The Felines of Pern Chapter 18

It was no exaggeration that F'lessan was nervous at Talad and San's sudden appearance outside his home. When I had first appeared at Honshu, they saw me as a wounded animal looking for help. When Oclo arrived, I brought him in and vouched for him, so the humans knew he wasn't looking for a fight. This wild pair brought no such assurances, except their own word. Oclo and I vouched for them, and that helped, but not completely.

"This is the time of night when humans are supposed to be asleep," F'lessan told them, and Golanth relayed his words. I could see their ears fold back and their tails lash as they "heard" the dragon's voice inside their heads for the first time. "Rest here; you'll be protected and safe. In the morning, you can take a meal with Rit and Oclo, and then we'll talk."

"The humans don't function well without sleep, especially their males," Oclo told Talad. "Take their advice and find resting places in the forest nearby. In the morning, we'll hunt. Then we'll negotiate."

"Are you in a position to make decisions like that?" Talad demanded.

"We two are the hunting band of Honshu Weyrhold," Oclo replied proudly, "and I am the Ted here. Yes, I can make decisions like that."

San considered that. "If that's true, then are we trespassing on your hunting grounds?"

"We trespassed on your grounds the other night, and you let us live," Oclo decided. "We'll return the favor today. You have my permission to be here for one night and one day. I may choose to extend that time if the situation warrants it."

Now that the formalities of leadership had been observed, the two of them faded back into the forest for the night. The next day, they appeared again, in the exact spot where they'd arrived the night before. The blue watchdragon circled them warily, but relaxed and returned to his patrol route when we approached them.

"Come with us," Oclo told them. "Rit and I usually catch a wherry together and share it. The two of you can do the same."

"Are wherries that easy to find in this place?" Talad wondered.

"The humans keep a large pen full of them," I told him. "They are wing-clipped so they can't fly away. The humans feed them to their dragons, and we are allowed to hunt there as well."

That was the first wonder that Talad and San saw that day. The second was when human servants brought a wooden table out of the Weyrhold and set it down in the courtyard. They put four chairs on one side, and set four padded cushions on the ground on the other side.

"Unless I miss my guess," Oclo decided, "this means that the negotiations are about to begin. The four cushions are for us to sit on, and the chairs are for the humans."

"I see F'lessan and Tai," I noted, "but who are the other two chairs for?" I got my answer less than a minute later when Ruth arrived, bearing Lord Jaxom and Lady Sharra. They all sat down and folded their hands, with Jaxom's small white dragon, Tai's larger green, and F'lessan's enormous bronze reclining just behind them. We took our places sitting on the cushions. Tai produced a writing instrument and a sheaf of the thin white material that humans make marks on when they want to record something permanently.

"On the human side," F'lessan began, "we have representatives from Hold, Hall, and Weyr. On the hunters' side, we have representatives of Honshu Weyrhold and the wild lands. This is the first time that your kind and ours have met as equals to settle our differences, but I hope it won't be the last time. Shall we begin?"

Once Talad and San got used to the rhythm of speaking and letting the dragons translate, the negotiations went surprisingly quickly. We immediately agreed to an end to the attacks on Honshu and the dropping of the treated carcasses on the band's grounds; that was the easy part. Working out the issue of dragons hunting in those grounds took a while longer. The compromise that sealed the deal was Jaxom's idea. The dragons would still be allowed to hunt at will in the band's grounds, but for every beast they took there, they would deliver one of the humans' herdbeasts in exchange, so that the hunting band's food supply would not be diminished. We worked out some simple calls that hunter, dragon and human could make, so that we could quickly identify each other in the forest. Anyone who didn't make the correct challenge and response would be considered a trespasser and would be firmly asked to leave. The band agreed to herd any of our escaped beasts back to us in exchange for access to emergency medical care. Other minor issues were brought up and settled.

We spent the most time discussing permanent human expansion into the band's hunting grounds. F'lessan and Jaxom tried to persuade Talad that as people's numbers increased, they were bound to want new land for farms, grazing, timber, and minerals. Talad was opposed to the whole idea. Sharra was the one who broke the logjam of conflicting wants and needs.

"You hunters don't actually need the land itself, right? You need the prey animals that live on the land. Isn't that correct?" All four of us nodded. "Then what if we work out some kind of a trade? We can mark out a plot of your land, get your approval to move into that land, and then do what we want with it, in exchange for allowing you to hunt some of our livestock."

