Searching Twofold

[kevna]

Ny'x - Blue Nimocith

She pulled her coat tighter to herself as she jogged, slightly annoyed by her foggy breath. She reached the group after what seemed like forever, and she wedged herself in between a few people, offering apologies and excuses, until she could see what stood at the center of it. Two men, one was a behemoth, tall and broad shouldered, sandy colored hair, and he was stripped down to pants and a longsleeve shirt that clung to him due to the wet snow. The other was far shorter, though almost as broad, and far less interesting to watch. Both wrestled in the snow, there was curses and laughter, but to her ears she could hear the intensity behind the laughter, as if there were anger as well.

Him. She could feel Nimo watching through the lens of her eyes, feel the intensity, and then confusion came back. No… Her?

“That is definitely a man, Nimo.” She said quietly, the appreciation clear in her voice.

Them. Them? They are two, but one.

“So… Him, and another? A woman?” She continued to murmur, though she didn’t bother scanning the crowd, she was far more interested in the ‘him’ that Nimocith could feel. A dragon candidate, if she could convince him to come to Mavros. Shards, she hoped she could convince him. It would be nice to have a specimen like him in the Weyr. It would be nice to have those arms wrapped around her and-Nimocith interrupted her, probably because he could see where her mind was going-She too. She is… like him. Find her.

N’yx waved her hand dismissively. “I will, I will. I just want to watch the finish of this first.” The taller man almost glistened with sweat, even though it was freezing cold outside.

Zelhirin

“Aren’t you tired of losing yet?” He asked with a laugh, leaning back and stretching lazily. Mostly to rile Tysurian. He was nothing sort of lazy. He had been up early that morning, gone for a run in the freezing cold with his sister (though he had ended up carrying her more then running with her, he really should learn not to bother her in the mornings), had a quick bite to eat, and then worked for a couple of hours before taking a break to go to the mess hall for a warm cup of klah. He had checked in quickly on his twin, who was diligently at work, and hadn’t bothered to invite her to join him. He’d bother her later. Better to let her work for the time being.

So, he was enjoying his nice cup of klah when Tysurian had approached him and his companions. Tysurian was a bully. Just a turn older then Zelhirin, he didn’t like it that Zel and Liza were outperforming him in their work. Tysurian had the strength and the will to do well, just not the intelligence-or humility to learn. Zelhirin knew whenever he corrected the fatfingered man that it wouldn’t change the way he worked or did things, but he couldn’t help it. Tysurian ruined enough work with his pride, he might as well poke at it further. It was during one of these corrections he had thrown out, yes, a little unkindly, that Tysurian had thrown the first punch. Sure, they had had previous scuffles, but this one had been an all out fight.

It was good that they hadn’t been caught, especially since it had given Zelhirin the opportunity to knock the guy out cold. Tysurian had started it, but Zel had finished it. It had been a couple of weeks of Tysurian muttering and angry, sporting that big, beautiful black eye-and now that it had faded, it seemed so had his memory.

“You cheated!” The shorter man said quietly, his face twisted up making him even uglier then he was naturally. Zelhirin laughed, looking around at his friends who chuckled along with him. “Surely not. You threw the first punch without warning-you had plenty of warning when my fist hit you right in the eye.” Of course, Tysurian had given him plenty of warning, if not verbal. There had been aggression in his stance, which is how Zelhirin had ducked the punch. It wasn’t hard to read intentions.

“I want a rematch. Wrestling. Now.” He pointed one of those thick fingers at Zelhirin’s face, and it took a lot to remain relaxed looking, when all he wanted to do was slap that finger away and hit him in the gut. Hard.

“Alright. Outside then. North side.”

Tysurian gave him a bewildered look. “It’s freezing out there.”

“All the better to wrestle in. Maybe it’ll cool off your temper.” Zelhirin remarked affably, then gave another taunting smile. “Unless you are afraid of a little cold?” The broader, shorter man growled out a ‘fine,’ and Zelhirin put up a hand before he could stalk away. “But I’m going to finish my klah first.” He then very deliberately, and so very slowly, raised his cup and took a small sip. Tysurian’s face darkened at the obvious disrespect-his hands balling in fists. But he turned and stalked off without another word.

“You’d think he’d just slink off and stay under your radar.” Hadeas, one if his friends chuckled, shaking his head. Hadeas was far more relaxed and lazier then Zelhirin, and he didn’t have much pride. Which was what made them such good friends. Hadeas didn’t mind it when Zelhirin corrected his poor technique. “He’d have to be intelligent for that.” Muttered Varita. She was a solemn soul, very good at glaring at Zelhirin when he pointed out a mistake, but quick to fix herself anyway. Zelhirin smiled and shrugged, winking at Varita. “He seems to like you well enough.” He teased the short brunette, who narrowed her eyes at him. “Hence the lack of brains.” She growled, turning her eyes to the cup in front of her and giving it her best cold stare. She was probably wishing it was Tysurian.

Zelhirin jumped up from his chair, feeling the thrum of energy and anticipation, “I’ll see you guys out there. Gotta get Liza, she’s my good luck charm.”

“It’ll be sooo cold.” Varita whined, slinking in her chair.

“You don’t really want to miss Tysurian getting a facefull of muddy snow, do you?” Zelhirin prodded her, raising his eyebrows a couple of times. That seemed to put a small, teeny-tiny smile on her face.

“That does sound like fun.” She said grudgingly, and Hadeas only saluted to Zelhirin, calling out as the tall blonde walked away, “Tell Liza hi for me! She could always stand with me, I’ll keep her warm!” Zelhirin shot a dark, warning look over his shoulder, and Hadeas looked innocently at him, putting his hands up. “I’d give her my coat of course!” He said with practiced art, all wide-eyed innocence. Varita was snickering- and Zel decided to let it slide this time. Hadeas was mostly all talk when it came to his ‘intentions’ with Liza. Mostly.

He used his long legs to quicken his stride to Liza’s work station, and he shot his head into the room, ignoring everyone else, and enjoying the fact that he would be distracting all of them from their work. The more that came the better, because maybe it would finally put Tysurian in his place. “Liza-snow wrestling with Tysurian, on the North side! Hurry up now, need my good luck charm.” Before she could say anything, he ducked back out of the room, then thought better of it, shrugging off his coat and popping back into the room and throwing it at her. “Watch out for Hadeas, he’s up to no good again.” Then he quickly skipped out of the room, knowing she very well could say something snarky to that, and walking double time toward the exit, and finding himself on the northside.

Hadeas had been gathering more people and had already gathered a good group into a semi-circle. He was fast, that one. “Look Zel, space for Liza.” Hadeas said as Zelhirin came up to him, motioning to the space next to him dramatically. “Stop teasing me, Hadeas.” Zel said, and pushed his friend, hard enough to make him stumble into one of the snow drifts, getting one leg up to the thigh soaked. “Ahhh. Yessir.” Hadeas gave another sloppy salute, hopping and kicking his snow covered leg all over the place, continuing his dramatics.

