After it was all over, ten of the Dragons remain: Jonathan "Duck" Duxen, Galen Matou, Kendrah Miller, Steward Patrick, Kristopher Stempel, Howard Long, Amanda Strong, Oscar Entwistle, Russel Zigler, and Owen Sanger.

Sitting around a table, they stared at each other in silence.

Finally Kendrah slammed her mug on the table with excessive force, spattering the hot cinnamon flavored beverage across the tabletop. "What I want to know is: why not us?"

Jonathan shrugged, but didn't speak. A downhearted Duck was a hard thing to tolerate. Fortunately, it didn't happen very often.

"Maybe it's not time yet." Mandy suggested, as was apt to happen when she had something profound to say. Was she vastly intelligent? Or did it take her a while to get things through her head? Or what? "Things take time to ripen, and eggs hatch in their own good time." She said almost philosophically.

"There aren't any more eggs though." Howie said, shattering the silence that followed Mandy's profound statement. "It was a surprise that there were so many eggs in the first place."

"I'd wager there are other places where dragons hatch." Owen ventured. "I'm not sure where we are, but it definitely isn't Earth."

"No duh." Kendrah said, examining the dregs of her beverage.

Owen rolled his eyes. "But Ryslen can't be the only place where dragons hatch. That would be too weird."

"Did someone say weird?" Texia said, advancing on the table with a full tray in her hands. There was an awkward pause. The Dragons still weren't quite sure what to make of the 'natives'. "Refills anyone?" The dragonner said, looking to each with her two-colored gaze.

"No more for me. " Kendrah said, pushing her mug away. "That stuff is… not to my liking." Howie gaped a little. Usually Kendrah's mouth was fouler.

"Would you rather have coffee?" Texia offered.

Duck's eyes lit up. "You have coffee here?! I asked before and got funny looks."

Texia laughed. "It's imported from Alskyr; it isn't native to our area. And you're in luck. I happen to have some right here."

Duck grinned. "Great!"

As Texia poured, they exchanged introductions, and made room for the eleventh chair around the table. "So you were talking about other hatcheries?" Texia prompted, trying to bring the conversation back up.

"Yes…" Stu said, "there are hatcheries other than Ryslen, right?"

Texia nodded. "Of course. There are quite a few on this world, and some that aren't."

"Not on this world?" Stewart asked, sitting up straight.

"Our mission: to boldly go wh…" Duck was cut off as Stu backhanded him. "Just because my parents were Trekkies doesn't mean I am."

"Riiight…" Texia said, more than a little lost. "There are the Cathairs of Danach, the Caers of Alskyr, and some others that defy definition."

They nodded, not surprised in the least by the strangeness any more.

"If you're interested, I think we can find places with clutches for all of you, if you'd like to try to bond dragons."

Duck's eyes lit up. "You'd do that for us, Texia?"

"Sure!" she laughed. "I'd love to. Of course, you are more than welcome to wait for the next clutch at Ryslen if you'd rather." Texia excused herself and left the ten to converse amongst themselves as she sought out searchers and finders. After a short while, Texia returned with Sargon and C'thal. "This is Sargon of Azon, and C'thal, who bonded here, but resides at Cathair Fionabhainn. There are clutches at both places, but they can only take three each…"

"I'll go with C'thal." Stu said.

"I'll go with Sargon." Kendrah said. "I saw his dragon…" she swooned; just a little.

Mandy smirked. "I'll go to Fionabhainn; I'd like to see somewhere new."

Howie scratched his head. "I'll go with Mandy and Stu."

Duck grinned. "Count me to Azon."

Owen nodded. "Me too."

Texia smiled apologetically at the last four. "It's okay." Galen said. "Russel, Oscar, Kris, and I will find somewhere to go."

"How soon can we go?" Duck asked.

"How soon can you be ready?" Sargon replied.

Kendrah laughed. "We never unpacked!"

C'thal looked to the trio that were to be going with him back to the Danachian Cathair. "We're ready when you are. " Stu said. C'thal nodded. Soon they were off. “We’ll find our own place to stand?” asked the architect student, Russel, “How are we going to do that Galen? We don’t know much of where we are.”

“Well at least we’re in a place where the substitute for coffee is better than coffee, Crush,” Kristopher smiled as he took a long draft of the cinnamony tasting drink, “What’d they call it again?”

“Claw I think,” Oscar replied looking over at their friends who’d already impressed dragons. Or to be precise he was watching Aisu and her gold.

“I thought is was ‘caulled’,” Galen replied looking into his drink and shrugging.

“It’s called, klah,” a young man stated to what remained of the Dragons, “You really aren’t from around here are you?”

“No we aren’t,” Galen replied becoming spokes person for the group, he tilted his head at the young man before continuing, “Where are we exactly, I mean we know this is Ryslen Weyr but where are we?”

“In the East Rock Territory on Pern,” the man replied. “Odd name,” Russel snorted. “Oh and you come from a better planet.”

“Yeah, we come from Earth,” Oscar stated proudly. “Who would ever name their planet after the ground they walk on?” the man chuckled back.

“Our ancestors, M’rec,” a slightly older woman chided the man as she was passing and then stopped to get in on the conversation, “You’d probably recognize the other word for the planet, Old Terra.” “You mean they’re from where the ancients migrated from?” the young man asked the woman in disbelief. Both riders didn’t even notice that the quartet was completely lost now.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a tick,” Galen cut into the conversation between the two riders, “Are you telling us we’re in the future?” Both M’rec and the woman looked at the spokesperson for the Dragons a bit shocked.

