Name: Valendyr
Age: 14
Sex: Male
Sexual Orientation: Homosexual
Craft: Knife Thrower // Sword Tricks // General Entertainer
Rank: N/A
Location: Western Weyr
Physical Description: Valendyr hasn't quite reached his full height as he's still growing and quite at the heart of puberty. Currently he stands about 5'3", with dark black hair that he keeps long, but often tied up in some intricate fashion, usually with a few strands dyed some outlandish color. His eye are a pale grey, and his skin fair. His smile is broad and mischievous, when one can get it out of him, though he does sport a chipped front tooth. He also wears a few scars from his time as an entertainer, and some mishaps of his favored craft. He has small bones, is naturally trim, but can be quite agile and limber. He often did acrobatics, and would have made a great pickpocket, if knives, swords, and daggers didn't catch his eye.

He has a few piercings, and tends to enjoy wearing darker clothes -- blacks, greys, and dark purples or reds.

Personality: Valendyr, like his sister, tends to give off a happy-go-lucky sort of attitude. He tries to be fearless, just like Pan, and is usually ready to crack some joke, or make some sort of humorous commentary. He likes when he has the eye of the crowd, and any attention is good attention, as far as he's concerned. He used to have the heart of an entertainer -- his playful attitude meant he made friends easily, and his good humor allowed him to fit in with just about any crowd. In his craft and upbringing, there was no such thing as shyness and Valendyr is usually a very sociable young man.

Life is one big adventure, and the young boy usually is the first to volunteer at a task. Going new places, trying new things, there is very little Valendyr would say no to. Some might call him fearless, others a fool, but Val doesn't care. He has too much energy to sit on his hands, and too much curiosity to let the world pass him by.

All of his smiles, laughter, and humor can hide his natural anxiety. He might look fearless, but deep down, Valendyr worries a lot. Stress wears on his sensitive heart, and though he hides it well, he often has trouble sleeping when his mind is full of worries and concerns. Before Thread, he'd worried about whether or not he could complete some trick, if he'd make enough marks to his keep throwing swords and daggers around; would he impress enough of a crowd; would he freeze up on stage?; would his family be proud? His worries were, more or less, small things -- but for a youth, it was overwhelming. He wanted to be as impressive as his sisters, and make his parents proud.

Since Thread's return, the slaughter of his family, and the near-death of his sister, Valendyr's worries have skyrocketed. While he is glad the Weyr saved his sister, he's had trouble spending much time away from her. He's terrified he'll wake up and find her dead, and blames himself for her loss of an arm. If he hadn't been on Lazulith, maybe she wouldn't have had to protect him; if he'd been better trained in healing wounds, maybe her arm would have been able to have been saved. He'd never admit his worries to his sister, but the trauma of losing his family in front of him, and his sister getting so wounded, haunts him.

Maybe that's why he's always finding something to laugh at.

Val has always been a bit naturally suspicious of outsiders. To him, his family always came first, and now that he only has Pandyr, his uncertainty around strangers is at an all-time high. Who is this rider hanging around his sister? Why are people being so nice? Val grew up in an independent family, he isn't going to trust anyone right off the bat, and he especially isn't going to like anyone else trying to break up his family.

Lastly, Valendyr is a little bit clingy. It wasn't so obvious back when his family was on the road -- he had all sorts of siblings to follow around, loving and supportive parents, and of course, a crowd to entertain regularly. It was easy to hide his desire for attention, his need for closeness to other. Now that he's in a strange place, and all he has is his sister, whose focus is on rehabilitation, and her dragon, he's feeling extra needy. All his anxieties are mounting, there's unshed grief he hasn't felt comfortable sharing, and he is terribly lonely. He wants to be close to people... but even after all this time, he still feels like a stranger.

Positive Trait List Playful, Humorous, Adventurous
Negative Trait List Anxious, Suspicious, Clingy
History: Valendyr was born on the road. He was born a few weeks premature, and his family hadn't yet made it to their destination of Southern Boll. Thankfully, they weren't far, and he was a relatively easy birth; small though he was, the healers who checked him over once they DID arrive at the Hold said he was in good health. Once he, and his mother were considered safe to travel, onto the road Valendyr went.

Like his siblings, he grew up in a family of travelling entertainers. He grew up getting to see the world, and had his family with him every step of the way. From a very young age he was out in front of the crowd -- riding runners, doing simple card and magic tricks, and some basic tumbling and acrobatics, and as he aged, even doing some highwire walking. He had considered following in his sister's footsteps with becoming an acrobatic, or a rope walker, but his eyes had always been drawn toward shiny things...

Dangerous things.

No, as he aged, he started playing with a small hunting knife his father had given him. From there, his collection began to grow. He started implementing his knives and daggers into his tricks; before long, he had his own throwing knives, was quite a proficient swordsman for his young age, and certainly had no trouble juggling with any of them. His acrobatics and tumbling always went better when he had the potential to cut himself, other people, or worse.

And sometimes there were accidents.

Valendyr sports more than a few scars from missing a trick, and he's almost lost a finger or two as well. Thankfully, the accidents never really upset him; instead, they only made him more determined TO succeed! He wasn't afraid of a little (or big) cut, nor any scars. Honestly, he just wanted to make his parents proud, and do something unique, just like his parents and sisters did!

When he was 11, his sister wound up being Searched, and Valendyr was devastated. Oh, he certainly was glad the rest of his family was there, and he never would admit his upset to his sister directly... but how could she abandon them! How could she abandon him. So he watched her leave, and though there were secret (maybe not so secret) tears, he knew she was doing something adventurous. Part of Val's tears were, perhaps, spun from jealousy. He wanted to be whisked away, to go somewhere new. While they traveled the Holds of Pern, the Weyrs were a bit more difficult to get to, and rarely called on entertainers such as them.

