Lightening! [Open]

The day had started out beautiful. The sun had shone brightly and warm not a cloud in the sky so the gold weyrling pair headed out for a short walk about. Ameris wasn't sure at the moment where they would end up but Mizeath so enjoyed the warmth of the sun, something Ameris appreciated nearly as much as the dragon. The past few months had been such a delight learning the little ins and outs of her dragon and Mizeath was growing into a fine young gold. Even after all this time it still amazed Ameris that she'd impressed. It was something that always would.

She called greetings here and there, echoed by the dragonet with her musically sweet voice. I do not understand why we had to leave Rislan in the creche. He does so enjoy coming with us, the dragon groused lightly. Rislan, her naughty son. He had gotten in trouble again for something silly and the creche workers felt the lad needed a firmer hand so they'd admonished Ameris to leave him at the creche to teach him a bit of responsibility. She had a feeling that the workers didn't like how she wanted him to be near her always, to be honest, and wished to teach him to be without her. It irked her but with her father insisting she listen to them and lessons Ameris couldn't find a reason not to so Rislan had stayed at the creche today. Ameris sighed and declined to reply to Mizeath.

The pair didn't notice the darkening of the sky as the walked along speaking of the things they'd learned so far in their lessons or of the dragons Mizeath had met. When the thunder sounded Mizeath murmured in appreciation. She enjoyed the deep reverberations. It reminded her of the gentle rumbles of the much larger dragons shed come to know and the vibration under her feet was pleasant enough. She waited for the sound to come again, enjoyment twirling in her eyes, what came next was a shock. It wasn't vibrating thunder but a bright clap of lightening.

Mizeath's terror was blinding. Her surroundings lost to her red and white eyes, only the too bright lightening could be seen. Her heart pounded so loudly all sound was drowned out. No longer could the gold hear the pleasant rumbles of the thunder, and her bonded was ignored as she dashed past startled dragon riders and weyrfolk a like. She hissed and snapped at reaching hands as she search for a hiding spot.

Ameris stumbled at the sudden and swamping terror that lanced her mind. "Mizeath? Mizeath what's..." The question was never finished as her gold scrabbled past her in a frightened rush, nearly knocking Ameris to the ground in her haste to be gone. "Mizeath!" she shouted as she dashed after the dragon uncaring if she knocked people over in her drive to find her dragon.

The impending strom may have been missed by the chatting girls, but it wasn't missed by Z'ia and Aveleth, as they made their way casually back from the lake's edge. The morning had been spent swimming, and with the humidity as strong as it was, even the heat hadn't managed to completely dry Z'ia's bouncy curls back into place; instead, they were a mish mash of wet tangles and firzzy humidity inspired gravity defiers. Not that Z'ia minded nor cared; he was on a one way trip to the bathing house to get himself once more in fine condition before answering his growling belly and getting some lunch.

Most of the tiny bluerider's clothing was flung over Aveleth, attempting to dry in the lousy weather, and leaving the well toned and clearly muscled little man bare chested and in a pair of loose shorts that were tied at the waist, designed for swimming in without falling off his narrow hips. They were rather uniquely coloured, an odd gift that Z'ia had accepted from Rhaedalyn with great seriousness though he hadn't been sure whether rolling his eyes or laughing at the girl would have been a more proper response. They were just about every colour he'd ever managed to see, and he wasn't quite sure if the multi hue was purposeful, or a mistake the girl had run with. Either way, they didn't fall off, so he gave her points for that.

Skipping along, the first clap of thunder caused Aveleth to rumble unhappily, the young blue turning to frown up at the massed clouds. Z'ia laughed softly, petting his bonded's nose with a cheerful smile. Aveleth wasn't really afraid of the strom, but he was a quiet dragon who appreciated quiet days, nights, and time in general. Thunderstorms were okay, but they usually came with heavy winds and bright lightening and a lot of rain. There were just far more pleasant types of weather of him to be around, as opposed to thunderstorms.

The first few drops of water were fat and heavy, and Z'ia turned his face up gleefully, steppig out -- in time to have his balance sent toppling and the young man falling back against Aveleth as a golden bullet went dashing past. It took him several moments (his first thought being that it was Aradissicath) before he realised that the dragon that had gone dashing by was far too small for the gold he was most familiar with. It was one of the babies. The answer of which one was there when Ameris went skittering past, the bluerider watching with wide eyes.