"How much livestock?" Talad demanded. We got down to bargaining, a process that was unfamiliar to our way of thinking, but we learned quickly. We worked out a system whereby the humans would leave a pile of paw-sized, colorful leather markers (that part was my idea) near each of their herds. If the hunting band could get no food elsewhere, they would remove one marker from the pile with their mouths and bring it to Honshu as evidence that they meant to take one prey beast from that herd. If there were no markers left near a herd, then that herd was off limits to the hunters, and we would have to try a different herd. This would enable the humans to tell us which animals were fair game and which ones were off limits to us. If no markers could be found, then the hunters would be within their rights to take any beast they wanted; that would be the humans' inducement to make sure that some herds were always available for hunting. The Ted would have the final veto power over which land the humans could use. The hunters would still chase down and kill their own food; they would not become dependent on human generosity or lose their ability to live in the wild.

San had to ask one unhappy but necessary question. "F'lessan, Rit and Oclo speak well of you and your honesty. We trust you to keep any agreement that we make. But what will happen to us if your successor decides that he wants all the land, and he takes it by force and drives us off of it?"

"That kind of deal-breaking was all too common in the history of Old Earth," F'lessan answered. "The difference here is that, as soon as we reach an agreement, we'll involve the Crafthalls as guarantors of the deal. They are independent and impartial, they wield considerable power when they want to, and they have a vested interest in maintaining peace all over Pern. They'll guarantee the agreement that we make, and they'll force any human deal-breakers to do what is right, on penalty of the Halls pulling out all their tradesmen. That kind of treatment will bring any land-thief to his knees in no time. The Halls can also call in the Weyrs for support if necessary. There will be no Southern version of Lord Fax, grabbing land that does not belong to him."

"Like my brother?" Sharra asked pointedly.

"Especially your brother," F'lessan answered.

At last, Talad said, "I have no objections left. I think we have an agreement."

F'lessan didn't answer right away. He brushed a tear away from his eye. "You have no idea what this means to me," he finally said. "This is a dream come true."

"For us, it means life," Talad answered politely.

"And for us as well," F'lessan said.

"We need to officially seal the agreement," Jaxom decided. "Among humans, that means shaking hands and signing our names on a piece of paper. How do the hunters do these things?"

"We share a kill," Talad said.

"We'll do it your way," F'lessan decided. He called some orders to a servant, and a few minutes later, the servant brought out the roasted leftovers from last night's human supper. We all took turns taking a bite from the meat, and our agreement was official. Against all odds, we had arranged peace among three warring species.

"There's one more thing," San said suddenly. "What about those of us who ate the treated carcasses? Will we ever come into season again?"

"The effect is temporary," Sharra assured her. "It should wear off in about six months, maybe less, depending on how much you ate, and assuming that you don't eat any more of the carcasses that are still out there. You'll eventually come into season again and you'll have cubs, just like you always did."

"I have ordered those carcasses to be off-limits to us," Talad said. "The scavengers can have them."

"That's a sensible precaution," Oclo nodded.

"I never liked the smell of them anyway," San agreed. "But sometimes, I was so hungry…"

"If there's nothing else, then I think we're done here," F'lessan decided. "Thank you for being reasonable."

"We are reasonable beings," Talad said with great dignity. "Holder F'lessan, thank you for the wherry. Rit, I am waiving the usual rules about rejoining a band, because the circumstances of your leaving were not your fault. You may visit us at will, if you wish. Oclo, we were friends when we were both in the males' band. I don't want to exclude you from my grounds, but my band can have only one Ted."

"I understand," Oclo replied. "Some traditions must never be set aside. It may not matter in a short time anyway." He whispered something in Talad's ear.

"I'm sorry, very sorry to hear that," Talad said.

Oclo shrugged. "What will be, will be. I wish you good hunting."

"I wish all of you good hunting as well," Talad replied. He made the new call that signified "friend." We each answered with the "friend-reply" call. Then he and Hunter San returned to their forest, their tails waving high.

Tai turned to F'lessan. "That went well."

F'lessan's reply was to throw his arms up and whoop at the top of his lungs, startling Oclo and me. "We did it! We really did it! The war is over!"

"The war with that band is over," I reminded him. "There are many other hunting bands out there."

"We'll get to them, one at a time," F'lessan grinned. "We've made a start; we've made the first move. Doing a thing the second time is always easier than the first time."

"Some of those bands will have to negotiate with Lord Toric," Lady Sharra reminded him. "He won't be as reasonable as you are, F'lessan."

"If he wants an end to the attacks on his lands and his people, then he'll have to learn to be reasonable," Jaxom retorted. "We have a precedent for peace now. If Toric wants peace on his lands, all he has to do is copy what we just did. If he chooses to hold out, then he'll find most of the Holds, Halls, and Weyrs putting pressure on him to make a fair deal with the hunters. He can't say it's impossible because we just proved that it's possible. He won't like it, but he'll have to yield eventually."

