[G] [C] 734.08.01 | Swept Off Her Feet [R'nya]

No, you should stay where it is warm and dry. Aradissicath sulked, trying with all of her might to keep the girl in bed.

Nonsense. You said you’re uncomfortable and I want to be with you. Why was that so hard to understand? Rhaedalyn assumed it was just her dragon being contradictory for the sake of being contradictory as minutes before she had woken the sleeping girl to complain about how uncomfortable she was and how lonely it was on the Sands. It was indeed quite tempting to obey her dragon and stay in bed after a lovely evening celebrating the successful hatching of so many pretty and healthy dragonets but Rhaedalyn knew Aradissicath would enjoy the company and Rhaedalyn did love spending time with her dragon. It seemed so hard anymore to spend time alone together.

There always seemed to be others around on the Sands and they had lessons with Tsuen when they weren’t being checked out by G’rem. It would be a welcomed quiet time together and that thought had Rhaedalyn nearly skipping down the rows of huts to the Sands. She was still dressed in her nightgown with a robe tossed over it and a light blanket around her shoulders though proper shoes had been slipped on. The mud made everything slick and her cute dainty slippers would be ruined the moment she stepped outside.

As she went along her way, memories of the night played back in her mind and Rhaedalyn grinned like a silly little girl at all the dances Z’ia had given her. He was so sweet and such a gentleman. How had she managed to be so lucky as to capture such a man’s attention and hold it for so long? She sighed as she padded across the Sands and had to stop herself from twirling in her excitement before coming to a stop bear Aradissicath.

“How are you feeling, mom-to-be?” She knew dragons didn’t really go by who their parents were and thought nothing about it but Rhaedalyn had always liked the idea of one day being a mother and adored time with children so she currently lived vicariously through her dragon. As well as expected for someone that can barely stand up without feeling lopsided or waddling around in pain.. Rhaedalyn crinkled her nose at the grumpy dragon and softly ran a hand down the burdened belly. She could see how horrible it had been on her sweet dragon as she watched the already awkwardly sized dragon fumble around even more the more egg-heavy she became. She wished there was a way to help.

Get them out of me would be a nice start. The gold grumbled but her temper had already settled down though she took to pacing a bit in an effort to alleviate some of the tension of how the eggs currently sat. “I know, Dissi. It should be soon, right?” An answer didn’t come as the rumbling that had been far off in the distance and completely ignored in favour of daydreams or the belief it was thunder, moved in closer.

Rhaedalyn looked around and finally stopped, facing the mountain. She frowned but unable to know the sound, moved off in that direction. Rhae… I don’t like this. Something is wrong. Once more agitated, Aradissicath’s pacing picked up, acting more like a caged animal as her fear started to grow. That noise wasn’t normal and all too quickly they found out why. Before either could truly react with more than a squeak of surprise and the following the instinct to flee from danger, the landslide of mud and muck was upon them.

Aradissicath managed an extremely awkward and less than graceful take off as the instinct to protect her eggs fought with that of protecting her bonded. They had wandered too far apart, however, so the urges of a mother won out. Rhaedalyn, on the other hand, was left to run as quickly as she could on the wet sand, in the dark, and with her less than stellar athletic abilities. The edge of the flow of mud easily caught up to her and Rhaedalyn was soon knocked down and being pulled along the current that had no qualms with where it went.

Rhaedalyn! Aradissicath’s screech was uncensored and anyone attuned to the dragon would have heard her panic as she temporarily lost sight of the girl. The terrified dragon watched in horror as the muck continued to tear apart most of the Sands and continue on into the Square. When it slowed, Aradissicath dropped back down to the ground and waddled with a purpose towards the area she had seen Rhaedalyn go down at and started pawing through the muck. She was alive, she knew that much but where was that girl?

A gasp and coughing fit further down the path of destruction earned a frantic gold dragon racing towards Rhaedalyn. “I’m fine, Dissi,” the words were barely out before another cough was upon her. Rhaedalyn had luck on her side the moment she was struck down, getting clipped by the edge and not getting dragged along as far or as deeply into the mud as she could have been. It was still a mess as she was covered in every inch in the muck that was currently up to her waist from sitting.

