Freedom at Last. Sweet Freedom (Open)

[Missa]

Is being alone a good thing, Mine? I am not sure with you. Mermaiyeth's voice was soft, yet firm, and Beka knew that if she'd shown the smallest amount of discomfort, the barred would have dragged her home. The truth was however, that Beka was more at peace than she'd ever been, she was happier than she'd ever been. For one reason, and one reason alone. She was safe. With graduating the weyrling ranks, she became safe, and the very thought brought tears of relief to teh barred-rider's eyes.

I knew this was a bad idea! We are going home! The barred swished her tail in the sand, eye whirling rapidly as she watched Beka's face warily. Only to have her bonded turn and shock her with enough force to shut the young dragon up. Beka smiled. Though teh girl had certainly smiled for Mermaiyeth before, these had been small, cautious and almsot shy smiles. This one lit up the girl's face, brightening every apect and lighting a sparkle in her eyes as she shook her head slightly.
"Can't we stay, please Mermaiyeth?"
Well... I... I guess so. Someone else might come...
"I don't care, you're here."

Mermaiyeth was shocked, she knew that Hers was suddenly content, but Beka had worked so hard to keep the terrors of her childhood away from teh barred, she wasn't sure. She hoped, one day that Beka would share those memories too, but her rider would always shake her head, and the shadows would return. Mermaiyeth didnt' like those shadows. Smiling, Beka pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her cheek on her knees as she gazed out over the water. Despite his threats, she'd gotten away, she'd made a life, and she had someone... Two people, that loved her, loved her no matter what.

As if in answer, a blue flitt popped into land on her shoulder, snuggling against her cheek with a soft croon. Yes, Valiant and Mermaiyeth loved her, and they didn't beat her or hurt her, they didn't want to, they wanted her to be happy, and for the first time, beak could honestly say she was. Frightened... Certainly, but she was happy. And free. Free. Freedom was a wonderful thing.
And I'm never going back to that, never.
To what? Your nightmares?
"Yes Mermaiyeth. I may not be able to read or write very well, but I have something else. I have you guys, and now... Freedom, nothing can hurt me now." Well, her thoughts might spiral into panic when Mermaiyeth rose, but taht was different.

[Sparrow]

Jerglith and Aleyi hadn't originally had plans to be with anyone else at the cove- unless one counted their crazy flitters as comany- but the Blue abruptly became extra eager to come play here when he noticed a Barred. He was always on the lookout for those now. As Jerglith started to land at the edge, Aleyi waved and grinned. "Hey Beka!"

Beka hadn't been at the graduation party, so it had been a while since Aleyi had talked to her. As Jerglith settled, three flitts appeared with a pop, and two of them immediately dove for the ocean. Tuck and Pip weren't going to chance letting Brooke start ordering them around if they could avoid it. The Gold just snorted and fluttered over to Aleyi's shoulder, only latching onto it after the girl dismounted.

"Didn't think I'd see you here," Aleyi added before turning to loosen Jerglith's riding straps and give him a pat. The Blue rumbled. About then Pip noticed Valient, and the Green abruptly tore out of the shallows again and shot towards the Blue, chattering with excitement. Would he play with her? Soon Tuck was by her too, nipping at his sister's tail and distracting her back into the water. Valient could follow, Pip didn't have the attention span to wait.

Brooke snorted at the little display and Aleyi gave the Gold an absent pat. "Um... and sorry about them. They're kinda crazy." Jerglith headed for the water too, and soon had the two flitts latching onto his tail. He gave them a long look, but at least refrained from shaking the pair off.

I wish we had a Blue flitter. He had decided they were the only ones he could possibly like; the rest were just there to endure.

[Missa]

Looking up in surprise at the greeting, Beka's smile only grew in brightness as she lifted a hand to wave cheerfully at Aleyi. Mermaiyeth seemed mildly surprised by the ease in which Beka responded to the greeting, even as she greeted the blue with a soft croon and a nod of her head, happy to be around her siblings now that her bonded seemed at ease.
"Hey Aleyi!"

