The Felines of Pern Chapter 12

The last days of my week of healing had passed. Healer Ballora had removed the stitches from my flank and pronounced me healed. "Of course, you'll have to rebuild your running muscles that you haven't used for seven days," she said. "But you're free to do that now. You can go back to sleeping in tree branches, too."

But running and sleeping in tree branches were things I would consider later. Today, F'lessan had announced, was the day I would visit Benden Weyr in the Northern Continent and make my case for the survival of my species.

F'lessan had repeatedly urged me not to be nervous about meeting two of the most important humans on Pern. "They're just like ordinary people," he told me, "except that when they give orders, people obey them. Oh, yes, and my mother is legendary for her temper. And they're both famous for saving Pern from Thread. And my father once stared down a small army of Holders and made them surrender. And my mother traveled through time with her dragon. And – "

"Please say no more," I urged him. "I have no fear of any humans, unless they brandish weapons at me. I will say what needs to be said."

They had brought me some kind of garment to wear while I rode Tai's dragon. They said it was necessary to protect me against the cold of between. "You have no idea how cold it is there, or how dark, or how silent."

"I am familiar with cold, darkness, and silence," I assured them. I got the strong impression that they didn't believe me.

"That might be so, but you need to wear this," Tai told me. "We'll take it off as soon as we land, but if you aren't covered when you go between, you'll be very, very sorry."

The garment was made of thick black fabric and would cover all of me except my face. It had four sleeves for my limbs, and a slender fifth sleeve for my tail. "Where did this come from?" I asked them. "Surely it isn't left over from some other hunter who rode a dragon in the past?"

"No, Mirrim made it for you, based on the measurements that Ballora took of you," F'lessan answered. "To make up for Mirrim's unkind comment about making a coat out of you, we suggested that she should make a coat for you instead."

Getting it onto me took two humans at once because the natural lie of my fur made it hard to slide my limbs into it. I tried to move normally, but the coat impeded my every motion. I felt constricted, imprisoned, suffocated. At last, I demanded, "Take this off! Now! I can't wear it for another minute!"

"That's very much against my better judgment," Tai told me.

"I'll make my own judgments when it concerns me," I retorted. "Now take this thing off before I claw it off!" They protested, but they complied. I stretched and groomed my fur where the coat had rubbed me the wrong way. Oh, it felt so good to get out of that horrible thing!

"Now, how am I going to avoid falling off your dragon's back?" I asked.

Tai held up some leather straps. "We have to wrap these straps around you, and then connect them to the dragon's riding straps, so you won't fall off. I'll ride in front, F'lessan will ride in back, and we'll put you in the middle. Zaranth says she feels honored to be the first dragon to carry a feline to another continent."

"I'll feel honored," I replied, "if I can save my kind from being wiped out." I allowed her to wrap the straps around my chest and abdomen; that wasn't nearly as bad as the coat. Zaranth lay down, and I sprang onto her back, being careful to land on my paw pads and not my claws. The last time I jumped onto a dragon's back, I meant to kill it and the human who rode it; now, another dragon was peacefully bearing me to meet that human's parents so I could plead for them not to kill off my kind. I think Oclo would have loved the irony, if so much was not at stake.

I had dealt with the coat; now I faced another problem. When humans ride a dragon, they sit between the neck ridges and allow their legs to dangle down on either side. I could not fit myself into that posture. I tried to sit up like they did, but my hind legs didn't dangle properly and I felt like I would fall over. If I reclined on the neck ridge so my forelegs would dangle, the ridge pressed uncomfortably into my chest and throat. If I draped myself over the dragon's neck with my head and forelegs on one side and my tail and hindlegs on the other side, the riding straps didn't secure me properly, and the humans said I looked like I was dead. The best I could do was to lie down and curl myself around the ridge, so my head, tail, and all four of my legs dangled partially down the same side. It wasn't very secure, but every other position was worse, and F'lessan assured me that the ride would be short as he strapped me in.

"All right, here we go!" Tai shouted. "Zaranth, up!" The dragon rose to her feet, leaned back on her haunches, and sprang into the air with a powerful downbeat of her wings. She didn't move as fast as a hunter, but there was great power in that spring, and I was glad all over again that I was no longer these creatures' enemy. She gained height quickly.

Tai looked over her shoulder at me. "Now you're going to be sorry you didn't wear that coat. Zaranth, take us between!"

