| Faloran stood on the Sands, sweating and very nervous. All around him dragonets were hatching and chosing their riders, and he, Faloran, was being completely ignored. He was even jealous that one of the new bronzes was attacking some other boy instead of him to get to his chosen. How could that be? Suddenly the hatching was over, and all the other Candidates had Impressed, all but him. He was alone on the Sands then, the crowd gone and only several other dragonriders that he knew, including the Weyrleader, stood there glowering at him. Their dragons made outlines in the distance, and they shared the look of their riders. �Leave.� They said as one, dragons included. �You don�t belong with dragonkind. None of us want you here.� The dragon�s eyes were whirling, and he felt his entire chest closing on himself. �But I have nowhere to go!� He cried out. �Please!? Just let me stand one more time? Just once? I know I can Impress�.� Faloran pleaded and fell to his knees, begging and crying. �We said no!� And the dragons spread their wings and howled at him. �Leave!� The Weyrwoman told him, pointing to the edge of the hatching grounds. �Help me!� Faloran cried as they pushed him away. F�loran! Wake up! A gentle, soothing voice came into his mind. F�loran tossed about, moaned a bit, and tried to reach the voice. All at once his eyes snapped open and he looked about in fear. Where was he? Oh yes, the weyrling barracks. Brevith. F�loran turned to face his young bronze, hatched only a sevenday ago, and reached out his arm to touch Brevith�s face. Brevith? The boy asked his dragon, who sent loving thoughts and crooned comfortingly. It was a nightmare F�loran. The same one as before. Why do you dream like that? I chose you, and I will stay with you. You don�t need to fear that anymore. Brevith crooned louder, F�loran hushed him and whispered. �Shhh love, there are others in here besides us. We don�t need to wake them up.� F�loran stroked Brevith�s head knobs, smiling at the little bronze. I can�t wait until we get our own weyr F�loran. You and me and Uli can be together and make all the noise we want too! F�loran chuckled. It surprised him that Brevith liked Uli so much. Usually dragons would tolerate (and sometimes enjoy) fire-lizards, but they ignored all other types of animals except for humans, of course. But from the moment Brevith had met Uli, he became very protective of her, and would only say she was weaker than him, and it was his duty to watch out for her. After a few moments of caressing and reassuring Brevith, F�loran sunk back into his cot and tried to go back to sleep. But how could he, when dreams like that kept coming back? F�loran would gladly face a kitchenfull of thieves again before having that dream one more time. And he didn�t even know why he had it. Before the hatching F�loran hadn�t been particularly worried about Impressing or not. Sure he�d hoped he�d Impress, but he wasn�t afraid of not Impressing, or of getting kicked out of the Weyr like in his dreams either. Then he had met Brevith for the first time, and his life changed. Never had a more wonderful creature stepped on Pern. Those first few days were bliss. Eating and sleeping was all Brevith seemed to do; but between those times Brevith�s gentle personality had always been there, comforting and loving. Then the nightmares had started. At first it was just watching someone else walk away with Brevith, but they had gradually gotten worser, to the point it was tonight. Pure exile and no Brevith. He couldn�t ask the other riders, the dreams and feelings were much too personal. Only Brevith could reassure him. With that thought in mind F�loran followed his dragonet�s example, and drifted off to sleep. You can�t count on me for everything you know. Brevith told his rider the next morning. F�loran had already fed his hatchling, and taken him to be bathed in the shallower end of the Weyr lake. Brevith�s unexpected comment startled F�loran. �Pardon?� He asked his dragon, who shook his head and ducked under the water, blowing bubbles to the surface before following them up again. I said you can�t count on me for everything, you know. Brevith repeated, and snapped at the few remaining bubbles. I still itch. I think I need to dry and be oiled now. I like to be oiled. Brevith shook the water off and tramped up past F�loran onto the bank, where he promptly spread his bulky wings to dry faster. F�loran shook his head and followed. �And what is that supposed to mean Brev?� F�loran knelt beside his dragon with a dry towel, and began to work on the creatures (already larger than when he hatched) legs. It means that you won�t talk to anyone else because I�m here. That�s not good. At least that�s what I think. You shouldn�t rely on me always. You are human, you need other humans F�loran. I am a dragon, and I need other dragons! More than you need me? F�loran asked jealously, and then cursed at himself. What a stupid thing to think. I�m sorry Brevith, just ignore that. I don�t know what made me say that. F�loran dried Brevith with more determination than before, and Brevith began to croon. I know why you said that F�loran. You are trying to find all your answers in me! It�s not good to do that. You need to find answers in yourself through others. Your nightmares are bothering you, you should find someone who may know why and talk to them. Searchriders are sensitive, one of them may know. Or the Weyrwoman, she seems nice. �Ask the overworked Weyrwoman if she can help with my nightmares? I don�t think so Brev.� Well then, ask the Searchrider on Merrenth. He seems good. �K�var is just as overworked as Azala is wherrybrain.