Serri yawned and reluctantly regained consciousness. Tsuki chirped happily, the sunlight dancing off his bronze scales. He�d adapted to life at Talor Cliff very easily. Serri hadn�t. She wasn�t used to a big Weyr or lots of people and it had taken her a few days to begin to open up to people. She finally began to talk to the other candidates, but not before they had nicknamed her �Shy Serri�. She sighed and rubbed her temples as she forced herself to wake up.
Tsuki, seeing that his owner was returning to the dream world, landed on her head and began chirping in her ear.
"Alright!" She got out of bed, knocking the bronze flit off of her. "I�m up. I�m up." She looked out the window to see people entering the candidate classroom. "And late for Candidate Classes! Master D�tol will kill me!" Serri quickly got dressed and ran through the halls to her class. She quietly opened the door, hoping rather foolishly to slip in unnoticed.
"Hello. Nice of you to join us Serri." D�tol smiled at her.
Serri cringed and shut the door behind her. "I�m sorry. I overslept."
D�tol raised an eyebrow. "It�s not like you to be late Serri. Is something wrong?"
"No...I..." Serri stuttered quietly.
"Speak up." D�tol hushed one of the other students who was snickering at her. "What?"
"I stayed up late last night to make a star chart." She stared embarrassed at the floor.
Weyrling Master D�tol appeared amused. "And here I though you were planning on becoming a dragonrider."
It was a joke, a simple off-hand remark, but Tsuki took it personally. He flew screeching at the brown-rider.
"Tsuki, no!" The bronze dove at D�tol, screeching loudly, but not hurting the man.
Stop that right now, you little twit! Easoth�s voice boomed at the little flitter. Everyone cringed as the Weyrling Master�s dragon looked in through the window.
Tsuki creeled and flew to hide shaking in Serri�s hair. As she detangled the flit, she glared at the dragon. "What did you do that for?!? He wasn�t hurting Master D�tol. He�d just a silly flit you sharding bully!" Serri clamped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she�d said.
D�tol smirked and Easoth looked like he was going to explode. Everyone in the room stared open-mouthed at the girl they had dubbed �Shy Serri�. Tsuki disappeared between. Serri cringed.
"I meant....well....that wasn�t very nice and......well.....it kinda slipped out.......I wasn�t thinking and Tsuki was pulling my hair...." She trailed off as she honestly had no explanation for her behaviour. She fully expected to be thrown out of the Candidate Classes and out of Talor Cliff Weyr, right then and there.
Instead D�tol bespoke Easoth for a minute before addressing the class. "Special treat today class. We�re going to visit the eggs. Now everyone, I just want you to approach the Sr. Queen Naomith slowly and calmly. Weyrwoman Falora will be there to keep her dragon clam, but the queen can still be edgy. You can either wander among the eggs, or just pick one. Rub the eggs and talk to them if you like. Whatever. Don�t shout run or squeal and no firelizards. Got it?" The class nodded. "Okay everyone. Wait outside for me. Serri I need to talk to you."
Serri cringed. She�d been hoping to escape before anyone could say anything to her. She slowly approached the Weyrling Master, reluctant to look at him. "I want to apologize....I didn�t mean...."
D�tol smiled. "No, it�s okay. Easoth gets that way sometimes. I just wondered what prompted you to snap at a large, brown dragon."
Serri blushed. "Well, Tsuki was in my hair and it hurt and I could tell that Tsuki was scared and I was mad that Easoth could scare my flitter. I just don�t think he had to snap at Tsuki like that. He wasn�t hurting you."
The Weyrling Master smiled. "Okay. Wait with everyone else outside. I just have to do a few things." He moved to his desk and Serri moved to the door.
She stopped before opening it. "Master D�tol?"
He looked up at her. "Yes?"
"I do plan on becoming a dragon-rider. I just like to make star charts. It gives my mind something to do." She quickly shut the door behind her.
D�tol smiled. "I know." He whispered after her. "And, for the life of me I can�t figure out why."
"Okay." D�tol called in a quiet voice. "Welcome to the Sands."
Serri stared in amazement at the eggs. She couldn�t force herself to step onto the burning sand yet, so instead she stood at the entrance way, looking. She watched the beautiful Sr. Queen Naomith as she glared at the candidates. She watched Weyrwoman Falora calm her dragon by rubbing her eyeridges. She watched the other candidates as they walked among the eggs. She saw the other girls crowding around the large eggs, obviously hoping for a queen. She saw the boys touching each egg, not knowing what was in any of them. Finally, she looked out among the stands. She imagined them full of people. She looked at the ledges and imagined them full of dragons. She imagined the noise and excitement fo a hatching and sighed. I fainted at my own Searching. What will I be like at a hatching?
Weyrling Master D�tol interupted her thought by touching her on the shoulder. She looked up at him, her worries showing plainly on her face. D�tol smiled. "Go on." He motioned towards the eggs. "Tell one of them about it."
She winced as her sandal-covered feet touched the burning sands. She looked around for an egg to befriend. She smiled as she though of how silly that sounded. The heat prompted her to choose a solitary egg that was in a small patch of shade. She sighed as she kneeled beside the egg. She smirked as she laid one hand on the hard, warm shell. "Well egg. It�s just you and me."
She was surprised by the hardness of the shell. "How on Pern are you going to break through this little dragon?" She rested her cheek against the egg. She could feel something moving within it. It was a rather small egg compared to the others.
"You�re probably a green or blue huh?" She rubbed the egg. "Maybe a white." She doubted it, but with a Sr. Queen, anything was possible.
Serri found it oddly easy to talk to the egg. She first thought that she�d find it difficult to talk to an inanimate object, but the egg proved to be hardly inanimate. It rocked every now and then and Serri could feel the dragonet moving within sometimes. She always kept one hand on the egg as she spoke.
"I suppose I should tell you about Thread and Weyrs and all, but why not let you deal with that after you hatch. You�ll have to deal with them for the rest of your life after that." She sighed as she thought of her earlier actions. "And you�ll have to learn the hierarchy of the Weyr too, but that can wait as well. No use worrying you before you�re even born. Master D�tol think I should tell you about myself, but I wouldn�t want to influence your decision at the Hatching. I want you to choose the best person for you, okay?" She felt the dragonet move within the egg and smiled. "Let me tell you about the stars..."
What is she saying? D�tol watched Serri with amusement.
Easoth sighed. She�s telling the egg about stars and mathematics.
Math?!? D�tol was surprised.
Easoth nodded. Yep.
D�tol smiled. She never ceases to amaze me. He watched the other candidates, but his gaze constantly wandered back to Serri. He wondered why. There wasn�t anything amazingly exciting about her appearance and her personality couldn�t exactly be described as magnetic, but there was something about her... Think there�s a dragon for her?
Easoth snorted. Mitanth seems to thinks so and I don�t disagree.
D�tol tried to figure it out. I know appearance isn�t everything, but what do you dragons see in her?
Easoth sighed. The same thing her lifemate will see in her when they choose her. The brown smiled slightly. Her heart.
Serri is a candidate at Talor Cliff Weyr.
Serri�s picture from Caleah�s Anime Avatars.
Background from Jolie Joyau�s Web Designs.