Ardmonevi

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"I'm going out mom!" Ardi yelled into the house.
His mother came out of the kitchen and said: "No need to shout dear, I'm right here. So where are you going?"
"Swimming."
"Anybody coming with?"
"No just me, and maybe Frodi will come."
"ok, be home in time for dinner. Have fun!."
She turned back into the kitchen. Ardi left through the door and sighed relief. He wondered why his mother never wanted to know more about Frodi. Normally she was all over him when he had a friend. Well, she didn't need to know Frodi was just a fantasy.
He spent most of his time on the beach, mostly reading and daydreaming. It was their he had seen the dolphins for the first time. Sometimes he swam with them, but not often. He had read dolphins still picked their names from the first dolphins brought to Pern. That was how he'd gotten the name Frodi. His mother had always wanted him to make friends, but he hadn't felt the need. Sure, the other kids were nice to him and he to them, but no-one really knew him. He suddenly realised his mother thought Frodi was a girl and not just a friend...That would explain why she had never asked him about her. She thought his lack of details about Frodi were secrecy. Well, he could leave it like that, as long as she didn't go running about asking who knew a girl called Frodi.
He dosed off in the shade and awoke maybe 2 hours later. He still had time before he had to go. He hadn't packed a book, but he could walk. He stood up and started.
It didn't take long for him to have walked a few kilometres out of the hold surroundings. He knew there was another secluded bay here somewhere. White sands, redfruit trees and if he was lucky, some dolphins to play with.
He reached the bay and sighed, no dolphins anywhere to be seen. He was about to sit down when his eyes fell upon a pile of dirt and seaweed that shouldn't have been there, it was too symmetrical to be natural. He walked up to it and looked down. He swooped away some sand with his hands and saw the eggs. The Eggs. A firelizard's nest. He felt the egg and just when he touched it, it hatched. Talk about timing. He held up the little creature and rotated it, it sparkled all over, gold and brown, how odd. Then he noticed the little flit creeling for food. He went through his pockets, he usually carried some leftovers from meatrolls. There, he had found a chunk. He gave it and the flit happily devoured it whole.
"Wait! Not so fast, you'll choke!" But the little goldenbrown was hungry...very hungry. She creeled for more.
"ok, ok, here's another piece." How he thanked his mother for expecting him to wash his own trousers.
When the flit had cleaned out his pockets and was finally sleeping, he went home. Night was already falling and he would have to run to get home in time.

Revira

"Young man! Where have you been! I told you to be home by dinner!" His mother yelled. He taxed her voice and knew he was in trouble.
"Sorry, mom." He said and made himself look smaller and more tired. "But you see, I found this egg and it hatched and i couldn't leave it behind...."
His mother, barely listening had caught some of the more unusual words, namely egg and hatched.
"What is it?"
"A firelizard, and a pretty one too."
"I suppose you couldn't leave it, no...Now go eat and sleep, tomorrow is a new day and you know you have to report any firelizard clutches around here to the Weyr."
"Yes, but do I have to? Mine hatched, so the others couldn't have hatched long behind."
"True, but they will be interested in it, that is no ordinary flit."
Ardi quickly grabbed some food and went upstairs before his mother gained enough sense to ask about Frodi... He put down the little flit on his pillow and realised he'd need a name for it.
"Well, I found you at Reviramelli Cove, so I guess I can name you Revira."
The flit didn't care, she was full and she was warm and soft.

The next day Ardi left early to the Weyr. It wasn't quite a long hike, but he'd need all morning to get there.
He got there around noon as he had expected and clinged on to the first dragonrider he saw.
"Sir, I found a clutch and...."
"Not now," the dragonrider interrupted, "I've got to go, report it to the headwoman!"
At noon, Ardi figured, the Headwoman could only be in one place, and that was in the lower caverns handing out meals. Well, he was wrong, she was in the lower caverns, but she was eating too. Everybody could just take food from the tables. Not like he had expected.
He went to her table and started "I've found a clutch and my..."
"Wait a minute dear, I'm just about done."
he waited...
"Now what did you have to say?"
"Well, I found this clutch and my mother said I had to report it because it was unusual."
"We have quite enough flits on our own beaches boy...why did your mother think it was special?"
"Well, Revira, that's the one I impressed, is gold and brown."
"Are you sure she wasn't just covered in sand?"
"No, you can see for yourself." Ardi said as he lifted the sleeping Revira from his carry sack.
"My, that is special...you wait here, while I inform Weyrwoman Teah." She stood up and left him.
Things must really be crazy here if there wasn't time for him to explain his firelizard. Of course a Weyr would have other things to do....
A young girl, 15 or 16 turns old, tapped him in the shoulder and said:
"You can have some food, it's not good to be so skinny."
"Oh, I've always been skinny, I eat enough, but I am hungry now."
"Just grab something and come sit with me."
He did as she had suggested and joined her.
"Do you know why everyone has so little time?"
"Of course, I'm surprised you don't know! Senior Queen Eoth has clutched."
"That explains some of it, but my Revira is important too."
"Who's Revira?"
"Revira is my firelizard." he said and opened his carry sack again. "She's probably hungry too. She ate a lot this morning, but I'm feeling very hungry even though I've eaten more than I should have."
The girl giggled "She's pretty, I wouldn't mind having one of those. But I couldn't right now, I'm standing for the clutch. I'm Frido by the way."
Ardi nearly choked. There was someone actually named Frido? And a girl? He hoped his mother didn't found out. Then again, he would like coming to the Weyr more often. He recovered in time to say
"I'm Ardmonevi, but everyone calls me Ardi."
"Hey Ardi, want to see the eggs?"
Now if there is something you should not ask all Pernese children it's that. Ardi nearly leaped to the vaulted ceiling of the lower caverns.
"I take it that's yes."
"Can I? really?"
"Sure, but we have to be quiet. Eoth doesn't like too many visitors, but she's quite friendly to us, the candidates for her clutch."

