Post by Itoshii on Aug 6, 2013 21:30:24 GMT -5
So, high school is supposed to be the best years of your life, right?
Enter: Us
The weird kids. The book worms. The brainiacs. Nevermind the fact that we're all total individuals, from several walks of life. We're like a Breakfast Club of sorts, if you catch my drift. Little did we know that in a not-so-far-far-away part of our galaxy, while we were whittling away our precious high school years with homework and studying, our wildest dreams were about to come true.
Just a normal Friday afternoon, home from school after an hour or so with the gang- Oh, right. Let me explain. We're the Dragon Riders of Pern Club. Yeah, those dragon books you've probably never heard of that sit unnoticed in your library because they don't have flashy covers or vampires and werewolves. We're a little religious about it, a lot like your Trekkies or your Lord of the Rings fans. It's a wonderful world, set far in the future in distant space where dragons in the skies are a daily occurrence and everyone works to earn their keep. I could go on for days about all the little details and the history, but I'll spare you for now. Back to the here and now.
As I was saying: It was just another Friday afternoon. The rest of the group and I (Jessie) had been arguing over random details of some part of one of the books, I forget what they were anymore so much has happened, and I was sitting down to relax with a TV dinner since my parents had to work late. Flipping past the news, they had some famous astronomer on the TV speaking of a strange new, strange, dwarf planet in the sky that had never been described in all of recorded history. It was red, rogue and had been grabbed by the Sun, and headed for a flyby of the Earth. It wouldn't pass close enough to know if we would be in danger of a collision course for at least another 7 or 8 years, but it was certainly something to be worried about.
I nearly spit my mashed potatoes all over the place as I looked at the image on the screen. It could have been the Red Star's twin! Surely it was just another crazy astronomer doomsday prediction and it would all be forgotten in a few months, if anyone payed any attention at all. I flipped over the channel to watch re-runs of Supernatural, but the listings were wrong and it wasn't on. But you don't care about that, so I'll move on. After I finally filled my stomach with processed foods I decided to go to my favorite hide-out. One I hadn't even told my Club friends about. My brother had shown me it before he went off to college.
It was a good half an hour walk from home, 15 if I rode my bike to the park. Far off the beaten trail lay the treasure of my free time. It must have once been a plantation home, long forgotten by time and the world around it. Sprawling and surprisingly resilient it had at least 2 dozen rooms, half of them bedrooms, a gigantic dining hall with the most wonderful cobblestone hearth. Even an adorable little pond supplied by a nearby river where there were bullfrogs, dragonflies, and even some small fish.
I opened one of the large double doors and took a deep breath of the dusty air, but for some reason I didn't feel the sense of relief wash over me that I usually felt. Something seemed... off. Not necessarily wrong, but not right. I moved slowly, as quietly as I could manage, and followed my senses. I could hear the gentile crackling of a fire, though I could see no smoke. Had someone lit the hearth? How did I not realize that when I walked up? Mustering up all courage I could I peered around the doorway and into the great dining room before falling over with a startled shriek.
There in the middle of the dining room, MY dining room, was a cluster of eggs. Huge, creamy white eggs on a bed of stray and sawdust, as close to the hearth as you could get them while still having room to clear the ashes. There was a chuckle from near the hearth that caused me to jump to my feet and do my best to look dangerous. There was a man in my castle, a dark haired man in my castle and I was all alone. Had he brought these eggs? I couldn't help but steal a glance at them as the stranger strode over to me. "Ah, Jessie, just the girl I was hoping to see!" He said enthusiastically, his amber eyes glimmering in the firelight, full of amusement and with a wide grin on his face. "How do you like them?" he threw his arms wide towards the clutch, "They're dragon eggs! All all for you m'dear." he bowed, grin never leaving his face.
"D-dragon eggs?" I think I stammered, "What do you mean dragon eggs?!" my voice had almost risen to a shriek of a hysterical/excited proportions.