Tyrsurian had come to join them, a group of his own people trailing him. He stepped into the middle of the group-the poor guy was bundled up against the cold. It was sharding cold, even Zel could quietly admit to that, but admitting it openly was a weakness. By the end of this match, Tysurian would be soaked through, his winter coat and all. Liza would have his coat nice and warm, and mostly dry. That’s what twins were for. Well, hopefully she would. If he hadn’t angered her and given her a reason for revenge. Zel pushed his sleeves up, noting the sound of more people, and hopefully Liza, joining from behind him. He crouched down, raising his hands, and giving a hard smile.

“Alrighty you two. First to hold his competition in the snow on his belly, face good and covered for a ten count wins!” Hadeas called out, having far too much fun. “On your mark,” Zel only had eyes for Tysurian. He could easily win, as long as he stayed focused. “Get set,” Tysurian had a bum knee on the right side. It made for a good weakness. He would target that side as often as he could. “Wrestle!” Zelhirin launched forward, as did Tysurian. They connected, and the impact sent both of them to the ground. Shards, but it was cold. Ice cold. After the initial shock, the raw feeling gave his mind a clarity, helped him focus. He leaned and pushed forward toward his left, Tyrsurian’s right-and got a fistful of snowy ice and then a fist in his face, glancing off his left cheek. Of course, Tysurian would cheat. Luckily the blow hadn’t been terribly hard, probably because Tysurian’s coat was inhibiting some range of motion…. But it had given the other man the upper hand for the moment, causing Zel to fall back onto his back. Tysurian was on top of him, and the cheat got a knee in the gut for his trouble. This allowed Zel to roll them over so he was on top, or so he had thought, but came upon resistance. Tysurian held his own, and they both grappled on their knees trying to get one up over the other. Now it was just a matter of time. Zel had the height and strength-he could grapple for however long he needed till he got another opening, he didn’t have any doubt, just patience.

Patience was not his strength. But strategy was. He made as if his right leg was giving out, and Tysurian fell for it-pushing with all his strength so that he could be on top again, Zelhirin used his strength and threw himself back, using both of their momentums so that not only Zel hit his back, but rolled over his shoulder. Their grappling fell apart with the jostling, and the fact that Zel kneed his opponent where it hurt most was just good luck that followed the strategy. Tysurian was gasping, trying to recover and scramble away, but Zelhirin was faster. He leapt onto Tysurian, rolling him over and kneeling on his back. With both hands he pulled Tysurian’s arms over, then gripped his wrists on top of his back, and with his other hand, pushed his opponent’s face right into the snow. One; the satisfaction of pushing the bully’s head into the snow was beyond pleasurable. Three; his opponent was cold and tired, but he struggled, bucking himself in an attempt to dismantle Zelhirin off of him. Six; He could hear other’s around him counting, almost in time with him. He could really appreciate the cheering now. The cold was starting to seep into his bones.

Shards, it really was cold. Eight; it seemed like an eternity, this counting, and he almost lost his focus, almost allowed the cold to distract him enough to get bucked off. He barely steadied himself, and chuckled to himself at his foolishness. Ten; Everyone called out ten, and there was cheering. He hopped up, and put his arms up, but kept half of his attention on his downed opponent. He started looking around for his sister, and hopefully, his coat.

Zen

[Zen]

Lizalia

Normally when she was working, she was nearly impossible to distract without physically forcing her out of her ‘zone’. Normally when she was working, she was completely oblivious to anything and everything going on around her. All sound became background noise, a meaningless sort of hum, even if someone happened to start talking directly to her. Unless they were involved in her current project, anyway, like when she worked with her father, or sometimes Zee. Her intense concentration had gotten her in trouble more times than she could count with masters during her apprenticeship, because they thought she was purposely ignoring them, when she really, truly, could not hear them through the invisible focus bubble that appeared around her when a project really had her in its grip.

But suddenly she blinked and looked up, just as Zee’s head poked into the room, a heartbeat before Squeak let loose her telltale trill that meant her twin had arrived. Her brows furrowed slightly, questioningly, just as he began to speak. Snow wrestling? She might have shaken her head and returned to her work but the name Tysurian kept her attention. It was always worth it to watch her brother beat that tunnelsnake’s sorry hide. Hadn’t they just been in a fight not too long ago in which Zee had soundly won? Denser than an anvil, that one, and half as useful. He’d already gone and Squeak took to the air to follow after him, hoping for a treat, but came up short of the door as he appeared again. Liza caught the coat he threw at her with a puzzled sort of look as he mentioned Hadeas.

Spectrum chittered questioningly on her shoulder and she shook her head and hurried after him, dismissing his apparent warning about Hadeas. She doubted this would take long, she’d have some fun watching Zee force feed Tysurian some snow and get back to her work. Speaking of snow. She tossed her brother’s coat around her shoulders, her bronze lifting into the air just in time to avoid being covered before landing once more. Squeak had already gone with Zee, apparently, as the green was nowhere to be seen, though Liza finally arrived on much shorter legs than her brother’s, she didn’t spy the green there either, but that made sense. Squeak didn’t like strangers and there were a ton of people gathered to watch. The silly green must have realized Zee wasn’t going to give her any food and popped off somewhere to hide.

As she pushed to the front of the crowd, Hadeas waved her over to a spot he’d apparently saved for her. Liza tugged Zee’s coat tighter against the cold as her brother took a readying stance and Hadeas apparently nominated himself the moderator of the challenge. He did have a flair for dramatics. Liza watched grinning as the fight began, occasionally joining the other spectators in calling out some encouragement or insult. Shells, she should have bet on this, it sure would have been some easy extra marks. She wished Chai was there; her sister was normally more of a doer than an observer but she was sure she would enjoy watching this.

When Zee finally had that wherface pinned in the snow she let out a whoop and started counting with everyone else. She laughed gleefully as they reached ten and her brother hopped back to his feet, shrugging her shoulder to send Spectrum into the air again so she could pull off Zelhirin’s coat and hold it out for him, grinning, “The champion’s coat!” She laughed and stepped forward to help him into it, teasing lightheartedly, “Y’know if it’d been me you’d probably be scolding me for risking a chill. But I’m such an awesome big sister I won’t scold you at all.” She did love referencing the fact that she was a whole 17 minutes older. She laughed again and flapped her hand in Tysurian’s general direction, “Though I hope you’re done playing with trash.”

kevna

[kevna]

Ny’x – Blue Nimocith

She watched the match, her heartrate had picked up with the excitement of it all. It could be the shouting and cheering… But she doubted it. Shards, but he was good looking. His last move in order to pin the other man was impressive, and she wondered what other moves he had. She joined in on the counting, wishing it could be over already. She clapped, and another man standing next to her whistled, pumping his fist when they reached the number ten. She started moving towards him, but a group of boys beat her to it, and another woman… She couldn’t hear them, there was too much noise and space between them, but the other woman was beautiful, blonde, and obviously interested in the same man she was.