Smiling as Valient eyed the three other flitters with something that was caught between suspicion and longing to go play, and then the layalty of staying right where he was so His wouldn't be unprotected. If anything, this blue would never let any harm come to his, though he trilled a light hearted greeting to Brooke, only to be startled by the chittering of the green. As she zipped off again, Valient half flared his wings, before pausing and glancing at Beka. A soft laugh greeted him and the barred rider nodded lightly,
"Go play."

"Really? Oh well, it's a pretty place and you know, I figured I might as well, Mermaiyeth likes it here." Laughing as Mermaiyeth then droopped her head to nuzzle Beka lovingly, the silvery barred then let a sound that sounded oddly like a cough as she gazed after the three flitters. Crazy? That was a bit of an understatement, didn't Jerglith think? He was a good friend too, and Mermaiyeth was fond of him, just like Hers was fond of Aleyi, not that Beka would admit it, she didn't like to admit the word 'friend',
"It's okay, Mermaiyeth and I don't mind. Are you pleased about graduating?"

[Sparrow]

Brooke snorted when Valient chirped to her, Blues were almost higher than Greens on her list of 'most hated creatures'. Not only did they try to ruin her Flights, Hers had a big Blue that was constantly distracting attention from Brooke herself. Aleyi gave the little Gold a cock-eyed look. "Go play with them. I know you can."

Brooke had no plans whatsoever to play with the smaller fire-lizards. She fluttered over to a rock, perched on it, and set to preening. Aleyi was happy enough to forget about the flitter and pay attention to Beka. She sure looked more cheerful than Aleyi ever remembered seeing her.
"It is." She smiled. "It usually surprises me that I don't see more people here..." Well, Aleyi hadn't come here often before... which probably explained why this was the first time she ran into someone.

Jerglith rumbled at Mermaiyeth's cough sound. You should be glad Yours doesn't have three of these things. Giving his tail a quick drag through the shallows got rid of Pip and Tuck, and the pair didn't mind much, now they could play with Valient. Do you plan to just stand on the beach? He splashed a little water in the direction of the Barred.

Aleyi grinned. "Pleased? It's so nice getting out of those barracks, I can't totally describe it." She laughed. "It was getting so crowded in there." The queens were definitely doing their job replenishing the Weyr with dragons. "What about you?"

[Missa]

Valient was happy to ignore the gold after that, happily darting after the others in the waves, water was so much fun! Or he thought so, so did Mermaiyeth, she liked the water. It was only Theirs that didn't like the water that much, that was only because his couldn't swim though. It seemed a silly thing to worry about but the blue didn't care if she liked the water, she was His and that was that. And these flitters were going to be friends! Because they looked like fun, rather simply.

"We stumbled on it really..." She hadn't been looking for anything, just flying. Mermaiyeth loved the water though, adored it like nothing else. If there was ever a way the barred could stay in water and with her constantly, she had no doubt she'd try it.
"You know, before coming to the weyr, I'd never seen the ocean. Isn't that weird? We always moved around, never in one spot, so I guess we would have got there eventually.. Maybe." Pulling her knees up to her chest so she could rest her chin on them, Beka smiled slightly at her friend, nodding to the ground beside her,
"You can sit you know, I won't bite or anything."

Ugh, three of them? I'm not sure I could handle that. Yet, she knew that if it made Hers happy, Mermaiyeth would endure dozens of them, most weren't too bad. Maybe it was just Aleyi that had gotten stuck with the nutters? Valiant wasn't horrible at all. Crooning in amusement at his question, she picked herself up, glancing at her rider for a second before happily going into the water, she loved the water and Hers wasn't alone anymore, it would be okay if she went and had some fun.

Grinning in return, Beka nodded happily, she couldn't describe it either. Well, no, she couldn't really, no one really knew about how it felt for her, to be so free of fear and ... Free.
"It's freedom, it's safety and security. I guess I can't describe it either, but I'm happy... Really happy. Now you can go visit family and stuff, won't that be good Aleyi? Your parents would be proud I'll bet."

