The Pact

Writers: Curious, Duskdog
Date Posted: 17th March 2024

Characters: J'kellar, K'aur
Description: K'aur and J'kellar try on their new flying leathers and come to an understanding
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 7 of Turn 10

For a couple of sevendays now, the weyrlings had been using their evening free time to finish up their first set of riding straps, getting them ready for inspection. Their dragons had begun flying alone, building up their wing strength and confidence in the air. Tomorrow, if everything passed muster, they would take their very first flights on the backs of their own dragons. Tonight, they had each been given their first set of riding leathers. It wasn't _quite_ as great as actually flying, but it still felt like a huge step towards becoming _real_ dragonriders, and the barracks was abuzz with excitement.

"Well, how do I look?" J'kellar asked, arms outstretched and helmet in one hand, turning in a slow circle to model his brand new riding leathers to K'aur, unable to keep a grin from his face, pride burning in his chest.

K'aur looked. He looked for at long as he needed to to get a decent assessment of his leathers and no longer. The _second_ he felt that his gaze might be lingering for longer than was strictly necessary, he looked away with a shrug and an, "Eh."

}: Wow. What a jerk. :{ Remiath rumbled.

** He didn't do anything? **

}: I wasn't talking about him. :{

K'aur made sure to fight off his scowl - and worse, his blush - before turning back to J'kellar. "You look good," he said. "I just wish they'd give us finer quality leathers."

"Pfft, yeah," J'kellar agreed, putting his helmet aside and unfastening his jacket. He didn't take it off, but, well, it was warm enough indoors that keeping it fastened was a little too much. "I guess we can't complain, since it's free and all, but... I mean, where are our tithes going, if not to outfit dragonriders? I just want to look like the real deal. Yours look good, too. I mean, for what they are. Like a real dragonrider, at least." He coughed and looked away. "Uh. They fit okay?"

K'aur couldn't help a proud little tilt of his chin at the acknowledgment that his leathers looked good. Then the conversation was continuing and he was clearing his throat for no good reason. "Oh, yeah, they fit fine. I'm gonna save up and get something better though." He grinned wolfishly. "Why settle for looking like a real dragonrider when I could look like an _important_ dragonrider? I'm going to see if I can trick people into thinking I'm Weyrleader without the knot."

J'kellar grinned. "Ha! Yeah, I'd like to see that. I'll bet you could... especially at some of the real backwoods Holds. They don't know what the Weyrleader looks like. Shells, _I_ didn't know what the Weyrleader actually looked like before I came here. Never met any of them." He looked down at his clothes. "I'm going to save up, too. Doubt I'd pass as Weyrleader with Rokolth's hide, but I at least want to look good at gathers. A nice blue shirt, same color as Rokolth, with some silver embroidery. Smart boots. I'll bet we can pick up any girls we want at gather just by being dragonriders, but being extra snazzy just puts the icing on the cake."

"Probably," K'aur said with a huff of laughter. "Although..." He paused for a moment, pondering his next idea before a sharp grin crossed his face. "Why settle for just looking good and playing the part? I'd be a good choice for Pern's first brownriding Weyrleader, don't you think? I'd go down in _history_." And Remiath had the stamina to catch a gold, but that was beside the point. He allowed himself to get lost in his fantasy for a moment before remembering that, oh yeah, he was speaking to someone who was systemically barred from any rank above Wingthird. A tiny hint of shame crossed K'aur's face before he added, "I bet I could find a place for you too. If Rokolth builds his stamina up a bit more, I could make you my Wingsecond and no one'd be able to tell me no."

"Yeah?" J'kellar hadn't considered anything like that. Well, he _had_ considered how he might bully his way into being _somebody_ somehow, but only in the angry, distant way of someone who would rather imagine they had an action plan than to feel adrift and lost. Stuck. Purposeless. Invisible. His stomach fluttered with tentative excitement. "There's small bronzes that've won a queen, I'll bet. No reason a big, strong brown like Remiath can't. People who say something can't be done just because it's never been done are the worst kind of people. They'll either never accomplish anything, or they've already tripped their way into an accomplishment and don't want to be shown up by somebody with the gumption to do it _better_. You've got the balls to shoot for something that's not just going to be handed to you. That already makes you better than everybody else." He grinned wolfishly. "Me and Rokolth would be the best wingseconds this Weyr has ever seen. We wouldn't be a charity case. You wouldn't regret it."

"Right!?" K'aur exclaimed. "If some girl could impress blue, there's no way we can't make our mark." Regardless of what the traditional roles of their color might say. There was a time and place for tradition, but... Not here. Not like _this_. "You'll be the best Wingsecond I could ask for," K'aur confidently said. Then, holding his hand out, "Let's shake on it. Right now."

J'kellar didn't hesitate. He grasped K'aur's hand firmly. As much as he wanted to be Weyrleader himself -- to show them, to show _everybody_, the size difference between the blues he'd seen and the golds seemed insurmountable. He didn't like that. He _hated_ it, in fact. Factors that he just couldn't overcome made him seethe with rage, especially when they weren't things that he had chosen for himself -- when he was doomed to lose through no real fault of his own.

But he could still do _something_ great. It was a light at the end of a frustrating tunnel -- a light he sorely needed. And Remiath was getting big. He might just have a chance where Rokolth did not, with a rider like K'aur who also wasn't content with settling into the life that was dictated to him, and who _understood_.

"I swear to always back you up," J'kellar said.

"Done." K'aur's grin grew wolfish, his eyes sharp. "As soon as we're in the sky, we'll show 'em. They'll feel like idiots for ever discounting us."

Because oh, Remiath was big and K'aur was determined, but he had been discounted. The mere fact that his dragon wasn't bronze meant that he was doomed to be written off as someone's 'second at best. But that would change. He would be in the wings soon, and as soon as that happened, he would make sure that the whole sharding Weyr knew how spectacular he could be. It would take time, but he'd take the wheel and lead Dragonsfall better than any bronze ever could.

And J'kellar would be right there with him.

Last updated on the March 19th 2024

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