Nian and L'ul met shortly after they both Impressed and had been brought back to Dragonhope. They are not from the same planet, nor technically even from the same dimension. But they share dragons born of Pernese stock, both rares, and hit it off almost immediately. Nian's account of the dragon's hatching is an updated version of that found on Leilani's page with the correct current impressions to not-those-people excised from the guest list.

Both have new stories to complete their journey from giveaway-lists and redacted weyrs.

Nian's Story

It was when her youngest brother was born that the family knew there wouldn't be enough room for everyone. Though she was the youngest girl, she was also the loudest child in the Hold, and probably for that reason Nian was the one selected to be fostered away for a bit.

Well, not so much fostered, as foisted, upon the Weyr above the big crowded sea hold. When Nian was seven turns old, therefore, she became the attendant to one of the stewards' families. She had a strong mind, even as a young child. When told to find a particular person, she went and did it, knowing by name instead of having to be told over and over how to get where she needed to be, or who to ask for directions. She was given quite a lot of tasks, running errands and to tell someone this-or-that. And, moreover, she was trustworthy. Though she almost always barged in on someone's privacy with her noisy 'heyo! message!' at the door, she always waited until the person acknowledged her and gave her messages only when privacy was possible. Boisterous while wandering, but certainly all business by the time she passed information.

No one had ever heard anything from her that wasn't factual, as well - she was known to question orders, in fact, questioning the very Weyrleader one time in sending for a particular person. "He's off sick, if you bring him to the meeting, everyone will get ill, and then no one can ride for Thread!" she had said when he summoned her to bring their recordskeeper.

"Well, why don't you sit in and take notes instead," the man suggested. At first he thought nothing of it, a joke - but she stood there patiently watching them. No quill or wherhide came out though - and he didn't realize she was memorizing what they were saying and acting upon just by standing there.

She went later, to the records room and blurted out all manner of it - sometimes having to go back over it and say bits again. And she looked extremely relieved when it was done to her satisfaction. The ill scribe coughed out, "why not just short-hand it?"

"I don't read," she said bluntly. "No one ever taught me." Now, she was ten at that point, and probably should have learned at least some lessons from the Weyr or her Hold's scribes. But hadn't, and instead relied upon her sharp memory (it wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for running through halls, wasn't it?) to complete her tasks.

The scribe was almost furious - more at himself for not having noticed, than anything else. True she never once looked over his shoulder, and true she'd never said anything about the hides which had more secretive messages on them between people. It hadn't occurred to him that it was because she couldn't actually read what was on them.

The Weyrleader, too, was impressed at this. "The whole meeting?" He had asked the scribe, and the older man presented four full hides of notes. When the Weyrleader looked them over, his expression went from disbelief to true amazement. They both looked at the younger girl, who was sitting with her feet banging against the stone of a counter.

She heard the older man whisper, "she's going to be beautiful, when she grows older. Planning on keeping her here then?"

"Actually," the Weyrleader announced more loudly, "I'm not, if only because we've got a bit of a poor selection of eggs on the sands." He meant no eggs, there was no queen, and hadn't been for two turns. There would be no queen to rise for at least another full turn, at this Weyr, because theirs had left no adult offspring and gotten herself killed. It was a sad situation, for him too - because he had loved the Weyrwoman dearly. He knew that his status couldn't last, when that next gold rose it would have to be a younger bronze to catch her. He would train whoever came on, he would. But for the moment, Nian didn't really even understand what he was saying just now. She didn't really think he was talking to, or even about, her. "I'm going to have to send her somewhere that does have a good queen to lay, though from what I've heard they will have my hide if they learn she's illiterate..."

"Wait," the scribe said, noting Nian's distant gaze as she fiddled with a quill and ignored its true purpose entirely. "You're searching her? The Weyrleader! Oh-Ho!" He chuckled as though the girl were his own. "Nian! Nian, girl, didn't you hear that?"

"Someone's searched," she commented without raising her eyes. Then she narrowed them, held the quill a little too hard and it broke. "... You've... searched me?" She turned to look at the bronze rider and his elderly companion. The older man had a huge grin on his wrinkled face, and the Weyrleader... Why if he puffed up any more she thought he'd explode. As though he'd never Searched anyone before...

***

Though Dragonhope was a smaller Weyr at that time, in a much colder region, they could stand to grow a lot before being considered crowded. A lot. They had a couple gorgeous golds - and some that weren't quite all gold. Nian wondered about those, but then she was going to get a lot closer to them than she'd ever expected to.

