Dragonriders of Pern series 1. Chapter 1 - The fire lizard

(This story is meant as a tribute to one of my favorite authors: Anne McCaffrey)

Mercy made her way into the shade of the Southern hold. She had to get out of the burning sun.  
She sighed, why did her parents at Fort hold send her for fostering at the southern hold?  
So far away from EVERYTHING. Mercy was relieved to get into the cooling tanks and fetch some chilled fruit juice from them.  
The only thing, except for the ocean, that was cold enough for Mercy.  
The sand was too hot. The hold was too hot. Even the shade was too hot.  
She usually only did indoor activity and she was happy with that.  
If she had to work outside, she got terrible sunburns because of her pale skin.  
Toric, the lord holder, had realized that northerners belonged in the north,  
after he had tried to make her a real southerner for a year.  
It was lucky for her that she had proven to be a great help in sewing clothes and teaching the children useful things,  
as well as singing with the harper on the night feasts, when the hold was gathered for some entertainment.

But she was unhappy. She wanted to get out in the ocean and stay there.  
Mainly because it was the only place she could stay for more than 10 minutes without overheating.  
But of course, she could not breathe underwater, so she could not stay in the ocean.  
Toric knew that she felt that way, and he made sure that she could take as many dips as possible,  
always giving her the assignment when edible seaweed or other delicacies had to be gathered.  
She was very thankful for that. She liked Toric, he was no bad father.  
But the climate was harsh on Mercy, and she had suffered from the red fever the first month in the south.  
She had recovered quicker than most southerners did and she had been introduced to the continent.  
During the first months, it had been fine. She had had friends. But they had soon abandoned her, because she was a foster child.  
In the south, friendship was forever. And of course, with a foster child, it could not be. So Mercy had become a loner.

She was ripped out of her thoughts, when Toric arrived and fetched a cool juice as well.  
He looked at her, "I have heard that there is some of the good seaweed on the beach furthest to the north.  
I know it is far, but there are caves in the cliffside next to the beach line all the time, if a threadfall should come.  
And it's not due for quite the while.", he said.  
Mercy looked up from her juice, "You want me to go?", she said hopefully,  
Toric nodded, "You are undoubtedly the best collector in my hold.  
Of course, you will be given all necessities, a fishing pole, line and hook.  
Stones to make fire with and food as well as water.  
There are freshwater springs near the beach, often on the beach line, so you won't need to go off the beach.", Toric said.  
Mercy smiled eagerly, "When can i go?", she asked.  
Toric´s eyes gleamed with happiness because his foster child was happy,  
"Whenever you want. I have you backpack here.", he said lifting the backpack in one hand.  
Mercy snatched it from him, "Then see you in a week or two.", she said,  
took some more juice and a spare skirt and shirt, stuffing the clothing into the backpack,  
and she was on her way, happily singing the running song.

She walked along the sandy beach line, dipping in the ocean, catching fish to eat and getting water.  
She slept in the caves near the shoreline, and she was not surprised by thread the first five days.  
As the sixth day dawned, she woke up to find clouds covering the sun, making it a good temperature to walk in.  
She had walked half of the day, when she discovered an odd deformity of sand.  
It turned out to be a fire-lizards nest, but the queen that had laid the eggs where nowhere to be seen.

No fire-lizards where in sight. Mercy knew that was unusual, and carefully removed the sand to make the eggs visible.  
She was surprised to find only one egg in the nest. Highly unusual as well. The shell was rock-hard. It had to hatch soon.  
She dug a bit further in search for possible siblings to the lonely egg, but to her surprise, she found shells.  
That meant the siblings had already hatched, but the one egg had not.  
Mercy wondered why, but she was soon hit by a need to make sure, the hatchling inside the egg was not alive.  
If it was, she would save it.

Mercy took the egg and placed it near the nest. She then took her knife and slowly she began piercing through the shell,  
finding it unusually thick. She was getting desperate in the attempt to get the little creature out.  
To her great surprise, when she had made the first hole in the shell, an eager hammering was heard from inside of it.  
Mercy realized that the hatchling was alive, and had only been kept from getting out of the egg by the exceptionally thick eggshell.  
She felt hope emerge again and worked harder to get the hatchling out.  
Soon, a little golden hatchling fell out, loudly exclaiming that it was very hungry.  
Mercy grinned broadly as she felt attached to the pitiful little creature  
and began feeding it with a fish she had caught during the dawn.  
She felt the hunger of the animal rage through herself, a  
nd the happiness of getting food, even though it was not her that ate the fish.

