Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2004 20:56:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Corrinne S <quasito_cat@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Red Orb of Pern - Part Seven

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.
Commments welcome to quasito_cat@hotmail.com or
quasito_cat@yahoo.com

Chapter 21

   Adelmisa and L'noth were as puzzled by Hanmath's
remark as Mitchell and Sonath.  The great golden queen
had simply responded, "because I know," when the
Weyrwoman queried how the boy was going to Impress.

   The sands of the Hatching Ground grew ever hotter
and only the heavy boots worn by all of the weyrfolk
saved their feet from being burned.  Hanmath hovered
over her clutch of thirty eggs as the time drew near
for them to hatch.  There were only two golden eggs in
the clutch, down from Hanmath's normal four.

   A dozen girls, hand selected by those dragons and
their riders who were gifted in seeking out candidates
for the queen eggs, had been invited from holds and
crafthalls across Pern.  Each girl had to be willing
to give up home and family forever for life in the
weyrs during a Pass commanded total dedication.

   Rearing and training the fighting dragons was time
consuming.  New dragonets ate copiously, slept a great
deal, and grew at an alarming rate.  As they grew,
their hides split and flaked.  Constant bathing and
oiling were required because an untended split when
young could create problems for adult dragons.
Special brushes had been developed over the passing
turns to scratch the tender hides of the growing
dragonets.  Even in their sleep, they could be seen
twitching from an itch here or there.

   Candidates for the remaining twenty-eight eggs had
been drawn from weyrbred boys.  A boy could stand as a
candidate from age twelve to twenty, and often a boy
who didn't Impress the first or second time would
Impress later.  Those rejected by the dragons after
their twentieth year usually left the weyr for a hold
or crafthall.  Adelmisa and L'noth preferred boys who
were at least fourteen or fifteen turns, feeling they
were more capable of the immense responsibilities of
dragon riders.

Chapter 22

   Andren had been asked to stand but had refused.
"My heart belongs to my craft," he politely told the
Weyrleaders.  "I can do more for Pern if I can help
injured dragons on the ground than if I ride one
dragon."

   Lydel, still disappointed that his best friend
wasn't a candidate, secretly hoped that no dragon
would choose him this time.  The twins, however,
speculated endlessly as time grew closer for the
hatching.

   "You have to Impress a bronze," Tomin declared one
evening when they were preparing to go to sleep.

   "Why a bronze in particular?" Mitchell asked.

   "Because they're the biggest, fastest, and
strongest -- except for the queens," the boy declared.

   "The dragon does the choosing," Lydel remarked.
"Green dragons may be the smallest but they're the
most agile."

   "I'd want a blue," Davis chimed in.  "They're
almost as agile as the greens and nearly as strong as
a brown."

   "What about you?" Davis asked Andren.  "What kind
of dragon would you want?"

   Andren thought a minute before replying.  "Since
I'm not going to Impress, I think I'll make up my own
kind of dragon.  I'd want a huge purple one with
yellow dots.  He'd be so big and fast that we'd fly
right up to the Red Star and char it to pieces."

   The twins fell into a fit of giggles at the thought
of Andren's outrageously colored dragon and began to
make up their own versions of impossible colors.

   "It's bedtime," Mitchell finally told them.
"Remember you're going back to Harper class tomorrow,
Tomin."

   "I can't walk with my legs broken," the boy began
to whine.

   "You won't have to," Mitchell responded.  "N'tan
and S'vern are going to take turns carrying you back
and forth.

   The boy was about to protest when Lydel stopped him
with, "Tomin, if you really want to be a bronze rider
one day then you must study hard and learn as much as
you can."

   Tomin resigned himself to his fate and accepted
good night kisses on his forehead.  He reached out for
his brother's hand and the two fell asleep with
visions of Andren's great purple and yellow dragon
dancing through their dreams.

Chapter 22

   The five boys were rudely awakened early the next
morning by M'sel and Lurah, who carried a tray with
five mugs of hot herdbeast milk flavored with klah.

   "Drink your klah and dress quickly," she said.

   "I'm sleepy," Davis murmured as he rubbed his eyes.

   "The dragons are humming," M'sel told them.  "It's
time.  Lydel won't want to be late, and the rest of
you are to watch."