In time, though, the young boy settled into a new routine. He had his own tricks and games to focus on, and without Pandyr there to help bring in marks, the family needed all the success the could get! So, Valendyr continued his studies, his acrobatics, and his entertaining.

Thankfully, his sister did not leave the family for long. A little over a Turn later, she returned to the travelling circus, and brought with her a beautiful blue dragon. Val had heard she'd Impressed, but seeing Lazulith up close absolutely amazed him. He'd never see a dragon so close, and now there was one joining their camp! He was certain this would help their family succeed -- and the tricks his sister and Lazulith could do would be sure to draw in good money! Any resentment he'd felt about her leaving them was immediately washed away as soon as he saw how happy his sister was with him. No, she had been lucky -- and now they all had a new member of the family!

With the family back together, and more money coming in than ever, life was good. It was some of the happiest moments of Valendyr's life, and where some of his most cherished memories came from! Everything was perfect.

Unfortunately for them, nobody could have predicted Thread's return. He had been sitting with his sister on Lazulith -- a treat he always enjoyed -- and had been happily patting the blue's neck when the dragon rumbled. Chaos suddenly happened as Thread started raining down on them. Looking up, he watched with horror as his parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their precious animals started getting devoured. The first clumps had missed them by mere inches! He was shocked, stunned, horrified as his family was consumed in seconds.

Lazulith had jerked up, but Val could only stare at the writhing forms of his dying and dead family, covered in deadly threads.

Perhaps, if he hadn't been so shocked, if he hadn't been staring down at the ground, he would have seen a clump coming down in front of him. Perhaps, if he had been paying more attention to the Thread, he wouldn't have caused his sister such injury. Before he knew it, he felt his sister push him back against her, and out went her arm -- and instead of catching it right in his face, his sister took the worst of it instead.

Before he had a chance to scream, Lazulith blinked into the cold of Between.

Coming out of it -- he didn't know where -- once there was no sign of Thread and Lazulith landed, he immediately attempted to tend Pandyr. The Threadscore was ugly and gross, and there were parts of her hand that were missing completely. He tried cleaning the wound with water, but most of their supplies had been left behind and likely devoured. He had no wine to kill any infection and though he knew first-aid, he'd never treated a wound so grotesque. Pandyr, thankfully, was in shock; dazed, confused, and in too much pain to notice her mangled hand and arm.

Val tried hard to clean the wound, to tend to it, but it kept getting worse and worse. Pan herself wasn't much better. Finally, he had to beg and plead with his sister to go somewhere -- anywhere -- to find her a healer. He had wanted to go immediately, but the family had always been independent, and holdless weren't always welcome. It also didn't help he had no idea where they were.

Thankfully, his sister finally agreed, and with some struggle, he helped his sister back on the blue, and off they went. He had expected them to go Between, but Lazulith flew straight and fast. He would have found the experience enjoyable if he wasn't terrified his sister would die right in his arms. He held onto her, and before too long, found himself at Western Weyr.

It was chaos when they landed -- many had been struck by Thread -- but they were not alone in coming to the Weyr. Riders and dragons were in the Bowl getting healers help, and someone immediately came to help Pan off Lazulith. Val stayed as close to his sister as he could without getting in the way, but other than being asked if he was okay, he was generally disregarded. They didn't have a place to call their own, were outsiders coming in begging for help... When he couldn't be with his sister, he tried to find Lazulith. And if he couldn't find him, he kept himself tucked away.

Those were some of the loneliest days he'd ever experienced. His family was gone. His livelihood was gone. His sister could still die. For a while, everything was touch and go, and he worried she would die and then Lazulith would die, and he would be alone forever.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Though the healers had to amputate her arm, she did survive the process. Slowly but surely, she started to recover, and Val was able to see her more and more.

It's been some time now and Western has accepted Pandyr and Lazulith as their own. Val has been allowed to stay with his sister, and has helped where he can doing menial tasks and chores in the lower Caverns for extra marks. He's heard rumor that some have wanted to foster him, but he hopes his sister won't make it so -- even though he knows she has Lazulith and her arm to take care of. Would it be easier on her if someone else kept an eye on him instead?

Val has adjusted to Weyr life, but he is still upset over Thread's return. Threadfall days are the scariest for him, though he does appreciate the Weyrs protection. Everyone is on edge those days, and riders and dragons rarely make it back without incidents. He helps where he can -- wrapping bandages, running errands under an orderly's direction, making beds, and helping out wherever he can -- but sometimes he wants nothing more than to curl up and weep. He fears Pandyr having to go back and fight, for all that he worries she's stigmatized against due to her missing limb. A limb that he didn't keep from infection; a limb he failed to fix.

Though he tries to keep a smile for his sister and Lazulith, when he is alone, he can fall into an odd mood. He is most terrfieid of being sent away -- maybe he's not contributing enough, maybe he's just an extra stress on resources. He knows he's not weyrbred, nor is he a Candidate. But he hopes he can be of some use to Western yet.


Other: Val hasn't made any good friends yet. If he's not running some errand, he's sticking close to his sister or Lazulith. He's feeling very out of sorts.

Candidate Specific Questions
Do you want them to have an official Search RP? Yes
Do you understand they will age every passing year regardless if you're there to RP the or not? Yes
Do you want them to have a possible Stands Impression? No