Author's Note: I'm very grateful for the reviews and advice, particularly the continued comments from Brian McMahon. I've tried to develop more of Carima's feelings about being a rider as well as some of the other Weyrlings in the class. My pattern for the course of Weyrling training is taken from the Weyrling training guide from Cibryen Weyr, the RP group I'm involved with. Coming up next: the first trip between.

Chapter Five: First Flight

1.6.199

6th Interval

"Thank Faranth that's over," Carima sighed and collapsed into her favorite battered armchair in the Weyrling barracks common room. They'd been outside for the past hour, battling raging winds and driving rain to complete their first firestone toss of full sacks. Well, they attempted to complete it, anyway. With the wind knocking the sacks out of line and the rain making it impossible for the Weyrlings to see, along with the added weight, the exercise had been a complete disaster. T'rut had kept them at it for nearly an hour before admitting the inevitable and canceling the rest of the toss, even unbending enough to allow the Weyrlings the rest of the afternoon off: a rare occurrence.

Carima had headed to the weyr she shared with Mariko and changed out of her sodden clothes before entering the common room with Mayath trailing behind. Now she sat slouched in the corner armchair with Th'ron, the twin brownriders P'larn and P'lack, and L'tad, a bluerider. The corner had long ago been established as their area of the common room. At first, when Th'ron had finally cajoled Carima into relaxing after class with the rest of the Weyrlings a few months ago, it had been theirs by default, because the rest of the boys stubbornly avoided her company. Months of constant companionship and sharing the same rigors of training had helped the boys adjust to Carima's presence more than anything she did herself (since she refused to make an extra effort to get in their good graces; they could hold a grudge if they chose), and now no one even glanced at her as she walked in. Everyone else was just as exhausted as she was.

"You know what this rain means?" L'tad asked mournfully, glancing around at their little group. "It means they won't be able to fly tomorrow. This rain will keep coming down and they won't be able to take their first flights."

"Oh lighten up, L'tad," P'lack said bracingly. "I bet this will blow over in a couple hours and the weather'll be perfect tomorrow. Nothing's going to stop Shirth from flying tomorrow, let me tell you."

"Tellineth either," P'larn put in unsurprisingly. The two sixteen-turn-old boys were nearly impossible to tell apart and seemed to share the same mind. It was lucky that their browns were vastly different, one stocky and dark and the other a light tan with elegant lines, or nobody would ever be able to identify the correct boy. Luckily, Carima had noticed that P'lack had a slightly thicker dusting of freckles on his nose and was therefore able to (mostly) keep them separate. Only the dragons seemed to have no trouble, and if she was ever confused, Mayath impatiently set her straight.

"I think the rain will stop," Th'ron agreed quietly. "It's been clear all week and it came up all of a sudden, which usually means it'll end quickly enough. It can't rain tomorrow."

Carima desperately hoped Th'ron was right. Their dragons had been working on wing strengthening exercises for ages and they all seemed to be anxiously waiting for the moment of their first flights. It was the first necessary step to take on the path to actually having their riders aloft along with them. Then going between, then drilling with the wings, then graduation, and then…

Thread. All the signs were clear. Thread would begin falling very soon. The Weryleaders estimated that they still had a good turn until they would have to start assiduously watching for the first Fall, but in all reality it could begin any time. Carima was well aware that their Weyrling class would probably be the first to be ferrying firestone during actual Threadfall in two-hundred and fifty turns. It was both thrilling and completely terrifying.

She still wasn't quite sure how she felt about the idea of actually being aloft with the wings when the time came. She'd never been particularly brave, or athletic, or extraordinarily talented in any way other than her cooking and organization skills. None of that would do any good when she was flying at high speeds, trying to defend Pern and save her own skin (and that of her dragon) at the same time. Failure was a real and extremely likely outcome, and in this case, failure probably meant her own life.

"Do you ever worry?" The words burst out of her mouth before she could think better of them. These fears she normally kept buried beneath a calm and confident surface. It wouldn't do to alarm either Mayath or the younger boys, who never seemed to think beyond the glorious moment of graduation into the wings.

"What, that your great lump of a green won't be able to make it into the air?" P'larn teased. Mayath was still the biggest green of the clutch, though her blue, brown, and bronze brothers now dwarfed her.

"No," she said slowly when she noticed Th'ron watching her carefully. He had heard the real anxiety in her words and wouldn't let the matter drop if she tried to turn her concerns into a joke. "I meant after we graduate, once Thread starts falling. Don't you ever worry about what's going to happen?" She didn't need to elaborate on the "what." They'd all been thoroughly lectured on the dangers of threadscores by the dragonhealers and shown pictures of particularly gruesome scores in the healer's records. It was a fact of life every rider had to face, but they'd never discussed it before.

