Post by Zen on Aug 5, 2017 18:21:58 GMT -5
About a week after Melodic Musings
Azora, A'zael :: Bronze Fath
A'zael finally had some time off, and he'd promised Azora it would be spent with her. He wasn't entirely sure how this was going to go, as it would be the first time the two of them would be spending any real amount of time together, alone, but... he had promised. And he wanted to get to know his daughter, and let her know him as well, especially considering.... He sighed as Fath descended, landing on the beach where several crecheworkers looked after a gaggle of weyrbrats playing in the sand. It was quite a nice day. As Fath folded his wings, careful of the tinycutes that milled around him, cautious and curious, wanting to get closer but unsure if they should. All except one.
Azora squeaked in excitement as her father's dragon landed, leaving her play with a couple other children to run over to the Bronze. “Hi Fath!” The Bronze lowered his head and Azora hugged his nose with a giggle, reaching up to offer him a few scratches as her mother made her way closer as well. A'zael dismounted and moved to meet her while Azora was occupied with Fath, lowering his voice, “How are you?”
Orana shook her head, “I'm fine. You needn't worry about it. Just... spend time with her. Make it happy, memorable... let her know she can trust you.”
“She can... I mean,” he sighed again, “Both of you can.” He studied her a moment, concern on his features. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Orana shook her head and smiled, her gaze lowered to the little girl that shortly tugged at his hand.
“C'monnnn. I wanna go flying!” Azora demanded, pulling her father back toward his dragon, “I waited like you told me, now let's goooo.”
He laughed, “All right, all right. I'm coming.” A glance back at Orana had her giving him a soft nod, the smile on her face not entirely reaching her eyes.
Azora clambered up onto Fath's back with some amount of difficulty, but she managed on her own and sat proudly, waiting for him. He pulled himself up after her, settling in behind her and making sure she was securely strapped in before urging Fath into the sky. The Bronze turned and padded away from the children being ushered to make way before leaping into the air with a powerful down stroke of his wings. Azora squealed in delight as the dragon winged his way higher, circling up and up. She watched as the other weyrbrats and crecheworkers dwindled away to tiny dots on the sand and pressed back against A'zael with a soft gasp, maybe... just a little bit afraid.
A'zael chuckled, “Have we gone too high for you?”
Azora stiffened, only the slightest hitch in her voice giving away her fear of the height, “N-no! I'm fine!” A'zael shook his head and urged Fath a bit lower, but Azora protested, “Wait! Go higher!”
He raised an eyebrow down at her, and after a moment of his noncompliance to her demand, she looked up at him with about the most determined expression he'd ever seen on a kid. He shrugged, “As you wish, my lady.” The more he thought about it, the more impressed he became with the girl. Her solution to fear was to push herself past her comfort zone and overcome it by the sheer force of her will? Most adults didn't do that. She pressed back against him again as they rose higher, and he wrapped an arm around her, “I won't let you fall.”
One of her hands clutched his arm tightly and she nodded, but otherwise didn't respond at first, peering nervously over Fath's side. She took a deep breath and leaned back against him once more, “O-okay... we can go lower now.”
He did his best not to laugh and mentally nudged Fath lower, “You're very brave, you know. I'm impressed.” Azora grinned up at him at the praise.
“Were you... were you ever scared to go too high?” she asked him after a moment's hesitation.
“A bit,” he admitted, much to her surprise apparently. He laughed and assured her, “It's unnerving at first, but you get used to it. I know Fath would never let anything happen to me.” He sent a wave of affection to his dragon which was shortly returned to him.
Azora rubbed one hand over Fath's smooth hide, “Dragons are the best.”
“No argument there,” A'zael chuckled as Fath angled his wings in a descent, flying low over the Mavros cliffs. Azora peered down to watch the land fly by beneath them, eventually shaking her head, the speed at which it was all going by making her a bit dizzy.
She looked up at him again, “Can we fly all day?”
He laughed again. There was no doubt in his mind she would be a dragonrider one day. “This is Fath's day off too, you know.” He lowered his voice slightly as if that would actually prevent Fath from hearing him at all, “I think there's a certain Gold he'd like to visit.”
Fath had in fact heard him and though he didn't initially know A'zael was talking about Danovelith, she was the first Gold the Bronze thought of when her color was mentioned. WecangoseeDanovelithnow?
