Ch-ch-ch-Chain Gang

[**Auria (etc)**]

Miiiinnneeeeee, Iolath whined, I want to swim! I'm tired of carrying rocks, I want to swim and play.

T'rasel grunted in agreement with his dragon. He had honestly hoped to come north with the others, find himself in a new situation, with a new hierarchy of dominance, and settle right in making his fortune. The long straight flight on his dragon's newly tested wings had given him plenty of time to scheme and plan, and his packs were loaded up with cards, dice, shell game bits, and all of the various tools of his trade.

Yet all he'd done since arriving at Ikros was haul rock out of the lower weyrs, as the stonecutters chiseled and perfected them. The sharding rotten thing, though, was that after doing all this work (his least favorite four-letter-word), the weyrs he was slaving to clear would go to other riders. He wouldn't even get to enjoy the fruits of his labors!

He glanced upward ruefully at the quarters he and Iolath had been assigned. "We won't even have to stay in Weyrling barracks there," others had said, and he had gone right along with the false hope. "It'll be a whole new home, with lots of space even for the Weyrlings to have their own weyrs!"

A hole in the wall halfway up the cliff face. He was actually missing the ever-tighter quarters in the Weyrling barracks at Araelen! His weyr was cold and drafty, though thankfully below the actual point where the screaming winds struck the rock most harshly. A fireplace had been built for warmth, as the central heating that rose up from deep under the surface of Pern had not yet been extended to the higher reaches. During this wintery climate, though, he found that he had to wake several times a night and restoke the grate to keep the fire burning. He found himself grateful that Iolath was such a small blue that he could still squeeze into the inner chamber of the weyr. There had been several nights where he just curled up with his dragon and canine Dodger instead of keeping himself half awake so he could stoke the fire.

And poor Dodger! No stairs! Io had been doing canine-walking duty on top of everything else, as he and T'rasel flew the hound to ground level several times a day so he could eliminate.

Miinnnneeee, can't we stop now? I want to --

Swim. Yes, Io, I know, you want to swim -- though why you'd want to swim in that ice cold water, I haven't a clue!

I do not mind the cold, the little blue said, as he dragged yet another sledge filled with stone rubble across the snowy valley floor. The workteams had used branches and scrapwood around the Weyr to form drag sledges, and many of the lower-ranked dragons were helping to clear the stone away as inner quarters were being chiseled and perfected.

Trudging alongside his dragon, shivering inside his thick furs, T'rasel gave the aqua-blue shoulder a pat. I'm sure the taskmaster will give us a break soon, My One. And then you can eat, and have a swim, and I'll freeze my fingers giving you a nice scrub and oiling.

And some healing salve ... he scowled at the surface beneath his mitted hand, which was showing signs that it wanted to crack. The cold air, change in climate, and the rapid growth of the dragon weyrling were taking a toll on that glorious blue hide.

He looked around at the others, wondering if he should move closer to someone, strike up a conversation that might make the work go faster....

[Cilnah]

There was a warm chuckle, despite the bitter snap of wind and cold the blew around the girl making the sound. She stood, her arms folded over her stomach, watching a small Blue tug at a load of stone that was obviously too much for him to move with any ease. Come on, my little chicky. We both know there's no way you're going to be able to haul that one all the way out of the ravine. Her response was a snort as Kheprith threw back his head, spreading his wings wider and flapping them, as if the added force of the wind would make the load move. And indeed it did, as he hauled the stones a few feet backwards, then was forced to rest. One down, scores to go, Phelicia thought to herself as she moved to her bonded's side, gently rubbing the creatures eye ridges.

I told you I could do it, Mine! the dragon said happily, looking at the pile that likely weighed more than he did at that point. In response she chuckled, and hugged her Blue fondly.

Indeed you did, chicky! Indeed you did. But how are you going to get this chuck of rock the rest of the way? You'll exaughst yourself. Or worse, hurt yourself somehow. It was obvious to the weyrling that it was not just an attempt by His to get out of something she did not want to do. She'd been known to do that before, silly Mine, but there was actual concern in her mind this time, which made Kheprith sigh outwardly.

But if we do not move them, MineOwn, how will they get moved? It is our job to make sure that all of the quarried stones get removed so that the 'Riders have comfortable places to sleep. Phelicia couldn't help her small flash of temper, but Kheprith seemed unfazed by this.

Let Ramseth and Wil-- I mean Wi'red do it! She snapped, gesturing to her brother and his dragon, who was moving a pile not too much smaller than the one they were struggling with, and doing so with ease. He's a Bronze, and with a lot more bulk than you! He won't get hurt by this pile, you will!

The little Blue lashed his tail, once, twice, three times as he debated. It was true they were not the only weyrlings moving stones. There was another Bluepair not too far away in fact, Iolath was it?, and Ramseth besides, as well as others scattered here and there. Everyone was doing their best to make this new Weyr livable during the cold winter months. Very well, Phelicia-Mine. I will allow Ramseth to take charge just this once, he intoned, dropping the strap and moving away from the stones, much to His' relief.

"Thank you, Kheprith!" The girl threw her arms around the dragon's neck, then led him over to a more suitible set, which easily began to move. Soon enough, they were caught up to the other Blue and his choice. "Hello!" she called out, temper and bad mood already abated.

