Saphyre munched hungrily on an apple that she bought from a nearby trader. The sun was warm on her back and even hotter on her ebony curls. She held the apple tightly in her teeth and then tied her hair back, high above her neck. The merchant stared at her curiously. She took the apple out of her mouth and continued on her way. She was used to the stares the outside traders often gave her. She had been told that she had "the most unusual eyes" they had ever seen. True, Saphyre's eyes were a deep blue that cut straight to the soul, but that was what she liked most about herself. Her mother had a different name picked out for her, but after she was born and she saw those deep eyes, she named her after the color they reminded her of.

Smiling, she tossed the apple core towards the wooded area nearby. She almost always felt happy, but for some reason Saphyre was more content than she had been in a long time. She felt like today was going to be a great day!

"But I thought that yesterday," she muttered to herself. Yesterday was a good day. She got to explore more of the nearby forest than she ever had and her mother had no errands for her to do. Ever since Taryn had taken over her position as apprentice to her father and Aya had taken a bigger interest in helping their mother, Saphyre didn't have much to do. She usually went around town to see if anyone needed her help for anything and she earned a little bit of pocket money for the jobs she had done.

She wandered a little ways from the town and climbed up into her favorite tree. It had the best branch for taking a small nap and with the sun warming her up so well, she was getting extremely sleepy. She stifled a yawn with a tanned hand and stretched out onto the branch. I'll just have a tiny, little nap, she thought to herself.

Ratina found herself once more outside of the Weyr on Search. Iolath had only just gotten her offspring out of their shell and wasn't to rise for a while yet, but the Weyr that overlooked this territory had stated that either they Search now or lose their chance, since their own resident queen would be rising soon and they'd need the candidates they could get. Kharasi was still growing and in need of fresh blood, so Alesia had given the 'okay' for her to look over the area.

It was a.. rather lush place, with plenty of growth and softwood trees outside of the main holds. Despite the abundance of plantlife, the areas nearest to the buildings would be a stark gray color of cobblestone; it was customary for Holds to keep growth down so Thread would have less to prey on if it escaped dragon fire. After arriving at the Hold, she had received a rather lavish reception, and had quite a few hopefuls shoved her way. Most who were actually dragonrider material in this area were still too young. That was probably why the Weyr had opened this place for Search to outside Weyrs. Ratina couldn't blame them for that though; no Weyr wanted to give up all their prime candidates to some random upstart Weyr with a long history of problems.

It was later in the day when Ratina was given an escort, a bright young lad that knew his way around the orchards. The bluerider couldn't help but be impressed by their wide array of trees. Most of them were trees that bore nuts of many varieties, though a few of them were actual fruit bearing trees. It wasn't until they came upon a particular tree that Ratina would notice someone was actually in it. The lad, Brall as he was called, noticed her as well.

"Oy! You out sleeping again? Does your mother never have anything for you to do? I'm trying to show the nice lady bluerider around and I can't have you lazy types sleeping in trees like some crazy holdless girl!" It was obvious he was hollering at her in jest, for his face cracked with a grin as he waggled his finger at the woman. It was obvious the girl was actually quite a bit older than the boy. Honestly, Ratina thought, the girl should either be married off or in a craft by her age.


(( There really aren't 'towns' so much as there are holds, and I improvised and made orchards instead of forests. They might exist sparsely but thread tends to get most of them except in areas where grubs might have taken root, but around Holds and places where people live it tends to be rather barren unless it's cultivated land. ))

Saphyre grinned sheepishly as Brall called out to her. She slid down the trunk and gave a courteous bow to the bluerider. She was smiling, but Brall's words rang true in her heart. She would have to mull over them later.

"I apologize for my rudeness. It was unintentional. What brings you out to these lands, Lady?"

((I totally forgot, I'm sorry. When I was reading your post I was like... oh yeah there's THREAD. Duh. ^^;; It's been a long time.))

Ratina gave a courteous nod to the woman. "Search. Most everyone's either too young or too old to do well though, I'm afraid. I'm actually on Search from Kharasi Weyr. I'm not sure if you'd heard but (whatever name) Weyr opened their borders for us since Kharasi is still growing. Lots of opportunities there, it is."

