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i_read_whatSo last time, someone finally got the idea that they should vaccinate animals too, while Alessan and Moreta may or may not have banged. So that may have happened.
The chapter starts us with Capiam and Tirone. Tirone is unhappy about something and Capiam is urging him to look at it like a challenge. Rather understandably, Tirone seems less impressed by this logic: there's already a plague and a shit ton of people are dead, so he feels he's been challenged enough.
Apparently, Tirone tends toward the dramatic, and he falls into a pose that Capiam calls "harper attitude". Hey, come on now. Unlike certain other Masterharpers, Tirone has actually been useful and not a creepy dick. Be nice.
There does seem to be some good news: there haven't been any new cases in the last day or so. But Capiam thinks this "flu" can recur.
Here, Capiam gets annoyed because apparently he'd hoped to avoid this discussion. But you brought it up, dude. Anyway, there have apparently been four distinct references to this kind of virus in the records. It seems to mutate. Yay.
Capiam is hoping by immunizing the folks in the Northern Continent, they'll be in less danger from future manifestations. Tirone wins my affection by ignoring Capiam's attempts to patronize him and gets details.
(Random note, apparently in the Sixth Pass there are people who study the Crossing or Crossings from the Southern Continent to the Northern one. And there are multiple schools of thought which apparently tie into politics somehow. I'd love to know more of this, which means I doubt it will come up again any time soon.)
So basically the plan is to mass vaccinate the whole continent. And it has to be done quickly because the immunity apparently only lasts four fourteen days. And they have to avoid panic.
...okay, I start to see why the time travel is necessary for the climax to work, but the problem with having time travel as a known concept is that there really is no reason why one rider has to work herself to exhaustion, when it'd be easy enough to have a number of dragon take whatever rest they need to, then jump back in time a day, a week, a month. However much is necessary.
Hell, in Dragonflight, we saw F'nor go to the past and back before Lessa and F'lar even decided to send him to begin with.
And even if for some reason they genuinely only have one rider, why can't she just sleep for a week and then come back in time?
Now I'm jumping the gun a little. Maybe these complaints will have answers. But I tend to think that any answers given will be a bit contrived. McCaffrey wants the story to go a certain way, and it's going to go that way.
So they need dragonrider help. And this bit seems pretty fucking irritating to me:
As dragonriders are vulnerable to the disease, I feel we can ask their cooperation in getting vaccine to the distribution points I’ve marked out across the continent.”
Tirone gave a cynical snort. “You won’t get any cooperation from M’tani at Telgar. L’bol at Igen is useless—Wimmia’s running the Weyr and it’s a mercy Fall is a consolidated effort. F’gal might help . . .”
Capiam shook his head impatiently. “I can get all the help I need from Moreta, S’ligar, and K’dren. But we must do it now, to halt any further incidence of the flu. It can be halted, killed, if it does not have new victims to propagate it.”
...why on Earth would you limit yourself to three fucking Weyrs?
And also, if some of these Weyrleaders are useless, why can't you deal with their seconds? or their Weyrwomen?
Nevermind. We're getting to the part that I remember and I'm feeling myself bristle at it.
This bit is kind of interesting though, there's apparently a reason that the diseased cat was adrift. Apparently some sailing folk actually landed on the Southern Continent when they weren't supposed to.
“Oh, yes,” Tirone said. “A seabred journeyman harper confirmed that the positions correspond to the Southern Continent! He said there wouldn’t be any place shallow enough to anchor anywhere short of the landmass of the continent. Three days they were there!”
“The log says”—Desdra was reading—“that they had to jury-rig repairs to the sloop after it was damaged by a storm.”
“That’s what it says,” Tirone agreed sardonically. “Undoubtedly they did make repairs, but Burdion added a note”—Tirone produced a scrap that he flourished before he read it—“ ‘I found fruit pits of unusual size in the unemptied galley bucket and rotten husks of some specimens which were unknown to me though I have been many Turns in this Hold.’ ” Tirone leaned toward Capiam, his eyes brilliant. “So, my friends, the Windtoss made a premature landing. And look where it has landed us!” Tirone threw his arms wide in another of his grand gestures.
...I'm honestly not sure I understand this at all. There was a "feline" adrift, everyone was fascinated, and they got sick. But now, somehow it happened because some sailors landed on the continent when they shouldn't?
That doesn't explain anything??? Where did the cat come from? How did they find the cat? Are we supposed to believe they deliberately brought it? Or somehow set it up for other people to find?
Maybe I'm just not following. I also think that if there's a major political conflict in the background of the book, we should MAYBE hear about it before the fourteenth chapter?
Anyway, there's still a lot to do to make sure the people, and animals, get vaccinated properly. Capiam needs to consult with Moreta about this. And for some reason or another, they have to get Tolocamp on board. They think they'll be able to, though, now that he's gone some time without healer services.
--
So we shift scenes to Alessan. I still think we're meant to believe they banged:
The elation that Alessan had experienced after his visit to Fort Weyr was compounded of renewed hope and the unexpected sympathy of Moreta. He would have liked to savor that incident but the most urgent problem, producing a usable vaccine for runnerbeasts, especially those he devoutly hoped that Dag had saved, took precedence over any personal consideration.
But maybe he's just savoring the nice hug and comfort. I mean, my mocking aside, the guy's been through a lot.
So Alessan and Tuero are returned, by the awkwardly named M'barak, to Ruatha. They're greeted by an anxious Oklina, who seems to be doing okay. Alessan greets her with joy and...things get a little weird??
Exuberantly Alessan swooped her up in his arms, achingly aware of the difference between his sister’s slight body and Moreta’s. He gave Oklina a gentle kiss on her cheek. There had been scant time for affection between brother and sister lately, and, during her illness, Alessan had come to know how much he valued Oklina. A kiss, he had good reason to know, was a kind gesture!
I mean, it's sweet, but why are you comparing your sister's body to your girlfriend's?
But anyway, they're thrilled that Moreta said the serum idea is valid. If it works, then Ruatha can open up again, and the vassal holders will HAVE to help. And if it doesn't work, they're no worse off. Which, fair.
Meanwhile, M'barak's blue dragon, Arith, takes a weird interest in Oklina, who is understandably a little freaked out by that. I thought, by McCaffrey's bizarre sexual politics, the blue and green riders were usually gay.
And Tuero agrees:
“Blue dragons are not usually fascinated by the opposite sex,” the harper remarked dryly to Alessan.
“Really?” Alessan’s reply was polite for his mind was on the mechanics of turning runner blood into serum vaccine.
