Hermina leaned into Dusana's warmth but fixed her eyes to Kalapatith. "She is, isn't she?"
You both are. Dusana leaned her chin against Hermina's soft hair. They'd be brought back to their own weyr soon. Dusana could have left immediately following the hatching as she once again failed to impress, but she had no intention of leaving Hermina alone. The sting of rejection wasn't as painful as it used to be. Dusana burst with pride for Hermina, and love for both her and the new dragon. It was fine that she hadn't bonded, she'd get her turn eventually.
"Will you join me for weyrling lessons at Istabitha?" said Hermina. "I know we're only here for a week, but I thought it best to get as much information as I can. These dragons are so different from the ones back home."
"I don't know if I'm allowed."
"I'll ask." Hermina nodded sharply. "You won't be an intrusion."
The two-toned coloration of the clutch parents hadn't thrown either of them off. Shigan weyr produced bicolor (and tricolor) dragons with some regularity, but red was almost unheard of. And dragons without knobs or crests or split tails? And Kalapatith being a female brown! Shigan weyr would be in an uproar when they returned home.
"Do you think she'll be able to clutch, like a gold?" asked Hermina.
Dusana considered it. Hermina deserved a gold, but the thought of her dragon taking flight and Hermina potentially ending up with someone else... Dusana pinned her worries with a frown. It was a selfish thought. Hermina could be with whoever she desires, she wasn't beholden to Dusana and it wasn't common for weyrfolk to make permanent pair bonds. Rationality couldn't remove the sting.
"I don't know," Dusana answered, finally. "You've got a few turns before that's even a possibility, though."
Hermina reached back and laced her fingers with Dusana's.
In the end, Hermina managed to wrangle permission out of the weyrlingmaster for Dusana to stay an observe. She helped Hermina with her duties and caring for little Kalapatith. It didn't matter than the two of them couldn't speak, they seemed to understand one another just as well. Dusana helped both of them be brave and curled around them in the tiny bunks, protecting them while they slept. The week passed with furious speed. Hermina bid farewell to her fellow weyrling mates - both those remaining at Istabitha and the one's returning to their own weyrs (and in some cases worlds). Dusana had been less sociable, which came as no surprise to Hermina. With good-byes concluded and their meager belongings packed, Dusana, Hermina, and little Kalapatith clambered onto the neck of a bronze dragon and were blinked away between.
"You're back!"
Spindly arms wrapped around Hermina's middle and tugged her off-balance before she even managed to dismount the bronze's neck. She squawked, arms wheeling to catch her balance, and fell back against the familiar weight of Elise who promptly propped her up.
"Where are your dragons?" Elise skipped backward, her soft face split in a grin. "C'mon! I've got to see them?"
"No hello for me?" said Dusana.
Elise snapped her gaze to her sister, a retort on the tip of her tongue. It warped into a gasp.
:: She's very excited. :: said Kalapatith, peeking out between Dusana's arms. Her eyes met Hermina's and she snuggled deeper against Dusana, alarmed and overwhelmed. Hermina tried to send her soothing thoughts but her own mind raced.
Elise was very excited, but she might not be when-
Dusana shoved Kalapatith awkwardly under one arm and dropped smoothly from the dragon's neck. In a blink, the bronze was gone, leaving the trio huddled close with a handful of weyrfolk milling curiously behind them. Hermina was certain Dusana and Elise's parents were among them.
"He's so small." Elise hurried to Dusana, her fingers twitching at her sides. Hermina covered her mouth to stifle a laugh at the girl's enthusiasm. She wanted very badly to pet the hatchling.
"She," said Dusana. She set Kalapatith at her feet.
The hatchling quickly scurried to Hermina and slunk behind her, wide eyes watching Elise with shocked alarm that pulsed through their bond.
"Where's-" Elise started. She glanced quickly between the two of them.
Dusana frowned but stood firm, lifting her chin. "Hermina impressed. My dragon wasn't there."
Hermina sighed relief that trembled some of Kalapatith's worries away.
Elise took the declaration in stride. She shrugged, turned away from her sister, and crouched toward Kalapatith with a hand extended. "What's her name?"
"Kalapatith," said Hermina. "It means 'dove.' You can go see Elise, she's very kind."
:: Are you sure? :: Kalapatith stared up at her with tremulous, glossy eyes. Her tail whipped uncertainly.
Hermina nodded.
Kalapatith eased away from her bond with careful, delicate footsteps, stretching her neck as far as it would go to press the very tip of her nose into Elise's outstretched palm.
"What's all over her?" Elise's nose wrinkled. "She's covered in paint or something."
"No, she was born like that." Dusana stepped forward and sank to her knees next to her sister. With her familiar presence, Kalapatith crawled the rest of the way and clambered into Dusana's lap. Safe and content, she allowed Elise to stroke her head.
