Silence reined in a room only lit by the soft light of glows. The room was sparsely decorated with a few rugs and woven blankets as well as one tapestry. Each of the items depicted something similar carefully woven into the patterns upon it; Dragons! In the center of one of the rugs sitting cross-legged hands placed lightly on her knees and eyes closed was the artist who’d created most of these works. She had not apprenticed to the weaver craft so if one were to look they would see that her weavings were far from perfect, more likely they’d be considered barely passing in a proper craft hall.

Silent as she was it would be no surprise to those who saw her at this moment that she was apprenticing as a scribe for the hold. She was one who’d keep her features neutral even in the most moving of times. Only a few things brought emotion to her neutral features. One of those things now sat on her shoulder, tail wrapped lightly around her neck and his eyes closed as well. He was a young brown fire lizard whom seemed to complement the young woman’s silent streak.

Suddenly the brown shot up into the air and started chittering wildly looking at the ceiling and at a shuttered window. The young woman’s gray-brown eyes shot open and were already looking at the brown who was now very noisy indeed. Her tanish colored eyebrows narrowed and she unconsciously ran a hand through her equally tan colored shortly cropped hair.

“Whisper, Thread fall’s over with and now you start to get excited?” the young woman chided the brown who continued his noisy dance, “I swear you have a major delayed reaction time. Faranth help us if you were ever out in a Fall by yourself. You probably wouldn’t squeal until twenty minutes after your death.” Whisper crooned back at her from the air before landing once again on her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek.

The young woman decided that she’d take a chance in opening the shutters. With some mental surprise that was not evident on her stern features she found that there were none of the clouds that were signs of Thread in the west. The fall was over and she must have been too deep in thought to realize the time that had passed… then again she could have accidentally fallen asleep, it had happened once before. She wiped at her eyes and found nothing that signified having slept. The dragons had been heavy in her thoughts as they always were during a fall.

As Whisper calmed, he cooed at her questionably as he projected an image of a thick hide bound book with the precious paper that was oh so hard to get especially for an apprentice scribe. The young woman nodded and got up without so much as a smile though she did love to write. Picking up a sharpened quill pen, she sat herself in front of the huge book and carefully opened it to the next crisp off white page that had as of yet to be written upon. With a soft plunk she dipped the tip of the writing utensil into a small bottle of ink and started to write.

Thread fell today as it has my whole life. Durring the fall I decided to take some time to myself and Whisper to wonder what it was like when Thread did not fall as my sister, Koora and our cousin Quachir saw it for the first few turns of their lives. I still wish to see the dragons fight Thread first hand even though it is something any normal person would fear. Whisper just insisted on reminding me that I wasn’t normal, but this is coming from a brown fire lizard with a name contrary to his actions. The Hold seems to prospering well at this time of turn even with the heat. I pity my sister who’s out on ground crew at this time. We made arrangements earlier today when we knew it would be hot to sit down to a nice meal of bread, cheese, and some imported redfruit juice; sometimes the simple things are the best in life. Koora has been complaining loudly these days about the dragons who protect this Hold. It seems the last few falls the dragons have been lacking in their skill and letting larger groupings of Thread fall through. My sister clams that there have been a few queen riders who have come down and scolded the crews for not doing their job properly. I feel sorry for the rider who had enough nerve to tell that to my sister. The words she used which I dare not repeat even in writing would have made an swearing sailor blush. Good news for me today it seems that I may be receiving my Journeywoman Knots soon. The Master Scribe here at Ista will not say for sure and continues to ignore what his assistances say. Hopefully it’s not a cruel rumor circulating. Well, a dragon just appeared out of between just a moment ago; A gold and huge at that. It looks as if she’s circling down to talk with one of the crews. Faranth help the woman if made the mistake of picking on Koora’s crew. Well, there are other things to do than write what is happening in my life. For one thing I should participate in it. For another I have a meeting with Ista’s recorder. More to come I’m sure. ~Sadel, apprentice Scribe of Ista Hold

Sadel carefully placed her quill pen on a well used piece of hide so as not to get ink on her desk top and then carefully blew on the paper before her to dry the ink. Testing the spot that looked most likely to still be wet she gave almost unseen smile at it being dry and closed the book carefully. Whisper pawed at her pen and the young Istan plucked the noisy brown off the desk so he wouldn’t some how break the tip of her pen. The brown squawked but was quick to situate himself on her shoulder

“We have an appointment to keep, my young friend,” she clicked her tongue at her brown. With that, Sadel walked out of her small room and headed for one of her superior’s offices. Whisper chattered in a softer voice nerves that didn’t seem to show through Sadel’s blank features. The little brown was sure something was up.

Sadel couldn’t help herself as she slammed the door behind her. That insulting biggut! the girl’s mind flared as the neutral expression that had been 90% of her demeanor was now blasted down. Sadel knew she was ready for the next stages of her scribing, and so had her former teachers. The record keeper, AKA the master of her small craft at Ista had not seen it in the same light. He saw her works as something not worth working with anymore. He was threatened by my talent? she thought still surprised, her Master had not said that but one of the Journeymen had told her this as she walked past him just barely withholding her anger.

Whisper chattered irritably around her head and as they rounded a corner Sadel yanked him out of the air by his neck.

“Tell the whole world while you’re at it!” she growled in his face, the brown immediately stopped his soprano voice in mid chirp. Sadel glared at him for a bit resisting a primal urge to squeeze the little thing’s neck. The panicked whirling of his eyes was what stopped her from performing an act she would have regretted for all her days. She quickly started to try and reassure the brown that she hadn’t meant a thing that she’d said to him in the past five minutes and rubbed the loud little flit all over. Whisper finally warmed to his mistress’ attempts at gaining his trust once more. The little brown gave her a playful nip on the nose and Sadel chuckled quietly.

