Image by Lethe

Name: Tessrabia Kshau

Gender: female, she/her, she’s very intent on finding a man, be it because she’s flown a Queen, or having found one in a Craft hall (she’s very not interested in finding someone from a Hold, however…) and she loves children

Age/DOB: 16 at standing; currently 'immortal adult'

Origin: Buenos Weyr when it was still around, technically conceived when Baeris was still hanging out on Pern

Family: Mother Baeris Kshau, father S'tel (Satel, before they were riders!)

Siblings: all older Siblings include Sebra, Rael, Lars, Bali; half-siblings aplenty via Baeris are all younger

Partner: Cynonix; with children Tyssix, Xenrai, and Cryten and later Ranyx and Bianon

Height: 5'6, adult height 5'8"ish if she isn't slouching, shorter than some in her family

Build: a work of art in progress, will be average of muscularity but long limbs run in the family and she’s no exception

Hair: dark brown, curly and wild, usually in her face and everywhere, short (neck length)

Eyes: vibrant blue

Appearance: tanned skin which deepens with sunlight, very narrow waist; with a voice kind of husky and can be sharp; likes bright, colorful things, skirts and frilly shirts, or long creative dresses – anything so long as it’s bright!; likes jewelry too, isn’t picky about what material it’s made from (she still has a leather-and-paint neck band from her childhood), again as long as its colorful

Created/Updated: originally created 2001; updated with pages 2 and 3 folded in for ease of use 3.24.23

Personality: very fun loving, but also can be intense when something is going on, observant and clever

Later in life she is a lot more stable and steady but still truly enjoys her work both as a dragon healer and a teacher at Carramba

Events and History: Story taken from old pages I might get around to updating it for CHS if that's not somehow included

Also note some adult and sensitive topics are covered below

Baeris grunted when she read the message on the scroll which Falora sent her. Their dragons had had their own little frenzy, all at once rising -- six or seven golds! Amazing! The master healer gave a thought to actually going to the sands at Talor Cliff, to see how such a gigantic weyr would handle the eggs... Then she read further.

"Altering the eggs..." She muttered, and her youngest child, Tessrabia, looked up with interest.

"What mother?" She said, putting down her mortal and pestle, covering the herbs she was grinding, and leaning in toward her dark-haired mother. Baeris' appearance had changed little in the time since Tessrabia had been born, save for that incident back at the old Den, when she was accosted by the ghost of Ellaien that had left her with a long streak of pure white down the length of a portion of her hair, from roots to tips. Tessrabia marveled at her mother, who remained silent and reading, even though the girl had approached.

"It says here," Baeris finally acknowledged her daughter, "that Falora has located something, or her scientist friends, and they're going to be experimenting with the eggs on their sands."

"Is that wise?" Asked Tessrabia, looking around at their pleasantly appointed infirmary room. "I mean, in the right hands, yes, but ..."

Baeris lifted one of her dark eyebrows in surprise. "You would doubt that Falora has the right hands to do this work?"

"Well-- Well no!" Tess stammered. "But I just mean, that if someone ELSE got to it... You know," the healer in training hemmed and hawed, pulling at the sleeves of her shirt. "Mo-ther, you know I meant no offence!"

Baeris finally cracked a narrow smile, her eyes showing how pleased she really was. "I know my dear. Now, are you finished with that poultice mix?" Tess nodded, and Baeris stood from her comfortable chair. She folded away the letter from Talor Cliff, tucking it into her belt. "Then why don't we go find dinner and see if there are any good games running."

"I want to find father, he said he would be bringing back some wine, this evening."

"He says that every night," Baeris smirked. "And usually, he's able to do it. But this time... Vaoth seemed a little miffed that everything got moved while they were still working on a brew..."

"That was such a long time ago, mother," Tessrabia stated as they closed down the infirmary. "Why is he still bitter?"

"Because the little dear misses his home. I don't blame him. I miss the sky." Baeris looked out toward what ought to have been a sunlit glade, yet outside the Healing Den's odd thick windows was nothing but darkness. Not even stars blinked out there.

"I've only seen it when we sneak around on dragonback," Tess admitted. "I love sunrises, mother."

"The sunlight brings out the shine in your eyes, my sweet child..." Baeris glanced at her daughter. The others were assembled in the lower areas, where the myriad pathways around the chunk of rock they called home converged into one large room. Two dragons, Dulath and brown Ishioth, were flying around in the tall open cavern. Most of the halls were large enough for smaller dragons like them to move about, albeit uncomfortably.