She had to (embarrassingly enough) admit to the fact that she'd never learned to read nor write, and in this Weyr they had no Harpers properly to sing and listen to. She had to sit down with one of the scribes to learn. But they were kind, organized, and actually she learned quite a lot in the first few days. She'd never be more than adequate with her script, and she couldn't really recognize some longer words right off - but she could speak with dreadful clarity and loudness whatever she'd been told.

By the time she was fourteen, and had been passed up by two clutches of Nozomith's, the Weyrleaders decided she'd go somewhere else to stand. But it did take a while. They had to be careful who they sent out queries to, they weren't sure how she'd be reacting in which Weyrs. Depending of course upon their humans, their dragons, and their flitter population...

Especially after that flitter incident.

No one had known that the flits nearby would have responded that way - Nian was asked to take a little box containing a treat of some kind, to someone's lover up in the corridors. Perhaps they did know that if it'd gone by flitter-leg it might never have reached its destination? When she started running through the halls to get up there, she had seen one or two flits fly in from between and hang around. But then she realized it was the same three, and then they were joined by others. Were they following her? What was up with that?!

She cornered around a steep ramp, and suddenly a batch of flits, probably a dozen of them of varying sizes and ranks, descended upon her. Squawking madly, tearing at her hair and her hands - they wanted that package and she wouldn't let it go. She huddled over it, trying desperately not to crush it but ...

They landed on her back, her shoulders, her feet, she cried out but there was no one nearby. Her hair was a mess, they'd ripped off the cloth she almost always had on her head, and were busy trying to claw around her neck and shoulders to reach the box. When someone did hear, and saw what was happening to the girl, they shooed the flits away but they came back repeatedly. Angry, noisy, with claws and teeth. It took two people, one of whom was trying to calm his own flitter who went bonkers when he arrived, to get them all away.

Bloodied and bruised, with holes in her clothing and bits of hair torn out, it was the first time anyone had seen Nian crying. Her hand shook as she held out the box to the girl who was supposed to get the gift, and was unapologetic when she yelled, "it's from B'zad, and if he ever sends anything to you again, I hope for your sake it's not whatever's in there. It better be worth it." She tried stomping off to the infirmary, but had to be carried, she could hardly stand from the shaking she was doing. In shock, she was treated. Her hair would grow back, her clothing was replaced (not mended, she didn't want to touch it with all the memories those stitches would bring), and her hair was done up eventually with a soft cloth again.

Did she ever look at a flitter the same way? Of course not. She was almost petrified of them, but more angry and would certainly never allow one to get too near her. Even if they didn't remember why, she certainly would.

It didn't deter her, fortunately, from wanting to be around dragons. She knew perfectly well that they would never harm her - not like the brainless little flitters. The Weyrleader S'xon sat her down when she turned eighteen, and gave her some questions.

"I think that I've found a good Weyr for you to stand again," he started. "It's one of the Protectorate's, and actually their dragons have asked for someone special to be on the sands."

That drew a bit of a blank stare from her, "the... protectowhat?" She let the second half of his comment slide for the moment.

S'xon blinked. Oh yes. "Er.... Batch of riders I'm familiar with, nothing, don't pay that any mind."

"Ah, a secret society of dragon riders?" Nian grinned.

"Well, not really - unless you count that most of them were born a thousand years ago or more..." S'xon looked right at her, seriously, daring her to say anything more about it. She didn't rise to that, she knew that look, she realized that it was something he ought not to have said, anyway. It brought up all manner of questions. She'd ask later - maybe, once she came back flying on a dragon. That would at least give her a little leeway when asking about it. It might come two, even three years later. But she'd remember to ask again.

After the bit of silence, "Did you think you'd ever be a dragon rider, Nian?" He asked. She tilted her head, shrugged.

"No, not really, but I never really gave it any thought either way. It's not like you can choose a career on a dragon, they have to choose you, right?"

"That is indeed, correct," S'xon said, nodding. "Have you ever been anywhere else? Your home Hold, their Weyr, and here?"

"Nope, I was never really out much. I'd love to see more, this place is great, but it's freezing all the time," she clutched her shoulders, "I wouldn't mind seeing a warmer place now and then. I suppose a dragon could take me, huh?"

"A dragon could," S'xon said, "yours, which is why I think you should ride. What about anything else, you've done an exemplary job as an announcer, a delivery runner, do you want to continue doing that? Or maybe have a family, raise children?"

