Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 21:05:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Corrinne S <quasito_cat@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Red Orb of Pern - Part Six

The Red Orb Of Pern

M.C. Gordon

Disclaimer Is Attached To The Beginning Of This
Series.  This Is Fan Fiction Written For A Friend Who
Enjoys Anne Mccaffrey's Pern As Much As I Do.
Comments To Quasito_Cat@Hotmail.Com Or
Quasito_Cat@Yahoo.Com

Chapter Twelve:

   The Next Four Years Passed In A Flurry Of Activity.
 Andren Had Finally Been Granted His Fondest Wish And
Was Studying At Healer Hall.  Unlike Most Of The
Weyrbred, Andren Had No Desire To Impress A Fighting
Dragon.  His Deepest Longing In Life Was To Ease The
Suffering Of Dragons Injured During A Fall.

   With Healer Hall In Such Close Proximity To Harper
Hall, Andren Was Able To See His Friend Julani As Time
Allowed And On Rest Days.  They Shared In Each Other's
Griefs And Triumphs As Apprentices; Commiserated
Together Over The Hectic Schedules And Strict
Discipline; And Shared In Their Dreams Of One Day
Becoming Journeymen In Their Chosen Crafts.

   They Maintained Contact With Their Friends At
Benden Weyr Through Messages Delivered Back And Forth
By The Dragon Riders Who Protected Fort Hold.  Indeed,
The Benden Weyrleaders, Adelmisa And L'noth, Had
Sought Them Out One Rest Day To Ask If They Were
Content And Relay Tidbits About Their Former
Companions.

   Mitchell And Lydel Spent Their Time Alternating
Between Chores In The Massive Weyr Kitchen And
Assisting The Weyrlingmaster.  One Of Their Favorite
Chores Was Helping The Dragon Riders Bathe The Massive
Beasts That Protected Pern From Thread.  Both Hoped To
Be Invited To Stand On The Hatching Ground When
Adelmisa's Great Golden Queen, Hanmath's Current
Clutch Hatched.

   They Had Discovered Very Deep Feelings For Each
Other As The Years Passed And Dismissed Any Idea Of
Hiding Their Emotions.  The Only Admonition From Their
Foster Mother Was That They Watch Their Behavior In
The Presence Of Their Two New Roommates In The Tiny
Cubicle That Served As Their Sleeping Quarters.

Chapter 13:

   Tomin And Davis Were A Pair Of Lively Six-Year Old
Twins, Uncommon But Not Unknown In The Weyr.  Their
Hair Was A Shockingly Deep Auburn, And The Freckles
Peppered Across Their Noses Drew Attention To
Devilishly Mischievous Blue Eyes.

   "They're Going To Be Your Responsibility," Lurah
Had Told Mitchell And Lydel The Day She Brought Them
To The Cubicle.  "They're Constantly In Trouble And I
Decided That Only Another Pair Of Rascals Could Outwit
Them.  Do Try To See That They Behave Themselves."

   The Older Boys Looked Down At The Two Fledgling
Miscreants Wondering What In The World They'd Done
Wrong This Time That Their Foster Mother Would Saddle
Them With The Pair.  Tomin And Davis Already Had A
Reputation For Harrying The Cooks And Disrupting Their
Harper Classes.

   Tomin, The Older By An Hour, Suddenly Looked
Mitchell Straight In The Eye.  Jabbing Himself In The
Chest With His Right Thumb He Announced, "I'm Going To
Be The Best Bronze Rider Ever."

  "Is That Right?" Mitchell Asked, Barely Able To
Suppress His Amusement At The Bold Announcement.
"Well, You Won't Even Make It To The Hatching Grounds
Unless You Learn Your Ballads.  In Fact, Harper
Geffenal Just Might Consider Packing The Two Of You
Off To Crom Hold If You Don't Mend Your Ways."

   "And," Lydel Added, "You Have To Answer To Us Now.
Lurah Said So.  We Won't Put Up With Rude, Insolent
Behavior."

   The Twins Had Enough Sense To Know That The Older
Boys Were Serious.  Davis Particularly Felt The
Sincerity In Their Warnings.  Being More Inclined To
Follow Than Lead, He Quickly Agreed To Try His Utmost
To Behave Himself.

