Search Experiments (1)

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 25th December 2008

Characters: Zelle, K'hetah
Description: Zelle gets K'hetah to accompany her on a search.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 12 of Turn 4

"Am I doing anything this afternoon?" K'hetah repeated as he leant back in his chair so that it balanced on its rear legs. He glanced at the bare desk in front of him and then back at Zelle. "Possibly not. What do you have to offer?"

"Oh I don't know." Zelle leaned over from the other side of the desk, one finger idly tracing the lines of the wood grain. She shrugged, her finger jerking off its path, then setting right again. "We could go jump off of some cliffs and see if our lifemates can catch us before we plummet to our deaths."

K'hetah grinned. "You're only suggesting that because Rillith is quicker than Loeth."

"That's the underestimation of the turn." Zelle chuckled and leaned back in her chair, linking her hands. "Well, if you're not up to that, how about you go with me on my Search?"

"All right. So far you've come up with two ideas in a row which show Loeth up as being somewhat inadequate. Do you know any bronzes that can Search?"

"It's not so much that he would Search anyone," Zelle wiggled her fingers in the air and shrugged. "It's more of simply being my escort while I come on Search, that's all."

"You want me to ..." Before he said anything more he had a moment of sense and stopped and thought about her offer. "It sounds a whole lot better than paperwork," he admitted. "_All_ afternoon?"

"Yes." Zelle nodded slowly, her lips curling up at the corners. "And it usually _is_ better than paperwork and you, I know, keep on top of that so it's not like you have a sevenday's worth of stuff piling up needing your attention."

K'hetah's expression was fleetingly suspicious then he assured himself that Zelle's comments were innocent. It wouldn't have been her that had left all that paperwork on his desk that night ... would it? In an effort to dismiss his thoughts he got to his feet. "All right. Let's see how this Searching is done, then."

"Great!" Zelle immediately popped out of her seat and the next thing K'hetah knew, she was tugging urgently at his hand. "Let's get going.
The sooner, the better. We've got future dragonriders out there waiting for us to discover them!"

He was able to grab his flying jacket as they passed the stand in the corner of the office as he was dragged out of the room by the greenrider with places to go.

~ ~ ~

"So. Dragons have landed, people are approaching ... Now what?"

"We wait." Zelle placed her hands upon her hips, eyeing the small crowd that was hurrying toward her. This bit seemed a bit more eager than the last. Her last Search, she had been greeted only by the holder and only after upon speaking with him did he deign to gather any people to present to her. Her smile grew wider as the people drew near, but she hung back instead of stepping forward and greeting them like she would normally do, waiting, watching.

K'hetah glanced at Zelle, wondering why she wasn't greeting the people.
It seemed a strange way to go about a Search to him ... and any moment it couldn't help but look rude on their part. He cleared his throat, glanced at Zelle again, and then stepped forward. "Hello." If he'd known he was going to have a speaking part in this event he would have at least found out who the cotholder was. He knew the name of the _place_ well enough, for he had his turn sweepriding over it, but he didn't know the cotholder. "We're from Dolphin Cove Weyr -" which was as it should be. They would rightly be surprised to meet riders from another Weyr. "I'm K'hetah, rider of Loeth, here, and this is Zelle -"

"K'hetah!" Zelle hissed in annoyance, but it was too late. The holders automatically looked to K'hetah instead of her and she couldn't tell if it was because he was a bronzerider or if it was because he had stepped up. When the Search had been done, Zelle recorded the name of the cothold as well as the one boy who had been Searched. She would come back for him in a day or two and bring him to the Weyr. It would give him time to say goodbye. She had warned him to pack light as he would not have as much room in the barracks as his own home.

When the people had left, Zelle turned to K'hetah, her finger wagging in his face. "Don't be the first to say anything. You're ruining the experiment!"

"Experiment?" he repeated blankly. "I don't know anything about an experiment but you were just _standing_ there ... Silent! Which is pretty much unheard off, for you."

"Just hush. Next time, don't say anything. I want to see what the people do." Zelle clicked her tongue and mounted her dragon, motioning that K'hetah should do the same.

Last updated on the December 26th 2008

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Search Experiments (1)