Names and faces were beginning to blur for Ara as she made the rounds that she and Damahath agreed were absolutely required of newly Impressed goldriders, making acquaintances and accepting congratulations. Everyone was unfailingly pleasant, but it was still tiring for both halves of the rider pair, and it was an undeniable relief to encounter a familiar scarred face among the crowd.

"Csinda!" Ara greeted her with a smile significantly less rote than her last one had been. "I'm glad you stayed!"

Csinda was, after all, the first person at Western Weyr to have gone out of her way to befriend Ara. Not that anyone had been unkind to her there, and she hadn't been shunned or anything like that. She simply hadn't really made many friends because she preferred to keep to herself and stay out of the way of everyone more important than she, which encompassed everyone in the Weyr in her estimation.

Not any longer, Damahath reminded her. And you were never unimportant. You were unappreciated. That will change.

Ara unthinkingly reached out to caress the young gold's headknob, reaffirming the truth of Damahath's words.

"Of course I stayed," Csinda exclaimed, looking offended. "My friend is down there on the Sands with a bunch of vicious dragons, risking life and limb, and you think I'd pack up and go? I'm hurt."

She wasn't, of course, and she had taken care to ensure Ara could tell, since her young friend could often take things very literally. Csinda definitely did not want to give Ara the idea that she was actually upset, thereby upsetting the new goldrider - who would definitely be upset at having upset someone else - and her gold. It would Not Do to upset a baby gold. Even if Csinda might have been just a little bit sad inside that she was almost certainly going to lose this friendship so soon after forming it. Ara wouldn't be able to leave High Reaches, and there was no way Csinda would want to transfer here. It was far too restrictive for her tastes, and she wouldn't see Tijuth disrespected the way greens were rumoured to be at High Reaches.

I wish I could meet her, Tijuth opined wistfully, meaning Damahath. There had been no room on the ledges for a green from another Weyr, and though she'd listened attentively to the shoutcast and shared with Csinda what could be shared, it wasn't the same thing. Csinda really disliked High Reaches for things like that, and she felt worse that her dragon wouldn't be able to properly meet the gold for months and months, if not turns, because the new goldrider pair would not be allowed to go visiting outside the feast or, later, the Weyr, and Csinda wouldn't be able to come visit her until the next time High Reaches had a hatching. The thought made her take a large swallow from her wine goblet. She'd already emptied it twice.

"I'm really glad you were there. And that you're still here now," Ara said truthfully. When Damahath gave her a gentle nudge she went on, "May I present to you my dragon, Gold Damahath?"

Mentally, Damahath reminded Ara that, technically, Csinda ought to have been presented to her, and not the other way around, because Damahath was the more important being in the Weyr's hierarchy. Not that she was upset, but for future reference, in nearly every instance people are presented to golds, and not golds to people. Ara filed the fact away and stroked Damahath's headknobs again in apology for her lapse.

"I'm very glad to meet you," Csinda said, addressing herself directly to the young gold and knowing full well it was unlikely the dragon would return the favor. "I'm Csinda of Green Tijuth, wingrider in Flames Fury Wing at Western Weyr."

This is your friend, Damahath asked Ara, who confirmed it. I shall greet her then.

I am pleased to meet you, Csinda of Green Tijuth, she answered the older woman, surveying her with interest and wondering what qualities Ara had seen in the older woman which caused her to name her a friend. She seemed a rough sort, and much louder than Ara.

"Thanks," Csinda said. To Ara she said, "So, um, congratulations, of course. I guess you'll be staying here for the next forever?"

Tread softly, Tijuth reminded her. Do not give her cause for upset.

"Because if you have things still at Western, I can see to it you get them. I reckon Tijuth and I would be honored to be delivery folks for the newest goldrider pair on Pern." She smiled and swallowed more wine. She was going to get very, very drunk tonight.

Must you? Tijuth asked. It was not a wheedling question, but one full of recrimination. At least wait until we're home, so you don't worry Ara and make her feel bad about what is probably the best thing to ever happen to her in her life.