“There is a queen egg on the Fort Weyr Hatching Ground.”
“And?” Alessan’s courtesy turned crisp. He had a lot to do before he could see what Dag had salvaged of the Ruathan herds.
Tuero’s grin broadened. “As I recall it, Ruatha has quite a few bloodties with dragonriders.”
Ohhh.
Well, that does make some sense. We were told Alessan himself was nearly Chosen at one point. I'm not happy that she's going to end up subjected to all the fucked up Weyr sexual politics though.
So now, it's time to try this whole animal vaccination theory. It seems to require a LOT more blood than from humans, which leads to some makeshift improvising. But they manage. Apparently, after centrifuging, the serum looks much the same as human serum does. (Also apparently dragons have green blood? I don't remember if we knew that before. I feel like that's new information.)
Anyway, they try the vaccine on one of the lamed runners, and wait.
There's also a really weird moment where Alessan wonders which blue rider is harassing his sister.
It's M'barak? You came with him? He's the only one here? You literally saw it happen?
Jesus, dude, get some sleep. But nope, he's going to observe the runner overnight, then go off to find Dag and Squealer in the morning.
So Alessan is being contemplative in a way that makes me think that I was wrong and they probably did not have sex last chapter:
The night before, he had had many doubts as they waited for the serum to be produced: doubts about many things, including Moreta’s unexpected response to him. He thought of kindness and the kiss he had given his sister. Had Moreta only meant to be kind? Today, in the dawn of a bright fresh spring morning, he knew it had not been mere kindness in Moreta. He and the Weyrwoman had been of one mind in that brief instant. And the dragon queen had trilled in concord.
I mean, Alessan does seem to be a bit of a dumbass, but I would HOPE he would realize that having sex probably means she likes him.
Maybe.
Also, dude, stop thinking about your sister and your girlfriend in the same moment. It's weird.
But he's still got time to angst:
. He must concentrate on riding and not be diverted by visions of the impossible. Moreta was the Fort Weyrwoman. Although she might, just might, enjoy a discreet relationship with him, might even allow a pregnancy—and suddenly Alessan longed for a child as he had not with Suriana—Alessan was still Lord of a severely depleted bloodline. He had to have an acknowledged wife, and others to bear his children, as many as he could beget.
"And others"? That's kind of interesting. I feel like there's an expectation of monogamy in the Ninth Pass relationships. At least Larad and Jaxom. Larad's dad was known for his appetites, but that seemed to be more of an outlier.
I do rather like the emphasis on her allowing the pregnancy. At this moment, I am particularly affected by matters of reproductive choice. And one thing I'll give credit for, while McCaffrey can be weird about sexuality in general, she's been pretty good about abortion.
(I mean, of course it's wicked Kylara who actually used Between to abort her pregnancies. But the issue there was more Lessa being jealous that Kylara had pregnancies to abort, not that Kylara was wrong to do so.)
Alessan then remembers that Old Runel, the dude who was really really obsessed with reciting the "begets" is dead. Aw.
So anyway, Alessan gets an emotional reunion with Dag. Which gives us a chance to switch scenes again.
So now we're with Capiam and Moreta. They're at Moreta's temporary accommodations at the Hatching Ground. Orlith is looking very serene. So he asks her if she knows whether runnerbeasts could be vaccinated.
Moreta stared at him a moment, surprised to be asked the same question twice in a short space of time, and surprised that the question had to be asked at all. She was angry that no one had taken steps to safeguard the runnerbeasts, which were such valuable assets of the Northern Continent. She had tried to appreciate that saving human life had been the priority, but surely someone must have been rational enough in one of the runnerholds to apply the principal to the beasts. She had been complimented and touched that Alessan had sought her advice yesterday evening and, despite her varied irritations, slightly amused that she, Weyrwoman of Fort, was now being approached by the Masterhealer.
Moreta mentions that Alessan asked the same thing, and gives Capiam the same answer: it should work. She's perplexed that Alessan or Tuero haven't informed Capiam yet. But Capiam is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's still early in the day.
So Capiam tells Moreta about the whole "plague might come again" thing. Apparently the Ancients used the terms: zoonotic and recrudescent.
Ah, and here the time travel thing comes in:
“If the animal vaccine works, then you could stop the zoonosis? You would vaccinate both man and animal against it? And your challenge is . . .”—she had to smile at the way he had led her to the conclusion—“to the dragonriders for their assistance in distributing the vaccines?”
“Preferably on the same day to all distribution points.” Capiam carefully unfolded a copy of his plan. He peered at her from under his brows, watching her reactions as he handed her the document. “Mass vaccination is the only way to stop the plague. It would require a tremendous effort. My halls have already started to accumulate human vaccine. To be candid, my Hall had not quite evaluated the runner susceptibility. Between Tirone’s reports and Desdra’s exhaustive investigations, we can find no other way than zoonosis for the plague to have spread so rapidly and so far. We now know that the only way to prevent a recurrence of this viral influence is to stop it within the next few days or endure a second wave.”
Considering that the entire Weyrs have had no trouble using Time Travel to meet the arrival of Thread, you'd think this could be fairly easily managed.
And indeed, Capiam has a plan AND knows a secret:
“Which I will confirm as soon as you can also assure me that the Weyrs can assist us in delivering the vaccines. One of my journeymen is a wizard at figuring out what he calls time-and-motion processes. If we could rely on a minimum of six riders from each Weyr to cover their traditional regions, in a scheduled roster of stops to the various halls, holds, and Weyrs, that would be sufficient.”
Moreta was doing some calculations of her own. “Not unless the riders—” She caught herself and gulped in astonishment. In Capiam’s broadening grin she had an unexpected answer.
“I’ve been doing rather a lot of reading in the Archives, Moreta.” Capiam sounded more pleased than apologetic for the shock he had given her.
Moreta is pretty irate that the secret is in the Healer's Archives, but Capiam points out that the Healers are the folk who bred the trait into the dragons to begin with. Fair enough.
So they discuss logistics, and then decide to go to Ruatha and see if Alessan was successful in his vaccine. (Orlith decides actually, stating that Holth again agrees to take Moreta.)
Moreta is a little shy about going back to Ruatha, which makes me think maybe they DID do it. But maybe not.
Illogically, Moreta resisted that gratuitous permission—and wondered why. She had a perfectly natural wish to see the results of Alessan’s experiment, not necessarily Alessan. Was she resisting the attraction she felt for him? She was not normally bothered by indecision.
