Dragonship
By Thomas Mc
Author's Note: Once again I apologize for taking so long in updating this story. It seems that life keeps getting in the way of all my plans. Please bear with me and I will continue to post new chapters as quickly as possible.
Chapter 13 : A Little Black Dragon
The small black dragonet's steps rapidly gained assurance as it made its determined way toward the lower hatching cavern entrance. Unlike with all the other hatchlings, none of those unattached candidates tried to entice or intercept the small black creature. All of them quickly got out of its way. Many of them exhibited looks of pity or disgust. None of them had the slightest interest in impressing the sad undersized misshapen beast. Tia could still sense the black dragonet's need and immediately felt sorry for the poor unwanted hatchling. He was looking for something specific and was single-mindedly making his way toward it.
Tia studied the small newly hatched black dragon as it made its way past their position in the stands. It was already losing much of its initial clumsiness and was moving pretty quickly. The little black hatchling was about twice the size of the largest firelizards. Its hide was jet black and had a pebbly texture rather than the smooth texture of the other dragons. Its shape was off as well. Its snout was shorter and rounder; its neck was so short as to be nearly non-existent; its wings were about thirty percent shorter and forty percent wider relative to its body; the fins along the sides of its tail were three times as wide; its legs were also much shorter and stouter; and its neck ridges were far more prominent and jagged than normal. All the correct parts were there (same number of fingers, toes and wing bones, same swirling multifaceted eyes) but the relative dimensions were all wrong. If it survived and grew as much as other dragons then it would probably end up being less than half the size of Ruth. Even if it could fly with those stubby wings it would be unable to carry a rider into battle against the deadly thread.
F'lar, Lessa and Jaxom started down out of the stands followed by Sebell, Menolly, Sharra, Alex and Tia. By the time they reached the floor of the hatching grounds the little black dragon was more than halfway to the lower cavern entrance and moving fairly fast.
"Where is it going?" F'lar asked as he turned to follow the creature, shaking his head.
"I don't know." Lessa responded as she fell into step beside him, a worried frown on her face. "I just don't want it upsetting the other hatchlings."
Jaxom and Sharra were right behind Lessa and F'lar. "This could be disastrous." Jaxom commented.
Tia and Alex both glanced over at Jaxom and Sharra in curiosity. "What do you mean?" Tia asked them.
Sebell was the one that answered. "The last time a hatchling left the hatching grounds without impressing, she ended up sitting out in the open and doing nothing but making a nerve wracking cry for almost two seven-days until she finally died."
Lessa noticed that the black dragon had just disappeared through the lower cavern entrance and speeded up. "We'd better hurry up. We're losing it."
The others increased their pace to keep up with Lessa as they tried following the little black dragonet out of the cavern. Tia pulled just a bit ahead of the others in her haste to get to the distressed creature and help it any way she could. Alex moved up beside her wondering what she had in mind. Tia's main thought was that she would be happy to befriend the desperate creature if she could just get its attention.
As the group exited the cavern they could hear a lot of commotion coming from the area where all the tents were set up and the trail of destruction was plain to see. Alex glanced at the others. "What is going on?"
Tia responded. "The little black dragon is tearing its way through the gather area."
By now it seemed obvious that the little black dragonet was making a beeline toward Tia's ship. Jaxom looked over at Tia as he spoke. "Tia, it's trying to get to you. It wants to bond with you."
Tia shook her head as she responded. "No I don't think so. I'm not feeling the same type of irresistible need, the all encompassing pull, that I felt in the other hatchlings earlier. And this hatchling is male. It is a he." She looked over at Lessa who had pulled up beside her. "What I'm feeling from him is a strong need, but it is quite different from what I felt in all the other hatchlings."
Lessa looked back at Tia in surprise. "You were in contact with the new hatchlings during impression?"
Tia looked back at Lessa and shrugged at the slightly scandalized look in her eyes. "Yes . . . was that wrong of me?"
Lessa was silent for several seconds and F'lar answered for her. "I don't really know if there is anything necessarily wrong with it. No one has ever thought of it before and most riders can only speak with their own dragon." He paused several more seconds before continuing. "Impression is such a very intensely personal thing. During impression the mind of the new dragon and the mind of the new rider become completely open to each other and they become part of the other." He glanced over at the newly impressed hatchlings and their young riders. "It doesn't appear to have caused any harm but it is not something one should do."
