The World of Pern - 4. Hatching, Impression and Weyrlings

Candidates and Hatching
Once a gold dragon lays her eggs, they harden on the warm Hatching Sands for five weeks. A queen egg always has a golden shell, but all the other eggs are randomly coloured and patterned, making it impossible to guess which colour hatchling will emerge. Not every clutch contains a queen egg.

A Weyr is large enough and has sufficient inhabitants that a good number of prospective candidates for Impression can be found internally. However, there always need to be more candidates than eggs to ensure the hatchlings have plenty of choice, so the dragonriders use this time to go on Search in surrounding Holds, bringing back young boys or girls who have the necessary degree of empathy to attract a dragon. It is considered a great honour to a family if one of their children becomes a dragonrider, although this may be tempered by the knowledge that they are going to be living in one of those promiscuous Weyrs. Candidates are usually allowed several tries at Impression, until they reach a certain age. At that point, they may choose to leave the Weyr, but many stay, preferring the way of life there.

Impression
If a candidate fails to Impress at a Hatching (and several always do, as there are always more candidates than eggs) they are consoled by the saying, 'Your dragon just hasn't hatched yet.' No-one knows quite why a dragon chooses a particular person, although it is often the case that aspects of their personality are similar. Because of the roles of different colour dragons within the Weyr hierarchy it is often thought that bronze dragons will choose a boy who is a natural leader, brown dragons prefer those who are reliable and steady, blues are for the quick and clever and greens choose the flighty and flirtatious. However as candidates may be very young (F'nor of Benden Impressed at the age of ten) when personalities have not yet fully formed, how much of this is true can be taken with a pinch of salt. It may even be that the colour of the dragon you Impress changes your life; only a bronze rider can become Weyrleader, for example, so no matter how ambitious you may have been, if you Impress any other colour that door is closed forever.

One thing is certain though; every dragon must Impress with someone, or die. As we've already seen, green dragons were designed to Impress only girls; denied that choice they were able to bond with boys instead in preference to dying. Therefore, if a dragon can't find someone on the Sands who is one hundred percent compatible, they may go looking in among the spectators. Or they may just pick someone else who is only ninety-two percent compatible, but a good enough match.

Candidates need to keep their eyes open and stay aware of what is happening all around them on the Sands. Hatchlings are clumsy, starving and trying to find a mind that meshes well with their own. They also have razor sharp talons. If they accidentally knock someone down and tread on them, serious injuries can result. All of the weyrbred candidates will be aware of this and having attended several Hatchings before the first one where they are of age to stand, they may have seen some pretty nasty sights. No wonder they are told to 'be brave.' They also need to keep their minds open and think welcoming thoughts, as this is more likely to attract a hatchling.

Impression is a wonderful moment for both dragon and rider. They will never be totally alone again. When a hatchling Impresses, he or she is immediately able to communicate telepathically with their chosen rider. They also know their own name, which always ends in 'th'. It has become a Weyr tradition that male candidates shorten their names when they Impress, dropping a few syllables in the process. As Pernese names tend to be fairly long (usually from a combination of your mother's and father's name) this is easily done. (So Detgar becomes D'gar and Hinnarek becomes H'rek).

The dragon and rider will be bonded for the rest of their lives. Feelings such as hunger, pain and of course, our old friend mating lust, are shared between dragon and rider, although dragons find it difficult to understand the more complex human emotions.

Weyrlings
The young dragons and their riders are termed weyrlings. The dragons grow rapidly, mostly eating and sleeping in their first few sevendays of life. It is the rider's job to ensure they eat regularly (but to stop them eating so fast they choke) and to bathe and oil the hide to prevent it cracking as they grow.

Young dragons instinctively know what their wings are for and will start trying to fly fairly soon. They are encouraged to exercise their wings, and within a few months, may start to take short flights on their own. To avoid straining their muscles, they don't fly with their riders until much later.

Meanwhile, the riders learn all aspects of dragon care, and if they Impress during a Pass, do their bit during Threadfall by filling sacks with firestone. In most Weyrs, there will be two, three or even four queen dragons producing clutches on a regular basis, so the weyrling production line never stops.

As they progress they learn to fly on their dragons, then how to guide them when teleporting between. It's very important that a rider gives a clear visualisation of the place he or she wants to go. Failure to do this can result in never emerging from between - a fatal error. It's not unknown for weyrlings to be lost on their first trip between, so they day they learn this lesson is always a serious one, with much relief afterwards if they all make it through safely.They then progress to delivering replacement firestone to the fighting Wings during Threadfall. This is the first time they have got really close to Thread and can result in injuries or even death, but it's a good way to gradually prepare them for their ultimate role in Weyr life.

Meanwhile, after around a Turn, the dragons have almost reached their full growth. The larger dragons take longer to mature than the smaller ones, hence the greens are usually the first to become interested in mating and the golds take longest, not usually rising to mate before they are two to three Turns old. The first mating flight is usually more of a worry for the rider than it is for the dragon. Everyone loses their mind to some extent, but it isn't until someone experiences their own dragon's first flight that they know how much they will be affected. Male dragons chase females only when they feel like it, but the greens will rise to mate three or four times a Turn for the rest of their lives.

The next stage in their career is for the weyrlings to graduate to the fighting Wings. Each Wingleader has his choice of the current class and replacements are always needed as dragons and riders are injured or die fighting Thread. Once dragon and rider are accepted into a Wing, they move out of the weyrling barracks to choose their own weyr.