[Statistics] [Candidate] [Hatchling] [Weyrling] [Adult]

Kalimna glared around her, hands on rounded hips, grey-shot hair flaring behind her in the stiff breeze. She rarely got mad enough to act on it, and could usually control her temper when she did, but this time he had gone too far. “Hamuli, you come out here this instant!” she called, trying and failing to keep her voice at a normal octave.

The youth gritted his teeth and rolled his eyeballs skyward from behind closed lids. Since his father had died just five months before, their family life had gone rapidly downhill. First Tirion, the girl who they had unofficially taken in, had run off in pursuit of some ghost only she knew about, never to be heard from again. Then his eldest brother Pollard had dropped out of his Harpering lessons to become a wandering drunkard, the laughing stock of the Hold. Their mother, Kalimna, had been the next to go. The usually calm, sweet woman had become more and more moody, vicious even, seeming to find fault and folly in everything Hamuli or his elder sister Gillyan did. Somehow, it was all his fault. Always was.

“Leave me alone,” he called back, ashamed to hear his voice crack emotionally. He had to get out, somehow - and soon.

Kalimna narrowed her eyes, then put on the most ‘I’m your mother and I love you’ looks she could manage, calling once more for her son to emerge.

The fifteen turn old stayed put, clamping his hands over his ears in a desperate, very childish attempt to block out all of Pern. It must have worked, for after a few minutes, as he tentatively removed his hands, there was no more screaming. He relaxed against the cold rock of the small cave he was hiding in. Their house, near to the edge of the Holding, was surrounded on two sides by bush and the third a relatively low cliff-face, shot through with crevices and splits big enough to hold a boy. Hamuli, still quite small for his age, neatly fit into the largest hollow, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before he had no place left to hide.

Once more the thought of running away ran through his mind, and once more he thoroughly squelched it. He had not the means of transport, the marks, nor the know-how to get out on his own. But what other option did he have?

It was past dark when Hamuli finally entered the house, creeping in through the back entrance and heading straight for his sister’s room. He needed to talk to someone, and it sure wasn’t going to be his mother.

“Gill? Gill, wake up,” he firmly shook the older girl.

Gillyan murmured protest and swatted angrily at the interruption. “I’m sleeping, go away,” she muttered.

Hamuli knitted his brows, about to let her sleep, but his hands took over and gave Gill a mighty shove, almost pushing her out of bed. “Wake up, I need to talk to you!”

“What? Uli, what’s wrong? I’ve got to get up early tomorrow.” The blonde girl sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, leaning sleepily on them.

The lad settled next to her on the bed and got straight to the point. “I’m thinking of running away.” He half expected her to laugh at him, or tell him to get real, he’d never actually do that. Instead, she looked seriously at him for a long time.

When she spoke, her voice was strangely subdued. “Where to?”

“Uh...I hadn’t thought that far ahead, actually.” He was a little confused by her reaction. Almost as if she’d been expecting it, waiting for him to come to her and say those words.

“If you’re serious about this...” She paused, and he surprised himself by nodding. “Then we’ll have to do it properly. So that mother won’t worry and I won’t take too much blame. You’ll probably have to go to the Weyr - it’s closest, and there are daily trading wagons and the like.”

Hamuli nodded numbly. “I suppose that would be easiest. I’d have to buy my passage, though. I don’t have many marks."

“That’s not a problem,” Gillyan waved it away. “I have some you can have, but I’m sure you’ll be able to work as in scullery for someone along the way.”

He cringed at the idea, but it was the most probable. The girl rose and headed for her chest, lifting out the secret compartment where she kept her valuables. “Here,” she murmured, grabbing a few coins and a short gold chain. Hamuli took them cautiously, suddenly realised that she intended him to go this very night.

“Gill, I don’t know if I can do this right now. I need time to think it through, organise things a little better...”

“Don’t be a baby,” she scolded lightly. “If you sit here and think too long you’ll never end up going.”

A scary suspicion started to grow in his mind. “Why are you doing this, Gill? Do you want me gone or something?”

