Waadier, male, 5’7”, 130, rather short, age 21 turns. With tanned skin and bright blond fluffy hair and mustache, and clear, pale blue eyes, Waadier is classically ‘cute’ to most who meet him.

He will never be handsome, but he will maintain a boyish charm all his life. He is the apprentice of the recordskeeper of the Hold, and spends quite a lot of time reading the tomes and scrolls available as well as re-writing them carefully. He has been known to hum aimless tunes for hours on end, and if a Harper has ever heard those songs, they have no idea where they came from. Waadier is quiet and usually smiling, very cheerful almost all the time. He knows his place in the Hold, but would love to see a new one in a weyr. He knows that his preference for big strong burly-men – rather than ladies of any kind – will limit his dragon riding choices, but he feels that any dragon can still fly, fight thread and get him where he would love to be! He rarely tells people of his likes and dislikes, but when he does find a friend, he enjoys sharing time and wine with them.

Den of...Waadier Pronounced "wade-ear"

Spotless, the first word that came to J'rin's mind when he stepped in to Waadier's den. It was clean, neat and orderly. Everything in its place.

The den was larger than most, at least most of House Caledrus' working class. And, better-lit than most the search rider had seen in his travels. But then again, since Waadier was meant to be a recordskeeper, he had duties to bring home every night. So there were book shelves, piles of scrolls and boxes with notes pushed into nooks in their dozens. There were also several flat counters, plus two wide desks. On them, ink pots, feather quill pens, erasing blotters, paint and stampers, wax to melt over and use as seals... Everything neatly stacked or placed where they could be easily catalogued.

Waadier's place, at the moment, appeared to be seated at his desk scribbling down some important record onto a new parchment scroll. J'rin cleared his throat and apparently startled the blond haired scribe.

"Ah! A rider," the man patted down the table for some reason, as if he was going to find something there and it wasn't where he left it. "I had a note about your arrival... Is the Searching going on? Should I be there to record it?"

Taken aback, not realizing that the search ride had been either predicted or blabbed by someone, J'rin nodded and fumbled for words.

"I, yeah, I think so. That's what you do, right?" Oh, great comeback, rider mine! HUSH!

"It is. I should get my pens..." Waadier turned and started gathering some ink-filled pens, and a long sheet of grey-yellow paper. He looked at it, not certain he liked it. "This will do for the moment," he decided. "I shall put the final version down when all the information is collected!" He smiled widely and nodded at J'rin to head to the dragon flats where the search would doubtless be taking place.

Outside House Caledrus, or what used to be Caledrus Hold, it was a beautiful day. Waadier squinted against the bright natural light of the sun, while J'rin relished it. Holding the papers up over his head, Waadier shaded his face as the young members of the House came along from their guild work or their daily grind, or their private classes, or what-have-you. Some lousy layabouts managed to crawl from their lowborn hovels, and one or two Lords children mocked them as they came.

"They'll not be chosen, I think," Waadier looked over both types with distaste. J'rin peeked around Waadier's shoulder, and chuckled.

"Why would that be, recordskeeper?" He asked, silencing the dragon's derisive remarks before they got out of control.

"Because one is too concerned about their appearance among men, and the others are not concerned about people at all. Doesn't it take someone who is concerned, yet selfless? To ride?"

J'rin mulled that over, while Amitath started sniffing at the young folk.

Waadier wrote certain things on the paper. Each child, most of which he knew by name if not by family status. Their ages and if they had an occupation or potential in a Guild. Such things, and a small area near each name where he wrote in a strange short hand, how Amitath decided to treat each one.

WIth a jolt, J'rin realized that Waadier's comments, hard to read though they were (especially while being seen from over the records keeper's shoulder, whereas he ought to be standing out in front with the dragon nose, right?), were quite accurate. Here and there, Amitath would snort out something and almost turn his blue nose up at the candidate. Then at others he dwelled long and lovingly, as if there was a sweet scent of something. Still others, the dragon seemed to have little or no feeling about either way -- but his tail seemed to tell other stories. Lashing this way and that, perhaps, or laying flatly along the ground dragging.

