Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 21:05:00 -0800 (PST) From: Corrinne S Subject: The Red Orb of Pern - Part Six The Red Orb Of Pern M.C. Gordon Disclaimer Is Attached To The Beginning Of This Series. This Is Fan Fiction Written For A Friend Who Enjoys Anne Mccaffrey's Pern As Much As I Do. Comments To Quasito_Cat@Hotmail.Com Or Quasito_Cat@Yahoo.Com Chapter Twelve: The Next Four Years Passed In A Flurry Of Activity. Andren Had Finally Been Granted His Fondest Wish And Was Studying At Healer Hall. Unlike Most Of The Weyrbred, Andren Had No Desire To Impress A Fighting Dragon. His Deepest Longing In Life Was To Ease The Suffering Of Dragons Injured During A Fall. With Healer Hall In Such Close Proximity To Harper Hall, Andren Was Able To See His Friend Julani As Time Allowed And On Rest Days. They Shared In Each Other's Griefs And Triumphs As Apprentices; Commiserated Together Over The Hectic Schedules And Strict Discipline; And Shared In Their Dreams Of One Day Becoming Journeymen In Their Chosen Crafts. They Maintained Contact With Their Friends At Benden Weyr Through Messages Delivered Back And Forth By The Dragon Riders Who Protected Fort Hold. Indeed, The Benden Weyrleaders, Adelmisa And L'noth, Had Sought Them Out One Rest Day To Ask If They Were Content And Relay Tidbits About Their Former Companions. Mitchell And Lydel Spent Their Time Alternating Between Chores In The Massive Weyr Kitchen And Assisting The Weyrlingmaster. One Of Their Favorite Chores Was Helping The Dragon Riders Bathe The Massive Beasts That Protected Pern From Thread. Both Hoped To Be Invited To Stand On The Hatching Ground When Adelmisa's Great Golden Queen, Hanmath's Current Clutch Hatched. They Had Discovered Very Deep Feelings For Each Other As The Years Passed And Dismissed Any Idea Of Hiding Their Emotions. The Only Admonition From Their Foster Mother Was That They Watch Their Behavior In The Presence Of Their Two New Roommates In The Tiny Cubicle That Served As Their Sleeping Quarters. Chapter 13: Tomin And Davis Were A Pair Of Lively Six-Year Old Twins, Uncommon But Not Unknown In The Weyr. Their Hair Was A Shockingly Deep Auburn, And The Freckles Peppered Across Their Noses Drew Attention To Devilishly Mischievous Blue Eyes. "They're Going To Be Your Responsibility," Lurah Had Told Mitchell And Lydel The Day She Brought Them To The Cubicle. "They're Constantly In Trouble And I Decided That Only Another Pair Of Rascals Could Outwit Them. Do Try To See That They Behave Themselves." The Older Boys Looked Down At The Two Fledgling Miscreants Wondering What In The World They'd Done Wrong This Time That Their Foster Mother Would Saddle Them With The Pair. Tomin And Davis Already Had A Reputation For Harrying The Cooks And Disrupting Their Harper Classes. Tomin, The Older By An Hour, Suddenly Looked Mitchell Straight In The Eye. Jabbing Himself In The Chest With His Right Thumb He Announced, "I'm Going To Be The Best Bronze Rider Ever." "Is That Right?" Mitchell Asked, Barely Able To Suppress His Amusement At The Bold Announcement. "Well, You Won't Even Make It To The Hatching Grounds Unless You Learn Your Ballads. In Fact, Harper Geffenal Just Might Consider Packing The Two Of You Off To Crom Hold If You Don't Mend Your Ways." "And," Lydel Added, "You Have To Answer To Us Now. Lurah Said So. We Won't Put Up With Rude, Insolent Behavior." The Twins Had Enough Sense To Know That The Older Boys Were Serious. Davis Particularly Felt The Sincerity In Their Warnings. Being More Inclined To Follow Than Lead, He Quickly Agreed To Try His Utmost To Behave Himself. "And Don't Even Think About Trying To Sneak Out At Night," Mitchell Added. "Lydel And I Are Both Very Light Sleepers And We'll Hear You. You Don't Want That To Happen, Do You?" The Last Comment Was Aimed Directly At Tomin, Obviously The Mastermind Behind Most Of The Mischief The Two Got Into. "Nu-Uh," Tomin