Sora (then Sorana) was my second character, on Harper's Tale and ever. Me, being the happy little twink I was at the time, created her with the sole intent that she would become a dragonrider. Yay! She'd be a greenie and she'd get all five colors of firelizards and.....so on.

Why High Reaches? Well, Tai had just Impressed Yshanth and I (with absolutely no warning to Tai, the poor dear) decided I really liked her and that she was everything I hoped to be. Horray. After looking through the helpfile on High Reaches, I decided it would be too scary to talk to The Great Senior Weyrwoman Nuff, and instead prodded then-Junior Weyrwoman Areiah. Hey, I was newbiespawn. I had an excuse for being rank-scared. Thankfully, she was very nice, helpful, and even offered to do the interview to join High Reaches. Of course, I had to get off the Internet by that time, and so I didn't speak to her again until.....oh.....a few months later (mainly because I was once again scared of The Big And Shiny Goldrider she was).

I did get an interview, though, from Salea (who I promptly forgot of). During that interview, there was a shocking bit of information that she let slip: Weyrfolk don't have any better chance of Impressing than Crafter or Holders do! Yes, yes, it seems like a "Well, duh" thing, but I didn't know that! I had so blissfully thought that I would be so much off better than those other people who didn't live in the Weyr.

But I stubbornly pushed on, avoided The Great And Shiny Goldriders, and set to RPing around High Reaches. Ista's Search came, I half-heartedly applied with an alt, didn't get Searched, and continued trying to make friends with everyone "interesting" in the Weyr -- who didn't have Big Shiny Knot Things. I, in another show of semi-twinkish friendliness, (though I was getting out of that period) decided that Sita, green Halaith's rider, was going to be my new chummy ol' pal. Of course, the fact that Sita's character page was full of lizards and had Lenny Kravitz's "Fly Away" song going played no small part in that decision.

I made lots of friends, really, I did! Sorta. Those friends that I made, I'm sooooo glad that I did, because they're all great people. Then, lo and behold, High Reaches Search came 'round. I applied, turning in the application midway through the month we had. I was quite shrieking when I even got interviewed, for surely I had a chance. And I did. It was just never...fulfilled. Good thing, too, because Sorana's description was absolutely horrid at the time. *shudder*

Bah, who cares about myself being interviewed, when one of Sorana's best friends got Searched? Yes! Lylia got Searched! So did Pyrene, Auri, and Tyara! I was absolutely thrilled for all of them. I missed the Hatching by about an hour *grumble* but when I came on, Lylia had @sent me: she had Impressed brown Druseth! I swear, I screamed and danced and bounced up and down in my chair, I was so excited for her.

After that, I really began to develope Sorana. I already had a history for her, even if it was thought up at the spur of the moment, during casual RP (credit goes to Pyrene for making me think it up :). I began expanding upon it, building Sorana's personality to match the much-better description I had done for her. I can't say I RPed more -- but when I did, it was definently improved. I know that sounds snotty, but I've read my old logs, okay? ^_~

Ista's Search rolled around, and I considered applying -- nah. To keep the summer interesting, though, two of Sorana's friends got Searched: Saendi and Alfi. High Reachians are awesome, y'know? *beam* Ista apparently thought so too, because both of them Impressed: Saendi (renamed to Ndi) to green Estsanth and Alfi to blue Decuth.

After that school kicked in and I became semi-idle, only up for RP at certain times on certain days during certain parts of the month. Ick. >.< But when High Reaches Search rolled around...ah, yes, up went the activity! I was so incredibly worried that my activity wouldn't be enough, and that Sorana would never be Searched. Unfounded fears, it seems, because, next thing I knew, I had been interviewed, deemed Search-worthy, and shipped off to the Candidate's Barracks by Annalee's blue Erranth.

