Simple Man (Search)

[shouriko]

Hardly is there a day in Southern when the sky is not blue and the clouds are high and wispy, white strings. Cool at it's worst, seldom cold. Daevon grew up knowing a life that was quiet and calm with the exception of foul news about dragonriders fighting and Lord Holders coming to control the Weyr. None of it ever seemed to apply to him or his family, and certainly not his life. They were things that passed just like the clouds overhead.

He leaned against the staff and gazed out across the field that had been cleared out generations prior to his own. Here was the herd of ovine that he was required to see safely home today. Already the homestead was within sight and so Daevon had relaxed his pace and stopped urging them on. Besides, it was a good day with fair weather and with home in sight there was no need to hurry. He took a deep breath and close his eyes and turned his face upwards in order to better feel the sun on his cheeks. It was always warm and kind.

Daevon was a simple young man, all he hoped for in life was the opportunity to pass from Apprentice Herder to Journeyman Herder like his father and elder brother. He wanted a good wife like his mother was and his sister had become. He wanted to have a family and a proper homestead built on love and honor like he had grown up in. He didn't think it was too much to think of. Becoming a harper or healer would be asking a lot, but to be what his father was seemed right. He wanted a simple life.

Not everyone gets what they want.

[stolenhart]

Is there a particular reason why I can't, oh look, look, Look, LOOK!, the green dragon deviated in her course to swing round, her shadow caressing the ovine herd below her. }What is it Shali?{, her rider, one Y'mer, asked in exasperation as she circled. I would like one of those. May we request one?, her mind voice was hopeful, her actions just as hopeful as she began to circle lower and lower. Ever since she'd taken a bovine from another herd, Shalivyth had been polite enough to 'request' an animal to eat. At the moment she did not need to eat but Y'mer did not see a reason why the dragon could not have a snack. }Land well away and I will see{. The dragon gave a tiny squeak of excitement and did just that, landing with a dainty air on the other side of the hill. "Stay here and I'll be back", Y'mer cautioned the dragon as he disrobed of his flying gear.

Clad in a simple green tunic over brown pants he made his way up a well-worn path to the young man with the ovine. "Hallo there", he called out, waving his arm so the young man would see him. Did he say yes?, Shalivyth asked, excitement rippling through her mind. }I haven't asked him yet, do be quiet{, Y'mer replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm Y'mer", he introduced himself, "And I was wondering if I could buy one of your ovines? My dragon wants one". An understatement, Shali was about ready to kill for one. Y'mer could just hear her talons churning up the earth behind him. Technically he didn't have to buy one, Lord Hallek had opened the holds to his riders but Hallek's power did not reach into the lower holds and it was more trouble than it was worth to demand one. No, offering to buy one was best.

[shouriko]

The shadow that passed over the herd of ovine quickly passed over Daevon's face as well. His blue eyes burst open and blinked back the brightness. It was too late for him to confirm his suspicions, but he was most certain that it was the shadow of a dragon that fell over him. He stood erect and scanned the sky and sure enough caught sight of the green that landed farther off behind him.

Not that dragons were a rare sight, but he was a little concerned. He was a member of one of six families who occupied the homestead and dragons meant one of two things. First was that they needed something from them, usually their beasts. Second was that they needed one of the young people to go with them and people who went with them seldom returned. Oh, they were heard from time to time, so they did not vanish. Still, it was a fifty-fifty chance and he was not certain his father could afford to loose one of the herd.

Daevon turned fully and held his staff in one hand. He was not threatened at all by the rider who approached and in fact was happy to hear that he was friendly. He smiled back and glanced back at the herd between himself and the homestead. Y'mer was not forcing him to part with them, but willing to buy and that was better than he had heard of. He looked back to Y'mer and past him to the dragon thinking to himself that it would not hurt. Not if it was being properly bought and paid for.

"T'would not be a problem. But I t'would think the ovines a might bit small fer a dragon." Daevon replied in kind with a smile.

