Dragons. Everyone’s heard of them, but not everyone has seen them. But to those lucky ones who have, well, many of them are dragonriders. Bonded to one dragon, they keep the peace, perusing the world in search of knowledge, different food sources, and shiny baubles that dragons tend to like.

There are multiple kinds of dragons, too. Not all dragons are the same.

Fire dragons are large, usually red, bronze, or brown. They live in the deserts, in the heat and sand, and they tend to be a bit more temperamental than other kinds of dragons.

Ice dragons live in the far north and far south, in freezing wind and snow and ice. They tend to be about the size of fire dragons, but they come in white, ice blue, and gray. They’re very calm outwardly, and very seldom open up to anyone but their bonded.

Plains dragons are small and extremely fast, the fastest kind of dragon around. This carries over to their personality as well; they talk fast and they tend to be pretty happy in general. They come in light tan, light red, and dead-grass brown.

Forest dragons are a little bigger than plains dragons, also fairly fast and the best at dodging and weaving through things. They tend to be kind of adrenaline junkies, and do crazy things for fun. They come in dark, leaf green, dark brown, and bright yellow.

Mountain dragons are a little bigger than fire and ice dragons, and they live way up in the mountains. They tend to be a little absent-seeming to most everyone, and usually only their bonded understand them. They come in sky blue, dappled gray and brown, and dark gray.

Ocean dragons are the largest dragons on the planet, large enough to hunt whales if they so choose. They tend to be cool, calm, and deep thinkers. They can also stay underwater for an hour or more at a time, though they tend not to with their bonded. They come in dark blue, dark sea green, and kelp green.

River dragons are long and lithe, used to moving in running water. They swim quickly, and are usually quick to temper but also quick to calm, quick thinkers. They come in medium blue, dappled blue and gray, and varied shades of rocky gray.

Lake dragons are not quite as big as ocean dragons, but also have a tendency to stay underwater for a while. They live in still bodies of water. They tend to be very constant and don’t like change. They come in moss green, mossy gray, and almost clear blue.

In all species, the females are larger than the males.

The dragons and their bonded all live in weyrs, usually in the middle of nowhere, away from most people. The rest of the humans live in large cities that have all the normal technology, highrises, everything you see in a normal city. Search dragons look all over the world for potential bonded, and contact the governments in charge of the cities. The governments then contact the potential bonded, who then get moved to dragon weyrs.

However, the governments are getting fed up with youngsters going to the weyrs and never returning because they like weyr life better, and troubles are stirring up between the land and water dragons…

Name: Faith
Age: 18
Origin: Big city in the mountain region
Appearance: http://cdn.pimpmyspace.org/media/pms...7/5w/95926.jpg

Name: Lapis
Species: Mountain Dragon
Gender: female
Appearance: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bNvPwWtZ0l...ack-dragon.jpg

Name: Ryan
Age: 20
Origin: One of the smaller cities of the far north
Appearance: ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Name: Yue
Species: Ice Dragon
Gender: female
Appearance: http://www.crystalscomments.com/6/2459.jpg

Name: Corinthis, or Corey
Age: 20
Where he came from: Big city in the mountains
Appearance: Google Image Result for http://cdn.pimpmyspace.org/media/pms/c/5f/wi/ax/-hotgothic.jpg
Dragon's name: Vyren (Male)
Dragon's type: Fire/Mountain
Dragon's appearance: Browsing deviantART

Name: Alexander, or Xander
Age: 17
Where she came from: Orphanage in one of the smaller plains cities
Appearance: anime girls :: red hair green eyes anime girl picture by chadni98 - Photobucket
Dragon's name: Calypso (Female)
Dragon's type: Ocean
Dragon's appearance: Browsing deviantART

Faith walked near the edge of the group of people as they were ushered into the main hall of the weyr. She couldn't suppress the trembling in her hands, although she tried to by balling her hands into fists and shoving them into her pockets. She had no idea what was going to happen. All she knew was that she'd gotten a message on her phone that said she'd been chosen. Everyone knew what that meant, but she never thought it would actually happen to her. She might actually be picked as the partner of a dragon!