"I like Cynonix," Tessrabia admitted to her mother quietly, with a secret little smile on her face. Baeris looked at her apprentice-daughter and smiled inwardly. The distant longing in Tess' eyes showed that she did indeed find the handsome half-cat attractive. Who didn't? Unlike his sort-of relative Ivo, Cynonix could not transform himself into a human nor a cat, and that fact kept most people more relaxed. Tessrabia bolted to his side, gushing about her activities in the infirmary. "Where were you? I thought you'd be helping me today...?"

Cynonix shyly looked at her and his ear twitched. The big mop of grey hair on top of his head didn't hide his round ears, nor his bright blue eyes. They were Vanya's eyes. In a way, so were Tessrabia's, though no one could ever quite match that common ancestor between Kshau and Sengihr. Baeris *looked* like a Sengihr, but acted like a Kshau. Cynonix was his father's son, through and through.

"I had to make sure Ishioth wasn't bored," he finally said, "but I'll make sure to be there next time. There is always work in the Healing Den..."

Settling down beside him, Tessrabia folded her legs and tucked her skirt between her knees, grinning like a child half her age. "There is. But what about if I get bored? What would you do then?"

Cynonix's grey-black eyebrow twitched, as did his ear again, and finally he let off a rumbling low laugh. "I'd make sure that Ishioth knew where to find you. In fact he's interested in seeing what everyone else has been doing all day. Why don't you come over and help me explain to him what a numb-salve is..."

He stood and offered his fur-covered hand to her, and Tessrabia eagerly took it. Her eyes never left his, standing up. They went to speak with Ishioth and Dulath.

Baeris watched this from the edge of the room, where several comfortable sofas and a couple papa-san chairs were assembled around a terran video unit. It was on softly, showing the news from around a world which had never belonged to any of those watching it.

"Falora is going to have a strange clutch, while they're leaving the homeworld." Baeris said, and a couple of people looked at her oddly.

"Falora," said one, "the weyrwoman of Talor Cliff?"

"The very one." Baeris became silent. She glanced at her daughter, who was even now eagerly dancing before the brown dragon on the turf nearby, explaining how a bandage with certain items on it would make something heal better than just a bandage or just herbs. Ishioth already knew those things, Baeris thought. He was after all Cynonix's dragon, and Cynonix was also an adept healer. Yet Tessrabia approached everything with such grace and eagerness. She was hardly ever truly bored, because she would always find a way to enjoy whatever it was that she was doing. Or supposed to be doing, as the case may be.

It was true that sometimes her mind wandered to thoughts of boys and dragons and flights... How could she not think of those things? After all, Baeris was her mother, and she had expertise in arranging flights between the unlikeliest of partners...

"I think Tess ought to go to that clutch," Baeris stated, quietly, while looking at the girl exchange healing secrets with Cynonix. The others gathered around the vid glanced at Baeris with blank stares.

"She's meant to be in your profession," said Darang, one of the inhabitants responsible for stone working and maintenance. "I'd feel comfortable with her as a medic. Anyone would."

"So does Ishioth," Baeris said. "But he knows more than she does, he knows she's dragon worthy." She glanced at Darang, and then smiled, "Dulath told me." The greeny-gold dragoness had stopped playing and was now resting beside the brown and the humans. At the mention of her name, she raised her head and tilted it.

I have told you nothing. You simply want your daughter to have a dragon. Dulath thought privately. Since their arrival to the new digs, Dulath began speaking in voiced words, but could always revert to mental speech. Baeris wondered if any dragon would be able to do that now.

And is that so bad? Baeris replied. She is a good girl. She's attentive. She's clever, it runs in the family.

"So does her ego," Dulath muttered, causing both Cynonix and Tessrabia to jump.

Dulath did not elaborate, but across the turf Baeris could be heard to laugh.

"Are you hungry? I think there is stew on," Tessrabia asked Cynonix, and he nodded, licking his chops.

"If you're dishing it out, I'm eating. Lead on, mistress Tess..."

Tessrabia blushed burgandy, but Cynonix either knew she would or didn't mind if she did, let her lead him down the halls.

*** Had been tess2.html ***

"Don't you think this color goes well with my skin?" Tessrabia asked, and Cynonix looked at her with one eye squinted shut.

"I think it does. And I like what it does with your skinny little waist too..." He commented, putting his long furry fingers around that waist practically touching fingertips. Tessrabia giggled furiously, and Cynonix gleefully began tickling her.

