Rytiel

Adult

Six months later, when Mrussith was grown, R'tiel looked at her thoughtfully. That one wingsail was still lighter than the other, but in his eyes, that made Mrussith a true individual. To him, she was the perfect green, delicate and sleek, true to her femininity.

R'tiel had decided that before he met up with K'brin, T'brin and Sequoia that evening to go to White River Weyr that he'd pay a visit to his old home. He'd reconsidered his idea for getting revenge on his brothers for teasing him about Impressing a green. Well, probably anyway.

Come on, lets go, R'tiel said as he mounted his green. Once he was settled, Mrussith launched gracefully into the air, beating broad wings to gain altitude, and under R'tiel's direction, went between to the cothold his family lived in.

His half-brothers came through the door of the hold as he landed, coming to investigate the dragon that had landed outside. "Aw, it's just R'tiel and his little green," one of them said.

"You got a nice bluerider weyrmate yet R'tiel?" the other asked.

R'tiel frowned at him. "I don't see how it's any of your business," he snapped. "Where's mother?"

"She's inside," the younger of his brothers answered. "Although I don't see why you bothered coming. You're a disgrace to the family, riding a female dragon."

R'tiel ignored him, and walked into the house, searching out his mother, who he found in the kitchen. "Hello mother. How are you?" he asked, cursing himself for sounding so formal.

"I'm very well thank you," his mother replied. "I heard you Impressed at Cincanta?" she asked.

"I did. Her name's Mrussith," R'tiel replied, waiting for the inevitable question.

"Her?" his mother asked, evidently having never seen his letter home. Not surprising really. His brothers had probably destroyed it before she could read it.

"Yes," R'tiel said firmly. "She's green."

"Are you happy with that?" his mother enquired, looking at him thoughtfully.

"I am," R'tiel confirmed. "I don't see that it matters what colour or gender she is. She's still my dragon. She says she wants to clutch though, so we haven't had any firestone training yet."

He stayed for the next few hours, talking things over with his mother. He came to several realisations has he did so, things that he hadn't thought about before. His mother helped him a lot with that, helping him decide on his own that maybe he did have some homosexual tendancies in there somewhere, and that maybe it would do him good to express them, regardless of what his brothers said about it.

Not that they had to know, R'tiel realised. He'd be going to White River Weyr, and in all likelihood would never see them again. By the time R'tiel was ready to leave, he was feeling more sure of himself and who he was, something that Mrussith approved wholeheartedly of.

So, they returned to Cincanta in time to meet Sequoia, K'brin and T'brin. Sequoia, as the goldrider, gave the word to take off, and so the four dragons did, winking between to White River Weyr as soon as they were high enough.

And when they arrived, it was into absolute chaos. The volcano in which the Weyr was situated was rumbling ominously, and already cracks were appearing in the Weyrbowl. Dragons were swirling above the Weyr in dizzying spirals as the wings prepared to evacuate.

Akatanth, Retegrith, Geretrith and Mrussith joined one of the wings, one that consisted entirely of young dragons, none of which the four riders could recognise, but all appeared to be fresh out of Weyrling training. Once again, Sequoia took the lead, taking all the dragons between, just as the eruption of the Weyr began.

Where the group appeared though, was not where they had expected to be. Sequoia, in the need to get away as quickly as possible, had taken them somewhere not of Pern.

The sky was a dull orange, and far below them was a cliff, from which dragons were flying. Strange coloured dragons though. Blacks and silvers, and purples, and some that could loosely be described as bronzes or browns.

"Where are we?" several of the riders murmured as the group began their descent. The place was, as they discovered later, Cathair Fionabhainn, on a world called Danach. And the riders were welcome to stay, since so few dragons had been Imprinted on Danach so far.

R'tiel settled in quickly, making friends with various male riders as soon as he could, both those native to Danach, and also some that made come with the group, the now copperriders. When it came to Mrussith's approaching first flight, it would do well for R'tiel to know his options. Not many of the riders were interested in him, but he did hear rumours of places where he could go for Mrussith to rise.

In the mean time, he spoke to the Cathairix, and got himself a Finder position, the Danachian equivalent of a Searchrider it seemed. Mrussith had an extensive interest in Candidate hunting, so it seemed like the perfect job for them both.