"Isn't that the more outgoing one?" Aveleth rumbled softly, and, very much intreagued, the pair turned to trot after the frantic dragonet and her human. "Hey!" Z'ia trotted to catch up with Ameris, and reached out gently to poke her in the shoulder. "Need some help?" It was clear she was flustered, and her dragonet had vanished into only Faranth knew where. She's afraid. He whispered gently, walking beside Z'ia and offering one wing extended high above the pair to prevent the heavy drop of rain from soaking them further.

Her head had begun to pound with the intensity of Mizeath's fright as Ameris darted after her. Much like the dragonet most, if not all, of the people in the weyr were ignored by the woman as she searched rather desperately for the frightened dragon. Her eyes darted left and right seeking the rich gold color of Mizeath. 

Where was she? Where was she? There! Ameris caught sight of the dragons tail forks as the little gold sped past.. Z'ia, nearly knocking the dragonrider over. "Mizeath!" she shouted again, "Stop!" Another bright clap of lightening and !!!! Ameris reeled at the influx of fear. 

She didn't hear Z'ia as he shouted at her. Hadn't even realized he'd started towards her until he tapped her shoulder and the drops of rain were suddenly gone. She jumped at the touch and her eyes were wide, tears beginning to pool there as she looked at the shorter man. "She won't stop Z'ia," she cried, "she's so scared and I don't know why! Please will you help me find her?" 

Mizeath whimpered as she darted for an open door. The lightening was too much. Too bright and not at all nice like the thunder. In the back of the dragonets mind she could feel Ameris and her bonded's own fear, but Mizeath couldn't, wouldn't listen and respond as she sought safety, her little body trembling. 

---

Phone tag pardon the weirdness!

O'wain loved thunderstorms and was watching the distant light show grow ever closer. He stood in the shelter of a building looking out the open doorway. He inhaled deeply the rich heavy sent of ozone in the air even as the thick humidity tickled his nostrals. The daring side of him was tempted to sprint across the gather area, challenging the lightening to strike him before he made it the shelter of the nearest building on the other side. He was just waiting for the rain to start which would drive away the milling group of people in the Gather area.

As he waited, he noticed sudden movement within the gather area as lightening flashed bright enough to light the entire area and the thunder which followed was sharp and roared loudly. As rain started coming down he noticed a golden object darting among several people as they hurried to find cover from the rain.

He saw the little dragon practically bowl over one dragonrider and continue right on past, her rider chasing after. If it wasn't for the rider's bluedragon, O'wain was certain the poor bluerider would have been sent sprawling. Next thing O'wain saw was a golden form charging right at him. O'wain barely jumped out of the way before he was knocked flat on his ass by the golden dragonet. He turned and saw the clearly terrified little thing cowering in the far corner.

"Shhhh little one, you are safe here," O'wain said softly, crouching about ten feet away from the dragonet. "The thunder and lightening won't hurt you here, you are safe now."

Nishkath, can you tell little Mizeath here she's safe and the scary lightening won't hurt her in here? O'wain recognized the dragon as one of the golds who hatched so recently.

Peace little one, O'wain won't let the thunder and lightening hurt you, you are safe. Nishkath couldn't see the little dragon with his own eyes, just the image he picked from O'wain's eye.

Z'ia wasn't one to be moved by tears, infact he was (in secret, anyway) far more inclined to creating them. But publicity called for his public features, and without thinking, Z'ia reached out gently to wrap an arm around Ameris' shoulders, tugging the distraught woman into a hug, and holding her whether she wanted to be or not. His hands were gentle as he shifted them onto her shoulders and leaned her back a little, forcing her to look at him so that he knew she was litening to what he was saying. "Ameris," there was really no time to get excited about ranks, and while Z'ia had no desire to be on friendly terms with weyrlings - let alone another gold - he was uniquely qualified to assist her in her current situation.

