/ Author's Comments:
Once again, I find that it's been several months since I uploaded the last chapter of The Rogue of Pern. Also, I'm once again forced to apologize to all of those readers who I've kept in suspense these past few months. I've had quite a bit going on in my life which has drained time away from my writing, and has really distracted me from the story. I've also had quite a bit of trouble figuring out exactly what to put into the epilogue, and I've put some serious thought into setting up for the sequel.
It's been more than a year since I started writing The Rogue of Pern. Time does fly, doesn't it? Well, I guess this is the end of this story; another one may be just beginning. I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed with what you thought of the conclusion, and of the story in general. Also, if you've got thoughts about the sequel, feel free to include any ideas. I'm still trying to think of a plot for the new story; right now I only have bits and pieces.
Well, enough about that. As this is the very last installment in the series, I feel obliged to repeat the disclaimer I stated in the prologue. I do not own the idea or have rights to the world of Pern and its associated novels. They are the intellectual property of Anne McCaffery and/or associated publishers/authors. Now, without further ado...
Chapter Information:
Drafting Began: 4:33:00 AM (GMT), August 2, 2007
Drafting Ended: 5:24:11 AM (GMT), August 3, 2007
Uploaded: 5:25:10 AM (GMT), August 3, 2007
The Rogue of Pern
Epilogue: Swords to Plowshares
Salt's Clearing
Present Pass, 16.1.22
Late Morning (Benden Time)
Ten Minutes Later
Penet wiped his brow of sweat as he pushed down on the spade with his foot, driving the blade of the instrument into the cold, hard earth. It was well known around Salt's Clearing that digging in the frozen ground was a hard task, but Penet had never really tried it before. At least, not in this volume of earth. Not digging something the size of a grave.
"You've done enough, Penet. Let me finish it off." Somehow, Penet had known that Halen was going to say something like that.
"No. You may not be dead, but you're still hurt. Don't exert yourself."
Halen scowled. "I don't need to be babied. There's not that much left, since we're not digging a real one. I might be hurt, but it's my grave! What kind of man doesn't dig his own grave?"
Halen stared straight at Penet, maintaining his scowl for a moment. Then, they broke into laughter for a minute more, before Halen could speak again.
"Alright, alright. At the very least, take a break. You've done more than enough today."
Penet nodded his head in acquiescence and lay the spade against a nearby tree. He then picked another tree, and leaned against it, surveying the surrounding area. They both stood by a bend in the nameless river where Halen and Penet had spent so many long summer days fishing and swimming. Halen had, at one point, told Penet that he'd wanted to come back here when it was all over. It was easy to see why; this was probably the most peaceful corner of Salt's Clearing. This time of year, it didn't have the aura of life it had in the spring and summer, but it did have a strange, white wintered beauty. The river didn't freeze, but it was ice cold. It would be no less than folly to go for a swim in the river during the early months, but the sound of running water was extremely comforting.
"You picked a scenic place to put a grave, Halen."
"It's a fitting burial site."
"The Rogue isn't really dead, Halen. He's you."
"But the identity is dead, Penet. I can never be the Rogue of Pern again. Now that the dragonweyr thinks I'm dead, I've got to stay dead in their minds. If I don't, they'll just come back after me again. Don't you realize that I'm going to have to leave Salt's Clearing? In the end, I didn't really get everything back. The danger that someone will recognize me and tell a dragonrider is great enough to keep me away from the Clearing."
"That's terrible." Penet looked over at the river again. "Salt's Clearing is home, and always will be. It's harsh, but it can beautiful, if you know where to look. And we're both leaving it."
"It will always be with us in here." Halen thumped his hand over his heart. "I doubt that either of us will ever leave the Clearing in spirit."
"I know that I won't." Penet scooped up the spade again, and began shoveling. They didn't have much further to go, as they weren't digging a real grave. They were just giving the impression of freshly turned earth. However, they did have to stay away from the Clearing long enough to convince D'sen that Penet had spent his time burying a corpse.
Penet shoveled for a few minutes, before Halen once again broke the silence.
"There's another one of those black-colored birds." Penet could tell, somehow, that this wasn't why Halen had really broken the silence. He wanted to say something much more important. Still, Penet once again lowered the spade, and casually looked over at the avian.
"Yeah, I've been seeing them more and more recently, lately. They're not wherries, so I don't know what kind of bird they are. I hear they some odd ones down in Ista. Maybe it came from there."
"And it migrated north for the winter, did it? Likes it squelching in the hot months and freezing in the colder ones?"
Penet shrugged and moved to grab the spade again.
"Penet?" Halen's voice was strangely soft.
The tanner paused. "Yes?"
"You really can hear it, can't you. The dragon, I mean."
