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(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)
Virginia waited until long after sound of the bandits' runner beasts had settled into silence before she pulled herself cautiously from her hiding place between two boulders. Women didn't usually lead trading families so to avoid unnecessary hostility she habitually made herself scarce when other trader caravans crossed their path and let her second in command, Hogan, size them up.
This time it had saved her life. She looked around at the carnage, dry-eyed. Her people were all dead. There would be time to mourn later. Hogan had died well, with a knife in his hand clutched so tightly the thieves couldn't take it. It was a good knife, one she'd given him herself. She closed his eyes and methodically checked the camp for signs of life, and when that failed, for supplies to help her survive. There wasn't much. Finally, reluctantly she went back to Hogan. "Happy," she said softly. "Please." She tugged at the knife once more, and this time it came loose. "Thank you."
All their runner beasts were either dead or stolen. She took off her feast day heeled shoes and wrapped her feet in scraps of leather. She walked away, back straight, and mind alert. She couldn't even bury her people. Later, later she would return and see them honored. Now it was her responsibility to stay alive, to remember them. She couldn't even envision revenge. There were so many bandits these days in the interim between Threadfall cycles she could never find which group was responsible. Soon, though, soon thread would fall, and no hold would let them enter. She indulged her imagination briefly. They would beg, and they would die, horribly. It was a grim satisfaction.
Her caravan had been paralleling the coast, and while Virginia didn't know much about foraging, she thought it was the time of year the sea turtles laid their eggs. She'd eaten sea turtle eggs before. They weren't her favorite, but they would keep her going.
She made her way down to the water, looking for disturbed sand. The light was fading, if she didn't find something soon, she'd have to wait for dawn. There! She moved faster, only to be disappointed when she came close enough to see the sand churned, and bits of shell scattered about, with tracks leading away. Too late. But she was there, she might as well be sure. She picked over the shells, and let out a pleased cry when she found a whole egg, wedged beneath a stone. She worked the egg out. It was heavier than she expected, and it shifted in her arms.
"No!" It slipped and fell, landing on the stone, cracking open. In frustration she kicked it, and then fell on her backside. "Ow, ow, ow." She sat up and massaged her foot, wincing.
"PEEPP? PEEEPPPRRR?"
Virginia fell flat on her back again and stared up at the tiny brown fire lizard hovering above her. His eyes were whirling in shades of deepest blue, and she felt... adored and admired and loved. The lizard blinked big blue eyes, and then rubbed his face against her cheek. He was damp and soft, and his wings were straightening and stiffening right before her eyes.
He was also hungry, so hungry she could feel it in her own stomach. "Shh," she said, petting the lizard, who preened and puffed up his tiny chest as if he was the most fierce creature on all of Pern.
"PPEEEP PPPRRRR," the lizard replied, adding a trill to the end of all his absurd little chirps. "PEPP PRRR!"
"My name is Virginia. Virginia," she repeated, smiling at the ridiculous beast.
"PEPP PRR!" he said back, firmly, eyes whirling bright and happy. And hungry.
"Fine, fine, Pepper it is. But I'm sorry, I haven't got anything. I was looking for turtle eggs."
The lizard quivered all over, like a hunting canine, and flapped his way awkwardly over the sand. He nose-dived into the ocean once, and emerged disgruntled. She tried not to laugh at him. Even a little fire lizard had dignity, they said. Not that she could see it with him. He reminded her of a puppet-show dragon she'd seen as a child, all clumsy and friendly. What had that dragon been called... it wasn't a proper dragon name, because that wouldn't have been respectful. Oh, yes. "Tony! Tony, stop playing."
The fire lizard cocked his head and trilled, "PEPP RRRR!" once more before landing on the sand a few yards away from her, and beginning to dig industriously. "PEPP RR!" he sounded frustrated.
"All right, all right, I'm coming. What?"
He had dug a tunnel as far as he could with his little legs, and stuck his head in and peeped again. He backed out, shook the sand off, and nudged Virginia's... oh, well, Pepper's, hand.
"You want me to stick my hand in there? It's dirty. And it smells."
Tony made his eyes even bigger and sadder.
"Oh, all right." Pepper laid down on the sand and dug into the hole. "Oh!" she pulled out a leathery greenish egg, not at all like a fire lizard's egg. "Turtle egg!" Her elation died. "I have to eat it raw?" She pushed the egg to Tony. "Here, you have this one, I'll get the rest."
Tony gleefully bit a hole in the egg and messily slurped up the insides. Pepper didn't watch, as she was busy digging up the rest of the nest.
Tony ate until his stomach was a round ball. Then he burped and nudged one of the remaining eggs over to Pepper.
"Thank you, Tony. Maybe later." Pepper eyed the egg. "It's just... I like my eggs cooked."
Tony trilled, "PEPP PRR!" and nudged the egg closer. His eyes were now flecked with yellow, and she could tell he was worried about her.
"Maybe I could make a fire?" She had never seen anyone do it, but she'd heard that if you hit the right kind of rocks together, they'd spark. But the only rocks here were soft. She looked at the egg again. "Maybe later..." She pushed the egg back to Tony.
