Sorry about the delayed update! I've been kind of spacing out this week, and I'm afraid this story slipped to the back of the empty space I laughingly refer to as my mind.
Insert usual disclaimer.
M'kai was in the middle of another of his crying fits when he heard someone else enter the room. "Go away!" he shouted angrily into the bed. "Leave me be!"
"Mor, what has happened to you?" he heard a horrified voice ask.
He sat up, and glared at the woman standing there. "Leave me! Leave me alone with my grief!"
"Not until you tell me what happened," she said, putting her hands on her hips. A determined glint came into her eyes.
"My love is lost, lost for all time, taken from me by a dread illness that strikes down its victims without mercy. And without her, I too am lost. Now, go!" he shouted, and threw himself down again.
He expected to hear footsteps leaving, but instead, he heard her come closer.
"Go!" he shouted again, but she didn't move.
Suddenly, M'kai found himself hauled by the scruff of his neck into the air. "What on Pern do you think you're doing, Mordekai?" she yelled at him. "Pull yourself together, boy! I don't care what has happened! Nothing gives you the right to act like you're three Turns old! You are going to snap out of this and get on with your life if I have to drag you out of this room and get Camanth to drop you into the sea!"
"Let go of me!" M'kai yelled, but the woman would not be put off. She dragged him off the bed with a bump, and hauled him kicking and screaming through the door.
The others stared in amazement as Drianne came through the door and started to drag him towards the stairs.
"Get up and walk, Mor, or I will throw you down the stairs!" she ordered. Realising that she was perfectly capable of carrying out this threat, M'kai stood and stalked down the stairs, fuming.
At the bottom of the stairs, she frogmarched him to the main door and pushed him out of it. As he emerged into the sunlight, blinking as his eyes, kept so long in darkness, adjusted to light again, there came a glad bellow and Tyrith lumbered over to him.
M'kai! he roared happily. You've been so sad you haven't spoken to me in days! I was getting really worried!
I'm sorry, Tyrith! I didn't realise that I'd worried you! M'kai replied, realising that he had completely withdrawn from everything since he heard of Diara's death. Tyrith, D'ron, B'kennor… He'd ignored them all.
He turned to the woman who had effectively brought him back to life. "Thank you," he said formally. "I didn't realise how much I'd cut myself off from everything. Diara meant a lot to me, and her death… broke me. Thank you for picking up the pieces and putting me back together."
"What are friends for, Mor?" she asked, her face breaking into a smile. "I couldn't call myself your friend if I didn't at least try to bring you out of it."
"Thanks. Now, I think I'll take your suggestion. Tell the others I'll be back soon, please."
And with that, he leapt to Tyrith's neck, took off, and flipped between.
x
B'kennor, D'ron and Drianne were sitting down for a meal when M'kai came through the door, dropped down onto the couch next to Drianne and smiled at her. He had cleaned himself up and changed, and seemed more alive than he had been in days.
"Feeling better, M'kai?" B'kennor asked, carefully watching him.
"I am now, thanks to Drianne," he said cheerfully, leaning forward and snagging a redfruit. He bit into the soft pulp, and sighed with contentment.
"Where did you go?" D'ron asked, reclining in his chair.
"Well, first, I took Drianne's suggestion, and dropped myself into a lake to wake myself up," he replied with a grin. "Then I flew back to the Weyr and got a proper clean and some fresh clothes. The ones I was wearing could have been used to sand a dragon's hide!" he laughed.
The others joined in, and settled down for a chat over afternoon tea.
"So Drianne, when did you Impress?" M'kai asked, reaching for another biscuit.
"I was actually Searched the day after you left. Ista's cut off age for Impression is sixteen, so I could go. I Impressed the queen of that clutch, and have spent the time since then a slave to her belly and her hide," she said affectionately, glancing through the window at the dragons on the fireheights, where Camanth could be seen napping in the sun.
They exchanged the stories of what had happened since they had last seen each other, though no mention was made of Andy or Diara. It was well past midnight when Drianne stretched and said ruefully, "I have to get back to Ista. I'm supposed to be on hand to resupply the queens' wing during Fall tomorrow, and lugging those flamethrower tanks around takes a lot of energy!"
"We'd better go too," B'kennor added, pulling M'kai up. "We've got an inspection in the morning, and N'mek will go spare if he finds something that isn't as perfect as he wants it to be!"
"It's been wonderful seeing you both again," M'kai said, leaning forward to hug Drianne and D'ron. "We'll have to catch up more often."
"Maybe we will," said Drianne, returning the hug. "There's a rumour going around Ista that F'lar and Lessa plan to set up another Weyr because the current ones are getting overcrowded again. If we're lucky, we might all be sent there together!"
