First Time Far From Home ;OPEN;

[Moraina]

Moraina had never been this far away from Teirm before. Even when she did go on business trips with her father the trip had been entirely by sea. This was the first time she had ever hiked anywhere. Her brother was the only one who hunted or hiked, her father fished or sailed, and her mother worked at the market everyday. Her father wasn't as green as she was, but he was the only one there who needed time to find their land legs. His stance was wide and balanced, his shoulders squared, as they would be on a pitching boat. Not very convenient for trekking through The Spine. Everyone else grumbled that he was slowing them down.

After a very uneventful day and a half the small town of Kuasta came into view. Moraina welcomed the thought of real chairs in real houses and real beds to sleep in. Sure, nature was great and all, but it gets to be a pain.

Ready to drop, she and her father took their wares to the trading post, while half of their men went to the only tavern, Silver Shale Inn, named after Kuasta's main export and the reason they were there, to relax, drink, and enjoy the company of women. When they reached the trading post she sent the last crate down next to her father as he exchanged pleasantries with the man in charge. She wondered around the room, fingering the buckle on her knapsack, looking at everything up for trade. She came upon the most beautiful rug she had ever seen. Wow, she thought, I wish I could weave like that.

[Arandur]

Arandur had been traveling for a while. It took more than a day to get from the headquarters of the Riders over to the Spine, and he was tired of sleeping outside. His dragon, M'tachi, was generally compliant with Arandur's wishes, and so had flown as fast as he could. Arandur wasn't that old, but M'tachi knew all too well that his Rider grew horribly irritable after camping.

The Rider and dragon had landed outside town, so as not to scare anyone. The area near the Spine was largely controlled by the Riders, so the sight of one of them was not that uncommon. Arandur dismounted, and patted his dragon on the side.

"I'll be back soon."

You'd better. M'tachi rumbled. I'm hungry.

"So go hunt."

I will. Arandur winced instinctively as his dragon flew high into the air. No matter how close he was to M'tachi, Arandur still disliked being too close when a dragon was taking off, and he was on the ground.

Now alone, Arandur pulled his cape over his left arm, securing it tightly to the small pin that was there for that purpose. Then he set off into town. His general opinion, as he walked down the streets of the tiny town, was that he preferred the company of M'tachi to that of other elves'. But he was already there, so the Rider gritted his teeth and made do.

The trading post was his main destination. It was not as if Arandur needed anything, not with Deloi at his side and M'tachi a mind's touch away, but it was a chance to see all of the goods there, and Arandur was incredibly bored already. His slanted eyes flicked from one stall to another, surveying the items being proffered.

The Rider glanced behind him, almost to see if someone was following him. His hand tightened over Deloi even though there was no one there. Arandur prided himself on the fact that he was always wary. Suddenly, the Rider stopped, and his eyes flashed back to forward. He was about a foot from a young elf maiden staring at some rugs. She seemed to be lost in thought, but Arandur was curious. The girl did not look like she was from this town.

A small crowd attempted to push past the Rider just then, knocking him forward a few steps, accidently causing him to brush against the girl as the crowd swept past. Arandur glared in their direction, then turned his attention to the girl. "I apologize." He said, bowing slightly. "I did not mean to hit you."

[Moraina]

Moraina touched her first two fingers to her lips, "It is nothing, sir." She saw the inside of his palm briefly behind the cape stretched over his left arm. Her eyes widened. "It is an honor to see you, Shurt'ugal." She looked down at her feet, unsure how to address a dragon rider further, but she didn't want to seem rude. "I am Moraina Dathedr." She mumbled in more of a direction towards the floor than to the rider she was standing in front of.

[Arandur]

Arandur's eyes narrowed at the fact that she had seen his left hand, but then widened as he realized that she had made no comment about the strangeness of it. However, his annoyance and dislike for formalities won over his surprise, and he twisted his mouth in a wry smile. "Don't mind me." He said gruffly, a little embarrassed. "I've finally gotten away from all of that. Can't stand it. The last thing I need is every elf in this entire trading post crowding and bowing." Arandur was quite different from most Riders.

Adjusting Deloi with his right hand, Arandur inspected the girl to which he was talking. She was nicely built, and pretty. All elves were, however, and Arandur was an incredibly tough judge of appearance. "Moraina Dathedr." He said, watching the girl's reactions. "My name is Arandur Halden. My dragon's name is M'tachi. He's hunting." Arandur looked absently behind him, as if to see if anyone was eavesdropping. No one was. "If you want to talk, which I suppose you do, let's go outside or somewhere less crowded. I've nothing better to do with my day." The last words were muttered almost inaudibly along with a slight groan as Arandur thought of his apprentices.

[Moraina]

"Oh, alright Shu-I mean sir." She hadn't expected him to react that way. She had never met a dragon rider herself, she had only heard stories about them. Most of the stories had heard were from spiteful old men who had only ever received the bad end of the upper class. But Arandur didn't seem to be like the arrogant wicked men that her elders had described.

Moraina looked over to where her father was still bartering with the elf who was at the desk. She stepped aside and gestured towards the door. "After you, sir."

