A Pleasant Discussion

Writers: Avery, Suzee
Date Posted: 14th December 2014

Characters: K'ale, Z'then
Description: Zethen gets to help wash a brown dragon and has a nice chat with K'ale.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 20 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: G'wen

K'ale

K'ale sat by the winter lake while Imalkyth swam around in the depths
of waters. **Are you almost ready to come out of there? The candidates
are coming.**

He saw a group of them trudging across the cavern and he remembered
exactly how it felt to be in their shoes.

Zethen shuffled out and waited for a rider to choose him to wash their
dragon. He looked around, seeing a few male greenriders, and shuffled
slightly away from them, hoping to be inconspicuous in his positioning. He
didn't think he was going to end up on one, but after the taunts he'd been
getting from bullies and the way Slif had pounded him, he didn't want to
give them any fodder. Maybe a nice
safe brownrider...there were a few of those.

K'ale stood as he felt Imalkyth surfacing. "It's about time," he
called as the big brown emerged. "Hey you," he said pointing at the
nearest candidate. "Help me wash?"

"yessir!" Zethen said, trotting over eagerly. It was a brownrider, someone
there'd be no shame in associating with. "How are you today, sir?"

"I'm fine and call me K'ale," he grinned and pointed at the bucket of
sweetsand. "Start at the front," he instructed and began there
himself. "I'm just a wingrider, so no need to call me sir. You new
here?"

"A few Turns, actually." Zethen winced as he reached into the bucket for
some sweetsand. "I keep trying my luck but nothing's happened yet. Maybe
with a new queen's eggs, I have a better chance."

It was his turned to wince, "Sorry," he said and now that he thought
about it, he remembered the face but didn't really remember talking to
him before. "So what's your name?"

"Zethen. My brother's louder and more noticeable," he said with a grin.

"That must be it," K'ale grinned. "Well Zethen, I don't know what to
tell you except to keep trying."

"I've got a good feeling about this clutch," he said. The sweetsand stung
in the cuts on his hands, and he grimaced.

"Did you ever get in fights when you were younger?"

"Some," he said carefully. You can't have riders for parents and
expect to get away with it much," he chuckled.

"I got in a fight earlier this month. They were bullying another candidate
and I stepped in. Now I feel dumb."

K'ale shook his head knowing that he'd done the same thing himself and
now the target of that particular incident was one of his best
friends, G'wen. "Been there, done that," he said with a smile. "Don't
feel dumb."

"I thought fighting was discouraged though. But it felt like the right
thing to do. Sometmes it's hard to figure that out."

"Oh it's discouraged alright, and for good reason," K'ale nodded. "As
a rider, you can't get into fights. You'll put your dragon in jeopardy
and that is something you'll never want to do." He didn't quite know
how to explain it better than that. "So, learning to control yourself
is very important."

He nodded seriously. "I'll try to do better next time. I just got so
_mad_ when I saw him picking on the kid, you know?"

"I do know _exactly_ how you felt." K'ale nodded. "I felt the same
way. But just remember once you Impress, your dragon will always be
far more important than beating down some bully. the Weyr has ways to
handle it without doing that."

"I understand. Thank you for the lesson." Zethen continued to work on the
brown dragon's hide, paying careful attention to the spots where he'd been
told were most important for a dragon.

"So you're weyrbred?"

"Yes," K'ale chuckled. "Da is a brownrider and my ma is a greenrider.
They've never been weyrmated for long but have always been great
friends." He supposed that was better than most could say being born
and raised in a Weyr where some didn't even know their parents other
than as casual acquaintances.

"That's interesting. I must admit, how Weyrfolk handle kinship is often
confusing to me. But with two riders, were they sure you'd Impress?"

K'ale smiled at that, "Yes I'm sure they did, but you know the funny
thing? I didn't want to stand. Not for turns. It was only when I was
about to age out that I even tried." The big brown neck curved and
Imalkyth's head butted up against the rider. "Then this guy found me."

"Can I ask why you didn't?"

"Oh sure," K'ale nodded. "I really enjoyed my craft and wanted to
concentrate on it. I knew how much time it would take and I was still
young. I think it was when I hit nineteen that I realized I could age
out without even knowing so..."

"Oh, what was your Craft?" When Zethen was younger he'd dreamed of one,
but his family hadn't ever had the means to send them. Now that he was at
the Weyr, he'd done some basic following around of some of the crafters.

"Is," K'ale smiled as they finished up the washing. "I'm a smith,
actually work in glass."

"Glass sounds fascinating. Can I come see something you've made
sometime?" he asked hopefully.

K'ale continued to smile. "I love it, even have been working toward my
Journeyman's knots." He nodded at the question. "Sure, "I have a few
pieces in my weyr. How about you, do you craft?"

"No, not formally. I want to be a dragonhealer, but without a dragon I
can't go far. I didn't want to commit to it and then never go past
apprentice. But, the previous headwoman used to always make sure I was
assigned to chores at the dragon infirmary so I have a fair amount of
knowledge." He trailed off a little hesitantly.

"Oh, that's a fine ambition," the brownrider smiled. "I'm sure you'll
Impress." He began putting his tools back in the bucket. "I think
we're done here," he smiled.

"Thank you for letting me help out," Zethen said with an answering
smile. "And for your confidence."

Last updated on the December 23rd 2014

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