|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Jan 31, 2011 19:32:41 GMT -5
Day 3, Week 1, 1st Month.
K'rill leaned against the wall of the Hatching sands, staring thoughtfully at the distant eggs, their lovely, porcelain-glossy shells catching the dim light of the setting sun. He lifted a hand, and cupped his chin, pensive.
Those eggs represented yet another piece of the future of this Weyr. Yet another generation of dragons. More Candidates, more Weyrlings, and, ultimately, more Dragons and Riders, flying, and fighting Thread, burning them from the sky, their ashes falling like snowflakes over the green, sprawling island.
He was clad simply, in his leather stormcoat, and long-sleeved jacket underneath, though the close warmth of the sands made them slightly over-warm. He ran his hands slowly over the leather sleeves of his coat, pondering the sensation of the wind tearing across his clothing, whipping his hair into disarray, upon the leaping Morisath's back, lunging through the sky like a fencer's blade, parting the air with all the grace and precision of a rapier.
Even now, Candidates were hard at work, studying as best they could, picking up as much knowledge and expertise as the Candidatemaster could crush into their skulls, as quickly as it could be pushed in. They didn't have much time.
He glanced down at his arm, as his fingers brushed over the sensitive skin around his silvery, winding scar, where Thread had scored him, as his Morisath swept above Roux and Radanth, keeping the murderous Thread from falling upon her. He pushed back the sleeve, inspecting the flesh, as if expecting some taint, some echo of their burning, tearing agony.
Not even a whisper of that pain remained. That scar had come to represent something else, entirely.
He thought back on Roux, with a warm, thoughtful smile.
He was, however, drawn from his thoughts, by the sound of boots crunching over the fine sand of the Hatching Sands.
Tag: Any!
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Jan 31, 2011 23:28:30 GMT -5
It was sheer curiosity that moved her toward the Sands that day. She had planned to just come take a peek and then go for a walk around the Weyr, perhaps waste a bit of time in the hotsprings, anything to keep herself occupied. Her fingers fiddled with a pair of dice, rolling them around idly in the palm of her hand as she walked, stopping as her boots reached the sand.
Keeping her distance, N’la gazed at the eggs appreciatively before her attention was drawn by the figure of a man leaning against the wall. With a start, the bluerider realized she recognized him, being part of his wing, though she didn’t know him well.
Pocketing the dice in her casual jacket, she decided to remedy that.
“Pretty, aren’t they?” she said with a grin as she approached him, nodding toward the eggs.
Tag: K’rill
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Jan 31, 2011 23:48:23 GMT -5
He smiled, warmly, in response, and gestured her over. "K'rill. I can't say I remember your name, offhand." He frowned, as if annoyed at this. "Bluerider, correct?" He canted his head, thoughtfully, perusing his mental list of their wing.
"My apologies," he inclined his head, slightly. "And, ah... Yeah. Lovely things... So frail-looking, for what's inside. You'd never think one of our dragons came from something so small!" Small being relative, he well knew. These eggs were a bit bigger than he himself was. He crossed his arms over his chest, sleeve sliding down to cover the scar once more. "What brings you down this way?" He inquired, his tone and expression curious, and inviting.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Feb 1, 2011 0:35:35 GMT -5
Bluerider, correct?
She nodded as she leaned against the wall next to him, "Yes. I'm N'la." She made a small dismissive gesture with her hand at his apology, obviously not offended in the slightest. "No apologies necessary."
"What brings you down this way?"
Idly wondering why his sleeve had been rolled up, N'la shrugged, "Curiosity. Wanted a walk, thought I'd come take a peek. Trying to keep myself occupied, need to keep my mind busy," she ended with a sigh, without really meaning to. "Yourself?" she cocked a jesting eyebrow at him, "Do you often come to contemplate eggs?"
