Doll by Dolldivine

Name: Osetesi (pronounced oh-seh-TESS-ee) (O'tes... or is it 'Tesi?)

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Origin: Lord's child, first born of 2 boys, with younger half-sister and brother (10 years younger) when mother died and father remarried

Height: 6'7

Build: lithe, muscular, lean because of childhood frailty

Skin: golden, well-known for his spectacularly glowing skin

Hair: dark brown, fluffy, kept quite long

Eyes: hazel gold

Personality: distractable, cautious, polite to superiors and subordinates alike, has difficulty with his gender preferences and doesn't like talking about them with anyone but close friends

History: from a reasonably large forest hold, windswept from a desert area. Though he was being groomed for Holding, when the search riders came it was both a blessing and a curse. Osetesi's distractible nature meant that he hardly had the head for the complicated letter-writing and journal-keeping that would be required. His year-younger brother Olseket eagerly took those things on, long before the Searchers, and the two remain at odds with this: 'Tesi is clearly charismatic and good with delegation, but lousy when it comes to actual personal interaction. 'Seket, while nowhere near as good looking and certainly no charmer, has a sharper and more focused outlook and would be better suited to the job of running the Hold. The fact that he's already got a half-year-old child also bodes better in their parents eyes - even if they're not married yet, the girl 'Seket has favored is a Lady. Their tall, weird boy 'Tesi never seemed to even want a girl's company, obviously preferring that commoner servant Mezuma over the girls they'd hoped he would be interested in.

Candidate at: Aneris Weyr

Osetesi rode the runner harder than he meant to, but he was distracted. How could those people do this to him? His brother kept leering at him with that 'I win' smirk, and he hated it. 'Tesi realized the runner was hot, muttered to himself but slowed and found a shady spot for them both to rest. His mind swirled with thoughts: Olseket would get his wishes, he'd be the Lord Holder after father stepped down. That role should have been his. But no, those damned Search riders had to come and screw it all up.

He knew perfectly well that if it hadn't been for them, for that, even if he didn't like being around too many people, he was still the more popular brother, the one that people wanted to follow - rather than 'Seket, who... sure, sure, he knew his letters better, he had the head for numbers. But there were plenty of people who could do those things for a Lord. Wouldn't that be best in the long run anyway? Having more than one person responsible, more than one way to look at problems?

And the Hold did have its problems. Thieves, specifically. And not just common thieves, not bandits that lay in wait by roads. There was something wrong about the situation - 'Tesi wondered whether it wasn't another of the Holders, or a servant group. They had access to things like the mechanical clock that had gone missing from 'Tesi's chambers, like the rusted but memory-laden sword from his father's office. They weren't merely targeting House Olak, however - whoever it was knew their way around the inside of the Hold pretty well.

If he ever found those thieves he'd be praised probably enough to counteract the disdain his parents had for him.

If he was at the Hold long enough to find them, of course. Which he wouldn't be. Because of the Search.

'Tesi continued to mutter to himself about this situation for another half a candlemark. A candlemark, he thought bitterly, that might have been ticking away on that beautiful clock he had - but where was that clock now? As he cursed the thieves, the search riders, his parents, his brother, and anything else that got on his mind, he didn't hear the steady crunching of hooves on gravel.

"So, you're in a foul mood," Mezuma said. He was careful in his tone, the only time he would restrain himself from a mocking jibe or a nasty remark was regarding his friend 'Tesi. This fact was not lost on the young Lordling. Mezuma dismounted, watching the young Lord carefully.

"Am I, thanks for noticing," 'Tesi said, trying to sound offhand but failing. With the arrival of the one he considered his only true friend, 'Tesi's voice broke and so did his expression. "I don't want to do this, Zuma, I don't--"

"They Searched me, too," Mezuma said, abruptly putting a stop to the pouting and puffy-eyed snuffling that 'Tesi was doing. Those golden-green eyes of his sought out the darker ones belonging to his friend. Mezuma found himself buried under 'Tesi's bewilderingly long body and tangled in his hair.

"You're not joking with me, right? You can't be joking about something like this, Zuma, you can't," 'Tesi begged, "if you've been Searched too that... that's..."

"That makes everything better?" Mezuma said, with his typical smirk and glimmering eyes. He usually reserved that expression for plying the charm on the cooks for an extra helping of stew, but it worked just fine on 'Tesi.

"Almost," 'Tesi said, returning to a somewhat more sober expression, but keeping his arms firmly wrapped around the shorter man. "I still... well, you know. I still want my sharded clock back, I don't want to leave without it."

"It's a clock, 'Tesi," Mezuma reminded his friend. "We'll be standing for a dragon." He gently shoved away from the tall Lord, held his hands out in a scale-balance manner. "Clock, dragon. Clock, dragon."

"They searched you too!" 'Tesi exclaimed, causing Mezuma to laugh loudly as they gathered the runners bridles, and headed back to the Hold proper.

***

Almost all thoughts of that clock, the thieves that took it, and the Hold had been left behind, at least when the hatching had started! 'Tesi's stomach was in knots, but he knew perfectly well that everyone's stomach was in knots! It was a hatching!