The fire-lizard hatchling ate everything and even hoped for more, though its stomach capacity was clearly very filled.  
When Mercy refused to give it the other fish she had,  
because she was afraid that the stomach of the little creature would simply crack open if it got more,  
it burped and went to sleep on her arm. She smiled warmly and began stroking its head and back.  
It hummed happily and Mercy rose and walked into the nearest cave.  
She was tired from the emotional ride she had suddenly been pulled through.

Mercy woke up from the deep sleep she had been in, she felt hungry.  
Abnormally hungry, she had never been this hungry before.  
It was impossible that it was her own hunger alone.  
She sat up suddenly as she remembered the events of the afternoon before, her fire-lizard!  
She looked to her side and saw the golden queen, already awake. And hungry.  
Mercy smiled as the little golden queen rolled her eyes that where red with hunger.

Mercy rose from the ground and searched her bag for the fish she knew she had.  
She found it and cut it into small squares to make it easier for the little queen to swallow.  
Immediately, the queen cast herself into the pile of cut out fish and started eating.  
Soon, the whole pile was gone, and it had been equal the size of the little queen.  
Mercy smiled as the little queen curled up on her lap.  
"You have to have a name..", she whispered as she scratched he little queen on her eye ridge.  
The queen purred and stretched her entire body in a very humoristic way.  
Mercy chuckled, "I think I will call you Larith..", she said.


	2. Chapter 2 - The first rain

**Approximately three hours from the end of the last chapter**

Mercy smiled as she looked at her Larith. The little queen was barely a day old, but she was still flying around, making loops in the air like she had been doing it for a long time. The fire lizard seemed to love the sea as much as Mercy did, and she often dived down all of a sudden, just to shoot up from the water again with a small fish whenever she got hungry. Mercy was very thankful for that, if Larith hadn't helped with catching food she would have had to fish all day to keep the little golden reptile full.

Mercy laughed as Larith did another crazy loop in the air and almost hit the surface of the sea, seemingly not meaning to. A wave splashed the little queen with cool water and the small reptile showed what a temperament she could have, screeching and scolding the sea like an old lady would reprimand a very annoying child.

But when Mercy began to laugh, the golden creature flew back and sat on her shoulder, rubbing her head against Mercy´s hair and wrapping the thin, scaly tail around her neck. Not in a way that kept mercy from breathing normally, just a gesture to say `You´re my human´. Mercy laughed again, causing her shoulder to shake lightly and the little queen to protest, though she did not fly away.

Then, as sudden as a dragon appearing after being _between_, rainclouds formed above them, blocking the light and warmth from the sun. Mercy looked up with a frown as heavy drops of rain began to fall from the grey clouds. Larith protested loudly as the unfamiliar drops of water began to hit her snout, her wings and her back.

To begin with, the little queen tried to attack the drops by biting after them, but as she soon realized that there where way too many, she just hid her head under Mercy´s long, sun-bleached hair and let out a small chirp, requesting to be brought somewhere the rain wouldn't soak her.

Mercy smiled again and looked around, hoping to spot a cave near the beach. Luckily, they hadn't gone far that day, mainly because Mercy had been busy looking after her new responsibility, and she knew that she would be able to run back to the cave they had slept in. So she turned around and began running, grinning broadly as she felt the wind against her face, cooling her down and blowing her long hair away from her face.

The little queen protested at the sudden speed and uneven movement, but she only tightened her tail slightly around Mercy´s neck to keep herself in place. Mercy ran for about five minutes, getting completely soaked all the while, but she knew that her clothes would dry quickly as soon as the sun pierced the clouds again, and it was good to get all the salt washed off of her gear and herself for once.

Soon she reached the cave and, completely soaked to the bone, walked in. The little queen immediately flew from Mercy´s shoulder and landed on a small perch that came from the rock. She immediately began cleaning her wings and toes from the salt and the rain. Mercy smiled lightly at her queen´s need of being constantly clean.

Then she began chuckling at the thought of what would happen when she came back to Toric, not only with the seaweed he had requested for, but also with a golden fire lizard. She could almost see his face, the gruff lord holder was rarely surprised, but this would definitely surprise him. The little queen looked up at her with a confused expression and she let out a little, annoyed chirp as if requesting for a little silence, which only made Mercy laugh more.

