Lo'qui's Impression to Jarath [Lo'qui]

[tovaana]

Loquin [soon to be Lo'qui], age 17
Hatching at Ierne Weyr

Weyrling Lo'qui :: Bronze Jarath

Being on the sands again was bringing back unpleasant memories. How many times would he feel obligated to be torn from whatever he was doing because of inconvenient timing of hatching eggs? He wondered if a dragon would ever choose him – if they didn’t, would his parents expect him to stand until he aged out? He wasn’t sure his heart could take it.

“Don’t look so glum, Loquin.”

“Do I look glum?” He turned his head only slightly to acknowledge the shorter brunette (he had yet to meet a girl that met his tall stature, so nearly all were short- though this one particularly shorter) without turning away from the clutch that was rocking violently. None of the eggs had hatched quite yet.

“Don’t tell me you’re not excited?” She had seemed to pick up his mood, even through the smile he had tossed in her direction. Obviously she was new, since he only had had a couple encounters with her and because if she had been at the Weyr long enough, she would know how he skipped out on classes and how he(and his family) felt about dragon hatchings. It wasn’t like it was a secret nor uncommon the way his family obsessed about their children also becoming dragonriders.

He tossed one last sideways glance at the girl, who had bothered to brush her hair, even though the eggs had torn them early from their beds. “Pay attention, don’t want to get mowed over by an over excited green while you’re distracted by glum attitudes, do you?” He asked with a grin, not looking at the girl anymore. He couldn’t remember, but he guessed he had been more flirtatious with the girl in earlier encounters, because she now took a side step or two away from him – hovering closer to the gold egg that was on the sands. Perhaps he had offended her at the idea of impressing green when her family expected her to impress gold – like his family expected him to impress… to any color really.

Loquin shifted, eying the largest egg in the clutch that many boys were hovering close to. It was obviously not gold, but as big and almost as elegant as a gold egg – obviously a large bronze that all the boys hoped to impress to. Loquin considered the egg for a moment as it jerked in movement and rolled to the side. All the wide eyed boys followed it with their eyes, each taking a step toward it. The hovering gold growled warningly at the eager candidates, her large creamy head lowering to look at them all with a whirling yellow eye. The gold rider was at her knee, talking soothingly to her dragon and at the same time giving the boys a warning look. They all took a step back.

All so eager to be a bronze rider. Loquin had been to enough lessons and engrained in Weyr life to know what a responsibility being a bronze rider was… it wasn’t like he had never played with the idea of impressing to a bronze in his head, it seemed prestigious enough… but it also meant less time doing things he wanted to do with his free time. He didn’t like the idea of a life style dictating what he did. His chocolate arms folded across his robed body, pursing his lips and glancing back at the crowd where surely his whole family (including his blue rider brother who had impressed before him) was hovering.

The last time he was on the sands his brother had impressed to a fine blue, leaving Loquin standing and dragon-less. It wouldn’t have bothered him if it hadn’t bothered his family – but the sympathetic look his mother had given him and the almost sympathetic (it had felt more skeptical in Loquin’s opinion) look his father had given him… It was like if he didn’t become a rider, they would disprove of whatever he chose to do with him life. And what did dragonriders do, but practice to attack something that wasn’t even a threat at the moment.

When he turned back to the eggs, the first green was impressing to one of the girls that had been waiting for the gold in the gaggle of girls… she didn’t seem bothered that it was a green that had chosen her, her eyes were wide and in awe. He felt the more critical part of him wonder if it was all that great: impressing. Was it a show they put on when the dragons impressed to them? Did she not want to show her disappointment that it had been the green and not the gold? He sighed, letting his hands fall limp by his side, trying to balance his tense feelings that were swaying from indifference to jittery nerves.

A blue, another two greens, and a brown all impressed. He glanced over at the large egg that was making some more movements, but taking its time. Another three greens, three blues, and another brown hatched. Then a bronze. A green. Another green. Then he lost track, his mind wandering and wondering how he could dodge greeting his family after not impressing again. Perhaps he could get a ride from one of the other riders, ask them to drop him off somewhere where he could ‘think’. They’d understand him needing time to get over his ‘grief’ of not impressing, when in reality he didn’t want the headache his family would give him.

There was a gasp from the crowd as the gold egg finally exploded, but he noticed that the girl from earlier was not with the gaggle of girls. Perhaps she had impressed to a green after-all. He smirked at the idea of this, but in the end he did not get to see the gold impress. In the grand scheme of things it hadn’t mattered, but he had found it odd that the large egg had seemingly decided to steal the spotlight and also burst from his shell. It was a bronze afterall, with beautiful rust and orange ember like markings with faint stripes. He couldn’t help it, his eyes opened wide and watched as the large elegant beast shook away the last remnants of eggshell.

The boys (those that were left) had all stepped back to give the shell room to crack, but now they were either boldly or hesitantly moving toward the creature, sure that it would choose them. The bronze considered them all with whirling eyes, but in the end it creeled with a certainty and nearly ran a boy over that was between him and Loquin. A dark haired boy fell to the sand and everyone watched, frozen with anticipation as it left the boys in a trail of dust that was kicked up by his quick and awkward movements.

They’re all wondering who I, great Jarath, will choose as my lifemate. Jarath’s sure voice brushed confidently in Loquin’s mind. They’re watching, let them watch. We’ll be a great force to be sure…but I think we better start simple; with food perhaps? The narrow wedge shaped head was glancing up at the crowds and then finally rested on Loquin with a whirling multi-hued gaze.

There was an overwhelming feeling that was coming over Loquin and in the back of his mind he wondered if he looked like that girl as he knelt down to touch the beautiful hide of the bronze. ‘Are you sure they aren’t watching the gold impress?’ The bronze glanced half-heartedly toward his gold sister, not quite catching his new rider's sarcasm (but would quickly learn) and then huffed as he led the way to the food.

Fascination. Awe. Wonder. Something had definitely hit him hard enough to shift him and his attention, at least for the moment. He was handed a bucket of pre-cut small meat slabs that the staff had been working on as the eggs hatched. I am ready and hungry, Lo’qui. Lo’qui paused for a moment, reality hitting him a little more. He was a dragon rider, a bronze rider of Pern. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t what he had always wanted or what his family had always wanted, all that mattered was that he had Jarath. It was the overwhelming feeling of hunger that was seemingly growing between their connection that brought him out of his reverie. He tossed the first of many pieces of meat to his dragon.

His Jarath.