A'lar and Cadyn

Acelar and Cadyn were made for each other. Everybody in their Holds knew this. Their parents knew this as soon as the two children had met, and promptly arranged for them to be wedded when they were old enough.
The only two people who didn't seem to understand that they were in love were...Acelar and Cadyn. They could agree on absolutely nothing. Acelar loved canines, while Cadyn had a feline. Cadyn loved to ride runnerback on one of her father's runnerbeasts; Acelar was scared to Faranth of runners. Likewise, Cadyn was terrified of dragons, while Acelar would have gladly run off to the Weyr if he could. And most importantly, Acelar was completely and utterly opposed to marrying Cadyn, while Cadyn was thoroughly determined to make him fall in love with her.
Once, their fathers tried to persuade them to marry, eventually deciding that the only thing their children could agree on was to 'agree to disagree.' Acelar replied with, "I don't love her, I don't even like her, and I'm not marrying her!" While Cadyn shouted, "He's just too stubborn to realize he's in love with me!" Clearly, they couldn't even do that.

"I don't get it." Acelar looked up, frowning. He brushed strawberry-blond hair out of his face as he glanced at his friend.
In looks, Thedan was as far from Acelar as you could get. While Acelar had light, strawberry-blond hair that reached to the nape of his neck, Thedan's hair looked black, (Even though it was actually dark brown, not black.) and it was longer, reaching just past his shoulders.
Though Acelar had hazel-green eyes, Thedan's were completely gray, with no hint of green in them. And Acelar was tall, if a bit skinny, and Thedan was much shorter, to his distaste.
Acelar put down his pen, looking up from the hide he'd been working on. "Just what, exactly, is it you don't get, Thedan?"
Thedan pulled a chair around and sat down, facing Acelar. "Alright, let me get this straight. You are engaged to the most beautiful daughter of one of the richest Lords on the Northern Continent." He said, causing Acelar to frown. "She's even in love with you, supposedly, and somehow, you still have a problem with this!?"
"Cadyn's not in love with me." Acelar pointed out. "She's just catering to her father's wish to shove her off to another hold, particularly one he can profit from."
Thedan dismissed the last comment with a wave of his hand. "Why would she not love you? You're smart, handsome, friendly, and I'm gonna stop now since I'm starting to fear for my sexuality, but you get the idea."
Acelar smiled slightly at his friend's antics, but didn't answer.
Thedan sighed. "And entirely too serious for your own good." He added.
A canine barked from outside, and a large brown, white, and black colored canine entered, wagging his long tail furiously. Acelar got up to kneel beside the canine, rubbing it's head and ears as it tried to lick his face. "Hey there, Castor." Acelar laughed.
Castor whined, wriggling out of the boy's arms, and jumped up at Thedan. The other boy protested as the canine tried to lick his face too, and pushed him down. Acelar smiled, rubbing the canine's head as he turned back to his owner.
"Anyway," Thedan said, after having satisfactorily cleaned himself of canine slobber, "The point is you should stop worrying about it. Besides," He added, grinning. "You'll probably end up falling in love with her anyway."
Acelar's jaw dropped as he stared at his friend. "Don't be ridiculous." He snapped.
Thedan threw his hands up in defeat. "You're crazy!"He exclaimed.