I thought I knew what darkness was. I thought I knew what silence was. And I thought I knew what cold was. I was totally wrong on all three. For a moment, I completely panicked. If the straps had not held me in place, I think I would have jumped off. I might have screamed, but I could not hear myself. Then the dragon reassured me, We are all here together. Just that quick contact with another mind gave me the courage to endure the rest of the jump between. It could not have been long, but it felt that way.

Then we were back in clear air, I could see and hear again, and I was desperately shivering. I pressed myself as close to the dragon's warm body as I could; this was a use for dragons that I had never foreseen. "Now do you see why we wanted you to wear the coat?" F'lessan asked.

"I'll think about it next time," I said through chattering teeth.

"I brought it with us," he said, "so you can wear it on the ride home if you want to." That was thoughtful of him.

We had emerged over a huge bowl of a valley. The walls were dotted with cave openings; I had been told that these were the individual homes of dragons and their riders. The idea of living in a cave still struck me as unnatural and wrong, but the dragons were welcome to live that way if they wanted to. There were many, many dragons flying, landing, and taking off as we spiraled down.

"Is this the largest dragon weyr?" I asked.

"Oh, no – Fort Weyr is even bigger than Benden," F'lessan assured me. "Telgar Weyr is about the same size, and Igen, Ista, and High Reaches are somewhat smaller. That doesn't even include the dragons who live on the Southern continent now."

I made a quick guess at how many dragons that might involve. Each dragon had its own human rider. If Hunter Woo thought our hunting band could outfight the dragons and humans, she had a lot to learn.

We landed on a ledge that was big enough for several of the huge bronze dragons. The only dragon on the ledge today was a gold, but she was by far the biggest dragon I had ever seen. How could something that big stay in the air? F'lessan told me that her name was Ramoth, she was Lessa's dragon and Golanth's dam, and she was the biggest dragon on Pern. She paid us little notice. The humans slid off of Zaranth's back, unfastened my straps, and allowed me to jump off.

F'lessan bent down towards me. "Don't feel bad about your first reaction to going between," he said quietly. "It frightens us humans, too. We never get completely used to it. Anyone who says differently is a liar."

"Then why do you do it?" I wondered.

"If we flew straight from Honshu to here, it would have taken at least three days, probably longer, depending on the dragon," he answered. "Zaranth is built for speed, not endurance, so four or five days would be a good estimate for her, with many stops along the way so she could rest. Golanth could have done it in three, but it would have been a long, slow, uncomfortable flight, he still would have had to stop and rest a few times, and he would have been exhausted when he arrived. Going between is more uncomfortable, but it's over in a few seconds, and then we're there."

The three of us walked through a stone doorway into a short hall. It wasn't long ago that the idea of entering a human building would have terrified and repulsed me, but my short practice hunting the tunnel-snakes in Honshu had helped me overcome that fear. We entered a chamber that was mostly filled by a large wooden table and many padded seats for humans.

There were other humans here. There were two who rushed to greet F'lessan: a tall, muscular man with odd-colored eyes, and a very short woman with thick dark hair and an air of power about her. There were five other men who remained in their seats, but their eyes locked onto me the way I might stare at a prey animal just before I began to chase it.

F'lessan named all the other humans for me. The two who had greeted him were F'lar and Lessa, his sire and dam. The other five were F'nor, F'lar's littermate; D'ram and Lytol, who both served as Teds to an important place called Landing; Lord Groghe, who was Ted to a large place called Fort; and Sebell, a brown-colored man who was the Ted to a band of people called Harpers and who seemed to be highly respected. F'lessan had promised that a great many powerful people would gather to hear my words, and he had spoken the truth again. From now on, I would believe anything he said to me unless it was proven false.

"You all know me," F'lessan said easily. "This is Tai, green Zaranth's rider, my weyrmate, and the one who helped to discover dragon telekinesis. And this," he said, gesturing to me, "is Hunter Rit, who is here as a representative of the hunters, which is what the felines of the Southern continent call themselves. She has traveled a very long way to speak to this fine group. She speaks her own language, but Zaranth will translate her words for us, and our words for her."

"Welcome, Hunter Rit," the one called Sebell said courteously. "I trust that your journey here was pleasant?"

"I did not care for going between," I answered, "but the rest of the trip was tolerable. I enjoyed the view of this Weyr from above." The dragon riders all nodded at that comment. The others looked slightly startled as they heard Zaranth's voice in their heads, translating my words for them.

