World of Pern
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2023/08/04 Hello loves! While I haven't been writing, I have been working on updating some issues that have been hanging around on the layout! The Character change box is now at the bottom of the page, beside the up/down arrows! Green and Gold dragon flight dates have been shifted to the bottom of the page, where the (useless!) discord widget was located. Where the dragon flights were in the header, is now replaced by a Monthly Event box! This will be updated at the start of each month, with a fun mini-event you can take part in, if you want to! Thistle!
2023/01/07 Welcome to the New Year! We are now ELEVEN years old! Thank you, all of you, for your love and writing! I am looking forward to spending another year with youall! In addition, a new Default colour scheme is in progress and will hopefully be available soon! All my love! ThistleProse
2022/07/29 Gold Malvayth and Bronze Xyxyth clutch is Hatching! Come and join the shenannigans 743.08.03 | NIGHT STALKERS HATCHING and bring the popcorn!
2022/05/11 Gold Malvayth has Flown, caught by Bronze Xyxyth of A'tay. Their Hatching will be PC, and take place in Telgar in August around the 20-22nd! Update your Candidate Applications and prepare for some fun!
2022/04/21 New default layout! I hope you enjoy it! If you find any bugs, please report them in the discord #bug-squishing channel!
05/JUL It’s Hatching time!! Come take part in the shenanigans here
30/JUN Gold Thallyath of Ista Weyr has laid a clutch! More information here
27/JUN A bluerider, and then a greenrider, are found dead. More information here
25/JUN The Touching is up! Take part here
30/MAY After the Touching, many Candidates found themselves preyed upon in the form of their food. More information here
18/MAY Another goldrider - Ameris of Benden - is attacked. More information here
05/MAY Multiple individuals are attacked whilest out of the Weyr! More information here
04/MAY Take a chance OOC and guess who you think the murderer is! You can win prizes! More information here
03/MAY Goldrider Cazan and her twin brother Cazelarias are attacked. More information here
24/APR Goldrider Ashara of Fort is murdered by two brownriders. More information here
12/APR Searchrider B’jin was attacked at Telgar Weyr, surffering a slash to his throat. While in Benden, bluerider B’dor is found dead in his weyr. More info here
05/APRMore attacks occurred today. More information here
03/APRMultiple individuals found their death this day; more information here and here
28/MAR Tragedy has struck again! Across all the Weyrs, multiple people - primarily dragonriders - have fallen ill after eating muffins. There have been multiple deaths, and others are in criticle condition. More information here
24/MAR Weyrwoman Ameris and her son, Rislan, poisoned! More information here
18/MAR Benden’s Weyrleader M’ris and his children have been poisoned! Resulting in sickness and death. More information here
18/MAROn 18.03.742 Bronzerider A’dris of Vyaniorth was found dead in his personal bathing pool. He appears to have drowned after drinking an excess of alcohol. Afterwards it was realized that Machiya of Gold Cameth from Telgar Weyr had disappeared. Having never arrived at her destination, it is suspected she had an accident between.
11/MAR Gold Racoth of Donmaline went between taking Bronze Beruth of T’rel with her shortly after she had been caught, due to T’rel strangling Donmaline. He did not survive. more info
25/FEB Congratulations and thank-you to Guest for taking on a moderator role! <3
14/FEB Stars Above PC Hatching Link
06/JAN :o new layout is a WiP. Please report bugs in Discord.
01/JAN Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!




Currently: Spring 03.745 al
Monthly Event
2024-February
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Welcome to the Month of Lovetm! This month's Monthly Event is all about Romance, whether it is asking someone out on a date, or getting sweaty between the sheets! Anything and everything counts, if it even looks sideways like it could be related to Valentine Day -- including lover's spats, or breaking up, Flights Wins (or Flight Losses!). Honestly, this month has a huge opportunity for interpertation, so go wild!



2023-December
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Ahh, the fresh snow, the crisp air, the naked trees... welcome to Winter! Or, just the Colder Months for those in the more Northern Weyrs, while Ista is just... not as hot. But it is time to enjoy the end of the Turn, so folks should get together, spend some time gossiping, and drinking Hot Chocolate (alcohol and marshmallows opional)... does Pern even have marshmallows????? (they do now!)



2023-November
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Feel like bitching? Wanna take part in a brawl? Or bet on someone? Take part in Brawls and Bitching this month! Boo-yeah!



2023-October
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Thistle flunked this month; You can still post until the end of November as a result <3
Experience, tell or hide from a Spooky Story!



2023-September
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The flu is running rampant, colds are clogging noses, and someone might have lost a limb?



2023-August
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Partake this month by going fishing... or anything that occurs while fishing, or dealing with fish!



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Collective Collapse Repairs [R'ana]

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#1
Set two days after Roanrth’s  Godzilla fury tearing down a side of the Healing Hall for D'Ren, while he is being treated for poisoning. I don't plan on mixing too much with this plot, but the basis here is "someone's gotta clean it up!"
Things had been interesting lately, despite his attempts to keep his head on straight and his globe square.  He didn't care to involve himself much in politics, but he couldn't help but notice all the announcements and changes. Including the front of the Healing Hall now being a pile of rubble, some of it talon-engraved.

