Disclaimer: I'm only saying this once so it goes for the entire story, I do not own The Dragonriders of Pern series or any of the actual characters or places from the series that I might use.

I also cannot claim the first verse of Ionnae's song, though not exact, it's pretty much the first verse of the opening song for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. If I ever write the rest of the song it will likely, unless stated so, be pulled from my head but that is where the inspiration lies.

AN: This story revolves primarily around my made up, generically named, Cove Weyr and Breakwater Hold, Seven Coves Hold, and the general area around each. (There might also be a few unnamed gathers.)

Edited: 3/29/10

Outcast

Chapter One: The Chosen Exile

Dreaming of the stars on high

That drift into the sacred skies

Drifting on a breeze

Only I can hear and feel

The song of the sea. The sound Ionnae had fallen asleep and awoken to for the past six Turns. The sound of the waves echoed around a vast cavern, empty but for the massive pool of nearly still water that entered because the sea-facing wall of the cavern was supported beneath the water by pillars instead of a solid wall. The sound was then carried through a narrow passage into the small side cavern that she called home. Ionnae yawned and climbed out of her homemade hammock and threw a blanket of crudely stitched together wherry hide back onto it.

Thirteen fire lizards greeted her. Ionnae assumed the rest of her fair was either in the pool cavern or outside on the surrounding cliffs and bluffs faithfully guarding her home. Twenty-seven fire lizards looked to her. That was more than entire holds could boast. She hadn't intended to impress the first five but it had happened before she'd understood what she was doing. The other Twenty-two were a different matter. When Taleia's first clutch started hatching with an impending Threadfall she had needed to get them out of harm's way, fast, and couldn't think of a better way than enticing them with food.

Of thirty-four eggs she'd ended up with twenty-two. At first she couldn't imagine taking care of twenty-seven fire lizards but now couldn't imagine life without their constant company. In fact, she could hardly remember life without them.

As Ionnae stood a blue fire lizard of her first five, named Rain, landed on her shoulder. Rain was strange for a number of reasons, the most prominent reason was the fact that, despite of color, Rain was female, and of that she was certain. It was that or brown Trigger, also of the first five, was. Ionnae was two hundred and ninety-seven percent sure it was Rain.

As Ionnae grabbed what she would need for the day Rain sat on her shoulder and complained about her slowness. Ten of the fire lizards she had awoken to had gone to spread the news that she was on her way out leaving only Rain, Trigger, and little green Shy. A few more fire lizards popped in to add their complaints to Rain's as Ionnae prepared to leave for the day.

"Give me a minute, Silly." Ionnae laughed as a bronze by the name of Silly grabbed at her ink dark hair and tried to drag her out of her cave. Silly's response was a grumpy chirp that probably could translate to 'Fine. But only one minute.'

Ionnae laughed again and threw her carry-sack with the supplies for the day over her shoulder along with a net-like bag made of thick vines used exclusively for fish. The carry-sack was one of the few things she owned, along with her clothes and sandals, which she had managed to buy at a gather.

Silly, Rain, and Trigger were all elated when Ionnae began to walk toward the tunnel that led to the pool cavern. Then not so much when she had to turn around and coax Shy out from a hole in the wall when a loud noise made by one of the others frightened her.

With Shy hidden in the crook of her arm, Rain perched on her shoulder, and Trigger and Silly as an escort Ionnae finally started down the narrow passage into the pool cavern. Two more fire lizards, the green Flower and Silly's partner in crime the blue Goof greeted them as they entered the cavern. Silly flew off with his partner and they both vanished between with mischievous looks on their faces.

"Onae!" A dolphin's head popped out of the clear pool, "Onae come!" Ionnae waded into the shallows of the pool and the dolphin swam circles around her, "Onae! Onae! Onae!"

"All right, Grin. I'm here. What's wrong?"

"Uh…" Grin stopped swimming in circles and Ionnae cocked an eyebrow at him, "Give Grin not that look! Grin remember! Grin remember! You see! You see!" Grin paused again, "Denni said! Denni said… Right! Denni say to tell Onae that… Denni say warn Onae that there a man on beach few beaches to east! Yeah! That it! That it! See! See! Grin remember! Grin remember!"

Ionnae smiled and rubbed Grin's forehead, "Yes, Grin, you remembered and I'm proud of you."

Grin made a series of clicks and started swimming in circles around Ionnae again, "Grin do good! Grin do good! Grin get fish?"

"I'm sorry, Grin, but I don't have any fish right now but I'll tell you what. If you come back later we'll go for a swim. Okay?"

Grin dove under the water, did a back flip, and swam back up to Ionnae, "Onae promise? Grin remember! Grin come! Grin remember! Onae remember! Onae and Grin go swim! Grin promise! Grin remember!" Grin flipped again and swam out of the pool cavern into the open ocean.

"What are the odds of him actually remembering?" Ionnae asked the air around her. Rain answered her with a chirp, " I agree." Ionnae waded back out of the water onto the sandy rock surrounding the pool, not caring about the sand that stuck to her feet and sandals, and walked toward narrow passage that led parallel to the pool cavern and out into the southern sun.

As Ionnae emerged into to the sandy cove she was bombarded by at least fifteen of her fire lizards. From what Ionnae could gather there was a man, a boy more like, sitting in one of the sandy coves to the east, as Grin had said. Apparently he was upset and he was making Taleia upset.

"Taleia? Why's Taleia upset?" Ionnae asked out loud. She climbed up the side of the cliff face onto a narrow causeway that led over the deep water that fed into the pool cavern. "The cove her eggs are in!" Ionnae groaned as she jumped into the shallows at the end of the causeway, "Some of you go tell her not to overreact unless he sees them. Otherwise she'll just be announcing their presence."

