Unexpected Nerves

Writers: Anika, Avery
Date Posted: 24th May 2015

Characters: Z'then, Ilyssia
Description: Z'then confides in Ilyssia
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 16 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Gelira, W'ser, E'naer

Ilyssia

Gwynnyth's freshly oiled hide glistened in the morning sun, and Ilyssia sat
down beside Z'then for a moment instead of rushing off for her own bath and
breakfast. There was more time this morning as they did not feed the
growing young dragons prior to bathing them as they had for the previous
sevendays. Today the young dragons would hunt from wild herds.

"So how is your weyr?" Ilyssia asked conversationally.

"It's alright," Z'then said. "It's kind of odd to be on my own," he added.

"It is different," Ilyssia agreed, "Being from the caravan I've never had
my own space, but I'm so happy to be out of the barracks. I think it's nice
to be able to get a little alone time."

"So it's the good kind of odd for you?" the brown weyrling inquired.
Honestly, he was missing his brother quite a lot.

"Definitely! I love it! I never dreamed of actually having my own place.
You'll have to come visit once I'm finished decorating."

He blinked at her. He'd just set out his trunk's worth of stuff, hung
clothes in the wardrobe. "I haven't even thought about decorating yet," he
admitted. "What are you doing?"

With a giggle, Ilyssia shrugged. "Probably not much really, but I'd like
to see if there's a worn tapestry in stores I could repair. Some some rugs
for the floor would be nice and just maybe a vase. I thought I might make
some pillows for the chairs. I was lucky, the previous resident left the
weyr mostly furnished."

"Wow, you have some great ideas. Rugs, a vase...I didn't think abut any of
those."

She laughed at that. "Well guys and girls might have different ideas when
it comes to living space. I'll keep an eye out for anything with a
masculine feel when I get a chance to raid the store rooms and let you
know." Pausing to watch the dragons, Ilyssia was struck once more how much
they had grown. Of course they were nearly halfway through weyrling
training, which seemed incredible. "Can you believe how close we are to
graduating to senior weyrlings?" Ilyssia asked, abruptly changing the topic
to match her wandering thoughts.

"Thanks,' he said.

Her next question took him by surprise. "No, I can't," he said. "I'm
afraid of the /betweening/," he admitted.

Ilyssia's brow furrowed, "Yeah, that's pretty scary to consider. I'm sure
they are going to drill us and drill us before we jump, though. We'll be
ready, and just think, once we learn to jump /between/ we can go absolutely
anywhere on Pern."

"Where would you go first?" he asked.

"To visit my foster mother, Dyosha, which could be a bit tricky because I
have to find the caravan. I could check places along the route until I
found them, though. How about you?"

"You think you have a good enough visual?" he asked enviously. "I'd like
to go home. But I'm not sure if I could pick it out from the sky."

Biting her lip, her face screwed up in a thoughtful expression, Ilyssia
slowly shook her head. "Not yet, but I think once they teach us more I
will. Some of the places we'll do practice jumps to will be the major
Holds and the caravan stops to trade at those. I'm sure I'll figure
something out. Where are you from again?"

"Small cot hold in the territory of Amber Hills," the brown weyrling said.

"I'm sure we'll do practice jumps to Amber Hills and from there you could
fly to your family's place. With all the flying we'll be doing, that'd just
be a nice stretch of Juvath's wings on a restday. Then you can be sure of
your visual for the future."

"That's a wonderful idea. Any excuse for more flight time with him,"
Z'then agreed.

"I spoke with Gelira the other day," she said switching topics
suddenly. "Did you know that her father was Weyr Dragonhealer at
River Bluff?"

"No, I didn't. Why?" Z'then asked. What did River Bluff have to do with
here?

"Well, Gelira grew up around dragonhealing and is already a
dragonhealer apprentice. I wanted to talk to her about it. She
suggested I go talk to W'ser about my interest and I wondered if you
wanted to come along when I do?"

"Oh, I'd like to. That way there's a few of us approaching him." Maybe
it'd be less intimidating that way."

"Thats kinda what I was thinking," she agreed with a grin. "I know we
have lots going on right now, but I'd still like to know about the
process, ya know?"

"It makes sense," he agreed. "I wish..." and then he trailed off.

"What? You can tell me. I won't say anything to anyone."

Juvath's tail lashed. }:Not this again,:{ he complained at his rider.

"Flying scares me. I'd rather just be a dragonhealer when we graduate.
I don't want to - to fly Thread. I'm...afraid." The words came out in
a quiet tone.

Ilyssia laid a gentle hand on Z'then's shoulder, "I don't think you'd
be quite sane if you weren't. Thread is terrifying...to all of us. I
actually think I'm kind of lucky to have some extra time to get used
to it." She paused, wondering if she should say more and deciding
maybe she should. "Before we took our first paired flights, there was
a girl in the barracks who was really scared of heights and having
nightmares about it. E'naer said there are things that they can do to
help riders through that. He said dragons don't choose riders who
can't overcome their fears. I think you should talk to one of the
Weyrlingstaff that you trust. I bet they could help."

"I didn't think I'd be afraid of it. Juvath thinks it's silly. He says
we have to fly Thread together. The same thing you said - he picked me
because I knew he could. ANd surely my dragon couldn't be wrong..."

Her story about the girl made him wonder. "Who was it? She flew
though, right?" Nobody was grounded...

"Well, I don't know if I should tell her name. She might not like that,
but she did fly and did okay."

He nodded. "I don't know if I could approach D'kere. Maybe E'naer. I don't
know..."

"E'naer was very good to talk to when I was struggling with all that mess
with the gossip. He was very understanding and supportive," she encouraged.

Juvath made an irritated grumble. }:I don't know why mine is so
bothered.:{ he said to the green.

"Juvath thinks I'm dumb. How can my own dragon think that?"

}:I think it must be because they don't have wings and cannot chew
firestone. That is our job, but for some reason they worry about it.
Mine worries too sometimes. I do not understand many of her worries.
Why does she often think about things that are not now?:{ Gwynnyth
replied.

"I doubt your dragon believes you to be anything but marvelous,"
Ilyssia answered, "But dragons don't seem to understand human fear and
concerns. So much is instinctual for them. They also don't remember
like we do so they don't think about the Threadscore victims from the
last Fall of the Fall before."

"That's true. We're supposed to do that for them." Z'then was quiet.
"I guess you're right. I'll talk to him."

"Good! Well, I guess it's time to get moving," she said with a sigh.

"I guess so. Hey...thanks Ilyssia. Telling you about my issue helped,"
he said sincerely.

"I'm here to listen anytime, Z'then. That's what friends are for."

Last updated on the May 29th 2015

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Unexpected Nerves