The dust hadn't really settled, but it was certain that the HealerCraft hall was in uproar about their workplace now being a breeding ground for filth and outside bacteria. Oahvakeen knew nothing of healing, but it seemed to make sense that  it was bad that unadulterated sunlight and air was now where it wasn't before. He imagined if it was the wall to his bunk that got tore down, he'd feel pretty unhappy, too. Like the time he got his bedroom door taken away for a whole week for sassing his father about helping out around the house more.

A team of woodcrafters and metal crafters (building frame, workstations, and structural integrity), stone crafters (wall), papercrafters (books and charts and posters), glasscrafters (windows), and even smithcrafters (construction rigs, debris tools) had been assembled and briefed on the collaborative task, each craft being assigned to their specialty. With all the rush and politics and drama, little other planning had been thought of, and certainly nothing as detailed as schedules.  But what Oahvakeen didn't know was that these 'assignments' were more of a fantastical formality, as the information hadn't gotten around properly. Little did he know that the task of repairs was pretty much assigned to whomever else was willing.

Today was the first day  of repairs, and Oahvakeen had woken up bright and early (more of a result of insomnia than anything else). He wore his working clothes, working boots, and working tool belt. But his tools and belt were moot as there was little he could do away from his workstation and the forge, which was much too heavy to move. His thoughts were pre-occupied with musings on whether or not he could create his own forge here at the renovation site, where it would be closer.

He stood inside the HealerCraft building clutching his jaw in apprehension, marveling at the spot where a wall was no longer. Dusty light of dawn had begun to seep into the room, the same sunlight that would surely begin to wake other Pernese from their slumber in due time.

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#2
She wanted to help.  Shanith did too, but R'ana had managed to convince the green that she could help best by flying off to see a friend and staying occupied.  She doubted the sweet natured Ronarth would harm her green but...It seemed bad situations, plus Shanith equaled a bigger disaster.

R'ana wasn't sure what she could do to help, but figured worst comes to worst, she could run supplies around.  The sooner the hall was repaired, the better for the whole damn weyr. 

She wore her fighting leathers for this, they would offer some shield against any debris, and against the chaos sure to be generated by many people working in such close quarters. 

She strode to healer hall after grabbing breakfast, plus an extra meat roll or two, and went straight to the metal crafter she had simply nicknamed Oak.  He eemed to remind her of an oak sapling, and for some reason, the moniker stuck, at least in her head.  "Anything I can do to help?  I don't have much training, but I would love to do something useful."  She spoke to him in a low voice, eyes lowered.

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#3
He wasn't very skilled at waking up, and he hadn't stopped to wonder how he got up and ready so much faster than anyone else, until he smelled a faint whiff of food. As if agreeing, his stomach immediately grumbled. He did his best to ignore it, and turned to face the source of the smell. He saw a woman, and recognized that her mouth was woman, that she smelled of food, and that it was possible that words were coming out of her mouth. He stared at her blankly for a few moments, as if his mind were trying to adjust from thinking she was a talking marshmallow, to a talking person. And even then, it still took a few more moments for his brain to repeat the words that she'd said. When the situation finally did click, his first reaction was to quickly wipe his eyes, as if just waking up.

"Tired.", was all he replied for a moment, and then as if realizing how inadequate his answer was, continued with a new sentence. "This wall and is very unstable. I'm worried that they could crumble down, and if they do, they could come down on this pipe. The blue stripe here means it carries hot water. It could scald us, flood the hall, and then we'd loose more equipment, have more cleanup, and possibly have to fight mold. These guys are pretty upset as it is. I really don't think that this wall will stay up much longer, let's just push it over. Maybe if we both push...", he gestured to a metal pipe that ran along the length of the ceiling, and a portion of wall tall enough to catch on it and leaning inwards.

He put both his hands high on the ceiling and began to lean against it, the same pose as if he were being searched for weapons by law enforcement. The wall gave an agonized groan. Little did he realize that if the wall did fall, it could cause such a rumble that other portions of the building might fall, also. If only he'd slept well and were thinking more clearly...

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#4
He blinked and shifted a bit as he said he was tired.  She wondered to herself if he should be working like that, opened her mouth to ask, and remembered a lecture she had gotten not long ago on the subject of mothering the stolen.

He spoke of the wall and she hmmed softly.  "Alright."  She padded to him and touched the wall.  Wasn't it loadbearing?  No, if it was he wouldn't knock it down without first making sure the ceiling wouldn't collapse on them. 

Still, she doubted.  She ignored it.  Just because she read alot didn't mean that she knew all there was to know about walls and ceilings and building structures.  The crafter seemed to know what he was doing.  Besides if he was wrong, what was the worst that could happen?

R'ana heard the agonized groan and joined him in pushing on the wall.  Muscles built from turns of dragon riding strained as she tried to help him, hearing another groan from the wall and fancying that she did see it pressing away from the pipe.  That was good, right?

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#5
The woman was agreeable in the sense that she said little for his ears to work in deciphering, and agreed with everything he'd proposed. Everyone liked positive responses, it made things simple, and implicitly inferred that he was correct.  Of course, he couldn't remember what it was he'd said now. He began to lift a hand to his chin to ponder this. Before he could do so, he realized that both hands were  occupied against the wall, so it would inefficient to do so. It was then that his own speech had dawned on him. A dragon, possibly the woman's, also came to push, and he felt grateful for the help.

