Disclaimer: Same old, same old.

ANs: Here you go! Chapeter two!

(Thank you, astrokath, for your usual useful concrit. I hope I've fixed everything here. The new line instead of the black-and-white one feels awfully corny, but more fitting in Pern.

And I know I jump around a lot in this chapter, but I was trying to cover everything and still keep moving past the boring stuff. Sorry if it's confusing.

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback!)

St'kay watched as Kaelbrith slept, her sides rising and falling with a mesmerizing rhythm. He felt his eyes unfocus, until all he could see was a green lump. His green lump.

Branor had Impressed brown Broxth. The male dragon was next to Kaelbrith, also sleeping. St'kay lifted his gaze to B'nor.

The new brownrider was a shortish lad, though still taller than St'kay, who was his cousin. B'nor had light brown hair that stuck out at odd angles unless forcibly restrained with whatever substance B'nor could get a hold of. The lad had watery blue eyes and the biggest smile. Even though he wasn't very attractive visually, he was a fine person to be around, and had many friends. Ever since they had come to the Weyr, B'nor had begun to treat St'kay kind of like a brother. But ever since he had Impressed Broxth, he had reverted to simply being cousins and friends with St'kay.

B'nor's mouth split into the broadest smile St'kay had ever seen there. "Wow," breathed the new weyrling. "Wow."

Indeed, no words seemed adequate to St'kay when you thought about the intense bond between a dragon and rider. And the weyrlings' relationships were so new and fresh. St'kay was floating in euphoria. Kaelbrith was his, all his, his lovely little green lady. He could hardly believe the difference between now and what it had been like before they had Impressed. Everything was so… changed. New. Like he had finally woken up after sleeping all his life.

Kataronz, who had been another candidate, came over to the riders. St'kay wondered if the other lad had Impressed.

Kataronz was a tall lad with thick brown hair that waved neatly back from his head. His eyes were a cool brown, with the slightest hint of gold flecks. He had a lean, quick figure, and was a few inches taller than B'nor, who was taller than St'kay. Kataronz ran a jaunty hand through his hair.

"Who are yours?" he asked, a giddy grin playing around the corners of his mouth. "Didn't get to see you after the Hatching."

St'kay had never really talked with Kataronz before the Hatching. "Green Kaelbrith," he said, the bubble pf ecstasy pressing up in his belly again. "I'm St'kay now." Green Kaelbrith, those words. He would never tire of saying them.

"Oh, how nice," Kataronz said. St'kay felt himself stiffen at the slightly condescending tone in Kataronz's (or whatever his name must be now) voice. "A… green."

St'kay felt his emotions automatically shutting off, felt his face close down. He, too, forced a polite smile. There he went again, ignoring what he didn't like.

"I'm B'nor," B'nor said. He tossed a glance over his shoulder at his sleeping dragon. "Brown Broxth."

"A brown, good for you," Kataronz said, still almost as though he were speaking to a child, though somewhat less for B'nor. "Well, I'm now K'ronz, of bronze Veloth." He put delicate stress on the color of his new partner. St'kay felt an itching irritation. Kaelbrith stirred slightly in her sleep.

"Congratulations!" B'nor said brightly. St'kay also smiled and nodded. A bronze.

The thought of that color suddenly snapped his thoughts back to Vardino. What had happened to the other candidate? All St'kay could remember from after Kaelbrith's Impression was a blur of noise and sound, and her mind.

"Well, what are we standing around here for?" asked a voice. The three lads whirled around to see a tall, lean man in the doorway. He had a thin face, with a long nose, and scraggly brown hair, streaked with gray, that was tied back with a red cloth. His piercing blue eyes fixed on the weyrlings. "You should be back, enjoying the feast."

The new riders hesitated. St'kay certainly wanted to escape K'ronz, but they were loathe to leave their dragons.

"Ah, come now," the man said. "Your dragons will always be there, should you be lucky. You can leave them to have a bite to eat."

They paused a moment more. "Fine, then," the man said. "You three get to the feast, now, and that's a direct order from your weyrlingmaster. Or do I have to have Muridth wake your dragons and get them to force you to go?"

St'kay quickly lurched forward.

