T'remal and Lorth's Record
Night before a Hatching I had just arrived at Dawn Sisters Weyr the day before the hatching and as night approached the entire Weyr had just enjoyed a simple meal. As the harpers begin their music, young Teremal couldn't sit still one more minute in the main hall of the Weyr. Most of the candidates had arrived and a few of the guests who were staying the night in the Weyr. Teremal knew the eggs were due to hatch soon and he was very anxious to have some time alone before they did. Descretely he inched his way out into the night for a walk around the large bowl with his gold fire lizard, Namri, on his shoulder. Silently I followed, curious as to where he was going, and half concerned that he wasn't staying. The Weyrleaders introduced me to all the candidates when they arrived, and I had the chance to speak with quite a few. My brief meeting with Teremal was intriging but short. Out in the center of the bowl, Teremal's strong legs carryed him quickly away from the festivities while I struggled to keep up. Eventually I found that we had come to the beasthold. Silently I watched as Teremal casually moved from one runner to another. He caresses their heads and manes as he softly talked to them. From my position at the entrance I knew he feet at home here with these animals. Suddenly my presence was announce by the chirp of the curious gold Namri. "Excuse me," I timidly petitioned. "Who's there!" Teremal called out as he whirled around to face me. Through the soft light of a few glow baskets I ccould see the tall figure of the youth of about 18 turns. He had light brown hair and a clear complexion. His eyes were dark. "It's Kirina," I answered, "We met earlier and when I saw you slip out, I followed because you looked like you had a lot on your mind. "Yes, I do. Just the smell of the animals brings back memories of my youth on the outskirts of Ruatha Hold." "What was it like?" you ask. "My family raises runnerbeasts. My father has been raising runners all his life. My mother is also from Ruatha and is a weaver. I am their oldest son, and I have three younger brothers and a sister. I remember the days my father would send me out with the herd for months at a time in the summer. Sometimes he would send one of my brothers with me too. I guess I am just a little homesick - and a little anxious about the upcoming hatching." "That's understandable," I replied. "But I will Impress," Teremal whispered intently, "I can feel it. Have you ever felt something was going to happen, and then it happened? I remember when I Impressed Namri here. My father was given 2 fire lizard eggs for him and my mother. Somehow I knew that I would Impress one of them. My sister was watching the eggs and when they were about to hatch, we were the only ones around, so we had to feed them and it just happened. She got a green and I got Namri." Suddenly, Teremal changed the subject, "Look up there. Do you see the watchdragon up near the fire heights?" he asks. You nod. "Now bring your eyes down about half way to the ground. That's where my weyr will be."
The Hatching of Lorth As daybreak came in the anxious Weyr, the air was suddenly full of the hum of dragons waiting for a hatching. As if on cue the entire population moved towards the hatching grounds to witness the special event. In the moments before the hatching began, I observed the candidates that I met the night before. I couldn't help but pick out the tall figure of Teremal (hopefully soon to be T'remal) with Namri on his shoulder. As if on cue, the first shell cracked and out tumbled a tiny bronze. Then, a green, and a brown appeared. When the young queen made her entrance, all eyes turn to see who she would choose. Soon, almost every egg had hatched, but I could see that Teremal had yet to Impress one of the hatchlings. "Now, didn't he say he knew he was going to Impress?" I thought to myself. Just as I concluded that he may have been mistaken, the last two eggs cracked and out tumbled a brown and a blue. The brown headed strait for Teremal and I knew that Impression had been made. Over the sound of the crowd I distinctly heard, "Lorth says he is really starving!"
Visit to Lorth's weyr
Inside, the glows revealed a fairly tidy weyr. A tapestry depicting a herd of runnerbeasts hung on the wall. "My mother wove the tapestry for me," he related respectfully. Quickly my eyes were drawn to the sleeping hatchling off to one side. He was a beautiful brown and I can tell that his hide had just been oiled. Smiling I noticed the bulge of a recent meal in his stomach.
"I'd like you to meet Lorth," T'remal announced, as he quickly crossed to the other side of the weyr. "He just ate and is so full, all he can do is sleep it off. It's a good thing I have Namri here to help me. Lorth's a handful." Retrieving something from under some furs, he returned quickly to show it to me. I realized that he was holding new fighting straps. Although the quality is not exceptional, I knewl they mean the world to Teremal. "My sister made these for me," he announced, glowing with pride. "She is the best apprentice Tanner in my hold - especially for one of only 12 turns! Perhaps in a few years, she will be found on Search too." Admiring the workmanship, I spent a few more moments with T'remal and Namri, admiring the growing Hatchling. But not wanting to disturb Lorth, I quickly made my exit.
First Flight As I casually walked accross the weyr bowl, my eyes were drawn to the weyrlings. The young dragonets were practicing the fine art of flying - or rather just beginning. Watching them casually, I could see a young brown take off rather clumsily and after about a minute of frantic wing flapping, crash back to the ground. Instantly he was joined by a queen fire lizard, Namri, and a tall young man whom I knew to be T'remal. Spying a pot of numbweed obviously brought to the practice for a purpose, I collected some and quicky approached the group. "It looks like you could use some numbweed," I said as I caught T'remal's attention.
"Yes, thank you," he replied with gratitude as he began to spread the numbweed on the side of his brown dragonet. "Lorth only suffered minor scrapes on the right side of his body and outer hind leg, but they still hurt." "What you just witnessed was Lorth's first flight. He did better than most in that he actually stayed airborn for more than a few seconds!"
Weyrling Looking up towards T'remal's weyr I saw him and Lorth land on the ledge. It had been a while since I saw them, with all the practice weyrlings have, so I decided to pay them a visit. Entering the weyr, brown Lorth and Namri, the golden queen fire lizard greeted me as I passed.
Gold Namri and Brown Lorth "T'remal, it's been a while since I've seen you. With all you have to do as a weyrling, you're never around," I said as I spotted the tall dragonrider inside. "Yes, we get to work - alot. It's almost harder than when I raised runnerbeasts with my father near Ruatha. At least now I'm allowed to ride Lorth. He is finally strong enough to carry me." T'remal explained. "It looks like Namri is fond of him," I commented as I saw her resting on Lorth's back. My bronze Driz and brown Haja have joined them. T'remal smiles and says, "Yes, they get along great. I don't know what I would do without both Lorth and Namri - they are so much a part of me now." "Well, someday you get to look forward to being a wingsecond." "Yes, it will be nice to flame thread instead of haul firestone." Meet T'remal, Lorth, and Namri
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