L'ach and blue Yaxioth

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Llacheu – a young man of 16 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.

Llacheu was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Llacheu 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, Llacheu 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 Llacheu becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Llacheu left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Llacheu 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 Llacheu! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Llacheu's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Llacheu 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 Llacheu 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, Llacheu 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 Llacheu to find it. Despite Llacheu'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, Llacheu encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Llacheu to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Llacheu duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.

Hot stuff

Madellon's kitchen was the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Llacheu to find for his warming salve. Headwoman Crauva handed one over immediately he asked for it, pleased to be helping such an august figure as the old Weyrleader.

A blue lady

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

Friend request

Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Llacheu 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 Llacheu that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Llacheu'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, Llacheu didn't have to wait too long for his date with destiny. The green-clouded blue egg Hatched out a dark steel-blue dragonet who told Llacheu his name was Yaxioth.

A friend in me

And Llacheu 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?

Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Rielat Impressed an impressively proportioned indigo-blue hatchling, making them Llacheu and Yaxioth's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Kestor didn't Impress!)

After the Hatching

"Yaxioth" by Emily Holland

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Llacheu 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 Yaxioth's first meal. That was Llacheu's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Yaxioth and Aeranth. Soburn also told Llacheu that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Yaxioth's personality started to become evident. The dark blue dragonet, among the smallest of his colour, turned out to be of an endearingly shy and modest character, rather requiring of encouragement.

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

Meeting the Weyrleader

As Llacheu 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. Llacheu was proud to introduce Yaxioth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Yaxioth, Llacheu gave the Weyrleader his own new name: L'ach, rider of blue Yaxioth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Yaxioth's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, L'ach 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

L'ach and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk L'ach 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, L'ach's grandfather, was highly displeased that his grandson had only managed to Impress a blue – against his strict warning that nothing less than a brown would suffice. The Weyrleaders were quick to step in on L'ach's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for L'ach, 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, L'ach 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 L'ach's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She cleared up an anomaly with his new name, too. She offered L'ach 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 Yaxioth.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks , L'ach 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 L'ach 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, L'ach decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.

Returning at last to Yaxioth – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – L'ach 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 blue beside him – L'ach was struck with a deep sense of foreboding. Who was the mysterious dragonrider in the hooded cloak? What was the significance of the strange wooden box? And how had the stranger known L'ach's new name?

Find out more about Llacheu's Impression here. L'ach and Yaxioth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

L'ach'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:
APOSTROPHE NOW

I love the smell of elision in the morning!

Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG

Yaxioth and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Yaxioth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Yaxioth and I agreed on something quite important!