Larith finished her beautifying and stretched thoroughly before circling a few times and lying down, her first pair of eyelids closed. Mercy smiled and looked at her little queen fondly, sitting down next to the perch so she was at eye level with the small creature. The small, golden reptile looked at her sleepily and tilted her head a little. Then Mercy began singing one of her favorite songs, a song that she thought the little queen would love:

"_The little queen, all golden  
Flew hissing at the sea.  
To keep it back,  
To turn it back  
She flew forth bravely._

_As she attacked the sea in rage  
A holderman came nigh  
Along the sand  
Fishnet in hand  
And saw the queen midsky._

_He stared at her in wonder  
For often he'd been told  
That such as she  
Could never be  
Who hovered there, bright gold._

_He saw her plight and quickly  
He looked up the cliff he faced  
And saw a cave  
Above the wave  
In which her eggs he placed._

_The little queen all golden  
Upon his shoulder stood  
Her eyes all blue  
Glowed of her true  
Undying gratitude."_


	3. Chapter 3 - The riders

**About one hour from the last chapter**

Mercy woke from her daze when the sound of the falling rain stopped and the rays of the sun once again began to shine through the layer of clouds. She stretched and ran her left-hand fingers through her hair, waking up Larith by her sudden movement. The little queen yawned broadly, then stretched thoroughly before looking at Mercy with a `What now? ´ expression.

Mercy chuckled lightly, but then silenced. She had almost missed it, but she could hear faint voices coming from the beach. Slowly, she motioned for her fire lizard to be quiet, not sure whether she would understand or not. But it seemed to work, because Larith didn't make any noise as she took off and landed on Mercy´s shoulder, wrapping her tail around the neck of the girl.

As she slowly tiptoed closer to the cave entrance, the voices became louder, "I told you we should have come earlier! Now they have all hatched. Mardra will not be pleased." A gruff, male voice said. Silently, Mercy watched from the shadows of the cave, seeing two male riders standing by the fire lizard nest. They seemed to be arguing about whom of them should take the blame.

"This is your fault for not listening to T´kul´s warnings. I told you we should have gone weeks ago!", one of them said, Mercy was not close enough to determine which of the men the gruff voice belonged to, but then the second man spoke, "It was too early, I told you that too. Now don't blame me, maybe there is another nest somewhere around here. They love beaches, right?" he said. Mercy smiled at the argument, but then her smile was wiped off of her face.

A dragon landed next to one of the riders, a brown, the rider turned around, "What is it Lovuth?" he asked and looked at his dragon. There was silence for a few seconds as the brown dragon, Lovuth, seemingly explained something to his rider. The other man, now Mercy knew he was the one with the gruff voice, waited impatiently, his foot beating a quick rhythm against the sand.

"In the cave?" The rider of Lovuth finally said and looked in the direction of the cave Mercy was in. Despite the heat, her blood froze and her heart began to beat faster and heavier. The rider with the gruff voice looked at the cave, "What´s in the cave?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed, "Explain, Z´ev." He requested. The brown rider, Z´ev began walking towards the cave, "Lovuth says there is a girl and that she has the abilities to impress a dragon." He said.

Mercy looked around, her fear slowly turning to panic as she searched for a place where she could hide. There was nowhere suitable in the cave. Silently, she swears. This was not exactly what she had expected from a simple trip like this one. She backed away from the cave entrance as Z´ev slowly neared, his eyes darting around, trying to spot her. When she had backed all the way to the end of the cave, he finally saw her, and her panicked expression.

"You are not from here." Was the first thing he said. He frowned at the look of her pale skin and blonde hair, but then his eyes widened at the sight of the little queen on her shoulder, "A fir lizard.." he mumbled, but then tilted his head, looking at her expression.

He chuckled lightly and smiled at her, "There is no need to be afraid, I won´t bite. Though I cannot make the same guarantee for R´vero and Cesoth." He said, glancing behind to make sure that the other rider, whose name was apparently R´vero, wasn't close enough to hear what he was saying. Then he reached out his hand for her to take, "Cone along." He said, not a request, more of an order. Mercy hesitated before making up her mind. She walked past him, not taking his hand, and out into the sunlight. She was not entirely comfortable in this situation, two dragons and their fully grown male riders against her and the one-day old fire lizard.

She has heard a lot of things about the old-timers of the Southern weyr, how they only char thread over the areas whose owners pay them to do so, how they live on the edge of the rules and how they were banished for not following the ethics of the other riders. Nobody likes the southerners, some even fear them, and she doesn't like them either.

The other rider, R´vero, stood outside the cave and looked at her, "Well I´ll be. Lovuth was right for once." He said, his voice not very pleasant. Mercy already knew that he was one to watch out for, one that wouldn't step aside for anybody or care if he broke rules to reach his goal. Like the stereotype Old-timer. So she stared right back at him, not saying a word. His dragon, the one named Cesoth, landed behind him, letting out a bellow to make Lovuth move. The brown dragon looked up and stepped a few meters closer to the water, making space for the larger bronze.

Larith hid her head in Mercy´s hair, letting out a thin sound that made it clear to the girl that her little queen didn't like Cesoth at all, she seemed quite scared of him. Z´ev stepped out of the cave and looked at the bronze rider, his expression a mix of very well-hidden hatred and annoyance, "I´ll take her to the weyr. Then you can be completely free to take the honor of any fire lizard nests you find." He said. It seemed like he knew the other rider´s pride all too well, because R´vero just nodded, a badly concealed smirk on his face that clearly showed what he thought of the brown rider and his dragon.

