Disclaimer: I don't own a speck of a thing about Pern, except these characters and plot. Please leave them alone and praise the wonderful McCaffrey.
Please see the bottom for extensive Author's Notes. Please. (Oh, and I'm probably going to remove chapter one of this story, as it's incredibly bland and pointless. So, unless I get begged not to, it'll be gone by next Saturday)
Lia's Story
Lia stood, trembling, in her white robe. She shot a glance at the other girls, each as nervous as her. Oh, sure, they were all desperate to Impress the little gold queen, but that didn't make them any less terrified.
Lia took a deep breath. Relax, she told herself. Everything will be fine, fine…
The problem was that she was weyrbred, and queens chose a non-weyrbred girl nineteen out of twenty times. For the first time in her life, Lia found herself wishing she had been raised in a CraftHall, a Hold, anywhere but a Weyr. Fort Weyr, no less!
She found that looking at the other girls was too stressful for her. She glanced around at the boys. There were thirty-nine normal eggs, each placed a little bit away from the next, and all a good deal away from the large, golden egg.
Nepath, the queen and mother of this clutch, was looking proudly at her eggs, though her eyes were whirling yellowly, due to the imminence of their Hatching. Lia wondered if she would one day ride a queen as large as that.
She turned her attention to the eggs again. She had noticed that their shells had slight patterns on them. One had a creamy swirl through it, and she wondered whether that indicated its occupant's color.
Another egg had greenish streaks running through it. A green? Most likely. She began to examine every egg that she could see clearly enough, trying to guess what color dragon would Hatch from it.
Then, she realized that the boys had been going through the eggs every day, touching them. They ought to know what was what by now.
"Uh… hello," Lia said to the three lads nearest her, all kneading their palms with their hands, mirroring their inner nerves. They looked at her soundlessly.
"Well, I was wondering if you could tell what color a dragonet will be by its shell. I guess I should know, being weyrbred and all, but no one's ever said anything about it."
"Yeah, we think that they mean something," one boy said. He was weyrbred, but Lia didn't know his name. "They say that bronze eggs have the most dis… dit… dist…"
"Distinct?"
"Yeah, the most... dixtinct... markings. Like that one, there," he pointed to a largish egg, not too far from them, "See the pattern? Looks kinda like a wing, dunn'it?"
It did, Lia realized. "So, is that one a green?" she asked, pointing to the egg she had noticed earlier, with the green streaks.
"Yeah, we think so," one lad said.
Lia wondered, suddenly, whether the girls would be allowed to stand for the greens if the queen didn't like them. Greens were female, after all, but only boys Impressed them now.
Lia walked back toward the girls, who were by now about ready to faint. One girl was crying. Lia shook her head disgustedly. Well, she had never really been that feminine, always doing the hard chores, playing with her brothers, and taking care of the animals. She had even gone over and talked with the lads just now, when she could've been sharing the fear with these girls.
Just then, a screeching filled the Weyr. Lia had lived here long enough to know what that meant.
The eggs were Hatching!
Lia shifted on her feet, the sands burning right through the soles of her boots. She gave the girls around her another contemptuous glance. They wept. Why? Dragons were not creatures to fear. They were the most magnificent beasts on Pern. Lia did not tremble at the thought of a Hatching.
She shot a glance at the lads, crowded around the thirty-nine normal eggs that lay in front of Nepath. Behind Nepath was Jikoth, the Weyrleader K'tar's beautiful bronze. Lia found herself more enchanted with the fine gleam of Jikoth's hide than that of the queen.
Next, Lia's eyes traveled over the queen egg. It was only slightly bigger than the eggs of the males and greens, but its golden glimmer was unmistakable. Lia wondered what the queen's name would be, who would Impress her.
Suddenly, there was a great, rumbling hum. It came up from all the mature dragons, and Lia's heart leapt into her throat. Now the eggs were really Hatching!
The first egg that Hatched was a brown. He staggered about, making pathetic whimpering noises. A lad hastened to his side to calm him. A moment later, the boy looked up, his eyes locking with some people sitting on the sidelines.
"He's Parboth!" he cried elatedly.