"Huh," said Elise. "She's a... brown?"
"We think?" Hermina gave in and joined them on the grass. Kalapatith wriggled her way into her bond's lap instead, churring contently. Stress of between and meeting new people made her young mind heavy with exhaustion.
"Oh!" Elise burst to her feet, startling Kalapatith. "I forgot! Weyrwoman Vikana wanted to see the two of you as soon as you got back. You should probably head that way."
Hermina wanted a change of clothes and a nap, but this wasn't unexpected.
:: I want a nap too!::
"I know dear heart, soon enough."
"She's a very interesting color," said Vikana, peering down her nose at Kalapatith's attempt to hide behind Hermina's legs. "It'll be interesting to see how she develops. We knew you were bound to bond something unusual, knowing what we did about that clutch. But only one bond?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Dusana. She tipped her chin up high. They'd gone through this several times now, both at Istabitha and upon their return to Shigan. Friends and family greeted them with cautious excitement, overjoyed Hermina had finally impressed but uncertain how to react with Dusana. Dusana was fine, though. Honestly. She hadn't expected to be but even this out-of-weyr clutch hadn't dampened her determination.
Vikana nodded resolutely and settled back in her seat, hands folded. "There's the matter of your relationship. We discourage... romantic entanglements in newly bonded weyrlings."
Hermina stepped unconsciously closer to Dusana until heat passed between their brushing arms. Dusana wanted to take her hand, but refrained. She'd known this was coming.
"It's not as if we'll have children." Hermina sniffed, expression pinched. "I know we won't be able to see each other as much-"
"Romantic relationships can affect the stability of your dragon, especially when she's so young. You must avoid causing her any undue stress."
Hermina glanced behind her, meeting Kalapatith's wide, whirling eyes. By now Dusana recognized the expressions that passed between them when they spoke, and Kalapatith's distress and confusion was a rainbow beacon.
"It's all right." Dusana did take Hermina's hand then. She squeezed, then lifted it to her lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. Hermina colored. "I'll get my own dragon and we'll go through weyrling training together. I'll be here for you."
It was more than Dusana liked to do in front of another person, but she doubted they'd be given much of a chance for privacy after this.
"It's so long." Hermina scooped Kalapatith up, hugging the tiny hatchling close to her chest. A buffer. For her sake or Dusana's?
"It's what, a turn?" Dusana turned to Vikana.
"That depends on Kalapatith. I trust the two of you will follow my instructions?" An eyebrow arched in warning.
"Of course, ma'am," Dusana said immediately.
Hermina frowned and nodded.
Life for Dusana returned to normal. She continued her candidate lessons and worked wherever the weyr needed her to. Her appearances in the infirmary lessened significantly with Hermina commited full time to her weyrling duties and Elise's fancies taking her to practice embroidery and weaving.
Kalapatith grew , requiring more and more of Hermina's time as the dragon became more exuberant and her training intensified. This was fine. Probably for the better. The less time they had together, the fewer chances they had of slipping up. Dusana spent much of her free time in the weyrbowl watching Hermina and the other weyrlings perform their lessons. The cool spring breezes drifted into summer heat. Thread fell, dragons fought, time passed.
There were no clutches at Shigan.
In her fourth month, Kalapatith had grown to 4' at the shoulder, rivalling a small runner beast, and something strange began to happen to her hide. The few blots of pastel color began to spread and brighten, bursting turquoise down her head and neck and a bright shock of red like a spring bud in the center of her chest.
"Do you think she's gonna keep changing?" Dusana asked as she reached Hermina's side.
Ordinarily, Hermina would have jumped in surprise. Dusana didn't try to keep her footsteps quiet around her, but it rarely mattered. Hermina was easy to frighten. But now Kalapatith could inform her that Dusana was approaching.
Hermina turned with a brilliant smile that made Dusana's heart stutter. "Probably."
"Do you need some help?" Dusana knew she didn't. Hermina was old pat at oiling hides by now and Kalapatith wasn't yet so large she was unmanageable by one person. They didn't really know if she'd ever get as large as a proper brown.
Because she was definitely not a proper brown.
"Kal says she'd like it if you helped."
The dragoness stretched her wings as if in agreement. They were still undersized, but already changing color from pale terracotta to mottled blue and purple. Dusana took a spare cloth, wrung it in the oil, and began to massage it into her hide. They worked in companionable silence, starting when one brushed against the other, cheeks colored and breath fluttering. It was like before all over again, shy glances and worry brewing between them. Only there wasn't nearly so much to worry about now. They were together, or they would be. They'd waited long enough to reveal their feelings for one another, this little stint would pass quickly.
"I miss you." Hermina dropped the oil cloth to brush her fingers down Dusana's arm. "I wish Vikana hadn't forbade our relationship."
