[PRP] A Mother's Concern (Alythrae & Kinye)

[Hattaki]

Such a nightmare, such a horrifically bloody nightmare. One child dead, dozens or more mangled beyond just a simple scratch or two, a dragon that had hopped Between, and so many children that looked so frightened. It had been no small wonder that her beloved Kinyegele had all but ran into her arms when it had ended. Even D'ast had been watching with concern, his hand tightening just ever so slightly around her own every time a hatchling had gotten violent. It was almost too much for a mother to watch, even through the slowly reddening eye of her large green dragon who's stress she could feel through their bond so deeply that Alythrae had all but become a jittery mess.

Things had calmed though, dragons were bonded and children that had once been Candidates were now Weyrlings with strong dragons that would go on to make High Reaches proud. Still, there was a stab of pain in her heart for her children, still left on those sands waiting and wanting this time around, still in danger. Her arms had tightened so strongly around Kinye when she came to her, so tight as if she could keep her safe from everything from that moment on, this sweet child that had survived the dangers of the hatching sands with help from a young woman she would need to find later and thank from the bottom of her heart. Whether that woman wanted it or not, it was as a mother that she couldn't help but do so.

Sweet child that she was, strong and now safely off those sands, Kinye had still needed to go about her Candidate duties, so it was that Alythrae was left looking for her much later in the day. There had already been word spread to her about the consequences of what had happened earlier that morning, between the actions on the sands before two golden queens and the bronze from Western that had so insulted their Senior Queen, it came as no surprise to her at all. Many faces had shifted from positions of power since the woman had Impressed on those same sands so long ago and likely they would change again within a decade or so. All things did with time and in a world with Thread, things were always uncertain. Just the markings all over her giant green had taught her that much and she'd been fighting it for turns now. That wasn't important though, her daughters were important. Her youngest who would get a new master and her elder sister who's position wavered in the uncertain future ahead of them. Only one could she see at a time and Aly gently reached a hand out towards the little blonde girl who's innocent eyes had seen too much that day. Demanthra was a grown dragonrider now, she would talk to her shortly and help her process.

"Sweet one, can I have a word?" Aly said gently as Kinyegele exited from what looked like the last lecture one man might give her before another took his place. That alone was pain enough for her, she wasn't blind to his plight in her heart. But it wasn't her place to reach out to Gr'del when her children were what she needed to focus on then. "Kinye!"

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Hugging mom was supposed to make everything better. Safe and leaned into Alythrae, it should have been. She'd managed not to cry, she hadn't even been scratched by one of the rampaging babies, she'd even got to see a few browns up so very close! But perhaps she had just given herself too freely to every baby dragon on the sands - even the ones clearly not meant for a little thing like her. Even little ones that never gave a glance to any of them, instead curling up into the last moment a man had on Pern before leaping into the nothingness to find him elsewhere. But the comfort was palpable and Kinye soaked it up readily.

But Candidacy meant stepping away from such comfort and when Siriath called for them all, she hesitantly went, the weight of so many thoughts still on her mind. Gr'del's lecture wouldn't lift any of those from her either. Instead, she looked over the other candidates, attention sharply on those who she could have laid the blame for this all on - who she wanted to lay the blame for this all on. But blame didn't fix things - and it wouldn't make her feel better. So she left Gr'del with well wishes and more apologies than could fix everything.

That Alythrae was waiting for her after it all was both a surprise - had she checked on the others, yet? - and a relief that Kinye again ached to soak up as she again leaned into her mother with a tired sigh. "You can have all the words, Mom. I don't know if I have any after today," she murmured as she buried her face into her mother's chest.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Sadness crossed Alythrae's face as the youngest of her girls leaned against her, those words that she spoke hurt everything deep inside her but she knew that Kinye simply needed time to adjust to what had happened. Deep in her heart the older woman knew that all of her children were quite strong and capable, no matter moments of weakness and sadness they were all made of much stronger stuff than even she was deep down. What kind of mother would she be if she didn't acknowledge those moments though?

Gently she wrapped Kinye up and laid a hand against one of the girl's cheeks gently as she kissed the top of her head. "Oh dear, it really has been a hard day hasn't it? Let's go get some sunshine and let Tarmath look you over. Some sunshine always does best for sadness and that dragon has been dying to make certain you're okay for herself." It had been hard to keep the motherly green dragon from going to check on all the kids that had been on the sands that morning. Every bit of reigning in had been needed but she had finally conceded a bit when her own concerns had begun to grow the more that she thought about it.

Kinye has a gentle heart, it makes sense that something of that nature would hurt her. Tarmath said simply in her head as Aly gently pulled Kinye free from her embrace and went to guide her out towards the sunshine and out towards hope. Even if the large green was a scarred beast now that scared others, even if she was so laid back that she wouldn't normally have stirred from sleep, whenever it involved one of her rider's children she was always right up and ready. If her large bulk would have fit through the hallways she would have sought Kinye out herself, but as it stood she was just a bit too big to even squeeze after having lost some amount of the softness she'd gained during her recovery so many months ago.

