[13.05.2707] Splash! (open!)

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Preske chirped. His pale wings slashed through the water, raising a furrow of little waves behind him, and then he zoomed up again, fluttering through the air with an excited trill. He ducked into the water once, then twice, and then raced back to his owner, swooping around her head and throwing the water off his wings onto her face.

"Preske!" Shemmoral batted at her pet, laughing, until she managed to catch him by a leg and hold him at arm's length. The white flitter crooned and flapped his wings, then gave it up as a bad job and wrapped himself around her wrist, licking her arm affectionately. A picture of splashing water entered her head; shaking it with a laugh, the candidate scratched the snowy back. "I know, I know. You want to play. But you're supposed to be getting washed, too, and I can't do that if you keep flying around. Don't you want to be clean?" Cajoling, she lifted her hand to peek at her flit, holding his hind leg captive. At last he gave in, flopping on her arm and wrapping his little claws around it.

"That's what I thought." Pleased that her flit had given in, Shem dunked him in the water, and then rolled up her trouser legs with her free hand. Crouching in the shallows, she grabbed a handful of sand and scrubbed him with it, rubbing all the dirt and grit off of the snowy hide. Not that there was much. She was picky about keeping him clean, and oiling him, too. Even her little flask of oil was in her pants pocket, where she could attend to him right here.

Preske by now had given in to his owner's whims. Flopping off her hand, he rolled around in the water, staying still only when she attacked him with handfuls of sand. Pink bubbles floated into his bonded's mind and popped there, betraying his contentment as she scrubbed him clean. Though his dips and dives through the water had taken off most of the muck, he'd gotten himself thoroughly dusty earlier when they were cleaning out old storage rooms. Candidate duties were fun for the flitter. He liked to play in all the dirt and become a brown firelizard (although he was too small to ever be mistaken for one). Besides that, there was lots of stuff he could do to help His! He could push things over, for instance. Little things! So that they fell off boxes and made sounds so she knew exactly where he was. He was helpful - more helpful than any other people, even! So very, very helpful, yep! Trilling, he arched his back up into Shemmoral's hand, rubbing his head affectionately on her wrist. She merely shook her head with a soft laugh. "I told you you'd like it, you silly thing."

[sorra]

Ravis had decided to take a walk down around the lake. He had about a candlemark free before his next candidate lesson and he wanted to explore a little bit. Although he wasn't sure about running into anyone. But he would deal with that if it happened. Trig sat happily on his shoulder, cheeping softly. The brown loved being around all the big cousins.

Trig suddenly dove off Ravis's shoulder. Trig? The little brown sent an image of someone and their white flit in the lake. Ravis sighed. He knew Trig would want to meet them. He nodded. Go on.

Trig flew over and chittered happily at Preske and Shem. Ravis was a few stalling steps behind his brown. "Hello," he said, stopping close to the shore. "I hope we're not interrupting. Trig here wanted to say hello to your little guy."

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Shemmoral looked up in surprise when something chittered - and it wasn't Preske. However, the white firelizard was wriggling under her hands, wanting to get free, and was bombarding her with so many images she couldn't tell what each one was. Startled enough to release her pet, she sat back on her heels and watched him spiral up to greet the other firelizard, chirping excitedly.

Preske trilled gleefully to the other flit, fluttering his wings and darting at the brown with an exuberant flip. Water flew off his gleaming wings, and he zoomed over, stopping just short of him to hover there, motionless, in the air. Oh boy! A friend! A friend for His, too! And how was the brown doing today, he wanted to know? Flittery, fluttery, fabulous? He was doing great, himself - he proved it by whipping a corkscrewed figure eight around the brown. Oh, he was so excited! He loved to make friends! As long as they didn't touch his humanpet, of course. That wasn't allowed. In fact, he strictly forbid it. They also weren't allowed to touch him. Such rules didn't apply to other flits, though, and right now in particular they were dropped. He wanted to play, not be washed!

Sighing with exasperation, the candidate stood and stretched her legs, giving up for now on trying to wash Preske. She turned around when she heard someone's voice, though, green eyes widening slightly. Seeing that it was only one person, and that her white flit wasn't alarmed by him, she relaxed and allowed a smile to appear on her face. Like Preske, she loved to make new friends, and she was in no mood to abandon that habit now. "No, no. You didn't interrupt," she assured him, although her pet was only half clean. She would just have to scrub him extra-clean later. "What's your name?"