Her. That’s her. Them. Both. Ny’x blinked, because it took her a moment to claw out of the disappointment she had started feeling, and understand what Nimo was saying.

Oh, she’s the other one? Are they… related? She couldn’t help but hope.

I don’t know. They feel similar. I don’t understand it.

Yeah, me either.

She took a breath, suddenly feeling jittery and nervous, before approaching the man and woman, clearing her throat.

Zelhirin; Ny'x - Blue Nimocith

He spotted Liza as soon as she stepped forward, proffering his coat. He smiled nice and big-then staged a nice big dramatic bow, using his stomach to let his words carry, “Why thank you my lady twin,” but before he could reach her Hadeas, Mikael, and Jaff had surrounded him and were patting him on the back and laughing. He accepted the congratulations, sharing a few short words with them before he waved them off. He offered himself up and allowed her to help him into it. He was so cold he doubted he would have been able to put it on nearly as quickly. It was toasty warm from Liza’s body heat-just as he’d hoped, and it had kept Hadeas from offering her his own coat. Like working two projects with one oven.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled at Liza’s teasing, then moved to put his arm around her to ruffle her hair. “Such a good big, little sister.” He gave back, emphasizing the little. Liza did love that she was older, even if it was only by seventeen minutes. It probably would bother him more if he wasn’t so much taller and broader then his twin. Liza’s referencing of Tysurian as trash had him throwing his head back and laughing, because it was just so very accurate, wasn’t it? “Only till I have to take the trash out again, which does seem like a repetitive task.” He tried his best put upon tone, but it sharpened when his eyes landed on Tysurian who had risen and whose face had twisted again in that ugly angry look. He gave a hard look, making sure to wait till Tysurian was looking at him-because just previously he had been looking at his twin with angry intent. He took a step away and in front of Liza, his hands, cold and frozen, balling in fists, and warned lowly, “Don’t even think about it.” His nostrils flared.

Tysurian narrowed his eyes, but only shrugged, and backed away, before stalking off. There would be more trouble there, he could feel it. If the ‘trash’ even laid a finger on his sister, Tysurian would lose more then his pride at his hand.

“Excuse me? I don’t mean to interrupt, but you two are just who I was looking for, and can I just say, what a brawl!” She sounded impressed, this new speaker. He turned and found a slender woman with short brown wavy hair, and pretty green eyes standing next to Liza, and knots of a bluerider on her coat. He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. There weren’t many female blueriders. Then let one of his small, flirtatious smiles take over. She was pretty enough.

“Thank you, bluerider.” He couldn’t help but show off his knowledge, grateful for his uncle’s teachings. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she nodded. “How did you-?” Then she looked down at her knots and seemed to make the connection, “Oh. You know the dragonrider knots? Are you interested in riding?” Her eyes were mostly for him, though she seemed to realize she was staring, because she blushed and then looked at his sister too. “Uh, both of you, that is?”

Then as if to cover the fact that she had focused on him more then his sister, she offered her hand to shake to Liza, saying, “I’m Ny’x of Blue Nimocith, by the way.”

[Zen]

Lizalia

Liza enjoyed holding her seventeen minutes over her twin because it was about the only thing she could hold over him, being that he was so much larger than her. And as he generally pointed out on such occasions, she may be the (slightly) older sibling but calling her his big sister was laughable. She flailed a hand half-heartedly at him as he ruffled her hair, though the state of her hair never particularly bothered her, much to her mother’s exasperation. She ran her hand through it once, absently, to smooth the worst of the muss, and turned slightly as he stepped in front of her, only then noticing that Tysurian had risen and must have been tossing some sort of dirty look at her from the way Zee went into protection mode. On her shoulder, Spectrum hissed protectively as well, but she reached up and shushed the bronze.

She was about to suggest they enjoy some hot klah before she went back to work but a woman’s voice at her side ended that thought for the moment. They were just who she was looking for? Liza stared at her for a long moment, and if she hadn’t been so fixated on Zelhirin, perhaps it would have been an uncomfortable moment, but as it was she didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t look familiar at all, and as Zee addressed her as ‘bluerider’ she was quite sure she had never seen the woman before. The only riders she’d ever interacted with personally were her uncles. So what could this rider possibly want with them? Unless she was there on behalf of their uncles for some reason… but her knots weren’t Fort colors. She probably didn’t know as much about rider knots as Zee did, he seemed far more interested in stuff like that, but she knew what the knots of a Fort bluerider looked like from seeing H’ril’s. Violet and black? She had no idea what Weyr the bluerider might be from but it wasn’t Fort.

The question caught her slightly off guard. Interested in riding? Dragons? She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from her lips. Where did that question even come from? “Nope,” she responded simply. She might have ignored the offered hand, but the fact that Ny’x had elided her name intrigued her. From what she knew of riders, it was pretty rare for a woman to do that. So Liza found herself reaching out to grasp the bluerider’s hand briefly in greeting. “Liza, and this is my brother Zee - Zelhirin,” she amended to his full name, as she was the only one that called him Zee and she hadn’t really been thinking about it. She didn’t often do introductions.

Rather presumptuously, she went ahead and spoke for both of them, “We’re quite happy at the Smithhall, so unless your Weyr needs something from the Hall I don’t know what you could possibly want with us.” Her gaze narrowed in mild suspicion then, “Or why you want us in particular.” She glanced briefly up at Zee and back at the bluerider, “And I have work to get back to, so if you’d get to the point, that’d be great.” Maybe she could just leave Zee to chat with the bluerider. The only thing keeping her there for now was the fact that she’d said she was specifically looking for both of them. The sooner that question was answered, the sooner Liza could be on her way. She didn’t know why, but something about the situation put her on edge. What could some random bluerider they’d never met want with them?

kevna

[kevna]

Zelhirin

Zelhirin’s eyebrows rose in surprise, as he considered the question. He had felt the weight of his future, the limitations of his current occupation, and he and R’hir had spoken of a different future… But his uncle had made it very plain that he would have to be Searched first. There were so many complications when it came to dragonriding, and the largest of them all was Liza. Even if he was searched, possibly compatible, what if she wasn’t? He wasn’t in any way willing to leave her behind-and it’s what had stalled taking that ride to Fort in order to discover his possibilities.

Now here a bluerider was, asking him, no them, that question. He wasn’t surprised at his twin’s quick response, her simple, nope. He was still considering his feelings toward the question, he let Liza introduce them, though he winced when she used his nickname. No one called him that but her, and he preferred it that way. “Just Zelhirin, if you please. It would do me pleasure to hear you say my full name.” He said as charismatically as possible, because he understood women, especially stubborn women, would say whatever they knew bothered him, just because it irked him. He was possessive of his nickname-and it was only Liza’s.

