He didn't have to wait long at all.

It was, in fact, the very next day that the Searchers went out. It seemed the dragoness who had flown, a lady by name of Narafth, was very eager to get bonders collected for her future children. Jedri didn't see the dragons take off on Search, but he certainly saw the one that soared down their side of the mountain right after lunch, causing a small windstorm as it backwinged to the ground.

He had been helping his mother hang laundry at the time. The sun was bright and bold, perfect weather for laundry-drying, thus he would had to have been blind to not notice when they were suddenly cast into shadow by the wings of a dragon soaring overhead. He hadn't thought much of it at first, of course-- dragons flew overhead all the time, with the Caer so close. But he'd spared a glance as he always did, and imagined what it might be like to ride dragonback, as he'd begun to do ever since the dragons of Serpent's Reach had begun to want their children to Bond.

But then the dragon had banked about, pulling up and backwinging to slow its momentum, landing gracefully outside the sprawl of buildings that made up their "village." Its wings kicked up great blasts of wind, sending his mother scrambling after one or two pieces of laundry that attempted to fly away on the unexpected gusts, but Jedri was too busy watching the dragon and its rider. He couldn't imagine what need would bring a rider to visit the village. It wasn't tithing time, and the pair's manner was far too relaxed for them to be bringing warning of ants or rampage plant spore.

Jedri and his mother Mera weren't the only ones outside making use of the day, so the rider had company almost even before the dust had settled and the dragon had folded its wings. Jedri couldn't make out much of the rider at this distance, but the dragon was an absolutely amazing creature. Its hide was a glossy blue-on-black, or perhaps black-on-blue, or some kind of dark iridescence. It was also huge, towering over the nearby buildings, and of incredible length and powerful build. It turned its great head proudly, clearly a beast of great arrogance.

Mera laughed lightly beside him, as she turned from chasing runaway laundry. "Go on the, dear, go have a closer look before your jaw falls right off."

Jedri closed his mouth with an audible click, blushing a bit, having not realised he stared so. But his embarrassed grin quickly turned into an elated one as he nodded. "Thanks, Mom!"

She took from his hands the shirt he'd been caught in the middle of hanging, and as soon as that light burden had been taken fro him, Jedri hurried to join the dragonrider's growing cluster of admirers as fast as he could without looking overeager. The effort was half-hearted, though, and so he failed his pretence and ran so energetically that his little pouch of stones clattered madly where they hung at his hip, and almost bounced right off his belt.

By the time he reached the dragon and rider, there was a small horde of other children there already, and the adults that had come to hail the rider were spending as much time keeping under control as they were conversing with the dragoner. Over the heads of his peers, Jedri could see that the rider was a giant of a man, with pale blondish hair and a muscular build that was the human equivalent of his dragon's. He might've been a touch disconcerted by the dozen or so children that had gathered around him, but if so, he hid it well. The dragon appeared indifferent, but Jedri might've thought he saw the blue-black titan turn a critical eye on every child in the throng.

They were a mix of village children and a few Caerbrats come down from the Caer for the afternoon, ranging from perhaps half Jedri's age to half again as old as he was. For only a moment did Jedri wonder why Caerbrats should be so excited when they got to live up with the dragons, and then he was attempting to weasel his way into their midst as well. He was short for a boy his age and hadn't even grown half a finger-width since his last birthday, and he wanted to be able to look at the dragoner pair without having stand on tiptop and peek over his comrades' shoulders. Though he knew all the locals by name and they knew him in turn, and they were all friends all around, nobody wanted to give up their front- or second-row view of the rider and his dragon.

Again Jedri had a moment to wonder that they'd come down from the Caer for. One of the adults was asking about the great horde of black dragons that had taken over the sky the day before, but Jedri was too busy dodging elbows to pay attention to whatever answer was given. A few of his fellows grumbled at him as he sidled closer to the front of the group, but didn't have an major troubles until a large boy jostled the crowd a bit too much, and Jedri wound up with someone's elbow planting firmly between his shoulderblades.

He was scrawny as well as short, so lightweight little Jedri fell the rest of the way to the front of the crowd. Unprepared for it, he hit the ground hard enough that his pouch spilled open and scattered his little treasures across the ground for the second time that week.

"Ristan, be careful!" one of the adults immediately scolded, receiving the prompt response of: "Sorry, Jedri!" Jedri himself lay stunned for a moment, gritting his teeth at the new aches all along the front of his body and fighting back the urge to groan. The air chorused for a moment with the younger children's altruistic queries of "Are you okay?", and a man's hand dropped down into his view, open-palmed and offering aid. Jedri took it thankfully, without thought, looking up as the grown-up hauled him effortlessly to his feet, and turned bright red at realising the hand belonged to the dragonrider.

"You alright?" the man asked, after Jedri was standing again.

The boy nodded, face turned towards the ground as he blushed furiously, brushing dirt and grit off of his hands and clothes, looking everywhere but back up at the rider. What a way to make an entrance! "Yessir, thank you."

The dragon rumbled, laughing at him for all that Jedri knew, and he dropped back to his knees to gather up his stones, now wanting only to recollect himself and head back home as much as he'd wanted to see the dragoner pair up close moments before. A stumble like that wasn't exactly the first impression he'd wanted to make on a dragonrider! Finding out why the rider was here wasn't important anymore, after that. And so much for trying to take advantage of the situation and make a good impression on someone who might be riding Search in a month or so.

A few of the nearer children dropped to their knees to help him, but to his eternal mortification, they weren't the only ones-- the rider himself dropped into a crouch, picking up a blood-red stone that had bounced all the way over to his boot, and offering it back to him. Jedri murmured a quiet "thank you" and took it back, without meeting the rider's eyes.

The rider stood tall again, giving his dragon an odd look that Jedri did not catch, as the last of his stones were returned to their pouch once more. He got to his feet and started to work his way back into the crowd of children again, clutching his little bag as if it gave him strength, now refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

But before he could get anywhere, the rider's hand fell gently on his shoulder, practically enveloping it. Now Jedri couldn't help but meet the man's eyes as he turned back, face still red.

The man was smiling. He looked a little bemused, but he was smiling. "What's your name, son?"

"Jedri, sir," the boy murmured, shrinking in on himself, aware of every single pair of eyes resting on him, especially the dragon's. The great creature somehow looked smug and amused-- probably was laughing at him, looking right into his thoughts and laughing at the grand dreams of a tiny little boy.

"Hello Jedri," the man replied, taking back his hand. "I'm Everol. Aneracth here says you'd make a fine Bonder."

The statement came totally out of the blue, surprising Jedri so badly he could've choked on his own tongue. And then he forgot all about being embarrassed.