"Can't I do both?" She said, smiling crookedly. "I mean, you're a Weyrleader and you've raised two families."

Two, well there we go, he thought. She knew, could easily see, how many of the crafters and riders were of his own broods.

While he was in thought and quiet, she giggled, "I know she knows, but does Weyrwoman Kira actually, like, know who Master S'vax's mother is?"

Without missing a beat, S'xon said, "oh you know, it's hard to even remember all those women I bedded when I was younger..." He waved his long fingers, rolling his yellow eyes, and then they both laughed. "I don't think she minds, and that's the important part, isn't it?"

"I suppose so, my mom was okay when my dad's girl gave him my little brother. Then again I haven't really seen them since I left home..."

"You want to go home and find out?" S'xon said, "I could take you there before bringing you to Alabaster."

She didn't even pause, "could you? I really would like to see my familiy again. I know they're all right, people've gotten me word now and then. But I wouldn't mind telling them I'm Searched, too!"

***

They looked a little worse for wear, because Threadfall had taken Nian's elder sister Nuna. But aside from that, and such was to be expected from a dying Weyr and a Hold which had little more going for it now that their Weyrleader's son had botched things... S'xon looked around the place and muttered something in a quiet tone to their senior rider, who seemed to straighten up and nodded curtly once.

Without even stopping for breath, as they mounted back up onto the S'xon's bronze (being escorted to a Weyr by the Weyrleader! She did know what an honor that was, and she also knew it put her into an ideal position to ask...) she said, "sir, could you pick them up and bring them to Dragonhope?" Nian was pointedly looking down at the carved hovels and several crumbled exterior sheds outside the Hold proper.

They were already flying, soaring above the Hold and below the Weyr, when he looked over his shoulder and said, "of course I can. They won't expect it, but I'll do it for you. They will find a good place in the Seahold, I think." He got that look as he bespoke his dragon, "I've sent for riders, and... others," he glanced up at the Weyr. He had something in mind for them, she was certain.

That was all that needed to be said. She knew he was absolutely good for his word. She'd toyed with the idea of even seducing him (but then, what girl hadn't, that met him?) to try and get her family safe. But she didn't need to. She'd find someone else to show off as a husband, or even just as the father of her children, when she wound up having any. If she did - the life of a dragon rider was busy!

But then, she'd also be able to continue doing her announcements! And from dragon-back! What could possibly be better than that?!

Nian had seen that dragon, that gold on the sands, before. Recently. So why did this place look so ... strange from above? She hadn't known that when S'xon moved her and her gear from Dragonhope to Alabaster Weyrhold, it was also moving backwards in time nearly half the history of Pern, and not on Pern at all. The place that they flew over was composed of a reasonably large peaked island, isolated from a narrow larger rectangle of land, surrounded by ocean... and more islands... Where even was this place? The southern side of the mainland was where S'xon set down, and Nian's mind was absolutely baffled by all of this. The surroundings were so ... vibrant? And the sky? What even was wrong with the sky?

They'd arrived in the daytime, but it was nearing evening. And there was no sign at all of the Red Star, even distantly. "I thought dragon travel took place under the stars?"

"How could we possibly show up in such style in the middle of the night?" Was the bronze rider's reply, echoed by a snarky rumble of laughter from the dragon himself.

The land was odd, a canyon cut down into the sea, there was a large pale white hole in the ground nearby, all of this surrounded by trees the likes of which Nian hadn't ever dreamed of. While Dragonhope definitely took care to make forests a reality around itself on the cold northeastern shores of the continent, this? This was paradise.

The dragons ... were inside the quarry? Along with carved weyrs? She'd heard the songs of dragons heralding their eggs hatching twice now, so she knew that this was already going on down there somewhere. It wasn't at the surface and wasn't down on the beach, this was not a Weyr in the truest sense, was it? But there were... dozens of dragons, strong looking ones, which she'd been taught to recognize from the scribes at Dragonhope.

The queen of this clutch had visited Dragonhope shortly before S'xon took her here, and suddenly Nian realized that was on purpose - the dragon needed someone, maybe more than one someone, since at least a few people were being very bruskly removed from the area. She thought she recognized one man wearing green robes, she'd seen him in the candidate halls at Dragonhope. The oddities weren't done, though, because Nian also spotted people who were tall and furry, and something with fins, and... just. So strange. All of it. But she maintained her calm demeanor in the face of all of this.

