Chapter 25 - Time Off

Hello everyone, it's another update.

Sorry it took so long, but I had a bit of writer's block. This chapter was originally going to be about Tannluth's mating flight, but I realized that there was a whole turn (year) interval that was missing. I didn't have any ideas for a while, but I came up with something that I think sounds pretty good. H'cup has been doing nothing but working at the Smithcrafthall and the Weyr (with a few side trips to Landing) and has never had any time off. I figure he's due for a vacation. Enjoy.

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All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey.

When word spread around the Smithcrafthall of a new craft opening up, there were a lot of applicants amongst the apprentices and Journeymen. When it was confirmed that the new craft was formed in order to fabricate armor for dragons and riders, there was a veritable flood of applicants! It seemed EVERYONE wanted the chance to be close to the magnificent protectors of Pern. As a consequence, H'cup had the choice of some of the best talent the Smithcrafthall had to offer. He chose six Journeymen, one of which was his old friend Jencis, and eighteen apprentices. There would be more coming as demand for armor increased, but for now the numbers would be sufficient. He called for an assembly in the newly built Armorcrafthall. Once all the apprentices and Journeymen were assembled, H'cup stood before them and looked them over.

"I'm not one to make speeches, so I'll be brief. This is a very new craft. In fact, six months ago it didn't even exist. What I'm trying to say is that there is quite a bit of room for new ideas. If you have an idea, please don't hesitate to bring it to me or to one of the Journeymen you see before you. Even if it's a bad idea, it may lead to something useful. That's all I have. Does anyone have any questions?" When no one spoke up, H'cup continued; "No questions? Very well. Apprentices, you are dismissed. Journeymen, please stay behind for a few moments."

When all the apprentices dispersed, H'cup turned to the Journeymen.

"I'm fairly new at this, so I'm going to count a lot on the six of you. First off, does anyone see any problems with the new apprentices?"

Most of them shook their heads, but a young Journeyman he knew as Sendoral nodded his head.

"Do you know of any problems Sendoral?"

"Not any real problems, Armormaster. It's just that a lot of them are young and have visions of riding on dragons. We're going to have our hands full keeping their minds on their tasks!"

"I agree. The ones who applied for this craft must WANT to be near dragons. That is something that is taken into consideration when dragons go on Search for candidates. I have a feeling that we're going to lose a lot of apprentices to the Weyr. If a dragon who's getting fitted for armor happens to like one of our apprentices and thinks he will be a good candidate for a Hatching, then by all means they should be encouraged to go. Of course, the choice of whether or not they go is up to them. However, we must keep them focused on what they are doing while they are doing it. Any other questions?" Jencis spoke up.

"Have you thought of casting the molds out of something other than clay, Armormaster?"

"Yes, at first I did, but I didn't really have the time to do it. I just went with something that was quick, cheap, and readily available."

"Well, now that there's more apprentices coming into the craft, it might be a good idea to replace the clay molds with something a little more durable. One accident would wipe out several months worth of work!"

"Very good point, Jencis. That could be one of the first tasks we assign to our new apprentices. You wanted something to keep them busy, Sendoral? This could be just the thing!"

Sendoral nodded and said; "I'll get on it right away, Armormaster."

H'cup nodded; "Very good, Sendoral." He looked at the other Journeymen. "Is there anything else?" When no one spoke up, H'cup nodded again. "Thank you for your attention, everyone. You are dismissed. Jencis, please stay behind for a moment."

When all the other Journeymen had left, H'cup rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Are you all right, Armormaster?"

H'cup smiled and said; "Yes Jencis, I'm all right, I'm just a little tired. Could you do me a favor?"

"Certainly."

"We've been friends since we were Journeymen. When we're alone, could you please call me H'cup?"

Jencis grinned and nodded. "Sure thing, H'cup. Now, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

H'cup took a breath before starting. "Right at this time my duties at the Weyr allow me some time to devote to this craft. However, that may change in the future. It has been my intention all along to train someone else to eventually take over my position as Armormaster and I can think of no one more qualified for the job than you, Jencis."

Jencis stood there for a few moments with his mouth hanging open. When he got over his initial shock, he started stuttering.

