Jin's Search

To: Jin of Meridian Weyr

Please feel free to bring guests. All are welcome.

Jin turned the letter in her hand, wrinkling her nose at the carefully penned script and the adorable red-and-pink embellishments. "I remember when Searchdragons could actually be bothered to go out and find candidates. Riders really have gotten lazy."

"Ever the cynic," grinned her brother, who was doing his best to stifle a laugh. "You do realize what it means, don't you? Dragon or no, you just got invited to attend a Hatching."

It took a moment for Jin to process the implication. Frankly, she was still put off by the whole thing. She recalled the storybook cliché of it all - W'ju, still Wenju back then, whisked off to a Weyr on dragonback with barely a warning, leaving her and their foster 'family' behind - and she felt the sting of jealousy again as if it were fresh. At thirteen, jealousy was a natural response, but Jin would have been lying if she said she hadn't been waiting for her turn ever since.

She supposed she should count herself lucky that her dragonrider brother had come back for her at all. For all the pair had been through, family remained important to both of them; W'ju made it clear through his actions that he wouldn't leave Jin behind again. She'd kept her jealousy hidden from him, though she suspected he knew, at least to some extent. He'd always been sensitive to her feelings, and the fact that he was now bonded to a fully-telepathic, equally-empathic dragon didn't help.

"Jin?"

She nearly dropped the letter. "What."

"If you're thinking about saying no," W'ju said seriously, "Veoxkaith and I will drag you onto those Sands ourselves."

"If I'm that important to them, they can come and get me themselves. Search by mail just screams 'scam' to me. Besides," she cast her gaze downward, "I'm a little old for this now, aren't I?"

"More like I was too young." W'ju looked up at Veoxkaith, who made a deep rumbling sound that reminded Jin of laughter. "Honestly, an eleven-year-old can hardly handle their own hormonal outbursts, much less a dragon's. Veo' saw it himself. Twenty-one is a perfect age."

"Spoken like a true wizened old sage," Jin jabbed, but she couldn't hide her smile. "Aren't you just the pinnacle of wisdom at nineteen."

"Wiser than someone who thought about refusing a Search just because it came in the mail," W'ju returned. "Jin, I love you, but you're a real stick-in-the-mud. Times have changed. From what I've heard from the other riders, no one is even really sure how Istabitha's even exists at this point. Ancient magic, some kind of secret re-establishment, rips in the spacetime continuum..."

"Sounds fake, but okay."

"Point being, I know you've been waiting for your chance. And if you really want to go back to being a teenager, I'm sure the magic of the Nexus can handle that." He embellished the phrase with a dramatic wiggle of his fingers.

Jin rolled her eyes, but she folded the letter and pocketed it.

"You know how to get there, I hope," she smirked, raising an eyebrow at Veoxkaith.

"You'll go?!" W'ju was already scrambling onto his dragon's back, readying the riding gear for two. "Veo' says you won't regret it!"

Jin was smiling at her brother, but she still felt the weight of doubt in her gut. She knew well Veoxkaith was no Searchdragon, and that he and her brother were acting out of love for her rather than certainty of her future success. But as she prepared for the journey, she had no choice but to trust them - and the enigmatic letter, which poked her in the hip with its corner through her pocket as she climbed onto Veoxkaith's back.

I'm not getting left behind this time.