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 Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:20 am
How often had they looked out at this view? Many times. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, more? Probably. R'than sighed and gave his lifemate's neck a pat. A new beginning, a new life, a new Weyr. As yet he didn't know where it was they were actually going, or anything else for that matter. He supposed they'd find out soon though, the message to assemble had just been sent out. For the time being, R'than had put on Garith's normal harness; later today they would return to the weyr and move out all of his belongings but for now it was just time to see where they were off to, and to explore a little. Donning his goggles and fastening his flying jacket, the grey-haired rider stepped up onto his brown and fastened himself in place.
"Time to go old friend."
"Time indeed old friend."
Rising to his feet, Garith padded to the edge of their ledge and paused there a moment before stepping off. They circled down slowly towards the weyrbowl where a deal of milling about seemed to be going on. Probably candidates and crafters who had opted to leave looking for a lift. Garith set down in a convenient space that was still close to most of the people and both he and his rider began to scan for a passenger. They had no doubt that they would be making several trips to help out with the relocation of folk, but for the first one R'than wanted to take somebody he knew at least in passing.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:03 pm
Arolon was sad, excited, terrified, happy! The turmoil of emotions washed over him as the time had finally come. He had grown up at Ista Weyr, had family here and friends. He was leaving home though, to escape overcrowding and in hopes of a brighter future. Turns had passed and he had not impressed here, maybe his lifemate was waiting for him elsewhere. He still didn't know where the new weyr would be. Could be the southern continent or even High Reaches for all he knew. He was dressed in warmer clothes to prepare for the jump between.
He had caught a glimpse of their new weyrwoman Favan and her gold queen Cheoth. Both looked exceptionally pleased before they left, he hoped the rumors about them were false. Candidates needed a ride to their new home which was why he was here standing in the weyrbowl. Riders were giving free rides, another thrill to him. Even being weyrbred didn't stop him from loving the joy of riding a dragon! He had a small sack of clothes over one shoulder that was also carrying a precious fire lizard egg. He had found it at Ista Beach, from a wild gold Flitt's clutch. It was reason for concern for him, would the egg survive a jump between? He was taking all measures he could to keep it warm.
He saw a rider dismount from his brown dragon and suddenly recognized R'than. He remembered speaking to him earlier about the move. He walked over to them quickly. It was his first time being that close to an adult dragon other than a gold.
"R'than, remember me? Nice to meet you again. You must be Garith, hi." He waved at the dragon respectively. "If your both okay with it would you mind giving me a lift to our new home?" He asked hopefully.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:48 pm
"Please pass my greetings onto this one," Garith said to his rider, dipping his head slightly to the candidate in the meantime. "If you are happy to take him, so am I."
R'than nodded to his dragons words before turning back to Arolon with a smile. "Yes, I do remember you. Garith says he is glad to meet you, and we'd be happy to give you a lift." He was sure if he was in Arolon's shoes he'd want to be in the first wave of people heading off. Who would want to wait longer than necessary to find out where they were going? Nobody he knew for sure.
"Step up onto Garith's arm," R'than said, mounting up again as the brown dipped his stance, "I'll help you up behind me and strap you down. Have you ever gone between before by the way?" Speaking of which, did they have the image to make the jump yet?... Garith said no, he hadn't, but he would be receiving it any minute.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:06 pm
Arolon smiled gratefully, excitement washing away any lingering sadness about leaving. He stepped up onto Garith's arm as he had seen others do time and time again as he grew up watching dragonriders and their passengers. He hoped it didn't hurt Garith, this was his first true dragon meeting.
"Honestly no, my folks never had time being riders themselves and being weyrbred I was never officially searched." He admitted. "I've heard you can't breathe and it's really cold. It's quick though, right?" He asked, not so worried about himself as he was about the egg.
Again he couldn't help feeling relieved that riders were coming along, it was a comfort to see a familiar face too. He wasn't alone, and it wasn't just candidates following Favan.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:00 pm
R'than nodded to the question as his fingers automatically went through the motions necessary to secure the pair of them to Garith's harness. "Colder than you can imagine, no air, and almost no other sensation at all. You can hardly even feel the dragon underneath you, but it only lasts a few heartbeats. If we're going a long long way, up to Benden or something, it'll be a little longer but it's never so long that you start feeling desperate for air."
"We are taking off now Mine, I have the image in my mind. Is the boy ready?" Garith asked as he shifted his weight in preparation for take off.
"Probably as ready as he'll ever be," R'than responded with a slight smile. "Hold on," he said aloud, "we're about to take off. Once we've gained a little height, we'll be off to the new Weyr." At long last. In reality it had been very little time at all since the odd messenger arrived, but it had felt like an eternity between. No more crowding. No more burned food. No more Lyveana. No more Ista. Ah well, it wasn't as though he couldn't visit whenever he was off duty. He would see his old home again, but he would no longer have to answer to a leader who, when it came down to it, would never really be able to do her job.
Garith cut into his train of thought with a soft rumble of warning before bunching his muscles and springing into the air. Up, up, up they rose on strong steady wing beats. Then Favan and her escort vanished from view. Bugaling a farewell to all he knew, Garith followed them into the dark.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:42 pm
Strapped in, Arolon was briefly proud. It was like a coming of age, if he was going to be a dragonrider someday he had to experience the cold of 'between.' Again he hoped his fire lizard egg would be okay. If it was a short trip it should be fine and he'd warm it up again right after they landed either way.
"Thank you for the honor."
He held on as instructed, heart hammering in his chest. Garith's muscles tensed as he leaped into the air. The boy took a deep breathe and held it. A loud bugle from Garith startled him, signalling their goodbye to Ista Weyr.