   "And Don't Even Think About Trying To Sneak Out At
Night," Mitchell Added.  "Lydel And I Are Both Very
Light Sleepers And We'll Hear You.  You Don't Want
That To Happen, Do You?"  The Last Comment Was Aimed
Directly At Tomin, Obviously The Mastermind Behind
Most Of The Mischief The Two Got Into.

   "Nu-Uh," Tomin Finally Admitted, Unable To
Out-Stare Mitchell In The Meeting Of Two Pairs Of Blue
Eyes.

   Mitchell Reached Down And Ruffled The Two Mops Of
Hair.  "Good Then," He Said.  "We'll Get Along Fine If
You Try To Be Good.  Stay Out Of The Kitchen; Don't
Upset The Dragons; And Learn Your Ballads.  Now, Get
Yourselves To Bed And Stay There Until We Say You Can
Get Up."

   The Two Did As Ordered And Quickly Slid Beneath The
Warm Covers Of Their Pallets.

   "You'd Never Guess Looking At Them Now That They're
The Two Most Troublesome Kids In The Weyr," Lydel Said
Later That Night.  "They Look So Sweet."

   "Sweet My Ass," Mitchell Responded.  "Looks To Me
Like They're Dreaming Up Trouble.  We'll Have To Keep
A Close Eye On Those Two."

   "They're Both Asleep.  Wouldn't You Rather
Concentrate Your Eyes On Me Right Now?"

Chapter 14:

   The Twins Were Reasonably Well Behaved For Several
Weeks.  Reasonably Being Defined By The Fact That
Geffenal Only Hauled Them Before Mitchell And Lydel
Once A Week.  They Were Trying Very Hard To Stay Out
Of Trouble, But They Were Filled With An Abundance Of
Energy And Unquenchable Curiosity.  They Were Far
Ahead Of The Other Weyr Children On Their Ballads And
Became Easily Bored.  M'sel's Complaints About Them
Began To Diminish After Lydel Gained Permission From
S'den And Y'gal For The Youngsters To Help Bathe
Felenth And Isaath.  The Two Older Riders Were
Grateful For The Help Since The Twins Could Easily
Scurry Along The Length Of The Massive Beasts And
Scrubbed At Dragon Hides With Great Enthusiasm.

   "That Was A Good Decision," M'sel Told Mitchell And
Lydel A Week After The Twins Had Been Recruited To
Bath Detail.  "They're Learning Respect For Dragon
Kind."

   "It Keeps Them Busy So That We Can Do Our Own
Work," Mitchell Responded.  "I Never Knew Two Little
Kids Could Cause So Much Trouble."

   M'sel Threw Back His Head And Laughed.  "I Know A
Couple Of Scamps Who Put Their Antics To Shame At The
Same Age."  He Heartily Clapped Both Boys On The
Shoulders And Went Of To Tend To A Group Of Weyrlings
Who Were Teaching Their Dragons To Chew Firestone.

   "Who Was He Talking About?" Lydel Asked As He
Watched M'sel Walk Away.

   "I Think He Meant Us," Mitchell Replied.

Chapter 15:

   The Days Melded Together In Daily Activities Of
Weyr Life.  Mitchell And Lydel Were Finally Excused
From Kitchen Duty And Put To Work Helping To Maintain
The Vital Flying Straps The Dragon Riders Used.  Each
Rider Was Ultimately Responsible For His Own Gear, But
M'sel Had Convinced L'noth That It Would Be In The
Weyr's Best Interest To Give Those Not Yet Impressed
Some Responsibility Toward Dragons And Riders.

   The Two Were Sitting Near One Of The Fireplaces In
The Great Common Room One Afternoon Checking For
Cracks In The Hide Straps When They Noticed Davis
Running Toward Them As Quickly As His Young Legs Could
Carry Him.

   "Mitchell!  Lydel!  Help!" The Boy Yelled As He
Rushed Toward Them.  "Help!"

   "Catch Your Breath," Lydel Said When Davis Finally
Rushed Up To Them, His Body Trembling, His Breath
Coming In Ragged Gasps.  "Tell Us What's Wrong."

   "Tomin.  He Fell.  Down Cliff.  Help."  The Words
Burst From The Boy In A Series Of Words Between
Attempts At Breath.

   "Fell Where, Davis?" Mitchell Asked.

   "By--By the Star Stone," the child managed.

   "What were the two of you doing up there?!"
Mitchell demanded.

   Davis, knowing he was in trouble and terrified for
his brother, burst into tears.

