bakerstreet | The Dragonriders of Pern AU Meme

The Dragonriders of Pern AU Meme

THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN AU MEME

WARNING: Contains situations of dubious consent, violence, and triggers. Click with caution.

Pern is a planet with an unusual problem. Every 250 years or so, orbits in the system bring the planet into a fifty-year shower of a substance they call Thread. Thread consumes every organic substance it comes into contact with, dissolving plastics, plants and people alike. It is stopped only by metal and stone. In order to combat this menace, the early colonists on Pern created dragons.

Now, thousands of years later, dragons are an ordinary institution. They carry passengers and transport messages, since they are able to go Between, a teleporting ability that produces several seconds of cold sensory deprivation every time it is done. They live in weyrs, places reserved solely for dragons, riders and support staff, usually in caves, often in volcanic areas in order to create warm grounds for egg-laying and hatching.

The dragons themselves bond with, or Impress, humans immediately upon hatching, creating a deep, psychic and very intimate connection. Dragons and humans are a pair, and they tend to bond based on personality, gender and sexual orientation. This comes into play during mating flights, when female dragons go into heat and fly away, requiring a male to catch her and mate mid-air. Often, sex between the riders of the mated dragons is not optional, no matter who the riders are or what they feel about one another. This creates a general atmosphere of sexual openness in the weyr.

That's a dragonrider's life. Skipping out to fight the latest shower of Thread, taking care of their dragon, hopping Between, and dealing with the occasional unwanted desires from a mating flight.

For more info, feel free to check out Wikipedia!

HOW IT WORKS:
1) Post with your character and canon. Feel free to take this opportunity to make a note about which sort of dragon your character would have, and any roleplaying preferences.
2) Tag around, and dragon this shit up.
3) Stick to canon, if you like; disregard it, if you like.
4) Have some goddamn fun with some goddamn dragons.

TYPE OF DRAGON
CANON:
Gold - the largest of the dragons and most rare, queens and egg-layers. Those who Impress a dragon like this generally end up in a weyr's leadership. These dragons canonically always have women as their riders.
Bronze - second largest, male; the gold's mating pool tends to draw from these. These dragons canonically always have men as their riders.
Brown - slightly smaller than bronze, male, steady and strong with a lot of endurance. These dragons canonically always have men as their riders.
Blue - the smallest male, and a somewhat awkward compromise between strength and small size/agility. These dragons canonically nearly always have men as their riders.
Green - quick, agile and flighty, without much endurance, making up about 50% of all canon dragon population. Female. Greens almost never lay any eggs, and lack much of a maternal instinct. These dragons may take riders of either gender.

NON-CANON/SLIGHTLY MODIFIED CANON:
(In case you'd like a few more options to play with.)
White - A mutation, but a surprisingly common one. White dragons have little to no sex drive, and are very small, but unusually intelligent and sometimes have strange and unique abilities.
Black/Dark Blue - Another rare mutation. These dragons can be of either gender, but are incapable of chewing firestone and producing flame. They tend to take dragonriders who are deceptive, sneaky, clever. They are often used as messengers or as night-riding spies.
Red - Female and medium-size, this dragon is a fighting dragon that does clutch, if not as numerously or as productively as the golds. They tend towards passion and strength, deep emotions that make them fervent fighters.
Yellow - Male, on the small side, jumpy and often somewhat thick-headed, yellows take longer to mature and are more difficult to train to work in groups, but once you do, the result is worth it. They are impulsive and brave and vicious.
Purple - Another dragon type that can be male or female. Small-bodied and huge-winged, this type is somewhat rare but ideal for long patrols. Their eyesight is famous and keen, so they're good spotters as well.
Other - If you have a particular idea, feel free to make up your own!

