What Would Tomorrow Bring? (Open)

[Lilacdew]

It was later in the afternoon, and Syreaka found her way into the stands surrounding the sands. Her work as a candidate had been finished for the moment, and she opted to hide away and ponder seriously for the future. Time had come and passed continually for the last several years, with several hatchings that had come and gone. Her chances were dwindling, and she wanted nothing more than the honor, companionship and power a dragon would bring her.

Oh, how she could prove herself then, and on her own power and her own dragon's. She wouldn't have to depend on anyone then.

No matter what her thoughts were, however, she had decided she could at least observe the eggs that had been brought. She needn't touch them. In fact, she knew better than to do so. It wasn't the official time and she wouldn't desecrate the sacred time old tradition that the 'touching' represented.

No. She could watch, look and meditate on the manner for now. Could she actually do it? Well, she needed to, didn't she?

She closed her eyes for a moment, merely heaving a gentle sigh as she played with a strand of her hair with her free hand. What would tomorrow bring?

[Briarwind]

As if the move wasn't complicated enough, as if there weren't enough problems to keep D'skel busy for turns to come, it had occurred to him that afternoon that he hadn't been in to check on the eggs even once, yet, and that he'd best do so, just in case. The last thing they needed was for Threaka to hear that they had neglected her beloved Honath's eggs in any way.

Aeldanth's displeasure at the notion shuddered down their bond. :Thank you,: the dragon murmured to his rider sleepily, shifting on his new ledge to better reach the sun, But I like my wings attached.

:As do I, my dear,: D'skel replied, making his way toward the sands. :As do I.:

It was unlikely it would be any kind of issue, as D'skel rather supposed that J'tan was making regular reports back to Eastern, but it certainly wasn't going to hurt anything to keep a close eye on them, and it might just save them some headaches - among other things - later.

What D'skel had not expected to see when he walked out onto the stony seating area overlooking the sands was Threaka's own daughter, looking thoughtfully at the eggs. For a moment, D'skel felt a swell of pity for her. The girl's parents were strict and demanding, in no uncertain terms, and her repeated attempts - and failures - to impress had put a considerable amount of pressure on her. Everyone knew that.

Quietly, he padded up beside her, looking out at the eggs with her silently. After a few moments, he asked softly, "Something on your mind, my lady?" The honorific was not strictly necessary, but it hurt nothing to be polite, and could one day be a considerable boon.

[Lilacdew]

She was running out of time, Syreaka was certain of it. As sure as the grains of sand fell through the middle of an hourglass, the days were ticking by as she grew ever older. Whether or not this would be the last impression she could stand at, she wasn't quite sure. It was certain, however, that she couldn't fail anymore. If Syreaka was to be strong, sure, confident and able, she had to rise up to the level that her mother was at, and if at all possible, pass it so that she could ultimately prove herself once and for all.

She continued to play with that bit of hair in her slender fingers, her lashes lowering just a bit when a voice nearby startled her back into reality while giving her a bit of a fright.

"Something on your mind, my lady?"

It took Syreaka a moment to realize it was D'skel standing beside her and not someone she'd have to attempt to beat the snot out of. She lifted her gaze up to him, "Oh, apologize D'skel. I hadn't heard you come in. You move quiet as a cat, you know."

She said frankly, as though avoiding the question. Her eyes shifted back out to the eggs on the sands, "Though, I doubt it's hard to guess what is on my mind.

[Briarwind]

A small smile played over the corner of D'skel's mouth at her reply. "I do try not to presume, my lady," he answered diplomatically. "However, just this once, I suppose there would be no harm in making the logical presumption." He paused then, for a moment, to survey the eggs quietly, before turning to look at her thoughtfully.

D'skel had served Threaka for almost two decades, and in that time, he had become very familiar with the temperamental Weyrwoman. He saw the few admirable traits she possessed, and he had also become well familiar with her failings. He had seen how she'd behaved toward her Weyr, and toward her daughter. It marveled him, sometimes, how much Syreaka took after her - and how little. It was an odd thing to see, and he had to admit a strange fascination in watching the tiny child he'd seen when he first came to Eastern transform into the unusual young woman he spoke with, today.

Dismissing his reverie as the woolgathering of a man slowly beginning to feel his age, he offered mildly, "I know you know it, already, and it offers little consolation, but most who impress well stand more than once, and there are still some turns left before you cannot. Besides, you know better than I that queens, especially, tend to impress late. Don't loose heart. There is hope, yet."

