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

The Markets were alive with people scurrying and haggling and laughing and thieving, children screaming and running in circles and playing games and getting in the way, canines chasing and yipping and playing with the children. Noise filtered through to every crack in every building in the Minor Hold known as Twin Lakes Hold, where Taltas O'Gild called home, and it was just too good an opportunity to miss.

He had woken early with the setting up of the many varied stalls; people yelling at their companions to get this board or that drape, carts being rolled over the roughly cobbled streets, and then, slower but just as noisy, the crowd beginning to gather about the streets of Twin Lake.

It was told that his family used to run Twin Lake, which was tithed to Dragon Sands Hold. There were a hundred different stories that members of the guild related, but Taltas doubted any were particularly accurate. He was a thief. It was all he knew how to do - and his father before him, and before him. And he was good at what he did. He fervently doubted that a noble family could fall into such an ... alternative way of living. Not that he minded. Quite the opposite, in fact.

But he didn't run with them any more. Not since the issue with his brother... was that a turn ago, already? Didn't seem so long.

Kalthor was three turns Taltas' elder, and not nearly as intelligent, but since they were young he'd always been their father's favourite. The young thief could never understand his father's reasoning, but there was nothing he could do about it. Kalthor got the best food, the most comfortable bed, and along with their sister Talona, any treats their father could pilfer. Taltas was bitter and jealous, but wanted his father's love so much. All he wanted was to be accepted and wanted and loved.

Less than a turn ago, things had finally come to a head. Taltas had just turned thirteen and received a very mediocre celebration. Amongst the family of thieves, thirteen is a very important age - the passage into adulthood occurs in that turn - and Taltas was, with good reason, very excited. He remembered Kalthor's great celebration, with decorations and a feast and the entire extended family attending... And compared to the pitiful words and slaps on the back he received... It made him mad. For the first time in his life, he began to hate his family. One thing led to another, things were said, and Taltas was on his own.

He saw Kalthor or his father around the Hold once in a while, but if they saw him they never acknowledged it.

He was fourteen, now. Just a few days ago. He could take care of himself nicely, and if he didn't have many friends it was because he didn't have the time to make them. Not to mention the fact that people generally don't offer friendship to the kid who's just stolen their purse.

Market-time was the best time to be a thief in Twin Lake Hold. People busily bargaining with stallholders were not easily distracted by nimble hands and the takings were good. Nobody went to the Markets with an empty purse. They were held every Restday when Thread did not fall, but once in two months the relatively small and mostly food-Markets turned exciting. Even dragonriders went out of their way to attend.

Taltas emerged from behind the drapery that was his front door and stood to his full height, breathing in the morning smells of breakfast cooking and sun and wind and the nearby clear, fresh twin lakes from which the Hold got its name. It would be a glorious day.

The youth glanced around and immediately spotted two or three possibilities for the morning. A woman with ridiculously puffed-up greying orange hair who walked like she owned Pern (Taltas knew she was the spinster daughter of a middle-class herding family on the edges of the Hold); a young man with his eye on a pretty girl who would not be distracted by anything less than the sudden arrival of Thread; a rotund middle-aged woman with two hyperactive young children and too many bags to keep track of. All would make easy targets for obvious reasons, though the first could prove problematic if he were caught.

Taltas O'Gild headed for the man first, but changed his mind as the mother swayed right past him and offered him a perfect opportunity.

"Cyera! Renen! Keep up, children!" the woman yelled over her shoulder, struggling to hold on to two particularly precarious shopping bags. The family had risen early to get the pick of the Markets but the children's elder sister - the one who had promised to look after her younger half-siblings - had stayed out the night before at her boyfriend's house and neglected to return in time. Not happy.

"Mama!" the eldest, a girl of about eight turns, cried, "Mama, look at me!"

Mama turned with a great sigh and her eyes widened with alarm. "Cyera!! Cyera, don't!"

Her precious - if mischievous - daughter had taken it upon herself to climb to the very top of an old and rather wobbly cart filled with runner-fodder, ropes and other gear. The blonde child stood on tip-toes and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Look, Mama! I'm a dragonrider!" and proceeded to 'fly' right down towards the hard ground.

Taltas had been watching this take place, both searching for thieving opportunities and looking on with a worried eye. That girl was trouble and she would no doubt hurt herself. He had always had a bit of knight-in-shining-armour in his bloodline, and Taltas refused to see her kill herself.

As the girl plunged towards the cobbled roadside, Taltas - hardly thinking what he was doing - dove in and caught her against his body, rolling over and bruising his side in doing so. The girl yelped as she felt his arms around her, perhaps realising that she would have been hurt, then started crying loudly. Taltas released her and, with a grunt, rose and checked his injuries.

Mama screamed, dropped the bags where she stood and flung her arms around Cyera, screaming incoherently and crying just as hard as her child. Suddenly, she stopped and remembered the reason why her daughter wasn't dead. She spun and searched for the boy, and stared at him when her gaze fell upon him.

"You..." was all she managed.

Taltas smiled and nodded. "No thanks necessary, ma'am. Anyone would have done the same - I just happened to be here at the time."

She shook her head in disbelief. "No, they wouldn't," she sobbed in relief. "You're a special boy. Thank you."

Taltas shrugged it off self-consciously. Being polite and generous was in his nature - perhaps growing up in a guild of thieves where one day your takings may have to feed the whole family had driven it into him. He didn't think anything of catching a child before she hurt herself, it was just what had to be done. On the flip side, however, in doing so, the thief had both gained trust and new insight into his potential customer. And information was the best weapon a thief had.

He glanced across at the mother's bags first surreptitiously, then obviously, adding a cautionary "Ma'am, your bags."