"Y-you want m-me to be Armormaster?"

"Sure, why not? You're one of the most level-headed Journeymen in the Smithcrafthall. I'm sure you would keep your even-handedness in running the Armorcraft."

"I d-don't know what to say."

"Say 'Yes'."

Jencis smiled as he extended his hand. "Yes."

H'cup smiled back as he grasped his hand and shook it. "Excellent. Obviously, we can't confirm you as Armormaster just yet, we have to get the craft up and running first."

"Obviously."

"In the meantime, I'm going to go back to Telgar and get some rest. Can you handle things here?"

"You can count on me, Armormast...I mean, H'cup."

H'cup grinned at him. "Thank you, Jencis."

H'cup left the group of buildings that comprised the new Armorcrafthall and walked across the courtyard to where Tannluth was lounging in the sun. The black dragon noticed the way his rider was dragging his feet. When H'cup reached his side, Tannluth craned his head around and gently nudged H'cup in the side.

:Are you all right, H'cup?:

H'cup patted Tannluth's snout. "Yeah buddy, I'm all right. I'm just a bit tired, that's all. Let's get back to Telgar where I can get some sleep."

Tannluth cocked his head to the side as he regarded his lifemate, but nodded once and crouched down so that H'cup could climb on. When the straps were secured, Tannluth leaped into the air and went between to Telgar Weyr.

Re-emerging from between over Telgar, Tannluth returned the watch dragon's challenge bugle and descended to their weyr. Tannluth touched down and walked into the outer weyr before H'cup dismounted so he wouldn't have to walk so far. H'cup unstrapped himself, slid down Tannluth's side, and laid a hand on his neck.

"Thanks, buddy."

:Anytime:

H'cup wearily dragged himself into the inner weyr, sat down on the edge of the bed, took off his flying jacket, pants, boots, and leg, and collapsed into the sleeping furs. He was sound asleep a few moments later. Tannluth poked his head into the inner weyr to check on him and nodded his head when he saw that H'cup was finally getting some sleep.

:Sleep well, my friend:

Tannluth went back into the outer weyr and settled onto the dragon couch to take a nap. When he felt something poke into his hide, he looked down and sighed in dismay.

:Shards, he forgot to take off my riding harness. Oh well, I'll just wait for Vailira to come back:

Tannluth made himself as comfortable as he could and settled his head on his forepaws to wait. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long as he felt the presence of Chrysolth and Vailira approaching their weyr. His head came up when Vailira walked into the outer weyr.

"Hello Tannluth. What are you and H'cup doing back here in Telgar? I wasn't expecting you until later tonight."

:Hello Vailira, hello Chrysolth. H'cup and I came back because he needed to rest. He's in the inner weyr sleeping right now:

Vailira looked in on H'cup and saw that he was sleeping soundly. She nodded once and drew the curtain across the entrance to the bedroom. When she came back out, Tannluth spoke to her again.

:Vailira, can you do me a favor?:

"Sure Tannluth, what can I do for you?"

:H'cup was very tired when he came back and he forgot to remove my riding harness. Could you please take it off? It would make resting much more comfortable:

Vailira frowned; "That's not like H'cup at all to forget something like that. Stand up and I'll take it off of you."

:Thank you very much. You know, I'm glad H'cup is asleep right now. That way I can talk to you privately:

"Oh? What do you want to talk about?"

:I'm worried about him:

Vailira stopped unbuckling the straps and looked Tannluth in the eye.

"Why are you worried about H'cup? Is there something wrong?"

:Have you noticed how tired H'cup has been lately? At first he was ecstatic that his idea of making armor for dragons and riders led to the start of a new Crafthall and that he was in charge of it. I could see that he was very happy planning everything and building it from nothing. But that's ALL he's been doing with his free time these past few months. Every free moment that he has when he's not fighting Thread is spent down at the Armorcrafthall. And he doesn't just sit around and let others do the work. He works HARD. I have to almost drag him away from there every day so that he will get some sleep:

Vailira nodded as she resumed taking off Tannluth's harness. "Yes, I've noticed how tired he's been lately. But I realize that he's trying to get everything running well. Once everything is in place, he should have more time to himself."

