2024-07-24 - [8.3] At some point, one must decide

Liorenth is brooding again. There is little room to move around now in the egg and he has managed to tip it onto the flat side, which felt like an accomplishment at first but now feels only as if it will never move again. Sigh.

His spirit had soared briefly when the wings returned from fighting thread the previous day, buoyed by the pride and relief he felt from Gwillanth and the dragons of the weyr (days are easy to count now, one can count the rising suns and then spend the whole day wishing for it to come again). He wants so desperately to be like the older dragons -- to fly, to keep formation, to (do whatever it is they do when they fight), to return to a heroes welcome! He has a sense now that the flight formation is important and requires a lot of practice and hard work so that when in a critical situation, they can be in the right place, To drill and to practice so that it comes as second nature.

To work and to practice together and to excel and return together -- this seems like the very life. But he also picks up from the relief that although they all have returned this time, that is not always the case. This is a duty that will take us into danger.

He can feel clutchmates responding to the returning dragons also. That will be us -- he whispers on the wind, ripples to the others. One day, that will be us -- oh let it be soon. Just let me out of here -- danger feels far away, and the danger in the skies cannot be worse than the dangers on the ground, of the earth, surely.

It is a relief when the little court area is set up near the eggs. A distraction, and a way for him to practice listening and understanding more complicated speech. He takes an interest in the disputants -- wonders why they could not resolve the dispute themselves. Can people not make their own decisions without dragons (and their bonded) helping? How do they ever get anything done? If one person has something the other wants, then just take it, or share it or ... fight maybe?

But as the two people take it in turn to put their cases, Liorenth becomes confused. He thinks yes, this one makes a good case, and then the other one speaks and he agrees with them also.

It is clearer also that they are here because they cannot agree. There's no tradition, no duty, that lays down what needs to happen. Or they have duties that are conflicting. And they do not want to fight.

Liorenth puzzles over this, surely duty was supposed to make this easier. But not in this case.

It is a relief when Shayled seems to find a way through, to distill the complicated arguments into a simple judgement. He can feel the two disputants accepting the judgement - they feel it is fair also.

He also wants to find a bonded with a strong innate sense of fairness, he decides. So that when duty is not clear, they can know the right thing to do. Oh look at that, he actually made a decision! Now that he knows this, he can drift again to sleep/ unsleep and wait for the next sunrise. And when he wakes he still knows what he will seek. Let it be soon.