Penet nodded solemnly. "Yes, I can. I've been able to hear him ever since that strange young man held our hands, back in the Hall."
"But can you feel it, Penet? I mean... I can't describe it. I can feel what it is feeling, I can hear what it is saying as though it was thinking my thoughts for me."
"I can hear his thoughts... almost as though someone is constantly whispering them in my ear."
"Can you feel it, though? Feel what it is feeling."
Penet paused for a moment, as though he was concentrating. "Vaguely, only a little bit. Is he feeling content, right now? Kind of... altruistically happy?"
"Yes, that's a better description than I could have come up with. I always said that you should have been a harper. You really do have a way with words. But for me... it's still as though I am feeling what it is feeling. What he is feeling, as you say. You'll have to get used to calling the dragon 'him', if you're going to be a dragonrider of Benden Weyr."
Penet nodded. "Your link seems to be much stronger than mine. It's still the link that only Impression can make. I suspect that the boy who we met was immensely powerful. Who has ever heard of someone linking a man to a dragon without Impression? It's ludicrous."
"Keep in mind, they don't know what happened. Keep the boy a secret. They think that I transferred the link to you with my dying breath, so they must think that I was an incredibly powerful individual. Also, to be convincing, you might want to pretend that your link isn't as weak as it is."
"That will be difficult. I'm having to concentrate extremely hard merely to sense your dragon's emotions, Halen. It's just lucky that I can hear his thoughts without focusing, or I'd be walking through the halls of Benden Weyr with my eyes forever screwed up."
The mix of classical language and modern slang evoked a blurt of laughter from Halen.
"You haven't exchanged names, have you, Penet?"
"No, not yet. I've heard that that is one of the first signs of bond between dragon and rider, though. It usually occurs at Impression. Now that you've gone and rewritten the entire lorebase of dragonkind, I'll be lucky if we exchange names at all. It would be exceptionally awkward if your dragon knew that you were still alive and refused to accept me as its rider."
"It - he - will."
"How can you know that?"
"I just do. I can also tell you that I don't think that he will go telling the entire Weyr that I'm alive. I can't explain it, but he knows that I'm happier this way. When I looked him in the eye, I didn't really Impress, but I think that we reached an understanding. Even if I don't love him, I'm forced to respect that he was willing to face death happily if it would ensure my happiness... my freedom. I have to say, I'm actually a little happy that we both get to live through this. I may hate dragonkind, but not enough to kill needlessly over it. At least everyone will reach some measure of peace. Except you, Penet. Are you sure that you'll be fine in the dragonweyr."
"I'm sure that I'll adjust. After everything I've seen these past few days, and everything you've been telling me for years, I can't say that I've got that much love left for Benden Weyr. But it's a life I can get used to. I'll never forget where I came from." He thumped the medallion hanging around his neck.
"Penet... today, you've done something for me that I'll never be able to repay. You've taken the life that I wouldn't... You're going to take the life that I don't have to courage to live. I can't even begin to express my gratitude. You're going to go be locked up there, just so I can walk free."
"Well, I hardly think that they'll keep me locked up. I think I'm going to go join the weyrlings. Though I'm wondering how they intend to explain this to the other weyrlings, come to think of it. How does humble Hunter Penet simply walk out of the blue and into their group, accompanied by a bronze dragon? I don't think that there have been any other recent hatchings at any of the other Weyrs. Maybe they'll just tell everyone the truth, but its a bit of a hard story to believe. Who would have believed it?"
"I don't know. I really am more concerned about your well-being, Penet."
"I'll be fine, Halen. Benden Weyr isn't filled with bloodthirsty killers,"
"You're going to spend the rest of your life protecting Pern from the thread. You, a man who never had the same privilege or the same protection. You, from a place that most have never even heard of. And you're doing it so I don't have to. If you get injured in the line of service to this thread-bared world, I'll never forgive myself."
"Then I'll make sure that I won't get hurt. I'm more concerned about fitting in. Especially if I have to pretend that I can feel and hear my – your – dragon just like all of the other weyrlings. I have to actively concentrate to feel its normal feelings."
"That will lead to awkward situations. Good luck when it matures – but look. I just can't let you do everything on your own. I can't let you spend the rest of your life as a dragonrider on my behalf. You've got friends here – I don't."
"Halen, its fine."
"But--"
"It's fine, Halen."
"Alright, but if you ever need anything, find a way to contact me. Have the dragon bespeak me and I'll get it to you. Whatever it is."
"I feel worse about you, Halen. What are you going to do?"
"You mean, outside of Salt's Clearing?"
"Yes. As you said, you can't stay here. You've got to go somewhere. And you've got to keep your head down as long as you're around here, or a dragonrider might recognize you."
"That's a possibility, and I guess it's one that I can't ignore. I'll think of something."
