'The World of Pern(tm)' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern(r)' are copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) l967, 2000. This is a recorded online session, by permission of the author but generated on SouCon MUSH for the benefit of people unable to attend.

It is currently 9:32 a.m. on day 3 of month 11 in Turn 28 of the 10th Pass. The season is currently spring. (Remember we are in the southern hemisphere!)

You walk toward the bustling Weyrhall.

Kayjay sits, supported by her elbows at a table. Her head bobs up and down and she is dozing off.

Auralia strides in, and stops, watching Kayjay for a moment, before half-smiling. Greenrider grabs redfruit and klah, and tiptoes over towards Weyrling, taking a seat right beside her. Will she wake? Won't she?

Kayjay bobs her head dangerously close to her klah mug, but recovers and blinks with a start. "Huh?"

Auralia can't help but snicker there, "Easy there, Kayjay. Don't fall asleep in the klah. Burning would not make that lifemate of yours very happy." Food is set down on the table in front of her, and she adds, "You look tired."

Kayjay yawns. "I am trying to keep awake..." She points to her klah mug and a half empty pitcher of klah beside it. "The klah doesn't seem to be working."

Auralia rolls her eyes, "Sleep is the only way to stop being tired, m'girl. Klah keeps you up when you don't want to, and doesn't when you do, in my experience." Her own klah has a mouthful stolen, "Still. I take it you're finding weyrlinghood tiring? In the least."

Kayjay blinks. "I don't like sleeping much anymore." The rings under her eyes attest to that fact.

Auralia frowns, setting her mug down thoughtfuly, "Why not?"

Kayjay shakes her head and stifles a yawn. "I don't like dreaming... "

Auralia takes a bite of redfruit, and listens to this, "You don't like dreaming?" She frowns, and then asks, "Is Suriath sending you dreams, by accident?"

Kayjay defends her lifemate. "No! I am the one having bad dreams. I don't want to worry Suriath.."

Auralia ohs, frowning. She's confused? Probably, "So you're having bad dreams, andyou don't want to pass them on to him, so you're trying to stay awake? That, my dear,

anything but healthy. You need sleep." She pauses, adding, "What are you dreaming about?"

Kayjay gulps another swallow of klah and says. "Right, I don'

Kayjay says "I don't want to frighten Suriath. K'tor told me some stuff about weyrlings who .. never came back from *between*. I can't get that out of my head.""

Auralia frowns, and then shakes her head firmly, "Shard the sharding Bronzer. He would do that. How long ago was this? I swear I'm going to kill him." She takes a deep breath, setting down her fruit, "Yes, sometimes it happens. Happened once in my clutch, for me and K'tor, Nareisa, Marila and all of them. But they weren't being careful enough. You have to be aware, yes, but if you're very careful, nothing will happen. Visualization is very important, and if you don't do it right, then you won't come back. But it doesn't take much to learn how to do it properly." Finally, having gathered her breath again, she adds, "Don't worry about frightening him. I doubt he would be scared. He'd just be sure that he wouldn't do wrong."

Kayjay says "He was just telling me how come N'all yells at us all the time is all."

Kayjay looks a bit worried. "K'tor is my Mentor... I don't want to get him in trouble."

Auralia nods, finally, beginning to understand, "Oh, I see. Of course. No, I won't get him in trouble. And yes, that is why N'all yells all the time. He worries about loosing you. Its a hard job, being a weyrlingmaster." Finaly, softly, she adds, "I think you'll find that Suriath is harder to upset than you'd think."

Kayjay rubs one eye, looking and sounding much younger than her age. "I am trying to learn everything... but my mind gets scattered with everything that I am supposed to learn." She gulps. "I want to do everything perfect.."

Auralia retakes her redfruit, and takes a bite, chuckling, "You'll get used to it. Its a hard change to make, but we all get there. I know I found it hard." She pauses, adding, "Perfect isn't always a good goal. Make everything the best you can, and be happy with that, is my suggestion to you."

Finn walks over from the Western Courtyard.

Kayjay sticks out her chin and says rebelliously. "Best isn't good enough.."

Finn looks around and sinks onto a bench with a sigh of relief.

"Then make it good enough!" Announces Auralia with a grin, in a loud voice. Voice quiets as she calls softly, "Hey, Finn."

Finn smiles tiredly. "Hello y'all"

Kayjay half nods to Finn and mumbles into her klah. "What if my best isn't good enough?"

Finn looks vaguely over in Kay's direction... aware that something is going on but she doesn't know what.

Auralia rolls her eyes, and raises her hands in the air, "Then make it good enough! If you do everything as best you can, with as much diligence and work as you can possibly afford it, its going to be good. Maybe not as good as what some other people are doing, but it will be good. You all have your strengths, and weeknesses, and let me tell you, no one can not be good enough." A pause, and she adds to Finn, "Come sit over here, with us."