The boys were silent for a moment, the mood sobering dramatically. She hadn't meant to bring them down, not on the evening of their dragons' first flights, which should have been happy and expectant. She was about to hastily change the subject when Th'ron said, "Of course I've thought about it. I mean, I think we all have. But we all knew it might happen when we accepted our search and became candidates. It's not like all the riders before us, who knew it'd be a long time before Thread started falling again. I think Legeth's worth the danger, and at least we'll be doing something important. As long as we pay attention in training and do our best…I think we'll be ok."

Carima was surprised at Th'ron's eloquent response. He rarely ever talked that much in a group setting, usually only relaxing in one-on-one encounters. The others were all murmuring in agreement.

"I'd rather be doing this than have stayed at the hold," P'lack said emphatically. "We're the last of five sons; we never would have had a chance of inheriting anything, and our father would have probably sent us off to some craft without even asking us what we wanted, and he probably would have separated us. He always thought we were "too dependent" on each other. At least now we'll be doing some good, and no one can tell us what to do." P'larn didn't add anything, though he muttered a disparaging comment under his breath.

Carima didn't dispute either points, but there was still something bothering her. "At least you had the chance to accept or reject your search…I said "no" and still ended up here. Not that I would give up Mayath for anything," she said hastily when she noticed a green tail twitching anxiously, "but I didn't really have a choice, did I?"

"Would you really rather have spent your time in the kitchens?" P'lack asked, voice slightly sarcastic. "Washing dishes isn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world. You would really give up the chance to be riding a fighting dragon and doing something important and exciting to be a lower caverns worker?"

Carima shrugged. She didn't think they would ever understand the appeal her old life still held for her. There was something rewarding about being the one person who was best suited to organize and run a place as confusing, complicated, and diverse as a Weyr. It wasn't a task just anyone could do. Now she might be the only female greenrider in the Weyr, but she was still just a greenrider. She would never be a wingsecond or a wingleader, never have a clutch and help provide for the future of the Weyr. Mayath wouldn't even have the stamina to fly a full Fall. They were important members of the wing for their speed and agility, certainly, but they would never be leaders.

"It's all well and good for you to be excited," L'tad said in his typical sour way. "You three all have the chance to get rank. Browns can be wingseconds, and bronzes almost always end up as wingleaders. You could even be Weyrleader one day," he said pointedly to Th'ron, whose pale cheeks flushed at the suggestion. "What do blue and greenriders have to look forward to? Just doing the grunt work all the time. At least I'm going to be a dragonhealer; that's important. Carima doesn't have anything to work for."

"Thanks, L'tad," Carima snapped sarcastically, but she was actually surprised that L'tad felt the same way. He'd never mentioned feelings like that before, and he was not one to hide his dissatisfaction away like Carima. Complaining was his favorite activity.

This threw the boys for a loop, until P'lack brightened considerably. "I know! You can be Weyrlingmaster one day. Everyone knows you're the best one to explain things when T'rut doesn't make sense, and you're definitely more patient than he is. I bet you'd be a great Weyrlingmaster."

"Yeah!" P'larn agreed emphatically. "The way you teach us how to memorize maps and coordinates is much better than T'rut. When Th'ron becomes Weyrleader, he can make you Weyrlingmaster." Despite Th'ron's insistence that he wouldn't even dream of becoming Weyrleader, the other boys chose to ignore him. They, at least, had every confidence in their friend.

It was an idea, Carima mused. Having to organize classes and teach appealed to her talents, and she was always helping her classmates with their work.

What do you think? She silently asked Mayath as the boys argued with Th'ron about his potential. Would you like to teach the young dragons some day?

I'd rather just flame Thread, Mayath replied, voice sounding sleepy. She'd barely been following the conversation, curled up as she was in a tight lump next to Legeth.

But maybe one day? After we've been fighting for a long time. She projected an image of them in the future, showing them as a seasoned fighting pair, proudly bearing the scars of Thread.

Maybe. I know I'd be a good teacher. I'm good at everything.

That you are, Carima said affectionately, then let the matter drop. Mayath would promptly forget about it, as tired as she was. But it was enough motivation for Carima to forget her worries and re-join the conversation, which had predictably returned to the upcoming flights.

This time she wasn't thinking about the future, just living in the moment.

1.7.199

6th Interval

"All right. Greenriders step this way, please."

The Weyr bowl was complete chaos. The entire class had spilled out excitedly into the chilly but blessedly clear morning air, boys chattering and dragons rumbling. The atmosphere was one of nervous anticipation. Along with T'rut, there were three other riders of a bronze, brown, and green each. With such a large class, T'rut had asked for volunteers for the other colors, while he handled the blues. It was always better for the dragons to learn from adults of their own color.