“You’re not from present time Old Terra?” M’rec asked, “Shouldn’t they probably be from the present, Yui?” The woman shrugged in reply.

“Well our planet doesn’t have the means for interstellar travel,” Kris replied thinking about his Astronomy Major that he was in the process of finishing at Victory College, “So I guess that would mean that we are from the past, unless your ancestors got her the same way we did, and it wasn’t with a ship to our knowledge.”

“Well according to the records we just found earlier this pass they came her in the Dawn Sisters,” Yui replied thoughtfully, “They’re not stars but ships that fly through space. For turns they thought the Dawn Sisters were three stars on the horizon but now…” she trailed of and shrugged.

“So we’re stranded in the future?” Oscar wined slightly, then brightened, “Well at least I don’t have to take those stupid exams at the end of the semester anymore.”

“Oscar those are the exams you need to graduate in your major!” Kris growled at the five-year student. All color drained from Oscar’s dark features in realization before he slammed his head into the table.

“I’m dead… I just gotta be, probably in Hell if this is happening,” Oscar groveled into the table, “I can’t even ask Aisu if she’d go out with me here then. She’d rip me to shreds.”

“Get your head off the table, Oscar, you’re not dead and neither are we,” Russel told the smaller girthed man, “Though Aisu might knock you out for asking her three times in the last twenty four hours.”

“Well I’ll tell you,” Yui broke into their conversation, “You’re friends who impressed, they’ll be here for two turns.”

“You used that word again, turns,” Kris frowned, “What’s that mean?”

“One turn equals how long it take Pern to travel around Rukbat,” Yui replied looking at the Earthlings oddly.

“So a Turn’s a year?” Galen asked.

“A year?” both riders asked at once. The hockey players sighed in defeat and hung their heads.

“Hey are you causing trouble, Yui?” a voice called over to the group. A man walked up and smiled dryly at M’rec, “Shouldn’t you be tending your hatchling, M’rec.”

“Lyruth’s been feed and asleep for fifteen minutes, Ar’wen,” M’rec replied before looking over his shoulder at and iridescent red dragon only to find that the hatchling was awake and trying to help himself to more of the chopped up meet a smaller hatchling had not finished. M’rec yelped and bit a hasty goodbye leaving Yui and Ar’wen with the Dragons now. Ar’wen chuckled before nodding a greeting to the remaining hockey players.

“I heard from Texia that there were a four young men who wished to find another place to try and stand,” Ar’wen smiled, “What jealous of your teammates?” The four glared at Ar’wen and the rider’s smile seemed to become even wider at their irritation.

“Oooo, if we were on the ice, buddy, you wouldn’t be wearing that smile,” Kris growled, his slight temper getting to him. Galen calmly held out an arm baring the Astronomy major from possibly going after this rider.

“I don’t really think we’re jealous,” Galen spoke up softly, “More amazed that only about half of our team impressed when they were told to stay off the sands because of.”

“As I remember, one of your friend who impressed didn’t leave the stands,” Yui put in only to receive a glare from Kris for her correcting of the team’s self appointed spokesperson.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Galen replied giving a soft warning jab at Kris’ chest, “Trick’s blue did like his rider and popped over the boards.” Ar’wen blinked at the hockey player’s reference to the wall dividing the stand and the sands and shrugged.

“Well she thought that maybe I could help you out find a place to try for a dragon,” he chuckled, “And the proper way at that, from the hatching sands and not up in the stands this time.”

“When do you think the next hatching will be here?” Oscar asked absently looking off at the members of their team who’d already impressed. “Dragons can fly at a moments notice,” Ar’wen replied, “But even if one flew tomorrow there’d be two months at least before the hatching.” “I think I can wait that long,” replied the lovesick defender as he watched his crush stroke the golden hide of her dragon.

“Then that leaves us three,” Russel stated sensibly, “so where could we go?”

“Well Firestone Weyr has a white clutch on their sands and I heard there was a gold’s clutch at Beach Shards Weyr.”

“Let’s go to the gold clutch, Galen,” Kris grinned and Russel nodded in agreement, they’d heard that the harder to find colors were usual in those clutches. Galen on the other hand sat and thought for a while.

“Why don’t you two go there,” he stated with his eyes closed and head bowed slightly, “I’d like to explore this world a bit on my own. No offence to the two of you of course.” Russel quickly held Kris at bay as the other man seemed to let his temper slip again.

“We don’t mind, do we Kris?” Russel smiled in reply as he elbowed his friend harder than Galen had earlier. Kris tried to keep from doubling over, “Crush’s right, we don’t mind, Galen.” Galen chuckled.

“So who goes first?” Galen asked his eyes narrowed on the male rider.

“Well, if you’ll agree to help, Yui,” Ar’wen chuckled at the female rider, “Camoth and I will take, Galen is it.” The geography major nodded, “to Firestone and you and Rysenth can take Kris and Crush to Beach Shards Weyr.”

“Actually my name’s Russel,” Crush growled.

“You just want me to take them because you figure you’ll be safer,” Yui accused and Ar’wen merely ignored her.

“You ready to go then, Galen?” Ar’wen asked keeping his distance from the other players.

“None of us came with much so we’re already packed,” Galen replied coolly.

“Well then give a fair well to your friend, the three of you,” Yui chuckled, “It will be quite a while before you see them again if you impress.”

And so three of the four Dragons left for two other Weyrs while the last was determined to stay and keep an eye on his love interest as well as try his luck at impressing.

Follow Kendrah, Duck and Owen to Azon?
Follow Mandy, Howie, and Stu to Fionabhainn?
Follow Galen?
Follow Russel and Kris?
Follow Oscar?
Check up on the rest of the team?

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