Welcome to your new home. (Way open)

[ricil]

((Yay, obscure game quote. If anyone knows it, GOOD FOR YOU! ^_^))

Brown wings fluttered tiredly as the Benden dragon, without bothering to look, warbled a greeting to any dragons present (even if there were none, he was an apathetic creature and didn't care) as he flared his wings for a landing before the Hall. He was impassive, eyes whirling slowly. All he felt at the moment was a slight annoyance that His had woken him from his slumber to fly his brother to Selenitas. Not having a picture of it, they'd had to fly straight and his wings were cramped from an unfortunate sleeping position. At least they could go between for the return.

"This place looks important," said the Benden brown's rider, turning to the young man behind him. The 20-turn-old brownrider grinned at his brother, who still looked doubtful. "C'mon, Ei, lighten up."

Eitan frowned even more deeply. "A'ten... Have you heard about...the way this place is?"

"Of course," said the brownrider. "Look, Ei, this place may be...different, and not everyone will be the way you think they should be. But scorch it, I won't let you get hurt in this war. Until the fighting's over, this'll be your new home. Try to get along."

Eitan sighed heavily. "No guarantees."

A'ten laughed. "Never guarantees with you, Ei. Never guarantees... C'mon, let's get down from here. I don't think they'd appreciate us being up here when they have to talk to us."

Who are "they"? Eitan wondered as his brother's dragon obligingly crouched to let the two men dismount. Aloud, he asked his brother, "Now what?"

"Think about it. A foreign brown has just landed with little warning. We'll have someone here to help you in no time."

[reqqy]

"You got me up early to discuss this?" S'rei was not a morning person. He needed a good hour to wake up. Having Salenth jolt him awake because Reysalth's "needed" him right away had first inspired dread. Now there was only annoyance.

Lauranna, the older sister who looked closer to ten turns S'rei's junior nowadays, affected a pout. "It's important! F'rah hasn't come looking for me in ages. You're a man. What's wrong with me?" Spreading her arms, the woman pivoted along the bank of the river.

"Correction. I'm your brother. You shouldn't ask me questions like that." The bronzerider sighed, wishing he was still in bed with Shmee, Shei sleeping soundly within sight. "He's the Weyrlingmaster, pixie. Did it occur to you that he might just be busy? You should just burst in on him like you always do."

Laurie punched him lightly on the arm for that comment. Before the conversation could continue, however, a dragon winked from Between overhead. S'rei stopped. His sister edged a little closer, trying to see if she could identify the dragon by sight. This was an odd time for dragons to be out and about; most were still sleeping. Salenth? There was a pause as the bronze inquired of the watchdragon. Not ours. Be careful, Mine.

Apparently Lauranna had just engaged in a similar conversation. She grinned at S'rei. "See? It wasn't a complete waste of time after all. What do you say we go greet them Selenitas style?"

"Selenitas style?" he repeated questioningly. What in Faranth's name was that? Brother and sister, one tall and flame haired and graying, one small and curvacious and blonde, arrived on the landing platform shortly thereafter. Thus he got a firsthand view of Laurie's 'Selenitas style.'

Apparently it consisted of rushing the dragon and his passengers, the woman letting out a joyful cry. She waved her arms enthusiastically. "Hellllooo! Such a pleasant morning!" Frankly, S'rei was shocked that she didn't actually jump on the brownrider. His eyes narrowed. Benden knots? Never once breaking stride, the bronzerider plastered a mild smile on his face and allowed Laurie to take the center of attention.

S'rei had too much of a history with Benden and Fort both to feel entirely comfortable taking over the conversation, anyway. He may not be Weyrleader of Selenitas anymore, but he was still the Weyrwoman's weyrmate, and it couldn't change his history. The one-time advisor to C'leon and Fort defector settled in a pace behind his sister to observe.

"I'm Laurie," she stated brightly, as if they should know her instantly just by the name. The head of blonde curls bobbed enthusiastically. "And what brings you both to Selenitas?"

[ricil]

"Just let me talk," A'ten whispered to his brother as a man and a woman approached them.

Both men, however, were caught completely off-guard when the blonde woman rushed towards them in enthusiastic greeting. A little too enthusiastic, given the knots the older brother wore.

"I'm A'ten," said the brownrider, stepping forward and partially blocking his brother from her view, as if it would stop him from saying anything offensive. "And that's my brother, Eitan."