[stolenhart]

What did he say? I can hear him. Y'mer are you ignoring me?, Shali stuck her head up, looking at her rider and the strange man, pink tongue wiping he rlips hungrily. }Will you be quiet?{, Y'mer admonished her, before turning back to Daevon with a scowl on his face. "Oh she just wants one, it's not quite her feeding day yet. Truthfully I spoil her more than I ought but", he shrugged to say he couldn't help it. "She's been out Searching today without a single complaint so I figure a little reward could not hurt".

I want one, I want ONE, I want oh really now? How interesting is that, Shali screamed in Y'mer's head before changing to a tone of curious interest. "Pick one out and bring it over while I get something to pay you with", Y'mer told the lad, turning around to go and find out what was so interesting. With Shali it could be a shiny rock, one just never knew. "What is so interesting?", he asked, reaching for a bag on his harness. Thought I smelled something, she sniffed, eyes growing wider as she watched the ovines. Are they coming?, she poked her rider in the side. "Ooof, I don't know. Just wait a second", he replied. What did he do to deserve her?

[shouriko]

So it was just a snack then. Hardly a meal as he had thought. Daevon could hear a slight irritation in the rider's voice and though he wondered about it, he did not remark on it. It was not his business either way. Y'mer did give one thing away, he was one of those riders who went about and plucked people from homes and took them to Weyrs. He never fully understood the process, how it worked or why, but really, he was too old anyway and he had nothing to worry for then.

"Aye, I t'will." Daevon replied and he turned his back on Y'mer in the same instance that he turned his back on him.

As he went with staff in hand he pulled some rope from his belt and chose one of the ovines. It was not of particular large size but it was healthy and calm. It would not put up a fuss in being brought to the slaughter that was the dragon that Y'mer rode. Daevon knelt beside it and tied the rope around it's neck and with a secure knot rose again and approached slowly to where the green dragon was.

He had seen their shadows, heard them described, and seen them from afar, but never close. Daevon wasn't sure what he thought of dragons. He didn't know much about them and surely not enough to make up his mind as to what he thought about them. He didn't like the method of searches, but then again, he didn't know much about that either. What did it matter, he was merely a herder and dragons were not his concern. Ovines, bovines, beasts were his concern.

"She is might bit excited, eh?" Daevon asked, seeing how the green bumped against Y'mer and looked greedily at him and the ovine he brought alongside.

[stolenhart]

"She doesn't know enough to be excited", Y'mer replied, taking a mark out of his bag. "I knew I had one in there", he muttered just as Shali reached out and grabbed the ovine, casually breaking it's neck. "Shalivyth drop it", Y'mer shouted at her. She dropped the now dead ovine and gave her rider the biggest, saddest pair of eyes anyone had ever seen. I thought it was mine, she pouted, crawling across the ground in an attempt to cuddle with her rider. Y'mer looked at Daevon, rolled his eyes and turned back to the green. "Alright. It's fine, go ahead and eat it".

He turned back to Daevon, "Sorry about that, she gets a little excited from time to time about edibles", he held the wooden coin out to the younger man. Behind him Shali had picked up the ovine, tore it neatly into quarters and began to daintily eat the creature. I think, she sent with a devious undertone, We should take this young man back with us. }Why is that?{. She paused in her eating, fixed Daevon with a particularly steely gaze and then continued eating. We don't have anyone else to take with us, and he's as good as anyone else. Y'mer closed his eyes before asking, "Know anything about dragons?"

[shouriko]

The rope left his hand and he didn't bother hold it tight or reach for it. Not with the dragon head that had been suddenly she close to him as the ovine had been. Had been was very appropriate because it was neither beside him nor living. In both senses it was quite gone and he just took a deep breath and considered how alike dragons and wild felines were when it came to eating. The mark replaced the rope and Daevon again noticed the tone that Y'mer used when he spoke of his dragon.

That was one other thing he knew: dragons and their riders could speak to each other silently. A harper described it to him as thinking words and such. Daevon thought it would lead to a very thoughtful mind full of words and voices that were not always your own. It had made his head hurt then and it did so even now.

