Other Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Dance ❯ Chapter one ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Experimenting with something new.  Tell me what you think.
Disclaimer:  I own nothing of Anne McCaffrey's work, except my interest in her stories.

Igen Weyr was never a grand place to be, especially since the weather there was almost always unbearable.  In the summer the temperatures would rise to more than 100° F, though according to some of the inhabitants that lived there it felt hotter than that.  Not many people dared to venture outside their weyrs or the lower caverns during this time, not even the dragons, despite preferring the heat on their skin.  One of the weyrlings attributed such heat to "humidity", a word he learned during his younger days at Igen Hold far before becoming a dragon rider.  Winter made living there somewhat easier; the heat was reduced to walking around weather, but not cold enough to have need for long clothing.  Despite all of the weather hazards that the weyr endured, it still prospered in its own right, thanks to its weyrleaders over time.
The Weyr was well known for being isolated in the desert region of Pern, and at the beginning of the Seventh Pass it had a fighting wing of fewer than three hundred fliers and only two queens, Drennath and Pireth, the former being the senior queen and her rider being Weyrwoman, whose name was Elizabeth.  Her weyrmate was bronze rider D'marcus, and his dragon's name was Gameth. Although D'marcus and Elizabeth were weyrleaders, their dragons were well past the age of any mating flight; Drennath hadn't risen to mate in over ten Turns, which explains why the weyr has less dragons than the other ones.  Not that it would have mattered; she planned on sticking to Gameth for many Turns to come, and would allow no other bronze to fly her.  Gameth, of course, was still able to fly and fight Thread, but anyone could see that he and his rider were becoming progressively slower, though they themselves were too stubborn to admit it.  A bad scoring from a particularly nasty Threadfall, which traveled from D'marcus's right tricep to Gameth's right hind leg before they had enough time to go between, finally grounded them.  D'marcus likened it to a battle scar that he proudly showed off, until he was informed by the Master Healer that he wasn't going to have full use of his arm again, because Thread tore through the muscles before he was able to go between to get rid of it.  And due to his age of being well over sixty Turns, his healing rate would take longer than that of a younger person, if it healed at all, so now strength in his right arm was reduced to handling things no heavier than a dinner plate.  Gameth fared off better because his muscles were thicker, but the massive scar was deep enough to cause him to limp while walking.  And with his rider only at half strength, there was no way that they would be able to fly Thread and perform the duties required of them efficiently.
This suited Elizabeth and Drennath well enough, since Elizabeth much preferred her weyrmate to be with her on the ground.  She, too, was well past her vitality ages, being fifty-eight Turns.  She loved her weyrmate dearly, and wanted no harm to come to him.  After her years of flying Thread came to an end, she was more than happy to spend her time in the weyr or weyr bowl, performing duties reminiscent to that of a Headwoman.  Other workers in the caverns, including Headwoman Janissa, who was close to her age, tried in vain to discourage her from moving about so much.
"I'm alright," she scolded them.  "I may be too old to fly thread, but I'm not bedridden."
Drennath was almost as every bit a reflection of her rider; tough, brave, and always acting as a motherly figure to each dragon that came from her clutch, and poring over them when they came back from Threadfall with threadscores on their bodies.  It sometimes got in the way of the healers who had to do their job of treating the threadscored riders and dragons, and only by an admonishing from Gameth, who informed her that the dragons were young and fit enough to recover fast enough to fly Thread again, did she back off...a little.  She still scolded them about not being too careful.  Though Drennath was well past her dragon ages as well, she still had the vitality of a young queen when it came to her children, and she was quite wizened beyond her years, even when she was young.
Pireth, and her young rider Alania, were transferred to Igen several seven-days before the next fall from Ista weyr, and at a good time.  Pireth had just reached the growth to maturity and would be getting ready to fly soon, and Alania had just turned twenty-three Turns.  Due to Drennath not being able to go on mating flights anymore because of her age, a younger one had to be brought in to replenish the dwindling dragon numbers.  Alania was a little reluctant to go at first, since she had just gotten used to being at Ista and didn't like Igen's heat, but was finally convinced to go when she was told that she would have her own weyr, and she doesn't have to become Weyrwoman when her dragon flies, but she would still have to perform her duties as a queen rider.  Drennath didn't mind passing on responsibility to a younger dragon; in fact, she even took Pireth under her wing (highly unusual for a dragon) and gave her the skinny on who was in the weyr, and whom she might have thought would have been a suitable dragon that could fly her, which sort of unsettled Pireth because she was used to making her own decisions.  It turned out being a direct opposite choice from the old dragon.  A young bronze, whose rider was nearly the same age as Alania, and whom Alania had her eye on as well, won the mating flight.  Pireth treated the bronze as more of a sibling than a suitable mate before the flight, which annoyed the dragon occasionally, but she later admitted to treating him like that because she was afraid of her own growing feelings for him and was glad that it was him that flew her.