"Exactly that! Dragons! Just like your beloved Pern." He replied before a slight frown crossed his face, "Though I've had to move them sooner than I had hoped. I can't promise or predict what the move could have done to them this early in their development... but I can certainly promise you that they are alive! The Red Star comes and Earth has no defense, so I leave these beauties in your capable hands. Just keep the fires lit and they should be fine. Seems toasty enough in here anyway."
I turned to look at the eggs. "But what am I-" I turned to look back at the dark-haired man but he was gone. I ran all round the floor level, up the stairs, and all around the building but he was gone. Flat out gone and I had no idea what I was going to do. Maybe this was all a dream. Yes, that's it. I fell asleep watching some crummy sci-fi movie and here I was in this possibly wonderful dream. I closed my eyes, pinched myself, checked my watch, every trick the books and movies had said would tell you if you were in a dream but everything seemed normal. So I went back inside and peeked back into the dining room. There they were, that cluster of eggs, they hadn't moved an inch.
I walked slowly towards them, counting as I got closer as if afraid if I didn't they would start to disappear. Twelve. Twelve dragon eggs and he had left them to me. Finally beside one of the outside of the spiral of eggs I reached out with the intentions to touch the shell before snatching my hand away. Taking a deep breath I mustered the courage to lay my finger tips on the beautiful egg, and sure enough I could feel its soft, leathery shell under them. Looking outside it was already well into being dark. I had to get home or my parents would be furious! I looked to the hearth, a generous firewood supply, at least a few days worth, already cut and stacked neatly to one side of the room. At least that strange man had been helpful enough to do that. I piled more wood on the fire, praying that it would last until morning and flew home, somehow escaping the wrath of the parentals.
The next day I sent out a mass text to the closest of my 6 Pernese friends, hoping they would believe me but knowing they wouldn't. I had already returned to the mansion to stoke the fire and check the eggs. Once we got there I'd need help turning them. One by one they filtered in, wondering what all the hubub was about but I refused to say a word until they all got there. "Did you all see the news last night?" most of them looked at me funny before one mentioned the new planet. I nodded vigorously. "What does it remind you of?" Yeah. They thought I was crazy. They were all giving me the look that meant 'You REALLY aren't going there right now are you?'
Sighing in frustration I led them into the woods. Now, we all were friends and trusted each other, but we weren't like some friends who re like siblings. I could tell they were just humoring me. I had always been the more fanatical about the book series, though none of them denied me that as I had started the club for the vague series we all loved so much. I could hear murmurs from behind me as we marched along, but I did my best to ignore them, knowing they would be silent with awe soon. I heard a few gasps as my mansion came into view and a 'What does this have to do with that Red Star look alike?'
"Now, what you're about to see is going to feel very surreal." I said, turning once we reached the door to look at each of them in turn. "But I'm trusting you all to keep this secret, and if you choose to walk through these doors you give your word, as a Rider would, that you will never tell a soul about this." No one spoke, so I took that as an agreement. Walking through the doors I waited until everyone was safely in the entryway before leading them to the dining room. As I expected no one moved from just beyond the doorway, staring at the sight before them in utter disbelief.
"How... Where did these things come from?" One stammered from the front.
"It's going to sound absolutely crazy, so I knew I had to show you before I could tell you anything. But here it goes:" I took a deep breath before recounting my tale of the night before from my arrival at the mansion to throwing logs on the fire before I left. "It's okay to touch them... just be gentile. They're still soft." I told them after a few moments of amazed silence. One by one they gained the courage to go up and touch one, a couple even daring to walk among them.
And thus it began. Our weeks of preparation to get the mansion dragonet ready. Clearing the bedrooms, we found it an odd coincidence that there were a dozen eggs and a dozen rooms, but there was too much to do to dwell on it wrong. The mansion was cleaned from top to bottom, the pond was cleaned enough to be an acceptable bathing pool for the future dragonets. Our future dragonets. Now the shells are hard and they could be hatching any day now. We've all been brushing up on our knowledge, scoping out and approaching potential candidates and recruiting them to our cause (mostly by finding out who, in the past, had borrowed multiple DRoP books from the local and school libraries). Now, with 12 candidates, we're praying that this first group isn't too picky. To lose even one of this first batch of Earth's own dragons could be to lose the dragon that helps to save our planet.
