Sinking [Invite]

“Yes, Weyrleader,” Rhaedalyn replied when it seemed obvious S’kef was waiting for some sort of response for his order. Kahleena and Jada were quick to do the same although they both seemed far more confident than she felt. How could he expect the three of them to maintain what Tsuen and Nirinath had been upholding for over a decade when she, at least, wasn’t even out of Weyrlinghood yet? Not to mention the very horrific fact that they were nearly homeless, had lost so many wonderful people, and their Weyrwoman was on her deathbed. She wasn’t mentally prepared for such a task! Still, she agreed to do it and walked out of the meeting with her head held high to give off the illusion all was well.

Kahleena had wanted to talk, likely to comfort her, but Rhaedalyn didn’t want company right then that wasn’t in the form of Aradissicath or her firelizards. All of her energy was being put into standing up and acting like she wasn’t falling to pieces or that her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. It took a few minutes but she finally got her friend to leave her alone for a while longer. Perhaps they would talk and console each other or whatever it was they were supposed to do in such times but for the moment, Rhaedalyn was free to be alone and she quickly went in search of where Aradissicath was resting.

Her poor sweet dragon no longer had a hatching circuit to call her own and rest in thanks to the landslide. No one would let her back in the remaining space that hadn’t been wiped out so she had taken up residence in a portion of the Square that was unaffected and out of the way of dragons coming and going with supplies or the injured. Rhaedalyn nearly ran across the Square to return to Aradissicath’s side, letting go of Muffin in the process, and threw her arms around the dragon’s neck, sobbing lightly into it. The beautiful golden hide had seen so many tears in the past twenty-four hours that Rhaedalyn was certain she wouldn’t need to bathe or possibly even oil the dragon for some time.

She wanted V’zire. He was always so optimistic no matter what was happening that he’d have encouraging words for her. They’d then laugh and move on to the latest gossip or discussing crushes. She had been so excited for V’zire when he finally showed interest in someone and allowed himself to take a chance. D’hys had seemed perfect for her best friend until he broke V’zire’s heart several months earlier. Her heart had broken as well and she blamed herself still for encouraging V’zire to give into his charms. She was such a blind fool! She was also a fool for not telling the greenrider more regularly how amazing he was and important to her.

It had been shortly after the Healers looked at R’nya and someone tried to find a way to get her cleaned up that clarification was made on who had died in the initial wave of mud and debris. Aradissicath had known before she did and held off telling her. Rhaedalyn didn’t remember much once the words sank in. In fact, she was certain she had passed out and only woke to begin crying and chanting it wasn’t true. V’zire wouldn’t leave her! He was stronger than everyone gave him credit for! Niskziath would never let anything happen to him either. For her to vanish and, from what she was told, take V’zire with her, meant something horrible had happened to her best friend. She still wasn’t sure if she was glad she didn’t know details or if she needed them.

If losing V’zire hadn’t been enough, the mountain decided to take Mevrit from her as well. They were complete opposites but they had roomed together and been friends nonetheless. Rhaedalyn loved the very matter of fact way Mevrit looked at everything and she needed that now. She needed her friend to tell her to do what was asked of her and rest later. It was what was expected of her and nothing less should be given. R’nd had been the one to find Mevrit’s body and told Rhaedalyn personally about her. They had shared a quiet moment together, R’nd allowing her to cry against his chest before he went back to work, helping where he could. Rhaedalyn could see the pain he was in and the way he hid it and she was a bit envious of his ability to shut down, especially now, as she cried yet again.

Slipping down to sit on the ground, Rhaedalyn curled up against Aradissicath’s side and her trio of flitters took up places around her. She reached up to play with a lock of her curly hair and froze when her fingers met nothing but air. She had forgotten that traumatizing experience in all of her grief. Her adventures in the mud had made for her long locks of already unruly curls to become matted and knotted with mud and muck. The woman that had attempted to help her wash up had been left with no choice but to take scissors to the hair. Rhaedalyn had once toyed with the idea of chopping off some of her hair ever since Indivara said she had too much of it and lovers would get lost in it but she loved her locks too much to do so.

Now, she felt like she was bald and naked. The woman hacked it all off, leaving once bouncy and free curls to be nothing more than short curly spikes atop her head. Rhaedalyn had a nice collection of floppy hats she had made over the turns but that had required going back to her hut and that trip just didn’t seem important enough. At least everyone else had enough worries and shock to deal with that her hair hadn’t become the latest news.

Now, on top of everything else, she had to wait for the woman that had been teaching her how to be a goldrider to die so Aradissicath could take over in controlling the dragons. “What if we can’t do it, Dissi?” Rhaedalyn sniffled and gasped when Muffin, Rumour, and even Whisper hissed as someone approached them. She knew they were only being protective because of her mood and they wouldn’t truly be against someone coming to see her. Still, she was surprised to see who it was after dashing away tears and looking up.