Standing was definitely an issue as Rhaedalyn gave it a try after breathing came more naturally to her and the mess of curls she hadn’t bound back before leaving the hut was finally brushed from her face. “I think I’m stuck, Dissi,” there was more disbelief than panic as Rhaedalyn tried again, only to find the mud was too slick and had an odd suction hold on her. That wasn’t good.

Grab my neck and I’ll try to pull you out. Rhaedalyn stared up at her dragon who was trying to delicately walk her way through the mud to get a bit closer and not stuck herself. Well, they didn’t have any other bright ideas. Wishing she had somewhere clean and dry on her to wipe her hands to help with better traction, Rhaedalyn wrapped her arms around her dragon’s neck and they tried to free her.

R'nya had been one of the few that had returned to his hut both alone and sober. He would have returned sooner than he had, but with a flurry of goldriders to protect, and mountains of men to ward off them, R'nya had spent most of his evening giving death glares to riders of all ranks as the evening progressed. Some were given more leeway than others - R'nya wasn't the type to step on toes, and Peorray had looked very happy with M'din! - but the tiny bluerider prowling around Rhaedalyn had been glared at when the woman wasn't looking, and R'nya had made no secret of shooing off the brownrider that had been sniffing around Ameris' heels. Some people had no idea when they weren't wanted! Only when each of the girls were done with the evening did R'nya make sure they made it back to their huts whole and unharmed (and preferably alone!) before being collected by Xyreith after finally seeing Kahleena to her hut, and R'nya toppled into his own bed, exhausted.

He was woken by the sound of keening, and Xyreith's strong and sudden panic against his mind, the bronzerider startling awake so terribly that he fell out of bed, cracking his head hard against his bedside table and landing badly on his tailbone. R'nya grunted from the assorted pain, but the terror in Xyreith was over powering and so unusual that the man swiftly found his feet and stumbled outside, not bothering with shoes or shirts; thankfully he had been so exhausted that he'd only managed to strip down to his pants before falling asleep, else R'nya likely would have spent most of the landslide running around butt naked. "Xyreith!" Anxious hands rested against his bronze's face, pulling the nose down to him and soothing the trembling dragon; Xyreith never got this worked up! The sound of keening was everywhere - but R'nya hadn't quite processed that yet, his head still ringing from when he hit it against his bedside table.

R'nya shook his head, and turned to stare over towards the main Weyr, pale eyes widening in horror as he picked up on the keening; "What's happening?" His voice came out whispery and horror filled; nothing could be seen but the bright lights of dragon eyes all whites and greys and reds of terror and fear. R'nya trembled, but the only answer he got from Xyreith was a sudden bark of horror, and his wings unfurled. Barely thinking, R'nya swung atop the dragon just as Xyreith pushed off into the air, and flew swiftly through the milling dragons and above he heads of horrified humans - directly towards the Hatching Circuit. "Rhaedalyn!" It didn't really occur to R'nya that the girl might still be in her hut; the Sands was where she was often found and Xyreith gave a bizarre sound of relief when Aradissicath was spotted, the great bronze landing not far away with a worried expression. R'nya kept his seat as his lifemate struggled across the slippery ground.

At least until Xyreith tripped, sending R'nya toppling through the air to land not far away from where Aradissicath was trying to pull up Rhaedalyn. R'nya picked himself up cautiously, shaking his head again; his ears were ringing once more and his eyes water from landing on his head - again. Xyreith barely glanced at the man as he continued to pick his way across the mud to join the two girls, unwilling to slip and crush Rhaedalyn. His nose extending to nudge Aradissicath before turning his head to gaze at Rhaedalyn from one whirling eye; the colours were mirky and dirty with the combination of terror and relief.