Instead she'd finally settled in the sun of the Bowl, her normally sleepy appearance nowhere to be seen as she had her head lifted and her one whirling green and blue eye watching the entrance to the candidate barracks. The very image in her head as she'd come to find Kinye nearly had Alythrae laughing and would have certainly if not for the circumstances. So the least she could do was lead her youngest out to the other half of her three hearts so they could both be soothed by her safety.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Oh, how she would have loved to spend hours just leaning into her mother's embrace, where everything was right and safe. Kinye could still hear those mourning cries that had filled the sands, and she didn't expect they would leave her anytime soon. It had been a wonderful day, it had been an awful day, and which of those she would walk away from it all with was still up in the air. It was hard to pull away from Alythrae's embrace, but the day would have to go on and surely such sadness would eventually fade.

"Ok," she relented mutely, following along as they made their way outside and to the very familiar dragon who was settled in waiting. For any fright others may have seen in Tarmath, Kinye only saw safe familiarity and she was quick to leave her mother's side to seek similar comfort in the green.

"It was wonderful....and awful....and so much more," Kinye murmured into the green's hide as she buried her face, certain such muddled words were enough to convey all of her feelings. Perhaps, even knowing Tarmath would find all of the others in the bubbling mess of her mind. Why had such cruelty been needed? Who had it served to upset the hatchlings, to cause such pain?

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

From a place deep within her dual hearts Tarmath wished to cry for this small child that spoke so softly against her hide with such pain in her. The moment she had walked out from within the deep halls of the Weyr she had gotten to check her over and was finally eased that Kinye seemed to be perfectly fine... physically. She might have been a large green that wanted nothing more than to fight thread in her life on the surface but beneath it all she was just as much a mother as the wonderful rider she had chosen so many decades before and she couldn't stand to see one of the little ones she saw as her own be sad. One tattered wing reached around and blocked the small girl from other's view as she gently placed her nose against Kinye's head and blew out through her hair softly. Two clutches with different and similar dragons at once, two clutches that brought immense joy and horrible pain. It has been a long time since there has been a double clutch and there were strong personalities.

It was blunt, it was honest and having been nearby and having felt the feelings coming off Kinye at the time she knew that the girl had done everything correctly. Gently she conveyed the thought to her rider even if she didn't move to ease up from the embrace any more than to press her cheek against that same gentle head. Aly didn't need her to do much more though, with one hand the woman gently rubbed at her daughters back and with the other she scratched Tarmath's nose. Her parenting had never been solo, she'd always had D'ast, she'd always had Tarmath and Zetigeth and that was the way that it had worked because as a rider her dragon would always be foremost in her heart but her children were vastly important. In fact it made sense that it worked this way, that the other half to her soul, the other two hearts that beat strongly in another chest, would love each of her children as much as she did.

"Before Thread returned that was the scariest of places to be, the only one that you had to really face as a candidate. Once you were a weyrling it was the risk of Between the first few times. But now..." Aly trailed off and pressed a kiss to Kinye's head as well. "You hung your heart out for them all, every dragon on those sands you sent love to and that's the most beautiful thing about you, sweet one. That's the most beautiful thing about a hatching all around, the deep amounts of love out there... but you have to know pain and loss to understand just how beautiful that love can be. We lost what could have been a wonderful pair today, but we gained so much more in the process." Her voice was quiet as she spoke, not wanting to misread what she was seeing, not wanting to assume anything that her daughter might have been feeling, but it was also what she was feeling. So proud and honored to call this little girl her daughter, a girl who had faced down violence and was still standing even if she was saddened. Kinye had been so small when she'd been born and now she was a growing woman right in front of her and she didn't want to fail her by saying the wrong thing or making it worse.

After what you've seen today, do you think you can still love them? All the dragons that fly to protect Pern? Even knowing that more than just that one bronze have killed on the hatching sands? That more than just those greens have maimed others in confusion and fear. Tarmath asked curiously, not sugar coating her words even as she pushed love outward into the young girl. Inwardly she felt a hiss, but she pushed back against her rider just a bit, for she knew it was right to gauge it now while it was raw. She had no doubts herself.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Surrounded by such love, Kinye's stiff facade of adulthood relaxed - and everything she'd held in began to pour out. There would be no judgment for her crying so, exposing her aching heart so that those who knew it for what it was and would care for it, all the same, could do so.

Of course, her mother was right in why her sensitive heart hurt so after such a morning. She'd never assume that all others had not loved each and every baby on the sands so, though it was easy to suspect based on how some of the hatchlings had behaved that was not the case. But she was not a dragon and reading the heart or mind of another was a skill she would never possess for what it was worth. "It's hard....to think that anybody would not want that for them," she admitted with a sniffle, soaking in all of that love like a sponge that would lather wring it all out for another person, another dragon, another moment. In that, she absolutely could not falter, at this moment there was no other decision.

