First Feedings (Attn: All Weyrlings)

Ashrah stood just at the exit of the Hatching Grounds, watching the Hatching unfold with a grin upon her face. The first Impress had been made with more to come and Antonia had her scarlet dragon.

"Congratulations, Weyrling Antonia. You are now a dragonrider of Pern. Here is your bowl of meat. Make sure you feed her one piece at a time and tell her to chew. It is easy for hatchlings to choke; they come out very hungry from the egg as I am sure she has told you." Ashrah said and handed off the bowl.

"What is her name?" Ashrah asked gently, looking down at the little scarlet dragon.

Antonia smiled so wide her face hurt at Ash... at Weyrlingmaster Ashrah's greeting. Weyrling Antonia... she liked that idea. "She's starting to let me know she's hungry," she said just as Tevannith let out a creel of hunger.

What is that wonderful smell?! It is making my stomach ache, she told her rider, nudging Antonia closer to the bowls.

"Her name is Tevannith," Antonia said, blissful as she took a bowl and offered a chunk of meat to her darling scarlet. When she tried to snap at it, Antonia moved her hand back slightly and clucked her tongue. "First rule is you don't accidentally bite my hand," she said with humor. "Second rule is you let me feed you at the pace our Weyrlingmaster has instructed. Your stomach will hurt more if you eat too fast."

Tevannith gave a humph of displeasure, but Antonia's love and kindness was impossible for the scarlet to disobey. She reached again for the chunk, delicately taking it from her rider's fingers. "Exactly like that," Antonia said encouragingly, waiting for Tevannith to finish that piece before getting her seconds.

"Thank you, Weyrlingmaster Ashrah," she said, eyes still trained on the beauty in front of her. There were still tears of joy streaking down her cheeks, and she couldn't have cared less. Her heart was so full of joy and love it had to come out somewhere. "Thank you so much, for everything."

Ashrah smiled and was about to continue when she caught the familiar sight of Asteriel coming out from the sands. Her dragon walked beside her and Ashrah blinked. For a moment she thought it was a Titanium but no, there was no metallic sheen of silver blue. Was the sun distorting her eyes? That dragon was too large to be a quartz. To light to be a cobalt. When Asteriel neared, blushing under the scrutiny of the Weyrling Master, Ashrah saw true.

A dragon the color of smoke.

"Weyrling Master." Asteriel said, dipping her head. "I have Impressed to Smoke Emanoth."

"Congratulations, Weyrling." and Ashrah handed her the bowl of meat in clear appreciation. A brand new dragon color! Who would have thought?

"Emanoth, a fine name. Male or female?" Ashrah asked.

"A fighting male, Weyrling Master." Asteriel replied warmly. She sat down near Antonia and reaching into the bowl, she took a piece of raw meat with no sense of squeamishness.

Oh, is that for me? Oh Asteriel, it looks so very good and I am so very hungry.


"Yes love. One piece at a time. Wait. Wait." Asteriel said and Emanoth cocked his head wistfully. He waited and then parted his mouth. Asteriel gave him the meat and raised her hand.

"Chew, my darling. Work it over with your teeth. Slow." Asteriel said with tender patience.

This is very good. Don't you think so, scarlet sister?
Emanoth asked of Tevannith.

Asteriel smiled again at Antonia. "She's beautiful, Antonia. Congratulations! Can you believe it?"

Abry went in the direction Antonia and Asteriel had gone, though Lizzoth didn't realize she was hungry until she smelled the meat and then the pangs of utter and complete hunger arrived so abruptly and intensely Abry very nearly staggered.

She looked down at Lizzoth incredulously - would she never be done being surprised at how powerfully dragons felt things? - and then dig in fact stagger to a halt. Dragons. Her dragon. She was - would be - was a dragonrider. Lizzoth looked up at her, eyes whirling with love as deep and pervasive as her hunger.