"Oh, um. I don't really have very many things." This was true, and most of the things she had, she knew were not of a quality to be worth putting someone to the effort of fetching. Her clothes had been supplied to her by Western Weyr, and she was fairly sure High Reaches could do the same, even if they wouldn't be as pretty as many of the clothes Ara saw folks wearing this evening. "But thank you."

She felt awkward, and the sensation made Damahath look at her askance, and then at Csinda with her chin raised in disapproval. She didn't know what, exactly, about this exchange was making her beloved uncomfortable, but Damahath knew it was not right that a new weyrling should be made to feel discomfort or unhappiness. It made the gold's brain prickly and awful.

"Right. If you think of anything, I'll be here for a bit, stuffing my face with real meat. It's sharding excellent to not be eating fish." So saying, Csinda realized that Ara actually had some fish scales along her hairline, just as she had the day they'd met. She smiled a touch bitterly and said nothing about it.

Ara smiled again and admitted, "I'm hoping to have some more, myself. But there are more people to meet. A lot of them."

"Price of power, Ara. You should definitely take advantage of the opportunity for real food though. I'm thinking of stuffing my saddlebags full of it before we leave." She was only half joking about that, but Ara laughed as if it was a real joke.

That's theft, Damahath observed to Ara, not completely sure why her human was laughing at the thought of a dragonrider being so hungry that they had to steal food. Perhaps it's time for us to return to our duties?

It's a joke, love, and I'd like to say goodbye first. I don't think I'm going to see Csinda again for a long time. It was not a happy thought, but Ara's heart was still overfull with joy from Impression, and not properly capable of feeling any real grief at the moment.

"Could I ask you a favor, Csinda?" Ara said, a thought occurring to her. "My parents. They won't hear about this hatching, I expect. Could you...if it's not too much of an imposition, I mean...Could you tell them?"

She would have asked Csinda to carry a letter to her family, but none of them could read. Ara, herself, struggled with unfamiliar words, and particularly proper names, and her handwriting was still awful, so even if anyone in her family could read, they probably wouldn't be able to decipher her ungainly script.

Csinda stared at Ara for a second. The younger girl had never been particularly forthcoming about her background, but Csinda was vaguely aware that there were records kept that she could consult to determine who to look for, and where, in order to deliver this message. Mostly she realized, all at once, that she was feeling sorry for herself because her friend had Impressed a gold dragon and would be leaving her behind, but Ara would be leaving everyone behind, and had a family that wouldn't even know what had become of her. Impressing a gold was definitely a salve for that, but it didn't change the fact that Csinda was being a whiny baby.

And getting drunk, which our wingleader has expressly forbidden you, Tijuth added.

Feeling vaguely guilty about her selfish feelings and her forbidden drinking, Csinda told Ara, "Absolutely, I will tell them that you are Pern's newest goldrider and anything else you want. Is there anything else?"

Ara looked down at Damahath for the third time in the past two minutes, putting her hand behind the dragon's head knobs and rubbing as though she'd been born knowing how to do this. "No, just that. And don't be mad at them if they don't seem happy for me. It's not their way."

Csinda's eyes narrowed, and fortunately for everyone she wasn't actually drunk yet, because she would definitely have had words about families who weren't happy when their daughter Impressed a sharding gold dragon. She held her tongue, though, and made herself smile instead.

"Got it. Short, simple, easy to remember. Just the sort of message I like to deliver."

There was another pause as everyone seemed to sense that Ara and Damahath really did have to move on now.

"I'll miss you," Ara said. "And Tijuth, too."

Csinda flung her arms around Ara, prompting Damahath to do a small backward leap to avoid accidentally being touched by this woman she wasn't sure she approved of. "We'll miss you, too. But we are so. ********. Proud of you."

She released a breathless Ara and looked sternly at Damahath, whose chin was once more raised in disapproval. It was hard to look down on people when everyone was taller than you. "You take care of her. She is entirely too nice for her own good."

Damahath huffed, refusing to dignify the instructions with a response. Obviously she would look after Ara, and Ara would look after her. That was what it meant to be a dragonrider. She did, however, relent as Ara began to turn away, and give Csinda a curt nod before pressing herself to Ara's thigh once more.

Csinda watched them depart and poured herself another drink.

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