Fallout [Tag: Kiba]

[Hiko]

(Set the same evening as A Dragon's Purpose.)

You must stay calm, you must stay in control of the situation, Aerroth reminded her lifemate as the Second rolled her shoulders in frustration. She hadn't wanted to have this talk, hadn't wanted to be that person. But a Weyrwoman had to be in control of her dragon, or else the Weyr suffered.
And the Weyr could have easily suffered in that Fall.

Talera ran a hand through dark hair and breathed, forcing her lungs to take in air slowly and exhaust them evenly. This had to be done, and Karredy had to be made to understand what was at stake. She had almost died once before – was she so willing to return to that ditch they'd buried her in?

Calm, Aerroth reminded her.
Repeat it all you want, my love. I might require the reminder.
Aerroth's mental snort brought a caustic smile to the woman's lips. The gold had not forgotten her own distaste for what she considered beneath their rank, it seemed. Although the gold had been... aggressive in her thoughts since Zalmaranth's stunt in the Fall, it seemed she hoped for her lifemate's success in this meeting. Talera, however, had realized early into the lull after they'd returned to the Weyr that her agitation had only grown. She supposed she'd needed the time to recover to truly grasp the idiocy of Zalmaranth's response.

Using the access from the lower caverns, Talera rapped at the entry to Karredy's quarters.
“Weyrwoman, may I have a word? I promise not to take much of your time, but I believe there is something we should discuss, regarding our wing.”

@kiba

[Deleted]

Zalmaranth was currently on her couch, acting as if today's Threadfall had gone as usual. And for all intents and purposes, it had: Threadfall was combat, after all, and even the gold and her rider had minor Threadscores to show for it.

Karredy was a different matter: After a checkup from the healers, listing off the other riders' wounds, and updating the Weyr's stocks, the Weyrwoman had been resigned to waiting for a discussion about her and Zalmaranth's stunt. And in a Weyr like Mavros, already a doom-magnet as far as the Northern Continent was concerned, both the Weyrfolk and holders had quickly gotten wind of events. The basic story was intact for now--Karredy and Zalmaranth had gone up to the fighting wings unannounced, to help a struggling C'mor--but there were already some details going awry, like how C'mor had gotten his leg burned off instead of just his harness, and the Weyrwoman felt a strange mix of irritation and amusement at what the story would look like the next sevenday.

"If it's about what happened in Threadfall, don't worry. I figured someone was talking to me about it soon." She sighed. "Come in."

[Hiko]

Talera entered the Weyrwoman's quarters with a renewed irritation. Karredy's tone reminded the older woman of an errant child, resigned to her fate of a scolding. She was the Weyrwoman, for Faranth's sake! The least she could do was take the berating like an adult. Talera's lip twitched and she found a seat. Once comfortable in the chair, she crossed her legs and let her hands lay at her knee. She looked up to Karredy and let out a soft breath of air. She reminded herself that the younger rider had taken on the role of Weyrwoman in youth, and with the Weyr in the state it had been, had likely not been given this sort of counsel.

“A Weyrwoman that cannot control her queen should not be in the air,” she said softly, “Between her size and her temperament, she is a liability if unrestrained.” Talera leaned forward on one knee, shifting her weight uncomfortably in the seat. She hadn't wanted to step in and discuss this, but Karredy hadn't been wrong – someone had to say something, or the risk that such an occurrence would happen again only heightened.

“If you cannot control Zalmaranth, give the leadership of the wing to one of your Seconds,” she continued, her tone still gentle. “Today's events could have easily lost us C'mor and you both, and while I realize we finally have enough golds to not need to worry about future clutches, it's hardly desirable to see you back in the ground.”

@kiba

[Deleted]

"I had control of Zalmaranth, Talera, just... not... Threadfall," Karredy stumbled. Oh no, she'd started her whole explanation wrong. "We weren't planning on doing any big rescues or anything. We were just going to help him flame the stray Thread and then go back to the queen's wing, but once we got out of between, I just--I forgot to..." Plans go wrong in Threadfall! the goldrider thought desperately. Tell her that their plan went--

"C'mor was on fire! We couldn't just leave him!" Shard it all--now she sounded even more like Gerran caught her out too late. (But she wasn't that old, the back of her head reminded her.)

Why did it sound so much better when Zalmaranth said it earlier? Plans go wrong in Threadfall, Karredy thought again with dismay.

It doesn't matter how good it sounds, the gold said. You aren't lying, are you?

It matters to other people, Karredy told her. She knew Zalmaranth wouldn't care unless she explained why a Weyrwoman (and goldriders in general) had to say things in a certain way to represent the Weyr as a whole, but she'd already messed up talking to one person, and all the records were running into the back of her head (they'd need to boil numbweed soon, but some of the fellis was starting to spoil) and she was tired.

[Hiko]

“So,” Talera replied evenly, “What you're saying is, you chose to break formation, interrupt your Weyrleader's wing, and attempt a rescue on another wingleader's rider, before bothering to find out if they even needed Zalmaranth there? Am I to understand that correctly?”
She let out a breath of thinly-managed irritation. It was one thing for Zalmaranth to be out of control; that merely required a rider to be more aware of their lifemate and more willful than the queen – something required for all weyrwomen, anyway. But for Karredy to say that she was the one responsible, the one who chose to put not just her own wing at risk, but the Gale as well...

