Those Who Ride Green

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonriders of Pern. All rights belong to Anne McCaffrey. I do however own L'kar, Piqueth, T'mas, Sigeth, and any OCs that I have created for this tale.

Chapter Two: Fire Lizard Folly

The truth was he had meant to deck T'mas flat with his fist, but he couldn't bring himself to dish out such harm. Thus he slapped the older rider. His hand burned along with his face. Piqueth crooned to him as he walked near, upset that he had seemed to cause her worry as well from the yellow in her eyes.

What happened? I felt pain come from you… She murmured, nosing him before wrapping her entire body around him. Tell me what is wrong... I sense much distress from you.

I guess I can't keep it from you… He touched her nose and rubbed her eye ridge, feeling bad to have caused her worry once more. At least he had yet to upset her greatly. He sighed, glad that she was in the middle of a sea of green bodies at one side of the bowl. If he were to be followed it would take his follower some time to reach him.

I am confused, worried, upset… He started and tried to explain the situation to her, amused by her acting interested. Draconic memory told him she had already forgotten everything he said and she could not grasp the complexities of being human. Though, she seemed to try harder than other dragons.

When he finished she just nosed him gently again, trying to comfort him. If you like him so much… tell him. Something like that should not cause you so much distress…. She murmured, speaking with the simple view of any dragon. She seemed to drift off, contemplating for a moment just what bizarre beings the riders of every dragon were.

"It's not that easy love…" He spoke out loud, still beaming nothing but warmth and love to her, keeping her at ease. The two did not have much time left before a dragon's cry above them announced the arrival of the greens and a few other dragons needing to swap out before the final moments of the fall.

L'kar was quick to his feet; up on Piqueth's back and gone between to where the other riders had told them to go to.

"T'mas! What happened just now?" A smaller man shouted that seemed to be all muscle despite his size. He had a shock of blonde hair and blue eyes that were vibrant as the jewels dug out of the soil. His name was T'ron, rider of the brown Charnth and a close friend of T'mas.

"I'm not quiet sure…" The bronze rider murmured his cheek still stinging from the slap. He had been prepared to be punched, but being slapped? By a man? It was something new to him.

"Tch… that looks like it hurts man… you should ask for some numbweed or a cool cloth to ease that angry red…" He sucked in his breath, eyeing the perfect handprint carefully before bursting out in laughter. "I must admit that was funny! Who ever thought such a slender and lean rider could pack that much force…. It might be worse had he punched you….!" He kept laughing, ignoring the angry glare T'mas sent him.

"Shut it…. Shards…!" He growled. "I can't understand that rider at all!" He grumbled, loosing that stoic exterior as he lashed out at the wall, wincing as he only caused harm to his knuckles.

T'ron sighed and shook his head. "You should at least know his name… maybe that is his issue?" He quested. He knew L'kar very well since he was the one who searched him from his hold. He even recalled his name before impression. Leirkar, a very unusual name possibly because minor holds tend to get more creative in naming their children than those in major holds.

T'mas blinked and tilted his head, tapping a finger to his chin in thought. "Ah… is he that lad you searched all fourteen turns ago? What was it…? Leirkar right?" He brightened, looking slightly chagrined that a brown rider had known this necessary piece of information whereas he had forgotten.

T'ron nodded. "Yes… I can still recall that innocent and wide eyed stare of his when he saw you… that was when Sigeth was recovering from a stickle-bush accident and you couldn't ride him yet."

T'mas grimaced, recalling that accident. They had been out enjoying a rest day when Sigeth decided he was hungry and chased after a wherry. Only to roar in surprise as the frantic animal managed to trick him into stepping on a stickle-bush. It took hours to get the lump of flesh to sit still long enough to pull out the dangerous slivers. And the dragon was grounded until the wounds healed all the way.

"Ah yes… he was the only one we found at that hold…" He murmured, recalling the small boy, four turns younger than himself. He had been amused with the look of adoration on his face with the sight to two dragonriders visiting the hold. Cheeks were still chubby, his face dirty from the labor out in the fields. It was quite an endearing sight the child-like cuteness the rider once possessed.

T'ron nodded. "I knew he would impress, but I wasn't expecting a green to pick him. I thought he would be chosen by a brown." He contemplated, barely noticing the vacant stare of his wing leader. "Hmm…" A thought came to him as that innocent stare entered his mind and of the current situation between the two riders. "I think he remembered you T'mas… maybe he… hadn't wanted Sigeth to catch Piqueth and share his bed with you…"

T'mas blinked, taken aback by his friend's bold statement. "You really think that might be it?" It did make some more sense now that he had known just who L'kar really was now.