Then....COLD! Cold, dark, silence other than the beating of his own heart, a cold he had never felt in his life before. Used to Ista heat, the cold shocked him in it's intensity. He counted his heart beat while he waited to reappear. R'than was right, he couldn't even feel Garith beneath him.
He kept his eyes open, not wanting to miss a second of this new experience.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:04 pm
Maybe it was a moment longer than the jumps they usually made, but he couldn't be certain; his mixture of excitement and apprehension might just making it seems so. In either even, it wasn't long before they bust out into blazing sunlight, and blazing heat. Below them sand stretched away as far as the eye could see, but what held R'than's eye was the mountain they were closing in on. Igen Weyr. Well, at least they wouldn't have to deal with snow anytime soon.
"I'm glad we're not in one of the northern Weyrs," Garith confided as they began to circle downward, "very glad indeed."
"Me too," R'than agreed, loosening his jacket as he drank in every detail of his new home. "Igen," he said after a few moments, in case Arolon didn't know which was quite possible. "I've never been here before, never seen so much sand either! It's quite barren here, but further south is the Hold with its river and swamps, north is Lemos; all fertile valleys and forests." Neither was a considerable distance to a rider, but then nothing really was. To a candidate, however, the fact that there were greener places not all that far away probably wasn't much comfort. He hoped Arolon liked sand.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:31 pm
Arolon had to blink several times then squint in the bright sunlight to see below them. He let out a relieved sigh as the heat quickly warmed him up again. He was glad it wasn't cold coming out of 'between.' Did that mean they were in the South...? He looked down, surprised by the desert. Were they lost?
"Igen," R'than spoke up.
Igen Weyr? Oh! He'd heard about it briefly but hadn't known it was in the middle of a desert. Only then did he see the mountain ahead. That was their new home. Tall, unyeilding, strong, it stuck out against the sands.
"I've never been here before, never seen so much sand either! It's quite barren here, but further south is the Hold with its river and swamps, north is Lemos; all fertile valleys and forests."
Ah yes, the tithes kept this weyr going even in this barren-looking place. He thought of Ista's Beach, how fire lizards had buried themselves and their clutch in the sand.
"It's perfect..." He said, smiling. "So many people will think this place is empty but I see more in our new home." He meant it too! Oh sure, he would miss swimming but it was still nice and hot here. There were sands to warm his egg with, sand that would remind him of his old home. His future dragon and future fire lizard could sun themselves easily here, if they ever even needed to. The mountain wasn't that much different from the volcano at Ista. Nothing much green and growing here but he would get used to that. This was home, he could learn to love this place. He already liked it!
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:03 pm
R'than grinned at that display of youthful enthusiasm; he was glad Arolon didn't regret his choice. "It looks good," he agreed, "lots of space for sand baths, for those who like that sort of thing." Garith rumbled appreciatively, slowing the speed of this decent as they neared the ground. "I look forward to exploring the Weyr, and the rest of the nearby mountains. Must be some interesting things to find around and about." R'than for one approved of the lack of water; nobody could possibly expect him to go swimming in a desert, just one more reason he was glad he'd decided to come.
A few moments later, Garith touched down a respectful distance from Favan and the senior riders who had turned out to greet her. As R'than released himself and the boy from the flying harness, the brown stretched out his leg for them to hop down by. His was first down, and it seemed to Garith that his rider moved with a little more swiftness and ease than usual. Perhaps this change would do both of them good. It was easy to feel old when the home you had always known was changing, but hard to do so when there were new pastures - or rather dunes - to explore; he felt ten turns younger himself!
Confident that Arolon could scramble down unaided, R'than shrugged out of his riding jacket, pulled his goggles down around his neck, and cast around. It didn't seem that anyone was rushing to direct them anywhere, which was quite pleasing; he wanted to take all of this in in his own time. He wanted to explore by himself too; later on a tour would be useful, but for now he didn't much mind if he got utterly lost so long as he got to see a lot of the Weyr.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:28 pm
Arolon almost didn't want to get off but the new weyr tempted him to explore. He shuffled around a little until he finally got his foot down on Garith's arm and finally landed on the ground.
He copied R'than, shrugging off his warmer clothing and keeping on his light shirt and shorts he had had under the outfit in case of warm climate. He put the warm clothes in the sack and checked his fire lizard egg.
Gingerly he took it out and let it warm in the heat of the sand. The shell was cooler from the jump 'between' but it wasn't too bad. The light grey shell shined in the sunlight. He admired the dark grey and white stripes on it, wondering what color would hatch from it. He didn't really care but it was nice to imagine.
"Alright, I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure your busy. Thanks for everything! We have a new life ahead of us, and new friends." He meant them too, not just the unborn fire lizard.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:49 am
R'than smiled and nodded to Arolon. "It was our pleasure. Have fun exploring Arolon, and don't hesitate to look me up if you need anything; my door is always open... or it will be once I work out where it is in any case," he concluded with a grin. New life, new start, new chances. No sharding green wingleaders. Bliss.
"I shall go an explore and introduce myself to the other dragons," Garith said, dipping his head to give his rider a gentle nudge. "Call for me when you wish to return to Ista to begin gathering our possessions."
R'than smiled and stroked the brown's eyeridges fondly. "I shall, thank you. In the meantime, I think I shall do much the same as you." It would probably be a while before he stopped feeling like an outsider here, but he couldn't start working on integrating himself sooner than now. "See you later Garith." Giving the dragon a smile and a last stroke, R'than turned and set off towards the Weyr. The future beckoned.
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