"Rhae-" R'nya stopped, shaking his head again and wishing he could shove his finger in his ear without clogging it full of the  mud he was no coated in; a slice across his left cheek was buried under mud and the world sounded queer as his head was ringing again. The sounds of the terror filled Weyr faded in and out as R'nya wobbled back over to where Rhaedalyn was attempting to be rescued by Aradissicath, and extended one muddy hand to the girl. "Best get up," R'nya frowned at Rhaedalyn, his fuzzy head not quite able to piece together why she was still sitting in the mud like an idiot. Xyreith rumbled lowly, head lifting to look towards the mountains then back at the humans and Aradissicath.

They live, he spoke to the entire group, his voice slightly distorted by R'nya's concussion and the pauses he put in place between each name as he sought the minds of the golds of Katila. Nirinath, Krypth, Okalinath, Wydrith, Mizeath, and the little Thallyath. R'nya blinked up at Xyreith in surprise. "There are two of you," his voice really close to slurring the words and he didn't let go of Rhaedalyn's hand. The fact that he currently had two dragons was far more interesting than the fact that he clearly knew all the golds' names, or that he'd just spoken to Rhaedalyn.

While she was relieved to see the giant bronze and then R’nya, Rhaedalyn was also horribly embarrassed. She was covered in mud and stuck in the slick substance, looking like a complete failure. R’nya didn’t seem to have any issues finding his feet after all. She should have taken better care of herself and dodged the river of muck that came for her. She had put herself and Aradissicath in danger and her dear sweet dragon was currently stressed and that wasn’t good for one so close to clutching. She wanted to cry but Rhaedalyn held it together long enough to be assisted back to her feet where she stood in silence, staring at her feet for a moment.

A careful glance was stolen to R’nya and while he was dirty, he seemed to be doing okay. His hand holding hers was a nice lifeline as well. A part of her was convinced she’d fall back into the mud and be swallowed whole if she was left to stand on her own but it was nice to have her friend and protector there with her after such a scary event. Given the way the landslide had come crashing towards her, Rhaedalyn knew that everything between her and the start of the mess would have been hit but the true devastation hadn’t fully sank in thanks to the shock of nearly dying still lingering with her. Still, the question about what had happened was on her muddy lips but the strange voice in her head distracted her and she turned to stare up at Xyreith.

“Xy—Xyreith?” She blinked at the dragon and then nodded once after he listed the other gold dragons. “I’m glad to hear that.” In truth, she hadn’t even given a single one of them a second’s worth of thought. Her own safety and that of Aradissicath’s had been all she was concerned about. Until seeing R’nya, she hadn’t even had time to think about her closest friends. She truly was glad that Kahleena was safe but what about V’zire and Mevrit? I’shan and R’nd were sweet to her as well and she hoped to have word on them soon as well.

R’nya’s lack of acknowledgement over what everyone called his Golden Girls was odd enough but to have the bronzerider randomly state instead that there were two of his dragon, Rhaedalyn’s attention was once more fully grabbed and her thoughts stopped drifting into worrying about friends she didn’t know the state of. “R’nya? I don’t think the world is ready for two Xyreith. There’s thankfully still only one of him.” She studied him a moment longer before her free hand lifted to cup one of his cheeks. “Are you okay, Ren? Were you hurt?” Rhaedalyn’s first aid abilities extended to cleaning cuts and placing a band aid on them. Her cooking skills hadn’t always been as smooth as they currently were – and even then, there were bumps – so she had learned how to mend her fingers when they came into contact with an impressively sharp blade. So she had no idea how to tell what was wrong with R’nya, if anything.

His odd behaviour wouldn’t have been from alcohol either. R’nya was very good at watching how much he drank and had left early and seemed in far better shape than he was now. Perhaps he drank alone? What a horrible thought! That would be truly depressing if her friend was drinking alone to drown sorrows of some sort. It had to be medical-related and Rhaedalyn’s eyes darted over his face and then down his body, hoping to find something wrong. The mud and the lack of light didn’t help her in any way.