T'ron nodded, lightly smacking the back of the bronze rider's head as he scoffed. "Of course… recall that innocent, admiring gaze? He would not take his eyes off of you the entire time you were there…. Maybe the thought of being bed by you ruined that image he had of you…?" He offered.

T'mas cocked his head to the side, a thoughtful look crossing his face as he took that into consideration. The boy had only twelve turns to his name so he of course would admire the first two riders he ever met. He felt more foolish than a fire lizard as it became clear to him, but just barely.

"What do you suggest I do then? Ignore him? Pretend it never happened and go back to my usual solitary life until the next dragon rises? That hardly seems fair…." He scoffed, a glimmer of the apparent haughtiness of a bronze rider coming through his voice and posture.

The brown rider just shook his head. "I don't know… that is between you and him. I however have a beautiful brown to attend to…." He gave his friend a pat. "You two should just get to talking. Bug him until he caves…. Greens can be stubborn too, but push them enough and they will crumble…" He teased.

Laughter boomed from the usually quite T'mas. "Of course… you would know best!" He taunted, referring to the troubles his friend had with a few green riders before.

With that the two parted to check on their dragons and settle down and encourage their lifemates to heal quickly so they could be a part of the next fall.

A sigh escaped him was the fall was finally over and they were safe within their weyr. After checking Piqueth over in case an injury went unnoticed, L'kar finally found he was able to relax. The tension from the flight just seeping away from his body as he sat next to the now sleeping green, both rider and dragon exhausted from fighting.

"Ah man… normally I don't mind flying… but that was one hell of a nasty fall…" He grumbled. After many turns of being able to fight thread most falls produced only minor injuries and a handful of serious ones. This fall however was like the early days of terror fighting thread this pass when riders had vanished between with their dragons in large numbers. Overall it seemed L'kar was lucky to avoid getting hit this fall and so was Piqueth. The majority of riders that went out to fight were injured in some way or their dragon was. One wing was caught by an unseen clump and lost a quarter of their wing between.

"We were lucky this time… but we might not be next time…" He murmured. He was a skilled fighter, but even he suffered injury in his earlier days. As he thought about it his hand moved to his upper thigh and traced a line down his leg. He had gotten caught by thread on his leg and the nasty organism at once seared through it all the way down to his foot. Piqueth was young and had accidentally caused the brush of thread against his thigh, but quickly winked between to save his leg.

After sitting in silence for a long time, eyes closed as he rested mentally, the slender male stood up and quietly slipped out of the weyr to check on Selina. Moving quickly through the halls and dodging people as he went for the passages to the lower ranked dragons were always busier in the sense of the number of people milling about.

J'ter greeted him at her door and looked slightly haggard, the blue rider was obviously suffering from the current state his weyrmate was in. "Oh… it's you. Come on in… She's in a bit of a sour mood so seeing you might help…" He whispered as he pulled the rider inside the room.

Understanding the severity of her injuries he quietly moved to where she was laying in her own bed, glaring at the ceiling. He felt a tad worried as he took in the heavily bandaged arm with faint blotches of red seeping through and the bandages wrapping around her forehead.

He had heard the story from J'ter. Rigedth was doing fine but had slipped into the ranks of another wing in the confusion of actual battle. Just as luck would have it that wing had been the one hit with the invisible clump of thread from above. The pesky mindless creature had attacked her arm, but most of the clump had hit Rigedth.

She was doing fine but that maybe because the healers had knocked the dragon out in order to care for her. When the pair landed Selina fell off her dragon, hence the bandages on her head and had been fine until her dragon was knocked out. Rigedth was grounded for what would be six months of healing. The main sails of her wings had been shredded and barely salvaged. There were also the severe scores on her back and sides that had to heal.

L'kar looked at the pitiful sight of the sleeping dragon and lowered his eyes. It was painful to see any dragon like that and with such injuries. There was a good chance Rigedth was never going to be able to fly.

Eyelids fluttered open as L'kar took a seat next to her bed. Selina smiled and let out a chuckle. "Hah… look at me…" Her words were pained as she shifted and looked at her arm. "I'm surprised I still have this thing working… I'm surprised I'm alive at all…" She let out another pained chuckle as J'ter moved to sit next to L'kar.

