Disclaimer: I don't own anything/anyone from the Pern world books. I do own most of the characters in this story and anything else not from the original series.

Chapter Eleven: Raia's Story

"I told you when I first came here, although you might not remember," began Raia haltingly, "that there were but three Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen. And only my own Benden Weyr has another queen not too old to fly. On Pern there are left four mating queens, two of which, my own Mailath and her only golden daughter, Gahith.

"The only other surviving Weyrs, Southern and Telgar, have the Senior, and Southern has an elder queen too old to rise any more. None of the queens has risen for two Turns, and Gahith was the last new queen. She hatched over five Turns ago, and has only risen once. And the Weyrwomen of Southern and Telgar are both past their prime, aging quickly.

Raia closed her eyes in pain. "The dragon-queens are dying." Her eyes opened and she glared at the circle of listeners. "What would you do in my place?" she demanded. "I, my dragon and her daughter are the last who can be expected to carry farther the legacy of the dragons. If I could bring forward the granddaughter of the greatest queen dragon since the First Hatching, our purpose would be renewed again."

Now she looked at Fyia and Laiath. "I– I do not expect you to understand. Our treatment of you was– less than courteous, and whether you believe me or not, I am sorry." Raia looked down at her shaking hands, folding them in her lap.

"I have said what I will. Judgment is up to you. But I ask you once more: would you let the dragons die?

"Would you leave their fate to chance and not act if a chance was given? Would you let fade all that the Ancestors worked so hard to nurture and protect?"

No one had an answer for her.

"Would you?"

000

After some length of silence Star stepped forward and placed a hand on Milath's nose; the gold dragon's eyes were closed, her head lowered in shame. The teenager closed her own eyes and bowed her head, allowing her mind to slip into contact with the queen's, her black and blue hair spilling over her face.

Milath started, then relaxed, allowing the girl to share her memories.

Some time later she stepped back, hands falling to her sides. Still she didn't open her eyes, but stood, head bowed, silent and unmoving. At last she looked up and opened her eyes, meeting Raia's, aware of the others watching her.

"I believe you." Her voice was quiet. "A dragon's memories do not lie. And she had shown me both your sorrows and repentance." 'Dang, that was about the most old-fashioned and dang spooky thing I've ever said,' she thought.

"None the less," Lessa began sternly.

"None the less, she shouldn't have tried to take them," agreed Star, overriding the Present Weyrwoman. "Your reason was good, but you should have told us of your need. There are very few Turns left until the end of the Pass, as you call it–"

"Three. Three Turns until the Pass is done," F'lar told her, and Star nodded to him.

"But," she reminded herself, "it is up to the Weyrleaders of Laiath and Fyia to decide what will be. 'What say you?'" 'I've seen the Lord of the Rings too many times; I'm quoting it even on another world,' she thought wryly. (A/N: This is from the Return of the King)

Neither Lessa not F'lar said anything.

At last the Present Weyrwoman sighed. "Come to our weyr," she told the rogue dragonrider. "We'll talk there." Lessa turned away, and F'lar nodded to Raia, motioning with his hand for her to come, then turned to follow Lessa.

While they left and part of the crowd around dispersed, talking all the while, Star looked at Milath, silently asking if she would permit her to share their repentance with the dragons from this time. The gold dragon nodded, once more closing her eyes. It would probably be best if you remained in the weyr you and Raia were using before. Again the queen nodded.

"Go, my friend," Star told her. "'Be at peace'." 'Another quote from the Return of the King,' she thought. "You know well Raia will tell you all that comes, and I too, but she first because she will be the first to know your immediate fate. But I will let you know what happens around me, never fear."

With a last grateful blink Milath took flight, the wind of her passing making the teenager's hair and clothes flap. With a sigh Star turned away, and noticed the lingering people staring at her, she being to only one available to gawk at worth the effort of hanging their jaws open and gossiping with others who saw and commented the exact same things. She raised an eyebrow and jerked her chin up. One or two smiled, but as the last wind stirred her blue-streaked hair they caught the glint in her eyes and the grins faded. Something made them glance at each other, and they began to trickle away. When the last straggler turned she turned as well, striding back down the Bowl of the Weyr.

"Lovely," she muttered to herself. "Absolutely wonderful." The events of the morning had taken longer than she thought; it was high noon, so she decided to find some lunch. The Kitchen Cavern where she had grabbed breakfast was her best bet, and she could wait there to hear what the Weyrleaders decided about Raia and Milath. She reached mentally for her fire lizards. They were where she had left them, gossiping with others of their kind down by the lake. Elzin and Nivi stayed where they were, but Vanya popped out above her head, and chattering at her, settled on the teenager's shoulder.