The wall that threatened to cave inwards and explode a pipe of hot water now began to stand straight, and then began to lean outwards. Before he could do much else, there was a great amount of movement, a great noise, and then a great shake. In his tired state, it was all too much and too fast for him to comprehend, though his body did try to compromise by releasing the appropriate amount of adrenaline to his system. The wall had clattered down and was now a heap of rubble outside the building, the pipe still in tact. The force of it all had caused the ground to shake, and the noise of the rumble died down, but didn't seem to end. Instead, the noise continued to reverberate above them.

It was then that a great expanse of ceiling collapsed.

He could hardly think, or even breathe in the air laden with smoke. When he had sense enough to examine his surroundings, he discovered himself in a prison of rock and dust, with bits of light trying to seep through the cracks.

"Are you all right?", he called out, shaken. He tried to feel around more, wondering if the woman was with him, injured, or worse. Only after he'd asked about her condition did he have the thoughtfulness to check his own. Both arms working, check. He groped his body for his stomach and found the usual mass, though quite sweaty. It was too dark to see much, and his hands couldn't seem to get any lower than his hips, so he tried to move his legs, but found that only one worked. The other didn't seem to ... "Ow! Oh! CURSES!", he ground his jaws together to restrain his speech. "I hurt my leg, I can't see... I can't think... miss... miss? Are you alive ? Oh great dragons! ", his voice escalated into a mild panic.

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#6
She saw him lift his head as if distracted and wondered why.  Then when she saw nothing to distract him and Shanith assured her that she hadn't bespoken him, R'ana began to realize that he was too tired to work. 

Even if he did know what he was doing, which was rapidly becoming a subject of doubt to her own mind, she decided to call a break.  The thought hit her too late.  There was noise, and a shake that didn't end.  She froze for a crucial second, then dove for cover as the ceiling started to come down, trying to drag Oahvakeen with her. 

She heard frightened, no, panicked shrieks as pain exploded over her body.  R'ana let out a low noise as her dragons panic hit her, and tried to calm her.  More bits cascaded down on them and she felt the rubble shift, a bit of light disappearing.

"Am fine..."  She wasn't sure if she was, she couldn't check, not yet.  She jsut knew if she didn't act soon, Shanith would kill them both in panicked attempts to help.  She reached for her dragon's mind, and shouted in her msot commanding mental voice, SHANITH!  FREEZE!

The green did.  R'ana took a breath and said, unaware she was talking aloud, unaware tears from smoke, fear and pain were tracking down her cheeks, unaware of anything but the need to control her dragon whispered, "I need you to take three steps back, love.  You can't be here if the rest comes down." 

She coughed then, felt Shanith do so, and shuddered as she felt rock settle.  Once the dragon was clear she tried to think.  "Okay love, I need you to find a dragon rider.  Can you do that?"  Shanith fought, not wanting to leave her.  The effort of forcing her will on her dragon brought more tears to R'ana's eyes and she didn't even feel herself bite through her lip. 

It took forever it felt before Shanith was walking away, fighting R'ana each step of the way.  When she did see a rider, R'ana gripped her will tighter.  "Tell them Healer's Hall.""  She took a breath as Shanith nearly broke free, tightened her grip on her.  Only sheer stubborness kept her dragon from going to them, from making it all come undone.  "Tell them Healer's Hall collapsed.  Tell them two people are buried under the rubble, and one has a hurt leg." 

She was breathing hard now, her breathing interspersed with coughing from the smoke and dust.  She felt Shanith do as needed, picking up on the fact that she could return to R'ana once help was on the way.

R'ana reached for Oahvakeen, wincing as the motion hurt.  She felt his fingers and took them in her own.  She was shaking but held fast once she had his hand in her own.  She was so focused on Shanith on making sure to control her now that she didn't have much for him.

Once another dragon got involved they could hopefully calm the green a bit, and she could focus on him.  For now she had to hold Shanith.  If she didn't noone else would, for noone else knew just yet.

"Help...Help's on the way.  Just hang on.  Soon.  We'll be out of here...We'll be out soon."  She didn't believe it, but if she panicked now her dragon would kill them both.  It was that simple, and if he panicked worse so would she. 

Dunno how serious the collapse is, but they can't get themselves out!  *tags BlueDragon*

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#7
The sound of another human being's voice, especially that of the one he so intensely sought to make sure still existed, was as comforting as being told he'd been admitted to the afterlife. His head still felt fuzzy, and it was all he could do to focus on his  own breathing. He heard the woman ordering her dragon, and felt more than grateful for the way she took control on the whole situation. Although he greatly admired her leadership in such a troubling and confusing situation, he hardly had the brain power to acknowledge it. He heard what he thought was a dragon, and a twinge of remorse slapped him: he'd put others in danger. What if he'd killed the dragon, or the woman, or hurt them? He'd be publicly lashed, for sure. Part of him wanted to run and hide. Part of him wanted to deny it all. But here he was, stuck in all manners of speaking, between rocks and hard places.

He felt the dirt along his hand shift, and discovered in its place the sensation of a warm, soft heartbeat. A hand! It was a hand. He did his best to look at it amist the swirling dust. "You're holding my hand.", he acknowledged out loud. He didn't let go, and gave a squeeze to show his appreciation for the comfort.

