Welcome to Gaia! ::

Winderick grew up in a cothold situated on a flat plane with ample farmland where Benden's mountains loomed as distant purple peaks. The weather back home was mild for most of the year, a contrast to the thin and chilly air of Benden Weyr. After a few weeks at the weyr Winderick was getting the sense that warm weather such as this only came around once every so often, even during the summer, so he best take advantage of it.

Now that the weather was nice there was only one thing to do. For days Gale had been blabbering on about wild flit nests and how the hatchings bond to the first person who feeds them and then you can teach them tricks and things. Winderick had seen a few flits back in the Hold and now that he lived in the weyr they seemed to be everywhere, curious little critters. They might not be real dragons but Winderick wanted one of his own all the same. Maybe he could even learn something from them, something to give him an advantage when the eggs arrived on the Sands. Either way finding the nest would make for a good adventure. Anxious to escape the crowds and chores of the weyr for anything, Winderick found Gale after his chores were finished and the two set out to explore.

The path down from the weyr was thin and winding and they soon left it to traverse the rocky and somewhat steep slope, but Winderick quickly took command of the situation. Finding a large stick on the ground, Winderick picked it up and swung it around to test its weight (and also for fun). As a boy he was always running away to play with his friends in the meadows and woods outside his grandfather's cothold. Although the terrain was different the spirit of exploration remained unchanged. The trees growing in large patches down the grassy slope smelled crisp and the sunlight felt warm and inviting on his tan skin. Using his stick like a walking staff, Winderick wandered back to where Gale was exploring and smiled. "Look what I found."

Winderick wrinkled his nose. Was that all she thought about, eggs? "None yet," he admitted coarsely.

There were plenty of other interesting things they could find out here besides eggs. Winderick hoped to get his hands on some pretty stones. He wanted to selling his jewelry around the weyr for some extra marks. If he was truly lucky he might even find a piece of an artifact. Even though he knew virtually nothing about the ancients, he'd met someone who collected artifacts on the caravan that took him to Benden and found them fascinating.

Leaning on his make-shift staff, he peered into Gale's gully and sighed. "I'm going to go check out those rocks." He gestured to a large pile of boulders further down the slope. "Shout if you find anything."

"Down here!"

Further down the slope, Winderick crouched in front a medium sized boulder with his staff in one hand. Something had caught his eye in the grass. Muti-colored bits of egg shell were scattered about near the rocks. He picked one up and examined it, brushing off the dirt to see the different colors. The shells looked like they'd been here for a while. He lifted his head and shouted in Gale's direction, "I think I found something!"

Winderick sat up straight and grinned when he recieved Gale's exhuberant approval. He looked as proud as if he'd discovered a pot of gold. He pushed himself up, holding onto his staff like a wise sage, and said as if he knew exactly what he was doing, "Well then, let's go find it!"

And he ambled off down the hill. He might let Gale take control of the conversation, but when it came to doing things Winderick always took the lead, whether he knew what he was doing or not.

Winderick made his way down the slope with Gale in tow. Even though she followed his lead most of the time he would have trusted her to explore on her own if she wanted. Winderick lead only one man: himself. Everyone else was on their own.

Alerted by Gale's cry, he leapt down from a boulder and sprinted over to where Gale was kneeling. When he saw the condition of the nest all the excitement drained from his face. He crouched down beside her and lay his staff on the ground, the broken shells lending a strange sense of gravity to the action, like removing his cap at a funeral. Biting his lip, Winderick brushed aside the empty shells and scooted closer to the nest. There was still some sand left. As he brushed away the top layer his hand brushed something smooth and warm underneath. He stopped, the air caught in his throat, then started to dig more eagerly. "There's something here!"

Winderick smiled at her, half-exhausted from excitement. With the nest now completely excavated he pulled his legs up to his chest and turned his attention to the trio of survivors. The first two eggs were almost equal in size while the third appeared to be a runt, probably a green or a blue. "What are we going to do with the third one?"

It didn't seem fair for one of them to get two. If they had come across a whole nest they could have taken an egg each and leave the rest for the mother to look after, assuming she still would after it was touched by humans. After the wherry attack the mother of this clutch was probably long gone. If they left one of the eggs behind now it would surely die.

Winderick smiled and thought Gale would look quite dashing with a firelizard on her shoulder, but when she mentioned the boys barracks he looked back to the eggs, his cheeks turning a little red. Imagine Winderick, envied by all the boys of Benden Weyr! All of Benden Hold would have laughed at him if they knew how he really felt. He heard that weyrs were more liberal about... that sort of thing... but he wouldn't dare test their tolerance.

Thunder clapped in the distance. On a sunny day? Winderick turned his eyes skyward just in time to see the dragons shooting across the sky. "Woah!" He jumped to his feet and took a couple of steps, shielding his eyes from the sun.

The dragons were moving so fast he wouldn't have been able to track them if they weren't headed straight up. Someday I'll be up there! Winderick thought, but in his excitement that bright vision of the future suddenly turned hazy. He let his hand fall to his side and brushed his hair with his left, pushing his tongue between his teeth. A warm tingle washed down his spine. Something felt off.

"Oh..." was all Winderick could say. Gale's sudden closeness made him tremble. He knew what Rising meant. From what he heard it was only supposed to affect the dragon's rider, so why did he feel so...

... warm. His gaze wandered up Gale's arm, past the pit of her elbow joint and past her tense neck muscles, and as he looked back he found himself staring into her eyes with a knot in his throat big enough to choke a Queen. He used to wish he could look at a girl this way. Now he wanted nothing to do with her, but his displeasure was just a whisper deafened by the snarls of awakening desire. He crossed his arms over his chest and meekly stepped back, glancing at the eggs. His mouth was so dry his tongue stuck to the roof and his gums tasted like cotton. "Maybe... maybe we should head back. I think, uh... the heat... yeah, the heat... it's getting to me... I'm thirsty."