:I'm not too sure if it will be wise to wait that long, Vailira. He's not just tired, he's weary. I've seen how hard he will push himself when he sets a goal. Back on Earth when he was building an artificial tail for me so I could fly again, we would crash from time to time. It wouldn't hurt me, but I could tell H'cup was hurt a number of times. He would smile, stretch his bruised and sore muscles, and mount up for another try. I had to be the one to stop our practice sessions before he hurt himself too badly. I have a feeling that he will keep going with this until he collapses. He needs some time away from the Weyr, from the Armorcrafthall, from everything:

"Even from me?"

:Oh, no, no, no, not from you. You're the only other stable influence in his life apart from myself. That's why I wanted to talk to you. It's going to take the two of us to help him out of the rut he's in right now:

Vailira nodded as she pulled the last part of the harness off of Tannluth's back and smiled as she coiled it up for storage.

"I think I know just what to do."

o0o0o0o

It took three days of planning, meetings, and messages, but Vailira was now sure that everything was in place to carry out her plan. Now all she had to do was wait for the right time. Threadfall was due in two days and wouldn't fall over Telgar's territory for two more sevendays after that. Perfect. She sent out the requisite messages to let everyone know her timetable.

Threadfall turned out to be relatively light with only three minor injuries to some young dragons. The next day, H'cup was getting ready to go down to the Armorcrafthall to see how things were progressing. When he finished dressing, Heimdall flew to H'cup's shoulder from his perch on top of the closet. H'cup smiled and scratched his headknob and Heimdall purred in obvious pleasure.

"Hey there, little buddy. I haven't seen you since yesterday. Been keeping out of trouble?"

Heimdall chirped happily and shared images of things he had seen with H'cup. As always, these images were confusing while being seen through the faceted eyes of the fire lizard, but it made him happy when he was able to share things with his human friend. H'cup laughed and walked into the outer weyr. He was a bit surprised to see that not only was Tannluth all harnessed up, but Chrysolth was also wearing her flight harness as well. H'cup's eyebrows went up as he noticed that both dragons had large carisaks strapped to their harnesses.

"What's all this?"

Vailira turned around to look at him.

"Oh, good morning H'cup. You're just in time."

"In time for what?"

"We're going on vacation."

"Vacation? I can't go on vacation! I have a crafthall to run!"

"H'cup, that's all been taken care of."

"Taken care of? What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that Journeyman Jencis and Mastersmith Fandarel will be handling things with the Armorcrafthall for the next few days. I've also checked with Weyrleader R'mart and he approved a leave of absence for you and Tannluth."

H'cup's eyes narrowed; "And you set this up?"

:Don't be cross with Vailira, H'cup. It was actually MY idea to get you away from the Armorcrafthall and the Weyr for a little while:

H'cup turned and looked at his dragon.

"Tannluth, you know how important it is to craft armor for the dragons and riders of Pern!"

:Yes, I do. I also know that it's important to keep the Armormaster and Black Dragon Rider in top form, physically and mentally. H'cup, I love you and I'm worried about you. You've been pushing yourself too hard these past few months and need some time for yourself. Please, if you won't do this for yourself, do it for me?:

H'cup tried reasoning with them again.

"Look, it's a very important time right now and I've almost got everything set up the way I want. Give me three more sevendays and I'll take some time off."

Vailira shook her head; "No, H'cup, this can't wait for three sevendays. Look at you, even though you slept through the night, you look like you've been awake for days! You're pushing yourself too hard and you need to take a break. I've spoken with Jencis and the Mastersmith and they assure me they will take care of everything personally. If an emergency happens that requires your personal attention, you're only a fire lizard message and a quick dragonflight away."

H'cup sighed and shook his head.

"Neither one of you have left me much choice, have you?"

Vailira and Tannluth answered simultaneously; "Nope."

H'cup's eyes went wide as he shook his head and chuckled a few times.

"Now you're picking up my habits, Vailira." He threw up his hands. "Alright, I give up. Where are we going?"