"Come on now." Z´ev said as soon as R´vero was at a distance that kept him from hearing what was said. Mercy smiled lightly, finding that she actually liked Z´ev pretty well. He was a bit like a kind grandfather, at least as far as she knew, while R´vero seemed far more grumpy, outrageous and proud. Lovuth stepped closer to them and bended his front legs, allowing Mercy to use his elbow as a step to get up on his neck. Z´ev jumped up with no difficulty at all and took the rein. He looked back at her, "Lovuth will tell your fire lizard where we are going so she can follow us." He said and then smiled, "Hold on." He advised, just before Lovuth took off into a steep angle towards the sky. Mercy, without thinking, grabbed hold of the brown rider´s belt to keep herself from falling off as the dragon headed into the cold of _between_.


	4. Chapter 4 - The weyr

**(I am so sorry for not posting anything before now, things have been a bit stressed. I will do my best to be more active, but there may be some waiting time for new chapters. I apologize for that.)**

And as soon as the cold of between had started, it was over again. No more than three heartbeats had it taken. Mercy had closed her eyes shut, though, and did not open them before she could feel the chill breeze against her face. Then, she opened one eye a little bit. Seeing as everything was not white, she opened the other one as well, having to smile a little. So that was _between_, really not as bad as everyone had said. And certainly not as bad as in Lessas´s ride, another song that Mercy liked very much.

On the other hand, Mercy and Z´ev had not exactly traveled back four hundred turns in time.

Z´ev looked back at Mercy and smiled at her smile, "You don't seem to be taking the first flight as badly as most.", he shouts, having to raise his voice against the wind to keep it from silencing his words. Mercy looked at him with a broad smile, "No, it's amazing!", she shouted back, before looking down beneath them. The southern weyr was large, larger than Toric´s hold, and the white stone that the cliff, in which it had been carved and created, was reflecting the last red sunlight, making it look perfectly in harmony with the glorious nature around it.

Mercy had barely had a glimpse when Lovuth began to descend in a sharp angle. She grabbed tighter around Z´ev´s belt and laughed as the quick dive caused her stomach to loop a little – not in an uncomfortable way, though. It was as if she was born for this. She could not understand people who hated it, it was so much fun to ride a dragon, much more fun that she had ever anticipated or even dreamt of.

When they landed, Mercy needed no help getting off the dragon´s back, she simply jumped down elegantly. At that, Z´ev chuckled, "Getting the hang of it already, huh?", he sayd, though it was a rhetorical question and she was not meant to answer it. But then he stopped chuckling and she stopped smiling as they saw who came out of the grand door of the weyr to greet them.

Mardra. It had to be her. From all that Mercy had ever heard, this could be no other. The strict look in her eyes and the stern lines around the corners of her mouth, which ws slightly pointed down, was not something that could be mistaken. This woman was not somebody to cross with; she would get whatever she wanted, even without asking for it. And it was this woman, this female that you would most definitely not want as a mother-in-law or grandmother, that was steering towards Mercy, seemingly judging her appearance with every step.

She only stopped when she was right in front of Mercy. She looked at the girl, judging her, hovering over her – though only with a few centimeters – and staring with those stern, stone cold eyes of hers. Mercy stared right back, not intending to let the weyrwoman of the south get the impression that she was just another weak girl. Finally, Mardra smiled very, very lightly. If it could even be called a smile. The corners of her mouth just pointed upwards, ever so slightly, then it was gone again, and her stern stare was back. But this time, it was pointing at Z´ev, who didn't seem quite as happy to return the stare as Mercy had.

"Brown rider Z´ev, who is this girl and why is she here?", the old woman asked, swiftly moving away from Mercy and towards Z´ev in an almost vulture-like circling motion, "Why did you bring her here?", Mardra asked again. Z´ev seemed to gather strength before answering, "I found her in a cave by the northern part of the beach line. I brought her here because she has the bearings and raw material to become a dragonrider.", he answered, his voice sounding humble. He clearly feared this woman more than anything. Well, except for T´kul.

Mardra raised an eyebrow, "Ah, for my queen´s final clutch? Yes, that was well thought.", she said, though her voice was anything but kind. She seemed oddly cold, though she should be pleased, as a weyrwoman is, that her queen had managed to deliver a clutch at this age. Z´ev looked away as the old woman, and thereby her stare, drew closer, "Thank you weyrwoman.. R´vero stayed behind to search the rest of the beach for any possible fire lizard clutches.", he said. And, as if she had been called for, Larith appeared in the air above Mercy´s head. Mardra turned around sp that she was facing Mercy and the fire lizard instead of Z´ev. That seemed to be a relief to the old rider, who exhaled and looked considerably more relaxed.

