Halaze, son of Lord Holder Darkhanis Paveh and Lady Holder Mirage
Gender: male
Age: 20  

Physical: 6'1", 180, frosty white skin with a hint of "fair" in there somewhere, rich black hair that is kinked and often kept loose around his neck and shoulders, deep brown eyes. He, like his father, keeps his facial hair in a clever, sexy gotee on his chin. It isn't that he doesn't like wearing clothing, especially fancy ones like Darkhanis. But he more often loves being completely au naturale. The only people this seems to bother are visiting Holders (and certainly not their fair daughters or ...  perhaps their fair sons). Crafted like one of his sister Myst's sculptures, and often found posing for them, Halaze keeps himself quite fit and healthy. His face is one of the handsomest among the ranks of the Paveh Hold, and that is saying a lot. He has a voice of velvet. 

Emotional: quiet and sensitive, but equally sly and secretive like his father. He is able to keep himself from getting in trouble (for any of the things he is likely to do to get there) with a sensible argument or a well planned escape route. Highly lucid dreams and a strong amount of empathy aid his arguments, as well. When he dreams, he often is actually sensing people or dragons around him, and it is certain that is the reason he was Searched. 

Skills: all oriented around becoming a major Holder, however with his search he will take up the fight against Thread before perhaps bringing a dragon to the Hold. He carefully watches the other Holds, particularly those with ties to his father's (Kshau Protectorate, Alabaster and Blackstone), to see where they will head. Though he is not trained in it, he is a skilled singer and the Harpers would love to have him if anything because he is so incredibly handsome. He can appraise both items and people, as well as livestock, like a pro. When he is in the company of any of his siblings (on both sides) he is often given to visions when his lucidity comes full term and invades his wakeful mind. He is learning to control this power. 

Searched only a couple years ago, and until now not a candidate. Halaze is sure to have offspring both officially and not. He already does, in fact, with distant cousin Journeywoman Healer Iva. He would rather devote time to family than have his offspring fostered, but that will strongly depend on if and when he Impresses. The timing of thread fall will determine many things in this young man's life, and he himself will probably predict it better than the Star crafters. 

It would be fitting for the son of a Lord Holder to ride a Bronze, but a Blue or even a Green would be far more likely for his innate sense of wanting to be everywhere at once. Any hint of ego is washed away the moment he touches minds with a person, dragon or flit, so he is ready to bond with one who chooses him. He would love to have a Bronze, simply to enjoy the matchless passion of a mating flight! But a Blue would enjoy just as much, and without as many of the unexpected repercussions in dragon kind. He will elide his name to H'aze.

"It will have to be tomorrow then," said the shopkeep. "Thread's a-fallin'."

He closed the shutters on his small shop and Halaze heard the old man rustling about making sure that everything was covered properly. Out here on the gather grounds, everyone was scurrying around trying to get to cover.

Everyone but Halaze. He stared at the sky, as if his look alone could burn the Thread from it. He was so close to finding the best deal on a beautiful Dawnlight silken sash, something his sister and he could share if she came back to the Hold soon. Her dragon kept her busy of course, but Myst and he enjoyed each other's company more than ever since her Impression.

It was that impression that coerced Halaze into asking around as to if there were clutches available. Of course, Darkhanis was dead against the idea of yet another of his fine Holder sons going off to Impress.

Halaze was shaken from his stupor as someone bumped roughly into him, shouted, and hurried on his way into the Hold.

Halaze strolled slowly around the grounds, looking at the cowardly folk as they sought cover. He had no fear of Thread. He had ultimate trust in the Protectorate's wings to keep the folk and fields of Paveh Hold quite safe. In fact there they were now. The Sea Blessed wing, it looked like. A large wing made up of blues and greens alone. Some of them were almost the size of browns, it looked like.

Halaze wondered if they lasted as long as their larger brothers. Perhaps, he thought, it was that the wing was quite large and there was an ever-changing lineup of who was flying and who was resting. He saw three greens blink between and then fly off, over the plains when they got back, and then counted: sure enough, they had been replaced the moment they left.

"Such a sight," Halaze muttered to himself. There was no one to listen. Everyone else was inside, frantic. "It wasn't like it was unexpected... You'd think that with all the starcrafters in this area, they'd have asked when the next Fall was to be."

Ever the opportunist, however, Halaze picked up nearly two dozen Marks of various types, three metal clasp boxes made from beautiful wood (he'd find their maker and return them) and even a pair of interesting necklaces. His greater find, however, was a small ovoid shape.

Warm, and making noise. A fire lizard egg! Someone must have been bartering them here, now that their stall was all but trampled Halaze could tell that the seller was a traveler from Xaviea Weyr's area. Halaze also picked up the remnants of someone's sandwich, squished but edible -- at least to a hungry baby flitter! When the egg broke open, a startled, blue flitter came from it. He cheeped and Halaze did as he had known he would have to. He offered the food, and the little critter gobbled it up!

