Logs:Renounced
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| RL Date: 6 June, 2013 |
| Who: N'ky, Cailluneth |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Vignette |
| What: N'ky goes home. |
| Where: Far Reach Holding |
| When: Day 26, Month 12, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: April/Mentions |
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| Up in the mountains it was colder than it was at the Weyr. Even from this high above, as Cailluneth emerged from between above the vast expanse of land claimed by Far Reach Holding and its herds and flocks, N'ky could recognise the fields, the trees, the home he'd lived in for so long. It all looked so much smaller - and not just because Cailluneth was circling in a lazy spiral down towards the cluster of stone buildings that were off-shoots of the main hold, a carved expansion of the cave network within the rocky mountainside. The lack of dragons in the area meant there was a small audience waiting for them by the time Cailluneth's dusky paws hit home in one of the empty fields. Empty, but the ovines in the field beside it were bleating their fear and had huddled in the furthest corner possible. Through Cailluneth, whose huntress senses were wide awake with the unfamiliar territory and the too-tempting quick-thud of panicked heartbeats, he could see their pathetic terror as a haze of sickly green. He could also see his own discomfort and worry through her eyes as an ugly yellow, and he know that she was on edge because of it. As he slipped down from his lifemate's back, N'ky pressed a hand to her side and tried to both comfort and draw comfort from her colourful mind. The gathered crowd was full of more familiar faces now; there was his uncle Ansly, home from the Weyr now for several months, the only one who seemed somewhat pleased to see him. His father, his brothers and sisters - his mum. She was holding tight to his father's arm, with his favourite little sister, Reawyh, tucked up against her side. And behind them all, his aunts, uncles, cousins, the little crowd growing bigger as word undoubtedly spread. Even his grandma was there, supported by her cane with her knitting no doubt abandoned inside. N'ky took a hesitant step forward as he pushed his goggles up above his forehead, letting them rest against his helmet. He wasn't comfortable enough to take everything off yet; he wasn't sure that the reception would be welcoming enough for him to stay. "F-father," he stammered nervously once he was close enough, nodding his head courteously to the man. When he had grown taller than his own dad? The holder, burly as he may have been from turns of working the herds across the land, was a good inch or two shorter than N'ky. Even his brothers didn't seem as tall; he easily topped the older two by an inch or so, at least. They all looked changed, more weathered, older - and then N'ky realised it had been the better part of two turns since he'd seen any of them, and almost a turn since he'd said goodbye to his uncle Ansly at the Weyr. His mother seemed about to say something, when his father placed a hand on her arm, making her stop. "Nycaen." It had been so long since he'd heard his name spoken in full, and to hear it now, in such disapproving, cold tones, made the greenrider's heart sink. "I-I'm N-N'ky now, dad. Th-this is my Cailluneth." He didn't have to look behind him to know that she was there, imposing despite not yet being fully grown, her warm breath crystallising in the cold mountain air. Her eyes whirled quickly as she looked from the cluster of family members to the ovines, a rumbling growl raising in her throat at the sight of them - or was she antagonised by the rising red mist that N'ky could see through her mind, surrounding his fater?. "She's not welcome here, rider. Or did you forget?" Ansly stepped forward, resting a hand on his brother's arm. "Len, he's your son. At least welcome your son home? He's still your blood, he's still your child." Those words seemed to hit home for N'ky's mother, but for Lenwyh? Nothing. "I will have no dragonriders in my family." N'ky's heart sunk like a lead balloon. He'd expected something like this, but there'd always been that tiny bit of hope that things might be different. