Stats Story Hatchling Weyrling Adult Ryslen Flurry 2003 Tripaldi Weyr For as long as Jorian could remember he had been responsible for Jina. He didn’t know what the relationship between them was, though he suspected they were brother and sister. When he was eight and Jina was six they were found traveling together, or rather, Jina had been running and Jorian had been chasing her, trying to keep her out of trouble. The men who found them had taken them back to their Hold where they were accepted as members of the ‘family’ of sorts. Since that day Jina and Jorian had both grown up and Jorian had now reached his 20th year. They’d lived in this hold for twelve years and in those twelve years Jina had not matured a bit. She was still childish and impulsive and though the healers could find nothing wrong with her, she seemed incapable of mature behavior and thought. Jorian had taken on her care since that first day they when the men told them they would have to help earn their keep. He made sure she stayed out of trouble and made sure she ate and dressed appropriately and since she seemed incapable of maturing or caring for herself he suspected he’d be doing it for the rest of his life. Then when they’d been there ten years Orlya had come to be fostered at the Hold. She had dazzled Jorian the moment he saw her. She was tall and slender and exuded an air of calm capability that was neither conceited nor false. She knew how to take care of herself and that was all there was to it. Her facial features were not spectacular, most people would call her plain, but Jorian thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, or would ever see. From that moment he knew she had to be his. Jorian had spent the next two years befriending her; timid as he was around most women it had not been easy, but eventually they had grown to be friends. Today she was leaving as her fostership was over and today he had planned to propose to her. He had little to offer her but his heart could wait no longer as he faced the possibility of never seeing her again. He hadn’t even told her why he wanted to speak to her when Jina’s shriek had interrupted him. Now she would never know how he felt, she would return to her home, and they would never see each other again. But perhaps it was best this way, at least she could go off and be happy without having the pain of being with a man with whom she would always have to come second, as she had today when he foolishly ran off to ‘save’ his sister. Jorian looked down at himself and was consumed with self-loathing. What would Orlya want with a big stupid oaf like him anyways? His hair was always messy, no matter how he tried to tame it, his brown eyes were plain and boring and the rest of him was just big, an oaf who couldn’t make himself presentable if he tried. Continue...