The first egg to hatch was the gold! And it went to a girl who had a flitter, and Nian almost fled. There were dozens of them here too. But thankfully they ignored her, in favor of their people and the hatchlings.

Green, brown, a bigger green. The brown one went right toward the musician from Dragonhope, that was nice! He seemed like he would be perfect on his back! She couldn't identify the shade of not-quite-blue, Slate, that emerged and then left with an escort to that finned person outside. But that was hardly the end of the odd colors, ranks she hadn't been prepared for. A silver one, metallic and obviously shiny, angrily whipped around with her tail hitting onlookers. A ... copper? found a man that seemed completely out of place here with odd cloth armor and a handsome face. A milky-cream colored dragon went toward one of those feline people. Truly this place was so strange. A large egg produced not one but two silver dragons. One of those went to another non-human, and while that was going on it looked like a reasonably normal blue came out. But the young man that it impressed to had items floating around him - not flitters, playing cards?

Nian sighed to herself that maybe this was just a fever dream, maybe she'd hit her head falling from a dragon's back and this was a delusion. But it was not an illusion, nor a hallucination, when another large egg broke with ... twin black dragons. One slipped up to a... dragon... man? whose 'sister' had already befriended that silver dragoness.

The other one, it looked to Nian like there were gnats or webs from spinners dancing across her vision while the black dragonet came around to her. What was she really seeing in the corners of her vision? Someone else reaching out their hands, but then just fading, vanishing, until it was just the dragon and Nian. She spoke into Nian's mind, but there were also still echoes of another conversation that faded from the dragon's own mind before she clearly bespoke.

Come with me, I will aid your tasks, we will attract attention all on our own before your announcements and petitions are heard.

"How... how do you know all those big words already? You're just a hatchling!" Nian suddenly laughed, "what in the world..."

I know many things, I am Lethuineth, I know you will not forget that.

She certainly would not, but she would eventually come to write (in her inexpert hand) the strange experience of seeing through different eyes, on those sands. There were other people and dragons after hers. Another cream, and a bold bright bronze - but there was hesitation with that one. A smaller, sleeker silver befriended a girl with dark cobalt-blue hair and an outfit to match. And then two small and exotic white dragons found their friends! Nian's black kept tugging at her, but she simply couldn't leave until all of those shells were broken. A very small gold would probably become a very small queen in time. The smallest of the group, a white sprinted into the stands, and hardly slowed down even when she'd impressed. A proud looking bronze dodged a bullet when that one guy who'd been escorted out tried coming back in - but impressed instead to a man with a shaved head, blue and black hair remaining in a mohawk... And finally an angry young woman suddenly bolted to the center of the stands where she dug out a dark brown last-hatched dragon.

"See, we would have missed all the action!" Nian whispered to the dragonet leaning against her hip. But that dragon was long since snoozing, and would have to wait until their return to Dragonhope before she had her first meal! For the time being they listed this brightly-winged dragon as 'unusually dark blue' but 'female' so eventually... Everyone would know that she was not just a blue!

Luloul's story

Those unusual looking dragons kept coming around. There were lots of them. A lot of them. And Luloul's first thought when he saw them flying in their formations was not 'look how elegant they fly' or 'they must have trained well'. It was 'what are all those dragons going to eat we will be starving by the summer!'

But then he didn't realize, at his young age on seeing them up closer for the first time around age 12, that they had come to Alskyr a decade before he was born, and didn't all eat from herds or gardens here on the mainland. He was still always a little wary around them. Not like the much smaller, long-horned Paniyan Caer dragons, those comforted him in ways that he didn't quite understand. They kept his home safe from the ants and whatever else would attack them, when needed, and didn't linger when they weren't.

His gift, his 't-power' was shared with several in his family, like his unusual bright blue eyes - two of his siblings had brown eyes, and they lacked any power. A couple cousins would sometimes 'tap his mind' to share secrets they'd learned, and they all felt when the youngest of the cousins was born... Oh they felt her all right.

Luloul's father taught him and his siblings how to hunt, how to track, to defend from natural dangers and how to survive in the wilderness of Paniya. They would take trips, sometimes long ones, but always returned to their House, Niray it was called since the founder's family still held it. Even if the area was dominated by the tall mountain at its west border and dipped down to the slow, swampy river winding its way toward the southern coast, Luloul's family didn't make their living by being fishermen nor shipwrights. No, they traded in hides and furs, meat and feathers. They had a thriving trade with some of the N'somekan tribe members who circled the plains and came here to rest and refill their water barrels. Luloul envied those people, and something in the back of his mind knew that his great-grandmother had been among them. After all, that was where his dark skin came from!

