R'shi & Brown Ujanforth

Sarushi hummed idly to himself as he played with the netting in his hands. His feet dangled off the edge of the dock, hovering just above the surface of the water, which rose and fell with the swellings of the waves as they crashed into shore. The wind was howling through a cloud-covered sky, but he paid it no heed as he finished his ditty. He was supposed to be mending the ripped net, but he was in no hurry to do so. If his foster mother caught him slacking off, he suspected she would tan his hide.
The fifteen-turn-old shook his head. His dark brown hair was somewhat long and shaggy, and constantly fell in his face. His skin was pale, thanks to genetics, rather than lack of sun, and he was skinny. His eyes were hazel green, lightly flecked with grey.
He was an orphan; his parents had died when he was young, and he was quickly fostered off to an old woman of a sea-going village. It made its living on ships and fishing, and Sarushi soon grew to love the ocean, and became an avid swimmer. He was knowledgeable in all aspects, could read and write, and was an expert in seacraft.
Unfortunately, as often as not, he used that intellect to escape work, rather than improve it, which lead to constant reprimands from his foster mother. His attention span was very short, and his thoughts wandered easily. Try as they might, the elders could not get him to pay attention or work hard, as he preferred slipping off to walk along the beaches by himself or concoct wild schemes and fantasies.
"Sarushi!" At the call of his name, the boy looked up, dropping the much-ripped net into the water beneath him. He bent to retrieve it as his foster mother yelled out at him again, and strode toward him. "You're to come when I call, boy." The old woman said crossly. "What have you been doing out here all this time? That netting should have been mended candlemarks ago! Can you not handle such a simple task as that?" She demanded as he protested.
"It fell out of my hands when you shouted. You surprised me." He tried to explain as his gaurdian grasped his right arm tightly. Her wispy steel grey hair was swept about in the wind. It seemed to have a life of its own, writhing like serpents on her head, like the ancient legends of the gorgon, Medusa.
Sarushi sighed and ducked his head as the woman's peircing blue eyes bored into his own. "Sorry, Ma'am." He mumbled, averting his eyes.
"Come on then, into the hold. Thread's coming soon, I'll not deal with your fool carcass if you refuse to come inside." She snapped at him. "You can finish mending that netting while you wait for Thread to pass, and when you're done with that you can help to gut the latest shipfull of packtail."
Sarushi groaned, causing his foster mother to smile grimly. He hated gutting the fish, they were slippery and slimy. He hung his head, dragging his feet as he trudged behind his foster mother into the hold. On the horizon, a flash of silver and fire appeared as the duo stepped inside, barring the door behind them.

Sarushi fiddled with the frayed length of twisted rope in his hands, watching his foster mother's turned back out of the corner of his eye. She began to turn around, and he looked back down quickly, pretending to work more vigorously at his work.
The woman was not fooled, however, and she pursed her lips, smacking his head lightly with one hand. "You're stalling. Hurry up on that net so you can gut the fish." His foster mother was nothing if not observant.
Sarushi gritted his teeth as the old woman turned away again. With a sigh, he looked up at the windows, barred and covered by iron shutters. Outside, deadly, vorocious Threads were falling on the unprotected countryside, or being turned to ashes midair by dragons' flames. The groundcrews would not be able to step outside to dispose of stray Threads until after the Fall was over and the dragons had retreated back to their Weyrs, or else followed the Thread out of sight. Sarushi sighed at the unfairness of it; out there, dragons and riders were risking their lives courageously to protect the planet, and here he was, safe inside behind iron shutters, mending fish nets.
He wished dearly to be able to go out there, even just see the riders and their majestic dragons flaming the Thread out of the sky. Sarushi didn't know why anyone even bothered closing the iron-shuttered windows, the dragons didn't let any Thread fall near the actual hold, anyway.
"Sarushi!" Came the inevitable reprimand, and he turned back to his work with a sigh. It seemed his fanciful dream would always be hidden behind iron shutters.

A young man of about seventeen turns ran along the edge of the sea, away from the stony confines of the hold. He stopped, panting, some distance away, and brushed dark hair away from his sweaty forehead.
