is it too soon to say perfect? (buri search)

[Zephyr]

It was a nice day outside. The sun shone down brightly and there was the slightest hint of a breeze on the air to hint at something more. It was warm without being too warm, thanks to the wind, but the same wind didn't make it unbearably cold. It was a really great day out.

A great day for a little horse play.

Liv's parents tried to get the twelve year old to leave the home as often as possible. They knew the value of exercise for a girl of her age, and when there wasn't work to do, the girl was almost invariably outside doing something. Of course she didn't know many kids her age and even fewer who would consent to play with her, so most of her romps were uneventful occasions, full of nothing more than the girl plain a game or such on her own. Fortunately for the girl, she now had a shadow. A furry, bouncing shadow, but a shadow nonetheless. The red pup followed the little girl around like he was attached to her, and Olivia had adjusted nicely to having someone to play with. Now she could do all the things she wanted to do that needed two people. Well, not everything. She couldn't play tag with the puppy because he always followed her around.

At least she always won.

It had been harder lately for the girl to leave her home. She knew it had to do somehow with the neighboring weyr, but she wasn't exactly sure why...or how. The little girl didn't know much of the happenings within weyrs. All she knew or even really cared to know was that dragons lived there. Living in Selenitas hold, Olivia was accustomed to seeing dragons. Being the most supportive hold beneath Selenitas, she saw dragons quite often...but she had never actually touched one before. Even so, she thought that they were the most beautiful animals ever. She wanted to run up to one and cling to it like she would to Pippin, but knew that that would turn out quite badly if she tried.

Today, however, there was nary a dragon in sight. At the present time, there were quite a few merchants out pedaling their wares. It was such a nice day out and they had to make up something to help offset all the extra tithes that the Wastelanders were making them pay. These were the days that Olivia liked the most. She could creep among all the people, utterly unseen in the hustle and bustle of the busy day. Indeed, she was unremarkable as she moved among the people, avoiding being stepped on as she moved, the puppy eternally at her heels. This wasn't just aimless wandering, however, the girl had a specific goal in mind. There was a certain merchant she knew, a friend of the family. If she showed up and was nice enough, he usually let her have a bubbly pie...or two if she wouldn't leave him alone.

Stomach rumbling, she looked for him in the crowd, Pippin bouncing at her heels. Who knows...sometimes he even gave Pip a pie.

[Kisha-Ra]

K’fuzzi had decided he really didn’t like searching, in fact anything that put Balath at risk was bound to make the greenrider feel sulky, he’d lost one dragon within moments of her hatching, he wasn’t ever going to lose Balath. It was just his luck though, he reflected as Balath skimmed low over the trees on her way to Selenitas Hold, that he should finally get away from the northern continent and the war, only to have it follow him over here. Whatever happened if he saw so much as one dragon that wasn’t from Burimyu he’d be giving Bala her coordinates to go home so fast that it’d make a watching dragon’s head spin. Regardless of K’fuzzi’s sour thoughts however there wasn’t a Selenitas dragon in sight. Millieth would be nowhere close to Rising again yet, so any searchriders coming down from that way would be pure opportunists.

Balath picked up a little altitude and soared over the hold, her attention on the feeling of the people below her as she made a lazy circle over the main buildings. In contrast to her rider Balath was quite happy to be out, and why not? It was a wonderful day and she was helping to find people for Jingth’s babies! Soon there would be adorable hatchlings to play with, and hopefully some nice humans to go with them if she could find some. Yes! There! Somewhere…

Balath was already drifting downward, seeking a landing spot that was close to the person she sensed, before she thought to speak to her rider. There is someone down there FuzziMine. Someone good, in the crowds…[/color] K’fuzzi sighed, it would have to be someone in the crowds wouldn’t it? Of course, it was his typical luck, always sharding bad. Well do me a favour and don’t go charging into the crowd, holdfolk get nervous over that kind of thing. Just land for now, and see if we get any kind of response.

Balath had her own plans of course. When it came to large amounts of people K’fuzzi was somewhat useless (not that she’d ever tell him that), so once she was settled a short distance from the bulk of the crowd Balath simply bespoke the one person she was looking for. Hello! I’m Balath. Please come over here and talk me, and FuzziMine of course.[/color]

[Zephyr]

In short order, the girl found the man she was looking for. Usually, there was a crowd of children around him, hoping that since he would give Olivia bubbly pies, that maybe they'd be able to get something out of him. Luckily though, it seemed she'd gotten there before any of the other children did. Grinning, she walked up to the man, beaming her brightest smile.