Vailira squealed with joy and hugged him as Tannluth craned his head down to lick his cheek.

"All right, all right, that's enough! Now, where are we going?"

Vailira turned away from him and walked toward Chrysolth.

"Sorry, that's a surprise. You'll find out when we get there."

"Tannluth?"

:Uh-uh, no way. I'm not telling. I've been sworn to secrecy:

H'cup chuckled as he climbed onto Tannluth's back and strapped himself on. Heimdall sunk his claws into the pads on H'cup's jacket and wrapped his tail around his neck. Tannluth followed Chrysolth outside their weyr and both dragons took to the air as soon as they had clear space to spread their wings. When they cleared the rim of the Weyr, Tannluth received coordinates of their destination from Chrysolth and both dragons transferred between.

When they reached their destination, H'cup was surprised at how warm the air was. He looked down at the crystal clear ocean water and the lovely cove they were angling toward. The dragons flared out over the water and touched down on the sandy beach. Vailira quickly dismounted and started unloading the carisaks strapped to Chrysolth's harness. She looked over and noticed that H'cup was still strapped to Tannluth's back.

"Well, what are you waiting for? We're here."

"Just where is 'here'?"

"What? You don't recognize it? I thought you've been to the Southern continent a number of times."

"Yes, to Landing, but I've never seen this place before."

"Well, let me welcome you to Cove Hold."

H'cup looked around as he unstrapped himself and slid down Tannluth's side.

"Cove Hold, huh? So, you've been here before?"

"Yep. When I first thought of a vacation, I asked Falina what would be a good place and she suggested this. Chrysolth got the coordinates from Rennsith and we came down to check it out. What do you think?"

H'cup had to squint to look at the water. He noticed the sun was much brighter here.

"I think I'm going to get sunburned."

"Don't worry, I've planned ahead for that. I've got some lotion that you rub onto your skin that helps protect it from getting burned. I've added oil to it so it stays on a bit longer if you go in the water. It washes off if you stay in for a long time, so we still have to be careful to not stay out in the sun too long."

"Where did you get this lotion?"

"I learned how to make it from the desert plants while I was still with my uncle's caravan."

"You've thought of everything, haven't you?"

Vailira smiled; "I tried to. So, do you approve?"

H'cup laughed, hugged her, and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sure, I approve. So, what's first on the agenda?"

"No real agenda. Let's get the dragons unloaded and their harnesses removed so they can relax as well."

H'cup and Vailira unloaded both dragons and removed their harnesses. As soon as Tannluth's was removed, he took off in a spray of sand.

"Hey! Watch it, you crazy dragon!"

:Sorry about that. It's just that it's been SOOO long since I've been swimming in the ocean:

Tannluth flew out over the water, winged up a little higher, rolled sideways, and tucked in his wings as he performed a perfect dive into the ocean. Vailira and H'cup were applauding his maneuver as he surfaced and shook the water off his head.

:Thank you, thank you very much:

Heimdall chirped in delight as he launched himself from H'cup's shoulder and performed nearly the same maneuver Tannluth did a few moments before. When he surfaced to H'cup's and Vailira's cheers, he paddled over to Tannluth, climbed on top of his head, and shook the water from his bronze hide. Tannluth rumbled in amusement at the antics of the little fire lizard.

:Enjoy the view?:

Heimdall chirped in the affirmative.

:Well, hang on and take a breath, it's about to get more interesting!:

Heimdall took a breath and hooked his claws on the edge of Tannluth's scales as the black dragon reared back and dove to the depths of the cove. Tannluth surfaced shortly and had Heimdall chittering in delight.

:You like that? Here we go again!:

As Tannluth and Heimdall dove again, Chrysolth started walking toward the water and looked back at Vailira.

:I'm going swimming too. Are you coming in, Vailira?:

"You go on, love. I'll be with you shortly."

Chrysolth turned back to the water, but instead of flying out to deeper water and diving in as Tannluth had done, she waded in until the water was up to her chest and started to paddle around. She seemed to be perfectly content to stay in the shallows.

Vailira and H'cup picked up their belongings and walked towards the group of buildings situated at the other end of the beach. When they got closer, a tall, well-tanned older gentleman came out of the main building and walked up to Vailira.

