Chap. 198 Worried

Chap. 198 Worried

"They probably won't even remember me," Harve said, dejectedly.

The small pile of possessions the boy had accumulated was ready to be loaded onto Raventh.

From nothing, not even a cloth to hide his nakedness, the residents of Landing and Kahrain Steppe Weyrfolk had all pitched in to provide Harve everything he'd needed. The tanner had built custom boots for his feet, the woodworkers had helped him build a sea chest with his name etched in it, the tailors had taught him to harvest the tree wool (cotton), turn it into cloth and sewed the result into clothing.

The teen stood between K'ndar and F'mart, stroking Kenth, F'mart's bronze absentmindedly.

"Harve, you KNOW I contacted Nerat's Lord Holder. He was more than happy to accept you back. In fact, he insisted on it, saying "you dragonriders don't know how to properly care for a seaman, no matter how old he is.""

"That's not true, F'mart! They wouldn't mean it!!" Harve protested. "And you all have helped me so much!"

F'mart laughed. "He was teasing, Harve," he said.

K'ndar nodded. "It will be okay, Harve. I'm sure of it. Don't forget what our Weyrwoman said, about you always being welcome. I hope you do come back, the dragons insist you're a rider. They don't make mistakes."

Harve nodded. "I know. But, I can't help but be worried. That's what I feel."

"Then you're a lot stronger than I would be if I were you. I'd be scared, not just worried. Afraid," K'ndar said.

Harve met his eyes. "Please don't tell the weyrkids, but yes. Scared. I was just a kid when we left Nerat," he said, "and before that, we lived on the We're Here. Sometimes we'd be out to sea for seven-days I mean months," he said.

"It's okay to be scared of the unknown, Harve," F'mart said. "I remember the first time we flew to fight Thread, I was so sure I knew what I was doing that I did something stupid. I got cocky. I took a big risk. Only because Kenth was...is...smarter than me did we not get scored," he said.

"Really!" K'ndar said, feigning astonishment, "You'll have to tell me about it, someday," he smirked.

F'mart grinned at him over Harve's head. "I missed school for two days."

K'ndar grinned right back. "And cleaned latrines for a month?"

F'mart nodded.

You won't do that again Kenth said.

Zeta, Lindea's gold fire lizard, appeared and chirped to Siskin.

The blue fire lizard transmitted a view of the dining hall, now full of weyrfolk.

"We'll load Raventh and Kenth after the do that Hariko's planned for you," K'ndar said.

"What? What 'do'?" the boy asked.

K'ndar looked at him. "You don't think Hariko was going to let you leave without a proper send off, now do you?"

"Um....I didn't know," Harve said, confused.

"Come on, lad, it's all set and ready. Let's get some tucker in your tum before we fly," F'mart said.

It was, indeed, a do.

The dining hall had been decorated with banners that said, "Farewell, Harve, we'll miss you". Many of the weyrfolk were waiting for them. Most especially, the girls of the weyr were there, some with flowers, all of them fighting tears.

To include Glyena, K'ndar's sister.

She came running to give him a hug. She was followed by her foster sisters. Once she'd hugged K'ndar, Glyena joined the throng of girls who clustered around Harve. She looked enthralled. Her older sister, Petra, said to Harve, "I wish you were staying here, Harve, why do you have to leave?" Other's chimed in, with "Don't go, we'll miss you, you should stay here, everyone likes you!"

"Um...ummmm," was all the dumbstruck boy could say. He looked at K'ndar and F'mart for help.

Both men grinned and shrugged. "Oh, to have your troubles!" F'mart laughed, shaking his head.

Hariko came up, rescuing the boy with a "Harve, we've this big celebration meal, come now, let's get some food in you!"

F'mart caught K'ndar's eye and flicked his head to indicate they back off.

Bemused, K'ndar followed. He noticed a scattering of the boys of the Weyr, looking peeved.

"Look at the young bucks there on the edges, K'ndar," F'mart said, "all of 'em jealous of Harve."

K'ndar laughed, agreeing, but he was disturbed at his little sister's obvious infatuation with Harve. Well, she's almost ten, I guess, he thought, but the idea of his baby sister feeling like that for a boy? A male with testicles and the testosterone to drive them? Somehow that went against his heart. My sister? Having the hots for a teenage boy?

Why not? She's a female, he's a male. What's wrong with that? Raventh said.

Not my SISTER, she's just a baby!

No, she's not.

__________________________________________________________________________

They'd managed to load the dragons and actually take off without hurting any of the girls who'd crowded around their dragons.

Raventh bore Harve's belongings and Harve rode behind F'mart on Kenth. They circled on a thermal to gain height. He could hear the girls calling "Good bye!" below them, despite the wind in his ears.

He could hear Glyena's voice among them. His baby sister. Hot for Harve. It worried him, but he couldn't imagine how he could change it.

"Ready for between?" F'mart called, breaking through the unexpected fog in his mind. Come on, K'ndar, wake up. Nerat's dragon stones. Push them to Raventh. Wouldn't do to get lost!

"Aye!" K'ndar called back.

_________________________________________________________________________

Nerat was a total surprise to him.

The Hold was ostensibly a Sea Hold, but it was also a major provider of hardwoods. Beyond the livestock pastures, the rain forest rolled on and on, seeming forever. Unlike most of the other Pernese Holders, the Nerats had never doubted that Thread would return someday, and so were prepared when it did. Thus, their forests had survived and now that Thread was gone forever, they were planting more. For every tree they cut, they planted two, insuring their future.

