Misuri Weyr 6 Turns Ago
The sun shone brightly on the Weyr, but the air still seemed to be frigid, though it was a bit warmer than the usual weather. The Weyrling Training field was filled with dragons of different hues that were not quite fully grown yet. Each one had an eager rider standing by them, waiting for the orders from the Weyrlingmaster. The Weyrlingmaster stood at one end of the Training field, his silver dragon standing behind him eyeing all of the Weyrlings with whirling eyes. All the Weyrlings knew what today was, they had been looking forward to this day for quite some time. It was their final test, the day they would find out how much each had paid attention to the Weyrling Lessons. Today they could finally find out what they were made of, and go on to be part of the ranks of Dragonriders that filled Misuri Weyr. As each Weyrling finished harnessing their dragon and feeding them the necessary amounts of firestone, their eyes turned towards the edge of the field where the great silver dragon of their Weyrlingmaster and their master stood, waiting for all of the Weyrlings to finish.
One of these many Weyrlings was Z'kor and his brown Zieerth, probably the top of their class. Z'kor was one of the last ones to finish harnessing Zieerth, being extremely careful that all of the buckles were tightly strapped, and that none of the leather seemed to be eroding or loose. Z'kor was excited, and it was obvious in his trembling fingers that were busy tightening the straps once more, and making sure that Zieerth had gotten enough firestone. We are ready, Zieerth told Z'kor. "Good," Z'kor said, smiling as he patted the brown's hide.
Now was the time when all could wait. It was time for the final decompression of nerves now that they had worked hard to make sure everything was perfect for this most special and important day. Z'kor looked around, spotting quite a few of his friends around, waiting as anxiously as he was for their chance, for their thrilling ride. "Not nervous are we?" a voice asked. It was none other than one of his closest friends, C'zan, a Copperrider. "You have no right to bug him, you silly oaf. You're about as nervous as he is," Rihanna, the fiery tempered new addition to the Queenriders responded. "Oh come off it. You'd think good ol' Iallith was gonna rise soon with the way you're biting at everyone," C'zan responded. "Both of you need to stop. We are all a bit nervous, as I'm sure you can admit," Z'kor responded. "Yeah, and that's what we have you for. You're the voice of reason. She's up on her high horse and you stop her," C'zan responded. "Leave it to the two of you to find reason to fight," Z'kor responded, "We'll all be riders soon, can't you put your fighting to the side for now?" Rihanna laughed. "I suppose, but C'zan should learn to respect those of us who now outrank him," she said with a jab. Z'kor smiled and shook his head. Leave it to his friends to be like this. It made one feel better about all that was happening.
"Weyrlings! Mount Your Dragons!" the Weyrlingmaster shouted so that all of the Weyrlings could hear. The three instantly snapped to attention. Z'kor, in the rush of adrenaline, was one of the first of the many Weyrlings to mount their dragons. The dragons would soon be at their full-size, and so it took more work to get astride the great beasts than it had only months before. Zieerth had seemed to jump sizes overnight, and had constantly complained of itch skin for a while. Now they would be stepping into the world of full-fledged riders, after this final test. Z'kor breathed deeply, waiting for the instructions to be given out. Soon enough, all his dreams and aspirations would be coming true. He would finally be a dragonrider.
"Alright, listen up now Weyrlings! Today is your test to become riders. Only if you pass this test will you be allowed to move on. Fail and you will need to retake this year of Weyrling Lessons. In a moment, each of you will be given a piece of hide that will give you a familiar location. You must /between/ there, and then you will be given your next set of instructions by the watchdragon at your assigned coordinates. I will know you are finished when your last instruction leads you here, back to this spot," the Weyrlingmaster told them. Moments later, one of his assistants handed Z'kor a roll of hide. He smiled, thanking the assistant before he scrabbled to unroll the scroll.
"Sajoer Hold," Z'kor read, after unrolling the scroll. Other dragons had already gone aloft and disappeared /between/ to their destinations. "Good luck," Rihanna said. "Yeah, you're going to need it," C'zan said jokingly. "We will all do fine," Z'kor replied, trying to keep his own nerves down. "Ready to go?" Z'kor asked, changing to talking to Zieerth. Of course, Zieerth responded. "Then let's go, dear friend," Z'kor told the brown. The brown sprung aloft, wings snapping open as he ascended into the skies. Z'kor closed his eyes, and visualized the beautiful Sajoer Hold, complete with its stables. He remembered 'The Hall' and placed it where it belonged in his image. He also added the caves around the Hold that held the whers. Zieerth took the coordinates, and the pair went /between/.
One..., Two…, Three…. They appeared from /between/ over the Hold, and Z'kor sighed in relief. He noticed a few Weyrlings spiraling down towards where the watchdragon and his rider waited for them. Zieerth was the largest dragon and only brown to arrive at the station yet. Zieerth began his descent, diving speedily rather than in graceful circles like he should have. His wings snapped open, and he let himself glide slowly to the ground by the watchdragon. Z'kor jumped off the brown, and walked up to the watchrider in rather speedy steps. He received his next scroll, and opened it quickly as he walked back to Zieerth.
