Raven is the burlier, and smarter, brother. Sable is quieter and more grumpy, though is often more direct. They both have the same dark brown skin, and paler brown eyes. Neither of them has a hair on their heads: when Ebony was given the chance to dye her hair with the odd Blackbottoms, they offered the brothers out of habit. However, whatever it was in the dye didn't take, and their hair has never grown back in. They clearly resent this, though they seem to wear their bald heads as a kind of Threadscore badge. It is a private joke that Ebony reminds them of constantly as well. Though she does have the politeness in her not to do so when other people are around.
Raven has been trained as a guard, though his experiences have led him to be more their supervisor rather than a simple grunt among them. He is very organized and abrupt with his orders, and expects them to be carried out quickly and without comment.
Sable is more versed with the crafters of Dawnlight, working between them and the Lord Holders to keep the tithes and money flowing in the right direction. In essence, he's a tax man. His bulk often intimidates the more simple or younger crafters when they've made a sale, but if he is trying to squeeze half a mark out of someone like a Smithy, he's going to get a fight.
Raven growled at his brother and clung on to the metal fence, as the rain pelted down on them. The muddy side of the road their caravan had been on gave way and they both were elected by the smaller inhabitants of it to help free the wheels. The runners hitched to the front of the wagon were rather distressed, and weren't of much help.
When the rain began to shift from a downpour to a virtual hailstorm, the pair decided enough was enough! They sloshed through the mud to the wagon, and demanded to be let back in. Sopping, they sat at the edge of the warmer interior until the rain subsided a bit.
When the runners outside whinnied frantically the wagon gave a jolt! No one expected the runners to remain calm but they couldn't afford to find shelter in this awful storm! They'd have to dry out... The runners whinnied again and one of them made a sound that someone inside had heard before.
"There's something out there," she said, and lept to the wherhide door flap. Raven pulled her back before she fell face first into the mud.
"Well if there is something you don't want to just run right into it," he pointed out. "We'll go out and see. We're already wet."
"Thanks for pointing that out," Sable said, low. When they got outside, the rain had given up a little power, but there was a dark shadow over the caravan.
"I hope a tree hasn't fallen," Raven said, "that could be disasterous... How would we get a tree ... up...?"
He stopped talking when he saw a pair of dragons standing among the rocky hills just in front of the wagon. The runners had calmed a bit, but only because there was a man rubbing its nose and speaking softly to it.
"He must be one of their riders..." Sable said, but his eyes were still focused on the dragons. For they were truly like nothing he'd ever seen! One of them was pure white, the other almost pitch black! The white one was slightly smaller than the black, but neither of them were quite larger than a green. The black one looked younger than the white, but neither Sable nor Raven could tell quite why they would know that.
"Heyo," called out the tan skinned man talking to the runner. "We've frightened her. Sab're and I were on our way to the weyrling training at Blackstone, when we passed overhead. It looked like you needed some help!"
The rider of the black dragon came down the hillside and leaned on the other man's shoulder. "We could lift the wagon off the track and back onto the road, here. But the runners will have to be unhitched. The poor things are terrified out of their minds."
"As would the inhabitants of the wagon," Raven said. "But I think we'll take you up on the offer. Sable, would you?" He indicated the hitching, and himself went back to the rear of the wagon. He called out the runnerbeast owner, the woman who was about to leave already.
"We heard voices! Who is there?" She asked, and then saw the other two men.
"They're riders," Sable indicated, "here to help."
While he and the tan skinned man worked, the woman joined them and the rest of the group got out of the wagon. The rain had all but stopped, and everything around was dripping quite hard.
While the others worked, the first rider left off and stood by Raven. Finally, he turned to the bald headed man and said, "Surrith says you're strong and healthy, and your brother is dedicated to his work. Do you think you'd want to stand on the sands and Impress?"
"Surrith... Surrith the dragon?" Raven asked, and the rider nodded.
"My name is T'ran, by the way. Surrith and I have searched a couple others on our way places. For the Protectorate, you know. But we're always open to finding sands for the right people. The dragons know best."
Raven licked his lips. This could get interesting... He called Sable over once they'd gotten the hitches off and the two dragons gracefully moved over to lift the wagon. The black did seem younger, and Raven asked T'ran about it.
Faloritoth? He's only a weyrling himself, but he's grown quite a bit I hear. He'll be large, I think. Not like Surrith. Surri's already three turns old. He'll never be bigger than this, but I'm very proud of him. Ah, they're done. So." He turned to Raven and Sable. "Do you want to stand? Istabitha's looking for a number of candidates, and they're often quite good dragons. The Protectorate has a number of them already."
"Sure!" Sable said, quickly. "We've got to get back to the Hold but ... I want to."
"As do I," Raven announced. "And this will give us one up on our sister..."
"She's only half a hall ahead!" Sable gasped. But she did indeed make it to the hatching sands before the pair of bald-headed brothers.
How she did this even though she still had the butt of a half-smoked cigarette in her pocket, they weren't sure. Perhaps they could get her tossed out because of it.
Perhaps not. The hatching proceded quickly! The brothers were both disappointed by not having impressed the first out of their shell, but if it had been one, it might have been the other being sad. So they waited.
A brown, several blues and a bronze hatched, and then a number of greens -- all tiny -- broke shell. And then the most amazing thing happened. Three eggs broke at the same time -- almost the same instant! Two browns and a smaller but healthy blue came barreling out of their dusted shells!
Everyone in the stands took in their breath as this race to the candidates happened! But it was as usual: the blue arrived at their sister before the two browns had a chance to tackle their chosen boys.
They felt the mocking glare from their sister and the whirling tease from the eyes of her blue, as they left the sands. But their own dragons were fierce themselves, and suddenly the awe of the situation caught up with them. They'd impressed!
Both the brown dragons were sturdy, smooth and dark, like their human companions.
We'll show them next time, won't we! Both dragons bespoke loudly to their chosen. But privately, they added a name, a particular tinge of speech-mind, which the brother chosen could feel settling into his mind forever and always.
"We sure will," both brothers said, and laughed.
S'ble announced his dragon was Lioth, and R'ven told his dragons name, Blikith.
"You would think they'd just want to compete with that blue menace of our sister's." S'ble commented.
"I think she's slipping fellis or something into their water." his brother R'ven said, wondering if that could actually be true.
Angered, the pair of twin browns took to the air and chased after poor little blue Ivith, but he was too quick for them.
"They've had a hard day, Ebony," S'ble pointed out. "They were in fact out fighting Thread."
With surprise, Ebony nodded. "They didn't get scored, did they?" Halfway as an afterthought, she added, "did you guys?"
"No, we're fine, all of us." R'ven announced. "And we're going to be flying in the same wing with you, sweet sister, so don't try anything silly."
"The spy wing is full of us," Added S'ble.
