Strianach

Had there been anyone around to see the badger rummaging around in the redfruit leaves that had fallen on the damp ground, then there no doubt would have been a large amount of hustle and bustle about the place, and there would have been a huge argument between the Masters of the Beastcraft, Herdercraft, and Harpercraft about which one of them would have been granted the privilage of retaining the animal to study.  Lucky enough for Strianach, no one was around.

An even more strange sight would have been whenever the badger began to walk on its hind legs, and they began to grow.  Not just the legs, but the whole body of the badger.  The hair on its body began to shorten, while the hair on the badger's head began to grow.  A green firelizard flittered about the badger's head as it underwent its transformation, seemingly worried about it. Within a few moments, a girl of fourteen Turns was standing where the badger had been, and the badger was gone.  "Sorry, Tyss," the young girl said to the green firelizard as it settled on her shoulder.  "I got the urge to shift, y'know?" There was a loud bubbling from between the rocks.  Strange, Rebecca thought.  She didn't know how she had come to this strange land, and how she'd gotten here.  She'd been walking with those strange people, and they'd said something about Xanth.  Most definately strange.  And now they were gone. The spring looked so tempting that she couldn't resist leaning down to take a small sip of the crystal-clear water.  She looked up to see a badger, and their eyes met with instant understanding.  Neither terran knew it, but they had stepped into Xanth, a world of magic and wonderment.  And they had just dranken from a love spring. The firelizard chittered softly, obviously understanding her bonder's transforming.  Tyss and Strianach had been bonded for the past two Turns, and the firelizard deeply loved her bonder- even if she wasn't quite normal. Strianach picked up the small wher-hide bag that was lying on the leaf-carpeted ground and slung it over her other shoulder.  She smiled and began to walk towards the rapidly rising sun, an air of urgency in her step. She made it to the hill just before the sun came up over the valley below.  This was Pern, and she loved it.  Rukbat cast its yellow-orange rays over the creek that ran threw the valley, throwing up a sharp glare that blinded anyone who looked at it, while the wild runnerbeasts began to awake from their slumber, tossing their noble heads and looking about at the new day. Strianach knew that she had lived somewhere else before she lived on Pern, but wasn't quite sure where.  It didn't matter, though, because she was on her own most of the time.  The fact that there wasn't always enough food for humans was never a problem- there was plenty of food for badgers and firelizards, and that was all that mattered.  Most of the time, that was why Strianach shifted.  But sometimes there were other reasons. Even though she fully recognized herself to be human in almost all respects, Strianach felt as though a part of her belonged in badger form.  And sometimes she felt the calling of her surroundings stronger than she did the sense in her mind that told her that she was a human and should stay that way.

Perhaps that was part of the reason that she chose to live alone- the fear of changing into a badger whenever someone was around.  Or maybe it was something more, just like how sometimes shifting was something more than simply wanting to.  Other things took control. The wild things took control, the things that every young child lived in fear of and every young, adventerous man sought out atleast once in their lifetime.  It was the urge to know what lurked behind the walls of a hold, or the edges of a weyrbowl.  The fire that couldn't be quenched with dust, not with water, not with anything material.  It was the flame that could only be stopped by knowledge- and if no one could offer the knowledge that was being sought, it burned out of control forever.

But Strianach had learned, she had found.  And yet the fire still burned in her.  She had always thought that it was the need to be a part of that which surrounded her, but, as with all things, it might have been something more. Rebecca had been entirely relieved whenever the baby that the stork brought looked relatively normal.  Her hair was black, and other than her rather strange dark-blue eyes, the girl was entirely normal.  But Rebecca was a reasonable woman, and decided to wait until the child became older. Two weeks after the stork had brought her child, Rebecca was singing a tune to her child, whenever she began to shrink.  And grow hair.  And turn into...  A badger. Although she was calm at most times, Rebecca wasted no time in screaming her head off.  No one was concerned whenever they learned, though.  This was Xanth- the world of bad puns and magic. After much consideration, Rebecca decided to name the child Strianach.  If she remembered correctly, it was Irish-Gaelic for 'badger', and what name could fit the girl better?  Atleast she was on Xanth- where this was normal.

It was on that rather picturesque morning that Strianach heard a sound that she had never heard before since she had arrived in the 'oasis' in the moutains of the southern continant.  It made the runnerbeasts that were cropping the grass short panick and start, sprinting off to somewhere that they considered to be more safe.