"Ameris. I need you to calm down." His voice was soft but insistant, dark green eyes bright and intense as he stared up at her, dark brown hair plastered to his head so the curls were long gone; Aveleth's wing spread over their head was preventing them from getting any wetter, but the bare chested little bluerider had still been damp from his swim before the skies opened above them. The rain that had caught him had rendered him soaked once more, though he ignored the droplets that were trickling dow his back and chest as he focused on the woman. "Dragons feed off our emotions, you must be calm. She's afraid, your fear will make her more so." Above their heads, Aveleth crooned gently, eyes swirling anxiously as he peered through the rainstorm, the clash of both thunder and lightning over head mostly ignored by the dragon.

Aveleth was, indeed, one to cower at almost any reason, but he was also capable of being fierce and protective, though such times were few and far between; Aveleth was far more likely to being protect, than to do the protecting. Z'ia soothed his own dragon quietly in the back of his mind while Aveleth kept an eye out for where Mizeath might have gone; she would be safe, as she was in the Weyr proper, and so they could afford a few moments for Z'ia to focus his attention upon Ameris. No one would hurt a gold dragonet, and as frightened as she was, Z'ia highly doubted the little one would throw herself between. Dragons were made of tougher stuff than that!

"Hey, hey," Z'ia released one shoulder to brush at Ameris' cheek, unsure if the dampness was rain or tears, but sure it was the latter though he made no comment about it, and lowered his hands to hold her, squeezing them reassuringly. "She'll be fine, just breathe for a moment. You know Aveleth, right?" He nodded towards Aveleth, who crooned softly in greeting, his eyes trained on a single building, She's in there, Z'ia,. "He's really easy to spook too, and I lost him a lot as a baby. You need to be calm, when they are afraid. You need to be the soothing and strong and reassuring. Can you do that?" Only when he was absolutely sure she wouldn't cause more harm than good, would Z'ia be tempted to let the girl's hands go.

S'jin had his eyes to the sky as he heard the sound. He loved storms and listening the the rain falling and he even liked being out in it when the rain feel if the rain wasn't so fridge and cold. But he hadn't exspected to see the  dash of color  race past him and  his lovely green.  Lana squawked as  he moved quickly and tipped her on his shoulder.  But Minx and Claus couldn't care less from where they were perched  out of the way.

Araith do you know which dragon that was.  Araith just shrugged her shoulders  she knew it was another dragon but wasn't sure who's it was and who she belonged to and the sky was of much more interest to her today. She wasn't afraid of a little rain but the booming from the sky after the flicker of light was a bit startling. So she really didn't blame the other from being  frightened by it. 

Araith probably would of been frightened to if S'jin hadn't talked about in and been so excited about going out and seeing the storm himself. She was affected by his  joyfulness and playfulness about it all.

His eyes were electric in their intensity as Z'ia stared at her and Ameris was unable to look away. His words barely penetrated the grating fear that coated her mind but she tried desperately to heed them. "I can be calm," she whispered softly. She could. Or she could try. This was nothing like the time she'd lost Rislan. She hadn't been able to feel his fear as she could Mizeath's and the dragonet's fed her own. She nodded as his calm voice broke through more of the fear and she inhaled and exhaled deeply. She could be calm.

She breathed again as he brushed at the dampness that had slicked her face. She was surprised she didn't flinch away from the touch but he was so kind and so sweet that it was hard for Ameris to remember to just that. Her eyes followed the nod of his head to the blue that stood above them. The dragon didn't seem to be paying much attention, all his focus trained some where she couldn't quite see. "I can be calm, Zi'a," she said again as her fear began to wane and be replaced with worry. It was easy to find that center of herself with Z'ia, he projected such confidence and assurance. "I just need to find her."

Mizeath hissed as the rider began to speak to her. She didn't know him. Knew something of his dragon but didn't know him and her fright would not allow for him to be her friend just yet. Her eyes continued to whirl with vicious reds and whites, the colors twirling so quickly the colors muddied. She curled into a tighter ball as the man's brown sent gentle reassurances and words to her. They were not the ones she needed!

O'wain made no attempt to get closer to the frightened little gold. He did glance over his shoulder towards the door wondering where the dear's rider was. Was the rider just as afraid of the thunder and lightening and running screaming in the rain?  He remembered seeing a woman running through the scattering crowd and a blue rider nearly being knocked off his feet by the little golden dragon.

He ran through his memory of the two recent gold hatchings and quickly figured out who he had seen running through the crowds. Definitely this little one's rider. Ameris. Nishy, could you reach Ameris and tell her where her little gold is?

