Change for the Better [OPEN]

[Kitsuneko]

B'ran had been bonded to ebony Blasieth for eight hours, twenty-seven minutes, and probably around thirty seconds by now. Soon after the hatchling had eaten his fill, B'ran had led him to their new place in the weyrling barracks and the dragon was fast asleep almost as soon as he climbed into the dragonbed. Then there was the typical post-Impression stuff to occupy his attention, but he returned to the barracks to sleep around six hours ago. He had been so exhausted that he'd fallen asleep almost immediately, despite the uncomfortable bed and the unfamiliar surroundings.

However, Blasieth's presence in his life obviously couldn't completely block out his nightmares, the old ones that had returned soon after his arrival at Trelis. His first night as a weyrling was filled with tossing and turning, and he woke far earlier than he probably should have. For awhile he just lay there staring at Blasieth's still slumbering form, but no matter how perfect the dragon, that got boring after a while, and there was clearly no getting back to sleep.

So, here he was, in the early hours of the morning, with most of the Weyr still asleep. He sat curled up in one of the small alcoves in the Lower Caverns; a place where he'd be out of anyone's way, but not precisely hidden. His thoughts dwelt on the hatching and what it meant to him. He had secretly kind of wanted a dragon of one of the new colors, not sharing at all the disdain for them some of the residents had, but he'd also wanted to be just a typical wingrider, not anyone special. Blasieth, on the other hand, seemed to have bigger plans, and he wasn't sure if it was something to be discouraged or put up with. He sighed to himself and laid his head against the wall.

[Wish]

You should come to bed Rikula. Why don't you?

Majoriith's gentle voice was a soothing chime in the rider's head, the young woman curling up on herself a bit more as her fingers wrapped tightly around the worn handle of a dagger. Why did she always feel safer with her brother's weapon in her hand, why always more centered and calm? Sighing, Rikula closed her eyes and relaxed marginally against her hole in the wall, her head leaning against the wall. It was cool, and she felt hot with embarrassment after having so many people watching her during the festivities and days since she had arrived with Iskra.

I'm sure they were not all looking at you....okay, maybe...I don't know....were they really looking at us?

I was thinking they were looking at me Maj, when did it turn into us? Rikula gave another sigh, this one heavier and it made her shoulders sag as she let her head roll down onto her knees. Besides, it doesn't matter. Let them gawk all they want, we're not leaving any time soon. They'll get used to us being around eventually. Scratching her head, Riku shook off the stiffness that had started to settle into her body, stretching out her legs as she clambered out of the place she had crawled into. The lower caverns were certainly good for something it seemed.

However, she hadn't ever really expected to come across another person, let alone a boy that had just impressed if her memory served to be correct. "Uh.....uh...." Blinking quickly a few times the rider tried to get together a sentence or two, even a thought that she could say. However, nothing came to her mind and certainly refused to fall from her lips. Finally just shaking her head the young woman leaned against a crate and reached into it to grab a piece of fruit and then bit into it. Sour, but sweet. Taking another bite Rikula finally reached back for another one and held it out for the boy to take.

[Kitsuneko]

B'ran heard footsteps approaching, and he jerked his head up to see who else was awake at this hour. It was the junior weyrwoman Rikula, and he blinked in surprise. She seemed about as surprised to see him, as well, stuttering for a moment but not really saying anything. Finally, he greeted her politely. "Rikula. How's Majorith doing?"

He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't really recognize him; even though they had both been in Telgar, she had Impressed before B'ran had been old enough to stand himself, and as such, their paths rarely crossed. Rikula grabbed a piece of fruit out of a nearby crate, and when she offered one to him, he accepted with a slight smile. He wasn't particularly hungry yet, but he figured it probably couldn't hurt to get something into his belly before Blasieth woke up and his weyrling chores began.

[Wish]

"Rikula. How's Majoriith doing?"

