A Letter Home

Writers: Francesca
Date Posted: 30th July 2009

Characters: Kamalia, R'del
Description: Kamalia writes a letter home.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 11 of Turn 5
Notes: Mentioned: Arrilon (ONPC)
Comes between "Isn't It Beautiful?" and "First Trips /Between/"

"You'll be learning to go /between/ soon. Weyrlings _die_ at this point in
training."
~~

Arrilon's pessimistic words had been bothering her for several days now.
For the past months weyrling training had been grueling, but the possibility
of dying was low. However, soon they would be entering what Kamalia
considered the real part of training. /Between/ was the true test of any
dragonrider and only rarely did a weyrling class make it past that part of
training without some casualties. But, why did Ari need to talk about it all
the time? She knew the risks.

Worry about the first jumps /between/ only two days away gave Kamalia
a nervous energy that no amount of drills diminished. That was in part
why she had decided to follow through on what she had told her brother.
She would write a letter to her parents.

Kamalia sat down at an empty corner in the dining cavern, mouth set in a
determined line, and slowly she wrote a letter. In the back of her mind,
unacknowledged, was the realization that it could be the last letter she
would ever write.

~*~
Kamalia fed half of a meatroll to the firelizard, smiling at his eagerness.
Her friend's blue seemed to be hungry constantly and it was surprising he
wasn't overweight with everything he ate. As he chewed, she read over
the letter she had written one more time:

[Dear Mom and Dad,

Everything is fine here. Alaudath is almost full-grown but she is still the
second-smallest in her clutch (that means in the group of dragonets she
hatched with, her brothers and sisters). We can now fly together and, in a
few days, will go /between/ for the first time. Soon I will be able to go
anywhere on Pern!

Arrilon is grumpy, as usual, but there will be a Hatching soon. Once he
Impresses he'll be fine.

The blue firelizard's name is Silly and he belongs to R'del. Remember
him? His name used to be Risandril and his father is a Guard, so Silly
should be able to find dad. Feed Silly a lot and he should stay until you
write a reply.

Say hi to everyone for us!

Love, Kamalia]

Nodding in satisfaction at her carefully written letter, she rolled it up and
handed it to R'del to put in the message tube. The firelizard soon blinked
/between/ and all there was left to do was wait.

The reply came just as Kamalia had finished oiling her riding straps and
she eagerly took the message, written on the back of her letter. It was
written in her father's precise script. She could imagine him sitting at the
table, writing as her mother put the younger children to bed and shouted
out additions to the letter.

[Dear Kamalia,

We are all glad to hear that you are doing well and you mother wishes you
would write more often. We know you are very busy, but a short letter
every few sevendays would be enough.

Once you are able to go /between/ you and Arrilon must come visit. You
can see your youngest sister and two nephews for the first time and we can
meet your Alaudath.

We hope to see you soon, or at least hear from you.

-Your parents]

Kamalia felt a twinge of guilt reading the letter. She knew she should
write more often, but it was easy to get swept up in training and caring for
Alaudath. She hardly missed her parents at all now that she had Alaudath.
However, soon letters would not be necessary. She would be able to visit
whenever she wanted. Everyone would be jealous of her and her beautiful
Alaudath! A smile crossed her face as she wrote a quick reply below her
parents' letter:

[I promise Ari and I will come visit as soon as we can. And, you will love
Alaudath! Hugs and kisses to everyone.]

Silly disappeared /between/ again, reappearing soon after. Kamalia fed
him the rest of the meatroll as payment, a wide smile on her face. Once
she could go /between/ she would be a real dragonrider, free to come and
go as she pleased. Writing the letter had left her feeling more calm than
before. She hoped that calm would still be there in two days.

Refusing to think of the possibility of death, she looped an arm through
R'del's. "Let's go eat. I'm starving!

Last updated on the August 2nd 2009

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A Letter Home