But as time went on, it seemed that the dragons that had been 'imported', those residing at Dawnlight and Alabaster and over on the west Isle... they kept breeding. That wouldn't do. They needed to get those offspring away from Paniya, perhaps even away from Alskyr entirely.

Why would anyone want to leave this beautiful place? Luloul thought to himself as he hiked back with several large hares and a long-tailed pheasant strung over his back. He was just a teenager, not quite seventeen and not quite expected to break out on his own in adulthood yet. But when he arrived to his family's mud and thatch hut, he... saw there were those dragons standing by it. A rider chatting with his own father and mother. His youngest sister excitedly screeching about it. He nearly dropped the meat and walked back into the forest never to return.

But something touched his mind that he'd never felt before. It wasn't his brother, wasn't his cousin. It was the dragon standing there.

You would do well with one of my young, that bronze said. Eggs are on the Blackstone sands and must be tended. Whether you like us or not, we are here to stay... But you do not have to stay with us.

Garet, the bronze's rider, glanced sharply toward the boy, then back to his father. He gave a shrug and the men both laughed. Laughed? Like it was a joke?

"It is no joke," Garet said, "being Searched is an important event. The eggs will hatch with or without you, but... without you there, the hatchlings may die. If there is one for you, only you will be able to help it live."

Luloul placed his gear and the dead animals down where his older sister grabbed them and hustled into the House proper beyond - he wouldn't want to be dealing with that wretched kitchen woman, not right now. Preferably not ever again.

"No pressure," Luloul said, quietly but clear enough that the rider heard and gave a little smirk. "I have a life here. We don't have room for those dragons."

Garet glanced around, looking at the huge mountain with its step-carved paddies and waterfalls and cave system, and pointedly back at Luloul.

The boy blinked and looked away, bit his lip, and looked toward his father once more. "I--"

"I think you should go at least, to make sure that they don't... you know, just die before getting the chance to live?"

His father was the kind of hunter who carefully waited to see whether a beast's mother would return, before taking it. The kind of trapper that made sure that his traps killed instantly, rather than lingering and causing undue trauma. And those skills had been instilled into Luloul for years. So he drew in a long breath, shook off his leather jacket, and nodded solemnly.

**

This 'weyr' thing - they pronounced it weer like weird which it was wasn't it? - was partly made of the natural and giant caverns of the mountain Isle. But it was also carved straight and perfect, it had electrical lighting and heat and air conditioning. Such things didn't exist down by the plains, down in the swamp, or the forest. Civilization was not quite anathema to this boy born in the woods, but ... he did kind of like it once he got used to the cool breeze after a hot day of attending the anatomy class or learning how to balance on the dragon's backs. He hadn't ridden any beasts, the land was too soft and unpredictable, plus there were predators that would track him by their scent.

It wasn't too long before the group of candidates was allowed to look at and walk around these eggs. Bunches of people watched them - carefully, they made notes and jotted things down and muttered to one another. Within a week or so, the eggs were hardened fully, and some even wobbled. But it would be another few days before they began to actually hatch. And when they did, it was... so much louder than Luloul expected.

"Do our local dragons do this?" He held his hands over his ears, as a dozen or more adult dragons 'sang' the hatchlings out of their shells. "It's like they could pulverize the eggs just with their noise!"

He caught the folks who had been helping train the candidates expressions as those shells broke apart. He heard things: were their wings all like that because of the granddam of them? Hardly a normal color among them?

Luloul glanced across the hatchlings, as they made their way shaking and flopping around. Copper, a slate, a cream, reds, blues. Well there weren't any purples or greens, odd it was such a male-heavy nest? He didn't think much of any of that, not knowing the expectations of these "pernese" types.

Kind of not caring, either. Luloul's mind was hearing so many things. Voices, but ... subdued. They were not human but there were plenty of these voices; he sought his family that were up in the stands, brought by Garet's big bronze. He could tell they were thinking at him, but there was something in between them and him. He'd been alone - really alone - that one time when he'd hit his head slipping on a rock, and his brain needed a week or so to recover. It was terrifying. This wasn't quite like that but he was becoming distressed at not being able to hear his family.

But you will never be alone again, my one, a voice clarified in his mind, pure and singular and strong. I am Taiinath, and you are L'ul.

