A tiny young woman of 19 turns old, she stands below 5 feet tall! She is slender and well balanced, with excellent dexterity in her fingers. She has pale skin, with tan-brown hair that is mostly straight and somewhat shaggy. She has yellowish brown eyes, that see so much!
Una is a believer in doing it yourself. She got herself into the Harper's hall, but can't sing worth wher dung! It is her artistic skills which kept her there, long enough to gain her journeymanship. She was sent off on her own, to the South, and eventually led to Raanatani's Cothold ostensibly to teach the children painting techniques, but she realized how much she was homesick, and really enjoyed staying to paint portraits of the children who pass through the place.
She is as much a sort of headwoman's assistant as painter, when she is not painting. She is talented at calming young children, though she claims that she does not want them herself. Perhaps the children trust her because though she is much older than they, she stands barely half a head taller than most 12 turn olds!
From the nearby farm hold, she met Zeb. He loved to pose for her, and she loved the way he posed... They may handfast if they both Impress someday, but are content to live for the moment.
Una has sought certain things in life. Color, structure, and complexity. She has found many new plants in the south, along with other minerals and animal extrusions which she uses as colors for her paintings. So her paints are richer, deeper and more interesting than some. Since she has been in the South, however, she has also not really told anyone in the Hall about these pigments, so... She's content to keep them for herself!
As for a dragon, Una has been searched as most have by one of Raanatani's children. She wonders if she would make a good rider, but then she has been told that her skill in spotting colors and detail will make her eye for scorching Thread better. She hopes for a green or perhaps blue to ride, and loves to watch both those kinds flying, as their colors entrance her the most and hold most of the variation in the dragon skin color wheel.
It was a mid-autumn night when they got there, and the hubbub had pretty much died down.
"Did we miss it?" Una asked, sadly.
"I don't know. Let me find out," said her huge and strong companion. He wandered through the area, until he gave a whistle.
"You found them!" Una cried happily. She took one of the eggs that were there, unwilling to take more than one, there were still people around looking for this very same clutch.
Just as soon as Una held it in her hands, the warm and hard egg began to shatter open! When Una looked at her hands, all she could see were bright yellow-white eyes! They seemed to glow with a purpose, and she gave the hungry flit's mouth a bite of meat!
Then, the orange colored flit came from his shell... "He's so... orange! I've never seen a flit this color!"
"Nor I," Zeb replied but by then he had his own hands full with his hatching fire lizard!
Una looked into the brilliant greeny-blue eyes which continued to change color while she watched. So beautiful, and glowing still!
"Your name is Lantern, little one! You're so bright!"
She didn't try reminding him that the dragon knew perfectly well where home was, and that Kalkin ought to as well. But his home, she sighed and reminded herself as she cleaned up, was at Alabaster where they kept him busy... hurting people, she'd heard. What a job for a healer of his caliber.
His dragon had searched her boyfriend's brother, and that was such a fine day! She thought about painting something new, about a Search or something.
The twilight hours came with a feast in honor of the Talor Cliff searchrider Nora who came that day. It was always both polite and respectful to honor the guest with such things... She'd heard of holds which tried to turn away Search riders, in order to keep their sons or daughters under control or something. What a horrid thing to do.
The discussion got heated over Zed's lack of interest in having a fire lizard, and Una and Zeb -- both having such unusual ones themselves -- had to put in their two marks.
Later still, Nora came along and took the brothers outside, mysteriously. Una's heart jumped oddly. What was this happening? What was going on?
"And you too, Una," the woman claimed, and nearly dragged the artist outside into the dusky night, with her dark boyfriend and his pale brother.
They had to remain still and fairly quiet as Mitanth, her blue dragon, went over them with Sixth patiently watching beyond. At last, then, Nora claimed that it was a Talor Cliff clutch that she was indeed searching for, and she'd managed to select out the trio for standing!
As a tiny little member of the trio, Una's spot on it was to be lifted by Zeb up into the air and tossed back and forth between brothers!
She joined the brothers down in the hall, and it looked like Zebediah was in one of his moods. She couldn't help but wonder why, they'd just parted mere moments ago and he seemed quite happy.
Then the eggs began to hatch. Z'ed, his brother, impressed first to a beautiful dark brown dragon. Then, after a little wait Una could feel a thrill inside her. All over, like ... well, a lot like she'd just felt being with Zebediah. She grinned a catty smirk at that thought, and then sensed a presence in her mind.
I like that. How do you do it? It made you feel good, didn't it! I will want that, won't I? I hope I am good at it. Oooh, look. He's fine. He is a strong pretty brown. Do you think he likes me? Why is he-- ooph!
The green dragonet who had been conversing animatedly at Una did a faceplant when the brown which Zebediah impressed stopped cold and didn't seem to admire her swaying gait.
How could he not like that? It was my best look!
"Don't worry, Dosth, he'll probably change his mind in a turn or so."
My wing is still drying, it is all right. I will not move.
"Good girl. Now..." Una shaded several strong lines down the page, and sat back, pleased with herself. "All done."
May I see it?
"When you're all dry, yes! That oil gets on this page and my drawing will be ruined."
Then why draw with that stuff?
"What would you like me to try doing it with, Dosth?" Una asked, bemused.
I will paint with my tail!
"Noooooooo!!!" Una cried, for the weyrling had only barely gotten her betweening under control but hadn't yet mastered... 'voiding' in to the void...
You are just saying that! I liked being all colorful!
"But the paint wasn't doing your hide any good. That," Una sighed, while she snugged the straps of her riding harness down, "and you don't seem to have any idea how many marks that paint cost me to replace..."
The green began to sulk.
"Oh, but I can never replace you!"
With a brighter mood, the green took to the skies and soared over land a long ways before Una commanded her between back to the Cothold. As an artist, she had never had any trouble focusing on an image to show Dosth to go between, and they never erred in their motion around the dark space of it.
The others called from the ground, waving their arms, but Dosth and Una were too high up to hear them.
They love me! Ooh, look, there is that nasty brown.
"He's your brother, Dosth, remember?"
That does not stop him from being nasty! I will show him how good a flier I am... Soon.
Una's gut twisted a bit, but she remembered: that nasty brown was the dragon her lover rode!
