The Cothold was never going to be very large, because of where it was situated, among the low growing gnarled trees and sandy dirt, at the very edge of what was Dragonhope Weyr's extended range. Sometimes dragons from other Weyrs passed through, but they rarely could be said to be protecting this hold, and for that reason it was often overlooked. Their tithings were always a bit on the slim side, but then what could anyone reasonably expect? The natural caverns of the hills near this gnarled valley were the only reason anyone ever stayed there in the first place. It only took hold as a stop for travelers on their way to or from Dragonhope along this somewhat dangerous western route because there was nothing else for miles and miles. It did have a good view of both that huge snow-capped mountain range to the east that terminated in the sea and the Weyr, as well as the difficult landscape heading west away from the coast, all crossed with glacial valleys and often enough filled with snowfall.

Her parents could never be said to be 'happily married' but that was more because of the stresses of life here, leading them to be less than thrilled with any course of action. They were certainly good together, they weren't unhappy, but they never had enough time to put effort into acting like they were 'together'. Perhaps it was that stress of effort, that distraction due to the hazardous nature of their Cothold shared with six other families, that led to Zelri's sister subverting it. She'd married richer than her brother, she'd had the luxury of servants and drudges, her husband ran a transportation route - where Zelri and his wife handled pottery and home goods.

Zynari was adept with a wheel, but had never put much effort into it. She liked molding the wet clay into fanciful creatures and silly shapes, but not really getting them to be sellable or worthwhile to use in a hold. Her elder siblings probably resented her slightly, because she was never chastised for doing this, not even before her Search. When she was seven, those dragons landed and made sure that everything was all right, and one of them spotted the young scrape-kneed girl - their dragon sniffing her out of a group and privately announcing her Search. Though she was not the only youth searched then, she was the only one who had lived to see the day she was brought to a Weyr, the older boy gloated and became wreckless in his pride over a few years, and wound up trampled by an angry herdbeast. Zynari never really understood what the fuss was, her parents didn't suddenly change everything, nor did they hide this from her. She knew it was important that the dragon had nudged her with its warm blue muzzle, she knew that whatever had been said between the rider and her parents had weight. But she felt more at ease with the dragon standing there than with her aunt, who lurked in the corners of their Cothold every sevenday to collect things...

As she grew up, therefore, Zynari was given just a little more attention, perhaps more affection, than her siblings. But they were all a few years older at least, when she was Searched at 7, her older siblings were 10, 13 and 15. They were busy enough to not have the luxury of dwelling on this change in behavior on their parents part, they were all still a little hungry, a little cold, a little lean. But they still got by. Until her grandfather died, and Zelri's sister decided that she 'wanted' something more: and that something was her brother's chunk of the Cothold. She claimed she could 'make something more' of it, and with long heated arguments day and night, eventually Zelri relented, or perhaps the brief sickness he contracted just before her 'victory' had something to do with it. Too tired to keep fighting her threats off, Zelri relented. His wife said little, busy as she was with making sure that their children weren't put out with the rotted trash.

Yelena couldn't really force aunt Zaka to leave them alone, but she did make it absolutely clear that any antics directly woudln't be tolerated. And still she kept Zynari busy with tasks that didn't involve pottery or working in the dirt: she kept making sure that Zynari's penmanship was clear, that she could do the math needed to order the right amounts of materials. In all, she actually was proving to be a very capable headwoman-in-training, Zynari was good with these things even as a child. Always putting stones into categories, always reciting numbers when she put those stones back into a pouch. She wasn't expected to do heavy lifting, or difficult tasks, but as she grew up Zynari decided she did like doing some of the work herself.

Never while aunt Zaka was around, though. Whenever that cold-eyed snake arrived it was all she could do to stop from spitting in her face or storming off. Zynari had felt the change in her own father's behavior - he was defeated, he was never quite comfortable in his own home because sometimes his sister would just show up and take things. Including one of Zynari's siblings, to 'give to someone important'. At least her brother remained in the Cothold, Zynari would check in on him - now doing lifting and back-breaking tasks for the masons and stone crafters, even though he had the most promise of the family to take over the pottery making. They had no real 'craft masters' in this Cothold, only their own hands to rely on. Perhaps if they had a master come through, it would have been different.

But they did not. So Zynari was left to learn more about how to organize a Cothold, how to keep records and delegate duties, how to know when someone was slacking off or doing a good job. A lot of the younger children among the hold's population was entrusted to her care, and she kept them busy and out of other people's way. Zynari didn't have time to wonder when she might find a husband and have her own family: and she didn't need to, here they were.

Eventually though, when Threadfall began more in earnest instead of the fits and starts and close-calls they'd had recently, those dragons from Dragonhope came back once more. They Searched another young brat, too young to stand yet, but they finally came to pick up Zynari and she went eagerly. Until she got on the back of that brown dragon to take them to the Weyr - she'd never seen just how frightfully big everything really was. She clung afraid and shivering, to the rider's back almost the entire way. She was not afraid of the height, she saw the ground passing below them as they flew. But she would take many weeks to adjust to the idea that she'd have to look up, look around, to see the horizon on all sides, and not the comfort of the mountains and valleys around her, once she was a rider.

But she fit in nicely at the Weyr: putting duties she'd been entrusted to do back to work right away. Organizational skills were required for drills and for learning tasks. She didn't mind the work - she actually relished it, that girl that used to scrabble through the stone holes and find cast-off pebbles to place in that pouch she still carried was revived. Her wonder at the Weyr was never ending, plus this Weyr, she learned, was much more advanced than some elsewhere. They had lighting and heat and plumbing that were all but unheard of... even in her Cothold.

She stood with numerous others at their sands, but the green's clutch was small, and only a few lucky candidates became Riders that day. She was happy that they did! She learned from them, watched eagerly as they trained up. And finally the day came that she and two boys were sent out to ** Weyr to stand, they'd be bringing other blood into the Weyr, they would return to become part of the Thread fighters or even the crafters and background staff. Zynari wasn't sure she wanted to actively fight Thread, but if needed? She could do it! She learned how to expertly aim sacks of firestone while being tussled on 'dragonback' (on a training dummy with sticks and pulleys simulating a dragon's motion, how very clever she thought), and she knew that if she was in the heat of it, she could bravely face down Thread, maybe even order others into the right formation. She learned those formations easily, pulling out her bag of stones and proudly tossing them into one fighting wing shape after another, even after classes.

Confident, but not swelled with her own ego, then, Zynari stands at **, ready and waiting for whatever comes next. She's determined to at least be able to ride against Thread over her old Cothold, maybe giving them more of a share of attention will give the entire place enough of a rest that her aunt's control is loosened. Maybe.

*** (replace info when I have dragon, might not be green so watch for list change)

The green seemed torn between a timid little girl who just wanted to bolt from the sands and the blond haired Zynari . At the last moment, the first girl backed away even as the green took a step toward her, and so she turned her eyes to the hold-bred girl. What is wrong with her ? **th asked, though she honestly didn't care as Zynari reached out to scratch her eye ridge.

“I don't know,” the girl said, “but let's get you fed and oiled.”

To this, **th did not argue!

Dragon

Name:
Species:
Gender: Female
Color: Green
Size: green
Parents:
Abilities: telepathy teleportation telekinesis assisted fire breath
Personality:
Sociability:
Intelligence:
Mating:
Threadfighting:
Other: ,
Bond: Zynari

Lineage

Mates and Descendants