Okay, you two need to fuck in a manner that is clear and unmistakable. Because then it won't matter if you banged before.
So Arith ends up volunteering to take them because he likes "the girl". And Moreta gets to meet Desdra. It's actually kind of weird that they haven't met before, since Capiam seems to be a friendly acquaintance.
Moreta seems a bit intimidated by Desdra, who is very calm and compliments her wing-reconstruction work. They go off to Ruatha.
And Ruatha still looks pretty wrecked:
All too clearly, Moreta could recall her compliments to Alessan on Ruatha’s Gather gaiety, a bitter memory now that she was faced with the grim reality of the Gather’s aftermath. Arith glided across the racing flats, directly at the Hold. Moreta could see the starting poles forlornly tumbled about where the spectacular dead heat of the last race had been run. Moreta forced herself to look at the raw earth of the burial mounds and accept the fact of so many casualties from that carefree throng of visitors in their Gather finery. And to accept as well the cremation fires that had consumed dead animals, winners and losers both, of the ten races that had drawn them to Ruatha on that fatal occasion. For a callous moment she thought that Alessan could have found the time to clear the pathetic debris of travel wagons, trunks, and Gather stands from the roadway and the fields. She marked where campfires had blackened the stubble field from which she and the young Lord Holder had so blithely watched the racing. Where banners had brightly flown, the upper tiers of Ruatha Hold were shuttered, unneeded, reminders that Ruatha had withstood a siege more savage than any Threadfall.
Yet, even as her heart contracted at the disheveled look of the proud Hold, her eyes went to the fields and the runners grazing there—not the large, solid beasts that Alessan had bred on Lord Leef’s instructions but the wiry, thin-boned runners of Squealer’s ilk. The irony helped restore her composure. Her tears would not comfort Alessan now.
Aw.
So they go to see Alessan, who is back to being confident and proud. (To Moreta's relief.) He's also very not subtle, with the whole "eyes holding hers" thing going on. As it turns out, Dag was able to save more than just Squealer. There are some foals too.
...and then this is weird:
Then Capiam brought Desdra forward to introduce her, and Moreta saw that Desdra was measuring Alessan with the same penetrating gaze to which she had already been subjected. Moreta felt protective of Alessan and worried that the healer would divine her attraction to him.
I hope this is meant to be more of an indicator of Moreta's self-consciousness, not some kind of legitimate contemplation for the second to last chapter.
So anyway, Capiam decides now is the best time to tell an already over-stressed and exhausted Lord Holder than the plague could come back. But Alessan takes it reasonably well. And he's glad to offer Ruatha's help, to perhaps "remove the stain of [their] ”—-Alessan indicated the burial mounds—“hospitality.”".
Oof.
Fortunately, Capiam's a pragmatic man with no time for misplaced guilt. He points out that none of this was Alessan's fault. And okay, NOW I understand what the deal with the sailors and the Southern Continent was.
Basically, the ship, the Windtoss, was driven off course. The ship's master saw an opportunity and decided to land on the Southern Continent. They found the animal there and decided to bring it north.
Anyway, Capiam gives this poor guy some much needed positive reassurance:
But that circumstance was beyond your control. What has been in your control, my Lord Alessan, is the courage with which you have conducted yourself, your care of the sick, your effort to sow crops, and the preservation of Ruathan bloodstock. Most of all”—Capiam drew in a deep breath— “most of all, that you are, in the midst of the severe trials you have endured, willing to help others.
The moment is interrupted by Arith's bugling. A bronze dragon has arrived. It's B'lerion! A dude we met like in chapter one that I completely forgot about. He seemed pretty into Oklina though. And indeed, when they meet up, B'lerion catches her hand and she does not reclaim it. Aw.
Arith is not happy. Arith is a precocious little searcher.
So anyway, they start talking about logistics: the quantity of vaccine needed, the minimum effective dose, and how to determine how many runners are in a given hold.
Desdra plays the voice of unpleasant truths, asking how crucial it is to vaccinate the runners. The fact of the matter is that they barely have enough supplies to vaccinate humans. They specifically need needlethorn, which won't grow again until autumn.
But hey. Time traveling dragons, right?
(There's also a kind of endearing moment where B'lerion tries to express sympathy to Alessan for the losses, which is very distressing. Okay, dude, you can stay.)
So then there's lots of talk about the time travel, both now and for the vaccination itself. B'lerion seems to be in the inner circle that knows about it, despite not being a Weyrleader himself. Alessan, Desdra, Capiam, and Oklina go along on the trip. (Orlith is fine with this, having been warned already.)
So now, there is harvesting. There are some nice educational speeches about needlethorns, which are apparently poisonous for spring and summer. (Hence the need for time travel.) But it's safe now to pick.
I feel a little guilty, McCaffrey has clearly put a lot of thought into how her alien ecology works and I am not excerpting any of it. Sorry.
But the more significant thing is that Alessan is not a man to miss an opportunity:
Alessan caught her hand and she stopped her babbling, suddenly shy. They were alone, even though Desdra’s amiable taunting of Capiam for his timorous dexterity and B’lerion’s cheerful encouragement of Oklina were audible.
“You said that we could remain here as long as it took to complete the harvest,” Alessan said quietly. He was kneeling beside her now. “And return with no more than an hour elapsed there . . .” His eyes searched her averted face, and his hands captured hers before she could reach for more needlethorns. “Can we not make a little time for ourselves?”
And well...
Moreta grinned at the outrage in the bronze rider’s voice and her eyes met Alessan’s, saw his amused reaction. She lifted her hands to Alessan’s face, her fingers tracing the lines that tension and anxiety had etched on a young man’s countenance. Merely touching him in light intimacy evoked a response in her body, and she swayed quite willingly into his arms as they kissed. The resurgence of her own sensuality dispelled the last vestige of restraint and she slid one arm about his neck, the other clasping his strong hard body against hers as they knelt together by the needlethorn bush they had been stripping.
Clearly something else is about to be stripped. Or not, because they can still hear B'lerion and others bickering. They decide to wait until midday when it'll be too hot to work. Instead they engage in their own cute banter as they work. Yay.
Finally, everyone stops for lunch. Oklina's found some fruit, and everyone's a bit more scantily clad than they started. (There's some flirtation with Alessan that references the "spicy" smell of his "maleness". Ew.)
Rather apropos of nothing, Alessan and Moreta start talking about B'lerion and Sh'gall, and Weyr breeding in general.
“Why, then, is he not your Weyrmate?”
“Orlith chose Kadith.”
