New Beginnings - Graduation & Turnover [E]

[Kaya]

| Turnover Eve 3074 | Late Afternoon |

It was a glorious summer day at Cliffside Sea Hold. The weather, sporting a cold wind coming in from the sea, was unusually chilly by southern standards, was clear and otherwise hospitable. The graduating class of weyrlings was being presented to the Hold on that day, Turnover’s Eve. The stage in the center of the square was where they stood, uniformed in proper riding gear lacking the formal knots. An amiable crowd had gathered for the proceedings of the afternoon, not to mention that food was sure to follow the ceremony. It was something of an oddity for some of the Holdfolk, but with the holiday Gather upon them it made as much sense as not to combine the events.

The new man in the Weyrling Master position was introduced to the Hold, the Weyrleaders were on the edge to show their approval and support, and the Lord sat on a raised seat to watch to proceedings. Some of the dragons of the graduating ones were circling low overhead. It was a day to spread their wings beyond the literal sense. The weyrlings were announced by name and presented with a new and finely crafted knot to designate their new rank, the colored threads matching their dragons woven in between the functional brown. Archith looked around from the sky, pride and joy hers that day. Her first children had made it through their early days and had many more to come.

Afterward a few more words were spoken, a rousing tune was played by the harpers in the Hold, and the crowd was good and ready for a celebration. So the new Riders were released. Some light food on trays began to be passed about, and others set to bringing out things for dinner and readying the square for dancing. The Lord and Lady milled about, talking business and greetings in equal measure, weaving around the growing swell of people in their Hold.

Truly it was a fine day for a holiday.

[Moo]

L'ras grinned from his spot off to the left, where he and others he had just met had gathered about to watch the procession of graduating weyrlings. From his limited time in the new Weyr, he had seen most of them in passing, if not all, but he had yet to learn much about them as individuals. And now that his rank was declared and official in the eyes of the Weyr and Hold, he had the privilege of watching and mentoring the newer weyrling classes.

To say he was excited, and just a bit nervous, was an understatement today. But it was a good feeling to get back to work, and he was ready for the challenge.

Once the speeches had ended, and the tunes of the harpers struck up, L'ras took a moment to watch the shuffling crowds, readjust his riding jacket against the cool wind, and determine where he would best be.

From high in the sky, Teth peered down at the gathering, minding his way in the air as he drifted around Archith, the Watch dragon, and the other attending dragons from the Weyr. The air currents over the ocean made it a fine day to be in the sky, but his mind was fixed more on what was happening on the ground.

You should pay respects to the Lord and Lady, first of all, and then to our new Weyrleaders. Shall I land and help with the festivities?

I was just thinking the same, thought L'ras, already making his way toward the Lord Ralt and Lady Harra. And perhaps later, once the celebration winds down and things need disassembling and carrying off, if at all. Why not go see those beaches?

I can see those any time. I'd much rather meet everyone else.

With a suit yourself thought toward Teth, L'ras approached the Lord and Lady with an introduction and compliments on the Hold and its preparations. It was a swift exchange, as both parties had a lot of mingling to do, and shortly after it was the Weyrleaders to thank.

Stepping out of the way and off to the side, L'ras glanced over the crowd for the Weyrwoman. He was eager for a more personal chat with Rilora, anyway.

[Shoki]

The ceremony had taken forever. It hadn’t, really, but to Mau it had seemed that way. It wasn’t that she couldn’t appreciate the ceremony and at the same time the gravity of the situation, but standing still and looking respectful and all that was just in the way of the fun to follow. Finally they were released, and were officially Riders. Mau could hardly contain herself. The moment she could, she had Hammer in her arms and was quite busy hugging the firelizard. She was a rider! Properly a rider, she didn’t have to worry about lessons or what not anymore. It was a wonderful feeling.

Elsewhere D’ziel was smiling, a bit more mellow then some of the other graduates. Partially this had to do with Hocteth. The Moonlight had tactfully reminded D’ziel before the ceremony started that this was a perfect chance to be proper and well behaved and all that. So, mostly to placate his Dragon he was sort of keeping it toned down. The other thing was D’ziel was naturally mellow when he was pleased, so he didn’t have to go too out of his way to behave. He did take time to get a better look at the knots he had acquired, a lovely mix of black and pale yellow. It was hard to believe that he was a rider already. He hoped the time between now and when Dan graduated didn’t seem quite as long.

