Riders on the Wing

A Green Rider/Dragonriders of Pern crossover

By: Sirius

Disclaimer: They're not mine. They've never been mine. I'm just playing with them and then putting them right back (I don't even – strictly speaking – have any OC's in this one… yet).

Timeline: In the Green Rider universe, the tale flashes back to moments that take place only a couple of months after High King's Tomb, but the majority of the story is about two years after HKT. In terms of Dragonriders of Pern, it takes place during the Ninth Pass, before T'ron, Mardra and various other Oldtimers are exiled to Southern.

Fair Warning: I know where the story's going and how it will be ending, and how various characters got where they are (you'll see)… but some of the middle bits are still a little shaky, so don't be surprised if this takes a little longer to shape up than some of my others. No worries, all questions will be answered… in time.

Rating: T for now. It may go up later.

Prologue: Unusual Riders

Fort Weyr had grown uneasy with the two young dragons and their riders. Strange… and somewhat frightening… were this bronze and brown who refused to allow the abbreviation of their riders' names. Bronze Aerycth, who – it would seem – might some day rival the great Mnementh in size, was quietly but resolutely insistent when he stated that his rider's name was Zachary. Not Z'ry, not Z'chary… Zachary. Brown Jonath, his large, strong and steady clutchmate, was no less determined when it came to his own rider.

There was much about the two men that ran contrary to everything the Weyr understood. They were too old to be Searched – the dragons had not even been on Search, as there were enough weyrbrats to stand for Loranth's clutch – but the dragons near the Hold that day were sensitive to such people, and refused to leave without them. They were too old to stand for Impression – and indeed, Fort's Weyrleader had kept them from Standing – but nothing was able to halt two determined hatchlings who were well aware that their life partners were not on the Hatching Ground, and the dragon's choice could never be denied. No one knew where the men had come from, and no adult from the surrounding Holds could - or would – say anything of them other than that they worked hard and spoke little. The clothing they had worn when they had stumbled into a cothold at Southern Boll spoke of wealth… and hard times, for though it was of good quality, it had seen better days, as had the men.

The Fort riders had gained their most prized clues about their unexpected Candidates from the Hold children – still in awe of the dragons, though they mistrusted Fort riders almost as much as their parents. The children trusted the two strangers and always noticed one or the other of them listening to the lessens the Hold Harper taught the children, as if they'd never heard the Teaching Ballads… or the common language of Pern was entirely unfamiliar to them. If, indeed, they did not speak the language of Pern, what did they speak? Where did they come from? Why did the dragons Search two people who had no idea what it would mean to be a dragonrider? For months, the questions had whispered about Fort Weyr… and still, there were no answers.

Truly, most of Fort – riders and Weyrfolk alike – did not know what to do with them, did not want them… and now that the dragons and riders had been fully trained, felt perfectly justified in wishing another Weyr would take them. Indeed, the Weyrleaders were doing whatever they could to make certain these two unprecedented pairs quickly found a home elsewhere, and made no secret of it in the presence of the riders in question.

Zachary, bronze Aerycth's rider, was always courteous, but remained even on the best of days a solemn, quiet man, who only rarely showed signs of laughter or any lighter emotion… and those moments occurred most often when he spoke with Jonath's rider, the silent and intimidating Fastion, in that language no one on Pern seemed to know, save for those two men. Though little else was known of him, his sense of justice was obvious… and that almost immediately set him at odds with Fort's Weyrleader, T'ron.

Even during Weyrling training, the sharp eyes of Aerycth's rider had noticed other – more senior – Fort riders leaving, only to return with goods that he was certain were not tithe items, nor anything even a dragonrider could expect to gain free of charge. His mind, quick to understand politics in any world, realized that these riders were men who felt entitled to whatever they wished as the price of protecting Pern, even if they had not always behaved with so little honor. Instead of guardians keeping a noble duty, they had become little more than petty thieves… and that, with their Weyrleaders' tacit approval.

In this instance, he did not attempt to hide his disgust for their actions, and his open contempt only made T'ron and Mardra loathe him, with Fastion – who was of the same opinion as the bronze rider – coming a close second in their estimation. Others among the Fort riders might be trustworthy, Zachary knew, but if they were, they kept their heads lower than he kept his. By the time Weyrling training had come to a close, he and Fastion had been assigned every miserable task available, and whatever else occurred to those who disliked being judged… even when the judgment was silent. They spoke not a word of complaint in the open, sharing any thoughts and frustrations by way of their dragons only, so as to avoid being overheard. That the Weyrleaders sought to send them elsewhere surprised the riders not at all, and Zachary knew that Fastion suspected darker plans than a simple transfer, but such was the nature of Weapons.

To be continued...