B'nor, St'kay, and K'ronz entered the huge hall. It was full of people, riders and holders and crafters. The latter two had come for the Hatching. There was food, drink, chatter, and Harper music.

"Here, come with me, St'kay," B'nor said, tapping his friend on the shoulder. "I think I see some of those bubbly pies you love."

"Thanks," St'kay muttered under his breath as the brownrider steered him away from K'ronz.

"For what?" B'nor asked, a bland expression on his face. But he winked as he snagged a bubbly pie from the platter. "C'mon," he said. "Let's find our family."

St'kay didn't have to look very hard.

"Stakay!" a high little voice cried. A tiny body hurled out of the mass of people and slammed into St'kay at high speed. He barely had time to register a goldish blur that was her hair. St'kay felt his knees buckle.

"Careful, Annakay," he said, grinning. "That's where Kaelbrith… introduced herself to me."

"You gotses a dragon!" his younger sister squealed. "A green-y one, too!"

"Congratulations!" St'kay's mother said, folding him in a hug. "Kaelbrith is her name?"

"And mine's St'kay," he said.

"I'm sure I saw your mother around," St'kay's mother said to B'nor. She was the sister of B'nor's father. "Your father was talking to a rider friend of his, she said."

"Thank you," B'nor replied. "I'm sure she'll find me sooner or later."

"Klay-breeth," Annakay said, trying to pronounce the name of St'kay's dragon.

"Kay-ell-brith," he corrected her.

"Kee-brell-ith," she tried again.

St'kay shook his head and gave up.

"Where's Onorkay?" he asked his mother. His older brother would never have passed up a chance to come to the Weyr.

"Still off with the Lower Caverns girls, doubtless," his mother replied dismissively. "That's where we saw him last. He'll come back soon, I'm sure." She smiled affectionately. "They can never keep him away from his little brother."

St'kay grinned ruefully. "I only wish they could!"

"BRANORBRANORBRANORBRANORBRANOR!"

B'nor whirled around. "Time to meet my family," he said, his face proud and happy.

St'kay fell into his bed, pleasantly lightheaded from dancing, talking, eating, drinking, laughing. His hand reached instinctively for Kaelbrith, reveling in the softness of her hide.

Of his friends from candidacy, J'mral, H'pran, W'vrox, and Y'min had Impressed. There were many other new riders, of course, but St'kay had arrived relatively late, and didn't know the others well enough to want to search them out and ask if they had been blessed with a partner for life. Even those disappointed had been invited to the Hatching feast.

St'kay's imagination began to drift off into the sky.

Kaelbrith lifted her wings, craning her neck upwards.

Are we leaving yet? she asked impatiently.

"Almost," St'kay replied. "Just let me get your riding straps tightened."

He adjusted them, then expertly swung up onto the long, green neck, settling neatly between the ridges, easy as breathing. She tensed beneath him, bunching up her powerful hindquarters. St'kay slapped her neck, and she took off! Her wings flapped in long, hard strokes as they left the ground, their tethers severing as the sky took them. The wind hit St'kay's flying goggles, and a delighted smile broke across his face...

A smile remarkably like that of his fantasy was his expression as he fell into a dream that seemed to be very green.

Vardino coughed, and blood spattered the sheets of his cot. He felt himself double up in pain. Unfortunately, that only succeeded in ripping tender scabs that had just barely managed to form. As the agony scalded his brain, he raggedly drew in a deep breath. All around him, blood soaked everything. Red, red, red. And because of a bronze dragon!

"Vardino?" someone said kindly. "Here, lad. We're numbweed-ing you again."

Again? What good would it do this time? He gasped sharply (which added to the hurt) as careful hands spread the salve across his wounds. But it couldn't do much to the deep gouges. Vardino still felt as if – well, as if a baby dragon had walked across his stomach.

Ironic, that.

St'kay, St'kay, I'm hungry. Really really really really really hungry. St'kay? I'm hungry.

"Mmmfghrch?" And this incredibly intelligent statement started off St'kay's first full day as a dragonrider of Pern.

"I'm V'lian. My dragon is brown Muridth. While you are weyrlings under our command, you are to follow every rule we lay down. You are to do anything he or I say. You are to behave as properly befits a dragonrider. Am I completely clear?"

