Alani
Being Late Sometimes has It's Purpose
Alani ran home as quick as he
could. He had stayed far too long at the harper's house, but he had
firelizards! And Endi had promised he could have one if he helped out
around the house...That wasn't even hard work, cleaning up and sometimes
copying when the harper didn't have time anymore. Today he had helped
with the clutch of Srindi, the little gold firelizard of Endi. She had
been flown by the Bronze Madri of a visiting harper, and now there were
16 eggs available. The thought of owning a flit made him work even
harder for the harper.
And now he was late. He was often late... if he got home after his
father did he would probably get some sort of punishment....meaning he
was homebound for a week or so... As he came closer to his home he saw
he was in luck. His father wasn't home yet. He and his father had lived
here alone for several years now, after his mother had passed away. She
had died of a fever that no-one could lighten. The only thing he still
remembered from his mother was her hair, it had been long and blond like
his' and very soft. He opened the door and ran in, just in time to open
some glowbaskets and close the shutters before his father got home.
**~°~**
A week later he was getting ready to leave for
Endi, who had promised
the eggs would hatch today or tomorrow, when his father absolutely
wanted him to help him sort out some wood first... As a result of that
he arrived late at Endi's house. The hatching had already begun! Oh no!
He hurried up the stairs to the fireplace and saw a lot of people with
newly hatched flits. His heart missed a beat when he thought Endi might
just have given the egg away to someone else when he was grabbed by the
arm and pulled to the fireplace.
"Good!, you're finally here! There is one left, but if you had gotten
here 5 minutes later..."
The loud cracking from the eggs alerted Alani that Endi was right,
this egg was hatching... he looked helplessly up to the harper, who
handed him food and told him to look in the flit's eyes.
The egg cracked and a lovely amber female emerged from the egg. Were
there Amber firelizards?
"Endi, is this a normal colour?"
"I've heard about these, there aren't many of them, consider
yourself lucky."
Charibda,
the Amber Flit
His father wasn't all too happy with the new pet, but seeing how Alani glowed with pride when he showed the little Charibda, as he called her, he didn't mention thinking his son was too young to keep pets. He was 15, true, but he was always away, hanging around that harper fellow. He didn't need a pet to distract him even more from learning a trade. Sure he was training him to be a forester, but he hadn't quite started on that yet.
**~°~**
A week later his father sent Alani out to deliver a message to a
nearby runner station. On his way back Alani saw a blue dragon soaring
through the sky...it had been a while since he had seen dragons flying.
It seemed to be heading to town. Alani ran as fast as he could (and he
could run fast, being late a lot) and entered the town as the dragon
landed.
"I'm a searchrider from beach Shards Weyr, and I have come to find
candidates for the clutch hardening on the sand. Who should I see about
this matter?"
"Me, bluerider." Endi said, I'm in charge of these affairs.
Alani rushed up onto the square when the blue dragon suddenly turned
his head and caught him with his eyes, his tail waving slightly in the
air.
"Looks like we found a likely subject!" the bluerider exclaimed "Care
to be a candidate for the next hatching?"
Alani was stunned, the only thing he noticed were the swirling eyes
of the blue. Luckily Endi took charge:
"He might like it, but I can't let him leave before consulting his
father, who might object."
So they headed to Alani's home, and waited for his father to arrive.
Alani's father seeing the blue and his son staring at it, immediately
knew what had happened and sighed... giving a slight wave with his hand.
Allowing his son to go. Alani went to his father and asked:
"Is it really ok, father? Can I go?"
"Sure, if you really want to, you can. I'll miss you, but I'll be
proud if you impress."
So Alani said goodbye rode a dragonback to the Weyr. In the Weyr, he
got a small bedroom he shared with other male candidates. They were all
pretty excited, and Alani noticed neither of them knew what to expect
from a hatching. That made him even more nervous. He cuddled up to
Charibda and felt the warmth of her breath on his arm.
The next morning they were permitted to see the clutch. Alani didn't
dare touch the eggs, he might do something wrong, so he just stood in
front of this one egg with purple speckles he liked. Suddenly a girl
with long black hair that looked strange asked him:
"What are you doing?"
"I don't want to disturb the dragon..."
"There is little to disturb now, plus sometimes I've heard you can
feel them move in the shell! But I don't know if that is true."
"Won't I do anything wrong? What if I fall over it?"
"You won't! I'm Sarabande, what's your name?"
"Alani."
"That's enough time for today boys and girls! Let's go eat!" the
rider in charge exclaimed.
**~°~**
HATCHING
Alani could feel the tension rising. The clutch was hatching and they
all stood a bit lost waiting near the eggs. The Green Virith looked at
them and took some steps backwards to let them proceed. The first egg
cracked and a green hopped out, turning to Nema, who had once stood for
a queen. Alani thought she might be a bit disappointed with a green, but
the girl happily gazed into the eyes and said:
"You're perfect, Tiahanth..."
Watching the pair as they went to the tables, Alani
didn't notice the 2 other new hatchlings, that is until he heared a
voice saying:
"Alani! Watch me!"
He turned his head and looked straight at the little blue who was
getting too close! The little hatchling bumped into Alani and staggered
back up when Alani, just able to maintain his balance looked in the big
blue eyes....
"Oops... Sorry, A'li. Couldn't
help myself... maybe I'll be an early flyer. Anyway, A'li, I'm
Caillarth. If you could feed me now, I'd be even happier."
Alani, barely understanding he was now a dragonrider and that the dragon
had used his shortened name led the dragon out to eat
"Of course,
Caillarth. Let's go eat."
