queenrider melody
16th March 2005, 05:42 AM
I know that it sounds like a familiar title, but this work is completely my own except that it is based on the Pern series and that it has characters by Anne McCaffrey. Believe me, it will be worth your time. Also, you'll find out the turn and pass by what things are there. Be aware that there is a few mating flights in this story and it's a little gory at times.
Chapter One
Midday Fort Weyr
Melody, queen rider of Nimoranth, rushed all around their weyr. She could not find her gloves anywhere, and she needed them for her trip between to High Reaches Weyr for thread fall. "By the first Egg! Where are my gloves? Just because I travel around Pern to fight thread, does not mean that I am use to the cold of between!" Melody screamed as she practically tore up her weyr.
You know, you probably left your gloves at Landing.
"That is what I am afraid of," Melody grunted as she looked in the pockets of her riding jacket.
C'gon, blue Nornth's rider, entered as she was just about to leave. "Where are you going without these?" he asked, holding up her gloves. "You left them at Landing."
Told you.
"Do not mention that to anyone, Nimoranth," Melody said to her queen. "Thank you," she said timidly as she grabbed her gloves. She tried to walk out, but C'gon blocked her way with his muscular, tan arm. "I must go fight thread with High Reaches Weyr," she said impatiently. C'gon refused to move his arm. Melody started getting irritated, but then she smiled slightly.
"May we join you? Will T'bor mind?" he asked quickly and desperately. Melody's smile widened.
"Sure, you may join us. I do not believe that T'bor will mind," she said with a slight laugh.
The two of them walked out of Fort Weyr and to their dragons.
They mounted Nornth and Nimoranth and went between. A few seconds later, they were over High Reaches Weyr, at least Melody and Nimoranth were.
"Hello, Queen rider Melody," T'bol greeted them as they landed. "Please go join the queen's wing." He pointed to the wing of golds just above their heads.
All of a sudden, C'gon on Nornth appeared in the sky. As they landed, C'gon mouthed, "Did you time it?", and Melody nodded her head yes.
She and Nimoranth flew upward before C'gon could scold them. They took to the formation of the wing.
As the other wings flew slightly above them, silver threads fell from the sky. All the queen riders prepared their flamethrowers and prepared to fight escaping thread. A huge clump fell toward the left of Nimoranth and Melody.
*Quickly, Nimranth, get in front of the thread.* Nimoranth moved so quickly that Melody could not possibly miss. She aimed her flamethrower at the thread and scorched the thread. This was just the beginning, and everyone in those wings know it.
***********3 hours later************
With, what Melody estimated, an hour left of thread fall, Melody and Nimoranth were a little tired. The thread fall was steady, and not too thick. Melody thought that this time it would be a boring thread fall, but she had no idea how wrong she was.
"Are you two doing all right?" the senior weyrwoman of High Reaches Weyr shouted back to them.
"We are all right. We are just a bit tired," Melody shouted to her.
The thread was starting to slow down a bit, and they really needed a rest. Melody saw that there was not any thread heading toward them, so they hovered for a few minutes.
Melody saw something glimmering, so she prepared her flamethrower. Suddenly, a knife slashed her riding straps!
She clung onto Nimoranth's neck and her flamethrower. Suddenly clump of thread scored Melody in midair.
"Nimoranth! Take us to the Weyr!" Melody gasped with pain as she swung herself back onto Nimoranth.
She clung at the wound as blood stained her riding clothes.
This experience had shocked and frightened Melody deeply, and when she tried to dismount she was shaking slightly.
She could not think clearly and she instead of dismounting, she fell off of Nimoranth's back and was knocked unconscious by the impact with the hard ground.
****2 hours later****
Melody had just woke up when she heard voices surrounding her, and she did not dare to open her eyes until she recognized the voices of those around her, for she had an experience with kidnapping before.
"Is she all right, Masterhealer?"
She recognized that as the voice of C'gon, and the Masterhealer was there, so she must be safe.
Slowly Melody opened one eye and then the other. She saw that the room was filled with familiar people, Sharra, Jaxom, C'gon, T'bor, and Masterhealer Oldive.
"She is awake!" C'gon exclaimed as he hugged her tightly.
She smiled widely and relaxed in C'gon's arms. He felt warm and comforting to her.
