Disclaimer: Pern and the pernese dragons are copyright to Anne McCaffrey. The characters and non-pernese races are mine.
The first weeks after Suinsst choosing her and the discovery of the strange dragon and its rider, were anything but easy to Shri. As a trainee, there seemed to be no end to the amount she had to learn about the forest-- its dangers and the creatures and plants that could be found there. Neither did it take long for Gina and her other teachers to make it quite clear that she wasn't anywhere close to as knowledgeable as she had wanted to believe.
Most difficult of it all though, was working with the young iridescent to strenghten the link between them, at the same time as she had to learn how to block out the things she had no need to know about most of the time. That wasn't made easier by a certain headstrong creature who didn't see much point in being subtle. And who had caused her more than one sleepless night as she had to stay awake to concentrate about blocking out what happened between him and some of the young female iridescents at the community.
That one night four days after she had come home with Suinsst, had not been something she cared about repeating.
A warm blanket wrapped around her against the chill of early morning, Shri sat outside of her dwelling, leaning against the sturdy wall. While there was still two hours before she would have to report in for patrol duty along with the four other trainee pairs at the community. She often liked having a bit of quiet time in the morning to herself to wake up properly.
Besides, Suinsst would probably wake up in not so long, and knowing the young male-- she knew he would want a hunt and a grooming before that.
Life out in the wild forest was hard and dangerous, even for large and intelligent predators such as the iridescents. So while Suinsst was a pain at times-- competing with the other young males for rank and attention from the females, he was certainly aware of the advantages of having a rider.
"Not another sleepless night I hope?"
Startled out of her thoughts, Shri turned her head in the direction that the voice had come from to see one of the trainee tree-runners grin down at her from a bridge four meters or so above. It took her a moment or two to recognize Jeffrey, a distant cousin of hers, and she grinned back as she stood up. Then she quickly moved to the left as Jeffrey, true to character, jumped off the bridge to summersault through the air-- landing elegantly at the branch beside her.
"Always showing off...," Shri muttered with a teasing grin, catching the piece of bread stuffed with greens that Jeffrey tossed to her, "guess that I can forgive you since you brought breakfast though. Any chance that you might have some coffey as well?"
"I fear not, as I was just on my way to the kitchens. Wouldn't mind some company on the way there though, if you feel up to going anywhere before you have been served your first dose of coffein."
Shri snorted, and was about to throw the blanket at Jeffrey when something strange pulsed through the mental ambience. A feeling of being trapped in a space that was much too restricting, of hunger and a strange need so strong that it made her flinch. Then multiple points of view struck her as people and iridescents woke up in response to the strangeness, and then her eyes slowly widened as she received the impression of three mottled eggs in a nest surrounded by heaters.
Moments later however, Shri had to slam her mental shields up as the mental anguish of the woman they had found with the strange dragon reached her, along with another and stronger pulse of the feelings she now knew had to come from the eggs.
"The eggs.., " she mumbled, turning to look at a equally dazed-looking Jeffrey, "should we go there to watch them hatching? Better be quick though, as I'm sure that we're not the only ones who would want to see it".
:Unborns so noisy, may attract bad things. Bosses say we watch out, mist cat will be very bad:
Swooping down from above, Suinsst hovered for a moment-- the bakdraft of his wings forcing Shri and Jeffrey to hunch down. Then he barked a response to the call from another couple of iridescents flying nearby before he finally landed, lowering his head to give Shri an affectionate nudge.
"Would you mind giving us a quick ride to the Infirmary building first?" Shri asked the iridescent, a purring sound reaching her ears as she scratched his lower jaw. He could carry two people over short distances as long as he didn't have to actively flying, the excercise they had been put through during the past weeks had made certain of that. But still, this early in the morning, Suinsst might not feel quite up to it.
Suinsst looked towards Jeffrey with a distdaineful snort:old, shatterwinged feathered one day I can't carry two young ones. Two weights at shoulders be no problem in short flight, come!:
Then he bent his fore-legs, wings unfolding so they wouldn't be in the way as Shri and Jeffrey climbed up. It probably wouldn't a comfortable flight for any of them, with so little available space to sit on, and they interfering with Suinsst's wing-muscles. But with only a short glide of about a hundred meters or so down to the infirmary building where the eggs were kept, they would manage.
Still, Shri had to make an effort not to cry out as the iridescent dropped off the branch into a glide. It was one thing to travel from tree to tree on ones own, but a precarious seat on the back of a flying iridescent was something quite different. Judging by the strangled sound from Jeffrey behind her, she was not the only one feeling that way.
She wouldn't think about what might happen if she lost her grip and fell...
Quicker than Shri had expected, Suinsst reached their destination, and stretching his legs-- the young iridescent landed heavily. And she quickly jumped down at the ground, grinning as she turned towards Jeffrey to see his rather anxious expression.
"Can't say that's an experience I care about repeating anytime soon. Tree-running may not be easy, but I believe that I definitely prefer it to flying," he said, flexing his fingers to loosen them after having held onto Shri's belt rather tightly.
With a chuckle, Shri gave Suinsst a pat, thanking the young male before he launched himself into the air again to join the other iridescents to patrol the community borders. Animals like mist cats were easily attracted by strong emotions running through the ambience, and the hunger emitted by the dragonets about to hatch was almost certain to lure something to the community.