“Do you not have any say in the matter?” Alessan was irritated for her sake. From remarks he had made during their morning’s work, she knew that Alessan didn’t like Sh’gall and wondered just how much their new relationship would strain Ruatha’s dependence on Fort’s Weyrleader. She was struggling to find an honest reply to a question she had evaded in her own heart, when Alessan contritely covered her hand, his expression pleading with her to forgive his rash remarks. “I’m sorry, Moreta. That is a Weyr matter.”
“To answer you in part, B’lerion is always like that,” she said. “Charming, amusing. But Sh’gall leads men well, and he has an instinct about Fall which his predecessor, old L’mal, considered uncanny.”
I do like that Alessan is irritated with the whole situation, even though I think irritation is far too mild an emotion.
I also notice that Moreta didn't really answer the question. Did SHE choose Sh'gall for those reasons? Or did it just happen.
Also, it would be nice if we got to SEE Sh'gall "leading men well", because so far, he's just been a whiny little pissant who's been obstacle more than anything else.
So anyway, at some point, B'lerion and Oklina go off. And I'm weirdly happy to see that Alessan is fine with it. I like when folk avoid the obvious cliche of the hyper-protective brother. He and Moreta discuss the possibility of Oklina being chosen. Moreta doesn't want to deplete Alessan's bloodline (which is fair, considering that at one point he had a lot of siblings and now seems to have one.)
But Alessan is actually okay with Oklina going, if that's what she wants. He points out that Ruatha's line already has dragonrider blood, so he'd be fine with it as long as Oklina's kids come back to Ruatha.
And well...FINALLY:
“I’m not my father, you know.”
“I wouldn’t be in a rainforest with your father.”
“Why not? He was a lusty man. And I intend to prove that I’m a suitable heir to his reputation!”
She was laughing as he laid her down on the sun-dappled frond bed. And he proved himself as lusty—and tender—as any woman could wish a man. For a shining moment at the height of their passion, Moreta forgot everything but Alessan.
...I really do wish Alessan would stop bringing up family at times like this. It's probably innocent, but I've been reading way too much Chronicles of the Cheysuli and am hyper-sensitive to incest right now.
But I am happy to see them bang. And I am inclined to think now that they probably did not bang last chapter. But even if they did, this is much better. Well done, you crazy kids.
So anyway, eventually they're done. Apparently though, none of these brain-trusts, including the fucking healers, remembered to count. They think they have enough though, and B'lerion is willing to come back for more.
Moreta corrects him: go to Nerat instead, so as to avoid potential paradox. I'm assuming this potential paradox thing is going to be the reason why the obvious time travel solutions aren't going to work, even though the characters were happy enough in the Ninth Pass, to go straight to the beginning of any Threadfall.
...I suppose I can buy that these guys, who have known about time travel for some time, are probably more cautious and more knowledgeable about the risks.
Anyway, B'lerion further endears himself to me by getting everyone to have a nice rest (after all, they're going to time travel back, only an hour after they left.) Well done. Meanwhile, Moreta is having a bit of a realization:
The tropical night was warm and fragrant. Moreta tried to compose herself for sleep. She could hear Capiam’s baritone murmur and then silence. Alessan slept and she wanted to but was haunted by the sense of disorientation she had left that morning. Then the spicy smell of dragon, still tainted by a hint of firestone, began to soothe her and she realized that—for the first time in twenty Turns—she had passed a day without Orlith. She did miss her. Orlith would have liked Alessan’s exuberant loving. All that had been missing from that experience had been the dragon’s share of her rider’s gratification. Comforted, Moreta slept.
a) I feel like this is something that should have come up more. We know what losing a dragon is like. How on Earth is Moreta functioning without her dragon?
b) I'm also creeped out by the idea that Orlith would have liked the "exuberant loving". Are dragons voyeurs? I suppose they'd have to be.
So anyway, when they get back to Ruatha, things are not actually as calm as all that. Orlith and Holth are frantic and distraught, as they couldn't sense her in the future. Moreta's damn lucky, I realize, because I feel like I remember some later book establishing that the lack of contact between rider and dragon could go very badly. Like a dragon going between forever when their rider was just unconscious.
Not everyone's jubilant though. Alessan is getting tense, since they're returning to poor ruined Ruatha. I realize that everyone was busy, but maybe it would have helped to go get a glimpse of what Ruatha looks like in the near future.
Anyway, he's pretty quick to business, though he does use helping Moreta off the dragon as an excuse to hold her. Aw.
So they have their farewells and get to work. Tuero's enthusiastic, M'barak is a little desperate. He needs help with the bottles, but he's also got to prepare for Threadfall today. Fortunately there are a lot of helpers.
Eventually, Moreta has to head back to the Weyr, though there's a moment that seems like it might be significant later, when she spots a tall, thin woman with close-cropped hair and a vaguely familiar face in the crowd.
But she goes to the Weyr. Orlith is excited and releaved. Leri is happy to see her. Holth is a bit reproving. Moreta asks why Orlith didn't speak with Nabeth. Orlith wanted Moreta.
Apparently Nabeth isn't a talkative dragon and didn't actually tell anyone where they were going or when. So Moreta fills Leri in. Leri is furious that Capiam knows about timing it, but otherwise seems resigned to the plan. (It seems to help that Capiam intends to "lose" the records about time travel.)
I've never been a fan of this kind of repetitive recap, to be honest. Obviously Leri needs to be caught up, but the reader doesn't. We just saw this stuff happen in real time. Summarize or gtfo, McCaffrey.
But anyway, Moreta's got another job: getting the Weyrs on board. While Leri is encouraging: she thinks Moreta has the makings of a superior Weyrwoman. She just has to "shuck" Sh'gall and get someone she likes instead.
The chapter ends with Sh'gall's Kadith calling the fighting wings to the Rim. They have Thread to fight.
The chapter starts us with Capiam and Tirone. Tirone is unhappy about something and Capiam is urging him to look at it like a challenge. Rather understandably, Tirone seems less impressed by this logic: there's already a plague and a shit ton of people are dead, so he feels he's been challenged enough.
Apparently, Tirone tends toward the dramatic, and he falls into a pose that Capiam calls "harper attitude". Hey, come on now. Unlike certain other Masterharpers, Tirone has actually been useful and not a creepy dick. Be nice.
There does seem to be some good news: there haven't been any new cases in the last day or so. But Capiam thinks this "flu" can recur.
Here, Capiam gets annoyed because apparently he'd hoped to avoid this discussion. But you brought it up, dude. Anyway, there have apparently been four distinct references to this kind of virus in the records. It seems to mutate. Yay.
