Search (Searchrider C'le)

[Ruby]

((post here to be searched by C'le))

[Rei]

Raylin sighed and twirled a stalk of dry grass in her hands. A few yards away her favorite Runner, Tak, a large dappled beast fruitlessly searched for sustenance. Raylin turned to watch him without interest; it had been horribly dry this year with hardly any rain. The pastures were dry and barren the ground dry and cracked. Thankfully they had stocked up enough fodder in recent years to tide the runners over…for now. If the weather didn’t break soon she shuddered to think what would happen to her families hard work.

Family. The word rang in her head making her grit her teeth in frustration and anger. The whole reason she was up here in their most remote pasture was her lovely family. Unbidden her mind raced back to this morning. She had been scolding the twins for their constant bickering when her older brother, Ranair, burst through the door slamming it forcibly behind him.

He took one look at the scene before him and immediately launched into a huge tirade launching groundless accusation at her. “Leave them alone!” he had raged in frustration, “I have had enough with the way you think you own this place. You think your words are the law and everyone has to listen to whatever golden advice comes from your lips. Well I got news for you.”

He had continued to rage just inches from her face. Raylin had taken it pretty much in stride until he started making comments of her character. “You’ll never be fit for any man you know that. You’re too demanding too much of a..” Whatever he was going to say he never got out because at that moment she raised her hand and smacked him across the face.

As the echoes of the slap died away the twins, wide eyed, began to cry. Raylin had lunged for the door flinging it open and racing to the stables. She hadn’t even bothered to tack up the dappled Runner as she vaulted onto his back and using only heels and hands lead him out and into the pastures beyond the stables and small farm dwelling. She was angry. Before she did something she would further regret she had to get away. Run away to calm down before the fury consumed her, causing and her and her brother came to further blows.

Now sitting on the rise in the far pasture she was ruminating on what had happened. “What should I do?” She asked of the runner fully knowing what the answer would be. She would return home, back to her dull existence. She would walk through the door and start on the noonday meal saying nothing. Life would continue on as if the argument, if you could call it that, had never happened at all.

Raylin was sick of her life, Sick of the tension, the mutterings, the deep depression. She wished she could change it but inside she knew dreams were idle thoughts. Like it or not she was stuck in this meaningless life. She stood up brushing the dust of her buckskin pants and began to stride slowly back to her runner.

[Ruby]

Down there- Enouth said, cutting into his rider's idle thoughts. I feel one, mine. Surveying the terrain below, C'le frowned. At the cothold, over there? C'le asked, pointing, although the point was simply reflex. No way could Enouth see something happening on his back, and since C'le placed the image straight into his dragons' mind... well. Still, no matter, the skinny blue got the point, so to speak. No, not there... I will find them, they will not escape my Search, Enouth said, turning into a downward spiral, as slow as the Blue could go without being blown off-course.

As Enouth scanned the pastures below, zooming in on his discovery, C'le thought. They hadn't intended to come on Search today, really- Millieth's clutch had just hatched, and no candidates were really needed just yet. But last time the pair had idly flown this direction, they'd snapped up Piden, who ended up Impressing a Bronze Wher. Not too bad, for their first Search. C'le, at least, had wanted a break from the Weyr, and what better way to take a break than to fly? There was nothing more calming, more private for the Bluerider, and as much as Enouth wanted His to socialize, he knew that C'le still needed his alone time.

It was only Enouth's sudden dive that alerted C'le that his dragon had found what he was looking for. As the blue bag of bones dropped to Pern's surface, C'le tried to get a good look at whatever prize Enouth had picked up this time. Girl, eh? he asked, although that was about all he could tell. Girl with a runner... and then they landed, kicking up clouds of dust at the far end of the pasture in which Raylin was working off her anger.

Sliding off Enouth's back, C'le grinned for a moment. Hopefully the girl and Runner wouldn't judge all dragons based on Enouth's emaciated form- not all dragons looked like walking skeletons, after all. In fact, C'le thought with a start, hopefully she wouldn't be scared and take off on that runner. They had landed far enough away so as not to spook a calmer animal, but if the runner was high-strung at all, their entrance would probably be difficult for the girl to deal with.

Well, no hope for it now. Either she'd come to investigate, or she'd take off. Striding out from his beast, C'le raised a hand in greeting, then reached across his torso to adjust his Selenitas knots. He stopped about ten yards away, giving her room to come to him, and raised his voice across the distance: "Hello, I'm searchrider C'le of Selenitas Weyr. May I speak with you for a moment?"