"Well, if you ever need to get somewhere fast, just contact me. After I learn to go between, I'll take you there, if I get any time off."
"I'll be fine, Penet. I know Benden Hold and Bitra Hold well enough. I should be able to get around."
"But Halen, you can't stay at Benden or Bitra Hold. They have dragonriders as frequent guests. If you're recognized, then everything we've worked for... what I'm going to do... it will all have been pointless."
"Then I'll go further on. I've got to leave my identity here behind. It's sad, but it's got to be done. If I can't stay here, or south of here, then I'll go west. Or maybe even further south. I hear they need good men down in Southern..."
"So, we are both leaving Salt's Clearing..."
"We've already talked about this, Penet."
Both men stood in silence. Without a word going between them, Penet knew that neither one of them could really bare to leave the Clearing. That's why they'd said – why they'd like to think that they'd always be here in spirit. So many friends... so many dedicated, strong pioneers. It was a shame to leave them all behind. Halen and Penet had grown up here. Maybe what they had said really was true. Maybe they never really would truly leave the Clearing.
"Do you remember how we used to fish in that river, Halen?"
"Yes. And I learned to swim in it. I told you that I wanted to return to this exact spot. I've probably got more happy memories here than anywhere else in the whole of Salt's Clearing. When we were tired of hunting or just wanted to relax, we'd head back here and just take a break. This place will always symbolize peace to me."
Penet nodded, as though they were burying the river and this little corner of the forest itself, not digging a false grave for a dead identity.
They went back to silence, and then Penet picked the shovel back up. He started digging again, and as his forehead became riddled with sweat again. Minutes slipped by in silence, and Penet knew that Halen wasn't going to break it again. This was the peace he remembered, nothing but the sound of the river...
Bit by bit, lump by lump, Penet dug out the grave. He dug it deeper than he really needed to do, but still much shallower than a real grave would be. So much time had gone by. So very much time. When they'd just been children in Salt's Clearing, they'd grown to be closer than most friends. There weren't many youths in the Clearing. It was a rugged, desperate, lifestyle. Being holdless was hard.
The years had passed by. Halen, who already lost his mother, came to lose his father. Penet lost many loved ones himself, and time had marched on. Halen had spent time in both Bitra and Benden Holds, and Penet had learned to tan. They'd hunted together, and that was an experience like no other. They'd laughed together, and played together... days that seemed long gone now.
It wasn't hard to understand Halen, or why he'd developed such hate for society, and for dragonkind. He was holdless, but had pretended to be a holder while he was in Benden Hold and Bitra Hold. He'd heard what people had said about the holdless, not even bothering to save their discrimination for when one such miscreant was in their midst. Halen had seen firsthand what Penet had only heard of from trading caravans and traveling merchants: society's treatment of the holdless.
When Halen had come back from those southern holds, he'd come back with tales of that maltreatment. Officials as high as craftmasters would sell goods to holdless only at many times their true price. Holders who earned less respectable livings would kick and spit on men who ought to have held their heads high. And the general attitude of the greater society towards the holdless was also appalling. Following the Lady Holdless Thella, many regarded the holdless as nothing better than thieves and bandits. One of the trade caravans from Salt's Clearing had actually been turned back from Benden Hold, and many refused to even sell goods to the holdless.
Salt's Clearing had been founded on the will of the men who had been dismissed from everywhere else. Holdless men were holdless not by choice, but because they were deemed undesirable or unproductive. Not all were bandits. Many were simply unfortunate. Farmers who no longer had land to farm, now that their holdings were consumed by the thread. Men who had been injured and were ejected from the so-called "honorable" holds because they couldn't work anymore. In some cases, even the sick and the elderly were turned away. Many times, perfectly good men and women, hard working as anyone else, were dismissed from their posts simply because there wasn't enough room to keep them.
Thread had always fallen in Salt's Clearing. It had done so ever since the founding of the Clearing. However, there wasn't anything worth-while this far north. The ground was cold and stony in the hottest part of the summer, and Thread would not grow there. Most of time, Thread would simply crack and freeze and crumble impotently before it could ever even do harm. The cold was the greatest enemy and the best friend of the hunters.
No dragons flew about Salt's Clearing. Ever. It was a waste of time and energy to do so this far north, where there was nothing worth defending. The snowy wastes would never be infected by the parasitic Thread, because the soil there was so worthless that not even the ravenous blight would infect it. Even the trees that grew in Salt's Clearing were good for little but firewood. But somehow, a society thrived here.
Penet doubted that the Conclave had ever even mentioned Salt's Clearing. No one ever dared call it a Hold, even though it all but was. It might not really protect the Hunters from the Thread, but no one in the Clearing cared. A few had died to the Thread, that was a true, real concern. But far fewer than if they'd decided to live in some open field in the middle of the Northern Continent. But, because they were holdless, no one ever really recognized their achievements. Salt's Clearing had everything, even Gathers.
