Author's Note: Thanks go out once again to those of you who have been reviewing. However, for those of you who haven't—and there are a lot of you—(you can blame the stats page for me knowing about all of you) I'd like to once again encourage you to leave a review. Even if it's just to say "hey, I'm reading, please keep writing," I would appreciate it. Constructive criticism, even more. I wouldn't ever withhold chapters until I get more reviews or anything like that, but they do have the positive result of making me want to produce chapters faster. With that said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Four: Never a Dull Moment

8.14.198

6th Interval

"Get up, Carima."

A whole line of people stood in front of Carima, all with their arms crossed and severe expressions on their faces. She spotted C'rin, Elias, the headwoman, the Weyrleaders, several of her classmates, a few drudges, and her favorite feline in the crowd.

"Come on, it's time to wake up."

"Don't let the day start without you!"

"Rise and shine."

Carima groaned and tried to escape their prying eyes. "Go 'way," she muttered thickly. "Don't want to get up yet."

Carima, you must wake up now! I'm hungry, and the Tall One says you will be late.

That voice was one Carima couldn't ignore. She reluctantly opened her eyes and found Mayath hovering next to her bed, with Mariko already dressed and waiting near the exit with the pale, dainty Caleyth.

"It's about time you got up," Mariko said teasingly. "I thought poor Mayath was going to leave you behind and let me cut up meat for her too. You'd better hurry up if you want to finish feeding, bathing, and oiling her before our first class."

Carima let loose a stream of extremely unladylike curses as she pulled on the first work clothes she could find, all the while listening to Mayath's plaintive urgings for her to move faster. After splashing cold water on her face she stumbled out into the bowl with Mayath bouncing ahead, blinking as the bright sun and smothering heat assaulted her all at once. Most of the other Weyrlings had already finished feeding their dragons, and the early morning air was filled with the shouts of riders and the squeals and rumbles of playful dragonets getting bathed in the lake.

I am so hungry, Mayath whined, nudging Carima's leg. And I don't want to miss my bath before we have to go to class. Hurry up!

"I'm going, I'm going," she muttered, resigning herself to the unpleasant task in front of her. Out of all the new tasks she'd been assigned in the past sevenday, carving up meat for Mayath was the one she despised the most. As much as the bossy green loved the dripping, steaming meat, the process invariably made Carima feel like vomiting. It didn't help that they'd been experiencing a vicious heat wave which had the entire Weyr baking even in the early morning and late at night.

That's much better, Mayath commented as Carima started passing the first strips of herdbeast to her green. I still don't understand why you hate this so much. It's good!

"Never mind, love, you just concentrate on eating," Carima said fondly, unable to be annoyed with Mayath for long. The precocious, demanding, inquisitive, energetic dragonet was the only thing that kept her going. She existed in a constant state of wonder and admiration for her new partner and enjoyed every second they spent together.

Mayath's love was a bulwark against the anger, suspicion, and general resentment most weyrfolk seemed to hold for Carima. A few riders, mostly those who rode chromatic dragons, had expressed reserved good-will, and a few of her old friends in the lower caverns had stopped by to wish her luck, but most people avoided her company or made sure that she was well aware of their disdain and disapproval.

In just a sevenday she'd become a well-known figure. Even among the thousands of residents she was easily identified. Not for the first time Carima wished that she didn't have such bright, curly red hair, which easily alerted people to her presence. She resolved to cut the entire mop off as soon as possible, even though short hair made her look ridiculous.

"Time for your bath now," Carima told Mayath, reinforcing her words mentally, something they'd been working on in class.

Just a little more? Mayath pleaded. She was easily the largest green in the clutch, nearly as large as some of the smaller blues, and to Carima it seemed like she ate twice as much as most of the young dragonets.

"I've already told you, you'll just regret over-eating in the end. You don't want to get too fat to fly, do you?"

Mayath didn't bother responding to Carima and instead turned and flounced off to the lake, where she bounded in and sent a wave of water over to Caleyth, drenching Mariko in the process. Caleyth snorted and shook water out of her eyes but didn't retaliate, instead submitting to Mariko's scrubbing.

"Sorry!" Carima called, wading out to join her friend. "She's full of energy today."