" Hai, Mr. Merrik." Her voice was cheery as Pippin sat near her feet, glancing up at the man with a half cocked head. " How's business?"

The man looked at the girl, laughing heartily and patting her head with a single, meaty hand. " Hello there, Livvy. Business is fine..just fine. These pies are selling off the shelves. And how're ya? Not causing trouble I hope?"

Her eyes widened at his words as she feigned indignation. Mouth opened ever so slightly as if the words wounded her personally. " Never! You know me." With that, she lifted her head very slightly and sniffed at the ear, craning herself up on her tiptoes so she could try and see over his shoulder. " That's what I'm afraid of." He said, laughing lightly before noticing what she was doing. Obviously her actions weren't as subtle as she thought they were because the man grinned again and shuffled around in front of him. " I think I might have something here for ya...Ah!"

Liv brightened as he offered her a pie. Grinning happily, she took it from him with a thanks and prepared to stuff it into her mouth until she noticed something odd. A brow lifted and the corner of her mouth twitched. Wait. She looked up at him. " I think Pip might want one too! Look at how sad he is at being forgotten." The puppy didn't look sad in the least, only excited for having both pairs of gazes on him. Merrik wasn't a fool though and shook his head. " I know that when I give you one to give ta the dog, you just eat it yerself, girl!" She was about to lay guilt on thick when she noticed someone coming to buy a pie. Now she knew Merrik wouldn't be in the mood to entertain her.

" I'm to go, Pip." She said to the dog, and, after saying thanks once more she turned and slipped through the crowd, stuffing the pie in her mouth as bout as gracefully as an elephant. She almost spit it all out when she heard words booming in her head. Instantly, she jerked her head around, finding the form of a gigantic dragon standing at the edge of the crowd. Liv licked her lips, trying to wipe the berry juice off of her mouth long enough to analyze what was happening. How on earth had she missed a dragon overhead, and who did it want? A quick glance around revealed that no one else had heard the dragon, which meant...that it wanted her? Whatever for? " Fuzzy?" She murmured, afraid and confused. Had someone assumed she stole the pie? If so, it was far too late to give it back. It was in her stomach...and on her face and hands. Even if she wasn't getting in trouble, she wasn't an idiot. She wasn't going to run away and risk the wrath of a dragon that big. Greens might have been among the smallest of the dragons, but they were massive when compared to her. She doubted that anything could stand in the way of an angry dragon and its' prey.

Gulping, she glanced down to Pippin and walked hesitantly towards the dragon. People were giving it a wide berth. These people were used to dragons, but it didn't mean the beasts didn't scare them. Especially when they were so easy for a dragon to crush. " Hi..." She said when she was close enough, stopping just short of striking distance...just in case. Liv eyed the dragon critically, wiping her mouth as she gazed at first the dragon, then the man on her back. " Your name is fuzzy? Am I in trouble?"

The dog hid behind the girl. For some reason, he seemed to be more afraid of the dragon than the humans were. Liv snorted. " Some guard dog." She murmured, glancing back at him.

[Kisha-Ra]

K’fuzzi couldn’t say he expected a brilliant response to Balath’s idea of diplomacy, the holdfolk were already subtly drawing away from them, and no one seemed about to run out of the crowd to acknowledge Balath’s introduction. On the other hand he really had no better ideas on how to go about things so he supposed he’d wait a few minutes and see if anyone turned up.

The one person who eventually did approach was… not what he’d expected. Balath is she even old enough to be a candidate? She is the one you called isn’t she? K’fuzzi gave the girl, a very young girl, and one with berry juice on her face and hand he noted with distaste, a doubtful look. Any doubt that this was indeed the person Balath wanted was dispelled as Balath squealed happily and lowered her head to look at the girl more closely. Oh yes! Isn’t she just adorable?[/color] The striped dragon cried with an excited squeak that made K’fuzzi wince screwed into her voice.

