Rain and Responsibility (1/2)

Writers: Corrin, Yvonne
Date Posted: 15th April 2025
Series: The Perfect Storm

Characters: Tsaera, Sybana
Description: As the weyr rallies to save a group of Holdless, Tsaera makes Sybana examine her own convictions
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 5, day 5 of Turn 12

Sybana

The Weyr boiled like an insect's nest that had been poked by a stick. Tsaera frowned as she stood next to Tabanirth in the field next to the Dining Hall, for once very glad that she was no longer making the decisions for the Weyr. Her's would have been... different. No less compassionate, but... different.

But that was neither here nor now. She turned as Tabanirth swung her giant golden head toward the edge of the field where Sybana and Galgaith were approaching, followed at a discrete distance by a young pair of guards who were nervously scanning the rain drenched skies. "Hopefully T'lonas won't keep you late to go over the lessons you're missing," she said as the weyrling drew nearer.

“Not this time, I think. They’re going into detail on fighting wing maneuvers right now. There wasn’t much in it for me and Galgi.” Sybana had actually been relieved when Galgaith relayed summons to join Tsaera in the weyrbowl. Shadowing the senior goldrider tended to be more interesting than most weyrling lessons-- and today, it seemed, would be no exception.

The weyr was alive in a way she hadn’t expected when she stepped out of the classroom. Five days of rain imposed a sort of reticence and lethargy, but something had changed in a matter of candlemarks. Everywhere she looked, there was motion, urgency--riders in dark oilskins hurrying astride their dragons, drudges rushing along the lee of the cliffs with armfuls of goods.

“What’s going on, weyrwoman?” It was too soon for another threadfall.

"Sweepriders are evacuating people from a flooding cave. About forty, we're told," Tsaera said. "They'll be arriving here shortly. You and I are coordinating landing dragons and making sure that their passengers have an escort to take them into the Dining Cavern to meet with the Headwoman." She hesitated, then added, "They're all Holdless, which is why you have an extra guard with you today."

All the noble notions and sympathetic sentiments that stirred in Sybana's heart at the mention of a flood evacuation came to an icy halt. _Holdless_.

“Holdless, here?” Her voice was tight with surprise and dismay as she wrestled with a natural, empathetic urge to help people in need and a complete revulsion of the people in question. Holdless, she had been taught from the gilded cradle, were a barbarous people; a danger and an insult to every law-abiding member of society.

Galgaith, catching the true bent of her lifemate’s thoughts, paused her pleased wuffling at Tabanirth to ask, }:Are they dangerous?:{ She didn’t seem fearful, but intrigued, as though expecting to meet some new, exotic creature.

}:They are humans,:{ Tabanirith curled her tail around her feet. }:They are mostly harmless.:{

}:Oh.:{ Galgaith sounded disappointed.

"There's been so much rain, and they put out a flag for help. And so the Weyr has stepped forward to help." Tsaera cast a sidelong look at the girl. "What would you have done if you were Weyrwoman and a sweeprider had brought the report to you?"

Sybana swallowed, aware that her immediate, visceral reaction had been written plainly across her face. She smoothed her expression, lifting her chin as if that might physically distance her from her own unease.

“I suppose,” she began slowly, the words almost grudging at first, then more animated, “I’d arrange for their rescue as well… They followed protocol and are asking for aid. It would be monstrous to let them drown. Not while we can do something-- but holdless are so for a _reason_. They have broken our laws or otherwise refused to abide by them. I would not trust them in my home. The safety of the hold--the weyr’s--own people comes first. I’d have the lot of them under guard and then on their way as soon as the weather clears.”

"The safety and wellbeing of the Weyr _always_ come first," Tsaera echoed approvingly. "But where would you send them? Their caves are destroyed."

"I--" Sybana blinked, clearly taken aback by a question she had never considered. Holdless were simply... out there. Like wild canines or the winds that howled through the cliffs. Their place was nowhere and everywhere--everywhere except the stone where honest people lived. "There are other caves-- They can go anywhere they wish, outside of Held land. That is their _punishment_."

Her expression had been schooled back to its usual sweet elegance, suggesting a gentleness not found in her words.

"Most of the good land is Held. These Holdless were found within the Weyrhold. How do you think the Lords of the surrounding territories would react if we settled a cothold full of Holdless just outside the edge of their territory?"

“...They would be furious.” That, at least, was an easy answer, but it made everything else more complicated. She had never thought much about the holdless before, much less had contact with them. In her pristine world, they were vague spectres who suffered a deserved exile for the good of all. The reality of it--the logistics of what happened after--had never demanded her attention. Until now.

“Is there nowhere remote enough for them?” Sybana asked, a note of frustration in her voice. “We can hardly keep them _here_. As you said, the safety of the Weyr must come first--and they are _holdless_. All doors are supposed to be barred against them. The Weyr cannot overturn their convictions. That would not please the Lords either.”

"That is true, but it's also not unheard of for the Lord Holders to permit groups of Holdless to live on their lands so long as they break no laws." Tsaera sighed as she scanned the skies. "As a group, the Holdless are different than one criminal whose crime you know standing before you. For instance, you'll see families today. Should the children pay penance for the crimes of their parents?"

There was a shocked silence and for a long moment the only sound was the pounding rain.

Last updated on the April 15th 2025

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