Her tone was friendly, bright - filled with the same kind of sunshine that danced on the surface of the lake. Grinning, the candidate brushed a bit of sand off her trousers, and clasped her hands behind her, tilting her head with an expectant expression on her face. Of course, she only stated her own name as an afterthought, realizing that she was being entirely too demanding. "I'm Shemmoral, but you can call me Shem if you like. I'm a candidate." The introduction was made hastily, a little clumsily, but the cheerful girl didn't appear to notice. What did clumsy speech matter when you could make a new friend?

[sorra]

Trig's whole body seemed to shake in excitement. He chittered as Preske flew around him. The brown watched the little white, his tail flicking. He wanted to join in on the fun. Trig loved fun and he didn't have many friends. Maybe his pet would make friends with Preske's pet. That way he could see the little white more often.

Ravis laughed as he watched Preske. The little white was very enthusiastic. He had no doubt that Trig would enjoy this. The brow hovered as Preske darted around him. He answered the little white with just as much enthusiasm. He was very good and enjoying himself. Did Preske want to play? He hoped so. The brown seemed to move his wing in a gesture inviting Preske to come play.

The boy smiled as he watched Trig, then turned his attention back to Shemmoral. He was thinking he had seen her before, but he couldn't place where or why. He was still getting to know the candidates. "Oh, good. I don't think I could have kept Trig away." Ravis kept his hands folded. He may have come across as prissy or rude, but he didn't want anyone to see his hands or ask why he wore gloves. He knew he really needed to get over that. "I'm Ravis. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shem. And I'm a candidate too. I thought I recognized you." He didn't even seem to notice her clumsy speech.

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Preske trilled gleefully as Trig responded to him, zipping in mad circles around the bigger flit. The brown's answers were entirely satisfactory; he was so glad that the brown was doing well and that he wanted to play! Preske wanted to play too! Of course, Trig didn't seem as energetic as he himself was, but that was okay! Few flits matched his extreme levels of energy; he was happy to play anyway. The brown's invitation was hastily taken; the white shot towards him and playfully flicked the other's wing with his tail, trilling excitedly. He dove down, towards the water, and swooped through it before popping between to reappear above Trig's head. He wanted to play tag! Or maybe a game of find-the-flit-between. Other coloured flits weren't as good at it though, and he didn't know why. But if they popped into and out of existence at random, it'd make tag more fun! Right? Didn't Trig think so too?

Shemmoral shook her head slightly, watching Preske's antics. She loved her flit dearly, but he was so easily distracted by playing that it sometimes became almost impossible to take care of him. Like now, for instance. She'd tried to wash him and, right on time, another firelizard had showed up to distract him. She didn't mind that much, though. It wasn't so bad, was it? At least now she had the chance to make friends with this boy - Ravis, he called himself. His hands were folded neatly in front of him; Shem decided that this was probably just a trademark of good behaviour and smiled, eyes bright with pleasure.

Oh! Oh dear. He was a candidate too. And she hadn't even recognized him - not in the least. Oops. She'd have to memorize his face. "Pleasure to meet you too," she practically chirped, grinning brightly. "Sorry I didn't recognize you. I'm, er, not that good with faces." It was true, really. Shem could remember words she'd read or heard spoken, but faces? Nope. No go - she just couldn't remember them. Shaking her head, the candidate ran a hand through her hair, hoping to make up for her poor memory with friendliness. This was about when she paused, considering, and nodded as if to herself before looking back at Ravis with a broad grin. "We have another lesson soonish, don't we?" She'd no idea what it was on, but that didn't matter. Lessons were for learning, not listening to things you already knew. "Isn't the lake pretty? All sunshiny and nice!"

So it was a random change in topic. That didn't matter! She was standing ankle-deep in the water; it wasn't like she'd forgotten about it. It was indeed sunshiny - rays of light bouncing off the lake to shine in her eyes. Oh, it was so pleasant! It didn't even occur to Shemmoral that the appearance of a lake was a pretty boring topic of conversation. These kinds of things flew right over her head... all the time.

[sorra]

Trig watched Preske closely. The little white was definitely more agile then himself, but Trig wasn't going to let that get him down. He was ready to play and he didn't care if the other flit was faster then him. It would just make more fun and challengingly to play whatever they decided on. The brown bugled happily and flicked his tail as Preske flicked his wing on passing. Tag sounded like great! He was definitely in. Between would make it more fun. Trig was up for a challenge and between would definitely add that to it.