Tessrabia collapsed into fits of silent laughter, almost unable to take a breath. Yet, Cynonix was delicate and polite, and did not go too far -- he was as ever observant of boundaries. Those boundaries had long since been violated on him years before, so he knew them well from the wrong side.

Tess wasn't certain of her own boundaries, he noticed. While she was eager to have him near by, she was also a bit shy if it came down to sharing a bed together.

She had long imagined herself enthralled with the right mate, he learned. This and many other things she admitted to him in the late of the evening. That she had a terrifying experience with a spider once, as a child, and always had nightmares of them, even now. That she thought her oldest sister was the most beautiful woman ever born, even more beautiful than her mother.

Cynonix shared only what he felt Tessrabia would handle well. That he had a secret and dark past, was already known to her. She did not ask for details, being tactful enough to know when he was sad or nervous.

"But what should he be like?" Cynonix asked, resting his furry chin on her shoulder.

Tessrabia let out an accidental belch, laughed, and blamed it on his tickling her and the volume of stew they had eaten earlier. Then she closed her eyes and tilted her head. The pair of cats she owned wandered by, both Squeeze and Habit lived up to their names, comfortable with Cynonix, as he was mostly one of them.

"He would be strong, an able man... And smart. Because brawn is nothing without brains. And... He would be sweet, able to be polite as well as firm. He would have to love children. I love children..." She sighed. She felt Cynonix's eyelash blink against her neck. "And he could be a rider. He would be handsome and brave, even if he had scars he would still be handsome to me."

"And we might meet on dragon back... We might see each other at a festival, or in a tavern. And it might take a while, but I would get to know him. He wouldn't hide from me, because honesty is important."

Cynonix breathed slowly, holding back the comment from Ishioth about the way Tessrabia smelled so wonderfully sweet.

"Of course he would have to be patient with me. I'm still young, and ... Mother tells me that I've still got my whole life ahead of me, so I mustn't expect everything to happen at once. I don't know if it would even be love at first sight... Maybe I would have to learn slowly."

"Could he be ... exotic?" Cynonix asked.

"Of course he could. From a far off land, or time. He would be able to go through time and space as if they were nothing. If he were a dragon rider, of course."

"Of course." Cynonix repeated. "... Could he be sad sometimes? Or angry?"

"I get sad sometimes, because I don't get to see the sun. I would try to keep him happy. Distracted, or make that thing that makes him sad, better. So he wouldn't be sad any more. And angry? Well! My mother gets angry... I suppose I've got a temper in me somewhere but I haven't really... seen it yet. Once, I dropped an entire jar of salve on my foot. I couldn't believe how much it hurt, and there were little pieces of pottery broken right into my toes. And I yelled like there was no tomorrow!"

"I bet you did. But what about your man? What would you do?"

"I'd have to let him simmer. And..." She breathed in deeply, pressing in against Cynonix's chest, "I would never -- ever -- say things that I would regret saying later. I'd hold my tongue. It would be best. But I would never let a man hit me," she stated flatly. "That isn't right."

She felt Cynonix go a bit tense behind her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Cynonix's eyes were shut, he looked...

"It is nothing to be ashamed about, Cynonix," Tessrabia whispered. "You were beaten."

"It was more than that," he admitted, a whisper. Tessrabia took in a breath, and then her fingers went to his soft furry muzzle. Years ago, it was said, he looked human as anyone else. But when the change came and the Protectorate left Pern, he changed with many others, to a state which said his true nature. But still, his origin was clouded in pain and hate. "It was that filthy man who hurt my father, too... He found me, but I don't even know how... And I am sure that he did what he did... to me... to hurt Vanya too."

"You were too young to protect yourself," Tessrabia said, half a question, but more to defend him from his own memories. "You couldn't have been strong enough ... as a child," she choked, "to stop him."

Cynonix's jaw tightened, but then he finally opened his eyes. "You would never allow anyone to strike you. I know that. I admire that in you. In fact I might be jealous."

"Well it's okay to be a little jealous, but... not a lot. Because *my* true love doesn't need to worry about me..."

The soft smile that Cynonix gave Tessrabia was the truest thing said all evening, and without words. Tess snuggled down beside him, and scratched lines in his chest fur. "You are handsome, and exotic, and patient... And smart, and a dragon rider who comes from a faroff land... I won't take your secrets unless you wish to tell me, and I won't judge you. I know that you aren't at fault."

