[PRP] Graduation Present (R'iz, Nimueh, & Dragons)

[Hattaki]

Half a turn extra was what it took for R'iz and Bossuth to graduate, it bothered him every day of the weyrlinghood that the pair of them were considered so poor at this that they had to take extra time. With Bossuth's personality and tendency to put himself down it took the redhead an effort to not call himself a failure, as he knew full well it was hardly his dragon's fault for his own inadequacies. The bronze picked up on it anyway and spent a bit of time with a gray tinge to his dull hide, in fact it wasn't until they were finally graduated that he began to look like himself again.

Maybe that was why he'd gotten summoned by his adoptive mother, the wingsecond that had helped to treat his problems, the only person that he could honestly say wouldn't judge him for anything. Him or his dragon who was just finally back to his sweet and loving self entirely, Mharlith surely had something to help, some way to aid Bossuth's continual push towards being himself. A snort left the bronze as he bugled a greeting, morphing it just a bit from what it normally was. While he had no temper of which to speak at all, Bossuth could certainly still be annoyed and he fairly shrugged R'iz off of himself when he landed carefully on the ledge.

Rolling his eyes, the redhead reached out to run his hand over the bigger brown's nose by way of welcome and slipped around the curtain into the weyr he'd spent so many days healing. "Nim?" Maybe she'd called on him to have tea as way of celebrating his graduation into Harbinger's wing. He'd been looking around to find something that he could bring her as a present of thanks anyway, for everything she'd done for him, however he wasn't entirely certain how she even found the tea. He had to give her some kudos for even being able to come across tea that she'd gotten him slightly addicted to, for all R'iz could get his hands on was klah like normal and he didn't really mind it.

For a long time he'd run off klah alone after all.

While he peeked about, Bossuth tipped his wings to Mharlith and settled himself into the smallest form he could possibly muster at his size, which at least was smaller than the brown's own.

Sinders Path

I am so rusty, please judge me.

 

[Sinders Path]

Mharlith lifted his large pale head when he sensed the pair's approach. Instantly rising to greet them, his large feet shifting into tippy taps of excitement which shook the ground like mini earthquakes. He always loved seeing his 'children'. He returned the buldge and scooted back just enough to let them land. Given his size was larger than most bronzes and he had a wing second as a rider there was adequate space to accommodate them.
'Nim, the kids are here'

Excellent, send R'iz in please dear heart.
Mharlith let out a little huff but agreed, he'd really rather monopolise them both for a snuggle on his ledge for a while. After he had greeted R'iz with a gentle boop of his nose he proceeded to nudging him towards the entrance to the human part of the weyr.

As usual the rooms were warm, clean and inviting. And thanks to the fresh blush of spring that had come to High reaches they also smelt of flowers that had been gathered into small bunches and placed around the room in for bursts of pastel colour. They mixed wonderfully with the lingering herbal scent of tea which always clung to the furniture.

Nim appeared from behind the curtain that lead to her bedroom, crossed the room in three strides and enfolded R'iz in a warm hug. "Congratulations R'iz. I'm so proud of you. " She smoothed down his hair and kissed his forehead before releasing him from her embrace. "It'll be my honor to work with you going forth R'iz of bronze Bossuth." She bowed her head. "As celebration for you becoming a fully fledged rider I thought we'd take a little trip. There is something I'd love you to see." At that point, (if he hadn't noticed already) it would become clear that Nim had cast aside her usual light flowing skirt and comfortable blouse for a full set of riding leathers. They clung to her form and showed all her curves and 'assets' in all their glory. She might have acted like a mother but she was still a young women by weyr standards.

When she was dressed in her riding gear, it showed. "Oh but it's a bit of a distance so I hope you brought your riding gear and set of straps for Bossuth, if not we can pop back to your weyr to pick them up."
She glanced through the opening to try and see if Bossuth had his straps on but Mharlith had already completely enfolded him with his form, tucking him under his wing like a baby duckling.