"A-a-are you trapped? I'm in a cave. I can't believe this happened. You're really not hurt? Please don't lie, I'm so sorry. What's your name? I'm Oahvakeen. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Thank you. I would never have wanted to hurt anyone else. Don't fall asleep. We shouldn't fall asleep.", he was a chatterbox of short sentences now, his coherence improving, but not by much.

"I like socks. But I don't like women. I feel bad, like they stole me especially to have kids and impress a dragon, and I don't want to. I'm scared of impressing. I'm scared of spoons. I'm scared of women. I'm terrified of children. I can't be a dad. Or a husband. Or even a boyfriend. I'm scared... of spoons. And of ... getting hurt. Tell me about you now. What are you scared of? What will you do when you get free? Are you free? Are you trapped?", he anxiously awaited a response and could hardly contain himself while he did so. He shoved his free hand into his mouth, tasting the bits of grit and blood, and teethed on his fingertips.

I'm not sure either, just making things up as I go along. Your post was cute, it's seriously impressive how take-charge R'ana went, I wish I could do that in real life.

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Written By: ZZZ Archived
#8
I'shan? Ilveriath said with an edge of concern. His immediate worry over the news went much deeper, but as always, the placid beast kept it sealed safely from any direct exposure to his rider. After the events of the past months, even the protective Ilveriath had to admit that I'shan was tougher than he looked, but that didn't mean the flighty man had outgrown his tendency towards...strong reactions.

What? I'shan asked, only half-aware of Ilveriath's subtle foreboding. The bluerider furrowed his brows and looked up in the air, where the dragon circled lazily above the weyr. Is something wrong, Ilv?

Ilveriath angled his head, jeweled eyes focused on the healer hall. The beast angled himself down and began a rapid but not quite urgent descent. I'shan's heart fluttered as he sensed the dragon's concern, but he checked his own enthusiasm and waited. Surely Ilveriath would fill him in soon. The man froze comically in place, standing awkwardly and rigidly in the middle of the gather square.

Ilveriath wanted very badly yo ask I'shan how he didn't hear the collapse, but he refrained. The infirmary has collapsed. Shanith seeks a dragonrider to help. I believe there are people trapped inside

I'shan frowned instantly, too stunned by the news to react right away. "Seriously?!" he balked out loud, shifting his eyes to  Ilveriath as the beast settled close by. Ilveriath lowered his neck/ Come quickly!

The pair were nimble and quick on the wing, but that wa where their usefulness ended. I'shan was a petite man and knew little of architecture, so when he arrived to find the hall in the mess that it was in, he wasn't even sure where to begin. "Get...someone else. Anyone else. Go get people!" he blurted as he sprang from the dragon's back, flinging himself at the rubble and training his eyes on the nearest nooks and crannies. What the shards was he supposed to do?!

Try to find them Ilveriath directed gently, once again managing to hide his own deep concern, perhaps even deeper than I'shan's. The poor man always had a difficult time actually believing when bad things happened. He was always left stunned, in some sort of denial...and today, it seemed that he had frozen once again.

Squee appeared, screaming. His high-pitched cry snapped I'shan from his horror and the bluerider sucked in a sharp breath. Someone was stuck in there! "Squee! Oh, thank Faranth...There are people in there! Go..find them!" he said,. waving his arms awkwardly as he tried to think of how to will his poorly-trained fire lizards to go about such a task. He bit his lip and tried toc alm himself, focusing on a fictitious image of people being trapped under the fallig rubble. Squee at least appeared to get the message and took off, skimming and scampering over the piles of debris and sniffing eagerly for the victims. I'shan was left up top, pawing around skittishly for fear of accidentally doing more harm than good. "Hello!? Is there anyone down there?!"

Squee managed to find a gap. He wriggled inside, barely able to fit even at his small size, and scurried over to the pair, sticking his nose up underneath Oahvakeen's hand and squeaking questioningly.

We have summoned help Ilveriath whispered, projecting his voice calmly.

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#9
R'ana relaxed when Shanith had told someone, getting a flash of I'shan.  She relaxed a bit, though fretted over it.  While she wouldn't fuss overly much if rubble fell on...most of the dragonriders of the weyr, she didn't want I'shan hurt.

Her old weyrling master would have pointed out that it was amazing what motivation could do for her control over her dragon.  She had nearly forgotten that she had been searched for gold because of will.  It was for the best it was I'shan, anyone else would have expected her to keep Shanith fully under control from now on. 

She felt Oahvakeen squeeze and let part of her mind focus on him, Shanith was beginning to realize that digging them out herself was a bad idea.  She coaxed her to stay with Ilveriath, and calm down, though her green trembled from nose to tail. 

She spoke softly, tiredly.  "I don't think I'm hurt.  Haven't thought to check yet."  Now panic was nipping the corners of her mind, and she shuddered lightly, biting her lip.  "I'm R'ana.  I'm...my left arm feels pinned.  Good thing I'm clumsy.  Maybe S'kef won't notice this?"  She was babbling, shaking and forcing herself under control a moment later, her death grip easing on his hand when she did. 