Food! Right. "Right," she said out loud. "Food for you. Weyrlingmaster," she added, almost shyly, realizing all over again they weren't alone.

Now is the time I eat, Lizzoth said expansively, and only the bowls of meat could have torn her eyes from her newly claimed rider.

Antonia had gaped at the appearance of Asteriel and her smoke dragon for a moment, until Tevannith had pushed impatiently against her hand. "Sorry, lovely," she apologized, quickly offering another piece of meat. "It seems you have a special clutch mate... "

Hm, Emanoth? Tevannith asked, pausing a moment to look at her new brother. He is smoke.  She accepted the appearance of the new color as if she had known all the time.

For all Antonia knew, they'd all known the entire time.

"Thank you Asteriel," she said with a relieved smile when the other woman joined her. "Congratulations yourself. Tevannith tells me his name is Emanoth." She shook her head in wonder as she looked between the two dragons, so different yet so alike.

This is delicious, Tevannith answered her brother, her voice tinged with hints of pure joy. I hope all food is as wonderful as this food is!

"He is, Antonia. I just cannot believe it to be real. I know it is but still. A smoke dragon. A dragon no one has even seen before and he Looks to me."  Asteriel's tone was equal parts wonder and gratitude.

I am sure that the food is all good but some might be even better than this. All these smells in the air, they are like promises of good things to come. Emanoth said and reached for another meaty piece.


"Weyrling Abry," Ashrah said, turning to give the canyon girl a smart nod and a smile that spoke of pride. Casriel had mentioned the girl in passing and here she was, Impressed to a Quartz dragon and straight to the teachings she had received. All three of the young women came dutifully to the care and concern of their dragons. Ashrah was proud.

"Congratulations. A lovely quartz, to be sure." Ashrah said and handed the bowl of meat to Abry.

"Abry!" Asteriel said just as she was handing off another slice of meat to Emanoth. The smoke dragon took it and regarded his quartz siblings, chewing almost thoughtfully. Emanoth was curious but he was also hungry and as the hunger was sated, he was growing itchy and sleepy.

"A quartz! Good for you!" Asteriel beamed

"Thank you," Abry said, to both the Weyrlingmaster and Asteriel. She had another moment of wonder - an entirely new dragon, how about that - but Lizzoth only shuffled her wings and stared hungrily at the bowl. Of course Emanoth was smoke; what else would he be? Food was far more important at the moment - everything else here was exactly as it should be.

"Congratulations to you as well." She gestured then, unable to find the words for how huge all this was. As overwhelming as she'd feared it might be, but now that it came down to it, the pressing enormity of it didn't both her at all.

instead, she sat right on the ground, Lizzoth pressing close, and began to feed her - her! - new partner as though it were the most natural and normal thing in the world.

The thought of different, better food was so enticing that Tevinnath stopped reaching for new pieces of food, instead letting her mind wander. Through her rider she saw a wide array of dishes, roasts and birds and sweets...

Antonia's eyes widened as she had a suddenly strong craving for sweets, and couldn't help but laugh when she realized where it was coming from. "Now you don't need sweets," she said to her scarlet gently, touching her muzzle to remind her to take the next piece of meat. "Those teeth of yours are very important and we must take very good care of them."

She did glance at Emanoth with a grin. "And just what did you say to make her start thinking like that?" she asked the smoke directly, including Asteriel in her question in case she'd been privy to the conversation.

Her heart did another uptick when Abry joined them with her quartz, her smile wide and welcoming. "She's beautiful," she told the new weyrling, then laughed. "They're all so beautiful." Emanoth seemed to reflect the vibrant colors from her Tevinnath and made her shine even brighter, while the green underlay in Abry's Lizzoth was practically sparkling. And despite his lack of metallic sheen, Emanoth's hide still had that healthy shimmer to it.

A beautiful combination of colors, she thought with a smile.

Emanoth looked at Antonia and raising one of his little forepaws, covered his nose in a gesture of teasing shyness. It would have been more convincing if his eyes didn't twinkle mischievously from blue to green over his paw.