Hattaki

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[Hattaki]

It wasn't so rare for her to be behind the curtain to her room, but what was certainly an oddity that R'iz hadn't experienced with Nimueh was her riding leathers and gear being prepped. Granted he only had the briefest of moments to register that before he was wrapped into a warm hug and just like a touch starved creature of some sort he melted into it willingly for all that it was a short embrace. His hair sprang straight back to it's normal messy coil immediately after she'd smoothed it but at least it covered some of the burning rage of a blush when his mother, of all people!, bowed before him.

With the act itself flying in the face of his feelings of failure, shame was what burnt brighter within him at that moment. Bossuth was the one that deserved bowing and praises, certainly not him. As bronzeriders went he was an utter failure of one, his bronze pulled all the weight and did all the work while all he managed was to make a muck of things, like throwing firestone square into the Weyrleader's face. Brain short circuiting for just a moment, R'iz felt a mental bump from his dragon and bowed deeply in return, taking that moment to fix his mind enough to respond with, "Thank you, Bossu did most of the work though." A slightly forlorn grin crossed his face at his hopelessness as a rider, but at least it seemed as though Nim was taking him on a training trip. That he was already used to. "Something we're going to see? Give me a second, I always have Bossuth strapped up and ready to go whenever we fly anywhere but my jacket's back at the weyr."

Only a second passed before a pop above his head signaled the arrival of his jacket and his little green fire lizard, who admittedly tilted some as she proceeded to drop it into his hands and land on one of his shoulders with a dignified cheep. "Trying to get her where she's trained up enough for little things like that, but we're all set for the training trip." R'iz flashed a smile and let the concerns he felt inside melt down deep where they belonged for now. He'd gotten used to acting just fine lest a weyrlingmaster or assistant find it and chip away at it, so he could talk to Nim about it later when they were ready.

Outside a sigh left Bossuth, he knew who he'd chosen happily and love was all he could pour forth to try and help the pain that he knew was there just beneath the surface of his Radish's words. But he wasn't a failure, if only he took his own words to heart. Snapped from his reverie by Mharlith scooping him up under a wing, green whirled into the bronze's eyes and flooded out the other colors. While he had a father and an uncle he also had a father figure in the larger brown and loved him all the more for it. One could always use more father figures in life, really. Do you know where we're going today then Mharlith? Have you and Yours been planning? Not explicitly clever in any way, still the bronze had never been dim either and did his best to pick up on things. He knew full well this wasn't a training trip, for why would either of the parental figures do that so shortly after their graduation?

No, there was something and he was curious.

Sinders Path

 

[Sinders Path]

Nim was a gentle figure but she could also pull off the mother glare when she wanted. The slight rise of one brow and down turn of the lips which let children of all ages know they had stepped over the line. "You must think very little of High reaches R'iz if you believe that we would let a pair graduate if one full half of it was failing to make the grade needed for full rider duties. Bossuth is a very fine dragon, and simply stunning to see on the wing but if you did not match him you would not have graduated. I know your brain will lie to you and twist you into thinking that is not the case. But in this case I feel I have the authority and knowledge to correct it." Her expression softened then into a knowing smile.

"And as for any mistakes you are beating yourself up for then I assure you, we have all been there. When I graduated I got so drunk, I threw up on my furture wing leader. Luckily he was very understanding." She gave him another quick hug before stepping back to let him call for his flitt. "Well that is very impressive on it's own. It seems you are coming along with her training quiet well." She told him before cooing softly to the green and producing a strip of dried jerky seemingly from thin air which she offered to the flitt as reward for her good work. "Ah, but if you are ready we should get going." She announced, coming back to business and ushering him back towards their dragons.

Meanwhile Bossuth had done very well to put poor Mharlith on the spot. The brown did apparently know, of course he did, after all Nim had already visited the place to confirm her digging. He shifted awkwardly on his ledge and moved his wing further over the bronze so he couldn't look him stright on and see the shift in his eyes. 'I can't say. My Nimueh has said I have to keep it secret till we get there.'
It was clear he didn't like to hide things from his beloved Bossuth either but this had been a strict order from Nim.

