Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I think I must be one of the very few people whose schedule gets more complicated when I'm on break from school. ;) That said, school's back in and everything is settling back down into its normal pattern, so here is our next installment of "Weyrling Drama!" Hope you all enjoy. :D

Chapter 24

The next sevenday passed by quickly as the days fell into a pattern. Piranth would wake early in the morning, demanding to be oiled, bathed, and fed. S'am would oblige her, usually with a great deal of playing with the other early-rising Weyrling pairs, and the dragonet would then take a nap in the sun. S'am would then head off to butcher meat, filling at least one bucket to the bottom-most line, making sure that the pieces were small enough for the young dragons.

After that would come morning lecture, which dealt with possible ailments in the young dragonets. The first was about stomach upsets, and S'am herself was the "guest of honor." She described to the other Weyrlings what the upset had felt like, coming from her dragon, and how it had even caused her own stomach to be touchy throughout the day. L'ary made sure that everyone walked away understanding that over-feeding a dragon could happen easily, and that the rider sometimes had to restrain their dragon, despite the dragon's desires.

After lecture, S'am would be sent off to the dragon latrines while the others all left to eat a quick bite of brunch. The area reeked of dragon waste. It was explained to S'am that the latrines needed to be cleaned out regularly to keep the smell and the possibility of disease down. The dragonets would utilize this area until they were old enough to fly, at which point they would use a large compost area just outside of the Weyr proper. Latrine cleaning also made Bathing a necessity for S'am, as she found that she walked away smelling of chemicals and feces. She would scrub herself very thouroughly, paying special attention to her hands, and would dump her dirty clothes into the wash bin.

The first day, J'on met her outside of the baths with a meatroll and some fruit that she could eat on her way back outside. "We figured we could do this to help, without getting all of us into trouble," he explained, grinning sheepishly and blushing slightly. "I'm sure you're hungry."

"You know, now that you mention it, I'm starving! When that smell first hit my nose I thought I was going to be sick, but now that I'm all clean I feel much more like eating!" She took the meatroll eagerly, and chomped it down. When she was done, he provided a skin filled with water that she drank from eagerly, washing the crumbly roll down. She thanked J'on profusely, and together they headed back outside to their waiting dragonets. From that day until the end of her punishment, there was always one of her friends waiting with a bite for her to eat and some easy, companionable chatter.

As the dragonets stirred, the Weyrlings jumped to action, bathing, oiling, feeding, and playing with their new friends. After all of the necessary duties were completed, the dragonets would all join in a number of games, from "follow-the-leader" to "hide-and-seek" to "Weyrlingmaster says". At first, the dragonets wanted to do anything but pay attention, but as the sevenday progressed the attention span of the baby dragons increased. Piranth was hard to control at first, only ever wanting to pounce on the dragonet nearest her. After their first lecture about rider discipline, S'am found herself trying harder to control the strong-willed dragonet, despite the fact that this led to many a sulky silence from her lifemate. Piranth decided to make a game of the new rules, and started seeing if S'am could anticipate when she was going to act up. S'am found that as the sevenday drew to a close, more often than not she could almost feel when Piranth was about to get up to no good, although there were times when Piranth was able to surprise her rider.

The dragonets also increased in size. Where at hatching they were all close to the same size, by the end of the sevenday the young bronzes were significantly larger than their smaller green and blue siblings, and all of the colors were dwarfed by the sparkling queen. As friendships grew between all of the Weyrlings, the young queenrider held herself apart. S'am saw J'rome try to approach her, and snickered as he was rebuffed. But Shihanna also refused to become friendly with C'sey and J'on, holding herself aloof from all of the other Weyrlings.

After the afternoon activities had left the dragonets tired out, it was dinnertime for the riders and naptime for the dragonets. The Weyrlings would settle down their charges, and then would all head in their respective cliques to the dining hall. The conversation frequently covered the attitudes of the Weyrlings not in S'am's clique.

"I think she's afraid to get to know anyone else." R'ver said over dinner one evening. "She knows there is a lot expected of her, and that's got to make becoming friendly with anyone incredibly intimidating."

"Perhaps." Rheannon said softly. "She didn't have much time before the Hatching to get to know any of us, and after she's been thrust into this position of pseudo-authority. Like you said, it can't make the already-difficult task of making friends any easier."

S'am shrugged. She figured the girl was just a self-possessed tail-fork, but decided to keep that opinion to herself, as everyone else seemed inclined to be pitying of the beautiful girl's position. S'am still remembered the way Shihanna had crooked a finger, and sent S'am's best friend chasing after her. She was hard-pressed to feel anything but mild contempt for someone who would use the color of their dragon to get attention like that.

Maybe that is why she holds herself apart. Piranth's voice, soft with sleepiness, sounded in S'am's mind.

How do you mean? S'am asked.

She knows that it is her dragon's color that sends the men chasing after her, not her personality or even her looks. Maybe she's waiting for someone to try and become her friend, and that person has to show that the friendship has nothing to do with the fact that Wierenath is gold.

That sounds like an impossible proposition. How could someone prove something like that?

I have no idea. I just think that may be what's behind her coldness. Something that felt like a yawn came from Piranth's end, and S'am could feel the dragon's mind slipping into the oblivion of sleep. S'am took another sip of klah, and settled back, considering the wise words that had come from such an unexpected source.

AN: My computer got a virus, and I had to nuke the sight from orbit (format/reload). In that process, I lost everything I had worked on before. I'm feeling a bit disheartened about that, so I'm putting this story on ice for a while. Thanks to everyone that read this, and reviewed. :D I hope you all enjoyed it, and hopefully someday I'll get off of my butt and reclaim this, but for now I have to say, "Adieu." :)

-Bammer