Author's Note

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern series. All rights to the rightful owners.

Also, I have recently started posting a new Pern fic called Stardust Souls. It features characters from another of my fics, Unlucky Stars, but on Pern. You don't really have to have read that one to understand it.

Despite his hard and tragic life, which had been filled with much misfortune and misery, Kingsley Orius Keiren Lunarlight had always got what he wanted, if you caught his drift. After being separated from his beloved twin sister and abandoned by his parents, he was kidnapped by the wickedest of parents, who forced him to train to be wicked and violent day in, day out. But Kingsley was true of heart (and other things) and strong of spirit, and he refused to give up on his morals, so the pirates had tragically abandoned him on the Mysterious Western Continent, where he faced a constant battle for survival against Tunnel Snakes, Felines, and Thread.

Heroically, he had survived, and been rescued by fishermen adrift in their trawlers an indefinite amount of time later. After effortlessly fixing their boat, he hitched a ride back to the Northern Continent, heroically protecting them from pirates along the way, and stayed with one of them and his family, including his very beautiful (and very available) daughter, for another indefinite amount of time. Tragically though, tragedy struck when his beautiful girlfriend was kidnapped by vengeful pirates who wanted him to attack another crew. Instead he joined that crew and launched a rescue effort, only for his beautiful girlfriend to be killed anyway.

After that he spent more indefinite time battling the evils of pirates until at last he was found by a kind but slightly inept brownrider (come on, the man didn't even have a daughter) and brought to the Weyr on Search.

Which led him to now.

The boys were all enthralled by his mighty manliness and heroic skills, while the girls drooled over his muscular physique and amazing hair (except Princess of course, that would be a bit weird).

Well.

All of them except one.

And it just would be the one he wanted most, wouldn't it?

Of course, there was nothing like a challenge, but there was playing hard to get, and then there was Dorasa.

At least the bushy haired girl would slip him shy smiles and Kingsley was sure he had seen the one with the Queen firelizard checking him out on several occasions.

Dorasa though…

It was like she didn't even like him!

More than that, she seemed to actively hate him!

Whenever he tried to speak with her she just stood there and glared at him while her brother demanded he back off and leave them alone (along with calling him 'deeman,' which was… kinda weird). Making matters worse, she always seemed to be with someone (normally Yariel). When Kingsley tried to pull her aside to speak with her alone, she slapped him.

Twice.

Kingsley couldn't understand what was wrong with the girl!

He noticed that she and Yariel rose early to go out to the Weyrbowl. On his third day at the Weyr, Kingsley decided to wake even earlier and try to speak with her without Yariel present. There had to be some time when she wasn't with him!

He was in luck. She left the female barracks alone, wearing tight exercise clothing with her hair up in a ponytail. He sidled up to her. "Nice morning for a walk."

"Begone deeman."

"I don't know why you keep calling me that, but it can be my name if you want." He waggled his eyebrows. She growled through her teeth. He stepped neatly in front of her, expertly blocking her path with his large, masculine figure. "Can we talk?"

"Will it make you leave me alone forever?"

"When I'm done baby, you'll never want to leave me."

"In that case, no thank you."

"Come on, why don't you take a walk with me?"

"I said no thank you."

"It's not good for you to be hanging around that brother of yours all the time." He waggled his eyebrows again. "People get the wrong ideas."

She flushed scarlet, clashing with her hair and only making her look hotter.

"So whaddya say?"

"I would rather make best friends with a Wher than you."

Kingsley was about to give a super-cool quip in reply when Yariel appeared from the boys' barracks.

"I'm not sure Kuyaran would like that very much. What's he want?"

"To torture us I presume baby brother."

"Well, so long as he's not too loud or interruptive about it."

"Oh, no, he's being very loud and interruptive."

That boy must be doing something to keep her captive to him, Kingsley was sure of it! Why else would she be like this? No other girl had ever refused him! And- now she was turning her back on him! Him! Who turned their back on him?

No one turned their back on him.