   Tomin was suddenly wide-awake.  "Me and Davis get
to watch?" he asked, for they had never been allowed
to attend a hatching before.

   "Of course you and Davis get to watch," Lurah said
as she handed out the steaming mugs.

   Mitchell, Lydel, and Andren accepted their drinks,
brushing their hair back from their faces and
stretching.

   "Hey!  Naked here!" Tomin cried out as Lurah
removed his sleeping tunic.  Using his good arm, he
snatched his tunic back and held it over himself.

   "I only want to help you change," Lurah said,
slightly amused by the boy's reaction.

   "Yeah?  Well, you're a ... a girl!" he exclaimed in
disgust as only a boy of six turns can.

   Mitchell barely had time to move out of the line of
fire as Andren spewed hot klah in his direction.
"You've got to admit that he has a point," Mitchell
managed to say just before laughter overtook him.

   "Of course I'm a girl," Lurah said, making a great
show of gathering her dignity about her.  "I'll leave
you boys the task of getting this rascal dressed," she
said as she left the cubicle.

Chapter 23

   Lydel and other chosen candidates stood on the
Hatching Ground as the dragon eggs began to rock back
and forth.  They were all dressed in fine new tunics
delivered only the day before by Masterweaver Faracon.
 The girls had divided into groups of six and stood
near the golden queen eggs.  The boys scattered
themselves at random.

   One of the eggs suddenly stopped rocking and
cracked open as a green fledgling emerged.  It flopped
across the hot sand, crowing softly, until it stumbled
against the leg of a boy Lydel knew from Harper class,
Ranel.  Ranel leaned down to scratch the young
dragon's eye ridge and his face suddenly seemed
transformed.  Impression had taken place.

   "Timorth," R'nel announced as the dragonet gave her
name.

   One by one the eggs began to hatch and the
fledglings flopped and wobbled until they came across
the right boy and Impressed.  One of the queen eggs
hatched and Mirabel, from a weaver crafthold, became
the next queen rider.

   Although he'd seen several Hatchings, Lydel was
still overcome with emotion as he watched Impression
taking place all around him.  He was torn between not
wanting to Impress if Mitchell didn't, and desperately
wanting one of the fledglings to want him.  He was
watching Mirabel lead her queen away when he was
bumped from behind and nearly fell.

   "Hey, watch it," he said before he turned around.
A small crowing sound caught his attention and he
turned to see a bronze fledgling at his feet.  "No,
it's all right, I'm not hurt," he crooned to the small
dragon as their eyes met and Impression occurred.
"His name is Ammorth!" he shouted to M'sel and Lurah
who were sitting with his friends.

  "I knew he'd get a bronze," Tomin screamed in
excitement as Davis bounced up and down.

   Mitchell waved to L'del, filled with joy for him.
Yet he was unable to hide his tears of disappointment
for himself.  He was about to leave the Hatching
Ground when a great commotion began.  The second
golden egg had hatched.  Some of the girls began to
scream as the fledgling pushed them away, knocked them
down, and walked across them.  The scrawny neck lifted
a golden head high as the young dragon desperately
sought for one special person.

   Mitchell stared in disbelief as the golden
fledgling suddenly began to lurch toward him.  "I
can't," he said to L'noth, who was standing next to
him.  "Boys can't Impress queens, only girls can."

   L'noth was as surprised as Mitchell, for the small
dragon seemed intent on reaching the boy.  He looked
across at Adelmisa, unsure of what to do.  The
Weyrwoman smiled back at him and nodded her head.

   "The dragon always chooses, Mitchell," L'noth
finally said and pushed the boy forward.

   Mitchell took a few steps and stopped.  The crowd
of onlookers had grown silent for never before had a
boy Impressed a golden queen.  The young dragon
suddenly let out a screech of pain as a still wet wing
got in the way of a clawed foot.  That cry set
Mitchell in motion and he hurried across the hot sand.

   "Look, you only stepped on your wing," he said.
"You have to be careful when you walk until your wings
are dry."  As he spoke, the dragonet looked at him
with rainbow hued eyes and two hearts and minds locked
together.  "I'm not supposed to Impress a queen, you
know," Mitchell crooned to the dragon.  "I'm a boy."

   "So am I.  And I'm very, very hungry," Raganth
replied.