A string of signal flags soared to the top of the mast on the high point of the Hold.

Looks like they have messages, or something, to take back, K'ndar thought.

But that many? And he couldn't read them. He'd never seen such flags.

As they circled, looking for the spot that most Holds of any size reserved for dragons, more banners unfurled, this time on the ground.

Below him was a large crowd of people. He could hear them cheering and shouting.

"Look!" Harve cried, "The signals! That's We're Here's signal! It's...it's a message for ME!!"

"What's it say?" K'ndar called.

"They read "Welcome home, We're Here! Dock immediately"!"

"Told you so," F'mart said.

__________________________________________________________________________

After far too much to eat, and far too many women kissing him and F'mart for 'saving our boy Harve', and Harve's grandmother wringing his hand, crying in gratitude, and grown men, hardened from years at sea or working in the forest, treating him as if he were a Weyrleader, and Harve's uncle, thanking him for rescuing at least one of his family, and several dangerous looking men, begging him to PLEASE tell them where that island is so they could go kill Shipfish, K'ndar wondered if they'd ever escape. F'mart was sitting with a pretty girl on either arm, inviting him to stay a while, won't you?

K'ndar wondered how he was going to disengage from the lovely girl who wanted to know everything about how he'd found Harve, could she pet Siskin, had he ever been on a ship, was he married? partnered?

Harve had to repeat virtually every step of the rescue at least twice. They insisted F'mart re-enact the fight with Shipfish. Raventh, a brown! landing in a clearing no wider than his wings! How clever Harve was, to use coconuts as fire bombs!

Nerat's Lord Holder, after a speech that was interrupted by cheers and roars of approval, gave each of them a medallion. "This medallion, sirs, guarantees you free passage on any ship from Nerat, at any time, from any port, should you ever need it, " he said. The crowd roared in agreement.

K'ndar blushed, not wanting to tell the man that he could never ride in a ship.

But finally, the celebration wound down and he managed to disengage from the young lady who insisted she, if he didn't have duty tomorrow, would be more than happy to entertain him.

He cast a questioning eye at F'mart. "I'm heading home, F'mart. Coming?"

F'mart smirked. "Um, no," he said. One of his female friends had left, but the other was firmly attached to his arm. "I don't have duty tomorrow. You see my problem, don't you?" he said, grinning.

K'ndar nodded, not surprised at all.

His ears welcomed the relief from the noisy hall as he made his way to the dragon meadow. 

Siskin sighed, happy to be away from all those people.

As he was harnessing Raventh, he heard Harve calling his name.

The boy ran up to him.

"You run like normal," K'ndar said.

Harve stopped and nodded. "Because of you, K'ndar. I don't know how to repay you for rescuing me. I will never, ever forget the clearing, when the sky suddenly went dark and I looked up and it was Raventh! It was like a dream come true! I don't know how to thank you enough. I wish there was something I could do, some way I could," he paused, dropping his eyes.

Then they met K'ndar's. "I feel as if you did all the giving and I did all the taking," he said, finally.

K'ndar put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Harve. Stop. I know. How could I NOT have rescued you? I'm certain, were it me needing rescuing, you would have done the same, yes?"

"Of course! But I feel as if, well I DO, owe you something. My life. You saved it, and I feel as if I need to repay you," he said.

"Harve," K'ndar said, realizing just how much was going to miss the boy, "You already have repaid me. You could have moaned in self pity, complained about how hard life was, how unfair. But you didn't. You worked hard to get back to where you are now. Look at you, running like you're supposed to!  Harve, Weyrleaders, like M'rvin and Siena...they don't insist you return just on account of because. They mean it. You impressed them, all of us, on your willingness to turn your hand to whatever you were asked. I've met plenty of kids your age who won't do a thing. Those types, we hope they leave.Those types usually end up holdless. You, I am certain, will never be without a Hold, or a Weyr, or whatever you do with your life.

If you really feel obligated, do what my mum always said, 'pay it forward'. That means, doing something right or kind for someone in need, without expectation of payment or even thanks. Just pay it forward. And don't forget, Harve. The dragons all say you're a dragonrider. Mirth says you must come to it on your own wings. If and when you are Searched, we'd be honored if you chose Kahrain for your Impression," he said.

Harve nodded, gulping. He reached for K'ndar's hand and shook it.

"I will," he said.Then he turned to pat Raventh on the foreleg. The brown rumbled, gently.

"I'm going to miss you, K'ndar, and all the folks at Kahrain," the boy said.

"I'll miss you too, Harve," K'ndar said, feeling his throat tighten with emotion. Siskin, on his shoulder, chittered softly.

Harve's eyes glistened. "And the dragons...I'm going to miss Raventh, and Kenth. Especially Kenth," he said. He walked over to the bronze. Kenth tilted his head, his eyes rolling a glowing blue.

"Kenth?" Harve asked.

The giant bronze lowered his head til his eyes were level with Harve's.

The boy put his arms around Kenth's warm, strong neck and hugged him, tightly, tightly.

"I'm going to miss you, Kenth. I love you," he said, his eyes closed.

Then they flew open in surprise.

I will miss you too, Harve. Don't forget to come back Kenth said.