Finn drags herself over to the two girls. "Whatever is going on Kay? What's this nonsense about /you/ not being good enough?"

Kayjay takes a deep breath trying to digest what Auralia said. "No one? Not even N'all?"

Finn pours herself some klah and sips it.

Auralia takes a deep breath, and nods, "I'll probably get murdered in my sleep if N'all hears this, but yes. No one is perfect, but we all do our darned best. And he can't say otherwise, and neither should you or anyone else."

Kayjay blinks. She obviously had never thought of that before.

Finn pulls a scrap of hide out of a hidden pouch and begins to check it with bleary eyes.

Auralia grins, watching Kayjay blink, before quickly asking, "Finn. How're you doing? Do you agree that our best is always going to be good enough?"

Finn shrugs. "Your best is all anyone can expect. And you shouldn't be worried Kayjay. You're going to be a wonderful rider."

Kayjay shrugs at Finn. "I ..hope so."

Finn yawns slightly. "I've been inventoring stores all day. There's a order in for new outfits for the weyrlings and I have to see what kind of material we have."

Shasta walks over from the Western Courtyard.

Auralia smiles, nodding in agreement, "I think so, too. You'll be wonderful, Kayjay. And as for that brown of yours...Well, even Iesath might lower herself enough to consort with him when he's older." Yeah, right. Turning to Finn, she ohs? and then smiles, "Sounds fascinating. I guess." Shasta earns a smile, and the greenrider calls out, "Mornin', Shasta!"

Kayjay takes another gulp of klah and spits it out back into the mug. "Shards, I can't drink another drop of that... stuff."

Finn looks anxious. "What? Is something wrong with the klah?"

Auralia snickers, "Nor would I be able, if I drank as much of it as you did, kayjay."

"Quite some compliment, Iesath consorting with him," Shasta teases, as that first tidbit is what greets her on her way into the weyrhall. "Morning, all." Must be quite the morning, the weyrsecond looks a little haggard; the child she carries must have kept her up most of the night from the looks of things.

Kayjay blushes and looks shamefaced at Finn. "Nothing except I drank three pots of the stuff in the last few hours."

Finn sighs with relief. "Thank goodness. Oh, hello Shasta."

Kayjay hears Shasta's voice and looks as if she is about to salute.

"Of course it is!" retorts Aura, with a laugh, ignoring the teasing. "Seems to me like Kayjay should've been the one looking after Khysta, by the looks of it, Shasta, since she was the one who -wanted- to stay awake. You look tired." Is it just today that she's stating the obvious?

Shasta holds Khy close to her, as she gets herself a mug of klah. "A weyrling who wanted to stay awake?" She asks waving off the salute. "Shells, I recall catching naps whenever the Weyrlingmaster'd let me. But honest, next time I'll find you, though her father gets her tonight." She plants a loving kiss on her daughters' forhead. "She'll probably sleep the whole night through."

Kayjay says "I haven't been much into sleep lately .. too many unpleasant dreams.""

You say "K'tor told her about weyrlings going between and never coming back, and she's been having bad dreams about it. Doesn't want to upset Suriath, so doesn't want to sleep." Auralia just explains it all, doesn't she? "But we're trying to convince her otherwise."

Shasta frowns at Kayjay's words, using her foot to pull a chair out from the table - one arm around her daughter and a hand with klah doesn't make the task easy. "Dreams?" She asks, clearly concerned. Understanding dawns, with Auralia's aid. "Kayjay, you'll distress him more if you get sick from not sleeping. If he's asleep, it won't disturb him much. Dragons dream, too - they know what dark dreams can be like."

Finn sighs softly. "Kay, you can't let it paralyize you. Sides, they probaly tell that to all weyrlings. To make them be safe."

Kayjay half giggles."I feel kind of sick in my middle from all this klah.. N'all told us though we need to protect our mates from some of our thoughts."

"But I'm quite sure he never told you not to sleep when your lifemate is sleeping because of dreams." Aura is firm, and adds, "Don't hurt yourself for his sake, at least, not for this." She adds, softly, "Next time, don't drink so much. You could get really sick, and then Suriath'll be really upset."

Shasta purses her lips, thoughtfully, as she eases herself into her seat. "Some thoughts, yessss," she drawls, shifting Khysta. "THey're like children. YOu don't tell them much about death, and where babies come from, until they can handle it. But, even children have nightmares. He'll still get distressed about some things. What you need to do," And the brownrider pauses, gathering her thoughts. "Is deal with your fears. If you dream something scary and it affects him, you'll have to be there for him."