She closed her eyes.  "I would normally take offense, but this is a bad place for it."  The joke was bad, horrible even.  She took a shuddery breath and focused on him.  "All of those are scary."  With the possible exception of spoons.  But there was most likely a reason behind the fear.  "I'm scared of bronze riders.  And brown riders.  Heck, I'm even scared of blue riders.  'Cept for I'shan.  He's nice."  She was babbling a bit, her head hurt and she was dead anyway.  What would honesty hurt. 

She said, "I'll hug Shanith.  And probably you.  And I'shan.  Then I'll sleep.  Sleep sounds wonderful right now."  She closed her eyes.  "Is my fault.  Shoulda guessed how tired you were and that it was a loadbearing wall.  I'm sorry I hurt you, Oahvakeen." 

She yelped then, feeling things above her shift and I'shan call out.  A moment later Ilveriath told her help was on the way.  R'ana closed her eyes, unaware of the firelizard.  She called out, "Am down here.  Pinned.  Oahvakeen is too, he's hurt."  It wasn't a loud yell, she hoped he could hear her. 

She spoke to Oahvakeen again.  "Have you ever been flying a dragonback, other than your kidnapping, I mean?"  She was awkward, babbling now.  "It's nice, Shanith's a good flier.  We get outta this, I'll take you." 

Shanith roared then.  Her words hurt R'ana's head as the dragon told her angrily, You are not adopting the idiot who told you to push the wall over and got you hurt!  And I am not taking him flying! 

R'ana groaned, and prayed that only her heard that. 

Don't worry, Shanith will forget this all happened in a few days.  I was startled she took control, but guess motivation to survive is everything.  Looks like she'll try and befriend Oahvakeen and not try to kill him though, which is good, I think.

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#10
Huh? I thiought I replied to this a few days ago...

The relief that Oahvakeen was longing for, and that should have come, didn't come when R'ana spoke next. The thought that he had gotten her into all of this was still just as permeating as ever, and there was nothing he could do about it. "Please check....", he tried to beg and insist firmly and gently and with all sorts of emotions that he wished to convey and felt himself all at the same time. But she seemed to be doing so already, without his prodding, and reported back her condition. Just a pinned arm... And she held his hand with her free arm. He felt honored and humbled.

He wasn't sure what to say about her taking offense. "Oh, okay.", he responded, slowly. "Oh, I'm sorry.", he tried to add clubsily. "Who-Oh, oh..."

At last, she was talking, and he could be silent in the mercy of her controling the conversation. "Those are men rider positions. Why are you scared of male riders? We're not out to hurt anyonre, in fact, we're just as scared of you female riders. We're afraid you're not going to notice us, or you'll get mad at us for something we didn't even realize we did wrong. We're scared of messing up and looking bad in fear that you will label us a misfit and ignore us forever..."

"NO!!!! No! No. Don't sleep. You can't sleep. It's bad for us to be hurt, we can't sleep right now, we might not wake up. We have to stay awake. We have to keep talking so we can stay awake. "

"Don't say you're sorry, it just makes me feel worse. I'm sorry. It was my fault."

Suddenly, the woman R'ana was speaking loudly, too loudly for his ears, and he moved to cover them, but found out he could not, as he scraped his skin on the inside of his rock-cave as he attempted to do so. It dawned on him what she was doing, now, and that some form of help had arrived. "I'm here, too! And R'ana! Who are you? I'm sorry! ", he shouted, too. He felt it was important to prove that R'ana wasn't talking about a ficticous person to the help, and that he was alive.

"No, it just never happened. It might be nice, but only if Shanith doesn't mind. I haven't hear of anyone getting eaten by an angry dragon, but I wouldn't want to be the first. Do dragons eat people? What do dragons eat, anyways? Oh, right. What did it feel like when you bonded, when you impressed? How did you know Shanith was the right one? "

"I should have gone to the bathroom....", his voice dropped to a squeak.

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#11
R'ana shrugged and shifted under the rock, trying to free herself.  She listened to Oahvakeen and shifted until she no longer had a rock jabbing her back.  Or at least until it wasn't jabbing her as badly. 

"Male dragons can catch Shanith.  Look at the greenriders after flight sometime, Oahvakeen.  And...It's stupid but as a woman greenrider, I am the lowest rung on the totem pole.  I don't mind that normally, I don't want power, but I know full well that all it takes is the wrong word to a ranker and I get lashed or worse.  That scares me." 

It was more words than she had ever used and she eased her grip on Oahvakeen's hand a moment.  Her ears were ringing and her head hurt but she knew better than going to sleep.  That would mean she wouldn't wake up and that would be bad. 

She answered his question about dragons quietly.  "No, dragons don't eat people.  They eat Cattle and wherries, and in Shanith's case, anything she can fit into her mouth.  She's a fiend for bubbly pies though.  Don't tell anyone by she's part of why they don't cool them on the windowsill anymore.  Well, that and the firelizards." 

Her voice went quiet and she smiled.  "Shanith jsut kinda...lurched to me, and tripped over her wings as she did.  I couldn't help but try and get her back on ehr feet and next thing I know she's telling me how hungry she is and why aren't I feeding her before she dies of starvation."  She shook her head, words didn't sum it up right, they never would.  "And I just...knew, after she ate, that she and I would...work.  We're different in a lot of ways.  I wish she would look before she leaps, and she wishes I would look only once but...It's like finding a piece of yourself that you didn't know was missing."

