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Well, s**t. That was it then, they were the last of the northern riders and northern Pern was shaffed. People would be moving South, or trying to, and there was going to be a lot of blood over it if she was any judge of human nature. They-

What?

V' stared at Sh'shi, shock written plain across her face in wide eyes and slightly parted lips. "You what?" she said after a few silent moments, and as she spoke she cast around to look at her classmates' faces- had the old woman snapped? "That's not- is that possible? Firestone makes greens infertile? They'll clutch without it?" she asked, her tones disbelieving; if anyone had known it was possible why'd they been so desperate for a gold all this time? Was this just the last shot driven out of desperation, like a man slit down the middle trying to hold his guts in?

The shock and confusion flowing through V' stirred Lithustoth to wakefulness with a surprised cry, her eyes whirled yellow and white for a moment until she spotted her rider and then she scrabbled upright and bounded over to her with her eyes shining a vivid azure. //Yes! Of course! This is it, I knew it- the reason I was born here, now, the reason I had to live! Pern needs us- it needs me, you, nobody else can save it!// She and her sisters, of course, they would show everyone what Masalath's children were worth- she would show them what she was worth! //And there will be more, not just that, we'll get noticed though it- draw their eyes and then they'll really see us shine V'!//

V' blinked dazedly as Lith's words raced through her with a crackle and a surge of excitement. "Uh..." Well clearly she thought it was possible!

"What?!" Cai's voice was added to the small chorus. "That's absurd!" He scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "They're dragons. Not firelizards, or... or even whers! If they were then they'd be dying off as well from this sickness." His crash course in dragon anatomy when the plague began hadn't focused on their breeding capabilities but he'd never heard even a harper story about a clutching green. Firelizards did but firestone didn't make them infertile as far as he knew? Whers did as well but it was rare.

Nacreoth kept his silence for now... while interesting for the stir it was causing, this announcement didn't yet affect him personally and he had no means of knowing himself whether his sisters could clutch or not.

Shock was to be expected. The breeding potential of greens wasn't something often discussed. At least not while sober. Sh'shi opened her mouth to answer V', when Cai added his thoughts to the conversation. Sh'shi's gaze slid to the lad, one gray eyebrow slowly creeping up as she stared at the Weyrling. "Well, bluerider," Sh'shi began in a measured tone. "If you have a more viable solution than that decided on by a council of riders, with a combined experience in dragons of over two centuries, I will happily have Fiskenerath call them back together so you can present it. If not, I suggest you practice listening. You might learn something." She had expected disbelief. Denial. That she would have accepted. What Sh’shi was not about to accept was an insinuation that she did not understand dragons. She had overseen more dragons to adulthood than there were currently on the Northern continent. Faranth, she'd seen more greens alone to adulthood than there were currently dragons on the continent. Which was a rather grim thought.

Her point made, Sh’shi turned her focus back to V's questions. "It is generally believed that firestone renders female dragons infertile. While greens will readily consume it, golds will not. There have been recorded incidents of golds around firestone in which the gold expresses discomfort at the idea of consuming it. Their refusal to consume it is similar to when the idea of betweening without a visual or harming a human is proposed to them. They may not fully comprehend why they find the idea distasteful, but they do." This didn't prove anything. This just meant golds had an aversion to consuming firestone. Potentially so they would not fight thread and risk themselves rather than the risk of sterility. Potentially was all they had at the moment though, so it would have to do.

"It is a risk for us to attempt this. Records relating to green clutches are very old. All are theoretical, with none actually mentioning any named cases of it happening. Under any other circumstances the risk would be deemed unnecessary, but these are not any other circumstances." The records were essentially falling apart and it was impossible to tell whether the assertions of the author were from experience, actual cases or just the predictions of someone contemplating the matter. The situation made Sh’shi nervous, but raising weyrlings always did. It was a hazardous experience.

Sh'shi nodded as E'dal joined in. "It will be a learning experience for everyone. We do not know what is going to happen, but you have my assurance that the welfare of your dragons will always come first." They wold be carefully watched, not just by Sh’shi, but also by Master Dragonhealers. It wasn't like they were swamped with patients these days. Ten times less than they'd been trained to handle.

So they didn't know if it would work or not, well that was great wasn't it? But they had to try, of course they had to try, if there was any chance at all...

V' reached down to rest a hand on Lith's head and met the green's intense gaze again, the feeling of her mind and spirit crackled through her like a whirling storm and that was enough to take in all on its own without everything else happening. Everything else was happening though, no getting away from it...

And, well, that hadn't taken long had it?

V' gave a brief harsh bark of laughter and turned to Moluli with a sharp-edged grin. "You don't hang about do you? What's it going to be for your bed then, feline pelt or silk sheets? Both?" The girl looked a bit uncomfortable at having asked the question but she'd still asked, it was pretty obvious what she wanted the answer to be! Not the V' blamed her, who wouldn't like a bit more luxury in life? She wouldn't mind it herself but she didn't think that the hard-nosed She'she was going to start pampering them.

