D'varan Impressed Bronze Tonasath!
It is a beautiful summer day at Jerdan Weyr. In honor of the splendid weather, a gather is being held . You finish the fruit juice you are drinking and begin to walk around from stall to stall. You finally spot what you have been looking for. You pick up the beautiful dark brown wherhide boots which look like they might be your size. You inspect the pair for flaws and realize what good craftsman the maker is when you can't find any flaws. You decide to try them on to make sure they fit, and you're amazed at how comfortable they are. You begin the long process of bartering for them. The tanner puts up a hard bargain, but you both finally agree on three and a half marks. You decide to take a break after the hard bargaining and walk into the Lower Caverns to rest.
You sit down at one of the many tables and pour yourself a glass of Benden wine. After you finish the delicious wine, you look around and see that all of the other tables are empty except one. Seated at a nearby table is a young man. He has extremely dark brown hair, and you can see he is wearing a light grey tunic and dark blue trousers. You also notice he is very muscular and has a brown fire-lizard wrapped around his neck. You walk over to introduce yourself since you have never seen him.
"Hello," you say cheerfully because of the day's events.
"Hello," he says barely acknowledging that you are even there.
You are about to walk away from this rude person when he stops you and motions for you to take the seat next to him. You are becoming very upset over this young man's manners when something in his light brown eyes make you take the seat offered you.
"I am very sorry. I am not use to dealing with so many people," he says rubbing his brown's eye ridges. "I am Devaran, and this," he says smiling at his fire-lizard, "is Zephyr." At the mention of his name the brown starts to croon happily. Devaran smiles again at his little brown. "He is my only friend."
"Why is that," you ask rather curtly. You apologize for your own rudeness and ask again.
"Probably because of my lonely life," he says staring out the window.
"How can you be so lonely when you are surrounded by so many happy people," you ask also looking out the window at the gather.
"Do you really want to know," he asks in a happier tone only slightly laced with sarcasm.
"Yes, I do want to know why anyone can act so sour on such a wonderful day," you say plainly.
He ignores your last remark and begins."I was born in Ista Hold. My mother Madas died shortly after I was born. My father Delan was a Masterfisherman and despised me because I reminded him of my dead mother. When I was about ten turns, my father took me and sailed out of Ista toward the Southern Continent. He had planned on leaving me there. A day's sailing from the continent a huge storm blew up. The ship sank, and my father died. Once the storm died, I washed up not too far from Southern Hold. I was aware that my father hadn't made it when I saw the wherries circling a body a couple of hundred yards away. I walked along the beach for several days. One day I found a clutch of fire-lizard eggs. The mother had been killed, and all the eggs had been eaten by animals except one. Realizing the many things we had in common, I kept the egg with me until it hatched, and I Impressed the remaining fire-lizard which was Zephyr. I went in search of Southern Hold because I knew it wasn't far and that I would be safe from Thread there. Luckily, I reached the hold just before the naxt Fall. Afterward, I arranged with Lord Toric that I could stay there and be a fisherman, so naturally I lived with the hold masterfisherman, Ralin and his wife Opala. They had no children and took care of me like I was their own son. After three hard turns I became a journeyman. One day, shorly after I turned 16, dragonriders came on Search at Southern Hold. They decided that I was fit to be a rider, so I came here. I haven't talked to Weyrwoman Carah yet though." he says staring at you. "Now do you understand," he asks bitterly.
"You have had a rough childhood," you say with sympathy. "But, you have got to let it go. I know it won't be easy, but if you Impress a dragon, it will make you forget everything else."
"You really think so," he asks giving you a sincere smile. "I want to have a better future than my past. I also would love to be a dragonrider," he says with boyish hope. "Then I would finally have someone other than Zephyr who really loves me."
"Just keep your manners under control, and you can be a wonderful rider," you say soothingly.
"Thank you for the compliment and for listening to my story. It was nice to get that off my chest," he says his eyes actually sparkling. "I think that my problem was that no one wanted to or had the time to listen to me. Are you leaving now," he asks trying to mask his hope that you will stay.
"Are you kidding? I'll stay as long as you need. That is what friends do besides I want to hear more about the Southern Continent," you say smiling.
"Are you Devaran," a young man asked.
"Yes, I am. Who are you," he asks out of politeness.
"I am R'don. My dragon is brown Dedith. Weyrwoman Carah would like to talk to you about being a candadate for the latest clutch," he says smiling at Devaran's amazement at his luck.
"Would you please follow me," he says walking away. R'don gets up and follows the brown rider. You decide not to follow because this is a private matter.
You wait for only about fifteen minutes before Devaran comes back. His face is glowing, and you can guess the news he has to tell you. However, you let him tell you in his own words which weren't many.
"I am going to be a candadate for Gold Isabeth's and Bronze Pintreth's clutch. I cannot tell you how happy I am," he says practically beaming with pride at being chosen to stand on the Sands for a gold's clutch.
You and Devaran have a long conversation about the future hatchings, and as you go to your room, you think that just maybe you might have changed Devaran for the better. You reach your room and fall into a peaceful sleep knowing you accomplished something.
Name: Devaran
Age: 16 turns
Birthplace: Ista Hold
Parents: Madas and Delan (deceased)
Foster Parents: Southern Hold masterfisherman Ralin and Opala
Job: Journeyman Fisher
Fire-lizard: Brown Zephyr (image from Jerdan Weyr)