The girl looked sharply at her brother, a fleeting expression of pain falling across her features. “No. I’m doing this because I love you. And I have eyes,” she added. “I’ve seen the way you’ve been treated since father died and Tiri left. I know she was about the closest friend you had, and mother hasn’t been at all sensitive to that. I think you’re old enough to take care of yourself and I think you need to get out of this place. Is that a good enough answer?”

Hamuli felt the sting of tears in his eyes and he squinched them shut to stop them from falling. In a sudden expression of his feelings, he threw his arms around the older girl and squeezed her tight, thankful that he wasn’t totally alone in this world. “Thanks Gill. That means a lot to me.”

“Yeah,” she said, pulling back and trying to wipe her eyes surreptitiously. “I know. Now come on, let’s do this before either of us changes our minds.”

They gathered a few clothes, some emergency supplies, and some personal items he could not do without, placing them all into a soft tube-shaped shoulder bag along with the few marks they could find.

The boy glanced through the slightly ajar door into his mother’s room, allowing himself a moment of sadness as he said goodbye to her. He found it strange that however much he didn’t like her at the moment - for the past months, in fact - he knew he could still miss her. She was his mother, after all. He almost changed his mind at the thought of her losing another loved one, but knew he couldn’t stay. He’d go mad - go the way Pollard had gone - and that was one thing he didn’t want. His elder brother had been such a good man, helpful, kind, respectful, and everyone liked him. Liked being the operative word.

Hamuli blew her a kiss, gave his sister a final hug, and slipped out the door, feeling somewhat distanced from his own body. He could hardly believe this was happening, and yet it seemed like he had finally reached something that had been coming for a long, long time.

Z’ke grumbled at his reflection, trying to convince it that he was doing a great duty to this Ryslen Weyr, but it didn’t seem to be agreeing, by the look on it’s face. He had been spending a good deal of his time Searching for the Caers of Alskyr since his transfer to the other world through the accidental portal Khiath and he had discovered recently, and the occasional good deed for the Weyrs of Pern didn't seem like so much of an ask. Today, he was Searching for Ryslen, and though they seemed like lovely people, Z'ke would rather they pop out of existence at that moment so he could sleep in.

Do you wish the hatchlings to do /between/, rider mine? Khiath asked, a little confused by his rider’s reluctance to fly with him.

The bluerider sighed and turned away from the mirror. “Of course not, heart. It’s not that I hate Searching, in fact I rather enjoy it, it’s just... We've been on Search-duty for months now. I'd always thought of Searching as a kind of hobby, not a full-time job. I'm just not used to it, I guess.”

The blue grumbled, shifting his position slightly. But what would happen if we decided not to Search today, and today we were to find a future Queenrider? or a bronzerider? or even a greenrider. That dragonet would die, and it would be our fault. He seemed to be taking the whole thing extremely seriously, but then, Z’ke admitted, it was a rather serious matter.

“You’re right, of course.” He sighed and headed to the chest which held his riding gear, took it out and began to strap in onto the blue. “Where shall we Search today, love?”

There was a pause as the dragon considered this. Soul Star Hold, I think. There are more Searchdragons on the look out around the Weyr than there are at the Hold.

“What about one of the Holds tithed to Ryslen? Shouldn’t we go there first?” It was, after all, the customary thing to do.

Khiath shook his wedge-shaped head, eyes whirling green. I want to Search at Soul Star today. Well, there could be no harm in it, and it seemed that the blue was in a stubborn mood.

Z’ke nodded. “Soul Star it is then.”

The road jarred the boy’s body, sending a constant shudder through every pore and making his head scream out in agony. Of course he had to choose the oldest, most rickety wagon, with the hardest seat, which was taking the bumpiest route. Naturally.

“How much longer?” he asked the rough-hewn woman gripping the reigns to the pair of solid runners.

She grunted at the road and chose not to answer.

Hamuli sighed, closing his eyes against the pounding on the road and in his head, pleading to Faranth to let him sleep the journey through, but sleep did not come. The sun slowly reached it’s peak, then slowly fell down again, and it seemed nothing had passed in between. As dusk settled over the land, the wagon rolled to a ponderous stop and the older woman leapt off her perch, indicating for Hamuli to do so as well.