Having sensed the chaos had calmed down and that Rhaedalyn was fine, her fair of firelizards burst onto the scene, chirping their concerns as they fluttered around the humans before all landing on Aradissicath’s back. The gold had called them all to her, wanting to give Rhaedalyn some space after almost losing her in the mud. She seemed fine but she didn’t need to be smothered by affection just yet either. Although, Aradissicath wanted nothing more than to do exactly that with nuzzling her human and curling up around her to keep her safe. Thank you for your assistance, she spoke only to Xyreith as it seemed R’nya wasn’t entirely put together and she wasn’t about to add to the confusion.

“What? Yes, of course,” R’nya frowned, turning slightly to look at Rhaedalyn. He tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing as he attempted to focus on just one of the girls that were woozily shifting in and out of focus. The softness of her fingers against his cheek was distracting, but it was also somewhat gross, because she was trailing mud all over his face (which wasn’t saying much, considering he had landed on his head and it was presently full of all its own mud.) “Wait. No, I am fine. You are filthy though. You need a bath.”

R’nya lifted a hand, missed the first Rhaedalyn rather spectacularly, before gently touching one of the girl’s muddy cheeks, and lifting a dirty lock of hair from her face and gently putting it over her shoulder with the majority of the muddy mess. R’nya stepped forward a little, closer to the girl, and his muddy fingers trailed lightly down the side of her neck, ending with a little twitch at the neckline of her clothing. Concussed blue-grey eyes contained the embers of lust as he studied what was slowly becoming one rather than two girls. One very muddy, very lovely girl that he could recall all too clearly in too much detail of things that he was not supposed to keep memories of, because Rhaedalyn wasn’t like that… but that he kept anyway.

“Baths would be very good…” R’nya murmured; his free hand trailed lightly down Rhaedalyn’s arm to take the limp hand at the end in his own, and he swayed back on his heels slightly, and he shook his head to ease the ringing that was still occurring heavily in his ears. Warm, shared baths with bubbles, clean water, soft towels and a very pretty Rhaedalyn (both of them, even!) would be quite the way to spend the night, no? Only, there was something wrong with that night and it was not that Rhaedalyn was covered in mud, or that he could see two of her. R’nya frowned, and barely contained a yelp of surprise when Xyreith’s rather large head loomed over him, jaws wide, and he gently picked his human up by half swallowing him, and moved him a safe distance away from the poor goldrider.

Really, Sir? Your brains are addled! the bronze dragon sighed dramatically as he removed his head and let R’nya view daylight once more. The bronzerider looked more than a little startled as he spun towards Xyreith, stumbled slightly, caught himself and then continued to stare. His jaw worked wordlessly for a moment, before R’nya frowned. “You have vile breath, Xyreith. Fix that before you attempt to eat me again. I would appreciate it.” Scowling comically at his dragon, R’nya turned around much more cautiously to face Rhaedalyn. He blinked at her a couple of times, and watched her image sway slightly.

“You should see a healer.” A frown furrowed R’nya’s eyebrows, and he sighed and his shoulders dropped slightly. “I should see a healer. There are definitely two of you.” Holding his hand out gently to Rhaedalyn, R’nya watched in concern as he waited for the girl to take it. Considering you just about jumped her a moment ago, I’m not sure she will… Sir. The dragon actually sounded disgruntled! R’nya’s frown deepened, and he pursed his lips. Had he? Well, that was not at all proper! Confusion flickered over his face. “Sorry?” Since R’nya was not entirely sure what he was apologising for, the definitely came out a question.

While she agreed that a bath or seven would definitely be appreciated with how filthy she was – she wasn’t sure she had a spot left on her that wasn’t covered in mud – Rhaedalyn was still taken aback by R’nya’s in saying she needed one. It wasn’t even the bluntness that bothered her but the situation. She had nearly died drowning in the muck and the Weyr was in chaos and he was concerned about how horrible she looked? In a way, she was hurt that he didn’t want to deal with her while she wasn’t clean and pretty but the oddity of it all overrode everything else and Rhaedalyn stared in confusion at the man.

Until he started to slowly caress her.

