Early mornings (Open, Bre)

[arratra]

For once, A'tra was awake before his dragon.
Avartiath normally woke early, roused by the rising sun, but this time he was still asleep. Margras was, of course, still asleep, curled into a tight ball on A'tra's pillow.

Stepping carefully around the dragon, A'tra sat on the ledge, looking up into the dawn sky.
The blood red dawn sky.
"Sailor's warning," A'tra murmured, remembering the little rhyme.
He sighed, looking down at his hand. The onyx ring around his finger glinted, and he sighed again, remembering his parents. He knew well that they would be very proud of him; a dragon rider was, after all, something that they could now boast that theirs son was. However, no news had come through, and the continuing search by the Traders had yet to turn up a single lead.

Mine? Avartiath murmured, slowly opening his eyes and looking out the door at His.
"Sorry, Av," A'tra said, turning to look at his dragon, "You were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you."
There's a first time for everything, Avartiath said wisely, surprising his rider, Still no word?
None.
Do not be sad, A'tramine. You have me. And you still have your brother. And your sister.

[Admin]

And maybe tonight,
We'll fly so far away,
We'll be lost before the dawn,
If only night could hold you.

Dawn was a good time of day. It came second in her mind, right after dusk. Wandering feet along the back tunnels, where the newly coming light of the day didn't reach, had brought Bri where she didn't belong. She peered into the small weyr, unabashed intrigue drawing her into the space. She took a step forward. With her canine, Soc, left behind for once, set up in the kennels to sleep, her footfall came quietly, almost silently. It was just a faint patter in the quiet of the space. She contained herself, all of her thoughts and the energy she knew she had in her body. There was a black on the couch, and a boy standing on the ledge. A man, she supposed. He had to be older than her. He looked handsome, framed against the stained sky where the Red Star are visible on the horizon. She watched him for a moment. She didn't much care, about his handsome pose. The urge to laugh at it grew in her. She contained it. "Hello;" she said softly in greeting, keeping a sharp witted calmness to herself in the peace of the moment. "I didn't mean to intrude;" she added, with a little smile of knowing meant for herself. That much. She hadn't meant to intrude that much.

We'll fly so far away,
We'll be lost before the dawn,
Somehow I know that we can't,
Wake again from this dream.

[arratra]

A'tra and Avartiath both jumped in surprise, Avartiath more so than his rider.
I did not know she was there, he explained, abashed, to A'tra, as he swung his head around to regard the girl.
"It's OK," A'tra said, turning to look at her, "Just don't come in here at night. I don't want W'al getting any funny ideas of what I'm doing. I'm still a weyrling, you see," he added, indicating Avartiath, "Avartiath here has grown quite large for a black. Never expected it, really... Oh, by the way, my name's A'tra. A'tra Smith, of black Avartiath."

A'tra brushed at the neatly-trimmed beard he wore; it had grown in smoothly, rather than patchily, and he was glad for that... even though it made him look older than his 17 turns.
"What brought you up here?" A'tra asked after a moment, "Trying to get a weather forecast? If so, it looks like a storm's on the way."

[Admin]

How long have I been in this storm?
So overwhelmed by the ocean's shapeless form,
Water's getting harder to tread,
With these waves crashing over my head.

Bri grinned a childishly toothy grin at what he said. What a good little boy, wanting to make sure that no one got the wrong ideas about him! He was frank though, wasn't he? She liked that, the plain way he addressed her. "Bri. Just Bri;" she answered his offhand but oddly formal greeting. She bore no reputation or rank to boast. "Don't worry. I didn't have any intentions of doing that. They generally frown on the candidates for that sort of thing too, I do believe;" she assured him, though her casual, slippery, amused words weren't particularly reassuring.

Curious, she peered closer to him. He looked old for a weyrling. Not too much, most all of them were older than her, but some, and his dragon wasn't small, that was true, big enough to pass off as a small black as it was it seemed and he wasn't entirely grown. As she stepped forward, the storm riddled sky released enough light to play across her skin, which was reddened and patched across her arms in rashes. She was unabashed, even though she was sharply aware of the warm touch of light on her skin. "I was just exploring;" she said with a shrug.