"Tis no different than men at supper." Daevon replied as the mark went into a pocket. At least it reminded him a bit of the men and himself a bit when they returned from fields for supper. "Best be off then."

Daevon turned to return to the field up until he heard Y'mer speak to him once more. He hadn't taken three steps before he felt compelled to turn back and answer him. Just what did he know about dragons?

"I'm 'fraid not much as you. Spit fire, fly, talk through thoughts, that sort. Y'all fight each other now there's no more thread." Daevon replied. Thread was so long ago he only heard of it. He did not know what it was exactly, but that it once struck fear in everyone. "Why?"

[stolenhart]

}Are you sure? He's just a country bumpkin, ties to nothing but the land{, Y'mer's holdbred head didn't think much of country-life, he'd been in the wrong end of it one too many times. He is coming with us, or I will not move a length. A LENGTH, do you hear me?, Shalivyth gave her rider a glare as she began to clean herself up. Not as single toe, she glared. Y'mer threw his hands up in defeat.

"Would you do Southern Weyr the honor of accepting Shalivyth's Search of you and stand at the Hatching?", he formally asked Daevon, brown eyes studying the lad to see what he would say. It seemed even the green was holding her breathe as she waited. In her defense she hated returning to the Weyr after a day of Search without a single candidate, it just made her look bad. She gave a tiny squeak of pleading but a look from Y'mer cut her off.

[shouriko]

Daevon's clear blue eyes looked back at Y'mer and his green. There was something going on between the two of them. Thought-speaking likely. It made him feel uneasy to know that they were speaking about him and he could not hear what it was. It must be rather special to be able to do that in some way. The way Y'mer acted certainly seemed so, though he was not happy about it. Had he said something wrong?

No, he hadn't. Not at all. The dragon that had come was not just stopping for a snack, she was stopping for him as well. He blinked at Y'mer and then looked at the dragon. Searched. Daevon wasn't sure what to think. He was asked to do Southern Weyr an honor by going with them and standing as a candidate. Now that changed things considerably. Honor was something he understood perfectly, maybe not dragons, but he did know honor.

"I be right able to, but it be best I git the ovines back to the barn first." Daevon responded smiling a little. He still had responsibilities here, but to think that a simple man such as himself would be asked to honor the Weyr with his presence. "I need be telling my ma and pa as well."

He looked back to the herd. They hadn't scattered yet and were a little closer to the homestead. It would not take very long. Surely they could wait a little longer and he could give his father the mark for the ovine that the green had eaten. Daevon had few belongings to pack, it would be quick once the ovines had been secured and the situation explained.

[stolenhart]

What did he say? I couldn't understand him. Is he coming?, Shavilyth asked, pointing her nose over her rider's shoulder to get a good look at Daevon. "Yes he's coming, my goodness. He's just got to run to the stead and he'll be right back", Y'mer assured her. She gave a suspicious snort and eyed Daevon. I think you should go with him, keep him from running away. He looks like the sort who'd forget we were here. }Don't demean him Shavi{, Y'mer scolded the dragon. "That's fine, we will wait right here. Shavilyth and I have the need for a theological discussion", the greenrider explained, tugging the corner of his shirt down.

Be nice to me or you can walk back, the green replied, licking a spot of blood off of one talon. "You won't make me walk, you couldn't find your way with a string tied from your nose to there", Y'mer replied, throwing his hands in the air. You couldn't find your way with four eyes and a mop, she shot back. "Do you even know what a mop is?", he asked. Yeah it's, oh can I have a bath when we get back?, she asked, spreading her wings and sitting up. I feel dirty. "Yes you can have a bathe when we get back. Arguing with Shavi was like arguing with a four turn old, she couldn't pay attention and she didn't care either way.

[shouriko]

He smiled once more at Y'mer and with a nod said, "Right." And he turned and set his sights on the herd with the aim of hurrying them back to the homestead.

It didn't take too long. Once he had the bulk of them moving Daevon only needed to push the strays and those who lazed about behind. A wave of the staff and a shout and they went on their way ahead before stopping and needing further encouragement. He secured them in the pen and latched the gate firmly, giving it one final tug to make sure. There is no point in bringing them back if they are only going to end up getting loose.

