Planet Zar: Nexus

:: It won't. That place is terrifying, I don't understand how the rest of you manage it.::

It should have been a humorous sight, a massive bronze dragon cowed next to a green half his size, but it absolutely broke R'vas heart to see him like that. They were both sweat-slick and exhausted from an afternoon of scoring thread from the heavens. And yet, here they were, on the cliff's edge above the weyr staring into the proverbial abyss.

"You didn't go between," said Mil, dismounting Deimoth's neck saddle in one smooth motion. "We've talked about this."

"Aescoth is terrified of that place." In all truth, R'vas had only been between a handful of times, and only once on Aescoth himself. The experience was wholly alien each time and R'vas didn't mind avoiding it. "We fight well enough without it."

"Until you're not fast enough to get out of the way. Aescoth is young but he's going to lose some of that agility as he matures. He's a bronze, he's built for stamina, not speed. It risks the entire wing when there's a weak point as large as him and one day you two might become wingleaders of your own. You can't afford clumsy mistakes, slowing your team down."

R'vas could only bob his head in agreement. The theory was well and fine but that didn't change anyone's fears.

:: I'm so sorry, rider mine :: Aescoth crooned, ducking his head. :: I don't want to endanger everyone because I'm scared. ::

R'vas patted the bronze's massive nose. "We'll figure it out, won't we?"

"Try it now," said Mil. "While there's no danger and you've got nothing to worry about. You did it during your weyrlinghood, didn't you?"

"We did."

Aescoth shot panicked images of icy nothingness through R'vas, his nostrils flared and eyes whirling wild. R'vas tried to send him soothing tones in return but the overwhelming fear drowned out his own emotions.

"I don't know if we can do it again," said R'vas, shakily holding Mil's gaze. "Aescoth panics at the thought of it."

Mil's sharp eyes snapped to Aescoth. "If thread ever touches you or your rider would you choose to let it eat you before you went between?"

Aescoth's eyes whirled. He ducked his massive chin over R'vas shoulder, nuzzling into him. :: I'd never let it eat you, rider mine. ::

Either Deimoth relayed the message or Mil could see it in Aescoth's face, because she nodded - stern but understanding - and swung herself back on Deimoth's neck.

"We'll come with you," she said. "But you've got to get over this or it's going to cause real problems."

R'vas turned to Aescoth, stroking his long muzzle. "We won't be alone."

:: It's terrifying. ::

"That's okay. You're my big, brave bronze, and brave doesn't mean being unafraid, it just means you're willing to face those fears."

Aescoth let out a long, slow snort, but lowered his head for R'vas to mount him. He trembled under R'vas, shivering hard enough it made R'vas' teeth chatter. R'vas tried to sooth him with gentle pets along the slender crest of his neck but his nerves remained.

"You've got to be able to control him," said Mil. "How are you two going to manage in a mating flight with him worried as a wherry? You can influence his emotions."

"It feels wrong to do it."

"You're a soft boy, R'vas, you're not going to hurt him, you're going to help him."

R'vas took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and let his own calm wash over both of them. His trepidation was weak next to Aescoth's barely tampered panic and it was easy to will his way through the fear with gentle waves of love. He knew Aescoth could manage this, could conquer his worries, and he pushed that reassurance through their bond until Aescoth's trembling ceased and he felt the first glimmer of possibility return to him.

Aescoth swept his wings open and lowered his head to meet Deimoth's gaze.

"Ready?" said Mil.

R'vas nodded.

Deimoth winked away in an instant.

"We can do this," R'vas whispered.

Aescoth's worry fluttered between them but the bronze lashed his tail and blinked between.

The cold, dark, nothingness hit them with the force of a freezing gale. If there had been air to breathe it would have been punched from R'vas' lungs with the cold. Aescoth's fear returned in growing waves, panic setting it. But R'vas didn't let it take hold. He leaned down and curled his lithe arms around Aescoth's neck and let his dragon feel every ounce of love and pride he had for him. It crashed, cacophonous and overwhelming, against the fear and drove it back, made it ebb into the nothingness until all that was left was R'vas' quiet calm lapping between them.

They blinked again and the world - the warmth, the air, the touch of sand beneath their feet, the kiss of a humid breeze on their cheeks - returned and they could both breathe again.