“Are we stopping here for the night?” he asked, hope tinging his voice. He never thought sitting down all day could make him feel so exhausted.

The woman grunted once more and gestured towards the sack of cooking utensils, obviously meaning for the boy to make their dinner. Uli winced at the thought. The last time he had attempted to cook... well, let’s just say he didn’t do it again. Ever. Perhaps he’d learned something since then? Well, he thought reluctantly. It’s time to find out.

Preparing and cooking the bland travel food the burly woman had supplied was much easier than making a home-cooked meal, and after he had received yet another grunt - a satisfied one, this time - he felt quite proud of himself.

With the dishes cleaned, the cooking utensils packed away and the bed-rolls spread - all by him, of course - Hamuli felt he actually deserved a rest. The stars, obscured by a thick layer of night clouds, sparkled nevertheless at him, taunting him in his journey.

Twinkle all you like, he told them with a little satisfied smile. But you’re still stuck up there. I’m making myself a life. After that, they seemed a little more subdued.

Z’ke awoke in a strange bed, with a strange woman curled behind him, breathing heavily. After a moment of panic, the previous night came back to him with a rush.

I thought you’d never wake up! Khiath complained, sounding a little peeved at his rider’s behaviour.

The young man sat up slowly, regretting it instantly as pain shot through his skull. Gripping his temples, he forced himself to stand and put some clothes on, trying not to think about what he’d done. He hadn’t been that foolish in some time.

He remembered the previous _day_ very clearly. Searching at Soul Star Hold had proven little more successful than previous forays in the area. But the night became a little hazy. He vaguely recalled an invitation to dine with the family of one of the hopeful youths, and a flirtatious and rather attractive elder sister. He glanced back at the half-covered body in the bed and smiled wryly. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a good time, it was just...

You can’t be responsible _all_ the time, Z, Khiath pointed out, sensing his rider’s distress.

Z’ke sighed. I know, Tatty. I should have told someone where I was, though, he reasoned.

The blue snorted mentally. Why? You are not some ignorant weyrling any more, and neither am I. If you’d gotten into trouble, I was right there.

Thanks, love.

He quickly scribed a note on a stray scrap of hide for the girl - whose name he _really_ couldn’t remember - and left without a sound.

Khiath’s strong wingbeats sent an almost hypnotic rhythm through Z’ke’s head, sending his already groggy head towards sleep. It was not until he felt the blue’s sudden agitation that he came to.

What is it? he asked, looking at the well-travelled road below them and seeing only a single wagon.

That boy, on the wagon, he said, as if it explained everything. Without warning, he wheeled downwards to land quite suddenly a dragonlength in front of the steadily moving traders.

“What’s the meaning of this?” a burly woman called as she pulled her runners to a halt.

Z’ke raised an eyebrow at the way she addressed a dragonrider, but let it pass.

The boy on the wagon is to stand at Ryslen, Khiath explained, his voice very certain.

The rider vaulted down and approached the woman, smiling to show she had nothing to fear. “Greetings, ma’am. It seems my dragon here has Searched your boy,” he said without preamble.

The woman grunted. “He’s not mine. Take him, I don’t care.”

Hamuli wasn’t listening to her. He could scarce believe what he’d just heard. Searched? For a dragon clutch? Slowly, he stood, jumped off and approached the rider. “Are you sure about that, Sir?” he asked, in total shock.

“Positive,” Z’ke replied. He examined the boy closely, trying to figure out where he’d seen him before. There was something - about his eyes maybe? He seemed familiar. “I’m Z’ke, rider of blue Khiath,” he said, his mind still going through possibilities.

“Hamuli,” he replied, grasping the man’s outstretched hand. He judged him to be about five turns older than himself, and something about him seemed so... familiar. But he couldn’t understand why, he’d never been to any Weyr before. He watched in confusion as the rider’s face turned from curiosity, to surprise, to disbelief.

“H-Hamuli?” he asked, making sure. He recalled that one time he had tried to find his father, but had only discovered more about his family. He had a half sister, Gillyan, and two half brothers, Pollard and... Hamuli. “Your father, was he called Niall?” When he had met Tirion, his cousin, and Searched her for a Caer on Alskyr she had told him of his father’s death, thus the past tense.