Asteriel's opened her mouth and then shut it. Instead, she thought her question at her dragon, who turned to look at her immediately.

What did you say, love? Asteriel asked.

I just posted the idea to Tennavith that there would be even more delicious food. I know from your memories that such things exist. You like bubbly pies, especially the ones that are filled with red.


"Emanoth says he just posed the idea of even better food existing. He says he can see them from my memories. By stars, you are a clever one." Asteriel said, smiling. She had one smart dragon on her hands.

Ashrah watched her three new weyrlings with a small smile but the arrival the the fourth drew her eye. She looked up to see the first of the boys, the tall and cold Mardrist coming forward. Except that this was a slightly different boy than she remembered. Still serious, still protective; he looked over his shoulder every couple of feet to see if he could see his brother. Yet, a glowing joy was settled in those dark brown eyes, pushing back the chill and his walk became a stride.

"Congratulations Weyrling." Ashrah said, holding out the bowl of meat. He took it and Finnedath trilled softly to smell the mouthwatering meat and blood.

"Thank you, Weyrling Master. This is Finnedath and I am M'drist now." he said, decided.

"A good solid brown. Good for you." Ashrah said. The first of the Old Guard to show themselves.

"Thanks." he said softly and then waving Finnedath toward him, he settled down somewhat near the group of his fellows. Finnedath seemed to wake from his sleepy countenance somewhat and M'drist reached in to give him a gobbet of meat.

"Chew it up with your teeth. Slow and careful. Do you understand me, my fine fellow?"

Yes, I understand. This is very good meat, M'drist. Soft and rich. Very very good. the brown dragon said, slowly chewing as his rider told him. Already M'drist had taken an authoritative path with his dragon and the dragon heeded him. It was good to see in a non weyr bred person and Ashrah marked it. She expected Asteriel to know what to do, this was old hat for her. Not that she would be any less diligent in teaching Asteriel than any of the others. She road a new dragon and must be observed so they might learn more about Emanoth and Smoke dragons all together.

Ceronith picked up speed as that intoxicating smell pulled an answering reaction from deep within her (hunger, she thought with pleasure, putting a name to it from her rider's mind and reveling at the sound it made), and though she felt a driving urge to get up close to each of her clutchmates (lovely hides, all those colors and highlights and lowlights and noises), but the driving need to eat trumped even that desire for exploration.

Vianne, dazed with the sheer mass of sensation echoing between her and Ceronith, reached for a bowl before remembering she hadn't said anything, "Weyrlingmaster, hello, this is Ceronith," she managed, and Ceronith lifted her perfectly white head and examined this new person with a title that she rolled over in her head. Weyrlingmaster, a near purr, and she knew that this woman belonged with a glowingly beautiful scarlet, and also had the food, and that made her the second-most wonderful person in Ceronith's world just then.

Antonia burst out laughing, earning herself a stern look from Tevannith for the short delay in the food process. "Sorry," she chuckled, scratching at her lower jaw while giving her the next piece. "That's amazing... Tevannith made me think of bubbly pies, also." She wondered how often they would be surprised by their new beauties over the next few weeks.

Before she could concentrate too much, though, Vianne was joining them with a glorious quartz. "Vianne, congratulations!" she called, waving with one a hand bloodied from raw meat. "Oh," she said, noticing the red stain as she let the hand drop. "I hope we have time to wash up before dinner. I'm starving." She understood that some of that hunger was an echo of Tevannith's, but she'd work up an appetite in her own right.

"Congratulations, Weyrling Vianne. A beautiful quartz, to be sure." Ashrah said, admiring the stark white hide of the dragon. She passed a bowl of meat to Vianne. Then a delighted exclamation from Asteriel grew her attention.

"Oh Vianne. Oh she is just so lovely. I'm so happy. So happy to have Impressed and you have too." Asteriel said and tears of joy sprang to the girl's blue eyes.