Rhaedalyn tensed and didn’t even dare to breathe as the fingers moved lower and stopped at the collar of her nightgown. A stray thought hit her about if she was still wearing the robe or if it was lost in the mud. It was hard to tell with the way everything clung to her. Suddenly, her hand was in his and while that wasn’t uncommon and was something she counted as okay to do with friends, Rhaedalyn was uncomfortable with it now and her eyes went wide and one foot stepped back as if wanting to flee. “R’nya? I... Xyreith!” She had no idea what she had wanted to say to get away from the bronzerider that was starting to look at her like the men had leading up to Aradissicath’s maiden flight but Xyreith had swooped in to eat his rider, saving her the trouble of talking.

A gasp of shock was all she managed before Xyreith nearly spit R’nya back out, unharmed. Of course he was unharmed, she scolded herself; dragons didn’t harm anyone, especially not their own rider! A light laugh couldn’t help but be had as R’nya chided the bronze for having bad breath but it stopped when a hand was extended to her and Rhaedalyn blinked owlishly at it. What would happen if she took it? It was rude not to but she didn’t know what was wrong with R’nya, even with him saying he needed a healer.

With the apology that seemed more confused than sincere, Rhaedalyn walked forward. She had forgiven Z’ia for yelling at her and scaring her as well, so why couldn’t she forgive the man that had been a friend for so long? She placed her hand in R’nya’s but the fear of everything that had happened had her throwing herself into his chest and clinging to him with one arm. She had so many questions and wanted to voice her fear but all that came out were soft sobs as she trembled against R’nya.

It felt like hours to her but Rhaedalyn knew it couldn’t have been more than a minute that she stayed that way before finally looking up at R’nya. “We should find you a Healer. Dissi is coming as well. I can’t leave her here.” It didn’t feel safe to Rhaedalyn and while she had no idea what still stood, she wanted to keep her precious dragon near her and she doubted anyone would argue with her. After all, she was a gold that was about to clutch. She couldn’t be put in line with anymore danger.

R’nya was suitably surprised when Rhaedalyn threw herself at him; he hadn’t really expected her to take his hand at all, after Xyreith took those few moments to relay exactly how not a gentleman his concussed rider had been just before he moved him away. Shame coiled tightly in the bronzerider’s stomach, making him feel queasy as the insides of his head alternated between swimming around, and pounding against his skull. He definitely needed a healer, and likely before he made an even bigger mess of the remaining friendship he had with Rhaedalyn.

Feeling rather sorry for himself, both physically and mentally, R’nya wrapped his arms around Rhaedalyn as she clung to him, resting his chin gently on the top of her head, and resisted the urge to close his eyes to stop the spinning world. He was no healer, and while he himself had never been prone to ending up in situations where concussions were had, he had had to deal with a couple of greenriders that were in that state before. He couldn’t really recall the details, but apparently going to sleep was bad; which was weird, because it seemed like a really good idea to him!

R’nya swayed as Rhaedalyn stepped back, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to focus on just one of the girls twirling together before him. “Please.” He needed something for his head, and then he needed to apologise to Rhaedalyn for being such a jerk. The guilt coiled through him again, and R’nya’s shoulders drooped somewhat… Rhaedalyn was speaking again. R’nya blinked and shook his head slightly, grabbing at the goldrider’s elbow when he stumbled as a result, grip light but on the verge of desperate. “Of course.” Why would she leave her dragon behind?  “No sand left,” R’nya added; what use was a hatching sands without sand? Better the gold go wherever Rhaedalyn went.

Come on, then. The bronze dragon, having relocated to Aradissicath’s side after depositing R’nya, nosed at the gold’s shoulder and then her cheek. She was a bit on the muddy side for licks (Xyreith did not enjoy the taste of mud), so he snorted softly in her face instead, and followed up with another affectionate nudge. Convinced he’d gotten his point across to the waddling gold, Xyreith turned his attention to R’nya and gave him a gentle nudge, too, careful not to send him flying. R’nya ignored him, his attention refocused on Rhaedalyn, and some of his more regular personality traits shining through; a frown marred his face.