Dusana chewed her words. She missed Hermina too, so much it hurt like dull fire in her chest. She wanted so much to be with her all the time. But she needed patience. Their time would come. Hermina had on more than one occasion snuck off to Dusana's quarters to spend an evening holding hands and whispering sweet nothings long into the night. It was hard to rebuff her, Dusana didn't want to. She really ought not encourage any of this, but she couldn't deny herself Hermina's company forever.
"I miss you too," Dusana replied, finally.
The wait hadn't gone unnoticed.
"We could-"
"No." Dusana shook her head sharply. "It's not for too much longer, we'll be just fine."
"As long as you don't go sneaking off to dark corners with some other girl." Hermina huffed, sucking in her cheeks.
Dusana laughed. As if she'd ever. She had her heart set on one person and it would take more than some batting eyelashes to turn her head away from Hermina. Dusana was far more worried about Hermina forming new attachments. She had classmates, dragonriders, and beyond that she was beautiful and intelligent, easy to capture anyone's heart. Hermina always had admirers. It was a miracle she chose Dusana to begin with. Dusana swallowed those thoughts and kept silent.
"I thought I'd find you making kissy faces with your girlfriend." Elise's bright voice shattered their tension.
Both girls, and Kalapatith, turned to watch her approach.
Elise held her skirts up well above her ankles, cheeks red with exertion as she hurried down the hillside into the weyrbowl. Her clothes were clean and new, with fresh embroidery around the hems. She'd been practicing and her needle work had become steadier over the last few months. It was almost passable.
"We're not making kissy faces," said Dusana with a frown. "What do you want, brat?"
"A woman arrived just a few hours ago riding a black dragon." Elise paused, huffing to catch her breath. "Well, sort of a black dragon. Black and green and tiny, really, especially for a male! Anyway, she says she comes from an entirely different Pern and she's searching our pern for candidates to bring back to her weyr."
Hope burgeoned. Dusana squashed it down.
"A different Pern?" Hermina frowned. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know!" Elise tossed her arms in the air. "A different Pern. Vikana thinks it's a future Pern and she's all twisted up in knots about it but who knows? There's lots of different worlds aren't there? Like Alskyr? Maybe this is just a slightly different Pern."
"Lessa could between to different times," said Hermina. "We've been learning about the theory of going between in class and it's come up quite a bit. Maybe she is just from a future Pern?"
"It's not a very good future Pern, then."
"You were looking for us?" said Dusana, clearing her throat.
"Oh, yes! Well... just you, really. Vikana wants all our candidates to come meet the other-Pern woman. I suppose it would be alright if Hermina came too." She sidled up to Hermina and nudged her with an elbow. "Don't want to separate the lovebirds for too l- hey!"
Dusana grabbed Elise's ear and tugged her away. The pinch was enough to brighten her skin to pink and she swatted at Dusana before rubbing her ear.
"Do you want to get searched or not?"
Dusana turned to Hermina. "Are you coming?"
"If I don't I might not have the chance to say good-bye." She moved fast as a cat, slipping up against Dusana and rising on her tiptoes to plant a kiss to her cheek. She squeezed Dusana's wrist, then sidled up to Elise and took her elbow. "Lead on!"
Dusana's face heated. She grumbled as she followed the other girls.
The 'Other Pern' woman turned out not to be a woman at all, despite her preference for she/her pronouns. She wasn't much older than Dusana herself, but the confidence she exuded made Dusana stand to attention none-the-less. Elise kept close to her sister, covering her mouth to hide a giddy smile. Always so serious.
There were only a handful of candidates remaining at Shigan, most of them weyrbrats with a couple individuals searched for the hold below who hadn't impressed at the last few clutches. Many of them were quite young, younger even than Elise, and they fidgeted with worry over the stories the search rider - Rhia - told them of her home. Desolate and crawling with dangerous beasts. Thread was no longer an issue, but other things, worse things, had happened. Elise appreciated that she was forthright about all that, but it certainly didn't make the idea of going along with her appealing.
Only...
Only Dusana hadn't looked away from Rhia, and she had a dark sort of determination in her bright eyes. Her brow was furrowed up as tight as it could be, aging her quite a bit. She stood like a wingrider, tall and stiff with her chin up high as if that might make her look bigger.
It worried Elise a little. She didn't want her sister running off to some post-apocalyptic world full of danger and disaster. But she wouldn't, would she? Not if that meant leaving Hermina for so long.
Rhia's dragon, the black-green Taviroth, paced the line of candidates, inspecting them with shrewd green eyes. He was a very striking dragon. It seemed a lot of unusual dragons were popping up now, although Elise supposed that a dragon from the future (or a different world?) didn't really count as 'now.' He was still rather small, though.
Taviorth paused and settled on his haunches, wings rustling close to his body.
Rhia stopped her spiel to meet his eyes.