She turned away from her daughter - her relief had turned into anger and scoldings for the child - and looked at her shopping bags, half of which had overflowed onto the pavement. "Oh shards and bubbly pies, what a mess! Cyera," she said to the girl, "If you're done flying for today, you can help me fix this right up."

Cyera made a face, but didn't object. With a vast, over-dramatised sigh, the girl stood up, brushed herself off and stomped over to the shopping bags. Before she finished even one, however, something far more interesting caught her eye.

"Cyera! What is it now!"

The girl looked straight over her mother's shoulders, eyes twinkling and mouth agape in wonder. "Mama, look," she breathed. "A dragon!"

The woman spun - as did Taltas - to take in the majesty of a full-grown golden dragon preparing to land.

Taltas had never seen a Queen before. So big! So stunningly, breath-takingly beautiful. For a moment he expected her to make some great important declaration, or save Pern, or perhaps just stand there and glow. It took a while to realise that the Queenrider was just going to the Markets like any other person. He missed the simultaneous arrival of a brown and two greens on the other side of the Hold.

At some level he heard shuffling and some mild scolding coming from the family he had helped, followed by retreating sounds and then silence. By the time he had returned from the golden haze he had fallen into, the woman - and his first takings - had disappeared.

"Oh, shaffit!" he swore, slapping his leg in annoyance. He quickly looked around for the other two hopefuls he had spied, but there was no sign of either of them. "Shards and double-shards! Stupid dragon!"

Grumbling to himself about missing breakfast and stupid dragons, Taltas headed into the thick of the crowd to search for another customer and turned his thoughts from the great stupid beasts altogether.

Somewhere on the other side of the Hold, a green dragon perked up. With narrowed eyes, she looked into the busy Markets with her eyes and her Searching mind, and after just a moment, she grunted an affirmation.

Her rider, a young woman by the name of Arayalliz, looked up at the swirling eyes of the dragon with cocked head. "Already, love? We only just arrived."

Kokoratith nodded. He is strong, was the only explanation she gave.

"Are you going to speak to him?" Ara asked, knowing her dragon had often done so in the past - especially with ones she liked.

If the moment arises, I shall, the green replied with a contemplative smile.

Ara chuckled, knowing exactly what that meant.

Taltas had always felt he had luck on his side when it came to thieving. This morning was no different. The youth, with his eye still firmly fastened on his girl-of-the-moment, was easily found. He wore a short-sleeved tunic and fitted leather pants that were made to look good and little else. They had no pocket or fold in which to keep marks or purchases and so the man was forced to carry a shoulder-sack. It looked a little odd with the rest of his fancy gear, but Taltas would be the last to complain. He loved fashion. It gave a thief every possible opportunity and rarely took anything in return.

Approaching casually, though never following directly or obviously, Taltas made his move.

It just took a small flick of the wrist to raise the flap of the satchel and find the well-stocked purse. But he didn't pilcher it the first try. That was just a test. If the person noticed anything out of the ordinary, all they need do is check their belongings were in place - which they were - and move away. If not, then the second step would be implemented.

The man, as was suspected, did not even blink.

Taltas waited until they were surrounded by a group of rowdy older men, then nimbly reached back inside the bag.

What are you doing?

Taltas jerked his hand back none-too-subtly and yelped loudly, looking around for the voice that had sounded in his head. And alerting his customer of a previously-unseen danger. "Who said that?!" he cried, spinning around, forgetting his thievery of the moment before. "Who said that!"

"I don't care who said it, you little thief!" the young man screeched. "You had your hand in my bag! You scum! You want to be locked up, don't you!"

Taltas slowly came into awareness of his situation. "Oh shards," he said slowly, staring at the youth. And then he ran.

"Thief!" the man screamed, jumping up and pointing at Taltas. "Stop that boy! Thief! Thief!"

He made it to the edge of town before they caught up with him. And catch him they did. Someone grabbed him roughly by his scraggly hair and dragged him around, locking his arms behind his back none-too-softly.

"Aha!" an older man said gruffly, looking very satisfied. "Caught you now!" He laughed deep in his belly and winked at the youth who had raised the alarm. "Thank you, boy," he said to him. "You almost getting your purse swiped was the best thing you could have done. I've been after this tunnel-snake for months."

"You know," a new voice - a woman's voice - said calmly. "That's too bad."

"Oh?" the first man sneered. "And why is that?"

The woman stepped forward so that Taltas could see her, uncrossing her arms at the same time to reveal her dragonrider's knots. The man winced visibly. "Because I believe I have a higher claim, Sir."

He swallowed, suddenly unsure of himself. "I'm not sure I understand, Dragonrider."

"This boy has been Searched, and I have come to take him to Cincanta Weyr."

A whole set of mouths - including Taltas' - fell open. "Searched?!" Taltas and the gruff man said simultaneously. The grip on his arms loosened and he managed to wriggle free. He turned to the rider and looked at her seriously. "Not that I'm not happy for any chance to get away from these swine, if you'll pardon my language, Ma'am, are you sure you've got the right boy?"

Positive.

That voice again! Taltas turned just a fraction to his left, and suddenly realised where the voice had come from. The same voice that had caused all the trouble in the first place. And then he realised that the voice was laughing! That sharding dragon had done it on purpose! She's distracted him so he'd get caught! But why?

He had the distinct impression that the green dragon shrugged, though physically she didn't move. It was amusing.

Taltas gaped. Amusing. She thought it was... Why, that sharding... He turned to the rider. "Your dragon has just made me look the biggest fool in the Hold and you expect me to come with you? Are you crazy?"

She simply shrugged. "Up to you, of course." She half-turned to leave, then turned back. "But then again, think of the alternatives."

Taltas followed her gaze and saw the waiting - and somewhat fuming - group of captors, and made a rather hasty decision. "The Weyr it is!"

Arayalliz chuckled. "Thought you might say that."