The green rider just smiled, noting the tears J'ter was trying to hold back as he tried to keep Selina feeling better. "I am too… though maybe you should have stayed grounded the first time you went in…" He chided and she looked away and nodded.

"I could have avoided this… but… Dragonmen must fly…"

"When thread is in the sky…" L'kar nodded. "I understand…" He murmured as he gripped her hand.

"Oh… L'kar… please tell me… how is she? J'ter refuses to tell me!" She sent him an angry look as she pleaded with him.

This time L'kar looked away from her. "It's… Its really bad Selina… she may not fly even after she has healed…" He murmured despite J'ter's angry look. It wasn't right to keep a rider from knowing her dragon's condition.

He felt his heart wrench as the muffled sounds of Selina's crying reached his ears. Being told you could never fly was heartbreaking for any rider and was harder for the dragons as well. If the dragon was able to live through the night after all… and that thought was causing the tension and worry the three close friends could all feel

J'ter consoled her as L'kar stood after kissing the back of her hand. "I'm sorry Selina… please rest and keep your mind clear… Rigedth needs to rest… just like you…" He murmured as he poured a glass of klah and added some fellis juice to put her to sleep.

"J'ter…" L'kar began but the blue shook his head.

"I know… don't worry… I'll keep an eye on them tonight… You'll know… if anything should happen…" He murmured and lowered his head as the mere thought brought the jovial rider down.

He nodded before leaving; his mood had sunk low as he looked over his shoulder at the weyr. If they lost Rigedth… they may just loose Selina and the thought was enough to make him feel a sharp pain in his chest. "Please hang in there Rigedth… please be a miracle…" He murmured under his breath as he retreated to his weyr.

Dragonrider life was hard. You never knew when you would loose someone. You never knew how long they had left within this realm before they vanished or lost themselves in the despair of loosing their dragon.

Uneasy and depressed L'kar finally retired to his bed and slept.

The next morning was grim as the mournful cries of dragons went off throughout the Weyr and woke a restless L'kar.

Rigedth has gone between… came the sleepy voice of Piqueth as she looked to her rider and continued her mournful cry.

Without much thought the worried green rider ran barefoot through the halls down to Selina's weyr. He stopped at her door as he heard her frantic cries and J'ter fighting with her to keep her sane and alive. He entered and struggled to help him keep Selina still long enough to get fellis laced klah into her. It took a good twenty minutes before she finally went down and slept.

J'ter wiped her face clean of her tears and began to check the injured arm and fix the reopened wounds. The blue rider sniffed as he fought tears and took the items L'kar silently handed him to repair the arm. "She's never going to be the same… I knew it might happen… I knew this could happen to her…" He trembled with anger and other emotions as L'kar just silently consoled the fellow rider.

"When I saw her after I landed… I knew Rigedth… wouldn't make it… the wounds were too serious… the wings too far gone…" He murmured as he wrapped the arm again and pressed his palms against his eyes. "I know… that being a rider… there is always this chance… L'kar… I'm afraid to loose her…" He murmured.

"I know… I am too… I understand what you are going through…" He murmured softly as he bit his lip hard. "She is my closest friend and very much a sister to me…" He murmured and the two of them sat there quietly, J'ter trembling and L'kar biting his lip as he kept his emotions in check.

And so the morning passed somber and heavy as other dragons vanished between because of the loss of their rider. Such is the grim life of those who Pern calls heroes and look to for safety and peace.

T'mas sighed as he sat against the wall of the Bowl and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had just come from a meeting and had not liked what he had heard. The numbers of the Weyr lost was larger than they expected. And too many dragons were grounded for a lot of wings and thus they argued as they split the remaining dragons of the wing hit the most into other wings to fill gaps within the ranks.

Let's leave it there, for it was hell dealing with some of the older riders and more arrogant riders as they sought only the best for the wing after finally warming to the idea. Being a Wingleader himself, T'mas had no issue with this for he saw the merit in replacing those lost within his wing.

He was feeling rattled and exhausted still after his last night and this morning. It wasn't fun waking to mourning dragons and hearing their cries as others perished. It didn't help that there was a bruise forming on his cheek that throbbed a lot this morning as well since he was able to sleep through the pain at night.