Before he could open his mouth, his sister answered the question for the both of them, and he raised an eyebrow at Lizalia. There were reasons he had yet to bring it up, one was her personal happiness (he didn’t want to stand in the way of it), and the other was he hadn’t come up with a good enough reason for dragonriding specifically. While he felt curbed and stagnant in his current placement as a journeyman, Zel understood that socially even Mastery would place limitations upon him, and he had a burning desire for more. For momentum. For a stronger purpose.

“And I have work to get back to, so if you’d get to the point, that’d be great.”

“Patience, Lizalia, is a virtue, and I’m sure we can spare a few moments more for Ny’x. I would like to hear what she has to say.” He tried to keep his voice casual, but knowing Lizalia, she very well could pick up on the eagerness in him.

Ny’x – Blue Nimocith

She opened her mouth, but Zee, Zelhirin’s smooth voice interrupted her, asking her to call him by his full name. She could have been offended, since he obviously didn’t want her to call him Zee, but the way he asked, and the knowledge that the woman with him was his sister, had her warming to him instead. “Alright, Zelhirin. It’s nice to me you-both.”

She felt a mix of defeat at the initial reaction the woman had had, a defensiveness, intermingled with defeat. The blonde woman seemed so certain of her answer, there wouldn’t be much use debating, and Ny’x didn’t particularly enjoy debates. Not at all, really. While her shoulders stiffened, butterflies filled her stomach when the woman-Liza narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. Her bluntness had her floundering for a moment, before Zee-Zelhirin as he had corrected his sister, and with that charming smile-it was nice that they were siblings… She blinked. Right, he had just given her a few extra moments, and she jumped at them quickly. Maybe Zelhirin was still a possibility, and it wouldn’t break her heart if Liza decided against joining them.

“Well, uh, you see, my dragon has this, gift, or rather an ability,” She realized she was staring at Zelhirin again, and quickly looked at Liza, doing her best to distribute her attention. “And he senses something in you both, an ability to be, well possibly to be actually, dragonriders. It’s not a for sure thing-and well, I’m botching this.” She was so nervous, especially because Liza seemed so sure, “Well, if you two would be willing to take me in to the Smitchcrafthall, we are, that is Mavros Weyr, is in need of a few flamethrowers. I was told we dropped of four of our own to be fixed a seven night ago, and maybe I can better explain this all along the way?” She sounded a little desperate, and well, Mavros was a little desperate for candidates. Shards, was she going to get in trouble Searching out here without permission?

-

Zelhirin

He took note of her rising anxiety, the way she cast uneasy glances at his sister, and tried not to smile. She had that way on people, and he enjoyed it, especially when it was directed to the male species. It kept them at an arm’s length more efficiently then he could. Though it wasn’t helping the bluerider to be clear. Both? “Both of us? The possibility is for both of us?” He looked at Liza, and then offered his arm to Ny’x. “I don’t see why we couldn’t offer assistance to you.”

[Zen]

Lizalia

Zelhirin’s gentle scolding for patience had her eyeing her brother, watching him as he insisted that he’d like to hear what the bluerider had to say. She was trying to determine if he was really interested in whatever she was talking about or if he just found her attractive and it was a good excuse to spend more time with her, because if he just wanted to flirt she could very well leave him to it. But he wouldn’t have said anything to her about having patience if that was all it was. He certainly didn’t need her to stay if he just wanted to get to know the bluerider better. She crossed her arms over her chest, resigned for now, since it seemed like Zee wanted her to stay for some reason.

The bluerider began to explain, rather poorly in Liza’s opinion, something about their ability to become dragonriders. Liza wasn’t at all interested, until she brought up flamethrowers. She took every opportunity she could get to work on them. They were fascinating pieces of machinery that she was sure could be adapted to other uses, and the more familiar she could get with them, the easier it would be to rework the design into something new. Mavros, the bluerider had said. She’d heard of the place, but never paid it much attention because it didn’t seem to matter. It was some Weyr on some island somewhere, or something.

Zel offered the bluerider his arm and Liza stepped ahead of them, “If you were here for the flamethrowers you should’a just said so.” She was less interested in hearing any further explanation about Ny’x’s interest in her and Zel, “Three were simple enough, the fourth isn’t ready, but we have others and you can take one of them with you instead.” She turned and walked backward as she led the way, looking back at Ny’x, “Have you ever used one?” She’d gotten to test them on occasion, after repairs and maintenance work, to ensure everything was in proper working order, but it was just a brief spout of flame to test the nozzle control and make sure it wasn’t going to blow up. She’d love to get the chance to use one properly.

She would have volunteered to work on the ground crews sweeping for any missed Thread after a Fall but Telgar’s Weyrleader refused to allow women on the teams his riders set up and oversaw, which was beyond maddening. If Lord Avelendor just put his foot down on it she was sure it would have to be allowed, but he seemed content to continue excluding women from the ground crews instead of causing any tension with the Weyr over it. Her gaze slid to Zelhirin for a moment as she wondered not for the first time if he would also try to stop her from volunteering, even if women suddenly could work in the ground crews. Thread that wasn’t falling wasn’t terribly dangerous, or so she’d heard. It didn’t really move once it had landed on something, it just… ate, and grew. But she doubted that would be enough reassurance for her brother to allow her anywhere near it without a fight.

kevna

[kevna]

Ny’x – Blue Nimocith

Zelhirin’s voice sounded… hopeful? Intrigued? She didn’t know him well enough to know for sure, but it helped her relax incrementally. Yes, both. Nimocith confirmed, though Ny’x was already nodding the confirmation, “Yes, both.” She echoed her blue, trying to sound confident. She tried not to look too relieved, or eager, to take the large man’s arm-and it took a great deal of control to not run her hands to better feel the shape of his arms. Shards, but he had to be strong. “Thank you.” She said with a little flirty smile as they followed his sister towards the Smithcraft Hall, and he responded by winking at her, causing her heartrate to spike.

“If you were here for the flamethrowers you should’a just said so.”

Ny’x felt her temper quicken, her brows descending in anger, and opened her mouth for a retort, but quashed it when she realized how hostility toward the blonde woman might deter Zelhirin-and her-right, well, hostility was not the answer. “Maybe she thought dragonriding would be more captivating than flamethrowers.” Zelhirin offered, raising an eyebrow at his sister, amusement plain in the quirk of one side of his lips. He had nice lips. Shards, but the two siblings seemed such polar opposites, didn’t they? “Yeah, I did.” She offered, somewhat lamely, because she couldn’t seem to think of anything witty. She swallowed it, trying to focus instead on the information Liza was steadily giving her.