"Greetings. Welcome to Cove Hold. My name is D'ram and I'm one of the administrators of this lovely little slice of paradise. You must be Vailira. Lytol told me of your intention to visit. Unfortunately, he had to be called away to family business in Ruatha or else he would be the one greeting you now. How may I be of service, Queenrider?"

Vailira smiled and blushed as D'ram bowed low at the waist and kissed the back of her hand.

"Thank you, D'ram. We're planning on staying for at least a few days and need a place to keep our things."

"Certainly. If you would follow me, I'll show you where the two of you can stay." Looking at H'cup's shoulder knots, D'ram remarked; "I've heard from Tiroth that there was a black dragon in Telgar. However, I never thought that I'd meet his rider."

H'cup extended his hand and clasped D'ram's forearm the way dragonriders do.

"H'cup, rider of black dragon Tannluth. Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure's mine H'cup, and cut the 'sir' crap. It's D'ram, if you please."

H'cup smiled and nodded; "Very well, D'ram. Thank you for accommodating us."

D'ram waved a hand; "Nonsense, we get dragonriders coming here on vacation all the time! It's no trouble at all." D'ram led them to one of the sleeping chambers attached to the main building.

"Here we are. Now, mealtimes are pretty informal around here. There's a cooking pit around the back side of the building that's going all throughout the day. What's cooking depends on what's been brought in. Most of the times it's fish, but we get quite a few herdbeasts as well. Just let Laisha know what you want beforehand and she'll feed you well. I ought to know!" he added as he patted his belly.

Vailira laughed and said; "Thank you again, D'ram. We'll let you know if we need anything." D'ram nodded at then both and left. Vailira turned to H'cup and raised an eyebrow.

"Well? What do you have to say now?"

H'cup kissed Vailira on the cheek and laughed.

"Sorry about being so gloomy before. Thanks for setting all this up. I think I'm going to enjoy myself."

Vailira punched him lightly in the arm.

"That's the spirit! Now, let's get changed so we can go swimming with our dragons."

Once H'cup and Vailira changed into some spare underlinen, slathered on some sun protection lotion, and H'cup strapped on his wooden leg, the two of them went outside and down to the water's edge where their dragons were still playing. Wading out into chest-deep water, the dragons sensed their lifemates were near and joined them in the shallows.

:H'cup, this place is AMAZING! The water is so clear and warm. And the FISH! There are SO many, of all different sizes and colors! I tried catching some, but I couldn't get close enough. I'm either out of practice or I've gotten so big that I can't move through the water as fast as I used to:

H'cup patted him on the neck as he smiled at his friend's exuberance.

"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself, buddy. We'll be here for a few days, maybe you'll have better luck next time."

:Yeah, I'll get those fish eventually. Oh look, here comes something now:

H'cup turned to see what Tannluth was looking at. He noticed a single dolphin at the cove's boundary that was heading straight towards them.

"You don't mean that dolphin, do you?"

:Dolphins? Is that what you call them?:

"Yes. What did you call them?"

:Warmfish:

"Warmfish? Why did you call them that?"

:Because their blood was warmer than any other fish in the ocean:

"How did you know their blood was warm? You didn't eat them, did you?"

Tannluth nodded; :Back on Earth, I did. They are very tasty:

H'cup's eyes went wide as he quietly spoke to his dragon.

"Tannluth, NO, you can't eat them!"

:Why not, they're just like every other fish in the ocean. What's so special about them?:

"Because they're not fish, they're mammals and the ones here on Pern are intelligent. They've been enhanced with the same process that was used on the dragons long ago when the Ancients first started fighting Thread. They're intelligent and sentient, it would be like eating a human or another dragon!"

Tannluth actually recoiled in revulsion at that thought.

:Ugh! Thank you very much for that mental picture, rider of mine!:

H'cup chuckled; "You're welcome. Behave yourself, okay?"

:Don't worry, I will:

H'cup turned to Vailira. "Do you think it's a male or female?"

"Male."

"How do you know?"