I know everything will be alright,
I know everthing is alright,
Everything is alright,
Everything is alright.

[arratra]

"Yeah, I know," A'tra said, chuckling, "I was a Candidate for two years. All Riders have spent at least a little bit as a Candidate."
He was silent for a few moments, giving her a sharp look out of the corner of his eye that made it clear that he wasn't one to break the rules.
"Do you know of the Renegade Hatching here, Bri?" he said eventually, "Avartiath hatched then. But he will always belong to this Weyr."
He chuckled slightly when she stated her reason. "Exploring, huh?" he said, chuckling, "If you want to explore, avoid the personal weyrs. Someone might get the wrong idea, or you might get in trouble for trespassing."

He fell back into silence, broken only by a quiet sigh.
"I just wish I could see my parents."

[Admin]

And I'm right back at the beginning,
Lost inside this memory,
I won't ever let go,
All that I want to hold onto.

Bri gave a shrug at his mention of his dragon's birth. Heritage meant little to her. "Trespassing isn't an offense you can get in a Weyr. The Weyr is a Weyr. They fight together;" she informed him frankly, sticking out her chin in a decidedly stubborn and assured manner. Things stuck in her head, and her growing knowledge of the dynamics of the Weyr was kept close in her mind. She didn't go for showing off. She went for the argument. "Sure, people won't be happy, but I can handle myself." She grinned at him wickedly, ignoring his look. Prodding sticks in the mud was far too much fun! She had a prickly, odd sense of humor.

At his mournful words after a brief silence, she looked at her more sharply, with a dim kindness. "Why can't you?" The question was posed with little sympathy. There was always a solution. She liked finding solutions. She was curious. He had volunteered the information, and she wanted to know more. Why couldn't he and Avartiath go to see his parents? Why couldn't they come to see their fine, dashing dragonriders? Were they not on good terms? What sort of person wasn't proud of being related to a dragonrider? She tilted her head at him in interest. Her nose itched. She wiggled it to subside the feeling even as she intently stared at him.

And even when darkness awaits you,
I'll be there to be your light,
It's a hard lonely road,
When you're standing outside in the cold.

[arratra]

"They're missing," A'tra said, "I'm really worried for them."
He then snorted, "Besides. Even though Avartiath can go between now doesn't mean I can just up and leave the Weyr to go searching for them."
You are upsetting Mine, Avartiath abruptly said to Bri directly, his eyes whirling red from anger, Let him be for now.
"It's all right, Av," A'tra said, raising a hand, "If I don't face this now, I'll never be able to... I'm worried that they're dead," he continued frankly, wincing as he said this, "They raised me from the very beginning... Which is more than Alizadeth ever did for Avartiath or any of the others she clutched here."

[Admin]

I am a mirror,
With no reflection,
I am a razor,
Without my blade.

Bri knew she'd been insensitive when he said that his parents were missing, but there's a difference between knowing and caring. It wasn't that she was callous or cold so much as that she glossed over it with a neat eye for the entire picture she received. He seemed so dead set, so inflexible. Couldn't he see where things could bend? Couldn't he see where things could twist and flex? The world always turned. Things always moved. She sighed. What a pair, the two of them.

Then a dragon spoke in her mind. A black dragon. It felt black, or something like that. She knew it was Avartiath. That was abundantly clear. Less shocked and more disdainful, she shot the black one look. So insensible, both of them! She shook her head at them, tousling her oddly colored hair. "Every mother dragon guards her eggs well, and sometimes, even then, they don't all hatch! They can take care of themselves;" she informed them. Her hands went to her hips.

"Buck up;" she suggested, advancing on A'tra without a care. She wasn't one to hold back when she got an idea or a fancy or a feeling. "The Weyr doesn't need a couple of useless lumps of flesh that sit around and whine all day! Ugh, grow up;" she snapped at the pair. She acted as if she'd live at the Weyr her entire life.

I climb to fall,
To begin again,
To begin again
I climb to fall.