I didn't think I'd need to shorten my name but you know what, it's better than that kitchen lady calling me looloo.

A small red dragon emerged from behind a larger copper, his red. I will make sure no one ever calls you what you don't like again, L'ul.

Nian's Weyrlinghood

Though they'd been whisked away from their original destination somewhat abruptly, and were back at Dragonhope with the instant that it took to move between worlds, Nian and Lethuineth felt at home immediately. This was where they belonged. True, it was pretty freakin cold - particularly compared to the warmth of not just that quarry's sands, but the island it had been on! But they... could return to it at some point!

Nian had memorized those stars, in the time she'd spent there. They were decidedly not the same ones over Dragonhope, and she knew from having seen plenty of charts, that they couldn't have been just 'the southern hemisphere's view'. She overheard S'xon suggesting that the starcrafters and navigators could give her some specific training.

"She's already good at remembering things, so if she's never been to a place, how better to learn than by following your examples?" He said, she heard his deep voice right before the nodding and paper-shuffling began. So this black dragon with her sparkling star-colored wings would be by her side for months in the starcrafter's area, with their mid-year switching them off to the Weyrling trainers.

They got to visit Nian's family, who had been holed up in the Weyr for the time being, and when she'd been allowed to introduce them to Lethuineth they were duly surprised and proud.

This long-legged, long-tailed sharp dragonet would take to the skies before most others in their weyrling class, after all, and one of the first things they did on graduating the 'with a rider' flight training, was headed down to the Seahold below, to check on that family again. They would adjust to life near the Weyr, a good Weyr this time. Made better by the presence of their black-riding daughter!

They learned later how to teleport, and it all but came naturally to both dragon and rider. So clear in her mind, and so confident in the dragon's power - they moved from Dragonhope's peak to the seahold with one swooping motion, barely felt between. She would practice again with the starcrafters and her instruction for specific location identification would now include 'upon dragonback'. Oh how it made everything so much clearer! The roads carved around hills and under tree cover, the scarred badlands which had not been patrolled properly in Threadfall, abandoned hovels and huge Holds alike - they were all now tucked firmly into this young rider's mind.

L'ul's Weyrlinghood

It was clear that he'd need to go somewhere 'else' with this dragon of his, not because they were over-hunting or anything, but that others truly needed his skills. Garet continued to follow his progress as the dragonet turned into a fledge...uh, a 'weyrling', and eagerly took to the skies to begin strength-training his wings. They had grown, gotten good reviews when they were tested in formation training on the ground, and the red dragon could maintain a hovering flap at least as well as the blues from his nest. He could not yet rise with L'ul on his back, and that harness he didn't care at all for pinched his wings, so the red claimed.

But Taiinath asserted that he wanted to see how to blip from one place to another like those big adults did. So when they first did so, it was to the edge of the plains. It was... without supervision, without a harness on, and though they didn't injure themselves, the dragon and rider both were chastised when they were found by the weyrlingmaster.

"You... really should be flying before doing that," he said, firm but not hurtful. "There are ... sometimes there are things that might distract you from moving between, and you might not wind up where you intend to. You have to be able to make sure you're clear of dangers. The ground can be a danger. Other dragons, on the ground or in flight, might hit you, or you could disrupt events by suddenly crashing into them."

L'ul nodded slowly, he'd barely turned seventeen and realized that he might have endangered the entire tribe down there as they hunted dangerous prey on the plains. Scaring a predator might be worse than scaring a herd of deer. With deer at least they can spring away or over a person. But one of the big hunters with their teeth and claws ready to rip into whatever scared it?

He looked away from the weyrlingmaster, down to Taiin, and back. "Yes sir." Then he cracked a little smile, "can you tell me how I'm supposed to get this little red lump into the air, then? He keeps trying to tell me he'll never be able to lift me on his back."

That same little red dragon - yes he was smaller than most in this year's Weyrlings - gave a huff and looked away just like any teenager might...

Pair's Adulthood

Garet and others had gotten together when his dragon's offspring were grown enough to be assigned. It was a lot of work, because there were people from extremely odd places needing their aid, so they had to organize who all could send whom where.

The little red had grown but barely, standing about the same size as his green dam, if that. But he stood proudly, and that was important. He'd finally gotten the hang of flight with not only a harness but with his rider sitting properly on it. L'ul and he were to be moved somewhere he was told he might not... really... enjoy at first. But not because it was a bad place - more, because it was freaking cold.