Elise bit her lip and took her sister's elbow. Hermina met her eyes around Dusana's wide shoulders and wore an equally fearful look, her light face gone pale and her fingers twisted up in her hair.
Rhia stepped toward Dusana.
"I want to go!" Elise sprung forward.
Vikana shot her a sharp look, and Elise settled back and tugged at the pleating in her skirts. "I mean, I'd like to go to your world, if you think I'd suit it. Them. The dragons."
She could feel Dusana's eyes burning at her back.
Rhia didn't smile, which turned Elise's insides to twisting eels. The search rider took a step toward her and raked her eyes up Elise from toe to the tip of her head, her gaze sharp and appraising. She looked back at her dragon. "Well?"
Taviorth lowered his head.
"He says he likes your enthusiasm," said Rhia. "But he also senses something about you-" and she turned to Dusana.
Elise couldn't say anything now. She's thrown herself at the rider and knew Dusana wouldn't let her go off to some wasteland on her own.
Dusana stepped forward, out of Hermina's weakening grip. "I'd be honored."
Hermina turned from them and fled.
"They're leaving me."
Kalapatith's warm weight was enough to quell some of the night chill, but not the freezing worry shooting shards of ice through Hermina's heart. Kalapatith wound a wing around her bond and nestled her head over Hermina's back.
:: I'm still here. ::
"I know, dear one, it's just... it's only..." Tears threatened to fall and she buried her head against Kal's hide, her hands balled to fists.
:: I'm sure they'll be safe. ::
Kal couldn't know that, though, it was an empty platitude. Worse, Hermina could feel the desperation lance through their bond. Hermina's pain was Kal's as well and the young dragon couldn't handle that sort of emotional turmoil. Only Hermina couldn't just switch this off.
She wanted Dusana to bond a dragon, and Elise too if that was her desire, she'd just expected them to do it here, at Shigan. Or at least now, in their own timeline where fields were still green and thread fell and was fought. How could they possibly want to do to that desolate world the search rider described to them? Elise may not have, but Dusana had bristled with the urge to volunteer, Hermina could feel it. The way her arms tensed to coiled steel as Hermina clung to her. The quickening in her breath. The resolute expression sitting stonily on her face.
Hermina might have handled Dusana going, but not both of them. Not Elise too.
"Hermina?" Elise's quiet voice whispered from the doorway. She rapped her knuckles against the entryway of the paddock. "Can I come in?"
Hermina scraped tears from her cheeks and stood. "You haven't left yet?"
"We'll be going soon, but we wanted to say good-bye first."
"We?"
Elise slunk into the paddock alone, no sign of her sister. "Dusana is waiting outside. She's scared, I think."
She ought to be.
:: They'll miss you too, please don't be angry with them. :: Kalapatith's distress wailed between them.
Hermina inhaled, slow and deep, and willed herself to calmness. "I'm not really mad."
Elise quirked a hesitant smile. "Are you sure?"
"Maybe I am, a bit, but I'm mostly worried. This Pern sounds horrible, and horribly dangerous. What if-" she cut herself off. Her eyes stung with the threat of tears.
Elise hurried to her and wrapped her frail arms around Hermina. "We'll be okay, I promise! Do you think Dusana would let anything happen to us? She's too stubborn for that."
Hermina sniffed, as much of a laugh as she could manage. "She won't let anything happen to you. She's just as likely to throw herself in front of a monster to... to get eaten so some other nobody gets away."
"Probably," Elise said, deadpan.
Hermina let out a strangled noise and pulled Elise in for a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you both terribly."
"We'll miss you too! Dusana will pine and write mournful poetry about her bottled up emotions and how honorable it is to be off in a dangerous world awaiting her lady love."
"Oh gosh, I hope not." Hermina's nose wrinkled. "Dusana has terrible writing."
"Not all of us had the benefit of learning proper letters," came Dusana's gravelly voice. She stepped out of the shadows. For all her large frame she seemed small and frail just then, clutching one arm, her jaw clenched and eyes averted to the floor.
"Oh! You horrible woman." Hermina burst away from Elise and raced to Dusana, tugging her close until their arms wound around one another and Hermina was tucked beneath Dusana's chin. "What am I going to do without you?"
"You don't need me," said Dusana, but her fingers tightened in Hermina's tunic. "You have Kalapatith, and it's not forever."
"It better not be!" Hermina chided. "And you better not get yourself killed. Promise me."
Dusana hesitated. She might have been thinking that this was an impossible promise, there were so many things she couldn't control, but Hermina didn't care. Dusana offered her word only when she meant it, and if she promised she'd try her hardest to stay safe.
Hermina stepped back to meet Dusana's eyes. "Promise me."
"I promise."
Hermina kissed her, sweet and soft across the lips.
"Ugh!" Elise groaned behind them. "You guys are awful."
Hermina laughed while Dusana tossed a rude gesture at her sister.