Remembering How This Works (Zen/Treyjen)

[Taxx]

Turn 2762

10th Pass, 7th Turn, 3rd Month

L'rey :: Bronze Codrath

Getting the timing right had taken a bit of time. Treyjen had gone away again, on another trip. L'rey had seen him off this time, expecting his return, and kept himself busy in the meantime. Knowing his father would be back, hopefully in time for the Hatching.

The Hatching was over, the weather was warming- still chilly except at the height of the day when the sun shone- and L'rey had the day to himself. No practices to attend, Codrath had eaten and been seen to the day before; he was of course unhappy with his rider consistently returning to the man he disliked, but L'rey only waved off his annoyance and went anyway. Honestly, if he avoided everything Codrath disliked, he'd never leave the weyr.

It was a nice day, for Mavros. L'rey tilted his face to the sun and enjoyed the warmth of it, as he headed down to the docks. A few notes back and forth and they'd settled a day and time for L'rey to remember the old lessons he'd never finished, of handling a boat. For spending time with his father and learning how to sail from him. It was still a budding relationship, but it was one L'rey was more than willing to nurture. The awkwardness between them was fading, as they spent more time together.

The Storm's Eye and the other ships that were Treyjen's and Nalyra's were there, but it wasn't them that L'rey was looking for; it was quite impossible for two people to man those massive crafts. There! Next to a much smaller boat, L'rey caught sight of Treyjen and threw up an arm to wave as he picked up the pace, closing the distance with sudden excitement.
Zen

[Zen]

Treyjen

At first when his son had asked to sail with him, to learn from him, Treyjen wasn’t entirely sure if the boy was humoring him because he had made it clear that it was something he’d looked forward to, back before he’d left, when L’rey was still Gildrey and far too small to sail, or if it was something he actually wanted. After all he was sure Rey must have taught him something of sailing. Treylok had begun their sailing education incredibly early, though he supposed he didn’t really know if Rey would start that early… or just give his sons, and L’rey, more time to be children than their father had ever allowed for them.

Of course, it would have been some time since L’rey had been sailing, so maybe he didn’t remember everything, and maybe his education in the skill hadn’t gotten very far to begin with. Treyjen would take it, from wherever L’rey was starting from. He hadn’t really thought it would be something he’d ever get to do, with L’rey being a dragonrider. What use did the boy have for sailing when he had a dragon?

He couldn’t very well take him out on the Storm’s Eye, though. That would require an actual crew, and it would be just a little excessive to pull members of his crew away from their shore time just so he could spend a day teaching his son to sail. Instead he’d borrowed a small fishing skiff from one of the Mavrosi fishers he’d befriended. One man could sail it on his own, if he knew what he was about, though two made it easier. It was in decent shape, though it understandably smelled rather strongly of fish. It took him back to sailing with Rey, going out fishing together when he was back in Tillek, to keep himself out of trouble after Gildira had gotten pregnant and his father had threatened to disown him and leave him behind.

L’rey’s waving caught his attention and he grinned at the sight of the boy as he hurried closer. Today was a long time coming, and who knew when they might get another chance at it. He drew in a deep breath, feeling a ridiculous swell of emotion as he thought about it. He laughed lightly as L’rey reached him, “Well, I’ve been waiting to take you sailing since the first time I held you… I hope you don’t mind if I’m impatient to be off.” They’d have plenty of time to chat once they were away, so he knelt to unwind the cleat hitch tying to the boat to the dock and gestured for L’rey to board first, “I’ll get us out of the harbor cavern, and then I figure we can take a turn about the island.” He’d brought along a pack of fruits and dried meats if either of them got hungry, “And after that, perhaps we can sail to Healer’s Island and back, if you feel like testing your skills a bit longer.”

Healer’s Island was well known for the medicinal herbs that were plentiful there, an important resource for the Weyrhold, but mostly it was just the closest island they could sail to and still get back in time for a hot dinner. Treyjen didn’t want to take L’rey there until he was more sure of his ability first, and L’rey himself may very well tire of sailing before then for all he knew. It was better to start by keeping in sight of Mavros. If, after they’d made a circuit about the island, his son wanted to keep going, they would. “Did Rey get the chance to teach you much before you were Searched?” he asked as he pushed the boat out into the water and quickly stepped aboard before it could get too far, taking hold of the tiller and the main sheet, letting out the line for the sparse breeze in the cavern to catch in the sail. Shells but it had been a long time since he'd sailed something so small.

