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What is it, Halith? Cetalese asked absently, sensing her dragon's surprise, though she was distracted with mending a broken riding strap.

It is the little black firelizard, Cetalesemine, Halith seemed pleased along with her surprise. Cetalese paused. The only black flit who knew them personally was F'itz's. F'itz was from Benden. He has brought a message from his owner. He wants to meet with you.

Cetalese looked up as if she could see Halith through the hut wall. Of course F'itz wouldn't have sided with the wherhandlers and that meant he had to go somewhere. Trine seemed as likely as any.

Where is he? Here? Cetalese set the straps aside with quick, careful movements and stood.

The infirmary I think. He seems to be waiting.

Cetalese quickly stepped into her boots, tugging them on and tying them hurridly. Daine, sensing the excitement, chirruped at her owner and then popped out to Halith. She flew circles around Cinder, chattering greetings at him.

Cetalese left her hut, glanced at her unequipped dragon, and headed in the direction of the infirmary at a jog. I'll walk. Tell Cinder to say I'm coming.

Daine understood where her owner was going, whistled at Cinder, and then popped between to the infirmary. She whistled a greeting to F'itz and perched on the roof above his head, eyes whirling as she tilted her head at him.

She was still sitting there when Cetalese arrived a few minutes later, breathing slightly heavily but none the worse for wear for her short jog. There was F'itz, as Halith had said he would be, and Cetalese's lips slid into a wide smile. It had been months since she had seen him in person, almost a full Turn truly. But their letters had made him something of a mentor to her, and she couldn't imagine feeling awkward with someone who had taught her so much.

"F'itz, hello. I didn't know you were at Trine." She slowed to a walk and practically beamed as she reached him. The implications of the infirmary hit her suddenly and the smile fell away. "You weren't badly hurt, were you?"

Cetalese's hands clenched against her pants rather than reaching out to make sure he was okay. She mastered herself-- he had said he was all right now-- and took a deep breath. She was pleasantly embarrassed at his concern for her. "I'm glad to hear it was nothing too serious. I'm fine. Scrapes and bruises, mostly, and they've healed." She smiled at him again. "It turns out I'm not much of a hand-to-hand fighter, though."

She glanced at the door of the infirmary, then back to F'itz. "Did you want to walk to stretch out your legs?" Being cooped up in the infirmary had likely been difficult for a life-long rider like F'itz. Riders were used to staying active; bedrest was difficult for many of them. Cetalese thought it would be for her if she had been in his place.

"How is Brumath?" she inquired. "Also recovered, I hope?"

She was glad to hear Brumath was recovering, even though that didn't mean he was fully back on his feet yet.

"Trine is going to need a great deal of rebuilding," she agreed as she turned to lead him away from the infirmary. "I imagine it won't ever look like it once did, but I'd be happy to show you around what's left. Now that Abigail is awake I imagine it won't be long before we're all set to rebuilding tasks."

The huts and homes for riders and weyrfolk would be the most pressing, she was sure. She and D'lin had gone over the plans for the new Gale Stalker's building, of course, but she knew that wouldn't be built for months. Living quarters came first. She led F'itz toward the current center of the weyr, though. The rider weyrs were crowded and not really important enough to warrant a walk-through, so long as he knew where they were in general. She made a mental note to ask around to see if anyone had space, or where there might be a spare temporary bunk.

"Things are pretty much where they were. Watch your step, though. We've been cleaning out the debris, but there are some things we're going to need to have the dragons move." She pointed to a half-collapsed building. A few weyrfolk were currently looping wide around the side that had fallen into the 'street.' "That was, at one point, one of the Wing buildings. Next to it is one of the bath houses. If you prefer semi-private facilities, that's where you would go to clean up. It's still working, thankfully."

Trine had lost a great deal in the fighting, but at least those who lived there still had their weyr. They hadn't been displaced like F'itz or the other 'refugees.' "We've had one Threadfall already. With any luck any more will wait until we've had a chance to get some construction done. Threadfall always leaves us with fewer hands to help with the work." Her face reflected distant sorrow for a moment, but she was determined that she would be ultimately upbeat where F'itz was concerned. He knew all about the revolution and there were enough reminders around them that she didn't need to go adding to it. His first day out of the infirmary should be a positive one.

"We can stop at the mess hall on the way by, if you'd like," Ceta offered, looking up at him. "I'm sure there'll be a table open since it's an off-hour."