She glanced around at the others around her. They seemed to range in age a bit, although most of them seemed to be about her age. She could have sworn she saw a kid who couldn't have been older than fourteen, though. Taking one of her hands out of her pocket for a moment, she pushed her glasses back up her nose as they slipped a bit. For now, all she could do was do what she was told, and hopefully catch a glimpse of the dragon when it picked someone.

Corey looked around to see if he knew anyone. He'd seen a few other dragons take off with people from the same place as him, and he was kind of interested to see if he'd know anyone. So when he saw someone vaguely familiar, he grabbed at straws, making his way over to her.

"You look kinda familiar," he said to Faith. "I think I've seen you before, maybe. In the big city in the mountains, right?" He looked at her, raising his eyebrows just a little.

Everyone fell silent as one of the weyrleaders walked into the main hall, stepping up on a table and motioning for them all to be quiet. "Welcome, all of you! This is the mountain weyr. As I'm sure you've all figured out by now, you all have a chance to become a dragon's bonded. We have a nest of eggs right now, and starting tomorrow you will all have a chance to walk among the eggs and familiarize yourselves with them. They should be hatching within the next two weeks, and as soon as they do you may or may not become a dragon's bonded."

She paused for a moment, looking over them all. "If you are not chosen, you will have the option to remain here, at the weyr, and try again with the next batch of eggs, and again. And so you all know, we don't care about status here. If you were rich or poor back in the city, it doesn't matter. Here you're all the same until you become bonded with a dragon. Any attempts at bullying will result in your immediate removal back to the cities. Understood?"

At the muttered affirmative among the newcomers, the weyrleader nodded sharply. "Good. You will all be shown to temporary quarters, and you will be sharing. Now get going." She jumped down from the table and vanished outside as other leaders started to separate them all into groups.

Faith blinked, a bit surprised that someone was talking to her. She thought everyone else would have been just as vaguely dazed and shocked as she was, but apparently some recovered their wits faster than others. She nodded to the young man.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm from the big city. You look kinda familiar, too. Did you hang around the shopping district at all? Near the mall?" While she wasn't as into clothes shopping as others of her gender, she did tend to hang around the more out-of-the-way places like the comic shop. It was possible they'd seen each other there. "So, who do you think is going to get picked? I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the message on my phone."

Corey nodded. "Yeah, I usually went over and hung out at the comic shop or the tea shop." He shrugged. Yeah, she looked more familiar the longer he tried to remember her.

"You know, I don't know who'll get picked. I've never met a dragon, not really, so I don't know what they're looking for. Maybe we'll get picked; who knows?" He smiled a little and glanced around, sticking close to her when they were divided into groups. He'd rather stay close to someone he knew.

"You two. Come on, into this group. Hurry up, we don't have all day." Another rider hurried them into an already-formed group.

"Sorry," Faith said quickly to the one who ushered them into another group. She hurried over to stand with them, and then turned back to Corey.

"I think I remember seeing you in the tea shop a few times," she said. "I went there pretty often, they made the best tea blends." She paused for a moment. "Sorry, I tend to talk first and think later... My name is Faith." She really did have a terrible habit of just entering a conversation without introducing herself, but she couldn't help it. She would rather chat with someone over something in common than trip over social niceties.

"Oh! I'm Corinthis, but everyone calls me Corey." He smiled at her, shaking her hand briefly. "So I take it this was as much of a surprise to you as it was to me." He couldn't help but shake his head as he moved along with the group.

They left the main hall, instead going to one of a few housing buildings. They went all the way up to the top floor, where the rider started putting them in rooms in groups of four.

"I never in a million years thought I would end up here," Faith admitted. Now that the initial shock and disbelief was wearing off, though, she was starting to get a bit excited. Even just getting to see the dragon eggs was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for most people, and if she'd heard right, she'd actually get to touch them. "Looks like this is where we part ways," she added when she was moved into an all-female room group.

