Do You Have Any Questions?

Writers: Eimi, Ames
Date Posted: 7th April 2013

Characters: C'baz, D'naz
Description: Naz talks with C'baz about weyrling matters
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 12 of Turn 6

D'naz was pleased with the way things had been going since he'd been
appointed to the Weyrlingmaster Second position. He liked to check in
on the different weyrlings and get to know them a bit better.

He spotted one he hadn't spoken with much yet. Walking over to him, he
greeted the boy, his voice always slightly louder than even he
expected.

"Good morning, C'baz," D'naz said, placing a hand on the boy's
shoulder. "We haven't had a chance to talk yet. I wanted to get to
know you and Pawtinath better. He is already growing nicely and seems
very curious about everyone and everything around him." D'naz chuckled
at that a bit. His own Keluth was much the same as a young dragon.

"Oh yes, very curious," C'baz agreed with a wide, loving smile directed
at his little blue, who was moving closer to the Weyrlingmaster Second
for a better look and a scratch. "He's quite affectionate as well to
any and all he meets."

D'naz chuckled and reached a hand out to give the little blue an
affectionate pat and scratch his head. "I actually like that about the
young weyrlings. Their curiosity is exciting in so many ways. Reminds
me of my own Keluth, actually." Here D'naz paused, "though it will be
important for you to keep a close eye so that Pawtinath doesn't get
himself into any scrapes or troubles because of that curiosity." He
remembered a few such scrapes of his own when he and Keluth were
young. Looking back they were actually amusing, but he knew how
dangerous they could be as well. He would _not_ want any of the
weyrlings who were now in his care to suffer some ill-fate while under
his watch. "So, how's he been eating? Sleeping?"

"He's eating well. Perhaps a little _too_ well. He seems hungry all
the time!" And that feeling had spilled over to C'baz as well while he
was learning to separate his own feelings from those of his little
lifemate. "Then of course he has to sleep, but as soon as he wakes up,
he's demanding more food." C'baz was rather grateful he had been raised
around animals and butchering. Some of the weyrlings seemed to barely
be able to hold a knife properly, let alone use it with any efficiency.

"That's about normal, I'm afraid. It takes some time before all that
starts to settle, but thankfully, it _does_ settle. It sounds like all
is going well with Pawtinath." D'naz scratched the eager head once
more. "How about you? Tell me alittle more about yourself? I know you
were Searched, but I don't know all the rest."

"Well, I was raised in the foothills of the Eastern Barrier Range. My
father was a traveling blacksmith and I was learning the trade from him.
We'd travel from farm to farm mending what needed fixing, sharpening
tools, making new ones, and so forth." It was amazing, but as C'baz
turned his mind back to that time, he could hardly believe that time was
truly real. Sometimes it felt like all a dream. "I suppose I could
have used a dragon _then_," he said with a chuckle, remembering that
there had been a time with a runner-pulled cart had seemed like high
speed transportation.

D'naz let out a chuckle at that. His chuckle, however, had a rather
resonating, deep sound to it. He patted C'baz on the back again in
mirth. "I imagine a dragon _would_ have helped quite a bit then. It's
good that you've got experience with the land. It will help you when
it's time to travel /between/, but things do look rather different
from atop a dragon's back. I actually grew up not far from the Eastern
Barrier Range myself, but I didn't last there long. I was eager to
study Harpering, and got my wish when I was fairly young." He eyed the
dragon once again, considering his next question carefully as he knew
many non-Weyrbred folk had difficulty accepting what it meant to ride
a blue.

"So, were you surprised that you Impressed a blue?" It was important
that he knew the young boy's thoughts on the matter so as to help him
work through what it could mean for him overtime.

"Oh, no," C'baz said with a wave of his hand. "I'd lived in the Weyr
long enough to figure out that much. I even have a bit of experience,"
though mostly at first under the influence of alcohol when inhibitions
had been shrugged off in the name of fun. Later he had become more
comfortable, and even open to the idea. "I'm all right with all that
now. I'll pretty much take whatever comes along."