The rider bit back a groan and instead chomped down onto her fruit again, cursing Faranth and the boy for asking a question that yes, did in deed deserve an answer. After all, she may as well be nice to him, he was Iskra's son after all....yes, nicety would be a good thing to use in this case. "She's fine, fretting over nothing as usual Bekran.......or it would be something else now wouldn't it?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him, the corner of her lips twitching upward ever so slightly in a bemused smile. The boy had always proven to be interesting without doubt, and now he had impressed. What joy his mother must be feeling that her son had bonded with one of the very creatures she had fled her old Weyr because of.

It was the persecution she feared, not the new colors themselves. Surely you know that RikulaMineHeart. Mother'sOwn is a strong one, she would not leave unless there was due reason.

Majoriith curled up outside the caverns in the WeyrBowl, one large swirling eye on the entrance while the other was hidden by a protective wing folded over her head. She didn't like being out and about where anyone could approach her, surely her rider would just come out soon and let them slink off somewhere more secluded, right? Sighing heavily, the young Queen knew this was most likely not the case. Rikula was perfectly well hidden in the caverns while Majoriith was not, but that fact did not matter the young woman. Majoriith had wings, she could fly away, Rikula could only run and hide. Stop being so pessimistic please, that's my job not yours.

Yanking her dragon's thoughts from desiring seclusion from their new home, Riku finished off her piece of fruit with a quick bite and threw the core of the thing into a basket nearby. A hand covered in a somewhat ratty sleeve followed the line of the rider's lips then, swiping away any left over juice quickly before Rikula blinked and blew a short puff of air out to move a lock of hair from her line of sight. "So why in Faranth's shardin' name are you here kid?" You're not very gentle or considerate today are you Mine? If Riku could have growled as an answer to her dragoness, she would have. As it were she could only shove mentally toward the Gold. When have I ever been considerate?

Majoriith stayed silent, knowing full well when Hers had been once considerate and gentle. However, that part of her rider had all but died with the death of her younger sibling. Even their bonding had gained back little of it. No, Riku was about as gentle as a tunnelsnake, but then again Majoriith chose her just for that reason. She wanted to be reassured, protected, led....not coddled. ...do you think his dragonet would like to see me Rikula? Do you think Blasieth would like to come out and look at the stars? Riku bit her lip, considering it for a moment, knowing full well that the dragonet was probably asleep. However, Majoriith's hopeful yearning finally won the young woman over.

"If your dragon's up now, Majoriith wouldn't mind some company, she's out in the WeyrBowl."

[Kitsuneko]

A smile came easily to B'ran's face as his thoughts flitted back to Blasieth. With a gentle mental nudge, he could tell the ebony was still asleep, though he figured by the amount of time that had passed, that he would probably be waking up before long. "It's B'ran now," he told Rikula with an affirmative nod.

Things were mostly quiet for a bit after that as they both finished their snack, and B'ran thought Rikula was talking to Majorith as well, most likely. He didn't mind the silence, though normally he would have been the first to fill it. He suspected Rikula was not as talkative as he was, after all. She did, however, ask what he was doing there; something he couldn't really blame her for, since he was sure all his fellow weyrlings were still asleep in the barracks. "Couldn't sleep, and watching Blasieth got boring," he replied. "I guess I haven't been here long enough to get used to things again. Could you not sleep either, or have you not gone to bed yet?"

Given the somewhat gruff manner the goldrider had shown so far, B'ran was a little surprised to hear that Majorith would welcome the company. He sent a timid inquiry in the ebony's direction, still unused to sharing his thoughts with another. When no answer came, he concluded that the hatchling was still asleep. "I don't think he's woken up yet," he told Rikula with a grateful smile, "But I'll be sure to pass it on when he wakes up." Then again, the dragon didn't seem any more outgoing overall than Rikula did--the ebony may well find the presence of the gold intimidating. He wasn't about to tell that to the gold's rider, though.

[Wish]

"Got...got boring?"

Rikula blinked confused at that statement, wondering just how in Faranth's name the kid had gotten so insane as to say something like that. After all, when she had impressed Majoriith all she could do was stare at the little Queenlet until it had made the dragonet uncomfortable. Of course that had partially been the fact that Maj was a Gold, but it had been mainly just that Rikula had never in a million turns thought she would ever impress. Biting her lip and looking at the boy thoughtfully, Riku finally shook her head. "I don't understand how it could ever get old. I still don't believe she's mine and I've been with her for three turns now."