HIJINKS
1 - Threadfall. Time to get out there and burn this stuff before it manages to hit the ground. Hopefully you won't find yourself or your dragon in the path of this stuff. Otherwise, you might be out of commission for a while, and the scars never heal.
2 - Gather Day. It's a festival today! Get out there and spend some money, hear some music, and have some lovely food.
3 - Hatching. The candidates are ready, and those eggs look hard enough to break. Hatching could happen at any time. Are you ready for Impression?
4 - Feeding/Bathing. Dragons need a lot of taking care of. Whether it's feeding a hatchling an enormous basket of meat, taking a full-grown dragon out to hunt, or having a bath in the lake outside the weyr, keeping your dragon happy is a full-time job.
5 - Mating Flights. It's time. Your dragon is feeding on the blood of their kill, and they're about to take off. Who's going to catch them this time?
6 - Other. Wild card, if there's any other situation you'd like to explore!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Red dragon. No smut please.

"You kept up well," he noted softly, keeping his flying leathers buttoned up on the high peak they'd landed on. "She's growing well. I don't believe long range scouting is your best option though." No, Reds did not deal well with prolonged solitude and neither did their riders.

When the weyrleaders commanded though, he obeyed. And they had commanded he offer teaching to any who asked. "Why did you wish a long mission?"

"To see if I could."

It was the simplest answer and Tifa gave it, squinting her eyes against the wind at this height, having pushed her goggles back when they'd landed. The world seemed to go on forever below and she still wasn't over how amazing that was. In her mind, she felt the amused rumble of her dragon and it made her smile. Still Kernan had been nice enough to agree to it and she felt as if she owed him more for that. So she turned her head to look at him, wondering if he'd understand when she added:

"To see how it felt. If it felt - right. To see if I felt like I belonged." Her eyes were young but she still smiled a bit wryly, knowing how it sounded. "Does that make any sense at all?"

That first answer made him half turn to look at her while his purple snorted drily. Yes, that was the answer most would give wasn't it? She earned a small half-smile when she continued though. "It is not easy to find a proper place now as the world changes," he admitted with a nod.

"And? This peak marks a halfway point for most flyers, but my Merrinth can go twice that with ease. Do you feel this is your place then?" Did they continue or did he turn her back now so she might find herself a more suitable place in the weyr?

"Most who come this way with me would say they feel lost at the weyr...or that they are searching for something, or someone, out here. I think you are the first to be honest with me."

She looked back the way they'd come, at the forever blue sky and the weyr not even a speck in the distance. They'd come a long way and she mentally felt along the link with her own dragon, feeling to judge how she was doing and what her thoughts were as well. Leaning forward she stroked the neck with its sunset red color that still changed almost every day in front of her eyes as her own dragon matured. Kernan's continued words though had her turning her own head to look at him, a little surprised. She couldn't imagine much point in either lying about intentions or to themselves about why someone did something. After a moment, she shook her head.

"I'm not lost. But maybe I'm still searching for something. Someone... That's not why I wanted to come though." Gloved fingers shifting to scratch where the small nudge inside her head indicated, she thought about it before continuing. "I like it out here. But I don't think I'd like it if it was just Jenneth and I. I don't think we're the stuff of long patrols. But I want to finish this flight. All the way to the end. We both do." No turning back, no giving up. She hadn't been lying when she'd said one of her reasons was simply to test themselves and see if they could. A pause and the look she gave her dragon riding companion was thoughtful. He didn't offer much but maybe it wasn't too personal to ask:

"Why do you chose this life? So far away from home so often?"

"We are not on a time limit on this run, so if your red grows tired tell me immediately. We will rest." Merrinth rustled her wings, stretching out her long pinions for the flight ahead the moment Tifa said they would continue. This was a patrol that was well known and much loved by the dragon so her excitement was understandable. And why was he out here? Ah, that was something he hadn't been asked in some time, so instead of an immediate answer he fished meat rolls out of his belt pouch and offered her one. "You wouldn't know the tale," he admitted softly. The elders at the weyr did and he had grown use to it.

"I do not get along with the weyrleaders," or the weyrwoman to be exact. "And Merrinth is about as social as I. It is easiest for us both to be out here where we can see more of the world and the things people miss by going Between."

She was grateful for the roll and took it with a murmured thanks, careful not to interrupt as he spoke. His answer had her humming as she chewed thoughtfully at the meat. Flying always made her hungry, probably sympathy pangs for what her own dragon was expending in energy, though Jenneth often didn't grow hungry at all until everything was over and she remembered. At the moment, Tifa was the only one that was and she stroked the skin of her dragon while she ate.