Giving her chin a thoughtful scratch, she gave the girl a hard, scrutinous look. "What's your profession.. and your name for that matter?" She extended her hand to the girl. "I'm Ratina, of Blue Forgoth."

She took the bluerider's hand gently and politely shook it. "It's an honor to meet one of those who protect Pern. My name is Saphyre and actually, I don't really have a profession. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I was into metalworking and I haven't quite learned enough to start out on my own."

Saphyre almost had the feeling that the bluerider was pressing her a little hard for information. Well, she was a bit old to be husband and jobless. Most men wouldn't approach her for some reason. She blamed it on her intense eyes, but surely that couldn't be the only reason. Most of the men there she just couldn't find a connection with. As far as her craft, she had wanted to do some metalworking, but after Taryn took over, she didn't feel the same passion for it anymore. Saphyre felt like there must be something else out there for her, she just wasn't sure yet what it was. She held her head a little higher because even though she had nothing, she was not ashamed of who she was.

"I know I'll find what I'm looking for one day," she said to Ratina confidently.

The girl seemed hopeful for a future, and her respect for dragonriders was particularly refreshing. Ratina watched, holding back her bizarre amusement as Saphyre stood a little straighter, a little prouder.

"Saphyre eh? Your mother took a risk; most of the time a babe's eyes don't stay that blue. What a cruel joke it would have been if they ended up green or brown eh?" She gave a chuckle and a wave of her hand. "But don't mind my sense of humor, girl. You know.. we have practically a smith hall within the Weyr, and there are plenty of smithcraft professions that you could take.. flamethrower creating for instance, is in high demand. You could apprentice there and find a place for yourself. Or you can apprentice there for a while, then come back.. whatever way the wind takes you, I suppose."

Ratina gave a glance to Brall, who had been standing there somewhat slack-jawed with nothing to say. The boy quickly gathered himself up with a frown, giving a bit of a nod as if to agree. "That would actually be a good idea m'am, if her parents agree. She needs to take a direction and go with it."

Saphyre stared inquisitively at Ratina. Was she offering her a smith job at the Weyr? She thought that riders on Searches were meant to seek out future dragon rider Candidates, but she supposed they could search out others that would contribute to their Weyr while they were looking. Maybe if she went she could rekindle that lost passion she once had for the forge. She was hesitant but just because she went there didn't mean that she would have to make that her life choice. Still, anything was better than staying at the Hold and doing nothing.

She looked back at Brall with fire in her eyes. "My parents? I doubt that they would mind. If I'm old enough to take a husband, I'm sure I'm old enough to travel to another Weyr. Nevertheless, I do have respect for them and I will ask for their blessing." She pushed a stray ebony curl out of her face and smiled at Ratina. "I am humbled by your offer Lady Ratina. Please allow me to accompany you when I obtain my parent's blessing."

((Sorry about not 'searching' her. Technically she's too old to be searched unless she's specifically for a gold egg, which there are no eggs at all on the sands so they wouldn't be picking up older girls willy nilly for that, especially since women ride greens and blues now.

If you don't mind, We can just close this and you can begin rping in the Weyr. The smithcraft in the Weyr is actually a bit of a subculture in itself, inhabiting a part of the Weyr that the dragonriders don't use. They are working hard on the piping and renovation of the Weyr, but there are other areas that do flamethrowers and I'm open to other ideas. Also within the smithcrafthall there's a small group of wherhandlers that use whers to smell bad air and help haul stone out of the tunnels and whatnot. It's actually a huge community that's been there for 40 turns, getting it ready to become a Weyr. They're still living there because it still needs work, which is in itself open to small mini-plots. ))

((Meh. Technicalities are simply that. I can always change her age or redo her. I would much rather RP a rider character than just a weyr character. When I put in the application, why didn't you tell me she was too old? =( I would have done things differently.))

(( She can't get -searched- I didn't say she couldn't -impress- =) She could very well Impress from the stands. ))

((Oh. Haha. My bad. Ok then I suppose I can just move my post along somewhere else. Thanks.))