Chapter 1
“I choose…” Harry looked at the multiple paths around him then back at all those with him. “I don’t want to choose…” Tears wet his eyes as he looked at his parents then at the Beings that had shown him the many paths possible. “I’m so tired of having to make choices like this…I wish I had somewhere that I didn’t have to make any specific choices…”
“We all have to make choices in life…some are more important than others…” Fred whispered as he came up and wrapped Harry in a hug. “Why don’t we start simple…do you want to return to any of the magical worlds even if the world didn’t rest on your shoulders?”
“No…” Harry answered without thinking before flinching and looking at Mother Magic. “I love magic I love the gift it was…but…”
“It only brought you pain and sorrow. I understand child I truly do.” Magic smiled softly as the paths that led to the magical world disappeared leaving only those to other worlds and the magicless earth. “And while two do have magic you do not personally need to have it…” Magic smiled as she stepped forward and cupped Harry’s cheek.
“Not the wizarding world then…” Fred turned Harry away from those paths. “Next thing to be decided…earth or another world?”
Another path appeared this time with a group of large dragons behind the two images of Harry, the masculine version and the feminine. Behind the feminine was a large golden dragon that dwarfed the other. Behind the masculine were the bronze, brown, blue, and green dragons.
“Not earth…” Harry said softly looking toward that path and watching as it seemed to fade, it was still there but it wasn’t as highlighted as the others. He looked at the other paths drawn to the one that showed the dragons. “What is that world like?”
“That is the world of Pern.” Lord Fate stepped forward with a smile. “It was discovered by those of Earth who were part of the EEC…the Exploration and Evaluation Corps…it is part of the Rukbat system it is similar to earth in fact they gave it a classification of being a Parallel Earth, though they did declare that resources were negligible…it was decided to colonize the planet with 6,000 colonists to begin with. They drifted from the memories of those from Earth as well as forgot the history of before their landing. It became a Myth and Legend. Just as the ‘Fall of Thread’ became legend…thousands of years and the people have become their own people. They have Holds, similar to the Keeps of Medieval Earth though the Holds are built within the caves and stone to protect the people from Thread. They formed bonds with Dragons forming Weyrs which would protect the Holds and the people who were not chosen by the Dragons to be riders. They measure time by turns, that is their word for years; and a Pass, that is a period of time in Pernese history that refers to the periods where Thread falls on Pern.” Fate explained looking at the world that had been such a challenge for him. “Thread is the name that was given to a voracious, non-sentient organism that inhabited the Oort Cloud of the system. It is thin, silvery ‘threads’ that would rain down on the planet, called threadfall by the people. It would consume all organic matter it can find but can be stopped by metal, plastic, and rock while it is killed by water, cold, and fire. The dragons fly with a rider and burn the Thread from the sky or burn the area where it has landed to stop it from advancing. It falls approximately every 250 years when the Red Star, that is a rogue planet with an extremely eccentric orbit, passes through the cloud and then drag the Thread with it. It takes about 50 years before the Red Star’s orbit is distant enough not to drop Thread. The 50 years is known as a Pass. While the time between is known as an Interval.”
“So, they’re humans that have forgotten their origin and became completely different?” Harry asked tilting his head.
“Exactly. They have a new life, new stories, new myths, songs…they follow a basic Keep or Craft Hall mentality. They have reverted from the extremely advanced technologically skilled world that they came from to a…medieval state of being. There is the Holders, Lord Holder or Lady Holder. Those that live in the Holds who are family or those known as Hold Folk. Then there are the staff, a Warder who is in charge of a Hold for the Lord Holder, if need be, the Headwoman is the head housekeeper if you will, and then the Drudges…who are basically the lowest that one could be. There are the Harpers who are the historians and teachers. The Harper is a craftsperson that is part historian, teacher, communicator, and diplomat. They are known as Harpers because they are primarily musicians that use their music as a teaching tool in the form of ballads.”
“What else is there?” Fred asked curiously as to the world that sounded interesting to him if only for the bond with Dragons, he shared Charlie’s love for the large beasts.
“The Craftsmen have stages for their learning. There are the apprentices who are trained in all aspects of the craft by skilled Masters. Once they graduate from apprentice they moved to journeymen, where they are sent out to Holds and Crafthalls to provide training to the people of Pern. After a set time they will become known as Masters. Which they only gain the title by passing certain tests and gaining a certain amount of experience, similar to the training in the wixen world. There are also the Weyrs or Weyrholds. Weyrs are the areas that the dragons reside in with their riders and those that help provide food, clothing, and care for the dragonriders. Dragonriders all start out as candidates, usually randing in age from ten turns to their early twenties. There are those that are born and raised in the weyrs, called weyrbred who can stand if they meet the age requirement. Though there are also non-weyrbred that can stand they are chosen in a method called the Search. Where the Dragons look for those people who possess the ability to Bond with a dragon. It is preferred for there to be a surplus of candidates to egg ratio because if there is not a suitable candidate then the dragon will die. Dragons need the Impression to be able to survive.”
“What if the person isn’t chosen to be a candidate?” Harry whispered as he looked at the dragons.
“There are times that does happen but when it does the dragon makes its choice known.”
“What if someone is doing something else before being chosen…” Severus asked wanting to help Harry get all the information he could.