Larith landed on Mercy´s shoulder with a faint shriek as if saying `I could not find you, why did you leave me? ´and buried her head in the girl´s sun-bleached hair. The weyrwoman raised an eyebrow, "This is your fire lizard." she said, not a question but a fact that she was repeating to herself an all around her, "How? She seems quite young." she asked. Mercy smiled lightly as the little queen wrapped her tail very gently around her neck, "It was a coincidence. I was on the right spot at the very right time." she answered.

At that, Mardra smiled again, this time a more convincing one that could actually be called a smile, "Well, that certainly seals Z´ev´s statement. I will accept you as worthy of a dragon. Come now, child. I shall take you to where you shall spend the waiting time.", she said, suddenly sounding all the more friendly. She turned her back t Mercy and began walking towards the entrance to the main part of the weyr without looking back. Mercy looked at Z´ev with the facial expression of a question mark. He gestured for her to go with Mardra and sent her a reassuring smile.

Without further hesitation, Mercy followed the old weyrwoman into what should become her new home.


	5. Chapter 5 - The hatching

Mercy´s next week went without any events of any sort. The daily life of the weyr seemed oddly uneventful, contrary to every story she had heard from the other weyrs like Benden and the High Reaches. Nothing happened here in the Southern weyr, and that was mainly because of the slow pace the old-timers held. There where threadfalls, but no one ever went out. Mercy always spotted dragons over the weyr and the land which was used by the weyrfolk, and that area was always completely cleared from thread after a fall. The girl did her very best to stay out of the weyrfolk´s way, having witnessed a few incidents with bronze and brown riders. The two factions especially seemed to have something against each other, and the bronzes made it very clear that they did not intend to tolerate the browns in their quarters. Mercy had never before heard of any weyr with as distinct a separation as the Southern weyr. Usually, the quarters where separated in wings, meaning that bronzes, browns and greens could live side-by-side without any issues. Here it seemed to be very different.

The weyr itself was beautiful, and so were the surroundings. This was a true paradise, but its inhabitants failed to see that, they failed to even notice the colors of the sunrise, or the sunset, they failed to see how the moonlight was reflected by the almost white surface of the buildings. All they thought about was their own intrigues, and Mercy wanted no part in that. She wanted no part in the gossiping group of girls that had been picked as candidates for the queen egg like her, and they made no attempt to include her in their group, she actually had a feeling that they were bickering behind her back, and she didn't mind at all. Actually, it made her feel rather like a better person.

A week had passed since her arrival and she was beginning to learn how to find her way around the weyr and the surroundings as well, but she was worrying about Toric – had anyone told him where she was? If he didn't know, he would be worrying very much. And that made her feel guilty. However, as she didn't wish to meddle and fall into the internal struggles and intrigues of the weyr, she hadn't had the possibility to talk with anyone about these worries. She would have mentioned it to Z´ev if she had seen him, but he seemed to be strangely absent and she hadn't been able to find him since the day he had brought her to the weyr.

The days that passed so quickly suddenly came to a halt one day, around noon, as a sudden silence fell over the weyr. The hatching was about to begin. The queen dragon´s growls and trumpeteering could be hard everywhere in the weyr, and all the candidates, including Mercy, were brought to the hatching ground. None of the candidates wore the white robes that were obligatory in all other weyrs, which puzzled Mercy a little. On the other hand, this was not exactly Benden, and the hatching didn't have any resemblance to the grand feasts held when a clutch Ramoth hatched. There were no lords and ladies to watch, not even any space to sit. It was only the large, circular hatching ground with burning sand and the doorways leading from the hatching ground to the rest of the weyr.

When Mercy and the other candidates were herded through one of these doorways, she didn't feel the awe that had been described by some of the riders she had met back in the north. It totally lacked the feeling of being the greatest event that would ever happen in the candidates' lives. There were no families to cheer, no crowd in awe and no dragons circling above, bringing guests to the grounds so that they could witness the event. In other words: The place was totally deserted with the exception of the dragonriders, the candidates and the queen dragon. Mercy was not taken aback the way she had expected, it was quite clear that the old-timers were not used to hatchings anymore, and that they had no intentions whatsoever as of making it the grand event they had had, 400 turns in the past.

