“Don’t worry, I’m comin’ Kare!” Cortel smiled, his eyes smiling at his younger sister with the same gray green look. The young man ran his fingers through his light brown, spiky hair as he looked around for his twin sister.
“Hey, where’d Renko go? Why ya’ yelling at me when she’s not even here to get a lift too?” Cortel frowned tilting his head at his sister turned dragonrider.
“C’fron already took her, because you were taking so long,” Kare glared at her brother playfully. Cortel always had some trouble getting ready for things…. Then again that’s the reason why people would say you spelled his name L-A-T-E.
“C’fron’s the one who helped search Frilonkin right?” Cortel replied. He’d heard of this candidate from talks with Kare and her friends when they spoke of the new Weyr to be established. Last he’d heard it didn’t have a name as of yet.
“That’s the one, C’fron’s sure he’s green material,” Kare nodded thoughtfully. Cortel was quick to pick up his marks pouch and his thick wher-hide coat for betweening with his brother and sister when they’d convey him to his farther away jobs. Cortel was a carpenter yet had never been formally apprenticed to the craft, he’d do the odd jobs that the Wood Crafters weren’t able to get too quickly.
“Well, let’s go, my dear little sister, time’s a wasting,” Cortel winked impishly at his sister who promptly slugged him. Cortel chuckled and followed her outside to the waiting white who was nearly the size of a large green, “Good day to you, Oroth, you look fine today. A slight glow if to you if I’m not mistaken.”
The white rumbled her thanks as she raised her arm for brother and sister to mount. Cortel like his sister was quick to situate himself and strap himself in. Kare spoke as she ready herself, “Oroth gives her thanks, and the reason she looks brighter than usual is she might fly in the next few months.”
“That so? Well, Oroth, I hope Sovreth gives you another grand clutch,” the carpenter smiled thumping the white with a smile on his features. The white’s eyes whirled a bright green of pleasure and Kare chuckled. With a tap on her older brother’s shoulder Oroth rocked back on her haunches and leapt into the air beating her wings strongly. They circled the cothold that was a part of Delaway Hold in the Southern Continent before Kare squeezed Cortel’s shoulder informing him of the emanate process of between about to happen. The next moment the sky above the tiny cothold was clear, as if the huge white known as Oroth had never been there.
It was heading on to evening when Cortel and his sister entered Firestone Weyr. As the twenty-four turn old man walked in he was startled into stopping by a low whistle from a very tall young man who looked both handsome and beautiful all at once. What in the name…? Cortel blinked at the slyly grinning young man.
“Kare?” Cortel called to his sister as she caught up with him, caring her flight straps over her shoulder, “You see that guy over there with the long black hair… I think he just whistled at me.” Kare looked over and spotted the man right away as her brother fidgeted nervously at the experience of being checked out by a man.
“His looks seem familiar, like a young man C’fron described,” Kare replied thoughtfully. As if hearing his name the green rider in question appeared out of the crowd and Kare waved to her friend. The ever smirking C’fron complied to the command and walked over.
“I see you finally got that slacker out of the cothold,” C’fron chuckled receiving a glare from the young man, “Renko’s conversing with some of the candidates, taking notes as usual.” He smirked wider as he reminded the two siblings before him of their sister’s hobby of keeping journals of what everyone other than herself was doing. The young woman was pretty proud of her scribing skills but didn’t except the offer to apprentice as a scribe reasoning that it would take all the joy out of it because she wouldn’t be able to set a limit by her own will, the Masters and Journeyers would assign that to her. She instead took up being a Starcrafter, her second love.
“C’fron!” a voice called, stopping all other conversation between the trio. Cortel and Kare watched as the young man who’d whistled at him walked over smiling at C’fron and them. Both looked him over, Kare noted the handsome part of his features and Cortel noting that if this man weren’t male he’d have been dumbstruck by “her” beauty and probably try to “pick ‘her’ up.” Scary how a person can look so male yet have something that resembles a beautiful girl.
“Frilonkin, the Weyr seems to treat you well,” C’fron chuckled. So this was Frilonkin, now Cortel could see what the green rider had meant as Frilonkin looked them over once again. He’s screaming green!
“It’s my home away from home,” Frilonkin replied slyly eying the siblings.
“Watch yourself, lad, ” Kare said in her dead pan way though her brother could hear the hint of a growl in her voice, Frilonkin didn’t seem to notice or if he did he didn’t really care, “I’m taken and my brother’s straight, aside from that as C’fron tells me you’ll be a shoe in for impressing. You’ll need to learn to control your urges for about two turns.”
“Well I thank you for your concern,” the man, whom Cortel had been informed was bisexual earlier, managed to some how get a hold of his sister’s hand and kissed the top of it, “May I know whom I’m conversing with so I might know it at a later date?”
