The Search Begins

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 5th June 2020

Characters: K'mai, L'keri
Description: K'mai helps L'keri in the search for his son
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr, Vintner Hall
Date: month 1, day 13 of Turn 10

K'mai

L'keri

Supporting himself with his cane, L'keri limped into the dining cavern
and looked around. It felt odd and comforting to be back around so many
people, after more than a month isolated in the Infirmary. Since it was
early yet for dinner, there weren't too many riders around, so he found
a mug of klah, sat at an empty table and spread out his map of
Dragonsfall's territory, wondering where to search first for his missing
son.

A while later, K'mai entered the dining cavern and spotted his friend.
"L'keri, you're back!"

L'keri looked up from his map and brightened as he recognized the
bluerider. "K'mai! Yes, my cast is off and I just got released from the
Dolphin Cove infirmary. I think their Weyrhealer's starting to get a
soft spot for me." He glanced down at the map and sighed. "Now I'm free,
I'm planning my search route."

K'mai slid into the seat across from him. "Considering the
circumstances, I'm going to postpone your welcome party. So how about
I help you search instead?" It was certainly a rare instance where
someone ran _away_ from the Weyr. He hoped the boy was alright.

"Would you?" L'keri gave his wingmate a grateful look, heartened by the
thought that he and Rhalith wouldn't be alone in his quest to find Arten
and bring him home. "I'm in need of all the help I can get. He
disappeared a few days after Turnover, so he could be anywhere by now. I
just hope he's found shelter." He pointed to the map. "I've been told
that all of these holds have been checked, but there are small farms and
cots, and maybe he's been hiding, or moving around."

"I've been out searching when I can," K'mai said. "So far there's been
no sign of him. He certainly knows how to hide from dragonriders."
When he'd first heard Arten was missing, he'd thought it would be easy
to find the boy, but unfortunately he was wrong.

"He's a clever lad." L'keri could only hope that was the case and that
his son wasn't injured or worse. He sighed heavily. "Well, I've got to
start somewhere. Perhaps along the road to Amber Hills? Even if he's not
there, someone might have seen him."

"Sure. Want to head out now?" K'mai figured his friend would be eager.

"All right. Thanks, K'mai, this means a lot to me." He managed a wan
smile as he rolled up the map and got to his feet, wishing he could
sprint out to Rhalith rather than hobble along on still-weak legs. "Meet
you outside in a few minutes?"

"Need any help?"

L'keri leaned on the cane, managing a trace of his usual smile. "You
just want to be seen carrying me around the Weyr again."

"I'm a little ashamed of myself for not considering that angle." K'mai
laughed. "It would be a tasty bit of gossip, though, wouldn't it?"

"And since they've been starving me to skin and bone in that Infirmary,
it'd be easier for you this time." He smiled. "Thanks, but I can manage.
Got to build up my strength."

K'mai gave him a considering look. "If you're sure. I'll meet you
outside, then."

L'keri left the dining cavern and headed to his weyr to fetch Rhalith's
riding straps and his flying gear. Everything took much longer than he
was used to, from climbing the stairs to the familiar task of fitting
the straps. Even with Rhalith helping as much as he could, he felt tired
out by the time he was on his dragon's back, and he couldn't help being
embarrassed that K'mai and Sebeth must be waiting for him.

**All right, we're ready.** Now he could rest his aching leg for a bit,
he thought, as Rhalith passed the message on. Excitement began to grow
inside him. Maybe they'd find Arten today; the boy might recognize
Rhalith. He leaned forward as the brown dragon leapt from his ledge and
joined his blue wingmate in the air.

K'mai had waited as patiently as he could. This was a favor for L'keri
after all, and the bluerider could only imagine what he would feel
like if Sabia went missing like this. The two dragons went /between/
and came out over the road to Amber Hills. A busy route, and it
wouldn't be hard to at least find someone to question.

As they flew, following the road, L'keri leaned forward, mentally
matching the land below him to the maps he'd been poring over the last
sevenday. The land was familiar from sweeprides, and he soon picked out
the places where tracks led off the road towards small farms. He knew
they'd already been visited by riders searching for Arten, though.
Instead, he focused on the road. After a few minutes, Rhalith spotted
what looked like a cloud of dust in the distance.

