Disclaimer: the Dragonriders of Pern belongs to Anne McCaffrey.
Sitting beside Tolaketh on the dragonet's couch, Beriin absently stroked the brown's head as he pondered what had just happened. When he had been selected as one of the four candidates who would attend the Hatching at Marweni Weyr, he had been excited of-course, but how could he have known that it would be like anything like this.
The moment Tolaketh had first spoken to him at the Sands hadn't been something that he had gotten even close to imagining, how could he have Ever imagined that he would feel so whole?
It was like Tolaketh was a part of himself that he had never known that he was missing, but that he had found so suddenly.
Theres an itch on my back Tolaketh said sleepily, opening one faceted eye slightly to gaze up at his chosen person::and you are thinking very loud...:
Beriin smiled as he gave Tolaketh a apologetic pat, before he started scratching the itch that the young brown had complained about.
"I'm sorry, but all this is quite new to me. But I guess that I'll just have to learn to think more quietly".
Then a low giggle from a nearby dragon couch made Beriin turn his head around to frown at the person sitting there. Although he had been glad when he had heard that he would share a room in the weyrling barracks with Loegrehn, Venaket and their dragons, he wasn't so sure about it anymore.
"Oh, be quiet Venaket, don't think that I didn't hear you talking to Greteyth" Beriin said, frowning at the younger girl. And as thinking of that he would most likely have to share the room with Venaket for at least six months, almost made him groan, that girl could be as bad as a dragonling at times..
"But Beriin", Veraket giggled, "I always thought that you were trying to be such a tough guy. Impressing Tolaketh wont make you soft, will it?".
Knowing that it would upset both Tolaketh and Greteyth, Beriin had to fight the urge to grab the pillow from the bed beside the couch and throw it at Venaket. So instead he decided to ignore her. That had always helped with his younger siblings at home.
Well, almost always..
Fortunately it seemed that Greteyth had demanded her person's attention, so Beriin was relieved as he could direct his attention back at Tolaketh. The little brown was almost asleep, but his eyes glittered below partly closed eye-lids.
"Well, well, so here is the newest dragonrider in the family".
Beriin recognized Itra's voice immediately, and getting down from the couch as quickly as he could without disturbing the dragonet, he hurried over to the two women who had just entered the room.
And after avoiding an attempt by Itra to ruffle his hair, he grinned to his mother, Brialli.
"Yeah, I guess that I am. Unfortunately Tolaketh is sleeping now, but I'm sure that he'll want to meet you tomorrow".
Turning around, he indicated his dragonet, only now actually noticing the unusual coloration of Tolaketh's hide, although it was mainly a dark chocolate brown, the swirls of a much lighter shade on his back and along his sides made a noticeable contrast to the rest.
"Congratulations son, and such a beautiful dragonet too. I'm sure that hell grow to become a fine dragon" Brialli said as she smiled back to Beriin, "I'll be looking forwards to talking with both of you tomorrow".
Nodding in greeting to Loegrehn and Venaket, she then indicated the clothes that each of the weyrlings had chosen to wear on the Hatching Feast.
"But I believe that its time that all three of you put on your finery and get to the Dining Hall, you shouldn't arrive late for such a occasion as the Hatching Feast".
His brown eyes glittering briefly with humor, Beriin agreed, while he didn't really want to leave Tolaketh, the Hatching and everything had left him starving. So the subject of food was quite tempting, although he hadn't quite gotten used to the pernese food yet.
"Will you two be there?" he asked, though he had already guessed the answer.
"I'm afraid that we can't. Both Itra and I have work to do. But I promise that we will come for a visit tomorrow", smiling, Brialli bent down to give her son a hug.
"Your fellow weyrlings will be there of-course, so none of you will be completely alone. You know how to contact us if theres anything you need".
After his mother and Itra had left, Beriin walked back to Tolaketh and gazed down at the sleeping dragonet for a while before he went to change into the clothes he had chosen to wear at the Feast.
Stopping in the entrance to the Dining Hall, Beriin and the three others couldn't help but wonder about just how different the Hall suddenly appeared. There was no doubt that the weyrfolk had made quite an effort to prepare for the Hatching Feast..
Just the smells almost made him drool.
"This is great" Venaket whispered.
"I doubt that any of us will manage Not to have fun. Have any of you thought about a partner for the dance?"
Beriin saw the grin she sent Loegrehn, and with a frown he poked his elbow into the girl's side.
