You Must Be Meledei

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 14th July 2009

Characters: Meledei, Leisenn
Description: Leisenn meets Dolphin Cove's weyrling weyrwoman while out walking.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 3, day 7 of Turn 5

The Hallmaster walked whenever she could; walked, splashed, waded, clambered, as the terrain around the Dolphin Hall required. Perhaps not so much clambering, these days, because she was aware of skin that was frailer and bones that could break. Her balance was unquestioned, though, she assured herself as she wobbled for only a moment on the rocks of the cove between the Hall and the Weyr. Nothing wrong with that.

Behind her, sounds of another person scrambling over the rocks. Meledei made her way to the Hallmaster, curiosity as well as concern driving her along.

"From the Weyr?" Leisenn asked the young woman by way of greeting.

"Yes." Meledei straightened and smiled to the older woman. "Weyrling, actually. Saw you up here." And she thought she'd check out why an older woman was wandering around on the rough terrain.

"Ahh." Leisenn peered at the young woman's knots, simple knots that undoubtedly meant a weyrling and the gold thread woven in among the others. "You must be Meledei."

"I find that people know me, but I don't necessarily know them." Of course, it was pretty obvious so she wasn't surprised. "Yes, I'm Meledei. Well met...oh! Hallmaster!"

"Yes, I'm Leisenn. It's a pleasure to meet you, as well, weyrwoman."

"I don't know if I can officially use that term yet." Could she? Meledei hadn't graduated. Did she have to graduate to be called that? No one else had. "You just came here a few months ago, right?"

"Yes." The old woman's light-coloured eyes twinkled in her weather-worn face. "A promotion for me. My own Hall."

"How do you like it?" Meledei clasped her hands behind her as she talked, head cocked to the side. "Where did you come from?"

"Another Hall where I _wasn't_ Hallmaster. A Southern Hall." Leisenn eyed the young woman, suspecting that that meant little or nothing to her. "This is a Hall set up at Topaz SeaHold by the Northern Dolphincraft, which is why it accepts women."

"So you're used to the South, then." Meledei would have thought she was from the North, but she guessed this Hall was kind of like the Technician Hall. "How do you like it at Dolphin Cove?"

"I like it very much," Leisenn admitted. "The proximity to the Weyr is not something I've ever known before and it's ... interesting."

"Interesting?" That could mean anything. "How exactly?"

"I've never met so many dragons - or dragonriders. And it's like a drawing of a long-ago time, for me, from before the craft ban." Leisenn chuckled. "And I'm very much the latecomer to this - the rest of my Hall seems to find it very ordinary to live next to the Weyr. Everywhere I'd ever been before this had the Hall attached to a Hold."

"I guess you coming here is like me going to a Hold to live." Meledei mused as she picked her way over some rocks to circle around the Hallmaster. "I'd probably feel the same way."

"But you can't go to a Hold now, can you?"

Meledei shook her head. "Not that I really want to. I love it here." Her gaze pulled away from the Hallmaster at the distance sound of dolphins playing in the water. "One of those yours?"

"No, my Tu is usually alone. It's not like dragons - I understand they all get along as a group. With dolphins there's a pod who are resident here, and then others who might keep each other company but are not part of the local pod." Leisenn shrugged. "Tu's a young male. He's happy enough not being part of the group, right now."

"Will he ever be a part of the pod?" Meledei knew a little about dolphins, but not a whole long. It was more of a passing knowledge thanks to the proximity of the Dolphin Hall.

"Probably not. But it's not like dragons - if he wants to leave and seek a pod of his own he can go. We're not dependant on each other."

"Yeah, I get that." Meledei nodded and shielded her eyes from the brightness of the sun. "How long have you two been partners?"

"Not long. He's a very young dolphin; his grandmother was my partner for many Turns. He grew up determined to take her place and he has." The old woman's smile was affectionate. "How long is it since you Impressed your dragon?"

"Only a few months. We're just about halfway through training." They had gone so far, but they still had so far to go. Sometimes it seemed as if it was taking forever to reach graduation. "Though in some ways, it seems like it's been much longer than that - in a good way."

"Seems like you've always been with her?" Leisenn suggested.

"In a way. I mean, I have plenty of memories of my life without her, but at the same time, yes, it seems like it's been longer...and I wonder how I could have lived my life without her before." It was hard to describe and Meledei certainly was no harper. Maybe F'gol could write a song about it - if she could convince him to.

"A bit like falling in love?" Leisenn guessed, having wondered about that before.

"I guess that's about the closest one can get to an accurate description." Meledei stated after a moment's thought. "But a lot more intense. A lot more...and all encompassing."

"It sounds very special," the old woman observed. "Are you from a dragonriding family?"

"My mother was from a hold and never impressed." Her mother had tried, but it had never happened. She hadn't minded though, for she had her weyrmate and her daughter. Meledei smiled to herself. "But my father is a brownrider."

"So you knew something about it? And did you grow up wanting to be a dragonrider?"

"Yes, I did." Yet Meledei had always been practical too. "But I apprenticed to a craft just in case. Impression isn't guaranteed, even if you have one or even both parents who are dragonriders."

"Neither is progression in the dolphincraft - regardless of one's parentage," Leisenn muttered, thinking of a particular apprentice and his infamous disinclination to work. "Are you just out for a walk?"

"Yeah, I was just taking some time to relax when I saw you out here. You wobbled a bit and I must admit, I got a bit concerned." The Hallmaster wasn't as young as she used to be, though Meledei hadn't realised who she was until the weyrling had gotten closer.

Leisenn smiled. "You were kind to check, but my balance is still pretty good." She nodded down at her feet where bare ankles disappeared into rope-soled sandals. Thought she skin on her legs was weathered brown and a mass of fine wrinkles the muscular structure under the skin showed clearly. "Staying active - that's the thing."

"I'll remember that." Meledei grinned. Perhaps her balance was pretty good - up close it was easy to tell that despite her age, the woman was in good shape. "Though as a dragonrider, I don't think I'm going to have much of a choice but to stay active."

"Not now we have Thread back," Leisenn agreed. "They think fifty Turns of it, don't they?"

"Yeah, fifty turns." A little less than that for them, though not by much. Meledei wondered if she would live to see the end of that pass - it was a sobering thought. Goldriders didn't fly the worst of Thread, but that didn't mean they weren't at risk too. "Well, I should probably get going before I'm late."

"Of course. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Meledei, and I hope that you and your lifemate will visit us at the Dolphin Hall some time." Wouldn't that liven up the apprentices, Leisenn thought happily.

"Elleth likes water, so that's a distinct possibility." The little gold would surely love to play with the dolphins. "It was nice meeting you too, Hallmaster. Until we do so again, clear skies." Meledei grinned then turned to carefully but quickly pick her way back toward the Weyr proper.

"Clear skies," Leisenn repeated, supposing the farewell would do as well for and from a dolphineer as for a dragonrider.

Last updated on the July 14th 2009

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You Must Be Meledei