[Sparrow]

"Really? I was told about it... by K'laon, I think." Aleyi shrugged. "I think a lot of people know about this place... but I guess maybe they don't think it's worth the trouble to come here." Not until the weather got too hot, maybe, anyways. When one had a dragon, going anywhere shouldn't be much trouble.

Aleyi smiled. "I hadn't seen it either. Where I lived was pretty inland, and we didn't travel much." There hadn't been any reason to leave the settlement Aleyi had grown up in, until she had been Searched, of course. "I kind of wish we had though, there's a lot to see outside home."
Sit? "Oh, yeah, I hope not." Aleyi sat down next to Beka, crossing her legs in front of her and placing her hands on the ground behind her for support to lean back a little. "Not even Brooke bites." The Gold was irritable, but not vicious or anything.

Jerglith rumbled. We don't really. Handle Brooke, Tuck, and Pip? They were insane. Well, Brooke was just extremely vain and bossy, but the young Brown and Green were crazy. Now that Mermaiyeth was entering the water, the two flitters headed over to her. Maybe she would be more willing to give them a ride than Jerglith.

"That's good." Feeling happy and safe and all that was always a good thing. "And yeah, I can. That is, when Jerglith agrees." She laughed. "He doesn't want to chance us missing anything important because I'm visiting family. I had Brooke send them a message a while ago though... my brothers are all jealous." It would be nice to go see all of them. She had meant to give her family a few eggs from Brooke's clutch too, but couldn't think of a good way to get them there. Could they go between without being hurt? And the Gold wouldn't let her take any anyways. "Maybe you could come with, you could show off Mermaiyeth." No one outside the Weyr had seen a Barred before, and, if Aleyi remembered right, it wasn't likely Beka had anyone to go visit.

[Missa]

"Maybe they just don't want to go to far, some people have strong attachments to home. Or so I've heard." She didn't personally know, home was where ever Mermaiyeth adn Valiant were, they loved her, and slowly, Beka was making friends too. Like Aleyi. She didn't know what having friends felt like, but it was nice to feel as though there was some one she could trust to be there, and know that she'd be there in return.

"Really? I always thought it was so weird I'd never seen it, guess I should have talked a bit more, hey?" She'd been so secluded, so wrapped up in her own mind that it had stopped her getting to know some of the better weyrlings-now-riders. Some she was sure would be lovely, but Aleyi was the one she knew the best, probably because the blue rider didn't run away when she grew frustrated at herself, and she'd been there when she'd been scared.
"Not really, alot of things start to look the same after a while. One empty plain isn't much different to a forest to be honest." Maybe that was her, travel had been a part of life, she could remember days of just endless walking.
"Nah, I'm not a fan of rider. Weyrlings are far more tender."

... Did you jsut try and make a joke?
"Shut up, Mermaiyeth."
However, I think looking after things is good for Mine, she seems to think she doesn't love us properly. If dragons could roll their eyes, Mermaiyeth would have done so, looking towards the other flitters with a bored look. Valiant, however, knew better than to go near the barred without her permission, and was happy ducking in and out of the waves. For all her stern nature though, Mermaiyeth allowed the two to attach themselves, slowly moving her tail so not to dislodge them.

"Come with you? Really? I'd really like that." Even if it was just to show of her beautiful dragon, who snorted at that, yes, no one else had seen her, and if Beka remembered correctly, she and Holleth were the first barreds to hatch, thank you. She should get to show off first, but if Hers just wanted to go for a trip, she was happy to go.
"What would he miss?"

[Sparrow]

Aleyi shrugged. "I don't think I'll ever mind taking a break from the Weyr- not that it's not a nice place, but since I can easily get far from it, I don't see much reason not to." She laughed. When she was little, Aleyi, her brothers, and their friends had spent a lot of time exploring, but they never went far. They had all been too scared by the idea of getting lost or not getting home by the time dark fell, even though none had never admitted it.

