Sytoqual smiled up at one of Pern's moons that was just peaking over the ridges of Harana Weyr. An amazing sight for sure. Too bad the caravan he was on wasn't going to visit the newly established weyr. Sytoqual had heard rumors that the weyr already had a clutch on its sands and was madly looking for candidates for the eggs. He had as of yet to hear how many of those alleged eggs were on the sands.
"Sytoqual," a gruff female voice called out, "Quit havin' sun dreams and help finish setting up camp with us. You wanted to see Pern by caravan ya' gotta work to stay on the caravan and eat."
"I'm comin', Latema," he called out. Less than a turn back, Sytoqual had decided to travel. He had been 18 turns at that time and very head strong, not so much that he was annoying but a girl two turns his junior named Nagie would say other wise. Sytoqual had gotten bored with his life at Turasake Hold where he was only the second generation of the Hold. True it was new but not to this boy. His soft brown eyes had lit up when he found the caravan stopping at the hold for a short visit.
Sytoqual made quick friends with Latema that day, so quickly did he make friends that he convinced her to let him come along when the caravan left in the morning. Latema agreed but Sytoqual's father took some convincing. When it was nearly dawn the young man succeeded in convincing his father with the fact that he was 18 turns old and should be trying to make himself more useful to the world. It wasn't a very strong bargaining chip but it had worked.
Sytoqual had visited many weyrs in his journeys, enough to mange to get a hold of a fire lizard egg from Dawn Sisters Weyr. True the fire lizard was only a green and not but two months old, yet he still loved her as much as any dragonrider loved his or her dragon, or so he thought. The teen looked at the rising moon once again.
Chirping in a scolding manner, Sytoqual's young green fire lizard suddenly flew up next to him. She landed still chittering at him only to be stopped by a small pat on the head.
"I said I was coming, Hotary, and I am," he reassured her as he walked back to the sight.
"Ah, you start comin' when the stew starts to bubble, as usual," Latema chuckled ruffling his already slightly wild brown hair.
"I know this crowd well enough not to be late for a meal," he replied indicating the rest of the band who were starting to crowd around the cooking fires.
"And they know enough to get here quickly or you'll eat all the meals no problem, ya' bottomless pit," she chided him jokingly, "How in the world you could eat so much and not game any visible fat is beyond me." It was true, Sytoqual had a way of eating and yet keeping his slightly muscular figure. He was quick to pick up a bowl and start to serve himself at most meals, when he didn't most knew he might be a bit sick.
Sytoqual was half way through his third bowl of the stew when he noticed the runner and herdbeast starting to get restless. Tilting his head at them he looked to where the wide-eyed beasts were gazing. The 19 turn old boy was speechless at the sight of a dragon gliding through the sky, the moon at its back. The soft bulge was what started the beast to get thoroughly distressed.
"Sytoqual, go see to those beasts, we don't want them running off at night, a wild wher might get 'em then," Latema commanded and then a grim smirk crossed her features, "and don't let one of them get the better of you like before."
"That was almost a turn ago, Latema," he called back at her as he went to do as he was told, putting an index finger to just above his right eyebrow and traced the line of the scar that ran over his eye and half way down his cheek, "I know better than that now."
A few nights after Sytoqual had joined the band of travelers they had been near a long dead volcano near Turasake. To the surprise of everyone, most especially the beasts a dragon launched itself off the ridges of the volcano giving a crow before blinking between to its home weyr. This didn't matter to the beast of the caravan. Scared out of their wits some of them began to bolt. Sytoqual, trying to prove himself caught hold of a runnerbeast's halter and tried to calm the stallion. Unfortunately for him the stallion rear and he lost for of the halter for a moment, just long enough for the runnerbeast to come down.
In the end Sytoqual had felt the scrap of the hoof on his face and felt the warmth of his own blood run down his right cheek. It was a few sevendays before the swelling around his right eye went down enough to show that he had not lost sight in that eye. Sytoqual was grateful yet a bit resentful of the runnerbeast who'd caused the scar. Later on he didn't mind as much, to him it showed that he was now a much a part of the working band as anyone.
Sytoqual carefully put blindfolds on some of the more scarred beasts. As he finished one of a foal he looked back up in the sky to the dragon. Oddly it had not gone between nor back to its weyr, it was in fact heading straight towards them.
