Just A Bit Of Help(Zen)

[TheDreamerLady]

It seemed as though Desh had gone through another growth spurt. It didn't happen often, and usually consisted more of muscle than length. But when it happened, and happened suddenly, sometimes R'ko was caught unaware.

And if it happened, he didn't notice, and then they had Wing Drills- well, R'ko had a special slave, made for Desh by a Healer, who'd given R'ko directions for how to make it.

So, in his leather pants, and with his slightly sunburnt body, R'ko hustled his way through the waves of dragons, riders, and weyrfolk, honing in on his Brown, whistling slightly. The slights abrasions, which should have green ichor scabbing on them already looked worse than they felt or really were.

Spotting his reddish brown at some distance, the Redhead hastened his step, happy to have the rest of the afternoon off, even if it had been at the expense of Desh's hide.

Desh, for his part, was sitting close to the water, and watching the frolic of Greens, and wishing he could partake. With a slightly mournful look, the Brown settled his large head on the sand, and sighed. Then blinked his large, green and yellow eyes. He looked quite the sad picture, with little lines of green crossing his red-brown hide.

It was such a waste of the beautiful day, and his Rider was taking forever.

[Zenniel]

Zenniel hadn't really had much fun at the Weyr yet. It seemed that dragonriders were forever doing something. It also seemed that dragonriders didn't much pay attention to candidates, as if they were the lowest rung on the ladder. In reality, though, Zen knew drudges were the lowest on the ladders.

Nomad wanted to go to the beach. She didn't feel like going, but Nomad wanted to. She hurriedly finished her chores and walked down to the lake. Nomad happily chirred at her, then swirled toward the shore. Nomad loved the big lake, and he repeatedly told Zenniel that through images.

Zenniel was particularly intrigued with the great brown mass of skin that lay almost unmoving on the shore. It was, of course, a dragon, but all of the dragons larger than blues Zen had never seen close up. She wondered if the dragon was waiting for something, or if his rider was on the other side of them. Maybe he was sharing a private conversation with His, maybe they were just dozing.

Zenniel approached the dragon sideways. Nomad was not so careful, and so charged recklessly forward. He forgot momentarily about the great water, as fire-lizards usually do when something more important arises. He shrieked threateningly, trying to protect his owner. "Nomad!" Zenniel cried, rushing forward. "Nomad, stop! This is a dragon, he will do nothing to me!"

Nomad stopped, but continued to hiss as he retreated to Zenniel's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, dear dragon!" Zenniel said, bowing. Her cheeks burned with embarassment. "I've taught Nomad how to react to humans, but not to his cousins! Forgive me, mighty dragon?"

[TheDreamerLady]

When one is a dragon who has been Thread Ready for most of his life, those instincts that are trained to the sharpest edge do not fade. In this case, they certainly hadn't faded enough that Deshenorth wasn't going to try and take a bite out of whatever had just shrieked at him.

So whirling faster than most people believed a Brown could move, Desh was attempting to take a bite out the small creature, teeth snapping and breath loud, hot, and fast.

When the creature flew behind the girl, Desh stopped snapping, and stepped away daintily. He had an unhappy feeling that he should have left the irritating creature alone.

Mine? Hurry over, there is a girl, and a creature.

R'ko was over in seconds, as Desh continued to stand awkwardly away from the girl, his eyes turning yellower, and yellower.

"So, what's this?" R'ko asked, looking over the girl and the 'Creature'. The girl looked young, very young, considering he was from Telgar, and no one other than Weyrbred candidates(and Elisha had been trying to change that) was under fourteen.

"Been scaring my dragon?" It was unfortunate that R'ko started to speak like R'net when he was stressed. It made him sound a little stranger than he actually was.

[Zenniel]

Zenniel had not been the least bit scared when the large brown dragon reared and attempted to kill little Nomad. Nomad, however, didn’t want to die, and therefore sent up a screeching storm. She grabbed the poor fire-lizard’s tail and held it hostage while she soothed it. “He wasn’t going to hurt you!” Zenniel cried at the dragon, still trying to shut up Nomad.

Zenniel started when a man came to her. Of course, this was the dragon’s Rider. She tried to do a clumsy little half-bow-curtsy thing, but it didn’t work out, and Nomad was trying vainly to get free. She gave up the thought of curtsying and just stood there like a half-baked noodle, wet and semi-limp.

Oh, shards! She hadn’t scared the dragon! It was all Nomad! And it wasn’t her fault that the man’s dragon hadn’t seen a fire-lizard before! She frowned, and looked past the man to the dragon. Seeing a dragon gave her at least some comfort from the fact that this man was talking directly to her. She had the sudden urge to get too shy, but she quelled it. It wasn’t her fault at all.