Taxx

[Taxx]

L'rey of Bronze Codrath

L'rey beamed back at Treyjen, glanced over at the little boat bobbing there, waiting for them, and then back up at his father. "Me too," he replied, and turned to step into the boat at Treyjen's gesture. He wobbled for a step, crouched and reached for the mast to steady himself. Yeah, it'd been a while, and he'd never done much sailing even before being Searched. Nodding, trusting the more experienced sailor's plans for the outing, watching the deft untying of the knot that kept the boat secure to the dock. "Sounds good!" Being taught and having to put those teachings into effect would be the best method for remembering the knowledge.

Treyjen guided them out of the harbor, away from the crowd of vessels; L'rey watched the water flow past, leaving a wake behind them. He shrugged in response to the question, turning back to his father as he added a verbal answer. "Not so much about sailing. I think maybe one or two lessons before I was Searched? And I don't remember much. Mostly he stuck to teaching us terms, you know. Starboard, port, all that. Before that was lessons on knots, mending nets, types of fish and how to catch and clean them. I remember- most of that. Though I suppose a refresher couldn't hurt." He was a rider first and foremost now, but nobody'd ever said he couldn't learn how to sail and fish too.

Curious, he settled on a bench, content to let his father take them out farther. "How old were you when you learned?" He knew Treylok as a rather short and impatient teacher- from experience- though most of his instruction had come from his uncle, far more lenient to mistakes and repeating himself. And he knew Jeylokar as much the same, which probably meant that was how Treyjen had learned. A new, wary thought went through his mind- what if that was how he taught, as a result? Shells, L'rey hoped not. He wanted this to be an experience to look back on with happiness... well, if it got to be too much, at least he had Codrath to give him a quick exit.

He hoped it wouldn't come to that. But the thought wouldn't leave him, once introduced, and L'rey glanced away again, trying to push down the anxiety to keep from agitating his bronze too much.
Zen

[Zen]

Treyjen

Fishing. At this point L’rey may very well have more knowledge of the craft than Treyjen did. He could mend a net, he could gut and clean a fish, but it had been turns since he’d actually done any fishing, and even then his knowledge was rudimentary. Mostly he’d just followed Rey’s lead on the matter as being knowledgeable in the craft hadn’t really held much purpose for him. He’d just fished with his brother to spend time with him doing something he enjoyed. “Well, if you want a refresher on fishing, you’ll have to ask your uncle. Afraid I wouldn’t be much help there.” He shifted the tiller and let out the main sheet a bit more to turn them into the bay as they passed out of the shadow of the harbor cavern, “Rey does have a rather uncanny knack for finding decent fishing spots. Might be worth learning.”

“Hm,” he considered what counted as starting to learn how to sail, “I was three when I started going along on ventures, but I suppose my first memory of actually learning anything about sailing was a turn or so later. Rey… I remember him teaching me about knots.” It was a fond memory, one of the earliest he had that wasn’t just a brief moment in time, Rey’s patience as he showed him a few of the most commonly used knots. His brother was only nine at the time, but he was endlessly calm and encouraging, even then. “From there it was usually less about targeted lessons and more that it was just… a way of life. We were at sea so much it became second nature… picking up on things simply from living among the crew and helping wherever I could.” At least until Nalyra came along, and then it was several turns ashore, and if not for that, he probably never would have met L’rey’s mother. He’d never considered that before. His sister really had affected his life in incredibly significant ways.

“Rey taught me my stars, too.” The very beginning of his navigation education had simply been his brother showing him the pictures the stars formed and testing him on some nights, making a game of it, to make sure he remembered which was which. Learning from his father, and on occasion Jeylokar, was far less fun. They were impatient and easily frustrated as teachers, and Jeylokar had the annoying habit of simply doing things for him if he didn’t get it right in one or two tries. His father would simply leave him to flounder on his own and figure it out if he didn’t get it fast enough, and the man was loath to repeat himself. If he ever asked his father to repeat or clarify instructions, it became his fault for not listening well enough the first time, and why should Treylok waste his time repeating himself if Treyjen wasn’t going to listen anyway? He was certain the only reason he’d managed to learn anything from the man was because it was necessary for his survival. He certainly hadn’t wanted to get left behind like Rey, and after the beatings started, he didn’t need to give his father any more reasons to raise a hand to him.