D'naz nodded, "Good, good. That's the right attitude. You'll do well
with that. I've always been the same. Whatever happens happens and I'm
happy with whatever the outcome." Truthfully D'naz preferred men over
women, but was content to have both in his life, fulfilling different
roles. He'd had a few weyrbrats of his own here and there over the
Turns from some of those encounters.

"Do you have any questions at the moment, C'baz? Anything I can help
you with?" D'naz asked, wanting to see what was pressing for the
weyrling.

"When can we move into our own weyrs?" It wasn't that C'baz
particularly hated sleeping in a room full of other weyrlings. He just
couldn't wait to have a space to call him _own_ again.

"It'll be a few more months," D'naz said. "Once you both learn the
basics of flying together, then we can allow you to have a weyr of
your own as you'll be able to reach it with Pawtinath." He knew how
important that feeling of independence was, but it was necessary at
the moment that the weyrlings stay together and live in the barracks
until the dragons were more mature.

C'baz nodded and shrugged. That made sense. "It's hard to believe
Pawtinath will be _big_ enough to fly in just a few short months, let
alone carry me on his back."

"Aye, that it is, but just you wait. He will grow so large, you will
wish he were this small when you need to oil or bathe him in the
future," D'naz chuckled at that. His own Keluth was on the larger size
for a blue. Thankfully he could bathe himself most of the time now and
only needed an occasional oiling here and there. "Just wait, C'baz,
that first flight on your dragon's back is one you will remember
always."

"I'm sure of that," C'baz said with another tender smile. His blue came
shuffling back towards him to lay his head on his boy's knee with a
pleased sigh. "And when he flies on his own, that means I don't have to
feed him anymore, right?"

"That's right," D'naz replied. "Right now it seems overwhelming, I
know. The dragonets need so much attention and help that you feel you
can barely breathe, but I assure you that feeling will pass soon
enough. You'll hardly remember the difficulties of these months as the
Turns pass and you two spend your life together."

"How long ago did you Impress?" C'baz asked curiously.

"Twenty Turns ago," D'naz answered. "Sometimes it seems like yesterday
and other times it's hard to believe so much time has passed. Pern has
changed much in those twenty Turns." D'naz, for once looked a bit more
somber than his usual at that though. Thread. N'ril. Those thoughts
left him with a sadness around his heart. Yet, he pushed them back
where they belonged, deep inside himself. Once in awhile those sad,
dark thoughts broke through and D'naz gave in, but today was not going
to be one of those days.

"I bet it has," C'baz said with an understanding smile. His father and
mother told him of times when Thread was a just a myth that their
parents would use as a punishment if they stepped out of line. 'Be good
or Thread might come back looking for you'. Dragons, too, for that
matter. 'Mind your parents or a dragon might come and snatch you away'.
How times had changed. But they would again. "I'm sure it will be a
shock to my generation when Thread is gone once more."

"I hope, young C'baz that _I_ get to live to see such a day, but alas,
with Thread falling, we know our time may come at any moment. Life
during a Pass is never easy. How we had hoped that our enemy wouldn't
fall on the lands once again. We'd _all_ forgotten just had difficult
it could be." He clapped a hand on C'baz's shoulder. "Now, as for you
and your generation, I expect you to live happily into the next
Interval, especially after all the training _I'll_ impart to you."
D'naz puffed out his chest as though to boast, but in truth he was
grinning and having fun with the young weyrling.

The weyrling wasn't sure he felt so reassured. First the man says they
all could die at any moment and then he says he expects him to live!
Well, C'baz knew the reality of the situation well enough after all this
time in the Weyr. "We'll do our best to make it through, sir," he said
with as genuine a smile as he could muster.

"That's the spirit," D'naz replied.

"Thank you." Pawtinath lifted his whirling eyes to look at his boy
pleadingly. "He's hungry _again_."

"Then you must see to him. Let me know, however, if you are in need of
anything," D'naz told him. "I've enjoyed the chance to get to know you
better, C'baz."

Last updated on the October 3rd 2013

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