Luckily he was saved when Nim and R'iz exited the weyr and he lowered his head to greet them, nosing against Nim's chest while she gave him a warm and welcome eye scritch before grabbing the riding straps to haul herself onto his back.

Mharlith meanwhile withdrew his wing so that Bossuth could move to his own rider.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

As used to acting normal as he was, Nimueh was skilled at making the facade crack to pieces and R'iz let his head hang slightly in dejection. He thought more of High Reaches than many of the weyrlings he'd once trained beside for a turn, all the ones that had graduated months before himself. They were all far more skilled than he was though, so he would settle for the bottom of the barrel if it meant that he and Bossuth were at least able to graduate and begin fighting thread. A twinge ran between the two of them remembering the last time they had gone up to fight it though, the pain that they'd experienced falling out of the sky.

That they'd saved someone was lost on them both still.

"Well... I didn't throw up on my wingleader but I hit the Weyrleader in the face with a whole bag of fire stone and paid the price for that mistake. So I guess there's no reason to be sad or upset about the consequences that held us back." R'iz responded, released from the second hug faster than he'd have liked. His emotions weren't what today was about, so he simply pulled on his riding jacket and watched Mint gobble down the jerky that she'd been offered greedily. The little green loved her as much as R'iz did, so maybe that was why Mint was willing to act less like a lady in her presence, but a trill preceded the little green fire lizard's pop Between and she was gone, leaving R'iz to be pushed out towards the dragons on the ledge, towards their training.

Though he was willing to dig deeper, just to distract himself from the feelings that he and his Radish had twanging between their connection like someone was taking an axe to it, Bossuth couldn't bring himself to tease at the older brown when he couldn't so much as look at him. That would be cruel and there wasn't a cruel bone in the small bronze's body. He loved Mharlith after all. Instead his eyes whirled calming colors of blue until the riders joined them, hoping to put him at ease.

R'iz reached out to take his bronze's head in his hands when he walked out, wrapping his arms around his muzzle so that his head pressed against one of the ridges near Bossuth's headknobs. Sorry bud, I didn't mean to be that way. You're perfect, you ready to go and train some more today? Love swelled up between their bond and the twanging calmed ever so slightly, for his Radish loved him more than he loved anyone, that much he knew. He also knew there was a tiny hole in his heart that should have been filled with love instead of pain and while he'd done all he could to fill it up, he'd also respected that pain, knowing what it was from.

Gently he leaned over so R'iz could climb up into his straps, tightening them down methodically, Bossuth still not sharing what he had surmised was Nimueh and Mharlith's plans. His had never seen the rest of the world besides Telgar and High Reaches after all, he himself having never been outside the Weyr at all. Today was going to be fun.

Sinders Path

 

[Sinders Path]

Hattaki

Nim was happy to give the pair time. She knew R'iz would still far to much in how own head but they could work on that and Bossuth was undeniably helping. He could know longer be alone with his brooding when the bronze was touching his mind. Once she saw some of the tension go out of the red heads shoulders and he climbed onto his dragon she cast him a gentle smile and affirming nod before checking her own straps one last time. "Okay. We are going to get some height then probably jump between up by the sun stone. I'll have the image of where we are going on my head and Mharlith can transfer it to Bossuth. I'm sure you have done that plenty of times with your weyrling master." Another proud smile.

"Once we get there we are going to land pretty fast but the weather should be good. " That was all the explanation that R'iz was going to get. Because Nim followed it up by leaning into her straps and signaling her readiness. Mharlith took it to heart and snapped out his wings. Launching into the air be beat his great wings to take them up. Even catching his claws against a rocky out crop for added momentum. The large brown always had a hard time getting into his rythmem. But once he was in open sky his wings caught the updraft and his flight took on new elegance and radiation's of peace.

'Ready dear heart?'
Of course my love.

