An Unexpected Turn (1/2)

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 26th September 2026

Characters: T'lin, Seorla, Luadna
Description: T'lin and Calaroth answer a distress flag and find a Candidate
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 3, day 9 of Turn 13

T'lin

}:Flag there!:{ Calaroth told his rider, already shifting to head down for a landing.

**Well spotted.** T'lin patted his blue. The distress flag was set out on a wagon, and the cluster of other wagons made it clear that this was a caravan.

Calaroth landed on the road far enough away to minimize any distress to the traders' beasts and T'lin walked quickly toward the caravan. As someone came out to meet him, he called, "Hello there! How can I help you?"

The caravan master came hurrying over from the lead wagon, meeting T'lin midway. She was a woman in late middle age, lean, brown and weathered from Turns on the road, and her manner - concerned, but not panicked - suggested that whatever had caused them to stop and signal a rider was serious, but not desperate.

"Thank you for stopping, Bluerider. We've got a sick woman in our party," she explained as they walked back towards the caravan. "She's not been well for days now, so she's been resting in one of the wagons while we travel. But she doesn't seem to be getting any better and I don't like the sound of her breathing - and it's a full day till we reach a hold big enough for a healer."

T'lin nodded. "I'll send for a healer to come check on her." His gaze unfocused as he spoke through his dragon. "Someone will be here shortly. I could come reassure her that help is on the way?" he suggested.

The older woman hesitated, then nodded. "That would be helpful, thank you. They - she's traveling with her daughter - they were both anxious about troubling a healer, much less a dragonrider. It's this one."

The trader wagon was piled high with goods, mainly sacks of what looked like grain, but they'd cleared a space and made a bed for the sick woman, with canvas partly stretched across to give her some shade. A tall, dark-haired girl stood by the side, leaning over the wagon's side to watch her mother. She turned when she heard them approaching, revealing a face that was drawn with worry and shadowed eyes.

"She's going to be all right." Her jaw set, as though she could convince herself of that by sheer stubbornness.

"A healer will be here soon. I'm sure it will be fine." T'lin smiled at her.

Calaroth shifted eagerly. }:Someone here is interesting. I need to get closer.:{

T'lin turned to the caravan master. "Calaroth is a Search dragon. Would you mind if he had a look while we wait, ma'am? Oh, I'm T'lin. Sorry I forgot to introduce myself."

"Well met, T'lin. I'm Luadna." Now that she knew a healer was on the way, the woman relaxed. "Of course, though I don't know as we have many the right age for you? Most of the children are little ones, but either way, they'll like to see a dragon."

"Calaroth can look at the ones who are the right age, and those too young . . . or too old, can still enjoy petting a dragon. He's very friendly."

"I'll spread the word. He can come closer, if you like. The draft beasts will stay calm if he doesn't make any sudden movements." Luadna walked briskly off to confer with some of the other traders, and before long a group was assembling to watch Calaroth approach. As she'd mentioned, most of them looked too young for Search, a handful of excited children whose eldest looked about nine, but there was also a teenage girl, trying hard to feign nonchalance, and a young man of nineteen or twenty who was blushing at the good-natured teasing of his fellow caravan guards.

T'lin was using half his attention to keep his over-excited dragon from moving too fast and spooking the draft beasts. Restrained by his rider, Calaroth approached slowly until he was close to the group of youngsters. "You need to be _at least_ twelve Turns to be Searched," T'lin said with a little smile. "Give him a moment to look everyone over, and then you can all pet him, okay?"

The blue began to look them over, T'lin mentally nudging him away from the little ones so he didn't get ideas. }:Hmm, not here. The one who glows is there.:{ Calaroth pointed his snout toward the wagon where the sick woman lay.

**Are you sure?**

}:I'm always sure.:{

T'lin patted his dragon. "All right, come on over and pet him." Calaroth laid down so his head was in reach of the children.

Then T'lin walked over to the wagon again. "Excuse me, young woman?" he said in a low voice to the girl keeping vigil over her mother. "I know you have other concerns right now, but . . . my dragon just Searched you."

