Starship Cherry Cream

Gahn and Sam visit Sidra Weyr

Would they have to wait long? That was the main question that Sam kept asking. He wasn't particularly a hurried kind of guy, but he seemed like he really wanted "in" on this dragon thing once they'd gotten to Sidra.

"Did you want to see the eggs?" Asked one of the locals at the Weyr. Gahn thumbed back toward Sam and grunted.

"He will, I'll settle in for a moment first, right?" He said, and pushed himself deeply into the cushioned chair in their room. It didn't look like he would be going anywhere for a while.

"I will," Sam said, suddenly full of energy. "I want to see the rest of the weyr, too, this place is great! It's got secret passages!" He nudged Gahn who looked like he was asleep already.

The tour went from the candidate barracks, into the kitchens, dining hall, and main corridors - where they'd actually already been. The infirmary was pointed out, then the weyrwoman's and weyrleader's chambers and offices, plus other such important folks.

"The weyrling master's place is through here, and the weyrlings rooms are down the hall. Each dragon pair is teamed with an appropriately sized second pair."

"So they'll learn together," Sam said. "Cool."

"When the dragons are either old enough or big enough to reside on their own, they are placed in the senior weyrling barracks, which are higher into the walls of the Weyr."

"How long does that take?" Sam continued to ask questions, and was rewarded with all the answers this tour guide could give. Some, like the "how do you deal with the big wounds they would get" and "does every dragon have the same personality when they're the same color" were kind of less easy to answer, but the guide pointed him into the right direction for his answers.

Eventually, Sam tired of the tour and had to get down to business. He needed to get Gahn interested in seeing the eggs. Maybe they would both be able to do that later on, during their classes.

"I'm not all that happy about class work," muttered Gahn, "I mean, I already went through school. Years ago."

"But we're going to have to learn how to fly and command the dragons and ... all that stuff." Sam huffed, and plopped down into the chair next to his friend. "Even though we're engineers, we've still gotta learn the ropes. It's all new."

"New things like your sonic screwdriver piss me off," Gahn admitted, "but I suppose you're right..."

And by and by, they did get to see the eggs. Sam excelled in the classes, taking on new subjects like they were fine pastries. He didn't seem to dwell very long on any one thing in particular, though, so he didn't really look as though he'd be truly amazing at any of them. Gahn however learned that there was tack and harnessing to make, and that suddenly sparked his interest.

The pair would do their research together, and then help each other out on things they were confused about. It was a very good arrangement.

Until someone, some wiseacre, decided to comment about them being 'together'. "How sweet, d'ya think you'll get a green an'na blue to go with yer sweetie pie personalities?"

At which point both men glared at the offending brown rider, and decked him from two sides at once.

Their punishment was something new to Sam, but Gahn explained that mucking out weyrs for a week, and then cleaning the ashy residue from the landings of the adults dragons, was not supposed to be fun.

"That's why we've been assigned it as a punishment," Gahn explained, "I mean, my old prof at the welderworks would make me clean out the pits and it was disgusting! This is no different..." He grumbled as he pushed the broom into the muck.

"Well, I dunno about that." Sam said. He was not endlessly happy and cheerful, but he came close. Every time he got the chance to see a dragon - even while he was mucking their weyr, he got all giddy and hopeful again. Maybe it was a green that he was destined to ride, but not likely - his attentions were always on his work or something shiny - not his friend Gahn.

Gahn was not endlessly grumpy and sleepy, either. When their leather work was to be judged, or they were to find new hooks and metal parts for their potential saddles, he was intense and focused like never before.

Either way - both of them soon figured that having a dragon to help train, raise and ride, would be the best thing that ever happened to them.

It wasn't so long after they arrived and got into the swing of things that there was a bugling on the sands. The hatching had started! The eggs were odd, in that both their parents were brown - a male and a female!

Over the course of a few weeks, the pair of star faring engineers had learned that this was quite the odd occurance, as brown dragons were typically male.

It didn't matter much to either of them. They knew only one thing: they'd both like to bond, and they would love to have their dragons show off on Caledrus when they were old enough to return.

The first to hatch was... a brown. What a surprise. The second to hatch ... was also a brown. This seemed to greatly displease Weyrwoman Tai. But she calmed herself, as the brown went around to the candidates.

He sniffed out, wandering around the group. The dragonet waved his wings in the warm air to dry them, and then bespoke to Gahn.

You better get used to mucking out the weyrs. You'll have to do it for me too. Unless... you don't want me.

There was a little worry in the dragon's mind, and Gahn sensed that. "Of course I want you," he replied, "why else do you think I would have come here, to impress a human?"

I'm Kemoth, the dragon told him, proudly.