J'rin thought perhaps, that this recordskeeper was quite observant above and beyond his duties of scratching on papers.

I have found only one I like, Amitath bespoke his rider privately. J'rin brightened. But... You must not tell. Then he sank again.

Why not?

Because I want to see how he reacts without being told by you. I wish to tell him. But you have seen that he'll know. Maybe I want to test him that way.

Go right ahead, J'rin thought, while looking over the candidates himself, pretending to ask this question or console those who obviously would never be chosen.

So Amitath decided to sit down nearby, as Waadier looked over the list and at the candidates lined up. J'rin was letting most of them down as he had had to quite often. So few would ride... Waadier chewed his lips, fiddling as usual with his bushy mustache. How sad their families would be. Or, perhaps, how elated. Waadier knew that the bunch of lords here at Caledrus wanted to keep their children in the House rather than up in the skies.

In half a way, too, Waadier wanted that. But that was only because of the last lover he'd had, who had been searched and wound up on a blue. He was never seen again, after their first training with teleportation. Waadier hadn't taken another lover for months, because of that event. He just couldn't think about anything but--

"Well, your notes look pretty complete," J'rin said, jolting Waadier out of his thoughts. "I'd say you know a thing or two about searching."

"I've watched several. You're not the first pair to come to Caledrus." The records keeper collected himself. Thoughts of Darvan ... R'van as he had been known when he died, made him sensitive and too touchy. He made it a point to calm down before even looking the handsome young rider in the eyes again.

"Then what do you think? Have I any candidates?" J'rin looked at the smaller group of kids who had remained. Waadier looked from them, to his notes, to Amitath.

While his tongue played with the points of his teeth, Waadier thought about it. "Well, no, really I don't think you do. Some of them have been here before, and I've seen the same reactions from dragons in each case. Some look like they're going to stand at a future date, but not today." He leaned in closer, and said quietly, "and some just never will, obviously."

"Obviously..." J'rin repeated. "Well, then, why is Amitath still here?"

Waadier looked at the lounging dragon, who then stood. The blue was not huge, nor tiny, not bright nor dull in hide. But his eyes looked so intense! They swirled slowly, almost carefully. Watching? Waadier's thick eyebrows furrowed together.

"Well, by the way his tail is moving, and how he's all ... up in my face... I'd almost swear he'd found a candidate. But..." His sky-blue eyes suddenly got all wide.

"Oh. Oh, I see. Um, am I correct in saying that perhaps the reason he is still here is that... I... um, am to be the candidate you've found?" Waadier tapped the pen against the parchment, making not-neat markings on it. He didn't notice, and he didn't seem to care for once, that his perfect parchment records were being messed up by his own hands.

J'rin nodded, grinning. "That would be about as correct as someone could get, Waadier."

"Ah. Well. Then, um..." He stood numbly, suddenly all out of confidence and stunned the way he ought to, as a proper candidate Searched would be.

"Then, my friend, the next step is for you to tell your Guild master that you'll be standing. He'll let you go, it should be fine." J'rin said, and Waadier nodded. "Then, your next job is to pack up and get ready to head to Ryslen weyr. There's a proper green clutch on the sands, and the dam wants good men like you to stand for her children."

Nodding again, but still speechless, Waadier did as he was instructed. For some reason, his force of will and his automatic ability to catch on just wasn't working. He was to stand? At a green's clutch... At Ryslen.

Could he do that? It had always been a hidden dream, a whispered secret, that he would want to ride. Darvan knew that, and he would have been perfect to teach him everything... But Darvan was no longer, and that let a little fear for his life through. At last though, Waadier decided that his tasks were set, all he needed to do was complete them.

She stepped out and looked right to Waadier. She stood upon her hind legs, staring at him right at eye level. Will you write about this as well, D'ier? the green asked placing her paw on the recorder’s writing hand. He tightened his fingers on hers, finally having something to do other than fidgiting.

I would like to learn them better. Can we go down and march with the others?

You know it well! I am proud of you.

It is your scribing hand, isn't it? Elkinorith thought sadly. Will you be able to write?

It was not your head that got hit, and that's what is important, isn't it?