Istabitha's Weyr
Tainor wasn't sure what to do about his beautiful lover and her equally beautiful dragon. She didn't expect him to remain with her forever without... Well, without a dragon, now did she?
The dragon Tinoth seemed to like him well enough, and her constant attention to him proved it. Tainor had never been in a weyr frankly because he didn't believe that dragons were all that special. They weren't smart, were they? They weren't like ... well, like people?
Well, they were. Tinoth proved it. She would sometimes lay on her side and literally purr with delight when he would bring Ezhar some new object or other, and then listen in wrapt attention to his tale of how he had gotten it. In fact, she seemed to want to hear about other places, other lands.
So he entertained not only his love, but her dragon, for hours upon end. He was no harper, but he had an ability to weave a yarn. It was part of his expertise with people. An expertise he never expected to extend to dragon kind. Never.
But it did.
And for some reason, he was pleased about it.
There was a small, very special clutch being laid on their sands. It was a rare white male, Deakoth, and an equally rare female named Holith with something extra special about her own looks.
With the determination that he had learned over the years, from haggling with gypsies and from working with crafters, Tainor worked his way close to the weyrleaders.
With a confident smile and a charming saunter to his walk, he strode up to them.
"I've heard there is a clutch," he began, and before he could say another word, the weyrwoman had almost launched herself on him with glee.
"I've heard about you! You're that trader, Tainor aren't you!"
".. Yes?" He said, caught completely off guard.
"Well! I know that you're one to value special things. And your special Ezhar has spoken to me so much I feel as if I know you. Come with me. I'd like to make sure that you're standing on the sands when the clutch hatches!"
And with that, the 23 turn old trader lifted his eyebrows as high as they could go, and walked behind her, wondering what on Pern he'd gotten himself into!
They stood, gathered in a clump, surrounded by their shells. Then, the odd blue with darker legs made his choice and impressed. Followed by the green who had no unusual markings.
Then... The other blue bolted out, fell and got up, and fell again. Tainor felt bad for him -- he couldn't be very coordinated just yet, the poor thing had just hatched!
Go now Tainor, he needs you. You know who he is, bespoke Tinoth. Tainor nodded, sure suddenly that the red female was right.
Where are you, rider mine? Pleaded a voice, pained and hungry.
"I'm here, Razelth!" The man raced to catch the blue from falling again, and they left the sands together, cheered on by Tinoth and Ezhar.
How odd now, his life really WAS complete, wasn't it? He had a heart partner in Ezhar, and a soul-mate in Razelth... their family was complete! Well... Almost!
"She's going to have to remember that she's not the ONLY teacher around here!" T'nor laughed, as the dragon pair began their flight training. Tinoth had doubled for the weyrlingmaster just for Razelth, because it seemed that the red dragon wouldn't leave his side.
I do love her. I think she is nice to be around. Always!
Don't worry about that, Raz, T'nor looked at Tinoth's beautiful laughing rider Ezhar, and blew her a kiss when the dragon below him spread his wings ready for flight.
"We'll be together always--" he shouted, as they lifted into the air! Abruptly, T'nor and Razelth tumbled a bit, having gotten off the ground and no further. T'nor wasn't using riding straps -- he'd been warned that if he were to mount the young dragon at this stage he would probably be more hurt by staying on, than by tumbling the short distance to the ground. It was true.
Ezhar laughed and laughed, joined by her red Tinoth...
T'nor and Razelth knew that the only females for them were the ones they knew so well already. Ezhar had never lost her girlish charm, but had slowly grown into quite the woman over the two turns of Razelth's weyrlinghood. She still danced, long into the night, for T'nor's enjoyment -- sometimes for others gathered, but mostly just for him. T'nor was eager to fly to other weyrs, to see if he couldn't start trading again. He and his love knew that their dragons were special, they were not going to be used for thread fighting. But what then?
Fortunately, the Protectorate's wings afforded them much in the way of personal freedoms. Their dragons were still versed in fighting techniques, but Ezhar's Tinoth flew with a flame thrower, and T'nor's Razelth was never quite the expert at dodging that he wanted to be.
Razelth spent time learning instead, how to between properly and where everything was. His rider's extensive knowledge of the ground routes worked great for that, and they never missed their mark when attempting to travel.
As a kind of reward for their work, the Protectorate awarded T'nor and Razelth the honorary position of 'Official Trade Captain'. They were looked at as experts in that field first, and well deserved was this title.
Tinoth and Ezhar on the other hand came to weyrs to educate the young riders in graceful moves, and in physical exersizes. As a sort of 'wandering weyrling master' she trained many young students in their firestone tossing drills, as well as showing some of the more gifted girls how to dance.
Tinoth will rise to mate, some day... And her heart is set only on one male, her beautiful blue Razelth.
That day finally came, while the rest of the Protectorate was busy laying all the eggs in the world, this pair remained steadfast together. They noticed a strange presence lurking around Caledrus now and then, but didn't pay much mind to it until a shadow formed into a man.
Not typical to see someone just appear out of nowhere, and both Tainor and Ezhar saw it clear as day. He wanted to be seen.
