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 Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:38 am
Azimuth continued to grumble about Zelith's. Mostly about how Xenith was upset, and how it wasn't fair for him to blame T'nus for anything, because T'nus was surely acting appropriately to defend his mate. Even so, when he saw how shakily T'rel got onto Zelith, he looked up with concern, previous personal feelings immediately forgotten.
Zelith, fly carefully. Yours does not look altogether stable. he warned him. T'nus had already climbed on, so Azimuth stood up to his full, impressive height and waited for Zelith to take off. We will fly below. Just in case.
The younger bronze took off, and Azimuth waited a moment before following. He rumbled in laughter at the Zelith's show. The two were equally massive, something Azimuth was rarely in competition for.
Showy, isn't he? T'nus commented.
I do not care for such things, T'nus. said Azimuth, but he still made a powerful sweep of his wings as he swooped down onto the weyrledge.
We look forward to it! We are glad to help. We hope to make it so that no more have to die here. Azimuth replied.
When they landed, T'nus was quick to jump down. He hovered around where T'rel had landed, trying to seem unconcerned. He wasn't so patronizing as to offer to help him down, but he could at least be standing by in case he fell.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:17 pm
I flew carefully. Mine is not well. His mind is jumbled and I do not like it. I have told him what to do. He listens. The bronze settled himself comfortably on the ledge, lowering himself to the ground so his rider could get down more safely. Thank you, Azimuth, for helping me keep Mine safe. The younger bronze was very pleased.
I look forward to flying with you, as well. I have watched you. You fly well. Not as well as Zelith did himself, but the younger bronze for once, did not feel like pointing out the other's failings. Many have died. We will not let more die. The bronze fell silent long enough to allow his rider to climb down using his foreleg. Steady, Mine. You mustn't fall. Despite Zelith's words, T'rel stumbled as he touched the ground.
"See? I'm fine. I got to my weyr safely."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:29 pm
T'nus stepped forward when the weyrleader stumbled, but he managed to catch and steady himself on his own.
"So you did." T'nus agreed and nodded. T'rel was back safe in his weyr and technically T'nus had fulfilled the commitment he made to Lavi. He wanted to make sure she was okay, and they still had to finish moving in and get up in time for their meeting tomorrow. He should just go back to his weyr now.. but something was eating at him.
T'nus started to leave, hesitated, and then turned back, "So, weyrleader.." he said. "About the previous weyrwoman... What happened to her?" he asked gently.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:17 pm
T'rel had started to head back to his weyr when T'nus asked his question. He swallowed, and turned around. "Ky't?" he asked. "She was hurt, when Thread fell. It was during the hatching feast for Rath's first clutch. We weren't prepared. Ky't was outside with Rath when it happened." He took a sharp breath and continued. "The healers wouldn't let me see her. They didn't want to let her threadscorings get infected. I was going mad, I knew it. I made a mistake. A terrible mistake. She went between."
He paused, and studied the older man. "It's my fault," he said. "I drove her between. Some people believe it's my fault because I wasn't there to protect her from Thread. I was taking care of the feast. But I know what really happened. She didn't die from her threadscores. She took Rath between. Because of a mistake I made."
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:43 pm
He folded his arms and listened. Now T'nus understood why there was such difference in Fort and Ista's numbers. In Fort, the thread hadn't fallen directly above the weyr, so no dragons were lost in the first wave. They had time to organize and plan a coordinated attack.
"A mistake? What mistake could you possibly make that would justify a queen -a weywoman- going between?" And especially now, when they were needed the most. T'nus frowned. He had not idea what really happened, but he was still certain that T'rel had got it wrong. "Look- you can't really be blaming yourself for this, can you? First of all, no one could have possible anticipated thread coming. Secondly, I don't care what you did," (and given the circumstances of tonight, he thought he had a pretty good idea) "there is no way it was bad enough for a goldrider would between herself, at a time like this!" he raged.
He was suddenly mad at anyone who would have claimed that the weyrleader was at fault. Even if he didn't like him especially much, he couldn't stand the thought of anyone blaming him for something like that. His protective instincts were often like that; just because he wasn't fond of someone himself didn't mean he wouldn't vehemently defend them if he suddenly had a reason to take their side.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:59 pm
"I wasn't there for her," T'rel said, frowning at T'nus. What right did this man have, shaking the beliefs he'd had for almost a turn. "Maybe she figured she wasn't needed, shards, I don't know! I know it's my fault. I apologized to her. I explained it was a mistake... And she was gone. The healers said she had gone between, and I knew... It was my fault." He paused and sighed. "I didn't even hear the dragons mourning when it happened. I didn't."