Sarushi grinned to himself. He'd succeeded in getting away from the hold, and was free to do what he wanted for the rest of the day. He had been gutting packtails, disgusting little creatures, but worked diligently and finished earlier than was to be expected. He'd slipped away before his foster mother noticed and found something else for him to do.
He was now several dragonlengths away, and he kicked at the sandy edge between the earth and sea. His boots were damp from the incoming tide, and were now covered with tiny grains of sand.
This didn't affect him, and he strolled along the beach, hands in his pockets as he pondered what to do for the evening. He wasn't looking where he was going, he kicked his foot-and nearly smashed a large, creamy egg lying partially concealed in the sand. His kicking sand up earlier must have uncovered the nest of eggs.
Sarushi gasped, grinning hopefully as he knelt down beside the clutch of what were obviously fire lizard eggs. He reached out with one hand toward a milky orb, but hesitated. If he took back one of these eggs, his foster mother would flay him. He withdrew, debating with himself whether or not to take an egg. His excitement won out over his common sense, however, and he grabbed up two of the eggs, tucking them carefully in the inner lining of his jacket.
Once he was assured that the eggs were safe and out of sight, he smiled to himself and started back on his way to the hold, before the mother fire lizard discovered that her clutch had been disturbed.

He managed to keep the eggs hidden for almost a week, which was all he really needed, since six days after he discovered the nest on the beach, the eggs began to rock. Sarushi was bombarded with sudden pangs of hunger and distress, and he dropped the basket of glows he was carrying at the time. He muttered a quick excuse to his companions, and raced up to his room, where he kept a fresh supply of meat near the eggs for when they hatched.
The larger, creamy colored egg was the first to crack, and Sarushi watched excitedly as a tiny, dark brown claw emerged. He eagerly tore at the tough shell, helping the brown flit to shed the large shell. At long last, the brown was laying sprawled out on Sarushi's bed, and creeled piteously as his eyes whirled firey red-orange. Unfortunately, he also creeled loudly, and Sarughi practically shoved food down the fire lizard's throat in an effort to quiet him. It worked, and the hatchling hummed contentedly as his eyes drooped, and slowly, the brown flit fell asleep. Sarushi smiled to himself, and decided to name the brown male Quey.
He turned around to tend to the other egg, but he saw only an empty shell. His hazel eyes widened in panic as he glanced around his room. They finally fell on a snowy white tail that was peeking out from under his covers. Rushing over to his bed, Sarushi threw back the sheets, and a dainty white hatchling chirped as she looked up at him curiously. With an air of grace, the little white made her way to the edge of the bed, and after drying her spread wings, flapped her way over to where the larger brown hatchling was curled up in a tight ball, fast asleep.
She downed the food left in the bowl quickly, then seemed to purr as she snuggled up to her brown brother, who yawned sleepily, and, cracking open one whirling eye, unfurled a wing and covered his sister with it as they curled up together.
Sarushi smiled at the scene, and decided to name the female white Koet. His bedroom door slammed open, and he whirled on his heels. His foster mother stood stolidly in the doorway, looking down at him imperiously as the boy shrunk back. Her pale blue eyes studied him for a while, then began to wander about his room, no doubt searching for the source of the raucous noise.
They widened, alomst imperceptibly, as she caught sight of the snoring ball of white and brown behind him. Sarushi cringed as he saw where she was looking. "I found them on the beach." He said by way of explanation. "There was no one else there, and well, I thought-"
His foster mother sniffed haughtily and interrupted him. "Keep them out of trouble." She said sternly. "And you'd best not neglect your chores in favor of those...creatures."
Sarushi nodded hurriedly. "I won't, I promise." He agreed.
The old woman didn't answer, but turned and walked away. Sarushi gave an audible sigh of relief, surprised that he'd been allowed to keep the flitters. He glanced over to Quey and Koet. Despite his foster mother's loud entrance and questioning, the flitters hadn't so much as twitched a tail, and were still fast asleep. Sarushi smiled, and went over to stroke the ball of brown and white hide. Finally, he had something that was all his own.

A blur of white swept by in the air, and a large brown flitter screeched. Quey and Koet wheeled around each other in the air, flirting casually. The white female was not due to rise for several more sevendays at least, but there would be no doubt about who would catch her when she did.
