Den of... Josin Morai

Eldest son of Lord Morai and Lady Jamisa, living in House Caledrus all of his life. To say that Josin has been pampered would be an overstatement, if not a lie. He has always pushed himself harder than any of his guild instructors, his parents or friends would like him to.

Though he is still young by Lordling standards, he is somewhat old for a candidate. At 23 years old, Josin cuts a stately and impressive figure anywhere he goes. He is well over 6'4" tall, though slender and not bulky. He wears clothing which is tailored to make him look even taller, and usually is in fashion before trends are visible.

Typical of a House lord, Josin demands much of his servants and those around him, as well as of himself. He is able to command respect as well as a little fear or awe out of nearly anyone.

His voice is hard, cold, and like his face it is unforgiving. Josin's younger siblings give him a wide berth when he is present, for he has never quite been one to enjoy the company of family for too long at a time.

Josin has quite a few skills that House lords must have; he is an adept mathmatician, composer of words, and knows histories of the local and wider areas well. He has prided himself upon knowing the local area geograpically speaking, and can often be found either exploring or hunting in the nearby woods.

Josin has a terrible secret. The company of wolves, or in this case of the Alskyran equivalent of wolves, come to him not because he is a great naturalist, but because he is one of them.

Very little more can be said about Josin. He is an abberant, terrifying man. Made more frightening by the fact that he keeps his secrets, and keeps his word at the same time. His imposing form largely shows that he is ready for any physical action that he must perform, but his hard features back up his temperment: he is not one to be trifled with.

If he has goals beyond those obvious, it will be difficult if not impossible for anyone short of a soul-mate to bring them out of him.

Josin's birth was marked with a heavy pall of smoke around the moon, brought by a large but distant volcanic eruption. It was said that the moon waited until Josin was born to clear, though it is also said that the moon had nothing to do with his birth -- it was not full nor new, it simply was the moon in a sky filled with soot.

Josin's mother Jamisa knows the full story, as none other could. But she rarely speaks of this event, the birth of her first noble son.

She speaks even less often of her first born child. Hardly a noble at all. It was this son, which came to Josin to claim him as his own kind, when he was born. Father Morai was away on merchant business when his son was brought into the world. The only other relative who was present was one of Jamisa's sisters. An odd woman, herbalist, who seemed to creep from the shadows and cast baleful glances at any who questioned her presence.

"Do not be afraid of the wolves."

This first born child of Jamisa's, he crept with his aunt back into the shadows, once their pact was sealed. Beside the stout woman, he walked away with her along an old, dark path.

On four paws.

***

"Josin, dearest one," Jamisa called out weakly, "I am worried... Your father will not come back in time."

From the doorway to the ailing woman's bedchamber, Josin Morai watched his mother slowly dying. Her words were true: his father was no where close enough to come to this, her deathbed. Did she wish him to be the substitute? To hold her bony hand and feel her life slipping away?

Reluctantly, the twenty-year-old lordling approached his mother's side. He sat, watched by the two hand maids who detested him and wanted him at the same time. His mother's chilled hand clutched at his own firm, dark fingers. He could barely feel the pressure it exerted, but put his own mind to attempting to comfort the woman he knew had something she must tell him -- before her passing, hopefully.

He gazed into her sea-colored eyes. They were hardened by white cataracts, but she could still see his cold face staring at her with them. She could no longer hold back her disappointment.

"Josin... You must carry a tradition. A secret rite." She paused and waved her other arm, jerking it at the girls. "Go! Away from here! Leave us in private!" Her hoarse voice grated at Josin's ears. Then she turned when the door closed snugly on its hinges, and she pulled her son near.

"Josin, your brother will come for you again, soon. Soon..." she wheezed in a breath.

"My brother is with Father," he commented, watching her face twitch with that.

"You have another. An ... older brother. One your father scarcely knows of. No others must see you with him..."

"You are not proud of him?" Josin asked, somewhat distantly aware that his mother was truly proud of him, but this inflection of hers was not quite--

"He is not like ... us." She pulled her eyes open hard, trying to see her son. "Not like your other siblings, any way. But you..." She reached her hand over her body and carressed his dark skin. "You will be like him soon and I only pray that you will remember more than he..."

"Mother." Josin said, curtly. "Make sense. Nothing you say makes any sense. I am a lord of this House, and I shall remain so. Nothing will change that."

"This... this could..." She hissed. "You must remember... your place. Here. This is your House. Your father will leave it to you no matter what happens. So you must be here to --" she gasped, and clenched her hand tight around her son's, "to inherit it... from him as well... as you've inherited this from me..."

As Josin's mother died, one word came seemingly from the wind, from the aether, into his mind. "Inescapable."

"Nothing is set, nothing is inescapable save death." Josin said, placing his mother's hand back onto her side. He rose, collected his thoughts while gazing at her motionless form, and then called the hand maids back into the room to take care of the body.

***

When the sun rose on the next day, the funeral had already begun. They could not wait for Morai to come back from his journey, but a dragon was requested to dispatch a lengthy letter to him. Josin watched the mourning girls, his sisters and young neice, from the tall column-framed balcony above the gardens. The estate House was extensive, well maintained. That much could be seen easily from this vantage, and it was one place in the house which he liked to sit idly.