Capiam is hoping by immunizing the folks in the Northern Continent, they'll be in less danger from future manifestations. Tirone wins my affection by ignoring Capiam's attempts to patronize him and gets details.
(Random note, apparently in the Sixth Pass there are people who study the Crossing or Crossings from the Southern Continent to the Northern one. And there are multiple schools of thought which apparently tie into politics somehow. I'd love to know more of this, which means I doubt it will come up again any time soon.)
So basically the plan is to mass vaccinate the whole continent. And it has to be done quickly because the immunity apparently only lasts four fourteen days. And they have to avoid panic.
...okay, I start to see why the time travel is necessary for the climax to work, but the problem with having time travel as a known concept is that there really is no reason why one rider has to work herself to exhaustion, when it'd be easy enough to have a number of dragon take whatever rest they need to, then jump back in time a day, a week, a month. However much is necessary.
Hell, in Dragonflight, we saw F'nor go to the past and back before Lessa and F'lar even decided to send him to begin with.
And even if for some reason they genuinely only have one rider, why can't she just sleep for a week and then come back in time?
Now I'm jumping the gun a little. Maybe these complaints will have answers. But I tend to think that any answers given will be a bit contrived. McCaffrey wants the story to go a certain way, and it's going to go that way.
So they need dragonrider help. And this bit seems pretty fucking irritating to me:
As dragonriders are vulnerable to the disease, I feel we can ask their cooperation in getting vaccine to the distribution points I’ve marked out across the continent.”
Tirone gave a cynical snort. “You won’t get any cooperation from M’tani at Telgar. L’bol at Igen is useless—Wimmia’s running the Weyr and it’s a mercy Fall is a consolidated effort. F’gal might help . . .”
Capiam shook his head impatiently. “I can get all the help I need from Moreta, S’ligar, and K’dren. But we must do it now, to halt any further incidence of the flu. It can be halted, killed, if it does not have new victims to propagate it.”
...why on Earth would you limit yourself to three fucking Weyrs?
And also, if some of these Weyrleaders are useless, why can't you deal with their seconds? or their Weyrwomen?
Nevermind. We're getting to the part that I remember and I'm feeling myself bristle at it.
This bit is kind of interesting though, there's apparently a reason that the diseased cat was adrift. Apparently some sailing folk actually landed on the Southern Continent when they weren't supposed to.
“Oh, yes,” Tirone said. “A seabred journeyman harper confirmed that the positions correspond to the Southern Continent! He said there wouldn’t be any place shallow enough to anchor anywhere short of the landmass of the continent. Three days they were there!”
“The log says”—Desdra was reading—“that they had to jury-rig repairs to the sloop after it was damaged by a storm.”
“That’s what it says,” Tirone agreed sardonically. “Undoubtedly they did make repairs, but Burdion added a note”—Tirone produced a scrap that he flourished before he read it—“ ‘I found fruit pits of unusual size in the unemptied galley bucket and rotten husks of some specimens which were unknown to me though I have been many Turns in this Hold.’ ” Tirone leaned toward Capiam, his eyes brilliant. “So, my friends, the Windtoss made a premature landing. And look where it has landed us!” Tirone threw his arms wide in another of his grand gestures.
...I'm honestly not sure I understand this at all. There was a "feline" adrift, everyone was fascinated, and they got sick. But now, somehow it happened because some sailors landed on the continent when they shouldn't?
That doesn't explain anything??? Where did the cat come from? How did they find the cat? Are we supposed to believe they deliberately brought it? Or somehow set it up for other people to find?
Maybe I'm just not following. I also think that if there's a major political conflict in the background of the book, we should MAYBE hear about it before the fourteenth chapter?
Anyway, there's still a lot to do to make sure the people, and animals, get vaccinated properly. Capiam needs to consult with Moreta about this. And for some reason or another, they have to get Tolocamp on board. They think they'll be able to, though, now that he's gone some time without healer services.
--
So we shift scenes to Alessan. I still think we're meant to believe they banged:
The elation that Alessan had experienced after his visit to Fort Weyr was compounded of renewed hope and the unexpected sympathy of Moreta. He would have liked to savor that incident but the most urgent problem, producing a usable vaccine for runnerbeasts, especially those he devoutly hoped that Dag had saved, took precedence over any personal consideration.
But maybe he's just savoring the nice hug and comfort. I mean, my mocking aside, the guy's been through a lot.
So Alessan and Tuero are returned, by the awkwardly named M'barak, to Ruatha. They're greeted by an anxious Oklina, who seems to be doing okay. Alessan greets her with joy and...things get a little weird??
Exuberantly Alessan swooped her up in his arms, achingly aware of the difference between his sister’s slight body and Moreta’s. He gave Oklina a gentle kiss on her cheek. There had been scant time for affection between brother and sister lately, and, during her illness, Alessan had come to know how much he valued Oklina. A kiss, he had good reason to know, was a kind gesture!
I mean, it's sweet, but why are you comparing your sister's body to your girlfriend's?
But anyway, they're thrilled that Moreta said the serum idea is valid. If it works, then Ruatha can open up again, and the vassal holders will HAVE to help. And if it doesn't work, they're no worse off. Which, fair.
Meanwhile, M'barak's blue dragon, Arith, takes a weird interest in Oklina, who is understandably a little freaked out by that. I thought, by McCaffrey's bizarre sexual politics, the blue and green riders were usually gay.
And Tuero agrees:
“Blue dragons are not usually fascinated by the opposite sex,” the harper remarked dryly to Alessan.
“Really?” Alessan’s reply was polite for his mind was on the mechanics of turning runner blood into serum vaccine.
“There is a queen egg on the Fort Weyr Hatching Ground.”
“And?” Alessan’s courtesy turned crisp. He had a lot to do before he could see what Dag had salvaged of the Ruathan herds.
Tuero’s grin broadened. “As I recall it, Ruatha has quite a few bloodties with dragonriders.”
Ohhh.
Well, that does make some sense. We were told Alessan himself was nearly Chosen at one point. I'm not happy that she's going to end up subjected to all the fucked up Weyr sexual politics though.
So now, it's time to try this whole animal vaccination theory. It seems to require a LOT more blood than from humans, which leads to some makeshift improvising. But they manage. Apparently, after centrifuging, the serum looks much the same as human serum does. (Also apparently dragons have green blood? I don't remember if we knew that before. I feel like that's new information.)
Anyway, they try the vaccine on one of the lamed runners, and wait.