She shifted her grip on his hand but didn't let go.  "The dragon chooses the rider."  She bit her lip then and subsided.  When he spoke of wishing he had gone to the bathroom, she snorted a bit. 

"Me too."  She blushed.  "If anything happens, my waterskin burst all over our clothes."  She offered that to save him embarrassment and before he could reply asked, "Why metalcraft?  What's your favorite part of smithing?  How do you manage to bend metal?"  She loved learning about crafting and hoped it would get him to relax a bit having something he knew to talk about. 

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#12
I'shan had a hard time finding his way out of his hut in the morning. He sure as shards didn't know how to rescue people. Ilveriath was wise to still his hand, for the jittery and well-meaning bluerider was likely to just dive into the rubble and start tearing out rocks otherwise, and that was more likely to cause further collapse than it was to actually help. "Hang on, guys! Ilveriath called for help...I'm sure someone will be here soon!" he called as he picked over the wreckage, moving quickly and nimbly, but ever wary of gaps and weak spots beneath his feet. He silently thanked Ilveriath for reminding him of that, too.

I'shan may have been useless where rescue-competence was concerned, but he knew what it was like to be pinned and frightened. He flattened himself on top of the wreckage, resting close to where he sensed Squee's quiet presence. "Hey...Don't be scared, okay?" the bluerider gasped, realizing he was probably speaking to softly to be properly heard. He cleared his throat and spoke again, calling out more loudly this time. "Hey! I'm right here, okay! Don't be scared...help will be here soon!" he called to them. He pushed his claming thoughts towards Squee, hoping the fire lizard would pass them along. Fire lizards were smart, right?

Squee was smarter than I'shan had given him credit. The little beast hopped about on the floor around R'ana and Oahvakeen, peeping softly and projecting I'shan's gentle, energetic optimism to them. They would be all right, because his big brothers were coming!

"Are either of you hurt too badly?" I'shan called out. Ilveriath sent him a silent update on the help; I'shan would only need to keep them company for a few more minutes it seemed. Good! I'shan was having a hard time keeping himself calm, but as always, Ilveriath was a blessing. "Your help will be here soon. Just hold still, okay?"

He bit his lip as he caught sight of one particular stone that seemed to be resting at an odd angle atop the rest. Against his better judgment, I'shan leaned forward to prod at it. He could see vague flickerings of images coming from Squee. The little brown was sitting on the ground, looking up at a thin crescent of light. Why did that image make I'shan feel drawn to this rock?

He picked it up gently and moved it aside, revealing a small hole into the chamber below. He gasped. He could see Squee's jeweled eyes looking up at him. He was certain that the fresh air must have been rejuvenating for the trapped people inside! "Oh, guys! Can you see me?!"

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Written By: ZZZ Deceased
#13
He tried to keep up with what the woman was saying, but it was difficult. He felt as if she were not saying everything aloud that she was attempting to convey. And this confused him. He was a man, not a mind-reader. How was he supposed to -

"Ohhhh. You're afraid of being raped?", he asked, trying to put one and one together, and possibly getting two. Or three. Or maybe twelve. "Lashings only hurt for a little while. They're supposed to be a punishment, not a way to break your spirit. I have lashings....", he wasn't making much sense, and it didn't seem to relate to anything that R'ana was saying. He slowly began to remember what he had intended to say to bring it around to relate what R'ana had said. "They shouldn't lash you if you don't want to have sex because your dragon mated with theirs. That's not right. You're a person, not an object."

It felt like her grip was slipping, and it alarmed him. He reached as far out as he could to take her hand more firmly. He wouldn't let go. He couldn't. He felt as if keeping her hand safe was the one good thing he could do, some redeeming act for his folly. His one will to stay awake and not succumb to whatever head injuries he might have.

"Dragons don't eat people...", he repeated. He invisioned firelizards messing with bubbly pies on a windowsil. And then crawling inside the bubbly pies to take a bubbly pie bath. And then a great big green dragon stepping inside the bubbly pie to also take a bubbly pie bath. No, she was too big, only her paw would fit. "Shanith's paw takes a bubbly bath...", he murmured aloud.

"You just knew.... It sounds like falling in love.", he thought about her story. "If it felt like finding a piece of yourself not missing any more, I wonder what that means for normal folk who don't have dragons. They wander around their whole lives being unwhole and never even know it? Can they even be happy....no, no, there are happy unbonded folk. Who don't even know they have a hole? R'ana? Does everyone have a dragon-shaped hole in their heart? ", he felt a sense of urgency. He felt he definitely did not have a dragon-shaped hole in his heart.

She was talking about a waterskin now. What did that have to do with anything? Come to think of it, he was rather thirsty... "Is there any left?", he inquired.

"My dad did it. I always watched as a kid. It's like... I feel like I was born, made to do it. I make things from just heaps of dirty clumps of ore. Beautiful, inticate things. From something ugly and useless, I make something useful. You do it by making it very hot. Very, very hot. The fire is so hot that if you get too close to it, you feel your face melting off. You could burn a human body in that furnace and no one would ever know. And then the metal melts into red goo, where you can work with it. When it cools, its metal again. No one ever thinks about how much metal is used, how important we are. All of your hooks and clasps are metal. Your belt buckle. Your knives and forks, and the pots and pans that made your food, and the pipes that bring you water and make your sewage magically go away. It's all hidden, it's all metal. "

"What do you do as a dragon rider? On an average day? What's the hardest thing you learned? What's the most important thing?"