K’fuzzi sighed at having his name shortened at him, he did wish Balath would tell people his full name rather than calling him her “FuzziMine”, and slid down Balath’s side to land on the ground in front of the girl. ‘It’s K’fuzzi in fact, Balath just likes to call me that silly nickname.’ K’fuzzi wondered where to start, this was actually the first time Balath had found a candidate, and frankly he was hoping his first search would be a bit easier than talking to a sticky girl child. ‘As far as I know you’re not in trouble.’ He added before Balath’s wing buffeted him around the head lightly. I think I’d better do the first bit of talking. The green said, including her candidate in her broadcast. If I let FuzziMine do it we could be here all day.

Balath folded her body down into a sphinx pose and lowered her head enough that she felt the child could focus on her face. I’m a searchdragon, it’s my job to find people who would be good to bond with hatchlings.[/color] she explained since the girl seemed not to quite understand what was going on. We came down here today because I like you, I think your personality would suit a young dragon well, you could come with us and see if I’m right, if you want to, and your parents don’t mind. If they do maybe we can persuade them, it’s very important that the babies have riders to love them, and we don’t have many people yet. We are safe and hidden, but we are hidden from the good people as well as the bad. Did I leave out anything important FuzziMine[/color] Balath finished her introductory speech and turned back toward her rider, seeking his approval.

‘A couple of things Balath.’ K’fuzzi replied, running a hand along the striped neck to take the sting out of his words. ‘Firstly, although we’re on search the eggs aren’t on the sands yet, our queen just Flew though, which means there’ll be eggs very soon. Secondly, Balath liking you is no guarantee of Impressing your own dragon, very few candidates actually Impress the first time they stand. Third, as you might have guessed from Balath’s hinting, we’re not from Selenitas, we we’re from a pretty isolated Weyr so you won’t get much contact with your family if you do come with us.’ Although the girl in front of him was on the young side K’fuzzi decided not to sugarcoat things, she should know what she was getting into before she agreed, if she agreed. ‘You don’t have to decide right now, you should probably talk it over with your family anyway, but if you do want to come I could talk to them, or Balath could she’s more persuasive than me. I’ve heard it can be hard getting through to folks when you start making important decisions for yourself, and I won’t lie, this will be an important decision for you, it could change your whole life.’

[Zephyr]

Now that she was standing in front of a green dragon that towered over her head, Liv was rethinking this whole idea. If it wanted to, all the dragon had to do was take one big CHOMP! And that would be it...she'd be gone. Or at the very least bit in half, and that wasn't pleasant in the least. She wasn't afraid though. Apprehensive was a better word. She had more faith in the dragonriders than that. They wouldn't just let their dragons run around eating people, especially kids. That wouldn't exactly foster good relations with the hold, now would it? If the weyr wanted the hold to be paying tithes to them, it really wouldn't be the best practice to let the dragon eat whoever they want. She let out a little giggle as the rider slid from his dragon.

" Sorry 'bout that. I just assumed it was your name. It's...very...manly though." The girl offered him a wide grin before focusing on Balath once more.

Liv got a good feeling from this dragon though. The voice she had heard in her head, it had been nice. She got the feeling that whoever this dragon was, she was a kind dragon. It took her a lot not to reach out and touch the dragon, because no matter how nice she sounded and how much the girl wanted to pet her, she had been raised to be respectful of the dragonriders and their dragons. It wasn't exactly respectful to run up to one and pat it like one would a dog. So instead, Liv just stood there, feeling a little awkward as the dragon conversed with her rider.

Finally, the dragon laid down, and Liv watched her carefully, tilting her head to the side as the dragon's voice slid into her mind again. Her expression went from calm, to apprehensive to confused and then happy all in the span of a few seconds. The girl really was an open book. She never tried to hide her emotions from people, and even if she did, she'd be awful at it and she knew this. So why try. Instead, she was so confused, but at the same time overjoyed. WHY would this...Balath think she was a good candidate. She was just a hold girl. Her parents had never even mentioned that there was even a possibility that she might be able to one day be a dragon rider. She bit her lip, unsure of how to respond when K'fuzzi spoke again. She looked at him, listening intently to his words.

She loved her family dearly, but there was no way they would consent to...she saw how tense things had been between the hold people and Selenitas, especially after the weyr had started raising the tithes. After a moment, she spoke, her eyes on her feet. " Is there any way we can just...go, and not...talk to them about it?" She then looked up at him, hope burning in her eyes. " I never even thought that I could ever be a dragon rider. I was always too little. Everyone always said I was little. But...if there was a chance, any at all..." Her eyes narrowed a little. " I want to take it." She was young and rash, and she didn't even think of the consequences of just up and leaving her family...but she could always come back and explain herself AFTER she got a dragon, couldn't she? Better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?