Dismay at only three of the four being completed turned to relief. They really needed every flamethrower at their disposal. “That would be great, thank you. I’d hate to return partially empty handed. So, does that mean I’m speaking to the one who spearheaded their repair? Sorry, I don’t know what your duties entail, but you know enough about my flamethrowers...” She offered the apology quickly, afraid of offense, and annoyed at the fear. Of course, part of the fear probably had started because she was afraid of heading back to Mavros with only three of the four flamethrowers. Especially if she had to face Melana for the fault. If dragon’s could eat people, Sularenth would. She shivered, trying to push that vivid picture out of her mind. Liza’s questions brought her back from the gory visual, and she nodded. “All candidates learn to use them; we work as ground crew. It’s one of our many duties.” It was not the most glorious job either, she wrinkled her nose, remembering carrying the heavy mechanism, the heat and sweat mixing with the ash in the air. Dragonriding at least felt more glorious, even if the mess was the same. Shards, but she hated getting so dirty-and the danger, it didn’t do much for her endearment towards thread.

-

Zelhirin

He tried not to get annoyed by the turn from the previous conversation-but he really could care less about the flamethrowers-that is, until he realized that candidates could learn to use them. Liza would… really enjoy that. “You’re your own dragon as a candidate it sounds like.” He joked, eyeing his sister for her reaction. He couldn’t help but picture her curiosity bringing her to one of the thread pits in the ground, leaning over it, and then falling in. Shards, he hadn’t even considered the ramifications if women were allowed on ground crews. Liza wasn’t that clumsy. Reckless, yes. But clumsy... He grimaced.

“Though I’m sure the dragonriding must be more exciting. Flying, as you score thread out of the sky.” Just imagining it was exhilarating. The power, the thrill of battle against wind, rain, snow, and thread. But the power was the most alluring for him. Bronze dragons especially, seeing as they could command all dragons but golds, that they lead their fellow dragons into the fray. Plus, having a dragon as her protector almost seemed as good as him protecting her, though he had to admit that he wasn't a huge fan of getting displaced... Liza was his, just as he was hers. While their thoughts and actions didn't always converge, they always complimented and highlighted each other. The dragon... it wouldn't displace him, it would just add to them, build around them. That settled in his mind, he went back to considering his options, wondering what Mavros could hold for him-them, what opportunities might present themselves. 

[Zen]

Lizalia

Zee’s comment about dragonriding being more captivating than flamethrowers had her shaking her head with a slight roll of her eyes, “And maybe dragonriders are a bit too full of themselves if they think they’re the only interesting things on Pern.” Liza would take flamethrowers any day. Dragonriders had their uses, she didn’t deny that, but the hero worship that surrounded them was a bit much in her opinion.

Though when Ny’x took a bit more interest in her own work, she felt a little less hostile toward the bluerider. “I work on them every chance I get,” she informed Ny’x with mild enthusiasm, “But Master Obillyn is technically in charge of overseeing their maintenance. He’s still working on that fourth ‘thrower of yours.” The man had insisted on repairing that one himself, because apparently it was too tricky a task for anyone less qualified than a master that had studied them his whole life. He hadn’t outright said as much but it was the feeling Liza got, that he didn’t trust anyone else with it, or maybe he just hadn’t trusted her. She hadn’t even had a chance to look at it. Master Obillyn had inspected all four when they’d come in and taken the one before anyone else had a chance to see what might be wrong with it. It was frustrating because shouldn’t he be sharing that information? If it was a tricky fix Liza wanted to know about it, to know how it was done, to be part of it. Hidebound old wher.

“I did fix the other three,” she continued, “Tested them myself, and Zee here signed off on their inspection, so they’re good as new.” Liza wasn’t fond of people second guessing her work, so getting her brother to look things over and grant his approval for a second look to make sure she hadn’t missed anything was always her go to. Where flamethrowers were concerned, none of them were allowed to go back into use without a secondary inspection, and sometimes Master Obillyn would insist on doing it himself. Zee had started working with the flamethrowers before she had as well, so she didn’t mind getting his opinion on them, when the situation called for it. Better than Master Obillyn’s patronizing. She was pretty sure he only tolerated her because her father was the Craftmaster, but she had little choice but to tolerate him back if she wanted to work on the flamethrowers. He didn’t seem to take any issue with Zee, either, and tended to trust his judgment in inspecting her work. All because he was a man, and she wasn’t.

That Ny’x had indeed gotten the chance to use a flamethrower sent a flash of jealousy through her. And candidates worked as part of the ground crews? Liza turned that over in her mind. Surely there were female candidates at Telgar Weyr, were they allowed on the ground crews? Whether the answer was yes or no, it only served to make her angrier about the fact that she’d never been allowed to put the machines she helped to maintain to actual use, even though she knew more about them than the vast majority of the Pernese population. Sharding G’zon would rather put flamethrowers in the hands of snot nosed weyrbrats, apparently. It was absolutely infuriating. Ny’x was lucky she wasn’t a Telgar rider or Liza might have given her a piece of her mind about it all right then.

Zee’s comment brought her back to the current conversation rather than the one she was starting to imagine if she ever came face to face with the Telgar Weyrleader. Right. Flamethrowers and candidates. Clearly the female candidates at Mavros got to use them. And not that she really paid all that much attention to most of the Telgar riders that came through, but she definitely had never met a woman from Telgar that rode blue. Did that mean even the dragons at Mavros were more open minded? Not that she was at all liking the idea of candidacy, but Mavros seemed to be shaping up to be a half decent place if you were a woman.

Zee seemed to be fantasizing about being a dragonrider, and Liza worried her lip between her teeth as she considered that. She knew her twin had a fascination with dragons, what with his near obsession with their uncle R’hir. That and the way he insisted on hearing the bluerider out… he wanted to go. A certain fear gripped her at the thought of him leaving her behind. They were both stubborn, especially when they had set their minds on something, but one of them would have to yield in this if they were going to stay together. She didn’t often consider how her actions might affect others, because generally she didn’t care as long as she wasn’t putting anyone else in danger, but Zee was an occasional exception.

If she managed to convince him to stay, to give up on the chance to be a candidate, something she knew he really wanted… would he be able to be happy here? They’d been happy so far, but so far the opportunity to try to impress his own dragon hadn’t been offered to him. If the situation was reversed, would he ask her to give it up? Her arms folded over her chest, hugging herself lightly as she turned away from the bluerider and her brother, facing forward again as they reached the flamethrower workshop and she shouldered her way inside. The devices were stored and worked on in a more isolated workshop, in case of some sort of catastrophic failure.

Annoyance buzzed through her, that this bluerider had to come along to ruin the good thing they had going here at the Hall, but she knew without a doubt that she couldn’t try to keep Zee from going. Were the situation reversed, she didn’t know if she’d be able to forgive him for holding her back in this moment, as much as she loved him, and she didn’t want to put him in that position either. She didn’t want him to come to resent her. She wanted him to be happy. She sighed, tapping her fingers along one of the flamethrower tanks, the metallic sound suddenly loud in the quiet room. Grabbing it by the harness strap, she turned and shoved it at Ny’x, “Here.” Her gaze shifted to her brother for a moment, “Zee can carry two well enough, I’ll get the last one.”