Ashrah grinned again as she watched the weyrlings feed their dragons and attend to each other. She had gained the pleasure of watching these young people reach out to each other and form friendships. They would grow together, close as siblings ans Ashrah would be there to guide each one toward their destiny as a full dragonrider of Pern. Back at Eastern she may have never been permitted to be Weyrling Master, maybe not even an assistant due to Hesriath's color.

'But here, oh here Br'son saw fit to promote me. He believes it me, he must." Ashrah thought. 'Oh Z'fel, if you could see me now. Oh Z'ash, I am with you in spirit...if not in body.'

You are troubled. What is wrong, rider mine? Finnedath asked, peering to M'drist face with a blood stained muzzle.

M'drist was troubled. Mardian still hadn't come through with his dragon and M'drist was getting worried. There was only thirteen eggs and not that many more candidates. Surely a dragon must pick him. How could a dragonet not pick Mardian? He was the good one, the kind one, warm and full of laughter. If anything he made a better kind of rider than M'drist.


You doubt your worth because you have had to live hard to survive. You should not. You are strong and you are patient. You think before you act but you act with certainly when you do. This is why I chose you and.....


The brown dragon trailed off to take another gob of meat from his rider's hand who offered it. M'drist wiped the blood from his hand upon his robe and thought no more of it.

"Thanks bud." M'drist said, reaching out to stroke the pale brown dragon.

Vianne smiled back at Asteriel and Antonia, nearly beaming, as she thanked the Weyrlingmaster and took the bowl of meat. Ceronith immediately stuck her head into the bowl - not to gulp the food, but to smell it deeply, her wings ruffling in utter joy. This, oh yes, this is exactly what I wanted.

She pulled her head back before Vianne could react, and sat prettily as Vianne (without thinking or hesitating) dug her hands into the bowl to come up with gobs of meat for her quartz. "I'm sure we'll have to clean up - them and us," she replied after a moment, for no matter how carefully she fed the meat to Ceronith, the young dragon enjoyed it so very much blood was already splattered. The red stood in stark contrast to her intense white hide, and Vianne saw quite a bit of scrubbing in her future.

"I would hug you," she continued to Asteriel, and there was no 'nearly' about her beaming anymore, bloody hands or no, "but know that I am so happy as well. Congratulations." Such a pale word, for such a huge thing, but it was the best she had for the moment.

"Oh, I understand my dear friend." Asteriel said and fell back into a contented silence, watching Emanoth continue to eat. The way the light would run like water down his sides and over his wings, making him look as soft and gray as a raincloud. Oh, he was just so very beautiful. Without realizing Asteriel's blue eyes ran over with silent tears, though a blissful smile played around her mouth.

"My Emanoth," she said, her voice a tinged with dreamy bliss.

"What color is he?" M'drist asked so suddenly Asteriel gave a start. She chuckled self conscientiously and tucked a length of her blond hair behind one ear.

"Smoke. He is a fighting male." she said, a note of pride in her voice. Asteriel was too polite to say "Just as much as your dragon." but it seemed to hang in the air between them. M'drist only nodded and went back to feeding his brown. Asteriel noded his dragon was the only traditionally colored one so far and wondered if any more Old Guard would show themselves. She hoped for his sake his brother Impressed.

Aliseth, far more coordinated than she had any right to be so newly hatched, truly caught the scent of meat and immediately picked up speed - a dark arrow launched squarely at the bowls waiting for them.

She did not wait for the woman to respond - a rider, she noted without truly conscious thought - and knowing her chosen one was right behind her, she took full possession of two bowls near the end of the row, digging a front leg into each. Regarding everyone around her with a baleful eye, she hissed, long and low, to make clear these bowls were hers.

