F'ming and green Vivianth

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Fleming – a young man of 18 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.

Fleming was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Fleming didn't scramble for the attention of the young Search rider, Garlan, who came to Jessaf in early 102 seeking candidates for Madellon Weyr's latest clutch. But as a scion of the Hold, Fleming was among the party welcoming the green rider to Jessaf – and, in due course, became the focus of her dragon Hushith's attention. Lord Winstone wasn't enthusiastic about Fleming becoming a candidate – displeased that such a opportunity would ruin his plans for Fleming's betrothal to a niece of Lord Orfen's. But he grudgingly accepted that, as Fleming had his majority, he had the right to accept Search. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Fleming left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Fleming was assigned a bunkmate – Soburn, an anxious Weyrbred youth with one failed Hatching already haunting him, who would soon become his closest friend in the Weyr. He also got to know many of his fellow candidates, including the Weyrbred twins Leover and Leoguy; Zielaph, the nephew of a Madellon bronze rider; and Chiliam, a good-natured highborn lad from Kellad.

But he also made an enemy – Rielat, a self-important apprentice Weaver – who took a firm disliking to Fleming! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Fleming's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Fleming on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Rielat, the pair joined the rest of the candidates for a morning lecture. The Weyrlingmaster, L'stev, gave the whole cohort – increased by three late Searchees to a total of thirty-five – strict instructions about pre-Hatching preparations, including eating, drinking, bathing – and in some cases, getting a decent haircut – and then turned the group loose for the morning. Before Fleming left, Soburn asked him to find out if H'nar, the young Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing, might currently be seeing someone – or not.

The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Fleming was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with one arm, a fire-lizard queen – and a problem. His queen, Squiffy, had stolen several pieces of the Weyrwoman's jewellery, and hidden it around the Weyr. M'shen recruited Fleming to find it. Despite Fleming's best efforts, though, he didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.

Respecting his elders

In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Fleming encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Fleming to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Fleming duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.

A rising problem

Fleming encountered both Soleigh, whose green Bristath was preparing to rise near the lake, and her weyrmate Maris, who was getting very drunk in the dining hall on account of her fears that Soleigh was having an affair with a blue rider, G'tron. Fleming's intervention successfully got rid of G'tron, whose Imdoth was very sweet indeed on Bristath, from the mating flight – not to mention G'pellas, another blue rider, needed in the Harper ensemble – and reconciled the two green riders.

Kitchen diplomacy

Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Fleming with the opportunity to show off his work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva. And the kitchen was also the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Fleming to find for his warming salve.

Eggs and baskets

A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Fleming expressed an interested in looking up some Weyr records, Tarshe offered him the loan of a glowbasket – on the proviso that he return it afterwards. Which – mindful of not offending such an important personage of the Weyr – Fleming did!

A blue lady

Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Fleming offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.

Friend request

Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Fleming approached the object of his affections – H'nar, Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing – with some circumspection. Still, when questioned, H'nar insisted he had to know who was making enquiries of him. And when he learned the identity of his admirer, he told Fleming that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Fleming's agile pivot in questioning revealed that a close friend of H'nar's – blue rider M'rany – might be a viable alternative. Thus encouraged, Soburn began to think more positively of life as a dragonrider – even if H'nar would end up being his Wingleader!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Fleming had to wait a little while before the grey-splashed beige egg Hatched to reveal the dark teal-green dragonet who would choose him, naming herself Vivianth.

A friend in me

And Fleming wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Soburn also Impressed, becoming the rider of a slender olive-green hatchling, Aeranth.

Whatever happened to Rielat?

It turned out that making an enemy of Fleming was a very poor choice on Rielat's part. For the low, low price of just three marks, Fleming had Grimes, the shady fellow loitering near the Gather stalls, spread a series of nasty rumours about Rielat. By the time the Weyrlingmaster mustered the candidate cohort immediately before the Hatching, the damage to Rielat's reputation was done – and he was ejected from the candidate pool without ever setting foot on the Sands!

After the Hatching

"Vivianth" by Chris S. Baily

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Fleming on his Impression, but it was Garlan, delighted that her risky choice of Winstone's grandson had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Vivianth's first meal. That was Fleming's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Vivianth and Aeranth. Soburn also told Fleming that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Vivianth's personality started to become evident. The teal-green dragonet, inquisitive about everything from the instant of her hatching, also proved to be an especially sweet-natured and kind character.

With both dragonets full to bursting with fresh meat, the newly minted dragonpairs left the Hatching sands for their new home: the weyrling barracks.

Big brother

Another friend Fleming made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Fleming had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Fleming at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!

Meeting the Weyrleader

As Fleming and S'burn wiped the worst of the blood and sand from their tired new dragonets, the Weyrleader, T'gat, came to inspect both boys' dragonets, to ask after their names – and to ask the two new weyrlings how they should now be called. Fleming was proud to introduce Vivianth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Vivianth, Fleming gave the Weyrleader his own new name: F'ming, rider of green Vivianth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Vivianth's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, F'ming and S'burn headed into the boys' barracks to claim the billets that would be theirs for the next Turn. Choosing adjacent cots, the two new weyrlings got their dragonets settled on the couches that they would take months to grow into. But there was no time for them to sit and admire their new dragons. The Weyrlingmaster soon came along to give them their new weyrling shoulder-knots, before chivvying them off to the Hatching feast!

The Hatching feast

F'ming and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk F'ming had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.

Lord Winstone, F'ming's grandfather, was in a state of high dudgeon about his grandson's Impression of a green. A tense scene ensued, with the Weyrleaders obliged to step in to defend F'ming from his grandfather's fury – but the damage was already done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for F'ming, and it came as a relief when the Weyrlingmaster ordered all the new weyrlings back to the barracks for a good night's sleep. But en route to bed, F'ming was flagged down by a Weyrbrat, Emry, bringing the message that Weyrwoman Second Tarshe wanted to see him in the Archives.

Setting the record straight

Tarshe, tasked by the Weyrwoman with converting candidate documentation into weyrling records, went through F'ming's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She offered F'ming some advice about paying attention to his new classmates and surroundings, lest he fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, and made some observations on Vivianth.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks , F'ming had two peculiar encounters – first, with Tarshe's queen, Berzunth, who seemed quite agitated by one of the visiting dragons on the Rim; and then with a mysterious hooded figure, smelling strongly of what F'ming would later realise was firestone, who called him by name – and gave him a curious wooden box.

"The Watchful Queen" by Chris S. Baily

Back at the barracks, F'ming decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.

Returning at last to Vivianth – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – F'ming was too tired to examine the strange wooden box very closely, and put it in his clothes' chest for later examination. But even as he went to sleep – a dragonrider at last, his green beside him – F'ming was struck with a deep sense of foreboding. Who was the mysterious dragonrider in the hooded cloak? And what was the significance of the strange wooden box?

Find out more about Fleming's Impression here. F'ming and Vivianth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

F'ming's achievements

Achievement Unlocked:
CARRY ON WAYWARD SON

I travelled The Road So Far!

Achievement Unlocked:
OUR ROB, OR ROSS

I received a mysterious box!

Achievement Unlocked:
A HORSE WITH A NAME

I have a name and it's a good name and I don't need to fix my name. Probably.

Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG

Vivianth and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Vivianth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Vivianth and I agreed on something quite important!