Always Here

Writers: AL, Cali
Date Posted: 17th January 2010

Characters: T'kob, Meledei
Description: Meledei comes to T'kob one last time.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 21 of Turn 5

"Sir." Meledei stepped up to T'kob, a smile upon her face. It was her last day as a Weyrling - well, sort of. The next day, she would begin drills with the Queen's wing - her wing. They had come so far, and T'kob had led them through it. They had lost some, but not as many as there could have been. T'kob had proven to be a fine Weyrlingmaster in her eyes. She hoped the Weyrleaders recognised that as well.

"Ready for Fall?" T'kob asked with a smile. In a few hours she'd be out of his responsibility. A full fledged rider.

"Well, as ready as I'll ever be." D'mal had told her that no matter how good a Weyrlingmaster one had, they could only prepare weyrlings so much. An actual Fall as just not something that could be replicated. "I appreciate all you've done for us. You were a great Weyrlingmaster."

T'kob chuckled, "I don't know about great, but thank you. You all were my first group, so I've no comparison, but you were pretty great yourself."

"Are you sure?" Meledei grinned and her tone took on a teasing note. "I'm pretty sure we gave you plenty of headaches."

"Trust me. You were all perfect little darlings compared to my weyrling class." T'kob replied. "And more of you lived too, that's the important thing."

Meledei's smile faltered. They'd all felt the grief of their lost weyrlingmates. To have lost more? "Simply a testament to your ability as a Weyrlingmaster."

"I hope so," T'kob said. "That'll mean good things for the next class."

"I have no doubts about that." Meledei knew the next class was very lucky to have T'kob. "There is...one thing." The subject had come up before, so she felt comfortable talking to her now former Weyrlingmaster about it. "About Elleth..."

"She jealous she won't be joining one of the upper tier wings?" That girl was dainty, but she wasn't afraid of anything.

"No." Meledei shook her head, her smile returned. "Though she thinks it's silly that they're kept so far below. But...no. It's just, she's supposed to be full grown by now."

He could follow her, "And she's still small?"

"There are browns bigger than her." There was nothing wrong with her, not a thing. She wasn't missing any toes, her eyes were bright, her lungs and heart sounded great, she was always lucid and in good spirits. Meledei couldn't help but worry, though - especially with the way people talked. She heard them, even when they thought she couldn't.

"It doesn't mean anything." T'kob remarked. There are some bronzes the size of browns too, they're still perfectly normal."

"But Elleth is a gold." Meledei pointed out. Sickly, diseased, broken. Sometimes they comments didn't bother, but sometimes Meledei couldn't help but fret. "Gold's aren't supposed to be that small. Shards, Tealth is almost the same size!"

"Tealth is a big blue." T'kob admitted. Funny how from the same clutch there could be so many odd size ranges. "But you said yourself that Elleth is healthy. What does it matter what others say about her? You know her. We've all seen her fly. If anything her small size makes her better able to get those small pieces of thread."

"So you don't think anything is wrong with her?" Meledei thought she was perfect, but if something was wrong, then she wanted to do something about it. But...there didn't seem to be anything wrong. It was just so hard to be confident when so many people thought otherwise.

T'kob shook his head. "No, Meledei, nothing is wrong with her. We had the dragonhealers check her multiple times during her growth. And she might still grow some, though she'll never be a large gold. I think once she lays a healthy clutch your fears will abate. It won't be long, a few more months, then you'll feel better."

"It's just...people keep saying..." Things like that hadn't ever bothered Meledei before - not when they'd been about her, anyway. But the whispers and jeers weren't about her, they were about Elleth. That was different.

"It doesn't _matter_ what they say." T'kob replied evenly. "They're just jealous you know. The greenriders or the other women, you were the one that Elleth chose, not them. Instead of wondering what was wrong with _them_ they try and tell themselves that there is something wrong with Elleth instead."

"I'm trying to ignore them." Meledei did feel better though. The Weyrlingmaster would let her know if something was wrong, he wouldn't keep it from her. He couldn't, especially since it could affect them during Threadfall.

T'kob had to chuckle. "You seem to be doing a great job of that."

"It's hard." She admitted, then smiled. "Thanks. I knew you'd be honest, whether something is wrong or not." Her friends, they wouldn't want her to be scared. Meledei wanted reassurance, but not if it had any doubt in it.

"Meledei, I'll always be honest with you. You just have to ask."

"I know." Meledei's smile brightened a little. Without warning, the girl threw her arms around T'kob and hugged him tightly. "Thanks T'kob."

T'kob couldn't help but smile as he returned the hug. He'd found the Weyrlingmaster's role to be somewhat isolating, and he'd had little enough time to make a lot of friends since coming to Dolphin Cove. Meledei's outreach was surprisingly welcome. "I'm always here if you need me."

Last updated on the January 19th 2010

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