"Probably." Aleyi grinned. She never really minded quiet people, she always had plenty to talk about anyways, but it was nice to learn stuff about others too. "But you've got plenty of time to make up for it."
"You think so? I guess I haven't really visited a lot of plains, but there's a lot of new things to see around here. And forests are pretty different, I think." They had trees, something plains lacked. Aleyi liked being away from home very much. And even if fighting Thread would be dangerous, she was sure to get to see a lot of new places that way too. It all struck her as pretty cool.

"What?" If Beka had just tried to make a joke, it totally went over Aleyi's head. She and Jerglith exchanged looks when the Barredrider spoke to her dragon; the Blue was a little confused too. But he rumbled playfully anyways, not about to let on to that.

Mine loves me plenty. And all the flitters, even though they get irritating. Why does Yours worry? That didn't make sense either. Pip and Tuck were paying no attention, but found themselve not particularly excited by the slow movements of Mermaiyeth's tail. It was a lot more fun when Jerglith threw them off. Put out by that, they fluttered over to join Valiant in the waves.

Aleyi smiled. "Okay." It would definitely get people excited if she showed up with two dragons, and Beka was her friend. This could be fun, whenever they got around it. She prodded Jerglith and he snorted, replying with a stern 'not yet'. Silly Blue.
"I don't think he'd miss anything." Aleyi rolled her eyes. "But he wants to go after Threadfall- maybe he wants me to have some sort of exciting story to tell or something." She doubted he really cared much about that though, it wasn't like he would be talking to her family anyways. "And he doesn't want to miss any Flights. Not that we'd be gone long, but he's all like 'who knows what could happen!'" He'd missed two Green Flights already since graduating, but, of course, that wasn't what he was watching out for. Most knew that already though.

[Missa]

“No, I guess not…” Beka frowned slightly, not sure about that. As someone without a stable home, the stability of the weyr was quite welcome. Yet, she still needed to get away every now and then, just once and a while to see something other than stone walls. She supposed Aleyi was right, in a way, but she was sure too, that there would be few weyrlings that never wanted to leave, never wanted to see anything else. So only partially was Aleyi right, but it was also personal opinion too. She’d bet, with Aleyi being so bright and enthusiastic like she was, couldn’t bear to stay still for too long.

Smiling back at her friend, Beka nodded. That was true too, she could make friends now, or try to. Aleyi didn’t make her uncomfortable at all, but other people did and large gatherings frightened her too. It was one reason she’d avoided the graduation party, too many people made her nervous.
“Yeah, I guess… Depends how you see it. From the ground or from the sky.” Or hungry and scared, versus content and happy. Two very large factors in gazing around in wonder and gazing around in the hope that she could find an escape.

“Never mind.” She’d never been good at jokes, and was unbothered by that, pulling her knees up against her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs while watching the dragons play. It was good, that Mermaiyeth had Jerglith to talk to, he was a nice, friendly blue.

I’m not entirely sure, it may have something to do with something before me, but she does not like to talk about it… Mine worries about a lot of things… Rumbling in amusement as the flitter’s abandoned her tail for Valiant, who was obviously pleased at the company as he twittered at the two of them. The green was very pretty, really, so he was glad she’d come to play too.

It was nice, to be invited somewhere, and Mermaiyeth liked the idea too. Maybe that was the excuse to hang about Jerglith more though, and much as she hated to admit it, that was probably a good thing for the barred. Laughing softly, Beka shrugged slightly, typical, not wanting to miss a flight. Beka would love too, were her dragon not female, she could try and avoid them, though her bonded wouldn’t have liked that. As it was, she was going to have to deal with the idea of Mermaiyeth rising one day, a thought that sent chills racing down her spine.
“I’m sure he’d win any he entered, he’s a fine blue.”

[Sparrow]

“You don’t look quite so sure.” Aleyi raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t totally sure what to expect of Beka in most areas though; she knew some things about her but couldn’t safely say that she really knew her, even if they were friends. At least she knew her own thoughts. And, of course, neither of them were at Nyocia right now. That had to say something.