[arratra]

A'tra slowly stood up. His hair waved in the wind, which was slowly beginning to pick up.
"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I was going through," he said quietly, turning his head to look directly at her, noting the red marks but not commenting, "I know, Bri. I know that. And normally I don't whine about it. But..." here he paused and looked away, "It's been over a turn with no news at all... it's not knowing that hurts the most."
Avartiath clambered off his couch and moved to the entrance, then stopped as A'tra whipped his knife out, flicking it deftly so that he was holding it by the blade, his fingertips on each side.
"This knife," he said, "It was a gift from my father. Now, along with my ring, it's one of the only two things I have left to remember my parents by. Since my sister isn't here, and I hardly knew my brother until recently," he added, flicking the knife so he was holding the handle again, and sheathing it. At this point, a gust of wind blew the ponytail A'tra had grown out sideways.

[Admin]

Giddy up and go,
We'll go so far as we please,
Giddy up and gold mine,
Different place, different time.

A sympathy, like he was a kicked puppy, welled up inside of Bri as she regarded him. She noted that Avartiath came and stood nearer to the ledge, but she kept her eyes on the rider. Hands still on her hips, she tilted her head at him. She found him sad, but it wasn't in quite such a bad when he explained. She looked upon him with a pity that seemed ill-fitting for a girl turns his younger. She played worldly quite well. However, the emotions were plenty sincere. She didn't fake.

Then he pulled out a knife, flicking it out like it was a double-bladed sticker or something. She stepped back, posture tensing. Her natural reaction was to prepare for a fight. A knife fight. Part of screamed to tackle him. Then she realized he was holding the blade, and talking more about his family. She relaxed, trying not to snort at herself in good humor at her prepared nature.

The knife went away, and a burst of wind tickled her face. She stepped forward, so she was beside A'tra. She stared out, rather than at him for once, looking out across the scene of the slowly awakening Weyr. "Who's your brother?" That was her only question, but it was asked more quietly, more politely, more sensitively.

You go down the longest road to nowhere,
You pull it apart and you're just left there,
You go down the longest road to nowhere,
You pull it apart and you're just left there.

[arratra]

"Matren Smith," A'tra said quietly, "He's an apprentice smithcrafter. I only saw him briefly when he was born... I was only four at the time, and he was fostered to a Master Smith."
He was silent for a moment, then continued, "He's here in the Weyr, if you're wondering... but he can be hard to find. I've only seen him twice since the Hatching. Don't get me wrong, we're perfectly friendly towards each other, it's just that we're both quite busy most of the time."

[Admin]

Hear me roar in numbers,
Too big to ignore,
And I know too much to go back and pretend,
Cause I've heard it all before.

Bri wrinkled her nose up at him as he spoke, listening to him and ever inspecting him. Since the hatching, he had said. Which hatching did he mean? She'd never seen a dragon hatching at that point. She'd kept out of the way of dragons at Fort when she'd been there. "Since Avartiath's hatching? What, he has be nearly a turn!" She turned on her heel to stare at Avartiath. The black was large by most standards, though not for a dragon. He didn't look grown quite yet, but he certainly didn't look like a baby. Plus, she wasn't entirely oblivious to what had occurred throughout the turns of Dalibor. "Maybe, if you're feeling lonely, you should talk to him. Sometimes new people are better than the old, even the ones that you miss;" she said with an unique sage-like quality that was ruined by a big grin that crossed her face. In a companionable way, she clapped A'tra on the shoulder, caring little for personal boundaries or the fact that he was taller. She was beginning to look on him as her new puppy who was stupid but vaguely lovable. Her opinions and images of people were usually honest and interesting.

Oh, yes, I am wise,
But it's wisdom born of pain,
Yes, I paid the price,
But look how much I gained.

[arratra]

A'tra looked down at her hand, then at her directly, raising his eyebrow.
"We're both busy," A'tra said, shrugging, "Matren has his Craft, and I have caring for Avartiath and my lessons. I'll be able to see him more once I graduate, but for now, I'm afraid I can't."

