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Date Posted: 14:31:25 03/08/05 Tue
Author: W'ren - Datoth, K'mar - Kigoth
Subject: Discussions...

A pair of Dragonriders, one a brownrider, the other bronze, sat together at a table, fairly engrossed in conversation. However, the hatchings of multiple firelizards and the entrances of various other 'Riders brought occasional breaks in the nearly continual speaking.

"Shaffit man, you're not kidding me are you!"

W'ren smiled wryly at his younger friend's exclamation, and then leaned forward in his chair to grab his steaming mug of klah. He sipped at it once before setting it back down, arms crossing as he rested back into the curve of the seat.

"Why aren't you up there with him?"

"Me? Weyrleader? Surely you jest, W'ren..."

The brownrider grinned, "Yes, I suppose I do. After all, who would suggest a man for Weyrleader if they knew the position would get him killed!"

K'mar raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of his own drink, a sharp white wine far too bitter for the other man's taste. "I could handle the job, I just don't think that's where my true talents rest."

W'ren smirked, "You know, it was just those very 'resting-talents' that had me concerned for your welfare. Should you achieve the position of Weyrleader, you'd be facing the wrath of about half the local island women!"

A green-eyed glare was the only response from across the table. Shaking his head, W'ren took another sip of his klah, lifting his gaze at the creak of K'mar's chair as the other man leaned back away from the table and gazed upwards at the ceiling of the caverns.

"I still can't believe that T'bel..."

"...found a woman he cared for?"

The bronzerider sighed, "Well... yes. I was starting to think that maybe..." He hesitated and stopped speaking.

An eyebrow raised from the other side of the table, "Maybe what?" W'ren took another sip of his hot drink.

"Well, maybe that he should have impressed a green!"

A mouthful of klah went sputtering across the table as W'ren burst into a hearty round of laughter. "By the First Egg W'ren, is that what you think about all day?"

"Of course not!" K'mar shouted indignantly, then grimaced slightly. "So maybe I was thinking about it a little." He paused for a moment, gaze lifting to meet W'ren's. "Has he ever even..?"

"For such a, dare I call it knowledgable man, you're certainly hesitant to come out and say things. Yes, he's loved a woman."

"Who is she?"

"Kesira was a woman of the old Weyr, but despite her Rider heritage, she never could Impress. However, she was a faithful helper to the Headwoman, and both dragons and their riders seemed to like her." W'ren paused a moment before continuing, "Even I knew of the relationship between she and T'bel, and I was just a Weyrling at the time. Unfortunately, her continual failure to Impress resulted in her departure from the Weyr; she began Healing training. True to DragonRider codes, T'bel recognized the impossibilities of a relationship between them, and I believe Kesira took vows with a Healercraft journeyman. Of course, that didn't make her death any easier for T'bel."

"Was she killed in the storm?"

"No, earlier than that. Maybe some twelve turns ago, Thread came a seven-day before it was due, and she was caught in the Fall on the way to a small Hold. The Holder's wife was in labor."

"Shards... That would have made T'bel, my age?"

"A little older perhaps. If you'll forgive me for a slightly over-poetic statement, he was old enough to know the real meaning of love, and young enough to not be able to fully protect himself from the sudden loss."

K'mar shook his head, "How do you know all these things?"

"You learn things if you take the time to listen."

The bronzerider leaned into the table. "Alright then, I'm listening to your answer to this question. If he's lived his life as such a jaded being ever since he lost Kesira... Why does he always seem so happy, and why is he currently in a flight? Is it for the position?"

W'ren shrugged quietly and with the help of his cane, rose to his one leg. "I think that the jokes are more of a source of emotional protection than anything else. As for the Flight... I don't even think T'bel recognizes what would occur should he win. Wessae was Junior Weyrwoman when he knew her, and he's been so deliberately cut off from the Weyr, I doubt he heard of the appointment. Beyond that, Wessae was the first woman I've seen him speak to since Kesira passed. And despite the fact that they are really only aquaintances, he certainly likes her. Then, there's the issue that Quilth seems to feel very strongly about Shrineth. T'bel loves his dragon more than his own life, and so, even if he didn't like Wessae, he'd be doing this."

A tan-skinned hand reached up to scratch behind shoulder length ebony hair, K'mar's eyes reflecting nothing but pure curiosity. "How'd they meet? Even if only once."

W'ren smiled with the same emotion that all 'Riders felt upon recollection of one of those joyous days. "Right in this very room for a Hatching Feast. They sang together for the Question Song if I remember correctly? It was... years ago. He played the lyre, she sang..." W'ren tried a few bars of the old song...

K'mar nodded and sipped again at his wine, "I hope he stays at the Weyr this time, if only for the sake of my ears."

The brownrider reached down to finish the last of his klah, no real response coming to mind despite K'mar's attempt to lighten the mood. Eventually, after a few moments of both dragonmen drinking from their respective glass and mug (more to have reason for the silence of thought than due to thrist), W'ren spoke again. "I think that maybe he will stay."

"Even if Quilth fails?"

The brownrider paused, "T'bel left because he felt that he had no purpose around the Weyr. But, I think, living on the subsistence level on the beaches of New Isle, he probably learned that he did have a purpose here. At least at the Weyr someone might ask him to carry them from one place to another, or he could help a weyrling. He wants to be needed."

K'mar blinked, "Certainly Quilth..."

"..gives him his sanity."

The bronzerider gave a slight smile, "Don't all of our lifemates..."

W'ren nodded to that, and began to hobble up towards the stairs that led out of the Lower Caverns. K'mar rose from his own seat and with a few long-legged strides had caught up with the brownrider. He walked beside him, not providing any demeaning support, but there in case the other man stumbled.

"It's hard to view T'bel as a Weyrleader."

"Well, as much as I support our friend and his lifemate, Quilth comes up to Kigoth's shoulder and he's only an arm-length taller than Datoth. And while admittedly Data's very large for his colour, I guess I just can't see Quilth winning out over some of the younger, larger bronzes. It worries me that T'bel may have put unknowingly put himself in a losing situation."

K'mar smacked his friend on the shoulder with hidden gentleness so not to throw his balance, "There are many good pairs over there with W'ren. T'gan and Chuth come to mind... Therefore whatever happens, we just have to support whomever catches the Gold. The good of the Weyr before the good of the Rider, a code we've always followed."

W'ren nodded once again, silence overcoming both men as they looked up to the skies out over the ocean near the Weyr, the group of shining dragons swiftly soaring farther and farther from their vision.

A soft tenor whisper escaped from K'mar's lips, "But maybe..."

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