Disclaimer: I own not Pern nor dragons. I do own my characters, though I've given KiaraAlexisKlay permission to fiddle with them if she so desires.
A/Ns: Hello, and welcome (back) to "On Their Own." I'm revising now, going back and making it all smoother and more detailed. This was an early work, so not as perfect as my current stories. (Perfect... riiight.)
Anyway, credit for this revised chapter one (it used to be one and two) goes not only to me but to my fabulous beta KiaraAlexisKlay who is responsible for many lines in here - probably the better ones.
So, expect more fixing soon, and please reivew to tell me if this is any better than you remember it. If you read it before. If it's new to you, then just review!
Ayala hastily pulled her riding jacket on, ignoring the scratchiness. Outside the weyr, Tilabeth was fanning her glittering golden wings, her eyes spinning an excited bright red. The sounds of another queen bellowing filled the Weyr, and Tilabeth called, Ayala! Hurry!
Coming, love! Ayala replied. She raced out of her weyr, barely catching her weyrmate K'pal's "G'bye!" and vaulted to her queen's neck with the ease of practice.
As Tilabeth launched herself into the air, instinct telling her to leave Disnath, who was rising to mate, Ayala leaned over the side to peer beyond her dragon's shoulder. She could see the bronzes ringing the feeding grounds, all staring intensely at the glowing Disnath. Ayala's own Tilabeth was looking quite gold, and had been irritable of late. Was she going to rise so soon after Disnath?
But there was no time to think about it right now. The pair winked between.
The next morning, Mitara, golden Disnath's rider, and V'palo, bronze Bynarth's rider, sat sipping their morning klah. Mitara couldn't resist beaming proudly at her weyrmate as she relived the more splendid parts of their dragons' flight the day before.
"A fine flight," V'palo said, grinning back. "If I do say so myself."
"As you always do, O Modest One," Mitara teased. V'palo inclined his head in a mock-bow. Mitara laughed happily.
Suddenly, though, their peaceful happiness was broken. Disnath abruptly disentangled herself from Bynarth, her calm blue-green eyes shot through with agitated streaks of red and orange.
Tilabeth! the dragon cried mentally.
What about her? Mitara asked, choking on her klah.
We must go! Disnath said urgently, pulling herself away from Bynarth, who was also getting excited. Now!
Tilabeth's rising to mate! Mitara realized.
Indeed, she could already hear the seductive calls of the other queen beginning to reverberate through the Weyr.
Threadbare and shard it all! She thought crossly, leaping to her feet. V'palo, understanding what was happening, helped her hastily pull on her riding jacket and head gear. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then she and Disnath shot out of the weyr.
Ayala ran a thin, bony hand through her dark hair, biting her lip nervously as she examined the wall of Mitara's weyr. The Weyrwoman, Disnath's rider, was pacing agitatedly, her steps ringing in the echoey cavern. Disnath was sitting upright, her eyes yellow with her rider's feelings. Tilabeth's head was stuck through the entrance to the weyr; her own eyes a sparkly orange.
Finally, Mitara sat down, sighing. "Well, Ayala?" the slightly older woman asked.
Ayala closed her eyes, then, opening them again, said, "What are we going to do?"
Mitara didn't say anything.
"Tilabeth rose a day after Disnath, so she'll clutch no more than a day after her," Ayala said. "Dragon eggs take more than a month to harden, so they'll both need to be on the Hatching Grounds at once.
"Queens never let other queens near their eggs, though," she went on, biting her lip. "Mitara, they'll tear each other to shreds!"
"Do you think any other Weyrleaders would let us borrow their Hatching Grounds?" Mitara asked, thinking aloud.
"Let's see…" Ayala began. "J'ryin and Kassindai would be open, but Tindyith just laid a clutch, didn't she?"
"Yes, Benden'll have eggs, and so will Tayna and S'balf of Telgar," said Mitara. "And I'm not going to even ask T'massal for help. That old man would never even dream of doing anything so radical as having a different Weyr's queen on his Sands."
"There goes High Reaches," Ayala said. "And I really can't imagine Igen letting us, either."
"Definitely not A'dagl," Mitara said, shuddering. "Do you know what he did when I asked for help back when Ruatha was trying to shortchange us on tithes?"
"Do I want to?" Ayala asked with trepidation.
"No," Mitara snorted, dismissing the Weyrman as incompetent and not worth her time.
"Well… how are we going to get Tilabeth and Disnath to stand each other?" Ayala asked, bringing the subject back to the most pressing matter at hand.
Mitara screwed up her face. "I dunno. How do we stop them from blooding when they rise to mate? Maybe we just have to control them the same way."
"For a month?" Ayala asked getting exhausted just thinking about it.
Mitara sighed. "Good point."
"We're dragonriders," Ayala said desperately. "We're s'posed to know everything."
Mitara shrugged. "Apparently not," the Weyrwoman remarked drolly.
Mitara woke groggily, rolling out of bed at her queen's insistent prodding. Whatizzit? she asked thickly.
Eggs! Disnath said urgently.
"Eggs!" Mitara echoed, fully awake now.
"Egggssz?" V'palo said sleepily.
