Small Favours

Writers: Eimi, Jelena
Date Posted: 30th December 2011

Characters: D'cal, Naton
Description: Naton brings D'cal a letter from his brother.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 5, day 14 of Turn 6

Naton had been looking forward to this from the moment he had arrived
at the Dolphin Hall. When the young seacrafter Dagas had asked to
deliver a message to his brother at Dolphin Cove Weyr, Naton had
gladly accepted the task. He had never been at a Weyr before and to
live so close by one now was an exhilarating thought. So, on his first
day off, the Senior Journeyman set of on a walk towards Dolphin Cove
Weyr.

The walk to the Weyr was exciting enough, with more than one dragon
flying overhead, but when the dolphineer finally entered the Weyr
itself he could barely contain his enthusiasm. It didn't take him very
long to find a dragonrider willing to help and soon enough he was
positioned at the entrance of the Weyr's dining hall, waiting for
bluerider D'cal to meet up with him. Naton didn't mind having to wait
a little in the slightest and he cheerfully greeted anyone who walked
by him as he leaned against a cool wall and whistled a merry tune. A
Weyr! How exciting was that.

D'cal had been surprised to hear that he was being summoned by a
Dolphineer. A young woman came first to his mind, one he had been a
lover to Turns ago and had since been married. He was a little
disappointed to hear it was a man he would be waiting for, but his
curiosity was peaked, nonetheless.

"Journeyman Naton? Are you the man looking for D'cal?" the bluerider
asked of the man wearing the correct knots leaning against a wall.

"Yes, I certainly am," Naton said, stepping towards the bluerider and
extending his hand for a firm shake. "You must be him, your brother
Dagas described you accurately I see!" The man had a merry twinkle in
his eyes as he observed the dragonrider. From what the young
seacrafter had told him, the letter he brought would be a pleasant
surprise, so Naton was happy to be the messenger.

"Dagas?" The bluerider's surprise was evident in his face as well as
the way his grip suddenly seemed to lose it's strength, as if he had
forgotten the gesture entirely. "You met my brother Dagas?"

"I did, as a matter of fact, he is the reason I am here," Naton said
with a smile as he reached inside his pockets for the letter. "He was
a crewmember on the ship that I came in with. He's doing very well and
asked me to deliver this letter to you." Naton held out the letter to
D'cal, knowing very well how valuable such a letter could be. He had
lived out most of his childhood waiting for such letters from his
father.

"A crewman?" He did the math quickly in his head as he took the
letter with reverence. Dagas couldn't be more than 14 Turns now.
"Like a cabin boy?"

"Yeah," Naton nodded. "He told me it was his very first sea voyage, he
was very excited to tell you about it. I'm pretty sure that is the
most part of the letter." Naton could only imagine how exciting the
trip must have been for the kid, his first real sea voyage.

"I always knew he'd be a seacrafter," D'cal said with a wistful smile.
"Our Da must be proud. Three sons following in the craft. Well, two
and a half at least."

Naton nodded, glad to see his news brought joy to the dragonrider. "It
does a father good, I think, to see sons following in his footsteps.
Though I imagine one of his sons impressing to a dragon brought him
just as much joy!" Naton could imagine it had the father worrying too,
but then again, a sea voyage could be as deadly as threadfal, at
times.

D'cal smiled again, but it was a poor shadow of the expression. "Not
for many Southern Holders when their son Impresses a blue."

Naton looked at D'cal's half smile and could hit himself over the
head. He wasn't really used to the sensitivity of these subjects and
he felt sorry for broaching it with someone he didn't even know. "When
did you impress your dragon?" he thus asked in the hopes of changing
the subject.

"It's been three Turns now. Since just after the great hurricane that
destroyed Topaz Seahold. That's where my family is from, though
luckily everyone was safe." And there were many in the Seahold that
owed their lives to the dragonriders of several Weyrs who had braved
the storm to carry them to safety. It was out of gratitude to them
that D'cal had answered the call to Stand.