"We'll have to talk to other Weyrs about 'fill ins' for the next fall… after that we'll be able to handle it on our own again…" He murmured for the weyrlings would be fully trained to fight and most of those grounded would be able to fly again.

He shook his head as he watched the Bowl slowly get more and more active from his solitary position against the wall. T'ron was busy tending to his dragon since the wing had gotten hit by thread during the last leg of fall and thus could not bother him. Though he did want some company to help lighten the cloak of darkness covering the hearts of his fellow riders and himself..

He scowled, not knowing a few weyrlings were nearby as he frightened them off without meaning to with the scary look he had made. The angry bruise didn't help that look either. So he continued to sit there, not evening noticing when someone finally approached and that the evening meal was about to begin.

"I believe I owe you an apology bronze rider…" came L'kar's voice as he stood in front of the dazed T'mas, sharply kicking him when he didn't get a response from the rider. "Hey!" He shouted.

T'mas hissed in slight pain as he stood up straight and sent L'kar a glare and looked ready to throw so many curses in his direction before stopping when he saw who it was. "I'm sorry… what was that?" He quested, still a little angry as he rubbed the now sore shin of his leg and brushed dirt off his trousers.

L'kar rolled his eyes as he stood there with his arms crossed. The rider had decided to try and talk to T'mas after all after having spent the day with J'ter as they tended to Selina. There were now bags under his eyes from the mental strain of the day and the signs of held back grief written into his face as he stood there. He had only left her side when she woke again and was abruptly in J'ter's arms and seeking from him what she needed to keep herself stable and to deal with the gaping hole in her heart.

"I said I believe I owe you an apology…" He grumbled, not really wanting to do this but forcing himself anyway. "I had no right to treat you that way… and I had no right to slap you…" He coughed and turned his head for he was really ashamed about that one.

T'mas blinked for he was slightly stunned since he thought the rider was not going to talk to him ever. "It's alright… If you did it I deserved it for some reason… some reason I have yet to know…" He hinted, hoping that L'kar would explain himself.

L'kar glared at him as he thought the bronze rider was pushing his luck. "About that…" His mind rushed for a plausible reason for his actions yesterday and he was glad he had just such an explanation. "Sorry again… you know how high strung some of us greens are after a flight…" He lied through his teeth, though he could feel that some of what he did was the effect of just that.

A bond between rider and dragon is strong and powerful on both rider and dragon. Whatever strong emotion a rider feels the dragon picks up on and vice versa. That is what makes a mating flight such an intense experience for riders and dragons alike as both of them are flooded with an intense need for sex. Some riders after a flight feel a sort of lingering effect of the flight and thus seem very hormonal and act slightly off as both rider and dragon go through the same thing. Each rider is different and greens have been known to go through every swing possible the day after a flight. It's more noticeable in the male riders for they take on female qualities in how they act because of their female dragons.

T'mas nodded. "I understand now… I thought it was because you thought I did not know your name… L'kar… Or because your image of me was ruined." He smiled slightly as L'kar just blinked and looked at him. "Yes… I remember you… T'ron and I searched you fourteen turns ago… you were quite the adorable youngster…" He threw in that tease as he watched the green rider before him.

L'kar was silent and just looked at the bronze rider, his expression hard to read. Inwardly he was all over the place for he wasn't expecting a bronze such as T'mas to know who he was, then he thought of the fact he could very easily have asked someone else yesterday. He was a tad happy that the other could remember searching him, but wasn't happy with the comments about being cute. So he wound up scowling.

"I was not cute!" He grumbled under his breath before sighing and running a hand through his hair. The exhaustion of the day was starting to get to him and even the Weyr was feeling the lack of its usual bustle. There was the chance silence would come after the evening meal as riders would seek peace and comfort on top of rest to prepare for the next day.

The older male chuckled under his breath and shook his head. He was finding there was many complex sides to L'kar and that he was indeed a tad different from the other riders he had met and gotten to know well. The man reached out with his hand as an offering of peace. "Alright… you weren't cute but you did leave an impression. Truce…?" He quested with a warm smile as he waited for him to take the offered hand.

L'kar looked at the offered hand and smiled. He still wasn't too happy with the situation between the two of them, but he was in love with the male in front of him. It was a hard to describe emotion and thinking about it too much made him doubt himself and feel insecure. Something he hated with all his might and tried to ignore. Selina had planted a small seed of doubt in him at one point that his 'love' might be severe adoration and respect, after all T'mas was the one to help locate him when he was searched to be a candidate. T'mas was the one to show him the ropes at the Weyr and helped guide him and coach him for the tense weeks before hatching.