It wasn't Sh'shi who answered her first, but another of the greenriders. Moluli turned to see V's face with it's sharp-edged grin. "That's not what I meant!" She shook her head. Feline pelts? Silk sheets? Granted, a little more respect than the casual greenrider got would be nice and she wouldn't deny that fact, but that wasn't really why she'd inquired.

"I want to know if anyone is going to accuse us of trying to jump up our greens into golds." Moluli wanted to know possibly how much flack from others they could expect. Even if it wasn't their decision but the council's, they would still be the focus of any repercussion. "Are you saying you wouldn't want a little more esteem for your dragon?" Maybe a bit hasty, but she didn't think that they would be a pair to roll over to anyone.

She cast a grateful smile to Zee. "Thanks," Moluli murmured softly.

I'sko listened as the feline got let out in among the hens. It was an explosion of chatter, outrage, curiosity, and much more. He listened to the comments back and forth, some for and some against the idea. This was one idea he hadn't expected... Of course, he didn't know that it was the fire stone that had made the greens infertile.

When someone asked about why only females were affected by the stone and not men... He wanted to speak up. I'sko knew that there were plants that made female animals infertile. And some women took these same plants to keep from having a baby. But there was a lot of shouting and an argument between two of the green riders.

Deldowth? He reached out for the brown.

What? Either the greens will lay eggs or we will all die out. There really is no middle ground. The brown was to the point. He was in his bed with the Clipper happily keeping him company. Why don't you tell them what you know?

I'sko shrugged and then looked around in case someone was giving him a funny look. Perhaps he should speak up... Just like there were plants to make creatures infertile, some women swore by others to help make babies. Maybe... "Um, I have an idea."

Sh'shi watched as the greenriders began to disagree between themselves. They needed to have these conversations and she was willing to afford them a few moments to do it. Even though the group was small, they needed to each learn where they stood in the class. It would be nice if they could all be friends, but that was rarely the case. Friendship groups, rivalries and all sorts of relationships would emerge and the sooner they sorted it out the better Also it allowed her to ruminate how she would phrase her response. It was a question she had expected, all be it not so soon. Really it was too far into the future for the leaders to already have a clear answer. They didn't even know if the greens would clutch, or if they did whether it was something that was safe to continue doing. The conversation seemed to reach what Sh'shi considered to be a natural breaking point, there was no point to let this devolve into bickering so the Weyrleader cleared her throat to regain their attention.

"Firstly I would like to clarify something. There is no such thing as a "common greenrider" all wingriders are deserving of respect." Sh'shi had never had much tolerance for colour profiling. A greenrider could become a wingleader just as easily as a bronzerider. She would n** this idea of 'just a green' in the bud right now. Just because greens outnumbered all the other colours did not mean they could all be lumped together. Nor could their riders. Sh'shi had trained over two hundred greenriders and she had yet to see two pairs that were exactly the same. The colour of a dragon ultimately boiled down to how fast they could fly and for how long.

"Secondly, as regards to how you will be treated. You will be treated the same as any other weyrling. Goldriders still have to go through all the lessons you will and do not get preferential treatment while they're in my barracks. So that's the next two turns sorted out for you." A goldrider still needed to know everything Sh'shi covered in her curriculum. They attended the firestone lectures and practicals, their dragons just didn't consume it. They still needed to understand it, they'd likely be the ones arranging the tithe of it after all. "It is also worth remembering, that a goldrider gets a lifetime position along with their dragon. The privileges they receive are an extension of this position, not their dragon's colour. They are charged with all the domestic duties of a Weyr, as well as those of the Weyrleader in certain circumstances. This job is highly demanding and means that most goldriders are denied the opportunity to pursue a craft, family or even relationships. Their first duty is always to the Weyr regardless of personal cost. To insinuate that the rider of a gold is simply a vessel for caring for a breeding dragon would be exceptionally disrespectful." She'd met youths like it before. Who thought that all a Weyrwoman or Weyrman did was sit around as their dragon did all the hard work. Despite the fact that they were responsible for the safety and well being of several thousands of people and very fragile diplomatic relationships. Often a the Senior goldrider would have one or two subordinates, but it was still a large burden. Sh'shi was thankful that Fort's former Weyrwoman had foreseen the difficulty of her passing and worked herself to exhaustion so that after the Weyr would continue to tick long enough for them to come to an arrangement. She did not know if the council would decide to have green Weyrwomen and Weyrmen, but if they did then the riders would be taking on the responsibility, not just the luxury of the role.

Feeling that that particular part was dealt with for now. Unless they had any further questions, Sh'shi turned to look at I'sko. "Yes?"