"Daevon? That you, child?" A female voice called out.

He looked up and loped over to the homestead. "Aye, Ma, it's me." He reached into his pocket and gave her the mark. "I must tell ye somethin'."

Daevon went into detail about the green dragon and her rider. How he asked to purchase one of the herd for his dragon and as he was leaving how he was searched. He used the same phrase as Y'mer had and put emphasis on the honor part. He knew she would understand that the best of all. Daevon watched her carefully, trying to gauge her expression as he went along.

"I want to go, Ma." Daevon said. "I can always be a herder, but this be 'bout dragons and honor." Honor was a big deal in his family. Even among the people in the area it was a big deal.

She looked torn, but smiled sadly as she replied, "Mother's don't like seein' the young'uns leave. I be tellin' yer Pa 'bout this, get your things and git goin'." She gave him a tug and pushed him off.

"Thanks Ma." He grinned and hurried off, grabbing a canvas sack as he went to the shared men's room. He sacked his few belongings and was out in no time. "Bye Ma."

She didn't say anything until he was out of earshot, "Bye Deavon, my dear boy."

Daevon returned swiftly. His long legs helped to make for a quick pace. He left only one thing behind: his herder staff. If he was to be going to a Weyr he didn't think he'd need it. Dragonriders didn't have staffs lest they needed it to help them in walking. Sack slung over his shoulder he slowed and approached Y'mer and the dragon again, each step he slowed down more and more. Being around dragons would take some time, but for now he thought being slow about them was a good idea.

"I'm ready." Daevon said to Y'mer.

[stolenhart]

"Are you then?", Y'mer reached for the young man's bag as Shali pushed her nose down onto Daevon's level. She reached out with her tongue and gave him a a long lick. "Shali quite, he's not real sure about you yet", Y'mer pushed the dragon away as he found the extra straps he used for carrying people, buckling Daevon's bag down before climbing up and rigging riding straps for the young man. He ought to get used to me real quick, I am not going anywhere, she retorted, shaking her head and shoulders to settle the new harness.

"You have to kind of take Shali with a grain of salt. She can't hold a thought that long and she always gets into things she shouldn't, so when she does that again just push her away. She won't remember the insult long enough to be insulted", Y'mer explained, hoping down from Shali's shoulder. I just wanted to make sure he was the right choice. }If he's not it is too late to take back the offer now, he has already accepted{. Oh. "So use her leg there and climb up into that last set of straps, I'll come up after and get you buckled in good and tight", Y'mer explained, pointing to the last set of straps. "It'll be a tight fit but you'll be fine".

[shouriko]

"Yes." He replied to Y'mer's question.

Daevon had expected the green to approach him once again and when she liked him he right nearly whipped his hand at her as he stepped hurriedly back. His confused and rather concerned blue eyes shot up to Y'mer who seemed quite unconcerned. Y'mer was more concerned with leather strapping and his quite nearly empty bag, still, the rider took the time to explain to him the goings on.

"Right, act on instinct next." Daevon nodded. Greens were the smallest dragon, right? She seemed fairly large enough, how much bigger did they get anyways?

When Y'mer gave him instructions he just nodded and looked at the green's head a moment, he approached her. Daevon reached out a hand and tentatively touched the warm hide. It was smooth, like leather and he was surprised but how soft it felt. He stopped musing over the feel and using the leg like a step, he hefted himself up and reached up for the straps and hoisted the rest of him up. It took him a moment to sort out the straps and where he was to sit, but he got the gist of it. As Y'mer had said, it did indeed feel a bit tight. Perhaps they were meant for shorter people and not tall brutes like he was.

"All right, I'm in." Daevon called down to Y'mer.