Four more eggs Hatched, delivering green Gertorth, blue Wonteth, brown Olath, and bronze Voath. S'oak, C'nar, W'bil, and Ch'nit walked their dragonets proudly from the Hatching Grounds.
Suddenly, the queen egg gave an almighty jerk, and Lia snapped her attention back onto it, feeling dizzy.
It's Hatching, it's Hatching, oh, is it mine? Are you mine, little queen?
The egg gave a final crack and out tumbled a reeling little golden beast. Lia stared at it, panting.
The Hatchling paused a moment, then swung her head toward Lia.
Are you mine, little one?
To Lia's utter surprise, she felt an answer in her head!
No, Lia, I am not yours. There is another.
Had the unImpressed queen dragon hatchling spoken to her? Lia stared in shock at the little gold, who wavered indecisively for one more second, then dashed to Minara, a girl from Lemos Hold.
"Oh, she's Pinith!" Minara cried, tears of joy pouring down her face as she stroked the glistening eye ridges.
Lia turned away, disappointed, tears of frustration burning in her eyes. She had spoken with the dragon, she knew it! But she had not Impressed.
Do not give up, little one. There is a dragon for you yet.
Lia looked up, stunned.
N-Nepath? she asked hesitantly.
Yes, child. Now look! One is for you.
B-but Pinith already Hatched, Queen. There is no other for me, for a girl.
Suddenly, realization hit Lia. The normal eggs!
She spun, watching the other eggs.
Only about twenty lay, still rocking. About thirty-five boys still remained, though, staring intently at the huge eggs.
Lia recognized Langor, her half brother, and went over to stand next to him, feeling extremely out of place. But Nepath had told her. Should the queen that had laid the clutch not know who would Impress from it?
Langor shot Lia a questioning look, but Lia shook her head. Langor was too focused on the Hatching to care, so he just returned his gaze to the eggs.
A few minutes later, when Langor became L'gor – "Allorth! He's Allorth!" with a little brown, Lia found herself feeling very alone amidst thirty frantic boys and fifteen eggs.
Suddenly, another egg split. Lia stared, entranced, at the little bronze. It could be no other color. It swung its precious head up, crying piteously.
Lia's heart was rent by the little sounds. How could the boys stand there when the little beast was so upset? Lia hastened forward to soothe the little creature, stroking his head and murmuring sweet nothings.
There, there, now, little bronze. Everything is all right now.
Of course it is, the little hatchling said, his vocalizations becoming more and more relaxed. You are here now.
Only then did Lia realize what she had done. She had Impressed a dragon!
Yes. I am Madeth, and you are Lia. You are my rider now.
Yes, of course, Madeth, Lia thought, feeling so calm. She was unaware of everything except for the little, beautiful bronze in front of her.
And except for Nepath's complacent, I told you so.
Thanks for bearing with me here! Please review, and I'll... uh... I'll be happy?
(ANs: OK. Here it is. Righto. Either my meaning was misconstrued, or I wasn't clear. Probably my fault. Here's what I meant to say:
I understand that bronzes and girls weren't meant to Impress. My reasoning behind this was that Madeth was almost a kind of freak thing, a one-in-a-trillion chance, that would never happen again, if at all. He was a mistake the way Ruth was, being a white dragon. I know this idea is uncanon, and has already been explored, but I chose to use it here.
So, then I got several reviews saying I couldn't do what I did. I therefore reacted by getting angry and saying words that weren't clear enough. People are under the impression that I only want to be told what I want to hear. How about this: Please tell me anything you want, just not that one specific thing about color-gender. I already am aware that it is not normal. Any other concrit, happy reviews or even - well, I don't WANT flames, but any reviews are fine, except for that one type. I already know about it.
And about listing it as AU: That means Alternate Universe, or something, doesn't it? Which means not exactly canon, right? Well, I A- Didn't know exactly how to use it, and B- I kind of wanted it to be something big and unusual for Lia to get her dragon.
So, thank you, reviewers, whether you be ticked-off flamers about my bronze Madeth, or annoyed people putting me in my place about my fanfic license and reviews (I did need that). So, my temper is somewhat cooled. Kind of funny, isn't it, that I get more reviews my adding to my ANs than by just writing a story? So, I must now conclude my frightfully long ANs. Ta.)