Josin had no feeling for a wake, no urge to join in with the teary-eyed sobbing and blubbering of his siblings. Even his 18 year old brother would probably join in with them. But he simply felt only gently annoyed at the passing of this woman. She had loved him, but had always -- always -- been distant from him in a way which said a secret was in fact being kept from him.

He was correct. And now, as the sun set and Josin had not moved from his observant spot above the back entrance to the House, he could make out movement among the shadows forming along one side of the garden trail.

There were hedges which grew and were cut into fanciful shapes, along that area, and he was not quite certain what he'd seen. Was it a person? An animal? It would take a marvellously stupid version of either to enter this area without permission or fear. Their House was well-guarded, after all.

So what was this? One shape, low and creeping, the other upright.

For the first time in Josin's life, his heart skipped a beat as he remembered a night twenty years before -- his birth... The red-gold glowing eyes of this wolfen shape that approached were etched on his mind. Had he simply forgotten them? How could he have? They were so entrancing, so obvious!

The woman at the wolf's side glanced up at Josin from the cultivated lawn. She wore a shabby bunch of rags-- what might have been layered dresses one year long ago. Her hair was uncut and matted, ugly. But she was familiar. She was his aunt, Jaal. He had never heard tell of this aunt, save in brief whispered exchanges sometimes as he spied upon his parents.

How did he even know her name?

You know my name, as well, brother... Spoke directly into his mind, this wolf creature beside Jaal.

Josin whispered, as the sun set fully, "Felen."

Yes. Josin, you are my blood brother. Did you know that? Did mother tell you?

Josin waved his hand, and urged the pair to enter the House. He heard the kitchen staff shrieking, and the distinct sound of his sister Jodi thudding on the ground in a dead faint as she was wont to do often enough.

The wolf and Josin's aunt came up to the balcony, and told him everything he needed to know.

With a simple toss of his head, Felen turned from a four-pawed furry creature of the wood, to a crouching, ash-colored man. His hair was dark, like Josin's, though it had streaks of grey in it. He looked considerably older than a brother ought to. Born to a wolf? Born to age quickly? Josin did not ask these questions, their answers were not forthcoming.

"This house made a pact, brother. You are part of it, whether you wish to be or not." Felen said, his voice rough and a growl. "Your birthright is that of our kind. Yet it is also your right to keep your place here. Which will it be?"

"I need to make no choices for you, brother," Josin said, simply and darkly. "I am the lord of this house when my father passes it to me. And I shall be this wolf you insist I will be, if I must. It will help me if I need to fight. I can see you have fought many times." He indicated the scars crossing Felen's skin. Felen looked upon them and snorted.

"They are merely scrapes. You will not know how to manage yourself, Josin Morai," he warned. "I could teach you. But you would be required in the wilds."

"My place is here, Felen. Yours could be as well..." Josin hinted a smile in his eyes. It was one which Jaal openly derided.

"This place is not for our kind, and you will know that soon enough." She warned.

"I have allowed you in my home have I not?" Josin said, and looked at his aunt with disgust. "You are filthy. The next time you approach this House it will be clean and clothed properly. I expect you here for the anniversary of this event. And you shall both see what I will or will not be able to learn on my own."

Jaal and Felen seemed to communicate with one another, their eyes speaking where their mouths did not. Then, Jaal nodded. "You've got more guts than I expected from my sister's brood." She said simply.

Felen stood -- not easily, it was obvious he was not used to standing as a man instead of a beast -- and offered his short-fingered hand to his younger brother. "You will be welcome in my wood if you wish to prowl it. If you say I am welcome here. Your ... world, is not mine so much. And I envy you that." He glanced at Jaal, and then turned himself back into a wolf.

Josin licked his lips. The moons would be full in just under two weeks, both of them. It was an uncommon event, and he suddenly wondered -- Felen could change from wolf to man. Why should he not be able to do so as well? Questions would remain unanswered until their next meeting.

***
One year after their first meeting, Josin had changed thrice. But the third time, it was under his own power and while only one moon was full. Soon, he knew, it would be whenever he pleased.

He would be a wolf, then. He made certain that his father was not near by, again this year. As he met up with the pair he concentrated and went to all fours with effort. The feel of the smooth marble floor beneath his feet was something to relish. As was the feel and smell of the world outside. It was his, after all. They ran through the woods of the Morai estate and he knew every inch of them, better than his brother and better than Jaal.

He would be a wolf, all right. But he would be the lord of this House, and more on top of that, if he could manage it. And he would manage.

***

On the eve of Josin's twenty-third birthday, both moons were compellingly full. He had conquered the urge to turn furry and romp in the wet rain-soaked garden beyond the House.

It was a shame, too, because some of the wildlife had been quite good to hunt this season. They put up a fight.

So had his father, but that was an aside. The man had injured himself on a journey, and then to top that off, Josin smelled something amiss with him too. To bear this out, he'd had a medic secretly looking at the elder Morai, and it seemed as if he'd caught some disease while out running through ports and other Houses. Some scandal that would make! So he had to do the right thing, after all.

