Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows

Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold

Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold

Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall

Story Listing
Series Listing

Weyrling Training

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 13th August 2014

Characters: Alina
Description: Sometimes things don't go exactly as Alina had planned
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 12 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Xandris, Jenackt, Ciendra, Ikalis

Alina

**Blast it!** Alina's fingers moved quickly as she finished her braid, then pinned it into a coil around her head. She'd hoped for something fancier but the Weyrlingstaff gave them no time to prepare. Once the dragons started to hum, they had to _leave_.

She bit back another curse as she pulled her white Hatching robe over her head and found her sandals. At least it would be over soon and the Candidate barracks emptied out by tomorrow. There were too many girls in the space, and she'd been beginning to chafe agains the lack of privacy.

"Stop dawdling! Hurry up!" one of the Weyrlingstaff called. E'ril, Alina thought his name was. She gave him a black look as she hurried past, pausing long enough to finish buckling her sandal before hurrying after the rest of them. She saw Xandris with a snivelling, terrified-looking Flita together her in the crush of bodies, as well as determined-looking Jenackt, and she managed to wave at Ciendra but wasn't able to get close enough to join the other girl.

They were an anxious group. The Weyrlingstaff carefully shepherded them through the Weyr toward the Hatching Cavern, and Alina saw more than one person with crossed fingers. Whether that meant that they wanted to Impress or not, she wasn't sure. At least that was one uncertainty she didn't have to deal with. And once it was all over, she could go find her family for the Hatching feast. It would be so good to see her parents again, and to spend a night with Elana. She couldn't wait to introduce her to Ikalis and show her the gardens and the beach, and just spend _time_ with her. The anticipation of seeing her twin was almost unbearable.

And then they were there. Alina blinked as she was hustled out onto the burning sands with the rest of the candidates, just one more figure in white in a sea of figures in white. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the change in light. She nearly stumbled on the Sands as the candidates spread out around her, interspersed between rocking dragon eggs.

The sound-- it had been overwhelming the first time. It reverberated now through her being; the bone-rattling hum of the dragons, the roar of the crowd, the nervous laughter of someone beside her. She glanced up to see a universe of glittering dragon eyes. Then the first egg cracked. Out spilled a brown dragon with a keen. One of the boys ran forward to help him from his shell and unfurl his sticky, wrinkled wings for the first time. The roar went up an octave and Alina found it hard to catch her breath. The sound was more of a pressure that filled the Hatching Cavern to bursting.

Another egg cracked, this time revealing a bit of blue. Then another, to her right-- a green. Alina caught her breath. But no, the dragon wasn't looking for her. Relief made her a little weak in the knees; relief and maybe a little bit of envy for the boy who knelt next to the little dragonet, tears wet on his face as he formed a bond that she would never understand.

Another egg started to rock, and it was a browd snout that poked its way through the thick shell this time. Alina watched, half-jubilent, half-horrified as Xandris stepped forward and impressed. His father-- the cothold. What would his father do without him? Xandris could do better than Nadol, but what about his duty to family?

She barely had time to finish the thought, though, before the rocking eggs increased and the hum of crowd and dragon increased. A flash of blue, a glimmer of green. The keen of tiny dragons and a cacophany of shouted names. Alina took a step back, then turned as movement caught her eye. Beside her, an egg cracked in two neatly down the middle to spill a wet, bewildered little green dragon onto the Sands. The dragonet lifted her wobbly head, searching--

--and found. Alina found herself drowning in those eyes. She was lost in a whirl of colour, the dragons' hum and the crowd's roar dimming into nothing. Lost, and found. A perfect fit, a being that filled out the broken edges and missing pieces she didn't know she had, until they were together complete--

Something hit her. Alina fell. Imarith made an ugly squawking sound as pain blossomed across her legs, and Alina found that she'd been the one who'd cried out. Imarith was suddenly standing over top of her, mantling her awkward wings to shield her fallen rider from the dragonets and candidates around them. The sand burned against her hands and face until Alina shoved herself onto her knees. "I'm all right-- I'm all right," she told the dragon, and something tight and scared eased in her chest. In Imarith's chest.

Someone put a hand on her elbow. Alina registered a figure in white, then two, as other Candidates hauled her to her feet. She stood braced between them as Imarith pressed against her legs. Pain narrowed her focus to the dragon in her head and the healer jogging across the Sands to meet them. She'd forgotten to do something, but wasn't sure what. Something was dripping down her leg and making her left sandal wet. Blood. Blood on the white of her robe, blood on the Sands.

"Imarith," she said after a moment. "Her name is Imarith."

And Imarith crooned comfortingly in response, a perfect reply to a question that Alina hadn't known she'd asked.

Last updated on the September 6th 2014