Searching for a Future, Elaidan's Search

[Rowana]

The feline sniffed warily a clump of leaves. Her tailed twitched in rhythm as she crouched, waiting. Her eyes, twin golden orbs, watched without blinking. She shifted her weight carefully and poised herself. The leaves rustled and she pounced. A scuffle and a burst of flying leaves later, she emerged victorious with a small mouse in her jaws. She trotted over to a nearby boy and pawed his leg, proudly displaying her catch.

The boy smiled down at the feline. "Well done, Varli," he congratulated. "Looks like you've earned your dinner tonight." He scratched her head and Varli purred loudly, rubbing against his leg.

"Elaidan!" A man shouted from nearby. "Stop playing with that mangy beast and get back to work! We have to have the harvest in before the frost!"

Elaidan sighed, but straighted. "Yes, Father," he called back obediently. Waving Varli away to eat her mouse, he returned to his task. Picking fruit was not the most glamorous of tasks, but it was better than some. Besides, for him it seemed he would find no better. This was his life, so he had better get used to it. At least he had Varli to keep him company. She listened better than anyone in his family ever did.

[Myuuchan]

"For the last time, if you're not going to make yourself useful indoors, then please go out!"
Leiregend found himself wincing at the tone of his mother's voice, but he said nothing. A part of him wanted to grumble, and a part of him wanted to object, but he knew better than that, by now. "Then what am I supposed to do?" He queried, trying hard not to sound too grumpy.
"There's bound to be something you can do, around this Hold." His mother sighed, sweeping back her greying hair, pushing her sleeves up again before she set back to the tedious effort of rolling out dough for fresh bubbly pies. "There's already some people out working on harvesting, maybe you can join them."
Leir grimaced, again. "I think they're all family members, though. I'd be out of place."
"No one is out of place in a hard day's work." His mother replied curtly, leaving him no room to object.

It wasn't that he didn't want to work. On the contrary, Leir always felt best when he'd accomplished something that made him worth his keep.
Still, he dragged his feet as he made his way out into the Hold's proper, scuffling his way out to the fruit trees he knew were waiting. Everyone had known it was about time to harvest, but it wasn't inside his family's jurisdiction as to when that harvest was supposed to be. It wasn't like it was any one person's task, upkeeping the supply of food, but with the scattered houses positioned differently outside, people tended to assign themselves to whatever duty was closest to home.

The faces he saw outside weren't unfamiliar, but Leir was young, and mostly kept to himself. He recognized a few people, but he couldn't claim that any were close friends, or more than simple acquaintances, at the very least. He sighed, finding himself frustrated at the day's task. He really didn't mind- But then he'd think of his father, working the Hold's forge for the day, and he'd feel a pang of jealousy sweep over him like some cold shadow.

Except this time, it wasn't jealousy, creating the shadow.
For just a moment, Leiregend felt a deep stroke of fear. His eyes turned upwards, and his heart both sank and leapt into his throat.
"A dragon!" He shouted, unable to restrain himself. They were a rare sight, these days, and even rarer after the news of the tragedy in Ista had swept the surface of the planet.

Surely enough, a pair of green wings was stirring the leaves on the trees, some of the ripe fruits cascading to the ground below, making the job of some people a little bit easier.
The green was careful to land a safe distance from the trees and the people alike, folding her wings neatly before looking around with a curious whirl to her multi-faceted eyes.
Her rider slid down without a moment's hesitation, a middle-aged woman with tawny-blond hair and sparking eyes.

"Good day, Holders!" The rider called out cheerfully, waving an arm. "Have a few minutes you could spare for an Istan Searchrider?" She didn't expect the welcome to be especially warm, but the optimism likely wouldn't hurt...

[Rowana]

Elaidan looked up in surprise and his mouth fell open. It was true. A beautiful green dragon soared passed, causing fruit and leaves to cascade in her wake. Elaidan had heard of dragons of course, but never in his life had he ever expected to see one. Even this small one was amazing to behold. Varli, however, paid the dragon no more attention than she might a runner. She continued to toy with her food, completely ignoring the creature that had her human friend so enthralled.

Elaidan's father raised his head briefly with a look stubborn disdain before returning to work. Those dragon riders had no place here in his opinion, and he was too busy to be bothered with their kind. He had harvests to collect and a family to feed. Let them pretend to be heroes. Everyone knew that thread was over and gone for good now.

Elaidan glanced at his father, who didn't seem interested in the dragon at all. Deciding it was worth the risk of the man's ire, he inched closer to the dragon picking up dropped fruit as he went. It was certainly the only chance he would ever have to get close to such a wondrous creature. The rider didn't interest him so much, though she seemed a pleasant person. It was the dragon that had his undivided attention.

[Myuuchan]

Dragons had mysterious ways.
It was those ways that made the green dragon turn, her head lowering until her chin nearly brushed the ground, her head turning until she looked directly at the young man that approached her, with his arms full of fruit.
The blink of her whirling blue eyes seemed to say 'hello', though the green herself made not a sound. Slowly, she moved closer, whuffing the air.
<<I like this one already,>> She commented smoothly to her rider, with a swish of her tail, which was surprisingly mindful of the trees they sat so near to.

"Well good morning there," The greenrider offered with a cheerful grin, lifting a hand in a friendly wave toward Elaidan. "Verdanth says she likes you. You ought to be flattered, she's usually pretty picky." She paused a moment, then, clearing her throat. "I'm Lesca, and this is Verdanth of course. We're on search for Ista Weyr." She always winced a little at the small lie. It wasn't exactly untrue- Kazyeh was the remnants of Ista, but even she, a born and bred Istan, had a hard time clinging to the name of her home Weyr.

"Verdanth would request that I speak to you about the possibility of joining us at the Weyr," she continued, formally. "There is a clutch hard on the sands, due to hatch any day. Have you given thought to the Weyrs before?"

[Rowana]

Elaidan stopped short. The dragon was looking at him. Right at <i>him</i>. He almost couldn't breath from the thrill of being recognized by her. Her eyes were a pleasant blue that seemed to speak more than any human could. She was even more lovely up close than she had looked from afar. Her blink seemed to be greeting him in some way.

He was so entranced that when the rider spoke to him, he dropped the fruit in surprise. He tore his gaze from the dragon to look at the woman with wide and surprised eyes. His mind slowly comprehended her words and his mouth fell open. A dragon for him?! Really?! Well, not for sure, she had said he would only be a candidate and dragons made their own decisions. But still, such a chance had never been given him before.

"I haven't, but..." he began quietly. Then he blushed as he realized he was being rude. He took Lesca's hand and shook it quickly. "Please to met you both," he said, his voice soft and hesitant. "I'm Elaidan." Varli meowed loudly from his feet in a demanding tone that was all too clear. "And this is Varli," Elaidan added quickly. A sudden thought crossed his mind: what if dragons did not like felines?