**Trader wagons.** L'keri narrowed his eyes, trying to make them out. It
looked as thought they were coming towards the Weyr, but perhaps they'd
seen or heard of his son on the way. He glanced over at the blue pair,
wondering if they'd seen, too. **Let's go and talk to them. Tell Sebeth
we're going to land.** He turned in the straps, waved and pointed ahead
at the traders.

K'mai signaled back and they headed down to land a respectful distance
away, hoping not to spook the traders' animals. The people had already
spotted them and pulled the wagons to a stop, dozens of faces watching
them curiously. With his friendly nature, K'mai was often paired with
serious or shy riders in these kinds of situations so he could put
non-riders at ease and get them to talk. But L'keri was just as
charming, so he waited to follow the brownrider's lead.

L'keri climbed cautiously down from Rhalith's back and approached the
traders, wishing for his usual confident stride. At least, he thought,
they wouldn't know how he'd come to be limping along with a cane. They'd
assume he'd been injured honorably in Fall.

"Good day." He raised a hand in greeting. "I'm L'keri, rider of Rhalith,
and this is my wingmate K'mai of Sebeth. I'm sorry to interrupt your
journey, but we're looking for a young boy who's gone missing from the
Weyr and we wondered if you might have seen him."

An older man hopped down from a wagon and waved some of the youngsters
back. They weren't riding on Search, after all. "Good day to you,
dragonriders. A young boy, you say?"

"Yes. His name is Arten, and he's twelve Turns old. He's tall for his
age and he has light brown hair, and people say he looks like...like
me." His voice caught as a wave of shame washed over him, and he
remembered again how this was his fault, all due to his stupid drunken
behavior. "He's my son. He has a blue firelizard, only a few months out
of the shell."

The trader rubbed his chin. "We haven't seen anyone like that, but we
met up with a fellow caravan just recently. Couple of folks mentioned
seeing a blue firelizard around, didn't belong to anybody. They
thought it might be a wild one. They said some food had gone missing,
too." He tilted his head. "And you know, they'd just come from
delivering the tithe. Maybe your boy snuck into one of the wagons?"

"Maybe," L'keri replied, gratefully. He knew he was clinging to a faint
chance, but even so, the trader's words filled him with hope. He looked
over at K'mai. "I was told the tithe wagons had been searched, but it's
hard to approach without being noticed when you're on dragonback. He
might have seen them coming and hidden in the fields. Where were they
headed?"

"Amber Hills Hold," the trader answered.

"We checked there already," K'mai said. "But we should check again.
Maybe we missed something, or he hadn't made it there yet."

Amber Hills was a large Hold that was friendly to the Weyr; if Arten had
made it there, there was a good chance he'd be safe and well. Suddenly,
L'keri was impatient to leave, but he did remember his manners enough to
thank the traders before returning to the dragons with K'mai.

When they emerged from /between/, he felt his heart sink as he realized
just how large the Hold was. As well as the imposing central building,
there were dozens of cots, crafters' workshops and farm buildings. A boy
might easily lose himself amid so many people. All the same, he was
determined not to give up his search until he found his son.

Rhalith landed in a space cleared for dragons not far from the
buildings, and folded his wings, moving aside to give the blue room to
land. L'keri waited until his friend joined him before starting towards
the main Hold. "What do you think - where should we start? Find the
Steward or the Headwoman, or just start asking around?"

"The Headwoman would be best. Drudges see everything."

"All right." L'keri started to feel more hopeful as they approached the
main building and began to ask passing holders for help. After being
directed from one person to another and repeating the story of his
search several times, they finally ended up with one of the Headwoman's
assistants, who told them that the Headwoman herself was busy meeting
with some of her staff.

"Oh yes, I did hear that the Weyr was searching for a boy. We do get
young lads coming to be fostered or apprenticed here, but that's always
arranged by their families," she explained, with a sympathetic look.
"You could try the farms, they might have taken him on as a laborer or a
herd boy. Or - if he's somewhere around the Hold, you could ask the old
aunties. They hear all the gossip."

L'keri glanced at K'mai. "Want to try charming some old ladies?"

The bluerider smiled. "I'm _very_ good at charming."

Last updated on the October 13th 2020

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

The Search Begins