An Unexpected Reunion

Writers: Avery, Steel
Date Posted: 21st October 2025

Characters: V'tian, T'ian
Description: V’tian gets ambushed by his newly-Searched brother.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 26 of Turn 12

Viantico bobbed a thank you to the bluerider and then eagerly approached the table with his brother. He rounded the corner of it and set his tray down heavily enough the glass wobbled but didn’t tip over and the utensils clattered, thumped down onto the bench, and then put his elbows down on the table and propped his chin up in his cupped-together hands in the way he’d been doing since childhood.

“Hi Vytian!” he said really loudly, to get the attention of his brother, who was looking down at his bowl.

V'tian had been busy feeding Sky and Radiance bits of meatroll, both young flits tucked in the sling-bag he'd taken to wearing around to carry one or both of them.

“It's V'tian, you--” He started. And then the voice really registered, and his head snapped up.

He stared at the younger boy beaming at him. “... Viantico?”

“I got Searched! And now I’m here and I can see you! And - are those fire lizards?” Everything Viantico thought he was going to say popped right out of his head at the sight.

“They _let_ you…” V'tian started, then stopped. His shoulders straightened, slightly. “Of course they are. And they're mine. The blue is Sky.”

Radiance poked her golden head out with an imperious sort of squeal. V’tian fed her the next piece, and smirked. “And _this_ is Radiance.”

“Oh, they’re beautiful. You have a _gold_? Radiance? Oh, well-named, well-named. She’s beautiful. Oh, Vytian - V’tian - how did you get them, you have to tell me all about it!”

Sky chittered and squeaked commentary, trying to climb further out of the sling. V’tian helped him out, and Sky immediately clambered to his shoulder.

“There's-- I found their eggs, on a secluded beach.” V’tian offered, after a moment. “Flits bury their eggs, so you have to dig for them.”

A pause. “Here-- you can pet Sky, if he'll let you.”

He coaxed Sky from his shoulder and down onto the table. “Don't let him nip.”

Viantico’s eyes were big and bright as he held a finger out towards Sky, letting the firelizard sniff, and then daring to trace a finger against the headknob and the neck skin. “Hello there, oh, you’re beautiful, you’re…Oh…they’re not scaly at all, their hide is soft,” he said in rapturous wonder.

“You could just go to a beach and dig? That’s so cool!”

“Nowhere's too far when you have a _dragon_.” V'tian responded, loftily, and then stroked Radiance's small head himself, scritching her just so. “... Maybe I'll take you. Sometime.”

Sky chirruped, and fanned out his wings as if showing off. And then he skittered for Viantico's plate and the easy food in reach.

“You would? That would be so cool to go looking for eggs! Even if I didn’t get one, I’d love to go see a beach. I mean, there’s one here. I saw it. When we arrived. But obviously I’m sure it’s too busy for firelizards to lay at with all the dragons.”

Viantico looked thrilled when Sky went for his food and he grabbed a little piece of meat and held it up.

“I'm teaching them not to snatch. Or, trying to. If he tries to snap for it, just move your hand away.” V'tian advised.

He paused, then added, “That beach is definitely too busy. And… yeah. The busier beaches are useless for anything but swimming.”

“I’ll be careful,” Viantico promised, adjusting his grip on the meat so that it would endanger his fingers less.

“I can’t believe you know all about different kinds of beaches now,” he added with envy. “There’s just so much water out there. Was it hard to get used to?”

Their cothold had had the river for irrigation, but the first time Viantico had ever seen a beach and the ocean was the time they’d come to the Weyr to see V’tian Impress. The second time had been today, when T’lin had dropped him off, and he’d been too busy being excited to notice.

“It was at _first_.” V'tian allowed, still a little bit loftily. “But you learn quickly at a Weyr. And nothing's scary with a _dragon_ at your side.”

“You gotta bathe your dragon in it, right? What if you can’t swim well? Do they have swimming classes here?” Viantico kept scritching the little firelizard as he spoke, waving his fork around with the other hand.

“Of course they do.” V'tian responded, and stroked Radiance’s head when she warbled at him. “And you can wash your dragon in the ocean or in the Lake, really, though for weyrlings I’m pretty sure they want you in the Lake.”

Sky chirruped, and stole a piece of food off Viantico’s plate.

“So you learned how to swim. Great. Okay, I guess I’ll get signed up for classes. It would be terrible if your own dragon drowned you while you were bathing her.”

V'tian snorted. “It would be _embarrassing_.” He responded. “... Anyways. You have time before the next Hatching.”

A pause, then he added, “... How in Faranth's name _did_ you convince Fa-- Vyticor to ever let you show up here?”

“Oh, you should have seen our uncle when he saw a rider coming down on Search, he was like, ‘Here’s another dragonman coming to steal away the children to the Weyr and corrupt them’, all firm and angry,” Viantico said in a very, very good imitation of their uncle, hoping to make V’tian laugh.

“But no one did dare actually turn away a rider from the Weyr for real, and then when the rider Searched me, our father just said that dragonmen were noble men and that… maybe you were just a mistake. Too ambitious, too much, always a bit strange. That I was a better son who would know my place about it and I would Impress all normal-like.”

Viantico looked down at the plate, realizing how that sounded. “I know it sounds awful. And he’s wrong anyway. I always wanted to be a crafter, that’s not knowing my place, and you know that. But I couldn’t tell him I want to come here and be a Smith or he wouldn’t have let me come!”

V'tian snorted. “Vyticor can sit on a wherry.” He responded, stiffly. “I don't care what they think. You get your dragon and that's it. They choose you.”

He pushed his food around on his plate, offered a piece to Radiance who snapped it up delicately.

“... The Weyr's a good place for Crafter stuff. Even if you don't Impress.” He added.

Viantico wasn’t sure he believed his brother’s response. **You do care what they think. You must, or why didn’t you come back? For me? When you promised…**

“Any dragon that chose you understands who you are. You’re my brother, and a good person. She saw that. If father can’t see that, if uncle can’t see that - they’re _fools_, all right? Whether I wind up on a dragon, or if I’m a Smith, we’re brothers, and nothing can stop that.”

V'tian considered that, and then shrugged again. “I… wouldn't change Indith.” He admitted. “And… don't worry about it. Even if you Impressed _tomorrow_, you don't join a Wing until you turn sixteen. So… they'd still let you Craft.” He added.

“Sixteen? We can work in the fields hard before that,” Viantico objected. If he Impressed and had to wait to fly… That didn’t seem fair. But, getting to be a Smith for longer sounded exciting. “There’s so many other rules you’re going to have to tell me about. Hey, when do I get to meet Indith?”

Last updated on the October 28th 2025

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An Unexpected Reunion