Tia looked back at the others contritely. "I didn't really do it intentionally. Since I realized that I could talk to the dragons I have been leaving myself open to them and it just happened. I'm sorry if I overstepped."
Lessa nodded her head. "No harm done. Don't worry about it."
By the time they had reached the other side of the Gather area they saw the small black hatchling reach Tia's ship. He started scrabbling against the ship's hull as though trying to claw his way inside.
"This does not look good." F'lar commented as he looked over at Tia's avatar body then back at her ship where the actions of the black dragon were becoming more frantic.
Tia's face became stricken. "That poor thing. He is starting to get upset but there is no way that he can reach me and if he keeps that up he could hurt himself on my hull." Tia faced Lessa. "You can talk to all of the dragons can't you?"
Lessa was taken a bit off guard by the sudden question but she nodded. "Yes, normally I can."
Tia also nodded in return. "Try to talk to him." She pointed at the black hatchling. "See if you can get his attention."
Lessa looked back at Tia in surprise at getting such a request. Then she realized that Tia did not think like a Pernese. After a moment, Lessa reached out with her mind and tried to make contact with the little black hatchling. It took a couple of seconds for her to get through, but the black dragonet finally stopped trying to claw his way into Tia's ship. His head slewed around for a moment as though he was searching for something. Then he turned toward the approaching group and Tia clearly felt the hatchling reacting to Lessa's call to him. The black dragonet began making his way back toward them. Lessa could feel the black dragonet's desire to reach her but it was nothing like what she remembered feeling when she and Ramoth had impressed. That thought got her worrying about Ramoth and how she might feel about all this. What if that odd black dragon bonded to her?
A second later she felt Ramoth's reaction. "I am not threatened by the little black one. He will not impress."
'Are you sure about that?' Lessa inquired of her beloved queen dragon.
'I am.' The great golden dragon responded. Lessa looked up to see her golden queen emerge from the upper cavern entrance. Ramoth wheeled around and glided over to the outside ledge of her weyr where she landed and settled down to calmly watch the action out on the floor of the bowl.
The little black dragonet reached them and in her head Lessa received thoughts that she knew came from the black dragonet. Though not really using words as such she could easily understand what the young dragonet was trying to communicate. 'Who am I? What's my name?' The voice in her head inquired.
The question caught Lessa completely by surprise. It was the last thing she had expected. 'You don't know your name? All dragons know their own name from the moment they hatch.' Lessa responded to the hatchling.
A name just seemed to pop into Tia's mind. 'Markath, you are Markath.' She thought back at the little black dragon. The little dragons head swung around toward the ship and there was a sense of satisfaction radiating from the hatchling then it returned its attention to the small group. 'I am Markath." He informed them happily as the sense of urgency seemed to melt away.
The next moment Markath the black dragon was looking up at them, his eyes scanning the group. Tia reached out to touch the little beast. Markath shied away from Tia's hand and hissed at her. Tia and Lessa could both feel the fear, uncertainty and distrust in the little dragon's mind.
Tia thought at him. 'Markath do not pull away. That is my avatar.' She also tried to project friendship and comfort at the same time.
The creature stopped backing away and looked over his shoulder at Tia's ship then back at Lessa. There was confusion in his mind. 'I do not understand.' He remarked plaintively.
Tia tried to explain. 'It is part of me just as your wing is part of you.'
'There is nothing there. It is a dead thing.' Markath complained, again looking distrustfully at the avatar.
Lessa jumped in at this point, unsure how much this hatchling could comprehend. 'Most of us reside in our own bodies, like you or me.' The dragon's head shifted to Lessa as she continued. 'Tia however does not reside in her body. She resides in her ship and controls her body from there.' To Lessa and Tia's surprise the hatchling actually seemed to grasp the concept Lessa was trying to get across.
Markath did not shy away this time when Tia approached him and allowed her to stroke his head. 'I'm hungry.' The little black dragonet complained.
Lessa smiled indulgently. "Now that sounds like a typical hatchling." She looked at Tia. "Do you think you could take our new friend here to be fed with the rest of the hatchlings over there?" She pointed to an area way over on the other side of the weyr floor where several of the other newly hatched dragons could be seen.
