So this is the updated version of chapter I. Sorry if you read the crappy, error filled one. No new details. Just cleared up some stuff. If there are any other errors, let me know. I will fix them up. Unfortunately, my computer old and crappy, so I have no spelling or grammar check.

(Sorry, I'm only about half way through The White Dragon so I honestly don't have all the details I should and I might screw something up. Sorry, but it is an AU and stuff is weird)

The Rest of Pern

Chapter I: The Impression

Late Night, Benden Time

Early Morning, Ruatha Time

"It's wonderful," Tarant whispered as he ran his hand over the hardened shell of the dragon egg before him.

"Like that one, huh?" His foster-brother, Karick asked.

"This is the one I want to Impress," the first boy said with a nod.

"What if it's a green?"

"I don't care," Tarant snapped as he ran his hand across the mottled egg.

"What if it's an oversized fire lizard, like Jaxom's?"

"Oh lay off, you dead glow!" The older boy snapped. "Ruf was the only deformed dragon ever!"

"His name is Ruth!" A voice shot out across the hatching ground. Tarant and Karick cringed at the sound of the voice. They both turned to look over at the speaker, who was standing at the door. "You shouldn't be here!" F'lessan snapped as he looked at the two candidates. "Now, where's Tyiana?"

"Here," a voice replied meekly. F'lessan looked around and sighed when he saw the young girl in between the clutch of mottled eggs, near the shimmering queen egg.

"What are you three doing here?" The bronze rider demanded. "If Ramoth comes back, she'll-,"

"Oh, lay off, Felessan," Tarant sneered. "She's down at the feeding ground."

"My name is F'lessan," the bronze rider said, his tone acid. "And Ramoth's been down there for almost an hour. She'll be back soon."

"Are going to tell F'lar or Lessa or Manora?" Karick asked nervously.

"No," F'lessan said with a sigh. "I used to sneak down here all the time."

"I remember," Tarant replied bitterly.

F'lessan sighed. "Oh come on, Tarant. You're better off waiting for the right dragon, than grabbing the wrong one!"

"Whatever," the boy muttered as he started towards the exit. He pushed passed the bronze rider and stalked off. The bronze rider was about to call after his friend, but his head suddenly snapped to attention and he was silent.

"Golanth says that Ramoth's coming! Go!"

With no further urging, Karick and his foster sister scrambled out of the hatching grounds. F'lessan walked out behind them and watched as they walked towards their quarters. He sighed and shook his head. "Thanks," he muttered under his breath to Golanth, his beloved bronze dragon.

Nothing of it. The bronze replied from the feeding ground. Lucky I was here.

F'lessan agreed with a laugh. "I'll be right down," he told the bronze as he started towards the feeding ground. He stopped walking and considered going to see Tarant. He knew that the young man was bitter about the fact that he, F'lessan, had Impressed a bronze at his first Impression. That had been almost two Turns ago and Tarant had not succeeded at either of the Impressions since then. The one that was expected for next week would be his forth and possibly final attempt. His foster-siblings, Karick and Tayiana would be attempting to Impress for their first times. F'lessan wasn't sure if Tarant could stand the shame of watching his siblings Impress, while he could not.

Are you coming? Golanth inquired lazily.

"Yes," the bronze rider replied, snapping out of his thoughts. "I'm coming."

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Tarant watched as F'lessan walked the other way, towards the feeding grounds. His muscles tensed as he watched the bronze rider walk away. Once they had been friends, but that had changed the moment Felessan had impressed Golanth. Tarant had hated the bronze dragon from the moment he had hatched. He had stolen away his best friend! What made it worse was Felessan's pity towards him. The bronze rider had gone with his father, F'lar, and uncle, F'nor to the Southern continent in secret. They had managed to bring back a clutch of fire lizard eggs. Felessan had quickly offered him a bronze egg. That had been the last time they were truly friends.

Tarant walked back towards the hatching ground and walked back inside. He could see Ramoth, crooning over her eggs, watching them protectively. The young man approached the eggs quietly, but he was not silent enough to avoid Ramoth's detection. The great golden dragon turned her eyes on the young candidate and roared angrily. Tarant trembled slightly, but did not lose his nerve. He continued to walk towards the eggs. The senior queen of Benden shrieked furiously, as she roused to her hind legs and spread her great wings.

Tarant reached the clutch of eggs and placed his hand on the one egg that he had selected previously. Ramoth's shriek echoed off the stone walls, but the young man only kept his gaze on the queen's.

"You don't need to protect this one!" He cried. "This one is mine! I'll always protect it!" Ramoth seemed to understand what he had said, for she no longer seemed to be panicking, so much as confused. "I'm going to Impress this one!" Tarant cried. "He will be mine!"

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High above the hatching grounds, standing on the ledge where the dragons generally perched themselves, the weyrleaders of Benden Weyr watched the scene bellow. F'lar watched as Tarant stood up to the queen dragon with respect and admiration for the boy, while Lessa was apprehensive. "She's not pleased with the order to stop, F'lar!"

"Keep her calm," the bronze rider replied.

"I'm trying," she snapped.

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Tarant stood unmoving as he watched Ramoth. Underneath his hand, he felt something rumble. He turned his head to look at the egg he was touching. It was shaking beneath his touch. "The eggs!" He whispered.

Jaxom! Jaxom! The eggs are hatching!

Lord Jaxom of Ruatha Hold yawned as he woke up slowly, the words of his white dragon, Ruth, only barely penetrating his sleeping head. Then it hit him. "The hatching!" He cried. The Lord of Ruatha quickly scrambled from his bed and ran to his dresser. He struggled into his trousers and pulled on a warm shirt, that would try to hold off the intense cold of the between. The young lord ran out of his chambers and through the halls of the Hold. He passed Lord Warder, Lytol in the corridor, along with Masterharper Robinton.