[Arandur]

Arandur rolled his eyes at Moraina's continued obedience, and swirled out of the trading post before her. His cloak billowed out behind him, and for a fraction of a second, it blew up far enough for the long, claw-like fingers on his left hand to become apparent. Then he swept it back down again, hiding the deformity.

It wasn't a deformity really. Arandur was a powerful magician, and in some ways his strange limb helped him. It set him apart from other Rider, for example, and Arandur hated to be confused with other elves. It also got him a bit of an air of mystery, which he enjoyed very much. However, he avoided doing magic as much as possible and kept his whole arm hidden most of the time. Plus, there were memories associated with that arm that did not bear recollection.

None of this, however, went through Arandur's mind as the cloak billowed upwards. There was just a tiny fraction of a second of terror while he grabbed for the cloth fringe desperately. Then, as he yanked the hearty fabric down again, he breathed a small sigh of relief and forgot about the whole incident as he stepped out into the warm sunlight and waited for Moraina to follow him.

[Moraina]

Moraina trotted dutifully next to him. Unable to contain herself, and being out of earshot of the village, the flow of questions started.

"What's it like to be a dragon rider? What is your dragon like? Are you married? Have you ever fought in battle?" the typical just-having-met-a-dragon-rider types of questions.

One question at a time Moraina! she thought to herself. She took a deep breath and, at random, picked out a question. "What does your dragon look like?" she finally asked. She looked up at him, at his eagle eyes, then down to where the cloak covered his left arm. She knew she had seen the Gedway Ignasia, but she could have sworn she had seen fur and claws, but it might have been her imagination.

[Arandur]

A faint smile played upon Arandur's lips as the girl's questions flowed like a newly-thawed brook. He let her go on until she finally decided on one question. "His name is M'tachi, you know. You could meet him, if you bothered to come to the outside of town with me- but I'll describe him all the same. Have you ever seen a dragon close-up before?" He didn't wait for an answer, just went on. "M'tachi is a silver dragon- I carry a silver blade." Arandur indicated Deloi.

"He has dark eyes, and he is large for a dragon. Really, I find it hard to describe something that you usually feel and don't see- not really." He shook his head, and his raven hair rustled gently. "Ask me something else. I apologize, I'm just not used to- to describing M'tachi."

[Moraina]

"Are you married?" she asked innocently without thinking. She thought what it would be like to marry a dragon rider, or to be a married dragon rider. Usually when elves were married they were going to spend the rest of their lives together with their livelihoods. Dragon riders on the other hand had responsibilities that came first. Protecting the people, being with your dragon, what would it be like with another being in the picture?

[Arandur]

Arandur recoiled as if he had been struck. Quickly regaining his composure, the Rider cleared his throat. "No. I'm not." Uncomfortable, Arandur turned his attention to the grass and drew a little circle with his toe. "I'm not married, and I don't intend to be. Anyways." He looked at the girl, rather embarrassed at himself. "I apologize. That is not what I expected you to ask. I suppose that I should have known that you might want to know, but I didn't. But M'tachi is all I need, and if there is a woman out there for me, then I haven't met her and probably never will."

[Moraina]

((This could take place before the Hatching))

"Oh," Said Moraina, she didn't know exactly what she wanted him to say was, so she couldn't have prepared her reaction, "I would like to see what it's like to be a dragon rider, just for one day." she mused looking off into the woods, "Not any longer than that though," she added, "I don't think I could handle it." She pushed a lock of hair behind her pointed ears.

She paused to think about what it would be like to have, well not really have, but be in a symbiotic relationship with, a dragon. Even though a fear of heights ran in her family, it wasn't in Moraina. She went cliff diving occasionally, so she couldn't imagine that flying would scare her much. But, to share your mind with a dragon! A sentient, but reptilian, being. It had to be an amazing feeling, she just couldn't imagine it.

Then, she thought about her average life and how having a dragon would change that. What if I could use magic to help me? she thought, she didn't think it would be very hard, but then again she knew nothing about magic.

"Can you teach me magic?" She asked Arandur, thinking it would be something simple and easy to learn, like fishing.

[Arandur]

Arandur studied the girl intently. "Most people don't think that they can handle it, either. But then a dragon chooses them, and there is no going back. You can't choose to be a Dragon Rider for just one day, though, because the connection between a Rider and dragon is something that is forever. There's no way to feel it without being bound to it, and there's no way not to feel it once you have been bound. It's like speaking. You can't say something just to hear your own voice, but then expect no one to be impacted by what you said."

As he spoke, Arandur could feel M'tachi trying to reach him. "One moment." He muttered.

Who are you talking to?

"A young girl. Why?"

Just curious.

"You must have interrupted me for a reason."

You're right. M'tachi was toying with him, and Arandur sighed.

"What do you want?"

You need to go back to Vroengard soon. We're due there soon.

"That's still a while. Let me enjoy this for once!"

You? ENJOY something? M'tachi rumbled with laughter, but stopped speaking. Arandur turned back to Moraina.

"Sorry, M'tachi wanted me. I cannot teach you magic, I am afraid. It takes a long time to master even the most basic of spells, and I do not have that kind of time to spend here." He brushed his black hair back over his shoulder. "But if a dragon egg hatches for you, you would lean magic. I am one of the Elder Riders, so I teach young apprentices magic and whatnot. Do you want to know anything else?"