But she still picked one up to hand to him, looking up at him seriously as she asked, “Zee… is this what you want?” To the bluerider it might seem an odd question, as she appeared to be asking him if he wanted the flamethrower. Surely her twin would understand the real question. She wished he would say no, but she was sure he wouldn’t. Her voice softened as she added, “I’m… I’m with you. No matter what.” She’d never leave the Hall for anyone else, but for Zee… she supposed she could try. It would be an adventure, at least… something new, exciting for a while, if nothing else. She wasn’t sure about being a dragonrider, but there wasn’t much harm in seeing what Mavros was all about… and getting to put a flamethrower to good use would be a bonus.

kevna

[kevna]

Ny’x – Blue Nimocith

“And maybe dragonriders are a bit too full of themselves if they think they’re the only interesting things on Pern.”

That did nothing for her temper, and she shot the other woman a hard look. “I didn’t say that, though I would say that flamethrowers do one thing, dragons do much more, and Pern wouldn’t stand half a chance without them.” Her voice was hard, responding to the growing irritation at the woman. No one, no one would belittle Nimocith’s worth.

“Ladies, you’re both pretty, let’s not argue.” Zel’s voice was light, but Ny’x caught the edge of a hostile look aimed at her and swallowed. Shards, but protectiveness looked good on him, and the muscles in his jaw had to be made of some heavy metal to look that hard and sculped. Ny’x needed to work on her manners, if she wanted to woo him away from his home and more and more possibly it seemed, his sister. So it was far easier to transition to conversation that Lizalia was intrigued to be a part of. She needed the bubbly pie points to get on his side.

She was impressed when the blonde admitted her participation of fixing the throwers, “It’s good to have people capable of fixing the mechanisms, they seem fairly complex.” She said, nodding, and tucking Master Obillyn’s name away for good measure.

“All in the day of work for us.” Zelhirin said charmingly, and Ny’x felt her heartrate begin to speed up. Shards, but he was good looking wasn’t he?

Zelhirin

His casual comment had meant to be mild, and it would have worked if he hadn’t let his own temper get the best of him, leaking through in a harsh look aimed at the bluerider. No one talked that way to Liza except him. Even if she had sort of deserved it. Liza had a very narrow-minded way of looking at things that couldn’t be taken apart and studied up close and personal, and she was blunt when it came to her own personal opinions. Obviously the rider would think of the world of her occupation, because as R’hir had once informed Zel, the bond between rider and dragon was much as his bond between himself and Liza. Couldn’t get much stronger than that. Liza had been insensitive, though he doubted it was purposeful. Liza was not malicious naturally.

When the conversation turned to flamethrowers, he wanted to wince. He liked Master Obillyn well enough. He had believed in R’hir when he had told him thread would return, and it had put him on the fast track to getting his hands on flamethrowers before other’s even knew how important they would be. Master Obillyn had taught him much, but he wasn’t unaware of how distractable the Master could be.

He had wondered if Master Obillyn had been trying to hide the fact that Liza was in most aspects, more efficient then him, and that’s why he hadn’t let her touch that fourth flamethrower. Why else would it take so long to fix the sharding ‘thrower? Liza had fixed the other three, and Master Obillyn couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the fourth and was dying of embarrassment. Not even Zel had been allowed to assist, and he had taken personal affront on the matter.

“I did fix the other three, tested them myself, and Zee here signed off on their inspection, so they’re good as new.”

Liza was excelling, she always did, even if she did tend to bury herself in her work. It was one of the hurdles they would have to face when trying to convince her to part ways with her work. Liza would be plenty happy fixing flamethrowers and creating new mechanisms, Master or not, for the rest of her life. Could he say the same? No. He couldn’t. This huge difference could damage them. Staying at the Smithcrafthall seemed less and less like a viable option, but leaving without Liza felt erroneous. So then the best option, would be to convince her to follow him. But… She loved it here.

“Three, that was awfully fast for one journeyman to take up, right?” Ny’x asked, her voice ever so slightly impressed, and did he detect a hint of jealousy? Yes, Liza could whip Ny’x’s intelligence a hundred times over, she could be jealous, as long as she didn’t take it out on his sister.

“Yes, but Liza is especially dedicated and persuasive with the sharding buggers.” Zel said offhandedly, shrugging nonchalantly. “And you did the inspection?” More awe, and she was doing that dreamy staring thing again. Some women were just too easy. He nodded, “I’ve been working with them far longer. Our uncle is a traditional bronzerider, and he instilled in me that thread would fall again, so I specialized in ‘throwers right off. I do get to inspect a lot of work.” And annoy a lot of people who failed inspection. It wasn’t his fault they didn’t meet up to the needfully high standards of flamethrowers.

Did he catch a hint of jealousy in Liza? Maybe this would work out after all. Maybe. He still couldn't imagine her anywhere but at her desk, bent over another invention. He cast a sideways glance at the bluerider and almost rolled his eyes. If she kept looking at him like that, he was going to throw her at the mercy of his sister. But… she did have her uses, if she could get them both Searched. If Liza knew that she could handle flamethrowers as a candidate, the possibility of getting her out seemed higher.

“You really are your own dragon as a candidate,” Ny’x sounded surprised, as if she hadn’t considered it that way before he had mentioned it, and it all but confirmed that she might be pretty, but she was probably a little dim for his tastes. “There is a lot of manual labor, you usually get to choose your focus of chores, so I was a journeywoman healer before, and I worked in the infirmary for the brunt of the work, though I still had kitchen duty and other menial tasks. Groundcrew is on a scheduled rotation, as are classes. We are never without work.”

The dreamy smile she sent him wasn’t actually at him this time, thank Faranth for small blessings, but at his dig for dragonriding be more exciting. “It is, though I admit, I prefer flying when thread isn’t in the sky, it’s far more enjoyable.” So she was one of those people. Better to change the subject then sound outright disappointed.

“And Mavros? What can you tell me about that?” He looked at Liza, who seemed more and more caught up in her own world, though he could taste concern emanating from him. He was being obvious about his intentions.

Ny’x shrugged, looking a little less enthused. “Well… Uh, Mavros is a weyr in progress. The hold has officially been established by a Lord of the Blood, and the weyr is officially seen as a real weyr. It isn’t magnificent, but it is quirky, and we Mavrosi stick together.” A weyr in progress. His mind started calculating. How easy would it be to become a weyrleader over a weyr in progress. R’hir had often stated that he believed weyrleaders were put in place by the majority who believed in the bronzerider, and somehow it all came about as it was needed. Zelhirin could do that. He could win a weyr over, after he secured a dragon of course, but then again that would have to be after he convinced Liza to leave everything she knew and loved to join him. Shards. One step at a time. “Sounds exciting. Are you even allowed to Search us? Aren’t there parameters?” The bluerider looked a little embarrassed. “Normally we ask before we Search in areas, but Nimo is very sensitive, and I’m hoping it’s better to ask forgiveness then permission.” Zel chuckled at her bashfulness. He looked towards his twin, trying to gauge her reaction, but she had turned around, and was entering the flamethrower workshop. He followed closely behind, holding the door open for Ny’x.