"I will go with you to help you get started." Offered Jaxom with a hint of a soft smile playing across his face.
"That would be fine with me." Tia responded. Then she addressed the black dragonet. 'Markath, will you go with my avatar?'
The little dragonet glanced back and forth between Tia's ship and Tia's avatar body as he seemed to consider her question. Finally he responded. 'Yes, I will go with your avatar.'
Tia nodded and she and Jaxom set out to join the other young dragons, followed closely by Markath. As they strolled to where the other young dragons were getting their first meal Tia began thinking about how Markath's communications skills were rapidly expanding. At first he had communicated using simple wordless concepts but now he was actually forming words and getting better at it all the time. She wondered if this was typical or was Markath exceptionally intelligent. She would have to ask Lessa or Jaxom about that later.
Soon they arrived at the area where the new riders were chopping up large sides of raw meat and feeding it to their new dragons. Jaxom stepped in and showed Tia what to do. It was obvious that the dragons were strictly meat eaters. Though she had to cut the meat into much smaller pieces than the others, Markath managed to consume a surprisingly large amount of meat for his size. Once Jaxom was sure that Tia had it under control, he headed back to the gather area to join the others.
While she was feeding the little dragon Tia noticed several curious and some sympathetic looks from the other new dragonriders. A few even spoke to her. She learned the newly paired dragons and riders were referred to as weyrlings. Though she was very curious, Tia remembered what F'lar had told her and refrained from connecting to the minds of the other new dragons
While feeding Markath Tia began analyzing her own feelings toward the little dragon. There was no powerful intimate bond like the other dragon riders had formed. It wasn't even as intense as the much lesser bond that many of them had formed with their firelizards. In fact her feelings toward Markath were more maternal in nature and there was no bond involved. She got the impression that Lessa's feelings for the little black dragonet were very similar to her own but Lessa was very reluctant to become involved with Markath.
As the dragonets became sated they and their riders made their way back toward an area next to the celebrating crowd where proud family members and friends could congratulate the new future dragonriders and the riders could show off their new dragons. Though much smaller than the other hatchlings, Tia was sure that Markath had managed to eat nearly as much as they had.
As soon as Markath was sated he lumbered over to where Tia's ship sat, curled up against her hull and quickly fell asleep. Once Tia was sure that Markath was settled for the time being she headed back to the Gather area to find the others. She was a little worried about the little black dragonet. What were they going to do about him?
~ o ~
"I have never seen anything like it." F'lar was saying. "Not only did he not impress, he didn't even seem to feel the need to impress." He shrugged. "I have no idea what is going to become of him."
Lessa responded to F'lar's comment with a shrug. "At least he's not sitting in the middle of the field keening away and disturbing the weyrlings like that pitiful green did in High Reaches Weyr six turns ago." A shudder went through her petite body. "Even some of our dragons here at Bendon were disturbed by it." She shook her head sadly. "I know how harsh it sounds but it was actually a relief when she finally died."
"Well it looks like there is no danger of that happening here." Jaxom remarked then a shudder passed through his frame. "Sometimes I think how terrible I would have felt if that had happened to Ruth. What if when I freed him from that too thick shell, he had not bonded with me? That could have been Ruth if he had not impressed."
Ruth's voice responded in Jaxom's mind. 'That did not happen. I am yours, you are mine, we are together.'
Jaxom smiled in that soft special way reserved for Ruth and for Sharra as he responded to Ruth. 'Yes we are together and I will always be glad that I did what I did.'
Sharra and Lessa had both heard Ruth's response to Jaxom and chuckled. Then Sharra put her arm around Jaxom's waist and commented. "Trust a dragon to get straight to the heart of the matter."
Sebell nodded as he absentmindedly stroked the head knobs of his little firelizard then commented. "Speaking of the heart of the matter, I wonder what will become of Markath."
Continued in Part 14
( rev 130828 )
'The Ship Who Searched' and'The Dragonriders of Pern' and their characters are owned by Anne & Todd McCaffery and Del Ray Books. No infringement on copyrights is intended. (I'm only borrowing the characters and promis not to damage them, too much.) This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be freely used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.