He cleared his throat lightly as he shoved those thoughts away. No need to sour his mood with thoughts of his father. Not when a fine wind was blowing across the bay, promising a good day for sailing. He set the tiller handle, locking it into a straight position, and let out slack on the main sheet until the sail was flapping almost like a flag in the wind. “Alright then. First lesson, how to make a sail work.” It took a lot more effort from a lot more people on a proper ship, but it was fairly simple on the little fishing skiff. He held up the rope in his hand, “This is the main sheet. On a small boat like this, one person can keep hold of it to control the sail, which we’ll be doing for now since we’re making a circuit rather than sailing in a relatively straight line. If we make for Healer’s Island, we’ll be able to tie it off for a while until we get closer and need to make adjustments.”

He handed the rope to L’rey, “Take a look at the sail now. If you want to actually get anywhere, you don’t want it flapping like that. Pull the line in until the wind catches taught in the sail and no part of the canvas is flapping anymore.” He reached out and briefly ruffled the boy’s hair without thinking about how the action might be received, “And always keep an eye on the boom. The one on this boat’s low enough that it could catch you in the head swinging across if you’re not paying attention, and I don’t need your dragon blaming me if you come home with a knock to the head, eh?” He laughed lightly, “We shouldn’t have to worry about it just yet, but when we start tacking north the boom’ll be swinging, so be ready to duck.”

Taxx

[Taxx]

L'rey :: Bronze Codrath

No, he supposed Treyjen didn't have much use for knowledge on fishing, not anymore. L'rey was fine with brushing up on fishing lessons with Rey; it would be nice to look forward to outings like that. But back to the lesson at hand. Treyjen explained his own lessons, when he'd been younger- three was awfully young to be going on trips. He, and Rey's other children, didn't really start until they were a bit older. Knots and stuff, to begin with. Everything else came later, as he felt they were ready. He supposed it made sense, Treylok pushing them to learn young.

L'rey glanced upward at the mention of stars. Those lessons hadn't started yet; they would have, if he'd stayed, considering it was useful to know how to navigate, even at night. In a way, he was glad. It was one more thing he could learn from Treyjen... it made him realize, though, that it wasn't something he could talk about in Tillek. Perhaps, to his uncle, but it was probably better to just keep it to himself. As much as he wanted to link these parts of his life, he knew it'd only bring trouble in the end.

The sail, loosened, flapped in the breeze. L'rey glanced up at it and then over at Treyjen, and back at the sail again as directed. And then down at the rope handed to him, the line jerking as the wind tugged on the canvas. He'd just started to nod understanding when his father reached out to tousle his hair, an unexpected but casual motion that made him freeze. Rey did it all the time. Wyliva was more likely to smooth his hair down, rather than ruffle it into disarray, but it was- they'd only been the ones to do it. Except for Treyjen, just now. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it, and simply decided to not comment on it.

He touches you again, tell him I'll bite him. No more problem.

Let's not, hmm?

He began the pull the rope tight, the other end draping across one foot as he stretched the sail. It caught the breeze again, and the skiff, which had been drifting aimlessly, began to move with more direction. "Okay- what now? Tie it off?" A glance at the boom and a brief snicker at the thought, though Codrath was far from amused. "Can you imagine the tantrum?" He grinned, a bright expression as he turned to Treyjen.

I do not throw tantrums, Codrath sniffed.

Yeah, he wasn't going to even begin to disagree. The debate about if he did or not could go on for hours.
Zen

[Zen]

Treyjen

He laughed again as L’rey considered his dragon’s wrath nothing more than a tantrum, “I’d rather not find out. He dislikes me enough as it is.” If any harm came to the boy under his watch he could imagine becoming dragon fodder for the angry bronze. Adult dragons didn’t harm humans, not on purpose… unless their rider was in danger. Who knew what Codrath would be capable of in such a situation?