Gently, he brushed her hand off, making it clear that he wasn't comfortable with someone he barely knew making the gesture, and looked back up into the sky, staring at the Day Sisters, which were still just visible above the rim of the Weyr.

Margras chose that moment to pop into existence above them, and land on A'tra's shoulder.
"This is Margras," A'tra said absently, "He's my fire lizard."

[Admin]

Come with me and you'll be,
In a world of pure imagination,
Take a look,
And you'll see into your imagination.

Bri let him brush her hand away. She didn't care. She simply grinned in amusement at his cool discomfort. What bothered her more was his excuses in response to her suggestion. Excuses, excuses, she hated excuses. Like him, she turned back to the sky. The Dawn Sisters were slowly disappearing, and the Red Star had faded into the light of the day, the sky turning from red to a misty blue. The good came. The bad fell. The good became bad. Life went on as it did. She could see portents in the dawn. There were always portents in times like those. A flash of blue out of the corner of her eyes caught her attention and she turned on her heel, sinking her weight back on them like a very hefty feline about to pounce. Then she shifted her weight forward and peered at the firelizard who had perched on A'tra's shoulder. "Nice ta meecha, Margras;" she told the blue, wearing a huge smile. She found firelizards to be wonderfully pesky creatures. "I have a canine, named Soc, but I'm letting him sleep;" she drawled. Out of the blue, she hopped a step back and spun around. She ended up facing him and she beamed. She hadn't a reason for doing it. She'd simply done it.

There is no life I know,
To compare with pure imagination,
Living there, you'll be free,
If you truly wish to be.

[arratra]

"Just don't get him anywhere near glows," A'tra said, smiling when she mentioned her canine, "Margras loves them; I still haven't figured out why."

He shook his head in amusement when she performed the quick twirl, Avartiath watching her with his head cocked. He moved forwards and nudged her shoulder, his tail moving from side to side.
"Av seems to have taken a liking to you," A'tra said, smiling, "Don't worry if he acts a bit odd, that's just him."
Margras, seeing this, chirped happily, taking off and landing on Avartiath's head. Margras was about average for a blue, where Avartiath was on the large side for a black. It looked almost comic, a small blue version of the much larger Avartiath perched on the latter's head.

[Admin]

Black is a cast,
And two is a crowd,
And gold rim is an answer.
Black is a crowd.

Bri expressly chose not to make any mental note about the blue firelizard's interest in glows. Why in the world would she want to remember that? It sounded more interesting to take Margras very, very close to a very, very large amount of glows and see what would happen. If she didn't remember his interest in the luminescent objects, she might not think to try such an experiment. When Avartiath nudged her, she blinked. She was taken aback for a single moment. Then she grinned with lackluster pride as A'tra explained it to her. "Well, I like you two, big guy. I don't mind odd. We'll fix your rider over there's need for normalcy eventually, my friend;" she informed the black in a comically conspiratorial tone. She reached up with one hand to scratch the young dragon's eyeridges and stretched out the other to give Margras's a scratch as well, knowing that most things draconic liked to be itched in that particular spot. "I think I've been forgetting how big and slim dragons are. Whers are definitely different;" she commented, subtly complimenting Avartiath. He was, after all, a very handsome fellow. "I like small and compact, but big and slim is good too."

So even if you stop,
You’re sitting here by yourself,
You can never try to answer anymore,
You can never start.

[arratra]

Avartiath lidded his eyes happily, and Margras hummed.
"When you have my life," A'tra said, laughing, "This is normal. I don't mind the oddities of these two one bit. If they were any different at all, they wouldn't be who they are."

Whers see well in dark places, Avartiath commented when she mentioned them, Not like dragons... She feels right. Is she a wher candidate? Or already bonded?
A'tra nodded, then looked at Bri.
"Are you a wher candidate, by any chance?" he asked, "Avartiath seems to have a gift for telling when someone has a chance for bonding or Impression."

[Admin]

And in your heart,
You know it to be true,
You know what you gotta do,
They all depend on you.