As soon as she entered the room she became aware that there was less noise than there had been in the morning. Unfortunately, this was not due entirely to the smaller group of people. The only talking was in hushed whispers; the speakers often glanced around furtively. Star also noticed a good many looking at her. She ignored them, reaching up the steady her green fire lizard, and went to collect her lunch. To avoid the stares she sat with her back to the room, facing the wall in a corner.

Vanya helped her with her food immediately. "Didn't you get enough?" she quietly asked the green with a smile. Star gave the fire lizard some of her food, but was surprised by how hungry she was herself, and soon they polished off the thick stew and bread rolls.

Her little friend licked the last of the stew out of the bowl, chirped, and resumed her perch on the teenager's shoulder. Still trying not to notice the hushed tones and glances all around, Star returned the dishes and left the Cavern.

Outside she looked around, wondering where to go next and what to do. In the end she decided to go sit in the sun. Her three fire lizards were enthusiastic about this, and the absent two put in a wet appearance over her head, spraying her with excess water. "Hey!" she said, grinning up at them and brushing off the sprinkling of water. They chirped in a self-satisfied way, and gave her the image of a good dive with a blue dragon in the lake.

Bronze Nivi chattered at Vanya as he settled on the girl's other shoulder and Star held up an arm to Elzin. Nonchalantly the blue settled, folding one wing to his back and preening the opposite wingtip. She laughed and tapped his nose gently. He peeped at her then went back to licking the dripping water off his pale blue hide. The water-darkened patches on his skin and the lightness of the dry parts made him look distinctly odd.

Down by the lake Star found a large flat rock and sat down on it, watching the weyrlings from the last clutch, not too far away, having fun in the cool water. After a bit she lay back on the rock with the fire lizards around and on her, put an arm over her eyes to shield them from the warm, bright sun, and relaxed. For now, it was all she could do.

000

Time slid past slowly, and Star wasn't sure if she fell asleep in the sun, but after a long while it seemed someone was shaking her shoulder. She groaned and batted at the hand. "Go 'way," she grumbled, voice muffled by the arm she still had flung across her face.

"Come on, you need to get up now." At last Star sat up, blinking and shading her eyes against the renewed glare of the late afternoon sun on her eyes.

"What?" she asked, brushing hair away from her face. She saw it was a strange woman of about twenty and sat up straighter. "Oh, sorry," she told the woman, who smiled wryly. "I was just waiting..."

"Never mind, You need to get up now; your fire lizards need food." An impatient chirp and a sharp peck on the cheek from one of the little dragons emphasized her words.

"Uh-oh," she groaned, and swiftly got up. Star and the woman turned and walked at a brisk pace towards the Kitchen Caverns. "Thanks," the teenager told her escort. "They would've given me one heck of a wake-up call soon if you hadn't."

"This I know." The woman smirked, trying to suppress a grin; she glanced at the sky. Following her gaze Star saw, flying beside her own blue and bronze, a brown and a larger bronze. "Mine are older," she said, "but I never let one of their owners get the clawing if I'm around. Can't count the times they woke me up."

"I'll help you, if you'd like," she offered. "My name's Liir (A/N: pronounced li-ir, as in a smooth blending of the name 'Lee', and 'ear'). I came for the Hatching with my uncle, Lobim, a Rider here at Benden."

Star nodded and reached up to pet Vanya as the green clung to her shoulder, crooning in her ear. "I'd appreciate the help. I'm Star," she added, holding out her hand for the other to shake. Liir nodded and took the hand.

"So it's true?" she asked. "You were the one who stopped that strange goldrider from kidnapping the new hatchling and her rider?"

Wincing, Star fingered the blue piece in her hair. 'Really need to get it covered now,' she thought. Out loud she said carefully, "It was a joint effort. I did alert the dragons," she admitted quietly, "but it was they who caught Milath and Raia." She smirked and quoted Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest to herself. "'I was nothing more than an almost-innocent bystander..."

Some other emotion colored the woman's tone as she persisted. "Then you were also the one who tried to get the gold to Impress you when she hatched."

Incensed, Star glared at her and her fire lizards winged over hear head, eyes red and yellow, just as angered. "I did not!" she informed Liir. "The other dragons wanted me to Impress her --that's why Ramoth ditched me down there in the first place-- but I'm not going to be a dragonrider and Fyia was the right one for Laiath, and I got them together and things all worked out!

"And I'm going to stay as far away from the next Hatching as I can, even if I do talk to dragons!" she grumbled in finish. "I just want to go home..." she whispered to herself, looking away and holding Vanya close for comfort. "It's all I've wanted to do since I got here." The green chirped encouragingly and the others crooned in sympathy. The gave her images of her room and her house from the air, and she chuckled slightly.

"Where do you come from?" asked Liir.

Star snorted. "Oi," she mumbled, rubbing her face with a hand. "'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away'." She quoted Star Wars in a low mutter, but how true it was. How very annoyingly, scarily true.