A'tram and Leitneth

The tiny half-feline, half-bird creature looked up and chirped at him curiously. Adeletram sighed. Well, it wasn't a fire lizard...but it was a pet, someone to talk to, even if he couldn't talk back. Resignedly, he began to feed meat to the green creature, and named him Kian.

Adeletram's deep, brown eyes were currently dark with annoyance as he searched through his bags. He rifled through spare clothes, a small guitar, two flutes, a pipe and several sheets of music, (and also a suspicious lack of food, no doubt thanks to Kian) but could not find what he was looking for.
He looked up, causing dark brown bangs to fall into his eyes, and he brushed them out of the way irritatedly. The days-old alis gryph, Kian, chirped at his owner curiously. Adeletram's brown eyes narrowed as he glanced at his pet. "Kian...You didn't take my map, did you?" He asked, but needn't have bothered. First off, the alis gryph couldn't answer, anyway. Besides, the map was neither tasty nor shiny, so the tiny gryphon would have no interest in it.
Adeletram sighed, sat back on his hands and looked up at the sky. Dark gray clouds covered the sky, hiding the sun from view as thunder rumbled in the distance. Great. Adeletram thought to himself. Rain. Just what I need.
The journeyman threw his hands up in defeat. "Right, that's it, then. We're dead! I've lost the map, again, I have no idea where we are, and it's starting to rain. Might as well stay out in Threadfall, we're never gonna get to Janos Hold at this rate!"
Kian, meanwhile, was staring in awe at the raindrops that began to fall around him. Having hatched only days ago, this was the first time he'd seen rain in his short life. A large raindrop fell on his yellow beak, and the alis gryph sneezed.
Someone giggled behind him, and Adeletram turned to see a woman standing beside a green dragon with bright blue wings. The red-haired woman, about a turn or two younger than him, held up her hand in a quick wave. "Sorry, but he's so cute!" She giggled at Kian's antics, and motioned to her green-blue dragon, who was eyeing the alis gryph with something akin to distaste. "Do you want a ride?"
Adeletram gulped, looking up at the dragoness nervously. "I'm...not sure."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer to walk to the nearest Hold, then? In the rain?"
That changed Adeletram's mind. "Okay then...to Janos Hold, then. Please?"
The woman nodded. "Alright, Kaareth and I know where that is. Hop on."
The woman helped Adeletram climb onto her dragon's back, Adeletram still somewhat hesitant about the whole idea. He'd always been terrified of dragons. He wasn't entirely sure why, he just...was. Putting his irrational phobia to the back of his mind, he grabbed the riding straps in front of him as the green-blue dragon took off.

It was a good thing Adeletram had gotten a ride from the dragonrider. This way he arrived at Janos Hold right on time, as opposed to horribly late, as would have happened if she hadn't come by with her dragon.
Kian, however, did pose a bit of a problem. Adeletram wasn't sure how the Holders would react to an Alskyrian alis gryph. Some small, isolated holds had problems with fire lizards as pets, he didn't know at all what these holders would think of his little friend.
He coaxed the alis gryph into one of his traveling bags, leaving a hole large enough for air, and packed with enough food to satisfy the alis gryph for the rest of the night. Provided the greedy animal didn't eat it all at once, anyway.
With Kian chirping happily (and thankfully, quietly) in his bag, and his bags slung over his shoulder, the journeyman harper released a held breath, and entered Janos Hold.

Adeletram smiled at the two girls sitting across from him, who promptly collapsed into giggles. He sighed, turning back to his food, and began to ignore the girls. Now he remembered why he'd never gotten into a relationship. Well, actually, it was because he was always traveling and never had time, but anyway.
The holders here seemed to be friendly enough, if a bit too serious. Casting another glance at his not-so-discreet admirers, who again collapsed into giggles together, he shook his head and stood up, asking the nearest person where he could find his room.
In his room, Adeletram set down the bag containing Kian, who was apparently asleep, since he heard no sounds from inside. He threw the others into an empty corner, and opened the bag.
"Kian?" He was answered by a soft yawn and a purring sound. Evidently, his pet had been just fine in there. With a playful chirp, the alis gryph popped his head out, staring curiously at his owner before sniffing around for food.
Soft footsteps came from outside, and Adeletram beckoned frantically to Kian. "Come on, Kian. Someone's coming, get back in the bag."
The alis gryph seemed reluctant to climb back in, and continued sniffing around, nimbly dodging his owner's attempts to catch him. The alis gryph cautiously nosed through the bags, tossed haphazardly in the corner, looking for more food. "Hey, no! Get away from there! Kian, get back here." He whispered frantically.
Finally, he grabbed the alis gryph's tufted tail as someone knocked at the door. "Harper? Is everything alright?" Came a questioning voice from outside his door. He looked up, and with the tiny gryphon squacking loudly, he shoved Kian under his bedfurs, hoping he would stay still.
"Yes, I'm fine." Slightly disheveled from his chase with Kian, he opened to the door to see a slightly confused looking young black-haired woman. He recognized her from dinner. Her name was Kirien, she was one of the Lord's younger daughters, two turns younger than him.
He stood with baited breath as she discreetly glanced about his room, but fortunately, Kian stayed still and silent. Kirien whispered some parting words to him, which he didn't entirely catch, and left. Adeletram sighed in relief, shutting the door to his room as he glared at the green head poking out from the furs.