There's also a really weird moment where Alessan wonders which blue rider is harassing his sister.
It's M'barak? You came with him? He's the only one here? You literally saw it happen?
Jesus, dude, get some sleep. But nope, he's going to observe the runner overnight, then go off to find Dag and Squealer in the morning.
So Alessan is being contemplative in a way that makes me think that I was wrong and they probably did not have sex last chapter:
The night before, he had had many doubts as they waited for the serum to be produced: doubts about many things, including Moreta’s unexpected response to him. He thought of kindness and the kiss he had given his sister. Had Moreta only meant to be kind? Today, in the dawn of a bright fresh spring morning, he knew it had not been mere kindness in Moreta. He and the Weyrwoman had been of one mind in that brief instant. And the dragon queen had trilled in concord.
I mean, Alessan does seem to be a bit of a dumbass, but I would HOPE he would realize that having sex probably means she likes him.
Maybe.
Also, dude, stop thinking about your sister and your girlfriend in the same moment. It's weird.
But he's still got time to angst:
. He must concentrate on riding and not be diverted by visions of the impossible. Moreta was the Fort Weyrwoman. Although she might, just might, enjoy a discreet relationship with him, might even allow a pregnancy—and suddenly Alessan longed for a child as he had not with Suriana—Alessan was still Lord of a severely depleted bloodline. He had to have an acknowledged wife, and others to bear his children, as many as he could beget.
"And others"? That's kind of interesting. I feel like there's an expectation of monogamy in the Ninth Pass relationships. At least Larad and Jaxom. Larad's dad was known for his appetites, but that seemed to be more of an outlier.
I do rather like the emphasis on her allowing the pregnancy. At this moment, I am particularly affected by matters of reproductive choice. And one thing I'll give credit for, while McCaffrey can be weird about sexuality in general, she's been pretty good about abortion.
(I mean, of course it's wicked Kylara who actually used Between to abort her pregnancies. But the issue there was more Lessa being jealous that Kylara had pregnancies to abort, not that Kylara was wrong to do so.)
Alessan then remembers that Old Runel, the dude who was really really obsessed with reciting the "begets" is dead. Aw.
So anyway, Alessan gets an emotional reunion with Dag. Which gives us a chance to switch scenes again.
So now we're with Capiam and Moreta. They're at Moreta's temporary accommodations at the Hatching Ground. Orlith is looking very serene. So he asks her if she knows whether runnerbeasts could be vaccinated.
Moreta stared at him a moment, surprised to be asked the same question twice in a short space of time, and surprised that the question had to be asked at all. She was angry that no one had taken steps to safeguard the runnerbeasts, which were such valuable assets of the Northern Continent. She had tried to appreciate that saving human life had been the priority, but surely someone must have been rational enough in one of the runnerholds to apply the principal to the beasts. She had been complimented and touched that Alessan had sought her advice yesterday evening and, despite her varied irritations, slightly amused that she, Weyrwoman of Fort, was now being approached by the Masterhealer.
Moreta mentions that Alessan asked the same thing, and gives Capiam the same answer: it should work. She's perplexed that Alessan or Tuero haven't informed Capiam yet. But Capiam is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's still early in the day.
So Capiam tells Moreta about the whole "plague might come again" thing. Apparently the Ancients used the terms: zoonotic and recrudescent.
Ah, and here the time travel thing comes in:
“If the animal vaccine works, then you could stop the zoonosis? You would vaccinate both man and animal against it? And your challenge is . . .”—she had to smile at the way he had led her to the conclusion—“to the dragonriders for their assistance in distributing the vaccines?”
“Preferably on the same day to all distribution points.” Capiam carefully unfolded a copy of his plan. He peered at her from under his brows, watching her reactions as he handed her the document. “Mass vaccination is the only way to stop the plague. It would require a tremendous effort. My halls have already started to accumulate human vaccine. To be candid, my Hall had not quite evaluated the runner susceptibility. Between Tirone’s reports and Desdra’s exhaustive investigations, we can find no other way than zoonosis for the plague to have spread so rapidly and so far. We now know that the only way to prevent a recurrence of this viral influence is to stop it within the next few days or endure a second wave.”
Considering that the entire Weyrs have had no trouble using Time Travel to meet the arrival of Thread, you'd think this could be fairly easily managed.
And indeed, Capiam has a plan AND knows a secret:
“Which I will confirm as soon as you can also assure me that the Weyrs can assist us in delivering the vaccines. One of my journeymen is a wizard at figuring out what he calls time-and-motion processes. If we could rely on a minimum of six riders from each Weyr to cover their traditional regions, in a scheduled roster of stops to the various halls, holds, and Weyrs, that would be sufficient.”
Moreta was doing some calculations of her own. “Not unless the riders—” She caught herself and gulped in astonishment. In Capiam’s broadening grin she had an unexpected answer.
“I’ve been doing rather a lot of reading in the Archives, Moreta.” Capiam sounded more pleased than apologetic for the shock he had given her.
Moreta is pretty irate that the secret is in the Healer's Archives, but Capiam points out that the Healers are the folk who bred the trait into the dragons to begin with. Fair enough.
So they discuss logistics, and then decide to go to Ruatha and see if Alessan was successful in his vaccine. (Orlith decides actually, stating that Holth again agrees to take Moreta.)
Moreta is a little shy about going back to Ruatha, which makes me think maybe they DID do it. But maybe not.
Illogically, Moreta resisted that gratuitous permission—and wondered why. She had a perfectly natural wish to see the results of Alessan’s experiment, not necessarily Alessan. Was she resisting the attraction she felt for him? She was not normally bothered by indecision.
Okay, you two need to fuck in a manner that is clear and unmistakable. Because then it won't matter if you banged before.
So Arith ends up volunteering to take them because he likes "the girl". And Moreta gets to meet Desdra. It's actually kind of weird that they haven't met before, since Capiam seems to be a friendly acquaintance.
Moreta seems a bit intimidated by Desdra, who is very calm and compliments her wing-reconstruction work. They go off to Ruatha.
And Ruatha still looks pretty wrecked:
All too clearly, Moreta could recall her compliments to Alessan on Ruatha’s Gather gaiety, a bitter memory now that she was faced with the grim reality of the Gather’s aftermath. Arith glided across the racing flats, directly at the Hold. Moreta could see the starting poles forlornly tumbled about where the spectacular dead heat of the last race had been run. Moreta forced herself to look at the raw earth of the burial mounds and accept the fact of so many casualties from that carefree throng of visitors in their Gather finery. And to accept as well the cremation fires that had consumed dead animals, winners and losers both, of the ten races that had drawn them to Ruatha on that fatal occasion. For a callous moment she thought that Alessan could have found the time to clear the pathetic debris of travel wagons, trunks, and Gather stands from the roadway and the fields. She marked where campfires had blackened the stubble field from which she and the young Lord Holder had so blithely watched the racing. Where banners had brightly flown, the upper tiers of Ruatha Hold were shuttered, unneeded, reminders that Ruatha had withstood a siege more savage than any Threadfall.