Majoriith sent a comforting little thought to her rider as she tucked her head in tighter under her wing, her uncovered eye blinking slowly at the gentle light of the moon and stars. It was so beautiful. The richer gold mask like markings around her eyes seemed to glow faintly in the light as it washed out the rest of her hide making it look somewhere between dull and ghostly. The dragoness didn't pay any of it much mind though, she didn't often take stock in looks, she didn't even think she had them in a way that could be useful to Hers or herself. Crooning softly the swirling mix of blues and greens were tinged with a sad and anxious yellow as Rikula passed on B'ran's message.

It's not because Blasieth doesn't want to see me is it? Oh, that would be terrible. Does he really not want to spend time with me....oh bother......I....oh, what am I supposed to do that's just aweful. He hates me doesn't he Mine?

Oh calm down you worrisome wherry-brained flit. He's asleep, I'm sure if he were not he'd want to be with you.....I think...either way, it doesn't really matter. The rider shook her head as she spoke to the dragoness, only stopping when she realized it would probably seem funny to the newly made weyrling. "Majoriith is as insecure as ever it seems. I don't understand how she can be Maelath's daughter when she acts as such, or Izanycorth's sister from what I heard." Majoriith sank lower into her little curled up position as she listened to her rider through their bond, the yellow becoming even more predominant in her eyes as she keened softly. I'm sorry Rikula. I'm sorry I'm not the warrior you wanted. Mother is beautiful and strong and graceful and proud and a perfect lady. Sister was fierce and cunning and brilliant....even Mother's sister was more than I could ever be. I am no Queen, I never was nor will I ever be.

If you are not a Queen, then I am no Queenrider which would make perfect sense. Stop worrying Majoriith please...you are gentle and mothering just as Maelath is, just as Loraketh and Izanycorth had trouble being at times. It isn't that they are everything you are not, it's that you are everything they never were capable of being. The thought seemed to soothe the upset Gold somewhat but it only served to satisfy Majoriith in a small way, that flicker of satisfaction being kept burning somewhere deep within her. Feeling that for now her bonded would be alright to muse over those new thoughts, Riku let her attention go back to the weyrling.

"Is it how you thought it'd be, being bonded to him?" She whispered the words, partially because talking in a normal voice was almost too loud in the quiet room, but partially because it seemed like a personal thing to her. Riku didn't normally talk to people let alone ask them things that she thought were personal. A bond with your dragon, that was as personal as it got with her. Rubbing her arm absentmindedly she finally turned and inspected the crate with a quick look before grabbing the top and hoisting herself up onto it so she could sit and kick her legs back and forth, a somewhat childish thing on her part though she didn't care.

[Kitsuneko]

Riku's words had unwittingly fueled the uneasy thought that had been creeping in the back of B'ran's mind, that perhaps there was something wrong with the bond between him and his dragon. They certainly weren't of one mind about everything; perhaps not even anything, it sometimes seemed like. Blasieth was quiet and ambitious, B'ran friendly and complacent. What had drawn the dragon to him in the first place, anyway?

His face was quickly heating up, belying his inner thoughts, and B'ran looked away quickly. "Well, it was alright for an hour or two, but I wasn't sleeping and I wasn't doing anything...useful. I just had to get away for a while. Collect my thoughts." Great. He didn't think he was helping his case any. Rikula probably thought he was some heartless bastard or idiot, unhappy with his dragon, when that wasn't the case at all.

B'ran blinked. Majorith was feeling insecure? What on Pern did a gold have to feel insecure about? Weren't they the biggest and best dragons there were? He stared blankly at Rikula, but didn't have an answer for her. He was still preoccupied with his own dragon, in fact. He'd feel even guiltier if Blasieth was to wake up now and hear how his rider was worrying over his choice of Impression.