"Stop acting like an idiot" he muttered.
Not for the first time he wished that he would have ended up in another group, but at the same time he didnt want anything to have been different as that would probably have meant that he would never have Impressed Tolaketh. And no matter how annoying Venaket could be at times, she did have her good moments...
"If you stop poking me" Venaket hissed back, her bluish-grey eyes narrowing as she gave him a all too sweet smile.
"Thirteen 'turns' old are Suposed to be a constant source of annoyance. As the cliché goes".
Beriin sighed.
"Let's just have fun ok. I don't know about you, but I would definetly want to talk with the other weyrlings. At the very least were supposed to spend several months here at Marweni you know, and getting to know other people will probably be a good idea".
Not waiting for a reply from the others, he headed for a table that was occupied by several of the candidates he had seen in the candidate barracks during the last few days, now most of them were weyrlings though. But as it was several vacant chairs by that table, they probably wouldnt mind if they got some company.
:Have fun, I and Cheorek are going to find a place closer to the Harpers: Venaket suddenly mindspoke, and Beriin glanced towards them to show that he had heard. Acctually he didn't mind that she were going somewhere else at all, it was just fine to him if she found someone else to bother.
"Hey there, why don't you join us? You're B'riin, right?".
"Yep that's me" Beriin replied quickly, making a mental note of that he would have to remember that B'riin was the name he had picked before the Hatching, to have it really if he Impressed. It could sound strange if he continued to call himself Beriin, at least so anyone pernese heard it.
Giving the weyrlings who already sat by the table a quick smile, Beriin sat down at one of the vacant chairs, Loegrehn following his example shortly after.
"It must be somewhat strange for both of you to suddenly be responsible for a dragon so soon after you arrived to the Weyr. Myself, I have been here for several Hatchings, so I'm probably the one to ask if you need any help" said one of the girls, Jahran. At nineteen turns she was older than Beriin(although he couldnt quite remember the difference between a turn and a standard year), and during the days in the barracks, he had noticed that she was a person who liked to take charge. Not that it was neccessarilly a bad trait though..
"Thank you Jahran, I'll keep that in mind" Beriin replied, forcing back a grin, "too bad that you didn't Impress though".
The older girl simply snorted, "ah, that just means that my own dragon haven't been shelled yet. But I'm sure that it will happen soon", then she shrugged and poured some wine into the glass in front of her. Although no-one commented on it, it was obvious that she weren't feeling entirely comfortable in the company of so many who had Impressed.
"Congratulations to you both though, blue Koreketh and brown Tolaketh, wasn't it?".
Now it was one of the boys who had spoken, a hefty young man whom Beriin was pretty certain of came from High Reaches. However, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't remember the boy's name, so he simply nodded.
"Thats right R'wen, and yours was a bronze...,Harorth?" Loegrehn asked, sending Beriin a wry grin.
:Let's hope your brown will be better at remembering names than you are:.
As he couldn't show any signs of that Loegrehn had just mindspoken to him, Beriin took a deep breath and accepted the glass with white wine which was offered to him by one of the other weyrlings. Even if he had never been a person who were particulary fond of wine and the like, it probably wouldnt hurt to have a glass or two just for this one occasion.
Beside him, Rwen nodded at what Loegrehn had just said.
"Harorth is my bronze, yes" he said with badly disguised pride. Not that any of the weyrlings by the table minded though, they all knew that they were just as besotted with their own dragons.
"But..., it sounds like dinner is ready, so let us make our way over to the serving table. The Hatching have left me starving" Beriin said. As much as he enjoyed a chance to talk about Tolaketh, the prospect of food was more urgent at the present, not that he would mind to get rid of the taste of the wine.
Pushing back the chair, he stood up and headed over to the serving table along with the others, smiling as he first now noticed that his fellow weyrlings had made sure to pick a table close to where the food was. He didn't mind at all though, as it meant that he didn't have to wait so long to get some food onto his platter.
Hopefully no-one heard his rumbling stomach either..
Then he returned to the table after acquiring some meatrolls, a few thick slices of cheese and bread, as well as a small piece of some kind of vegetable pie and a glass of water. Having never found anything with meat particulary tempting, he tried to avoid it as much as he could. At least he had heard that there was a wide variety of food available in a Weyr, so hopefully he wouldn't have to live on bread and porridge all the time he thought with a grin.