"I'm sure we'll see each other later on," Corey said with a smile, standing in the doorway of an all-male room. "Just yell if you decide you need something." He waved briefly to her before ducking into his new room.

All the rooms were set up the same, with two bunk beds, a chest for each of them to store their things they'd brought with them, and a small closet where they would hang up their white robes for the hatching. There were communal bathrooms at the end of each hallway.

The next day, Faith tentatively tiptoed around the eggs in the nesting area. The eggs were all easily half as tall as she was, if not a little taller, and she was almost afraid to touch them. She didn't want to accidentally make something bad happen or anything, although logically she knew that they were probably tougher than that. Hell, they were dragon eggs, they had to be durable. It was practically a given.

Getting a little bolder, she reached out and carefully touched one of the more nondescript gray eggs. It looked oddly like a giant, perfectly smooth boulder, but she knew better. She looked around at the others, but didn't move from the one she was in front of. It seemed to call to her, somehow, though it was only her subconscious that noticed it.

Corey had stopped in front of a mottled gray and black egg, a little smaller than the others, and had touched it carefully. Many of the other candidates were walking around, touching the eggs or even talking to them, in the hopes that a dragon would choose them once they hatched.

The other weyrleader, the male, watched over them all with his own giant blue-gray dragon to make sure they all behaved.

Faith didn't stray far from the gray egg. Once she looked closer, she could see an odd iridescent sheen on the egg, shimmering faintly blue when the light hit it right. It was pretty, and she stayed and looked at it for a while.

"Such a lovely color," she murmured. She wasn't sure if she was talking to herself, or to the dragonet inside the egg. "I thought you were plain, at first, but now I see how lovely you are. All it took was a closer look. I guess a lot of things are like that, you have to look closer to really see them." Faith wasn't sure why she kept talking, only the feeling that she was being listened to kept her soft murmuring going.

Corey stayed by the egg, just petting it and checking it over, looking at all the different spots and splotches.

Finally they were all shooed out of the egg cave and made to go eat. They had a few little chores to do, keeping their rooms clean and getting sized for their robes and such things.

Faith didn't mind the minor chores she had to do. It wasn't as if they were all that difficult or menial or anything. She found, though, that as she worked, her mind kept wandering back to that one particular egg in the nesting area. She would be really disappointed if the dragonet inside chose someone else, she was already kind of attached to it.

Two weeks later the dragonets were hatching, and everyone in the weyr had gathered to watch. The candidates all stood in their white robes, standing in a half-circle around the eggs. The dragons were all watching too, a low humming coming from deep in their chests, getting louder as the eggs started to rock violently.

Finally the first egg cracked, and a dragonet spilled out, and the humming turned into croons of encouragement. The hatchling, dark gray with bits of blue, started tottering around, looking at the candidates, trying to find the right one.

Faith watched as the first dragonet hatched. It blinked owlishly before it started to wander a bit, and she watched it go. When it went down to the other end of the line, opposite of her, she turned her attention back to the eggs. The one she liked was cracking, but hadn't completely broken open yet. The egg rocked back and forth as the dragonet inside worked to break open the shell.

"Come on," Faith breathed, almost silently. "You can do it..."

After a few more moments, the shell finally burst open and the dragonet tumbled out. It blinked a few times, disoriented for a moment, and then got to its feet and started to wobble towards the candidates. It looked at them all, except those who had already been chosen, and then blinked. It seemed to hesitate, and then moved a bit closer. Then, as soon as it really set eyes on Faith, it seemed to brighten and went straight towards her.

'Mine,' it, she, said happily. 'You are mine. I didn't see you at first, so I took a closer look like you said before, and I found you.'

Faith swore her heart nearly stopped when the little dragonet came over to her and nuzzled her hand like a pleased cat. The scales under her hand were still soft and slightly damp, but she didn't care. The dragonet was dark gray, nearly black, and had little nubs all over her head and down her back, as if there would be horns and spikes there later. Faith stroked the dragonet's head gently, almost hesitantly, and was rewarded with what sounded like purring.