Yet, even as her heart contracted at the disheveled look of the proud Hold, her eyes went to the fields and the runners grazing there—not the large, solid beasts that Alessan had bred on Lord Leef’s instructions but the wiry, thin-boned runners of Squealer’s ilk. The irony helped restore her composure. Her tears would not comfort Alessan now.
Aw.
So they go to see Alessan, who is back to being confident and proud. (To Moreta's relief.) He's also very not subtle, with the whole "eyes holding hers" thing going on. As it turns out, Dag was able to save more than just Squealer. There are some foals too.
...and then this is weird:
Then Capiam brought Desdra forward to introduce her, and Moreta saw that Desdra was measuring Alessan with the same penetrating gaze to which she had already been subjected. Moreta felt protective of Alessan and worried that the healer would divine her attraction to him.
I hope this is meant to be more of an indicator of Moreta's self-consciousness, not some kind of legitimate contemplation for the second to last chapter.
So anyway, Capiam decides now is the best time to tell an already over-stressed and exhausted Lord Holder than the plague could come back. But Alessan takes it reasonably well. And he's glad to offer Ruatha's help, to perhaps "remove the stain of [their] ”—-Alessan indicated the burial mounds—“hospitality.”".
Oof.
Fortunately, Capiam's a pragmatic man with no time for misplaced guilt. He points out that none of this was Alessan's fault. And okay, NOW I understand what the deal with the sailors and the Southern Continent was.
Basically, the ship, the Windtoss, was driven off course. The ship's master saw an opportunity and decided to land on the Southern Continent. They found the animal there and decided to bring it north.
Anyway, Capiam gives this poor guy some much needed positive reassurance:
But that circumstance was beyond your control. What has been in your control, my Lord Alessan, is the courage with which you have conducted yourself, your care of the sick, your effort to sow crops, and the preservation of Ruathan bloodstock. Most of all”—Capiam drew in a deep breath— “most of all, that you are, in the midst of the severe trials you have endured, willing to help others.
The moment is interrupted by Arith's bugling. A bronze dragon has arrived. It's B'lerion! A dude we met like in chapter one that I completely forgot about. He seemed pretty into Oklina though. And indeed, when they meet up, B'lerion catches her hand and she does not reclaim it. Aw.
Arith is not happy. Arith is a precocious little searcher.
So anyway, they start talking about logistics: the quantity of vaccine needed, the minimum effective dose, and how to determine how many runners are in a given hold.
Desdra plays the voice of unpleasant truths, asking how crucial it is to vaccinate the runners. The fact of the matter is that they barely have enough supplies to vaccinate humans. They specifically need needlethorn, which won't grow again until autumn.
But hey. Time traveling dragons, right?
(There's also a kind of endearing moment where B'lerion tries to express sympathy to Alessan for the losses, which is very distressing. Okay, dude, you can stay.)
So then there's lots of talk about the time travel, both now and for the vaccination itself. B'lerion seems to be in the inner circle that knows about it, despite not being a Weyrleader himself. Alessan, Desdra, Capiam, and Oklina go along on the trip. (Orlith is fine with this, having been warned already.)
So now, there is harvesting. There are some nice educational speeches about needlethorns, which are apparently poisonous for spring and summer. (Hence the need for time travel.) But it's safe now to pick.
I feel a little guilty, McCaffrey has clearly put a lot of thought into how her alien ecology works and I am not excerpting any of it. Sorry.
But the more significant thing is that Alessan is not a man to miss an opportunity:
Alessan caught her hand and she stopped her babbling, suddenly shy. They were alone, even though Desdra’s amiable taunting of Capiam for his timorous dexterity and B’lerion’s cheerful encouragement of Oklina were audible.
“You said that we could remain here as long as it took to complete the harvest,” Alessan said quietly. He was kneeling beside her now. “And return with no more than an hour elapsed there . . .” His eyes searched her averted face, and his hands captured hers before she could reach for more needlethorns. “Can we not make a little time for ourselves?”
And well...
Moreta grinned at the outrage in the bronze rider’s voice and her eyes met Alessan’s, saw his amused reaction. She lifted her hands to Alessan’s face, her fingers tracing the lines that tension and anxiety had etched on a young man’s countenance. Merely touching him in light intimacy evoked a response in her body, and she swayed quite willingly into his arms as they kissed. The resurgence of her own sensuality dispelled the last vestige of restraint and she slid one arm about his neck, the other clasping his strong hard body against hers as they knelt together by the needlethorn bush they had been stripping.
Clearly something else is about to be stripped. Or not, because they can still hear B'lerion and others bickering. They decide to wait until midday when it'll be too hot to work. Instead they engage in their own cute banter as they work. Yay.
Finally, everyone stops for lunch. Oklina's found some fruit, and everyone's a bit more scantily clad than they started. (There's some flirtation with Alessan that references the "spicy" smell of his "maleness". Ew.)
Rather apropos of nothing, Alessan and Moreta start talking about B'lerion and Sh'gall, and Weyr breeding in general.
“Why, then, is he not your Weyrmate?”
“Orlith chose Kadith.”
“Do you not have any say in the matter?” Alessan was irritated for her sake. From remarks he had made during their morning’s work, she knew that Alessan didn’t like Sh’gall and wondered just how much their new relationship would strain Ruatha’s dependence on Fort’s Weyrleader. She was struggling to find an honest reply to a question she had evaded in her own heart, when Alessan contritely covered her hand, his expression pleading with her to forgive his rash remarks. “I’m sorry, Moreta. That is a Weyr matter.”
“To answer you in part, B’lerion is always like that,” she said. “Charming, amusing. But Sh’gall leads men well, and he has an instinct about Fall which his predecessor, old L’mal, considered uncanny.”
I do like that Alessan is irritated with the whole situation, even though I think irritation is far too mild an emotion.
I also notice that Moreta didn't really answer the question. Did SHE choose Sh'gall for those reasons? Or did it just happen.
Also, it would be nice if we got to SEE Sh'gall "leading men well", because so far, he's just been a whiny little pissant who's been obstacle more than anything else.