He paused. How could he phrase this? "Listen, I have a big favor I need to ask of you, of this Weyr. This war is dangerous. I don't want my little brother getting hurt, or worse. So...I want him to live here until it's over. This Weyr is the only neutral place on all Pern."

Eitan grumbled inwardly about being spoken of as if he were a child. It was fine when A'ten treated him that way when they were alone, but... in the company of strangers, and a woman, no less. How could they see him as manly now?

"I should mention, he doesn't get along well with women-"

"I get along fine with women, so long as they know their place," Eitan interrupted.

A'ten let out a heavy sigh, burying his face in his palm. "Shards..." he muttered. "How did I know he was going to say that?" He looked up again, apologetic. "I'm sorry about that. He takes very much after our father. Please, if you can deal with him..."

[reqqy]

Lauranna was banking on the shock factor inherent in her greeting. She knew her brother would be pratically scowling, but that was okay. The greenrider glanced up at the shadow cast above them. Ah. She was wondering how long it would take Salenth to show up. Scarred, but certainly unbroken, the bronze landed at a remove from the brown in quiet watchfulness. It certainly didn't take a genius to figure out why he'd come. Benden dragons were trained to war, and likely wouldn't hesitate to attack a human under orders. Not that S'rei was likely high on their list right now. She knew she certainly wasn't.

Although she wanted to interrupt A'ten, the woman heeded the hand that had come to rest upon her shoulder. She glanced up at her brother's placid features. He must really be worried, if nothing was registering on his face.

"You're from Benden." S'rei had always been fairly good at stating the obvious. "You know what's happened here. You know about Morsrath's attempt to capture Aslath, about the massacre of one of our weyrling classes by Benden dragonriders, about Shmee's poisoning, about the attempted executions. No, we're not openly at war, but I wouldn't call Selenitas precisely neutral. Understand that your brother would still be in quite a bit of danger here, so long as C'leon's eye continues to return to the south."

He paused. It was only a pause. "This weyr has become a collecting point for political refugees. We prefer not - the Weyrleaders prefer not to turn anyone away. But neither do we deal with treachery lightly. And women are not considered second-class citizens here." On this last, he fixed Eitan with a pointed look. "There are many men who would respond poorly to comments like the one you just made. Worse, there are women who could make a young man look quite foolish if they took exception to the bigotry."

This was when Laurie decided to interject. "So serious, Rei. He's really rather cute. Some might be willing to forgive the slip of the tongue." The greenrider offered Eitan a playful wink. "Not Candidatemaster Aliscia. Or the Weyrwoman. Or Selenitas' dragonhealer and unofficial infirmary head. Or - Oh, but they're not at all important, are they?" The sarcasm was almost too light to be noted. "We're willing to give you a try, boy, if you're willing to accept that women here won't be like you're used to."

Lauranna may look about twenty, but she actually had thirty turns under her belt, so the use of 'boy' was anything but patronizing.

[ricil]

"I...I know," said A'ten in response to S'rei's listing of Benden's most dastardly deeds towards the southern Weyr, looking down. "I don't enjoy being a rider in this war, and I don't enjoy hearing about the things my Weyr has done. Had I Impressed bronze, I'd be dreaming of being Weyrleader and trying to bring this to a halt. But I was meant for a brown, and that's the way these things fall. I'm sure I'm not the only person at Benden who thinks the way I do. And I realize Ei...Eitan isn't very safe here, either, but... He is safer here than in danger of joining the wings at Benden."

Eitan returned the bronzerider's lecture with a silent nod of acknowledgment. It was just starting to sink in that his brother wouldn't be there for him anymore, possibly forever. His chest was tightening up with the urge to cry, but he fought it. Tears weren't manly.

A small smile slipped onto the brownrider's face as Laurie joined in on the lecture with her own playful spin. His brother would be fine here, he felt.

"Well, Ei?" he said, turning to his brother.

"I don't know," he said, his voice breaking. "Will I at least be able to Impress here?" A brief fantasy played in his head, one in which he swooped in on his own dragon to rescue his falling brother, jolted from his mount after a sinister Fort's claw jarred the brown.

"Ei... I'd really like it if you didn't Stand..."

"Wh...What?"

"If you have a dragon, you might wind up fighting. I don't want-"

"But I want to fight!"

