Author's notes will be at the bottom, so you don't have to read my rambling first.
Summary: Each generation of dragons is a little bigger than the last. Eventually, though, there's such a thing as too big.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Dragonriders of Pern. Although I do own copies of many of the novels.
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Bumping Heads
L'res was in a foul mood. He had been woken up, for the third night in a row, by his blue Chisath in order to slather numbweed salve on bruises caused by the dragon bumping his head on the weyr ceiling.
There are certain disadvantages to riding a small dragon. L'res mused sourly. You get assigned to the small weyrs.
It was true. The weyr inhabited by L'res and Chisath was one of the smallest in all Fort Weyr, and Chisath was by no means a small blue. The dragon was continually knocking his skull against the roof whenever he stretched out his neck.
And then he complains about it for hours on end. L'res ground his teeth in irritation, trying to tune out Chisath's endless whining monologue. He couldn't even tell him off, because he knew it was a habit the dragon had picked up from his rider.
After about an hour, L'res couldn't stand it any longer. Chisath's endless complaining was driving him up the wall! Abruptly, his short brown hair was singed by the metaphorical light bulb. He shot to his feet and strode off towards the storage cages, focused entirely on how to fix the root of his current problem.
In very short order L'res was back in his weyr, glaring up at the offending ceiling. But now there was challenge and determination radiating from his hazel eyes. And he didn't come unarmed. From his hands dangled a large hammer, and an equally large chisel.
"Alright, ceiling. You just met your match."
What are you going to do? Chisath asked, distracted from his tirade by his rider's strange behaviour.
"I'm going to make the weyr bigger by carving away some of the roof. I'm going to sit on your head, and I need you to hold me up so I can work." L'res explained. Then he added, "And you sharding well better keep at least one set of lids closed, or your eyes will be too dust-filled to fly." With that, he hefted the hammer to one shoulder, and got ready to work.
Several hours of back-breaking labour later, L'res set down his tools and wiped an arm across his sweaty, dust-coated face as he turned to regard his handiwork. Over the course of the day he had managed to chisel a good foot of additional headspace throughout the outer weyr, enough to keep Chisath from banging his head unless for some odd reason he decided to jump around.
A thump was heard, a dragon landing on the ledge of the weyr above them, but L'res and Chisath paid no attention as they viewed the fruits of their labours.
What they did pay attention to was an odd cracking noise coming from the newly raised ceiling. L'res put two and two together just a moment too late.
The cracking was abruptly a great deal louder and accompanied by a rain of dust and falling rock.
This new development was also accompanied by the appearance of a very brown, very large, and very unexpected leg protruding from a hole in the weyr's roof, a hole which was rapidly widening as the dragon above struggled to free himself.
After a moment the leg's owner managed to extract it, leaving L'res and Chisath gawking up at a rather sizeable hole, which was quickly filled with the stern visage of a distinctly unhappy rider.
L'res scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and attempted to kick the hammer and chisel out of sight, but was thwarted by a belatedly falling piece of rock which neatly clocked him and put him out cold.
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So, yeah, author's notes time. This idea attacked me on the way to work and just wouldn't go away. Basically, it occurred to me that the dragons of the ninth pass are probably somewhere along the lines of six times the size of the first pass dragons. I got six from the fact that it is said in one of the books that Faranth and Carenath "aren't half as big as Ruth." And I'd guess that Ruth is probably around one third the size of Ramoth and Mnementh (anyone who can quote actual lines to the contrary, feel free to correct me). And while I assume that the weyrs were sized to accommodate growth when they were first carved, you can only plan so far ahead and there's a limit to how big they could be made. So sooner or later, the dragons are going to become too big for their weyrs.
Interesting fact: I came up with Chisath's name using the Japanese word Chiisai, which means small.
Anyway, please let me know what you think. Grammar Nazis are welcome. Flames will be used to cook Kraft dinner.