Thread Doesn't Scare Me

Writers: Francesca
Date Posted: 19th April 2024

Characters: J'nic, L'rin
Description: J’nic learns a bit about Lenorin as he interviews Candidates.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 10, day 18 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Arlin

J'nic

L'rin

J’nic looked over the information he had gathered about the next two
Candidates on his list: Lenorin and Arlin. They were brothers from
nearby Barrier Hills Hold who had come to the Weyrhold to help with
manual labor during construction and then were Searched. Neither had a
craft. He was interested to hear about their adjustment to weyrlife.
There were certainly advantages to remaining close to where they had
grown up. However, some of the holdbred Candidates benefited from
having a clean break with their previous life and total freedom to
explore new ways of living and viewing the world. It must be strange
to grow up in a Hold, then suddenly have a Weyrhold constructed next
door and move there. He wondered how they were managing all of this.

The Weyrlingmaster Third picked up his clipboard and a pencil, then
went to the door and opened it. Two young men sat at the bench
outside: both tall and muscular and both with light hair, although the
one closer to the door had slightly lighter hair.

Before he had a chance to speak, the Candidate closer to him stood and
smiled. “I’m Lenorin. I get to meet with you first.”

J’nic returned the smile. “Come on in and close the door.” He took a
seat at the small table and waited for Lenorin to sit across from him.

“Thanks for meeting with me, Lenorin. You’re from Barrier Hills Hold?”

“Born and raised there,” Lenorin confirmed. “It’s a wonderful place,
if you haven’t visited yet. I still go on restdays.”

“I just moved here, so I haven’t had a chance to explore much. I’ll
make sure to head in that direction soon though. It sounds like it’s
nice for you to have family close. How do they feel about you becoming
a Candidate?”

“Oh, they’re fine with it.” Lenorin stretched the truth a bit. It
wasn’t worth sharing the concerns raised by some in the family.

“Did you come to the Weyrhold hoping to be a Candidate?”

“Not at all!” Lenorin gave a small laugh. “Arlin and I just came to
help build. It felt right for some of us from the Hold to come here,
you know? And then we were both Searched and, honestly, I wasn’t sure.
I had planned to go back to my life once construction was done. But,
Arlin wanted to stay and, after some thinking, I decided to join him.”

J’nic couldn’t tell how committed Lenorin was to becoming a
dragonrider but appreciated the honesty. The fact he hadn’t left after
not Impressing at his first Hatching probably counted for something.
“How was it, shifting from being a temporary resident to a Candidate?”

“It wasn’t too bad.” Lenorin shrugged. “It was strange taking classes
again, since I hadn’t taken any since harper lessons. And seeing
female crafters has taken some getting used to. And men who are, you
know, with each other has been different.” He knew who he was talking
to and so didn’t dwell on the aspects of weyrlife he found unnatural.
“Being surrounded by dragons has been wonderful though. I’ve helped
wash a few of them.”

J’nic was glad he was at least naming challenges rather than
completely ignoring them. “Well, I’m sure it has been a lot to
process. I recently arrived from another Weyr and, even though the
culture here is very similar, it still is going to take me some time
to feel like this place is home,” he admitted. “If you’d ever like to
talk to someone, I’m always available. I could also connect you with
some holdbred dragonriders so you can have a frank conversation with
them. Just let me know.”

“Oh, I don’t think I need that,” Lenorin was quick to say. “Thanks for
the offer though.”

“All right. Well, speaking of weyrlife… As you know, part of
Impressing means participating in mating flights. We recommend that
you get comfortable with physical intimacy while you’re still a
Candidate, to help keep your dragon participating in a mating flight
from becoming a traumatic experience.” J’nic kept his tone
matter-of-fact to normalize the conversation.

“That’s ok,” Lenorin jumped in. “I’m all set with that.” He couldn’t
help a small smile crossing his face at the thought of his arrangement
with Zinaile.

“Ok.” J’nic couldn’t tell if the young man was telling the truth, but
decided not to push it. “Anything you’d like to talk about?”

“No. Everything is fine.”

“Well, you’re always welcome to come find me to talk about anything.”
J’nic put down his clipboard. “Just one more question: why do you want
to be a dragonrider?”

Lenorin didn’t need any time to prepare his answer. “There’s nothing
wrong with life at Barrier Hills Hold,” he said, not wanting anyone to
think badly of his home. “But life here at the Weyrhold is pretty
exciting. There’s a lot going on. And, who wouldn’t want to be able to
Impress a dragon and be able to travel anywhere on Pern? Also,” he
added, almost as an afterthought, “helping fight Thread is important.”

Listening to the answer, J’nic reminded himself that not all
Candidates had reflected much on their decision to Stand, and that
didn’t mean he woudn’t be a great dragonrider. “Fighting Thread is
more dangerous than most things you could do in your life.”

Lenorin shrugged. “Dragons are good at it though. And, that’s what
drills are for, right? Thread doesn’t scare me.”

It didn’t seem worth belaboring the point, but J’nic couldn’t help but
ask another question he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to.
“What color do you want to Impress?”

“Bronze,” was the immediate answer. “I mean, no offense, but I like
women. And I like being in charge.” Another shrug. “So, bronze.”

J’nic nodded. “Well, thanks for meeting with me Lenorin. You can send
in your brother on your way out.”

“Thank you.”

As the self-assured young men left, he made a final note on the
clipboard. It would be interesting to see how similar the younger
brother was.

Last updated on the April 22nd 2024

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Thread Doesn't Scare Me