No Future

Writers: Devin, Vix
Date Posted: 23rd July 2008

Characters: D'ren, I'ster
Description: D'ren remembers a conversation with I'ster
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 7 of Turn 4

Who: D'ren
Where: DCW
When: m10 d7
What: D'ren remembers a conversation with I'ster
NPCs: I'ster
Mentioned:
Notes:

~*~
The waves rolled in and out, lapping against the shore. The sound and
the motion were soothing, but not enough. Nothing was enough. D'ren
leaned back against warm bronze hide and stared out at the ocean. It
wasn't the first time someone he'd known had died. It wasn't the first
time someone he'd known had been taken by Thread. He'd been through
tragedies before: the Threadfall disaster that had taken so many
lives, the hurricane and the flood it caused, forcing them to evacuate
the lower caverns and rescue the eggs from the Sands.

But this is the first time he'd lost someone he'd been responsible
for. J'darin had told him to watch out for I'ster, and he'd failed.

~*~

"Hey, I'ster! Come on over!" D'ren waved to the younger rider.

With a grin, the brownrider sprinted across the packed sand. "Hi
D'ren! What do you need?"

"Nothing. Just thought you might want to chat, relax, whatever." He shrugged.

"Always." I'ster's grin broadened. "It seems like every time someone
calls me, they have something new for me to do, so I expected that you
did too. It's a real relief to have someone just want to talk."

"If anyone comes by with work for you, we can pretend we're having a
meeting." D'ren winked.

The younger dragonrider laughed. "They probably order you about as
much as they do me. I doubt that either of us is safe from new
assignments."

"Well, I hope I'm a _little_ safer," D'ren said. "Maybe Menanth can
scare them off."

"Maybe." I'ster turned to his friend with a hopeful look. "Do you
think he could scare them away from me, too?"

"I hope so. He's big enough." The once small bronze was now an average
size for his color, which meant he was bigger than most of the other
dragons in the Weyr.

"I'd appreciate that," was I'ster's reply, "because I've had enough of
doing all of the tasks that no one else wants to do."

D'ren laughed. "Maybe in a few years you'll get to make the younger
riders do all the things you don't want to do."

"Maybe," he conceded, "though I'll try to remember how it felt and not
be too hard on them."

"That's good. I wish more people thought like you."

The young brownrider blushed. "I'm no different from anyone else. I
don't think most people really want to be mean – they just forget
sometimes."

D'ren smiled. "It's good to know that you'll remember."

"Can I tell you something, D'ren?" I'ster grinned sheepishly.
"Something that I hope for when I'm older that I haven't told anyone?"

"Of course."

"When I get older I want to be part of the Weyrling staff and to teach
others. Not like now when I fly in the Weyrling Wing, but really a
part of it. You know – teaching others so that they won't be scared up
there."

"I think you'd be an excellent teacher," D'ren said, smiling. "I think
you'd make Weyrlingmaster in no time."

I'ster shook his head. "No, not that. That type of leadership isn't
for me. But something less and still teaching. I think there's a lot I
could offer others."

"I think you're right. You've got a lot of patience and
understanding.Those are very good traits in a teacher."

The younger rider grinned broadly. "I'm glad you think so. That makes
me think that my plans for the future aren't so unrealistic."

********

But they were unrealistic, because I'ster would have no future. No
growing up, no teaching weyrlings not to be afraid. He was dead.

Dead.

D'ren stared out at the waves, and they blurred.

Last updated on the July 24th 2008

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No Future