Ravis chuckled as he watched his brown. Trig was definitely being more energetic then he was sometimes. But Ravis was glad that brown had found a playmate. Even if it meant he had someone to talk to now. Well, he couldn't avoid that and maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She seemed nice enough after all.

The Trader boy shrugged. "That's quite alright. I don't know very many of the candidates yet either." Of course that was partly his fault. If he would actually talk to them he might get to know who they were easier. He nodded. "In a little under a candlemark now." Ravis had to admit. He had enjoyed the lessons so far. The boy actually laughed as Shemmoral changed topics. "The lake is beautiful today." He didn't mind the topic change at all. So it wasn't the most interesting topic, but that didn't bother him. "Do you like being down at the lake?" he asked, flexing his fingers a bit.

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Preske trilled excitedly, still zooming in circles around the much larger brown. Okay! He would start! Helpful as always, he flicked Trig on the shoulder with his tail, tagging him, and then turned to zip off, flashing between and reappearing ten feet away, spinning in circles and corkscrewing happily through the air. Oh, what fun! Warbling, the white flit dashed away over the lake, flicking his little tail teasingly. Could Trig catch him? He didn't think so~! He was too fast!

Shemmoral grinned, watching her flit go dashing madly off in pursuit of fun (and in an effort to escape the brown). She shook her head with a small laugh, admiring the little white as the sun gleamed off his clean wings. At least she'd gotten him mostly washed, right?

Oh, good! Ravis wasn't mad at her for not knowing his name. Relieved at that, the candidate grinned brightly. He didn't know many of the candidates either. That was okay, then. At least she wasn't the only one or anything. Being the only one was always so lonely (although she rarely registered the loneliness) so she was glad that the other candidate was almost as clueless as herself. "Ooh, okay. I thought so!" Smiling brightly, the tall girl spun to look at the lake she'd mentioned, and her laughter chimed in with Ravis' as she heard his voice. She wasn't entirely sure what was so funny, but that was okay. Laughter was always good, right?

'The lake is beautiful today.' Yes it was, and she was so very glad that he agreed with her! Delighted, Shem laughed and then turned to look at Ravis as he asked if she liked being down at the lake. "Yep! 'Specially when it's all pretty like this. How about you? And do you think there's anything in there? I read a book once where someone thought there was a monster in the lake. I wonder if there's one here?" So it wasn't realistic. What did that matter? Perhaps there really was something in the lake! Realist as she tended to be, Shem's brain was known to go flying off on random flights of fancy. This was one of them. "Imagine if there were more than just one monster in the lake, too... wouldn't that be scary?"

[sorra]

Trig cheeped in surprise as Preske tagged him. Oh, so that was how the little white wanted to play. Well, that was fine by him. Trig was willing to be it first. The brown watched as the white disappeared and then reappeared. He could tell Preske was going to be hard to catch. He didn't mind. That made it all the more fun. He folded his wings and dove after the white. Somehow he would have to outsmart Preske. There was no way he would be faster.

Ravis chuckled as he watched his brown. It was nice to see Trig having fun. The brown was usually fun loving, but he didn't tend to go too far from Ravis' side. And there hadn't been too many flits with the Trader caravan for him to play with.

He smiled at Shemmoral. "I'm sure with time we'll start to learn the other candidates." Or maybe not. That would probably depend on how much he allowed himself to open up to others. And at the moment he wasn't quite ready to do that. He didn't want to chance people starting to pity him here too. That would just be too much.

"I do like the lake," he said, looking over at her. "A monster in the lake?" he asked, thinking about it. That would be interesting. He had heard stories like that before. The boy shook his head. "I don't think there would be with so many dragons around. Surely the dragons would scare it off. Although maybe out in the ocean." He had no doubt that there were 'monsters' in the water. He smiled. "That would really be something if there were two or more."

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Preske trilled gleefully, tagged Trig, and darted off to disappear between and reappear a short distance away. Glancing back, he saw the other flit dive after him, and the little white paused for a few moments, letting the brown almost touch him before he zoomed away, chittering with delight and flipping little circles in the air. He was faster! Oh yes, he was. Betcha Trig couldn't catch him! (But privately he thought he might take it easy on the big brown... maybe. If he felt like it.)

