In A World That's Not So Far Away

Writers: Aaron, Avery
Date Posted: 11th December 2017

Characters: Brennault, A'vel
Description: Brennault bumps into a rider that catches his fancy and asks for a tour.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 9 of Turn 9

Brennault

Brennault breathed in the salty air as though it were brand new – any
different from the waystation where he was born and raised, some
twenty miles from the weyr. It was new as far as Brennault was
concerned. He had almost convinced himself that he could smell the
dragons. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, wearing a
tight-fitted, short-sleeved shirt, tucked into similarly
form-accentuating pants.

Having gotten all of the logistics of moving into the weyr and setting
up his work schedule out of the way, Brennault was ready for a night
of fun!

He stepped through the door to the dining cavern roundabout the same
time as a fellow who looked to be about his age. Short, gorgeous blond
hair, stunning eyes. Perfect timing.

"Hey," he greeted him. "I'm Brennault. I'm new here. Think you could
show me around?" He ran a hand through his hair and offered his best
charming smile.
A'vel blinked at the stranger and extended his hand. "A'vel of
Tsogath. We've been here - over a Turn now? So I'd be happy to.
Where'd you come from?"

"Just down the road a day's travel or so," said Brennault. He shook
A'vel's hand firmly, gratefully. "There's a runners' waystation – born
and raised there. If you've been down the road out toward Emerald
Falls, then you've probably passed by or then been in for a drink, but
dragon wings tend to make it easy enough to skip over." He smiled.

"I believe I passed by there once when they moved the Harper Hall from
Emerald Falls to Dolphin Cove the first time. Now that Tsogath and I
fly sweeps, I'll look out for it," he said.

"So what do you need first? Food, then a tour? Are you at the Weyr to
deliver a package or some messages?"

"You had me at food!" said Brennault cheerfully. "I'm here to stay,
more or less – I'll be carrying letters and packages from here out to
the nearest waystations and back for as long as they'll let me. Or
until I'm ready for another change of scenery. Perks of being the
stationmaster's son, I suppose."

"That sounds very interesting," A'vel said as he led the way over to
the line for food.

He loved hearing stories about other people's exciting lives, so he
jumped straight into asking a number of questions about Brennault's
job. "So you run messages and packages back and forth. Do you deliver
them to a final destination or just to another station where someone
else takes them to the next point? What's the farthest away from
Dolphin Cove you've ever run to?"

"It depends on how far they're going, really," said Brennault. "If the
final destination is within route distance from the waystation, then
we put it on the delivery route. So, the runner will take a bag of
letters and things to the holds nearest the station in a bit of a
circuit. If it's farther away, then we'll send it on to the next
closest waystation."

"Farthest station I've ever been to... We usually come back to the
home station either within the day or on the second day – one day out,
one day back – but we can go farther if we like. I've taken packages
out all the way to where they were going a couple of times, about
four, five stations out from home. Probably near to eighty or a
hundred miles or so? I bet you've been a lot farther than that up in
the air!" Brennault chuckled.

"Probably, but it must be very different to fly over it than to see it
from the ground level, to run over it and know it with your own feet,"
A'vel said. Brennault's perspective sounded very interesting.

"The best part is meeting the people," said Brennault, acknowledging
the difference. "At least, I think so. I've stayed overnight in a lot
of different places. We don't usually run at night, so if a route
takes a while longer than you planned for, then you might stay at
whatever stop you find yourself at until morning. Happens more in the
winter, of course. And I've gotten to meet a lot of great folks that
way. Made a lot of friends." He grinned, almost mischievously.

"It's the same being a travelling Harper, I suppose. I always looked
forward to getting my journey, get a chance to stay with and meet new
people."
"A Harper!" Brennault was delighted, and his smile broadened. "Do you
get to do much harping now that you've got dragonly duties to attend
to?" he asked. He imagined that being a dragonrider would make
delivering letters tremendously easier, but it would also potentially
cause his physical condition to relax a bit. He might not be able to
run as far as fast if he spent more time flying and doing other
dragonly things than he spent running.

