A/N: Hello everyone. This is a story that's been bugging me. It's actually a novella. Won't be any more than five chapters. Maybe only two or three. Not sure yet. This is set approximately 100 turns after the Skies of Pern in the Reunion AU. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are appreciated and missed when absent.
Disclaimer: The Dragonriders Of Pern is a registered trademark and copyrighted by Anne McCaffrey. This is fan fiction that garners NO MONEY WHATSOEVER for the author of this work.
Chapter One
Matarran assembled with the other healer apprentices for inspection by the searching dragons. There was a green and a blue. Their riders were speaking with the masterhealer. The men broke up and the riders returned to their dragons.
The apprentices were asked to step forward, one at a time. The dragons looked at each apprentice even going so far as to sniff some of them. Matarran was one of the ones who received the sniff treatment. After all had been inspected, the riders spoke again to the masterhealer. Then the green rider then went down the line.
He stopped at the third boy and spoke to him. The boy stepped out of the line. The green rider continued down the line of apprentices. There couldn't be two could there? Matarran had never heard of a search taking more than one person from a group.
The green rider stopped in front of Matarran. "What's your name, boy?"
"M-M-Matarran," he stammered.
"Congratulations son. Jeranth says you will attract a hatchling. If you want to stand, that is. You are under no obligation. The choice is yours."
Matarran couldn't believe it. A dragon had found him worthy to stand as a candidate. He did want to ride a dragon but he also wanted to be a healer. It was as if he had to be one.
"If I impress, can I come back and study healing?"
"I don't know see why not," the green rider told him. "Thread is a thing of the past. You will have to attend flight training, of course, but there is no reason why you couldn't come back here and become qualified as a weyr healer."
"Of course I'll stand."
The green rider nodded. "Well then, get your things and don't dawdle. We have other stops to make."
Matarran ran to the apprentice dorm and quickly gathered his things.
He and the other boy, Setamal were dropped off at Fort and given into the care of the candidatemaster, an older man named T'ras. He was shown where to put his things and where he would sleep. Then he and the other candidates were herded into the lower caverns to help with the mid-day meal.
The candidates were taught, among other things, to project love and welcome towards the eggs when they were hatching.
"There is no need to be afraid," T'ras told them. "In fact, that can and will put a hatchling off choosing you. If a hatchling looks at you and decides you are not for him or her, stand aside and don't get in its way. He will knock you down and walk right over you. I don't think I need to tell you that a dragonet's claws are rather sharp."
The candidates looked kind of scared at this.
"There is no reason to be afraid," T'ras repeated. "These babies hatch hungry. If you stay out of the way of one who hasn't chosen you he is not going to go out of his way to hurt you. If you are in his way? Well, don't be. You won't like the results, I assure you. Now, it's time for lunch. After lunch I am going to take you in to see the eggs. You will get to touch them and familiarize yourselves with them. Class dismissed. Be back here in one hour. That's a candle mark for those who are from the remote holds."
The class filed out and headed to the dining hall to eat.
"We're actually going to get to touch the eggs!" Setamal was so eager. Matarran approached the visit to the eggs with a little trepidation. He wasn't afraid of the eggs, he was afraid he might inadvertently damage one. He didn't know anything about dragon eggs but he knew they contained intelligent life. As a former healer apprentice he had a reverence for life.
The candidates reported back to the classroom at the appointed time and were met by the candidate master.
"Alright. I see everyone is here. Follow me, children."
He took them onto the hatching ground. Matrath was there, of course, as was her rider, Santice. Matrath rarely left the hatching ground and when she did, Galonth guarded the eggs with a zealousness that rivaled his mate's.
"Go on, feel them. Be gentle and don't move any of them."
The candidates looked at the queen dragon. They could see she was watching them, but her eyes were the blue-green of contentment. They knew just how fast that would change if she sensed a threat to her children.
Matarran was drawn to one of the mottled eggs. He gently, almost reverently touched it and felt something. He didn't know what it was, but he felt a familiar presence. He had no idea how he knew it was familiar, but there seemed to be something just at the edge of his consciousness. He assumed it was the dragonet inside the egg. But how could it feel familiar? He projected love and acceptance.
He thought he heard, We'll be together again soon. He looked around but the other candidates were gently touching and caressing the eggs. 'Just my imagination running wild,' he told himself.
The next two weeks were full of attending classes, helping riders bathe and oil their dragons, helping in the kitchens and other assorted sundry chores.
Matarran woke one morning and after preparing himself for the day, walked out into the bowl. The sky was a clear blue with nary a cloud in sight. The morning air was cool but it would warm up a bit as the day progressed. Matarran was just thankful wouldn't get the unbearable heat of high summer. He was standing there lost in thought when he heard, "Did you hear me, boy?"