He shook his head, stepping back to the tiller and lifting out of its locked straight position, “Tying it off would make your job a lot harder.” He glanced ahead, toward the point of the island that arced out toward the Little Island, shifting the tiller to steer them more away from the wind and toward the gap of water between the Mavros mainland and the Little Island, “Let the line back out now, the boom’ll swing further away from us to catch more wind. Every adjustment I make with the tiller requires an adjustment to the sails as well to keep us at optimal speed. You’ll want to keep that rope in hand.”

He considered for a moment how best to relate the way a sail worked, “Think of the sail as a dragon’s wing. At a steady glide in one direction, the wings don’t move much, do they?” He’d seen dragons gliding, and he’d seen the Wings at their drills, with blues and greens in particular darting about, “It’s the same with a sail. Heading in a singular direction, if the wind stays steady, the sail doesn’t need to move much. But when a dragon turns, swerves, I’m sure you’ve seen what their wings do to make it happen. They fold and tilt. The sail needs to do its own sort of folding and tilting in order for us to turn. Can’t say I know just what it takes to fly, but the principle seems similar. It’s all a matter of making optimal use of the wind, whether with leathern wings or a sheet of canvas.” He let out a soft laugh, “When we start tacking north, you’ll even get to see a bit of flapping. It takes more work to fly into the wind than away from it, I’d imagine, and it’s the same with sailing.”

He gestured behind them then, “We’ve got a wind coming about straight out of the north today, and the direction the wind is coming from will determine where your sail needs to be to take you in a particular direction.” The process was a lot simpler with one sail on a free swinging boom, “The more into the wind we go, the closer the sail will be to us, and there’s a point when sailing into the wind that the sails fail… so in order to sail in the direction the wind is blowing from, you have to take a zigzagging path back and forth, never pointing the bow directly into the wind… that’s what I mean when I say we’ll be tacking north. When that happens, the boom’ll be shifting between port and starboard to catch the wind properly. And that’s where you’ll need to watch your head.”

He paused then, to let all that information sink in, and to give L’rey the chance to ask for more information or clarification, “Does it all make sense so far?” He couldn’t help but wonder if he was going too fast, or giving a bit too much at a time, in his eagerness to finally be teaching his son how to sail. It was difficult enough keeping aware that he wasn't falling back into his sailor's accent, as he often did when he was no longer ashore. It was more comfortable for him, just as the sea was more comfortable, but he didn't want to complicate L'rey's understanding of anything he said by blending his words.

Taxx

[Taxx]

L'rey of bronze Codrath

L'rey really would have liked to dispute Treyjen's statement, but it would have been a lie. The bronze wasn't shy about making his feelings known, even if he didn't talk to Treyjen. Glaring red eyes and growls behind bared fangs were far from signs of friendliness. And Codrath wasn't likely to change his mind on it. Maybe, in Turns to come, he'd regard Treyjen with the same sort of disinterest he gave everyone. It was the best his father could hope for, really.

His attention was diverted- from his dragon to the boat he was learning to handle. Nodding in time to the instructions, L'rey let the rope slide back out through his hands, watched the sail cave with the breeze and push them along. Blue eyes turned to Treyjen as he made an effort to explain the way the sail worked in a way L'rey found easier to grasp. It did make more sense, thought of like that. It was harder to think of how to work the sail in the same way, because they were still two differnt things- and Codrath hardly thought about how his wings worked; he didn't need to think about every little maneuver. He decided to dive, or turn, and then did it.

"Sort of," he replied, his grin somewhat sheepish. "It's a lot, but I can learn. I need to keep the sail into the wind, that's the main point, right?" It sounded right. And summed up like that, it made sense. Obviously you needed wind to sail, so making sure the sail had wind to keep them moving was important. This wasn't going terribly so far. L'rey was enjoying it.

"Hey," he piped up again, as another thought occurred to him- trying to keep ahead of any reminders to keep the sail in position with the wind but still distracted. "What would it be like to fly, you think? Like, humans. Not on dragons. Is that weird? Sounds a bit weird, but maybe cool too, huh?"
Zen