All these things went through Mercy´s mind in a few seconds, but then she focused on the eggs. They were mostly quite small, seemingly mainly brown and green eggs, with the exception of the queen egg and the few larger eggs that were most likely bronzes. Mercy and the group of quivering girls were led to the queen egg. The girls immediately began whispering excitedly, but Mercy stood still like a rock. Suddenly, the golden egg began tilting as the little dragon began to break free. The girls stopped talking and clutched each other´s hands, leaving Mercy out of the group. She didn't mind the least. Within a few minutes, the queen broke the shell, though it wasn't a hole large enough to do her any good. She shrieked in annoyance, and then began to expand the hole in other to crawl out of it. The girls watched in silence as the little creature fell out on the sand, but Mercy didn't notice whom of the girls the golden dragonet made its way towards, because something nudged her leg in the very instant that the queen dragon began to move.

She looked down at the leg that had been nudged and saw – to her surprise – a green dragonet. It was relatively large for a green, and its features were elegant and slim, clearly female. Mercy knelt down with a smile and looked the little dragon in the eye. Immediately, she felt an attachment grow, a bond between her and this beautiful creature. In the air abov her head, Larith appeared suddenly with a shriek, bidding the little fighting dragon welcome to the `family´. The dragonet looked up for a moment, but then its gaze fell upon Mercy again, and she spoke in the girl´s mind.

"Hello, Mercy. I am Neath."


	6. Chapter 6 - The unexpected

Mercy looked up from the hypnotizing eyes of her green dragon – of HER dragon. Of Neath. Just the thought of it made her mouth as dry as sand, true it was her dream coming true, but she had no idea how to take care of a dragon. She could feel the hunger of the creature rage through her own body and mind, even though it isn't her own feeling. The sheer thought of Neath having a connection to her mind this strong is almost enough to cause her to panic. From being alone just a couple of weeks ago to having two minds attached to her own was a really big change, and it is a bit terrifying as well. However, the feeling of not being a solitary wanderer anymore was calming and soothing, and as she looked back on her dragonet, the panic dissolved like dew to the first rays of the sun. Then she noticed that the other dragonets and their new riders were beginning to leave the grounds. Quickly, she rose from the burning sand and began walking towards the exit as well; somehow instinctively knowing that Neath would follow. The two left the hatching grounds side by side, the light of the midday-sun baking down upon them.

As soon as they came into the shadow of the weyr, Neath and Mercy stopped. Just like the other newly paired dragonets and riders had. The sight they faced was both a surprise and a terror. The whole weyr was buzzing, but not in any pleasant way. Everyone was afraid, panicking and somewhere somebody was screaming. They didn't have to ask what had happened. Their dragonets told them.

"They've found R´vero." Neath told her, the green dragonet´s eyes swirling with a yellow color, the color of worry and fright. Mercy knelt down and wrapped her arms comfortingly around the little fighting dragon´s neck. Larith appeared above them and landed on Mercy´s shoulder. Then she realized, "But.. He must have been gone for weeks, why haven't they sent out a search party?" Mercy asked herself. She remembered the none-too-nice bronze rider. He´d been with Z´ev back when they found her on the beach. Then she could feel herself begin to sweat in fear. If they had found R´vero, what about Z´ev? Was he okay?

Quickly she moved her arms from the little green dragon and looked at her, "Neath, can you get contact with Lovuth?" she asked, making sure to not say a work out loud. Honestly, she wasn't sure whether she really could speak in her dragon´s mind. Of course she knew that experienced rider could, but she had only just impressed Neath, and she though the bond might not have been completed quite yet. Luckily, Neath answered her, "Lovuth says they´re okay. They found R´vero´s body, they went searching when nobody else would." The little dragon said. Mercy felt herself exhale in relief, for some reason that made everything a bit brighter and less chaotic. Then, Neath spoke in her mind again, "Also, Lovuth says that Z´ev is very happy that you've impressed me." She said, her voice the closest to a bubbling laughter that a dragon´s could come. Mercy smiled, careful not to let anyone else see that the corners of her mouth pointed upwards.

Then she rose from the ground, looking around. The whole weyr was chaotic, completely panicked. She spotted an exit and headed for it, Neath by her side, to get out. If there was anything she didn't need at the moment, it was everything being chaotic. The hunger of the dragonet was still raging in her mind, and she simply couldn't stand the noise and heat of the weyr at the moment, at least not that of the indoors parts of the weyr. Besides, she knew her way around well enough to find the kitchen. And one thing was sure – nobody was going to be in there with all the panic. And she was right, when they arrived at the kitchen, nobody were there, and they made their way to the storage. Mercy knew where the best pieces of meat was, mainly because she´d spotted where the cooks took it from when the weyrwoman or weyrleader got hungry.