Pireth clutched later on in the following months, producing up to twenty-two eggs, including two queens eggs, which she guarded rather fervently.  The weyr was ecstatic with excitement and wonder, as to how could a queen dragon lay two queen eggs in one clutch?  This was certainly unusual for a queen dragon, especially for Igen, and immediately rumors began spreading about through the weyr and nearby hold.  Some said it was the water the dragons drank; others said it was the altitude, or it could have been for the fact that since the queen and her rider came from a different climate, the adjustment to Igen's hot climate must have somehow messed with the dragon's body, but since it was close to winter time that one was shoved out the door. Word quickly got around to the other weyrs, and the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen came from all around to see the spectacle.  The rumors were quickly dissipated before their arrival so as to not raise any unnecessary questions.  Candidates were searched right away, though there was some reluctance when they heard it was at Igen.  Nevertheless, there were more than enough candidates searched throughout Pern to Impress any of the dragons.  As the days grew closer to the hatching, D'marcus began to notice that there were more candidates and eggs than he had helpers for, and there were sure to be more people when the spectators arrived.  Igen Hold would surely bring its drudges as well, but would that be enough?  Just to make sure, he sent runners and dragons to the surrounding weyrs and holds to ask for help with their drudges at the hatching.

Lemos Hold, two days before Igen Weyr's hatching

"James!  Hey, James!  You done down there yet?!" a kitchen drudge called down to the cellar in Lemos Hold's back yard.  
"Give me a second!" came the reply of a husky sounding male.  A small thump followed by a sharp exclamation rose out of the darkness of the cellar, then the soft sounds of boots on the steps which got closer to the dark entrance, and finally the one called James emerged from the depths of the cellar. Dark brown skinned with long black hair neatly plaited into locks and pulled to the back of his head by a band and heavily built, James was sort of an intimidating sight to behold.  Resting on each shoulder was a cask of wine that were to go to Igen for the hatching, a feat that any of the other drudges at Lemos Hold would find impossible, where most of them struggled with just one.  James wore the customary drudge's clothes of coveralls, except he didn't wear it over his torso.  It was merely tied at the sleeves around his waist, so only his black, sleeveless undershirt showed.  Like all the other drudges, though, he tucked the leggings into his boots so he wouldn't step on them.  Standing at only five feet and six inches, his build contrasted his height greatly.
People have always questioned where James came from; he just kind of showed up at Lemos four Turns ago, with no prior history of being at any other hold or hall.  He himself never figured out where he was from either, only knowing his name and age at eighteen when he arrived.  Messages and riders were sent all over to the other holds, asking if they knew of him.  There were little to no answers from any of the holds, halls, or weyrs, except a snippet of information from Telgar Weyr.  The Headwoman there recognized him from the description provided by a messenger, but she never knew his name.  He was only there for two seven-days, and then he was gone.  Great help, sort of quiet, and didn't complain about anything.  It was as if he'd been there for years, easily melding into the throng of workers and drudges.  Due to the constant running around, there was no way to find out his name, and she told the messenger to thank him if he were seen again.
When he showed up at Lemos Hold, the Lord Holder Trisel took him in to give him refuge, since Threadfall was due any day then.  He was very quiet at first, not easily recognized by anyone but polite enough to give his name if asked.  It was noted at times that he would subconsciously straighten up objects or dust furniture if he were left unsupervised for too long.  Large rooms in the hold that took four drudges two hours to clean was  shortened to thirty minutes when he would help out.  It was while he was helping a drudge with a heavy burden that Lord Trisel guessed that he's someone's drudge, since he never once mentioned where he came from, and how easily he got into the work load with the other drudges.  The information he heard from Telgar convinced him that James was from some minor hold, having not belonged there either.  James himself didn't remember much from before Telgar Weyr, just that he'd been traveling for a very long time, and not even sure why.  Telgar was the first stop he made since traveling, but then he left again two seven-days later.
"I'm not even sure why," he told Lord Trisel.  "I just knew that I had to go."
