Aerbi stretched and put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. His mother looked at him out of the corner of her eye and he smiled, knowing she became angry every time he put his boots up on the table. “Aerbi, what have I told you before?” She asked, not even looking up from her book.

He shrugged and played with his blonde hair, trying to get it to stick up a little more in front. “You’ve told me quite a few things,” he said.

She sighed and put her book down on her lap. She looked over at him and said, “What have I told you about the coffee table?”

He decided to have a little more fun with this so he said, “Well you’ve said not to let Evela up on it, that dad spent a lot of money on it. Umm, don’t put glasses on it because it leaves water stains when the glass sweats.” He rubbed his chin and said, “I think that covers it right?”

She crossed her arms in annoyance and said, “Take your sharding boots off of the table Aerbi before I rip them off completely.”

He smiled, a crooked half smile, and put his feet back on the floor. “You know I’m just kidding around mom.” He sighed and continued, “I’ve just been so bored ever since Loredas got searched and Impressed at the Weyr.”

She nodded and smiled. “Well technically it’s L’das now Aerbi. However, I can understand why you’ve been bored. All your friends have either been searched or have just left and your brother is gone now as well. Your time will come soon though I think. Hopefully soon,” she added.

He frowned and asked, “Are you trying to get rid of me?” He was joking around of course, but he knew that his mom was beginning to get tired of his everyday mischief.

She nodded and said, “Of course I am Aerbi. You’re going to send me to the grave early if you still around much longer. I can’t believe that your father hasn’t given you a job down at the docks yet.”

He shook his head and said, “He doesn’t want to deal with me either. He’d rather send me to a deserted Hold and tell me to fix up the place, knowing it would practically my entire natural life.”

She smiled slightly and said, “You know I love you Aerbi but seriously, I can’t take much more. I’m just glad your younger sister isn’t like this.”

Aerbi sighed and said, “Tiela has friends in the Hold still. Otherwise, I think she would be just as bad as I am.”

She nodded and said, “Come on Aerbi, we’re going to find something for you to do.”

He shook his head and said, “No I don’t want to right now mom, I’m not in the mood.”

She stood up and said, “I don’t really care Aerbi. We’re going to find you a job here at the Hold so you can get out from under my feet.”

Aerbi got up and started to walk down the hall. “Fine, just let me go get Evela before we head out.” He opened the door to his room and walked to his bed, rubbing his firelizard’s eye ridge softly. She warbled and opened one eye, peering up at her owner. “Come on Evela, we’ve got to go.”

She stretched and then climbed up his arm till she reached his shoulder. As he walked back into the living room his mother was still there, waiting for him. “I think we’ll check the apprentice hall first if that’s ok.”

He frowned and asked, “The apprentice hall? What are we going to find there?”

His mother shrugged and said, “I don’t know but we’ll see if the master can fit you in somewhere. Maybe working with wood or something? You’re pretty good at carving things.”

He sighed and stroked Evela when she warbled questioningly. “I could do that as a profession?”

She nodded and said, “Sure you could, if you’re good at it. Let’s go see what the master thinks though first ok?” He nodded and followed her out the door, holding onto Evela’s tail lightly.

As they walked into the apprentice hall the master came towards them briskly. “What can I do for you?” He asked his mother.

She cleared her throat and said, “Well I was wondering if there was a spot open for Aerbi in the hall. He’s good with wood so if you have anything in that area that would be great.”

He looked Aerbi over and said, “I’ll check but let’s see what you can do first ok?” When Aerbi nodded he led him over to a table and put a piece of wood in front of him, along with a few tools. “Alright, let’s see you make a runner. Not a draft animal though, one of the sleek racers.”

Aerbi nodded and went to work, carving the animal out of the wood. He had him standing square and his tail set high, like he was excited. As he carved the neck, sleek and arched back, he curved it back so the animal was looking behind him over his shoulder. As he added detail he flared the nostrils out and had the ears perked up and forward.

He stopped for a moment and looked the piece over and decided something was missing. He sat there for awhile, not doing anything and then added muscle lines and detail to the mane and tail. When he had finished that he carved shoes onto the bottoms of the horse’s hooves and carved a little more detail into the face.

