Down, down, down he tumbled, through flashing white and blue light. "The witch never told me it would be like this...better I died in here than returning to that acursed kingdom." Søren thought. He entered a vast expanse of cold nothing and stayed there until he thought his brains would burst from the lack of input. The portal spat him out a few feet above the ground and he landed with a thump, promptly passing out in relief and shock.

A warm, soft, and moist something rubbed across his face repeatedly. He brushed it off but it returned, along with a soft whimpering noise. Opening his eyes, he saw a small pup perched upon his chest, so light he hadn't even noticed it. It's tongue hung out in a friendly fashion and the little pup whined again. "Who are you?" he asked it, as if expecting a response. It just continued to pant and gaze at him as he struggled to sit up. Then shouts drifted over a hill not too far off, calling, "Come back here you fardling beast! I'll beat you to an inch of yer life once I catch ya!" A man's voice, gruff with years of shouting. Søren stood with the pup in his arms and turned to meet the man. "There yeh is! I'll be takin' that canine there off yer hands good sir. Thanks fer catchin' her." and he held out a hand to take the trembling beast from him.

"I think I'll keep this pup. Judging on how scrawny she is, and the mange I see, you don't deserve such a kind creature." Søren said coldly. Indeed, when he'd lifted the little pup, he'd noticed bones protruding more prominently than was healthy for such a small creature. Her stomach also rumbled with hunger, no doubt she had a belly full of worms as well. "Come now, she ent yers. Give 'er back to me!" the man's voice turned hostile as he showed him the hilt of a sword at his hip. Søren laughted outright, a low, rumbling chuckle that make the pup glance up at him.

"You don't scare me, little man. Run along before I give you the beating you were so ready to give her." The man puffed up with outrage. "How dare yeh! Takin' my breedin' property! Why, I'll show yeh!" and he unsheathed the sword and raised it above his head. But the once-bear was too fast for him, and shifted forms, lashed out with one, claw-filled paw and neatly cut the inferior sword into five chunks near down to the hilt. Not quite sure what had just happened, the man stared dumbly at the hilt and two inches of blade he now held then to Søren before turning tail and running.

Growling in a satisfied way, Søren switched back and scooped up the little white pup, nearly jumping out of his skin when a laughing voice called out behind him, "Nice work." A man leaned casually against a tree not far off, a huge, green beast lay behind him. It flipped it's tail once or twice, brilliant blue eyes swirling in a bemused sort of way. Tripping over his own two feet in a very undignified way, Søren tumbled and landed on the seat of his pants.

"Careful now, those patches of thick air can be tricky." the man laughed, approached Søren and held out a hand to help him up. With a glower, Søren grabbed the offered hand and stood, dusting himself off with the one that wasn't filled with pup. "Who are you, and what is this place?" he demanded. "I'm C'fron, and this is Trith." he gestured to the green beast behind him. "You are currently at Raku Seahold, but up there is Seiryuu Weyr." Once again, he gestured to a huge, castle-like building up the road.

"Is this the kingdom, this Seiryuu Weyr?" Søren asked. The man laughed again, irritating Søren even more. "No, it is a weyr. Do don't know what a weyr is? Well then, you'd better come with us. You'll be needing to know, as you've just been Searched for the clutch that's there." And with that, C'fron turned and mounted the green beast, who looked at Søren with one foot extended, expecting him to mount also. "I don't have to do with you." he said defiantly. "Oh, but you'll want to, if you want to Impress a dragon." C'fron said. "And technically, Trith and I can force you to come, we are Searchers and all. She's a little bit bigger'n you, if you hadn't noticed." The green - dragon was it then? - rumbled in a very non-threatening way. Continuing to eye them, Søren thought. "Impress a dragon...that must be why I came here. There must be more like this green beast, up at the weyr. One would be perfect to get my revenge on my father..."

So Søren agreed and mounted the green with as much dignity as he could muster, clutching the scrambling pup to his chest. Once at the weyr, C'fron signed him up and handed him something, a small, round, cream-colored orb. "Consider it a present, it may be able to keep that sad thing company." and he rubbed the pup's head playfully. She panted in her friendly way and licked at his fingers as he left with a wave to Søren. "What good is this thing for a companion?" he murmured, looking at the orb then to the pup.

"I suppose you'll be needing a name, huh? How about Iertare then? I rather like that name..." She wagged her tufty tail in response, just as the orb gave a mighty lurch and cracked cleanly in two. Out come a miniature of the green beast, only this one was brown in color. It crooned up at him angrily. "Another new pet? Well...I suppose you can be Kataki." The brown creature yipped at him, a feeling of intense hunger flowed into Søren's mind.

As he went to find some meat, Søren hoped to find the answers to the riddles the witch had posed to him, in a dragon or not. His father would have probably thought it funny, former prince stuck as a nobody human in a strange world. But Søren would have the last laugh when he arrived home on a huge dragon like the ones here. His father would pay then, for ignoring him...