“Are you okay, Rhaedalyn?” He gently tilted the girl’s chin up so he could study her face, and this time, there was nothing beyond concern within his own gaze, though whispers of pain lingered in the back (his head was seriously hurting!) and his stomach still coiled with shame for how he had acted. But that only made it even more important that he be normal for the girl. She needed normalcy, in a time so filled with uncertainty and fear and death.

“No, I suppose there isn’t,” Rhaedalyn mumbled with a frown as she glanced around them to what had once been not so long ago hot sand. Everything now seemed to be coated in mud, muck, and debris. It wasn’t safe for Aradissicath to stay and it did seem pointless since there wasn’t any sand left for a dragon about to clutch to sit on. If it wasn’t so far away, they would have a better chance of setting up shop at the lake’s beach.

“Oh,” Rhaedalyn startled when R’nya tilted her chin to look at her. It wasn’t his touch that bothered her but she had been drifting away in her thoughts and lost track of what was happening around her again. She smiled, a tad on the sad side of the spectrum and gave a little nod. “Of course I am. Did you know that mud is good for the complexion?” A light giggle accompanied the fact as she tried to get the bronzerider to stop worrying about her. She had been terrified and was still a bit shaken up over what she had gone through and thinking about what happened outside of the Sands horrified her but she didn’t want R’nya to worry about her. He wasn’t in any shape to do much more than get his behind to a Healer and that was the important thing right then.

Aradissicath ignored Xyreith’s prodding, having grown used to them, and waddled her away across the sands to the exit. The way she was moving, especially through and around the muck, made her feel like even the wobbly bronzerider would out pace her and pass her soon enough but she kept moving all the same. It wasn’t her fault she was in such a condition after all and she’d prove it wasn’t going to get to her either. Come along, you two. While I can call a Healer to you, I imagine they would want more light and a cleaner environment to work with.

She sighed as she stared up at R’nya and finally placed a hand on his cheek, already forgetting that he pulled away the last time she attempted it. “My dear sweet Ren, please let me worry about you for once. I’m okay but I want to make sure you are.” With their hands still linked, Rhaedalyn gave him a light tug to indicate she was ready to go. The Sands had seemed like they occupied all of her time lately and felt confining at times but now they were a horrible mess and she really did not want anything more to do with them.

R’nya’s expression lightened slightly at Rhaedalyn’s teasing, and he shook his head slightly at the girl. Pale eyes shifted to look at Aradissicath as the gold dragon did an odd wobbly-strut across the sands that was more than a little amusing. Xyreith snorted behind them and stood up, waiting impatiently for the two humans to follow the ambling gold. “I am fine,” R’nya murmured in reply, blinking at Rhaedalyn; true he had a nasty case of concussion, but he was technically fine! Sighing in a puff that spoke of both amusement and frustration, R’nya quietly stepped up beside Rhaedalyn, unlinking their hands so he could wrap his arm gently around her waist. It was, after all, a much more secure way to travel than holding the woman’s hand! If he tripped, he’d drag her down too that way.

Xyreith snorted again, deeply amused by the way in which R’nya was explaining his own actions to himself as he stumbled lightly along. The bronze kept a wary eye on the pair, ready to reach out and nab either of them rather than risk them face planting in the mud due to a wrong step. R’nya would clearly be the most likely victim, but he would not put it past Rhaedalyn’s lack of grace to decide she wanted to go splat, either. He was not even going to try to pretend to rescue Aradissicath, though! Her egg heavy body would probably crush him – something he had no intention of actually telling the gold, that was for sure!

The majority got out, but the Healer Hall is gone, Xyreith spoke quietly to R’nya as he nosed both humans gently in the other direction. They are in the Craft Hall. Go. He nosed them again. He would get R’nya, Rhaedalyn and Aradissicath to the other side of the Weyr and his rider in the safe hands of a Healer, before finding his wingleader and assisting what looked like a flurry of desperate rescue. Dragon eyes in the horrible colours of fear, pain and desperation coloured the night sky like a rainbow of terrifying stars.