H'rad and Gaseth's record
Chores, chores, chores Finally, after a long day's ride on the back of a brown runnerbeast, I arrived back at the Weyr. Sure, I could have asked for conveyance by dragon, but I preferred the relaxing ride and a chance to be by myself for a while. Inside the Weyr bowl, I spotted the stables right off and urged my mount in that direction. My backside seemed fine until I decided to dismount. Now I started to feel the tell-tale pain of riding runners. A young adolescent stepped up to take my mount. Turning towards the Lower Caverns, an object caught my eye. If it weren't for that object I probably would not stay to talk. The young man was about 16 Turns, had golden brown hair, and big brown eyes. He also had very long eyelashes any girl would envy. He was dressed in work clothes and smelled like he needed a bath yesterday. The stables themselves were fairly spacious, and half of them were clean. The object in question was a wooden bow. It was a rough carving and there were shavings scattered all around the area. I was relieved to see the young man shieth the knife used to carve it before he got up to help me with the runner. "May I look at your carving?" I asked as he turned towards the stables. "Certainly!" Excitement filled his face as he quicky tied the reigns to a post and walked with me over to his project. Carefully picking up the bow, he brushed off a few chips and then blew on it to get rid of some of the dust. Taking it from him, I turned it over examining every inch. "This is excellent workmanship!" I complimented him. "It has just the right dimensions and is a good size." "Thanks. In my spare time I do what I can with it." Tactfully, aware of the stench, I asked, "And what do you do not in your spare time?" "As Harad, of Keroon Beasthold, current candidate for Alyth's clutch," he begins with pride, puffing out his chest, "today's duties were to muck out the stables." Harad ended his statement with a wrinkled up nose and scrunched up eyebrows. "I was just taking a break when you rode in." "Do you do this every day?" I'd hate to think he worked in the stables on a continuous basis. "Nope! Yesterday I had to muck out the weyrling barracks. Smells worse than this, too. For tomorrow I drew kitchen duty, and then it's green gathering the day after," he revealed his whole schedule. "I just hope those eggs hatch before I have to do another round cleaning up after those young dragons. It will be one thing when it's MY dragon, but to clean out the weyrs of other dragons - especially sick dragons - is nasty." I nodded my head in agreement. "Do you want to know what I'm going to do with that bow when it's finished?" he casually asked, "As soon as I'm satisfied with it, Irnaish, our Junior Weyrwoman, and former Journeywoman Smith, promised to use it as pattern for my steel bow. That way, it will last a lot longer."
Hatching! In the spacious kitchens, candidate Harad began his chores for the afternoon. After he finished his portion of the dishes, he would be priveledged to begin peeling the tubbers for Lorin. As he laid the last cup on the board to dry, his salvation was realized. "Harad!," a new face appeared in the doorway, "Come, hurry, the eggs are ready!" Not needing to be asked twice, Harad raced out the door after him, stopping only briefly to pull off his wet tunic and done the special white one before joining the other candidates. The brisk walk to the middle of the sands only heightened his excitement and hope that he would soon be dragonrider Harad. One by one the eggs burst open to reveal tiny, awkward, eager dragonets anxiously seeking a lifemate. Before he knew it, a girl standing in front of him was knocked over by a gleaming bronze hatchling headed towards him. Barely stopping before knocking Harad over, the little bronze tilted his head up to look into Harad's eyes. "I am Gaseth," a soft voice sounded in his head. Slowly dropping to Gaseth's level, the two of them looked at each other for the longest time. Then, as if the initial spell was broken, Gasheth asked, "Is there anything to eat? I am so hungry." "Of course!" Harad assured him as he led his friend from the sands.
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