Enter: Us
The weird kids. The book worms. The brainiacs. Nevermind the fact that we're all total individuals, from several walks of life. We're like a Breakfast Club of sorts, if you catch my drift. Little did we know that in a not-so-far-far-away part of our galaxy, while we were whittling away our precious high school years with homework and studying, our wildest dreams were about to come true.
Just a normal Friday afternoon, home from school after an hour or so with the gang- Oh, right. Let me explain. We're the Dragon Riders of Pern Club. Yeah, those dragon books you've probably never heard of that sit unnoticed in your library because they don't have flashy covers or vampires and werewolves. We're a little religious about it, a lot like your Trekkies or your Lord of the Rings fans. It's a wonderful world, set far in the future in distant space where dragons in the skies are a daily occurrence and everyone works to earn their keep. I could go on for days about all the little details and the history, but I'll spare you for now. Back to the here and now.
As I was saying: It was just another Friday afternoon. The rest of the group and I (Jessie) had been arguing over random details of some part of one of the books, I forget what they were anymore so much has happened, and I was sitting down to relax with a TV dinner since my parents had to work late. Flipping past the news, they had some famous astronomer on the TV speaking of a strange new, strange, dwarf planet in the sky that had never been described in all of recorded history. It was red, rogue and had been grabbed by the Sun, and headed for a flyby of the Earth. It wouldn't pass close enough to know if we would be in danger of a collision course for at least another 7 or 8 years, but it was certainly something to be worried about.
I nearly spit my mashed potatoes all over the place as I looked at the image on the screen. It could have been the Red Star's twin! Surely it was just another crazy astronomer doomsday prediction and it would all be forgotten in a few months, if anyone payed any attention at all. I flipped over the channel to watch re-runs of Supernatural, but the listings were wrong and it wasn't on. But you don't care about that, so I'll move on. After I finally filled my stomach with processed foods I decided to go to my favorite hide-out. One I hadn't even told my Club friends about. My brother had shown me it before he went off to college.
It was a good half an hour walk from home, 15 if I rode my bike to the park. Far off the beaten trail lay the treasure of my free time. It must have once been a plantation home, long forgotten by time and the world around it. Sprawling and surprisingly resilient it had at least 2 dozen rooms, half of them bedrooms, a gigantic dining hall with the most wonderful cobblestone hearth. Even an adorable little pond supplied by a nearby river where there were bullfrogs, dragonflies, and even some small fish.
I opened one of the large double doors and took a deep breath of the dusty air, but for some reason I didn't feel the sense of relief wash over me that I usually felt. Something seemed... off. Not necessarily wrong, but not right. I moved slowly, as quietly as I could manage, and followed my senses. I could hear the gentile crackling of a fire, though I could see no smoke. Had someone lit the hearth? How did I not realize that when I walked up? Mustering up all courage I could I peered around the doorway and into the great dining room before falling over with a startled shriek.
There in the middle of the dining room, MY dining room, was a cluster of eggs. Huge, creamy white eggs on a bed of stray and sawdust, as close to the hearth as you could get them while still having room to clear the ashes. There was a chuckle from near the hearth that caused me to jump to my feet and do my best to look dangerous. There was a man in my castle, a dark haired man in my castle and I was all alone. Had he brought these eggs? I couldn't help but steal a glance at them as the stranger strode over to me. "Ah, Jessie, just the girl I was hoping to see!" He said enthusiastically, his amber eyes glimmering in the firelight, full of amusement and with a wide grin on his face. "How do you like them?" he threw his arms wide towards the clutch, "They're dragon eggs! All all for you m'dear." he bowed, grin never leaving his face.
"D-dragon eggs?" I think I stammered, "What do you mean dragon eggs?!" my voice had almost risen to a shriek of a hysterical/excited proportions.
"Exactly that! Dragons! Just like your beloved Pern." He replied before a slight frown crossed his face, "Though I've had to move them sooner than I had hoped. I can't promise or predict what the move could have done to them this early in their development... but I can certainly promise you that they are alive! The Red Star comes and Earth has no defense, so I leave these beauties in your capable hands. Just keep the fires lit and they should be fine. Seems toasty enough in here anyway."
