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Post by Selvagem on Aug 9, 2008 0:57:47 GMT -8
Th'dis
Night lay over the bowl, cool and wispy with dim hints of air that teased and played, but never fully became breeze. It was a typical summer evening, ad Th'dis was making the most of it. The sun had set barely a half-hour ago, and already Guiyath had taken to his couch in sleep, worn out by the carry-over exhuastion of his weyrling's daily drills in the Bowl. Th'dis smiled, flexing his sore fingers. Not that he used his fingers to run in the drills, but everything had a tendency to feel sore after the endurance training, whether or not they had been used. He dumped himself by the lapping waters of the lake, and stretched out both legs with a tired sigh.
Life was proceeding at a breakneck pace, leaving him almost no time to think about life as it was becoming. Or his identity as it was becoming, for that matter. Already they were in their third month of weyrlinghood, and no doubt before long he would suddenly find himself at graduation, with all his weyrling classmates looking to be tapped into wings. Not for him though: he'd go straight into the Weyrling Wing, that he was only too certain of. He had only just turned 13 turns of age in the middle of spring, and by the time Weyrlinghood ended he would be a mere 14 turns.
He hadn't even had time to think about puberty, he realized suddenly. There had, indeed, been a girl who had taken his fancy last spring, in the Lower Caverns....it felt like an eternity ago, now, and he knew he would never have the chance to think of her again. Not for the next turn and a half, anyhow. He loved his Guiyath too much. A slight shudder ran through him, and he curled his legs up to his chest. The new few turns were definitely not going to be easy, balancing weyrlinghood and puberty. And he wasn't supposed to be in a relationship while Guiyath was maturing...
The bronze dragonet's thoughts drifted into his mind in a sleepy thrill, and Th'dis shook the uncomfortable thoughts away. He didn't want Guiyath disturbed into wakefulness. Watching the stars begin to blink in, one by one, the gray-eyed boy wondered what it might be like, if his bronze ever flew a Queen. He smiled, wryly, and chuckled. Far-fetched thoughts - that would be many years yet, if his age were anything to go by. Much as he admired strength and resilience, he didn't quite want to end up like J'fel. Young and fearless, yet already shouldering so much at his age.
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Post by Omnia Munda on Aug 12, 2008 11:36:08 GMT -8
It was an odd hour for the weyrleader to go visiting the barracks, but J'fel had hopes of finding a particular weyrling yet awake. It would be, he thought, a good night for walking in the herb garden.
Between the living cavern and the barracks stretched the lakeshore, however, and as J'fel strode onward he caught sight of a shape by the water's edge. Night was not deep yet and the more distant stars had yet to wink into visibility; there was light enough that after a moment's squinting, the bronzerider was sure the shape was that of the youngest of the riders out of Jordeth's clutch. He shook his head at the scene - weyrling in the starlight, silhouette against the lake - but thought of Guiyath's question during the politics lesson some sevens ago, and paused.
J'fel considered a moment, balancing the chance of Salina going to sleep while he tarried against the very real possibility that she'd already done just that - then turned his path toward the lakeshore. His footsteps announced him before his words did with the gentle crunching of pebbles shifting beneath his feet. "Good night to sleep out," he said, when he was sure he was close enough to be heard clearly. "I'dalyn allow that already?"
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Post by Selvagem on Aug 16, 2008 8:28:08 GMT -8
Th’dis[/u]
The youngest of the weyrlings heard the crunch of feet along pebbly shore, but being lost in his thoughts he thought nothing of it, until the sound rang out closer than he expected. He half-turned just as J’fel spoke, and froze wide-eyed. It was too dark for the youngster to see the face of the Weyrleader, but he recognized the voice well enough. Scrambling hastily to his feet, stumbling as his muscles protested the sudden exertion, he whirled to face the older man with a quick salute.
“My duty to you, Weyrleader,” his tone was dutiful, “No Sir, Id’alyn made no allowance on that, but I was catching a moment to think.”
He felt a faint stirring within his mind, and held his breath as he realized that his startlement had affected Guiyath’s sleep. After a moment however, the dragonet’s mind eased back into dreams again, and Th’dis let out a small breath of relief.
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Post by Omnia Munda on Aug 19, 2008 9:03:32 GMT -8
Coming upon weyrlings by the lake shore was fast becoming his hobby, thought J'fel, crunching closer. He put a hand in its pocket and let that elbow hang at a casual angle, tossing off a little salute with the other hand to reply Th'dis' own.
"Salute's enough for me; save your duties for the Weyr and her queens," smirked the weyrleader. He looked out at the lake, then down at his boots, and after a pause bent to begin unlacing the latter. "What're you thinking?"