"Isn't she always?" Mariko asked dryly, pausing in her scrubbing to wring out her now-sopping hair. "I think she's got enough for both of them."

The two girls often joked that their dragons' personalities had somehow gotten switched in the egg. Caleyth was calm, reserved, and sweet-natured, never wanting to upset anyone and entirely unconscious of the rank her golden hide brought her. Mayath, on the other hand, was as imperious and haughty as any queen and liked to boss Caleyth and all her brothers and sisters around. She also insisted on being impeccably groomed at all times, a task made difficult by her messy eating habits and inability to sit still when Carima was trying to scrub her.

"You come back here right now," Carima said warningly when Mayath paddled off to say hello to her bronze brother Legeth. The first to hatch, he was the only other dragonet who seemed able to keep up with her boundless energy. Carima caught the glance of Th'ron, his young, blond-haired rider, but was unsurprised when he blushed and turned away. Like the rest of the male Weyrlings, he refused to talk to her unless it was absolutely necessary. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed when he snubbed her, Carima thought bitterly.

"Just ignore them," Mariko advised once Carima had finally managed to tear Mayath away from Legeth and start scrubbing her. "They'll get over it eventually."

Carima just grunted and put extra effort into her scrubbing, which made Mayath wriggle around enthusiastically. It took her twice as long to finish Mayath's bath, which meant that by the time she finished oiling the green the others had all long-since retired to the large classroom they were using.

When they walked in, T'rut was already lecturing to the class. He glanced up at their arrival and a sneer formed on his tanned face. "You're late," he barked, glaring at Carima. "That'll be extra latrine duty for you for the next sevenday. Now sit down and stop disrupting my class."

Fuming, Carima sat down in the back and took out her slate, trying not to scream in frustration. T'rut had been doing everything in his power to make her life completely miserable. She found the shunning and cold treatment of her classmates infinitely preferable to his outright hostility. But there was nothing she could do about it…if she ever wanted to graduate to the wings and fulfill the sacred duty of the dragonriders, she would have to suffer through T'rut's unfair treatment.

Pelth's rider is upsetting you again, Mayath said, her eyes beginning to whirl faster in shades of yellow. I do not understand why he is always angry with you. He should not treat you that way.

Carima knew from the way the emerald green tail was moving that Mayath was considering action. She had no doubt that the feisty green would march right to the front of the room and tackle T'rut if she thought he was treating Carima unfairly.

No, love, he's right. We were late, Carima mentally assured the dragonet, sending waves of soothing emotion over their mental link. Ironically enough, T'rut was lecturing on mental control at the moment, so she didn't feel like she was missing much.

If you say so, she grumbled, settling down again.

Carima turned her attention back to the dour Weyrlingmaster and began assiduously copying down notes on her slate. He might not ever like her, but she refused to allow him the satisfaction of finding her efforts lacking.

It was the only course of action left to her.

8.24.198

6th Interval

Rest days. Carima had never before appreciated the time off quite as much as she did now that she'd Impressed. The life of a Weyrling was impossibly chaotic, filled with dragon care (feeding, bathing, oiling), lessons (geography, history, bonding, mental control), chores, firestone toss practice, and seemingly a hundred other activities that filled her day from dawn to dusk. Add to that the amount of time Carima spent doing extra chores that T'rut assigned to her and Carima operated in a state of constant exhaustion. Rest days had therefore become of paramount importance in her world and she treasured every second.

Today she had gotten up and fed Mayath as usual, then left the rapidly growing dragonet to sunbathe while she had a leisurely breakfast with Elias. The other girl had predictably been furious with Carima for about three days after the Hatching before forgiving her and begging to be allowed to help bathe Mayath in the near future.

Now she stood in the Weyr Lake with water up to her knees and giggled as Cirinth sent a wave of water at Mayath and knocked the young green nose over tail. Mayath had been thrilled to be getting a bath with an actual adult dragon, but seemed to forget that he was much, much bigger than she was.

"He's being very patient with her," Carima told K'say as Mayath righted herself and pounced on Cirinth's tail from behind. The green was fascinated by his longer-than-average tale that faded so that it was almost white by the end. The rest of his body was a light sky blue and Carima thought he was particularly handsome. He also had a good sense of humor, like his rider, to put up with Mayath's energetic attentions.