While L'ul didn't have a hatred of the cold, he liked the warmth of Paniya, he'd grown up in humid, sticky summers, and refreshingly rainy springs. He knew that the big peaks to the east would become snow-capped in winter, what passed for it anyway on this mostly-equatorial island he'd been born on. But he'd never been up there, so right before they were to head off world, Garet and Seth brought the small red and his rider up to that peak. DeyPhong wasn't nearly as huge as Gherna, where the Caer was seated. The aerie there was huge, too, with those thickly furred white-cat type gryphons along with the elegant long-horned Paniyan dragons to patrol the island.

The air was thin, this was not what he was used to at all, down on the valley where he'd grown up. Nor even up on the low peak of Blackstone Weyr as they were trained. So L'ul had to take a moment or two, long slow breaths, and sips of water frequently, that was what he was told to help mitigate altitude sickness.

"The place you'll be going to is cold but it's not all that high, I don't think it's even as high as Gherna," Garet said, his breath coming out in a mist. "Okay it's cold, that's your training, let's get back to the weyr first..."

L'ul laughed heartily at that, and realized that his dragon had absolutely no trouble with any of this activity...

**

Nian's prediction from a year before came back to her: they would certainly be able to return to Alabaster's warm quarry sands! They delivered a message from Kira the Weyrwoman here at Dragonhope, to Engel the Weyrhold's ... and Alabaster's leader. Oh he was a hottie even if he looked old enough to be her grandfather, she thought, and the dragon on the landing flat echoed her feeling but about his dragon.

A holder turned rider turned Weyrleader. With the smallest most gorgeous silver marked white dragon... Nian hustled back to that black dragon of hers and got them back to Dragonhope before she ... before she freakin' flew to mate with the Weyrhold's leader's dragon.

"No you don't," Nian said, "nope not yet you don't." They flew high over the bay, just into the misty cloud cover, a refreshing blast of chilled air on their skin.

I know, we are... not even ranked yet. I apologize, Lethuineth bespoke, but you do have to admit.

"I know he was lovely! But I'm not looking for that kind of complication! We only just earned our first duties!"

**

L'ul and his red stood and watched the Blackstone-like black dragoness as she blipped in and out over the seahold, through the clouds, and back to the Weyr's main ledge.

I like her, you like her rider, he bespoke.

"I know, and you're right on both accounts..." The young man and the black rider were both about the same age. They were from such different places, such different backgrounds, but both had their similarities too. They both did enjoy the looks that people here gave, when they presented their goods or messages. Both dragons were unusual - but 'explained' to those stodgy Pern-natives as 'a really dark blue' and 'that's just brown what are you talking about'. But these dragons were anything but 'just'.

The black dragoness was ... quite a bit bigger than the male red. Almost twice as tall, in fact! And on first glance anyone else might have thought 'that's a blue with a brown hatchling in tow how are they flying at that age!'... And frankly, when L'ul and Nian started actually talking and seeing more of one another than just in passing at the dining hall, they both laughed at how those responses could be twisted into jokes or used to leverage surprise.

Both young riders, she barely 19 and him 18 now, had challenged themselves to hide gifts, gear, messages, and the like around ... well, around everywhere, and only due to L'ul's telepathic ability, shared where those little stashes were. She accepted that he could read her mind, and even speak into hers, with a little help from her dragon. She wouldn't be able to 'send' a thought, but again with Leth's connection to her rider? It was all effectively two-way communication.

That was how they learned how good at teleportation both dragons truly were. It was how they learned that both of them valued family so much. Their enjoyment of warm beaches and summer rain. They were also both seen by others as... well, very pretty together. And that they would surely, surely make beautiful children too.

So when that one treasure hunt led Nian across the seahold, over the old House where she'd grown up and under the Weyr that now served as a Dragonhope outpost... And back up to a wide ledge of a weyr at Dragonhope...

"Wait," Nian said, as her dragon looked quite smug. There were comfortable dressers, couches. A separate glass-walled kitchenette with stone bar.

"Surprise," L'ul said, she could hear his bright, lovely smile. "Will you ... marry me?"

Nian instantly stood straight up but not in anger or fear, spun on him, and virtually jumped into his arms. "Of course I will! Of course!"

**

Their shared weyr was extremely comfy, nicely warm, not stuffy at all and enjoyable padded from the noises around them - as well as deadening the noise their handfasting party was making. Not that anyone in the next couple weyrs near theirs would have complained, they were at the party!

