An Evening Respite

[bleedtearsofshame]

Evening was falling upon the Weyr. The sun had dipped down to brush against the horizon and the clouds were alight with vivid shades of purples and oranges and cherries. But even with the edge of darkness, the warmth of the south still lay heavy and thick upon those who still moved about.

Sitareh sat at the crude desk that lay in her weyr, hides spread before her and ink staining her fingertips. The light from a candle was enough to write by. At least the desk was sturdy enough, even though it lacked the polished beauty of a masterpiece. Soon enough, she told herself. The crude furniture was only temporary until they had enough craftsmen arrive to build desks and chairs and tables that were true pieces of luxery.

She lifted her eyes from the hide and scanned her weyr, causing her lips to curve into a smile of pleasure. The first order that she had given upon arrival, after rounding up a small group of holders and their wives to help with cleaning, was the complete scrubdown of the caves that were perfect for the Weyrwoman's quarters. Decades of dust and grim had stained the stone walls, spinner webs thick in the air. Now, it was pristine and spotless. It was hers. There was a doorway that would lead to the small cave that would become the Records room. She planned on renovating as soon as possible, but it was far down on her list of priorities. But even if she could not begin creating the room, she could at least begin recording their history.

The records that she was working on signaled a new beginning. The start of a new era. Although record-keeping was a chore that Sitareh had loathed in the past - the dusky hides had irrated her sinuses and her fingers constantly cramped from writing - now, she almost enjoyed it. She tried to write down as many details as she possible could. Each new item that was completed, from the clean-out of the weyrling barracks to filling the hatching ground with new sand from the beaches, she made sure to write it down. It was satisfying to be able to look back on the passages and realize how much they had accomplished in such a short time - and to realize with a heavy shock, how much they had yet to complete before the Pass began. There was so much to do! And yet, she was making sure that it was done.

This was her Weyr now... She would make sure that it was perfect. She would restore the dragonriders to the glory that it hadn't seen in Passes.

Yes, came Aviciath's pleased rumble. She was stretched out on the wide expanse of her ledge, soaking up the last of the sun rays that darted through the sky. There is still much to do, but we have come far. We will be ready when Thread fills the sky. We will fill the weyrs with new generations of dragons and Pern will be saved once more.

Sitareh laughed softly, happy that her lifemate was reflecting the very thoughts that shifted in her mind. Yes, they were the Saviors of Pern. And although their presence was not as welcomed or appreciated as it should have been, she knew that it would change the moment there was silver flashing down from the skies. The Holders would realize then how important the dragonriders were. They would fall on their knees and beg forgiveness for their ingratitude and their disgruntlement when helping build Araelen. Praises would drip from their lips and harper tales would tell of the glory of dragonriders once more - and it would be her doing.

OOC: This post has been edited. For anyone who actually read the original, ignore the references to Araelen being created from the skeleton of Artemis. My brain is fried due to midterms. And that's my excuse. Artemis was on the mainland, Araelen is an island of its own and it is being completely build from scratch. Two different Weyrs. I apologize if I confused anyone. I confused myself. Heh.

[ravyna]

Ravyna was annoyed with herself as she climbed the inner stairs toward the Weyrwoman's quarters. Since she'd arrived, though she'd glimpsed the golden Aviciath from afar, she'd yet to get the chance to view her up close. She pushed back her excitement, and scolded herself for the childishness of the emotions.

In fact, she didn't get opportunity to do much, she thought to herself, for all she seemed to do was labor and toil. Other than Tirenth, she really hadn't had a chance to see any of the dragons up close! M'kel was certainly not kidding when he said the Headwoman would find something for her to do. The few breaks she got during her days were spent with her runners. Vision would be dropping her foal any day now, and Rav had finally grown comfortable trusting Caltrain to care for her. Indeed, he was her equal in his knowledge of beasts ... a fact it was hard for her to admit.