Strianach hesitated for a moment- the question was whether or not she should remain human or go into her badger form.  She guessed that it was a dragon, from the way that the runners were acting.  So should she shift or not? Quickly, Strianach entirely relaxed.  She began to shrink again, into her badger form.  It wasn't that it was hard being in her human form, or that she had to concentrate, but entirely relaxing was the only way that she could shift.  The young girl could never fully explain exactly how she shifted, because it came naturaly.  It just seemed to happen. "Are you sure about this, Aith?" a voice drifted through the folage to where Strianach was nestled in her badger form.  "I don't see anyone around here- especially not a Candidate for that special egg on the sands." Special-egg Candidates never just pop up and introduce themselves, S'ron.  Remember that.  We have to look for them.  They're unusual, that's why they make such good Candidates for the special eggs.  The dragon's voice drifted to Strianach, and she knew in a flash that the dragon was speaking as loud as it could so that anyone could hear it.  Although she'd heard tales of people who could hear every dragon on Pern, Strianach had never actually met one, and she would have hated to be one. She shifted cautiously in the underbrush, trying to make as little noise as possible.  While in badger form, she still retained her human brain.  It was something that Strianach had often pondered about for candlemarks at a time, but she hadn't figured anything out.  Ah, well, she wasn't normal, and that certainly hadn't taken very long for her to figure out. The rider was making an awful lot of noise, Strianach thought as she craned her striped head through the bushes to get a good look at him.  Clumsy.  "Aith, if you weren't so positive about this, I swear that I'd be back at Tiynarea trying to befriend Brin instead of out here searching for someone who obviously doesn't want to be found." There was a chuckling sound from where the dragon was.  You forget that I am the smartest, fastest blue in that chase, not to mention the only Searchdragon, S'ron.  It doesn't matter if you befriend Brin or not, because I'm going to win. "It's a good thing that not all blues have an ego your size, or they'd be out flying queens," S'ron joked back, turning back to Aith. It was at that moment that Strianach relaxed, which was her mistake.  She was absoloutely relieved that S'ron hadn't found her, but it didn't take five seconds before she had shifted back into human form, making a horrible racket in the process. S'ron whirled on his heel, staring at Strianach, and wondering where in Faranth's name she had come from so suddenly.  "Uh, I think that I can explain," Strianach said in a soft voice, hoping that she wasn't going to have to shift in front of S'ron.  That wouldn't make her a very good Candidate for any egg. Please do remember that this is a special clutch that we are Searching for, badger-girl Strianach, the dragon Aith said suddenly, and Strianach jumped, swearing under her breath.  Oh, don't worry, shape shifting is good for this egg.  We've only got one other Candidate so far, and she's rather strange, too.  The thing for Impressing is this- you need to be as NATURALLY weird as you can be.  None of that fake weird stuff.  And you, my friend, are extremely weird.  In the best possible way, of course. Strianach hadn't paid any attention to S'ron during Aith's explination, but she knew at once that Aith had told S'ron all about her.  "You mean that you can shape-shift?" he asked in an incredilous voice.  "Why on Pern can you do that?" "I don't know," Strianach said softly.  "I've been able to do it forever, I guess.  I lived in a crafthall for a long time as a hall brat.  And then one day I simply thought that the wild was much more appealing then staring at the walls of a crafthall.  So I went out searching for my paradise, and I found it here." S'ron seemed to be considering all of this for an extremely long time.  "Well, Strianach, I think that Aith and I may be able to offer you a seperate kind of paradise.  The egg that he spoke of- well, it's all by itself on the Hatching Sands, and we need three more Candidates before it can hatch.  Would you like to come and try?"  At Strianach's reluctant gaze, he added, "If you don't Impress, then you can always stay for the next clutch." Aith looked at Strianach for a long time.  Will you come with us, badger-girl?  Please?  I think that you have as good of a chance as the other Candidate, and perhaps better than the ones that we have yet to bring in.  Please? Strianach smiled, and Tyss came back to land on her outstretched arm, seeing that all was safe.  "I would be happy to go," she said, stepping foreward to scratch Aith's eyeridge.  Badger-girl.  It was definately something that she was going to have to get used to, but also something that would be nice. Morning Star Weyr