As he slowly walked toward the Hold, aware that they would not be opening the main doors for anyone, he chuckled. "Everyone scattered when Thread fell, my little flit. So Scatter you shall be called."

"Hey!" Called out one of the stablehands. "You shouldn't be out there!"

"I know, I know... Thread is falling..." Halaze hummed to himself as he made his way back into the hold.

***

When Halaze settled into his weyr, his father came to the door.

"You were out there?" He asked, dark. His orange colored eyes were angry. Halaze nodded once, keeping his own eyes on his sire's.

"I know, it was dangerous, but I was in the middle of a deal, father. And I found a considerable amount of ... stuff out there after everyone had left."

"I did not raise a thief," Darkhanis muttered.

"No sir, you did not." Halaze said. He put his hand on the trio of boxes, which were of considerable and obvious value. "These were dropped too. We should have someone ask the vendors at the Gather who made them."

"I will send several people to see about these..." Darkhanis looked at them, obviously considering their value himself. He blinked that away and with a smile he looked at his son. "Halaze, I know that you've got your heart set on Impressing."

"Pfh." Halaze said. "I can take it or leave it, father. You're the Lord Holder of Paveh. Half your other children have already Impressed. And we don't have a Weyrhold like uncle Engell. Where are we going to put all those dragons?"

Halaze smiled widely. He could not really hide the fact that he did truly have his head in the skies. It was obviously where it'd been all afternoon as he scoured the gather grounds.

"Ah, and I see you've ... found yourself a flitter..." Darkhanis said, as the hatchling blue woke and raised his little head from the crook of Halaze's arm. "That is... interesting."

"He could have been trampled, father. I couldn't have lived with seeing a foot-stomped flit in the ground. He was just about to hatch, too." Halaze gazed into the whirling and happy-green eyes of Scatter.

Darkhanis cleared his throat, and Halaze looked back to him again.

"Well at any rate, we've found that Wu Weyr still has eggs which don't have candidates attached to them."

"Wu!? I thought their hatching was long ago!"

"It was not. The eggs have been hardening, but they're not hatched just yet. But it won't be long, and they're looking for just a few more candidates."

Halaze stood at that. "I will go, oh father, please say you're letting me go!"

Taken somewhat aback by his son's eager statement, Darkhanis laughed and nodded. "You're going. Pack up. Leave all your Holders dreams behind my son."

The arrival of the Paveh holders almost seemed to herald the hatching at Wu. Darkhanis had accompanied his son to the weyr, it was traditional that a Holder's family be present. It was a shame that Mirage couldn't be there, but she had other fairly important duties to attend to herself.

The humming of the dragons above the sands was almost unbearable to beautiful Halaze. He listened and heard several dozen voices mixing in a harmony that threatened to make him, even him, burst into tears.

The hatching started with a brown, then green and bronze. More greens, blues, and finally... Two bronzes and other eggs shattered out, and there was not a doubt in the first one's mind as to who he wanted. The sturdy hatchling seemed to have a great balance, unlike his green sisters who tumbled over each other.

I am looking for you! I know you! I have waited, you have been quite far away from me. But you will never be farther away than this, now! Alkalmith is my name, and I know yours is H'aze!

Halaze choked up, then laughed as the dragonet continued his informative speech.

By the way, you are to be feeding me. And I need to be scratched. But mostly I am hungry. Are you not hungry? It seems like forever since I have eaten. OH! It HAS been forever!

H'aze chuckled and helped the bronze off the sands, knowing where the food was purely by the smell it had outside. Darkhanis watched his son, with a broad smile on his face.

Some day all his children would be impressed, and who would run the Hold? The burly Lord Holder stifled a laugh until he couldn't hold it in any longer, and the others around him wondered why he could be laughing so hard, at a solemn time like this!

"That," Darkhanis said while looking at the tall, stately bronze dragon in his Hold's courtyard, "is quite a dragon!"

H'aze laughed, and even Alkalmith gave off a rumble of humor. "He's a beauty all right. And you should see him eat."

I eat just perfectly. I always catch the right prey and I always clean up after!

"That's my point, Alky, you're so clean ... you take SO much time to bathe! I swear, you're like a proddy gold trying to preen for her mates!"

The look of horror and disbelief on Darkhanis' face was well worth the laugh, H'aze decided. His dragon thought it was just as disgusting and privately to the Lord Holder uttered, I am not a proddy queen. Just in case you were wondering.

H'aze and Alkalmith are participating in a Flight at Seiryuu Weyr! Wish them luck!

... But they didn't succeed - maybe next time, Alkalmith will think about getting a little dirty to win.