After a moment, Talera's eyebrows knit in an unreadable expression. Folding her hands into her lap, she looked down.
“No one is saying C'mor should have been left to burn. But that was our Weyrleader's wing that you and Zalmaranth flew into. He and his wingseconds are more than capable of taking care of their own. Your wing needs you to lead it, not charge off on rescue missions in the middle of a Fall. You do understand that? You and Zalmaranth were a safety risk, today. One rider was rescued, but how many more had to work to avoid her sudden presence in their formation? How many more could have been injured by you not letting A'zael and his seconds take care of their own wing? This isn't a child's game, Karredy, and you can't just “forget” your place in combat.”

@kiba

[Deleted]

"Of course I know Threadfall's not a game," Karredy retorted, though with the disappointment settling in, there was no real bite. "All the ballads keep telling us that, don't they? And my sister is a dragonrider, too."

On her couch, Zalmaranth's tail was switching around, not irritated but certainly impatient. How much time was Talera was taking to say 'don't do this again?' Will you be much longer? She asked Talera. She already knows she made a mistake, the queen continued. We've flown plenty of other Threadfalls, and she doesn't have a habit of being reckless. She feels bad about this, so she won't do it again. That's all you came up here to say, wasn't it?

Karredy had been twisting her hands since around the second sentence started. This was an awful lot of talking for the terse queen--was she more angry than she was showing? "Zalmaranth, please don't yell at her--"

Tell her yourself if you like. The gold finished. But we don't need you here.

And she settled back onto her couch.

Karredy shook her head and smiled to break the silence--but as her initial irritation had been too tired, her smile dropped like wet sand as soon as she had to talk. "Don't... don't mind her too much," she said to Talera. "If Zalmaranth had her way, I'd only talk to others about eating, sleeping, and healing."

But I haven't talked to anyone, came that irritating (and correct) voice again--and Karredy nudged the pang of loneliness away.

[Hiko]

“And my cousin's a Lady in Tillek. But that doesn't account for all the wine in Benden,” Talera replied, leaning back in her seat with an irritated snort. “This isn't a ballad, either. You could have gotten dragons killed, up there.” The sharp, sudden presence of Zalmaranth's voice in her mind made the older rider flinch, but she recovered quickly.
“I won't mind her at all, Weyrwoman,” The Wingsecond replied caustically as she rose and headed toward the door. Zalmaranth's impatience had put the woman over the edge, and she realized that if she stayed any longer, she might say something she would regret.

As she turned and took a step out of the weyr, Talera glanced behind to her Weyrwoman.
“But you should mind this, Karredy. If you continue to encourage today's sort of reckless behavior, your fellow queen riders will not stand behind you. If you cannot or will not control yourself and Zalmaranth in the future, the wing will continue the fight without you.”

[Deleted]

"I--Talera, of course I won't!" Karredy hovered outside the door. Should she follow Talera, or... "Zal, why did you have to make that big speech about 'we don't need you?'"

It's not a secret why she came. Zalmaranth wasn't happy at the abrupt end to the conversation--contrary to popular belief, she didn't go around goading people into fights, mostly because it wasted time--but she was relieved that it was finished. If I'd left you two to keep talking, she would have felt bad telling you to be more responsible, and you'd just feel worse about it.

"And you left us to talk for how long?" Karredy retorted. "Five minutes?"

It didn't take her that long to spit it out. Her golden head stretched up to work some kinks out. You don't even have to worry about being grounded, or that I won't listen to you. It's too much trouble if everyone has to come up here and talk about things we already know.

Of course Zalmaranth was worried about wasting time instead of people's feelings. "But Zal, I didn't want to make Talera mad."

You didn't make her mad, the gold assured. I did.

"That's the problem." That was always the problem, Karredy thought dismally. Zalmaranth didn't care about using an indoor voice, Zalmaranth didn't use her voice at all because roaring or growling at someone got faster results, Zalmaranth made another goldrider mad... "I'm the Weyrwoman, but I spent a whole Turn getting sick and barely doing anything after--after not being dead, surprise everyone! And now that I'm not sick every sevenday, I can't talk to people very long because you keep making them mad!"

Why did you want to keep talking to Talera? Zalmaranth wondered. There was no point.

"Yes, there was!" She could feel the sting starting up in her eyes. "I didn't plan the big dramatic rescue just to get attention, but if I was going to be stupid and get grounded for it, I would have at least liked to handle things like an actual Weyrwoman!"

You are a Weyrwoman--I Impressed you.

"I'm not a good one, though!"

But did she even know if she was a bad Weyrwoman? All she'd really done for most of the Turn was stay alive, and she didn't seem to be making much difference at the moment: Mavros had been limping along without her, and it was limping along somewhat faster now that she could actually do things.

Well, now she was crying.

And she forgot to close the door, so whoever was nearby could hear her crying.

And depending on just how unlucky Karredy was today, they'd probably heard her half of the conversation with Zalmaranth, too.

Karredy stalked over and slammed it.