"When I was in the caravan, we would trade with fishermen from Tillek and they would tell us stories about dolphins. They told us that the females always stayed in groups but the males would sometimes travel alone. I don't see any other dolphins surfacing, so this one must be a male."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

The group continued to watch the dolphin as he swam quickly to where they were standing in the shallow water. He came right up to H'cup, stopped, and lifted his head out of the water. His voice was punctuated by high-pitched squeaks and clicks, but he could be clearly understood.

"Hel-lo hu-mans, hel-lo drag-ons. En-joy-ing the wa-ter?"

H'cup and Vailira looked at each other with shock and surprise on their faces. It was one thing to know that dolphins could speak, but it was another thing entirely to be in the presence of one and actually hear it. H'cup cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Um, hello. Yes, we're enjoying the water very much. How are you today?"

"Arch is fine. Had blood-fish scraped few days ago. Much bet-ter now."

H'cup looked at Vailira and mouthed the word 'bloodfish'. Vailira just shrugged her shoulders.

"Um, I'm glad you're feeling better. You said 'Arch' when you referred to yourself. Is that your name?"

"Yes, Arch is my name."

"Hello Arch. My name is H'cup, this is Vailira, the black dragon is Tannluth, and the gold dragon is Chrysolth."

Arch turned to each of them as he repeated each of their names.

"H-cup, Vail-i-ra, Tann-luth, Chry-solth."

"Yes, that's right, Arch."

Arch gave a loud squeal of joy and took off toward deeper water. He did a series of jumps and spins in the air to the enjoyment of both humans and dragons who were watching him from the shallows. H'cup turned to Tannluth and noticed his blue whirling eyes were fixated on the dolphin and that he was trembling slightly.

"Tannluth? What is it? What's wrong?"

:Nothing is wrong H'cup. It's just that something happened that I didn't expect:

"Well, are you going to keep me in suspense or are you going to let me know what's got you excited?"

:I can feel him:

"Him? You mean Arch? How can you feel him? He never touched you."

:I mean I can feel his mind:

"Really? Well, what does that mean?"

:It means that I might be able to talk to him:

H'cup's jaw dropped in surprise, this definitely was unexpected!

"Well, when he comes back, why don't you try and talk to him?"

Tannluth simply nodded and watched Arch as the dolphin swam toward them. When he stopped in the shallows, Tannluth looked directly at him and reached out carefully with his mind.

:Hello, Arch. Can you hear me?:

The effect was immediate as Arch squealed with joy.

"Arch hear you! Arch hear you! Arch hear drag-on speak-ing! SQUEEEE!"

He immediately took off out to deeper water and did a tail-walk across the glassy surface of the cove. Tannluth rumbled in amusement at the dolphin's antics.

:Excitable, isn't he?:

H'cup nodded; "Very. At this rate, it will take all day to have a conversation."

:Yep, but at least we have a good show while we wait:

They didn't have to wait long as Arch completed another flip and arrowed back to where Tannluth was standing. This time he addressed the dragon directly.

"This is great day! No drag-on ever speak to dol-phin be-fore!"

:That's very strange. I wonder why no other dragon has ever tried talking to your kind before:

"Do not know. Drag-ons only speak through rid-ers be-fore. You first to speak to dol-phin. You diff-erent from oth-er drag-ons."

:Yes, Arch, I am different. I am the only black dragon on Pern:

Arch decided to change the subject.

"Tann-luth like fish?"

:Yes, Arch, I like fish very much. However, I can't quite seem to be able to catch them:

Arch said; "Wait here" and took off toward deeper water.

H'cup shook his head and looked at Vailira.

"Where is he headed off to now?"

"I'm not sure. Oh, wait, look at that!"

H'cup looked to where Vailira was pointing and saw a veritable explosion of fish! The calm surface of the cove seemed to tear open as fish of all different sizes and colors leaped from the water in all different directions at once. It was over in a few moments and the water settled back to its calm state with only a few ripples marking the site of the event. H'cup turned back to Vailira.

"What do you think caused that?"

"I'm pretty sure Arch caused it. He asked Tannluth if he liked fish and then took off. A few moments go by and fish are going crazy. I think they were trying to get away from him."