Finally Admitted, Unable To Out-Stare Mitchell In The Meeting Of Two Pairs Of Blue Eyes. Mitchell Reached Down And Ruffled The Two Mops Of Hair. "Good Then," He Said. "We'll Get Along Fine If You Try To Be Good. Stay Out Of The Kitchen; Don't Upset The Dragons; And Learn Your Ballads. Now, Get Yourselves To Bed And Stay There Until We Say You Can Get Up." The Two Did As Ordered And Quickly Slid Beneath The Warm Covers Of Their Pallets. "You'd Never Guess Looking At Them Now That They're The Two Most Troublesome Kids In The Weyr," Lydel Said Later That Night. "They Look So Sweet." "Sweet My Ass," Mitchell Responded. "Looks To Me Like They're Dreaming Up Trouble. We'll Have To Keep A Close Eye On Those Two." "They're Both Asleep. Wouldn't You Rather Concentrate Your Eyes On Me Right Now?" Chapter 14: The Twins Were Reasonably Well Behaved For Several Weeks. Reasonably Being Defined By The Fact That Geffenal Only Hauled Them Before Mitchell And Lydel Once A Week. They Were Trying Very Hard To Stay Out Of Trouble, But They Were Filled With An Abundance Of Energy And Unquenchable Curiosity. They Were Far Ahead Of The Other Weyr Children On Their Ballads And Became Easily Bored. M'sel's Complaints About Them Began To Diminish After Lydel Gained Permission From S'den And Y'gal For The Youngsters To Help Bathe Felenth And Isaath. The Two Older Riders Were Grateful For The Help Since The Twins Could Easily Scurry Along The Length Of The Massive Beasts And Scrubbed At Dragon Hides With Great Enthusiasm. "That Was A Good Decision," M'sel Told Mitchell And Lydel A Week After The Twins Had Been Recruited To Bath Detail. "They're Learning Respect For Dragon Kind." "It Keeps Them Busy So That We Can Do Our Own Work," Mitchell Responded. "I Never Knew Two Little Kids Could Cause So Much Trouble." M'sel Threw Back His Head And Laughed. "I Know A Couple Of Scamps Who Put Their Antics To Shame At The Same Age." He Heartily Clapped Both Boys On The Shoulders And Went Of To Tend To A Group Of Weyrlings Who Were Teaching Their Dragons To Chew Firestone. "Who Was He Talking About?" Lydel Asked As He Watched M'sel Walk Away. "I Think He Meant Us," Mitchell Replied. Chapter 15: The Days Melded Together In Daily Activities Of Weyr Life. Mitchell And Lydel Were Finally Excused From Kitchen Duty And Put To Work Helping To Maintain The Vital Flying Straps The Dragon Riders Used. Each Rider Was Ultimately Responsible For His Own Gear, But M'sel Had Convinced L'noth That It Would Be In The Weyr's Best Interest To Give Those Not Yet Impressed Some Responsibility Toward Dragons And Riders. The Two Were Sitting Near One Of The Fireplaces In The Great Common Room One Afternoon Checking For Cracks In The Hide Straps When They Noticed Davis Running Toward Them As Quickly As His Young Legs Could Carry Him. "Mitchell! Lydel! Help!" The Boy Yelled As He Rushed Toward Them. "Help!" "Catch Your Breath," Lydel Said When Davis Finally Rushed Up To Them, His Body Trembling, His Breath Coming In Ragged Gasps. "Tell Us What's Wrong." "Tomin. He Fell. Down Cliff. Help." The Words Burst From The Boy In A Series Of Words Between Attempts At Breath. "Fell Where, Davis?" Mitchell Asked. "By--By the Star Stone," the child managed. "What were the two of you doing up there?!" Mitchell demanded. Davis, knowing he was in trouble and terrified for his brother, burst into tears. Lydel cast a glance at Mitchell that said, `Let me handle this,' and knelt down so that he was close to eye level with the frightened child. "Calm down," he said. "We'll see what we can do. Where by the Star Stone?" Davis wiped at his tears with the back of one hand as his crying eased into gentle sobs. "On the left side." Mitchell and Lydel looked at each other. The left side had the steepest drop. Lydel caught at the nearest person, a young girl from their harper class. "Krisith, take Davis to Lurah and tell her to summon Fenely." The girl