The man that had come to rescue them was here, and telling them comforting things. "I'm alright, I think!", he shouted back. He didn't feel just okay, but he was too afraid to say anything else. He didn't know what hurt anymore other than everything, and he didn't want to scare R'ana, who surely needed medical help first. "R'ana, are you hurt?", he called to her, for I'shan. I'shan wanted them all to hold still while they were trapped and pinned under rubble. "We can't do anything else BUT hold still!", he shouted back, in more of a joking tone than anything else. Heh, he'd made a joke.

"I can see you!", he called as he saw a face above him. He thought the man looked rather dirty. But then again, who was he to be picky.

Next  post can they get dug out and get medical aid?

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#14
Shanith turned around in circles, wanting to help and being balked by her rider's insistence that she not help.  The frustrated green fought her rider on it, creeling as she turned in frantic circles, and thrice she nearly broke away from R'ana.

The strain of keeping her in check was beginning to tell on R'ana, and she took a shaky breath.  The dust made her cough twice and she was silent for a long moment.

Only when she was sure her green was under control for the moment, did she focus on other things.

She spoke quietly.  "It's not because of the sex.  Well it's partly why I fear the male riders but not the only reason.  I'm clumsy.  I trip over myself all the time and I'm a disaster to have in any wing." 

R'ana snickered at his words then and said, "More likely her snout."  She shook her head.  "She's a fiend for bubbly pies."  She closed her eyes drifting.  "We get outta this, I'm feeding her all the pie she can hold." 

She realized what he was talking of and sought to reassure him.  "I think only those with the hole are those that impress.  That's the way I like to think of it."  She shrugged.  "Or those that need a dragon for whatever reason." 

She fumbled, released his hand and took her waterskin, passing it to him.  It was still mostly full, and she had no idea how he would drink from it.  But if he wanted to try he could. 

She listened to him talking of his craft and smiled a bit.  She spoke quietly.  "It's easy to take metal and smiths for granted."  Before she could say much more or answer his question, she heard I'shan, then saw I'shan. 

She coughed again and spoke tiredly, though loudly enough to be heard.  "Oahvakeen's leg is pinned, he said earlier it hurt.  So is my arm."  She tried to pull free, couldn't and added wryly, "Staying still's a good idea.  I can see you, I'shan."

She just hoped that he never told anyone that she had been crying quietly, her face was wet from the tears, mostly of pain from the headache controlling Shanith gave her. 

She answered Oahvakeen softly.  "The easiest thing was to love Shanith.  The hardest was drill.  Had to work twice as hard as the other weyrlings in my class and graduated late anyway.  You can imagine what people's reactions were like."  She took a lungful of freshair, feeling Shanith relax once R'ana could see the light.  "Shanith's relaxing, that's a good thing.  Thank you, I'shan."

She tried to hide it from everyone but she was so scared, mostly that she would get Oahvakeen and Shanith killed.  But partly that she wouldn't get out of here, that the trickling and pain she felt of her arm meant that she would lose use of that hand.  She didn't want that. 

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#15
R'ana needn't have worried; if he told anyone that she had been crying, he'd wind up telling on himself as well. His eyes watered as he peered down in the hole, feeling so helpless even though he knew those who needed his help were so close! What could he do, though? He was just one man, small and flimsy, and anything he might attempt would only make it worse.

A bronze is coming, as well as several men who want to help move the rubble Ilveriath announced. The blue perched close by, projecting his warmth to his rattled lifemate, who struggled with both fear for the victims of the collapse and his own sense of uselessness. I think they're both okay. They're both talking, but they're both stuck under the rubble... I'shan detailed to his dragon.

"Ilv says help will be here soon," I'shan breathed. He barely got the words out before a dragon appeared overhead and landed off to one side, probably the bronze Ilveriath had mentioned. I'shan stood up and ran to the rider, quickly babbling the details of the collapse to the other man. Helpers also soon arrived on foot, and I'shan went to work alongside them, though he waited for instruction before moving any particular piece of rubble. If anyone was going to move the wrong rock and kill the trapped people, it wasn't going to be him!

Squee stayed beside R'ana and Oahvakeen, chirping softly and holding unusually still, though when I'shan finally bounded over to help remove the rocks pinning the pair, the tiny brown couldn't contain himself. He ran in circles before taking wing, fluttering to his bonded in his excitement and trilling the whole way. I'shan ignored him and helped one of the other men grasp the rock pinning R'ana and heaved away. Nearby, two others worked to free Oahvakeen.

When it was all over, I'shan sighed in relief. "Shards...what happened to you guys?"

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#16
OOC: I'm sorry I held us up again. I'm going to exit here and leave the thread for you two to go on, if you wish.
R'ana gracefully continued into the conversation, explaining how she felt and why. Even though the topic had veered into the uncomfortable range, R'ana seemed to have no qualms with discussing something that could potentially be very personal, perhaps even outrageous. In fact, Oahvakeen felt convinced that no other woman could handle this topic as smoothly as R'ana just had. He admired her grace and openness.

"Bubbly pie does sound good right about now...", and just like that his mind had gone from relationships to sex to relationships to food. Typical male behavior.