“I’m Cortel and this is my sister, Kare, white Oroth’s rider,” Cortel replied a bit curtly and was surprised to see Frilonkin back up with a startled look on his features. The carpenter nearly chuckled at the reaction… nearly.
“Pretty rider for a pretty dragon, I’m sure,” Frilonkin finally regained his composure enough to lay on the charm. Cortel was slightly annoyed by the young man’s advances on his sister even after he heard that she was taken but couldn’t help but chuckle at the looks that were exchanged between Kare and C’fron; the female glancing at him questionably and the male seeming to smirk with an “I warned you” look. The candidate bowed to them as he started to excuse himself, “Well I must be off to bed, they don’t seem to want to hatch at this time you know. Oh, and C’fron, after the hatching I have to introduce you to my two friends I met here.”
“Oh, you met two people who have given you friend status?” C’fron joked causing the young man to glare at him and Cortel to nearly snort with laughter, “You haven’t hit on them have you?” Frilonkin immediately became sheepish upon the last question.
“I regret having done that on the first meeting actually,” he replied and Cortel watched as the man’s skin tinted a darker shade, “One’s a wrestler and the other could knock him out, both are from the Beastcraft at, uh what was that Hold called again?… hmm, Turasake Hold! That the one.” Cortel smiled at the descriptions of the other candidates it wasn’t until C’fron replied that he noticed the man’s change of mood.
“I know the place,” C’fron replied with his fixed smirk nearly gone from his features, “I was there nearly twenty turns ago. Maybe they’ll know some of the people I met that day.” He stood there for a few moments more looking thoughtful then, as if on a whim, C’fron turned and walked off quickly and a mournful woof was quite audible from outside.
“Oroth says that Trith doesn’t want to talk about it,” Kare replied as they watched in confusion the older rider walk off.
“He might speak when the time comes,” Frilonkin sighed watching their friend disappear down a corridor, he once again turned to the white rider and her brother with a forced on smile, “In the mean time, let me thank you for coming and bid you good night… if you can sleep knowing a hatching is eminent.”
“You’re lucky to know that it’s going to hatch so soon,” Kare replied with a parting chuckle, “I was only notified at Oroth’s first clutch when she screamed at the candidates for not being robed and to come back quickly when they were clothed properly. Good sleep to you, if you do sleep that is.” The candidate chuckled and with a nod left them.
“He’s an odd one,” Cortel told his sister once Frilonkin was out of ear shot, “But I think I like his attitude as long as he doesn’t check us out as much as he was.”
“C’fron warned us he’d be like a proddy green… he’s pretty handsome too,” Kare smirked.
“Oh, this will be good,” Cortel smirked at his sister and quickly dodged away form her as he made his next statement, “I’ll just have to tell V’nor that his dear love for the past six turns has found another man handsome enough to actually vocalize it.”
“Cortel, you’re a dead man!” Kare shouted after her brother as they ran down the corridor that would lead them to the dinning cavers; both siblings laughing the whole way.
It was later that night, when the trio of siblings were just about to settle into sleep when the call went out that the hatching was at hand. It was a long hatching and quite amusing as they watched a green bite one of her blue brothers for cracking open her shell with his tail. She had impressed to Frilonkin whom would now be known as F’link, green Akaneth’s rider, according to what his sister and C’fron had told him that is. Then there was the bronze who did the same thing to his dam just after the first incident. A strong looking gold had impressed before the last few hatchling and found her lifemate in that of one of the most beautiful woman Cortel had ever lain eyes on. To the twenty-four turn old’s surprise he would meet the bronze and gold riders that night courtesy of one F’link.
“Gemtia, Talcin… er,T’lcin,” F’link started, “This is one of the riders whom searched me, C’fron, and these are his friends, and hopefully mine,” he smiled sly as he winked at Cortel and his sister, “Cortel and Kare, white Oroth’s rider.” Cortel felt his jaw being tapped by his sister back into its proper position as Kare indicated he should close his mouth. The glare from Gemtia, what he’d been staring at, helped as well. T’clin chuckled and sat down next to him rubbing his bronze’s eyeridge as he leaned in to talk.
“Take my quick advice, friend,” T’lcin whispered, “Never look at Gemtia like that, I tell you this for your own safety. She could knock me out within a few minutes.” Cortel blinked as he looked at the hugely muscular newly impressed bronze rider. That talk young woman could do that?!?! T’lcin seemed to read his mind and nodded giving a dry chuckle.
“I was one of the lucky ones though,” he continued, “She only slapped me, yet hard enough to send me to the floor and make my lip bleed.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Cortel replied as he watched as C’fron got up and walked off with the gold rider, both of them looking at each other curiously and talking quietly. When he turned back he found T’lcin looking after Gemtia in a longing way.
“Looks like you haven’t learned from your own lesson,” Cortel chuckled. T’lcin rolled his eyes turning his eyes back upon the remainder of people who sat at the table. And noticed the other female who’d not been introduced.
