Author's Note

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern or any related content. All rights belong to their rightful owners.

A big thank you to Allysha Dragonblood and Dragonsrule18 for your reviews!

So this chapter features some old characters and introduces some new. From this point on some characters will start getting more and less important at various points for various plot and non-plot related reasons.

She had hoped Jakeiria might have been a little more polite and respectful now they were here at the Weyr, but no. Her older sister was worse than ever, bragging about how she would impress gold – in front of a Queenrider's daughter no less – and stomping off when challenged.

Ritilia was pretty sure she was the only one that noticed she hadn't returned to the girls' barracks by the time they retired to bed.

It had been a long, exciting day and she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She dreamt of flying dragonback without noticing the colour of the wings.

Sirena woke them much, much too early the following morning. "Up! Everyone up! Wear trews and be out here in ten minutes! Chop chop!"

Ritilia groaned, rubbed sleep from her eyes, and pushed herself out of the bed. In the other bed Annaliessa was doing the same. Ritilia had spent days in, days out, working her family's farm. It was hard, simple work, and she was used to getting up early. She dressed quickly and hurried out to join Sirena, Annaliessa close behind. Still, only Jakeiria and Tummi were behind her. When they didn't appear from their rooms, Sirena went and banged on the doors. Jakeiria wasn't in hers, while Tummi groaned and asked for five more minutes. Sirena tipped a jug of water over her head and told her she had one, to get out of bed and dressed.

She just managed to do so before a tall rider with grey hair entered and shouted for them to line up.

"Shouldn't there be one more of you?"

"Jakeiria isn't in her room candidate master," replied Sirena.

"Hmph. The rest of you give me your names."

They did so.

"Remember each other's. If you're lucky, then in five weeks these girls will be your fellow Weyrlings, riders, comrades, and even lovers."

Ritilia blushed scarlet.

"I am D'vran, the candidate master. We'll be starting lessons tomorrow, when I should have most of you, but today you shall be exercising and performing duties around the Weyr. Follow me, we'll start with the morning run."

A little bewildered, Ritilia obediently followed on behind the other girls. D'vran set them to run fifteen laps of the Weyrbowl. Only Tummi was behind her for the entire run. Dorasa sprang easily ahead, bounding over the ground with strong, athletic legs, lapping her and Tummi twice. Sirena and Kuyaran were a little way behind her, matching pace and apparently talking, while Revina was just behind them, with Annaliessa behind her.

Ritilia didn't know how anyone could be so good at running fifteen long laps without tiring, but Dorasa seemed to be barely out of breath, performing push ups as she waited for them to finish.

Damn, she was so annoyingly perfect!

At least she wasn't the only one glaring at her. Revina was doing the same.

She and Tummi were the last to finish, with the boys coming out just before they did. One of them gave her a sharp whistle. She blushed scarlet. D'vran took them out of sight to do a series of sit ups and push ups.

"Not bad," he said when they all (except Dorasa of course, she was too busy being perfect) laid on the ground panting.

"We've had worse. Go and get yourself cleaned up and report to the kitchens to help with breakfast."

"Yes candidate master sir!"

Dorasa's hair was even perfect right after she'd washed it.

Fuck her.

You know who else was annoyingly perfect?

Annaliessa.

When she wasn't asking questions or commenting on the most obvious of things, like glow torches and plates of course.

"I get my own bowl?" she said when handed one at breakfast. The Headwoman just gave her a funny look.

Really though, she was beautiful, well proportioned if a little small considering she clearly hadn't been fed very well, and evidently intelligent.

Ritilia sighed.

There were so many candidates better than her already. What chance did she have at any dragon?

She told herself not to think like that as she ate her porridge. There were seventy one eggs, seventy one hatchlings. Surely one would be hers? And even if they weren't, she could stand again if she didn't impress.

At least she had to have a better chance than Jakeiria.

The next female candidates to arrive were sixteen year olds Rasia and Yornam. Rasia was a merry looking girl with brown hair mussed in all directions, glittering hazel eyes, and a smattering of freckles over a tanned face. She wore clothes of a similar style to Ritilia's own, simple and hardwearing. A cotholder's daughter, Ritilia thought, or a farmer's child. Yornam, however, was another beauty. Her skin was a soft golden colour, while her eyes, which looked slightly too large for her face, were a more vibrant gold colour. Her hair was stripped gold, bronze, brown, blue and green, falling to her waist and secured back in a thick plait. A queen firelizard was curled around her waist, and another that looked purple when the light hit it sat upon her shoulder.