The inside of the hatching sands was a bit cooler and darker then the weyrbowl, making it very comfortable. Ardi looked up at the Senior Queen and turned to Frido again.
"You are sure this is ok."
"Of course, don't chicken out now."
They walked to the eggs. "Look, every egg is different, that's what I like about them, you can almost feel like each egg has hatched for a special person."

The Day passed to quickly in the Weyr and Ardi had to go. He ran home, excited about all the things he'd seen, all the things he'd learned, Frodi had thought him a lot about dragons he hadn't known before. He was also jealous of her for being able to stand at a clutch, but she was special, he hoped she'd impress one. Somewhere in he middle he stopped to feed Revira again...he looked down at her and thought that if he wasn't able to ride a dragon he at least had something as precious as her.
Home, he told his sisters everything, to his joy they were jealous beyond measuring. That would show them, saying his life was boring.

The next day early, Ardi was woken up rather hard when his mother barged into his room and shook him.
"Ardi! There's a dragonrider for you here."
"For me? What could they possibly want from me?"
"I don't know, go get yourself ready, fast!"
She left him alone. When he got down about 5 minutes later the dragonrider was drinking klah with his mother, discussing the pro's and cons off planting own seedlings or something, he couldn't quite make it out.
"Ah! there you are! C'rin here knows quite a lot about farming. But you two should talk now."
Apparently she wasn't going to leave, that would make it worse on him when he heard what he'd done wrong... maybe he shouldn't have trusted Frodi, he didn't know her, he'd let himself get fooled by his own fantasies.
"See, Eoth requested a searchrider to get a likely candidate yesterday. But she couldn't tell us who it was, just that he had been in the Sands with a girl. We tried, but she wouldn't tell us what girl. With reason apparently, because Frodi shouldn't have been there. She isn't a candidate, and that's why she shouldn't have brought you there. But she did and Eoth liked you. So, if it is ok with you, Rigelth would like to see you too, to see if the queen wasn't just imagining things. She wouldn't most likely, but maybe there was another boy and girl there."
Dazzled about this, Ardi got up and walked to the door. He a dragonrider? No Eoth must have meant another boy, but maybe, if Rigelth liked him.... He got out and looked at the Blue, still big though a lot smaller than the queen. Rigelth looked at him and nodded. C'rin turned to his mother and said
"If it is ok with, you, can i ask him to become a Candidate?"
His mother swallowed, but said: "He's free to go. It's up to him."
He knew his mother had sacrificed a lot there, she would miss him and his made-up friends.
"Of course I'll go. I'll be fine mom." Ardi said.
Only then did something get through the commotion ....Frodi wasn't a candidate, then why had she said she was?

HATCHING

The bugle woke him up. Which dragon had gotten it in his mind to start singing in the middle of the night? Ardi turned around and closed his eyes again.
Singing? The hatching! He nearly fell out of bed as he strangled with his sheets ang only reached the hatching sands on luck. Inside he saw Frodi was already waiting for him.
"You're standing?" he asked.
"Yes, do you see 10 candidates me excluded? I don't!"
"I guess you're right."
"Scared?"
"A little bit. What if I don't impress?"
"There are only 10 candidates."
"But what if they like someone from the stands better than me?"
"They won't."
He hoped she was right. He knew it wasn't bad to be left standing, and impress on a second or third time, but still, he hoped he would get it right the first time.
2 bues, 2 greens, one of which bonded Frodi, a brown and a bronze walked by. Ardi sighed, 6 down, 4 eggs left. The next egg that cracked revealed a soft blue dragon. He was quite big and shook his head before he walked towards the remaining male candidates and stopped in front of Ardi.
"I'm hungry A'nevi." the blue said.
"Well, no, actually I'm Kleath, but I think you get the idea."
That made Ardi, no A'nevi smile.
"Of course you are." he said, thinking: 'right on both accounts' as he led his dragon out to eat.

KLEATH

WEYRLING
"Kleath! Quit bothering Avalonath!" A'nevi yelled.
"I'm not bothering her." Kleath replied, "We were training."
"That still doesn't mean you can tackle her and force her to the ground beneath your big bones!" A'nevi sighed.
Ever since he and Frodi had started training together, Kleath had wanted to prove he was better than Avalonath. Of course he was bigger and heavier. That was a good advantage in wrestling, but it wasn't in flying. Avalonath outflew him every time and that made Kleath very angry.
"One day I will catch her." he said.
"Better let me know when you are going to do that, so I can get ready." A'nevi said.
He and Frodi had deepened their friendship and he was sure that their dragons flying each other wouldn't change that... too much.
"Get ready for what?" Frodi asked.
"Nothing." A'nevi said, feeling his cheeks turning an awkward shade of red.
Frodi shrugged and went back to coaching Avalonath.
"Keep your wings up, He's trying to block them!" she shouted.
Avalonath flew up and twirled 2 or 3 times before landing again, laughing at her own foolishness.
"I think Avalonath doesn't understand the beauty of boxing." A'nevi told Frodi.
"Nah, she's better in the sky, but she wants Kleath to win every now and again, it has something to do with her plans for the future she tells me. What those are I wouldn't know, she's very secretive about those." Frodi said and grinned. "You don't suppose she intends on letting Kleath catch her?"
A'nevi blushed again and quickly turned his head to the ground so Frodi wouldn't see it. "Nah, maybe she doesn't want him killing her in the middle of the night out of frustration." he said.
"That could be it."

FLIGHT and Adulthood
Ardmonevi is weyrmated to Frodi

Frodi impressed at Darkling Dawn Weyr
Lantessama Isle