Finn sips her klah, since she really doesn't know much about this.

Kayjay smiles at her friend Finn, and squeezes her hand in silent thanks.

Kayjay says thoughtfully. "No, N'all never did say that..and I don't want to hurt Suriath, ever. Dragons have dark dreams too?"

Finn smiles back in complete acceptance. She drawls, "Well do you have a preference for weyrling clothes colors? All I've gotten so far has been a request for purple with yellow polka dots by a dragon." She watches, hoping for a smile from Kay.

Kayjay grins and yawns at the same time. "Umm N'all might not like that choice.. too much."

Dragon> Southern Weyrling Wing sense that Suriath rumbles sleepily. << I itch. >>

Finn's lips twitch. "Yes, well... he can't do anything to me. I thought something else might be more appropriate."

Shasta indulges in a sip of klah, as Khysta gets purchase on a shiny spoon with her chubby fingers. "They certainly do, Kayjay," she explains. "Muinyth used to, and sometimes still does, wake complaining of a bad place. Usually, he can't find me in it." And eyebrow arches in humour at the colour combination, as Khysta pushes the spoon's bowl, upside down, into her mouth with an "Aaaahhhhhmmmmhhhhh".

Kayjay blinks again and half stumbles to her feet. "I had better go.. Suriath needs me." She waves a quick thank you on her way out. "He itches."

Dragon> Southern Weyrling Wing sense that Iesath replies softly, her tone intertwined with warm, caring greens <<Itching is bad. You need oil. Oil is good.>>

Kayjay strides over to the Courtyard.

Auralia listens to this, and finally adds, "I don't think 'sath dreams much. Maybe on the odd occasion, but it doesn't seem to disturb me. How interesting."

Shasta hmms, trying to get the spoon back from her daughter. "You didn't happen to see if there was anything /on/ there, did you?" She asks of those around, then explains. "He doesn't often do it, not any more. And usually didn't wake me up or anything, just mentionned it if I was awake."

Auralia shakes her head, setting her now very much dripping and squishy redfruit onto the table once more, "No, I'm sorry I didn't." A pause, and she nods, "Ah, of course."

Shasta keeps trying to get the spoon back, which only prompts a wail from the youngster. "Okay, okay.." the young mother soothes, and gives up. "Couldn't have been that bad if it was. She's put worse in her mouth, after all." A grimace follows, but she doesn't detail.

And for one reason or another, Auralia doesn't ask. Probably doesn't want to even think about it. "Nah, can't have been much. Would've seen it if it was." She watches, adding, "Motherhood seems to be an awful lot of work."

Spoon forgotten, little Khysta's blue eyes fix on something that looks delightfully sloppy. Redfruit! A chubby hand reaches out towards it, mouth opening, and the spoon clatters to the floor. "It's a horrendous ammount of work." Shasta confides. "Much like having a weyrling dragon again - just as wonderful, but an awful lot of responsibility. And it takes longer to get through this stage."

Auralia wrinkles her nose, watching the redfruit disappear, and sighs, "That'd be right. Wonderful, but so much work! I guess if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, it doesn't." Slowly, she adds, "She is beautiful, though. Are you glad you have her? I guess you would be."

Chubby fingers close in on the squishy redfruit, and juice runs over Khysta's wrist as the child squeals with pleasure. "Oh, Khysta!" Her mother cries in dismay. "Sorry, Auralia..." a fistfull of redfruit mush gets pushed into the babe's mouth, most of it making its way onto her cheeks. Next, splayed hand smushes onto her mothers' chest. Shasta sighs. "I'm glad. Some days more than others." The brownrider remarks, dryly.

Auralia seems to be having a very hard time not laughing. Or is her nose running so much that she has to cover her face with her hands to keep it from dripping? The former is probably preferable. "Oh dear. I am sorry." Hands finally drop, making words much easier to understand, and she adds, "Of course. But then, we all have good and bad days."

C'ley strides over from the Western Courtyard.

Shasta snatches a nearby napkin, and tries to capture that gooey hand before it smears more redfruit over both Khysta and herself. No luck - it's into the fruit, again. "I'd be laughing, too," the brownrider assures, doing her best to not laugh, in fact. As C'ley comes in, she twists, looking quite hopeful, but only appears disappointed as she sees who it is. "Morning, C'ley," Is called. "You seen K'yam? He's supposed to take Khy..."

Auralia bites on her lip, "Yes, but..." She hides a blush this time, "I feel bad, laughing, when you're struggling there. Is there anything I can do to help?" C'ley gets a nod, and a grin, and finally, a "Mornin', C'ley," before now stone cold klah makes it to lips.