A'zael shook his head at the Bronze's predictable question. Not yet. You can take us back to our weyr and then you can go see her, if she and Srunae aren't busy. Just because it was their day off didn't mean it was Srunae's, after all, and if she needed her dragon for whatever tasks she had to complete today then he didn't want Fath bothering them.
Fath winged his way back to their weyr and Azora shifted, “What are we gonna do then?”
It struck him then that he hadn't really... thought about that part. “Ah... well... what... do you want to do? Other than fly,” he added quickly as she opened her mouth almost immediately, and then closed it again with a grumpy look. He laughed and Fath angled his way down toward their ledge.
She was quiet for a little while as she thought, while Fath landed with practiced ease and settled down so his passengers could dismount easier. A'zael unstrapped Azora and the girl slid down, turning around to watch her father dismount after her. She watched Fath turn and take to the air once more before turning back to the man, “What do you like to do?”
“Ah...,” he scratched his chin lightly as he thought about his favorite past-times. Well, flirting and drinking were out. He glanced around his weyr for some idea that would be appropriate for Azora. His gaze settled briefly on the old gitar he was still borrowing from the Weyrharper and he raised an eyebrow down at his daughter, “Well, how do you like music?”
She grinned, “I love to sing! Mommy says I have a pretty voice, too.” She sounded rather pleased with herself. A'zael wondered if she had gotten that from him. He had no idea what sort of natural talents Orana had.
“I'd love to hear it, then,” he smiled down at her and ruffled her hair as he moved past her, picking up the gitar and plucking a few notes.
Azora bounced after him and squeaked, “You have a gitar?”
“Well, not yet. I'm just borrowing this one,” he plucked a few more notes, “What's your favorite song? I only know a few, but I might be able to figure it out if I don't already know it.”
“The Fighting Thread song!” she piped in immediately, clapping her hands in anticipation.
He laughed, “Of course.” His fingers found their proper placements easily as he plucked the notes for the simple teaching song.
Azora giggled happily and let him play through the song once before she joined in with her singing, “Wheel and turn or bleed and burn. Fly Between Blue and Green. Soar, dive down, Bronze and Brown. Dragonmen must fly when Threads are in the sky!”
He plucked it through a third time and she hummed along as she hopped around the weyr with her arms out like wings, obviously pretending she was a dragon herself. He chuckled and paused in playing, but she spun around to look at him as if he'd just committed some great offense, demanding, “Again!”
A'zael shook his head, but the serious expression on her face made it hard not to laugh, “You could try being a bit more polite.”
She seemed to remember herself, “Oh... please?”
He did laugh then, “All right.”
She sang along again this time, her arms flapping, but stopped suddenly when the song came to an end, “Oh! Can you play March of the Wings?”
His brow furrowed slightly, “Well.... I can try. It might take me a little while to get it right, though.” He played around with the chords he remembered from the accompaniment part the gitar was meant to play, pacing slowly and humming the melody softly. Azora followed behind him, humming along herself. He switched over to plucking individual notes to figure out the melody, hitting a number off key while he was working it out and shaking his head when Azora giggled at his failures, “Merciless, aren't you?”
She tilted her head, “What's that mean?”
He chuckled, “Nevermind.” After he'd gotten the melody down well enough, he experimented a bit with chords. Azora made a face as he struck a particularly discordant one and he laughed again, “Sorry.”
Azora bounced in front of him suddenly, “Can I play!?”
He raised an eyebrow, “Well... if you're careful. Remember, this gitar isn't mine.”
She nodded emphatically, “I'll be careful.”
“Come on then, it'll be better if you sit,” he ushered her over to the sitting area his weyr provided and she all but jumped into a chair, reaching out for the gitar immediately. He settled it on her lap, directing her as to the proper way to hold it, “This arm over here so you can strum or pluck. This one's a bit trickier, especially when your fingers are smaller. Underhand like this... yeah, there you go.”
She gave an experimental strum, her left hand holding down all the strings at once, and made an unpleasant face because it didn't sound at all how she imagined it would. A'zael laughed and leaned down, “Here, put your fingers like this, it's an easy chord. Try again.”
Hesitantly, she strummed with her right hand and gasped lightly, “I did it!”
A'zael smiled, “Sure did.”
“Teach me another one!” she demanded, then she remembered, “Uhm, please.”
“Since you asked so nicely,” A'zael teased, directing her where to put her fingers for another chord.
Azora hm'd and looked up at him determinedly, “Teach me a hard one.”