[stolenhart]

Shavi gave him an encouraging snort when he touched her hide and turned her head to watch him climb up. Are we going to go find more? Vandyith will be displeased if we do not have enough people for clutch, Shavi asked as Y'mer climbed up the side. }Vandyith has more important things to worry about than her eggs{, he replied. "Alright so", he reached for a strap, buckled it and added, "Tighten it until you feel comfortable", he said, reaching for another strap and buckling it as well. "We won't be doing any fancy flying so you really don't need the straps but just in case", Y'mer gave Daevon an encouraging smile before he climbed into his own straps.

Like when she is gonna get a bath? She looks a bit well, dingy, Shavi replied. }Love that is her natural color. T'ran and Knymawth keep her well-bathed{, which was true, it was only that Vandyith was torn between the eggs and her rider that she wasn't eating, so she'd lost quite a bit of weight and what's more was beginning to get a bit aggressive. Gimna didn't have the strength to get down to Sands and hadn't seen her dragon in sevendays. Well I want a bath when we get back, Shavi announced as she climbed to her feet. }Whatever you say{. "Daevon, this bit here is a little rough and if you need to be sick, please turn your head to the side. It'll smooth out when we get higher up, so just hold on", Y'mer explained. He tapped the green's shoulder and between one second and then next she pounced into the air.

The initial start was a strong push off the ground and each initial wingbeat the dragon rose and fell. Y'mer had remembered this had made him sick once, just like the few months he spent at sea. But it hardly bothered him now, unless he was actually paying attention to the wingbeats. A handful of seconds later and Shavi evened out, spreading her wings to glide. }Should have warned him about between{, he remarked. Too late now, she laughed as Y'mer gave her the between point. One second daylight, the next complete and utter coldness, three breathes later more daylight and this time the sea coast of Southern Weyr spread out beneath them.

After they had landed, Y'mer turned to Daevon, "Think you could do that for the rest of your life?"

[shouriko]

It was a simple enough action. He took the aforementioned strap and gave it a gentle pull and then continued to until he felt the firm and secure grip of the leather about him. He had gotten atop the dragon and was now attached her, he'd not want to end up sliding out and landing back on the ground. Daevon watched how easily Y'mer slipped into his own riding straps. He did it as easily as any man here with a runner. One day, assuming that the green was right, he would be so at ease with the straps. He didn't say anything at the 'fancy flying' bit he hardly knew what that could entail. Wasn't flying fancy to begin with, leaving the ground behind and the like?

"Rough?" Daevon asked. The movement of the dragon was abrupt, but smooth. He felt that the leather straps helped much with the sensation.

It was not long after that he recognized what Y'mer meant by rough. It was the take off. The way she left the ground was quick, but until she spread her wings out and glided, the flapping made for jarring motions. It was not enough for Daevon to be ill, he'd hardly eaten much to begin with, but it was unsettling. He looked down towards the ground wonder just how far up they were. How many dragonlengths? Daevon didn't even stop to think about how long it would take them to get to Southern Weyr considering how out of the way he was. It was no wonder that the sudden dark of between and the frosty sensation that covered him and delved deep into his bones frightened him.

"What was that?" Daevon asked, eyes wide and teeth chattering. He'd much rather know what that experience was before he answered Y'mer's question. Whatever it was, it just might make him change his mind.

[stolenhart]

The smaller man wiggled out of his straps and turned around to loosen Daevon's straps. "That?", he asked, adjusting a final strap before jumping off of Shavilyth, "That was between", he said simply. "Your hold was about a four days ride from here by runnerbeast and a sevenday's walk. Between helps us get from one place to the other in the space of three breathes", he further explained as he waited for the young man to climb down. Did we damage him?, Shavi asked, craning her head to look at him. "No love, I think we just startled him a bit", Y'mer reassured her.

He best get over that rather quickly then, if he wants to be a rider, she gave draconic chortle deep in her chest. "I'm sure he will. Come on down, I'll get you settled in with the headwoman, she'll send you to a room somewhere and give you some chores. The Hatching isn't but a few sevendays away or so, it won't be a long wait", Y'mer added, unbuckling a strap here and there so once Daevon was down he could finish unharnessing Shavilyth.