"Are you here for the Queens, or just the hatching in general?" Sirena asked.

"I… don't really know," Rasia said. The look in Yornam's eyes said she hadn't even understood the question. Sirena nodded.

"You won't be the only ones, and there's time to decide yet. Remember as well, if a dragon decides it wants you, it'll find you no matter where you are on the sands. Not being in the ring for the Queens won't lessen your chances."

Rasia blinked. "Queens?"

"Ah," said Sirena. "They didn't tell you?"

"No."

Sirena explained as she handed the two girls vegetables to chop.

"Is that dangerous?" Rasia asked.

"It's trickier than a normal hatching, but so long as the candidates stay calm and do what we're meant to the riders will have it uner control."

They continued to talk as they prepared the meal. Yornam, they learnt from Rasia, had no memory of her past and couldn't speak very well. She also had a whole fair of firelizards, as proven by the fact her Queen had switched out for a bronze and a third, a brown that looked more red, had appeared and perched on her head. Rasia said she was sure there was at least eight of them but she wasn't sure on the exact number.

"You don't remember… anything about who you are?"

"No," said Yornam.

"But how can you not know?"

Yornam shrugged. "I was born running. Then Rasia was there."

Sirena rubbed at her head. "You can't possibly have been born running. There must have been something before that."

Yornam shrugged. "There was more running."

Ritilia stifled a laugh.

Yornam was an odd one, but at least she had something warm about her.

The same could not be said about the next two candidates to arrive.

Cataeliana and Ketielean were fraternal twins and looked so alike that the rider who brought and introduced them simply handed them both over to Sirena because he'd lost track of which one was the girl. Both had a sharp, harsh beauty to them, with skin pale as the snow, hard violet eyes, and white hair cut short at their chins, and both wore neat blue smocks with brown trews and tightly laced black boots. They had no luggage or trunks, only battered, ragged looking knapsacks slung over their backs. Sirena directed the other female candidates to refill the glow baskets and help the women in the lower caverns while she took the two to sort them out.

She returned with them both, now minus knapsacks, a short while later, and set them to sweeping. Ritilia had only been here a day and was already learning there was sand everywhere in this Weyr.

"So," Annaliessa said, and from the corner of her eye Ritilia saw Sirena desperately shaking her head at her. "Where are you two from?"

"Idwik," said the pair as one.

"You like it there?"

"No."

"I guess that's why you're here. I'm Annaliessa."

"You're noisy," said one of them.

"You're quiet."

"We like quiet," said the one that hadn't spoken earlier. Everyone who wasn't Annaliessa could see that. Ritilia edged over to Sirena as they worked (and, in Annaliessa's case, talked).

"Which one's the girl?" she whispered.

"I don't know; I've lost track."

It became very apparent over the remainder of the morning that Cataeliana and Ketielean preferred each other's company and would rather be left alone.

Ritilia was perfectly happy to do so.

Those two made her very uncomfortable.

Jakeiria reappeared for the lunchtime meal. Sirena approached her. "Where have you been?"

"None of your business."

"Not if you don't want to tell me, no, but it is the candidate master's, and he will be asking."

Jakeiria turned her nose up. "Oh, what business is it of his? I'm a future Queen rider; when I have my dragon he'll be beneath me."

"You don't have a dragon yet Jakeiria, and the candidate master is your direct superior."

"Not for long," Jakeiria snapped. "And it won't matter when I have my Queen."

My Queen. Ritilia would give her heart for a dragon of any colour, but there was only one colour Jakeira would settle for.

Sirena said they could have a break for the afternoon, but they would be expected to help after supper with clearing and washing the dishes for the following days. Ritilia returned to her chambers to take a nap. She ached all over, despite her fitness from working the farm. And this was only day one!

A commotion outside woke her. Ritilia stumbled from her bed and opened the door to see what was happening.

In the common room, Sirena and Kuyaran were facing a tall, dark haired girl, who had a blonde haired toddler balanced against her hip.

"But J'kes promised I could keep Solaris with me," the younger girl was saying.

"Look, I don't know what J'kes told you, but the candidate barracks are no place for a toddler."

"I told you, make one exception and they'll all want one. Now look," said Kuyaran before sweeping off. Sirena sighed.

"Look- What's your name?"

"Indigo."

"Indigo. Solaris can stay at the Weyr, of course she can. Just not here."