"That was an awful one, from what I've heard," Naton nodded. "I'm glad
so many people were saved though. It could have been even worse." Of
course he had heard about the Southern hurricane, even all the way up
North, as it had been the reason for relocating the Southern Dolphin
Hall.

"Much," D'cal agreed. "I'm sure my family is still helping to
rebuild. When we've flown over in Threadfall and sweeps I notice how
much it's already grown. Of course, it will never be like it was, but
things change." It brought to mind how much his brother must have
changed in the last three turns. He was only 11 when D'cal last saw
him. "What did Dagas look like? Is he as tall as me yet?"

"Well, he seems to just be hitting his growth spurt," Naton said with
a pleased grin. "You know, all limbs as teenagers can be." Naton knew
it could be tough, trying to get people to take you seriously in the
seacraft when you hadn't filled out completely yet. It had been
difficult enough in the Dolphin craft for him, at the time,
considering his interest had always been with rescue operations. "He's
a good lad though, I quite liked him. Looks a lot like you, too. Just
a bit lighter in the eyes and the hair, but you can easily tell the
two of you are related."

D'cal grinned, already picturing what Dagas might look like. "What
was the name of the ship you were on?" Maybe there would be some way
for him to find where it would next land. Of course, he hadn't yet
read the letter, and wasn't quite sure what his welcome might be.

"It's the Cerulean Stargazer," Naton replied helpfully. "But I'm sure
Dagas wrote that in his letter. He was quite proud of his posting." He
looked at D'cal curiously. "It must be hard being away from your
family all the time. Any tips for me, now I've moved across
continents?"

D'cal didn't want to point out that he hadn't exactly been in contact
with his family much. But he did have a bit of advice to pass along.
"Don't wait to write them. Write them soon, and often. Don't let the
time stretch on."

"I'll keep that in mind," Naton said with a nod. "I guess it is easy
to loose touch with all that distance and a busy job." He sighed for a
moment, thinking this over. He knew he had done the right thing in
moving, but he would miss his family and friends up South. "Lucikily
people here seem friendly enough, I'm sure I will fit right in."

"Well, you do live right next to a whole Weyr full of dragons who can
take you home sometimes. And listen, since you did me a favor," the
bluerider held up the letter that had been delivered by the
dolphineer, "I would be happy to convey you myself sometime."

"Do you mean that?" Naton asked, obviously surprised. He'd never had a
dragonride before and the idea of getting home that easily - in case
of an emergency - was a big comfort to him. His parents were both
getting on in age and leaving them behind over such a long distance
had been a very though decision.

"Of course. You've done me a great service, I'd be happy to return
the favor," D'cal said with conviction. "It's the least I could do."

"It was my pleasure," Naton said, still sounding a bit surprised. "And
it is very generous of you to offer. I will keep it in mind." He
paused for a moment, looking at the letter in the bluerider's hand. "I
will let you get to reading that, then. I can imagine you are dying of
curiosity by now."

The bluerider's eyes turned back to the letter, his heart already
beating a little faster. "I am... very curious." And nervous,
excited, a little frightened... So many emotions. He wasn't quite
sure if he wanted to open it right away or just hold it for a while
longer.

"I bet," Naton grinned, giving the young man a firm pat on the
shoulder. "Go read it, I can't imagine there being any bad news in it.
I told Dagas that if he found someone headed for the Dolphin Hall
again, I would gladly pass another message. So perhaps I will swing by
with more news some other time. Either that or I'll be taking you up
on that favor!"

"I'll be waiting," D'cal promised as he started taking a step back
towards his weyr. "Send me a message any time. Just ask for D'cal,
blue Aosorath's rider."

"I will," Naton said, raising his hand in greeting. "Until we meet
again!" Giving the rider a last cheerful grin, the dolphineer set off
into the Dining Hall to see if he could buy himself a meal there. He
still had quite a bit of time left and he was going to make the most
of it, now he was in the Weyr anyway.

Last updated on the January 12th 2012

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