Shemmoral chuckled at the same time Ravis did, watching the flitters dash about together and play. She shook her head with a small smile, admiring her little flit as he zoomed happily away from Trig. Mentally she told him to be nice to the brown - nobody liked to lose games, and he wasn't to be unfair. Her pet ignored her, of course. She'd expected that. Preske played by his own rules and he wasn't going to follow people-rules when he was playing with another firelizard!

"Me too," Shem chirped affirmatively, nodding. She didn't like big groups (like the pack of candidates that gathered at lessons) but if she could encounter each and everyone of them one-on-one... she was sure she could make friends with them all! At least, she hoped she could. Perhaps they would think she looked funny, or that she was weird or something. Unfortunately they wouldn't be far from the truth - Shem was a bit weird. Just a bit. Nobody else she knew liked books as much as she did, right?

Thrilled to find that the other candidate actually considered her theory instead of just dismissing it, the tall girl grinned and clasped her hands behind her back, resisting the desire to wriggle with delight. Still, the way Ravis phrased his own opinion deflated her and with a sigh Shemmoral stared at the water. "You're probably right," she agreed, a little unhappy that her own theory wasn't correct. But perhaps the one about sea monsters was! Instantly her good mood returned, and the candidate laughed and nodded. "Perhaps there's a whole community of them. Don't you think? There's nothing to stop them out in the ocean... no dragons or whers, and I don't suppose dolphins are terribly frightening. Imagine that," she almost whispered, gazing at the lake without really seeing that. "Monsters in the bottom of the ocean. I'll bet there are! Dozens of them, maybe." Invigorated by this idea, Shemmoral spun around to face Ravis again, green eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "When I bond to a dragon, I want to take it all over Pern! I want to see everything - even the monsters, if there are any. Don't you think that would be wonderful, Ravis? Imagine seeing the whole world from dragonback! I'll do it someday, I really will! Will you, do you think? Explore all of Pern with your dragon?"

[sorra]

Trig did his best to catch Preske. The little brown wasn't upset by Preske being faster. He was just happy to be playing. Although that didn't mean he wouldn't try everything he could to catch Preske. He snorted when the white disappeared. He was going to have outsmart Preske if he could. Well, that was alright. He'd have fun no matter what. Trig dove down in hopes of coming up under Preske to catch him.

Ravis grinned a bit. At least his brown was being a good sport. Of course Trig usually was. Even if he did lose from time to time. Right now it just seemed like the brown was having fun and that's what Ravis wanted.

He turned back to Shem as she laughed. She had pretty laugh. Okay, so she wasn't the prettiest girl he had ever seen, but if she ever saw his hand she would probably want to turn tail and run. At least she was nice and he did like her laugh. It seemed to light up her whole face.

Ravis felt bad when he saw her shoulders drop. He hadn't meant to spoil her idea. He was glad when she came up with another theory though. "You know, I bet you're right," he agreed. "There wouldn't be anything out in the oceans to keep them away. There probably is a whole colony of them out there." He smiled a bit, but sighed softly when he thought about a dragon. He wasn't so sure that a dragon would pick someone with a bum hand. But it was fun to think about. The boy nodded. "If I manage to Impress I would love to go all over Pern. It would be fun to see everything around us. I've only seen a bit from traveling with the Traders." It would be fun to see Pern from the air.

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ooc// sorry for the wait, I haven't been feeling at all well D:

Reappearing some distance away, Preske zipped off, confident that he was going to get away and never, ever be caught! Well, maybe he'd let himself be caught. After all, it was no fun to be the only one chasing. And he was fast! So very, very fast! He could catch Trig, he knew he could! Twittering gleefully, the white flit spun loop-de-loops, almost forgetting about the game. This was approximately when the brown firelizard somehow managed to sneak up and zip up underneath him. Something - maybe a wing or a tail - brushed his belly, and the white squeaked with amazement, doubling back with a startled chirp. He'd gotten so involved in thinking he was brilliant that he'd actually been caught! Oh. Well, then. He would just give Trig a chance to fly away and then he'd go catch him again! That was the thing to do.

Shemmoral's mood seemed to flit from one extreme to the other in just a heartbeat. Indeed it did - from elated at her new idea, to crushed at Ravis' realistic response, to elation again as she realized that there might in fact be monsters in the bottom of the sea. Gloriously happy, the candidate grinned and bent to scoop up a double handful of water, watching it trickle through her fingers before she tossed it in the air. Listening to the other candidate, she watched the shimmering droplets fall, and then smiled and spun back to face him.