The new riders and Weyrleaders were not of interest to one of the residents of Cliffside. Irai had weaseled out of watching her grandchildren, thank goodness. So she was free to lurk about a look for a much more interesting sort. Of course she was looking about for Rekkora, if she was here. There was a chance she wasn’t going to be about, but she could simply vanish if that was the case. She wasn’t hung up on gathers much now. As a young woman she would have had great delight in toying with some of the menfolk, but such things were for the younger folk. She was content with more interesting plans to set into motion. Irai was keeping quiet, trying to look like part of the crowd, unnoticed by most. She was avoiding the riders for the most part. Just in case.

Kashpa on the other hand was well into the fun. The harper was helping out with the performance, but not strictly performing herself. Still, once everyone had gone on stage and the performance began, she was without much to do. Except talk with everyone. Which, as far as it went, was possibly one of the best things to do. She was ready for fun, and trying to infect the people around with the same idea. It shouldn’t be too hard, after all, it was and exciting day no matter who you were. Rider and Holdfolk should be equally likely to have fun enjoy food and song. If not? Easy enough to encourage a smile or too. She was a harper, it was what she was born to do!

[Kaya]

Rilora stood on the ground near one edge of the stage, watching the newly released weyrlings-made-Riders wander off into the celebration and the next part of their lives. She felt an oddly sentimental wave from Archith wash over her, though she knew the Gold was particularly fond of her own children and on one else's. It still was odd to have the strict Queen seem soft in any respect. Perhaps it was stranger still that the weyrlings graduating marked some sort of success. Things hadn't been perfect at the Weyr by any means, but most everyone was still alive and relatively healthy and in good spirits. Maybe things would turn around soon. Rilora had some thoughts about how to bring that about, but they required confronting some people and it had been just so easy to put it off until later...

They will get done. Not today. But soon. she thought determinedly to herself.

Resolutions. ...all well and good I suppose. Archith idled, sensing her Rider's ever-changing mood. The Queen disliked the idea of being older, but if one good thing would come of it perhaps her Rider (and she wouldn't admit she shared the sentiment for herself) would be a touch more level and calm. Businesslike. Go talk to the crowds. It's why you're here. It'll make you feel better.

Thank you, healer Archith, Rilora chuckled, a hint of annoyance in her voice. I'll be off then, she stated and started to look for the next person she ought to speak to. She noticed L'ras, the new Master, looking around. She weaved through the thick crowd and managed to come out of the throng right at his side - he was very tall and not too hard to find, thankfully. "Looking for someone?"

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Not that he would have admitted it to anyone, but there had been times when it had been hard for K’tar to even begin to imagine that this day would arrive. Able to imagine it or not, though, here he was. I’m a Rider! A real Rider! No more lessons! Grinning, he wove through the crowd of people, absently eating a redfruit. He thought he saw Holt up ahead, but once he got closer he realized he’d been mistaken. Ah well, his best friend had to be around here someplace, they’d bump into each other eventually.

K’tar, K’tarMine! You really must see!

K’tar turned. Viarth was settling, but his wings were still spread. What is it, Viarth? There didn’t appear to be anything at all unusual.

You need to be closer.

K’tar managed to get out of the crowd, but there still wasn’t anything…

Now!

Viarth slammed his wings down and shot forwards and up. Startled, K’tar stepped back and started to duck, only to be hit full on by Altahyr’s front feet. He hit the ground. Hard.

What the…?

Isn’t it cool? I think it’d be great to surprise someone with it. You’re ok, right? I didn’t expect you to hurt.

K’tar laughed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Only, if we’re going to use this trick a lot, I think we’d better make sure the ground’s soft.” He scrambled to his feet and rubbed Viarth’s closest eyeridge. He glanced around, but still no Holt. No Chantrea either… he quickly tore his mind away from that thought. However, he did spot D’ziel a little ways away.

“Hey, D’ziel!” he called, waving and grinning.

[Moo]

"Looking for someone?" came the voice at his side.

Turning on his heel, L'ras beamed as he realized the voice belonged to the very person he intended to speak to. "Ah, Weyrwoman Rilora! As a matter of fact, you were the one I was looking for! I wanted to properly thank you for welcoming me into your Weyr. The pleasure of the opportunity is all mine." He held out a hand for her to shake.

"I hope I can, ahhh…live up to any expectations you may have for me. Teth included," he added with a tilt of his chin toward the sky, where the brown dragon hovered, looking down at the pair when he sensed his name mentioned.

Not wanting an uncomfortable amount of silence to pass between them, L'ras glanced around at the crowd before broaching another topic. "These graduates are your Queen's…first clutch, right? From what I've seen of them, they look fantastic - considering all that the Weyr has been through in the past turn."

Teth chimed in, not wanting to miss an opportunity to speak as well. They certainly do, my Weyrwoman! I look forward to meeting them later.

