It is cool here, the heat of the day kept out by many lengths of rock above and below. A gentle breeze flutters the edges of the lovingly woven wall hangings. Most rooms are sparcely furnished, with decorations few and far between. This room must surely be the exception to the rule.
A girl, perhaps 16 turns, sits in the window of the small room. A firelizard sits on the well-worn desk, watching her intently. She has strawberry-blond hair, that hangs in loose waves to just past her shoulders.
It is Tylar, the fosterling. She has grey-blue eyes, and freckles. Once again, she's alone in her room, waiting for... for what, exactly? The sun shines in, glinting off the small lyre in her lap. Nothing moves, as if waiting for the girl's soprano voice to break the silence.
The girl sets down the instrument, and climbs out of the window. Standing up, she's 5'8" if she's an inch, and slim. She's wearing a bright pink shirt embroidered with tiny yellow and purple flowers around the collar and sleeves, and a pair of black pants tucked carefully into well-worn knee-high wherhide boots, dyed a deep burgundy.
She seems rather tense. "It doesn't make sence Infy. Every other fosterling in this hold has been sent up to the Weyr on some errand or another." Infy chirps at her in distress, and she walks across the room. Tylar picks up the green flit, comforting her.
"I've been a fosterling here at Bynor hold all my life, Infy. I was born on the second day of the turn, a month sooner than I should have been. Mother was severly injured, but I don't know what happened. She was dying, but refused to tell the healers who my father was." Tylar tells the firelizard, walking across the room to sit on the bed.
She strokes the flit's eyeridges gently, as she continued,
"The headwoman says she was a queenrider. Maybe my father is a rider too... But I don't know." Infy chirps at Tylar, and hops up onto her shoulder.
Tylar gets off the bed, and walks over to the window. "I'm being trained as headwoman's second, and I'm learning to play the lyre. I enjoy riddles, but this distresses me. They let me go to Demnen Weyr, that's where I Impressed you, Infy. But they won't let me go to Ryslen." Her grey-blue eyes sparkle mischeviously, as they oft do when Tylar hatches out a plan. Infy chirps at her again, and she grins.
Sitting down on the windowsill, she looks out into the courtyard, seeing few folk out and about.
Moving away from the window, she retrieves a cloak from the hook by the door, and slips out.
Tylar walked into the stable, smiling sweetly at the beastcrafter on duty. She walked into the tack room, as if she had every right to be there, and claimed the gear for her mount. She quickly readied her usual riding 'beast.
With a promise to be careful, she mounted and rode off. Infy appeared from between and flew along beside. The green firelizard chirped at her Impressor, as if to say, "Where are we going?"
Tylar grinned as she nudged the runner into a fast trot. "To see the Weyr, of course." She laughingly said to her firelizard.
The ride was short, and rather uneventful. The runner, unsurprisingly, refused to go through the tunnel that led into the weyr, since the smell of Dragon was stronger there. Tylar didn't force the beast, but led him off to the edge of the clearing at the mouth of the tunnel. She tethered him securely to a tree. Infy landed on her shoulder, and together, they purposely strode towards the tunnel.
Suddenly, a long strand of coarse rope, dripping with a hideously vivid orange dye fell to the ground in front of Tylar. Startled, Infy lept from her shoulder, and went between. Tylar stared at it. Watch out! a voice called. Tylar looked up in time to see a blue dragon on a collision course with her. A yelp of surprise escaped her lips as she darted away from the rope.
The dragon altered his course just in time to avoid crashing, and flamed the rope as he flew past. Returning for a second pass, he landed right on top of the scorch mark. His rider slid down, and ran over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked her, lifting his goggles so he could see more clearly. His voice sounded remarkably similar to his dragon's.
"I'm fine." Tylar said, a bit shaken from her escape. Infy returned, and perched on her shoulder, eyes whirling orange in fright as she clung on for dear life.
"We're flying a practice Fall..." The rider explained. "I thought everyone had been warned to keep clear." He wasn't exactly angry, but he wasn't happy either.
"I just arrived." Tylar said, as he grinned.
"C'mon then, this is no place to be during Fall." he said, mock seriously as he led her to the dragon. As the bluerider helped her up, Tylar smelled the characteristic phosphorine smell of a firestone-chewing dragon. Infy decided she'd fly for herself, and waited impatiently for the rider to climb aboard.
Once the rider was strapped on, the dragon lept skyward, sending adrenaline racing through Tylar's veins. 'I could get to like this' she thought to herself, knowing that if she spoke, her words would be ripped away by the wind. The rider turned and grinned at her. We're glad. the dragon said to her. You will be a good rider. he said, as he landed gently in the weyrbowl. His rider stared at him as others came over to help Tylar down. "What do you mean by that, you blue rascal? We've no eggs here at Ryslen!" he exclaimed.
Tylar stood and stared. "Eggs?" she said, unaware that she'd spoken, she was so shocked.
The rider slid down, and enlightened look on his face. "He says you should Stand at Baeris Kshau's Healing Den. There are always eggs waiting there."
hatching story here! |
Days came and went, and the Hatching neared.
Tylar had moved from Bynor, to a temporary weyr at Baeris' Hatching Den. It was the middle of the night, when Baeris' blue Striker flew into Tylar's weyr, waking Infy. Moments later, Tylar was running down the halls towards the Hatching Grounds, with Infy right behind her.
The actual hatching was very quick, compared to the waiting. One of them fell to its side, nearly hitting a yet unImpressed blue. He watched as the egg broke open to reveal a green. She called out loudly, and the blue nuzzled her as if to comfort her! But the green would not be satisfied with just this.
Somehow, Tylar knew that the little green was trapped. Infy the green fire lizard lept from Tylar's shoulder and onto the sands, before Tylar could stop her.
The blue's Impressor was faster than Infy, and freed the dragonet. She ran away from him, and towards the candidates.
The green nearly bowled Tylar over, and as the girl laughed she noticed that the green hide of her dragon had darker green freckles on it, rather like her own freckled skin! She laughed even harder, and her dragon nudged her shoulder.
Why do you laugh at me? Am I funny?
"Oh, Isemoth, you're just perfect!" Tylar cried, laughing with tears in her eyes.
The rest of the Hatching flew by, Impressions made unnoticed by the happy pair. Who'd have thought that Tylar would end up with such a beautiful green companion?
As the sun broke over the horizon, a blue dragon appeared from between and landed in a clear space near the Hatching grounds. Isemoth looked up sleepily at the full-grown blue. Hello, Ancith. she said, then lay her head down in Tylar's lap.
R'lan slid down from his dragon, and walked over to Tylar. "I see Ancith was right, Searching you... Congratulations, greenrider." He said, then sat down by her side, to keep her company.
Ancith settled down, and looked around, happy for no reason, except maybe that R'lan was happy.
The girl looked at her freckled dragon, and as she softly scratched the freckled eyeridges, hoped that she wouldn't outgrow them.
He likes you. Isemoth said to Tylar. She smiled when she heard the dragonets words, and turned to look at R'lan. He'd been staring at her, and quickly turned his face away, blushing, hoping that she hadn't seen.
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