"So I guess that makes me the first human point of contact between us and the hunters," F'lessan decided. "What should I call myself? A Felineer?"

"The prefix 'con' means 'with,' so how about Con-cat-enator?" Jaxom suggested.

"We will call you Modoc," I said. "Now it stands for Man On Dragon, Ombudsman to Cats."

"Modoc. I'll wear that as a title of honor," F'lessan said. "And I'll try not to get a swelled head about it."

Tai threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "F'lessan, you're incredible! When you came up with this idea, I thought it was insane and I'd probably lose you. But you really did it! You ended the war, and you brought the hunters in from the cold." She paused and smiled. "I guess you've written your name in Pern's history in great big letters, just like your parents did."

"That was never my goal, and you knew that," he grinned. "But if somebody wants to write my name somewhere, I won't fight them."

Then he turned to Oclo and me. "None of this could have happened without you two. It's because of you that we made this agreement today. You've made my dream come true. If there's anything I can do for you, anything at all, just ask."

"The only thing we need is beyond your control," I reminded him.

"Oh. Yeah. The madness. That still stinks," he said.

"I'd like to do something useful with my remaining days," Oclo told him. "I thought that bringing peace to our lands would be a worthy project, but it's already done. If Rit keeps a close eye on me, can we go out to those human places and hunt tunnel snakes for them, and show them that they don't need to fear the hunters?"

"That's against the Healer's orders," Tai said.

"He's showing no symptoms at all," I pleaded. "Let him spend his last days with dignity."

"What will happen if he does show symptoms?" Sharra asked. "Will you… give him mercy?"

"I don't think I could," I admitted, "but I wouldn't interfere if the humans… did what they had to do."

"We'll send you to Telgar," F'lessan decided. "Lord Larad says they're being overrun with the foul creatures, so the need is greatest there. Also, there are only two locations that you'll have to visit, so you won't be away from Honshu for long." More messages were exchanged, and it was agreed – we would spend two weeks at Telgar Hold as the guests of Lord Larad, then two weeks at the Smithcrafthall, then an additional week or two at Telgar Hold to make sure the job was finished, and then we'd come home. A green dragon named Merceth from Telgar Weyr was assigned to us for transportation and translation duties, along with her rider, Lacki, who was a sister's daughter to Lady Jissamy.

"They're showing you honor by assigning the kin of the Lady Holder to be your helper," Tai told us.

"Why doesn't Telgar Weyr want us to help them?" Oclo wondered.

"I think they don't have a tunnel-snake problem, probably because so many of their dragon riders have fire lizards," F'lessan answered. "Those little fellows are just as fierce as you are when it comes to hunting tunnel snakes."

We used our flight-blankets for the trip to Telgar, and when we got there, we nearly asked if we could leave them on. That region turned out to be significantly colder than Ruatha. There were days when we chose to sleep by the fire in Lord Larad's Great Hall instead of finding traditional resting places outside. There were, indeed, many tunnel snakes here, and we hunted them with all our skill and energy. The humans repaid us with unlimited access to their captive beasts. As we did at Ruatha, we enjoyed a variety of different prey for our meals.

The hunting wasn't as good at the Smithcrafthall. For one thing, the tunnel snakes had already been well-hunted by the flying lizards that looked to many of the Smiths, so the remaining snakes were both scarcer and craftier than the ones in the Hold. For another, the Hall was filled with endless loud noises that hurt our sensitive ears, so it was difficult for us to spend time there. I kept a close eye on Oclo; hypersensitivity to sounds and overreacting to noise were sometimes signs of the madness. Still, he showed no signs of it.

Wherever we went, we were treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. Many of the humans greeted us as "the peacemakers." Technically, this wasn't correct; we had served as go-betweens, but Talad and F'lessan were the true peacemakers. But we saw no purpose in arguing the point.

Many of the human females were amazed at our fur. I worried that some of them might take Mirrim's view and try to make coats out of us, but no one even suggested such a thing. Indeed, one of the humans in Telgar Hold, a man from a Hall they called Weavercraft, wondered out loud if it might be possible to make a fake fur with markings like ours, so that no animals would be harmed. We informed him, through Merceth, that we heartily approved of that idea. That seemed to delight him.

"I've got the seal of approval of the peacemaking hunters!" he said gleefully. "This idea is going to be so popular! I could make Master for this!"