So four years later, after Trisel decided to make him part of the drudge staff (something James much preferred), James was still as hardworking as ever.  He carried the two casks, which weren't very big but heavy enough to cause trouble walking for most individuals, to the awaiting carriage that would take the goods to Igen Weyr, a day's travel away from Lemos Hold.
"What took so long down there?" the drudge asked James as they walked to the carriage.
"Trisk kept poking me with her nose," James said, referring to the gold watch-wher and chuckling lightly.  "She wanted me to scratch behind her eye ridges.  I tell you, that watch-wher seems to have taking a liking to me."  
He adjusted the casks on his shoulders so they wouldn't slip off and break on the ground, without slowing down or missing a step.  He gently deposited the casks onto the back of the carriage while the driver looked on curiously.  He looked around at the other drudges that were about the yard, straightening things up and just doing a general clean up, and then back at James, noticing how he was the darkest out of all the other drudges, but decided not to question the reason.
"You're the only one she responds to, aside from Lord Trisel since she's bonded to him," said the drudge, depositing the sack he was carrying onto the back of the carriage alongside the casks.  James closed the door to the carriage and latched it, giving the driver a thumbs up and a wide grin to signify that everything going to Igen was all loaded up.  The driver returned the gesture and, after checking to see that everything was secured, climbed to the front of the carriage, grabbed the reins, and urged the burdenbeasts forward out the back gate.
"She regards me as a curiosity, considering my disposition," James continued.
"Which is?"
"Look around at everyone else, then look at me."  The drudge took a quick glance around, and it didn't take long for him to figure out what James meant.
"Oh," he said, looking back at James apologetically.  "Sorry."
"No need to apologize, Pierre," James said.  "It's nothing for me to be angry about."  They began walking back towards the hold to finish their chores.
"Does she speak to you?" Pierre asked.
"...not typically.  She just kind of gestures at me what she wants.  She doesn't speak to me like she does to Lord Trisel.  Not that watch-whers speak like dragons do, at any rate."  James picked up a rake and began raking up leaves and foliage into a pile.  Pierre grabbed an empty sack to help with the cleaning process.
"You ever thought about Impressing a dragon?" James asked as he scooped the debris into the bag.
Pierre thought for a few seconds.  "I guess not," he said.  "I've been a drudge for most of my life, so the thought never really crossed my mind.  Now, riding one is a different story!  I'd love to fly high in the sky on one, just to see what Pern looks like from that height!"
"Until you get taken between," James said, grinning as Pierre shuddered at the mention of the dark void that dragons go through to get to one place to another instantaneously.  He'd heard enough stories about how there is no sense of feeling in between, and that it is deathly cold, colder than the coldest winter Pern has ever had.  But it doesn't last very long, as long as the dragon has a clear image of their destination from their rider; as one person put it, 'it only lasts as long as it takes to cough three times'.  There have been many dragons and riders over time that have been lost in between, either by accident or suicide, the latter because if the rider dies and the bond between them is lost, the dragon refuses to live without the rider, and vice versa if the dragon goes between because it sustained too grave of an injury, in which case the rider usually takes their own life, not being able to live without their life partner.
Pierre pulled the drawstring on the sack to close it, and slung it over his shoulder.  He began carrying it to the back of a shed where other sacks full of foliage that the other drudges collected rested against the shed wall.  "What about you?  Think you'll Impress one?" he asked James.
James shrugged.  "Who's to say?  Life's always full of surprises.  I'd be content just having something to do."
"Not much of a thinker, are you?"
"When you've been a nomad your whole life, thinking is all you have to do."  They began walking back to the hold.
Later that night at dinner time, everyone was talking and eating when the Lord Holder stood and commanded silence.  Everyone instantly fell silent.
"As most of you know, Igen's queen dragon, Pireth, had clutched recently and that any day now the eggs will hatch.  Unfortunately, the weyr is short on staff to help with the hospitality of the candidates, their dragons, and the spectators.  Therefore, they have asked holds, halls, and other weyrs if they could spare two or three drudges to help with provisions, including from our hold."
Everyone immediately broke out into soft murmurs.  Some, filled with excitement about witnessing a hatching; others, a little dismayed that it was at Igen.  James, slowly chewing on a piece of sweet roll, rose an eyebrow.  He looked at Pierre sitting across from him, who gave a small shrug.
"Now, I know any of you would not like to go to Igen because of the temperature there," Lord Trisel continued, voicing everyone's concern.  "I don't like the place myself, but it's close to winter time now, so the temperature there is tolerable.  And since the eggs are set to hatch a few days from now, you won't be there for very long.  I already have the three names that I think would be a great help at the hatching."  He looked at James.