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he looked at his mother, biting hard into his lip. "M-mum?" It was impossible to keep the emotion out of his tone; not only did it emphasise his stammer, but it made his voice crack mid-word, too, turning it into the needy little bleat of a boy needing his mother. She seemed conflicted as she shook her head - through Cailluneth, he could tell she was fearful and upset. "P-p-please, mum - it's just me. I'm still me - g-granm-ma? Reawyh? I'm s-still me--" "Not with that, you're not. Dragonriders aren't welcome here." It was his father's turn to step forward now, face like thunder and flanked by the equally burly Carew and Canwy, all stern-faced and unwelcoming. Cailluneth sensed the threat, flaring out her wings and snaking her head down towards N'ky, growling in a hackles-raised display of protection. The sight, and no doubt sound of her, warned the men off, though they retreated no further than a few steps. "Just go, Nicky," he heard his mother say from behind his father - he couldn't see her, blocked as she was by the three older, thickset men. Looking at them, he knew just how much he'd got from his mother, from looks to temperament. Reawyh peeped around Carew's back, shaking her head at her brother. She looked scared. So many of them did, but with Cailluenth growling over his shoulder, who could blame them? "B-b-but I'm still your son, and y-you should be proud of me, dad - all of you. I'm a H-High Reaches Weyr r-rider to Cailluneth, and I'll--" His father interrupted him. "I renounce you as kin. There are no dragonriders of Far Reach blood. Get on your dragon, and don't return. Dragonriders are not welcome here." N'ky could feel his eyes starting to burn with tears, his breath growing a little ragged. He had to swallow hard when Cailluneth raised her head and roared to the heavens, a raspy, guttural sound that gave voice to his despair and her concern over it. The sound made his family members cringe and back away, even the stalwart figure of his father. His memory dragged up an old tale, a past event that, while he hadn't been born to see it, he'd heard told by so many in his family. Dragonriders weren't allowed to Far Reach because one, a greenrider turns ago, had visited when his dragon was due to rise. N'ky now understood it as irresponsible behaviour on the rider's part that had led to the green blooding her pre-flight kill amongst the holding's prized wool stock. With how hurt they'd hurt him, N'ky entertained the thought of that greenrider being him, of his lifemate taking down the family's best ovines, just to get back at them for hurting him so. Cailluneth moved before he'd even half-finished that thought; she bellowed at the men in front of her, leaping into the air only to come down in a sharp dive atop the pen that held a small flock of ovines. "Cailluneth STOP!" N'ky yelled, as the rest of the family went into shock - he was running towards his dragon before they started to move, but she'd already torn into the wool-padded hides of three ewes, and was tearing into the neck of a fourth to create a bloody mess across her sootied face and pale chest, leaving crimson trickling from her maw and onto her paws. N'ky hopped the fence nimbly, tears by now stinging sharply at his eyes as he heard the angry shouts of his family behind him. His father, his brothers, uncles, cousins - they were coming after him, and without thought he vaulted Cailluneth's lashing tail, scrambling up her side and forcing his way past the angry beast that occupied her mind, pushing through the blackness and the whirling blood red to tap into that silvered rainbow hidden way beneath. « Up! Up! Cai! Up! » She turned to roar mightily at the crowd rushing angrily towards them, but they were being careful to keep the fence between them and the red-eyed, flared-winged dragon. N'ky clung tight to his lifemate when she launched herself upward, head so awhirl with emotions that he didn't even realise he hadn't buckled himself in until they were high above the farmhold, the people down there a pinprick memory. He clung tighter until Cai levelled off, and then he reached for the buckles, securing himself in the straps. « Let's go home. Real home. » He didn't even remember visualising the Weyr, or giving the command to jump between in his desperation to be away from his family and the land he'd grown up on, but the enveloping cold and blackness that suddenly surrounded them could be nothing else. Lub dub... They'd be home soon, and that was what mattered - home. Away from the family. Lub dub... He braced himself for the cold brightness that would come in a second, clinging tighter - both mentally and physically - to the dragon he knew was there, but couldn't feel, holding onto the thought of getting home to April, snuggling into her side and having her make everything feel better. Lub dub... |
Comments
Alida (Alida (talk)) left a comment on Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:22:17 GMT.
< So many 'rejections' in this weyrling class: Waki, Alida, N'ky, C'wlin, N'hax. All we need is D'kan on board, and we'll all be seething with bitterness and anger... ready to take over Pern. ;)
That said... poor N'ky.
D'kan (D'kan (talk)) left a comment on Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:23:10 GMT.
<
D'kan's was the night of the hatching.
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