Finally, Rikula seemed to have read his mind, and B'ran shrugged. "Not...exactly," he said. Then, figuring advice from an older rider would be very useful, even if the difference was only three turns, he asked, "Is it possible for a rider and their dragon to disagree? I mean, without either of them being clearly in the wrong, and not just over little unimportant things. But Blasieth's opinions about some things are just so different, he seems to know what he wants to do in life already; he wants to stand out, and that's just not me. But then why would he have chosen me? Dragons don't make mistakes like that, do they? I promise I really do love him like a rider should, though!" It all came out in a rush of words spoken quicker than he'd meant to, and B'ran blushed. There was no taking any of it back now, however.

[Wish]

Okay kid I asked a simple question....didn't have to go spilling you entire heart to me Faranth!

The subtle twitch in her hand happened again as Rikula stared at the weyrling unable to say anything partially because she didn't know what to say, and partially because the boy just wouldn't stop talking. Blinking a few times in quick succession the rider shook her head to clear it from the daze and wiped her hands hastily against her pants. Well, she certainly hadn't expected anything like...well, like that. Majoriith however was instantly a flutter with motherly instincts, worrying over the tense situation B'ran found himself in with his newly hatched dragonet. After all, such things were normal yes but it was aweful to let it go without soothing the young rider's worries!

He'll wake the hatchling if he continues like that. Please Mine...don't run this time, just share....it's not that bad to just say we have the same problems sometimes. It'll help him...I think...I hope.

Majoriith shuffled uncomfortably and shifted into a standing position from where she had been curled up before, her tail whisking around behind her to and fro. Lifting her head up she tilted it and parted her jaws, tasting the cooling air. It would rain later tonight or perhaps tomorrow she thought. Tell him our story Rikula. It will ease his worry. There it was again, that same insistant mothering instinct that Majoriith brought out in her rider, an instinct that the young woman hadn't felt since her younger brother had been alive and she had cared for him.

Fine.

Groaning inwardly the rider sighed and her shoulders fell as she looked up at the weyrling, or raised her head to look down at is more like it given she was still on top of the crate. "Look....how you feel...uh, that uneasyness between you two...it's normal." Her gaze darting away from the weyrling's uncomfortable in sharing her own thoughts and feelings on the matter, Rikula cleared her throat a few times and then finally continued. "Majoriith and I couldn't be more different, and yet there are parts of us that are similar just for different reasons. Neither of us like being around people or other dragons, we find it suffocating. However, her unease stems from an inability to feel secure with others while my unease stems from my unwillingness to deal with other people anymore after....well, that doesn't matter exactly. She's timid, gentle, mothering and anything but poised in a regal 'Queenly' way. She cares about the other dragons and riders of the Weyr, and she'd give her life protecting them if she could."

"She's no warrior, but she still wants to help in whatever way she can and she's honest....I on the other hand am irritable, become agitated quickly, have no patience with others, don't know how to treat others nicely if my life depended on it, and live for that thrill of hunting or battling with others either physically or verbally. I carry myself with a confident grace that she wishes she could have...and I'd give anything to have the same gentle-heart she does." Rikula trailed off after that last realization, finally understanding perhaps exactly why Majoriith had chosen her in the first place. "You see...not all bonds are made of the same exact personalities. In fact, in my opinion the best ones are actually the ones that seem unlikely. You and Blasieth differ, but you compliment each other and will help each other to grow. He found in you the things he didn't have himself, and you will find in him that which you may strive to be....or in some cases what you are afraid to be. He will make you deal with and understand yourself better."

A gentle sort of smile had started to form on the rider's lips as she talked, her shoulders relaxing until her hands lay simply and easily in her lap. Majoriith could only croon in appreciation and wonder as Hers did something she rarely ever did anymore, talk. It was interesting how this weyrling could make Hers open up, perhaps because he reminded her of her own brother, or perhaps it was just because for once someone was looking at it with neither mistrust, hatred or need. She was just a young woman to B'ran, just another person, another rider. That of all things was what she wanted so desperately to be.