Liza shoved one flamethrower at the bluerider, who grabbed it and stumbled a little at the sudden weight. “Oh, thanks.” She murmured, shifting it in her grip and then placing the straps around her to lessen the weight in her arms. Liza’s eyes shifted to his, and he could tell, there was unhappiness there. He grabbed the tank she offered him, her words registering in his mind. His eyes narrowed as he considered her. It was what he wanted, but he knew it would hurt her. It could likely hurt the both of them, no matter his decision.

“I’m… I’m with you. No matter what.” Shock ran through him, and he stiffened. That… that wasn’t what he had expected. He had expected a fight. Logic. Argument after argument. His eyebrows rose and his eyes grabbed hold of the only working journeyman in the room, barking out his name. “Brendin, would you escort this rider to the front?” It wasn’t a question, it was an order, he needed a moment alone with his sister. “I have wor-“ The journeyman started to mutter petulantly, and Zelhirin turned hard eyes on him. “Or I could tell Obillyn about how you almost blew up the lab yesterday by for-“”Alright, alright, shells, Zelhirin.”

Zel looked at the bluerider, “Would you give us a moment? We’ll catch up to you. Brendin will take good care of you.”

Ny’x looked utterly flabbergasted, though she nodded. “Alright.”

Before Brendin could pass by him, Zelhirin gave him one of the flamethrowers, and got the stink eye for it. When they were alone, Zelhirin gave his sister a long look, tilting his head. “Smithcrafting isn’t all I want in this life. I want more, and dragonriding can give that to me. Mavros sounds like the perfect opportunity. I want you with me, I had a long list of arguments to make to convince you to come with me, and now this.” He gave her a small smile, both hands going out wide, showing his exasperation. Concern followed. “If I had known it would be this easy, we would have left a turn ago; but I’ve been carefully plotting, and if arguments failed, I was considering throwing you over my shoulder, and taking you anyhow….” He took a breath. “What’s kept me here is you. I don’t want to force anything on you, I don’t want to leave you and I don’t want you to be unhappy, and I can’t imagine you happy anywhere but here. But I do want to go.”

[Zen]

Lizalia

She might have responded to Ny’x’s heated response, because she’d never suggested that Pern didn’t need dragons and didn’t like having words put in her mouth, but Zee interrupted before she could. She shot him a dirty look at the wording, irked at the insinuation that the two women were only arguing because they were somehow competing over their looks or something. It was a stupid thing to say. But rather than switch to arguing with her brother in front of the rider, she was happier to turn to the conversation about flamethrowers. The bluerider’s impressed question and her brother’s flattering answer were met with a small smirk on her part, but the way Ny’x kept looking at Zee had her rolling her eyes and deciding it was a good time to let her brother take over the interaction.

Zee and the bluerider kept a conversation going as they walked, but it was nothing but droning in the back of her mind as she considered everything and she wasn’t paying any attention to it in the least, only registering a few words here and there when Zee spoke, her attention catching on his familiar voice even the middle of her own thoughts. There were so many times she could have come to think of her twin as something of a liability, a weight that held her down, stopped her progress, and sometimes she got flashes of those feelings in early irritation when he stepped in to stop her from doing something he deemed too reckless or dangerous, but they never lasted long. Had he been anyone else, she never would have tolerated his continued presence in her life, but they had shared so much and they had a bond she could never imagine having with any other person on Pern. He truly felt like a part of her and removing him from her life would be like removing her arm. Sure she would live, but she would be crippled, her quality of life never the same, her ability to interact with the world somehow changed. She didn’t like to imagine it, but she imagined then, as she considered his desire to be a dragonrider and where that left her.

His shock was clear to her, when she gave her assent to whatever he decided, and he quickly sent Ny’x away with Brendin so they were alone. Somehow it sort of hurt to hear him say that Smithcrafting wasn’t enough for him. Why couldn’t it be? He was good at it. Maybe he could be Craftmaster one day, if he really wanted. She certainly didn’t want it for herself. She would have supported him though. He’d have made a good Craftmaster. Maybe he didn’t have the same sort of creative energy as their father, but he didn’t need it when she had enough of it to share with him. And the two of them, they could accomplish so much at the Hall! She knew he wanted to be a rider but she really didn’t understand why. What more did it offer him?

He explained what he’d been planning, his internal struggle over what he wanted and what he knew she wanted, and it was the very struggle she was having herself at the moment. They both wanted different things for which there was no compromise. Either they split up, or one of them gave up what they wanted for the other, and neither was a great option, but splitting up was entirely out of the question. All these feelings were honestly so overwhelming, she didn’t quite know how to deal with them. So she stepped forward and leaned her forehead against her brother’s chest for a long silent moment as she tried to wrangle them into something understandable.

Finally she let out a light sigh, murmuring, “I want you to be happy too, dimglow….” After another moment she took a step back to look up at him, “I… I never want to hold you back, Zee.” She looked away from him then, feeling stupidly emotional and unable to hold his gaze. “You’re not wrong… I don’t want to go. But you… you do. And I don’t want to lose you more.” She cleared her throat of the dumb, sticky emotions trying her choke her up, wishing they would just go away already. She hugged herself lightly, unconsciously, staring out the door where the bluerider had gone, very aware that her brother’s path led right along with her and if she didn’t want to lose him, she had to follow too.

Another clearing of her throat and she was able to harden her tone a little more, toward something half normal and less emotionally charged, “Look, we’ve been at the Hall our whole lives, so maybe it’s not a bad idea to just… go somewhere else, for a while. If that’s what you want. If this isn’t where you wanna be… I guess I owe you that. You’ve stayed here for me, so… so I can go for you. I dunno about being a candidate, Zee, but… I’m at least willing to see what it’s all about. If I really don’t like it then….” There was that annoying tightness in her throat again, which she did her best to clear for a third time as she finally looked back up at him, “Then we’ll see. Besides… if you’re going to impress a dragon, I want a good view, and what better place than on the sands with you?”

kevna

[kevna]

Zelhirin

Her forehead hit his chest, and he loosely slung an arm around her, offering her comfort while at the same time siphoning comfort from her as well. His lip twitched at her casual name-calling, and he ruffled her hair.