Cautiously he reached out for taking the hand could mean so many different things at once, but he didn't want to lose his chances to be around the other man some more. "Fine… I think I can handle that." He grunted as he tried to play this off and ignore the awkward moment between them. There were questions floating in the back of his mind and he knew T'mas had such questions in the back of his well.

Things were best done slowly however and L'kar gave a lazy way of good bye before leaving T'mas to continue relaxing in his corner. The older male watched the green rider walk off across the bowl and back inside the carved mountain they called home. When he could no longer see L'kar he ran a hand through his hair and looked up.

Tomorrow things would start reverting back to the normal and the work that needed to be done would be finished. Sigeth stirred within the rider's mind as he could sense his rider's current state.

Don't worry T'mas. Things will work out in the end. The Weyr is still strong and we're the best…

T'mas chuckled as he could feel the dragon's love and support for him and the slight pride at knowing he was in a 'strong Weyr'. "You're right Sigeth. Besides… all the Weyrs are at full capacity. We will be able to regain our strength quickly." He returned the love to his dragon as he enjoyed his last few minutes before getting up to head to the evening meal.

xXx xXx xXx

Inside the hall was quiet, somber and dull. The food was as hearty as ever and the conversations kept jovial and light but there was no warmth inside the hall. L'kar and J'ter sat at their seats and poked at their food. They had no appetite for their minds were full of fear for Selina's well being. They were also thinking about the shock another friend of theirs would feel after his return from the mission he had been given a month ago.

T'mas was sitting next to his own good friend and found his eyes wandering to the quiet form of his current 'werymate' despite the lack of an actual intimate relationship between them. He hadn't known of the fate of Selina's dragon for so many were lost that morning and just knew everything felt strained. If he had he was sure the meeting they both had earlier that day would have been a little more strained and awkward.

The bronze rider shook his head and felt a little out of touch with his own Weyr. It has hard though to recall the face of every rider and their names. Hard to actually keep track of whose dragon was whose at all times. He was a bronze and was shocked to know he knew little of his fellow brown and blue riders, especially the blue riders. They were almost all but forgotten in his limited views of the Weyr. There was a slight shock as he thought about how forgotten blues and even the greens were. The most numerous type of dragon but the ones with little rank and power.

The rider sighed. It could not be helped however for such was not something that could easily be changed. Things were as they were because it worked and kept things running smooth and nicely. As he thought about it he felt those riders were forced to accept that when they were selected by their life-mates. He could imagine their wild ideas and fantasies about getting chosen by a bronze or a brown and the girls who wanted to be selected by golds. Only to be forced to accept through a slight manipulation by impression into being forced to remain at the rank and expectation of those that flew a certain color.

The thoughts though did make him appreciate the lower ranked dragons suddenly. Without them the Weyr would be screwed over and unable to function and fight thread. He smiled as he suddenly had a newfound respect for L'kar as he thought about the situations of being selected by a green. Something else that was never thought of much by those that flew other colors. Imagine being bred a certain way to accept only one form of thought and then finding yourself bonded to a green dragon. A large symbol of what your role would wind up being in the terms of mating flights.

His mind began to wander off as one thought lead to another and the train continued. He didn't even notice the Weyrwoman entered the room until he was pulled to his feet until she took her seat at the right table. She herself look tired and haggard as her soft silver blonde hair did not shine with its usual health and she looked like she needed a good deep sleep and chance to relax. Her soft blue eyes met T'mas' own eyes as she gave a smile.

Elsina wishes to speak with you… came Sigeth's voice and T'mas nodded at her. He wondered what the woman wanted from him for she had her own matters to attend to and not pry her way into what he was dealing with. So with that he finished his meal and prepared himself for talking to the strange woman.

A/N: Well there we have it. The second chapter after a long and stressing time period for me. Please feel free to tell me how crappy or strange a turn this chapter took. I have an idea of where I want to go with this idea but no idea how to get it there. :/ I just fail. It's hard since this is such a well loved world and not much is actually known about the other dragons and their riders. It's scary since I am a fan of the novels but I am also a terrible victim to fan-crazed notions… I know I said certain colors will be limited but I felt the Werywoman should at least be known and seen helping out the riders…