[shouriko]

"Between." Daevon muttered quietly to himself as he pulled himself from the straps after Y'mer had given him enough room to. He shook his head. It was simply amazing, but he just could not wrap his mind around how it was possible. "Three breaths." Such a short time he realized as he took them himself. Looking down at Y'mer as he gripped his canvas bag and then slid off and landed with a thud on the ground, slightly shocking his ankles. "How do they do it?" Daevon asked.

He was not concerned about where he was sleeping, he certainly wasn't phased at all about the prospects of chores. What could they give him here that was not much different than what he did back home? No, it was the dragon and their abilities that had him snared. Daevon didn't know how they spoke through thoughts or could go from one place to another in three breaths. It was shocking and because he didn't understand he was both amazed and unsure of it.

[stolenhart]

Y'mer unharnessed Shavi as Daevon settled himself back on the ground. "We haven't been able to figure it out. It's just something they do. Firelizards do it too. But it comes in handy", he added with a shrug as he gathered up all of Shavi's straps in a large pile. }Go get in the water, I'll run up to my room and get the oil and a rag{, he sent his dragon, who gave both men an affectionate swipe of her tongue before galloping off to the sea. She gurgled a welcome to other dragons reclining on the beach as she hit the salty water and within moments the sky was full of welcomes and other dragon noises.

"Show-offs. Well come on, we'll find the headwoman and she can get you settled into the barracks with the rest of the candidates", Y'mer said, hefting the straps over his shoulder and picking up his small carry sack with the other. "In the next sevenday or so, depending on how the Weyrwoman is doing, T'ran might let the candidates onto the Sands. But then with a gold egg present he might not". Southern had carried on the tradition of letting candidates see the eggs, just no touching. Though it was up to the discretion of the Weyrleader.

[shouriko]

Daevon held his chin as he digested Y'mer's words. No one really knew how, they just knew that they could do it. It still made him wary of it, but the function was good. It was useful and surely it was good for more than just traveling long distances quickly. Like Y'mer had said, it was something that came in handy.

"Right." He replied and then asked, "There many others? Candidates, I mean?"

Daevon was sure that he was not alone, but just how many candidates were there? Enough for one per egg, or more, or less. Hearing stories hardly describes much of anything. Then again, Y'mer had mentioned a gold egg. That was something that he knew was special and rare. Surely because of that one egg along there would be many candidates. Maybe not now, but on the day the eggs hatched there would be.

[stolenhart]

"Many others?", Y'mer replied as they started up the sandy beach towards the walkways that led into the inner Weyr. "Oh a fair few, there about twenty one eggs last I heard, and we've got about twenty left over candidates from the last Hatching, and I've brought in another two besides you and so have the other riders", he explained as he ducked under a thatched overhang into a a hallway. "No girls though, not yet anyone. T'ran doesn't want the girls brought in until the day of the Hatching. Something about Lord Lidal influencing them before the eggs hatch. I can see his point", he added, starting down a corridor lit with glows.

"So this is the main corridor, it has branches that go off to most of the others. We got a winch that drops supplies from up top, coming off the river and such, and then a good many supplies come by boat from Lidal. Most of the herd beasts are up top, we don't have many who watch them. They are not going anywhere unless they learn to swim after all", Y'mer added, taking a turn. "Meals are usually in the dining cavern which is the huge open area facing the beach, kitchen always has food. Not sure where the head woman is putting you all at the moment though", he added, pausing by a small hide door. "Be right back", he ducked inside and a few seconds later appeared with an oil rag and bucket of oil.

"Some of the upper levels are proper Weyrs and all, with ledges and such but they don't have no connections to anything in the Lower Caverns. Shavi doesn't mind sleeping outside, truthfully none of the dragons do, like a bunch of felines out there. So most of these hide doors belong to riders", he explained. "If it has a green mark in the center though it's a public place, like the records room, creche that kind of thing. A white mark means it's riders only, and green and white mean Weyrwoman, Weyrleader and Wingleaders only", he added, "Just so you don't get in trouble. Sometimes that kind of information doesn't get shared because everyone assumes someone already told you".