Eek. Hatching time. Three hours of twitching torture, screaming -- IRL -- for my friends who Impressed, and wondering, through all of it, if I would Impress. But of course not, sillies! It's called Murphy's Law, y'know. The more I obsesse over something, the more likely Life's gonna come along with a slap and say, "Hey! You! Obsession isn't all good!" So, no. I didn't Impress. But that's okay. Gave me motivation to do Sorana's current description. ;P A list of who did, and to whom, however:

Pyrene of High Reaches, to gold Cadgwith
Zai (Zali) of the Dolphincraft, to brown Puizuth
Shawn (Ashan) of High Reaches to brown Orsoth
Daeyn (Edaeyn) of the Guard, to brown Anwyllth
Fye (Faye) of the Bakercraft, to blue Lainnoth
Auri of High Reaches, to green Miravith
Lyri (Lyrica) of Keroon, to green Niamhyth
R'gis (Ragis) of High Reaches, to green Peorth

The Hatching left me at loose ends. Along with the let-down of adreniline, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with Sorana. After a few weeks, I noticed that one of the Assistant Stewards had gotten reaped. A page and a mail later, Sorana was installed as High Reaches Weyr's Assistant Steward -- along with Kashina, who'd been there before her.

I tuddled around High Reaches, being Assistant Steward-y and shaking my RP feathers every once-and-a-while. Ista's Search came, I applied Stand-Only, didn't get Searched, and continued toddling aimlessly 'round the 'Reaches. With Ista's Search came new Impressees: most specifically, for me, Anely (now Kwanne!) when she Impressed green Jhiateshyrth on her second time Standing, dragon done by green Estsanth's rider, Ndi -- a super-spiff person who actually lives in my area, though I've never met her. ;)

Ah, now, High Reaches Search came along again. Twitch-twitch. Definately. Sneaking online as I usually do, I logged on the day after OOC Search started -- application time! So I sent it in, twiddled my thumbs through school, and got home for the weekend to...find myself Interviewed. *preen* First person, too. ^_^

Of course, the problem with that is that it meant I had to wait for another month for OOC Search to be over, for the Clutching (this of which I made to the last part), and for IC Search to start. But I twiddled some more, trying to be patient and trying not to work myself into too much of a froth during that time.

Once IC Search opened, I was out and about with every little sane chance, RPing and eyeing the Candidate Barracks nervously (OOCly, a'course ;P). Nothing came...the Candidates were brought in. Nothing came...the Candidates were brought in. Then one day I got online (legally, goshgollygee) and got into a conversation with Ndi that basically was me stressing at her. She smooched, she hugged, then she booted me out into RP with an alt, soon joined by Siannen...and then joined by Auri and Damia, who were on SearchCo.

As you can imagine, I was all atwiddle with nerves -- so much so that, in the beginning, I forgot that Siannen had also applied to Search. As soon as I realized that, though, I knew, and pounced Siannen on our channel saying, "Yay! Yer gonna get Searched!" She wanted to know how I knew it wasn't going to be me, I said I'd been getting bad vibes, and we left it at that as the RP began.

Silly me. *eyes her bad vibes* Siannen did indeed get Searched -- quickly too, a boon. My Search, on the other hand...if it hadn't been these special circumstances, I probably would have been offline right after Siannen was installed in the barracks. Y'know, moping and such. But I was stopped when, suddenly:

[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Ndi EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Ndi FIGURED IT OUT!!!
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Ndi: AURI LET IT SLIP!!!!!!
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Sorana: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT????????????????
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Ndi thinks she knows how you're going to be Searched.
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Sorana nods? How'd Auri let it slip?
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Ndi ohs and was talking to her, and I said "Hurry up and Search her already" and Auri said "Damia's doing that" and I said "But you already asked her to Stand" and Auri said "Um. I probably shouldn't have just said that"
[AChannelForNdiAndSorana] Sorana eees and hopes...

Boom. Wham! There it was. As soon as I saw that, I ignored (eh o.O) my dad, who was trying to make me get off the 'net, and continued RPing. Damia and I went out of the Galleries, and there, in the Northern Bowl, NPC V'yel and his green Yfandeth (@emitted by DamiaDear) Searched Sorana right quick. Not the most conventional Search, I know, but it worked absolutely splendidly, and took care of that problem. Want a list of the Candidates? Insert plug:

Sorana comes from Telgar Weyr, so living at High Reaches is no big change. Greens go up -- specifically, Teriath -- greens come down -- specifically, with brown Ilterith -- and couples become trios as a result. Sona and T'larl got along just fine, and then their little bundle of joy -- Sorana! -- showed up. Don't worry -- that just strengthened the bond. So she was a shy child, tending to hidey-hole in Sona's weyr rather than join the terrorization of the Nannies. It was a good life.