[Lilacdew]

The corners of Syreaka's lips quirked when D'skel talked about not trying to presume. She gave a dry chuckle, her voice betraying amusement, "Well, no. There really isn't any harm in assuming, I suppose. I can't exactly throw mudcakes at you for guessing wrong."

She spoke lightly, almost teasingly. Sometimes, it was fun to tease the dragonriders, and moreso, D'skel, who seemed to take it differently at varying times. People were often afraid of 'Threaka's daughter' because of Threaka herself. Others, managed to get to know her and saw there was no reason to be afraid. Syreaka would rather die than rely on Threaka to solve her problems as it was. Regardless, D'skel was the type that was fascinating to talk to. He never really appeared to judge, at least not when it mattered.

The young woman shifted her gaze up to the rider before she sighed when he spoke, "I suppose I grow tired of waiting. Could you imagine waiting longer than you had, to meet Aeldanth?" She asked it softly, her voice never lifting from its pondersome tone, "To know that he was yours, and you are his? Regardles, it is merely a self doubt, I suppose, creeping upon me. It will erase soon enough. I merely cannot help myself from thinking about it. However, thank you....I will try to keep what you've said in mind."

Syreaka then leaned back, crossing her legs. Hope huh. Was there any left, after turns of disapointment? The pressure continued to rise through the days, acting like a trap aching to close about her.

[Briarwind]

A ponderous expression settled over D'skel's face. He had not missed the dejected tone of her voice, and while he rarely bestirred himself to care about such things, it was his own fault, in the end. He had, after all, intruded upon her reverie, and not the other way around. The least he could do was to conduct himself in conversation like a gentleman. It was only appropriate, for a man of his station.

"Have I ever told you," he inquired thoughtfully, "of my own candidacy and impression?"

[Lilacdew]

Syreaka was sinking into reverie again when D'skel asked his question. The woman blinked, tearing her gaze from the ceiling towards the Dragon rider. D'skel rarely offered anything of himself, she had learned that much early on. Moving to sit up, she tilted her head to the side in interest just in time her little green firelizard to shoot in from an opening in the area, squaking.

The woman frowned, "Deltra!" The lizard silenced immediately, quickly landing in her lap with a sheepish peep, whatever it was that was irritating the lizard quickly forgotten. Syreaka sighed at the lizard before looking up at D'skel once more, "Apologies, D'skel. And no, I do not believe you have ever told me about your own candidacy or impression."

[Briarwind]

D'skel eyed the firelizard dubiously for a long moment. There was a reason he had never obtained any of the creatures. It wasn't that he couldn't see their utility. Certainly he could. It wasn't even that he didn't believe they had value on a personal level as a loyal companion. Obviously, they had that. It was simply that so few of them seemed trained, and even those that did were prone to acting out, like Syreaka's green.

Dismissing the thought, he returned his mind to the conversation at hand, and his gaze to the eggs on the sands. For a moment, he pondered them silently as well, letting his mind drift back to his own time standing on the sands. Eastern sands were rather nicer than the ones here, but the intensity of the heat and the pervasive feeling of anxiety were very much the same.

"I was twelve when they searched me," he told her without turning his head. "My parents had been planning to apprentice me, but the invitation to the Weyr was a far more appealing prospect, and so, they allowed me to go. For three turns, I stood and failed. They tried to pull me back more than once, and it was only my vehement protests that kept me at the Weyr. Before I impressed, not one person still believed it was to happen. Even I doubted, and, by then too old for apprenticeship, I faced the prospect that, should I fail, I had nowhere else to turn. I would be craftless, dragonless, and, frankly, beyond the help of even my own kin. My parents could not afford to support me, if I failed." Pausing, he turned to look at her, his expression thoughtful. "I know the doubt far more intimately than I like to admit," he promised her. "You are strong. Your line is strong. Do not let your doubt consume you, Syreaka. If I had the makings of a dragonman, then you have the makings of a Weyrwoman twice what Threaka was at her finest. Trust me when I say this to you: you are destined for great things."

[Lilacdew]

Syreaka listened in absolute silence, even her little lizard bobbing her head, curling tightly in her lap, watching the rider as intently as the young woman. As D’skel’s soft voice filtered through the air, it was like learning from the most enthralling book she’d ever opened. He was frank, and earnest. It was wonderful to hear, and nearly rousing at the same time. It was also soothing, and she never once shifted her eyes from him once.

