Author's Note

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern or any related content. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I also don't own the character this character is a blatent carbon copy of.

Big thank you to dragonmom1059 and harsteading for your follows!

They found the baby in a basket on the doorstep with a note that said 'please look after my sweet little Annaliessa, I can't take care of her.' The matron sighed and carried the baby through to the nursery where there were approximately seven point eight five other abandoned baby girls. And thus began Annaliessa 's life of woe.

When she was old enough, she was sent from the Healing Hall to an orphanage just outside Halfwood Hold. Because everyone was much too busy to deal with one little orphan girl, she was made to walk it herself with only a set of vague directions and a fair of helpful wild firelizards for guidance.

The woman who ran the orphanage was called Mrs Harbucal, and she was a tall, thin woman with red hair and a screechy voice. She glared at Annaliessa, all of an innocent three years old, with beautiful yet sorrowful wide eyes and a cute look of confusion on her face, who was stood on the doorstep. "Great. Another one. It's like they multiply! I get rid of one and two more appear!"

This was true, because behind Annaliessa another girl had arrived, this one a bit fat with stringy brown hair and mud on her face.

"Get inside you useless little girls!"

And thus continued Annaliessa's life of misery and woe.

Every day the orphans were woken before dawn to start their day of hard work and misery. They slept in four small cramped rooms, twelve girls in each, on hard wooden bunks with thin, threadbare - a word which here means thin – blankets. Pillows were a luxury they lacked.

They were made to work for their keep washing laundry by the owner of the orphanage. It was hard, back breaking work. For breakfast they had gruel, a kind of gritty porridge with no taste. For tea they had more gruel, which tasted vaguely of salt, and for lunch they had - you guessed it - a dry hunk of bread and a wizened old apple.

Despite the terrible food and living conditions, Annaliessa grew into a pretty girl with skin as black as midnight, thick curly hair the colour of shining slate that feel gracefully to her elbows, and eyes as black as coal. She was a bold and independent girl, and always dreaming of leaving to seek her fortune, adventure, and her parents - but of course she never did so because her kind and loving heart could never dream of leaving the younger girls behind to their fate. All the others looked up to her for help and guidance, even when she was only six and they were thirteen with no real need to ask a six year old for help.

One day, which was like all the other days where Annaliessa washed clothes, took care of the little ones due to her sweet and giving nature, and sang, dragons came to the Hold on Search.

A young runner boy came to bang on the door of the orphanage. "Dragons on Search! Everyone between the age of twelve and twenty one needs to go to the square!"

"What's this?" asked Mrs Harbucal. "A chance to get rid of some of you brats? Go on then, off you go! Out with you! Get to the square!"

Annaliessa quickly gathered up all forty one point six nine of the other girls and hurried them along (of course they weren't all of age, most of them were under ten), the little ones chirping with excitement. It wasn't every day they got to see dragons.

There were three dragons, one shining bronze and two that were deep blue. Annaliessa hard at them and imagined dragonriders must get to have vast adventures.

She herded the twenty eight point three girls who were too young to one side of the square and quickly joined one of the lines of teenagers.

"I am bronze rider M'buk. This is my dragon Moneth. He will be Searching for candidates for the clutch of eggs on the sands at SunSpyre Weyr. Please stay still while the dragons make their choices."

In the crowd Annaliessa's great beauty made her an obvious choice and as soon as the dragons began to make their choice the bronze gave her a nudge. It took longer for them to make their choices on the obviously less important candidates, but at last they were decided and went to preen at the other side of the square.

"If one of the dragons chose you, please step forward. If they didn't, please move back," said the bronzerider."

Annaliessa, a chubby girl with stringy brown hair and a green firelizard on her shoulder and three unimportant and nameless boys including the runner who had brought the message to the orphanage stepped forward.

"You five have the honour of being chosen. Would you like to come to the Weyr?"

Annaliessa graciously accepted, while the others cried ugly tears and agreed.

"Go and pack and say goodbye. We leave at three."

Annaliessa skipped back to say goodbye to the other thirty eight point four one orphan girls and hugged them all in turn.

"Oh Annaliessa, we'll miss you!" cried one.

"Oh Annaliessa, what will were do without you?"

"Will you get a queen dragon?"

"Will you come to visit?"

"Of course! I could never forget you! But I need to go! Why can't you see that?"

"Oh Annaliessa, we'll just miss you so much!"

"Don't be silly! You'll have each other! And always remember, the sun will come out tomorrow!"

"Of Annaliessa, you're so wise!"

When Annaliessa had bid farewell to all forty five point nine two of the other orphan girls, she went back to the dragonriders.

"Don't you have anything to bring with you?"

"I don't own anything," said Annaliessa sadly. "And I've said goodbye. There's nothing here for me now."

And so (as soon as the other, less important candidates had arrived), Annaliessa left for her new life of adventure at the Weyr to seek excitement, adventure, and maybe even a queen dragon.