[Felina]

An amused, crooked smile found its way to Felina's face as she watched the weyrlings struggling to shift rocks that even Breunth wouldn't have been too pleased to carry. The pair was perched at the edge of one of the larger ledges, the young woman leaning unconcernedly against her brown's foreleg. He, too, regarded the smaller dragons with something akin to amusement, though tinged with a bit of worry. They are still very small, Mine, he remarked as one of the blues backed away from an over-large pile of rocks to instead take a smaller one. Perhaps too small for some of those rocks.

Felina shook her head as she moved in closer to the brown, trying to share in some of his warmth. They're big enough. You moved larger, when we had those games, and you weren't a whole lot older. And a brown isn't so different from some blues, y'midget. Still, in spite of her words, she watched the weyrlings all the more carefully, dark brown eyes narrowed against the sunlight scattering off the snow. It would be a shame to see a dragon injured; the weyr needed all it could have to fight Thread! For that, above all else, was the real threat. Okay, all right, fine Bree, you win! she thought to the implacable brown's unspoken plea. He didn't need to speak sometimes, she could feel the waves of worry coming off him like crashing waters against a cliff.

Eschewing flying gear for so short a flight, she clambered up onto Breunth's neck in short order, more accustomed to his size than she ever would have believed. She held tightly to the ridges on his neck and, at a silent command, the pair leapt from the ledge, outspread wings temporarily blocking the light before, a couple of quick downstrokes later, they settled heavily on the ground. Felina sighed slightly, wishing they could have flown longer, higher. She wasn't always sure which of those thoughts were hers and which were the dragon's.

Not so long ago, she hadn't been able to fly with him at all. The weeks she had spent abed had made her appreciate what she had all the more, even the frigid emptiness of between. A Rider knew they'd been too long away from activity when they missed even that horror. She didn't know when she had come to love flying so, or when she had even noticed it, but now it seemed something she could never again give up.

Her boots crunched in the snow as she slid nimbly down. It was bright, almost incongruous knowing that it was still the frigid depths of winter. Bree, you had a plan or something? she asked, looking thoughtfully at the nearest weyrlings, two young blues- and their Riders, of course.

Yes, he said smugly, directing a level gaze at the two blues. Don't do anything stupid. Big piles are for the biggest dragons. His last comments had been aimed at the weyrlings almost as much as it was his Rider. He knew when she had bitten off more than she could chew, and right then, he knew that she would try to do everything for the weyr if he didn't stop her. Sometimes he wondered if she wouldn't have been a weyrleader if she had been born a man. But that of course was silly, she didn't like taking charge and she was his, not some hulking bronze's. With an irritated harrumph, Breunth curled up in the snow, for once not minding that it was cold. The ledges weren't much warmer anyhow.

Felina, though, could only stare at the brown. She'd caught most of what he meant, and it wasn't often that he tried to prevent her from doing anything, though when he did he was usually right. No, always. He seemed to care for her more than she did for herself most of the time. For her part, she just turned back to the two blue weyrlings with a false smile forced onto her scarred face. "Right then. Um. What he said. I'm Felina, this is Bree- err, Breunth, and we're going to... um. You lot all right?"

[**Auria (etc)**]

Oooohhhh, big rocks! Io said as he looked over his shoulder, his eyes whirling with admiration.

"Hm?" T'rasel, startled by the young blue's sudden shift in attention (not that Iolath's attentions didn't jump all over the map normally), turned to see what he was looking at. "Oh, yeah, big rocks!"

Just as he said this, however, the other blue weyrling, whom he recognized as Kheprith with his flame-haired rider, Phelicia, shifted gears, left the oversized load behind, and took up a pallet which held a more reasonable weight.

As the other blue pair caught up, T'rasel nodded toward Kheprith and flashed the rider a grin. "He's got spunk, that's for sure!"

You almost really did haul that great big pile! Iolath said to his clutch brother, broadcasting so T'rasel could overhear. I'm gonna make a story about Kheprith the Mighty Blue who can haul rocks as big as a bronze can!

T'rasel chuckled, glad to have a friendly companion to make this wretched task easier. "Io likes to make up stories," he said, "And he's already working on one about the mighty Kheprith." He stroked his dragon's aqua hide as they moved forward, the burden seeming somewhat lighter now. "Have you noticed that Kheprith's hide is drying out more in this climate? Seems I've been doing nothing but oiling--"

At that moment, a large (well, to the rider of a barely fledged blue Weyrling) brown dragon landed nearby, and his rider slid to the ground. T'rasel couldn't help but admire her ease astride, and longed for the day he and Iolath were as graceful together.

He recognized the pair, but couldn't recall having actually met them before.

"Hi, I'm T'rasel and this is Io ... Iolath, that is. Yes, we--"

At that, Iolath's eyes whirled faster, and he raised his head high and proud. Yes, yes, sir, Breunth, sir! T'rasel heard him say, and then, the little blue turned his thoughts to his rider (still broadcasting so the older brown could hear, though T'rasel doubted Io realized it) He talked to me, Mine! he said, awestruck.

The blue weyrling rider couldn't help but chuckle as he patted Io's shoulder.