He stands a hair over six feet tall, this blond haired fair skinned young man. Taller than many boys his age, at 16 turns he was quite stunning, at 20 now, he has begun to flesh out like many men do. His eyes are brown, wide, and his lips are narrow. His eyes usually fell upon Loni, until she Impressed, and his lips upon hers as well.

She taunted him until he left Dawnlight's guard, to find a teacher in the weyrling masters of Blackstone Weyr. He took her taunting, silently. But not without a clever gleam in those dark brown eyes of his.

'She's impressed a green' Galret thought to himself as they soared overhead in their jubilant way. 'So... All I must do is impress something ... bigger!'

Conspiring with Loni's brother L'ren, Galret learned of a new weyr with sturdy, bright dragons. Black Night Weyr, how oddly named that such bright fliers come from its sands!

Galret looked over the weyr, and thanked L'ren for his help. As the blue with his starcrafter rider flew off and went Between, Galret looked for the headwoman of the Weyr.

She'd set him up shortly, with a shared weyr. That certainly didn't bother him one bit, he was used to the Dawnlight guard barracks. While talking to the young candidate he shared the room with, Galret got a chance to show off his skills with the sword and dagger.

"It isn't so hard to learn," he said to the boy, "but it is expensive to keep your own sword. This one," he patted the one he held, "is my own. I saved marks for almost two turns for it, took them to the master smith in Dawnlight and had him pound me out a perfect piece of steel!"

The boy looked at it and whistled. "Sure is fine. Can I hold it?"

"I.... don't think so," Galret said, shaking his head. His blond curls danced around his face. "It's sharp, and I know how to use it. I don't want to disappoint you though. I could teach you with something else."

The boy nodded, darkly looking away.

Galret remembered the incident, tucking it away. They learned their lessons from the weyrling master at Black Night.

Two sevendays later, someone yelled down the hall, "healer! I must have a healer!"

People were drawn to the person quickly, and someone actually summoned that healer. The man had a long gash on his arm, bleeding as he held it shut.

"That little pain Eimo cut me! Where'd he get a sword like that anyway!" He yelled, while the healer began bandaging the wound.

Galret looked at the injured man, and spoke up bravely. "It was probably my sword. He did NOT have permission to use it. I'll make sure that it's taken from him."

"That won't be necessary," spat the injured man, standing as the healer helped him. "I broke it with a stone from the wall. Idiot boy, bringing it here in the first place --"

The healer quieted him and led him away, looking back -- though his face did not hold the accusatory glares that others did as they went to the infirmary.

"He... broke my sword..." Galret said. He licked his thin lips. Nodded to himself. Then he strode purposefully along the hallway into his weyr.

Eimo and all his belongings were gone. And... it looked like some of Galret's belongings were also gone: a silver necklace with a large pendant of Dawnlight's crest, something he'd won as a reward in the Guard there; several Marks, and a set of writing stylus and ink. And his broken sword was nowhere in sight.

Galret leaned against the stone wall, ground his teeth together, and summoned up the courage to go talk to the weyrleader.

"He's nowhere to be seen, Galret, I'm sorry. It looks as if that thief isn't going to be easily found." The weyrleader said, looking disappointed for Galret. The blond's face was passive, a little annoyed perhaps. Eyes narrow and lips tight.

"But we're working on it. If anyone around here sees him, we've got word out already. Dragons and their riders are already on it. There... really isn't much to be done now."

"Contact the nearby smith crafters," Galret said, determined but quiet. "And tell them that if my sword comes through there, or my Guard pendant, they'll know they have our thief. And if I find that my goods are melted down, I'll have their hides myself."

He turned on his heel and exited the large office, fuming but controlled. He knew better than to yell or to get violent. Best to remain calm in the face of ... well, adversity. The weyrleader was hardly his adversary here! Maybe they would find the thief. Maybe not.

But one thing remained: his weyr was now his own, empty though it was, and the clutch was hardening on the sands without Eimo.

Galret and the others waited for what appeared to be ages, before the actual hatching happened. It was only a pair of sevendays, really, so he kept his mind on his work and his studies.

The thief had not returned, but there were rumors Galret had heard in the lower caverns when he was dining or helping with the dishes, that someone had been seen now and again, moving around the darker unused parts of the weyr's grounds.

But all that meant nothing, as the eggs began to hatch! The hatching started with a green, and proceeded to only get quicker and bigger results from the rest! It was actually quite a ways through the short hatching that a beautiful bronze hatchling showed himself. The only one of the hatching, for some reason Galret knew that.

Then, the boy Eimo ran onto the sands! He'd been hiding in the shadows -- he might even have been near the eggs when no one was looking! That slime -- he ran right up to the hatchling, pushing Galret aside to get to him!

"That evil boy, he stole my sword and broke it!" Exclamimed Glaret. Meanwhile, Eimo was standing before the bronze, screaming.

"C'mon! C'mon, Impress!" But the bronze wouldn't have this scoundrel, he only wanted Galret! The beautiful tall hatchling snapped his wings up, smacking Eimo on the head, and causing the crowd to erupt in laughter.

"That's showing him, Seth!" Said Galret, now Ga'ret. How he knew, that name was in his mind from the moment he stood on the sands. Now, the last two eggs hatched as they left the sands for the food, but Ga'ret like the others before him practically didn't even care that there was a gold, AND a white in them!

Ga'ret was relieved when Seth finally grew to adulthood. It had been an experience, and had lasted longer than he expected. But finally the Protectorate demanded the presence of all able riders and dragons.

They helped move the whole Protectorate, to a place where all of a sudden the big bronze was able to relax and enjoy his status.

Tell me the story of our flight again! Demanded Seth, I like that story.

Ga'ret slumped back onto his bronze's shoulder, and basked in the sun with him, on the warm beach of the Isle.

"When we'd been in the weyrling classes for about two months, you decided that it was time for you to fly, like the big bronzes and browns of the weyrlings from the year before... So you spread those big wings of yours, smacked the weyrling master almost off the field, and jumped into the air!" Ga'ret chuckled, "and when you did eventually come down, he'd barely gotten back onto his feet again. I couldn't even believe you'd done half of it... I was on cleaning duty for weeks..."

I like that story. I remember flying, too. The clouds were bright that day.

They're brighter here...

They are! Let's fly!