"Not in a formal capacity, like performing at any kind of official
event. I keep up on singing and make sure I haven't forgotten how to
play an instrument," A'vel said.

He added, "But if you like music, I think you'll love it here. It's
common for people with Harper training who are here to occasionally
bring an instrument and perform in the Dining Cavern in the evenings
for fun. It's a bit more organized for Hatchings."

"Oh, I think I know how that all goes! We never let not having a
trained Harper stop us from drumming on the tables and singing rowdy
drinking songs, eh?" Brennault grinned. "But it was always much better
when we had someone who really knew how to strum and sing a proper
good story."

"It sounds like I'll have plenty to look forward to, though. How's
this here for a place to sit, eh?" he asked as he settled next to one
of the dining tables that was not yet overly crowded.

"The seat's fine by me," A'vel said. "I keep thinking I ought to join
one of the casual groups of rider-Harpers who play. But I haven't got
round to it yet. It's been a busy few months."

"You should definitely do it!" said Brennault cheerfully. He sat down
and dug into his dinner with gusto. "My dad always says," and here,
Brennault dropped the register of his voice and began doing what must
have been a spot-on impression of his father, "'If ever ye feel a
hankerin' to be doin' somethin', ye do it straightaway, or else ye'll
be thinkin' o' nothin' else till it's done!'".

"That's an interesting saying I haven't heard before," he said.

Brennault laughed. He supposed not everyone was as eager to hear
impressions of his father as he might have expected. Well, Brennault
enjoyed them, anyway.

"Well. My dad probably says all kinds of things you'd never hear
anyone else say," he answered. "I hope I'm not keeping you from
anything important."

"I did my drills today so all I have is eating and mending straps.
Eating with you isn't a hardship," he said with a smile, "and showing
you around is a kindness I have time for."

Brennault grinned a lopsided grin and tilted his head to gaze at A'vel
with some measure of curiosity. He was not at all sure what to think
of him. He was not sure he had ever met anyone quite like him before.
Or, at least, he had never tried to hit on anyone quite like him.

"Well, I appreciate it," he said, enjoying A'vel's smile. He went back
to eating. He always had taken care of meals rather quickly. He did
not always have much time to spare for food, so he was used to
shoveling.

"What's, ah..." Brennault strained to remember the dragon's name from
A'vel's prior introduction. "What's Tsogath like?"

A'vel's eyes lit up as soon as he was asked about his lifemate, which
was a fairly common reaction for dragonriders to have and one that
Brennault would surely get used to.

"She's a pretty shade of bright grass green, and she's fairly small
for a green dragon, but that just makes her more agile. She's got a
very positive attitude. Everything is something to be curious about
and no setback is too much for her," he said enthusiastically.
"Sometimes I might have a tendency to be sad or worry about things,
but Tsogath reminds me not to do that and that even the littlest
things can be beautiful, or exciting, or have a good spin on them."
"She sounds like my kind of girl," said Brennault cheerfully. Tsogath
sounded very much like a kind of draconification of the runner's life
and outlook. He scooped up the last of his food and shoveled it into
his mouth. A few moments and a swallow later, he said, "If you both
wouldn't mind, I'd love to meet her while you're showing me around. Or
after."

"How about I show you around the inside spaces first, then when we go
out to the Weyrbowl, you can meet her over by the feeding pens or
bathing area? Both are places she'll easily fit without blocking
traffic."

"Then that's perfect!" said Brennault. He stood and gazed around at
the dining hall. On the way in, he had been so focused on the food and
the company that he had not even thought to take s good look around.
It was certainly much bigger than the places where he usually ate.

"Er, sorry," he said, sitting back down. "Didn't mean to try to bolt
before you were finished. I usually have to eat and run, so to speak."

"And I get to sit and enjoy my meal. Weyrlinghood was the eat and run
style," A'vel said. He didn't have that much of his meal left, just
some bread to mop up the juices, so he finished that off. "Okay, where
to first?"

Last updated on the December 23rd 2017

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In A World That's Not So Far Away