"No," said A'ten with a shake of his head. "You don't. Trust me." He looked down for a moment, then walked back to where Eitan was, beside his dragon. "Ei, if Impressing really means that much to you, you should try to Impress a watch-wher. You won't fly, but..."

Eitan thought about protesting, but then, the first selfless thought of the day flickered through his mind. Do I really want to part ways with my brother on a note like that?

"Alright."

"And try to get along. Guarantee it."

At first, he was going to say his usual, 'No guarantees'. But, somehow, it seemed wrong. "I'll do my best," he said.

With a parting smile and pat on the shoulder, A'ten left his brother on the ground as he climbed onto his dragon's back. "If I'm still alive after the war's over, I'll come back for you."

The brown spread its wings, and pushed off the ground. With a few mighty flaps, he was airborne. With a farewell wave, dragon and rider were between.

Only now did tears come to Eitan's eyes. "Shard it, A'ten... Stop making me cry...men shouldn't cry..." Men shouldn't cry. He repeated that over and over in his head, until he had willed the tears dry.

"I'm sorry you had to see me cry," he said, his back still turned, staring at the last spot he'd seen his brother. "...What do I have to do, and how can I Impress a watch-wher?" It seemed the best thing to do was to play it smart and follow. Just follow people like he always followed A'ten.

((Hmm, it seems Eitan is already turning into something other than I conceived him to be...))

[reqqy]

Watching the two together, S'rei found it easy to accept the brownrider's words at face value. He, of all people, should know that just because you were part of a Weyr - shards, just because you were part of the leadership of a Weyr - didn't necessarily mean you agreed with everything that happened. And it was readily apparent that these two were close. He'd never been that close with either of his brothers. One had even tried to kill him - had nearly succeeded. The second had died defending him. Morose thoughts. His relationship with Laurie, however, might be described as something closer to what he saw before him.

Even now, she was watching the pair intently, that calculating glimmer in her eyes. Always calculating. Canny, mischievous sister. Sometimes he missed the way it used to be, when they were both weyrlings and terrorizing the weyr. That was so long ago, now. So very long ago.

Because he was watching her and not the brownrider and his brother, the bronzerider immediately noted the shift in her eyes. Something struck a chord with her. Gone was the conniving amusement, the manipulative taint that seemed to mark her every interaction. In its place was left only something resembling sympathy. He wondered what it was she could be thinking of. Then her hand closed around his, and he suddenly remembered her face, younger, tearstained as he left for Benden because Sera did not have much of a sense of humor when it came to young bronzeriders hanging her undergarments over the threshold to the dining hall. S'rei squeezed her hand reassuringly.

That was all the chance he had to remember such things. Laurie pulled away, going to the taller Eitan, her mothering instinct apparently firing full blast. She'd never known how to respect other people's space, either. His sister was endearingly, infuriatingly oblivious to such matters of propriety.

In a moment, she'd threaded her arms around Eitan from behind, the embrace firm but not overbearing - if he could ever get past the fact that a stranger and a woman was touching him in this way. "He'll be back," she offered the man-child quietly. "He'll be back, and you can greet him with the wher that you're sure to Impress." Another second, and she'd grabbed Eitan's wrist, tugging him about with more strength than one would have expected given her size.

"Come. I'll take you to Candidatemaster Aliscia. She'll get you settled in. There aren't many in the barracks right now." S'rei acknowledged her look with a slight nod of the head. He wasn't needed anymore. The bronzerider moved toward Salenth and came to lean against his mindmate companionably.

"I've missed you," he murmured to the great bronze. The dragon merely crooned quietly.

[ricil]

Eitan was startled by Laurie's sudden embrace; he nearly jumped away. His body didn't relax after the initial shock, but he said nothing and made no gesture to remove her arms. He owed it to his brother to at least try. And trying meant tolerating. Or at least not outwardly protesting.

His second shock came when she grabbed his wrist and pulled hard enough to make him turn around.

Again, his promise to A'ten to get along came to mind as he learned the Candidatemaster was female. He would have to learn, and fast. But as long as he had an example to follow, he'd manage. Right? It had to be right. He didn't have A'ten to look to for advice.

He allowed Laurie to lead him, offering a weak truce-smile at S'rei, though he wondered if the man noticed.

((Blah, sorry for the short post. Does the action move to a new thread now?))

[reqqy]

(Sure. xD We can open a thread in the candidate barracks for Aliscia. Want me to start?)

[ricil]

((Yeah, since Laurie's leading, it makes sense.))