Author's Note

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern or any related content. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I also do not own any of the other fandoms referenced in this chapter.

Big thank you to autobotlover for your follow favourite and to Multi-Facets for your kind review, I appreciate it!

Things at Porret Hold were busier than normal with the upcoming visit by dragonriders. Amidst all the chaos, Yariel, son of Jamen, one of Lord Sulrac's numerous sons, sat in his closet of a room and stayed out the way. His grandfather was determined that at least one of his many daughters or granddaughters would be chosen as a candidate for the golden eggs they said were hardening on the sands at Sunspyre Weyr, and so all the girls between twelve and twenty four were busy preening themselves and dressing in the most beautiful, outlandish dresses they could find.

Yariel's bedroom door opened a crack and his older sister Dorasa slipped inside.

All except one, apparently.

Yariel wondered why that was. Dorasa would make a perfect Queenrider: beautiful, fit, clever, a good leader. But they were the unfortunate black sheep of their family after the deaths of their parents at the hands of a cruel and deranged warlord who believed they were the ones that would one day stop him, which, ten turns later, they had, so she had been overlooked in favour of girls with a higher social Ranking.

"Aren't you getting ready for the Search visit?"

Dorasa shrugged and smoothed down the skirt of her dress, which was a few years old by now and not really her colour, but had been mended perfectly and suited her just fine. She could look beautiful in almost anything of course, including old men's boots and an overly large tunic, which they both knew from experience. One of her bronze firelizards, Sal, was draped over her shoulders, while Ric, the other, clung to her hip. His own firelizards, Queen Glimmer and brown Marvel, chirped a happy greeting to their brothers.

"Aunt Tunua's discussing who I should marry again with grandfather."

Yariel sighed. Aunt Tunua, their mother's sister, had married a very distant cousin of their father's, Verlox. She had been pushing for Dorasa to be married off since his sister turned twelve. He sighed. It was beginning to get quite tiring having to constantly deter suitors from his sister – or challenge them to an honour duel.

"Who is it this time?"

"The Lord of Sweetmeadow."

Yariel pulled a face. Lord Fildus was a nice guy, but he was more than three times their age. They had met him once, on their grand quest for justice and revenge.

"I know. She also suggested Swebyn . You remember, that awful kid from High Tops?"

"I remember," muttered Yariel. "He was the one that tried to throw us off a mountain for fun."

"Yep."

"Why does she suggest such awful suitors?"

"Probably sees it as a punishment. She's married to Verlox; she probably thinks everyone has to be miserable."

"Are you still thinking about putting yourself up as a candidate?"

"What else is there for me here?"

She did have a point. They couldn't go on as they had done: he was nearly a man grown and only a distant relative of the Holder while Dorasa was at the age where she should be getting married. Many girls her age already were.

"You should come too. We can't do this forever. We're getting a bit old for it."

"But what if people need help?"

"I heard there's a boy up near Sweetmeadow that killed four felines three sevendays ago."

"Alright. I'll go if you do."

"Deal." She glanced at him. "But you better make yourself presentable in that case."

Yariel looked down at himself. He was a handsome boy of fifteen turns with messy black hair that refused to ever lie flat. Green eyes shone out from a tanned face. His figure was nicely muscular without being too bulky if you know what I mean.

"What's wrong with me?"

Dorasa sighed heavily. "You need to make yourself presentable for the dragonriders! Get changed. Make yourself look smart." She marched over to his wardrobe and began to search through his clothing.

"You must have something that fits properly."

Yariel shrugged. "Most of it's been passed down from Dudlen."

Dorasa pulled a set of trews and a smart shirt from the wardrobe.

"Stand up."

He did so. She held the shirt against him, slung it over her arm and did the same with the trews. "These should be fine." She set them down on his stool.

"Are you going to get changed?"

"Do I need to?" She fluffed out her skirt, which didn't really work since it was only a thin one layer. "Besides, all the other rooms are already being used."

"All of them?"

"They are if I want to use them."

"Oh." Yariel thought about it. "Well, you could get changed in here if you wanted to I guess. It's a bit cramped, but it's not like we haven't shared space before."

She smiled. "Thanks Yariel."

At that moment a great banging came on his bedroom door.

"Boy! Yorry! Get out!" came his Aunt Tunua's voice. He opened the door a crack.

"My name is Yariel."

"Whatever. A great meal is being prepared for the Lord dragonriders. Get down to the kitchen and help cook!"

"Aren't there enough drudges and cooks for that?"

"Don't talk back to me boy! Get down there! And tell your sister too, whever she's gone."

Yariel sighed. "Yes Aunt Tunua."

"You know what she's trying to do, don't you?" asked Dorasa after she had left.

"Of course I do. Come on, let's get ready first."

The three dragons burst from between above the Hold, a great bronze, a smaller brwn, and a slender blue. They circled the Hold once and landed neatly in the courtyard, inspiring awe from all around. Lord Sulrac greeted them and let them through to the hall, where a great feast had been set up.

In pairs or trios the Lord's many, many, many relatives between ten and twenty five were paraded in front of the dragonriders. H'rak, bronzerider, requested several times simply to see them all at once, but Lord Sulrac insisted on introducing them separately and having them come up and speak to the riders before they dismissed them as being unsuitable.

Lord Sulrac was infamous for his enormous family. They could be here all night.

H'rak sighed. At least the wine was good.

They did find one boy, a small, dark haired one with pale eyes who was one of the Lord's many byblows, but what they (and he) really wanted though was a female candidate for the golden eggs hardening on the sands.

He couldn't be the only bronzerider to return without a female candidate! That would just be embarrassing.

He was well into his third cup of wine when they entered.

The boy was handsome, sure, deeply tanned and muscular with eyes like emeralds and a greatsword at his hip.

The girl though, she was breathtaking. Her deep red hair fell to her knees in gentle waves, framing a softly tanned heart shaped face with delicate features, full lips, and the same deep emerald green eyes as the boy. She wore tight trews and well fitted green tunic with tightly laced boots. At her hip she wore a slender silver sword.

"This is…" Sulrac waved his hand at them. "Ah, two of my grandchildren."

They approached the table, the boy leaing the girl by the hand.

"What are your names?" H'rak asked.

"I am Yariel, son of the Sun, slayer of the War Lord Romtedolv. This is my sister, Dorasa, daughter of the sky and slayer of the witch woman Xialle."

"I've heard of you two," said brownrider G'ron. "Aren't you some kind of heroes?"

The boy smiled. "Something like that."

"Would you like to come to the Weyr and stand as candidates?"

"Both of us?"

"If you would both come, then yes."

The two looked at each other and smiled. "We would be honoured Lord dragonrider."

"Very well. We leave this evening, so you have time to pack and say your goodbyes."

"Thank you my Lord."

As they left, H'rak couldn't help thinking that he had just found Sunspyre's new Queenrider, along with a new bronzerider to boot.

It was another two hours before Lord Sulrac had finished introducing all his many children, grandchildren, and distant relatives. They found another boy, a large, muscular thing with blonde hair, who was one of those distant relatives. Afterwards, they met with some of the local commoner teens within age and found two more, a tall lad of sixteen and a thin, waifish looking one with cropped purple hair and lilac eyes. The three dragons were loaded up with trunks and candidates before taking off into the air.

And so it was that Yariel and Dorasa, prophesised ones, left for the Weyr in search of a new purpose in life.

Author's Note

Although this fic mostly follows the female candidates, there are one or two boys who also seem to have become part of that, Yariel being the biggest one.