Instead, she just put Nomad on her shoulder, and made sure he stayed before looking at the man again. “I’m sorry, sir.” She said, and gave a shy-looking smile. “I just saw your d-dragon and thought it’d be c-cool to see a dragon up close.” She smiled at the dragon, but not at the man. She was happy it was only the man and his dragons. If he were to have had other people… then Zen would have been toast.

[TheDreamerLady]

Desh looked down at the girl, annoyed. Shrieking thing didn't mean to hurt me? He thundered to R'ko, his yellow eyes growing orange and red hints, and whirring faster.

She should control it better. R'ko sent back so soothing white noise thoughts. Yes, she should have, yes shrieking anything was threatening, and yes to all that. But he didn't think she'd done it on purpose, and no harm, no foul, and all of that.

"Well, Desh is a good dragon to have a look at. Nice coloring, wonderful breeding and all that, right?" The Brownrider smiled awkwardly.

"Have you had a look at a good many of Nova's dragon's yet?"

[Zenniel]

Zen fidgeted as the two seemed to talk to themselves. She was sure they were talking about her, she could feel it. Or maybe they were talking about Nomad.

She really needed to control Nomad. It was Nomad’s fault she had gotten into this predicament in the first place. But Nomad was her only friend here so far, not counting Amneris and her Green Labeth. Nomad’s little eyes were whirling almost the same shade as the brown dragon’s were. But Nomad was more scared and trying to show off than angry.

“Very nice coloring.” Zen said, all about trying to get the dragon less mad at her. “And no, I-I haven’t met very many dragons.” She frowned and looked down. “I-I’ve really only met one, L-Labeth, Amneris’s Green. But that’s be-because Labeth found me.”

[TheDreamerLady]

Desh preened. There was no other word for it. Desh, R'ko had sometimes pondered, seemed to run as much on compliments as he did food. Which, made him easy to convince of things, so R'ko didn't really mind.

"Amneris and Labeth Searched you? That's a fair good team that picked you. Labeth is rarely wrong, you know." R'ko smiled, still feeling rather awkward.

"Well, uh, best get to oiling up my dragon?" Though he didn't mean too, the statement came out sounding like a question. Really, he wasn't sure what he was suppose to do with a candidate that had scared his poor ailing dragon.

[Zenniel]

Zen really had no idea that Labeth was that good. All she had noticed at the time was a Rider coming up and asking her if she knew there were eggs. Of course she had known, she wasn't that stupid. And then the Rider asked if she wanted to be a candidate. Of course she had said yes!

"Oh, um, was that a question?" Zen asked to R'ko's statement-question. She eyed the large brown dragon that was now... preening in front of her. If she knew anything about dragons--and she didn't know much--she knew that dragon moods changed rather quickly.

"Because, if that was a question, I would love to help oil your very handsome brown. I bet he gives all of the greens a good chase. He might even be a good candidate for a gold flight!” She wanted to get on Desh’s good side since Nomad got on his bad one. Zen didn’t really feel like getting on any dragon’s bad side—and this was just the second one she’d met!

“It’ll be good experience if—when—I Impress my own dragon.” Zen said, smiling at the dragon. She didn’t dare look R’ko fully in the eye because she was too scared that she would start stuttering again. If she looked at the dragon she’d be fine… she hoped.

[TheDreamerLady]

R'ko smiled slowly, and rather nervously. Foremost on his mind was the girl's pet, who wasn't be trusted, not for a while yet. However, he didn't want to be rude, and if the girl was a candidate, he didn't want to cause any grief for her. He'd been a candidate a very short amount of time(or a very long time, depending on how you looked at it), and most of the time, it wasn't fun. A candidate didn't need a Dragonrider to cause them any extra stress.

"Sure." He finally said, with only a sort pause. "Desh is rather large, and I could use the help. Just- don't let the pet get to close to him, not yet. Desh might decide to be spiteful.

I'm not spiteful! R'ko, wisely, did not respond.

"So, all you really do, is use this little paddle, or if you've been working with dragons for years, you can sometimes use your hands, to spread this slave wherever Desh has turned green. The green bits are like, scabs because he ripped his skin a little. Gained more muscle again."

[Zenniel]

The girl kept her hand on Nomad, and squeezed the bronze fire-lizard unconsciously when R’ko said not to let him get too close. Zen nodded, and gave a shaky smile. “I’ll make sure Nomad won’t show up around Deshenorth again.” And, very firmly, the girl inserted a picture of Deshenorth and R’ko in the little flyer’s mind. Nomad’s once gently whirling eyes were whirling faster in fear. Nomad didn’t want to make His upset.