C’gon let go but still leaned down. He still looked concerned, and Melody felt guilty.
She just noticed how much he looked like his cousin, Jaxom, in the face, head shape, and color and style of hair.
Melody pushed back some of C'gon's hair and smiled.
Seeing that she was not concerned about what had happened, C'gon grabbed Melody's hand, leaned toward her, and kissed Melody long and passionately. Slowly he rose to allow the Masterhealer space to examine Melody.
Oldive examined Melody carefully and rose to speak.
"She will be a little bruised and will scar on her shoulder from being scorched by thread, but otherwise she will be heal quite nicely," the Masterhealer said.
"But, the thread score is bleeding so heavily!" C'gon blurted out.
"I cleaned the score and wrapped a cloth around it. That is all we can do," Oldive said, motioning all those in the room to exit with him. Although, when C'gon tried to follow, Masterhealer Oldive raised his hand as a motion for C'gon to stay with Melody.
After everyone else had left the room, Melody rose from the bed. She walked over to C'gon and stood in front of him.
He wanted to say something, but could not.
"So, C'gon," Melody said, "What happened after I fell?"
"You see," C'gon began, "Nornth and I had just come down to get more firestone when I saw you fall off of Nimoranth. I ran to you and knelt down. I saw that you were unconscious, so I picked you up and ran to the Lower Caverns. I told the nearest weyrling to go get Masterhealer Oldive as I ran to the guest room," he paused for a second to recall, then continued, "Then Sharra, Jaxom, and T'bor came when they had heard of what had happened. I was afraid that you had fractured your skull when you fell, but Oldive said that you had not. He also said that you had fallen for two reasons, first of all, you had been frightened by the experience, and second of all, you had been hit by this."
He held up a heavy knife, obviously made in the Smith Craft hall around three turns ago.
"So that is what knocked me off balance when I was dismounting. I was about to get off of Nimoranth when something hit me hard in the stomach causing me to fall and hit my head. But who could have done such treachery, to a queen rider nonetheless?" Melody was outraged, nobody had ever been known to attack a queen rider before.
"Well, there are two people that would attack you, an oldtimer or an abominator. Some oldtimers may still want to know who stole back Ramoath's egg, and the abominators would like to do anything to shut down AVAIS and they also want to destroy all products brought to us by AVAIS," C'gon said, even as he questioned himself if anyone would really attack a queen rider.
There was silence for a few moments, making the room uneasy.
"Well," Melody said, "we are both safe, and that is what matters now."
"Yes, we are safe and that is all that matters," C'gon said.
We are hungry now. Nimoranth said, apparently talking about Nornth and herself.
"We should feed Nornth and Nimoranth," Melody said, walking toward Nimoranth. C'gon grabbed her arm and swung her around.
"We should also feed ourselves," he said. He dragged her by the arm and threw her onto Nimoranth.
Melody had barely put on the new riding straps that had been bought by C'gon and given to her, when Nimoranth had gone between to the feeding grounds.
Once Melody had dismounted, Nimoranth dove toward a plump wherry and took it up to a ledge.
She feasted greedily on the carcass.
At the same moment, Nornth was gorging on a very fat buck.
Then, the two of them dove for separate, extremely fat does.
After twenty minutes, Nimoranth had feasted on three bucks, two does, and one plump wherry, and Nornth had had four plump bucks and two plump does.
After their two dragons were satisfied, C'gon and Melody mounted Nornth and Nimoranth.
They went between to the lower caverns to have their evening meal, since they were feeding their dragons, C'gon and Melody had missed the normal evening meal.
As Melody and C'gon walked in, several drudges came from the kitchens with trays and trays of food for Melody and C'gon's evening meal.
They were about to finish their claw when T'bor came in.
"You might as well stay here for the night," T'bor said, grabbing claw.
"I think that we will," Melody said, stretching. "Should not fly between now since Nimoranth is close to mating."
"What?!" C'gon shouted. "Why did you not tell me?"
"Never came to mind," Melody said with an impish grin.
They went up to their temporary weyrs and said good night.
*****Morning Next Day*****
Melody woke up instantly. "Nimoranth!" she cried.
She rushed down and found that C'gon was too.