“Renko,” she smiled with the same eyes of Cortel though they were not shaded as much with gray, “What’s your bronze’s name if I may ask?”
“Sakabatouth,” T’lcin replied proudly though at the same time lovingly as he looked down at his mischievous bronze who peaked over the table top curiously, his rainbow eyes catching every movement as his tail twitched playfully.
“From what I saw tonight,” Cortel smiled, “it looks like Sakabatouth will be a great hunter as he grows older.” He smiled, proud that he’d not stumbled over the dragon’s long name. T’lcin chuckled with a nod. Cortel was then lost in conversation as T’lcin started to converse with his sister and he started to look about the cavern. Dragonets of all sizes walked about with their newly impressed riders. Some squabbled, others slept. Cortel was subconsciously deeply jealous of each and every rider, even F’link with his green whom he’d heard was named Akaneth.
Cortel sighed, he was merely a carpenter, not even one that had apprenticed to the craft. Just a handyman working for a few marks where ever he could get them. His only comfort when he would notice his jealously was that two from his family had already impressed, T’bre and Kare. That gives me some chance of impressing, he commented to himself for the past four turns or so. Saddly no Searchrider had found him worthy, and he was rapidly nearing the age most Weyrs would say that a person was too old to impress.
“Well if it isn’t Head Searchrider B’tal, bronze Neverenth,” T’lcin’s voice was now sarcastic and biting as he addressed a man heading towards their table, “I told you that we’d impress!”
“Congradulations,” B’tal replied grudgingly and pointedly ignored the other bronze rider as he turned his attention to the twins though he posed one question to the Weyrling, “Who are your friend’s Talcin.”
“That’s T’lcin, bronze rider,” T’lcin growled back before answering the older rider, “Cortel and Renko, twins from Delaway Hold, and their sister Kare, white Oroth’s rider.” To the annoyance of the twins, B’tal, aside from giving Kare a nod, did not even acknowledge their dragonrider sister.
“How many turns do you two have?” he asked as his eyes unfocused and then returned to normal.
“Depends on what you mean,” Renko smirked across from her brother, “Together we have forty-eight turns. In other words we each have twenty-four turns to each of us.”
“Why do you seem so hurried about knowing anyway,” Cortel asked impatiently, this bronze rider really irked him and he could tell Renko was feeling exactly the same way.
“You’ve never had a stubborn bronze dragon urging you to start things earlier than before have you?” he growled though oddly there was a slight smile on his lips, “If you wish to return to Firestone Weyr upon the hatching of the next clutch my Neverenth says that both of you would be good to stand. I however…” the man trailed off as a bellow from outside sounded and he grunted ending where he had though he looked at the twins for their answer.
The twins only looked at the bronze rider in disbelief. He’d searched them like that? And so rudely at that.
“Shouldn’t we stay here until the hatching then?” Cortel asked.
“We have no idea when the next female will fly so you might be here for nearly a turn if you stayed here from now on,” B’tal replied with an air that said he thought himself better than them all.
“Then when the next fertile female flies we’ll be here,” Renko answered shortly, “And work on your people skills while we’re gone, K?” B’tal’s face turned bright red in anger but managed to walk away without another word. T’lcin chuckled as the Searchrider left their presence.
“I haven’t seen him that mad since I first met him,” T’lcin hooted, “I hope you two do impress, then I won’t be the only Weyrling to not like him.” Cortel nearly fell off his seat laughing as did his two sisters.
A month later as Cortel and Renko sat down with the rest of their family for a meal they found a surprise visitor in the form of their brown riding brother and his silvery-white fire lizard, Mercurus. T’bre was welcomed with open arms. It had been a while since their family had seen the young man. He was now at Talor Cliff Weyr with his sister and so it was no surprise that he conveyed greetings from her as well.
“Why come without Kare?” Cortel asked T’bre. The older man chuckled as he gathered the first set of twins in their home.
“Kare had other business at Ryslen Weyr and wanted me to convey the message she just got,” T’bre smiled and pulled a hide from a small pouch on the side of his broad belt. Renko was the one who grabbed the letter first.
“Firestone’s had a flight!” she grinned.
“And as Kare tells me,” T’bre continued putting an arm around his brother’s and sister’s shoulders, “You were to go there after it happened because you were searched for the next clutch at the hatching of the last one. And I’ve been volunteered to be your escort.” Within an hour of this statement the twins were at Firestone Weyr and settling in to the disgust of the rider who searched them.
| Name | Cortel |
| Age | 24 |
| Height | 5’10” |
| Hair | Light brown/spiky |
| Eyes | Gray-Green |
| Rank | Carpenter/Candidate |
| Dragon | N/A |
| Born | Delaway Hold |
| Current Residence | Delaway Hold |