Cetalese could only imagine what the healers had been feeding him to help him get up his strength, but she knew, too, the benefits of having a hearty meal as well. Healthy foods built up your body and your immunities; hearty meals built up a positive attitude and that was just as important to healing. "Well, let's see what we can do about that. I'm sure the cooks have some sweetrolls and maybe wherry salad out already. Might be able to snag some sweets from the kitchen if any were made, too. If I say they're for you they're sure to help."

For one thing, F'itz wasn't bad looking in his own right and the cooks-- mostly the middle aged ladies-- would be happy to give a little extra to a strong, good looking rider also in his middle age. That he was a Benden refugee would just be added incentive.

"We're all working around the clock to get things prepared. Threadfall was bad this time, but having more than just Trine's two wings in the sky obviously made what could have been a catastrophe just another Fall." They had lost some, but that happened every Fall. Cetalese knew things would have been much worse if they hadn't had the extra dragons in the air.

Cetalese studied F'itz for a moment, confused by what he meant. The only mission a rider had in the air during Threadfall was to burn Thread from the sky, so his words seemed more cryptic than he likely meant them.

Rather than pry, however, since it seemed to bring up less than pleasant memories, Cetalese let the conversation turn back to the concern of food. A passing rider from her wing greeted her and she returned it with a smile and nod. Hopefully, F'itz would soon come to know more riders so he would have the same comfortable camaraderie with those in the Weyr. Of course, with three Weyrs crammed into one he was bound to pass someone he knew sooner or later. Cetalese just wanted everyone to adjust quickly and easily to the current situation. It would make life so much easier in the face of the upheaval that the revolution and Threadfall had caused.

She smiled at his wickedness comment as they approached the mess hall. F'itz did have a sense of humor, then. She'd spoken to him so much through letters rather than in person that spots of humor were expected to be few and far between. He seemed like a more serious rider overall, though he'd never been anything other than kind to her, even when the Weyrs were at each other's throats. She felt affection for him well up in her throat and swallowed it back. She had been oddly over-emotional lately, and she couldn't figure out why certain things were effecting her so much.

She opened the door and held it for him. "After you."

"Things have changed." Cetalese looked at him, her eyes more serious than most 19-Turn-olds. "There are tensions still, but for the angry riders to keep that level of hostility up all the time would burden all of us. The Revolutionists would take advantage of that sort of thing."

The breeding crisis had been before Cetalese's time, since she had Impressed Halith her first time on the Sands, but she could safely assume that that was the "unwelcome" time to which F'itz was referring. She had heard that Benden had done more than just make itself "unwelcome," but so much had happened since then. It helped that Cetalese had never been involved in it in the first place, but she believed the actions of one foolish rider shouldn't affect the view of an entire Weyr or its riders, even though it had tragically cost the life of a dragon and her rider.

"Hello, Headwoman!" Cetalese called to the back as she stepped up to the few offerings currently out on the serving table. There was always something for riders who kept odd hours, as she had promised, though the selection wasn't much. Still, Ceta imagined it was better that anything F'itz had gotten in the infirmary. She passed a plate over to him as she took her own.

"Hello, dear!" The voice bellowed back, though the woman didn't come to the doorway between the messhall and the kitchen to investigate who had called the greeting.

"We can see if they have anything sweet in the back once we get our plates," Cetalese said in a quieter voice. "The wherry salad is good, and I think those are roast herdbeast sandwiches there."

"Trine is blessed with a good group of weyfolk along with our riders. Our Headwoman sees to things for us." Ceta appreciated hard work and compassion, two things their Headwoman had in spades. Hearing F'itz compliment one of her Weyr's people brought a small smile to her face. His inquiry into her dragon's well-being fixed it there as she put a few things on her plate as well. She knew that if D'lin found out-- probably from Halith-- that Ceta hadn't eaten much for lunch, he would find her later and force her to eat with him. Not that dinner with him was an unpleasant idea, but she would always dislike people thinking she wasn't capable of something.

"I don't think so." She'd be happy to talk about her Bonded anytime, though, which wasn't uncommon with riders. "Halith is well. Nothing keeps her down for long, and a grievance is forgotten almost as soon as it's over. She hardly remembers the fighting now, except as the thing that put the Weyr in such disarray."

Guessing what he was looking for, Ceta nudged him to draw his attention and nodded at a table off to the side that held several pitchers. "Water and juice, most likely." As they moved to the drink table, Ceta glanced about to see who was in the dining hall. There were plenty of empty tables, and she didn't see anyone she would need to say hello to.

"Juice for me, please." She set her food aside to get cups for them and let F'itz pour for them both. "Pick anywhere you'd like. We have our choice of tables."