You walk into a dark weyr. all the glows are shielded. The only light is coming from a small window in the eastern wall. You can just barely see the shadow of a person's head crouched at the window. You carefully make your way over to the shadow.

"Hello," you whisper. You are not sure why you are whispering, but it seems appropriate.

"Hi," a male voice whispers back. It's a nice baritone voice.

"What are you doing if I may ask?"

"Oh, I am just doing my studies. My name is Menderan, and I am an apprentice starsmith," he says proudly. "Do you want to talk for a while? I'll unshield the glows, and I have some klah on the hearth."

"Sure," you say glad for the opportunity to indulge your curious nature.

The young man gets up off the ground and begins unshielding the glows. The room gradually gets brighter, and you can now see Menderan's features. He has light brown hair that is neatly cropped to his ear and dark chocolate eyes to match. He is taller than he first seemed about 5' 8", but he is still small for his age which you assume is about 16 turns.

"Now what were we talking about," he asks handing you a cup of klah as he motions you to a chair near the hearth.

"Your craft."

"As I said, I am an apprentice starsmith."

"Really," you say to indicate that you would like to hear more.

"Yes, I have quite good eyesight. In fact, just last night using my distance viewer up on the star stones, I spotted a burning rock. My master called it a comet. He said that there was no record of that particular one, so I have made a new discovery," Menderan said with pride. "The master said I could name it, so I did. I named it Daralla after my mother. She's all I've got," he said with a note of sadness.

"What about your father or siblings," you ask curiousity getting the better of you.

"It's a long story. A few years ago, we were holdless. We lost our home because we couldn't pay our tithes. We sheltered in a cave until we could get back on our feet. On one of these days Threadfall came. My little sister had been playing outside and had gotten her foot caught in a hole. My father tried to rescue her, but he couldn't get back to the cave in time. We lost them both, so it's just me and mom now."

"How did you get away from being holdless," you ask slightly amazed at Menderan's trials.

"After the accident, we were found by dragonriders. We told them everything, and they brought us here to Jerdan. My mom works in the Lower Caverns with Lorin. We've been here for two years now. Last year is when I became an apprentice starsmith. I was up on the roof near the star stones when one of the masters was working with a student. He asked me a few questions when he saw that I was interested in what he was teaching. I answered him the best I could, an now I am an apprentice. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Yes," you say staring at Menderan. Your klah forgotten.

After a long pause, Menderan starts talking again. "But that's not all. A sevenday ago I was Searched! I was down in the bowl playing with some other weyrboys when the searchriders came back. They had stood there talking together and with their dragons. Then they came up to me and asked me if I had ever considered standing for Impression. Yesterday, I went to see the Weyrwoman to see if I could be a candidate, and she said yes. I am going to get to stand on the Sands for the clutch of Green Aldath and Blue Wakith." A wide grin spread across his face and hope shone in his eyes. You could tell that Menderan really wanted to be a dragonrider.

"Oh no," you say. " I didn't realize it was so late. I really must be going. It's been great talking to you Menderan."

"No problem. Same here. Please come back and visit again traveler. Be well and goodnight."

You leave the weyr as Menderan begins shielding the glows and preparing for bed. You hoped you hadn't kept him too late.

Name: Menderan

Age: 16 turns

Job: Apprentice Starsmith

Mother: Daralla

Birthplace: Regin Hold near Igen

Candidate: Jerdan Weyr

The cool title was made for me by my friend Lindsey. Thanks for the cool title. :)Visit one of Lindsey's Weyrs

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