“Nah, I still think they’re pretty different.” From the ground in a forest, you’d see tree trunks. From the ground in plains you’d see grass. From the sky, respectively, you’d see treetops or grass. They were different things, Aleyi really didn’t know what Beka was talking about saying they weren’t. Everything from the environment to what she could find in each place was unique. Both were plenty worth exploring.

“Okay.” Aleyi shrugged. Sensing a lull in the conversation, Brooke bounced over to her for a few pets, which the Bluerider offered her flitter absently. After mulling over what Beka had said a minute longer, Aleyi came to the conclusion that she still didn’t get it, and so let it drop. Maybe Brooke knew what Beka had been talking about, but the Gold couldn’t really tell her.

Oh. Jerglith didn’t see much point in pointing out how Aleyi told him everything, it didn’t seem particularly helpful. Mine never worried until recently. For some reason, graduation had left her thinking a lot more. It didn’t make much sense to the Blue, they had a lot more freedom now. Why worry about things?

Aleyi grinned. “He thinks so too, and I’m sure he could.” Jerglith would chase Mermaiyeth for sure, and the idea was suddenly making her more uncertain than it had before. What if he won? Aleyi liked Beka… but she didn’t think like that, and Flights sure seemed like an awkward way to find out. Distractedly, she stood again and dusted some sand off her pants. “Do you swim, Beka?” That was mostly why she had come down here originally, anyways.

[Missa]

Beka shrugged lightly, not really worried that her friend had picked up on it, everyone had secrets, and though Beka was comfortable around Aleyi, she would in no way claim that she knew all about her,
"I'm not. I guess I'll get sick of it eventually." Maybe, maybe not. The constant not hunting for food was nice, and Mermaiyeth was happy here, Beka didn't think she'd ever want a transfer or anything simillar, Nyocia was her home now.. The first she'd ever had.

"I guess." Grass and trees. It still wasn't people, it wasn't a hold, it wasn't comfort, it wasn't security. Anything could happen to one out there, in a hold everything was... Well, safe, or so someone would assume. Holds were made of stone, and stone was stable and strong, but it was also hard and unrelenting. There were pros and cons to every place on Pern, she supposed, though maybe one day she could show Aleyi some of the prettier places she'd seen. Maybe.

Tilting her head to look at teh gold, Beka couldn't help but smile. For all Brooke's dominating and annoying airs, she'd bet that if push came to shove, she'd never desert Aleyi, she'd protect her. After all, Brooke was willing to be petted, wasn't she? Some golds would take a hand off for that. Or dragon ones seemed to, they were always grumpy.

It is a shame she has started, maybe we should find a way to make them stop, it is useless. Swishing her tail again, this time, the barred delibrately splashed Jerglith lightly, obviously having had enough of serious conversations as she crooned playfully at him. they had time to play, and why not, they were clean and cool, and why not splash a little bit? She'd be careful of the flitts in the waves, but really...

Surprised by the question, Beka shook her head almost guiltily, was it something everyone knew? Something people just... Were taught?
"I never learnt... I mean... Well... Yeah, i was never taught."

[Sparrow]

Well, they apparently weren't agreeing on the forest/prairie thing, and Aleyi didn't have much to say on traveling, since that was what had brought all that up. Brooke yawned and nuzzled Aleyi's arm sleepily before wandering a safe distance from the water's edge to sun. Any good fire-lizard would thank someone for attention, anyways, even if she didn't stay very long for it.

Jerglith nodded slightly, then rumbled as the Barred splashed him. That had hardly been any water at all! He could do much better, and to prove it he kicked playfully at the water, sending a better amount towards the Barred. Pip and Tuck watched briefly, then turned and sent their own barrage of water towards Valient. They could play too! Just... not with the big dragons.