[Rei]

Raylin was so absorbed in her own thoughts she was almost smacked in the face as Tak threw up his head and tensed suddenly. She staggered back a few feet and was about to chasten the animal for his stupidity when she noticed the terror in the beasts eyes.

“Tak?” she questioned and reached up to stroke his head. Tak pulled away from the contact and back stepped a few paces. Confused Raylin spun around and saw a brief upraising of dust that had been kicked up by the blue’s wings.

She took a step forward and stared in the direction of the billowing dust until it had cleared enough to make out what was standing just yards away from where she stood. She gasped in disbelief. It was a dragon! A real living breathing dragon! She continued to stare in wonder at the creature and was so involved in taking in it’s every detail that she didn’t notice the rider until he spoke.

Raylin jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice and Tak startled by her sudden movement spun and began to gallop back towards the distant stables. “Tak!” she yelled to his retreating form but she knew it was in vain. The Runner would be gripped in the clutches of his own cold fear right now and would be impossible to stop with only words.

Raylin gritted her teeth. Great, now she would have to actually walk back home. She sighed and suddenly remembered the rider. She started to stride toward him. “Better see what he wants so I can go chase down that dumb animal.” She muttered to herself.
The black haired woman walked toward the rider throwing curious looks in the dragon’s direction every so often. She had never seen a dragon this close before.

She stopped before C'le and absentmindedly pushed her ponytail off her shoulder. “I am Raylin. Can I help you with something?” she asked nervously. She had no idea what the rider wanted but she guessed it was just directions as odd as that sounded.

[Ruby]

((I'm sorry this took so long!))

C'le drew himself up a little as the girl got closer- mainly because he had corrected himself, and realized that she looked like she might be older than he was. Not by a lot, but... C'le hated searching people his age. It made him feel like a stupid little boy, even though he knew that as a Rider, he ranked her, especially when Thread was due to fall soon. At least she was shorter by a few inches... privately C'le wished he'd stayed closer to Enouth- skinny as his Blue was, he always felt more confident with Enouth at his side. He was a solid presence on the ground, despite his tendancy to be blown away by the slightest draft when in the air.

Still, the Rider forced a smile as she approached, nodding at her name. "Raylin. Nice to meet you. May I ask a favor of you?" He paused briefly, glancing back at Enouth, and sending the Blue a quick thought. Can you tell from there?

Not yet, mine. She must get closer- I am confused by you, and by the beast that ran. It was her that I felt, though. Bring her here, would you? Enouth replied, shuffling forward a few steps, his nostrils flaring as he caught the scent of the feeling Runner. I must hunt when we get back to the Weyr, mine. Just a reminder.

As C'le's eyes cleared, he turned his attention back to the girl before him. "If you don't mind, would you come a bit closer to my dragon? This is Enouth, by the way. We landed here because he thought you might be a possibility for Search, but he needs to see you closer before he can decide." Once again, he didn't wait long for an answer before striding back to the blue. "Right up next to his head, if you please. He likes to be able to look people in the eye... he won't bite, I promise," C'le finished with a little smirk. It was true, Enouth wouldn't bite, But be sure she doesn't breathe on you to hard, Feather, C'le teased his Blue as the girl decided what to do about all this.

[Rei]

As Raylin approached the rider she noticed his forced smile and stiff bearing. His stance made her just as nervous if not more so. She felt her throat constrict and swallowed against the tightness, forcing herself to also take a deep breath. Why oh why did he have to be male?

Finally the rider spoke, “A favor?” she questioned her voice breaking a bit, “What can I do for you?” Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the blue dragon move. She resisted the urge to turn and stare at the dragon. She desperately wanted to examine it closer however she did not want to anger the rider or his dragon. She focused on the rider’s words trying to ignore the blue.

Raylin’s mouth dropped open in surprise at the rider’s answer to her query. Her, a possibility for a search? Was this actually happening? In her mind a thousand different thoughts warred with each other, she struggled to push them away as she approached the blue dragon the rider had called Enouth. The dragon would decide whether or not she was suitable? The girl wasn’t sure what to think about that.

She barley heard the rider’s reassurances as she stared up at Enouth. She had never seen anything so beautiful, her father’s most prized runners paled in comparison. She noticed that his build was slim yet his muscles were well defined. He seemed built for the air, light and streamlined. She marveled at the color of his hide so blue, so vibrant. She longed to touch it to see if it was as soft and supple as it looked. She looked up into his whirling eye almost forgetting the rider was even there. Dragons were more magnificent than she had thought possible. The stories she had heard did them no justice.