Today's find, made by Caltrain himself, in fact, as his crew was expanding the beastholds, had finally given Ravyna an excuse to see the Queen face to face. Though Rav had never thought she'd behold anything as wonderous as a finely bred runner, the distant glances at Aviciath had convinced her otherwise. She wondered as she climbed if ... what was the woman's name? Sitareh? ... would even allow her to touch the golden hide.

She paused to redistribute the weight on her back. A net filled with live, fresh, loaded glows. Caltrain's crew had broken in to a blazing vein of the luminescent organisms -- and the Headwoman had put a half dozen women and children to work filling the empty holders and baskets that had been piled in the depths of the store rooms.

Ravyna thought herself most fortunate that the woman had been too busy to bring the news -- and a large sampling of the glows -- to the Weyrwoman herself.

She reached the top somewhat breathless, and paused to control her respiration before knocking on the weyr's inner door. She could hear the sound echo within, and she straightened her stance and tried to hide the excitement in her eyes.

[bleedtearsofshame]

Someone approaches, Aviciath told her rider, lifting her head to stare into the weyr from where she lounged on the ledge.

Thus, Sitareh had a second's warning before she heard the slight sound of shoes brushing against stone and the sharp rap of knuckles upon her door. The Weyrwoman looked up from her hide, squinting her eyes as her vision struggled to adjust from the dim glow of her candle to the shadows surrounding the doorway. Blurry spots danced in front of her eyes before they finally adjusted and she could see the outline of her door.

Is it one of my bronzeriders? she asked Aviciath with a smile of amusement. She called all of the bronzeriders hers, suitors who struggled to gain her attention and favor.

There was a pause. No. It's not a dragonrider. It's a girl.

Oh. Feeling slightly disappointed, Sitareh brushed away a tendril of hair that had escaped the prison of her braid. She never got on well with members of her own sex. "You may come in," she called, returning her gaze to the hide sheet in front of her, dipping her quill in a jar of ink and returning to her scribble of notes.

[ravyna]

Ravyna straightened her hair and tunic, annoyed with herself for doing so, and at the beckon, opened the door.

She stepped into darkness -- even the few precious glows hung in the stairwell, which it was her task to add to on the way down, were better than this! It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the three points of light that could be seen in the weyr -- the flickering candle on the desk, and two glowing, whirling lights off in the distance. The candle she identified immediately, but what--

Wait, they just moved.

Talk about dimglows! Those soft lights were the eyes of the Queen herself, and they were pointed in her direction.

The girl could not remember a single speechless moment in her life, but there was a first time for everything. Grabbing hold of her thoughts, she forced an intelligent tongue into her head.

"Weyrwoman?" she again turned toward the candle light and could now make out the woman's figure sitting near it. "I bring light!"

She stepped further into the weyr, and paused at the memory of the Headwoman's instruction. She bowed toward the golden Queen, even though she wasn't sure if Aviciath could see her any better than she could see the dragon. Holding out the net sack, she knew full well that the woman wouldn't be able to see it from that distance. As she drew closer, she pulled out one of the glow baskets and unshielded it part-way. No sense blinding them all by throwing it open too fast!

The room took on highlights of burnished copper.

"Caltrain and his crew unearthed a large vein of glow organisms this afternoon. We've spent most of the day filling the expired baskets and globes that had been stashed below."

[bleedtearsofshame]

Sitareh smirked to herself when she saw the girl's form stiffen slightly, her head turning towards the whirling eyes of Aviciath. At least the girl seemed respectful, almost in awe to judge by her body language (for the queenrider certainly couldn't see her face from this angle). Good. Better respect than ingratitude.

Her lips parted in order to ask the obvious question, the reason behind the girl's presence. But the other saved the Weyrwoman from having to do such a thing. She took a breath and turned her eyes from the dragon on the ledge, her legs striding across the room to bring herself closer to Sitareh's chair. "I bring light!" she called out, and the curiosity that such a cryptic statement produced annoyed Sitareh.