E'zen put out a hand, but he knew (also without truly conscious thought) that it wasn't a real threat if she was making noise; if Aliseth stood there silently, that would be a problem. The scarletrider had said something about feeding after Impression - not to gorge, that was it. Two bowls might be rather excessive -

No. I will eat it, and I will grow faster. We will not wait forever. She said it reasonably, and E'zen, for no reason at all, grinned.

"Still, let's do one at a time, yeah?"

Reluctantly, she took one leg out of one bowl, but kept it close to her body regardless. No one, clearly, was taking it.

And only then did E'zen take his rapt attention from her long enough to look around at those who had Impressed before them.

Antonia's breath had caught in excitement when she saw Breklynn, the dour girl who had changed every day for the better, enter with a metallic cobalt by her side. She was waving for the girl to join them when the black bolt dashed in, claiming two bowls of meat at the end of the line. Her eyes went wide and she stared, and her jaw practically hit the ground when E'zen joined the dark dragon.

"Like an onyx," Breklynn breathed, and then Antonia made another odd, choking sound. She turned her head and saw the youngest of the candidates, Teagan, entering with her own dragon, just as dark as E'zen's. Teagan's seemed a little less... feral, she supposed the word was. But there was still a dangerous spark of red in the black dragon's eyes.

My sisters, Nicaeth said proudly, dipping his head when Ensieth passed him.

"Congratulations Teagan, E'zen," Breklynn said, making certain her voice was strong. "They're beautiful ladies... what are their names?"

Teagan had grabbed a bowl and retired to the floor; it was much more comfortable for her to sit on level with Ensieth and feed her. And Ensieth did not want to wait... she'd had a moment of struggle with the mini queen, who wanted to bury her face in the bowl. But now the shadow was sitting back and letting the food come to her, even if Teagan could sense the impatience with the entire mess that she felt. "Ensieth," she said with a big smile.

She looked at E'zen, waiting for him to introduce Aliseth to the rest of the class. They'd be working together, she thought, a smile coming to her face. Her few interactions with the older boy had been pleasant. And now they had something in common. He couldn't hate the Weyr now, not with his own shadow dragon at his side.

Ashrah watched with green eyes that betrayed nothing. Then she nodded and looked at E'zen.

"This is not unusual behavior for a newly hatched, ravenous dragonet. Mind that she does not choke herself and she will be fine." Ashrah said. She nodded the behavior of the cobalt and how both the brown Finnedath and the smoke Emanoth paused in their eating to dip their heads respectfully to Ensieth and Aliseth.

'Queens then.' Ashrah decided immediately. Only one kind of female garnered that kind of respect for the others, especially the males.

It was then that Hesriath decided to join the throng below. The adult scarlet cut wide and landed a short distance away. Forty five feet from nose to tail spade, she gleamed in the sunlight like a blood soaked ruby.

Good day, young students. I am Hesriath and I shall teach you. the scarlet said, the strength of her motivation clear in her broadcast toward the group of young dragons. She settled herself neatly, curling up as if to rest, to watch the young ones.

"Hesriath has just finished introducing herself to your new charges. As I will be your teacher, so she will be there own." Ashrah told her new crop of Weyrlings.

Aliseth paused in her eating to observe the full grown scarlet landing nearby. She tilted her head and considered, slowing starting to chew again. Strongly built. Excellent flier. The older dragon's voice was warm, calm, confident in her head. Aliseth weighed her rider's strong dislike of the establishment of the Weyr (nearly everyone) against what she felt from the scarlet and decided: not enemy. Before her rider could snarl, she opened her mouth again and neatly snipped more meat from his hand (her teeth grazed his fingers; that was not an accident).

Not. Enemy. She said it clearly, allowing the words to sink in. Which doesn't mean we always have to listen. That addition, so quiet E'zen could have thought it was his own thought (it wasn't), had an edge of wrathful clarity that meant her rider smiled again when he turned to look at the other new riders.

"Aliseth," he said, his eyes lingering first on Teagan and Eniseth, and then longest of all on Asteriel. "She's - they're shadows."