"I bet I'm right too! That would be so cool. If there're monsters, I'll be the first to find them! I'm sure I will be. My dragon and I, we'll find them together!" She was confident about Impressing eventually - this she made perfectly clear. She could deal with heartbreak just fine if all the dragonets rejected her, she was positive - because there would always be another clutch and maybe someday she'd get her very own hatchling! A new best friend! It would never replace Preske, of course. But she had room in her heart for a dragon and her flit. And everyone else, if they wanted a spot there.

Hearing the doubt in Ravis' voice, Shem's voice became almost scolding and she tilted her head, green eyes bright. "You'll Impress, Ravis! I'm sure of it! Someday. We'll both get dragons. And then we should go exploring together, don't you think? We could see everything! Just imagine that! Being the very first people to see everything on Pern - and from dragonback, too. Even the bottom of the sea if we can make it there. I wonder if dragons can between underwater. It's an interesting thought, isn't it?"

Swept up in her fanciful dreams, Shemmoral giggled and scooped up another handful of water, holding it up over her face so she could watch it stream down from between her fingers. "What must it be like to have water all around you? And not just be swimming? To live there. Like a fish, or a sea monster! I'd love to see a sea monster one day. It'd be ever so fascinating - and perhaps it would be intelligent enough to speak to. What do you suppose a sea monster might say, Ravis?" she asked suddenly, face glowing with excitement at the prospect. "What all might it tell you? About living underwater? Maybe there's stuff down there no humans know about... I want to see it, if there is!"

[sorra]

Trig waited for Preske to let down his guard. He knew the little white couldn't keep it up forever. Although the white was fast, Trig had no doubts there. So he would definitely have to outsmart him. The brown saw his chance and darted under Preske. He cheeped happily as Preske gave a surprise squeak. The brown then blinked between so he could get away from Preske.

Ravis smiled as he watched his flit. Trig really seemed to be enjoying himself. He turned back to Shem. He was enjoying talking with her even though her emotions kept switching back and forth. Surprisingly, that didn't bother him at all. He found it rather interesting.

He chuckled softly. "I have no doubt that you'll find them." If there really were sea monsters Shem would definitely find them. Ravis could tell that she was determined and she seemed to keep a positive attitude toward things. Maybe he should learn from her. He needed to be more positive.

He jumped a little at her words. "Maybe," he said. "And if I do I would love to explore with you." He still wasn't sure if a magnificent creature like a dragon would really want a deformed rider like himself. But for now he would indulge Shem and try not to bring her down. Ravis thought for a minute. "I don't really know what they would say. Maybe they would want to know what it was like living on land or flying on dragons," he smiled.

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Seeing that Trig had popped between to get away from him, Preske trilled indignantly and zoomed in circles, waiting for the much larger brown to pop back into existence. When he did, the white shot after him, using his tiny body and streamlined speed in a bid to catch up to the brown. He could just pop between and land on top of Trig, of course, but that wasn't much fun, so he flew instead, determined to catch the other flit.

Somehow Shemmoral had managed to forget all about her pet in the time she'd been talking to Ravis. Leaving the flit to his own devices, she laughed and clapped her hands together, once, as her fellow candidate commented that he was sure she would find her sea monsters. Sincerity wasn't a concern to her: she took everything (everything!) at face value. If Ravis said it, he meant it! And that was good enough for her.

Barely resisting the urge to fling her arms around the boy and hug him silly, Shem grinned and tossed more water into the air instead. "Me neither! They'll be wonderful, I think - big, and beautiful... maybe not as beautiful as dragons, but intelligent and not really monsters at all! Oh, I can just picture them! They'll be so lovely, Ravis! Under the sea in their own Weyrs, made of coral and seaweeds and all kinds of beautiful things they've found. Maybe they'll even have beautiful fish as companions, or maybe drudges in their underwater homes..."

Lost in daydreams, Shem twirled around and around, and then stopped to stare into the water, green eyes wide and shining with joyful imaginations. If she'd kept talking a moment longer she would have missed everything Ravis had to say, which wouldn't have been at all desirable. As it was, she managed to catch his words, and she grinned brightly. Of course he would Impress! She had unshakable faith in it! He'd get a dragon, and they'd go exploring, and they could write books and books on what they found! "Oh, good! We'll find all kinds of things! What sorts of stuff do you suppose there might be that nobody's found yet? There's gotta be something! Lots of somethings, in fact!"