The girl paused in order to extend her body in a bow towards Aviciath, and even at this distance, Sitareh could see the excitement that radiated from the other's taunt muscles, the grin spreading her lips. And then, she saw the light. The girl had removed the sack from her back, and had open its neck slightly, just enough for a faint coppery light to spill form. The weyr was illuminated with the strength of several candles, and the familiar shade was enough to cause Sitareh to jump to her feet.

She gave a glad cry, pushing her chair back in her haste to cross the weyr towards the girl. Glows! They had found glows! No more candles, burning tallow with an unpleasant odor. Sitareh had to see for herself, and once she stood close enough, she peered at the glows herself. "Do you know how many days we've been searching for glows?" she asked gleefully, glancing up to grin at the girl (not a girl, she realized with a shock. A woman of her own age). Her excitement was enough to make her temporarily overlook her normal wariness of members of her own sex.

"Do you know what this means? What we can accomplish now? It's hard to do work with faltering candles, but with a steady stream of glows, we'll be able to do so much more! You say Caltrain and his people found this?" She would have to speak with the man and offer him her thanks. Glows were such a simple thing, and yet their very presence seemed to validate the organization of Araelen!

[ravyna]

Ravyna returned the smile, bringing it quickly under control, for both the woman's enthusiasm and her beauty made her feel suddenly uncomfortable. For some reason she had expected the Weyrwoman to be ... well ... older. But she found herself looking into the face of a woman her equal in age, equal in beauty, and with a decided advantage.

A Queen dragon.

Carefully, Rav kept the smile on her face, and nodded. "I'd heard of the glow searches, but as is often the case, the item was found by those not even looking for it. Caltrain told me they were just extending the beasthold farther back into the cliff when they stumbled across the vein. He showed it to me this afternoon when I went to check on my runners -- they'd just discovered it moments before. There is enough light there to keep the Weyr in glows for many generations to come."

"Oh, and by the way," she nodded again, a symbol of respect, and hoped it appeared genuine. No sense in putting off a dragonrider, when her dragon was this close, after all. "My name is Ravyna."

[bleedtearsofshame]

Sitareh raised her eyes from the glowing basket, still delighted with this turn of good fortune. Thus, she didn't even feel her normal wariness when around her fellow sex, expecially a woman of her own age with an obvious intelligence and quite a bit of beauty to her name. Normally, her response to Rayvna would have been somewhat contemptuous, a cool reminder to the obvious difference in rank.

But she was gleeful over the glows, and the news that the vein of glow organisms would be plentiful enough to last the Weyr for generations. She had been worrying over the light situation, knowing that dragonriders didn't have the time to spend making hundreds of candles, and the Holds were proving to be troublesome enough with providing mere provisions.

"Rayvna," she said with a smile on her lips, nodding her head in easy acceptance of the respectful gesture on the other girl's part. "I thank you for being the bearer of glad tidings. These glows mean that there is one less headache for me to deal with. As for introductions, I am Weyrwoman Sitareh. My lifemate is on the ledge, I see that you have seen her. Aviciath is her name."

She paused, tilting her head slightly in order to regard the girl. Since Sitareh had only brought men with her in this jump forward in time, Rayvna was obviously from this day and age. Dragonless. "Tell me. What brought you to Araelen?" she asked, with all of the confidence of one used to having her curiosity rewarded.

[ravyna]

Ravyna smiled cautiously at the Weyrwoman's casual tone, and the mention of the golden dragon drew her eyes automatically in that direction.

"She's amazingly beautiful," the dark girl had whispered before she realized she was speaking aloud, and had to count to ten for inward composure to answer Sitareh's last question. Immediately, shields went up, invisible and practiced, and she hoped the smile wasn't obviously forced in appearance.

