Stats Story Hatchling Weyrling Adult Ryslen Flurry 2003 Tripaldi Weyr Movement out the window broke through Jorian’s thoughts and he looked out to find a dragon in the courtyard. No doubt Orlya’s transport back to her home. The snow falling outside obscured his view of the dragon’s rider and anyone else who might have been out there. He watched idly; glad to have something to distract him from his gloomy thoughts. A second dragon landed as he watched and this one was close enough that he could vaguely make out the rider dismounting and walking toward the door to the Hold. Curious now, Jorian stood and headed toward the entrance. He saw the first dragon take off and assumed that dragon would be taking Orlya away; he had no chance of embarrassing himself by running into her. Once in the entryway Jorian found the dragonrider talking in hushed tones to the man who’d been his father of a sorts since he came here. When he walked up the two looked up at him, both seeming to measure him up with their eyes. Uncomfortable, Jorian started to walk past, hoping they would think he’d just been passing through, but his adopted father spoke to him. “Hold up there boy,” he said, a troubled look on his face. “We’ve got a question for you.” “Sir?” he replied, stopping and turning to face the two men, very conscious of how much bigger he was than them and trying to hunch his shoulders to look smaller. “Jorian, this is R’lan, rider of Blue Ancith. He’s been out on Search and came this way after visiting one of our smaller cotholds to the north. It seems one of the cotholders has an odd request...I’ll let him explain it.” “Jorian?” R’lan turned to the large young man before him and smiled in a way that put Jorian at ease. “I hear you have a sister, Jina, right?” Jorian nodded, “Yes, what about her? She didn’t cause some sort of trouble did she? Whatever she did, I’ll fix it!” “No, no, nothing like that. It seems holder Morik is looking for a companion for his daughter. They visited down here a few sevendays ago and his daughter was quite delighted with your sister, Jina.” Jorian frowned as he searched his memory for the girl; eventually he nodded, remembering a little girl who had spent some time with Jina, which had allowed him to leave her alone a bit more than usual. “And?” “Now, holder Morik has a wife, a wonderful mother who raised all their children and now they’ve just got this one daughter left in the cothold and she’s lonely, and honestly I think Morik’s wife is going crazy having only one child to look after. We know you’re attached to your sister but it might be a good idea to consider letting her go live with holder Morik and his family. They’d take real good care of her.” Jorian could hardly believe what he was hearing. They were going to take Jina away from him. But he’d given up his life to taking care of her, what would he do without her? “Jorian,” said his stepfather, his tone persuasive but concerned, “think about what this will mean for you. I know you want more than to be tied to your sister all your life. You’ve done real well by her all this time, but you’re a grown man, it’s time to let someone else do the work so you can move on with your life. You could enter a crafthall, granted you’re a little old, but these days they’ll accept anyone willing. You could find a wife, get married.” “You could be a dragonrider,” broke in R’lan with a grin. “Ancith’s willing to take you if you’d like to give it a try.” Jorian stared at the man in a wide-stupor. Him, a dragonrider? What dragon would want a big stupid oaf like him? But the thought had burrowed into his mind and wouldn’t let him go. He could be a dragonrider. He narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between the two men before him. “You’re sure she’d be taken care of?” “Wonderfully,” R’lan gestured out to the side and Jorian saw holder Morik standing there, his brow knitted and a hopeful expression on his face. “No need to worry there, boy, Jina would be well cared for. My daughter adores her, says Jina’s her best friend and she wouldn’t want anyone else for a companion. And my wife, well, she’ll be glad to have a ‘child’ in the house who won’t grow up and leave us, being a mother’s her calling in life. And you’d be welcome to visit her anytime, you know.” Morik nodded his head, looking around as if expecting confirmation. R’lan looked at Jorian’s hesitant look and frowned at him. “Time to let go of the past and start building your own future, Jorian; now what’s it going to be?” Jorian nodded his head slowly then more forcefully as he resolved himself to it. He met R’lan’s challenging gaze with one of his own. “Jina can go, but only if she goes willingly. If she goes, I’ll go to Ryslen.” “Pack your bags boy,” said his adopted father with a grin, “Morik discussed it with me when he was here and I talked to Jina, she wanted to leave that day, but we made her wait until Morik could discuss it with his wife. Jina will be delighted to go, I’m sure.” They’d gone over his head but he couldn’t be angry, he was going to Ryslen. A few short candlemarks later Jorian was waving to his sister from the back of blue Ancith on his way to Ryslen. He shivered as a snowflake snuck beneath the neck of his heavy jacket but paid no mind to the ones swirling around his face when Ancith’s wings stirred them up as they fell. He was going to impress a dragon and at the famous Ryslen Flurry! His heart twinged as a sudden thought of Orlya pulled at him but he shook it off, Orlya would not have accepted him anyway, now all he had to worry about was whether a dragon would.