[PRP] Motherly Affection (Alumet + Lestenna)

[TheWishling]

She'd been told the night of the feast that the weyr of Lestenna and her Gold Uridith was always open to both her and the little golden daughter that she'd Impressed. The thought lingered today, as she carefully tended a golden hide, fingers rubbing over her muscles. Zenobiath let out happy croons as Hers focused on making sure she looked her best, since the both of them deserved nothing less. The thoughts in Alumet's head, though, were echoed in her own. The young female always longed for chances to see her mother, and now? Now they had an off day. Why not use it for something worthwhile, like seeing the other rider for Alumet to learn from, and for her to get to see her beautiful mother?

Once the blonde was done with her hide, she shook herself out, twining her tail delicately about the ankle of Hers, before looking up at her, Alumetmine? I would like to go see my mother now please.
"Of course, dearest heart." To her feet, she began to walk. It wasn't TERRIBLY far from the Weyrling baracks to Uridith's weyr, but far enough that she was constantly glancing at the petite Gold to make sure that she was alright. The answer was that she was. Zenobiath was all but trotting excitedly at the thought of getting to see the dragon that clutched her! Uridith was the absolute, most wonderful female, after all. Once they were at the door, Alumet knocked.

Zenobiath didn't have such patience, Mother! I am here to see you.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

The life of a goldrider, even a minor one like Lestenna, with no real rank other than that of being a goldrider, was not a terribly empty one. Work, meetings, political movements, planning, it absorbed her time and filled every moment.

Well. Almost every moment.

Uridith was keenly aware of the duties put upon her Lestenna, and did her part to ease the load. She also found time to perch about the weyrbowl and watch her children grow, though, and even Lestenna couldn't deny her that. She'd always been the kind of gold to want to mother her young, a nurturing kind who sometimes had to be reminded that, as a gold, she had too much to do to spend her days tending the growing hatchlings. It made the somewhat surprise visit from her perfect golden daughter all the more of a delight, and the mother gold couldn't hold back the bugle of joy as she heard Zenobiath reach out to declare they'd come to call. It coincided with Alumet's knock, and started Lestenna out of the deeply pensive mood she'd been pouring over records in.

Oh do hurry, Lestenna my heart! It is Zenobiath and Hers, and I should very much like to see them both. Not at a distance this time. The gold had slid to her feet on the ledge and twisted about to duck inside the opening to the weyr, laying down and stretching her head as far into the living quarters as she could towards the door. Zenobiath, my darling! Come in, please, and let me have a look at you! Lestenna couldn't open the door fast enough if you asked her, and her eyes where rapidly twirling pools of green-blue affection as the perfect shape of her daughter was finally visible.

"Ah, Alumet. Please, come in." Lestenna gestured in, holding the heavy door wide to allow both visitors to enter her space. Ever the efficient, tidy type, the large weyr was spotless aside from a few stray stacks of books and scrolls. It wasn't terribly inviting or warm, but she'd never really intended for it to be. Hopefully that wouldn't change the young goldrider's thoughts on visiting. Uridith and Lestenna both were keen to have a hand in the training and rearing of this weyrling, of all those the clutch had made.

-_Wish of Tevarae_-

 

[TheWishling]

It was without hesitation that the little, dark gold trotted right past Lestenna without care. It was her mother she was here for after all. Once inside, she ran right up to Uridith's nose and pressed her muzzle to the elder Gold's, before backing up to turn. She was lovely, and she knew it, and as she kept growing, she believed she would only get more lovely, Oh mother, I've been wanting to come see you, but Alumetmine said we had to focus on our training for a little. Now, though, now she could show herself to her beloved mother. It did not take long for the tiny one to move to twine herself near the lighter gold's hide, nuzzling up under her chin, I must come see you more often. You do not get to see us as often as I would like. The frown in her tone was clear. Some of her siblings needed their mother's guidance!

