Rinna groaned as the first rays of sunlight filtered through her window and intoher room. She hated mornings, specifically getting up early, but it couldn't be helped today. There was too much to do.

She quickly got out of her bed and washed up. The sooner she was moving, the better. Otherwise, she was likely to nod back off. She put on a plain brown dress. There was no reason to wear any of her nice clothes today. She would be spending too much time in the kitchen cooking, and it would just spoil anything nice even though she always wore her apron.

Rinna made her way down the stairs from her second floor bedroom as quietly as she could. There was no point in waking her parents. Her mother would simply complain all day about how tired she was and how she never slept these days while her father would rail at her about how much he had to do in the hold. Why couldn't she let him sleep when he had the chance? If her younger sister were still here, she would have gladly helped Rinna with the task at hand, but Tila had left several months before for the Harper Hall.

Rinna sighed as she reached the kitchen and donned her apron. She still missed Tila a great deal. The two hadn't exactly been best friends growing up since there were four years between them. They'd certainly had their share of arguments, but as they had aged, they had grown closer. Tila was mild mannered and always willing to help, and she had the amazing ability to calm her sister when Rinna flew into one of her fits. But, she was gone now, and Rinna was happy for her. Tila had a great musical ability as the entire hold knew, and she would turn into an amazing harper one day.

Rinna shook her head. Such depressing thoughts were useless, especially when there was work to do. She began to run over her mental checklist as she gathered ingredients. A sevenday ago, her father, who was the leader of their small hold, had received word that dragonriders would be on Search in this area. Eager to please such important guests and with little thought of the implications, her father had written back and invited the dragonriders to enjoy their midday meal at the hold while they Searched. Their guests had accepted the invitation eagerly, and Rinna had begun to plan immediately.

With her mother often sick or claiming to be, Rinna had taken over the household duties at a very young age, which included cooking, and she and the rest of the hold had soon discovered that she had quite the talent for mixing and creating new flavors. So naturally, such a feast was left to her to plan and execute since she was the best they had. With these thoughts in mind, she rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

Several candlemarks later, Rinna had the wherry stew simmering and several of the desserts already complete. She was in the middle of working on a berry pie when she heard footsteps behind her and turned around.

"Hi, Rinna," the young man began but was immediately cut off.

"Look, Detrin, I don't have time for you today. I'm too busy cooking up this feast that my father promised to the dragonriders, okay? And, if you're trying to propose to me again, I swear I'll shove this wooden spoon up your nose and into your brain. Even if it doesn't kill you, you'll be smelling berries the rest of your life. Are we clear," she asked waving her weapon at the man.

Detrin gulped. "Sure, Rinna. I was actually just coming to tell you that the dragonriders just landed. Bye," he said quickly before hastily making his exit.

"How in the world do you ever expect to get a husband like that," her mother asked from the other room where she was lying on a couch. "Why can't you be more like Tila. I have no worries about her." The older woman shook her head. She just couldn't understand her eldest daughter. Rinna was 5'11" with a slender frame. She had a fairly attractive face including her flashing green eyes. Her hair was a lustrous dark brown color and hung in loose waves to the middle of her back, but her tongue was as sharp as any of the knives in the house. Her mother was sure it would keep her from ever marrying.

Rinna didn't have time to reply to her mother's favorite saying these days. The dragonriders were already here! She blinked a couple of times and then flew into action. She quickly checked on all the dishes that were complete before flying to the front door. She quickly spotted the dragonriders, and they were already speaking to her father, which meant that they would be here at any moment.

She ducked back into the house and began to set up the table as quickly as possible. She had hoped to catch her father before he had greeted the dragonriders so that she might be able to get him to keep them busy and give her a bit of extra time. That, however, was not an option anymore, so she would just have to work with the dishes that were already complete. She quickly began gathering dishes as she heard her father lead the riders into their home.

"I'm sure my daughter has cooked up something amazing for us all to enjoy this afternoon," he was saying to one of the riders as he motioned for all three of them to have a seat.

Rinna quickly appeared with the dishes and began to serve up the stew. Once everyone had a bowl in front of them, she went back into the kitchen and brought out a dish of tubers and another dish full of salad created from local vegetables. With all the food on the table, she made her way around the table one more time with a pot of klah. Then she took her own seat and began to enjoy the meal, which passed quickly in light conversation and murmurs of appreciation and contentment.

"So, how many candidates have you already found," Rinna heard her father ask one of the riders as she went to get the pies.

"Just one so far, but I'm sure we'll find at least one or two mor today," the rider replied conversationally.

"Though, you can never really tell with these things. Sometimes you find no candidates, and sometimes you find five," another of the riders added in. "I've even been on one Search where we found ten candidates all in the same day. What a mess that was back at the weyr!"

"Which clutch did you say you were Searching for again," Rinna's mother asked the nearest rider as Rinna began setting out the pies.

"We're from Sedona Weyr, and we're Searching for Gold Jhajerth and Brown Nabath's clutch. The Hatching should occur any day now, so we have to make sure that there are enough candidates present," the rider replied before digging into their pie.

Rinna thought that it seemed a little unusual for a Gold to be caught by a Brown, but she kept her opinions to herself. Though she was outspoken amongst family and friends, she knew when to hold her tongue, and the dragonriders were guests of her parents. It wouldn't do to say anything inappropriate. Once everyone had finished their desserts, Rinna gathered the dishes and set them aside for later washing as her father escorted the riders back out to where their dragons were already waiting. She heaved a sigh of relief. That had gone better than she had expected. Although the riders had arrived early and she hadn't had everything ready, the midday meal had passed without much ado.

"Rinna," she heard her father call from the front doorway. "Come out here! The riders want to speak to you!"

Rinna quickly wiped her hands off on a nearby rag and hurried to where her father was waiting. What could be wrong? Had one of the riders fallen ill from her food? That couldn't be possible. She had cooked everything perfectly, and no one had ever fallen ill from her food before. "You wished to speak to me," she asked the nearest rider as she approached.

"Yes, we did want to speak to you. First, we wanted to thank you for such a wonderful meal. Often when we're out on Search we either have to eat what we can bring with us, go without, or go back to the weyr to try and catch a meal. Second, we were wondering if you would like to come with us," the rider asked with a smile.

"Come with you," Rinna asked completely confused. Why would she need to go with them? Did they want her to work in the Lower Caverns of the weyr?

"Yes," the rider replied. "We and our dragons think that you'd make a fine dragonrider, so would you like to come and stand on the sands at Sedona Weyr?"

"Absolutely," Rinna replied immediately. It would certainly be a good change of pace for her, and she would be able to find new ingredients to experiment with at a new locale. "I'll just get my things," she said running to the house and returning a few moments later with a hastily packed bag. "Okay! I'm ready!"

Rinna's parents watched as their daughter climbed up to sit behind one of the riders. They would have to learn to do without her, but the pride of having a daughter Searched far outweighed the mild inconvenience of not having her at home. A moment later the three dragons disappeared between.

Sedona Weyr