R'ana's continued discussion engaged his mind again as she explained her theories of dragon impressions. If only those with a hole would impress... he felt sure he had no hole. Therefore he couldn't impress; it would be impossible. All this fretting about dragons was insane then and he was worrying needlessly - and all the trouble that the weyr put him through to steal him and make him go through clutch after clutch trying to impress a dragon, an event that couldn't ever happen.

"That makes me feel better. I think you're right. You have to be right. It makes so much sense now...", his voice trailed off as he pondered other things. But R'ana's hand was gone now. As to not seem like a fool, he withdrew his hand, but silently pouted to himself about the idolized body part that he felt he could not live without.

R'ana's prowess in this situation was admirable. She continued to talk to their rescuer all throughout their conversation, with a cool head. He couldn't really do that. Part of him was still scared, he'd just grown tired of admitting it out loud.

"Thank you, R'ana...", he gulped before he echoed her sentiment.

I'shan had said that help would be here soon, and it was. He felt that a great deal of care was taken to release him from his prison. It touched his heart that others would care enough for a lowly stolen like him, someone who had been taken by force. It made him want to rethink his position and attitude towards the Weyr... but perhaps another time when he wasn't so hurt and tired.

I'shan was talking to them, now. Oahvakeen was sprawled out on the floor, holding a leg with one arm and his other arm nursing the first arm. He now sat on a piece of rubble, various stones all around him. He watched to see if R'ana would reply first, but felt perhaps he should start talking for the sake of talking.

"We were... there was ...", he put a hand to his head. He half expected to realize that he had a headache, or find that his head wasn't present at all. But he was fine. He just had trouble putting the pieces together of the event. "There was a wall that was getting ready to cave in. And I got R'ana to help me push it the other way... it was really important for some reason... Oh, and there were pipes. I was afraid the pipes would burst if the wall fell and hit them, and there would be scalding water everywhere and water damadge and mold and a depleted water supply. But we got trapped. I can't remember how we got trapped."

Oahvakeen gingerly reached forwards towards I'shan like a toddler begging to be picked up, and then tried to hug him. He began the beginnings of the motion again towards R'ana, but feeling awkward, gave up before much of any body language could be conveyed. It looked like Oahvakeen was orchestrating musical notes in the air more than anything else.

He went back to looking at I'shan. He wanted to say something, to say more, but his Masculine Codex of Manliness (his made up moral code on how to be manly), wouldn't let him. He simply couldn't think of anything that wouldn't well up tears in his eyes. He reached again and tried to pat the man's hand. It was hardly a context-appropriate gesture. I'shan had rescued him and stayed with them just as R'ana had. A stranger had cared. D'aww. Oahvakeen began to doubt if his approach of being passive, scared, self-doubting, and low self-confidence was truly a good one. But he hardly felt like examining his own character traits just now. Perhaps he'd try to be more like I'shan a little later. Besides, he hardly knew the man.

He gingerly lifted himself up and hobbled to the back of the room. There were still some cots in the Healing Hall, and he found one and lifted himself onto it. It wasn't a graceful motion. "I think I'll just...", he had fallen asleep as soon as he'd gotten his body onto the cot. Soft snores protruded from his mouth. The adrenaline had long since faded, and now exhaustion took over.

Later, when he was awake, he'd find out that his injuries were scrapes and cuts everywhere, a sprained arm, deep lacerations on his legs, and a badly bruised leg bone.

-- exit / fade out --

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#17
R'ana was tired, tired enough to babble and talk too freely.  She was happy when rubble began shifting.  Help had arrived.  She focused on holding Shanith from trampling the help in her need to see her rider, getting up as soon as she could.  She went to check Oahvakeen and thank I'shan, but was ambushed by a healer and checked out despite her words, babbly as they were that Oahvakeen was hurt worse than R'ana was.

She kept trying to sidestep the healer to go hug Oahvakeen, kept getting blocked until Shanith stood over her and used a paw to pin R'ana.  She was fadey until she realized what the healer was doing, stitching closed a cut on her arm, saying she was lucky it wasn't deeper.  Shanith caved and reached for Oahvakeen who was already creeping out. She wnats to hug you, but that healer's not going to let her up until she's sure R'ana's okay.  My rider's not an easy patient and easiest to deal with when still shocky like this, the healer thinks.  Plus I'm holding her down.

When Shanith let R'ana up, she hugged her tight and hard, crying a bit into her hide before pulling herself together.  She couldn't break down, not yet.  Next she darted to I'shan and hugged him tight!  "Thank you thank you thank..."  She broke down then, crying hard suddenly, feeling Shanith grab her and curl about her in a ball of protective green.  Thank you for rescuing mine.  She spoke first privately to Ilveriath and I'shan, then everyone there, protecting R'ana until she had cried herself out and into an insensate heap on the ground.  She was taken away by a healer, another one reassuring I'shan it was shock, the affects of the pain and fear from being trapped and from having to keep a level head. 

Shanith stayed to reassure I'shan with nuzzles and croons, showing her happiness he had gotten help so quickly the only way she could, by showering him in green affection.  When she was done, she settled to stay by R'ana, as close to her room as the green could get until the rider woke up.

[Should be a thread closer unless Blue wants to post once mroe to wrap I'shan's role]

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