"She stays with me."

"Children her age are fostered down in the lower caverns. Drop your stuff off here and I can take you down. I'm sure there'll be someone there willing to take her in."

"I don't have anything to drop off, and either she stays with me or our brother and we are leaving."

"Look, I'm sorry, but she can't stay here! You won't have time to care for her, and especially not if you impress."

"I don't need to care for her; she can look after herself. And where I go, she goes."

Sirena sighed heavily. "I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why?"

"Something bad always happens when we're separated." She gazed down at the toddler – more of a child really, kind of in that halfway stage – with large pale eyes.

"And she won't take up much room! We won't even need another bed!"

Sirena groaned. "I'll speak to the Candidate Master. But I can tell you now if you do impress Weyrling Master F'drom won't stand for it."

"Thank you."

Ritilia crept out after Sirena had left and the new girl had settled on one of the armchairs with the toddler in her lap. "Um. Hi."

The girl jumped and half pulled something from her pocket as she turned to face her. "Fardles, where did you come from?"

Ritilia blushed. "My sleeping chambers. Sorry, did I scare you?"

"Rather."

Ritilia edged closer and sat on the next nearest armchair. "I'm Ritilia."

"Indigo. This is Solaris."

"Nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

Indigo shrugged. "Baulin Hold originally, but that was destroyed, and we're kinda travelling tinkers now. Or we were at least." She glanced down at the toddler. "Hopefully it'll change now."

"Saf," said the toddler.

"Yeah Sol, Saf. So how about you Ritilia? Where are you from?"

"Oh, just a small farming cot. It's nothing special."

Sirena returned at that point, with D'vran in tow. He took over, and Ritilia wasn't sure what went down between him and Indigo, but evidently a deal was struck because she moved into one of the sleeping chambers – with Solaris.

The next girl to arrive was Tardreella, who was brought in by a very good looking bronze rider. She too was a beautiful girl – was it the dragons being drawn to beauty or the riders – with very softly tanned skin, long shining golden blonde hair, and mismatched eyes, one sparkling blue, the other soft green. She glanced around the common room.

"Are the eggs hatching?"

Sirena blinked. "What?"

"The eggs," Tardreela said slowly as though talking to a child or an idiot. "Are they hatching?"

Kuyaran lifted her head to stare at her as though trying to work out whether she was for real.

"… no."

"So the hatching's tomorrow then. Oh dear, never mind. I'll just have to spend the night tossing and turning trying to sleep and dreaming of dragons."

"… the hatching's not tomorrow."

Tardreela stared at Sirena. "It's not?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because… it's not?"

"But I'm here."

"Yes, and?"

"I thought all important Queen candidates who impressed were brought in in a rush the night or just moments before the hatching."

"Yeah, they do it like that at Benden and Ista, but here at Sunspyre candidates have to be here at least a week in advance to get used to things."

Tardreela gaped at her. "So I have to wait a week to see my dragon? That's not fair; it's too long."

"Then that's too bad, because it's actually roughly five weeks. Here, this is your sleeping chamber."

She would be sharing with Jakeiria. They rather deserved each other.

"Five weeks?" Tardreela protested in a high pitched yet musical voice. "I must be needed to save the Weyr from some great tragedy before the Hatching."

"Yeah, something like that," Sirena agreed.

The last girl to arrive that day was Naeressa, who was brought into the hall as most of the Weyr at supper. It fell silent. The girl was beautiful, that much was undeniable. Her skin was tanned a deep bronze colour that shone under the glows. Her face was heart shaped, with a button nose, full lips, and large, glowing pink eyes. She wore a plain dress, but it couldn't disguise her ample bosom nor her athletic figure.

Then there was her hair.

Her hair which was all the colours of the rainbow, tumbling in shining waves to her ankles.

Her Search rider led her over to sit with the Weyrleaders. Kuyaran sneered. "Making a spectacle of herself. Who does she think she is?"

Tardreela giggled. "Careful Kuyaran. You're going to become the bitter hater of the story."

Kuyaran glared at her. "Sirena, I will take anyone except her and Little Miss Rainbow over there as my roommate."

Ritilia plainly saw the smile Sirena tried to hide behind her hand.

Naeressa took an instant dislike to Yornam the moment she saw her in the common room.

No…

Dislike is too gentle a word.

Absolute loathing.

Naeressa took instant Absolute loathing to Yornam the moment she saw her in the common room.

Poor Yornam just looked confused.