He could feel her unease, the misery was almost thick enough to touch. And why shouldn’t she be miserable? He wanted to leave, and that put her in an impossible situation. He was making her feel as if she were the one holding him back. That wasn’t true. That wasn’t his goal. He felt tongue-tied, feeling his lack when it came to the emotional stuff. He felt the guilt but didn’t let it overtake him. He had to think about this logically. He couldn’t stay because there was something inside him pulling him to do more, to be more. Sitting inside this Crafthall wouldn’t give him any opportunities, and it felt more like a prison the longer he stayed.

“You’re not wrong… I don’t want to go. But you… you do. And I don’t want to lose you more.”

Shards, he had thought she’d be madder then a wet wherry when he finally brought to her his desire to go, to leave-anger he could deal with, argue with, but this? This was far worse. Here he was, being a piece of threadfodder, practically forcing the decision. And he hadn’t even given her any of his arguments! He scrutinized her, noting the way she couldn’t seem to keep his eyes, feeling the dread.

She deserved better. She seemed resolved, and he felt gratitude overwhelm him. He walked up to her and grabbed for her arms gently. “I can’t imagine you anywhere then by my side. And I need you Liza. No one else would have the ability to tell me when I’m being hidebound or dimglow, or acting the wherry. No one I’d listen to.” He shook his head, “But you don’t owe me anything Liza. If you did this… it would be a boon to me, and I would owe you.” His brain was calculating, and he made a decision. “Give me two turns at Mavros, as a candidate, and at the end of two turns, we’ll reevaluate.” He said resolutely. It seemed like a fair solution. He would get what he wanted, but there would be an end in sight for her.

“We still need to do our journeying, maybe we can finagle Pop into letting this be a part of it. I bet Mavros will need a few exceptional journeymen crafters.” He smiled, but it felt strained. No guilt for him, and hopefully he’d avoid any resentment on her part. He felt confident that this would be right for them, one way or another. They had both gotten too comfortable here, and needed to stretch their wings. This was their opportunity. Two turns would be plenty of time. 

[Zen]

Lizalia

She didn’t really need to be told how much she meant to Zelhirin, just as she imagined he didn’t need her to tell him how much he meant to her, but it was still nice to hear it all the same. A small smile quirked one corner of her lips as she shook her head slightly, “When do you ever listen to me when I tell you you’re being a dimglow?” She did call him out on some of his more hidebound tendencies sometimes, but usually she only called him a dimglow in jest, or when she was mad because he wouldn’t let her do something he’d deemed too dangerous or reckless. So the question itself was a bit of a joke, because he’d never listen to her when she was putting herself in harm’s way. Well, rarely enough anyway. Sometimes he could be convinced if he was allowed to supervise.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as he insisted she didn’t owe him anything, that it would be the other way around, and she jerked her head back and forth stubbornly, “If I don’t owe you, Zee, then you don’t owe me either.” She folded her arms over her chest, insistent, “We support each other all the time and no one’s ever claiming we owe the other something. We just do.” They didn’t keep score or count favors, when one of them really needed the other (in her case often when she didn’t even realize it) they were just there for each other. “It’s just my turn to support you.”

He seemed to come up with a plan, or perhaps he’d had it in mind all along, since apparently he’d been planning on having this discussion for a while now. Two turns, he asked for, and including it in their journeying wasn’t a bad idea either. She wasn’t sure if she liked him limiting himself, and she tilted her head thoughtfully, “How old can candidates be? You can’t stand forever, can you?” She really didn’t know anything about being a candidate, but she did know that the Weyrs only searched young people. “If two turns is enough for you, Zee, then fine, but… I don’t want you to miss out on what you want because of something… arbitrary. If the Weyr will let you keep trying, then you should, until you can’t anymore.”

She looked up at him, to make sure he knew she really meant it, “Don’t worry about me. A change will be good. That’s what journeying is for, isn’t it? To learn new things, gain new experiences, find new inspiration.” It wasn’t exactly going to Mavros that made her uneasy, but rather the idea of what would happen after her brother impressed his dragon. She did like to travel, to see other places and experience new things, but in the end she had always come back to Telgar. Their father’s position as a Craftmaster meant she’d been able to travel far more than most non-riders on Pern if she accompanied him, but she’d always imagined making her life in Telgar. But how could she make her life in Telgar if Zee was at Mavros?

She was interested in going, at least for a while, but staying? That was another matter. The prospect of standing for a hatching or two seemed somewhat interesting, but she couldn’t currently imagine herself as a rider. In the grand scheme of things, though…, “I can be a smith anywhere, y’know. It’s just easier here… but y’know I don’t mind a challenge.” She grinned then, dispelling much of the melancholy that had built up in her. It was just her process, as she generally spoke and acted as she went along, without much forethought, and it was the same with this. So it was easy to see each step she took away from her wary hesitation and toward an interested acceptance of this plan. “We’ll figure it out,” she insisted with far more confidence, because as long as they were together they could do anything.

kevna

[kevna]

Zelhirin – Candidate

He considered her. Not once had he ever felt like his twin ‘owed’ him, so of course her words made sense. He nodded, “Alright, that’s true. We don’t keep score and can’t start now.”

“How old can candidates be? You can’t stand forever, can you? If two turns is enough for you, Zee, then fine, but… I don’t want you to miss out on what you want because of something… arbitrary. If the Weyr will let you keep trying, then you should, until you can’t anymore.”

He shrugged, giving her his lazy smile. “Technically I can stand till twenty-five, though I don’t expect it to take me that long. Two turns will be plenty of time, plus it’s a good standard of time to reevaluate our goals.” He waved dismissively. He really didn’t expect it to take him that long, or her once he convinced her to stand with him, and if they hadn’t impressed by then, then maybe there was something wrong with the Mavrosi dragons. Reevaluating was always a good standard to keep when circumstances called for it.

“Don’t worry about me. A change will be good. That’s what journeying is for, isn’t it? To learn new things, gain new experiences, find new inspiration.”

That was a completely ridiculous thing for her to say, since he spent his life stressing over keeping her safe and happy… Though he understood logically what she was saying. He wouldn’t worry about her falling into a depression, she didn’t even know what depression was, she was too clever by half to get bored, even if she was taken out of her comfort zone. “That’s my girl.” He said approvingly, “All the new things, it’ll be an adventure.” He moved to sling an arm over her shoulder, mock leaning on her and moving her to the door.

He smiled widely at her mention of a challenge. “It’s a good thing too, since we’ll have out hands full putting Mavros to rights." She sounded confident when she stated they’d figure it out. “We always do.” He agreed, turning them towards the door. “Now, let’s find that pretty rider and figure a ride out of here. And we’ll need to talk with Pop and Ma. I call Ma.”

Liza got along with Pop better anyway. They understood one another. “You’ll know what to say to get Pop to agree to Mavros as our Journeying.” Knowing Pop, he’d consider it seriously as Journeying, which meant Zel would have double the responsibilities learning to be a candidate and fulfill his Journeyman responsibilities. He’d have to have a strict schedule.