Things were not destined to stay that way, however.

A Junior Weyrwoman, one of whom T'larl had been close to before Impression, died in a tragic accident. This upset T'larl, and he began to drink. Y'know -- wine, beer, alchohol in general. The works. Not a good thing, because his drunk-sad-reaction was to become violent. Icky stuff. Nothing seemed to help, amd finally Sona asked the Senior Queen put a restraining order on T'larl and his brown. The request was immedietly met, and the couple split with little more than stony faces and T'larl's suppressed rage. Tough luck, SorSor. :|

Sorana was fostered to Assistant Headwoman Balia to help Sona cope. Balia promptly decided Sorana'd be better off in a Hold, away from the Weyr. So off to Crom she went, and spent no more than a Turn there before she ran away, tramping off to the Land-of-Llamas, her current, and much beloved, home. *cheer*

Life at High Reaches was, needless to say, interesting....very interesting. From *cough* unusual blueriding Weyrlingmasters like D'renn, to the greenriding, busty, master flirt Lis, and child-hating nannies who Impressed sea-monster golds, like Pyrene, the 'Reachian denizens kept Sorana on her toes.

Then, one day, it happened: Sorana was Searched. She had been just ambling up the north bowl to check out Tiareth -- lifemate to Retired Weyrwoman and head eccentric cherub Nuff -- and her new clutch, the 'Reachian weyrfolk was nabbed by Annalee and her blue Erranth -- a process which involved weyrfolk snowballs, being lifted by a certain blue tail, and sputtering her delight in absolute shock. Finally, Sorana would have the chance at riderhood her mother had always imagined for her...

Not that Sorana Impressed. No, without a passing glance from the twenty-two dragonets that toddled around, she went back to being a plain ol' weyrfolk.

Being a Candidate had given Sorana a taste of something, though, that she hadn't had before: adventure. Adrenilen. For the first time in her life, Sorana had been in the thick of things, and made close friends in a way she had never had before, barring a choice, limited few. Life just wasn't exciting anymore, and the little 'folk-type decided to remedy that. High Reaches was looking for a new Assistant Steward, so Sorana hopped on over to the job, becoming one of two filling the job.

Stewarding was something that Sorana enjoyed. She was able to meet nearly everyone in the Weyr, had something to -do-, and had fun at it. Not that she stayed long in her comfortable, newly-found little niche. Oh, no..

Less than a Turn after Sorana became an Assistant Steward, Ysbryth -- the Senior Queen at High Reaches and Areiah's lifemate -- rose in a mating flight, caught by M'rin's bronze Rixesith and making that shy little bronzerider High Reaches' acting Weyrleader. Ysbryth grew fat, the Weyr awaited the clutching, and finally the gold retired to the Sands to lay a healthy clutch of 37 eggs. Let the betting begin. ;)

And the Searching, while we're at it. Sorana lingered in the Galleries during her spare time, but it was only until a good amount of Candidates were gathered that it happened. She was egg-oggling, per usual, when first Eevr, then Siannen, then Auri -- lifemate to green Miravith -- and Damia wandered in. Some odd Auri-speach-and-looks later, Siannen was Searched (to keep Miravith from eating her, apparently). Sorana was thrilled for the former-'brat-now-nanny-now-Candie, and cheered her friend's new status.

That was neat. What was neater -- though entirely unexpected -- was when, upon Damia and Sorana's return to the northern bowl, V'yel and his green Yfandeth showed up. Snuffle-snuffle, sniff-sniff on Yfandeth's part, a growing feeling of hope on Sorana's part, and many curious looks from V'yel followed, finally culminating when V'yel informed the Stewardlet that Yfandeth wanted Sorana to Stand for Ysbryth's clutch. Sorana was whisked off to the Candidates barracks, where she resided in absolute glee...and yearning, fearful hope.

