Cetray is a tall, strongly built man, aged 21 turns. He is the younger of three boys in his family, all Dawnlight citizens and all of them proud to be Farm crafters.

Cetray was practically born into the Craft, and at age 10 had already become a full Apprentice. At the age of 15 he was a Senior Apprentice, and just last Turn at 20, he became a Journeyman. He is now studying new techniques (and old ones, see below!) on how to grow plants in places they don't usually want to be grown.

Cetray has dark brown skin, black 'afro' hair trimmed short but not cropped, and deeply brown eyes. He has an easy smile, and a cute round nose. His sense of humor is paired with his wandering eyebrows, which seem to drift all the way up his forehead on occasion!

Cetray's family consists of mother Tarray (52), father Cetys (55), both master farm crafters. Oldest brother Tytus (27), middle brother Reytar (24), and he is the youngest. His oldest brother has three children of his own, all under the age of 8. Cetray loves children but has not really had the time to develop a relationship.

Like many young men, he yearns for the skies. The rich fields and the hydroponic gardens he uses for his Craft fill his life, but he has always loved the thought of being able to fly over them too. Besides, isn't fighting Thread mainly to keep it from falling on the food and trees?

If Cetray impresses, he will shorten his name to C'ray. He hopes that a strong brown dragon will look his way, but he's always entertained ideas of having a bronze ... don't they attract the best weyr women??

"Cetray, there is someone here who wants to see the gardens!"

"And you don't have the time, I know I know, mother..." Cetray laughed loudly and came around the corner. He saw a tall, rugged looking man who smiled back at him. Though he wore only typical clothing of a tunic and leggings with a vest, Cetray looked at the man oddly. "You're a rider, aren't you?"

The man jolted his head back a bit, and smiled. "Well, yes, yes I am. How did you know?"

Cetray only grinned. "I have my ways. Come along, I'll show you around." He indicated the tall arched doors which led to the inner gardens. They passed under another pair of arches along the corridor before arriving. Finally, the rider knew why there was such a long walk. The inner gardens were huge!

They appeared open to the sky, surrounded by a huge courtyard, along which the walls were spotted with doorways. The high walls let in a lot of light, since they were so far apart. But the ceiling wasn't open, it was made of strong panes of crystal-clear glass! The lattice on the inside had been painted white, so it blended in with the brilliance of the light coming in. The plants grew in huge hanging and boxed planters, almost up to that very sky.

And then the rider noticed..."What's that sound?" He said, tilting his head.

"It's water, friend, lots of it." Cetray said. "Here, this way."

They walked another few meters and the rider saw a series of pipes. From each of them, came smaller ones which split into even smaller ones. Each of those led to one of the long, high stacks of plants. The whole center of the place was filled with plants but very little dirt! Each of the larger plants had its own water source, which seemed to drip near its roots. Some of them had roots showing in glass containers, many stretching meters down!

"It isn't like those glorified rice paddys they have at Paveh hold, is it?" Cetray said, as the rider gasped at the intricasy of the design. "I've developed a way of keeping the water moving around inside the tanks, see?" He showed the rider a set of what looked like bellows, the kind that were often seen in a forge. But they were being put to use to move the currents of water, so that it did not become stagnant.

"That is just remarkable!" Said the rider, in a hush.

"Feh, you try it then," groaned a younger Apprentice who was manning those selfsame bellows.

"Ah, it's only a couple minutes every day, Faltet, and if you're not outside digging like the other Farm crafters, this is a great way to stay in shape." Cetray announced.

"Why don't we ever see you doing it then?" Asked the apprentice, but he laughed right after.

Cetray moved the rider along, to show him the many beans, climbing plants and fruits which could be grown in such conditions. "And the regular plants, just ones which make people happy, we can start them as seedlings here and then move them out where people want them. It saves the time of trying to seed dirt that isn't the right mixture."

"You know quite a lot about this," the rider admitted. "But do you know about dragons?"

Cetray stopped. "Now, why would I? I'm a farmer, sir."

"Yet you could be a rider. I've been told that you watch the skies as well as your plants. Should we see if my dragon thinks you're right for a spot in Tarizal's sands?"

"Tarizal Weyr?" Cetray asked, "there is a clutch?"

"Ah, see, you do know about dragons! Come along!" They exited the area, and out into the courtyard. There, a blue dragon stood waiting for his rider to return. And the moment he did, Cetray felt something strange.

His heart soared. He had seen dragons stop here at Dawnlight many times, but he had not been Searched. This time, though... he felt the warm breath of the dragon as he sniffed all over.

"Yes, he's sure of it. You're going to stand at the weyr's sands. If you don't impress, you will surely have a great life with the plants."

"If I don't impress, I'll try again until I do!" Cetray said, suddenly excited. He bolted into the garden and his mother's excited squeal could be heard from outside!

The Dawnlight candidates had to move from their original weyr of search to Tarizal, but they were quite happy to oblige. When the eerie crooning of dragons came to the weyrs, Keting grabbed Cetray's wrist and hauled both of them down to the sands.

With only a half hearted protest, Cetray came along after, then stood with the rest of the candidates in awe at the beautiful eggs. The first of them broke open to show off a sapphire beauty, who went right up and impressed K'ing! Still smiling, Cetray watched the second egg hatch. It let a brown out, and he bugled to Cetray, now C'ray.

I will come with you, and you will fly with me, and we will be together! I am Hiadeth, and you are mine!

"Together, Hiadeth! We'll patrol the skies together!" And together, too, they left the sands happily.

Hiadeth spread his wings and blocked out all the sun. At least, the sun which C'ray wanted to be basking in on the shore of the lake.

Hia... You Are In The Way.

You are lazy! I am merely drying my wings!

"You're just sitting there to annoy me! I've washed you up, and you've eaten... What more do you want?"

I want to see if that beautiful green over there will notice me... Do you think she will? I have such lovely wings. Do you think she'll notice them?

C'ray looked around and saw the green he was talking about. His jaw about came loose.

"Hiadeth, that green has a lovely MAN riding her. Don't even think about it. Besides, you're not even old enough to fly her. She's got to be half again older than you!"

You should never mention a woman's age!

(Cincanta's adults instead because Tarizal never got those?)

Kray and Jennifer are the parents of Cicely and Cicero, and Kray has several other children including Helene.