“I deserved that after what I did to you, Whisper,” she replied with a slight chuckle and the little brown purred an agreement before rubbing his head against her cheek. The brown, worries forgotten already, chirped again as he projected a woman who had some resemblances to Sadel. The light brown haired woman looked out the nearest window.

“You’re right, she should be back by now,” Sadel replied and headed for her room thinking her sister would be found there. Oddly enough Koora was not and the former scriber frowned, it deepened as she looked at her beloved book of her life’s records. If I get the chance I’m going to get out of this hold… I’ll find some place that will welcome my family.

It was true, her family had not been well liked by those who lived in the Hold. Her sister Koora was too bossy they said and she was too quiet for some people’s liking. Quite! Hmf! If I weren’t quiet they’d be complaining that I was way too loud and rambunctious like Quachir’s half sister Tiff Prisim! Her family also had a history of having tempers, some of the family could control it much better than the others but tempers were defiantly a trait between them.

As she looked outside she saw a queen dragon sunning herself on one of the ledges. Sadel winced at the large queen, which looked to be of Talor Cliff Weyr breeding. If she is back in her room she’s not going to be very happy. she commented to herself as she walked on.

Sadel found herself at the door of her sister’s room before she knew it and blinked. The door was closed tightly when it was open at least a crack when her short elder sister was there. She tested the knob without too much of a thought and gave a soft firm knock. Maybe she is in here, Sadel thought to herself as Whisper launched himself off her shoulder and flew into the room and when out of sight he chirped once happily before gliding back over to his mistress as she made her way into the room; she knew that was a signal that Koora was in the room.

“Koora, what happened with our meeting up after Ground Crewing?” Sadel asked her sister quietly as her eyes finally came to rest on her 5’8” twenty five turn old sister, Koora. The older woman had slightly longer hair, and most defiantly brown, with stern yet warm brown eyes and the usual Istan tan.

“I had an unexpected visit at the end of our crewing, Sadel,” her sister smiled in greating. Sadel raised a questioning eyebrow at her slightly shorter sister before the elder spoke, “Quachir’s back for a time… though she hasn’t told me why she’s here.”

Sadel let her usually blank features fall and a small smile of her own cross her features in her surprise. Quachir? Here? she thought rapidly, I haven’t seen her in, what, nearly a decade? I wonder what’s become of her that she didn’t write us.

“I thought you would have been annoyed by the grand queen dragon that’s sitting out there,” Sadel questioned, a coy smile coming to her, at this time, not so neutral features, “I didn’t realize we’d had other visitors.”

“Actually, I came on her,” a voice replied from the open doorway. Sadel smiled and, though she didn’t feel it, calmly approached the woman, her cousin Quachir, that stood there and gave her a welcoming hug.

“That big lump of gold out there is yours?” Sadel asked, her voice as calm and dry as ever though her eyes sparkled with happiness at her cousin’s good fortune to impress a dragon, a gold at that, “Did you forget how Koora has a mortal annoyance for queens and their riders?”

“I forgot no such thing, Del,” Quachir chuckled as she looked at Sadel, calling her by her old nickname, “And that big lump of gold as you call her is Mekoth, largest gold to come from Talor Cliff Weyr.”

“Her breeding shows well,” the young scribe replied in high respect of her turn older cousin.

“Your sister didn’t think that,” Quachir smirked obviously poking fun at Koora who glared back at her. Chir’s grown more vocal since she left those turns back, the eighteen turn old girl noticed and her curiosity peaked at her cousin’s short statement.

“Meaning?” Sadel asked eyeing her sister a bit slyly, or as much as one could who kept most of their emotions invisible to the world.

“Don’t ask, little sister!” Koora warned her sister and went on like the question hadn’t been asked of her, “So what was the discussion with ‘Lord High and Mighty’?” She was talking to old, sour fruit? Sadel thought arching an eyebrow at her cousin. The Lord Holder, though thought highly of her sister’s ground crewing skills was a dislikable man, another reason to leave the hold for another place.

“Let’s put it this way, how do you feel about the Southern Continent?” the queen rider smirked.

The Southern Continent? Sadel thought to herself and then replied to her cousin’s question which was probably only meant for her sister, “Mind letting me come along then too, Chir?” she only tilted her head while she looked on at her sister and cousin with a somber look, “This place hardly feels like home anymore.” Both blinked at her like she had something coming out of her head yet Sadel didn’t flinch even though she chuckled inside, this was one of the reasons she kept herself so quiet most of the time.

“South sounds nice,” Koora finally replied for herself, “It’s coming on to the summer months here soon… It should be going on to the wet season there, right?” Both sisters watched as the gold rider’s eyes clouded over for a moment then she answered Sadel’s sister’s question.

“True, but the Senior Queen at Ryslen Weyr, Litayth, says they’re having some odd weather which includes snow, and that’s where we’re going.”

“Snow?” Sadel asked in a suddenly excited voice at the same time as her sister.

“Never seen snow before,” Sadel continued on excitement running through her body at the thought of this interesting luck she was having; the first day she decided she wanted to get away from this Hold she was given the chance, not to mention to see something she’s only heard of from travelers, “So can I come, even if Koora doesn’t agree to go?”

“You’re not the only one who’s not seen snow!” Koora growled at her and snorted out her reply to her cousin’s question, causing Sadel to inwardly chuckle, “Count me in! How long we gonna be there?”

“About two turns, I’ve made the arrangements with Tiyanni,” Chir replied without skipping a beat. Sadel looked at her cousin critically as her sister’s jaw dropped

“You pop out of the blue and expect us to drop everything in our lives and come live at a Weyr on the other side of Pern for two turns? Chir this isn’t like you, you usually plan far in advance.” Chir smirked at her younger cousin.