Time passed, and Kian grew bigger. And the larger the alis gryph grew, the more trouble he found, and caused. Adeletram was hard pressed to keep the gryph out of trouble, as well as out of sight. The Lord Holder didn't like fire lizards, considering them nothing more than nuisances, and Adeletram did not expect that the man's opinion of his alis gryph would be any different.
Adeletram sat at his customary spot at the table, and smiled to himself as he stared at the young woman, one of the Lord's daughters. Her hazel-green eyes shone brightly as her dark, chocolate brown hair formed a halo around her lovely face.
He didn't have a crush on Alov, not in the slightest.
He finished his food, ignoring his two sulking, not-very-secret admirers as he snuck some leftovers into his pocket to give to Kian. Then, excusing himself from the table, he was about to leave, when he heard someone whisper, "Kirien's gone missing!"
The journeyman paused. Wasn't Kirien the girl he'd met outside his room, the first night he'd come? That wasn't so important as he realized she was also Alov's younger sister.
Of course, once he found out that Astev and Alov were going out to search for their younger sister, Adeletram generously offered to accompany them. He insisted that he would prefer that to remaining cooped up inside the hold, which was a believable enough excuse. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that Alov was also going...

"Adeletram? Where's the map?" Alov asked, temporarily distracting him when her hazel eyes met his own brown eyes.
Shaking his head to set his mind back on the right track, and hoping neither Alov nor Astev noticed his ears turning pink, he sifted through his pack, careful not to disturb Kian, who had fallen asleep inside.
Though he found many things, (a miniature flute, pipes, sheets of music and extra paper, a ball of string, and half of what Adeletram thought was, and hoped it wasn't, half of a dead rat) there was no map.
Adeletram groaned, looking up at the twins sheepishly. "It looks like I've lost the map." He admitted reluctantly.
Astev rolled his eyes, about to reply, when Alov sharply elbowed him, pointing at something on the horizon behind Adeletram. "Look, Astev, there's going to be Threadfall soon!"
Adeletram glanced behind him. There was a silvery hint on the horizon, still quite far away. They should have more than enough time to find shelter. Another thought stopped him cold.
"What about Kirien?" Alov asked worriedly.
"...I think she'll be fine. She's not stupid, she should be able to find shelter before the Thread becomes a real hazard." Aste reassured his sister.
Alov still looked doubtful. "But..."
"We won't be any help to her if we don't find shelter ourselves." Adeletram pointed out. "Come on!"
With a quick glance at each other, the twins shrugged and followed the harper. "Umm...Adeletram? You do know where we're going, right?" Astev questioned.
Adeletram glanced at him reproachfully. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I know where I'm goi-Aaaahh!"
The journeyman had slipped down a steep incline, not looking where he had been going. To their surprise and relief, the incline lead right into the mouth of a deep cave. Adeletram had all but fallen into sufficient shelter from the threads.
"Hope Kirien had as much luck as we did..." Astev muttered as the twins entered the cave.