After our six weeks in Telgar were up, Zaranth came to bring us back to Honshu. "As usual," Tai told us, "the tunnel snakes have made a comeback since you left. You've got your work cut out for you when you return."

A week later, we got a surprise. A hunter was just outside the edge of the clearing, making the call that marked her as a friend. The two of us went to meet her. It turned out to be Wisst, one of Dess' cubs, now nearly an adult. She had always been small, but now, she looked emaciated.

"Do you need medical attention from the humans?" Oclo asked him.

"No, I need a life," she admitted. "I was born the runt of my dam's litter, and my littermates never missed a chance to make me last in line for everything. Now I'm the runt of the whole band, and no one lets me forget it! I'm weary of living on scraps and trying to find prey in the poorest parts of our hunting ground. I've thought it over, and I'd rather wear a human collar and sleep in a building than slowly starve to death." She took a deep breath. "Will you allow me to live with you in this place?"

Oclo glanced at me, and we both smiled. "I don't know if Talad told you this," he began, "but we at Honshu Weyrhold consider ourselves to be our own hunting band. I'm the Ted, and if you'll have me, then you'll be welcomed into the band."

"You'll still be last in line," I added, "but the line is only three hunters long, so you'll eat well enough here."

"By the way, we don't sleep in the buildings unless we want to," he went on. "We are hunters and we haven't forgotten who we are. We ally ourselves with the humans here because we choose to do so, not because they own us."

"But I think we should get F'lessan's approval before we make a final decision," I concluded. "He's the Ted at Honshu Weyrhold, and you'll be eating his prey beasts, so he needs to know about this."

F'lessan had no objections at all – quite the contrary. "This will work out well for all of us!" he exclaimed. "Now I can send the two of you north to hunt tunnel snakes for as long as you need to go, and Wisst can keep the snakes under control here. Sure, my permission is given!"

Afterward, Oclo sought me out. "How do you feel about adding Wisst to our band?"

"It will be good for you to have another female to mate with," I said noncommittally.

"That's not what I asked you," he said firmly. "I want to know how you feel."

"Honestly? I've gotten used to having you to myself. I know it's tradition to do it the old-fashioned way and share you, but… I don't want to share you."

"I knew that," he grinned, "but I wanted to hear you say it. By tomorrow morning, I think I'll have a solution for all of us." He disappeared for the rest of the day.

The next morning, he sauntered back into the courtyard, followed by a slightly larger male. "I'd like you all to meet Garro," he began. "He's another member of the band of males where I came from, or rather, he was a member. I told him how we eat here, and it took him about five seconds to decide that this was a better life for him."

"A hunting band can't have two Teds," I reminded him.

"Garro isn't going to be the Ted," Oclo told us. "I'm not going to be a traditional Ted, either. He's going to keep Wisst company, and I'm going to keep you company. You and I are going to be a monogamous couple from now on, and Garro can have any other females that join us. It's not traditional, but then, nothing about this band is traditional. The Ted has spoken." I wondered if his real motive for bringing in Garro was to provide his own future replacement, in case the madness manifested itself in him, but I wasn't about to ask him that. I was happy enough to hear that I wasn't going to share him with other females.

"With only one other female in the band, you're offering me monogamy as well, whether I like it or not," Garro said. "Still, I shouldn't complain. You warned me that things were done differently here." He looked up to the top of the Honshu cliffs. "This is like nothing I've ever seen before. You live in this place?"

"We hunt vermin in this place, but we sleep in the forest, like hunters always do," I replied. "We are not humans on four legs. Some traditions should not be changed."

Wisst had been standing apart from the other three of us; now she made her decision. "I accept this one," she said firmly. We all looked at her in confusion – it wasn't clear which male she was accepting. After a moment, she sat down facing Garro. He looked pleased. I let out the breath I was holding.

F'lessan gave us a few days to get the new arrivals acclimated to their new home. They had no objections to hunting tunnel snakes, they agreed not to relieve themselves indoors, they accepted their collars without a fight, and while they were visibly nervous around humans and human buildings, that nervousness was beginning to fade by the time Oclo and I got our next assignment. We were going to Fort.

"This will be a much longer assignment," F'lessan told us. "You'll be cleaning out a very large Hold, some subordinate Holds, the biggest Weyr on Pern, and three Crafthalls, with the option for return visits to any of them that need it. You'll be gone for at least two months, probably more."

"We're leaving our home in good hands," we told him. They wrapped us in our flight-blankets, and Zaranth took us away. Just before we went between, Oclo glanced down at Honshu and softly said, "That place has become my home. If the madness takes me, I'll never see it again."

I didn't know what to tell him.