Nim smiled and let the image of a coast line fill her mind. The ragged shapes of rock and cliffs as well as the smooth curve of the bays against the swell of the sea provided a perfect mental map for the location. Mharlith sent it on to the his bronze son and then flashed between. The cool enveloping them for a few minutes before the broke out above the promised coast line.

The brown pair didn't waste any time in heading for the ground and as they got closer the blurry shapes and outlines became buildings and then people. In fact it was obviously a large compound. The main single story building big enough to rival the weyr sands was surrounded by scattered out buildings and stood next to a small marina.

There was also other sea pens which opened out into the open ocean and where filled with splashing and movement. A mix of people moved around the area with purpose. Most of them in swim wear or minimal clothing for a quick change.

Mharlith touched down on the beach and Nimueh slid off his back. Dragons tended to draw attention though and here was no different. Before Mharlith had even touched ground a women was approaching them. She was older and grey haired but full of vigor with a mischievous sparkle to her eyes. "Rider Nimueh. It's good to see you again."

"Master Heldra. A pleasure." The two women clasped hands warmly. "I assume you know who I'm looking for."

"Of course. You explained the situation. Is this the boy....yess...I see the resemblance. Follow me"  

[Hattaki]

Strapped in and ready, his gear in place and prepared for the training he was certain was coming, R'iz quirked an eyebrow just a bit at the fast landing bit but nodded. "No complaints here, Bossuth's been really good with his landings since the beginning." At that statement he ran a hand down the little bronze dragon's neck just before the straps and earned a quiet hum of happiness in return. They'd trained quite hard after all.

With the way he'd been facing inward towards the weyr, the bronze needed to turn himself fully around to follow after the larger brown, but with little effort he pushed off the ledge with his short legs and was airborne, large wings taking him upwards quickly. Where larger dragons needed to push to gain momentum and take off at times, he needed none of it and just for once thanked the shells that he was born a smaller bronze by a good ten feet than the largest out there who looked a bit more ungainly upon takeoff.

Bossuth always wanted to get in the air fast after all, especially for trainings.

A smirk coiled within the dragon, one that his rider caught and pushed a mental thumb into, but the bronze gave nothing in return other than the image and coordinates for the jump that Nimueh and Mharlith had just made. Training indeed. Within three breaths R'iz was able to see the rocky cliffs and the curve of the bay where it met the ocean below him. If one of his eyebrows had been raised before, they both were now. This was the Southern Continent, far away from the mountains and chillier breezes that he was used to, as if it were a whole other world entirely.

Though Nim had told him they'd be landing quickly, Bossuth actually hazarded a quick circle so that he could take everything in with bright blue eyes before diving down to the large brown figure of Mharlith on the sandy beach below. His wings folded up just a tad as his back legs landed first, the backwinging of his landing sending a bit of sand around in tendrils that scampered across the beach. Sand he was used to, he'd hatched on it after all, but these were different sands altogether.

Had a feeling today would bring us to this location, it was only a matter of time. Bossuth didn't press Mharlith for details on what Nimueh had discovered about a certain other human, instead he turned his head to glance back at his rider as he slid out of the straps, offering up a gentle well of love to pull from, because the redhead was already beginning to feel somewhat cold, even if it wasn't from the actual temperature. The bronze knew felt the knee jerk response that R'iz had had when he'd received the coordinates, he knew that the redhead understood where he was.

His Radish was smart after all.

Though the twanging began to still between them, there was a reaction of another sort happening and the dragon did what he could to help. R'iz's gold eyes peered upwards at the woman cautiously, reserved and somewhat taken aback at her mention of resemblance. He hadn't even gotten the chance to ask her a question before she'd started on her way and he could only follow, turning his cautious glance upwards at his adoptive mother.

He wasn't even paying attention to the surroundings like he'd been taught to, the only thing he was paying attention to was the deep ache in his heart that he hadn't felt in turns. Hope.

