Andal dropped his heavy load, and heaved a great sigh
of relief, he let his big hazel eyes wander across the
abandoned weyr. It was completely empty other than his
sheet less bed, a small bureau, and a humongous dragon
couch. " I hope the dragon doesn't snore?" Andal
chuckled to himself ,"for a dragon that size could
rumble the whole weyr".  He walked over to the bureau
to unpack what little belongings he had.  The wooden
burrow was old and dusty and it had pictures of
dragons carved into the wood from past riders. The one
Andal found most beautiful though was a huge  male
obviously, bronze with his huge wings gracefully
outstretched ready to take off for flight, its head up
towards the sky in full determination.
   He knew he would love life here at the Weyr. He
looked into the mirror at himself. "I can't wait to
ride ," he said in great excitement. "Well, you're not
going to ride at all today if you don't hurry down to
dinner, " said a feminine voice from behind him. Andal
jerked around to find a  beautiful lady standing
 at the door of his weyr. She had Long brown hair that had begun
to gleam with silvery strands mixed in with the brown, it
 reached down to her waist. She had warm hazel green eyes that
complimented her ivory skin tone . She
smiled at Andal's look of surprise. "You must be Andal,"
she said as she  reached out her hand and gives him a
friendly shake. "Welcome,
my name is Tiyanni  the Weyrwoman here
at Ryslen Weyr, I will show  you down to the
Great Hall where you will
be joining the others to eat."  Andal thanked her
gladly and followed her out of his weyr.
   The corridors leading to the Great Hall were dark
and damp. They were lighted by Glows of
flickering light that threatened to die out as you
walked by them. Finally Andal saw a small dot of light
that grew at every step. Andal sped up his pace, the
smell of food pulling him along. They finally came to
two big oak doors that led into a big stone room with
a high domed ceiling.  Andal stepped into the great
hall and peered up at the magnificent work of art that
covered the entire ceiling. Little pieces of tile in
every color that could  be imagined made up pictures of
dragons and flowers with scenery of rolling hills and
a deep blue skies, but yet again Andal found himself
gawking at  the magnificent dragons. " Such
intelligence" he muttered.  " I wish humans were more
like dragons".
"Why do you say that" Tiyanni asked, trying to learn
more about the boy.
"Well," Andal said trying to gather his words, " they
are kind, gentle, extremely intelligent, brave, and
have such a great determination that nothing could
stand in their way."
Andal took one more look at the beautiful ceiling than
asked, " What's for dinner? I am starving."
 "I'm sure you are, you have come along way haven't
you?" Andal stopped to think how she could have known
that and said, " Yes I have.. all the way from the big
city of Reinolandra."
 "Ah, a city boy," said Tiyanni in a humored voice.
"I hate the city," said Andal in a tone of hate and
miss fortune, "I have been an orphan there since I was
ten."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Tiyanni said in a warm caring voice. "
what happened to your parents?"
Andal flinched at the word parents; the pain filled
within him as bad memories came back from his past.
Tiyanni realized this and said, " You don't have to tell
if you don't want to."
Andal felt like he had to tell her, had to get it all
out and be free of the burden.
"No, I need to tell someone, I have never told anyone
I have just always lied about how they died."
Andal paused, took a deep breath, then began, " I lived
in  a small harbor town, my dad was a ship mate to a
big ship that was coming in harbor that day. My mom
and  I went up to the  harbor to greet him. When we
reached the harbor, I sprinted off in search of him.
My mom told me to stop running, but I ignored her and
kept on running.  That's when I slipped in a puddle
and fell into the deep, dark green ocean. I had never
been taught how to swim, so I started to flail my arms
and legs to keep my head above the water. My mom had
not always lived in the little harbor town and she new
how to swim, but here it was taboo for a woman to be
able to swim and being able to meant you were a witch.
There were no guys around to save me, and my mom was
not about to just let me drown. So she dived in after
me and  pulled me to dry land. I remember seeing all
the stunned faces as I was brought to dry land and how
they all parted as my mom and me stepped through the
crowd to get dad and leave. That night I remember
hearing them talking with fear in their voices about
what they should do. They decided that we  would stay
this night and leave early morning." Andal paused and
let out a small sigh, "That night my parents were
lynched by a small mob, I was awoken by their pounding
on the door, I had ran down the stairs to see who it
was and instead got to watch my parents being brutally
killed by the small mob. I was petrified to the spot,
couldn't move at all. I stood hidden in a shadow till
the men left with my mother's and father's limp
bodies." He paused then looked down at the floor,
"It's my fault that they got killed, I should have
listened to my mom."
"You were just a boy then," Tiyanni
said, "you can't blame yourself for something that
you did when you were little. How did you end up in
the orphanage ?" Tiyanni asked.  Andal brought  himself
once again to the horrible memories then said, "I was
sitting there crying when this man came in wanting to
know what had happened. That is when he noticed me
sitting in the corner curled up in a little ball. He
was a past dragon rider too old to ride anymore,
his dragon had died from thread fall but was able
to keep himself sane and go on with life. He
took me to his home, and that is where  I fell
deeply in love with dragons. He would tell me stories
about dragons and how he used to battle thread.
He taught me skills on dragon riding and even how to
use a flame thrower. He became like a father to me. He
soon grew too old to take care of me anymore and had
to send me to the orphanage in the city, but  he wrote
me every single week till he died of old age. The last
letter he had sent me was a letter stating that there
was a clutch in the sands at Ryslen Weyr
and that I should go and try to impress."
   There was a long pause between the two of them.
Than Tiyanni said, " Come on lets go eat."
  Andal was in complete awe when he saw the feast. It
looked delicious, he had never seen so much food in
his life. He was use to eating cold ham and a piece of
bread. To the middle of the table there sat a lovely
roasted turkey in a golden platter  that had been
simmered in a sweet  honey flavored sauce,  buttered
mash potatoes, fresh green beans,  and  a small
broiled chicken that was so moist that it could melt
in your mouth sat to the left of the turkey. To the
right was at least three different types of golden
crust pies, chocolate pudding, and a huge chocolate
cake with velvet white frosting and every one was
served klah and a sweet wine to drink. The room was filled
with wonderful smells and joyful chatter as everyone
sat  around the oak  table. Andal piled his plate a
mile high with every thing. Everyone was real polite
to him as he talked with them about life and his
journey down here.
   "What did the orphans think about you wanting to
become a dragon rider?" said a short young boy.
  "They don't believe I can do it, they didn't even
think I would go," said Andal with a smile on his face.
"How much I would have loved to  see their faces when
they saw my empty bed with the good bye note pasted to
the side."
"Why don't you want to adopt a abandoned dragon?"
another boy asked. Andal paused, he had thought of this
before just had never had to put it in words.
"Because.. I can barely handle my own pain much less
handle another's.  There is a gap in an orphan's life
that must be filled by another life form, and I think
a hatchling can fill in that gap in my life as we
grow to be great friends and partners," replied Andal.
   He finished the last bit of his dinner and went back to
his weyr. The bed now had sheets and the traditional white
robes for the impression lay spread over it. It didn't
feel as empty as before
 but it was still missing something.
He was extremely full and tired and needed
to get his rest for he was going to meet the search
riders  tomorrow. He got into bed and looked
around at his weyr. His eyes drifted over to the
dragon couch. When that is filled, my weyr will be
complete"  he thought to himself. The thought of it
being filled lit a flame of excitement in him.
Tomorrow he might have a dragon...
 

     Andal