"Mm." She hummed to show she'd heard, wondering what specific it was that 'not getting along' meant but not comfortable enough to pry. Since he was being open however, she did feel she could ask:

"Is this what you want then? For the rest of your life? Or is this a step toward somewhere else?"

This rider was full of questions people had not asked him in some time. IT made him watch her in bemusement for a while before he turned to check the straps on his flight harness. It never hurt to check at every rest point. It was a soothing ritual in fact, running fingers along thick wherry hide cross pieces, searching for flaws...

...it gave him time to think.

"No," he admitted at last. "Everything changes. The weyrs are changing, the ways will change, and perhaps in time we could live out at the edges of the world." He'd seen places most never had, and he kept them off the maps.

"And perhaps someone will return there." Merrinth bugled softly at the idea, eyes swirling in relaxed easiness.

Times were changing and Tifa didn't mind. She was still new enough that even if things had been the same she still would have been adjusting so adjusting to new changing took about the same energy as adjusting to the old ones would have. And... she felt hopeful, about the new changes, even if she knew there were others who found them unsettling. She thought Pern was ready for a change.

Observant, she noticed the checks to the straps and so began her own. It wasn't a bad habit to pick up and he certainly knew more than she did about - all things dragon concerned. Jenneth swiveled her head to watch through one calmly swirling eye. It wasn't really that hard to put two and two together though in their short conversation and so, concentrating on the straps to give him his 'privacy' she asked:

"You're waiting for someone too?"

There was nothing more 'exciting' than having a strap go during a bank maneuver, so yes, checking. When he finished the check of his own straps he leaned against his mount's warm flank, watching her. "She's still growing as well. Check for rough skin," that should be oiled just as much as the straps themselves really.

Only when she was engaged...only then..."Too?" It was a mild, mild word.

"Mm." She made the sound to show she was listening and she was learning. She already knew about rough skin. She was already familiar with the lotions that went on her dragon's skin to keep it supple and smooth, a mother hen to a dragon dozens of times her size and still growing. She liked taking care of others and the dragon she rode had the added incentive of holding her heart. For one like that, Tifa would have moved the world... or quietly and subtly spoiled them rotten with hidden attention and anticipatory care.

The word was mild but Tifa twisted under it mentally with all the dancing agility of a dragon in flight herself when she turned it back the way it had come with a:

"You said people came out here looking. And then said someone might return one day. So it sounded as if you were waiting for someone." Her wine eyes did rise then though to meet his as she gave in enough to add the confession of: "Too."

It was well and proper that she spoil her dragon; every true rider did in his experience. That did not stop him from having to say such things. It was...habit...with the younger riders. "The winds further along this route will hold a great deal of salt," they'd be skirting the ocean, so best she be warned. "Though the bay at the end is one the dragons seem to enjoy, so you may best prepare yourself for damp sand scrubs," he chuckled.

Oh yes, the dragons could look right silly paddling and rolling.

"And there are many exploring this southern continent, you'll see bands pass below us, rambling through the trees." And if she decided to offer more on her own he might share in kind, but until then they could rest at 'too'.

She didn't mind the reminder. While she could guess at what to watch for, Kernan actually knew from experience. It was one of the reasons she's wanted to go out with him on this ride. She knew she still had a lot to learn and she wanted to learn from the ones with the dragons that seemed the happiest. Check of the straps, and skin underneath finished, she straightened in her saddle. A beach... and sea water... Mountain grown herself she thought that sounded wonderful.

She also noticed he didn't offer or answer more. It was all right. She already felt as if she'd pried more than was polite. Her own 'too' seemed awkward but... if she never asked, who knew if she might miss someone right under her nose and Kernan had flown further and seen more than most...

"There was a boy - . He left my hometown before I did. He was going to be a dragonrider." And more but that was her own. Wistful for a moment, letting herself be wistful for a moment because Kernan - it seemed all right to be that way for just a moment around him without risking teasing. "I've never found him."