Carima obediently followed the tall, thin greenrider who was calling to them. Their group was naturally the largest, with seventeen. She waved goodbye to her friends, who all dispersed to their color groups except for Mariko, who went along with the bronzes. They were the closest in size to the young queen, who though still delicate had long since outstripped them in height and length.

"Come closer, come closer, I'm not going to bite any of you." Their instructor for the day, A'lexin, seemed to be cheerful and pleasant. He was also fairly young, which helped set Carima at ease. The younger riders always seemed to have an easier time accepting her than the older ones. "Now. Today, as you well know, is the day of your dragons' first flights. It's very important that they pay attention to Toreth's demonstration, but I have every confidence that they will be successful. If you'll just direct your attention to Toreth, we'll begin."

The green in question was a deep, dark green that reminded Carima of trees in the middle of summer. She was also fairly large, which gave Carima hope that Mayath would have no trouble with the exercise.

Are you paying attention? She questioned her green. She wanted to make sure Mayath was fully focused.

Yes, she replied immediately, eyes trained on the older green.

"Now, everyone, the most important thing for your dragons to remember is to give a big push when they take off. Their wings should be strong enough once they get in the air, but they need to clear the ground or else their wings might clip the ground as they try to get aloft. Take my word for it, that can be a nasty injury. Once in the air, they should use steady beats to get some altitude and then fly once back and forth across the bowl. Then they should try to land on that X," he said, pointing to the large X that had been marked on the ground. Now, Toreth will demonstrate and then we can begin."

The green immediately launched from the ground and rose quickly in the air with strong wingbeats. She effortlessly glided once across the bowl and back and then landed neatly on the X, backwinging until she was perfectly lined up with the mark.

"Thank you, Toreth," A'lexin said fondly. "Now—who would like to go first?" he turned back to the waiting Weyrlings.

Now that the moment had finally arrived, his question was greeted by silence. No one seemed to want to be the first to try the unknown in case of failure.

Carima noticed movement next to her and knew what was about to happen even before Mayath said haughtily to the waiting greens and their riders, You're all being a bunch of wherries. I'll go first, and show you how to do it.

"Very good, Mayath, the air is yours," A'exin replied, winking cheerfully at Carima, who was flushing vigorously in embarrassment. Everyone had long since gotten used to Mayath's airs, but she was still ashamed on occasion by her rudeness.

All right, love, go ahead, Carima said, stepping to the front of the group so she could see every second of Mayath's flight.

As soon as Carima gave her permission, Mayath gave a mighty heave and jumped off the ground. Carima cringed as her wings narrowly brushed the ground on the first downsweep. She gained elevation slowly, jerkily rising higher in the air. She had none of the elegance Toreth had demonstrated, but she was in the air. Carima's heart was beating anxiously and her palms were sweating, but she was filled with amazement and pride as she watched her emerald green rising.

"That's high enough, Mayath," A'lexin called. "Now try flying across the bowl."

Look, Carima! I'm doing it, Mayath announced triumphantly as she made slow progress across the bowl. The air was filled with awkward young dragons, but Carima was proud to see that Mayath was flying much more easily than some of them.

Turn around now, she said anxiously as Mayath reached the far end of the bowl. The green seemed to have some difficulty on the turn, not quite sure how to make her body turn. She eventually succeeded in making a very wide, ponderous turn, losing some of her altitude, but she had even more confidence in the return flight, wings beating steadily.

"Now land on the X, Mayath," A'lexin called when she returned to the group.

I don't want to stop yet! I'm not even tired a little bit. Can't I keep flying?

No you may not, Carima answered firmly. The others all want a chance too, and you will come down this instant.

All right. Reluctantly Mayath returned to the ground, aiming for the X but not really able to control the landing. She ended up in a heap quite a distance away from the X. Upon realization that she had missed her target, she lifted her tail and slapped it on the very end of the mark, stirring up a cloud of dust in the process.

"Very good, Mayath!" A'lexin praised, leading a wave of clapping from the assembled Weyrlings.

"You were wonderful!" Carima rushed over to her green and flung her arms around her neck. Despite Mayath's insistence that she hadn't been tired, she could feel her muscles trembling from the exertion. You are the very best dragon ever, she added privately.

Of course. And you are the best rider, and soon we will be flying together.

Carima just responded with a wave of affection as they moved back to the main group to watch the rest of the flights. With Mayath keeping in contact with the other dragons, Carima was able to see Legeth, Caleyth, Shirth, Tellineth, and Werth, L'tad's blue, make their first flights as well.

Mayath was right. Now they really were on their way.