“A hard one?” he scratched his chin lightly, “All right... you're going to have stretch your fingers as far as they go. Little finger way over here... middle finger right there....”
He helped her with her finger placement and she stuck out her tongue, “It doesn't feel very good....”
“What can I say, sometimes you have to suffer for your art,” she gave him a confused look at that and he laughed, “Try strumming.”
She did, and brightened a bit, strumming once more before her fingers lost their places, “It sounds so pretty!”
He grinned, “Worth it?”
She nodded, trying to remember where she was supposed to put her fingers for the pretty chord. A'zael nudged her middle finger over one fret and she strummed again. She bounced in the chair and the gitar started to slip off her lap, but A'zael caught it, “Oops... sorry.”
“Just sit still,” he cautioned, ruffling her hair. She swatted his hand away and he laughed. Instead of insisting he teach her another chord or something, however, she nudged the gitar back toward him.
“You play again. March of the Wings!” As he took it from her she slid off the chair.
“Done already?” He raised an eyebrow at her and shifted his fingers on the gitar.
“Mmhm, I wanna be a dragon!” she explained, flapping her arms again.
“Oh yeah? Should I call you Azorath now?” he plucked a few notes of the song she wanted to hear.
“Azorath...? Yes! I'm Azorath,” and she gave her best impression of a dragon roar, to which he laughed.
“Hm, and I suppose you are the biggest Gold that ever hatched?” he eyed her curiously and was surprised by her vehement disagreement.
“NO! I'm a GREEN,” she insisted as if his suggestion was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard, giving a hop as she flapped her arms and made like she was breathing fire, blowing out a great breath through O-shaped lips.
“A Green, huh?” He shifted into chords, intrigued that she didn't have the same obsession with Golds as most young girls did, “You don't want a Gold for yourself, then?”
She shook her head, “Greens are the best.”
“You think so? Why's that?” he was curious as to why her opinion differed from the masses. He wondered if Rau had anything to do with it.
“Because they can fight and flame and they're super fast and pretty and they're girls,” she said the last as though it was the most obvious reason as to why they were clearly the best dragons on Pern, “And girls are better than boys.”
He laughed, “Well, I suppose I can't argue with you there.” He strummed a few more chords experimentally, “But I'm glad you feel that way. Greens are far more fun than Golds.” He paused to look over at her, “Don't tell Danovelith I said that.” It wasn't that Gold dragons themselves couldn't be fun, it was just that they came with so much more responsibility for their riders. And considering his time as Weyrleader, he certainly wouldn't wish the stress of a Gold on his daughter.
Azora giggled and nodded, “I like Danovelith... but I wanna fight Thread. I want a dragon that can flame.” She tilted her head at him, “Are Bronzes your favorite?”
He paused in his playing and shook his head, “Actually... I don't really have a favorite color anymore. I mean, Fath is my favorite obviously, but it doesn't have anything to do with him being a Bronze.”
She seemed confused by that concept, “You don't have a favorite?”
He chuckled, “No.... Before I Impressed, I wanted a Blue. I thought they seemed fun, they were quick and could do all sorts of tricks the bigger colors couldn't....”
“But they aren't your favorite anymore?” she still seemed a bit baffled that he didn't have a preference for any color dragon. Everyone had a favorite.
He looked thoughtful for a moment, “I guess... being Weyrleader has made me appreciate them all equally. The Weyr would fail completely if we lost any one color. They all play important roles.” Azora hmmm'd as if she still wasn't quite sure she was satisfied with that explanation and A'zael laughed, trying to think of another way to put it. “Let's see.... Ah. Take the gitar.” He plucked each string, “Each string sounds very different, but none really sound particularly better than any other on their own. And together,” he strummed a few chords, “They sound even better. But if you ignore one string....” He played the same chords with a missing string and Azora winced at how unpleasant it sounded, “It doesn't sound good at all.” She nodded in agreement at that. “So if each string is a dragon color... do you understand?”
She studied the gitar a moment, then nodded again, “Mmhm.... They work better together?”
“Indeed,” he agreed, “Their differences make the entire instrument sound better, just like the differences in all the dragon colors make the Weyr better.”
She supposed she could agree with that, but, “I still like Greens the best.”
He had a decent laugh at that, but finally assured her, lightly teasing, “That's fine, I won't hold it against you. Everyone likes different things.”