Sarushi smiled to himself as he watched them, taking a moment to brush his dark bangs away from gray-green eyes. His wild, dark brown hair had grown down to below his shoulders, and he now kept it back, tied with a simple band in a loose ponytail.
His complexion was lightly tanned, and his lithe body was muscular thanks to turns of hard work. His eyes were bright green, specked with blueish-grey flecks. The nineteen-turn-old boy was the sort of guy that girls giggled about, but never actually approached.
Sarushi was currently on the ocean, in a small, one-man skiff that he controlled deftly. He knew he was supposed to be on his way back to the hold by now, Thread would be falling today, and it was dangerous, indeed, almost suicidal to be out on the open ocean during Threadfall. Besides that, the fishermen would need the boat after Threadfall; fish always swarmed right after Threadfall as they devoured the drowned strands that escaped dragon's fire, and the holders would need all the boats they had.
He stretched out one arm, and let out a high, peircing whistle. Koet dived suddenly, seeming as if she was about to drop headfirst into the sea, before abruptly leveling out and stopped, perching daintily on Sarushi's outspread arm. Quey, not to be outdone, dived down and let his wingtips skim the water's surface before pulling up. The brown dug his talons into the boy's shoulder, but Sarushi didn't wince. After two turns, he was used to the brown's claws.
Koet crooned as she made her way from his arm up to his other shoulder, and purred as she rubbed her head against the boy's cheek. Sarushi smiled and reached up to stroke the dainty white head. Seeing the attention his master was bestowing on the other flitter, Quey chirped indignantly, causing Sarushi to turn his attention away from Koet, who hissed in disgust at her brother.
Sarushi laughed before shooing his fire lizards away so he could steer the boat properly again. He cast his eyes downward and sighed. "Come on then, you two, better get home soon. Thread'll be here soon."
Koet's eyes whirled red at that, and Sarushi turned. On the ocean's horizon, he could already see the line of silver that heralded the coming of the atrocious Threads. His eyebrows furrowed in surprise and confusion. "The Threads are early. They shouldn't be here yet..."
With a bemused shrug, Sarushi turned around to go home. The Threads weren't that close, he should have plenty of time to get back to the hold before he was in danger. However there was a long line of jagged rocks between him and the shore that he would have to maneuver past first. He could cruise down the shore for a few dragonlengths or so to surpass them, but that took time, and he'd be cutting it pretty close with Threadfall almost here. He shrugged and tilted his head thoughtfully.
He wasn't particularly worried about the rocks; he was good enough to get past the rocks easily enough. But it was dangerous, and it was forbidden for all but the most experienced sailors. Sarushi debated with himself for a few moments as he approached the shore, and the rocks. Finally, he made up his mind and set his eyes on the rocks ahead determinedly. He didn't have time to waste going around them, so he'd just have to make his way through them.
He steered the skiff towards the rocks skillfully, and carefully made his way past them. Koet and Quey soared above, watching their master protectively. A particularly large wave rocked the little boat to the left, and he fought to regain control before he smashed headlong into a tall, grey-black rock rising ominously out of the water.
He passed within a meter of the rock, but made it past safely, and Sarushi sighed in relief. He was almost out of the worst part of the rocks, and close to shore. He glanced behind him. The Threads were still far off, though he could now make out tiny shapes that had to be dragons, and he saw the tiny flashes of fire from their throats.
In his distraction, he didn't notice the larger waves, and he lost control of the skiff. He gasped and fought to keep on course. The boat hurled to the side, and smashed into the jagged side of an obsidian-black rock that seemed to have come up from nowhere.
Sarushi screamed in pain as his body was thrown from the boat up against the hard stone, and his fire lizards screeched from the air above him, but were unable to do anything. He sunk into the water, but it was shallower here, and it was relatively easy to keep his head above the surf.
He was buffeted by waves, and slammed his head against another rock jutting out of the sea. Dazed, he looked around for the skiff. He found what was left of it, the boat had been smashed to peices against the merciless rocks.
Still reeling from the hit to the head, he swam over to the remains of his boat and held on the wooden boards. Blood trailed from his head and from his leg, which felt broken from the unrelenting buffeting of waves and rocks. Sarushi gritted his teeth against the pain, and resolutely made his way, agonizingly slowly toward the shore.
