsessive fascination for him. Knowing that there was something far beyond the familiar aerial vistas of their world was both frightening and exciting to the young man, and while becoming a dragonrider had not been in his original plans, he could see the benefits of flight only adding to his fascination with the skies of Pern. With Khunoth, he could climb to staggering heights and observe things not even the senior Journeyman could! Thinking about it, he spared a quick glance for Khunoth, who had certainly caught the thought. The brown looked at him once in return, and the brownrider felt a wordless pulse of affectionate challenge in the emotional link between them. Of course Khunoth would revel in flight with his rider! Of course they would explore the very top of the blue sky!
Unable to suppress a satisfied grin from the silent exchange, Gh'lan covered it a little with a laugh. "Oh we study all sorts of things! Way more then what they taught in those beginner lessons!" He said, grinning ear to ear. "Everything from predicting weather patterns to mapping all the stars and planets visible in our skies! We take note of it all and try to make sense of the orchestrated chaos that is nature!" He finished with a flourish, brandishing a meatroll like a harper's orchestra stick. Not even the mention of the ancient near myth of Thread could dampen his enthusiasm for science, though he did sober enough to lower his voice. "And Thread too, those of us that actually pay attention to ancient history know it will come again. All of the signs are clear in the heavans... it will fall again." he said with such certainty, there was little room for doubt in the young rider's mind. Not that he hadn't doubted once, like most modern Pernese, he found it hard to believe that a catastrophe of such apparent magnitude of thread could possibly ravage their peaceful world after 200 turns of absence. Further training with the Starsmiths changed his views though, and likely those of some Lord Holders... though he doubted the believers were a high percentage.