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Post by Selvagem on Aug 22, 2008 22:59:50 GMT -8
Th’dis[/u]
The weyrling eyed his leader for a minute longer while the older man (could he be called a man?) threw off a remark about salutations, and then began to lace his boots. There was something in J’fel’s casual, unaffected manner that reached out to Th’dis and helped put him at ease. The Weyrleader, it seemed, wasn’t so far above him as to appear anything more than an older brother, even if that brotherly image did little for his standing in the weyrling’s eyes. The youngster followed his gaze out over the lake, and responded with his usual dutifulness.
“Yes, Sir. I was…thinking about weyrlinghood, Sir. How it changes everything…for everyone as well as for me.”
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Post by Omnia Munda on Sept 23, 2008 10:03:19 GMT -8
OOC: Oops! Sorry, Selvagem, this fell off my bookmark list! Ack!
If J'fel was conscious of acting the boy, it didn't show. What did show was the intention to dip his toes in the water lapping at the lake's edge, and once he had them free of boots and socks he did so, straightening to walk gingerly on the slippery pebbles.
"For every weyrling, you mean," asked the weyrleader, pausing to nudge at a particularly shiny pebble with one pale toe, "or for everyone at the weyr?" He shrugged and looked back along his shoulder at the weyrling. "The Weyr looks forward to new riders to fill out the fighting wings. Many hands make like work, and so on. The Holds see more mouths to feed, have no doubt."
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Post by Selvagem on Sept 27, 2008 19:51:33 GMT -8
(OOC> No prob, OM. Good enough that you’ve replied!)
Th’dis watched his Weyrleader with amusement, and was tempted himself to start dipping his feet into the cool lapping waters. Copying the older man’s easy manner, he attempted a light smile, fidgeting in his toes through the thick wherhide boots that were really a size too big for him.
“Well, Sir, I hadn’t really thought so far,” an honest reply, acknowledging how much further ahead J’fel was, even if he was young for a Weyrleader, “I had been thinking of the weyrlings only. Every one of them changed when they Impressed.”
He paused, hesitant to ask another question. But J’fel’s boyishness was truly disarming. Plucking his courage, the youngest weyrling of Telgar’s current batch spoke again, “Did you feel that you changed too, Sir, when you Impressed Jordeth?”
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Post by Omnia Munda on Sept 28, 2008 12:30:49 GMT -8
"Of course," grinned J'fel, and turned his head again, attending his focus to the water lapping about his feet. He waded a little deeper, watching the sand swirl up from the lake bottom as his steps disturbed it, and spoke easily while he walked. "Before Jordeth I was - " He did pause here, to find the right word. "- it was like living in dream," he explained. "Hazy. Like I had no purpose, and just floated in life. Jordeth gave me focus. The ability to focus, I should say. I felt grounded, rooted, like I knew who and where I was."
He stopped wading and looked out over the water. "I didn't know it at the time, but it was almost like coming out of between. Although - maybe that's not a useful reference for you, yet." Another quick grin was sent back over his shoulder, and then an invitation: "Water's fine, at least no deeper than this. Might be cold, farther out."
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Post by Selvagem on Sept 30, 2008 7:01:21 GMT -8
Th’dis thought deeply on the words his Weyrleader offered, his gray eyes rounded and clear. Not that he knew of it, of course, though he certainly felt it. No one had yet gotten the thought of telling the boy that his usually misted eyes turned clear whenever he was pondering something deeply. And J’fel’s statements were striking a chord: he did feel too, often, that the life before his Impression was nothing more than a waking dream, though he kept those thoughts to himself. They had always seemed so silly, so boyishly naïve. To hear the Weyrleader echo them was nothing short of inspiring, if not a downright revelation.
Not that he knew how to express all of that. He was still Thordis in many ways, having only been Th’dis for about 3 months. Probably less. The boy looked back at J’fel wading through water, and blinked.
“Well,” he searched for words, failed, and felt childish again, “I felt that way too. But…between is not what I’d understand, aye.”
J’fel made his invitation then, and Th’dis felt his lips quirk a dim smile in spite of himself. He hesitated only a moment, thinking of what I’dalyn might say if he found his youngest weyrling out in the lake, with his bronze dragonet sleeping alone in the Barracks. He shuffled the thought aside and settled onto the pebbles to chuck off his oversized boots.
“I reckon you have a point, Sir,” he tried to smile wider, “And…my feet are sore. Today was major chores’ day.”
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Post by Omnia Munda on Oct 3, 2008 10:04:55 GMT -8
The weyrling had, anyway, the weyrleader's approval as his protection against I'dalyn's ire. J'fel watched the boy to see if he'd recognize that and in the end smiled to see it was so. Silent, he shared the water with the younger bronzerider; only when Jordeth warned him against keeping the weyrling too long did he wade back up onto shore and squeeze wet feet into dry boots.
[OOC: We're so far back in time on this thread, I think perhaps it prudent to wrap it there unless you have other stuff to add, Sel. We can always start a new one in the present!
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