They rushed onto the feeding grounds where Nimoranth was blooding. She was a brilliant gold stained with the red of blood.
"Blood only, Nimoranth! No meat!" Melody said telepathically.
Nimoranth growled, showing her blood-stained teeth, but leaped into the air followed by all the bronzes of High Reaches Weyr and..... Nornth!
Melody and C'gon ran up to C'gon's temporary weyr and leaned on each other's body.
They watched how Nimoranth sent out her large, vicious challenge, and how the bronzes and Nornth responded with speed.
Nornth gained the lead as Nimoranth went higher into the air and back down again.
Nornth caught Nimoranth, trying to make this a long, successful mating flight.
Melody and C'gon did not even try to resist the urge of the mating flight for their own natural feelings for each other also took them over.
****Later That Day****
Melody woke up and pushed her orange-red hair back from her light brown face.
She turned over in the bed to find that C'gon was not in the bed. She sat up and looked around the temporary weyr, and found C'gon coming out of the bathing room.
He was rapidly drying his hair with a towel.
"What are you doing?" she asked, covering her body with some fur.
"I am just getting ready to fly back to Fort," he said, throwing on his riding jacket.
Melody remembered the mating flight, and decided that she should maybe go back to Fort Weyr, too.
She lifted up her long-sleeved shirt and put it on her chilled body, then pulled up her worn pants.
C'gon helped her with putting on her worn riding jacket and pulling up her riding boots.
She put her longish hair into a bun and put on her riding helmet.
"Are you ready?" C'gon asked, zipping up his riding jacket.
"Yes. Let us go now," Melody pulled on her riding gloves and jumped onto Nimoranth. "Do you think it is safe for us to go between?" she asked her Weyrmate.
"Yes, I believe it is," was his response.
They visualized the ledge outside Melody's weyr and went between. It was cold, as usual.
They suddenly appeared over Nimoranth's ledge at Fort Weyr.
They flew down and landed gracefully on the ledge.
C'gon dismounted and helped Melody down.
They walked into the messy Weyr and sat on the bed.
"I have been a queen rider for three years," Melody began, "but every time that Nimoranth mated, it was only with one bronze, Gandrath. I never had the feelings for his rider, T'ran, that I have for you. He had been killed, but it is hard to speak of it. I hope that I will have a new and better beginning with you, C'gon. I am hoping that there will be a new addition to our family this turn." She rubbed her stomach.
C'gon's face looked excited, and threw his arms around her.
Melody flinched as C'gon set pressure onto her thread score.
Nimoranth and Nornth rumbled with excitement as their riders rejoiced.
Melody brought out her secret stash of Benden wine from behind the bed.
"White or red?" she asked C'gon, taking down some wine glasses.
"Red," he said, pulling out some meat rolls from his sack.
As Melody poured red Benden wine into the two glasses, ten fire lizards flew in.
Five landed near C'gon and the other five landed on bookshelves.
"Oh," C'gon said, stroking his green. "This is Trixi, my gold, this is Zazar, my bronze, my brown, Keath, my green, Pixi , and this my blue, Torx."
"This," Melody said, pointing to her gold, "is Goldy, my gold, this is Dodger, my bronze, this is Cheerl, my brown, this is my green, Emerald, and this is my blue, Krix."
The fire lizards started to sip at the wine, and Melody and C'gon laughed heavily.
"Goldy says that F'lar and Lessa want to speak with us," Melody said. "They are right outside the door!"
F'lar opened the door. "How could a blue fly a queen? They are too small!" F'lar and Lessa screamed in unison.
"Nornth is strong and fast," Melody said. "That must be it."
"He is strong and fast, but no blue, no matter how strong or fast, can not out fly a bronze in a mating!" F'lar said simply, as if that would be enough support for his argument.
"Nornth told me that it was because he and Nimoranth are in love so much that his heart gave him the strength to out fly all the bronzes," C'gon said, speaking for the first time. "Also, Melody and I are so in love ourselves, that it gave him extra strength."
The room was silent for a moment, then Lessa spoke up. "Well, that is good enough for me. So, were you two handing out Benden wine?"
"Oh, here," Melody said, pouring wine into two more glasses and handed them to the Benden weyrleaders.
They all sipped at their wine and then C'gon finally spoke up. "Well, Melody is pregnant."