"Rit, why don't you take a seat?" F'lar said, and pointed toward the chair at the end of the table. I jumped into it easily and turned around to get a sense of how it felt. It wasn't big enough for me to stand in it comfortably, so I sat instead. This had the added advantage of placing me at eye level with most of the humans.

Lessa had been staring at me the whole time. "For some reason," she said, "I thought you'd be more dark and dangerous-looking."

I looked her in the eye and saw strength there. "My kind does not judge by appearances," I told her.

Sebell smiled. "I think your kind has the advantage of us in that regard."

Groghe made a harrumphing sound. "Yes, well, now that we all know each other, shall we get down to business?"

"Yes, we shall," F'lar decided, and looked toward me. "First, I think we should hear from our honored guest. Will you tell us a little bit about yourself, please?"

"As you wish. My name is Hunter Rit. I'm a member of Oclo's hunting band. I have seen six cycles of the sun, and I have brought three litters of cubs into the world. I have recently befriended F'lessan and Tai of Honshu Weyrhold, and Healer Ballora, who healed me of a life-threatening injury. I'm here to speak on behalf of the other hunters against your scheme to lower our birth rate and, possibly, wipe us out."

"We have reasons for that scheme," F'lar said. "Lytol?"

Lytol stood up with several thin white sheets in his hand. "I've just gotten the newest reports from Lord Toric and from Landing. There are reports of feline attacks all over the Southern continent. People are getting hurt, livestock is disappearing, a few people have gotten killed. Rit, your... umm, your kind are causing our people a great deal of harm when we've done nothing to provoke you or threaten you."

"Your very presence is a threat to us!" I burst out. "The land is our hunting territory, our sole source of food. We need to take prey in order to feed ourselves and our cubs. We've divided that land into territories, each one big enough to support one hunting band. For uncounted Turns, this has worked well for us. Now, with no warning, you humans arrive on our land, cut down the trees that shelter our prey, kill or drive away our prey animals, and if we try to take the beasts that you bring with you, you attack us and kill us!"

"Can you blame the Holders for wanting to protect themselves and their livestock?" D'ram interrupted.

"Can you blame us for wanting to eat?" I retorted. "The hunters bear no grudge against you in principle, but if you continue to ruin our hunting grounds and take our prey, then we will fight, in the only way we know, to protect our grounds and our food supply. Would you do any differently if our roles were reversed?"

"That's a reasonable question," F'nor nodded.

"Well," Groghe began, "if someone was moving in on my Holdings, then yes, I'd certainly see him off! But these attacks are happening all over Southern. How much of that land do you really need? Surely not all of it – that's a lot of land! I know we need a fair-sized chunk of it. We've got a lot of restless sons who need their own Holdings."

"The land was ours first," I told him. "Our ancestors and yours came to this world together, although our storytellers have forgotten how this was done. It was one of you, the one we call the first Ted, who gave us our minds and our ability to think. You enabled us to talk to each other and to work together. We soon realized that we didn't need you in order to stay alive. We spread out and founded our own society in the places that the humans didn't want. When your ancestors left the Southern continent, my ancestors stayed. "

"Your ancestors were merciless killers!" Lessa interrupted.

"They fell victim to the madness," I tried to explain, "just as some of us fall to the madness today. But that is not who we are! We have a stable social structure; we have a language that we speak to each other; we have rules and traditions that we live by; we know what is ours and we know what to expect if we take something that isn't ours. We can't make great buildings or fly through the sky on dragons the way you do, but does that make us inferior, or unworthy to live?"

"I know a few Holders who have lost their loved ones to you," D'ram said roughly. "They don't think you're worthy to live."

"We have lost loved ones as well," I shot back. "My band lost eight hunters from one ill-considered attack. Shall we count our dead and wounded, balance them up, and decide who is inflicting the greater harm on whom? Can't two intelligent species do better than that?" Sebell pursed his lips and nodded.

"The people in Southern probably have a hard time thinking of you as an intelligent species," F'nor pointed out.

F'lessan spoke up. "Have the people ever tried to talk to the cats? Have they made any attempt to find out why these attacks are happening? Have they tried to work out some kind of living arrangement with them? Have they tried anything other than attacking them?"

"F'lessan, are you taking their side?" F'lar asked. "You, of all people?"