Her second Candidacy was a whirl of pranks, Candidates vs. riders, and mass egg-oggling. They were able to touch Ysbryth's eggs a couple times -- what fun! Sorana established her favorites from the start, a trio of complete difference. Still, all she could do was wait.

Finally, the eggs grew tight and round and sleekly hard, heralding a time when the dragons would thhhhrrrrrrruuuummmm the newest additions' birth...

It was time. Sorana gathered herself together -- a trembling, tremulous mass of white-clad Candidate -- snagged her friends Hiliza and Rauve to hold hands with, and slapped on that face of calm that had served her so well throughout her life.

The Sands. They're hot. Sorana remembered this, and remembered that she was to wear sandals. Not that that happened. In the flurry of Hatching rush, they disappeared, she misplaced them, a 'brat took them, whatever -- but once again she went onto the Sands with feet bare and eyes wide.

First hatched: green! Friends Impressed, dragonets toddled, and then...

All Nighter Study Hard Egg twitches, sending a spiderweb of cracks streaking along the blackness of its shell, branching out to leave only the track of illumination intact. Methodicaly, one piece is chipped away by a talon, then another, and slowly a few are more displaced by the emerging tip of a wing. Finally, the superstructure gives way, collapsing to leave its occupant blinking in the sudden light.

Too Late For Supper Absentminded Blue Dragonet
Deep, azure-tinged indigo flows in viscous waves down the sleek gloss of smooth hide, navy and violet intermingling in a thick coat of oily color. A sheen of slick vivacity resonates through this base, a fitting canvas for the overlaying shades of color, smeared and streaked in curious layers of visual intensity. Each whirling, faceted eye is encompassed by streaks of delicate silver, framing the polychromatic orbs in an endearingly absent manner. A fleeting glimpse of peridot is smudged just below the right headknob, as if paint were accidentally wiped there and promptly forgotten; the knobs themselves are highlighted with wispy periwinkle that suggests the fading of age and its accompanying wisdom. Such smudges bespatter the rest of his lanky form, from the wisps of shimmering orchid along his sinuous neck to the blush of dawn-like hues partly concealed behind the bend of his elbow. Wings, especially, are an explosion of mismatched brilliance -- sprinklings of smooth apricot, spicy cinnamon, and springtime viridian trace elegant lines across sails and spars alike. The barest speckling of ivory and ebony flick down the length of his dark tail, barely discernable amongst the riot of even viscous hues. Random blotches and smears on the dark purplish background give a haphazard mien to his strung-out frame, disorganization offset by good intentions.

Sorana oggled, Sorana stared, Sorana tugged on Hiliza -- Rauve had just Impressed bronze Soquilith -- and finally, with her heart in her throat, the little varicolor blue toddled her way:

Too Late For Supper Absentminded Blue Dragonet turns his jewel faceted eyes toward Sorana, and steps forward.

You experience an indescribable feeling as a dragonet turns and looks at you.... you feel a consciousness merge with yours, becoming part of you, and still apart... then you realize you can hear a voice in your head...

>>> A giggle, a chortle resounds in your head, so piercingly clear that it seems to have come from someone nearby, though too childish to belong to any of the other candidates. The mischievous laughter is fleeting, gone in a flash of silver bell-tones as quickly as it came. A momentary lull passes, then the laughing child returns with a vengeance, splattering vivid splotches of brilliant fingerpaint gleefully across your mind. << Sorana! >> Your own name drips with the simple, beautiful vibrancy of primary colors. << Sora! And, uh... What was it again? >> Temporary confusion slows and dims the chiming laughter, but is quickly replaced with realization. << Ah, yes. Catiminith. That is it!>> Curiosity trails through the lingering blobs of color, mixing them into a delighted whorl. << Sora and Catiminith, of course. Come, look, there is too much to see to just /stand/ here! >>

>> My name is Catiminith! <<

With sudden certainty, Sorana knew that Catiminith was everything she wanted, and she, his. And that was all that mattered.

~*~The End~*~