I turned to look at the eggs. "But what am I-" I turned to look back at the dark-haired man but he was gone. I ran all round the floor level, up the stairs, and all around the building but he was gone. Flat out gone and I had no idea what I was going to do. Maybe this was all a dream. Yes, that's it. I fell asleep watching some crummy sci-fi movie and here I was in this possibly wonderful dream. I closed my eyes, pinched myself, checked my watch, every trick the books and movies had said would tell you if you were in a dream but everything seemed normal. So I went back inside and peeked back into the dining room. There they were, that cluster of eggs, they hadn't moved an inch.
I walked slowly towards them, counting as I got closer as if afraid if I didn't they would start to disappear. Twelve. Twelve dragon eggs and he had left them to me. Finally beside one of the outside of the spiral of eggs I reached out with the intentions to touch the shell before snatching my hand away. Taking a deep breath I mustered the courage to lay my finger tips on the beautiful egg, and sure enough I could feel its soft, leathery shell under them. Looking outside it was already well into being dark. I had to get home or my parents would be furious! I looked to the hearth, a generous firewood supply, at least a few days worth, already cut and stacked neatly to one side of the room. At least that strange man had been helpful enough to do that. I piled more wood on the fire, praying that it would last until morning and flew home, somehow escaping the wrath of the parentals.
The next day I sent out a mass text to the closest of my 6 Pernese friends, hoping they would believe me but knowing they wouldn't. I had already returned to the mansion to stoke the fire and check the eggs. Once we got there I'd need help turning them. One by one they filtered in, wondering what all the hubub was about but I refused to say a word until they all got there. "Did you all see the news last night?" most of them looked at me funny before one mentioned the new planet. I nodded vigorously. "What does it remind you of?" Yeah. They thought I was crazy. They were all giving me the look that meant 'You REALLY aren't going there right now are you?'
Sighing in frustration I led them into the woods. Now, we all were friends and trusted each other, but we weren't like some friends who re like siblings. I could tell they were just humoring me. I had always been the more fanatical about the book series, though none of them denied me that as I had started the club for the vague series we all loved so much. I could hear murmurs from behind me as we marched along, but I did my best to ignore them, knowing they would be silent with awe soon. I heard a few gasps as my mansion came into view and a 'What does this have to do with that Red Star look alike?'
"Now, what you're about to see is going to feel very surreal." I said, turning once we reached the door to look at each of them in turn. "But I'm trusting you all to keep this secret, and if you choose to walk through these doors you give your word, as a Rider would, that you will never tell a soul about this." No one spoke, so I took that as an agreement. Walking through the doors I waited until everyone was safely in the entryway before leading them to the dining room. As I expected no one moved from just beyond the doorway, staring at the sight before them in utter disbelief.
"How... Where did these things come from?" One stammered from the front.
"It's going to sound absolutely crazy, so I knew I had to show you before I could tell you anything. But here it goes:" I took a deep breath before recounting my tale of the night before from my arrival at the mansion to throwing logs on the fire before I left. "It's okay to touch them... just be gentile. They're still soft." I told them after a few moments of amazed silence. One by one they gained the courage to go up and touch one, a couple even daring to walk among them.
And thus it began. Our weeks of preparation to get the mansion dragonet ready. Clearing the bedrooms, we found it an odd coincidence that there were a dozen eggs and a dozen rooms, but there was too much to do to dwell on it wrong. The mansion was cleaned from top to bottom, the pond was cleaned enough to be an acceptable bathing pool for the future dragonets. Our future dragonets. Now the shells are hard and they could be hatching any day now. We've all been brushing up on our knowledge, scoping out and approaching potential candidates and recruiting them to our cause (mostly by finding out who, in the past, had borrowed multiple DRoP books from the local and school libraries). Now, with 12 candidates, we're praying that this first group isn't too picky. To lose even one of this first batch of Earth's own dragons could be to lose the dragon that helps to save our planet.