"The hatching!" Jaxom cried to the both of them. "Ruth says it's happening!"

"The hatching?" Robinton said blankly. "At which Weyr?" he called after Jaxom.

"Benden!"

Before the Masterharper could get anymore information from the young man, he was gone. The harper turned to Lytol and gave him a questioning look. "I will not be attending," the Lord Warder replied, his expression somewhat pained.

"Aye," Robinton said with a nod. He had expected as much. The harper turned to the bronze miniature dragon on his left shoulder. "Zair, go fetch Mirrim and Path. Have them give me a lift to Benden Weyr."

The fire lizard shrieked cheerfully and then vanished.

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Jaxom flung the doors open to the makeshift weyr that served as Ruth's home and ran to his dragon. "Ready?" He asked the dragon.

Ready. Ruth replied.

The young Lord of Ruatha hopped on his dragon's back. The dragon quickly took to the air and flew out of the weyr. Once he was at a high enough altitude, the white dragon vanished. The piercing cold of the between struck Jaxom full force. Any traces of sleep that had plagued the young lord were gone as the freezing cold dug into his bones. A moment later the cool night air of Benden struck him, instantly warming him.

Ruth! Ruth! The white dragon called to the watchdragon.

Ruth quickly soared towards a perch near the hatching ground, depositing Jaxom, and then going to join a small band of fire lizards. Jaxom quickly made his way to the stands, where he found F'lessan, Mirrim, and Menolly. "Have any hatched yet?" The young lord inquired.

"Not yet," F'lessan said coldly.

"What's wrong?" Jaxom asked his friend, noting the bitterness in his voice.

"Remember Tarant?" Mirrim asked. Jaxom nodded his head, vaguely recalling the competitive youth. "He was on the hatching ground earlier. Apparently he was alone with Ramoth when the eggs started."

"What?" Jaxom cried, aghast.

"Right after I had thrown him out," F'lessan added.

"Unbelievable," Menolly muttered.

"Look!" Mirrim said, pointing to the grounds. The candidates were coming onto the grounds, all garbed in white robes.

"Jaxom, are there any Ruathan girls down there?" Menolly asked.

"One, I think," he replied. "I don't remember her name."

"There's Tarant," Mirrim pointed out. "And Karick, and Tyiana, and Bria, and Langot."

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Tarant kept his eyes on the eggs as they began to crack and the small noses of the small dragons peeked out. A nearby egg split apart as the small blue dragon inside burst out and fell on the warm sands on the grounds. The slimy blue creature managed to push itself up and crawl towards the candidates. A few boys backed off. Tarant stepped aside, letting the creature pass him as it crawled towards Langot, a young boy who had been recruited from Benden Hold. His eyes moved back to the egg he had claimed as his own. It was shaking, but there still wasn't a crack in the shell.

"The queen egg!" Tarant looked to the group of girl who were gathered around the single queen egg. He searched quickly and found Tyiana eagerly waiting. The egg had split and the queen dragon was slipping out quickly. It landed on the ground and howled at the girls around it, scaring half of them backwards. It began to crawl towards them, looking for the intended girl.

"Tyiana, Tyiana, Tyiana," Tarant chanted hopefully. His hopes quickly fell as the queen walked passed her and looked up at another girl, Laria. Tarant sighed. Only two of the dragons had hatched, and already he was sourly disappointed with the turn out.

The girls began to walk away from the grounds, all sourly disappointed, except for Laria. Tyiana's feet shuffled through the sand as she passed a small group of eggs.

Stop! Please!

Tyiana stopped, causing the girl behind her to run into her painfully. She stumbled forward and looked around. "Who…"

The egg nearest to Tyiana split apart and a small green dragon fell out at her feet. The two looked at each other in the eye and the Impression was made.

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F'lessan watched as the rest of the eggs hatched. Now there were only seven eggs left. So far there had been seven bronzes, twelve browns, ten blues, and thirteen greens, including Tyiana's. F'lessan watched intently as the egg that Tarant had claimed as his own began to crack and split. Small crawls tore through the shells and a small bronze creature fell out.

It is his. Golanth spoke.

The small bronze looked up at Tarant and all the bitterness seeped out of the boy. "Wornth," he whispered.

I'm hungry. The small dragon spoke.

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"It's better than Impressing a queen!" Karick assured Tyiana as he stroked the wedge shaped head of his blue, Farrith.

"You and Mirrim are the only women to have ever Impressed fighting dragons," Tarant informed her. "Tons of women have Impressed queens!"

"I don't care what she is," Tyiana replied, clearly not needing the assurance they were giving her. "She's mine and I'm hers."

"Congratulations, T'rant," F'lessan said as he came up to the table where the three new dragonriders were sitting. Tarant turned around and smiled. F'lessan had just called him T'rant. It was a sign of respect and an offer of friendship.

"You were right, F'lessan. It was worth the wait," the new bronze rider said as he looked down at Wornth.

"I knew I was," the older bronze rider replied, as he seated himself beside his friend. "Have you heard yet?"

"What?" Karick asked.

"Lessa thinks Coranth is going to rise to mate soon!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" F'lar called out to the weyr. Everyone's attention snapped to him, and everyone was silent.

F'lar went on to speak of the new candidates and the training they would receive in the near future. Then he went on to officially swear in each of the new riders and present them with their new names. T'rant had never been prouder than the moment when the Benden Weyrleader laid his hands on his shoulder and officially dubbed him a Dragonrider of Pern.

Well there's chapter one. I don't think I wrote anything that would conflict with later books, but if I did, I'm sorry. Anywho, please read and review. Criticism of the constructive variety is always appreciated. Chapter 2 should be up soon.