Sytoqual whistled low, it was a large green dragon. He bet himself five marks that it was Talor Cliff Weyr breed too. The green back winked in a seemingly showy way. Hotary chirped excitably at her large cousin. The green was beautiful. As the rider pealed off her tight fitting helmet a slight smirk appeared on the young man's features; like dragon like rider. He patted the runnerbeast he'd been tending to and walked over with others of the band.
"Forgive me, greenrider," Sytoqual heard Latema's gruff voice as she addressed the rider, "but what business do ya' have here. No 'ffence, but your dragon's a scarin' my beasts quite a bit."
"I'm sorry," she told Latema, "but you see, we just got back from a search at Turasake Hold and Ysbeth tells me as soon as we get out of between that there's somebody near by who was candidate material. I knew there weren't any at the weyr that weren't already considered candidates should the dragons wish to impress them so I was about to have her land when I saw the light of your fires. My Ysbeth said that was where the candidate was hiding so we winged our way over."
"So you're on search...."
"Elara."
"Yes, Elara," Latema nodded and then waved her hand to the group circled loosely around the two of them, "Well, there's not many young enough for search but these ones here are, I believe. See if your Ysbeth likes them, if they agree, then I'll let them go along with you tonight. None of us have many possessions other than seasonal clothes and such small things so they should be ready fairly quickly... that is if they agree." Latema seemed to shoot a glare at the group as if saying they better agree. Sytoqual laughed with the others, most people would be crazy to turn down a chance of impressing a dragon.
A mental command from her rider caused Ysbeth to walk over. The green's eyes whirled happily as she went down the line; always a steady whirl. The wedge shaped head slowly passed over every male and female in front of her. She passed Sytoqual by and went down two more people. Then, as if having a second thought, her great head swung back to the young man. She took in a deep breath causing Sytoqual to chuckle as his hair was pulled forward by the breath. Ysbeth's eyes whirled faster and she warbled softly at Sytoqual releasing her warm breath on him. Hotary chirped happily at her master.
"Seems you're the one she sensed," Elara smiled coming up to her lifemate's head and hugged it, "you did good, Ysbeth. What's your name?"
"Sytoqual," he replied startled at being searched. He'd always wanted to be searched but was most often away or unaware of the searchriders who came until they were back at their weyr.
"So would you like to be a candidate for Sr. Queen Elysith clutch of 15?" she asked.
"Wouldn't pass of the chance for anything in all of Pern," he replied still in awe. His hand tentatively reached out and touched the muzzle of the green before him. Ysbeth rumbled at him. It was then that he remembered he should gather his things. Ten minutes later he was ready with a large pack on his back.
"Ysbeth can carry that in her claws," Elara told him with a charming smile, as he tried convincing her not to trouble the green she told him sharply that it was trouble at all. Sytoqual reluctantly took the bag off his back and placed it in front of the green.
Ysbeth looked from it to her rider to the bag and back again then seemed to nod. The green crouched down and lifted her forearm for easier access to her neck ridges. Elara was on the green's back within moments, easily swinging into the seat from turns of practice. Sytoqual vaulted up onto the raised limb but had a time trying to get onto the neck properly.
"We'll be flying straight since we're so close, save ya' from washin' your pants when you get there," chuckled the greenrider. Sytoqual was about to reply when Ysbeth lifted into the air. The ground dropped from under them rapidly as the emerald wings beat a steady rhythm. Oddly and old harper's ballad popped into his head that went along with the beating of Ysbeth's wings.
Minutes later they were over Harana Weyr's Bowl. They landed lightly without too much jostling about. Elara was quickly out of the saddle as soon as Sytoqual was touching the ground. She seemed to have changed from the seemingly serious young rider he'd met only a few minutes ago, a glimmer of ecstatic joy was in her eyes and she hugged the forearm of her green. Something was mumbled to the dragon as she did this but Sytoqual could not pick it up.
"Uh, Elara," he interrupted the greenrider's hugging of her dragon's arm, "Where should I put my stuff." Elara turned from her green at the question and pointed towards a large archway, five dragon lengths away.
"See that large cavern over there?" she asked, not waiting for a response she continued, "That's where the sands are; The ground weyrs to the left of it are the weyrs for the male candidates, otherwise known as the boy's barracks. The girls barracks are on the right side. Take your pick, not one of them is occupied yet."
Sytoqual nodded his thanks and walked over to the barracks. He walked into the weyr, roughly in the middle of the line of boys' barracks. It was a fair sized weyr, big enough for both a young dragonet and its new rider to call home. A dragon couch was placed near the entrance with a cot not too far away from it. A trunk was placed at the end of the cot and lay open.
