Ok, ummm... This is my first Pern story, so, I can't be held responsible if it's crap. Ok, yeah I can. But I was bored. So I wrote this. Reviews would be nice.
A round spaceship rocketed through space. It looked almost like a Saiyan space pod, except much larger. Inside the ship were Goten, Phantom, and myself. We were on our way to the planet Namek, to see how many people we could piss off before they chased us away with torches and pitchforks. That's just the way we are.
The trip was going fine at first, until we passed through this space cloud thingy. It screwed with our instruments, and rebooted the navigation system. We were pretty much lost. We wandered around the solar system for several hours until Phantom pointed out a planet that looked like it could support life.
"Goten, the third planet. Land on that one," Phantom ordered in that annoying, "I'm better than you so don't argue" voice of his.
Goten muttered to himself, but eventually complied.
"As long as there's air and the locals have electricity, we should be able to fix whatever's wrong with the navigation," I commented from the couch, where I was writing the next chapter to A Tale of Two Twins.
It was a rough landing. Goten obviously had no idea what a landing was supposed to look like, because he made no attempt to slow the ship down in orbit. We hurtled down to the unfamiliar planet; an unpleasant impact was imminent.
"Goten, you idiot!" Phantom screamed. His ears were flat on his head in terror. "Stephanie, you're going to have to fix it!"
I nodded and struggled my way to the pilot's seat. I shoved Goten out of the way, and leveled the ship out. The landing was still rough. The pod bounced then landed back again, creating a deep trench in the foreign soil.
I staggered away from the pod, Goten and Phantom in tow. Phantom leapt from my arms with a disgruntled flick of his tail. "I can walk you know," he hissed.
We had landed in front of an odd stone structure. People were pouring out of it, and cautiously forming a semi-circle around the pod and us. An aging man pushed his way through the crowd.
"Greetings outsiders!" he announced. "I am Robinton, the MasterHarper of Pern!"
I stepped back in shock. I had realized we were lost, but it had never occurred to me that we were that lost!
"Phanny… We're on Pern! I can't believe this! WE'RE ON PERN!" I screamed while jumping up and down excitedly.
Phantom's tail swished around his legs as he calmly sat down. "I realized this Stephanie," he said. "And how many times must I tell you, my name is Phantom, not Phanny."
I shrugged and turned my attentions to Robinton."OmygodRobintonYou'relikemyfavoritecharacterbesides LessaandRamothandwillyousignmynotebook?"
Robinton blinked, then laughed. "Say it slower and I might."
I took a deep breath and repeated myself, making an effort to slow down. Robinton smiled and held out his hand for the notebook. He took it, and stared admiringly at the paper.
"This is good quality paper!" he exclaimed. "I take it you got it on your home planet?"
Just as I nodded, a dragon appeared in the sky. He spiraled lazily down, and landed right beside our pod. His rider dismounted and gave us a curious look. "Master Robinton, who are these people and what is that thing over there?"
"I am The Petulant Purple Princess. Or Stephanie if you don't want to say that much," I told him.
"I call her Triple P," Goten interrupted to add his own input.
"Yeah… That one is Goten and the cat is Phantom. The thing over there is our space pod," I finished.
"Oh!" the dragonrider exclaimed. "Well, my name is V'eta and this is Bardoth."
I stared at him. Was it just me, or did his and his dragon's names sound like Saiyan names? Specifically Vegeta and Bardock? I shrugged it off and logged it away for future reference.
V'eta took Robinton away to talk as soon as he returned my notebook to me. Goten, Phantom, and I gathered around the pod to assess the damage done. Or rather, Phantom assessed damage done, while Goten and I stood around pretending we knew what we were talking about.
Phantom determined what was wrong with the navigation, no thanks to Goten and me, and had me write down all the supplies we'd need to fix the pod.
Robinton and V'eta returned to our little circle (by that time everyone else at HarperHall had gotten bored and left) and announced, "The current Clutch at Benden is ready to hatch. We'd be honored if you would come with us to watch the Hatching."
"Are you guys serious?" Robinton nodded. Once again, I started screaming and jumping up and down. "I'M GONNA GO SEE A BENDEN HATCHING!" I squealed.
Phantom looked up at Bardoth apprehensively. "How are you going to keep me on him?" he questioned.
"I'm sure Stephanie will be happy to hold you while we're between," V'eta said with a smile.
Phantom scowled (or as close to a scowl you can get on a cat) and flicked his tail. "I suppose I could assent to that," he said grudgingly.
For the most part, Goten had been keeping quiet. Apparently he was unfamiliar with Pern and the Thread-charring dragons, and naturally, he was confused.
"Um, Triple P?" he said in an undertone, pulling me away from the group.
"What's wrong Goten? Did you wet your pants again? It's OK, everyone does it once in a while! D'you want me to go in and get you an extra pair of pants?"
Goten's face turned a deep shade of red. "NO! Of course not! I just don't know what's going on, that's all!"
"Oh, that makes more sense!" I grinned at him. "Don't you ever read stuff other than my fanfiction?"
Goten shook his head. "No. And don't you think it's rather presumptuous of you to think that I actually read your stories?"
"Don't you think presumptuous is too big a word for you?" I retorted. "The Dragonriders of Pern is a popular series written by Anne McCaffrey," I explained. "They're some of my favorite books."
"So what does it mean that we're invited to a Benden Hatching?"
"Goten," I laughed, "We're gonna go see dragons hatching!"
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Phantom had managed to survive between squashed between Goten and me on Bardoth. We winked out of between directly above the crowded Bowl. Bardoth dropped us off, then joined the rest of the dragons on the ledge.
"The Hatching Grounds are this way," V'eta directed, then led us to our seats.
We settled in our seats; Phantom was sitting in my lap, Goten was sitting to my right, and Robinton was to my left. "So, Triple P, what do we do?"
"Just sit back and wait."
The white clad candidates stood in a semi-circle around the eggs. A small group of girls had gathered around a golden egg that had been separated from the rest. Ramoth was crouched protectively beside them. All of the eggs were rocking precariously.
After what seemed like forever, one of the eggs started to crack. Ramoth crooned encouragingly, and more eggs started cracking. One hatchling managed to poke its head out through the top. It was brown. One of the candidates gasped and rushed over to the young dragon, muttering encouragement and scratching his eyeridges.
Help me!
I started. I could have sworn I had just heard someone calling for help! I searched the crowd, wondering if anyone heard it too. It was just me. "Good grief, I'm hearing things!" I muttered. "This is beyond DBZ-obsessed!"
I returned my attention to the Hatching. More dragons had emerged from their shells, and were wandering around searching for their chosen rider. The golden egg was rocking harder now, and several small cracks had appeared.
Please help me, I'm stuck!
There it was again! I was sure I had not imagined it. It must have been a dragon, calling me while still in its egg!
OK, I hear you, but I can't find you! Can you give me some kind of hint to where you are? I communicated.
One of the eggs rocked so hard it flipped over entirely. I'm guessing that was you that just flipped.
Yes, that was me, the creature inside said.
I deposited Phantom in Goten's lap and rushed down to the Hatching Ground. The egg was now rolling from side to side; I righted it, and stuck my fingers deep in the crack and started pulling and prying to get that shell away. Do you feel where I'm pulling?
Yes. The dragon's voice had changed its tone from one of fear to relief.
Push against the spot and I can get you out. The dragon obediently rammed against the shell and the crack deepened. I dug my heels into the hot sands and gave an almighty heave. Out tumbled a small and beautiful green dragon.
Thank you! My name's Joivth!