"Congratulations!" F'lar and Lessa said.
Lessa went and patted Melody on her shoulder.
Melody winced in pain for Lessa had patted her thread-scored shoulder.
Chapter One
Midday Fort Weyr
Melody, queen rider of Nimoranth, rushed all around their weyr. She could not find her gloves anywhere, and she needed them for her trip between to High Reaches Weyr for thread fall. "By the first Egg! Where are my gloves? Just because I travel around Pern to fight thread, does not mean that I am use to the cold of between!" Melody screamed as she practically tore up her weyr.
You know, you probably left your gloves at Landing.
"That is what I am afraid of," Melody grunted as she looked in the pockets of her riding jacket.
C'gon, blue Nornth's rider, entered as she was just about to leave. "Where are you going without these?" he asked, holding up her gloves. "You left them at Landing."
Told you.
"Do not mention that to anyone, Nimoranth," Melody said to her queen. "Thank you," she said timidly as she grabbed her gloves. She tried to walk out, but C'gon blocked her way with his muscular, tan arm. "I must go fight thread with High Reaches Weyr," she said impatiently. C'gon refused to move his arm. Melody started getting irritated, but then she smiled slightly.
"May we join you? Will T'bor mind?" he asked quickly and desperately. Melody's smile widened.
"Sure, you may join us. I do not believe that T'bor will mind," she said with a slight laugh.
The two of them walked out of Fort Weyr and to their dragons.
They mounted Nornth and Nimoranth and went between. A few seconds later, they were over High Reaches Weyr, at least Melody and Nimoranth were.
"Hello, Queen rider Melody," T'bol greeted them as they landed. "Please go join the queen's wing." He pointed to the wing of golds just above their heads.
All of a sudden, C'gon on Nornth appeared in the sky. As they landed, C'gon mouthed, "Did you time it?", and Melody nodded her head yes.
She and Nimoranth flew upward before C'gon could scold them. They took to the formation of the wing.
As the other wings flew slightly above them, silver threads fell from the sky. All the queen riders prepared their flamethrowers and prepared to fight escaping thread. A huge clump fell toward the left of Nimoranth and Melody.
*Quickly, Nimranth, get in front of the thread.* Nimoranth moved so quickly that Melody could not possibly miss. She aimed her flamethrower at the thread and scorched the thread. This was just the beginning, and everyone in those wings know it.
***********3 hours later************
With, what Melody estimated, an hour left of thread fall, Melody and Nimoranth were a little tired. The thread fall was steady, and not too thick. Melody thought that this time it would be a boring thread fall, but she had no idea how wrong she was.
"Are you two doing all right?" the senior weyrwoman of High Reaches Weyr shouted back to them.
"We are all right. We are just a bit tired," Melody shouted to her.
The thread was starting to slow down a bit, and they really needed a rest. Melody saw that there was not any thread heading toward them, so they hovered for a few minutes.
Melody saw something glimmering, so she prepared her flamethrower. Suddenly, a knife slashed her riding straps!
She clung onto Nimoranth's neck and her flamethrower. Suddenly clump of thread scored Melody in midair.
"Nimoranth! Take us to the Weyr!" Melody gasped with pain as she swung herself back onto Nimoranth.
She clung at the wound as blood stained her riding clothes.
This experience had shocked and frightened Melody deeply, and when she tried to dismount she was shaking slightly.
She could not think clearly and she instead of dismounting, she fell off of Nimoranth's back and was knocked unconscious by the impact with the hard ground.
****2 hours later****
Melody had just woke up when she heard voices surrounding her, and she did not dare to open her eyes until she recognized the voices of those around her, for she had an experience with kidnapping before.
"Is she all right, Masterhealer?"
She recognized that as the voice of C'gon, and the Masterhealer was there, so she must be safe.
Slowly Melody opened one eye and then the other. She saw that the room was filled with familiar people, Sharra, Jaxom, C'gon, T'bor, and Masterhealer Oldive.
"She is awake!" C'gon exclaimed as he hugged her tightly.
She smiled widely and relaxed in C'gon's arms. He felt warm and comforting to her.
C’gon let go but still leaned down. He still looked concerned, and Melody felt guilty.
She just noticed how much he looked like his cousin, Jaxom, in the face, head shape, and color and style of hair.
