Nothing Ventured

Writers: Aaron, Halyonix
Date Posted: 4th November 2024

Characters: A'drios, Katora
Description: Katora makes her first dragonrider friend at the Weyr...well, maybe
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 6 of Turn 12

A'drios

Notes:
~~~~~~~~~~

Green was a pretty color, Katora decided. Especially on that dragon. Or maybe it was just that shade of green that was pretty. There was lots of shades of green, for sure, and now that she thought about it, not every shade was pretty. But that shade was pretty on that dragon.

Katora slipped from her rocky perch to step closer toward the bathing dragon. Green dragons were girl dragons, right? She was pretty sure they were. Maybe a girl dragon would want to talk to a girl human. "Hello," she said cautiously.

Tembreth took a moment to realize that perhaps this girl was speaking to her. But eventually, she turned to gaze back at her. Then she dipped her head in a nod of greeting, eyes whirling green with curiosity to match her hide.

Katora's eyes widened as the dragon dipped her head. "You can hear me! And understand me! ...wow. Do you have a name?"

Tembreth huffed. She was half-amused, half-insulted. Some of these two-legged guys really did not understand much about dragons, did they? Well, she was not going to speak to her, but that did not mean she had to be entirely rude about it.

}:A'drios, come talk to this girl.:{

**Girl?** He poked his head around to Tembreth's opposite side.

"Ah. Hi, there. Were you talking to Tembreth?"

Katora seemed surprised that the rider was right around the dragon and she hadn't noticed him. That lack of perception would have gotten her hurt in the wilds, she chided herself, even though she was in the Weyr, which was supposedly safe. "Tembreth? That's her name? I asked it, well, I asked if she had a name, which I realize was silly because all dragons have names that they know. I'm...well, I'm new to being around dragons. We didn't see them much on the roads between Holds. Just far away in the sky. This is the first I'm getting to really interact with them."

In Katora's defense, A'drios had been sat down and practically hiding in the crook of Tembreth's arm. Not intentionally hiding, of course. Just having a bit of a cuddle.

"Well, welcome to the Weyr! I'm from the Holds, too-- once upon a time. Where are you from?"

"Everywhere," she answered but her eyes were on Tembreth. "I'm a Trader." A pause and then, "Would she let me touch her?"

"Go for it!" said A'drios. "Here, let me show you." He demonstrated exactly where and how Tembreth liked to be scratched. Katora copied him.

"She's...softer than she looks," she remarked. "You always think they'll be rough like tunnel snakes from far away but they aren't." She was thoughtfully quiet for a bit while her fingers explored the dragon through scratches. "What was it like, Impressing her?"

"Hungry!" said A'drios. Tembreth did not appreciate being compared to a tunnelsnake, but she quickly forgot about that under the scratchies. "She was ravenous, and as soon as I Impressed her, I could feel it. For some feelings and senses, it takes a lot of practice to share them, but hunger? That one's easy."

Katora turned her dark eyes towards A'drios. "You feel her feelings? You know when she's hungry?" That seemed a little...weird. She knew that dragons talked to their riders telepathically but she hadn't heard anything about the rider feeling the dragon's feelings.

"Oh, sure. Hungry, horrrr..." A'drios tilted his head as he tried to gauge whether this girl was old enough for him to be saying 'horny' to her. He was going to go with no. "...ibly hungry. When they first hatch.

She seemed to ponder this as she looked back at Tembreth. "Does that feeling fade?" she wondered. How weird would it be to feel someone else's feelings all of the time? Wouldn't it get...confusing? Overwhelming?

"Only the strongest stuff comes through the bond without you going in there looking for it," said A'drios. "But it can happen any time either one of us feels something like that."

"I suppose...you get used to that?" Katora asked.

"It would almost be weird without it at this point," said A'drios. "We've been together longer now than I ever lived without her before."

"How long have you been together?" she asked, her dark eyes turned curiously his way again.

"Uhhhh... Hang on." A'drios counted on his fingers. "Twenty-one Turns?"

Katora's eyes widened. Longer than she had been alive! Her expression turned darkly thoughtful. "How old _are_ you?" she asked. He didn't look as old as her father. Was he lying? Could dragonriders lie?

A'drios laughed. It appeared he was right to dodge the use of the word 'horny'.

"Thirty-one whole Turns. Who knows how much longer I'll manage to live, ancient as I am?" He grinned.

She shot him a side-eyed disbelieving look. "Thirty isn't ancient," she said simply. Her attention turned back to Tembreth. "Why did you choose him?" she asked the dragon boldly but curiously. There had to be a secret, a reason why dragons picked who they picked. Why did that blue dragon back at the Hold say that Katora had potential? What did he know?

"She says she was aiming for the guy behind me, but by the time she realized her mistake, it was too late," said A'drios.

}:I did not.:{

**Well, she can't hear you.**

}:You're not funny.:{

**I'm hilarious.**

Katora seemed more inclined to believe Tembreth than her rider. Mostly because she didn't think dragons were the type to lie. Not at least according to the stories. She gave Tembreth one final scratch. "Thank you," she said to the dragon. She turned to A'drios. "You didn't tell me your name. Just hers."

"Oh! Sorry about that." A'drios offered his hand. "Name's A'drios. Nice to meet you."

She took his hand and shook it firmly. "Katora. It was nice to meet you. Thank you for letting me talk to Tembreth."

"Oh, it was my pleasure. She says she'd love it if you came to visit again when it's time for a bath and oiling."

}:I didn't say that, though.:{

**But it's true, right?**

}:... It is true.:{

Bathing and oiling a dragon didn't sound like fun but learning more about them was enough of an incentive. Katora nodded. "Deal."

Last updated on the November 9th 2024

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