“They’re expected to put aside everything, even if they are Heir of the Lord Holder, they leave it all behind in favor of the Weyr they were chosen for. The riders are called Weyrlings to the Hatchlings. Some will contract their names to allow for faster communication. They are taught during the two-year growing time for the hatchlings. Where they are taught how to care for their dragon and how to go ‘between’, which is a dark dimension that dragons, watch-whers, and fire-lizards have the ability to travel, in the case of dragons they can take their rider with. It is the same space that those who apparate go through when they do so. Only it is felt more when it happens on Pern. It is a place of extreme cold and almost total sensory deprivation…they are able to even travel between Times…like with apparation one must keep in mind the three D’s.” Lady Magic smirked as she spoke. “Destination is a must know, if you don’t know your destination well enough to convey to the Dragon than it isn’t sage for you to even attempt. One lost between will perish. When a Dragon loses their rider to death if they die before the Dragon they will go between and stay there purposefully. Determination and Deliberation are the same with the travel method. And just as with the apparation one must go only where one knows…” She chuckled. “The Riders and their Dragons are able to form a telepathic bond with their riders, allowing mental communication between the rider and dragon to an extent that they don’t need to communicate outside of their minds while battling Thread unless they are working with a Wing.”
Harry was fascinated by the images before him stepping over and just looking at the dragons. “If I go…would I have a love?”
“There would be the bond between you and your dragon but there would also be several who would love you…those who are Riders don’t participate in ‘Marriage’ as is carried out in the Holds…but will often become ‘Weyrmates’ which is similar to dating or marriage but without the formal commitment. Some are close and only take one or two weyrmates though there are others who ‘spread’ their affection around.” Lady Death smiled gently at the child before her.
“A Weyr becomes your family, while the bond with your Dragon fills you in a way that only death can destroy.” Lord Fate chuckled. “You’d still have someone that would love you fully and beyond anything you might imagine.”
“What about the Crafthalls…” Lily asked interested in what they could tell them about the others of the world that her baby was being drawn to from the look on his face.
“There are several different Crafts available. And one can be of a Craft and be a rider it all depends on when the goes through the impression. There are the Bakers, Beastcraft, Farmercraft, Fishercraft, Glasscraft, Harpercraft, Minecraft, Runners, Scribers, Smithcraft, Tannercraft, Traders, Winecraft, Weavercraft these are weavers and tailors, Wherhandler the wher’s are lizard version of dogs in how they are breed and used as watch-wher’s, Papercraft, Starcraft, and Woodcraft.” Lord Fate explained. “Most of those it is understood from their names what the person specializes in.”
“They weren’t the most inventive with the names, were they?” Sirius chuckled.
“Nope and the names for their ‘Halls’ follow the same route having the names with hall added or called something similar. Such as Runner Stations for those that are the runners, that is the messengers. Healer Hall for those who follow the healer craft and so on…The Traders and the Wherhandlers are the only ones without formal halls. The Traders simply because they travel for their trades and the wherhandlers because they reside in their Holds to train the creatures.” Lady Magic smiled at the group with laughter dancing in her eyes.
“What about my family?” Harry looked at his parents, godparents, and friend.
“Even if they went to that world things would be different. There would be no guarantee that you’d find each other again…you’d be coming in as a different person…one that was already in that world but for one reason or another had something happen that wasn’t supposed to…” Lord Fate explained. “For this world so many changes would occur with you…”
“Why are the gold and green dragons only behind the female version of Harry?” Remus asked from where he’d been studying things with the others. “Though the green is more between the two than between one or the other.”
“That is because the gold dragon is the Queen, the one who will lay eggs for the Weyr only impress on females. While the greens will impress upon either male or female. Bronzes will impress only upon males while blues and browns will more likely impress upon a male. The Mating flights of the dragons can affect a Rider, and those in the surroundings due to the female and male dragons broadcasting their…urges.” Magic grimaced slightly. “The dragons actually mate midair so the higher they get the better…” She chuckled at that. “Similar to how eagles do a mating flight before finding or building their nests…though with the dragons it is the full copulating that takes place in the air.”
“Kinky…” Fred chuckled while nudging Sirius with a laugh.
“To produce fire the bronze, brown, blue, and green all must eat what is called firestone. The Golds are unable to do so, while greens are rendered sterile. Greens, and golds are the only females of the dragons, while the bronze, brown, and blue are all males. Bronzes are the largest of the males and more likely to mate the queen than the blue or brown. Greens, which make up about half of all dragons of Pern and range the full green color spectrum, have some of the best agility though they lack the stamina to last an entire Fall. Like with female humans going between causes miscarriages and long-term effects of sterilization of the dragon and rider. The Golds can’t chew firestone, so the riders use a ‘flamethrower’ type device and burn the falling thread that gets through the others in an effort to keep it from hitting the ground.” Fate explained. “During a mating flight it isn’t uncommon for find those who are the riders of the mating pair to be mating themselves.”
“Huh…Even if there is a different ‘mate’ each flight?” Harry asked with a slight look of confusion mixed with wonder on his face, amazement as well at the ability to be so free with affection and not have it looked down upon.
“Even so.” Fate nodded. “Hence why there aren’t ‘soulmates’ as other worlds see them.”
“And I’d have a dragon to bond with that is for sure?” Harry looked back at Lord Fate with hope and wonder in his eyes.
“You’d have a dragon.” He nodded with a gentle smile lighting his face.
Harry looked at the dragons again with his head cocked to the side. “I don’t know what I want to do gender wise…” He looked at Magic, Death, and Fate. “Could you choose for me? Just as I walk through the path…”
“Of course, child…and don’t worry your memories of your life before will no longer weigh you down…they will be vague dreams that spark your imagination and nothing more…” Magic smiled gently. “We can’t promise that the start of your life will be easy, nor will it necessarily be safe…but you will have joy and you will find love.”
Harry nodded before hugging his family and getting little statements of support and love from them in return. He took a deep breath before looking back toward the path that led to Pern and without a second thought stepped through. Those that remained in Limbo watched as Harry’s form changed though they could not see how, as he continued to walk away from them into a new life in a new world. They all wished him well and prayed that he’d have the joy that he was searching for.