Not that I do not try hard. But... I always find myself looking up at the skies and hoping, that someday I might soar with the dragons above. When I was a youngling, I remember the clouds above shaping into pictures that I tried to describe to my siblings... They didn't really understand.
It was not long after that that we had a Harper come to our small cothold. He showed me the ways of writing and reading, and I knew that my calling would be telling others the stories which the Journeyman Harper Lammar told me.
My parents supported me as much as they could, however my father had to go to another Hold for work and I was sent off to the Harper Hall.
I suppose that I showed enough promise that they allowed me to remain in the classes even though I was very young (this was when I was only about 6 turns old). When I had taken all the writing and reading they had to offer, they wanted me to begin working with musical instruments or singing.
I am so sorry to say that I have very little singing talent. Even though my voice is soft and they say warm, when I try to sing, it just chokes up. I have even less talent with strumming a gitar string, or sadly even a drum beat.
So I was put with other scribes, made to learn as much as I could of the history of the world and its people, and set about writing more.
I collected stories from my friends at the Hall, and I remembered ones which my parents had told me as a child. All of these things I put to paper. Precious as it was, the paper I love also has its weakness: water. Time after time Harpers and scribes have learned that hide works much better for long-term memories.
Now, as I begin to work my own Journeyman status, I traveled back to my old home cot and found that my mother had fostered a number of others! There had been more before myself and my siblings, and I am certain that there will be more after we are gone.
While I was there, however, a rider came along to us and said he was on a Search! Much to my dismay, I was smelled all over by the great Blue, and have thus been readied for Candidacy!
Now I wait, a Candidate on the sands of the Aneris Weyr for my chance to Impress a dragon -- and finally ride into the skies!
Not next... There was a green after Fallith, then a blue... Then the Queen! Of course I couldn't impress her!
A brown went to a sturdy man from the Protectorate, as I thought he might get. I wasn't expecting him to be so emotional though!
Then, there was a brown that went off, and a blue... another green... I couldn't hardly wait. It was so hard to look. There were a couple dragonets walking behind the green who was very domineering. Her rider chastised her, and then ...
And then, I heard a dragonet call out. He called out loud, but it was almost as if I were the only one who heard him! How odd! But it seemed that another candidate might have been in my dragons eyes first!
Finally, still calling out loudly and assailing the sand with his heavy tail, the brown came to me and hit his head right into me!
I want you! I want you to be my rider! Not him, none of the others! They do not know my name!
I nearly fell down! "Woah! It's okay Dueth, I want you too!"
We went off the sands, and I hadn't realized there were so few people watching us. Dueth seemed proud that I knew him, and I was very happy about it too!
They want us to move ahead! It is the toss ahead move!
It is, Dueth, you remembered it!
We will lead this wing move, Dueth reminded me. Our wing is important!
We went through the diving and swooping move with pride. Then, finally we got back to the ledges and were congratulated by the weyrling master on our performance.
"And there is someone here to see you," he said.
A skinny redhaired rider approached us, and surprisingly he had a bronze dragon waiting beyond! He held his hands out in a greeting and I took my riding gloves off and returned it.
"You're good," he told me. "But I've read some of your ballads, and those are very good too. My name is J'zin, and this is bronze Notioth. I'm a wing rider of the Artistic Bent wing at the Kshau Protectorate. And I'd like to offer you a spot on our wing, when you are finished with your weyrling training."
I was stunned! And honored! "I... I would be glad to--"
"You can think about it, and I'll be expecting a message."
He walked off and laughed, while Dueth and I were left to hope that we would be good enough for the wing!
