Another day, another destiny
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr (NPC)
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall
Writers: Corrin, Duskdog
Date Posted: 30th August 2025
Characters: Akadja, Naldhavi
Description: The brothers discuss Search and their future prospects.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 21 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: G’zan
The Weyr had tucked the holdless into a corner of the lower caverns where partitions and battered furniture tried -- and failed -- to conjure an illusion of privacy. Cots were crammed into the cramped space, screens and curtains dividing territory and muffling sound but never truly silencing it. There were far too many bodies living far too close.
Akadja barely noticed. It was leagues better than shivering in the wind-whipped tents of the weyrbowl, and besides-- he had more important things than comfort on his mind. Lounging across his cot, he rolled his new search token between his fingers.
He turned it over once, twice. Such a small thing, yet it had the power to change lives.
“D’you think there's really anything to it?” he asked finally, gaze cutting at last to Naldhavi. “Or was it the riders. Are they just tossing us a bone? The second searchrider -- that G’zan -- he said he used to be holdless too.”
Naldhavi rolled over onto his stomach on his cot, propping his chin on his crossed arms. “You mean did they give us a shot just because we’re holdless? Pity, or… nostalgia, maybe?” He considered it for a moment, but not particularly deeply; the thought had crossed his mind, of course, but he hadn’t dwelt on it before, and couldn’t quite bring himself to dwell on it now despite his desire to answer his brother thoughtfully. “Maybe. But does it matter? It’s our ticket -- that’s all we need. Doesn’t matter _how_ we got it!”
“No-- Yes.” Akadja’s brow furrowed and he flipped his token. “You’re right, it can be pity for all I care. All we need is a chance. I just…” His mouth pulled thin. “I don’t want to rot in these caverns, drudging myself into dust-- not even for three meals a day. If they let us stand in front of their dragons, I mean figure out how to take one.”
“So it matters to me whether there’s anything to the stories,” he continued, eyes -- green and brown -- narrowing. “It matters if there really is some _Thing_ that makes one person more suited for dragons than another-- or if that’s all a load of harpershit to keep us from rushing the weyr to try our luck. If there really is a Thing, can it be learned? Faked? And if there isn’t… well. There’s not a man alive that can’t be bought or bribed for the right price. What about dragons? They’re kin to flits aren’t they? And those cling to the first hand that feeds them.”
Case in point, he jerked a thumb over to the barrel where Dagger and Lurk lay curled together.
A grin spread across Naldhavi’s face. “Yeah, exactly! Only thing that matters is that we learn the trick. _I_ don’t think there’s any special _Thing_ -- I think it’s just another one of those things, like you said, where they’re… what’s the word? Just trying to keep people out. Gatekeeping!”
Akadja barked out a laugh, low and sharp, more edge than humor. “Gatekeeping. Yeah. That sounds about right.” He rolled the token over his knuckles, caught it, and clenched it tight in his fist as though daring the world to take it back now. “Makes sense, doesn’t it? Pretend there’s some mystical secret, and suddenly no one questions why it’s mostly them and theirs on the Sands. Keeps the rest of us in our place.”
Naldhavi sat up on the bed, stretching for a moment. “Don’t worry, whatever the trick is, we can learn it. You’re right, there’s nobody and nothing that can’t be bribed. You can bribe people, you can bribe firelizards, and what are dragons but firelizards-that-supposedly-are-smart-as-people? Why should they be immune? They say that bitch of a goldrider brought food out on the Sands, and look how that turned out for her! And anything these guys try to pass off as the special _Thing_? Can definitely be faked. Anything can be faked. We just have to keep an eye out for details, see what we can pick up.”
“Right.” Akadja grinned as well, something flinty sparkling in his mismatched eyes. “We watch, we listen, we learn. We do whatever it takes.”
“_Exactly_. _We’re_ not so easily fooled, or put off like the holders are. Nobody expects us to learn the tricks, if there’s even any tricks at all other than hoarding dragons!” Naldhavi dug his own token out of his pocket, holding it up to the light. “No matter what these people think, they’re no more special than we are. _Especially_ not the ones who don’t even have dragons. They’ve never had to fight for a scrap in their whole lives. And why wouldn’t dragons, who’re bred to fight, want to pick real fighters if they have the chance?”
He flipped the token up in the air and caught it, passing it over his knuckles in a deft maneuver that had conveniently distracted more than one gather-goer over the turns. “Just wait, they’re all gonna choke when we walk away with their dragons!”
Last updated on the October 3rd 2025