Several of Ionnae's friends winked out of existence. She walked carefully along the rock walls of the coves she passed through heading in an easterly direction. She peaked around each cliff face before venturing into the next cove. A green fire lizard named Gem appeared and hovered in front of Ionnae reporting that Goof and Silly were up to no good and it involved that strange boy and his dragon.

"Dragon! Nobody thought to mention that sooner?" Gem simply stated that they were in the next cove over and she should be quieter. "What, on all Pern, would a dragonrider be doing in a random cove?" Other than be looking for fire lizard eggs… Ionnae ran her hand through her hair. She waded slowly into the water, the majority of the fire lizards left, and Ionnae peaked around the next bluff.

A boy, who couldn't have been any older then Ionnae, with brown windblown hair, sat on the sand near the water. He was hugging his knees to his chest and had his face buried in them. Her friends were right, this young dragonrider was obviously upset. So upset, in fact, that he didn't notice that he was sitting less than two feet from a queen fire lizard's clutch and that said queen fire lizard's whirling crimson eyes were boring holes in the back of his skull from the cliff face behind him.

The boy's brown dragon was definitely small. Ionnae didn't know all that much about dragons but she was pretty sure they were generally larger than runnerbeasts. The minuscule dragon had his nose underwater and was blowing bubbles obviously upset with its rider's distress…

Either that or it was with little blue fire lizard that seemed to be using him for a diving platform. Ionnae covered her mouth to keep in her laughter as Goof did an acrobatic leap off of the dragon's head. Oh, Goof, She thought, what am I going to do with you? Ionnae scanned the cove but the only bronze fire lizard she could see was Tok, perched faithfully on the cliff face beside his mate, his eyes just as baleful as hers were. If Goof was getting into trouble and Silly wasn't around it meant more trouble coming.

Ionnae eavesdropped on their conversation, trying to deduce the reason they were so close to her home. The things that Taluth's rider say don't matter. The dragon was telling his rider, You are mine and I'm yours. That's what matters.

The rider looked back up at his dragon, "Callanth…" He buried his face in his knees, "Thanks."

You're done brooding now? I want to swim. The little brown dragon blew air threw his nose causing the water to bubble, And this goofy blue fire lizard keeps jumping off my head.

"Fire lizard?"

A bronze blur shot out of the water and landed on the young dragonrider's knees. The boy looked up at the bronze fire lizard, whose nose was less than an inch from his, in shock. Silly had a strange look on his face and cocked his head to one side. The next thing the dragonrider knew this bizarre fire lizard had spit a large amount of water in his face.

His startled cry frightened Shy between and as he fell backward trying to defend his face from a second assault, this time by Goof, his hand landed inches from Taleia's eggs. He obviously noticed them, however, it was in the spilt second before Taleia went berserk.

As the queen dove the rest of the fair followed, save for frightened Shy and Rain who remained perched firmly on Ionnae's shoulder though she was screeching loudly. The dragonrider leapt to his feet but fell down again covering his head with his arms as the fire lizards dove past. He got up again and scrambled toward the water where his dragon was trying to swim toward him but had Goof and Silly jabbering in his face.

The dragonrider was knee deep in the water now with his arms covering his head trying to wave off Taleia and the rest of Ionnae's fair. "I won't touch your eggs! Really! Promise!"

The young dragonrider's attempts to placate Taleia were so pathetic that Ionnae seriously considered calling her off but she doubted the fire lizard queen would listen to her if she felt her eggs were in danger.

"Really! I won't—" The boy's plea to the fire lizard queen was cut short as he fell over a drop-off that spanned the length of several coves. "Callanth!" He broke through the surface of the water and shouted for his dragon.

I'm here! The small brown dragon snorted Silly and Goof out of his face and reached his rider. Are you all right? The dragon asked of his rider.

"Fine. Just peachy." The rider threw his arms over the dragon's back and hauled himself into the saddle as Taleia and the others continued to dive at him. Ionnae, trying not to laugh, silently appealed to Taleia to leave the poor boy alone but she refused to cease her antics until the dragon had taken off.

Ionnae pressed herself against the wall of the bluff to avoid being seen as the dragon flew overhead but as soon as her fire lizard friends reported the dragon was out of sight she sank onto her rear laughing. She laughed until Taleia landed on her knees and none to quietly reminded her of the nasty habit dragonriders had of snatching eggs.

"Alright, alright. Let's move." Ionnae pushed herself to her feet rearranging the two bags she had slung over her shoulders, "Taleia, Tok, you two should stay here in case he comes back." The bronze and his queen chirped in response and flew back to the ledge from which they watched their eggs, "Goof… Silly…" The two troublemaking fire lizards hovered guiltily in front of her and she gave them a stern look, "If you hadn't been so intent on making mischief he might not even have noticed Taleia's eggs. Think before you act." The pair chirped sadly and winked between but Ionnae knew that they'd be up to no good again before the tide came in.

She looked up at the rest of her fair who were perched on the cliffs or still circling above on the look out for more intruders. "The rest of you come on. We've much to do today." Ionnae turned on her heel and began walking back in the direction of her cave.

Yes, she thought, much to do today. And a clutch of eggs to relocate.

AN: Just so anyone who might be interested knows, my update dates are sporadic and I have a couple other issues that might make my updates few and far between but I do like the plot of this story better than my other fanfics so I'll try to give it some special attention. This idea has been cultivating in my head for awhile so, unlike the others, I actually have more of an idea where it's going.

Wish me luck and thanks for reading!

-Ebony