"K'yam?" C'ley says puzzeledly on his way to the klah pot "Well, uhm, he is a greenrider, I mean that is what he is right and well I don't think so, 'cause I havn't seen any greenriders today, I mean not really, well except for Auralia here now, I mean now that I have seen her I can't say that I havn't seen a greenrider but I havn't except for her, and well, I did see that weyrling that was a greenrider but you didn't talk about a weyrling, or did you?"

Shasta sighs, as a redfruit gooed hand catches her curls quite firmly, eliciting giggles from Khysta. "Could you snatch the fruit away?" The mother requests, or rather pleads. "No, C'ley, I'm hardly weyrmated to a weyrling. K'yam, Khysta's father? My weyrmate?" Well. Sort of. "Wouldn't it be easier to just say 'no'?" No, it's not in a mean tone that she says this, mostly just a distracted one.

Auralia nods, her fingers already outreached to try and grab at the fruit, "C'mon, Khysta, let me have the fruit." First attempts fail, and as the greenrider seems to give in, or want to, she finally succeeds in snatching the now very much destoryed remains of the fruit, and lifts them out of the way. Eyes regard hand, and she sighs, removing the icky red stuff and placing it into the scrap bin.

C'ley doesn't think that Shasta is talking to him, at least not at that moment so he putters over to where the klah happens to be and pours himself a large fresh mugful of the stuff. After a couple of sips he is ready to start talking again "Why don't you just have your lifemate talk to his lifemate and then viola, I mean that would be easier, I mean that way you would know where he is and you could talk to him that way, well not really 'cause it would be the dragons talking, well you know what I mean."

Shasta gathers Khy close to her, and actually succeeds in trapping that gooey hand in the napkin. Howls ensue, as it seems the youngster doesn't /like/ having her hand cleaned. "It'd be easier to do that," Shasta says over the racket, "If his lifemate weren't dozing in the sun, ignoring Muinyth." the brownrider gets to her feet, amid teary protests by little Khysta. "I'd best go find him, if you'll excuse me?"

Auralia nods, rolling her eyes, "I hope you find him soon, by the looks of it. You look like you could use a break. A long one." Greenrider smiles, and adds, "Have a good day, if I don't see you again."

Shasta walks toward the Courtyard.

C'ley watches Shasta go with her young'um and then shrugs before turning his attention to Auralia "So how are you doing? Are you doing okay, I hope that everything is okay with you this morning."

"I'm doing well, thanks, C'ley. Pretty well. And yourself? I hope that nothings wrong. I mean,if somethings wrong then I'd be sorry, and then you'd be upset, and..." She trails off, eyes gleaming. "In simpler terms, and you?"

"In simpler terms?" C'ley says as he seems to be waiting for Auralia to finish what she was saying. When it appears that she isn't going to, C'ley just shrugs "Okay, I am doing mostly okay that is, nothing bad or anything but not as much sleep anymore, I mean I do sleep but I don't get lots of it or anything 'cause of the weyrlings and everything."

"Oh yes, the weyrlings. Are you still not sixteen yet, or are you just staying as a jr asst. weyrlingmaster for a while yet anyway?" Auralia, the proud seventeen turn old that she is, adds, "I'm glad you're pretty good."

"Well I am old enough, I mean not to be one, weyrling that is, but I am still one and well they have me still as one, and well I don't mind it really, I mean I have told them about it and everything but for some reason I don't think they listen to me, I mean they are but not really."

Auralia pauses, "So you still haven't actually fought thread yet?" her voice is incredulous - as if anyone could be so long out of weyrlinghood and never have fought thread! "I think thats kinda mean, but nice at the same time. Almost wish I didn't have to fight it." An edge on her voice, however, indicates that although its probably a lot of work, and dangerous and all, she still doesn't mind, "Sath doesn't mind at all."

"Oh. I have fought thread but well I am just in the weyrling wing, i mean we just watch out for the other werylings, I mean me and Sahath, I mean that is what we do in thread fighting thing, then again I havn't had to fight thread yet with the new weyrlings so this is just according to what is been told to me."

Auralia looks completely confused, but shrugs, "Oh, of course." It doesn't sound all that convinced, "Well, anyway. Do you enjoy spending all that time with the weyrlings, C'ley? There're some nice ones, I guess."

"Oh yes, I mean the weyrlings are okay, I mean some of them are, I mean I like most of the them but not all of them but that is okay 'cause I don't like everyone, I mean that would be weird to like everyone 'cause that just doesn't seem to be possible but then again that could be a good thing to do 'cause everyone does have some good in them I guess."

"Uh, yeah. Right. Of course." Auralia's sounding even more lost than ever. Quick, another topic..."Visited home lately?"

(But RP ended here, so I'll just end the log here, too.)