"Eggs, 'Pal!" Mitara said eagerly, leaning over to shake him. "Disnath's ready to lay!"
Hurry, Mitara! Disnath said. She was already standing, her eyes whirling in anticipation as she swayed on her feet, her enormous belly weighing her down.
Mitara and V'palo leapt out of bed and quickly made themselves presentable, and they both climbed onto Bynarth. The bronze dragon followed his bloated mate out of the weyr. Once they were in the open, he let out an ear-shattering, proud bugle. The rest of the Weyr's dragons began to rouse, each adding his or her own voice as they did.
Disnath landed with a heavy thud on the Sands, and Bynarth had barely touchedthe ground before Mitara was sliding off his neck. She didn't even wince as the scalding Sands burned through the soles of her shoes when she ran to her dragon, who had crouched in preparation to lay her fourth clutch.
A small but steadily growing crowd of weyrfolk had started to gather, all in varying states of drowsiness. But no one wanted to miss an egg laying.
Here it comes! Mitara thought excitedly as Disnath, flaring her golden wings, reared back.
The creamy-shelled egg slipped onto the sand, sending up a puff of dust as it nestled itself in a depression. Mitara gazed at it in awe, no matter how many she'd seen before in her life. Not a queen egg, but certainly quite large. It's beautiful, Disnath! she said to her lifemate happily.
The queen didn't reply, because she was nudging the egg around, making sure it was exactly right. Then, she quickly righted herself once more, ready to bestow another precious gift to Pern.
By the time thirty-eight soft-shelled eggs sat on the Sands – one with a golden shell! – and Disnath pushing them around constantly, Ayala and Tilabeth were discreetly perched on a kind bluerider's weyr that overlooked the Hatching Grounds. Ayala was biting her lip.
'Beth, what're we going to do? Ayala asked. Mitara seemed worried about it when we talked before, but now she doesn't seem to have a care in the world!
Why should she? There are eggs on the sand and more to come, said the pregnancy-dark Tilabeth, twisting her head around to nuzzle her rider.
See, silly, that's your problem, Ayala said, scratching her queen's eye ridge. You don't understand. The instant you try to get near the Hatching sand, Disnath is going to try to fight you off.
Why? Tilabeth asked blankly.
Ayala sighed. Dragon instinct, I s'pose, darling, she said. You'll understand once you've laid your eggs.
Tilabeth rustled her wings, blowing out a puff of air. I do not have any problem with Disnath, she said. Why do you think thoughts of me trying to chase her away?
Like I said, love, Ayala said, her patience stretching. See, when you have eggs…
It was not long before Tilabeth was joyfully announcing to her rider that she was ready to lay her eggs. Ayala swung up onto her dragon's neck, gesturing to K'par, her weyrmate. "C'mon!" she called. "Eggs!" He quickly leaped onto Faronoth.
Tilabeth seemed to have difficulty pushing off the ground, and grumbled about not getting a high weyr with easy takeoff. But as soon as she was flopping lopsidedly through the air, Ayala's grin felt ready to split her face. This was Tilabeth's first clutch, and she could hardly wait!
That is, she was excited until they approached the Hatching Sands and Disnath reared up, screaming in fury. Behind her, Bynarth leapt to his feet, extending his wings and preparing to fight to protect his mate.
Tilabeth answered with a challenging bellow, fanning her wings to hover awkwardly. K'par's Faronoth swooped below her to land next to Bynarth, growling threateningly to keep the other bronze away from his mate.
When Tilabeth attempted to land and relieve herself of the cumbersome load she was carrying, Disnath launched herself forward, talons out. Tilabeth screeched furiously, and dove under the other queen. Disnath wheeled around as Tilabeth thumped to the ground.
Disnath landed again, and the two queens howled at each other, causing Ayala and the onlookers to clap their hands over their ears. Ayala was frantically begging Tilabeth to not antagonize Disnath, to make peace, or something. "MITARA!" she shouted. "DO SOMETHING!"
But Mitara's face was already screwed up with concentration. She raced to her dragon's side, calling out. The air was filled with the sounds of two furious queens and their bronze protectors, and two queenriders desperately grasping the link between their dragon halves to calm down.
Tense moments dragged on before both dragon queens froze and then blessedly fell silent. Two golden tails thumped and puffed the sands, soft hisses resounding through the Grounds, eyes whirling as they locked on each other. One set of wings hovered protectingly over cream and mottled eggs while the other set flared outward and rocked in an effort to keep the first of the inevitable eggs from slipping out until the danger was past. Their riders kept their eyes shut tight, mentally begging their dragons to stop this, and the whole Weyr held its breath.
Abruptly, both dragon relaxed and turned away, completely ignoring each other. Disnath went to flip her golden egg around, giving and elegant and arrogant snort, wings snapping to lie back against her sides and giving her tail a disdainful flick. Tilabeth crouched to lay her first egg.
A/Ns: There you have it! I know I jumped around a lot - lot of short little scenes - but that was kind of necessary, as I didn't want to drag it out interminably. Besides, this isn't even the main plot! Anyway, that's it until next time. G'bye!