“Hmmmm,” she seemed to be pondering whether she should take offense to his teasing or not, but ultimately decided to let it go. She watched him strumming for a little while, “What's your favorite song to play?”
“The Duty Song,” he answered easily, shifting into playing that instead. “I mean... it's all about honoring dragonriders and how great we are, after all.” He winked at her and she giggled.
“I can't wait to have my own dragon,” she told him without any hint of doubt in her voice that might indicate she was worried about the possibility of never Impressing. She eyed him critically for a moment, “You're the Weyrleader, you could let me be a candidate now, couldn't you?”
A'zael laughed, “No, I can't.” Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “It takes a lot of work, taking care of a dragon, and learning everything you need to know to be a proper rider.”
“I would work super extra hard!” she promised, a pleading note in her voice.
He shook his head, “I know you would, and I know it's hard to wait, but it will be worth it.”
She kicked at the stone floor stubbornly, “But that's turns and turns from now... it'll be forever.”
He smiled softly, “It'll go faster than you think. Besides, for all you know a dragon might just pluck you from the stands before you even become a candidate.” He thought briefly of Kyzen... K'zen... and then tried not to think about him too much. The pair had been lost during their first Between and A'zael couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with his youth. Zenelle still wasn't herself, and A'zael didn't think she ever would be again. Losing a young rider like was was bad enough, but losing your own child so young.... He looked down at Azora. Previously he had been unable to comprehend the depths of the Greenrider's grief, but imagined that he had least some idea now that the little girl had become part of his life. Having close family ties had its downfalls.
The girl brightened at that idea, however. She had forgotten about stands Impressions. They didn't happen very often, but sometimes.... She bounced excitedly. Her dragon could find her whenever it liked, she didn't have to be on the Sands. She just had to make sure she never ever missed a Hatching. “Oh! Can mommy and I sit with you at the next Hatching?”
“Hatching? Oh, sure...,” he paused, thinking on that a moment. There was a sort of 'place of honor' in the Stands where the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman, (and now that they had more than one Gold) and any of the Junior Weyrwomen were expected to sit, with the Holder Elect and the Weyrsecond and the Wingleaders and any other ranking persons that happened to attend. Would it be appropriate for him to invite Orana and Azora to sit with him? In the back of his mind he scoffed. Between with proper protocol; Orana was slowly dying, she could sit wherever she sharding well pleased. The next Hatching... it might be the last one she was able to attend with Azora for all he knew. He would make sure they were with him. More certain this time, he assured the girl, “Of course you can. I'll take you both up to the Hatching cave myself.”
“Yay! I can't wait!” she loved Hatchings, but then, who didn't? She tilted her head up at him, “Can we go flying some more?”
“Hm.” He scratched his chin lightly, then settled the gitar down in a safe spot. He brushed against Fath's mind to find him quite occupied with Danovelith. It would be rather difficult to pull the Bronze away, and he wanted to give the dragon his time off as well. “Fath's enjoying company at the moment, I'm afraid. We wouldn't want to be rude and interrupt him now, would we?” He was sure Azora wouldn't mind interrupting him at all, and his tone was lightly teasing, as she had scolded him for that very thing when first they'd met.
Azora stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed, but a moment later it seemed she had another idea, “Oh! You can be my dragon then!”
He blinked down at her in surprised amusement, “Can I?”
She nodded, “Mmhm. Dragonback ride! And your dragon name is....” She looked thoughtful a moment, unsure how to turn a rider's name into a dragon name. She didn't know what his name had been before he Impressed.
With a chuckle, he crouched down so she could climb onto his back, which she did without any hesitation, “Azaeloth. That's what I always pretended when I was a weyrbrat, anyway.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up, surprised by how light she was.
“Azaeloth! Oh... but you can't be a Green, you're a boy,” she stated disdainfully.
“Hey, boys aren't that bad, you know,” he retorted, mockingly defensive.
She made a displeased noise and he laughed again, “I guess you can be a Blue. Fly, Azaeloth!” Her arm reached out, pointing toward the door to his weyr, directing his 'flight'.
“As you wish, rider of mine,” and he made for the door. He supposed he could carry her down to the dining cavern for a snack.
“Faster! Blues are supposed to be fast,” she demanded.
He let out a short bark of laughter, “You're going to make me work on my day off, aren't you?” He shifted slightly, making sure he had a good hold on her legs so she was secure, and took off at a jog, to which Azora giggled in his ear. Well, at least he was getting his workout today.