|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:39 pm
A bright flash of gold appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, entirely unseen. There was no one here; this was neither Hold, nor Hall, nor Weyr. A second, far smaller flash whirled and zipped around the larger as it spiralled slowly, lazily down towards the ground.
A flat, grassy stretch emerged out of the forest, rising slowly to a peak before dropping sharply, as if someone had come and cut the hill in half with a broken knife. the drop, a good three lengths down, ended in a narrow stretch of sandy beach that curved sharply around a corner where, Naeryn knew, it began to slope up gently to meet the solid earth.
It was that same stretch of sand on which she had fallen from her cliffside cave, along which she'd had to drag herself, towards the nearest Hold; Fort Hold. Sliding from Cyhiraeth's smooth neck, Naeryn strode purposefully towards the cliff edge. It was scalloped. Slipping a finger into a crack, she swung herself down. Finding a foothold, she lowered herself further. Despite her precarious position, it was a climb she knew well; she'd done it a thousand, a hundred thousand times before. Halfway down the cliff, her foot met air. She dropped.
A small ledge caught her, and bent knees prevented shattered bones from the impact. She smiled, half wistfully at the small, irregularly triangular opening in front of her.
The little gold flit lighted on her shoulder, and gave a tiny croon of recognition.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:19 pm
Ducking inside the small cave, Naeryn almost winced at the rush of memories that flooded over her. Everything seemed to hit her in reverse:
She was climbing up from the beach, but missed a foothold. She caught herself, she slipped... she broke her leg. Pain, tearing through muscle and sinew as the ragged edge of bone cut through her flesh.
Hiding inside, watching out over the water as Thread fell and dragons flamed, until the Fall was far enough over the ocean that people, plants, crops... all were safe.
Lifting her hands away from a tiny flit egg, to find it shattered. Momentary heartbreak, until a tiny tingling sensation grew over her hand - tiny clawed fingers pulling a little golden queen up her arm, creeling piteously in aching hunger.
Running, tripping, falling, scraping knees, scrambling down the cliffside in search of some shelter, some home, the vision of rubble and scattered peices of twisted metal, Thread's carnage, fresh in her mind...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:20 pm
The fire crackled merrily in front of her, oblivious to the roiling thoughts in Naeryn's mind.
What happens after I graduate? I can't ever come back here, back to this... I'll never just be me again. I'll be... junior Weyrwoman. And if something happens to Tolara? What will I be expected to do?
An exhausted sigh broke from Naeryn's lips as she peered out of the small cave, into the innocently glistening stars - what few of them she could see from the small entrance. She'd forgotten the difference, it was still night here. Dawn would be breaking soon...
I can't be in charge of people. I wouldn't know what to do. What does a junior Weyrwoman do, anyway? Am I supposed to just... sit there, and wait for some big bronze to take a fancy to Cyhi?
Her eyes flew open.
Flight! How do I deal with Flight? I don't want... I don't want to go with anyone else, anyone but Nevaeh. But how could Javareth ever fly Cyhiraeth, when there are bronzes and browns that are so much faster, and can fly longer...? But I don't want anyone else!
She fell back on an old, musty-smelling pile of hides. They'd come from the animals she'd snuck out and killed during her time here. She'd washed them, scraped them clean of hair and fat, but didn't know what else to do to them, to preserve them. They smelled of the animal they came from, until now, they smelled simply of light rot. Naeryn didn't care; she grabbed one and bunched it up, pressing it into her stomach.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:32 pm
A beam of sunlight peeked over the horizon, illuminating Naeryn's face. She didn't sleep, but half dozed in exhaustion. As the colour before her closed eyes brightened from black to a flaming orange-red, she stirred into wakefulness. The new day - at least here - brought perspective with it.
She sat up, letting the musty hide fall away. There isn't anything I can do about it. She sighed and leaned forwards, stirring up the dying embers. There isn't anything I can do about it. She scooped dirt from the loosely packed floor and dumped it on the tiny, licking flame. There isn't anything I can do about it.
People make arrangements. I don't have to go with anyone else... despite Cyhiraeth's choice. She can take the best, and I can have Nevaeh... if that's what Nevaeh wants. I hope Javareth doesn't mind. She shook her head and stood up, brushing imagined cobwebs from her legs. Naeryn felt as if she'd been there for an age.
I need to talk to Tolara. If I couldn't do it, Cyhiraeth would never have Impressed to me. I would have had a green, like Mystith, or a blue, like Javareth. Perhaps no dragon at all. But I wouldn't have a queen if I couldn't handle it.
Naeryn's eyes flew open and her features altered; a grim, determined look overtook her, turning her from a soft, gentle, doe-eyed girl to a strong, assured woman. I can do this. Whatever will be expected of me, I can do. And I don't have to do it alone. I have Nevaeh... and I always have my Cyhiraeth.
Quickly, she strode to the entrance of the cavern and swung herself around to the cliff wall. Scrambling up surefootedly, she shook herself out again at the top. In a smooth motion, she stepped up on Cyhiraeth's foreleg and swung up onto her neck.
You are finished your thinking?
For now. Take me home, love.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
