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Dragonets and their newly bonded for the first several days after Impression, as it helped the pair stay close to one another and form a deep bond. This, Lerath remembered.

Weyrlings were assigned bunkmates. This, Lerath remembered.

And best of all, though they weren’t exactly encouraged to do so, hatchlings were small enough to wander most anywhere in the weyr. This, Lerath especially remembered.

It had been some time since he had left the weyrling barracks to trot to the healer’s area to make His see to a wound he’d received at the hatching, or accompanied His to the dining hall, but he still remembered the layout of the rooms when he flew overhead. And, more importantly, he remembered where many of his clutchmates and their bonded had spent their time out of the hustle and bustle of the weyr. It was late evening when Lerath’s bonded, not being able to sleep, went to the kitchens to distract his insomnia with food, and, being so distracted, didn’t think to question his dragon.

Lerath, wings raised from his body and twitching eagerly, walked some distance from his weyr before crouching, great muscles coiling, and leaping toward the newly shining stars. He flew at a medium height over the weyr, circling toward the weyrlings barracks. His midnight-colored wings and pastel underbelly made him look like a pale eel sliding through the sky from the ground. As he flew he kept his eye cocked, seeking out either the color or clumsy movements of the new hatchlings.

The dragon circling overhead did so in a casual way. Lerath did not need to stay very close to the pair to speak to the mind of the little green after he’d spotted her. He arced away, slowly turning as if he meant to pass them by at a wider girth the next time. I am Lerath, he proclaimed to her, as if he were not deliberately intruding on their privacy, but simply exchanging pleasantries with the young dragon in passing. What are you and yours doing out so late? I did not quite think I would find anyone out so late.

Lerath? inquired his rider. It only took the one word to ask many things. Lerath wished he possessed that quality sometimes, that he could only speak a word and be given all the answers he desired. As it was, by the time he had answers to his first question he’d always though of a dozen more and it was exhausting to keep track of them.

I found one of the hatchlings, he answered with pleasure. I do not know why they are sitting out in the night air though.

V’al said nothing in reply, but somewhere across the weyr there was a sigh and the sound of a man scarfing down a sweetroll because he knew he would be needed elsewhere soon.

Oh, Lerath answered, his tone half-apologetic. However, the blue was too curious about the star-gazing pair to consider that he might have been less than welcome for simply blocking the view of the night sky. Dipping lower as he entered his returning arc to the pair, he backwinged just short of the ground and landed at a perfect halt a short distance from Lina and her green. From there, he approached at a rather slow walk that was further impaired by the blue’s notable way of favoring one of his forelegs. It was difficult to see in the darkness of the night, but scarring from old threadscore laced his leg and foot, making the skin tight and unwilling to flex with walking, though it at least wasn’t painful. Stopping his slow hobble a short distance away, Lerath rumbled a respectful greeting to the pair while his eyes glittered intently. Now I will not block the view, he noted with satisfaction. Why are you watching the stars? Is there something interesting? he questioned, glancing skyward.

Lerath’s wings had tucked against his sides when he’d stopped by the pair, but now they rustled in excitement and he came closer to the pair to get a better angle and see which one the young woman was pointing at. I did not notice that they moved, he answered. For a moment he was silent as he tried to understand a pattern in the sky overhead, but it was hopeless. Rigel was distinct to him once he had made it out, but the rest of the sky was awash in lights and he wondered if he would ever be able to distinguish the meaning. Yours must have looked at them a great deal to remember them all, he said, clearly impressed. Do they all have names? Oh, and what are your names – I should have asked that first.


Just then a second intruder came upon the odd group. His dark, unruly hair had been chopped short in a shaggy sort of style, and hung frayed about his face, which looked grim and perhaps a bit perturbed. He was dressed casually for the evening in a plain tunic and thin hide gloves (despite the hot summer air), but something about his stride suggested him to be a rider. “He probably shouldn’t have asked you anything at all,” he said factually as he approached. “Sorry if he’s interrupted your evening.” V’al actually didn’t sound any sorrier than his dragon had. Lerath didn’t seem very abashed either. The dragon was still eyeing the sky curiously.