I see her, she is with Aveleth's rider. He is calming her. I will tell Aveleth to let his rider know where you and Mizeath is. the brown responded, gliding in to land in the Gather Square.

Aveleth, my rider is with Mizeath in the building up ahead. he looked over at the blue dragon idly.

He stretched out on the floor and rolled onto his side, one arm propped up his head. It was as non threatening he could think to be. "I bet your rider is very scared too, but you are a gold dragon, nothing should frighten you. Not Nishkath, not myself and definitely not a bunch of bright light and noise. It can't hurt you, even if unsettling for the first time. Your poor rider is out there however, scared, lost and doesn't seem to know where you ran to."

"Don't think about the noise and flashing lights, just think of how safe your rider makes you feel. Do you remember that moment when you found her after breaking free of your egg? Nothing else in the world matters but her and now that you found her, you are complete and nothing will ever get between you and her again. No scary noises will keep you from reaching out to her and letting her know your love and affection. She needs to feel your calmness and how safe you are now." O'wain talked slow and softly, focusing on being calm and projecting that calmness outward for the little queen to pick up, more than his actual words. It had occurred to him the woman who Impressed this beautiful little gold was likely out of her mind in worry. Calming the dragonet should help calm the girl. Then it will be easy for the dragonet to lead her rider to them. Or he can lead her to the rider with Nishkath's help.

You're making it worse! There was something that was almost a snarl on the edge of Aveleth's voice, and it caused the little hairs down Z'ia's back to stand on end as he squeezed Ameris' hands, not letting the emotions of his own dragon show to the girl. His dragon never spoke to others, and hearing such a tone in his voice was beyond alarming. Aveleth's eyes were intently coloured, staring in the direction he knew Mizeath to be, his wing still extended over the two humans to save them from getting wet by the continued downpour. The young blue was so focused on the little dragonet, that he missed the familiar tug of Rhaedalyn's cheerful thoughts, and the way they changed rapidly when she caught sight of the scene. He flicked his other wing in agitation, tail twitching slightly as he lowered his muzzle and nosed at the pair.

"Good," Z'ia purred softly, squeezing the girl's hands again as he watched her slowly regain her own calmness, and set herself up where she would be able to control what was happening. "We will," was murmured softly as Ameris finally appeared to be herself - oh, he could tell she was still worried about her dragon, but at least now she didn't look like she would randomly run off the edge of a cliff in her own ridiculous panic. He studdied her face for a moment, before releasing her hands, and gently turning her around with light touches on her hips. "We're going this way." Now that she was calming, Z'ia was torn between rolling his eyes and bashing his head. What was he even doing? Why couldn't these bloody goldriders keep their lids on? Shaking his head slightly as he walked beside Ameris, Z'ia flicked wet curls out of his face.

He lead her quietly to the building Aveleth had pointed out and was still eyeing off, and gently directed the girl inside, Aveleth ruffling his wings and then bouncing up to curl up on the roof where he was left to his own devices. Curling up quietly, he settled down and shifted his own vision so he could watch through Z'ia's eyes. The spike of outrage from his rider was felt, and Aveleth would have trembled, but he was too busy agreeing. The blue's wings shuffled unhappily and his tail took up twitching once more, the tip dancing like an angry felines.

Z'ia hissed between his teeth as he came to an abrupt stop, taking in the scene before him with a twist of his lips and angrily furrowed eyebrows. "Do you know anything?" He demanded, his voice a soft hiss as he pushed Ameris forward (though he doubted she needed the encouragement once her dragonet was spotted) and glared hotly at O'wain. "You're frightening her more, you fucking retard. Quit crowding!" Z'ia couldn't care two hoots about Mizeath for her colours, but having had to move numbskull idiots from 'helping' Aveleth when the youngster had been in such positions as a weyrling himself, made him remarkably quick to jump to Mizeath's aid in such a scenario.


Rhaedalyn mentioned with permission.
Ameris poked and prodded with permission.
Z'ia gets all the bitches :P

Mizeath curled tighter into her ball. It made her feel an tiny bit safer to be curled so tight, out the way of prying eyes as her little body trembled and shook. Where was she? Where was Ameris? She needed her and her rider was no where near enough to her! She needed the woman's soothing calm and she was not here! The dragonets eyes squeezed closed tightly. The quickly moving orbs snapped open when she heard the rough hiss of new voices. Red and white eyes met those of the woman she held so dear. She was here! You found me! Mizeath cried as she scrambled to her feet to dash forward.