Never taught? Beka sure had been missing out on a lot of things growing up. Aleyi couldn't fix all of it, but swimming was something she could work with. She had taught her little brothers to swim, anyways, and Brookelev, and figured herself pretty proficient at it. This could be fun!

Aleyi smiled. "I could teach you then, it's not that hard. We've got a couple dragons here to save our lives if anything happens, anyways." Not that she would bring Beka anywhere deep enough for anyone with common sense to drown in. "It's fun too, come on." She held out her hand to Beka.

[Missa]

Mermaiyeth squealed with amusement as the wave of water was sent towards her, ducking her head under her wing to try and sheild most of it, only to use her tail to sweep a wall of it right back at the blue, enjoying the game and the fact she didn't have to worry about Hers since she was with Aleyi, she didn't have to worry at all, she knew Aleyi would look after Hers. Valiant let out his own squawk of shock at the water directed at him, happily getting into this new splashing game by using both wings to scoop the water in their direction.

Beka's eyes brightened at the offer and without even thinking about it, she nodded eagerly. She'd wondered what it was like, swimming and knew that she'd be able to have a lot more fun with Mermaiyeth if she could. Besides, she knew Aleyi wouldn't let her drown and even without the reassurances, she was happy to slip her feet out of her boots and took Aleyi's offered hand happily as she stood.

"Is it as much fun as it seems to be? Is it hard to learn?" The most animated she'd been in months as she eyed the waves being made by the dragons, she was sure she'd be fine, even with them splashing about and knew that Aleyi would be a good teacher, she could be so patient.
"Thank you, so much!"

[Sparrow]

Jerglith rumbled and sloshed towards deeper water, a variety of reasons driving his feet. Some of the water still got him, he couldn’t move all that fast in water that was too shallow to duck easily underneath but too deep to run in, but splashed enough that it was hard to really tell if it was Mermaiyeth or himself that got him more. Pip squealed as Valiant splashed, but Tuck got the idea to duck under the water and simply avoid it. The Brown popped up behind Valiant moments later and splashed at him and Pip.

Aleyi grinned, happy to see Beka suddenly so excited about something. “It’s lots of fun, and easy to learn.” It could take some practice, but as dragonriders, they were both fit. That always seemed like the biggest factor to Aleyi, and wouldn’t be a problem here. She shed her boots and what clothes she didn’t want wet before wading into the water.

“I know you’ve been in water before,” a dragonrider couldn’t really avoid that, “but I guess you’ve just never needed to swim? Or something?” The Weyr lake wasn’t a great place for that, being cold as it was, but there were plenty of other places that were okay… like here. “So I don’t think we really need to worry about you getting used to that.” Anyone who had taken a bath, or, with most, given a dragon a bath, knew how to deal with water at least somewhat. “The biggest thing in swimming, I guess, is being able to keep above the water when you want to. Once you’ve got that down, you’re good to try all sorts of things.”

[Missa]

Noting the fact that the two humans were coming into the water, Mermaiyeth eagerly followed Jerglith’s movement into the deeper water, unable to move quickly in the deeper water, Mermaiyeth found herself being splashed not only by the blue’s movements, but also by her own efforts to splash the blue. Valiant chattered happily at the pair of flitters, happily following Tuck’s example in ducking under the water without any real reason for it, just to follow the brown’s example. Reappearing at the obviously wrong moment, the blue let out a squawk of surprise when the water was splashed directly at him.

Well, she hoped it would be easy, Beka was sure that Mermaiyeth would enjoy it if she could play more effectively without worrying that she was going to drown her rider if she accidentally pushed the girl off her back.
“No one’s ever offered to teach me before that’s all, and Mer’s awesome, only she hasn’t got the same number of legs that I do, so that makes it sorta difficult to learn from her.

Nodding to her assumption, Beka was happy to listen to her, though Aleyi was right. She’d never had to swim because she had Mermaiyeth to help her, she had someone to help her if she slipped. The lake was cold, and deep, there was no way she’d been willing to spend enough time just learning in that freezing water.
“How do you do that? Stay above the water I mean, it looks complicated.”