Clear blue eyes watched as the cream and brown feline purred. Cadyn stopped stroking the feline's head, and Kaitou protested, pushing his head into the girl's hand. Cadyn smiled down at her cream and brown-marked feline, shaking her head as she began to stroke him again.
Her own blue-green eyes were locked on the figure outside, standing beside a large canine. Kaitou meowed, seeming to groan as he caught sight of Acelar's canine companion, Castor.
She shuddered, glancing down at the feline on her lap. "I know, Kaitou. I hate canines too." She said as she watched the canine.
Acelar, however, was a different story. His light hair was swept about in the wind as he stood tall beside Castor. Cadyn smiled. If only he felt the same way about her...
As she watched, Acelar whistled, and the canine's ears perked. A small, gray and white puppy stumbled it's way into view. Acelar knelt down, feeding the pup something from his hand before picking it up. Whistling again, he walked towards her as Castor followed obediantly at his heels.
Kaitou hissed as the canine approached, jumping off the girl's lap as she stood up. Cadyn looked at the pup in the boy's arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Another one?" She asked, eyeing Castor.
Acelar shrugged before setting the pup back on the ground. "Her name's Pollux." He said, smiling down at his newest pet. "Father just gave her to me."
"A bribe to marry me?" Cadyn suggested.
Acelar scowled. "Not a chance. Whatever your father offered you to go along with this, I certainly hope it was worth it."
Cadyn's blue-green eyes narrowed, and she glared at him. "Come on, Kaitou. We're leaving." She whispered to the siamese feline as she turned away. She didn't wait to see the look of surprise and regret on Acelar's face.

Later that night...
Acelar lay on his bed as Pollux curled up on his stomach. He stroked the pup's gray and white head as he thought of Cadyn.
He wouldn't marry her, that was for certain. He scoffed as he thought about what Thedan had suggested earlier. As if he would ever fall in love with that whiny little brat of a girl.
He sighed. The hard part was convincing his parents he wouldn't marry her. A devious plan began to take form in his mind. They couldn't force him into a marriage if he was a dragonrider...

"All right, I still think this is a bad idea." Thedan said as he helped Acelar pack food and supplies to last until he got to the Weyr.
Acelar rolled his eyes. "Then why are you helping me?"
"Are you kidding? Without me, you'd probably get lost and eaten by wild felines or something." Thedan answered.
"Wild felines are only on the Southern Continent, dimglow."
Thedan dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Whatever."
Acelar rolled his eyes again. He finished packing and called Castor and Pollux. "What's the nearest Weyr, anyway?"
"Tripaldi Weyr. Don't worry, it's not far, you could probably walk there by morning."
"Alright then. With any luck, soon I'll be Impressing a dragon at Trapoli Weyr."
"It's Tripaldi, Acelar."
"Whatever."

"What!? What do you mean he ran away!?" Cadyn demanded of her father. The larger man winced, cautiously avoiding his daughter.
"He was discovered missing this morning. He probably left late last night. I'm sorry, honey, it looks like the wedding's been called off."
Cadyn glared at her father, who quickly retreated. "That idiot." She growled. "That pompous...dimglow!"
Kaitou followed her, purring worriedly, as she left the room. She stormed out of the Hold, and didn't notice the two strangers that were talking to her father.
She did notice the two large dragons outside, one blue, one green. She gasped in fright as she stared up at them. The dragons' rainbow eyes whirled faster as they looked at her, and she quickly darted back inside the Hold, almost running into the dragons' riders in her haste.
"Woah! Slow down there!" The man said as she stopped. "What's wrong?" He asked, just before one of the dragons outside roared.
Seeing the look on her face, the man laughed, and his female companion smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, our dragons won't hurt you." She said. "We're searchriders from Tripaldi Weyr, we're here on Search. Jurith said there was someone here with potential."
And there would have been two, if we had come earlier. Jurith reminded her rider.
Killora grimaced, and replied to her dragon mentally. I'm sorry, dear heart. We didn't think it was important when he ran away. Had we known that Holder's boy had potential...
She trailed off when she realized the green was no longer paying attention. Instead, she was studying the girl in front of them with interest. "Jurith?"
This one! This is the one I sensed earlier with potential! I think she will Impress. Jurith stated as her eyes whirled excitedly.
Her rider blinked and turned to the girl. "Well, it looks like you're the one we were looking for." She smiled.
Cadyn gasped. "Me?" At the woman's nod, she looked up at the dragon again nervously. Surprisingly, she smiled. "All right."
Wait until Acelar saw her with a dragon, that might change his mind!