Ameris had followed Z'ia, nearly blindly, to where the little blue rider led, confidant he wouldn't lead her astray. Her mind did not register that there was another in the building Z'ia had led her to. It didn't catch the demand from the man beside her nor did it register the curses he threw. Her mind and her eyes saw nothing but her poor sweet Mizeath. She was already moving forward when Z'ia pushed her towards the dragonet.

She growled herself at the sight of Mizeath curled so tightly in that ball, never had she seen the gold in any other position but a full out sprawl and Ameris was equal part angry and worried that the gold seemed so cowed. "Of course I found you," she said as her dragon leapt to her feet to rush her, wrapping serpentine tail and neck around the woman's body, "did you doubt me?" Her voice was soft and insistent as she disentangled herself and went to her knees to cradle the growing gold to her. It wouldn't be long before she would be unable to cuddle Mizeath so tightly and Ameris squeezed her eyes closed as a tear tracked down her face. I should never have and I shan't do it again, Ameris

Her eyes opened again to take in the sight of the bluerider who looked so very angry on the behalf of her dragon. It was nice to have a champion sometimes. She looked at Z'ia, slender hand reaching out, "Thank you, Z'ia. I don't think I could've done this without you." Her eyes darted to the other man. Did she know him? She might but she couldn't be sure the worry clouding her mind still jumbled her thoughts.

---

Phone tags pardon the weird

They come The brown informed his rider as Z'ia lead Ameris into the building the frightened dragonet had hidden in. He raised his wings to stop the rain from falling on his head as he watched.

O'wain looked over his shoulder and up at the bluerider as he hissed. Seeing the rider unceremoniously shove the young girl forward roughly he scowled. Rolling up onto his feet he totally ignored Z'ia. Instead he made sure to stay out of Ameris's way as she went to her dragon.

"Here she is, little one," O'wain said softly, watching as dragon and rider were reunited. He smiled, knowing it only would take the girl arriving to sooth the dragon. When Ameris looked at him he nodded and smiled charmingly. "I did my best to keep her from running till you were brought here. Everything will be alright now. We can talk later if you want."

Turning on his heel he strolled towards the exit, glancing at Z'ia. "Nice of you to help Ameris reunite with Mizeath but that shove really wasn't necessary."

O'wain didn't linger for an answer, heading straight out the door. He really had no idea what was irking the blue rider, for the gold was starting to calm when they had arrived. If it was in his nature to dress down some random jerk of a bluerider, O'wain would have but in truth, it really wasn't worth it. That and he saw no point in upsetting the young pair by exchanging heated words with the bluerider.  O'wain wasn't 100% sure but he thought it was Z'ia of T'rel's wing.

Z'ia's anger fell away fairly quickly as Amaris cuddled with her young dragon, the bluerider rocking back from the balls of his feet and onto his heels as he watched her with amusement, and emotion that only grew moreso as the brownrider spoke in tones that Z'ia was pretty sure were supposed to be all cooey and sweet and came out sounding more like saccurine to him. He just smiled sweetly at the man as he left, not bothering to respond as he skipped the last couple of steps to where Ameris and her little gold were wrapped up in one another.

"I'd be careful around him," Z'ia spoke lowly, his lips twisted thoughtfully as he dropped to the ground beside Ameris and tilted his head, not touching Mizeath as he folded his legs and rested his elbows on his knees. "He's a..." He struggled for the right word to use. "... slut" He looked slightly worried, like Ameris would take offence at the term and he shrugged apologetically, not up to date enough on the girl to know if she were holder raised or weyr raised; he honestly didn't care enough. She was nothing but a baby whore in training herself, but Z'ia felt inclined to play games, and if he could win the little bitch over and make O'wain out to look like a sleazy bastard - well, all the better!