Zenniel brightened, “Alright, go, little one.” She said as she pet Nomad until he calmed down. “Go back to my bed and get some sleep.” Nomad cast a glance at R’ko and Desh, but obediently disappeared.

And then Zenniel drank in the information R’ko fed to her. She took the paddle, and found that it fit rather rudely in her small hands. She realized that the paddle must have been made for a mans’ hand, not a womans’. She gathered some salve, and then, undecided, asked, “May I?”

[TheDreamerLady]

R'ko had already put some of the cream onto his hands, and was working the sensitive area around Desh's neck.

"Uh, yeah, go for it." He honestly had thought she'd gone straight to work, but shrugged. Desh was huge, and she was probably frightened to approach him directly.

"So, how long have you been a candidate?" R'ko asked, searching for an easy subject to discuss, until she felt confident enough to ask questions. He remembered being young. He'd always had questions to ask, and be answered.

[Zenniel]

"Oh, I can?" That came out more as a question than a statement, though the girl obviously meant for it to be the second. She smiled as she scratched the huge brown dragon before applying the salve. "Oh! His skin is so soft!"

And then she applied the salve. She wondered how that felt, how having an itch being wiped away in an instant and replaced with a cool, smooth, relieving feeling. She tried her best to do what R'ko was doing, but the paddle was just too big for her, and she was sure she messed up more than once. She was getting frustrated, and she sighed, relieved, when R'ko started the conversation. Now that she was preoccupied, she wasn't nearly as shy.

"Only very nearly three days. I'm very new to the Weyr. Just this morning I got lost on my way to the Weyrhall." She laughed, a timid laugh, "I know, you're probably thinking, 'how'd she get lost on the way to the Weyrhall?' Well, I dunno." She moved on to another spot that looked like it itched. Then she turned her head to R'ko, "What colors can I Impress... you know, as a female?"

[TheDreamerLady]

R'ko laughed, adding a little pressure on one of the cracks at Desh's silent request. With his still clean hand, he rubbed the short red hair on his head, easing an itch caused by sweat and sun, and then moved onto responding to- well, dash it all, what was her name? Good manners dictated he should have introduced himself by then. R'ko blushed in the manner of many redheads everywhere: vibrantly.

He waited for her to finish speaking. Then he spoke.

"I'm R'ko by the way. And you know that this is Desh. Sorry, I forgot my manners earlier. It is unacceptable, but I hope you'll accept my apologies." He didn't ask her name, fairly sure she would offer it of her own accord.

"As for colors, it depends on. Some people here feel like girls should only Ride Golds- that's the Queens. Others, myself included, have seen girls on Golds, but also on Greens, and Blues, and twice, on a Brown."

[Zenniel]

Zenniel stobbed rubbing the brown dragon only long enough to glance at R'ko. "Hello, R'ko, and hello Desh!" She rubbed more, but continued to talk, "I'm Zenniel, and that 'pet' I had earlier is a Bronze fire-lizard named Nomad."

Another spot to rub the salve in. Zen could see how her arms could get tired fast--and Desh wasn't even the largest of dragons. She laughed, another timid laugh, when R'ko explained what queens were. "I know the colors," she explained, "I just didn't know what colors girls could Impress to. I'm partial to Greens myself, since Labeth Searched me. I doubt I'd ever Impress a queen, knowing me." She wasn't so shy now, but that was only because of Deshenorth.

"What was it like to stand? At the Hatching?" Zen wondered aloud suddenly, and her stomach clenched. What if a dragon mauled her? What if a dragon went between because she'd been mauled and killed? "Are there... deaths often?"

[TheDreamerLady]

"Pleased to meet you, Zenniel." R'ko smiled indulgently, and thought of his half sister. He didn't doubt that Zenniel and Netory would find each other interesting, and though he would point one of them in the other's direction at some point. When Netory was healed, perhaps.

"As for the Hatching. It's both the longest moment of your life, and it takes very little time to be over." R'ko smiled a little dreamily, as he continued to slave Desh.

"And Impression, well, it's not something you can describe with words. I wish you could. But everything is worth it, to reach Impression. I've known candidates who got in the way of a Hatchling, and then Impressed, and they'd tell you the same. Deaths have happened, but they tend to occur with Queen Hatchling's most often. Just stay out of the way of any Hatchling that isn't yours, and you'll be fine."

R'ko's dreamy expression had faded, and he looked rather pinched. The truth was, he'd lost a friend to a mauling, and it had taken a lot out of him. If it hadn't been for Desh, it would have taken much more. But having Desh was worth risking death- after all, Flying Thread was far less save than standing as a candidate.