Melody pushed back some of C'gon's hair and smiled.
Seeing that she was not concerned about what had happened, C'gon grabbed Melody's hand, leaned toward her, and kissed Melody long and passionately. Slowly he rose to allow the Masterhealer space to examine Melody.
Oldive examined Melody carefully and rose to speak.
"She will be a little bruised and will scar on her shoulder from being scorched by thread, but otherwise she will be heal quite nicely," the Masterhealer said.
"But, the thread score is bleeding so heavily!" C'gon blurted out.
"I cleaned the score and wrapped a cloth around it. That is all we can do," Oldive said, motioning all those in the room to exit with him. Although, when C'gon tried to follow, Masterhealer Oldive raised his hand as a motion for C'gon to stay with Melody.
After everyone else had left the room, Melody rose from the bed. She walked over to C'gon and stood in front of him.
He wanted to say something, but could not.
"So, C'gon," Melody said, "What happened after I fell?"
"You see," C'gon began, "Nornth and I had just come down to get more firestone when I saw you fall off of Nimoranth. I ran to you and knelt down. I saw that you were unconscious, so I picked you up and ran to the Lower Caverns. I told the nearest weyrling to go get Masterhealer Oldive as I ran to the guest room," he paused for a second to recall, then continued, "Then Sharra, Jaxom, and T'bor came when they had heard of what had happened. I was afraid that you had fractured your skull when you fell, but Oldive said that you had not. He also said that you had fallen for two reasons, first of all, you had been frightened by the experience, and second of all, you had been hit by this."
He held up a heavy knife, obviously made in the Smith Craft hall around three turns ago.
"So that is what knocked me off balance when I was dismounting. I was about to get off of Nimoranth when something hit me hard in the stomach causing me to fall and hit my head. But who could have done such treachery, to a queen rider nonetheless?" Melody was outraged, nobody had ever been known to attack a queen rider before.
"Well, there are two people that would attack you, an oldtimer or an abominator. Some oldtimers may still want to know who stole back Ramoath's egg, and the abominators would like to do anything to shut down AVAIS and they also want to destroy all products brought to us by AVAIS," C'gon said, even as he questioned himself if anyone would really attack a queen rider.
There was silence for a few moments, making the room uneasy.
"Well," Melody said, "we are both safe, and that is what matters now."
"Yes, we are safe and that is all that matters," C'gon said.
We are hungry now. Nimoranth said, apparently talking about Nornth and herself.
"We should feed Nornth and Nimoranth," Melody said, walking toward Nimoranth. C'gon grabbed her arm and swung her around.
"We should also feed ourselves," he said. He dragged her by the arm and threw her onto Nimoranth.
Melody had barely put on the new riding straps that had been bought by C'gon and given to her, when Nimoranth had gone between to the feeding grounds.
Once Melody had dismounted, Nimoranth dove toward a plump wherry and took it up to a ledge.
She feasted greedily on the carcass.
At the same moment, Nornth was gorging on a very fat buck.
Then, the two of them dove for separate, extremely fat does.
After twenty minutes, Nimoranth had feasted on three bucks, two does, and one plump wherry, and Nornth had had four plump bucks and two plump does.
After their two dragons were satisfied, C'gon and Melody mounted Nornth and Nimoranth.
They went between to the lower caverns to have their evening meal, since they were feeding their dragons, C'gon and Melody had missed the normal evening meal.
As Melody and C'gon walked in, several drudges came from the kitchens with trays and trays of food for Melody and C'gon's evening meal.
They were about to finish their claw when T'bor came in.
"You might as well stay here for the night," T'bor said, grabbing claw.
"I think that we will," Melody said, stretching. "Should not fly between now since Nimoranth is close to mating."
"What?!" C'gon shouted. "Why did you not tell me?"
"Never came to mind," Melody said with an impish grin.
They went up to their temporary weyrs and said good night.
*****Morning Next Day*****
Melody woke up instantly. "Nimoranth!" she cried.
She rushed down and found that C'gon was too.
They rushed onto the feeding grounds where Nimoranth was blooding. She was a brilliant gold stained with the red of blood.
"Blood only, Nimoranth! No meat!" Melody said telepathically.