[Kitsuneko]

Well, he already felt like an idiot for blurting all that out to the goldrider--he hadn't meant to go quite that in-depth with his problems. It was just that once he got started, he found it difficult to stop. The way Rikula stared at him, clearly surprised by his sudden outburst, just made him feel worse, and his blush deepened. She started talking, though, and B'ran listened intently.

He did relax a tiny bit at her words, feeling reassured that he wasn't the only one who had felt that way. Hearing it from a goldrider just seemed to reinforce the message; clearly it had nothing to do with rank or color. He was surprised to learn just how different Majorith was from Maeleth, though; he hadn't known many gold dragons, but Majorith didn't quite seem to fit the regal mode. Even Maeleth, calm and laid-back as she was, still had a matronly, in-control air about her.

The way Rikula talked made him think about his own bond with Blasieth in a different way, though. He'd been focused on the differences between them and wondering how they might lead to conflict, rather than how said differences might compliment each other. He could certainly see how he might help the introverted dragon to make friends, and in time he might even get Blasieth to agree that they could excel while still being regular wingriders. He smiled, much more at ease than he had been before. "That actually makes a lot of sense. I guess I just hadn't been thinking of it like that. Thanks!"

Just in time, it seemed. A tell tale stirring in the back of his mind gave him warning that Blasieth was waking up, and as soon as B'ran clambered to his feet, the ebony muttered sleepily. Mine?

Coming, Blasieth! Out loud, he explained to Rikula. "Blasieth's waking up. Sorry. Oh! Does Majorith still want him to keep her company, if she's in the Weyrbowl?"

[Wish]

Of course I would still like his company.....if he will come and sit with me. He does not have to though, honestly he does not. Majoriith's voice was quiet as she spoke to her rider, the young woman restating it as a simple, "Yes." The Queen sighed at Her's bluntness, amused nonetheless however and wondering as always how Rikula pulled it off. The woman was currently still sitting on the crate, her legs now crossed as she looked at the weyrling, her head tilted slightly until she winced and raised a hand to it and rubbed the sore muscles in her neck.

"We should move there as well, it's a nice night out apparently." To be honest the rider was getting antsy stuck under the ground in the caverns. She needed to get out and stretch her legs, she needed to run of all things. "Majoriith can fetch him a kill and I have a dagger to cut off chunks if he is hungry. As for oiling him, which you should do, there are extra buckets and supplies in that room there I believe. I saw them on my way in." Pointing to the room nearby, the rider tilted her head back, shaking it a bit to get rid of the fuzziness. The feast would start soon, but she did not yet want to go. There was too much on her mind, too much that she couldn't help but think about.

"Do you......do you feel welcome here B'ran?"

[Kitsuneko]

B'ran nodded in response to Rikula's statement. "Yeah, it seems like a nice night out. Any help would be appreciated," he added with a smile. He didn't mind getting the food prepared for Blasieth, but it was a lot of work, and a job that he knew would only get tougher over time. He wasn't about to turn down any help that was offered.

Blasieth, you know where the Weyrbowl is, right? The response was a quiet yes, so B'ran continued. We'll meet you out there. The junior queen, Majorith is out there, you can keep her company. I'll be there in a minute.

Blasieth didn't mind getting there on his own, but there was a spike of anxiety from his end at the mention of the other dragon. Oh...another dragon? I'm not sure what to say though...

I doubt Majorith is expecting a deep and prolonged conversation from a just-hatched weyrling. You'll do fine, he told the ebony reassuringly. He was digging through the supplies to gather a bucket and rags for washing and oiling, then he heard Rikula's question. He paused, hand wrapped around a bucket, and he glanced back at Rikula. "Uh...I guess so," he said at last. He didn't want to bring up his near-paranoia of strangers, and anyway, he was pretty sure that was all in his head. He wasn't a little weyrbrat any longer to be pushed around, and it was pretty unlikely anyone was waiting around to kidnap him.

"I think it'll probably help that I'm a weyrling now, though. Everyone seems to cut them a bit of slack. Plus I used to live here, so it's not like I'm a complete stranger." Although many of the people he used to know had either died or moved away in the intervening turns. Trelis was almost full of strangers now, and just after he'd started getting used to Telgar.