Sytoqual walked over to the trunk, would they already have a white candidate's robe ready for him? He looked in the trunk only a white folded up piece of heavy cloth sat in the bottom with a note on top of it. "See the Weyr Weaver as soon as possible to be fitted for your robe. Bring this cloth." Sytoqual nodded slightly at the note before pulling both the cloth and note out of the trunk and setting his own belongings into it.
Hotary popped out of between just as he finished putting his last items into the trunk and closed it. The fire lizard projected an image of another dragon descending into the Weyr Bowl. She landed on her master's shoulder after relaying the image.
"So I guess that means the other candidate is here from Turasake," he smiled rubbing the little green's head, "Wonder if I know 'em."
The 19 turn old walked out of his weyr... His weyr, that sounded good. A bronze had landed not too far from Ysbeth and the rider of the bronze was talking with Elara. He spotted the form of another person turning about slowly looking at her surroundings. Might as well introduce myself, we'll be leaving in the same weyr for who knows how long together, Sytoqual thought to himself. As he past the two riders he heard Elara call the bronzerider N'tar.
As he got closer he noticed that it was girl and she had raven black hair all in multiple braids. He blinked, was that who he thought it was. Could it really be...
"Nagie, is that you?" he asked in a startled voice. The girl froze at his voice. For a minute, she did nothing, then, ever so slowly she turned to face him. The girl looked just as startled as he did even with her pimpled face. The girl blinked three times as if not believing what she saw before her.
"What are you doin' here, Sytoqual?" Nagie asked in a surprised voice, before he could answer she continued on obviously annoyed at his unexpected presence, "I thought I was rid of you a turn ago." Sytoqual's good mood had just turn to ashes at the comment from the one person on Pern that he seemed to annoy the most.
"Nice to see you too," he snorted in reply, "I didn't think they meant you when they told me I was the second candidate they'd found tonight."
"You gotta be kiddin' me," Nagie whined back, "you're the other candidate?"
"Seems that way, so get used to it," Sytoqual told her sternly. He really hated it when Nagie whined. Hotary chipped and this surprised Nagie. Did it really surprise the light tan skinned girl that he had impressed a fire lizard? Oh that annoyed him.
The appearance of a blue fire lizard startled him at the same time as made him forget his annoyance. It had chirped as it appeared and was quick to spot his little green. The blue was not much older than Hotary, Sytoqual was sure of that. His green left his shoulder and preformed an airal display with the blue who was obviously Nagie's. Sytoqual was too surprised and interested in the two flits' display that he didn't even notice Nagie tilt her head to the side slightly and her dark blue eyes soften just as slightly.
"What's her name?" Nagie asked, a slight edge to her words. Sytoqual was booted back into reality with these words.
"Hotary," he replied bluntly yet in a civil way, "And yours?"
"Coten," she replied. As she replied, Sytoqual looked over his shoulder as Hotary landed on the other. The two riders who had brought them to the weyr were still standing where they had before. Elara was still talking animatedly with N'tar and he was listening patiently... Maybe he should give Nagie a chance to show her better side.
"Looks like Elara and N'tar will be a while talking," he commented as he turned his head back to find Coten on top of Nagie's head causing a cute if not comical scene. Sytoqual some how was able to keep a straight face, "Guess I'll just have to be the one to show you to the girl's barracks. Com'on." As he said this he started to lead the way over to the barracks. It was a short walk in which neither said a word.
"Those are the girl's barracks, you get your choose," he told her while pointing at the correct barracks. He started to walk off as an old habit suddenly slipped into his words of good night to the 17 turn old girl, "and you might want to scrub your face a bit better, it might keep away those pimples." He was too far away if Nagie actually gave him a reply to hear it. Sytoqual just shrugged, might as well make the best of it, they had a small possibility of being around one another longer than just the hatching.
| Sytoqual | |
| 19 | |
| 6'5" | |
| Large yet narrow/brown | |
| slightly wide/brown | |
| warm tan | |
| Turasake Hold | |
| Traveler | |
| N/A | |
| N/A | |
| N/A | |
| Harana Weyr |
| Hotary | |
| female | |
| fire lizard(green) | |
| hatchling | |
| Dawn Sisters Weyr | |
| N/A(on the road) | |
| N/A | |
| N/A | |
| Harana Weyr |