"Has he ever picked out anyone yet that's Impressed? He seems kind of young." Bri spoke with a fake sweetness. She was young, only fourteen turns, going on fifteen. For all appearances, she could have been sweet, but she was a tall, strongly built young woman with patchy skin. She was jaded to the core. "Because you can't know that you have a knack for something when you don't have any sort of result for it;" she explained with a shrug. She wasn't trying to be mean. She simply couldn't keep her mouth shut and had felt the need to point out that technicality and speak her mind. Considering she felt absolutely no need to be assured about her likelihoods of bonding to a wher in the Weyr, where the process was more strict and demanding, she wasn't in the slightest bit bothered by poking holes in the black's confidence in her. "I am a wher candidate though;" she finally confirmed, a touch of pride affecting her voice. She was proud to be able to stand for whers rather than dragons. She was proud of who she was, in the oddest way, which went perfectly in hand with the insanity that she acted like she had.

And in your soul,
They poked a million holes,
But you never let em show,
Come on, it's time to go.

[arratra]

"Well, he was right about you, wasn't he?" A'tra asked, chuckling, "We won't know for certain until we graduate. And, yeah. He seems to know candidates from Weyrbrats on the first meeting, before they've even introduced themselves... and no, he's not checking their shoulder knots, before you ask. I doubt he even understands them."
Avartiath rumbled, nudging Bri again.
A'tra laughed. "Well, he certainly does like you," he said, "The fastest way to his heart is through that eye ridge... most of the time."

[Admin]

I'm stuck here in between,
The shadows of my yesterday,
I want to get away,
I need to get away.

All attempts to prove oneself to Bri only went so far. She had an amazing talent for getting worse in whatever way that she could with time. Despite a growing prickle in her mind as she listened to A'tra, she giggled, in a not very girlish manner, when Avartiath nudged her. She reached over and gave the black's eyeridges another scratch. She liked the endearing dragon significantly more than his rider. She would concede that the weyrling was managing to start forming more proper arguments, actually trying to block points and everything, but her growing understanding of him just made her want to try harder. Stubborn and argumentative, that was what she typically did. However, all good plans took time. Rukbat was steadily slipping higher into the sky. The Weyr was actually waking. She gave Avartiath one more scratch. She retreated slowly, deliberately, taking one step back. "I should probably go;" she drawled to A'tra, not responding to anything else he had said, as if she hadn't heard. She didn't move quickly, slowly walking backwards. She watched him with her amber brown eyes, waiting for him to say something. Anything. She wanted wit, excitement, intrigue! She set her new expectations, her likely final expectations for that encounter, high for him.

Blanket of silence,
Makes me want to sink my teeth in deep,
Burn all the evidence,
A fabricated disbelief.

[arratra]

"I understand," A'tra said, turning to her, "You have duties to perform. I was a candidate myself, so I know."
Margras made a disappointed noise when he did not get another scratch.
"Oh, by the way," A'tra said, "Don't worry if Margras keeps popping up with glows. It means he likes you."

[Admin]

The dawn is breaking,
A light shining through,
You're barely waking.

Bri gave Margras another smile. It was good to see that she would be missed. "I'll see you around, A'tra of black Avartiath;" she drawled to him. She grinned and tilted her head back. In the growing light of the day, her amber eyes glinted like molten copper. A puff of air that sounded like the faintest of chuckles escaped her lips. All youth was erased from her features as she slipped into the shadows at the back of his weyr. She became ethereal, everlasting and all knowing, as the flaws of her unwieldy skin disappeared into the darkness that she so easily embraced. "Don't make yourself too hard to find." Her voice was quiet, echoing out from somewhere within her. She radiated exactly what she wanted to be. She wanted to make a scene. She wanted to make an exit. She knew how to do that, and she showed it. She always showed that she knew so much more than anyone would ever think that she did. She flaunted and loved the challenge of maintaining a life she could enjoy. With that, she was gone, the glint of her eyes reflecting the light the last sign of her. She raced off through the back corridors of the Weyr on silent feet, grinning like a maniac, all her eternalness quickly gone.

Even the best fall down sometimes,
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme,
Out of the doubt that fills my mind.