"On to Lraithin," the paper read. "Let's go," Z'kor told the brown. The brown heartily agreed, and started his ascent. Z'kor once more closed his eyes to visualize their coordinates. Lraithin was one of the most crowded Holds, mostly due to the large population of Chosen living there. The strange people, with dragon-like eyes and skin tones caused by disease, had always perturbed the young man. He had met a few, and their odd powers and appearance had always made him curious as to how such a thing could come from illness. It was also the Hold closest to the end of the Snowy Wastes, and so he could visualize the jungles not far off from the Hold proper. He also remembered the mountains of that area as well, and added them to the image. Zieerth popped /between/ when the image was complete.
Zieerth decided to take his descent to Lraithin slower, as the watchdragon was in a spot where tricky maneuvers would only get them run into by the other dragons swooping in. He spotted a familiar copper dragon landing. "C'zan is here," Z'kor commented. They landed, and Z'kor started up to get his newest scroll. C'zan was there, and had just received his. "Having fun yet?" he asked. "Of course, I'll be glad when it's all over though," Z'kor responded. "Rihanna's in a right mood. She and Iallith are flying like demons, diving in quickly and swooping out," C'zan commented. Z'kor laughed. "She was always one to take risks," he responded. "Well, we should keep pressing onwards," C'zan said. "Yeah, I'll see you later," Z'kor responded, taking his scroll and heading back towards Zieerth.
"Our next Hold is Cuhmesc," Z'kor told the brown. Okay, sounds good, Zieerth responded, pumping his wings to give him altitude. Cuhmesc was the Hold with the most Chosen. It was the center of all of them, and Z'kor had always felt a bit odd about going there. He had figured it would be one of his stops, but he wanted to make it a quick one. It was closest to the Weyr, and thus the Weyr always seemed to have visitors from the Hold rooming in the guest quarters. Z'kor visualized its sweeping expanses with Misuri Weyr's peaks rising in the backdrop. Zieerth followed them.
Their trip to Cuhmesc was quick. There weren't many other pairs there when they arrived, and none of his friends were there to chat with. He'd caught a brief glimpse of gold before Iallith had transferred /between/, but that was it. So Z'kor had merely landed, collected his scroll, and gone.
The next Hold they had to visit was Natherie. Natherie was the first and oldest of the Holds that tithed to Misuri. It was one of the smaller Holds anyhow, but it did have a certain bearing of importance and need to be respected in its appearance. Z'kor stopped there quickly, already knowing the last of his stops was Kalnurrh.
Kalnurrh was the Hold that was the most normal, and was the Hold that gave the most fish. It was on a lake, so there were no surprises in that aspect. Z'kor liked this Hold the best, as it was where he had been Searched from. He was glad to see its familiar edifice once more. It really had been too long.
He landed, and after quickly greeting both watchdragon and rider, he was off again, with a scroll reading. "Congratulations! One short trip /between/ and you are home. Hit a target with a flaming breath and you have passed." Z'kor's excitement welled up inside him and burst forth. As he visualized Misuri he gave a whoop of joy and exhilaration. Then they went /between/ back to Misuri.
Zieerth reappeared in the Weyr, and both dragon and rider began searching for the target. A large silver flew by overhead, and flamed a large metal target that had been set up on a wall of the Weyr, one devoid of any weyrs or such. "That's the target, Zi," Z'kor told the brown. I know, Zieerth responded. He started towards it, ready to flame the target upon its coming into range.
There was a flash of movement on the edge of Z'kor's vision as a copper dragon appeared from /between/ inches behind them. "Zi!" Z'kor shouted. The brown dove suddenly, trying to dodge the flame. Searing heat overwhelmed Z'kor as the copper's flame ate at Zieerth, and flicked at Z'kor's back. The dragon screeched, twisting and writhing in pain. He was burned, and seemed to be on fire! Flame seared leather, metal melted, and dragon's screech and rider's scream melted into unison. Zieerth rolled, and Z'kor fell from his back, farther and farther. Everything went black moments before the rider hit the ground.
Z'kor woke up in the Infirmary a few days later, unable to make heads or tails of his surroundings. His body was wrapped in bandages and slathered in numbweed. He still hurt all over. "Zikor? Zikor are you awake?" the Healer who had come into the room now asked. The name stung. Why was she calling him that? Shouldn't she call him Z'kor? He reached out for the mind of the brown dragon. He couldn't find it. There were only threads of his mind that led to… emptiness.
"Zieerth!" he cried, hoping to get the brown's attention by physically calling the name. "Zikor," another voice said. It was Rihanna, looking quite sober. Zikor looked over at her, and she sighed, looking away. "Zikor…. Zieerth is gone… The flames were too much… You fell and he /between/ed," Rihanna said. "No… no!" Zikor cried. And he broke down and sobbed. Zikor was gone.