The girl had been speaking softly to the woman lying in the wagon bed, describing what was going on with the dragon. She looked up at him, completely taken aback, as if she'd been so preoccupied by her mother's health that the possibility hadn't even occurred to her. "What? I - I mean, sorry, Dragonrider, but...me?" She glanced over at Calaroth, who was now surrounded by giggling children. "Could he be mistaken?"

"He's very sure," T'lin said. "He wanted to come closer because he could already sense you."

Her gaze lingered, and for a brief instant her tight, anxious expression softened. "He's lovely." As they watched, the young guard coaxed a shy little girl to come closer and put out a small hand to touch Calaroth's nose.

The girl watched them with what seemed like longing, until she remembered herself and the light in her eyes faded. When she spoke again, her voice still sounded bewildered, but resigned. "Thank you for telling me, sir. It's an honor, but I can't leave my mother. You see, we're not members of this caravan, we're just traveling with them to...family in Emerald Falls. If I wasn't here there'd be no one to take care of her."

"Welllll . . . considering the circumstances I could bring you both to the Weyr." T'lin hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for this, but he could worry about that later. "A wagon is no place for someone in your mother's condition. We could at least let her stay a few days while she recovers, and when she's well enough we could make sure she gets to Emerald Falls safely."

She chewed her lip, considering the offer. "Could I talk it over with her? I don't mean to be ungrateful, it's just that this is so unexpected. We won't take long." After a moment's hesitation, she added shyly, "My name's Seorla."

"Well met, Seorla. Of course, take the time you need. I'll be over there with Cal." The blue was currently bumping his nose against a small boy while the child giggled.

Seorla turned back to the wagon, trying to think through the multitude of pathways this unforeseen offer had opened up to her and her mother. At first it seemed a crazy risk to take. No one in her family had ever had anything to do with dragonriders; most of them carefully avoided the attention of the Weyr. Although she had heard talk that they took in holdless folk, she hadn't even considered traveling so far on the hope of a rumor, since they'd never have been able to afford the journey. But if there was a way they could be there in an instant?

"Mama," she said softly. "Did you hear the dragonrider?"

Her mother's eyes flickered open, and she tried to lift her head from the rolled-up bundles of cloth they'd used as pillows. Seorla hastily leaned forward to adjust them. "He said that his dragon Searched me. We could go to the Weyr, both of us, and people say they have the best healers outside of the Crafthall. They can't only be dealing with Threadscore." Deep within her, that persistent, reckless determination flared. There must be a cure, and if they could get her mother well before having to deal with her family, all the better.

The older woman's eyes widened in concern, her face already pale and drawn. "If they find out..."

"They won't. Even if they did, _we_ haven't done anything wrong." Not much, anyway. "Once you're better, we could be flown straight to Emerald Falls and find our way from there. We don't ever have to say where we've been."

"And if..." Her mother paused, drew in a wheezing breath. "A dragon...chooses you?"

Seorla blinked. That hadn't even occurred to her, though she supposed it was what Search was for. "It's not likely. From all I've heard, most who go to the Weyr come back empty-handed but for a wild tale to tell. If I did..." She couldn't even imagine what that would mean. "Everything would be different. But we're not there yet. We won't go anywhere unless you want to, Mama, and you feel able to travel."

"You...should go," her mother said, in a low whisper. She closed her eyes, resting back against the pillows.

"I'm not going anywhere without you." Seorla's lips tightened and she stood for a moment in thought, then turned from the wagon and made her way over to the dragonpair. Close up, the blue was much larger than she'd thought at first, but his eyes were mesmerizing and with the children around him, patting his head and scratching his eye-ridges, he seemed kind.

"So what do you think?" T'lin asked just as another dragon appeared in the sky above.

"I..." Was she really doing this? Seorla took a deep breath, feeling as though she was stepping into the unknown. "I can't leave my mother behind, but if she can come with me, and the healer says it's safe for her to travel, then I would be honored to accept the Search." She managed an awkward curtsey, including the dragon as well. "Thank you."

Calaroth let out a little trill of happiness. T'lin smiled and he dug in his pocket for a Search token. "You can hand that to the Headwoman when you arrive," he said as he offered it to the girl. "I'll talk to the healer and see what they say about taking your mom a-dragonback." He turned back to wave at the healer and the dragonpair transporting them as the green landed.

Last updated on the October 28th 2026

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An Unexpected Turn (1/2)