So that was where she took a large chunk of raw herdbeast meat for her dragon, knowing that she was capable of eating the entire thing. She made sure it was a boneless piece so there wouldn't be any evidence afterwards. That's what she´d learnt from her week in the weyr; Food was frequently stolen, but if there was no evidence, nothing was done about it. And now that was to their advantage. Mercy carried the chunk to the area of the kitchen with chairs and tables and placed it on the floor for her dragon to eat. Then she found a chair for herself, finally sitting down after having endured standing on the burning hatching ground sand for who knows how long. Then, as she finally got to look around, she saw someone witting in a shadowed corner of the kitchen, looking in her direction. Her blood turned to ice – was it one of the bronze riders? Or one of the cooks? She would be in so much trouble. But then she recognized him.

"Z´ev." She said, rising from her chair. She sat down on the opposite side of the table he was sitting by, letting Neath have some peace to eat. Most of the crazing hunger was out of her system now, meaning that Neath had almost finished the large chunk of meat. The brown rider looked up from his thoughts, "Hm? Oh, Mercy. I hear you impressed a green." He said, a spark of honest happiness appearing in his eyes. The spark is all too soon replaced by an odd mix of sadness and melancholy. Mercy sighed, "I have. Neath, she´s the glutton over there." She said, tilting her head in the direction of the green dragonet. Z´ev shot a glance at Neath, then chuckled without much happiness in his voice, "So I see." Was all he said.

Mercy tilted her head and looked at the brown rider, her eyes filled with badly hidden concern, "I also heard about.. R´vero." She finally said, studying his reaction. It was as she expected, he looked away, not saying anything. She knew that he hadn't cared much for the bronze rider, but she also knew that finding someone dead was nonetheless upsetting, and painful. It didn't take much more than compassion and human decency to know that, which not many in this weyr had, if you asked Mercy. However, she knew that Z´ev was one of the few riders who actually had that. She sighed again, "I.. Know it must be unspeakable of, and you don't have to, but .." she began, but didn't finish her sentence, since she wasn't sure how to.

Z´ev looked back at her, shaking his head lightly, "You've got a dragon to take care of now, the last thing you need is to have me crying on your shoulder." He said. Mercy rolled her eyes, men and their stubbornness, "There is no need to treat me like I´m made of glass." She said, perhaps a bit sjarply, then rose from the chair, walking back to Neath, who had only just finished eating, "Let´s go fin the others before they let their dragons starve to death." She told her dragon with no spoken words. Together, they left the kitchen, Z´ev left behind with a rather surprised look on his face.


	7. Chapter 7 - The sneak-out

(I am sorry, everyone, for leaving you without a new chapter for so long. I´ve been busy with exams and whatnot, but I´ll get at the writing as much as I can, I promise that. I will also begin to clean my previous chapters for spelling mistakes and typos.)

The word was soon out in the entire weyr that someone had stolen from the weyrwoman and weyrleader´s private stock of food, and these rumours completely overtook the place that the news of R´vero´s death had held for less than a sevenday. He had been buried, in rather a bit of a hurry, and Mercy found it very odd that there was no more grieving done for the bronze rider. She had not liked him, admittedly, but he _was_ wingleader, or had been, and wingleaders deserved more honour than he had been given. However, as the rider of a hatchling, Mercy had no saying in anything, and she didn't try to get her opinion through in any way. The last thing she wanted was the raging weyrleaders to suddenly become aware of her, as a possible suspect of the food-snatching. It had been her, of course, who had stolen the meat, but only Z´ev knew that, and he didn't tell on her.

However, he didn't speak to her either, nor did he pay her any attention at all, which annoyed her quite a bit. She had to be the only one in the entire weyr who cared about him even a little. But, stubborn as she was, she didn't try to get in contact with neither him, nor Lovuth. She had decided to devote all her time and recourses on her dragonet, and Neath seemed to be prospering from it. The green dragon was growing very rapidly, now being almost as tall as Mercy, and that after just two sevendays. And it was Neath who finally pulled her rider out of her self-inflicted quarantine.

_Lovuth says that he´s worried for Z´ev._ Neath said one day, suddenly and uncalled for, as Mercy was applying oil to a patch of hide on the green dragon´s neck that was beginning to crack because of the dragonet´s rapid growth. Mercy was so stunned that she stopped her movements and simply stared at Neath, _Why are you telling me that?_, she replied sourly, annoyed that her dragon had chosen such a sensitive subject. She did not particularly want to discuss the matter with anyone, nor her dragon. And much less did she want to even speak to Z´ev before he gave her an apology for acting stupidly. Neath rolled her eyes with what Mercy had now learnt to identify as annoyance or amusement, she wasn't entirely sure, _Because Lovuth thought you might be able to help. I think so too._ The green dragonet seemed to be taking Mercy´s attitude with a tint of humour, because her voice wasn't annoyed, as her rider´s clearly was. Mercy shook her head, _I don't think so._ Was all she said, then she went back to rubbing the oil into the dry patch of skin, although a bit more roughly than she had before Neath had begun to speak in her mind about Z´ev. The green dragon didn't even wince at the sudden rough treatment, quite the opposite. She rolled her eyes again, _I think you should speak to Z´ev._ Neath told Mercy. But the rider simply shook her head, _No, I won´t. It´s a matter of pride._ She said. Neath rolled her eyes again, but this time quite clearly in annoyance.