With a quiet sigh, Cynonix held on to Tessrabia, until the morning lights came on.

***

Elsewhere, Baeris had it in her head that Falora's search riders needed to bring her daughter to the weyr for one final moment of glory. She penned a statement to that effect, knowing that Falora was one of the select few who would never be offended that the dragons born on her sands were never going to touch Pernese soil again.

"She would be coming back to the Den," Baeris muttered as she wrote, "and that is even if she does not impress. Of course I can vouch for her education," she scribbled the healer's design on the side of the note, "but she is also very curious about everything else. She would make a fine dragon healer as well. So..." Baeris' voice trailed off as she continued to write.

Then she summoned blue Striker, who true to form had gotten quite in trouble while she worked, and extricated himself cleverly by teleporting away from the cloud of gryph-kitties and flitters. He landed on his mistress' shoulder, and took the rolled paper.

"Falora," Baeris said, aiming a careful thought of the woman who led Talor Cliff all this time. "Find Falora, and wait for her answer, and don't get in trouble. When you come back I will have a fish for you."

The thoughts FaloraFish went booming through the tiny mind of the big flitter, and he took off. It was not more than half an hour later, when Falora's answer came to Baeris.

I know she would make a fine candidate, but how do we find YOU?

Baeris laughed, and sent Dulath to explain to the search riders, just how to home in on the odd non-terrestrial floating asteroid which was their Den.

***

In the morning, when only a few hours of sleep had refreshed both healers, Cynonix and Tessrabia said very little to one another. There was little need. Tess was impressed with the way that Cynonix held on to her and did not (forgive the pun) paw her needlessly. She was not ready to bed him other than to sleep with, and he was sure that she would drift his way again anyway.

"Cynonix," Tess asked, "do you think I will make a good healer?"

"Tess, you'll make a great healer. You already are. You've helped me heal, a bit..." He smiled and ran his clawed fingers through her curly hair. "You could heal the deepest hurt, I think... given the time and the desire."

She met his blue eyes with hers, "Oh, I have that... Lots of that..."

"I do not doubt your ability. You should not either."

With a simple grin, Tessrabia gripped Cynonix's waist and hugged him fiercely. "Then I will not!"

A knock at the door to Tess' quarters brought both of them back to reality. "Who is it?" Tess called, putting on a silvery-blue shawl over her more bright clothing. Someone answered but was muffled.

"I asked who it--" Tess started to say, sharply, but she was caught short when it was dark-haired Nora, a search rider she knew from her mother's long association with other weyrwomen. "Oh! I'm sorry -- I didn't mean to be rude!"

"I'm sure you didn't," Nora said, glancing over Tess' shoulder and seeing the cheetah-man who was putting a leather vest over his furry arms. "I'm... Well, I'm here for you. Tessrabia, your --"

"Talor Cliff's eggs!" Tess blurted out, "They're being altered! Oh! Oh, can I watch? Can I please? It's so amazing, I have to see how they do it! Even though I don't know the first thing about machines, isn't that how they're going to do it? With machines?"

Suddenly a ball of vibrant energy, Nora and Cynonix both practically jumped away from Tess. Nora recovered with a laugh. "Well, I guess that might be possible, since you're a healer and all, but... It might not happen quite that way. Let's get you packed and moved, though... And we'll see about having you watch the process..."

*** Had been Tess3.html *** Sadly none of the links anywhere to Talor Cliff or the secret clutch exist as far as I can find

How long did they wait? It didn't matter in the slightest to Tessrabia. She watched as the genetic engineers did their work, asking questions when they were done... She brought a couple of them food and drink, and continued to learn.

Her mind was so filled with all sorts of thoughts -- if they could do this, if they pulled it off, what more could be done? She'd heard of and seen dragons at the Healing Den which had been altered, surely the flitters from Falas were among them!

But now, she stood upon the sands with the rest of the crowd and watched. Talor's sands would be cold after this... The thought struck her as so impossibly sad! Yet, she watched dragon after dragon impress!

There were still greens, she heard one dragoness gripe. Well, what would a hatching be without greens and beautiful blues!? Her mother's dragon could hardly be called a full gold, not even the size of half a green! So there!

Amazed at all the activities, and watching as the bunch of eggs dwindled down... Tessrabia fidgeted. Seven last eggs broke -- they'd been coming in fits and starts and huge groups! And, some of them had to be opened by force, something which of course her mother Baeris had long thought was an obvious choice rather than a last resort or forbidden method.

