Golden Ticket (Weyr Edition)
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Duskdog, Sia
Date Posted: 14th June 2025
Characters: K'valas, G'zan
Description: Kavalas gets Searched too
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 15 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: I'serin, Aegaryn, R'bharra
The cold bit at Kavalas’s face, wind knifing off the frozen lake as he tucked gloved hands into his coat sleeves. The sun was low, glinting off the scraped ice in orange slashes as the game raged on-- sticks clashing, laughter rising like breath-fog into the crisp air. He hadn't meant to stop. He'd been headed back down to the weyrbowl on foot after spending half the day at the herdbeast pens, earning his keep by mucking out stalls and adding feed for the animals that weren't set out for dragon meals. He'd never actually skated before, though he knew better-off families back at Shadow Mountain that could afford the luxury. And then, well. He couldn't afford to carry extra shit on the road.
It was fascinating, and a little enraging, that it seemed like nearly everyone here wanted for nothing and could at least _some_ time on stupid things. Even as a visitor, just earning his keep, he had enough extra time that he hardly knew what to do with himself.
As he watched the lake, he caught sight of a green dragon getting closer, sailing overhead. He recognized it as the green that brought him here. He didn't remember her name. G'zan's dragon. That was uneasily weird, too. Having dragons flying overhead close enough to recognize.
}:Hmm,:{ Panghuth said thoughtfully, glancing downwards as she glided down for a landing not far from the frozen lake.
**’Hmm’ what?** G’zan asked, picking up on the soft mental brush of curiosity from his dragon. Panghuth wasn’t easily distracted, and rarely noticed things that she considered unimportant to her immediate task… but whenever she _did_, it was usually noteworthy.
}:That man. I know him.:{ Her mental image was clear.
**Aw, yeah, we picked him up from the caves. Remember? Well, I guess you don’t. But you seemed interested then, and you care enough to still sort-of remember? Huh.**
Clearly, he thought as he dismounted in the snow, he needed to go see this fellow.
“Heya there!” he waved enthusiastically. What was the guy’s name again? “Kavalas! How you doing?”
"Uh, all right, sir." Kavalas answered, more than a little uncertain. G'zan was _safe_, at least, though handsome enough that it made him queasy. "I'm working in the barns for the winter."
“Huh, that ain’t so bad, I guess. You can catch a little nap in the hay when you’ve got time. Prob’ly slept in a few barns before, eh?” G’zan clapped him on the shoulder, as if they’d known each other forever. “Me too, bud, me too. Glad to see you’re gonna stay with us a while! It’s nasty out there.”
Panghuth eyed him, shuffling a little closer.
Kavalas eyed Panghuth and shuffled a few awkward steps away from her. He didn't like the way she was looking at him. They said dragons didn't eat people, but…
"Slept in more than one over the turns, yeah." He answered, distracted. "And it's better here than any cothold that could've taken us for the winter. Full beds, full meals." Even though he and Aegaryn had pushed their things together and hoarded little things they filched from the Lower Caverns.
"What is she doing?"
G’zan glanced back at Panghuth and laughed. “Tryin’ to get closer to you! She’s interested, but she’s not normally a social one, so she doesn’t know how to act. Awkward as ash!” He gestured to her. “Don’t be weird about it, baby -- you can just walk up. He’s not gonna bite you.”
}:As if he could,:{ Panghuth protested, indignant, but she _did_ make an effort to approach in a more straightforward fashion, as if to prove him wrong. }:I like him.:{
“She says she likes you. Whaddya know? She don’t like many.”
"She what?" Kavalas repeated. He couldn't shuffle far enough nor fast enough once she got going, so he stood stock-still instead. "I didn't do anything."
“You don’t have to do nothing. Sometimes they just… like you.” G’zan chuckled, amused by the young man’s unease. “You ever thought about a dragon of your own?”
Panghuth brought her head in close and gave him a mighty sniff.
Her breath was hot against his face and terrifying.
"No," Kavalas answered much too quickly. "I mean sure, all kids think of that. But I stopped thinking about that a long time ago. Once I was holdless it was better not to cross paths with any kind of dragon. No offense."
“You still feel that way?” G’zan asked, cocking his head. “Like yeah, I get growing out of it -- especially when you’ve got _real_ stuff to worry about, like where your next meal’s comin’ from. But you got dragons right in front of you now, not any kinda threat or anything. And a picky one who likes you!”
Kavalas didn't know what to say to that. He stared up at Panghuth's weird, big head and even weirder whirling eyes. The entire experience of living at the Weyr had been more akin to living on the moons than any holds he'd passed through, and the casual nonchalance everyone had with these massive creatures was mind-boggling.
An ache tightened behind his ribs. An ache that he didn't have a name for, but had lived long enough to recognize.
"Are you saying she thinks I could have one, too?" He asked eventually.
G’zan nodded cheerily. “Yeah! I know she’s weird about showing it, but she never cares anything ‘bout anybody unless she thinks they’ve got the stuff! Whaddya think?”
Kavalas didn't know, really. A window of opportunity was open before him, one that he hadn't had the luxury of considering before. It was hard to think about that when he was more focused on his next meal, on when the snows would melt and they'd have to move on. Heb wouldn't stay if Aegaryn didn't, whether or not he had a search token.
But the most appealing was Mesarian's look of horror when he pulled out his own search token.
"Yes. Sure." Kavalas said. "I mean, I can't promise anything. If Aegaryn leaves, I'll go too. But I'll accept the token and think about it. Is that all it takes?"
“Well, we gotta have a second Searcher now, I guess, since…” G’zan frowned, “I guess the Weyrleadership got their danders up on account of Holdless getting Searched?” He sounded uncertain, and more than a little hurt -- like he didn’t _really_ want to believe that was the case. “But, uh, I know a guy. I’m sure his dragon’ll like you too, and if she don’t, he will. After that, just gotta report to the Headwoman with that token if you wanna give it a shot!”
Kavalas frowned. He hadn't heard about needing an extra searchrider, as if the dragons didn't know what they were doing. A part of him, too, wondered if the leadership knew that G'zan had been holdless, too, and thought he might try to scam the Weyr by handing out Search tokens. "All right, G'zan. Lead the way!"
Last updated on the June 17th 2025