It was hours before the Thread attack stopped, and finally, the trio stepped safely out of the shelter of the cave. A large brown dragon and his rider met them outside. "Stergroth says you three were caught in Threadfall?" The rider stared at them, one dark eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Well, we did manage to find shelter in time, no harm done." Adeletram said, shrugging. "We're looking for somebody else who might've-Ah..." Adeletram trailed off as the brown dragon sniffed at him curiously. He watched warily as the dragon's warm breath ruffled his hair.
The brownrider laughed. "Don't mind Stergroth. He doesn't bite."
"Right." Adeletram said as he stepped back from the inquisitive brown dragon. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" He eyed the dragon with distrust.
The rider didn't bother to hide his grin as he silently questioned his dragon. The grin faded in surprise. "Oh..."
"What?" Adeletram was curious now.
The man turned back to look at him. "Stergroth says that he thinks you'd Impress a dragon." At Adeletram's startled expression, he continued. "Me 'n Stergroth are also searchriders." He said by way of explanation.
Adeletram glanced at the dragon with thinly-disguised distaste. "I don't think so..."
Then Alov smiled at him. "Come on, Adeletram, why not? Don't worry, we can find Kirien on our own."
That wasn't why he was hesitant, but staring at her brilliant hazel green eyes, he wasn't about to say that out loud. Adeletram grinned halfheartedly and turned back to the dragon and his rider. "Alright then...Why not?"
The rider watched him bemusedly before helping him onto the dragon's back. "My name's G'ran, on brown Stergroth. We'll keep an eye out for your friend, if we find her, I'll be sure to let you know."
"Okay, thank you." Alov said as she waved to them.
Adeletram swallowed his fear, and hung on tight to the flight straps as the giant brown took off.

Adeletram spent the next few sevendays living in the Weyr, and generally just helping out. He had not been officially searched yet, mainly because there was no clutch on the sands. Kian, after getting over his initial shyness of the Weyrfolk, quickly took advantage of the attention lavished upon him by the delighted residents, so much so that Adeletram rarely had to feed him.
Then he heard about a girl who had recently Impressed an abandoned queen dragon. Curious, he had wondered who she was, and was surprised and relieved to find out that it was Kirien. Relieved because he now knew that she was indeed alive, and surprised that she had Impressed.
Curious, the journeyman harper found his way to the abandoned caverns, anxious to see these abandoned dragons...

Adeletram stepped into the dimly-lit cavern, nearly stumbling over his feet in the overwhelming shadows. Five dark shapes looked up at him with glittering rainbow eyes, watching the newcomer curiously.
Something in the dark rumbled, sounding amused. Man, we seem to be going like hot cakes today, aren't we? The solitary blue stated, his mental voice tinged with quiet laughter.
Adeletram blinked in confusion. "W-What?"
One of the other dragons, a shadowy bronze, rolled his eyes and answered. Never mind Garabith. The bronze said. He was referring to the other two blues that were abandoned. They only found their riders a few hours ago.
"So...You dragons can Impress again?"
The blue rolled his eyes, very clearly saying 'duh' without saying it. The bronze glared at his smaller sibling before answering Adeletram.
Yes, we can re-Impress, if we wish. It's simply a matter of finding the right person. He cocked his head, staring at the harper. Is that not why you came? To possibly Impress one of us?
Adeletram blinked. He hadn't actually thought about it. "I don't know." He confessed. "I heard somebody I knew Impressed an abandoned gold dragon, but I wasn't sure if it was true. I never thought about Impressing myself."
The bronze's eyes whirled with green and blue. Perhaps you should. He seemed to murmur, studying Adeletram.
Adeletram shifted under the dragon's gaze, shrugging. The bronze glimpsed the knot of harper blue, that denoted him as a journeyman harper. The dragon crooned, and his eyes whirled faster. You are a harper? You play music? He asked eagerly.
Adeletram nodded. He had heard that dragons liked music, so..."Would you like to hear some?"
The bronze dragon nodded eagerly, and Adeletram laughed. "Okay, then, let me run up to my room and grab my pipes, I'll be right back. The dragons waited patiently, and they all looked up as one when the harper entered again, carrying his pipes in one hand.
Smiling, Adeletram began to play for the dragons, and the bronze closed his eyes, lowering his head so that Adeletram could have reached out and touched it if he had wanted to. The dragon looked up as the song ended.
That was wonderful. He said, cocking his head to one side. Could you come and play for me again sometime, A'tram?
Adeletram looked at the dragon in surprise. It was not until he heard the bronze call him by an honorific that he realized the dragon had chosen him as his rider. He smiled. "Why don't you come with me, Leitneth. I'll play for you whenever you want."
Rainbow eyes whirled. Really?
A'tram grinned, scratching Leitneth's eyeridges as he answered. "Of course, Leitneth."