[Kisha-Ra]

K’fuzzi just gave the child a flat look. ‘I wanted to be something else, but Balath insisted. I guess with my full name being Kainfuzzi I was bound to draw a short straw.’ As often as his name provoked varied reactions, from laughter to pity, K’fuzzi could never resist adding his own comment, even though he knew that kind of conversation was never going to go anywhere useful. Fortunately before it could head that way Balath started talking. As Balath talked K’fuzzi watched the girl’s expression change and wondered if all searched candidates went through that many changes. In a Weyr the candidacy of all youngsters was pretty much taken for granted unless something made them obviously unsuited to stand.

A perplexed expression worked it’s way across K’fuzzi’s face as he reached the end of what he had to say. Okay, probably the girl’s parents wouldn’t approve, or at least he guessed that was what this was about, but did he really want to get Burimyu riders a reputation for kidnapping hold children? Well no one would know it was a rider from Burimyu, but on the other hand did he want to make things harder for his friends who remained at Selenitas? ‘Don’t you need any of your stuff?’ K’fuzzi asked, trying to buy a little time to think in. He didn’t say that he hadn’t thought the girl (at some point he supposed he really should ask her name) was old enough to stand either.

After a slight pause K’fuzzi shrugged, deciding that it wasn’t him who had to face the consequences anyway, he could always bring her back if she decided she did want to explain to her family in person, and he’d get her to send a message back to them with Jubilee. His firelizard would be delighted to come here and socialise, until her message upset someone anyway. ‘Do you want to bring that canine, too?’ he inquired, looking doubtfully at the pup, how he was going to get it on Balath, let alone take it between without being peed on was anyone’s guess.

[Zephyr]

Blinking slowly, Olivia cooled down slightly. His words gave her a chance to think about this whole thing. She couldn't just leave. The girl wasn't changing her mind about accompanying the green rider back to his weyr...but she couldn't just leave without telling her parents anything. She loved them dearly, and she knew they loved her. To just up and leave without a word would be more than they could take. She may have been a kid, but even she knew she couldn't do that to her parents. She was thinking very hard about what she would do. She could ask, but then she knew they would say no, even if they weren't completely opposed tot he idea, she knew they wouldn't say yes right away and who knew what kind of patience this search rider had. He might decide to leave before she got approval.

" I guess I should go get some things and leave them a note." The thought of her parents worrying that much about her made her physically ill. She couldn't do that to them. " Do you think I could do that?" She looked up at K'fuzzi hopefully, eyes wide and a smile spreading over her face. That smile wavered as the rider's attention shifted to Pip. The puppy wasn't very large. He was small enough for even Liv to carry. He was a little heavy to her, but nothing that she couldn't manage...especially if it meant that she'd have to leave him. " Can he?" Her voice rose in slight panic. If she was forced to leave him, no one would take care of him. " I promise he'll be very good and quiet! Pip's a good boy, I promise!"

[Kisha-Ra]

K’fuzzi leaned back against Balath’s shoulder, running his fingers over the hide of her neck while the girl thought about things. Apparently it had also occurred to her that just leaping on a dragon and flying off into the sunset was a bad idea. That was assuming someone hadn’t already tipped off her parents and they weren’t already on the way and on the warpath (K’fuzzi hoped not, he knew how hard parents could be to reason with).

‘I have lots of time, well a reasonable amount anyway.’ K’fuzzi revised his estimate of how much time he had, not because he was on a schedule but because he didn’t want Balath sitting out here, waiting for some sweeprider to fly over while this child wrote her life story and packed up everything she owned. K’fuzzi sighed inwardly as she asked about the pup, he just knew he was going to regret this at some point. ‘If I can think of some way to keep him safe on Balath, I don’t want to be fighting with a panicked canine above the level of the rooftops.’

I can carry him in my claws.[/color] Balath informed the humans calmly, sitting up on her hindquarters to demonstrate how she could keep the pup confined.

‘That might be better than trying to keep him on your back. We don’t have enough time to acclimatise him to flying.’ K’fuzzi replied, gesturing that the girl should go and get her things. ‘What is your name, girl?’ He asked before she wandered off, he might as well know who to look for if she didn’t come back.