Tarmath's question was answered without a flinch, and without any doubt: "If I don't, who will? My kindness will never be conditional and I will give it to them all," and though her lower lip quivered and tears threatened to take her again, she meant it to her very core. She would allow the rest to question, doubt, fear, and hate. There was no place for it in her garden.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Sadness washed over Tarmath and she pulled her wings gently in further to shelter the two before her from sight when Kinye began to cry, none need bear witness other than she and her rider to this. No one else was worthy enough to see the little one cry with her lofty opinion of all her rider's children and as long as the big green was there no one would. To her credit, Aly simply smiled behind the curtain of her dragon's wings and rubbed at her daughter's back calmly through her tears. "Things are about to change and those that don't harbor those feelings for all those dragons on the sands will soon find life very hard under the eyes that are watching you all now." Gently she pulled the little one into her arms and held her, still leaning heavily into Tarmath so that they were both solid for her. "It might be rocky until everything is settled and everything calms down but you are strong and this answer you just gave to one dragon proves beyond a doubt that you'll do well."

She will not do well. 'Well' is not a strong enough, she will do exceptionally because that is what she is. Tarmath's voice was firm and blunt as she could be and every bit correct. "I couldn't agree more. It's okay to be sad, it's perfectly healthy to cry over the loss of such a sweet little green and the pain that you saw today. But I'm so glad that it won't change your heart or your mind about what you're standing for. And if it ever does then you just come and find me, or find Tarmath, and talk to us." With that last statement she patted Kinye's back lightly and looked down at her face fondly, an eyebrow quirked to make sure that she understood their weyr was always open for her to walk into any day no matter the time. Just as all her children were welcome to.

Should any cause any more pain in her I'll eat them. Came the simple response from the big green. It wasn't entirely a lie but Alythrae giggled despite herself with how sincere it sounded when she knew that her dragon could never do such a thing. "You'll upset your stomach that way."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

There were certainly those who would think a heart as big as Kinye's would not suit dragonriding. Soft, sensitive, she was too many gentle things and perhaps not enough of the ones that offered security and strength like others expected to see. That her goodness was a weakness - and others like her would be frowned upon, especially after such softness had been so pivotal in the events of the day. "It won't be hard if I give my best," and really, when had Kinyegele done anything but that?

It was more of a boost than she'd been expecting, but it all felt so very needed at the end of the day. The validation brightened that gloomy little spot in her heart, trod upon by all of the stress and change that would come to all of them soon. She'd not been wrong to know her mother could make everything feel well again - cozy and right, and this only proved that running for her and Tarmath was the right decision. Even without the praise that warmed up all of her feelings, drying away the tears she'd held in as long as she did.

Tarmath's frank threat caused her to laugh along with her mother, Kinye reaching out with both hands in the same way she'd always done when asking for the green's head. "You won't need to, Tarmath. I'll make it all right again. Somehow."

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Snorting a bit at the laughter in response to her utterly unveiled threat, Tarmath lowered her head into Kinye's hands without a moment's hesitation. All any of Aly's children needed do was express a desire and she would always be there for them, the second part to their mother's soul that cared for them just as deeply as any dragon that could lay eggs on the sands. For the smallest of them she was even more attentive, always had been as her gentle heart was something that the thread hardened dragon wished to protect with all her being. Lightly she tilted her head so it pressed against Kinye's own, the facets of her eye glowing purple with adoration and care.

You are already the best, to give any more of yourself would be impossible. Now it is the duty of others to see you safely trained and ready to find yours on the sands. Time will come, Small One, when you look back and understand that all the things you saw are all the reasons your dragon chose you. There wasn't a shred of doubt in Tarmath, or in her rider who's inner thoughts she was voicing, that Kinyegele would work her hardest and someday find her dragon on the same sands upon which they had met so many turns ago themselves.

A hand pressed against her daughter's back, Alythrae simply smiled at the thought of her on her dragon. And that was enough.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Leaning her face into the top of Tarmath's head when it was leaned into her, Kinye idly stroked along the ridges of the green's missing eye. There had been little doubt about her future with a dragon until recently, it felt, but it was in the little moments like this that brought such reminder of why she'd been so certain before. The green's certainty threatened to make her cry again, however.

"Maybe next time," she offered hopefully, but knowing there was no rushing any of it - and she certainly was in no rush. Every hatching just inched her a little closer to that moment that would change everything. It would be a forever for them both afterward, so there was no desperation that clutched at her heart. "Maybe the time after that. They'll be waiting for me to come and be there."

And whoever they were, there was a whole family waiting to meet them too.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Low rumbles came from the big green as little hands ran across her eye ridges, contentment spreading for just the three of them in that moment like a blanket being draped over them all. When the time comes you will be a fantastic rider, maybe not the next hatching, but there are so many more to be had in your life with you so young. Your family will be here for you every step of the future as well.

"Speaking of family, you need to come over some night after dinner little one. Your father wants to see you and we need to hear all about things and get some 'Kinye Time' in for ourselves." Aly hugged her daughter from behind and kissed the top of her head gently, bumping her forehead against Tarmath's in the process meaningfully.

One day she'd get her whole family together like before, but Alythrae was quite content seeing them all at different times as they were all at different times in their lives right now. Wonderful times that she wished she could hold onto forever, but good times were coming in the future as well.

demon_pachabel

We can go ahead and call that finished~ <3