Merrinth rustled her wings, growing a touch restless; she knew what lay at the true midpoint of this trip and she was impatient for a bit of fun...Kernan chuckled and soothed her by scratching her browridges gently. The red needed to rest a touch longer if she was to make it without undue strain and he wouldn't have his girl rush them.

And no, he wouldn't tease.

"Did he leave on Search or of his own accord and two feet?" he asked softly. These were simple questions and from there they could trace ideas. "From general holds and weyrs he can be traced." Provided he gave his own name when staying or guesting.

"He left on his own."

Until... recently her own small village had seemed all but forgotten and no one had ever come looking for candidates. Up where she had lived, lost in the mountains, far from everywhere, hardly anyone ever came.

But they'd certainly left often enough. Looking for work, for a future - for dragons and, she supposed, fame. She'd found all the others, but never her dragon dreamer. Sometimes, late at night when things seemed long and heavy, she wondered if he'd made it anywhere at all. For reassurance, she stroked her own dragons neck and wondered if she'd ever find a point where she stopped asking and gave up.

"I've asked other riders. Ones from other Holds. No one's ever heard of a spiky haired blond dragonrider."

"People grow and change," he noted. "A name is easier to go by, or a sketch because a face does not change as much. After our circuit we can go to the Harper Hall and have a sketch done for you. Then it is a matter of quartering the lands around your town. If we can even get a few people to recognize a picture we will get an idea of direction."

It surprised her. She'd expected mild curiosity, not help. She rode a Red now. She was supposed to have thoughts for her Hold and its future, not her distant past and time ravaged dreams. It kindled a spark of hope - but also of embarrassment. And fear. Because there were a lot of reasons she might not have heard of him - that he might not have found her but the one that replayed in her head was:

"...he might not want to be found."

"Perhaps," he agreed easily. "But you are not a girl to be set aside lightly now." She was the rider of a Red, and as such a woman of consequence.

"It will weigh on you as the turns go by with no news, and that in turn will weigh on your mount. Best to trace him if he can be traced and settle things." Which ever way things decided to settle.

She was still adjusting to the fact that something other than herself was what people valued her by. She loved Jenneth with her whole heart and she certainly thought her dragon was wonderful. It was just - still getting used to the fact that her Red was what made her who she was in most people's eyes. She felt the familiar nudge inside, the comforting humor and smiled in response even if her brows twitched over her eyes. No one really prepared you for the way your life changed when you stepped out onto the sands.

"You're right." Better to know than spend the rest of her life wondering. Even if all she could think of were bad reasons for someone to stay hidden. Or lost. There were a lot of dangers in the wilderness between her old home and the nearest hold...

"Thank you. I'd appreciate the help." And maybe the support if things went sour though she wasn't going to rely on Kernan if she could help it. Being friendly didn't mean being friends. It was just comforting having his quiet presence there. Giving her dragon's neck another stroke, she asked obliquely:

"Do you often go looking for the lost?"

The girl and her dragon were a pair; together far greater than the sum of their parts. They lent each other consequence that alone they could not hold. No doubt his own dragon was smirking at him, but that was the thought in Kernan's mind. "More often than most would know," he admitted easily. "Scouts also make good trackers," such as it stood.

The red seemed rested enough that he stood straight once more, grabbing flight straps, "And they are used to me at the Harper hall, I know who we should seek for your sketch."

"Right!" The past was put away again, safely tucked into a quiet corner of her mind, though with a bit more hope this time. Who knew? Wouldn't it be funny if she was the one that saved him in a bind? But that was away in the future, one that looked a bit brighter now that she had help. The present was flying and that never stopped being a joy to her. Jenneth stretched her neck and Tifa felt the surge of eagerness inside of herself as well in the echo. Pulling her goggles back down into place, she cleared everything out of her mind but watching and learning and flying. The grin she flashed Kernan was brilliant.

"Ready when you are."

"That is the look of a dragonrider," he chuckled, glad to see a smile as he swung up onto Merrinth once more. "Your misplaced man may not recognize you in the woman you've become." That said they were off!

This stretch would be long but the thermals were gentle the lagoon at the end would be well worth the wing stretching!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Dragonriders of Pern AU Meme

Tifa Lockheart/Final Fantasy VII

Purple/Other

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