Halen had always taken great pride in Salt's Clearing, as many had. Everyone really felt that way about the Clearing. It was something that everyone had built up together. Something that you'd built with your own two hands. There was an incredible sense of community in the air, and a renewed optimism that no one could quite explain. That was when Salt's Clearing had had its first Gather. To celebrate this newfound aura of completeness, the indescribable feeling that everyone had made something for themselves, Salt's Clearing had held a Gather. That had been a happy time.
The day the dragonriders came, after they left... Halen hadn't looked angry. He had looked pained. Penet didn't know how many people of Salt's Clearing shared Halen's sentiments. If there were other men who believed that the Clearing owed Benden Weyr nothing, as the Weyr did nothing for the Clearing. However, many still adhered to the traditions of old. Penet thought back on how please young G'ron's mother had been when he had been Searched.
Penet ultimately agreed with Halen. When he thought back on all that... on these past few weeks. Halen had called him a brother only a few days ago. They'd done so much in the name of little more than ideals, it was unbelievable. Today, Halen had made his point. With luck, the Weyrs would think twice before Searching an unwilling candidate again.
"That's deep enough, Penet."
Penet became aware of his surroundings again for the first time in... he didn't know how long. It was indeed deep enough. Halen picked up the cloth that he'd brought with him, that he'd been covered with when he was on the stretcher. It was a shroud, used to cover the dead. Halen spread it carefully into the grave. Penet wordlessly began to fill the hole. As he did, he spoke.
"I can't believe that we might never see each other again, Halen. I can't believe that we're going separate ways." Penet realized that there were tears, as well as sweat on his forehead.
"Neither can I. I... it was just this morning, as I stared that dragon in the eyes, that I told it that I didn't need a friend, that I didn't need a confidant. I told it I already had the best friend I could ever ask for. And now he's making a huge sacrifice for me, and I may never see him again. It's hard to believe..." Halen broke off, and Penet realized that he'd just thought of something. Halen seemed to be concentrating.
Can you hear me, Penet?
Penet jumped at the thought intruding into his mind, but the voice was very familiar, and very comforting. He realized that Halen had discovered a gift – perhaps an accidental gift, perhaps the greatest gift that the young, blond boy could have given them.
I can.
"We may go our separate ways, Penet, and I may have lost an identity, but we'll never be that far apart."
"Can the dragon hear us, Halen?"
"Yes, I'm almost certain of it. I think it's as though we're all standing – you, me, and the dragon – in a room. We can talk to each other, but we'll be overheard by the third person there. Still, that's fine with me. I do not think that your dragon would betray me or your."
My dragon, though Penet. That was something that he'd have to get used to. Was it really still Halen's dragon, at heart? Halen still hated dragonkind, there was no doubt there. But if it had not earned Halen's love, it had earned his grudging respect. Not it, Penet reminded himself. He. And Halen's respect is something.
Penet finished filling in the grave, and rolled the large, circular rock they had decided on for the tombstone to the head of the grave. The two men stood in silence for a moment.
"We're about to go our separate ways, Penet. If you're going to go through with it, don't look back and don't regret it. It's not as bad as it could be." I'll never be too far away.
Halen turned to leave, but Penet called to him. "Wait!"
Halen stopped and turned. Penet continued to speak. "We need to write something on the headstone."
Penet picked up two stones off of the ground and used them as an impromptu hammer and chisel. He wrote roughly on the headstone: "Here lies"
"Here lies who, Halen?"
Halen smiled and took the stones from Penet. He chiseled the last words into the tombstone. Then, with nothing more than a smile, he walked into forest. Penet was left staring at the words for a moment, smiling, before he too turned to return to the Healer's "Hall". As he thought of the phrase, he had to ask himself, what else was there to say? The inscription read: "Here lies The Rogue of Pern."
/ That's all, that's it, that's a wrap. 70,000 words, 60 reviews, and ten chapters later, here we are. It's been more than a year. I started writing this story last year, on the 6th of July. Now, we're about a year and a month later, and I'm done with this whole book. As I mentioned last chapter, I have also decided that after I finish this plot arc, there will be a sequel. Now that you've read the story, tell me what you think. Read, review, please. I've put a lot of time and quite a bit of thought and spirit into this story. Also, if you've got suggestions for the next book, I'm all ears. I'm still trying to figure one out myself. But, rest assured.
Halen, the Rogue of Pern, will return. Penet, probably Tras, and definitely the mysterious blond boy will also make another appearance. Keep your eyes peeled for my next book. It may be posted in this same story, or it may be a new one. Rest assured, I'll be thinking about it.
Until next time, The ACS Dude /