"Well, I wonder if he had any luck."

"We'll know in a second, because here he comes."

Everyone watched in amazement as Arch swam up to Tannluth holding an absolutely HUGE fish that was still struggling in his jaws. The dolphin couldn't even lift his head out of the water as he turned to his side in front of the black dragon. Arch kept looking down at the fish and then back up at Tannluth. It took a few moments before the dragon got the hint.

:Is that for me?:

Arch nodded.

Tannluth bent down, grasped the head of the fish in his jaws, and then flipped it into the air. He snapped the fish cleanly in half, swallowing the head first and then catching and swallowing the tail. He licked his lips to clean the rest of the blood and oil the fish left behind.

:Ahhh, that was very, VERY tasty! Thank you very much, Arch:

"You are wel-come, Tann-luth."

:You know, I wasn't really hungry, but I appreciate the snack all the same:

"Arch wan-ted to do some-thing nice for you since you were first to speak to dol-phins."

:Well, thank you again, Arch. And now I'd like to do something nice for you:

"What you do?"

Tannluth didn't reply, he just closed his eyes and started squeezing his diaphragm. When he started making retching noises, H'cup cringed in revulsion.

"Aww no, not again!"

Vailira asked him; "What? What's he doing?"

"You may want to turn away, Vailira."

Vailira didn't heed his warning and watched as Tannluth regurgitated the tail section of the fish he just ate along with a small portion of his stomach contents. He held it in his teeth and swished the piece through the water a few times to wash it off. Vailira swallowed the bile rising in her throat and turned away.

"Ugh, I did NOT need to see that!"

"I warned you!"

"So you did. I'll remember to listen next time!"

H'cup laughed as Tannluth held the piece of fish in front of Arch.

"What is this? What you do-ing? That is YOUR fish."

:Arch, where I come from, dragons look at food as life. When our pups are too young to hunt for themselves, we share our food with them and so we call it 'sharing life'. We also do this when someone does something nice for us. When you gave me that fish, you 'shared life' with me and now I want to 'share life' with you:

"This some-thing im-por-tant?"

:It is. I only do this for my special friends:

"You want to be friends with Arch?"

:Yes, I do:

"Okay."

Arch lifted his head higher out of the water and gently took the piece of fish Tannluth held between his teeth. Arch swallowed it in one gulp and swam forward to touch his snout to Tannluth's scaled nose.

"Arch glad to be Tann-luth's friend."

:I'm glad too, Arch:

Arch backed away and slid into the water. When he did, he seemed to flinch and turned his head toward the entrance of the cove. Tannluth saw his reaction and became concerned.

:Arch? Is there something wrong?:

"No, no-thing wrong, Tann-luth. Arch has to leave. You be here to-mor-row?"

:I'll be here:

"Good. Arch will bring oth-er friends. Want them to meet my new friend."

:Other friends? What do you mean by that, Arch?:

Arch started chittering in dolphinic laughter as he said; "You see to-mor-row. Bye." He then turned quickly and with a flick of his tail was speeding out of the cove toward the open sea.

Tannluth watched the dolphin race off and was purring contentedly. H'cup walked up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Tannluth looked down at his rider and nudged him gently with his snout.

:Sorry about that, H'cup. This is supposed to be YOUR vacation and here I am taking up all the attention!:

"Hey, nothing to be sorry about, buddy. I'm glad to see that you made a new friend. I wonder what he meant by 'bringing other friends'?"

:I'm not sure. I think he meant some of his dolphin friends:

"Guess we'll find out tomorrow."

Whew! Another chapter done!

This one was tough to write. I can see why Anne McCaffrey did only one novel about the dolphins of Pern. I tried to think of how they might vocalize human words and I tried to come up with something unique. I remember that the lead dolphin in her book, the Tillek, was able to clearly pronounce longer words, but she was much older than all the other dolphins and had more time to practice her speech patterns. I also tried keeping close to how the dolphins are named. Arch, for example, would be short for Archimedes.

As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review. Reviews make Tannluth, Heimdall, H'cup, Chrysolth, Vailira, (and me) very happy!