In Our Blood

Writers: Dana, Rochelle
Date Posted: 4th August 2006

Characters: Eleada, Traelyn
Description: Eleada decides to sit with her new Weyrwoman.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 27 of Turn 3

Eleada looked around the dining hall, scanning the tables. She didn't want to sit alone today. She'd been at Dolphin Cove for over a sevenday, and she had spent far too much time alone despite her family's best attempts.
Better to be with someone she had never met than to dwell on Linrary.

Most of the tables seemed to be either full or empty. Wait... Hah! The Weyrwoman was sitting alone by the wall. Quickly crossing the room, Eleada stood by the seat across from her. She'd been curious about this woman ever since her mother had pointed her out. Traelyn was her age, and had by a strange accident become Weyrwoman. It was like one of those bad romance novels Linrary used to read.

"Mind if I join you?"

A bit startled, Traelyn looked up, glancing first at the greenrider's knots before meeting her eyes. It was often a _woman_ wanted to sit with her... "Not at all," she smiled politely, gesturing to the seat across from her.

Sliding into the seat Eleada selected a meatroll with a sigh of relief.
She'd missed breakfast that morning, courtesty of Arieoss depositing six half-dead tunnelsnakes on her. Nasty things. "I'm Eleada. I just transferred into Cyclone wing from High Reaches."

"Welcome to Dolphin Cove, Eleada. I hope you've been settling in just fine?"

"Well enough I guess. It's a bit disorienting though. I actually impressed here before I transferred out, so everything is sort of familiar, but not the way I remember it." She confessed.

"The Weyrs are ever changing," Traelyn grinned, taking a sip of her cold water. "I Impressed at Far Island. I'm sure it's much more different now than it was when I was there last."

"Do you ever return? I mean, for a visit or something? Just to see how much it has changed?" She asked wistfully. She'd been thinking about sneaking back north, just to see the familiar spires of High Reaches again.

"I haven't been back yet," she replied, shaking her head. "Not since I became Weyrwoman here. My family lives there, and we exchange letters, but I guess it isn't the same as actually going to visit, is it?"

"No, it isn't." Eleada sighed, taking a sip of her klah. "It's nice to be back. I can see my mother and my sons, but... I still miss it. It was home." **Linrary was there...**

"I can understand. Give the settling in some time...it'll get better."
Traelyn gave her a reassuring smile--but no doubt the greenrider knew that already. "Are your sons dragonriders too?"

Eleada chuckled. "Faranth, no. Adaric's ten, and the twins are seven.
They've still got a few turns to go before they can stand. My mother is raising them, along with my nieces and nephews. She's a foster mother there." She gestured around to indicate the weyr. "I certainly hope I don't look old enough for them to be riders. I'm about your age."

Traelyn grinned, nibbling on her roll. "My older sister, Ceslyn, was younger than us when she had her first child. He Impressed when he was twelve--not too much older than your Adaric."

"He might Impress that young, but I don't know. I Impressed at fourteen, and I was the youngest in my family to do so. We'll see. Are you weyrbred?
You mentioned your sister -all six of my older siblings are riders." She bit into another meatroll, and debated getting some more.

"Yes, I'm weyrbred. Everyone in my family is a rider...I guess it's in our blood." But she was first in her family line--as far as she knew--to ride a queen. "My two sisters ride greens, and my brother rides a bronze.
People we knew used to laugh that it was a good thing we all rode dragons because we all look so sharding alike from far away! Same hair and eyes..." She wondered if T'raclen had finally decided to cut his long hair.

"Mmm." Eleada smiled as she swallowed her meatroll. "You'd be hard pressed to say I looked like my family. My brothers and sister are all brunettes, like my mother. As it is, we managed the whole dragon color range except for gold, and to hear my mother tell it Jorada almost managed that." She rolled her eyes. "Are they all at Far Island still?"

She nodded. "For now, anyway. Ceslyn and Atreyn probably won't transfer, but T'raclen is a different story. I can imagine he'd want a change of scenery someday."

Eleada grinned. "Would you want him to transfer here? You could lord over him all you wanted. Or would he prefer to escape the family entirely?"

"With him?" she chuckled. "I'm not sure _what_ he wants...and I don't think he knows either."

"Do any of know what we want?" Eleada asked with a snort. "I still don't
-I left to get away from my family, and here I am again with a mother, three sons, a brother, and swarms of nieces and nephews to invade my privacy." She paused, then "Do you have any children?"

Traelyn shook her head. "Not yet."

"That's probably a good thing." Eleada said lightly. "They're a lot like our dragons -they invade your thoughts and conversations whether you want them to or not." She smiled fondly, and studied her plate. She was going to need seconds if she wanted to walk out anywhere near full. "But like a dragon, you don't know what you're missing until you have one."

She forced a small smile. "You're probably right, Eleada."

Eleada was silent a moment, aware from the Weyrwoman's expression that it was probably a sore subject. She was tempted to pursue it, since conception had _never_ been an issue for her, but she liked this woman so far, and it didn't pay to annoy authority anyway. "I'm going to get some more. I missed breakfast when my feline dropped some tunnelsnakes in my lap. Would you like something?" She offered.

Trying to shove old memories away, Traelyn gave the greenrider a more sincere smile and shook her head. "Thank you, but I actually have to get going myself. Nyith's long overdo for a good scrubbing. Hopefully some Candidates will be around to help." Rising from her seat, she held her hand out. "It was good to meet you, Eleada. I'm glad you came back to Dolphin Cove. We need every rider now...since the accident."

"I know." Eleada stood, and took the offered hand warmly. "It was good to meet you Traelyn." She stopped, cocking her head with a smile. "And if you ever want someone to complain about brothers to, look me up."

Last updated on the August 4th 2006

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In Our Blood