Small Steps to the Future
Chapter Fifteen: From a Different Perspective
After a rather uncomfortable dinner, during which everyone talked just a hair too loudly and laughed just a little too heartily, and a supremely boring speech by a Light dragon Riya had not met before but had seen at a distance doing official sorts of things that morning, it was finally time. Aloia returned from wherever she'd disappeared to-- lucky dragoness, got to escape during that incredibly long and dull string of words-- and the long-winded Light dragon Naio fell silent, looking expectantly at the corridor leading into the bonding complex. Along with the others, Riya craned his neck to try and see, but unlike some of the other candidates, his view was blocked by the rest of the table.
"Candidates, please rise," Naio said solemnly. Riya got to his feet gratefully, nearly knocking over his chair in his nervous haste, and trailed along with the rest to stand in a loose group at the end of the table. Dragonets and candidates stared at each other across an expanse of grass that seemed far to wide. Riya could spot the Air twins near the back of that knot of kits, Evola looking as smugly self-confident as ever and Evoli looking much more nervous, staring among the candidates and finally meeting Riya's eye. Riya tried to look reassuring, and Evoli grinned faintly back at him.
"Kits who have chosen, please step forward now to accept a scroll of bonding, and find your life bond." A flash of light, and Riya had to rub at his eyes-- Damn Light dragons and their bright magic!-- unable to see anything. By the time his vision had cleared and the after-image of the spell had faded to a manageable size and translucence, several dragons had already come forward, taking scrolls bound with ribbon from a basket that had appeared following the light. Riya kept his eyes half-shut, peering at everything around him through his thick lashes, for it seemed that the bonding itself was also accompanied by flashes of light, and he didn't really want to be half-blind for the whole ceremony.
For a few long moments after he could see again, Riya was sure he'd end up standing there alone, everyone else chosen and gone off with their dragonets to their dorm rooms. He couldn't find Evola and Evoli in the chaos of kits and candidates and guests who had also risen from their seats to better see the action. His only consolation was that Andy, too, stood alone, surprisingly nearby considering how he'd avoided him during dinner; his rival and roommate had not been chosen yet, either. At the very least, if he failed to live up to Mullen's expectations, maybe Andy wouldn't, either.
But then-- a pair of dragonets were coming towards him, a Fire and an Air. The Fire he barely glanced at, recognizing the Air immediately as Evola. She was matching paces with her companion, her laughing silver eyes on Riya and her mouth grinning around the scroll held carefully between her teeth. Riya couldn't help grinning back, feeling a little breathless with relief-- he was not only going to be chosen, he was being chosen by one of the kits he actually liked-- and anticipation-- he had no idea what this would be like; he would be the first person from Earth to bond with a dragon, and there was simply no precedent.
Still stepping together as if this were something planned ahead of time, wings still over their backs and tails waving jauntily, Evola and her companion Fire closed the distance between them and Riya and Andy, stopped as one, and lifted their heads in synch to offer their scrolls to the pair of young men. Riya was quick to drop down to Evola's level, going to one knee before her, running one hand over her silvery crest and wrapping the fingers of his other hand around the rolled parchment. This time prepared for the light, he closed his eyes, and Evola nuzzled the inside of his arm.
When he opened his eyes again, it was like the whole world had changed. There was something there, something new, that hadn't been a part of it before. Everything seemed just a little clearer, just a little brighter, but not the kind of bright that would hurt his eyes. It was something inside him that was different, not something outside-- and as Evola grinned up at him, dropping the scroll down by her forepaws, he knew what it was. Her happiness and pride were reflecting through him, like some deeper form of telepathy that worked with emotions instead of words, and without active projection. He grinned, back, feeling slightly giddy with his own emotions and hers combined, his hand rubbing down her neck and back up again, and her pleasure at the touch was amazingly heady. A gentle purr was rumbling in her throat-- he could feel it vibrating slightly beneath his hand-- her eyes half-shut in contentment, and her kit-short tail swished like a happy puppy's. Riya thought he could kneel there and revel in the new bond between them, looking back down into her liquid silver eyes, forever.
It was Evola who broke eye contact, looking deliberately to her right, Riya's left, where Andy he bent to seal the bond between himself and the Fire who had accompanied Evola. The Fire was looking back at her with a fond, friendly grin, and suddenly Riya recognized him: Cemitae, her childhood friend. Amusement warred with despair as he realized what that meant: his new bonded dragonet was best friends with the new bonded dragonet of his rivel, Mister Military, a prig who hated no one more than Riya. The expression of utter horror in Andy's face as he met Riya's gaze said clearly what he thought of the situation. Maybe this was what Mullen meant when he warned him he would need to make friends with Andy in the future, though how he could have known, Riya didn't even want to guess.
::You are a little minx, you know that?:: he thought at Evola-- he didn't send it, he didn't need to. His thoughts flew across their bond with an ease that Riya had never felt before when trying to speak silently. It took no effort at all to make the words known to her.
::What's a minx?:: she sent back with an impudently false innocence. The metaphor was as clear to her as it was to him, because the meaning followed the words in this deeper kind of communication. Her amusement at not only his words, but also at the situation she was well aware she and Cemitae had forced on him, was infectious. Riya laughed and shook his head, catching her chin in one hand and giving it a playful little shake.
Behind them, the pompous Light Naio cleared his throat, and Riya decided to be unorthodox, and he scooped Evola off her feet and into his arms. She gave a little squeal of surprise and dug her fore claws into his shirt, leaving small holes. Riya winced at the possible ruin of his only good shirt, but it faded into a chuckle at the immediate sense of a wordless apology as he carried her to stand with the rest of the bonded pairs. He scarcely noticed Andy and Cemitae-- the latter still on the ground, of course-- coming up behind him and standing beside him, Cemitae between them, perhaps as a buffer.
Naio surveyed them all, his gaze resting just a moment longer on Riya with Evola beaming up at him from his arms, before moving on. The pair shared further amusement at the bemused expression that had slipped through his mask of solemnity, but all trace of it was gone when he boomed over the assembled dragons and their chosen bonds, "Congratulations, Avengaean dragon riders."
That was it. The ceremony was over. Some of the guests drifted among the newly bonded, offering congratulations and grins and once or twice jealous looks, and some of the new riders were making their way back to the bonding complex and some well-deserved rest or, in the case of some, expedient departure. Riya stood there holding Evola for a moment, looking around the lawn, and for a moment experienced a brief surge of panic. Where would he go now? What would happen to him, now that he had, indeed, been picked to bond? Would Mullen want to cart him off to the military, or even as far back as Earth? He didn't want to go back, not yet...
A trickle of concerned reassurance flowed through his mind, calming him, and he hugged Evola close in thanks, though he didn't think he could hold her much longer; she seemed to be getting heavier.
::Then put me down,:: her thoughts suggested, and he set her down gently. She leaned against his legs, coiling around him with a possessiveness that Riya could tell would become very familiar.
Ahe straightened, he spotted Mullen speaking with Mister Military a short ways off, likely giving the kid his congratulations. The captain looked pleased, and Andy a little dazed but happier than Riya had ever seen him, Cemitae standing proudly by his feet. However, Mullen glanced to the side and caught sight of the pair of them. He looked rather like he wanted to wrap up his conversation with Andy and come engage Riya, as well, but Riya didn't know if he could handle that after the evening he'd just had.
::Let's go inside....:: They were already moving before he finished the words, Evola already aware of his discomfort, and Riya already aware of her willingness to escape with him if he needed to. They slipped into the bonding complex and towards Riya's and Andy's room, Evola's wings brushing against Riya's leg with each step and Riya's hand atop her head.