Which was to accidentally allow the wolves which had been running on the property for a few seasons, to come a little close while they hunted wild pig. Perhaps his father knew, or perhaps he was just afraid of his son. But even though he did put up a fight, the wolves would not eat him. Diseased as he was...

Josin easily settled into the role of Lord. There were things to be delegated and things to attend personally.

And there was the dragon rider who came to call. Lisanth and Zeith, senior breeders at Firestone Weyr, had a request for every able-bodied youth to come stand. They even hosted the dragon rider as she did her search. The dragon stood in the garden, careful of the plants and the sharp statuary, looking a bit nervous about her own choice. There were other, much younger candidates possible, but Josin was the one who was singled out by the dragon, and her rider agreed. She didn't like it either, but she agreed.

Of course his siblings were insanely jealous but Josin silenced them with a single glare.

"The House will be here, and it will be the way I expect it to be," he warned his staff and younger siblings. "When I get back. Things may change, but I will remain in charge." He glanced at the youngest of his family, his five year old neice. His blue eyes softened a little, and he said, "do not be afraid of the wolves, little one."

Then he went with the search rider Nerkila and her green Racath, to Firestone Weyr.

 
Josin's Impression!

While his family stewed at the Morai House, Josin was escorted through Firestone weyr and treated to the delight of meeting their young Weyrwoman. Lisanth and her eggs upon the sands were resting, but the golden dragoness made a strange sound upon seeing this dark-skinned man. She went directly back to sleep, but Josin wondered what had transpired between the mind of the dragon and her rider.

Very soon, the night after he had arrived in fact, the eggs chose to hatch. The dragons in the sands area hummed loudly, heralding the impending arrival of their new siblings.

Josin was as patient as ever, though he smelled something in the air. His own relatives, Jaan and Felen. They hid themselves well, he thought. But they were there all right. The eggs began to hatch and Josin watched as candidate after candidate impressed.

It was an odd sensation resting in his gut which proved able to send a small smile across the man's thin lips. He was truly excited? Almost the same feeling he had when he hunted in wolf form. But different... An unplaceable feeling.

One which was saited when a big dark bronze hatched. He broke his shell as if it were the only thing he'd ever wanted to do. Then, he strode up to Josin.

He sniffed at the man, who did in fact feel quite out of place wearing the white impression robes. But then the mind of this beautiful dark dragon pressed into Josin's.

Josin Morai, There is something different about you. yet, I will allow you to ride me.

That was expected, he thought. "I accept your offer, Wolventh." Then they turned and went to the edge of the sands, where Felen and Jaal were standing. Both had strange expressions on their faces -- even though Felen was in his canine form.

"You've impressed a dragon," Jaal pointed out needlessly. "How are you to run a Hold and ride a dragon?"

"I will manage, my aunt." Josin scratched his brother behind the ears, getting a growl, but when the wolf-creature snapped at his long hand, Felen had a surprise coming to him -- Wolventh snarled loudly and snapped at HIM! Josin laughed, and stroked the still-wet skin of his new dragon. "I think you and I will get along famously, Wolventh."

"How will I run a Hold and ride a dragon," Josin snorted while glancing at Wolventh as he ate, "with style, aunt Jaal, with style."

You do anything you like with style, what about things you do not like?

"What do I not like?" Josin asked, a quirky grin on his long face. "I like doing nearly anything regarding you, my fine friend."

Then bathe me.

"You're FAR too big! You have already learned to do it yourself, lazy beast..." Josin was going to say more, but that selfsame lazy beast had raised his bloody face from his kill and gave him a whirling-eyed plea.

I never thought a beast like you would be able to do that to me, Josin sent to the dragon. After you are finished. I shall bathe you, and you will enjoy it because it might be the last time I have the ability to do so.

You will enjoy it too... You just do not remember when you would help me clean. And do I not find good kills for you and your brother to hunt?

"You do. But we at least bathe OURSELVES afterwards!"

Josin leaned on Wolventh's neck and looked across his land. The estate had grown a little wild while he had been away checking out the other dragon sands. The overgrowth had to go, at least that in the garden behind the estate.

Why do you want to kill the plants? I thought that plants were important.

"They are, but those don't help anyone. Except perhaps my brother and his four-footed bretheren..."

And on thinking of Felen, Josin furrowed his brows. He hadn't seen his half-wolf kin in some time, and wondered if something had befallen the man. "We should look for Felen, again."

He hides well, my rider, do you think that he may have died?

"Jaal would have said something. I wonder where he has gone... Perhaps I'll keep the outer topiary grown like it has. He may slide back in some day on his own."

Wolventh rested his head down on the ground, and held his leg down so Josin could dismount.

"I will have the grounds combed... You should keep your nose keen for his scent."

He has not been here recently. But there is still a nest below that tree where he often sleeps. He will return. You take care of the Hold, and I will watch.

Josin nodded, and smiled at his bond. "What other estate could ever say they've got a dragon standing watch over them?"