A bright bronze dragon lay on a stony ledge, basking in the late afternoon sunlight. The golden light reflected off the bronze hide almost painfully bright, in fact, A'tram blinked and had to cover his eyes as he looked at his dragon.
"Hey, Leitneth." The weyrharper said as he sat down on the stone ledge outside their weyr beside his dragon. "What are you doing out here?" He asked, fingering a wooden guitar idly in his lap. He played a few basic tunes before giving up, and just sat in silence beside his bronze dragon.
Finally, Leitneth shifted restlessly and looked down at his rider. I...don't know. I think I want to go away from Darkling Dawn, for a while, anyway.
A'tram nodded his consent, but his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why, I thought you liked it here?" He asked, looking up at the large bronze in curiosity.
Leitneth rumbled deep in his throat. I do. But I've been thinking lately...
A'tram watched the bronze patiently, waiting for him to finish. I want a mate. Leitneth finished, almost sheepishly.
A'tram grinned up at his dragon. "Alright, then! Any particular female in mind?" The harper asked, playing with the guitar in his hands as he waited for the bronze's answer.
Leitneth cocked his large head to one side, eyes whirling slowly in thought. Not yet. But I know I do not want any of the females currently rising here.
A'tram nodded without looking up. "Alright then, we'll go somewhere else. There's gotta be a female somewhere you like." A'tram said, searching his mind for names of various Weyrs. "How about Tripaldi?"
Leitneth snorted. The only gold rising there right now is Frinaith, the Weyrwoman's dragon. I don't think you'd want to be Weyrleader. Leitneth said as A'tram chuckled in agreement. Besides which, both her and her rider are too cranky for my tastes.
A'tram grinned. He began to play the guitar, and Leitneth rumbled in pleasure. He knew the bronze loved listenting to him as much as he liked to play. "How about Seiryuu?" He asked over the sound of the music.
No, the gold that was going to rise there has left. I have no interest in the others. The bronze quickly dismissed that option.
A'tram sighed. "I hear there's a gold rising at Mountain Lake Weyr." He suggested innocently.
Leitneth turned his bronze head down to fix his rainbow eyes on his rider. Ridermine, Vakantath rises there.
"So?"
The bronze rolled his eyes at his rider's feigned innocence. Even if she were not my clutchsister, I would not chase her. Leitneth said dryly.
"Oh, come on, you can't use that as an excuse!" A'tram exclaimed. At the bronze's snort, A'tram rolled his eyes, slapping the bronze's hide playfully. "Okay, okay, so you won't chase Vakantath. How about Blue Sky Weyr?" The harper suggested to his dragon.
Leitneth cocked his head thoughtfully. I don't believe we have been there for a long time. Yes, let's go there, and see what's there.
Relieved that they were finally able to agree, A'tram stood up, stretching his limbs before setting the guitar carefully on the ground. "Good. Why don't we take a quick look around, then, and see if there's anything, or rather, anyone, worth sticking around there for?"
Leitneth happily agreed, and lowered a forearm as the young man vaulted onto his back. A large, green creature trotted out of the weyrharper's weyr, clicking it's beaked mouth dissapprovingly and squawking indignantly at the prospect of being left behind by his master. The bright green alis gryph sat down, looking up at A'tram pitiously.
The rider sighed and rolled his eyes at his pet. "Oh, alright!" He snapped. "Come on then, Kian."
The miniature gryphon crooned happily, flitting up to the dragon's back, where he settled down on A'tram's lap. Leitneth rumbled amusedly as he took off, his massive wings beating the cooling air around them as they went between.

Leitneth crowed joyfully as he appeared back in the sky. Here, it was only just now reaching afternoon, and the sunlight played across his bronze hide magnificently. He dropped from the sky like a stone, and just when it seemed as though he would crash headfirst into the ground, rider and all, the large bronze backwinged, landing gracefully on the grassy expanse of the feeding area. A few herdbeasts on the far end bellowed angrily at the interruption, but once it was clear that the strange bronze was not looking for a meal, they ambled off slowly.
A'tram rolled his eyes as he smoothed Kian's raised fur and feathers from the wild ride. The bronze was obviously showing off, which could mean only one thing, and that was that he'd found a female he wanted to chase.
I see her, A'tram! That's the one I want to chase! Leitneth crowed delightfully.
"I'd guessed." His rider replied dryly as he dismounted. Kian hissed in agitation beside him, not used to such antics on dragonback. "So, where is she?" He asked, looking around.
Over there! You see her? A'tram looked. A few dragonlengths away, a brightly glowing, albeit small, gold dragoness lay, taking full advantage of the waning afternoon light, which was making splendid shadows on her bright golden hide. She was obviously close to rising, and it was no wonder Leitneth wanted to chase her. If she noticed the newcomers, and knew that she was the reason they were there, she gave no sign, and completely ignored them.
Leitneth hummed anxiously. Can I go talk to her, A'tram? The bronze asked.
A'tram smiled. "Sure, Leitneth, go ahead. I'll go find the Weyrwoman to tell her we'll be staying for a little while. Come on, Kian!" With that, the weyrharper walked off, with the alis gryph following obediantly at his heels, while Leitneth approached the stunning gold dragoness, not a little uneasy.