The boy nodded, dumbfounded. How could this rider know his father? “Excuse me for asking, Sir,” he began, “But do I know you?”

Z’ke started to nod, then shook his head. “Y-No, you don’t know me. But I know you... or at least, I know of you. I learned about you and your siblings when I was searching for my... our father.”

Hamuli blinked, open mouthed, at this stranger who had just claimed to be his brother. “Are you telling me that you’re some sort of long-lost brother?” he asked in disbelief.

The bluerider made a face at that. “It’s not like some fairytale or anything. Niall met my mother, Tatiana, they spent the night together, then never saw each other again. It’s not really that interesting a story,” he admitted, not able to take his eyes of his... brother’s face. Suddenly he regretted never finding his father and his family.

The boy held out a hand. “Woah. This is kinda weird. First your dragon Searches me, and then you tell me you’re my brother, and now what? I suppose you want to take me to Soul's End Weyr and hand me over to the... the candidate people.”

Z’ke smiled at that. The candidate people indeed. “Well, firstly, I'm not Searching for Soul's End - today I Search for Ryslen Weyr. And besides, I don’t see any other way of getting you off this road. It seems your ride had deserted you.”

Hamuli spun sharply to see just his bag, thrown in a pile on the dirt, and swore viciously. He turned back to the rider, smiling ruefully. “Think I could get a ride?”

“As long as you don’t mind going to Ryslen. It's a while away.”

The boy frowned. He hadn’t even taken that into account. But, really, what did it matter which Weyr he went to? If he had a chance at Impression at Ryslen, all the better. He shrugged finally. “Fine with me.”

They mounted up, Hamuli gripping Z’ke’s strong arm as he was pulled up the great blue side to perch behind his brother. Shards that sounds weird.

The flight was uneventful, and after a brief interlude through between, they arrived at the Weyr. Khiath landed near the candidate barracks, where they dismounted once more, and, Z’ke's hand clasped firmly on the boy’s shoulder, entered to sign him up.

The past few sevendays in the Caer, on a completely new and amazing world, had gone without a hitch for Tirion. She had even started Carving again, and her re-introduction into the craft had been very successful. Her current master, a rather eccentric older gentleman named Yavec, had even complimented her on several occasions, something she understood wasn’t too common with his apprentices. 

She picked up a piece she was currently working on and ran her fingers over the almost-smooth surface of the firelizard’s flank. She smiled at the replica of her little queen, Belle, glad she had done the little beauty some justice. She thought of it as her best yet, but that could be purely subjective.

Sitting down on the well-cushioned chair in the corner of her room in the bonder's quarters, she took up her tools and began to sand, pick and perfect. After almost a half-hour, the eyes still weren’t right and Tiri glanced around the place, searching for the subject of the carving. “Belle?” she called to the little queen, frowning when she didn’t appear. “Shaffit, I need your eyes.” She grinned at that expression, her imagination producing a picture of Belle’s eyes sitting on a table and a rather blind gold firelizard bumping into things from here until the ocean.

Without warning, the queen flew in through the window (she was still annoyed at the world for removing between  - it simply didn't exist on Alskyr) a small scrap of hide tied to her leg. She chirruped to get her mistress’ attention, landing on the arm of the chair.

“What have we here, my beauty?” she asked, receiving a picture of a girl whom Tiri had got to know during her stay at Dragon Soul Weyr back on Pern. “Xarana? She gave you this?” she reached for Belle’s leg and untied the hide, reading it with some curiosity. She had no idea how Belle had managed to fly between worlds, but she chose not to question the fact just now.

Tiri,

Received word from your family - Hamuli has gone and got himself Searched. He's standing at Ryslen Weyr. Thought you might be interested, wherever you are.

Xara.

The girl blinked. Uli? What was he doing at a Weyr? Hamuli was her cousin, one of three children she had virtually lived with until her Uncle Niall died and she travelled to Dragon Soul. She suddenly remembered why she had moved from the Hold in the first place - Z’ke. Did the bluerider know that his half-brother was in his Weyr?