When he was finally done he sat back and looked it over, trying to figure out if it needed anything else. He shook his head and then looked up at the master. “I think that’s pretty good, but I’ve done better.”

The master raised an eyebrow and asked, “You can do better? This seems pretty good to me.” He picked the small runner and ran his hands over it, nodded in approval. “Barely any rough edges,” he commented. “Can you add color?”

Aerbi nodded and said, “Yeah this one looks as if it’s a little underweight and the front shoes aren’t exactly the same width. I can add color with you really want me to though.”

The master nodded and handed him a small crate filled with colored paints. “Paint it whatever color you think looks good, and I’m sure I’ll agree with your choice.”

Aerbi nodded and picked out a black and an extremely dark blue. He also pulled out a light pink, red, white, gray, and three shades of brown. He painted the runner black and added the blue to spots where he thought the sun would hit, just to emphasize how black he was. He painted a thin, crooked blaze down the runner’s face and widened it out when he reached the muzzle.

He let the black paint dry and then he added a high sock to the back left leg as well as a thin coronary band to the front right leg. He painted the nostrils next, with the red as the base and then rimming the edges with pink. He spent a lot of time on the eyes, getting the mixtures of brown just right before adding the color to the runner.

While the brown paint was drying he cleaned his brush off and then added the gray paint to the shoes, careful not to get it on the horses’ actual hooves, which still had to be painted. Put a light glaze over the eyes, making them seem extremely real, while the shoes were drying and then he started working on the hooves.

He made two of them dark, the ones that didn’t have any markings. As for the back leg that did, he made that one a pale tan mixed with the lighter shade of brown. He looked it over, making sure it looked real. When he was happy with it he moved to the front leg, the one with the coronary band. He made this one the same color as the back he had just painted but he added two darker colored stripes that he painted from the base of the hoof to the top on either side.

She smiled and looked the runner over again before adding the finishing touch, a gray colored brand on the lower part of the runner’s hindquarter. He looked up at the master and said, “Well I’m happy with the colors, but the runner could have been carved a little better.”

The master smiled back and said, “I don’t think anyone will notice the width difference in two shoes Aerbi.” He looked the runner over as well, careful not to touch the paint since some of it was still wet and then said, “I think you will be an excellent addition to the apprentice hall. You know, you could make a lot of money carving models of the successful racers for their owners.”

Aerbi nodded and said, “Yes I suppose so. I don’t only do runners though. However, it is the model I like to do best.”

The master nodded and asked, “What else do you carve?”

Aerbi shrugged and said, “Well I carve firelizards and dragons, but they don’t come out so good all the time because I’ve only seem them a few times. They just end up looking like bigger firelizards so I tend to stay away from carving them.”

The master nodded and said, “Well we’ll work on that then. You go and get your things and come back here and I’ll have a few carving jobs lined up for you. You can carve my runner first,” he added with a chuckle. “I have a few pictures you can work from.”

Aerbi stood up from the table, thanked the master and then walked out the door with his mother. “I think I’ll have fun there,” he commented when they were out of the apprentice hall.

His mother nodded and said, “Good, if you like it there you won’t be in my face so I’ll get a little peace for once. You never know, they might transfer you to a Weyr so you can carve those dragons.”

Aerbi shrugged and opened the door to their house. “I don’t know about that, but I’d be more than happy if I just stayed here as well.” He went to his room and gathered his things and then walked back out the door. “I’ll be back this weekend soon, or something. I mean, it’s not exactly that far from our house anyway.”

His mother nodded and waved as he jogged back to the apprentice hall.

As he walked back in the master already had a work place set up for him, near his office. “I’ve got the pictures there and a piece of wood. It’s a little bigger than the piece you just used but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with it. I’ve placed the other runner on that shelf there, under your name. Put all your finished carvings there alright?”

Aerbi nodded and asked, “Where should I put my things?”

The master took them and said, “I’ll put them in the barracks for you. Dinner is in about three hours you have time to finish that runner, considering the other one took you only a little more than an hour. You’re probably the faster worker I’ve ever seen, and you get every detail in as well.”