Asteriel held his eyes as she held her breath. Emanoth had bowed his head to the shadow Eniseth, then to shadow Aliseth. Then he resumed eating having shown his difference to the queens as ably as he could in his current and hungry state.

"How beautiful." Asteriel said finally. They were, such a glossy black hide. The shimmered like black diamonds.

"This is Emanoth, my smoke." she said, reaching to stroke the back of the male dragon by her side. He preened under the attention and praise.  

And dangerous. You would do well to be careful arought Ensieth and Aliseth, Asteriel. These are not the golds of your memory and they are different than Titanium.
Emanoth said, finally satisfying the hunger inside him by finishing the bowl. He flopped down beside it and rolled on his back, round belly protruding.

Oh? Asteriel asked but Emanoth did not elaborate. Instead he poppeed to his feet and said loudly I itch!


"Oh, of course!" Asteriel said and immediately moved to the table were brushes, rags and buckets of oil stood. She took a bucket and returned to her smoke.

"Alright, stand up straight so I can get all the itch." she said and immediately started at the creases in his shoulders.

M'dian stumbled on his way out of the Hatching Grounds. His head felt too big, the lights brighter than normal, and he had the incessant desire to laugh at everything. Everything.

It is lovely, isn't it? Gideath said into his mind. The Quartz dragonet was enamored with everyone and everything. Which was part of the reason his rider was so dizzy and distracted. It was worse than a shot of Lightning.

Actually, one of those would have come in handy right about now, M'dian reflected.

Oh, look! We are all here! Gideath said as they approached the group of feeding dragonets. To M'dian's dismay, the little Quartz went barreling up to the pair of shadow dragons and enthusiastically plunged his nose into the nearest bowl of meat.

"Wait! Gideath!  I think you're supposed to chew it!"

"Mardian!" M'drist said, jumping to his feet where he had been knelt, feeding his dragon. Finnedath looked up when he did but was unconcerned. He was getting full, which meant he was getting sleepy.

"You...He...You Impressed? Him!" M'drist asked, gesturing to the quartz who seemed to be happily chomping down on someone else's breakfast.

"Shards, I am glad you are here." M'drist said finally.

Aliseth glared at the quartz, but the bowl he'd buried his face in was neither of hers, so there was no need to do more than stare and make a low warning noise.

Clutchmates, it was clear, were also not the enemy. At least not at this moment.

*
Vianne brushed Ceronith's side (splatter from the enthusiastic eating of Gideath had shown itself clearly against her quartz's white hide), but nothing seemed like it could possibly be unpleasant at this moment.

*
Abry, though there was no reason for her to say it out loud, was actually relieved at the sight of Mardian. It had seemed pointlessly cruel for one of those inseparable brothers to Impress and not the other, and so this seemed better. Even if she had nothing to say about it.

For the first time in his life, M'dian found that he didn't have time for his brother.  "I did!" he said, sounding harried and elated and confused all at once.  "This is Gideath.  Gideath!  Slow down! If you choke, you'll never sing again, and you might die, and then I'd have to die too because I don't think that I could breathe without you now that you're here, so for the love of good liquor, slow down and chew it!

Gideath, for his part, lifted his dappled pearl head and looked at his rider.  Then he began to chew with exaggerated slowness, as if to say "don't be so overdramatic".  

M'dian laughed at this, and then turned to give M'rist a hard hug.  "I am too, 'Drist," he said, using his brother's old nickname.  "I'm so glad we're both here together."

"Shards, me too." M'drist said with a sigh. He settled back down with his brown, reaching out to stroke Finnedath's smooth hide. When the brown complained that he was itchy, M'drist walked to were the oil and brushes were. He pocketed some rags and returned to his dragon, brushing oil over her shoulders and back the way he had seen Asteriel do it.

"There you are, my fine fellow." he said as Finnedath sighed, comforted by the oil and the tender care of his new rider.