   Lydel cast a glance at Mitchell that said, `Let me
handle this,' and knelt down so that he was close to
eye level with the frightened child.  "Calm down," he
said.  "We'll see what we can do.  Where by the Star
Stone?"

   Davis wiped at his tears with the back of one hand
as his crying eased into gentle sobs.  "On the left
side."

   Mitchell and Lydel looked at each other.  The left
side had the steepest drop.  Lydel caught at the
nearest person, a young girl from their harper class.

   "Krisith, take Davis to Lurah and tell her to
summon Fenely."

   The girl didn't question the sudden, decisive order
from Lydel.  Taking the boy by the hand, and promising
him a bubbly pie if he would stop crying, she set out
in search of Lurah.

Chapter 16:

   Mitchell and Lydel set off at a hard run toward the
Star Stone.  They'd hoped to catch the attention of a
dragon rider who would give them a quick lift to the
ridge set high a-top Benden Weyr but none were around
and there was no time to lose looking for one.

   Using every short-cut they'd learned in their
explorations they reached their destination faster
than they thought they could.  Mitchell leaned over
the edge of the cliff, fear in his heart, trying to
spot Tomin.  He finally located the boy on a small
ledge about forty feet down.  There was no way to get
down to there.  Mitchell concentrated with all his
might and let his mind scream, "Sonath!!"

   So loud and urgent was Mitchell's call that it woke
the brown dragon from a deep sleep.  "Mitchell?" he
asked, "What is wrong?"

   "Tomin fell by the Star Stone and I can't reach
him," Mitchell thought toward the dragon.

   It seemed the thought was not yet finished when the
massive bulk of the brown dragon appeared above the
Star Stone.  Mitchell pointed to where Tomin lay and
Sonath slowly descended.  He very gently wrapped his
claws around the still body and raised himself to the
edge of the cliff.

   "I will take you all down.  M'sel will understand,"
he said to Mitchell and the two boys scrambled to his
back.

   The great brown dragon flew slowly down to the main
entrance to the weyr and landed gently.  Lurah had
already set things into motion and one of the dragon
riders took Tomin from Sonath, thanking him for his
help, and carried the boy into the weyr.

   M'sel, aware of the situation, helped Mitchell and
Lydel slide off of Sonath.  Noticing how pale and
still they were he said, "Fenely's a good healer.  The
lad's in capable hands."

   "Several abrasions and cuts, a broken arm and legs,
possibly some broken ribs," Fenely was saying when the
two boys entered their cubicle.  "He smacked his head
in the fall so there might be a concussion.  But he'll
be fine.  I'll set the broken bones and have my
journeyman stay with him through the night."

   "Are you sure he's still alive?" Mitchell asked.

   "Alive enough to get back into mischief in six
seven-days, if not sooner," the healer assured him.

   Later, his wounds dressed with cloth soaked in
numbweed, Tomin began to stir.  Mitchell rushed to his
side.

   "What were you doing up there?" he barked.  "You
know you're not allowed to go exploring on your own!
Just when we thought you were going to behave yourself
you pull a stunt like that?"  His fear had turned to
anger, an honest reaction to the situation.

   "I thought I saw a clutch of fire lizard eggs,"
Tomin weakly responded.  "I wanted to get one for
you."

   Mitchell's anger suddenly dissipated as he realized
that the child had risked his life for a selfless
reason.  He took the boy in his arms and gently
cradled him.  "Don't ever do anything like that
again," he whispered.  "You scared us half to death."
Tears formed in his eyes as he realized that the
troublesome twins had inched their way into his heart.

   Fenely's journeyman entered just then.  He was
about to remind Mitchell that Tomin had broken ribs
when he realized that the young man was handling the
boy with a great deal of careful tenderness.  "I'll
take over now," Jemison said as he placed one hand on
Mitchell's shoulder.  "M'sel said that you and Lydel
can use one of the empty weyrs for the next few days."

  Mitchell and Lydel glanced at each other and then at
Davis, who had been uncommonly quiet.

   "We'll stay here," Lydel said.  He's our
responsibility."

   Lydel took Davis by the hand and led him to the bed
he shared with Mitchell.  "We're a family," he said,
"and families stick together."

 . . .

If you like this little sci-fantasy tale you might be
interested in my other series: `Dark Wishes' in the
sci-fi/fantasy section of Nifty.