Matarran turned and saw the candidatemaster. "Excuse me? I'm sorry, sir. I was lost in thought."
"I said, get yourself to the dining cavern or you'll miss breakfast. And if that happens you are going to have to wait till lunch to eat."
Matarran looked sheepish. "Yes sir. Sorry sir."
"No need to apologize, son," T'ras told him. "The eggs will hatch any day now. Maybe even today. It's understandable to be nervous."
"I'm not really nervous," Matarran said as they walked to the dining cavern. "I'm just thinking of the day we went into see the eggs. I felt something familiar when I touched that egg."
"Familiar?" T'ras frowned. "You're just letting your imagination run away with you."
"I don't know sir," Matarran said. "You might be right, but what if you're wrong?"
"I don't see how I could be wrong,"T'ras said with certainty. "There is no way you can be familiar with any of the hatchlings. They haven't hatched yet."
Matarran told him about the voice he thought he heard about being together again soon.
T'ras just shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just your imagination." They had reached the dining cavern. "Get your breakfast. We have work to do today. Unless the eggs decide they want to hatch."
The candidates had finishing breakfast and were chatting among themselves when they heard a humming. The candidate master rose immediately and said, "Back to the barracks and get into your robes. Now! Meet me at the entrance to the hatching ground. Move, children!"
They moved. Matarran was at the head of the pack sprinting toward the candidates barracks.
Shortly they were all assembled at the entrance to the hatching ground. "Wait here, everyone," T'ras told them. He then stepped inside and surveyed the scene. He was waiting for a signal from the weyrwoman. When it came, he stepped back out and addressed his charges. "Listen up, everyone. You are now going in there to face those eggs. Remember what you were taught in class and you will be fine. And do not run."
They filed in and took up positions around the group of 24 eggs. Some looked scared to death. Matarran wasn't. He was remembering candidates class. He projected love and welcome at the eggs.
The waiting seemed to go on and on. The humming continued, of course, but that was the only sign that the eggs were ready to hatch.
'Could the dragons be mistaken?' Matarran thought to himself. Then he remembered attending a birth when he was a healer's apprentice. That birth took seven hours, at least from the time he and the jouneyman arrived. Who knew how long the woman had been in labor before her husband called for a healer? He hoped these eggs wouldn't take that long to hatch.
Suddenly the hum deepened and became more insistent. Cracks appeared on several of the eggs.
Then two eggs cracked at once. One fell apart revealing a bronze hatchling, and a blue head emerged from the other. The blue head disappeared back inside the egg and the shell suddenly exploded outward. The bronze looked around and spied Setamel. It gave a cry of joy and rushed at the boy.
Setamel's face was suffused with joy as he bonded with his new lifemate.
"His name is Katanth!" Setamel called out. "He's starving!" The newly minted rider and his dragon were lead to the feeding room.
Matarran was glad for his friend. Then he felt something and turned around. There was a blue hatchling looking at him.
Then he heard, Find your own. He's mine. The blue looked off to his right, Matarran's left, and then wandered off looking for the rider for him. Matarran looked to where the blue dragonet had looked and saw a hatchling with a beautiful brown hide. The dragonet ran to him and bumped up against him.
I'm Renth. I'm hungry. The mental voice in Matarran's head was almost feminine.
Matarran looked into the creature's beautiful eyes and the world fell away. He had never experienced such emotions. At that moment, he knew he'd do anything for this dragon; and he could tell the dragon felt the same way about him. I'll get you something to eat shortly, sweetheart, he told the his new charge. Then aloud, he called out, "His name is Renth! I need to get him something to eat!"
A rider was at his side leading him off to the feeding room. When they got there, they were lead to one side of the room where there were buckets of meat. Matarran grabbed one and grabbed a handful of morsels. He offered them to Renth who looked at them strangely.
They're raw!, the dragonet told him reproachfully.
Of course they're raw. That's what dragons eat; raw meat.
Renth hesitated a moment but then hunger got the better of him and he snatched them out of Matarran's hand and bolted them.
"Chew," Matarran told him firmly. "What would I do if you choked?"
But I'm hungry!
"I know, love," Matarran told him tenderly, "but you have to chew. The rest isn't going anywhere and will still be here."
Renth dutifully chewed before swallowing, even though it was clear he would prefer to swallow the meat whole.
As Renth was eating, Matarran asked him, What do you think about M'tar for my new name?
I like it. But it doesn't matter. We're together, no matter what your name is.
A/N: That's it for chapter 1. See you next time. Don't forget to review.