There was a shell now open, one which had a gold creep from it moments before. The loud dragoness sat down and bellowed, sharply making several nearby candidates hold their hands over their ears.

How can you stand there! You watched them make me? Me!? Did I have to be made? The dragoness peered at Tess and waited for an answer.

"That's right, Yliath, I watched them work on your egg, and your siblings eggs, and all the others, too!"

I want you to work on feeding me, my love... I won't be happy until you've fed me.

**

"Yliath... Are you going to be done any time soon?" Tessrabia groaned.

Nope. Not any time while the sun is up, no.

"But... Yli, you've been bathing all afternoon."

And I will be bathing until the sun sets. I am trying to match the sunset.

Tessrabia rolled her eyes and aimed a careful thought: get done, I want to read our training guide and get our flight test done. Tonight.

TONIGHT?! The dragoness bellowed, rising out of the waters. Tonight? I cannot even imagine going through another test so soon after the last!

"This one is important."

You always say that. Yliath shook herself off and displayed her great wings.

"And I am always right," Tessrabia giggled. "Now, are you done? You've become so beautiful, Yliath."

What do you mean BECOME?!

**

He is a handsome one, you were right. I like him already, Yliath thought to her rider. She was referring to the strong brown Ishioth. His rider Cynonix strode out from the Healing Den's main corridor and his furry face adopted a big grin.

"You did bond well," he breathed. And Tess had grown, too. She was stronger in limb and hand, able to work with this beautiful golden sweetheart she'd bonded.

Tessrabia hugged her furry partner, and buried her face in his warm chest. "I've missed you so much! I'd forgotten how good you smell, Cyn..."

Meanwhile, the dragons were getting to know one another as well. From above, Baeris watched her daughter tend to her lover and her dragon with the care she expected. Tess had always been her fondest hope for a dragon riding child, and did not disappoint. She saw the pale brown Ishioth nuzzling the bigger golden Yliath, and knew that perhaps soon, they would rise to mate together.

** New 2023 **

Since her pairing up with Cynonix has yeilded quite a bit of interesting grand-kids for Baeris, and since the Nexus had opened itself far more widely after Yliath had grown into her full glorious size, there was so much going on. Her discussions with her own daughter were marked with a bit of heat, but eventually even Tess had to admit that Planet Twenty was the right choice for many of her ... descendants. She learned a lot about the variety of other worlds out there, and her place in them. Proudly, Tessrabia watched the results of a half-dozen different dimensions succeed in freeing Planet Twenty (for the time being) of an alien invasion and subsequently bolstering the cheetah-kin population by a lot. She'd even spent some time wandering "Old" Zekira, somehow - even though the "new" one was established as a mountain peak city 'zone' by the immortals from that world... That they had left more than a million years prior? Wow!

That got her thinking, and since she and her lovely dragoness didn't have much to do after helping fix up injured riders and dragons after that point, Tessrabia started looking into wider travel, learning more and more about various worlds - as well as collecting dragon information, taking pictures and video and occasionally bringing cell samples back to her mother.

Tess spent her down time in the Healing Den outside of the passage of any real time anywhere else. Their well-stocked home was not the only place that either Baeris or any of her children liked to wander, though. One such place was Carramba High School. It is there that Tess spends a goodly amount of time and effort. She instructs Nexus Geohistory 1, 5, 6; Dragon Care 2, 8.

Pets: she has two felines, a male named Squeeze (pale grey with white markings and blue eyes) and a female named Habit (calico with white, green eyes); and is looking for fire lizard eggs constantly

...

Dragon

Name: Yliath (YIL ee ath)
Gender: female, queen
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium-large, 15' s / 78' l / 110' ws
Colors: brilliant speckled yellow-gold with darker golden undertones on body; wingsails unmarked sunny yellow; crest and tail (not really shown tail) darker burnished golden
Features: standard Pernese from Talor Cliff Weyr with tail spade, neck ridge, thumbed forepaws, 4-fingered wings with wrist thumb
Powers: Winged Flight
Teleportation, Genrehopping
Telepathy (strong)
Carries Assisted Firebreath, cannot use this ability
Parentage: Gold Gilith (Sapphire gold Halith/bronze Fellenth) and Bronze Grendenth (progen Talor)
Origin: Talor Cliff Weyr special secret clutch
Other Info: obviously a bit on the demanding side, but she feels this is good for the breed...

Speaking of Breeding:

When ARE they gonna get around to it? Ishioth participated in some amount of naughtyness. But not with this queen?!