Neath did not mention the matter for about a day, but the evening of the next day, she nudged Mercy´s leg as the rider was about to go to sleep. Mercy growled in annoyance, but not loud enough to wake the other young riders or their dragonets, "What is it now…?" she asked with considerable annoyance in her hushed voice. Neath´s eyes rolled with the yellow colour of slight fear and panic, _Lovuth is very worried. He says that Z´ev won´t even speak to him._ The green dragon told her rider. Mercy frowned lightly, now getting slightly worried as well. A rider sometimes blocked him-or herself out of the community, for some time, but he or she always spoke to his or her dragon. Z´ev really had to be troubled if he wouldn't even speak to Lovuth. Mercy sat up, hesitating for a moment before she silently slipped on a pair of light boots, then looked at her dragon, _Well, lead the way – the safe way._ She told Neath. The dragonet seemed to find the last notion somewhat funny, because the yellow in her eyes was replaced by a much calmer green, and Mercy could have sworn that she heard her dragon mentally chuckle. But then her thoughts were diverted as she and Neath began their trip to the other side of the weyr, where the luckiest of the browns had their one-man quarters.

As Mercy had predicted, the weyrleaders had posted guards on strategic placed in the weyr, but by the help of a very odd decision of path, with many twists and turns, the pair met none of those. Chances were that they were mostly stationed in and around the kitchen, but one never knew with the weyrleaders. Which was why, when Mercy and Neath finally stood by the door to Z´ev´s room, they were both aware that the trip had taken longer than usual. But not long enough to get either of them worried. Mercy didn't dare knock on his door, as it would probably wake up quite a few of his next-room neighbours, and they would very likely not be nearly as kind as he was, or used to be. So she told Neath to tell Lovuth to tell Z´ev that they were standing outside of his door. The message had the effect that she had wished for, and a few seconds later, the door was opened and Z´ev peeked out with an unreadable expression on his face and in his eyes. He didn't say anything, but he seemed like it was mainly because he didn't know what to say. Mercy sighed deeply, then, seeing as Z´ev was decent, she pushed the door open and stepped in, Neath following her closely. The brown rider did not object, but neither did he greet them. It was not until Mercy closed the door behind them that he spoke.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice as unreadable as the expression on his face. Mercy sighed deeply, "You dragon is worried sick about you, who did you expect him to take contact to? The weyrleaders?" she replied, speaking in a hushed voice as he did. Z´ved sighed deeply, then sat down on the edge of his simple bed, which clearly had not been used for a good while, and buried his face in his hands, not saying a word. Mercy sighed deeply and, without invitation, sat down next to him, although having at least one hand´s distance between him and herself. She looked at him, although he did not look at her, "I must admit, after swallowing my pride, that you are worrying me too." She admitted. Z´ev still refused to even look up. Mercy shook her head at his stubbornness, "Listen, I´m going to sit her `till dawn if I have to do that to make you speak to me." She said sternly. That caused him to look up, "You most definitely are not." He said, sounding a mix of surprised and annoyed at her for saying that, "It´s bad enough that you've left your dormitory to come here, I won´t have you missing from your duties. Think of Neath!" he said. Mercy shook her head, "Neath won´t rest until Lovuth does, and he won´t rest until you do. So, here you are, that's the facts. Now tell me what´s troubling your mind so much." She halfway ordered him.

And he did, because he knew he had to. He told her of how terrible it had been to see R´vero lying dead, not to speak of the state of decay which his body had been in. Mercy almost felt sick at that part, admittedly, and suddenly understand why Z´ev had been so troubled that day of her impression. Then he explained how shocked he had been at the treatment of R´vero´s body, the hasty burial, the inexistent mourning, the speed with which everything had been forgotten. When he died himself, Z´ev told her, he wouldn't want to die in this weyr. And that was part of why he had been so shaken, he had realized what his own weyrleaders were doing, by realizing that he did not want to be a part of it. They were building up a fighting weyr. Why else had the queen began to clutch? Dragons only reproduced when there was a need, and up south, there wasn't, except if they wanted to expand so much that they had to be acknowledged as the southern weyr. And in the end, who knew. The weyrleader and weywoman were greedy.


End file.

Dragonriders of Pern series, Fantasy, Sci-Fi