[Shoki]

D’ziel was thinking about being a rider when a voice tugged him back to the present. He looked around reactively, and finally spotted K’tar a small distance from him. D’ziel grinned and tortted over in response, which got a huff from Hocteth. Let him huff, D’ziel was happy to chat with K’tar.

“Heya. Is all this still sinking in for you? I think I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Or something.” He looked up at Viarth, then back at K’tar. “I don’t suppose either of you guys have seen Holt yet?”

D’ziel was starting to think back to when he first impressed Hocteth, and he kinda felt it would be nice to hang out with both Holt and K’tar again, like after their first Weyrling lesson. Not that he was exactly wishing the same sort of shenanigans occurred, but he was in a reflective mood it seemed. Hocteth approved of that part at least, but wasn’t in the mood for high adventure today. The Moonlight always seemed to be dragged along either way, even if he didn’t want to go…

[Kaya]

"And equally mine," Rilora replied emphatically, grasping the Weyrling Master's hand to shake, proper with a firm grip, like she had been taught. She glanced up to see the Brown briefly, and followed L'ras's line of sight back to their conversation. "I'm sure you'll do a marvelous job," the Rider added, thinking of how old the second group of Archith's already seemed to be. It was just yesterday that she had been fretting over the first clutch of new hatchlings. It seemed that time had done its job to still their worries for the most part.

"Yes, that's correct. The ones graduating today are from Archith's first, sired by a Bronze who's off and out into the world again someplace.--" she heard Teth speak and regained her smile for a moment. Not all dragons, especially transfers, were so comfortable with speaking to others. She took it as a compliment. Thank Teth, for me, will you Archith?

Rilora sends her thanks. Have you met most of the weyrlings yet, Teth? Or perhaps spoken to a few of the new graduates? Sometimes the best teachers come from those who have just learned it themselves. You might find a good assistant among them.

"They're strong dragons and that's the best I could hope for. And...you're right that we've been through a good deal. I'm not sure how much you know of our situation, how tense it's gotten in the past, but I hope my people can take today to enjoy life and have a good party. It was very kind of the Holders to take us in for graduation as well as Turnover. I don't know what I'd do without such agreeable leaders as Ser Ralt and Harra. -- But please, do continue about yourself: remind me where you hail from, originally? And if you've any thoughts at all regarding our programs, please do feel free to share them with me. Our younglings are the future, and I should be pleased to make sure your teachers and yourself are properly equipped."

[summerrain]

Tera was incredibly happy. This was the day she'd been looking forward to for the last few months. Sure, she was the youngest person graduating, but the Weyr and Hold had gotten over that. She gladly accepted the new knot, noticing that it was just slightly different from the norm. The brown of regular knots was a lighter shade, allowing the darker brown threads that matched Picosith's hide to show through. Her riding gear fit perfectly as well, though she knew it would not for very long.

Picosith circled overhead, her heart filled with the same joy that Hers felt. Two Turns, and she had matured so much. Picosith was proud of the way Tera had changed. Tera the young child didn't exixst in the present. Only the past.

Tera milled about the other people who had been watching, looking for someone. She saw the purple land on him and laghed. There goes Viarth again, she told Picosith with a laugh.

As if that's a surprise? Picosith replied with an amused sound.

It seems everyone is already engaged in conversation, Tera observed after a moment, deciding to head toward the docks to look for her father's ship.

[Terayne]

Adelia was quiet as she watched the Senior Weyrlings become riders. If not for a few hours, she might have been among them, she thought, cocking her head slightly as she considered it. She had arrived literally right after the Hatching that had spawned these new Riders had ended, and had met K'tar and the others. Smiling faintly, the Dreamweyrling glanced around, just watching the goings on. She wasn't overly interested in joining in the festivities, she just wanted to be alone, but Scendath had wheedled a promise to take in everything out of her rider so she could come up with a story later, and the girl didn't wish to disappoint her beloved dragon. Humming softly, she sent her firelizards to go scout around, having the little beasts send images to Scendath.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“Still sinking in?” K’tar laughed. “I keep thinking that I’m going to wake up and the old Weyrling Master’ll be starting a lesson.”

K’tar grinned as Viarth puffed air at D’ziel’s head when D’ziel looked up, but both he and Viarth shook their heads simultaneously to D’ziel’s second question, K’tar having long-since given up in his attempts to convince the Purple that head-shaking was a thing that humans did.

“No sign of him since the ceremony. I thought I’d spotted Mau, but he wasn’t with her either.”

K’tar absently reached down to rub the top of Altahyr’s head, flopping one of the large black canine’s ears around in the process. “I take it that you haven’t seen him about recently either?”

K’tar paused, then added, with artful casualness: “You have any plans for later?”