"It's different when you're riding properly-- laying on his back and wearing a security-harness. Though I have to agree with you in this case," she said, hurrying towards the entrance to the building as she noticed several people on their way there too. Space in the room where the offworld dragon eggs were kept was limited, so she and Jeffrey would have to hurry if they were to have any hope of getting to see the hatching.
Entering the room, the first thing that hit Shri was the heat-- almost painful after the cool air outside. And the ambience trembled with feelings and emotions that she could almost feel even through the shields she had put up. Even if the minds of the dragonets in the eggs were different and certainly not as strong as a iridescent, Gina had been quite right when claiming that they were telepathic.
And within a nest clearly made by an iridescent-- of fresh twigs and grasses woven together, insulated with down, lay the three eggs that had been taken out of their mother all those weeks ago. One was rather large, nearly twice as big as the two others, a pale green and tan of color. Then there was a tawny and yellow one, and the one that had been slightly damaged, old cracks in the oily black and grey shell mended by a strong, glue-like substance.
By the looks of it, the dragonet inside had survived due to the efforts of the medics, at least it seemed to be wobbling just as vigorously as the two others.
"I just hope that this won't take forever, the temperature in here is killing me," Jeffrey mumbled, watching the eggs as several of the medics examined them. Some were also wearing badges that marked them as being from one of the coastal cities. Which wasn't really surprising, no doubt the discovery of them and the deceased offworld dragon and her rider had caused quite a stirr.
This far, Shri hadn't heard anything about where they might have come from though, so the planetary government had probably not been able to establish where the dragons might have come from. Something that did suggest that their world of origin might be quite far away.
"Pay attention, its happening," Jeffrey whispered, nudging her side. And looking at him, Shri frowned slightly. While she couldn't read much from him, there was something strange going on, and she percieved an unformed mind bend towards the young man.
As if it was seeking something?
Then she noticed a web of hairline cracks appearing across the shell of the tawny and yellow egg, before the hatchling inside suddenly broke through, escaping the confines of the egg in a surprisingly short time.
By no standards could the hatchling that emerged be considered anything but ugly-- awkward-looking with a oversized head and spindly body, wings dragging limply at its sides as it struggled to get its legs underneath it. Even under the egg-fluid covering most of it though, the dragonet's color was clearly a pale leaf green, her wings seeming to sport some darker mottling.
Squawking, the little green's head shifted jerkily back and forth as she obviously tried to focus-- communicating alarm and hunger. And Shri groaned as her belly cramped in sympathy-- the dragonet's telepathy might be weak compared to an iridescent's, but its need was certainly strong enough.
A few of the medics walked closer to the hatchling, reassuring her so that they could get closer in order to examine her. Even if she appeared healthy, that was by no means certain, most likely the dragonet and her siblings had to be monitored closely for any signs of illness. There was no saying how they might react to the various germs and the like native to Iris.
None of them got close however, as someone else suddenly moved towards the dragonet, blocking them as he more or less fell down at his knees in front of her. And there was a look of utter amazement on Jeffrey's face as he reached out to stroke the green's head, as a feeling of belonging and togetherness hit the ambience with the force of a hunting iridescent taking down its prey.
Shri's knees nearly buckled in reaction, and she had to forcefully tear herself away to avoid getting lost in the overwhelming bonding that occured between Jeffrey and the dragonet. But even then, there was some feelings it induced that did make her blush, though she probably wasn't the only one noticing it.
:Oh...hells... No, it's ok...I am fine, just quite overwhelmed. You know your own name? Sharith...:
Standing up at shaking legs, Jeffrey was rather pale as he turned to look at the crowd that had gathered in the room, clearly confused as he tried to sort out the telempathic bond he had somehow formed with the dragonet. Faintly similar to what was between a iridescent and its rider, but so vastly stronger that Shri just couldn't wrap her mind around it.
Though, what did make it out into the mental ambience was probably nothing compared to what Jeffrey might be going through. Certainly she didn't know what might come of what had just happened, but she did feel quite sorry for Jeffrey-- as while he would get help no doubt, it would be entirely up to him to deal with most of it.
Anxiousness, almost fear and a touch of wonder surged through the ambience as the two remaining eggs finally cracked open. From the pale green and tan egg came a dark chocolate brown dragonet with lighter dapples, and from the black and grey egg appeared a deep blue dragonet with paler shading along his spine and wingbones.
"Can you help me, Shri? I..I really need to sit down I think, and she is so very hungry," one hand at the green's head and the other held tightly clenched by his side, Jeffrey gave her a weak smile as he stopped next to her. Two of the medics were standing just behind them, and though they hadn't moved to interfere yet, they both looked rather worried. As she looked at them though, one quietly requested that she helped take Jeffrey and the dragonet to a more secluded place where both could be checked to make sure that there wouldn't be any long-lasting problems.
Through one of the other riders present, they had also gotten a iridescent to bring something to eat for the dragonets.
"Certainly, just try to relax, ok?" Shri said, moving quickly to support Jeffrey as he staggered, then-- with an impatient and hungry dragonet following, they made their way into the next room. When the other two eggs hatched, people were noticeably more nervous after what they had sensed Jeffrey experience certainly. But as she helped Jeffrey to sit down at a couch, the effects of another bonding hit the ambience.
At least she was able to shield herself better this time, so the impact was less at the second and the third time, though it still made her twitch. There was no doubt in her mind that she was very glad that it had been Jeffrey and not her that the dragonet had picked, a thought that was heartily agreed on by Suinsst. Just the thought of having to go through the same as her cousin was, with the added matter of a very angry iridescent in her mind, made her shudder.
