VIGNETTE: Concentrate
Date: Late in Month 8, turn 18
Location: High Reaches Weyr/Ista Weyr
Synopsis: *Between* is not easy for K'del and Cadejoth.
/Concentrate/.
K'del sent his lifemate the image, perfecting it until it was like he was looking at it directly, though his eyes were closed. The spindles, the lines of the weyr, the lake, all exactly right. Now, Cadejoth, send it back to me.
The image wavered. The sky become less blue, the spindles shortened, a pair of dragons, flying, appeared in the sky - and one of them became Cadejoth, his eagerness for flight overwhelming his focus on the exercise.
/Cadejoth/. You can't do that! How can we /go/ to a place, if you're already there? Just the image as I give it to you, nothing else.
It was the-- fifth, sixth? time they'd had to do this. And that was today, alone. They'd be doing their first jumps in another day or two, and he still wasn't sure if Cadejoth could actually get him anywhere, not like this. There was always something to distract him. Always the desire to be doing something, not sitting here, concentrating. He couldn't sit still. Couldn't concentrate.
<< I'm sorry. Can I try again? >>
/Concentrate/
---
*Between*, today.
K'del found he couldn't eat breakfast, couldn't swallow so much as a mouthful, not with that lump in his throat, the pit in his stomach. What if they got it wrong? What if Cadejoth couldn't do it? I don't want to die, he heard himself think. I don't want to die, at all.
Once, he'd had delusions of being the first pair to do it, maybe before they were supposed to, proving their readiness, their bravery, winning respect everywhere they turned.
Now, he wasn't even sure he wanted to do this at all. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.
<< I won't let you down, K'del! I won't, I won't, I won't! >>
But though they'd been doing better, though Cadejoth had managed - sometimes - to get it right, K'del was afraid.
---
They took off, soaring higher above the weyr, a small group of weyrlings, and their teacher. K'del swallowed, his knuckles white, clinging to the straps. He could feel Cadejoth's comforting, his intense, deliberate concentration, his determination to not screw this up, to prove he could do it. K'del shut his eyes.
The image was passed from Weyrlingmaster to Cadejoth to K'del. He fixed it in his mind, shutting out everything else. Just like this, Cadejoth. Like it is now. /Concentrate/.
It wobbled. It shook. It went blurry. K'del swore.
They tried again, K'del shutting his fear out, no longer aware of anything except the image in his mind, not even entirely conscious of Cadejoth beneath him, nor the bronze's presence in his head. /Now/.
The image returned. Perfect. K'del held his breath. They got their permission to go.
They went.
The cold went deeper than he could imagine. The darkness was absolute. He felt himself trying to gather breath in his lungs to scream - he failed.
And then they emerged again.
---
Ista. Palm trees. Black sand beaches. Heat. K'del was looking forward to the trip, eager to see another new place, eager to be /away/ from the weyr for the evening.
He was eager to see the image provided, and memorised it in his head instantly, all the details. Got it? he asked Cadejoth, sending it back to the bronze.
The image wavered. Faded.
/CADEJOTH/.
It settled. Sharpened. Perfected.
At Ista, the air was warm, and, taking a deep breath, K'del told himself to relax. They'd made it. They'd keep making it. Safe.
Location: High Reaches Weyr/Ista Weyr
Synopsis: *Between* is not easy for K'del and Cadejoth.
/Concentrate/.
K'del sent his lifemate the image, perfecting it until it was like he was looking at it directly, though his eyes were closed. The spindles, the lines of the weyr, the lake, all exactly right. Now, Cadejoth, send it back to me.
The image wavered. The sky become less blue, the spindles shortened, a pair of dragons, flying, appeared in the sky - and one of them became Cadejoth, his eagerness for flight overwhelming his focus on the exercise.
/Cadejoth/. You can't do that! How can we /go/ to a place, if you're already there? Just the image as I give it to you, nothing else.
It was the-- fifth, sixth? time they'd had to do this. And that was today, alone. They'd be doing their first jumps in another day or two, and he still wasn't sure if Cadejoth could actually get him anywhere, not like this. There was always something to distract him. Always the desire to be doing something, not sitting here, concentrating. He couldn't sit still. Couldn't concentrate.
<< I'm sorry. Can I try again? >>
/Concentrate/
---
*Between*, today.
K'del found he couldn't eat breakfast, couldn't swallow so much as a mouthful, not with that lump in his throat, the pit in his stomach. What if they got it wrong? What if Cadejoth couldn't do it? I don't want to die, he heard himself think. I don't want to die, at all.
Once, he'd had delusions of being the first pair to do it, maybe before they were supposed to, proving their readiness, their bravery, winning respect everywhere they turned.
Now, he wasn't even sure he wanted to do this at all. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.
<< I won't let you down, K'del! I won't, I won't, I won't! >>
But though they'd been doing better, though Cadejoth had managed - sometimes - to get it right, K'del was afraid.
---
They took off, soaring higher above the weyr, a small group of weyrlings, and their teacher. K'del swallowed, his knuckles white, clinging to the straps. He could feel Cadejoth's comforting, his intense, deliberate concentration, his determination to not screw this up, to prove he could do it. K'del shut his eyes.
The image was passed from Weyrlingmaster to Cadejoth to K'del. He fixed it in his mind, shutting out everything else. Just like this, Cadejoth. Like it is now. /Concentrate/.
It wobbled. It shook. It went blurry. K'del swore.
They tried again, K'del shutting his fear out, no longer aware of anything except the image in his mind, not even entirely conscious of Cadejoth beneath him, nor the bronze's presence in his head. /Now/.
The image returned. Perfect. K'del held his breath. They got their permission to go.
They went.
The cold went deeper than he could imagine. The darkness was absolute. He felt himself trying to gather breath in his lungs to scream - he failed.
And then they emerged again.
---
Ista. Palm trees. Black sand beaches. Heat. K'del was looking forward to the trip, eager to see another new place, eager to be /away/ from the weyr for the evening.
He was eager to see the image provided, and memorised it in his head instantly, all the details. Got it? he asked Cadejoth, sending it back to the bronze.
The image wavered. Faded.
/CADEJOTH/.
It settled. Sharpened. Perfected.
At Ista, the air was warm, and, taking a deep breath, K'del told himself to relax. They'd made it. They'd keep making it. Safe.