[summerrain]

Tera stretched as she walked toward the docks, looking at each ship that was moored in the port. She hadn't seen her father since the Gathering, and that had been almost two full Turns ago. She wanted to show him how Picosith had grown, even though she was one of the smallest, if not the smallest dragon from Archith's first Clutch. Her eyes went down the rows of ships anchored in the port, becoming more downcast as each ship turned out to not be the one her father was on. She sighed softly, gaze passing over the final ship, and still not spotting her father's. Picosith landed softly on the open field nearby. Tera went willingly over to her Wood dragoness, the one who had helped her the whole time at the Weyr when she had been unable to return home.

I am sorry for you, TeraMine, Picosith said comfortingly.

"It's not like I expected him to be here..." Tera muttered. "I'd hoped he would be here, but he's at sea so often, it's not surprising..." She walked over to her Dragon, placing a hand on her hide. Tera closed her eyes and sighed. This was her Graduation. She was supposed to be happy. But with her father out at sea, it just didn't feel complete.

I'm sure he wishes he could be here as well, Picosith comforted Hers, nudging the girl with her nose. I would not be surprised if he came to the Weyr the next time he returns from his voyage in order to congradulate you.

"I hope so..." Tera sighed.

[Shoki]

“I hear that.” D’ziel chuckled a bit, before getting a puff of air in his face from Viarth. “Hey, I don’t need a blow dry, I’m quite clean.”

I hope you are remaining presentable. Hocteth was drawing closer, possibly to keep an eye on them all. D’ziel wasn’t sure that was entirely the case though. Probably the reason the Moonlight gave himself though.

“No worries Hocteth. Just relax a little.”

Hmph. D’ziel rolled his eyes. Nothing to be done until Hocteth softened up a little.

“I haven’t. Not that I have been looking particularly hard for anyone today. Maybe I should have though.” He’d been off in his own little world trying to figure out exactly how much of today was real. He’d been aware of his fellow new riders but not overmuch. He probably should have been paying more attention.

D’ziel looked thoughtful for a moment regarding K’tar’s next question before shrugging. “I thought I might stay up with Pounce and Hocteth. Nothing special, just staying up late and watching the stars. Why?” Hocteth and Pounce were both night owls for the most part. Although Hocteth would go to sleep whenever he thought it was proper, he was much more active. Pounce liked to be up mostly because D’ziel wasn’t up. Like that day before the hatching, she loved to be active at night, though he had gotten her roaming nature under control. However, he wanted a nice quiet night with them, at least as much as he could. Still, he had time enough, he could push it to another day.

[Kaya]

They hadn't come for the Hatching, small town folk with busy lives with set work schedules. Graduation was another matter. Holt and his parents had been aware of the date well enough in advance that they could come, delivered to the Hold by their son himself. It was a point of pride for the Rider and his Blue.

The ceremony had been long and short as a Hatching, if you asked Holt. It drug on as names were announced, formalities gone through and knots handed out. For his parents it rushed by, their son graduating, Melinna got rather emotional about it. They were overjoyed and hoped that it meant they could see their not so little boy more often.

Stepping off the stage, Holt was wrapped up by his parents and lead around the festivities. By their logic, he saw his Weyr friends all the time and saw them far less. So today was family day.

After his parents had selected some very tasty combination of bread and meats to eat Holt lead them away from the crowds. Korith wanted to join them in person, and so they wound down towards the docks away from the festivities. Less party, less people after all.

It was then Holt noticed Tera standing all by herself. That was a gloomy way to spend graduation, unless she preferred the solitude.

Go ahead and invite her. If she wants to be left, she'll decline. Korith offered.

So with a word to excuse himself, Holt strode ahead a few paces to speak to her. "Hey, Tera," Holt called several steps before arriving at a comfortable speaking distance. "You want some company? My folks are here and we were going to sit and eat over there," he gestured, "Would you like to join us?" He didn't point out the negative body language he'd seen on her, if she didn't want to talk about it, that was more than fine by him.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar shrugged. There would always be time to find Holt later.

“I was thinking about building a bonfire in the WeyrBowl, get some dancing going, that kind of thing. I talked to a couple of the Caravaners that are here, and Mobrey said he’d teach anyone who wanted to learn some of the Caravan dances.”

K’tar grinned. “I got to see some once, when Lord Famoran went up with his mother to where the Praetori Caravan was staying, to visit her family. It’s sooo cool.”

He glanced around, then leaned forward slightly. “I was thinking, it’d be pretty fun if we could get Holt and Mau to dance with each other.”

Do you know the image-names for the distant-star-patterns, Hocteth? I tried to get K’tarMine to learn them, but he wanted a different pick-class-elective.