The ceiling is high up, and painted blue and white, in splotches. It looks like clouds. A dragon's couch is empty, but is covered with a blanket. A small pillow lays on top of the blanket, the corner carefully embroidered with tiny little clouds, and a tiny little dragon.
A bed is on the far wall, it's cover the same blue-white pattern of blocks as the one on the dragon's couch.
This is the room of the candidates, and unsurprisingly, she's not here right now. Being young, and living at the weyr, keeps one busy.
To one side, on a table, is a note, carefully written on a square-edged hide.
| So sorry I couldn't be here to meet you. The headwoman says you'd want to know about me, so I wrote it all down for you.
I'm nearly 5'4" tall, slim with long legs and long brown hair. I have greenish-brown eyes, like my Father, and a small "button" nose like Mother. I've 17 turns, and am currently a Senior Apprentice Beastcrafter. My favorite color is blue, and I'm often found to be wearing brown hide pants and boots, and a bright colored shirt... green, pink.. anything. I wear my hair tied back with a colorful scarf, and I rather enjoy singing with the harper in the evening. She says I've a lovely alto voice... I'll be back later, if you'd want to come back. Feel free to read the letter below, it's about how I got to be here. |
~Riale |
Summer, 1st day at the hold Our travelling is over. We are here. The beasthold isn't quite what I'd expected. Mother said that it was a wonderful place, bright, festive... I think it's just plain dirty! Mother and Father sent me to be a fosterling here, to learn beastcraft, after Mother dreamed of me on a fast runnerbeast. The trader's wagon train arrived this morning, and as soon as I stepped out of the wagon, the hold boys sought me out as a target for their teasing. I escaped them for most of the day, but nearing sunset, they caught me alone in the courtyard, and gave chase. My only chance to escape was to dash into the watchwher's den. Unfortunately for me, he began making a fuss when I got far enough in to be lost in the dark. I could feel his breath on my face, and I could see his orangy-red angry eyes. I patted his head, hoping to calm him down. He felt like a rock... hard, but soft too. Outside, the boys yelled: "Come out you dirty, smelly..." |
The writing ends here, but the story isn't finished.
Turning the hide over, there is more written, carefully, on the back side.
| They didn't say any more.
As it turns out, the sweeprider saw them (or so he thought) shouting at the watchwher, and landed to stop it. The boys went away. Fast. His dragon bespoke the wher, and calmed him down. As he moved away from me, sunlight glinted off his hide. Blue. A blue watchwher. I heard the rider say something about "twilight" just before he called into the den: "Anyone in there?" The wher... gurgled... and I crept out. He laughed, because the boys had chased me into the wher's den. He told me not to worry about those ruffians any more. His dragon, a big brown, nudged me with his head, so I gave him a pat too. Whers aren't nearly as soft as dragons, nor nearly as big. At that point, I thought about how big dragons are, and how useful the little watchwher had been to me. After that, I didn't think about it again for a while. Days went quickly by, and the hold began to look less dirty, and more like home. |
| I don't hide from all my problems, but sometimes it's for the better.
I often visited Twilight, the blue wher, and brought him treats... nearly every day. I often wonder if that rumor about dragons and whers being related is true. He's so nice, even if he is only a wher. I ride bareback better that those holdbred boys, now, and I'm really comfortable with these runnerbeasts, even though some of them are ever so much taller than I am. I began to think that maybe Mother's dream was right. Until the brownrider started stopping by more and more often. Recently, he told of a special dragon's clutch, and insisted that I go as a candidate. So here I am. ~Riale |
 . | There's no doubt that the special clutch the Brown Searchrider had in mind was one at Baeris Kshau's Healing Den. Riale has applied as a candidate there, under the advisement of the brownrider. |
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