In his drunken state, T'rel didn't find the absence of the usual keen when a dragon died unusual. "She was gone. I wanted to go after her. I wanted to... Ista needed me. Zelith told me no."
I need you, Mine. Was the instant reassurance from his bronze, Zelith gently putting his snout to his rider's side. You need me.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:31 pm
Although T'rel seemed strangely mad at the notion of his innocence, T'nus would not back down.
"Are you sure that's what happened?" It sounded like T'rel had a self-persecution complex to him. And living around Lavi, he's seen enough of that to know! "How do you know the healers weren't right? I do not beleive for a moment that a weyrwoman would between with her dragon alive!" T'nus wasn't in Ista when this happened, he had no reason to doubt that T'rel would know the full story of the weyrwoman's death. But even so, he found the circumstances suspicious. And why hadn't he heard about this?
T'nus crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "Of course Zelith told you no. You'd have to be a deadglow to do something as stupid as that. Forget weyrleader, for even a single dragon to.." Just what kind of despair had Ista fallen into that anyone would consider that? The times were bad, for sure, but riders disappearing left and right would hardly solve the problem. T'nus just couldn't understand that way of thinking. Even if.. (and the very thought caused a knot to form in his throat) Even if something happened to Lavi, he would never do that. He knew she wouldn't stand for it.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:57 pm
"Of course I'm sure that's what happened!" T'rel snapped. "I was there! I found her bed empty! The healers didn't know where she had gone! Rath was gone! There hadn't been any sign of her for candlemarks!" He crossed his arms before walking into his weyr. "Come on then, if you want to talk," he said, beckoning the older man inside.
"You've no idea what it's like," he hissed. "No idea what it's like to run a Weyr full of people who trust you and look up to you and wait for you to have some plan to stop Thread from destroying homes, crops and lives. I lost my weyrmate. I lost half my wing. Shards, I'm twenty turns old. By all rights, I shouldn't be Weyrleader. It isn't fair." He buried his face in a hand. "I didn't want this. I thought when Zelith flew Rath, everything would be wonderful. But then Thread started falling... Right over us."
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:20 am
T'nus hesitated a moment, glancing at the exit, but reluctantly followed him inside. But when the weyrleader broke down, T'nus didn't know what to do. "Ah, er.." T'nus floundered, looking around for help. He didn't know how to comfort the young man. But seeing the deep lines of worry on his face, it almost made him want to reach out a hand to him.
Tell him everything will be alright. Azimuth prompted, ever the sensitive sould. Tell him that he is a good leader, that no one expects anything more of him.
Is that true Azimuth? T'nus sighed. It seemed like everyone expected unreasonable things from their leaders.
Who knows? the bronze replied. It is what he needs to hear.
How do always know what to say? T'nus asked. His dragon's ability to feel such empathy for anyone never failed to astound him.
It is what I would tell you, if you were in his position.
"It'll be alright, T'rel. You're a good leader, Ista will be fine." he soothed, as Azimuth instructed. "You're just human, T'rel, like the rest of us. No one expects you to never make mistakes."
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:51 pm
T'rel looked up and stared at T'nus for a long while. There was a silence about them, but it wasn't particularly unfriendly. It was as if the Weyrleader was thinking about what to say next. He was a good leader? If he was a good leader, none of his dragonriderswould have died. They would have been prepared... They would have known Thread was coming.
"Do you think so?" he asked. "That I'm a good leader?" He shook his head., sighing. "If I were, Ista wouldn't be in this situation. We'd still have our Weyrwoman. We wouldn't be down in numbers like this. Our supplies are still doing well only because of the tithe arrangement with Ista Hold. " He paused and shook his head. "I think people do expect me to be perfect. At first there only issue was my age. Certain people didn't think I was old enough to be Weyrleader--they were right. I wasn't."
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:45 am
T'nus shifted awkwardly under the weyrleader's intense gaze, listening. It was a little hard for him to answer. After all, he really didn't know anything about T'rel's leadership abilities, he was just trying to calm the young man down. He folded his arms and paused himself, looking up to the ceiling as he though about what T'rel said.
"You probably were too young." he agreed. "But then again, who isn't? Most people spend their whole life saying they're either too old or too young for something. Point is, nobody (whatever age) could have prepared for that- thread falling out of no where." He frowned, remembering that day. "In Fort.. Well, we were just lucky in that it wasn't right over us. Even so, there were.. so many mistakes."
He shook his head sadly at the memory. Inexperienced riders and wings that had fallen out of discipline both floundered around like fish out of water. No one knew what to expect. Some of them didn't even know to jump between when they were hit. He imagined it was the first time his wing was ever glad he was such a hard-a**.
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