St'kay felt that merited a "Yes, sir."

Turned out it did.

V'lian began to pace back and forth in front of the weyrlings, his thin body amazingly strong for an old man. He hardly seemed his age.

"Your dragon is your mount, your friend, your equal. Not your pet. If your dragon is warning you of something, you're going to listen to him – or her. Is that understood?"

Were they going to have to give him a yessir for every paragraph the man spoke?

"Yes, sir!"

"Today, you're going to start learning how to care for your dragons," V'lian said. He thudded Muridth's large brown shoulder. "Will someone bring me the oil?

"Right. So, you're going to take the paddle and dip it in the oil. Make sure you have enough. Then, you smooth it carefully over his – or her – hide. Be gentle, but get the job done. Think you can do this? Doesn't look too hard, now does it?"

"No, sir."

"Then begin! Everyone come get an oil jar and a paddle and start to give your dragonet its first oiling. They're going to need it a lot at the beginning. They grow sharding fast for a while here."

St'kay collected the necessary items and then turned to his dragon. She obligingly positioned herself so he could smear the sweet-smelling oil on her hide. It was already patchy.

She sneezed.

That tickles.

"Sorry," St'kay said, grinning at the thought of a dragon being tickled.

They were quickly done. St'kay turned to the rider next to him. "Do you know what we're supposed to do when we've finished?"

"Sorry," came the cool reply. "But not all of us have small dragons. I'm afraid I don't know. Veloth and I are still oiling."

"Sorry, K'ronz," St'kay said, wishing he'd known before who the other rider was, before asking. He resolved to stay away from the bronzerider as much as he could.

Over the next few days, the weyrlings learned to take care of their partners. The dragons were oiled, bathed, and fed. They were all growing rapidly, and ate excessively. Kaelbrith's back was soon level with St'kay's waist.

The best thing about having a dragon was just the feeling that they were always there. Kaelbrith (when she wasn't napping) was just a constant presence in his mind. If St'kay stubbed his foot, she knew and asked if he was OK. If St'kay was bored, he'd talk to her. If he heard something amusing, he told Kaelbrith. Whether dragons had a sense of humor was, of course, debatable; but for his sake, Kaelbrith at least pretended to enjoy it.

It seemed like forever before Kaelbrith learned to fly. She was taller than St'kay by then, if still the smallest dragon of all the weyrlings. She had muscled up considerably.

"Right," said V'lian. "St'kay and Kaelbrith, it's your turn."

St'kay led up an excited green dragon, his hand on her ribs. He could feel her vibrating in anticipation.

Ready, girl? St'kay asked her.

Yes! Kaelbrith replied immediately. She wasn't nervous – she was a dragon, after all – but St'kay felt that he had nerves enough for both of them. Do not worry, she told him reassuringly. I'm ready. I am ready for anything.

Of course you are, he said.

As it turned out, she was. She bunched up her powerful hindquarters, and St'kay bit his lip. Then, she slingshot herself into the air! Her flight was rocky and not at all the smooth, majestic gliding that dragons were so famous for. But it made her rider beam with pride and joy. Even the tough Weyrlingmaster V'lian had to crack a smile. It was just such an intense moment.

I am doing it, St'kay! I am doing it!

You are, Kaelbrith! You ARE!

The one slight downside to being a weyrling was the utter lack of privacy, St'kay reflected as he settled down in his bunk. The dragons were getting larger, a sign that they would soon be moving out of the barracks. But that would have to wait until they could carry their riders in flight.

B'nor flopped down on his bed next to St'kay, letting out a muffled moan – muffled because his face was pressed into his pillow. "Mffmumff, grrblubble," he said.

"Sorry?" St'kay said, lifting a blond eyebrow.

"I said, V'lian must want us all to die of exhaustion," B'nor said sourly.

"C'mon," St'kay said, shaking his head. "All we're doing is what normal dragonriders do." We'll soon be normal dragonriders, too, he reflected happily, extending warm thoughts to Kaelbrith, who sleepily returned them.

"Yes, well," B'nor said grumpily, clearly in no mood to be even slightly reasonable. "If we miss even the smallest spot while oiling, he practically makes us start all over again! I mean, come on! One little spot isn't going to kill Broxth! Really!"