He didn't even have time to finish his lunch, the call went out and they all scrambled. 'Tesi worried more for his own sake than his companion's, he just knew that Mezuma had what it took to be a rider. After their classes and training, it was pretty clear! But he'd been searched too, first, there would be a dragon for him. There would!

But first there would be one for Z'uma! A gorgeous brown, the first to hatch! And though Z'uma looked at Osetesi with a pleading, almost guilty glance, he had to take that big brown to get him fed - the dragonet snapped at fingers, and looked quite hungry! Who could blame them!

So it was a few tense minutes later, after a number of other eggs broke open and the dragons escorted away by their new bonds, that Osetesi thought he heard something. It was difficult to pin down, the whole day was making his head thick with emotion.

As the two new pairs left the remaining candidates closed the gap and focused on the four eggs that had all begun rocking earnestly now. It seemed they would all hatch together when one of the smallest eggs finally cracked open spilling a little green unceremoniously on to the Sands. The dark girl cried out as tried to stand and her foot caught on the remains of her egg sending her tripping once again.

Several of the candidates moved to help the little one right herself, but she only had eyes for one person in the group. Osetesi blinked several times as she called to him. "I'm coming Ainath," he answered as he rushed to her side. The lordling helped her up kicking the remnants of the shell out of the way. "There you are." He smiled at her. "Let's go get you some food."

It had been her mind, her hunger and emotions clouding his thoughts before. Little Ainath, darkly green - she would be a nice compliment to Z'uma's brown!

***

"I do wish you'd eat more, Ainath," 'Tesi pleaded. But the green would have nothing of it. She would be a petite thing, whether he wanted it or not. She didn't like wherry - and that was ridiculous, look at all the wherry that was grown for the dragons at Albion! But no: she had to have fish, she had to have swine. Now, pigs and boar were not common out there. It was a good thing that 'Tesi came from a reasonably wealthy family, it was one of the things he insisted they send to the Weyr for him: breeding stock for pigs, notably absent before he got there!

Ainath, for all her pickiness, however, was still a good fighting dragoness. She did not aspire to become more than a wing-fighter, generally keeping to herself and thus isolating her rider a bit. He tried to encourage her to be more social, but like her eating habits, Ainath's choices of social contacts were also limited. She spurned males, except for her clutch mate Ortinith, and that was purely because of the love that the riders had for one another.

While Z'uma and Ortinith were off training with the dragon-healers, however, 'Tesi decided it was time to head back to the Hold and see just how well his brother was handling things. Was he learning from their parents, or just doing things his own way? It had been nearly three years since he'd set foot on the soil of his birth, so 'Tesi was a bit hesitant.

Ainath was also hesitant, but more because she felt the minds of those below. They will want to touch me, she asserted.

"Yes, of course they will. You're a dragon. They've hardly seen a dragon! I had hardly ever seen them, before being Searched!"

Well, I do not really want them touching me. I don't know where they've been.

'Tesi laughed out loud as they landed.  "Ainath, just put up with it for a time. Besides, they have a good selection of pigs here. If you behave yourself, I promise you a treat."

With that, he dropped to the ground, and gathered his wits. Ainath did put up with the children and hesitant adults that came to see the Lordling-turned-Rider. 'Tesi recognized his parents among those coming outside, also his brother - who had been busy in those three years: his pregnant wife held the hand of his first child and another younger one as they walked forward.

"Well leave it to the pretty boy to bring a green dragon here," 'Seket said. Their stepmother however gave him quite a glare. He quieted, their sisters clearly were taking after the strong-willed woman. 'Tesi almost hoped that they would be the ones to challenge his brother to the Hold, now that he couldn't.

"Well, leave it to the randy buck to keep a woman gravid for three years running," 'Tesi spoke sharply. He hadn't realized quite how much this rivalry had stewed in the back of his mind all this time. But it was their father Olak that gave off a laugh to break the stunned silence after the remark.

"We've a rider in our midst," he announced. "I wish you'd sent word before coming, boy, I would have had something prepared."

"That's all right, father," 'Tesi said. "I'm more here to follow up on something I'd meant to do before being Searched. While Z'uma is busy - he Impressed a brown, by the way, such an amazing brown - they're learning the dragonhealing trade - I wanted to arrange for some of my things to be packed up and brought to the Weyr." He let the family catch up with that whole rambling line of thought, barely, before saying, "by chance, did you ever find my antique clock? The thieves can't possibly be on the run this whole time, can they?"

He knew the answer long before any of them started to speak. Obviously, the thefts had continued and were hardly off the top of the list of things anyone meant to get to do.

"Really?" 'Tesi scowled, he looked at his brother and narrowed his eyes. "I'd have thought that would have fallen to you, brother. Surely raising a large family would mean you'd want to protect them from thieves?" He bit back the urge to add something unkind about how long it takes to make a girl pregnant. "Well, I suppose that I'll have something to occupy my time while I'm visiting, then!" He turned chipper, he'd learned much about the ways of conversing while in the Weyr. "I'll want to hear all about your experiences in the meantime too."

Olak and his wife, their girls, and 'Tesi walked into the Hold's lower entrance, while his brother stood mutely outside. 'Tesi would get around to finding those thieves, if he could just gather the right information. He was pretty sure that Ainath would be able to suss out the location of the people responsible, after all with the ability to see into minds? How far could they get?