Post by Zen on Sept 26, 2012 22:24:45 GMT -5
A'zael :: Bronze Fath
A’zael wandered his very empty weyr, pausing to lean against the stone at the large opening leading out to the ledge and gazing out at the water. Fath seemed to like hanging around the hatching sands and admiring the two little gold eggs when Zalmaranth allowed him anywhere near enough to see them. He was also rather fretful over Zalmaranth’s state. The closest Fath could get to describing the gold wasting away on the sands was ‘empty’. He remembered, She is empty, Mine. She hurts. He tapped his fist lightly against the stone, looking back at the big empty stone couch in the center of the weyr where Fath should be. He had keenly felt the pain in his dragon’s voice when he’d said that, it had twisted his heart. He’d met a dragonless rider before and knew that what a rider felt at the loss of their lifemate was only amplified in their dragon counterpart; he couldn’t imagine how Zalmaranth continued living.
Running his fingers through his hair he turned back into his weyr… the Weyrleader’s weyr. He meandered back to the sideroom that was technically a part of his weyr, used as something of an office and also a meeting room. R’get was supposed to meeting him here. Well… he was ordered to see him in ‘his office’ as it was. He’d thought about calling the old Council in to help him with this, to make sure he wasn’t too biased in his decisions about his long time best friend, but he also felt like he owed it Rau to hear him out man to man and… and just…. He didn’t know, but he wanted to do this alone was the point.
He stood in front of his desk, drumming his fingers upon its surface. He didn’t like this, he didn’t want this… having to bring disciplinary action against his best friend… but shard it all, he’d even gotten himself and his dragon hurt this time. It could have been much worse, yes, and that was the very point. If Rau wasn’t punished this time… maybe next time it would be worse. He rapped his knuckles on the desk a few times, completely uncomfortable with what was about to happen, but knowing quite well that it needed to happen or he could lose R’get next time. Not only could Mavros not afford to lose riders, especially young ones with many turns ahead, A’zael would not, could not lose R’get.
Rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes, he turned and sat back against the desk, waiting, trying to figure out what he would say, what he would do. Why had Fath gone and made him Weyrleader? He hadn’t even thought Fath was old enough to chase when Zalmaranth rose, but apparently his dragon was, for whatever reason, quite infatuated with the queen even when she quite clearly wanted nothing to do with him. Chasing her was surprise enough, but when he’d woken with Karredy beside him the next morning…. He could remember the flight well enough to recall how on Pern Fath had been able to catch her. None of it made much sense to A’zael, all he knew is that he definitely was NOT ready to lead a Weyr. Someday, sure, in ten or so turns, maybe after leading his own Wing for a few turns, working his way up and getting used to more responsibility each time, but this… this was too much, too fast.
His days were filled with doing… doing doing doing, always doing, especially since Karredy took ill. He hardly slept, meal times were a slice of paradise, a time when he could sit and relax and simply enjoy himself for a short time each day, if he didn’t nod off before he could have more than a few bites. He’d told the Council he wanted them to remain, to help him, they had experience running the Weyr and he didn’t. They helped a lot, to be sure, taking on many of the burdens that should have been his, though not as many as they had when there wasn’t a Weyrleader. B’rax was his savior, he worked closely with the older Bronzerider on most issues that could not be delegated to B’ram, D’rew, or Zenelle. There was just so much going on at the moment with eggs on the sands and needing candidates and Karredy…. To say he was stressed was quite an understatement.
He was even finding it hard to keep his usual friendly smile on his face these days. He hardly had the energy to smile half the time. He had little time for leisure, for simply chatting with his friends or even taking a short flight away from it all with Fath. Faranth knows when he was laid last… probably during Zal’s flight some months ago, and that hardly counted when he could only half remember it. And now Rau… Rau…. Didn’t he know how much he had to deal with on a regular basis without his best friend doing something stupid and needing scolding like a weyrbrat? Not only was A’zael R’get’s Weyrleader, he was also his Wingleader, and R’get’s punishment in this fell solely upon his shoulders. “Shard it all.”