His flitters' angry screechings brought his mind back to a much more dire thought. Though he was past the rocks, Thread was still on its way here, and he could hardly expect to make it to the hold before Threadfall, especially now that he suspected his leg was broken. He turned pale as he saw the Thread approaching, and looked up to where his two flitters were circling in a panic.
"Koet! Quey!" He called to them as loud as he could. "Go, get help! Find someone, anyone!" He coughed and spit out seawater as the fire lizards disappeared. He had no choice but to wait for whatever help they brought back with them.
Hacking up salty water, he dragged himself onto the beach so only his waterlogged boots were submerged in the sea. He stood up, testing his injured leg, and promptly fell down, jarring it painfully. He decided that yes, it was most probably broken. He cursed to himself as he looked up at the sky.
No sign of Koet and Quey yet, and Thread was making its way, slowly but surely, toward him, and he was helpless to do anything about it. He bit his lip nervously and scanned the sky, anxious to see Koet and Quey's lithe forms appearing in the air again.
A hundred candlemarks seemed to pass, though it was actually probably only a few minutes, before the dragon burst into the air above him. A large brown appeared suddenly in the air, and Sarushi was showered by sand kicked up from the dragon's giant wings. The reason for the dragon's sudden appearance was made obvious as Koet and Quey's familiar shapes burst out of between around the dragon. They were quickly joined by three other fire lizards, a brown, blue, and green.
Sarushi sighed audibly in relief, but the pain in his head was beginning to overcome his senses. He saw the dragon land, and a slim, brown-haired man jumped down and ran over to him. The rider was saying something, but Sarushi wasn't aware; he was already losing conciousness, and barely noticed as he was picked up and deposited on the dragon's back. By the time they went between, Sarushi was unconcious.

Hazel green eyes opened wearily, and Sarushi sat up, looking around him in confusion. He was in a bed, covered with clean white sheets. The entire room around him was more or less various shades of white. This wasn't his room at the hold! The more recent events came back to him, and he realized the dragonrider must have brought him here after he fainted.
He tried to get up, but realized his leg was still broken, though now it was bandaged in a cast, and his head was also bandaged. He looked up as a fit of raucous screeching signalled the appearance of Koet and Quey. The fire lizards settled themselves on either side of their master, gazing at him with furiously whirling gold eyes.
"Ah, so you're the owner of those two rogues. Gave me an' Haeth quite a scare when they came at us, screaming at the top of their lungs." Sarushi looked up, and it was then that he first got a good look at his rescuer. The rider was young, probably only a few turns older than himself, of average height though very thin, with short brown hair and bright green eyes.
The rider smiled kindly at him. "I'm Ch'vi. Haeth and I are the ones who found you out there."
"Sarushi." He replied. "Where am I?" He asked, looking around him. He certainly wasn't anywhere he recognized.
"This is Enzan Shi. Sorta like a Weyr, only...not on Pern." The rider, Ch'vi, explained.
Sarushi glanced up at him quizically, but the rider only shrugged. "You should probably be resting right now, but...Haeth says if you want to stick around here for a while, you stand a good chance of Impressing. Akyoth insists that her clutch is going to hatch soon, with or without enough candidates." Ch'vi grinned down at him.
Sarushi gaped back at the rider in shock. "What? I-Impress!? Me?" At the rider's nod, Sarushi exhaled a sigh of exhaustion and astonishment. "Of course, if you need extra candidates. I'd love to-"
"Great!" Ch'vi exclaimed. "Then I'd better go tell our dear Rurachi that her beloved Akyoth won't have to have duds or mutant dragons in her clutch." At Sarushi's look of puzzlement, the rider explained a bit. "The Rurachi, Shayniie, is a lot like a Weyrwoman. Her dragon is bronze Akyoth, the current irate mother on the sands."
Sarushi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I thought all bronzes were male dragons!"
Ch'vi shrugged. "It happens. There'll probably be a couple cross-gender colors in this clutch, actually, and who knows what else. Especially since the Rurachi's dragon is originally from Falas, and from Zenith's last clutch at that." Then, excusing himself hastily, the brown rider exited the room, leaving Sarushi to mull over these new events alone.