Sinders Path

 

[Sinders Path]

Hattaki

Heldra and her small group lead the way but Nim fell back a step so that she could be with R'iz. Putting a hand on his shoulder, gently urging him forward to make sure that his fears did not get the better of him and make him flee back to his bronze.
The dragons themselves were expected to wait on the more open part of the beach where they had room to stretch out.
Mharlith took advantage of the warm grains by shifting his claws down into the golden beach and spraying the finer sands against his hide.
However he watched rather dolefully after the departing backs of the riders. He still would have rather gone with them.

'This is long over due." he sent to Bossuth in agreement. 'But I hope its not to much of a shock for him.'

"It's okay R'iz. I've wanted to bring you here for a while but I waited, you are ready for this now." A small comforting squeeze. "You know coastal places like this handled thread better than most. Thread can't survive in dead sand and salt water. So they just had to hide out in the sea caves and wait it out."

And with Dolphins the sea caves became easy to access and navigate. The Master of the hall lead them over to one of the sea pens. It was a stone structure that opened to the ocean while blocking the worst of the waves and allowing more control of the water levels via a series of sluice gates. Inside the pen was a double row of young teenagers.

They were all dressed in their wet suits and where separating in twos and threes to swim to the deeper parts of the pen and remain submerged, practising their breathing and deep dive techniques.

Among them was a young girl no more than 14 or 15 with a shock of red hair that was plastered to her head with sea water. She was happily chatting to the other apprentices waiting for her turn to dive. None of them seemed to have noticed the crew filtering into the land potion of the pen until Master Heldra cleared her throat and all eyes turned and fell on them.  

[Hattaki]

Sand was of no concern to Bossuth at all, in fact he loved it and eventually found himself peering at the lapping waves that crested gently against the golden grit once R'iz and Nimueh were out of sight with the local woman. He'd seen water before of course, oceans and things on training and Between lessons, but this was the first time he'd gotten to be so close to it that he could touch it and the bronze walked the short distance over to it so that the same waves might envelop his front claws. It was chilly but it felt nice and welcoming.

Without warning he flopped over on his side into it and made certain to keep his head up on the dry sand. Nothing will stop the shock that's coming, but it'll be worth the shock in the long run, certainly. Bossuth stated simply, but he couldn't hide the concern in his voice despite that.

Gently he sent a loving feeling towards his rider as he settled down to nap in the sunshine, his emotions calm in the hopes that R'iz might stay that way.

Despite the love that he could feel coming from his dragon, R'iz was not at all calm, in fact his heart was trying to violently race from his chest with every step that he took. Though he had an idea what was about to happen, be it a reunion or just the truth of a death he'd already accepted turns before this day, the redhead felt as though he was going to be sick. Nimueh's words nearly fell on deaf ears as his pulse raced so hard that the sound of his own blood drowned out the rest of the world. Architecture was lost on him as he simply stared straight ahead, responding "yes, uh huh, right." to each of Nim's statements, heedless of what she was actually saying even if he'd heard it.

Because he saw dolphins, he could remember Xazri's smile and her wistful daydreams of the creatures thanks to their parents taking them there when they'd been very small. It was as if the memories were seared into his mind so hard that they hadn't ever been given the chance to fade. Her face, the one that matched his own face, his mother's face, so strongly that when he looked at her it was nearly a mirror aside from their hair styles, swam back up.

Except this time it wasn't a memory.

"Xaz....ri." He stammered around her name when her gold eyes turned to glance at the newcomers and R'iz battled the desire to run out to grab her, to hug her tightly, fearing simply that she either wouldn't remember him or would have hated him for not coming sooner. For how couldn't she hate him for not coming sooner after Thread fell?

Or did she not even realize what had happened back at Telgar?

His stomach rolled just a bit and he had to swallow hard a few times in order to keep down the breakfast he'd eaten at High Reaches so many days ago now, or so time seemed to feel to him. How long had it taken to walk down to this beach from where they'd landed? R'iz felt lost for the first time since he'd met Bossuth and the ground seemed to rock beneath him as he stood there, staring at his younger sister that he'd grieved for turns, still breathing and living.

He wasn't the last member of his family anymore.

Sinders Path