So anyway, at some point, B'lerion and Oklina go off. And I'm weirdly happy to see that Alessan is fine with it. I like when folk avoid the obvious cliche of the hyper-protective brother. He and Moreta discuss the possibility of Oklina being chosen. Moreta doesn't want to deplete Alessan's bloodline (which is fair, considering that at one point he had a lot of siblings and now seems to have one.)
But Alessan is actually okay with Oklina going, if that's what she wants. He points out that Ruatha's line already has dragonrider blood, so he'd be fine with it as long as Oklina's kids come back to Ruatha.
And well...FINALLY:
“I’m not my father, you know.”
“I wouldn’t be in a rainforest with your father.”
“Why not? He was a lusty man. And I intend to prove that I’m a suitable heir to his reputation!”
She was laughing as he laid her down on the sun-dappled frond bed. And he proved himself as lusty—and tender—as any woman could wish a man. For a shining moment at the height of their passion, Moreta forgot everything but Alessan.
...I really do wish Alessan would stop bringing up family at times like this. It's probably innocent, but I've been reading way too much Chronicles of the Cheysuli and am hyper-sensitive to incest right now.
But I am happy to see them bang. And I am inclined to think now that they probably did not bang last chapter. But even if they did, this is much better. Well done, you crazy kids.
So anyway, eventually they're done. Apparently though, none of these brain-trusts, including the fucking healers, remembered to count. They think they have enough though, and B'lerion is willing to come back for more.
Moreta corrects him: go to Nerat instead, so as to avoid potential paradox. I'm assuming this potential paradox thing is going to be the reason why the obvious time travel solutions aren't going to work, even though the characters were happy enough in the Ninth Pass, to go straight to the beginning of any Threadfall.
...I suppose I can buy that these guys, who have known about time travel for some time, are probably more cautious and more knowledgeable about the risks.
Anyway, B'lerion further endears himself to me by getting everyone to have a nice rest (after all, they're going to time travel back, only an hour after they left.) Well done. Meanwhile, Moreta is having a bit of a realization:
The tropical night was warm and fragrant. Moreta tried to compose herself for sleep. She could hear Capiam’s baritone murmur and then silence. Alessan slept and she wanted to but was haunted by the sense of disorientation she had left that morning. Then the spicy smell of dragon, still tainted by a hint of firestone, began to soothe her and she realized that—for the first time in twenty Turns—she had passed a day without Orlith. She did miss her. Orlith would have liked Alessan’s exuberant loving. All that had been missing from that experience had been the dragon’s share of her rider’s gratification. Comforted, Moreta slept.
a) I feel like this is something that should have come up more. We know what losing a dragon is like. How on Earth is Moreta functioning without her dragon?
b) I'm also creeped out by the idea that Orlith would have liked the "exuberant loving". Are dragons voyeurs? I suppose they'd have to be.
So anyway, when they get back to Ruatha, things are not actually as calm as all that. Orlith and Holth are frantic and distraught, as they couldn't sense her in the future. Moreta's damn lucky, I realize, because I feel like I remember some later book establishing that the lack of contact between rider and dragon could go very badly. Like a dragon going between forever when their rider was just unconscious.
Not everyone's jubilant though. Alessan is getting tense, since they're returning to poor ruined Ruatha. I realize that everyone was busy, but maybe it would have helped to go get a glimpse of what Ruatha looks like in the near future.
Anyway, he's pretty quick to business, though he does use helping Moreta off the dragon as an excuse to hold her. Aw.
So they have their farewells and get to work. Tuero's enthusiastic, M'barak is a little desperate. He needs help with the bottles, but he's also got to prepare for Threadfall today. Fortunately there are a lot of helpers.
Eventually, Moreta has to head back to the Weyr, though there's a moment that seems like it might be significant later, when she spots a tall, thin woman with close-cropped hair and a vaguely familiar face in the crowd.
But she goes to the Weyr. Orlith is excited and releaved. Leri is happy to see her. Holth is a bit reproving. Moreta asks why Orlith didn't speak with Nabeth. Orlith wanted Moreta.
Apparently Nabeth isn't a talkative dragon and didn't actually tell anyone where they were going or when. So Moreta fills Leri in. Leri is furious that Capiam knows about timing it, but otherwise seems resigned to the plan. (It seems to help that Capiam intends to "lose" the records about time travel.)
I've never been a fan of this kind of repetitive recap, to be honest. Obviously Leri needs to be caught up, but the reader doesn't. We just saw this stuff happen in real time. Summarize or gtfo, McCaffrey.
But anyway, Moreta's got another job: getting the Weyrs on board. While Leri is encouraging: she thinks Moreta has the makings of a superior Weyrwoman. She just has to "shuck" Sh'gall and get someone she likes instead.
The chapter ends with Sh'gall's Kadith calling the fighting wings to the Rim. They have Thread to fight.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-13 04:41 pm (UTC)As for dragons being voyeurs, I think they might not have a choice, but probably don't mind. Being so intimately linked with their humans, they feel every emotional, mental, and physical thing going on, and if they can block it out, they might not want to- or it's possible that they don't see why they should. This is an alien symbiotic animal we're dealing with, however sentient.
Orlith bolstered Moreta when she was sick, and was very pleased to note Moreta was finally eating at the Gather, especially since the food was so good, for instance. So if dragons are distressed and sharing pain if their riders are hurt, sad if they're sad, and happy when they're happy, maybe Orlith's trilling on the Hatching Grounds was something like "Oh thank goodness she's feeling something other than stressed out! I was so worried! This is wonderful and I can't keep it to myself!" In "The Impression - A Short Story," F'lessan's Golanth put it as "I like it [referring to Benden Weyr]. I like everything you like."
This could lead to the thought that to a dragon, if their rider, who is the most perfect person ever (in their mind), is feeling something pleasing in any sense, then surely it can't be anything but good, right? If something was wrong, they'd know. (Mostly.) And if they can't help but feel it too, eh, may as well bask in it.
= Multi-Facets.
Oops, forgot this:
Date: 2022-05-13 06:58 pm (UTC)Also, Moreta could be able to function without Orlith since even without contact, they know the other is okay, which sends a heavy blow right into our Feels later.
= Multi-Facets
Re: Oops, forgot this:
Date: 2022-05-13 09:03 pm (UTC)Re: Oops, forgot this:
Date: 2022-05-13 11:28 pm (UTC)= Multi-Facets.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-13 09:11 pm (UTC)(Jaxom ruins everything.)