Aerbi smiled and sat down at the table, looking the pictured of the master’s runner over. He was a stocky looking palomino gelding with a large star and snip, as well as four high socks. He rubbed his chin, thinking of how he wanted to position him.

Finally he decided to carve his back feet square and one of his front feet slightly in front of him, like he was pawing. He also pictured the neck, curving down to see what he was scratching at. As for the mane, he had it flopping over to both sides, like it was in the picture and the forelock falling into the gelding’s eyes. He was going to curve his tail around like he was swatting at a fly or something along those lines, or was just plain impatient.

He jotted all of this down and then began to carve the runner, making sure that he had larger, powerful looking hindquarters and downhill conformation. As he carved the neck he made sure to set the mane right so that it fell to both sides and looked kind of messy. He moved up to the head and carved it somewhat flat on top and made the jaw line wide and rounded. He carved the tail out and took sections of it out, overlying the strands to make it look more realistic.

When he had roughly carved everything out he started to add detail, first starting with the head and then moving down, ending with the legs and hooves. He made the legs thick and muscular as well but the hooves dainty, just like the mater’s horse. After he had finished the fine detail he pulled the crate of paint down to the floor and began searching for the right colors for the palomino.

He decided on a caramel type color and added a bit of yellow and cream into it, getting a shade that was almost exactly like the runner’s fur. For the mane and tail he mixed an off white as well as the cream and some pale yellow. He pained the body, leaving the legs and head untouched for the moments, as well as the mane and tail and then let the pain dry while he worked on the legs.

He painted the socks white, but added the off white and cream near the top to blend it into the coat. The hooves he painted a light gray and then and then added a slightly darker color to strip three of the four hooves. He looked them over, nodded in approval and then painted the head, taking care to leave the spots where the start and snip were blank.

When he got to them he made sure they looked exactly like the runner in the picture and then worked on the eyes, doing the same thing he did with the other runner he had made that day. He blew on the eyes in attempt to make them dry faster but sighed when he saw it wasn’t working. He took the pale yellow up again and added some light spots on the animal, as well as some dapples on its hindquarters.

He smiled and put the glaze on the eyes, the last thing he had to do. He then stood up, looked his creation over and then walked it over to the shelf. He nodded, knowing the master would be pleased and then went back to the table to clean up. He was about to throw the wood shavings away when someone cleared their throat.

Aerbi turned around and saw a young man sitting on the table behind him. “Hello,” he said. “How can I help you?”

The man smiled and said, “I’m P’mir, a searchrider from Falas Weyr. You are very talented in the woodcraft. Tell me, do you only carve runners?”

Aerbi shook his head and said, “No I carve firelizards and dragons too, but they never come out right.”

P’mir frowned and asked, “Why not?” He looked at the two runners on the shelf and said, “If they are anywhere near the quality of those two carvings there then I’d like to have one.”

Aerbi smiled and said, “Well I’ve only seen a dragon a few times so they end up looking more like an overgrown firelizard. I don’t think you’d like to have one until I have time to visit the Weyr and spend time around them. I mean, see them more so I know what details to add.”

P’mir nodded and said, “Well that might be able to be arranged. As I said, I’m a searchrider from Falas Weyr and we’re in need of candidates right now. My dragon, blue Siyeth, thinks you would make a good candidate. You will be able, and encouraged, to continued your work of course once people see how good you are.”

Aerbi looked up at the dragonrider and asked, “I could become a dragonrider?”

P’mir laughed and said, “Of course you could. You only have to agree to coming to the Weyr with me, and standing on the sands. Oh, and making a model of my blue Siyeth. I will pay you for your efforts of course, and I’m sure others will have the same idea. How much do they usually run, would you say?”

Aerbi shrugged and said, “Well it depends on the size of the wood and how much detail you want, but if you’re looking for one the size of the palomino I’d say about fifteen to twenty marks.”

P’mir nodded and said, “Yes, I would recommend something around that range as well. You’ll be loaded in a month’s time if you agree to come.”

Aerbi smiled and said, “I’d love to.”