Was she getting carried away in her fanciful dreams? Absolutely, but that was okay with Shem. Reality didn't have much of a hold on her when she was in one of these moods. Most of the time, she could be convinced to stick with what was real - but today, there was only possibility! There were no unreal things in imagination, right? As long as it was never proven wrong, it was always real!

[sorra]

Trig glanced over his shoulder as he reappeared. He knew that little Preske had more speed then he did. Although that didn't bother him at all. He was just enjoying the chase. He would do his best to avoid Preske as long as he could before then having to chase the little white again. He dove down and spun around, hoping to throw Preske off a bit by going in the opposite direction.

Ravis glanced at his flit, but the brown seemed fine, so he just turned his full attention back to Shem. He grinned as he listened to her. He couldn't remember ever meeting someone quite as happy and upbeat as her. He liked it though. It helped keep him out of his brooding mood. "It sounds like some place I would love to visit. And I bet you'r right. They're not monsters at all. Maybe they look like dragons without the wings since they wouldn't need to fly underwater." He grinned as he thought about it.

The boy chuckled as she played with the water again. He was surprised that she seemed so sure that he would Impress. He hoped that she was right. He would love to Impress. To any color actually. He wasn't holding out any high hopes of getting a ranking color. Even a blue or white would be good for him. Ravis thought for a minute. "Hmm, maybe we'll find things that will make daily life easier," he grinned. "Maybe an easier way for people to get around that don't have dragons." He wasn't sure but he was sure that they would find some new things and it would be great fun.

Ravis couldn't believe it. He was thinking about fun? It felt like ages since he had felt that way. Well, since before he had injured his hand. Since that injury he had been very self conscious and drawn in on himself. But Shem didn't seem to even notice his hand and that made him happy.

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Preske was gaining quickly on Trig, thanks to his speed. Crooning sweetly to the brown, the white shot after him, beating his smaller wings fiercely in an effort to catch up. It was working, too, at least until the brown dove down and spun around to fly back the way they'd come. Creeling, the tinier of the two flits whipped around at twice the speed Trig had managed, and raced after him with a gleeful cry. It occurred to him that he could merely between over, and the white did, disappearing before reappearing about ten feet in front of the brown. Noticing the difference in location, Preske whipped around and raced for the oncoming brown, chirping his triumph. Obviously he felt he'd won this round.

Shem, having completely forgotten about her pet, was smiling airily, detailing her idea of what sea monsters might look like. Practically glowing with all the ideas she had floating around in her mind, the candidate clutched her hands and stared out at the lake, imagining the wingless dragons Ravis thought the sea-creatures might look like. "I'd love to visit it too. It'll be so beautiful! Perhaps they'll have great lovely fins instead of wings... rows and rows of fins on them, even, and they'll wear pearls and shells and ropes of colourful seaweed for jewelry. They'll be so splendid!"

Shemmoral was absolutely, one hundred percent convinced that Ravis was going to Impress a dragon, as she continued to insist. Trying to imagine all the things they might find when they went exploring, the candidate smiled absently to herself, kicking up a splash of water with one foot. Ravis' ideas didn't go unheard, however, although it took a second for the dreaming girl to realize that he'd spoken. "Yes! I bet you're right. Maybe we'll find a new kind of runner, one that doesn't tire as fast as normal ones do. Or a new animal that's immune to Cloudlung... like the newer dragon colours. What do you suppose you'll Impress to, Ravis?" she asked suddenly, still staring absentmindedly at the lake. "I think you'll get something perfect. Really perfect - I just don't know what." Smiling, Shem twisted her hands together and then nodded to herself. "I know! The new thing we'll find - the one that'll make it easier for people to get around - will be a new kind of dragon! One that doesn't need to bond, or something. Or a daytime wher - one that can fly but can be ridden by anyone, and that can carry lots of stuff just like an actual dragon can. Smallish like, so that people aren't afraid of it. And really friendly! What do you think?"

Grinning from ear to ear, the candidate nodded, tossing her dark brown hair back over her shoulders. They would find all kinds of new stuff! She was just sure of it - absolutely positive, really. Books, about both real and fictional things, had put all kinds of dreams into her head. Ones that other people would call impossible, but that she called possible - easy, even, in some cases! Exploring all of Pern was just one of those many dreams.