A/n: Everything but DoP and Thread's End Weyr's main characters are mine.
Halcyon Weyr
"Okay, Terranth. This is Cabal Hold."
K'dra peered down at the Hold spread out for a few miles before turning into fields and country homes.
Not a bad looking place, Terranth observed tactfully and K'dra had to agree.
It was only three seven days since they had been transferred to Halcyon Weyr, and she had been sweep riding nearly everyday to get accustomed to her new surroundings. While she was free to go between, her new Weyrleaders didn't want to take any chances, and so she wasn't allowed to fight Thread yet until they were confident she knew where everything was and was fit enough to fight.
Carefully, K'dra set this view to memory under Cabal Hold so if asked to go there, she could give a clear visual. The best, and most tedious, aspect of sweep riding was that she was not to go between very often, allowing her to see the incredible land below.
Being allowed not to go between very often is not so bad. I am stronger when I fly straight. And I become faster.
"True. It's just that this can become very boring and sometimes I get impatient when we could be somewhere after only three heartbeats."
Terranth rumbled in agreement.
A great bronze body popped out of between just ahead and to the side of them. K'dra urged Terranth to come abreast and hover, and waved to her fellow dragonrider.
It is Xenith, Terranth reported happily.
K'dra smiled. The appearance of her wingleader meant that this sweep was over and they could go home. Odd. Calling her new weyr home seemed almost traitorous. The two dragons were wingtip to wingtip, air whooshing as their wings swept great quantities away.
It was amusing to see the difference in the height of the dragons. Xenith was so much larger than Terranth, who was nearly half his size.
Xenith says we can go back to the Weyr now.
Got the coordinates in your mind, dragon-love?
To help, K'dra visualized the Weyr in her mind and projected it to Terranth.
I have them. Here we go.
The cold of between was a welcome relief from the heat of the day. In as much time as it took for a man to cough thrice, they traveled from Cabal Hold to Halcyon Weyr in an instant, a distance of over three hundred miles and at opposite ends to boot.
Halcyon Weyr was located on the Southern Continent, at the opposite end from Thread's End, which was near Cove hold. Most of the distance between the Holds and Weyrs was covered in jungle. The hot humidity was oppressive at the peak of the day, and gradually waned off, though some nights it stayed warm.
K'dra truly believed that this section of the Southern continent was the most humid. Her clothes were almost continuously in a state of dampness, and she had taken to the local custom of sleeping off the worst parts in the shade of Terranth's wings and partake in a daily swim to cool off.
Xenith and Terranth both bugled a greeting, coming to land in sync in the informal Bowl of the Weyr, which was simply a large clearing surrounded by the trees-house like structures and sand wallows which created the majority of the weyrs and what in the Northern Weyrs would be called the Lower Caverns.
Halcyon Weyr was located nearer to the more rocky terrain, though it was still covered with jungle, so one half of the Weyr proper was dotted with 'traditional' weyrs cut into the rock and out of the caverns, forming a sort of half circle. Someone had quipped they should have named the Weyr Half circle but since that name was already taken by a sea hold near Benden, the name didn't stick.
Most of the traditional weyrs went to the riders of rank, such as the Weyrleaders, wingleaders, and wingseconds. There were also the Hatching Grounds, but they weren't inside the mountain per se. More like, a huge crater had been blasted into the side, creating a natural amphitheater, with a thin roof over the top and rough tiers cut into the rock. Workers still labored daily scouring the tiers with sand to smooth the edges, and they kept refilling the sand as the senior queen was tetchy about having a deep Sand.
"Are you just going to sit there all day or are you planning on coming down to eat?"
K'dra was torn from her musings to see R'ahvin standing at Terranth's shoulder, grinning up at her.
His helmet was already off, his goggles and gloves stuffed in it, held under one arm and his jacket unbelted and gaping open to show a his white shirt plastered to his front by sweat. Sweat soaked hair spiked up in disarray from the helmet and beads of moisture adorned his forehead.
K'dra had the sudden urge to swallow, and she had to find enough spit somewhere in order to do so, in her suddenly dry mouth.
"Um, yes," she replied a bit hoarsely, hoping that he wouldn't notice her sudden trembling. She started to unstrap herself quickly and joined him on the ground.
"Glad to see your head is with us and not still in the clouds," he chuckled at her.
"Since when do you care?" she teased him back, a little startled at how close he was.
I was sure he hadn't been that close to my landing spot…maybe he'd moved closer? Why?
K'dra backed up some, but her knees hit Terranth's foreleg and her balance wobbled.
"Whoa!"
"I got you," R'ahvin soothed, grabbing K'dra's arm and pulling her upright against him, hand stroking in small circles on her back.
"Thank you," she murmured a tad shakily, but not because she was frightened or hurt. It was just what happened whenever R'ahvin was near or touching her, and he was most definitely touching her now.
It wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling or situation, but it was something worse than what she'd been trying to avoid. Being close to him. K'dra's heart thumped wildly in her chest like mad, and she couldn't think.
"Too much time sweep riding?" he chuckled, straightening the pair of them from their awkward lean against Terranth's side. That green dragon simply had her head and neck tilted at a funny angle, observing her rider's goings on with some amusement and no lack of curiosity.
"Must be it," K'dra agreed, face flaming, and thankful her cheeks were already rosy by the continuous wind so R'ahvin wouldn't notice.
"Do you think you can make it to the dinner table or will I have to carry you?"
"Don't you dare!" K'dra snapped out before she could help it, realizing that one did not address her wingleader and immediate superior in that manner in public, no matter how informal or friendly you may be with said superior in private.
Her mouth dropped open in a silent 'o', eyes growing wide, stifling a gasp as his face froze and then ran a gamut of emotion. She knew her mistake almost immediately; the fact of the matter was there was no way she could get away to rectify it. He still had her in his grasp.
"Really?"
That one word and the barest flickers of a smile on his lips were all the warning K'dra had before his arms flexed and the next thing she knew she was tossed over his shoulder like an empty firestone sack.
"We're going to dinner Terranth, it's okay, she can't walk," R'ahvin called to K'dra's little green in a way of assurance as he walked past her, her rider firmly held over his shoulder.
"R'ahvin! Put me down!" she gasped in humiliation and the beginnings of a good deal of humor.
"R'ahvin!"
The bronze rider merely ignored her futile and half-hearted attempts to be free, and K'dra resigned herself to her ignoble escort to the Kitchen Caverns. She grumped, watching the ground go by quickly as R'ahvin set out at a good clip. She did get to see R'ahvin's rear end very closely, and had ample time to study said rear, as she was in the perfect position to do so.
Not bad, she giggled to herself inwardly, which turned to a groan, as she caught the amused expressions on the increasing number of weyrfolk and riders alike. She gave a grin and a small wave as she passed some of her wing, suppressing another groan at their knowing looks, just knowing that she was in for some major teasing for a long time to come.
By the time they reached the Cavern, K'dra had an elbow resting against his back, chin propped up, and a semi-bored but mostly resigned look on her face. The icing on the cake would be if the Weyrleaders saw her…but thankfully, they were still out of the Weyr a quick check with Terranth revealed. The only thing that would make this worse…
"Hello, R'ahvin! Hello, K'dra's very nice looking derriere. How are you doing?"
Great, K'dra rolled her eyes heavenward, Just the person I wanted to avoid.