Alumet, on the other hand, simply watched her little one with love and awe still, smiling at every move she made. Such an imperious little thing, her Zenobiath. She knew what she deserved, Be gentle, dearest heart. Ten, at last, she turned her eyes to Lestenna, offering the older rider a grin to match the one she'd had a moment ago, "Lestenna. I'm sorry I was so...distant at the Feast. I couldn't help it. Zenobiath demanded all my attentions." She still did. Every day, that small Gold was the focus of her life, her heart. So strange to think that one creature could become so all-encompassing, "Did you ever wake up...still finding it hard to believe that it was't all a dream when you first Impressed Uridith? I...Just the idea that I'm a Goldrider still..." It was astounding...The realization that...she was someone terribly important now...

"I'm not sure what to make of any of it...well. Any of it, but her." She knew what to make of Zenobiath. Her perfect partner.

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

Lestenna had no trouble standing aside for the tiny gold, unable to hide the faint smile at the sight of her, and the pure affection radiating off Uridith for her. The elder gold had lost so very much, all her new children were very dear to her...but Zenobiath had been her first golden daughter, and that made her remarkably special. Uridith could not fill her whirling sky-blue eyes enough with the sight of her child, hale, hearty, happy, and glittering as she pranced. You are simply radiant, Zenobiath! And yes, I agree. My Lestenna in quite busy, though I wish I'd been able to come to see all of you sooner. Have you been learning a great deal? In hindsight she realized that her own training had been...somewhat lax, back in the south, but things had come together for her since then. Knowing that her children were getting a far better education, being made stronger and more capable than she herself had been, well. Wasn't that the exact wish of any good parent? Success and happiness, and it seemed Zenobiath was flourishing.

The woman half of the pair turned to wave off Alumet's worries with a casualness that would have seemed strange to the younger woman some months prior. It had been different when they were superior and inferior. Now they were peers. Or almost-peers. It would be different, probably, if Lestenna were weyrwoman, or second. They were instead both simply gold riders. Queen riders. Or close enough. "I understand completely. I suppose at least you were used to some attention before all this," Her eyes traced over Alumet's hair and fine features, so different from her own harsh, nearly masculine ones, though they were entirely without malice. "But I was much the same. Out of my depth. Thrilled, satisfied, vindicated, almost, but shocked. Has anyone in particular given you trouble?"

"Yes. She is, and will be, your one constant. She chose you for you, not for whatever you might pretend to be for a person or for anything you thought you could try to be. For the you that you already were, or already were about to become." She understood that better than most, really. "...My own story began in a very similar fashion, though my mother didn't have the fortune to be a kitchen worker. Don't worry about waking up one day and her realizing you're not enough of anything. Uridith didn't change her mind about a drudge's daughter, and Zenobiath won't about you."

-_Wish of Tevarae_-

 

[TheWishling]

The young female moved so she was tucked beside her mother's foreleg, looking up at him with eyes whirling a sweet blue and purple. Zenobiath was the happiest of Golds now, or so she'd attest. A beautiful and perfect Hers, and the most noble of blood in her veins, how could a little one ask for more? Her tail wrapped around her legs, making her appear delicate and sweet to any outside gaze. V'mel is strict, but good. He keeps us in line and teaches Ours what they must know to care for us. We learn so much, My dearest and I. I worry though. For a moment, a touch of yellow flew in to those whirling eyes, marking her concern and thought as she let her head lay on her legs, My siblings have...trouble in them to an extent, and I have to worry what will happen to them. I wish to keep all of them near me...

She turned her eyes to Lestenna, watching her responses with a note of every expression and gesture, "...Attention for my looks, yes...but never as a leader. It frightens me. I have always followed either my mother or brother, and now I stand in a position that I didn't think I would ever have. No one's TROUBLED me, but it's certain that I never thought I'd have to worry about this kind of thing." Sighing, her fingers moved through blonde hair, watching Zenobiath's graceful gestures, feeling the emotions of the other swirling through her with no holds barred, her face shifting imperceptibly with each change. Lestenna was telling her how Zenobiath would never think of her as worth less...or not enough. She....knew that. She could tell by the way the little one curled up with her, by the way the tiny one would nuzzle her when she was worried, sending reassuring waves of love and wonder.

"I...I just have to wonder about the position that comes with it all, Lestenna. I am used to a freedom that we don't have any more. Zenobiath and I....knowing what she knows, we're accountable for so much now. It's a weight dropped on my shoulders, and I worry. She tells me not to." That got a soft chuckle from the girl, anxiety showing through a normally composed face, "There is so much to learn about the diplomacy of being a Goldrider...and I will admit that Zenobiath knows it better than I."