"I hope so. I miss you guys," D'ron said, getting to his feet. "Safe flying, all!"
"Safe flying," the others chorused.
x
Time skip of six months
x
"Ready for your first Fall, boys?" N'mek asked, coming over to M'kai and G'rem, a blue rider who had Impressed at the same time as M'kai.
G'rem nodded nervously. "I guess so, sir," he quavered.
"Don't be so tense, G'rem," he said reassuringly. "You and M'kai here are the only two inexperienced members of this wing, so we'll look out for you. You're not expected to get everything perfect on your first time, so just try your best and remember what to do if you get hit. What do you do, M'kai?" he barked.
"Go between, sir," M'kai replied, unshaken by the shout. It was the way N'mek reinforced orders. "If you or your dragon are badly hurt, you should return to the Weyr."
"Good," N'mek said approvingly. "You've watched other Falls, so you should be all right. Now, mount up!"
The two boys saluted him, and scrambled up to their harnesses. "Good luck today, M'kai!" G'rem called as he strapped himself in.
"You too, G'rem!" M'kai called back.
N'mek pumped his arm, and the wing rose as one and winked between.
x
On your left, Halath! Let the queens get it, Oranth! Kripeth bellowed.
M'kai ignored the directions N'mek's bronze was calling out unless they were for Tyrith, and did his best to get every bit of Thread that fell near him. At one point, he flew a little too close to the green on his right and was nearly singed, but a quick swerve from Tyrith allowed him to escape.
M'kai felt scared, exhilarated and triumphant all at once as he and Tyrith ducked, dodged, swerved and flicked in and out as they destroyed the traditional enemy of the people of Pern. When they landed four hours later, they were exhausted and covered in char and soot, but they were also happy, feeling victorious that they had survived their first Fall.
"Well done, M'kai!" N'mek called as M'kai slithered down Tyrith's foreleg and stretched. "You did really well out there. G'rem had to go back to the Weyr with minor scoring to his blue's tail, but it looks like you escaped unscathed. Well done!"
"Thanks, sir," M'kai said with a smile and a weary salute.
"C'mon, M'kai, let's get back to the Weyr!' B'kennor exclaimed, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Looks like I win the bet I had with Riasa! She thought you'd be scored for sure!"
M'kai laughed, and remounted Tyrith for the flight back to the Weyr. Once they arrived back at the Weyr, he scrubbed Tyrith down to rid him of the stench of firestone and had a quick dip himself before heading over to B'kennor's weyr, where he spent a good part of his spare time. There, he found some of the members of his wing and most of the friends he'd made at the Weyr already picking at great platters of food and a large bowl of punch.
"Hey, M'kai! Great flight today!" V'lan called, spotting him.
"Yeah!" Riasa called. "I owe you one. You made me some marks today!" She glanced over at B'kennor, who grinned guiltily.
"And here's B'kennor telling me that you were the one to bet I'd get scored!" M'kai laughed.
"Oh, you!" she said to B'kennor in mock exasperation, and promptly socked him one. B'kennor ducked away, laughing.
"What's all this for, anyway?" M'kai asked B'kennor as he helped himself from the punch bowl. He took a deep drink, then noticed that B'kennor was staring at him.
"You, dimglow!" he exclaimed. "It's your birthing day! Can't you remember anything?"
M'kai blinked in surprise, then laughing, shook his head. "I'd completely forgotten!" he exclaimed.
"Then it is lucky we did not," said an amused voice from the entrance. D'ron strode in, stripping off his riding gloves, and embraced his brother. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, D'ron," M'kai replied, returning the hug.
"Hello, everyone!" cried a bright voice.
"Hello, Drianne!" everyone chorused, and broke up laughing. Since M'kai and Drianne had renewed their friendship six months earlier, everyone had learned to recognise the cheerful girl, and to reply to her greetings, or they would be pestered until they did.
"Seventeen, huh, M'kai?" she said cheerfully. "You're getting old!"
M'kai laughed, and hugged her. "Oh Drianne! How can seventeen be old when a girl of nineteen Turns acts as you do?"
"What do you mean, 'acts I do'?" she asked indignantly, her eyes twinkling. "I always act my age!"
All four of them dissolved into laughter, and the party continued all night. When the sun began to rise, B'kennor stood on the table and called for everyone's attention.
"As much as I hate to break up the party, it is now dawn here in Benden, and I'd like to get at least a little sleep tonight! So, thank you everyone for coming, and we'll see you all soon!"
He had no idea how soon.
Is that a better way of warning people about time skips?