Corey didn't see Faith getting her dragon. He was watching all the rest of the dragons hatch, and soon his black and gray egg was one of the last left. It started rocking, violently, all at once. It cracked in a few places before nearly bursting open, dumping out the dragonet onto the sand. Sitting up slowly, the dragonet looked around, wet scales glistening in the light.

Corey didn't quite take a step forward, but he wanted to, so badly. The dragonet started forward, at first heading for another young man to get a better look at him, before it turned to Corey.

'There you are,' the dragonet grumped, waddling over to him. 'What took you so long? I'm hungry.'

Corey almost laughed at the little male but instead put his hand on top of his head, still in awe.

"My name is Faith," Faith said softly to the dragonet. She ignored all of the other candidates around her in favor of paying attention to her new dragon. The dragonet looked up at her and blinked.

'I don't have a name,' she said. It made sense to Faith. The dragonet wouldn't have a name if nobody had given her one yet. Faith frantically cast around for a good name, and her eyes settled on the shards of the egg shell. The light glinted off of them just so, and she could see the faint blue shimmer.

"What about Lapis?" she asked. "It's pretty, isn't it?" The dragonet considered that for a moment before nodding.

'Lapis,' she agreed, nuzzling Faith's hand again. 'My name is Lapis.' She paused for a moment. 'I'm hungry. Where is the food?'

"I'm Corey. Do you have a name?" Corey asked quietly as his hatchling bumped him playfully.

'Not yet.' The hatchling continued playing with him, batting at him and fanning his wings out to dry.

"Well then, I shall have to think of one for you." Corey frowned, starting to follow all the rest of the hatchlings outside to go be fed. His mother had once had a pet named Vyren, so why not that?

"How about Vyren?"

'Vyren. I like it. I am Vyren. And you will feed me.'

Once Lapis was taken care of, Faith was taken back to the dormitory to gather her things. She was surprised that she was being given her own room, she thought she would be rooming with the other girls, still. She didn't have much with her, so it was easy enough to pack it all up.

The room she was given seemed huge in comparison to the space she had in the dormitory, and her meager belongings didn't even come close to filling it up. As soon as she was left alone in the room, she changed back into her own clothes. She sighed in relief once she was wearing her jeans again. After she was changed, she left the room. She wanted to see her dragon again.

She didn't expect to be pounced on as soon as she got to Lapis's eyrie.

'Faith!' Lapis cuddled close to Faith. 'I missed you!'

"Lapis, I was gone for half an hour," Faith said.

'I still missed you.'

Corey went through the same drill, gathering up his things from the dorms and going to his own room. He set his things down, putting them away before changing into pants and a loose t-shirt. Then he went jogging down to the eyries to go see Vyren.

Vyren was quite happily practicing his hunting, attempting to catch a butterfly.

"Vyren," Corey said, amusedly exasperated. "What are you doing?"

'I'm still hungry.' The pout was clear in his voice.

"Well, let's go see what we can get for you. A butterfly wouldn't even register with your stomach." Corey shook his head, amused.

Faith managed to maneuver Lapis into her lap and started to pet the hatchling gently. Lapis went boneless, purring. Faith grinned and kept doing it.

'Faith,' Lapis said after a moment, 'I'm still hungry. Is there any more food?'

"I don't know," Faith replied. "Let's go and find out." Wrapping her arms around the hatchling's middle, she hefted the dragonet to her feet and stood up herself. Lapis fanned her wings so she wouldn't lose her balance and then looked up at Faith expectantly. Clearly, she would follow where Faith went.

Vyren pranced off to where the food had last been, Corey following him. When there was nothing left, Vyren turned to Corey expectantly.

"Alright, let's go see if we can beg something off the kitchens." Corey sighed and shook his head. The lengths he was already going to for this little one kind of staggered him. But oh well.

Leading the way over to the kitchens, he started looking around for someone, hoping to get some more food for Vyren. And maybe a little for himself too. He'd been too stunned at dinner to really eat properly.