"This war between the felines and the humans is all a huge misunderstanding," he answered. "They don't hate us and they don't particularly want to eat us. They just want us off their land. That's what this is all about – who owns the land and has the right to use it?"

"Lord Toric says he owns most of it," Lessa said. I picked up an element of sarcasm in her words when Zaranth translated them for me. This was the second time I'd heard that human's name. Whoever Lord Toric was, he didn't sound like a potential ally.

"Lord Toric would like to own all of it," Groghe answered her. "The other Lords won't go for that. Never did, never will. No, we've got to divide the land up fairly for everyone."

"Does that include me and my kind?" I asked.

"I think there's a bigger question here," Sebell commented. "That question is, 'Who has the right to decide what to do with the land?' We've been merrily dividing it up amongst ourselves; Toric wants this part, the Weyrs want that part, and the other Lord Holders want the rest. All this time, we've been unaware that there's already an intelligent race living on that land." He waved his arm toward me. "Whenever the felines put in an appearance, we've been treating them as intruders on land that belongs to us. Now, Rit tells us that her kind are doing the exact same thing, for the exact same reason. Who gets to decide who the landowners are and who the intruders are?"

"If we go strictly by the law," Lytol began, "then the felines stayed there after the colonists abandoned it, so the land would be considered theirs by an old principle called squatter's rights. If we go by who is best able to keep the land and use it, then the humans probably ought to win."

"Are you saying that might makes right?" I challenged him.

"That's how we usually settle things," D'ram said dryly.

That was when F'lar brought his fist down on the table, startling all of us. "Yes, to our shame, that's how humanity usually does things. But this is Pern! Our ancestors came here for a simpler life and the chance to start over. They wanted to make a world that was different from all the others; they wanted to avoid repeating all the mistakes that humanity has made up until now. But, if this project to reduce the felines' breeding rate is any indicator, we're no better than the people our ancestors came here to get away from!"

"F'lar, you were very much in favor of that project when we agreed to it," Lessa reminded him.

"That was when I thought the felines were just ravening predators," F'lar answered. "Now I've sat at my Weyr's conference table and looked one of them in the eyes and talked with her. That changes things. I'm starting to agree with F'lessan – maybe all this hostility is just a big misunderstanding that we could clear up if we just sat down and talked to each other!"

There were a few seconds of shocked silence.

"A month ago," I finally said to him, "I would have said that was impossible. I would have called you intruders and trespassers who needed to be ejected from our lands with extreme prejudice. But I've spent time with you and I've learned much. On the one hand, I think it's impossible for my kind to defeat you in open violence, so I want to avoid a fight we can never win. On the other hand, there are so many similarities between us that violence is unwarranted. I don't know how to resolve our conflict, but I very much want to resolve it before anyone else gets hurt, on either side."

"There's something we all need to know," F'nor broke in. "Rit, are you speaking for yourself, or for your hunting band, or for all the felines?"

I wasn't going to lie, no matter how much was at stake. "At this time, I am speaking for myself. I think my Ted is of the same mind, but I can't say that for certain."

"So we have no idea," Lessa concluded, "whether any of the other felines want to work out our disagreements, or whether they just want to fight to the death."

"Are all felines as reasonable as you are?" Sebell wanted to know.

"We are all intelligent, and we are all reasonable, some more than others," I told them. "But many of us are set in our ways, and we find it difficult to think in new ways when we encounter a new situation."

"Just like people," F'nor muttered.

"Exactly," F'lessan smiled.

"Rit, tell me something," Lessa said. "What led you to mend your fences with people?"

"We do not build fences. That is something humans do."

Golanth had to explain what she meant by that. "I was badly injured when we first attacked F'lessan and Golanth," I told them. "The injury would have led to my death; we have no way to heal serious injuries like that. I turned to F'lessan and his people in desperation, as a last resort. The one called Jaxom told me that you humans are very good at healing. I planned to accept whatever help you might give, and then return to my hunting band."

"I might have known Jaxom was involved somehow," Lessa scowled.

"He's involved in everything else," F'lar nodded. "I think it was our idea to involve him in the first place."

"What changed your mind about us?" Sebell wondered.

"Your kindness to me was unexpected," I answered. "The ones I had tried to kill were now expending great effort to save my life. They also gave me food, water, and a sleeping place. The hunters understand the idea of forgiveness, but we seldom practice it to that degree.