Curiosity, Belle sent, nuzzling Tiri’s arm for attention.

She absently tickled the queen’s head, sending pictures of her family - especially Hamuli, whom she’d been very friendly with - and how she’d come to meet Z’ke. Belle seemed much more interested in the tickling than the story, but she listened politely anyway... at least until Tirion stood and began to pace, thus forgetting all about her. She chattered in irritation then went off to pursue her own entertainment.

Tirion walked to the window, leaning on the edge and hoping the sunlight would stimulate her brain. It didn’t work very well. She had to go see him, which wouldn’t really be a problem. She’d just tell Master Yavec that she had to visit sick family for the day, not too far from the truth. She'd have to get into contact with Z'ke and hitch a ride back to Pern. She just _had_ to see Uli in this Weyr!

But what was Hamuli doing as a candidate in the first place? Tirion had the distinct impression that her Aunt Kalimna  - Hamuli's mother - wasn’t really a dragon sort of person. Why had she allowed her youngest son to go to the Weyr? And to Impress of all things?

She called Belle back and scribbled a note, attaching it securely to her leg. "Find Z'ke, Belle. Find Z'ke and Khiath." She accompanied this with a firm image of the pair and hoped she knew the way.

Hamuli looked around his new room, still unable to quite believe what had happened. The air seemed to be filled with strange new smells, the sounds coming through the thin walls and open window so different, and yet so right. For the first time in a long while, Hamuli felt like he was doing something right.

A soft knock on the door brought him from his reverie and he walked across the hardwood floor to open it, blinking in disbelief when he did so. “Tiri?”

Tirion grinned and threw her arms around her younger cousin, noticing with some humour that he’d hardly grown in the time she’d been gone. Most boys his age were shooting up in leaps and bounds, but although his voice had long since deepened and his muscle-structure that of a man’s, his height had changed very little. “It’s so good to see you again Uli!” she cried, laughing at his shock. “What, not happy to see old Tiri again?”

Hamuli stuttered a moment. “No! I mean, of course I’m happy to see you! Shards, Tiri, I’m just surprised. I wasn’t expecting you at all. How did you know I was here?”

"A little bird told me," she said with a grin. "She sent me a message via my... oh! You haven’t met Belle!” She looked around her, back into the hallway, a little disappointed that she couldn’t show her little queen off.

“Belle? Who’s that?” Uli queried, his mind reeling.

Tirion walked past him and closed the door behind them, seating herself on the bed. “Man, this brings back memories,” she mused. “Oh, Belle is my firelizard.”

Hamuli’s eyes widened. “You have a firelizard? Where is she? None of my friends ever had one, I’ve only seen them from a distance. Wow, a green firelizard huh?”

“Nope.” Tiri grinned at Uli's befuddlement. “Gold, actually.”

“G-Gold?! Tirion, no way! You’re so kidding!”

Tiri laughed and slung an arm around his shoulder affectionately. “Sorry, all true.” Without warning, as usual, Belle popped into the room, obviously having searched out her mistress with her thoughts.

Realisation of who Hamuli is, she sent as she landed on Tiri’s shoulder, nuzzling her briefly.

Hamuli stared, agog, at the gold firelizard which had just landed on his cousin and swallowed. “Can I... touch her?” he asked, awestruck.

Tiri laughed again. “Stop that, she’s not that great you know. All that feeding and oiling, and such mischief! You really don’t know what you’re missing.”

Anger, Picture of Belle leaving Tirion.

“Oh, sorry beauty, I didn’t really mean that. You know that!” she told her, giving the gold a good long scratch. After the flit had calmed, Tiri turned to Uli. “You can stroke her if you want, but be warned, she has a temper. She really is quite the epitome of a queen, and doesn’t mind showing it off either.”

Hamuli stopped his hand mid-way and pulled it back. “Uh, no, it’s alright. Maybe after she knows me better,” he reasoned with a nervous laugh.

Tiri grinned, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “You haven’t changed have you? Or have you? We’ve got a _lot_ of catching up to do, boy!” He had no idea.

“You first,” Uli said, poking her in the shoulder. “Tell me everything.”