"I think it's good to be thorough." St'kay winced inwardly as he heard the haughty voice. "Veloth is always perfectly oiled." B'nor made a face that only St'kay could see. But really, the greenrider wanted to make one, too. K'ronz was intolerable! How that that conceited dimglow managed to Impress a sharding bronze, by the Shell of the First Egg?

"What, Kaelbrith? You're hungry?" St'kay asked quickly, climbing off his bed and toward the dragon. Away from K'ronz.

No, I'm not, she said, lifting a sleepy, confused head.

Yes, you are, St'kay said forcefully.

I am? Why?

K'ronz, St'kay said tersely, by way of explanation.

Well…

"OK, c'mon then!" St'kay said loudly, pushing on her shoulder. "If you want to eat, we'll have to go to the kitchens!"

Fine, she grumbled, getting up. But you must learn to deal with Veloth's rider soon. I can't just be hungry whenever you need me to be.

This time, both St'kay and Kaelbrith were trembling with excitement.

"Mount your dragon, St'kay!" V'lian called. Kaelbrith dropped her shoulder, and St'kay scrambled up. His messy ascent was nothing like the graceful vaulting of the experienced riders, but St'kay didn't care. All around, the other dragons and riders were watching. Those that had already flown together were rather bored, but those that had yet to go stared tensely at St'kay and Kaelbrith.

St'kay fastened his safety straps. He twisted his hips, making sure he was firmly in place, nestled between two neck ridges. He snapped his goggles to his face, though they probably wouldn't be necessary. Kaelbrith shifted eagerly under him.

"Right, then. Off you go!"

Kaelbrith sprang into the air with the ease of experience. Muridth flew alongside her, carefully near her, in case something went wrong. Her wings pumped hard on either side of St'kay as they powered upward. A grin of pure exhilaration split St'kay's face in two as they climbed higher and higher.

Am I too heavy for you, love? he asked anxiously.

Not at all! Kaelbrith replied instantly.

Soon, they had gone as high as Muridth would let them, and Kaelbrith leveled out. They flew over the Weyr Bowl, and St'kay felt a whoop of joy escape his lips. Kaelbrith, in an excess of happiness, began to turn, dipping a wing.

But she was not yet experienced when it came to flying with passengers. And she had forgotten to check where Muridth was. She wrenched around, and St'kay felt his heart freeze as he heard her wing pop. She gave a cry of alarm, and Muridth's bellow reverberated through the Weyr. Immediately, two blues winked in beneath them.

Kaelbrith panicked when she found that her wing wasn't working right, and began to fall. The two blues rose up under her, and supported her. Muridth's strong talons gripped her shoulders, and slowly the formation of dragons lowered themselves to the ground. Kaelbrith's squeals filled the air, which had gone silent otherwise. St'kay was terrified.

KAELBRITH! he cried. KAELBRITH!

ST'KAY!

He had to calm her down! His mind was numb, frozen! He still managed to push through that haze. Kaelbrith was in pain! Finally, he found her.

Kaelbrith! NO! Re-relax. Hewas such a hypocrite. Your wing – it'll be fine. And Muridth will not let us fall.

But she was nearly beyond reasoning. She clung desperately to his mind, frantic with fear, pain, and worry.

They landed, and the two blues hastily extracted themselves, leaving Muridth to make sure that Kaelbrith didn't hit the ground too hard.

Weyrlings immediately swarmed around the injured green, but Muridth's angry bellow stopped them. Dragon eyes were whirling bright, anxious colors.

St'kay scrambled to unstrap himself and slide off of Kaelbrith's neck. He hastened to her head to grab her nose and stop her tossing her head. He reached instinctively for her eye ridge, rubbing it furiously. "Sh-sh," he soothed her, terror pumping in his heart.

V'lian was at his side in an instant. "I've sent for the healer," he said tersely. St'kay nodded soundlessly.

You'll be all right, Kaelbrith. You'll be all right. I'm right here. I'm right here.

Fairly long chapter - for me. Please review - constructive critisism is how we all improve as writers, isn't it? I thank everyone who has reviewed so far.