didn't question the sudden, decisive order from Lydel. Taking the boy by the hand, and promising him a bubbly pie if he would stop crying, she set out in search of Lurah. Chapter 16: Mitchell and Lydel set off at a hard run toward the Star Stone. They'd hoped to catch the attention of a dragon rider who would give them a quick lift to the ridge set high a-top Benden Weyr but none were around and there was no time to lose looking for one. Using every short-cut they'd learned in their explorations they reached their destination faster than they thought they could. Mitchell leaned over the edge of the cliff, fear in his heart, trying to spot Tomin. He finally located the boy on a small ledge about forty feet down. There was no way to get down to there. Mitchell concentrated with all his might and let his mind scream, "Sonath!!" So loud and urgent was Mitchell's call that it woke the brown dragon from a deep sleep. "Mitchell?" he asked, "What is wrong?" "Tomin fell by the Star Stone and I can't reach him," Mitchell thought toward the dragon. It seemed the thought was not yet finished when the massive bulk of the brown dragon appeared above the Star Stone. Mitchell pointed to where Tomin lay and Sonath slowly descended. He very gently wrapped his claws around the still body and raised himself to the edge of the cliff. "I will take you all down. M'sel will understand," he said to Mitchell and the two boys scrambled to his back. The great brown dragon flew slowly down to the main entrance to the weyr and landed gently. Lurah had already set things into motion and one of the dragon riders took Tomin from Sonath, thanking him for his help, and carried the boy into the weyr. M'sel, aware of the situation, helped Mitchell and Lydel slide off of Sonath. Noticing how pale and still they were he said, "Fenely's a good healer. The lad's in capable hands." "Several abrasions and cuts, a broken arm and legs, possibly some broken ribs," Fenely was saying when the two boys entered their cubicle. "He smacked his head in the fall so there might be a concussion. But he'll be fine. I'll set the broken bones and have my journeyman stay with him through the night." "Are you sure he's still alive?" Mitchell asked. "Alive enough to get back into mischief in six seven-days, if not sooner," the healer assured him. Later, his wounds dressed with cloth soaked in numbweed, Tomin began to stir. Mitchell rushed to his side. "What were you doing up there?" he barked. "You know you're not allowed to go exploring on your own! Just when we thought you were going to behave yourself you pull a stunt like that?" His fear had turned to anger, an honest reaction to the situation. "I thought I saw a clutch of fire lizard eggs," Tomin weakly responded. "I wanted to get one for you." Mitchell's anger suddenly dissipated as he realized that the child had risked his life for a selfless reason. He took the boy in his arms and gently cradled him. "Don't ever do anything like that again," he whispered. "You scared us half to death." Tears formed in his eyes as he realized that the troublesome twins had inched their way into his heart. Fenely's journeyman entered just then. He was about to remind Mitchell that Tomin had broken ribs when he realized that the young man was handling the boy with a great deal of careful tenderness. "I'll take over now," Jemison said as he placed one hand on Mitchell's shoulder. "M'sel said that you and Lydel can use one of the empty weyrs for the next few days." Mitchell and Lydel glanced at each other and then at Davis, who had been uncommonly quiet. "We'll stay here," Lydel said. He's our responsibility." Lydel took Davis by the hand and led him to the bed he shared with Mitchell. "We're a family," he said, "and families stick together." . . . If you like this little sci-fantasy tale you might be interested in my other series: `Dark Wishes' in the sci-fi/fantasy section of Nifty.