"Something else that surprised me was Jaxom and F'lessan's willingness to learn my language. I have taught him, and a few others, some basic words in the hunter's tongue. When they speak words that I know without needing a dragon to translate, it makes me feel like... it makes me feel like they are part of my hunting band. Or, perhaps, I'm a part of their band."

Apparently, that surprised Lessa. "F'lessan, you've been learning to talk like a feline?"

He said "yes" in the hunter's tongue. Now F'lar looked surprised as well. Sebell leaned toward me, curious.

"Can we learn to have conversations in your language?"

"It's hard on the throat, and I don't think we can make all the sounds that they use," F'lessan told them. "I've learned a few useful words, but I'm nowhere near ready to put together a complete sentence. I think their language uses suffixes on nouns instead of adjectives and possessives, and suffixes on verbs instead of adverbs. Letting our dragons interpret for us is much easier, and the dragons seem to like doing it for us."

"I have no objection to the dragons serving as our interpreters," I said, and nodded in the human fashion. "But not all of your human settlements have dragons. I don't know how we can negotiate over the land if we cannot all speak to each other."

F'lar leaned forward suddenly. "Does that mean you're willing to negotiate?"

I gazed at him; he matched my gaze unflinchingly. "I do not have the authority to make that decision. Only the Ted can decide that. But, if it was in my power, I would willingly sit down with the humans who are infringing on our land, and try to work out some kind of agreement for peaceful coexistence. I would much rather negotiate than fight, or see my band reduced to nothing by your chemical warfare."

F'lar steepled his hands. "Every point you make," he said, "is a valid one. I, too, would rather talk than fight. But most of the other hunting bands haven't gotten the word. A lot of the human settlements haven't gotten the word, either. I'm reluctant to leave any of our people vulnerable to attack until we've had the chance to actually negotiate a deal with at least one band, just to show that it can be done."

"I agree; that's wise," Groghe added.

"Where does that leave me and my band?" I asked.

"Bring your Ted to us, or bring a negotiating party to your Ted," Lessa said. "Work out a deal, just for your band. As soon as that deal is agreed to by both sides, we'll stop sowing treated carcasses in your band's territory. Once we know how to negotiate with you, then we'll locate another band and work out a deal with them. That will be the sign to stop dropping treated carcasses on their grounds as well. If any band won't make a deal, that band will still get the carcasses."

"We'll reward the friendly ones," nodded Groghe, "and cut down the numbers of the unfriendly ones. Sounds good, sounds fair. I think the other Lord Holders will agree to that."

"Who would the negotiators on the human side be?" Sebell wanted to know.

"F'lessan and Tai have already made contact with one hunting band, and they both have dragons to do the translating," F'lar decided. "They can start the negotiations, with Rit's help. She says her Ted won't need much convincing, so that band is a logical place to start."

"I can't promise results," I told them. "If you want us to trade our land away, you will probably not get a deal."

"Even if the alternative is seeing your numbers reduced?" F'nor asked.

"So you've brought us back to the choices of 'do it your way or die,'" I said flatly.

"I'd really like to avoid that," F'lar said to me.

"Then your side needs to be willing to give up something as well," I said. "No Ted will ever agree to a one-sided deal, no matter what the consequences might be."

F'nor shrugged. "There's no arguing with that. Both sides want all the land for themselves. Legally, the felines have the better claim. We have more strength to take it and hold it, but we also have a moral obligation to not act like the land-greedy tyrants that our distant ancestors were."

"Will the cats accept a moral obligation to stop killing people?" Lessa asked.

"Will the humans accept a moral obligation to stop eradicating our entire species?" I asked back. She didn't have a ready answer to that.

"I think our species has gotten used to negotiating from a superior position," Sebell pointed out. "Now, we're negotiating as equals, and we don't know how to handle that."

"Perhaps the dolphineers could give us some insight?" Lytol suddenly asked. "They're used to dealing with a different species."

"I don't think they can be of much help," F'nor replied. "The dolphins don't care about anything except food and playing games. We have nothing that they want, except our ability to scrape those bloodfish parasites off of them and do emergency surgery when they need it."

"That's one big parallel between the doll-fins and the felines," F'lessan pointed out. "With both species, it's our Healers who have the most to offer them."

"That's a good point, F'lessan," his dam nodded. "A very good point. I wonder if that might be the key to the whole problem."