So he was to be removed from the Weyr. This not only terrified him, but left him in a frenzied, nearly lunatic state. Even those people who could defend his actions were forced to admit that he could no longer be trusted as a weyr healer, or perhaps as a healer at all.
He was brought into another time and place, though still in the South. Vanya wandered alone -- his two fire lizards moving themselves into another weyr waiting for him to return. Finally, he learned of his whereabouts -- and his temporal location.
He had been moved to a time barely after colonization of Pern! There were far fewer dragons in the world, and therefore far less chance for him to be ruined by their painful mental communication -- speech which had been known to send him into catatonia or epileptic fits.
Brutally, he survived in the wilderness. Until he reached a weyr, young and fresh. He knew it, from historical documents, as Darkshade Weyr. One of the first, and one which so far as he knew did not make it into his time in the Fifth Pass. He had no reason to think that these people would know of him, but in case any future links survived he did not want to be known as the healer who murdered his master. So he changed his name along the way, and began calling himself Kalkin. Very few people know his old name.
There at Darkshade, completely unexpectedly, he found himself attending one of their first Clutches. And equally unexpectedly, he Impressed!
Painfully, with more damage being done when he attempted to drive out the mind which he now shared, Kalkin strove to learn about how best to deal with being a 'rider'. The clutch was small, as were the dragons, as they were from the early history of their kind. Sixth was one of the smallest in the clutch, but he was kind and learned quickly that the merest touch of his mind would throw his bond mate into a painful seizure.
Sixth learned how to use his vocalizations much more than other dragons. Using trills and bugles, soft notes and sustained bellows, as well as slapping his tail on the ground or stamping with his feet, Sixth and Kalkin were able to establish a new language, which did not involve any mental contact.
Once Sixth grew old enough to learn to fly, however Kalkin had another problem. He was not only rather old (around 56 by that time) but he was terrified of heights and had motion sickness almost immediately. They discovered that Kalkin could in fact cling on to the dragon but barely anything else, and certainly never wanted to fly any higher than necessary.
But in this manner, they learned. Then, came betweening. That was their ruination for the moment. Kalkin's need to get home, or to a place which was safe, drove a picture into Sixth's mind. They disappeared from Darkshade and flew into the far future, and reached a new South, an area where several volcanoes had erupted during their absence, where the coast line had changed dramatically... In other words, a place neither could possibly recognize.
They spent a while at a weyr known as Cloudpeak, but then discovered how to read star charts. The only problem now was where and when to go, and how much it hurt Kalkin's brain to be in mental contact with Sixth still, to get the coordinates.
They bounced around several times, until landing finally in the current Pass, where Courage and Echo were reunited with their long lost owner. This is where Kalkin met up with Lexan, Engell and many others such as Raanatani and the Kshau families.
Sixth is not kept with the rest of the dragons in the weyr. If he were, many dragons would probably belittle him or demand to know who his rider was. For this reason he is kept near another small Hold, Raanatani's Fosterling hold by name, and is visited regularly. When he flies, it is often assumed that he is merely a weyrling due to his diminiutave size. (He is less than a third the size of a normal Blue dragon.)
Read ON to view Sixth's Mating Woes