"James, you're obviously my first choice.  You've been a great help to the hold for the past four Turns, and I believe you'll be a great help for this special event as well."
James stopped chewing and looked at the Lord Holder, slightly perplexed.  He didn't really expect to go to any big event short of a Gather.  But to be a witness to a hatching, even helping out the candidates who Impress a dragon!  What a surprise!  Even if it were at Igen Weyr, it was still something to witness.  He looked at Pierre, who put on a wild grin and gave him a thumbs up.  He returned the thumbs up with a sheepish grin, and listened on as the Lord Holder named off two other drudges, and explained to them what to expect to help with.
*********
"Are you sure it's a good idea to send James to the hatching?" Lord Trisel's wife, Lady Cissa, asked him as they laid in bed and prepared to go to sleep.
"Why not?" Lord Trisel asked.  "You see how hard he works around here."
Don't I ever, she thought, wistfully.  She'd had one too many unwitting fantasies of this supposed 'mere drudge', which to her eyes didn't look like a drudge at all, even when he first showed up at Lemos Hold.  He was too well built, too well-mannered, as if he took extra care of himself to not have a drudge's look.  On more than one occasion, she would see him through her window hard at work, lifting heavy objects with his shirt off and showing his muscles.
"You know what I mean," she continued, banishing the thought.  "What are you really sending him there for?"
"I really do think he'll be a great help there," he said after a few seconds.  "But I also think someone would recognize him there.  A family member, or a Craftsman maybe.  I still wonder about his past.  Perhaps this will be a step to figuring that out."
"And if no one acknowledges him, will he come back here?"
"Of course!  He's already a part of us, so why not?"
"True," she said, grinning.  "Amazing.  Out of all the Gathers we've had over the past four Turns, no one recognized anything about him."
"We'll just have to keep searching until we find someone that does."  He leaned over to kiss his wife, and they both snuggled into the furs to get some sleep.
"Wow!" Pierre breathed.  "You get to be a witness to a hatching!"
"I suppose..." James said, slightly put out.
"What's wrong?"  Pierre noticed how James kept his eyes glued to the ceiling of the barn as he lay in his rack on his back.  Everyone else was asleep.
"Nothing, really.  This was just something I didn't expect.  Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great to see a spectacle like that.  I guess I don't expect too many things in my life."
Pierre shook his head.  "After four years, you still think you're alone, huh?"
"...I don't know what I am anymore," James said, getting up and heading towards the barn's side entrance.
"Where are you going?"  Pierre asked in a whisper, sitting up.
"To think," James whispered back as he headed out the door, closing it silently behind him.  He walked across the yard towards the shed, using the light of the twin moons to help guide him.  A rustle of grass and a soft warble caught his attention, and he turned to see gold Trisk ambling towards him.  Watch-whers only came out at night, so no one actually knew much of what they looked like since they were all asleep.  James didn't sleep much, so he was always able to get a full view of what Trisk looked like.  Most watch-whers were only half the size of a normal full grown man; Trisk was slightly bigger than the average queen watch-wher.  James smiled, and scratched her eye ridges.  He felt her thrum with pleasure as she closed her eyes and leaned into the scratch.
"I'd like to be alone right now," he said to her softly, patting her neck and putting his forehead on top of hers.  She crooned with worry, licking his cheek and causing him to chuckle.
"I'm fine," he said.  "I just need to think."  She gave him an admonishing cheep as he straightened up, and trotted in the opposite direction away from the shed.
That must mean she doesn't want me to stay up too late, he thought.  Don't worry, I won't.
This area of the shed was where James spent most of the night practicing his fighting skills.  He was never sure where he learned such movements from, but they did help him calm down when he was in deep thought.  He would step forward lightly, his hands moving in slow, intricate patterns as if he were in water.  At times he would dip slightly, then turn on the balls of his feet and repeat the same movements in the opposite direction, all the while taking slow, controlled breaths.
This should be something exciting to me, he thought as he finished his movements.  So why do I feel so worried?
He finished his movements by standing straight, bringing his hands together and tucking his head while letting his breath out slowly.
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I decided to try my hand at writing about Pern.  I like the books, in particular because I like dragons.  Some of the relationship statuses I don't agree with, but I don't dwell on reading those parts for too long.  Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter.  I'll be sure to upload more, regardless.  Someone's bound to like it.