"He'll tell you anything you want to hear, for as long as he's interested, then drop you like a sack of rocks." Whether or not that was the literal truth about O'wain was completely irrelivant; Z'ia's face was intense as he leaned forward to Ameris, utterly convinced what he was saying was the gospel truth. The fact that the same thing was a very literal truth about himself only caused the bluerider to wriggle (inwardly) in delighted amusement. Mind and power games were his favourite and while he didn't care one way or the other about the stupid little goldriders, the idea of turning them against selected individuals was far too delicious. "Just, be careful, okay?" His eyebrows knit in concern as he studied her face, to all intents and purposes completely obsessed with the girl's well being.

Her hands ran along Mizeath's body, stopping to scratch an eye ridge or wing joint here and there as she reassured herself that the dragonet was unharmed. She still didn't understand the reason why Mizeath had torn through the weyr to hide herself away in this empty room. It was very bright and it hurt my eyes. I did not like it, the gold insisted sure that Ameris knew what she was speaking of. "But what Mizeath?" she said quietly to the dragon, focus and attention on her. The light. I do not like the bright light. The lightening. The dragonet had run in fear from the lightening. It was understandable really. The light was bright and often left you feeling dazed, especially here in the south, Ameris would've wondered had the dragonet not run away.

She'd barely listened to the conversation going on around her intent as she was on Mizeath and jumped slightly at the words Z'ia spoke to her. She was even more surprised when he dropped to the ground. Had his face not shown his worry there, she might have laughed a bit at the description he'd aptly laid on the brownrider. As it were a slim brow arched as she gazed at the curly hair man seated a polite distance away, "I'm hardly stupid Z'ia. I know better than to tangle with the likes of him." Not to mention her father had warned her off brownriders altogether, "insisting" now that she had Mizeath anything but bronzers weren't worth her time. A lightly veiled threat did wonders to keep her away from them.

She was almost instantly contrite at the slightly harsh words that came out of her mouth, especially when faced with the intense concern written along the clean lines of his face. He was just trying to look after her and she was being rude. He had helped her find Mizeath and she repaid him with rudeness. "I'm sorry, Z'ia. Thank you for the concern but I don't think you'll have to worry about me in that regard," she said as Mizeath shot the man a curious look over her shoulder. The gold was interested in this man. He seemed just the sort to cultivate into friendship for her rider and Faranth knew Ameris needed more friends. Thank you for helping Ameris find me, she said to the bluerider.

"Oh!" Z'ia yelped softly, hands lifting in a placitating gesture with a slightly wild eyed look. "I didn't mean to imply that!" Well, he would certainly contest her intelligence, because Z'ia was quite sure there was no such thing as a woman who was actively smart, especially those that went out there to point out that they were. All talk, no brain action was what Z'ia tended to see, and hearing women blab about absolutely nothing was not something the bluerider enjoyed. Idiots, all of them. Still, appearances had to be upheld, and Z'ia enjoyed playing games. Who better to play games with, than idiot women who thought they were actually something intelligent.

The apology that spilled from the girl's lips almost immediately following brought a gentle smile to Z'ia's lips, and he nodded his head once in acceptance. "It's okay! I'd just hate for someone so nice to get caught up in a mess like that." He frowned seriously, expression thoughtful as Plague popped out of between with a disproving chitter and landed lightly on Z'ia's shoulder. A moment later, Destiny and Chastity also popped out of between, with Chastitiy taking one startled look at Ameris and Mizeath and then vanishing between again with a squeak of surprise. Z'ia ignored their appereance, and Chastity's vanishing, except to gently pet Plague's nose as she shoved the poisonous green muzzle against his cheek and demanded affection; Destiny was quite content to sprawl on his thigh and stare at Mizeath.

"... You're welcome." Z'ia spoke slowly, looking startled at being spoken to by the dragonet, his eyebrows raising as he eyed her thoughtfully for a moment. Shaking it off with a light tremour down his spine, Z'ia turned his gaze back to Ameris; he was unused to other dragons speaking to him, and while some creatures were naturally loud or inclined to speaking to people other than their own humans, Z'ia tended to avoid those types. He knew why, too: he spent enough time keeping himself carefully sheltered from his own dragon, he did not need nor want another dragon poking around in his mind. I would never let someone do that, Z'ia. Aveleth whispered gently. I know, Kiddo.

"Will you two be okay, now?" He couldn't very well bounce on off if they weren't going to be okay. That wouldn't be very good for his good-boy-sweetheart reputation!