Yikran
Yikran laughed as he watched his bronze Everesth jump around, I didn't know there were this many other dragons in that clutch! Some of them are really pretty! Oh, look at that gold! Everesth exclaimed, rushing over and butting at a perfectly shaped young gold.
  Yikran gasped, "Everesth! Stop that! I'm sure she doesn't like it!" He shouted, rushing over and grabbing at his bronze's neck.
  "I'm sorry," He made a quick apology to the new goldrider...Shestiy? Had that been this girl? "I never thought handling a dragon would be this difficult." He groaned silently to himself. That had to have been the stupidest thing he had ever said.
  The goldrider - Shestiy, he was sure of it now - smiled nervously, scratching Sindalometh's eyeridge. "He's quite a handsome fellow," she said, looking at Everesth happily.
  Yikran looked about him. He saw Mivi and Sixja over in a corner, talking with themselves, and Lopa had boys hounding her. He laughed a bit. He would never think about Lopa like that. She was just too pretty for her own good, and boy did it annoy him when she said she was ugly. He turned back to Shestiy, realizing he had been rude looking for his friends like that.
  "Um, sorry," Yikran sighed, sliding into the seat next to her. "I was just seeing what my friends were doing. Lopa really isn't stable enough to handle a gold. Making sure she hadn't had a break down, but it seems like she's doing perfectly fine." He said, laughing. "I hate it when guys gawk at her like that. She's practically my sister. Well, Mivi and Sixja are like that, too, but they don't have as many problems."
Yikran, Everesth crooned, her gold is very pretty. The prettiest of the hatching. Talk to her rider as much as you like. I want some time to get to know the gold.
  Shestiy chuckled softly. "The best part of being me was that I never had problems with guys swarming me. I had one or two that liked me back in the smithcraft hall whenever I was younger, but it wasn't really anything. I was fifteen or something at the time."
  She shrugged. "Lopa seems to be handling all of it rather well, though. Better than I would, I think. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I was like that. Where did you come before you were Searched?"
  "Well," Yikran sighed, smiling deeply. "I was born in the Imarald House, I suppose it would be a Hold here. My mother was one of the high ranking ladies of the House and decided it would be best to send me to Verita Institute for me to get an education. I was placed in the Earthen History class, and that's where I stayed since I didn't fell like doing anything else. I've wanted to get out of that Institute since I was put there, and now," He said, looking down at Everesth, "I have a reason not to return, and mother will be proud to have a Bronze Dragoneer in the family."
  He cleared his throat. He had just run out of things to say. He looked into Shestiy's eyes. They had such depth, and they looked worried.
  "Is something bothering you?" Yikran asked, going to place his hand onto top of hers, but hesitated and pulled back.
  "Nothing big," she lied swiftly. "Just thinking about what's going to happen after Sindalometh gets bigger and we start transferring to other Weyrs. I'm thinking that I might stay, if you are."
  Yikran sat in a sat of shock. She had said something close to what he had been thinking. He wanted to tell her she was staying, but he was going to go back to the Caer on Verita. They needed Dragoneers, but...oh, he couldn't leave her hanging, "I...um...I really want to stay. It's so nice here, but I have to go back to the Island's Caer. They need new Dragoneers, and I'd like to see my family again. Uh..."
  He started to say that she could come back with him, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to hear that. He had never been so unsure of what to say in his life. He had always had a quip or two up his sleeve, but now, he was just blank, "Um..."
  "What's Alskyr like?" she asked Yikran tentatively.
  Yikran smiled, thankful of another question to fill his confusion, "Well, it's really nice. Sort of like it is here, but with a lot more water and less land. Anyway you turn, there's a beach at least ten miles away," Yikran sighed. "There isn't thread, but there are these creatures called Ants. They're about the size of dogs and can bite a man in half, and Rampaging Plants that can destroy a whole building simply by growing on it. Dragons aren't the only large bondable creatures. Gryphons and Sea Dragons also exist. There are Institutes everywhere. Catena Island is the most well educated Island with an Institute almost every 20 miles. It's beautiful, really."
  Yikran smiled and moved his hand onto of hers. He had to do something to show he liked her.
  "It sounds like a really neat place," she said, trying to think up things to say. "But very different from Pern. I'd like to go and see it - even if just to visit for a little while. Just to see what it's like."
  Yikran beamed, "I'm sure we can arrange a trip once Everesth and Sindalometh are fully grown."

***
Yikran smiled over at Shestiy as she trained with the other gold Weyrlings. Yikran sighed as M'ac and his bronze almost ran into the eye rock.