Nimoranth growled, showing her blood-stained teeth, but leaped into the air followed by all the bronzes of High Reaches Weyr and..... Nornth!
Melody and C'gon ran up to C'gon's temporary weyr and leaned on each other's body.
They watched how Nimoranth sent out her large, vicious challenge, and how the bronzes and Nornth responded with speed.
Nornth gained the lead as Nimoranth went higher into the air and back down again.
Nornth caught Nimoranth, trying to make this a long, successful mating flight.
Melody and C'gon did not even try to resist the urge of the mating flight for their own natural feelings for each other also took them over.
****Later That Day****
Melody woke up and pushed her orange-red hair back from her light brown face.
She turned over in the bed to find that C'gon was not in the bed. She sat up and looked around the temporary weyr, and found C'gon coming out of the bathing room.
He was rapidly drying his hair with a towel.
"What are you doing?" she asked, covering her body with some fur.
"I am just getting ready to fly back to Fort," he said, throwing on his riding jacket.
Melody remembered the mating flight, and decided that she should maybe go back to Fort Weyr, too.
She lifted up her long-sleeved shirt and put it on her chilled body, then pulled up her worn pants.
C'gon helped her with putting on her worn riding jacket and pulling up her riding boots.
She put her longish hair into a bun and put on her riding helmet.
"Are you ready?" C'gon asked, zipping up his riding jacket.
"Yes. Let us go now," Melody pulled on her riding gloves and jumped onto Nimoranth. "Do you think it is safe for us to go between?" she asked her Weyrmate.
"Yes, I believe it is," was his response.
They visualized the ledge outside Melody's weyr and went between. It was cold, as usual.
They suddenly appeared over Nimoranth's ledge at Fort Weyr.
They flew down and landed gracefully on the ledge.
C'gon dismounted and helped Melody down.
They walked into the messy Weyr and sat on the bed.
"I have been a queen rider for three years," Melody began, "but every time that Nimoranth mated, it was only with one bronze, Gandrath. I never had the feelings for his rider, T'ran, that I have for you. He had been killed, but it is hard to speak of it. I hope that I will have a new and better beginning with you, C'gon. I am hoping that there will be a new addition to our family this turn." She rubbed her stomach.
C'gon's face looked excited, and threw his arms around her.
Melody flinched as C'gon set pressure onto her thread score.
Nimoranth and Nornth rumbled with excitement as their riders rejoiced.
Melody brought out her secret stash of Benden wine from behind the bed.
"White or red?" she asked C'gon, taking down some wine glasses.
"Red," he said, pulling out some meat rolls from his sack.
As Melody poured red Benden wine into the two glasses, ten fire lizards flew in.
Five landed near C'gon and the other five landed on bookshelves.
"Oh," C'gon said, stroking his green. "This is Trixi, my gold, this is Zazar, my bronze, my brown, Keath, my green, Pixi , and this my blue, Torx."
"This," Melody said, pointing to her gold, "is Goldy, my gold, this is Dodger, my bronze, this is Cheerl, my brown, this is my green, Emerald, and this is my blue, Krix."
The fire lizards started to sip at the wine, and Melody and C'gon laughed heavily.
"Goldy says that F'lar and Lessa want to speak with us," Melody said. "They are right outside the door!"
F'lar opened the door. "How could a blue fly a queen? They are too small!" F'lar and Lessa screamed in unison.
"Nornth is strong and fast," Melody said. "That must be it."
"He is strong and fast, but no blue, no matter how strong or fast, can not out fly a bronze in a mating!" F'lar said simply, as if that would be enough support for his argument.
"Nornth told me that it was because he and Nimoranth are in love so much that his heart gave him the strength to out fly all the bronzes," C'gon said, speaking for the first time. "Also, Melody and I are so in love ourselves, that it gave him extra strength."
The room was silent for a moment, then Lessa spoke up. "Well, that is good enough for me. So, were you two handing out Benden wine?"
"Oh, here," Melody said, pouring wine into two more glasses and handed them to the Benden weyrleaders.
They all sipped at their wine and then C'gon finally spoke up. "Well, Melody is pregnant."
"Congratulations!" F'lar and Lessa said.
Lessa went and patted Melody on her shoulder.
Melody winced in pain for Lessa had patted her thread-scored shoulder.