"Hush, Katya. Do you want us to be caught? I don't care whether we should or not..dragons rarely come here, and I want a look!"
"Fine, then. I'll just creep back to bed.."
"Shards! Go ahead, just be quiet about it."
"I'd actually rather not...it's kind of dark here, and it's a ways back to my cathair."
"Shush! I'm going to get a closer look."
"No! Sarni, you're sure to get caught!"
"I don't think so..that dragon and his rider are pretty occupied in the Hunt..anyway, I'm going. So you can stay here in the dark, or follow me."

A slight pause came from Katya, and, with a scuffle Sarni started toward the dragon.
"All right, all right, I'm coming. Don't leave me!"
"I will IF I have to tell you to be quiet again."

Silence.

"Good."

The two girls scrambled carefully down the stairs, making sure not to trip on the slick stone.
"Why wasn't a guide ever placed here?" Sarni grumbled, "You're more likely to slip and crack your head then get down the stairs alive." No answer came.
"Katya?" Sarni asked in a wet whisper.
"You told me to be quiet." There was a smugness about Katya's voice that Sarni didn't like, so she crept further. Katya had to hurry to keep up.
"By the Suns..Sarni, the dragon's looking at us."
"Huh?"
"The dragon. He's looking straight at us!"
"Oh. So he is. Handsome fellow."
"Sarni, aren't you a little bit worried?"
"Not really. Dragons don't attack humans."
"But they do communicate with their riders! That's it, I'm out of here." Sarni grabbed Katya's skirts as she tried to get away. "Oh, no you don't. We've come this far..don't you want to see who'll be Found?"
"Nope. Not really. Not right now. NOW I want to go back to my bed, dark or no dark."
"Aw, c'mon, Katya.."
"You. Over there." The rider was looking at them, too!
"What?" Sarni asked boldly.
"Come here. My dragon's interested in you."
~I'm never wrong~ the dragon, Ulleseth said, smugly.
"All right then. Hop aboard girls, the Hunt is over."

Sarni and Katya, in a daze, walked toward the dragon and the rider. F'nar helped them aboard, and Ulleseth launched into the air, toward Cathair Wu.
"I wonder what'll happen to us.." Sarni thought out loud.
"You'll prob'ly Imprint," F'nar laughed, and they went
parallel.



"Aren't you glad we didn't go back to bed?" Sarni asked, laughing, as she swept the floor of her cathair. Katya was visiting.
"Oh, Sarni, you know I'd never wish that we didn't come here. And I'm glad that we were both Found together. We've been friends forever!"
Katya strummed her harp thoughtfully, as Sarni sat down to rest.
"Back home, they're probably doing something boring, like stewing numbing salve-ugh!-or mending ripped clothing. And we, we get to clean our cathairs! Hooray." Sarni spoke with no little amusement, the irony of their situation humorous in her view.
"Oh, come off it, Sarni. It's much more interesting here than any old Keep. There are dragons here! And we might get to Imprint! Any day, there could be a Hatching..you know, we should go down to the Sands and become acquainted with those eggs. I heard that sometimes, the Candidates become so stricken with terror, because they weren't prepared, that they can become mortally wounded."
Sarni nodded, crossing her legs, and running a small, pale hand through her strawberry-colored short curly hair, hazel green eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Her freckles stood out even more, and she tilted her head to the side.
"There weren't any more candidate slots, for females. I think you, or another girl got the last one. So..we won't Imprint together."
"Oh, no! I don't like to be without you."
"Maybe I can place an appeal-but I doubt I'll be able to Imprint. It would leave one girl out."
Sarni thought again, then began-
"Did you meet K'dron? He Imprinted at Wu. Blue Oroth. He's kind of cute."
"Who is?"
"Both of them, actually, but I meant K'dron."
"Oh. You know, tho', Sevai's the only one he's got eyes for."
"I know. Kolley's sort of cool, as well. His sister, Katt, is a nuisance, tho'."



The next day, after Sarni had woken up her brother, she ran into Katya's cathair, bursting with excitement, Tomei trailing close behind. Sarni pounced upon Katya's bed.
"Guess what, sleepy head!"
Katya rubbed her eyes and sleepily opened them. Sarni's grin filled her entire freckled face.
"What is it?"
"Cathairte Wumai might have a place for me! If she does, I can still Imprint at the same time you guys do! This is great!"
Katya joined the happy dance, bouncing with alertness, smiling.
"Hooray!" they all yelled, at the top of their lungs. Muffled shouts of protest came from the cathairs nearby, and the trio returned, sheepishly, to their beds. Sarni stayed awake 'til the dawn broke, and then fell asleep once again.