Kingsley made a grab at her arm as they reached the exit to the Weyrbowl. She slithered from his grasp with a yelp and neatly sidestepped behind Yariel. He drew his sword. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kingsley drew his own sword. "I'm rescuing the fair maiden from your foul clutches! I know you must have captured her under your influence."

Dorasa facepalmed. "Oh brother."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I know you've captured her with some obscene means! I'm here to set her free!"

"There's nothing to free me from," Dorasa muttered, but of course her mind was addled by whatever Yariel had done to her. He probably wasn't even her brother but some sort of captor! That would make sense.

"I challenge you to a duel!"

"Done," snarled Yariel. Dorasa sighed heavily.

"Yariel, not again!"

"Hey, he challenged me!"

Kingsley took an expert stab at him, which Yariel narrowly avoided, bringing his own blade up in defence. He made a counterstrike, buying Dorasa time to make a tremendous leap away from the two fighters. Yariel's eyes lit up gold. This wasn't normal; this was unnatural.

"Can I at least stab him through the heart when you're done?" Dorasa shouted.

"Sure, why not?"

Kingsley drove him away from the Weyr and into the bowl, the two of them dancing around each other. Yariel's eyes glowed brighter, a golden aura forming around his form. Kingsley had seen that once before, in the most evil pirate he had ever battled, who had a blood red aura.

The two battled across the Weyrbowl, spinning and dancing around each other. He had to be the best fighter Kingsley had ever faced. Every so often a great force threatened to throw him off his feet, but after the first Kingsley knew the feel and knew how to keep himself grounded.

Yariel tried every dirty trick Kingsley knew, and then some he didn't, like springing high in the air and coming down from above him. Both boys were panting and slick with sweat. By now they had an audience as well, candidates and other weyrfolk gathering round unsure of what to do. Blood dripped into Kingsley's eyes from a cut above his forehead. He stumbled over a deviously placed hole and hit the ground hard. Yariel raised his sword to strike a killing blow, only Kingsley blocked it and rolled aside, springing effortlessly back to his feet and tackling the younger boy to the ground, driving his fist into his face. They grappled on the grass, but in a wrestling match Kingsley had the advantage, and he soon emerged victorious. He got to his feet, grinning, and turned to Dorasa, who had turned very white. "There, you see? No longer need you live under his reign of fear."

She tried to stab him, only for her dainty and pretty looking feminine blade to bounce right off his rock hard abbs.

"I know this must be a shock, after so long-"

She snarled and made another stab, which he easily avoided. Before the lovers' squabble could go any further, a voice came from the other side of the bowl.

"What is going on out here?"

Kingsley turned to face the Weyrleader with a smile, wrapping his arm around Dorasa's waist. "Fear not Weyrleader, for I Kingsley Keiren-"

Dorasa kicked him in a certain place and rushed down to where Yariel was struggling to prop himself up on the grass. Kingsley doubled over. Princess Lilyen Adalicia Midnight appeared behind him. "Oh, are you hurt?"

"Only in my heart. I won fair and square, why doesn't she yield to me?"

"Maybe she's just not into that," called the bronze haired weyrgirl as she passed him to join Dorasa and Yariel. Kingsley gasped.

"Oh, you know you're into this."

Her firelizard screeched.

"Yeah, not so much."

"Will someone please explain to me what happened here?" snapped the Weyrleader.

"I challenged that foul monster to an honour duel for the fair maiden's hand and won fair and square, but he's refusing to give her up!"

"This is Sunspyre Weyr, we allow everyone to have – and not have – relationships with whoever they wish."

"But I won her hand!"

"What you did, boy, was beat another candidate bloody and then start crying that his sister won't sleep with you."

"But why won't she?!"

As it turned out, that was not the correct response.

The Weyrleader had him sent back to the Candidatemaster's office, while Yariel was to be taken to the infirmary. He made the first strike in the fight, he should be being punished too! He should be thrown out for whatever he had done to Dorasa! But no, everyone loved Yariel!

Kingsley sighed heavily.

It was hard being the underdog.