"I trained runners for several turns since leaving my old hold," she said quietly, allowing her eyes to catch the Weyrwoman's with just a hint of boldness, "Which I'm sure you know isn't the ... safest ... occupation for a female in these times." Surely Sitareh spoke with M'kel, so she would have to make sure any details the Weyrwoman decided to check up on matched. "My two runners and I finally sought refuge here after an ... unfortunate incident. I came expecting hard work," she said, and her smile shifted from strained to genuine, "But I think I've tread more stairs in the past sevenday than I had before in my entire life." A chuckle escaped, brief but sincere, and the sound of her own soft laughter caused the shields to return as the girl gazed back toward the dragon. "And, like many in these times, I'm sure, who've suddenly had the creatures of legend and dream appear in our lives, I suppose I came hoping that there would soon be a clutch on the Sands.... "

Here, her eyes flew open, and a genuine sparkle shone from them. "Oh, the Sands! I saw them today, while leading a cleaning crew that were tidying up after the stonemasons." The fact that it was such demeaning labor that had led her to the Sands rankled and simmered under the girl's skin, but she hid the fact carefully. It wouldn't serve her to let the Weyrwoman know how she truly felt about the tasks she was performing. 'All in due time' had become Ravyna's mantra. "What an amazing, inspiring place!" Again she couldn't help glancing toward the Queen dragon, and wondered at the expression on her face. Had she been a runner, Ravyna would have judged it one of intelligent interest, touched with a slight air of benevolent superiority. But of course this was no runner. "If you don't mind," she couldn't help asking, "Those of this time know so little truth about dragons ... can Aviciath understand what I'm saying, or is it true, as I was taught, that dragons can only communicate with their own riders?"

[bleedtearsofshame]

Yes, now that Sitareh thought back, she could remember M'kel mentioning the arrival of a girl with a pair of runner beasts. In the past, Weyrs had always been the sanctuary of those who were seeking a better life - and abused females naturally made up a large number of those seeking safety. It did not surprise her at all to realize that although Araelen was still being constructed, people remembered the old ways. If one hardworking girl had chosen to come to the Weyr, it meant that more would follow. And they would need all of the help they could get.

Still, the young woman couldn't have but laugh softly when she heard the questions. She was not laughing at the girl, for she felt pride for being the leader of such a place that had already affected someone for the better... No, she was finding amusement in the ideas that the common folk held about dragons. Yes, dragons had not been seen in centuries, apparently, but the truths that had been passed down were distorted into fables that only the foolish could believe.

"I assure you," she said with a grin. "My Aviciath is just as intelligent as any person that you might meet. More so, I often think. She understands every word that you say. But you are correct in the fact that she only speaks to me. Dragons very rarely speak to those who aren't their riders. They say that it is an unpleasant feeling, distasteful to them, and thus they rarely do so. But if you hope to stand as a candidate, I do not think that you will have to wait long. Aviciath will soon be nearing her time to rise, and then there will be a clutch on the sands. All men and women of the appropriate ages will be allowed to stand. That includes you. And who knows? Maybe a green will come up to you and change your life forever."

[ravyna]

The flash of insult Ravyna felt, already, after only having been at the Weyr such a short time, surprised her. She scowled slightly and allowed herself to look the Weyrwoman in the eye.

"Hmph," she said, shaking her head slightly. "The old harper who schooled the children in the village near my family's hold taught us that the legends of dragon intelligence were just that ... legends ... and that in truth they were just.... " she didn't even want to say the word in the presence of the Queen dragon, so she lowered her voice ever so slightly, "Dumb beasts who did the bidding of their masters." Indignation sparked in her eyes as she went on. "I knew as soon as I saw how Tirenth responded the day I met him and M'kel that the old harper was a fool, and what I had been taught a lie." She swerved her gaze, again, to the dragon, her tone shifting to sadness. "A lie that he truly believed, though, because it had been taught to him as truth. Since the dragons went away -- my, that old phrase, rolling so casually off so many tongues suddenly takes on a deep meaning. Since the dragons went away, I think the humans of Pern have tried very hard to forget how much we needed them at one time."

For the first time, a touch of destiny tickled her spine, and the hairs on her neck stood up. The dragons were back. Or coming back, the wave of which had begun. Did this mean-- "It's true, isn't it?" she asked in a whisper. "The Thread? We're going to need the dragons again, aren't we?"

Suddenly, the haughty and self-important Ravyna felt very small.