"Are you kidding me? Cirinth loves this kind of thing. He's a lot like me in that respect; he looks full-grown but he's really just a baby underneath it all."

"Not many of her clutchmates can keep up. She's got too much energy and plays far too rough. Her best friends are the bronzes! Well, and Caleyth. She seems to think Caleyth needs to be protected because she's so gentle and quiet."

"I can imagine. She's definitely got a lot of spunk."

"If by 'spunk' you mean she's bossy, egotistical, and demanding," Carima grumbled, but she was secretly pleased by the compliment. Mayath didn't even respond to her rider's complaints, as she knew Carima loved her completely and wouldn't have her any other way. After all, she was perfect. So was Carima. That's why Mayath had chosen her. They were perfect together and always would be.

I like the Little One. She is fun to play with and will grow up to be the best green in the Weyr, Cirinth commented to both K'say and Carima. She jumped a little when the foreign voice entered her head, sounding oddly similar to K'say, but she smiled anyway.

"Thank you, Cirinth, I think so too."

Look who's here, Carima! It's Legeth. Mayath was thrilled to see her bronze brother arrive with Th'ron in tow. The two dragonets immediately began splashing each other vigorously. The dark-hued bronze was significantly larger, but that never deterred Mayath.

"That's Legeth," Carima explained to K'say, who was taking advantage of Mayath's distraction to start scrubbing Cirinth. "She just adores him."

"Is that his rider over there, the little blond?" When Carima nodded, K'say called out, "That's a fine looking bronze you've got there. Come on over," he added and waved at the boy.

Carima felt guilty as Th'ron blushed and made his way over. He obviously didn't want to be anywhere near her, but couldn't exactly disobey a direct order from a full wingrider.

"Good day K'say, Carima. My duty to Cirinth and Mayath." Legeth had obviously filled his rider in on K'say's identity.

"Th'ron, is it? Legeth certainly looks like he's enjoying himself. He and Mayath seem to get along well." The two dragonets were currently enjoying a chaotic game of chase.

"Oh yes," Th'ron said softly, cheeks still pink but seeming to loosen up a little. "Legeth loves to play with Mayath. He says all the others can't keep up."

Carima was about to reply when K'say said, "Good. Where are you from, Th'ron? You've got a Hold-bred look, but I've been known to be wrong about things like that before."

The conversation continued on in that vein for a while as Th'ron revealed that he was from Telgar Hold and had been planning to apprentice as a harper when a search dragon snatched him away to the Weyr. He was fourteen turns old, liked to train canines, and preferred singing to playing instruments. Carima became increasingly frustrated as every time she opened her mouth to speak K'say jumped in ahead of her. She couldn't imagine why he was excluding her so thoroughly and lavishing attention on the younger boy.

Just wait, Mayath advised, taking time from her chase game to speak to Carima. Cirinth says his rider knows what he is doing and that you should be patient.

Carima sighed gustily, wondering what K'say had up his sleeve. All right then. I'll wait. But you need to come over so I can scrub you. When she felt Mayath's resistance she added, You want to be pretty for Legeth and Cirinth, don't you?

Yes, of course. You can scrub me now, Carima, she allowed magnanimously.

Carima giggled and set about her task, keeping half her attention on the conversation between the other two riders and the rest listening to Mayath chatter on and on about how much she loved playing with Legeth and how wonderful Cirinth was. At least one of them had no trouble making friends, Carima thought bitterly.

It wasn't until the next day that Carima realized what K'say had been up to. She was running late as usual in the morning, desperately trying to carve up enough meat to satisfy Mayath. Th'ron approached out of nowhere and said shyly, "I'll help you cut up some meat, if you'd like. I've already scrubbed Legeth and just need to oil him, so I've got a bit of extra time. If you want my help, I mean," he finished hurriedly, looking down at his feet.

Carima surveyed the younger boy and then grinned. "I would love some help, Th'ron, thank you."

The boy seemed to blossom under her approval and with his help Carima actually managed to show up to class in time, much to T'rut's annoyed surprise. Th'ron marched in behind her and determinedly sat in the seat to her left while Mariko smiled in a satisfied way on her right.

Remind me to thank K'say, would you? She asked Mayath before hiding her own grin and bending her head once again to the slate.