He settled back on his hind legs, and pushed the egg to her, trilling with increasingly distressed tones. She pushed the egg back. This went on for a few minutes, and then Tony reared his head back. His eyes whirled an even brighter blue, and his chest heaved. His chest swelled.
"Tony? Oh my god, are you all right?"
"PEP URRPPP!" Tony opened his jaws wide and a bright blue flame shot out, covering the turtle egg. He kept up the fire for a minute, and then flopped on the sand, panting. He blinked at her and patted the egg. "PEP."
"Wow. I didn't know you could do that." Pepper gingerly broke open the egg and gamely ate it. It was the worst omelette she'd ever eaten, but she didn't want to hurt Tony's feelings.
After she'd choked the egg down, Pepper took off her over robe and made a bundle of the remaining eggs. Those that Tony hadn't exploded with his experiments, that is. She had thought that fire lizards were like dragons and had to eat firestone to flame, but maybe Tony was a genius. When he wasn't falling all over his ass. "Come on, Tony, we should find a place to sleep."
Tony purred at her before landing on her shoulders and twining around like a stole. His soft warm body was a comfort. She stroked the back of his neck and he closed his eyes, purring even louder. "I'm glad I found you," she said quietly.
Tony opened one eye and huffed a tiny swirl of smoke, then he curled his tail around her arm and dozed off.
The sand gave way to firmer ground, and there were scrubby trees and bushes. In the dimness, Pepper couldn't recognize any of the ones she knew carried edible fruit, and she was resigned to a breakfast of singed turtle eggs, but she would at least like somewhere to sleep that wasn't full of thorns and stickers. Oh, there, that was a smooth, big, boulder, greenish with moss, which might be nicer to sleep on.
She made her way carefully to the boulder, wary of stubbing her inadequately shod feet. Tony stirred on her shoulder, mumbling interrogatory peeps.
Pepper touched the boulder. "Huh. It's warm."
The boulder moved and she fell, Tony squawking and flying from her shoulder, egg bundle falling to smash against the ground. The boulder roared and opened jaws the length of her body, gleaming white teeth in rows catching the last of the daylight.
"Nice dragon?" she said weakly. The green dragon turned its head to look at her. Its eyes were green, too, a bright, glowing color, whirling with red. It didn't seem like a good sign, but weren't all dragons friendly?
It roared again, and lunged at her. Tony screamed in outrage and flew at the big dragon's face, flapping his wings and snapping at its nose.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," Pepper scrambled to her feet and looked for a branch or a rock or something. "That's MY TONY!"
She picked up a big branch, surprised that she had the strength to lift it. She hit the dragon on the leg and the branch broke into rotten bits, which explained that, at least. "No!" she yelled.
Tony zipped around to the rear of the dragon, nipping at it as he went. The dragon turned aside from Pepper to snap at him, but Tony was too fast. He got to the dragon's butt and started zapping him with blasts of his special blue flame. "PEP PRR!" he yelled between jolts. The big dragon kept turning and snapping, but his eyes were changing color, fading to shades of yellow and finally a pale color she could barely see. He stopped snapping at Tony, and turned back to Pepper.
She braced herself. "You're a bad dragon!" she said, fiercely. "Picking on baby fire lizards!"
The dragon laid his head on the ground. I'm sorry. Pepper heard in her mind, but it wasn't her mind voice. It was male, soft and apologetic. I couldn't help it. My rider died. Betty... The dragon closed his eyes, and his mind voice was full of sorrow. I tried to die, too. But I couldn't. I went Between, but I came out here. I...I went mad.
"Oh." Pepper stepped forward to lay a hand on the dragon's nose. "I'm sorry, too."
Tony flew back to Pepper, circled around her as if checking that she was all right, and then he landed in front of the big dragon, chirping in a scolding tone.
The big dragon cocked his head, and looked amused. I apologize to you, too, baby.
Tony swelled up in indignation.
"I don't think he likes being called baby," Pepper said. "His name is Tony. I'm... well, I'm Pepper."
My name is Bruth. Bruth sniffed. Why are you alone? Shouldn't you be with your people?
Pepper took a deep, trembling breath. "They're dead. I... I have no people. I have no one."
Bruth huffed. You have Tony. And... you have me. You can talk to us.
"Yes, yes, I can." Pepper rubbed Bruth's nose and smiled.
Not many people can do that. Bruth stretched out a foreleg. Come with me.
Pepper looked past his outstretched leg, and made out the contours of a riding harness. "You want me to ride you? I'm not a dragon rider."
Bruth gave her an amused look. You will be. Come with me to the weyr.
Pepper knew the stories about the weyr sexual hijinks. "I'm not... not that kind of woman."
I'm not that kind of green dragon, either. Bruth replied. I'm not... he gave a dragon chuckle any kind of woman.
"That's true."
You have my word. You will be honored.
Tony chirruped and rubbed her cheek in reassurance, trying his best to tell her how he would protect her from anything.
Pepper smiled. "Well, I might as well try it." She climbed into the harness and hung on tightly. "Let's go!"
Bruth reared back, and leapt into the sky. On her shoulder, Tony warbled in delight. Pepper smiled and leaned against Bruth's strong neck, feeling the wind take her hair, almost as if she could take flight on her own.