Since neither of them were required as threadfighters, though both adequately trained in such things, they remained nearer the guild and crafters halls, easily accessable to the hunters and the weyrleaders alike. Their dragons lounged together as a rule, split to their duties as the days would pass. It really seemed as if Kira organized their schedule so they both had work, and then both had breaks at the same times.

Everyone around knew that this pair would go far, and it was true. By the time the 11th Pass finally showed itself in ugly full forced silver rain, they had worked out where to go, when to remain safely away, but also when to show up with another team to help out. They protected the old Hold where Nian had grown up, and would also work from that somewhat distant hill-hollowed old Weyr. It would eventually be turned into a storehouse, with cold ice brought from the Dragonhope peak, distributed with chilled meats and vegetables, wines and fresh water. They would get it where it was needed most, be it a House that had suffered a surprise drought, or a nearby Weyr that had exhausted their dragons food supply.

Name: Lethuineth (leh thoo IN eth)
Species: Blackstone-Styled Paniyan-hatched Pernese
Gender: Female
Color: Black; a very dark midnight-blue tinted black body, and wingsails that are as many of this breed's pale almost shimmering white until you see how much color there is on them, could be considered bicolored black and white...
Size: medium-large 14' s /l/ws
Parents: below
Abilities: Winged Flight, strong and dramatic, and at her size this is even more impressive to watch from below - as a herald of information and warnings, Lethuineth is stunning
Teleportation, between her own intelligent mind and her rider's memory, they are absolutely never going to miss their mark whether it's near Dragonhope, across Pern, or even across the Nexus
Telepathy, snarky, observant, and always looking for information to share with her rider. Her telepathic ability is strong enough that she can pry into private conversations, though she rarely offers what she discovers unless it will be of use to someone else
Telekinesis, perhaps brought into strength from moving between worlds and times, she can actively manipulate things at close range and help load goods and gear all by herself
Unassisted Firebreath, also very much because of her nexus-based travel and origins, many of her breed, or at least the type and shape she shows, have changed enough in transit that they no longer need to chew firestone. She does breathe fire and has enough strength with it to provide very good cover for the ground forces should they need to fight Thread
Personality: strong willed and single minded, and a bit stubborn
Sociability: oh, no. prefers specific instances and locations where she knows people and dragons, and has a small group of like-minded folk to fly off with when she wants to 'be a dragon' on her own
Intelligence: extremely so, precise and with a very strong memory like her rider
Mating: eventually? Yes, yes they will have lovely long, sharp, pointy offspring won't they!
Threadfighting: is not required to fight but as stated she is quite capable of joining a fray even without a sack of disgusting coal to choke down
Other: this dragon is a replacement for a deprecated Yakima green, but also is retroactively impressed replacing a rider that does not exist / didn't work out originally
Bond: Nian

Lineage

Mates and Descendants

Name: Taiinath (tie-eh nath)
Species: Blackstone Pernese, Alskyran Variation
Gender: Male
Color: Red; body crimson slightly speckled, wingsails brilliantly white with dapples of red and crimson enough to 'tint' it red; bicolor may be a feature since this dragon's heritage includes a white!
Size: green-sized, 7'6" s / 35' l / 52' ws
Parents: below
Abilities: Winged Flight, active and smart in the air, and strong enough even at his small size that he can carry big wherry and beasts, and fight tunnel snakes with confidence
Teleportation, local truly strong, long-distance with a good degree of accuracy, nexus very strong and quick, remembers where he's been with ease
Telepathy, serves as his rider's foil, and generally only shares his thoughts with Lethuineth or those who are directly involved with an activity. Otherwise he'll just listen in and filter things that his rider doesn't need to worry himself with
Telekinesis; minor, but works to hold gear in place, particularly if that itchy annoying harness is somehow .... done away with...
Unassisted Firebreath rarely used, he is not a fighting dragon
Personality: Didn't really want to leave Alskyr but this place is nice with good people and fine dragons
Sociability: eh, he's always there for his rider, at least
Intelligence: Canny, smart enough to know where to look for people or animals, and with a very good memory for places
Mating: hm. HM. Maybe.
Threadfighting: none, while he can spew fire without needing to chew stones for it, he is not a 'team player' and would prefer to not have to deal with it
Other: kind of agrees with Nian's assessment of flitters, they are annoying, slightly painful pests that want to steal his food
Bond: L'ul

Lineage

Mates and Descendants