Nodding her dark-haired head when he turned to her,, she smiled, clearly flattered by what he said about her. He was right, her line was strong and she would prove herself to be better than Threaka. She had to prove it, and quiet for the moment, she reached out to gently grip his arm in gratitude. If anything, she felt better hearing him profess to having faith in her, “Thank you, very much.”

That he had taken the time to talk to her of this, even though he was the type to keep to himself. There was a level of gratitude inside of her that she couldn’t quiet express, the kind that could only be generated from words or actions from someone who really did understand, “It means a lot.”

[Briarwind]

D'skel didn't offer a word in reply. He simply reached out to pat her hand lightly, a small show of empathy with just a touch of affection, and offered her a smile before turning his gaze back out to the eggs. Verbosity was not in his nature, and he had said all that he felt needed to be said.

Aeldanth did not agree, though his words were for D'skel, only. :Careful, rider-mine,: the dragon chided, his velveteen voice rumbling softly with concern. :You will ask the queen to chase you, instead, if you keep on like this, and queens do not like to chase. They like to be chased.:

:Nothing of the sort,: D'skel disagreed, his face offering no hint of the thoughts running through his mind. :She's a child who may one day be a woman. She is not a queen.:

Aeldanth shifted, resettling his wings, and closed his eyes for a nap somewhere far above. It was plain that he thought his rider quite silly, and quite unworthy of his continued assistance. That was just as well, to D'skel's mind. The dragon was altogether too sure of himself about things he had no business being sure about. Besides, he was weary, after the move, and there was no doubt in D'skel's mind that a bit of extra sleep would do him some good.

As sleep washed over the sun-warmed dragon, he added softly, but firmly, to D'skel, :I'm not wrong.: A wry smile tugged up the corner of the man's mouth, and the dragon let himself drift off to sleep.

[Lilacdew]

Syreaka smiled when he patted her hand, before she slowly let his arm go. His smile was encouraging, and she returned it, feeling a little bolstered indeed. Shifting her look back out to the eggs, she lifted her tiny lizard to her chest and nodded. Unhearing of the conversation between dragon and rider, she said, "I suppose it is silly to think on things that are 'what ifs'. You're right."

He really was, wasn't he. She shouldn't worry so much about it, and as she set the firelizard on her shoulder and Deltra crooned approval at the change in the girl's thoughts. Her emotions weren't as dark at this point, and all she really could think of was that she was quite happier all of a sudden. How hard it was to place why....

Either way, she was glad D'skel had come and broken her reverie. She had alwas liked him, and all she knew was that she was happy that he'd come along. At least there were some familiar faces amidst the strangers.

[Briarwind]

"It's not silly to think on them," D'skel corrected her thoughtfully. "Thinking on them helps us prepare for the future and all the eventualities it might contain."

Pausing, he canted his head toward her again, half a gesture of politeness and half a subtle form of emphasis as he added, "Dwelling on them, however, is destructive." The unvoiced accusation was gentle but unmistakable, a polite, friendly chiding.

[Lilacdew]

Syreaka blinked as D'skel so thoughtfully corrected her. She was taken aback, this was certainly a side she'd never expected out of the man. It was a plesant surprise, and one she couldn't say was unwelcome at all. She tilted her head to look up at him when he canted his head in her direction, and she nodded slowly.

She understood what he was saying. The bright daughter of Threaka generally did when something was said around her, and she nodded once more, "I understand, D'skel. You're right, of course. I suppose I have been dwelling on it too much."

She glanced out over the eggs, idly scratching the ridges on the firelizard in her lap, "I suppose sometimes it's hard not to sink into that. You'll be my example that things will turn out alright, if that's alright with you?"

[Briarwind]

"Certainly, my Lady," D'skel replied mildly. "Though it might do you well to inquire with a few of the other bronzeriders about their own impressions. You might find that my story is less uncommon than you might guess. Then, you need only remind yourself how much more rare queens are than bronzes to straighten yourself out, I suspect." She was a bright girl. She would follow, he was sure.

[Lilacdew]

"I suppose I could," Syreaka pursed her lips, nodding slowly as she listened to what he said about his story being less common. It was then that he said that queens are rarer than bronzes that she felt a light flutter in her heart. It was as if he spoke magic, and she was taken aback by that. Her spirits lifted just a bit when she smiled softly. The woman hesitated for a moment, waiting to speak as she let it sink in. He thought she was good enough for a queen, and infact, that she was the rare sort to fit the type that came along with that.

"I see. Well, I understand." She stood up lightly, bracing herself against the rail infront of her, "I think I'll have to do what you suggested."