ShinosBee

 

[ShinosBee]

Uridith coiled around on herself as much as she could, her large wedge-shaped head dropping to rest on the stone ground, putting her on eye-level with her precious daughter. The little gold was already growing, probably too large to ride atop her head as her green sister had, but not by much. She'd be full sized within a turn or so...which made her proud and sad all at once. Some part of the gold wished she could keep her children small and innocent forever. Oh, my sweet. You're right to worry, but at the same time, you needn't. V'mel and the weyrwoman and leader will know what is best. All you need to do is to do your best, do what is right, and be there for your siblings if they need you. And I will always be there for you as well, should you need me. Grow, my daughter, and be strong, so that you can help to keep them safe.

She hesitated to tell her child that sometimes, for the good and safety of all, errattic, dangerous elements, even in the form of those they loved, had to be excluded. If she had her way, all her children would stay at High Reaches as well, and be happy together.

That all made entire sense to Lestenna. She too had turned to watch the golds commune, a number of feeling tumbling through her at how happy they seemed. "She wouldn't have chosen you if you couldn't handle it. It is a change, for sure. Goldriders have more respect than any other riders in the weyr...but they also carry the heaviest burdens, and are chained the tightest by duty. there will be days you wake up, and wish you could just go back to sleep forever to avoid it," None of this really sounded reassuring, but she was trying. She'd never been a very soft woman—Uridith had enough maternal instinct for them both, thank you—but she understood Alumet's plight. "But you'll have to get up for it any way. Now that thread has returned, it's even more important. Our efforts buy hope for the future. We give up our freedom so that hundreds, thousands more can have it. Hmm. Probably that's part of why Zenobiath chose you. She knew you'd understand the value of that freedom, more than maybe anyone else."

-_Wish of Tevarae_-

 

[TheWishling]

ShinosBee

The dragonet rested her smaller head atop her mother's nose, closing her eyes as she relaxed, listening to the elder Gold's soothing voice. Her beloved morther was right. V'mel and the weyr woman and leader would do what is best, even if she did not want her siblings to be forced to leave. Her tail moved to brush her mother's cheek, and she curled happily about her muzzle, This is what I will do, mother. I will do what I must to be sure my siblings, and the others here, are safe. It is what I wish to do. Even if she was nervous about it, And I will always need you, mother. You are important to me.

Alumet could feel her Gold's emotions whirling, a tiny smile flicking her lips up as she turned back to Lestenna, "If there's one thing I understand more than anything else....it is that we can not take our freedoms for granted." She watched Zeno pressing close to her mother, watching that small golden nose bumping against eye ridges affectionately. Her precious little one, "And iwhile I might not like the idea of being so bound...It is something that I accept as being paired with my little love....I will learn, I suppose, with time."  

[ShinosBee]

Uridith hummed a low, soothing note. A gold child was so different. So special. She'd not understood before, and her own mother had been loving but distant. It was different. It was someone she could advise, someone that would understand her own life's challenges, and hopefully one she could help to avoid those same troubles, that would never arise at all for her blue or green or brown siblings. Not even the bronzes would have the same eyes on them, that pressure. And that is all you have to do, my precious love. You won't have to fight thread, not like your siblings—we can't flame, after all—but you will make their trials worth it. Make a good home for them to return to. And one day, who knows. You may have your own children to fret over. But even then, I'll be here to help.

Hopefully, at least. It was rare but...even golds fell to thread from time to time. It was a fate she hoped never to see...again.

Lestenna felt a small nugget of pride. Her gold's daughter had clearly chosen well. "That you understand that much already, and know what it means, is exactly why you are the right choice for this, Alumet. Other weyrs may do things differently, may allow greens to lead wings, or blues to be weyrleader, but all of them, all of them, rely on golds and their riders. It is the greatest trial, but also the greatest reward. She will never leave you. Never abandon you. And she will always believe in you."

And that really was all that she felt needed to be said, really. Even if you doubted yourself, as long as your dragon believed...

-_Wish of Tevarae_-