� F�loran told his dragon firmly, and threw the towel aside as he sank into the ground. How confusing life with a dragon was. It�s not confusing! Brevith wailed and sniffed at the ground in front of him. I�m merely suggesting you get outside help for your bad dreams. Your dreams disturb us both, and I know you don�t want me upset, you love me too much. Brevith snorted and flopped to his side to relax and let the rest of the dampness dry off. � �Merely suggesting�? When did your vocabulary expand so much?� When it did. Brevith answered simply, and stuck his nose into a single flower. F�loran sighed. �True enough Brev.� F�loran gave in, seeing truth in his dragon�s words, despite the fact the dragonet was only a few days old. �I do love you, and I think you may be right. K�var properly won�t mind too much if I ask him a question.� The two sat there for several moments, relishing the feeling of being together, alone, and silent. Brevith sniffed around at the ground and F�loran thought about who he could really ask about his dreams. But another thought came to him, one more urgent than before. �Brev? Can I ask you something?� Always. �Then, where do you want to go when you are able to fly?� Brevith turned to stare at his rider. When I can fly? You mean you don�t want to stay here? �Maybe. I don�t know.� F�loran shook his head. �No Brev, I don�t want to stay here. I like it here, I found you here, but this place gives me an eerie feeling.� Why? �I don�t know love. I think it�s because we�re supposed to be somewhere else.� Oh. �What do you think?� F�loran asked his dragonet. I think whatever you think F�loran. I think if you want to go, we should go. I think I even know a place for us. I heard Yukith and her weyrwoman talking about it. Brevith said shyly. He still wouldn�t use anyone elses name, although he was very close to using Azala�s. �Where?� Dawnsisters. They need more dragons, small as they are right now. �Dawnsisters? The place closed down two turns ago!� F�loran rememeberd hearing about the place, and it�s Weyrwoman had even visited his Hold once, when he had been a child. It did, but it came back. Brevith seemed a bit confused about what he was saying, but got it right nonetheless. A new Weyrwoman has taken control, and refounded the Weyr. Is that right? �I don�t know Brev, I knew nothing about it�� No, I mean is that the right word? Refounded? That sounds right; I think it is. F�loran laughed outright at his dragon, who was more concerned with how many big words he could use than anything else.. �Yes Brevith, that�s the right word. Now tell me, who�s the new Weyrwoman? Maybe I�ve heard of her.� The senior queen is Karoth. Can you oil me now? Brevith asked plaintively. F�loran, knowing he didn�t really need more information from the tiny bronze, kicked at the dirt as he sat up. �Sure love, let�s go get the oil.� Good. Brevith said and followed F�loran towards the weyrling barracks where the oil was kept. I itch. |
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| Brevith gave the mightiest bugle he could muster, and all three of the squabbling greens stopped their fighting and meeped apologetically. The smallest of the three hisses at Brevith, but F'loran could hear the bronze's mental order at her to calm down. F'loran smiled, this bronzerider thing was too easy. All he had to do was give Brevith the go-ahead to discipline the dragons, and he could take care of the riders fine. It's not all discipline. Brevith, now a very large weyrling, informed his rider. It's leadership. We bronzes are designed for it, you humans less so. You must learn how to keep your riders wanting to listen to you-and that takes more than an order. Brevith finished with bravado, watching the greens as the stood next to their annoyed riders. F'loran didn't know why the girls let their dragons continue to fight like that. Weyrling practice had been taking a different turn for the past week. The Weyrlingmaster had divided up the class into smaller groups, literally miniature fighting wings. Bronzes and browns would act as the wingleaders, as in real life, and the rest would be under their command. The two queens that graced the class with their present traveled from group to group so they and their riders could get to know all the dragons better. It's important for the golds to know everybody well. The Weyrlingmaster had said. More so than any other dragon. "We're supposed to be practicing drills." F'loran complained loudly as the two girls and the one boy mounted their dragons. The greens had seemed to forget their quarrel as quickly as their riders had, but it still bothered F'loran. How could he train a fighting wing if everyone was so careless and forgetful? You're not training them F'loran, you're training yourself. Exactly, and in training myself I'm training them. Ah. Brevith said, more to shut his rider up than anything. The young bronze liked F'loran's pushiness, but didn't understand how the lad could be so aggressive about it at the same time. He was aggressive just to get the chance to be pushy. Brevith snorted with good humor, and sent the command for the green's to take into the air. F'loran wanted this drill to go more smoothly than the last two. The greens sent their confirmations of the order, and Brevith relayed to his rider that they were ready to go. "Good." F'loran said, re-checking the straps on Brevith's neck before giving him the signal to take off. They weren't doing this normally; training drills usually meant F'loran and Brevith would take off last, to make sure the "wing" was doing everything properly. You have the firestone? Brevith asked, and F'loran nodded. Not that the weyrlings would be flaming today, but tossing drills were still very important. "Come on Brevith. Let's fly." And with a few wingstrokes, Brevith the bronze was airborn and soaring effortlessly. |
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