"What do you mean there are abandoned dragons on the sands?!" shrieked Tawny. The messenger visibly shrank back. Tawny was small, perhaps only four foot ten, but she was loud and had a very quick temper.
"How many?!" screamed Tawny. She had to look up at the messanger, but he was still frightened of her. She saw him gulp.
"Fuh...Five, young miss." The messenger took a step back. His job was to inform people of the abandonings, not to be killed.
"FIVE?!" Tawny's eyes became huge orbs of brilliant green. He saw her jaw clenched tight, and a muscle spasming beneath her darkly tanned skin. She tossed her long, shiny black hair behind her shoulder, and rose up on her tiptoes. She pulled the young man's shirt collar until he was face to face with her. The muscles in her legs and arms were tight and rigid, her fists clutched in anger.
"You tell those dragons that everything will be fine, and not to loose hope. There are people out there, kind people who will not abandon them. And you tell their former 'Riders' that if I ever catch them, I'll-...Well, I'll tell them a thing or two about abandoning people." The messenger gulped again, surprised at her sudden calm and sweet tone.
"Why don't you tell them yourself? Or, why don't you adopt one?" Tawny released the boy, and turned abruptly and walked away. He had no idea what he had done. He straightened his collar and sighed. He hoped the next place he visited wasn't so violent.
Tawny sat on her cot later that evening, thoughts racing around in her head. She was sorry for those dragons, but certain she could do nothing to help. She was not fit to Bond any dragon, especially not an abandoned one. The abandoned dragons would have been very hurt the first time. They wouldn't want her...
But then again, she knew how they felt. She had been abandoned at birth, or at least that was what she had been told. She was found in a ditch, of all the stupid places, wailing her tiny head off. The man that found her didn't want a child. He was married, but didn't tell his wife about the baby. He just took the small, naked girl and left her on a person's doorstep. That person was who raised her for the rest of her life. The woman she called Beta, a woman who had fifty-one turns at the time. Tawny was now sixteen turns, and Beta was dead. Abandoned once more. But that wasn't really anybody's fault. And yet, Tawny wanted someone to blame. She had gone through life wondering who her mother was, who her father was, and why they had abandoned her. Why had she been 'had', and then left to die in a cold, wet ditch. These are the things she thought about each and every night before she went to sleep, sometimes crying a little, but never letting anyone know her feelings. She had a strong image she had to keep up. She yawned, her head beginning to hurt. She was tired, her body was tired. But her mind was whirling. She needed to think. She pulled on a cloak, and left her home at the Weyr for a walk.
The sky was dark, and the stars bright. She sat on a rock, the cold stone on her skin feeling good. She looked up at the stars, her soft side beginning to melt through her tough outer shell. She saw them, such beautiful, tiny little lights, twinkling. How she wished she could share this with someone who understood. Who understood all her thoughts. Her thoughts then turned to the Dragons. How could people be so cruel? Sometimes she hated people. The dragons. What about the dragons? Peering up at the stars, she thought about what it would be like to fly among the stars. To do spirals and such, and go between. And to fight...Oh, to FIGHT! To flame the bad guys...fight for what's right. And one of those abandoned dragons... They could help each other through it. Both being abandoned, they would understand each other the way Tawny had never been understood. Tawny still was hurt deep inside, feeling that she was never wanted, and never would be wanted. She felt alone, so utterly alone, in a world so crowded as this... Tawny yawned again, and retreated to her room to sleep.
Tawny wants to help the Abandoned Dragons at Ryslen Weyr.