Tag Any
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Feb 1, 2011 0:58:38 GMT -5
He gave a brief, apologetic smile, nonetheless. "N'la. And... No, not usually, but I'm thinking I might do it more often. The future of the Weyr rides on these things. It's a lot to take in. So small, so frail, but so powerful." He shook his head slightly, and chuckled, softly, "And remembering those days... I used to think I was the best Dragonrider on Pern, you know that? I was pretty sure I was the top sharding Rider anywhere and everywhere." He nodded, thoughtfully, and gave a rueful smile, "Now I'm among the very, very few. We don't have much of a world left, do we?" He sighed, quietly, "But I suppose this corner's well-worth fighting for, now that we're all comfy and cozy, and all."
"... It's pretty dangerous out there, though. I'm just glad we have such a small area to cover. It could get pretty bad if it was bigger." He frowned, deeply, at that thought. "Our Wing did pretty good, last Fall. We lost a couple," he frowned, thinking of the blue, Tirith, and its' now-deceased Rider, who had misjudged a /between/, and popped out directly in front of a Threadfall. It had been a long, intensely painful process, nearly as bad for the watching Wingsecond as for the unconscious Bluerider, who slowly wasted away in the Infirmary. One of K'rill's original wing.
Pain flared across his features, as he shook his head, and looked over at her, inspecting her, briefly, "Really gives value to all this spare time, doesn't it?" He didn't bother to mention the anxiety at just not knowing when Thread would come, again.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Feb 1, 2011 23:24:31 GMT -5
N’la took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she nodded. “Hadn’t thought about it that way, actually,” she murmured, almost under her breath. Spare time was usually her enemy, these days. Hearing K’rill talk about the future, basically laying out the current situation, simple and clear, it made her think. Maybe she should start trying to appreciate her spare time a bit more.
Right. As soon as the nightmares about falling rocks stopped. And as soon as Thread started asking permission to fall.
With a small chuckle and a roguish grin, she shrugged, “I’d rather be busy. Don’t like waiting. Even if being busy means fighting Thread, the game’s not worth playing if there’s no risk.” It belatedly occurred to her that perhaps ‘game’ was not the analogy she should have used, given the pain on K'rill’s face only moments before. She flinched, slightly. Well, wouldn’t be the first time, or the last. Most of her fellow riders at Fort had thought she was a little crazy anyway - why should it be different here?
Tag Any
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Feb 2, 2011 0:45:11 GMT -5
"Threadfall," he chuckled. "Our worst enemy, and our only employment. It ever cross your mind what might happen if we actually win?" He shook his head, and laughed, quietly. "Though, now we've got quite a bit of goodwill from saving everyone else's lives. I hope." He frowned. "But that might not last."
"I must admit, though," he chuckled, softly, "I don't much mind the hero worshipping going on. It's almost enough to make me feel like we've done something noteworthy." His laugh had an almost derisive tone, faintly edged with bitter sarcasm. "I hope we do better this coming Fall than the last. We can't sustain losses like that." He shook his head. "Too many friends, too few left. Were you scored any, last Fall?" He tilted his head, inspecting her, briefly.
Pretty, he thought, to himself. But Roux is still prettier.
A faint smile crossed his lips, at that.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Feb 2, 2011 18:01:46 GMT -5
For a brief moment, N’la actually gaped. That was far from the reaction she’d been expecting. She recovered well, sliding into her usual humor.
“Were you scored any, last Fall?”
“Not exactly,” she removed her jacket, rolling the right sleeve of her shirt up to show the twisting lines running up her arm. Then she undid the top button of her shirt and pulled down on her collar just enough to show that the scars extended up to her shoulder. Slipping her jacket back on, she shrugged, nonchalant. “I left Fort to come here just before Thread fell. My timing could have been a bit better,” she grinned.
With a slightly dramatic sigh, she said, “Well, I suppose that if by some miracle Thread were to stop falling altogether, that would give us a chance to devote all our energies to rebuilding a world ravaged by falling rocks,” the last two words were emphasized with sarcastic outrage. “What are we supposed to do against that? Fly as many as possible to a remote island in an insane high-stakes bid to save civilization as we know it?” Her eyes sparked at her tongue-in-cheek jest. “Of course, saving civilization isn’t particularly noteworthy I suppose, especially not in the face of Threadfall, earthquakes, and, oh, did I mention rocks falling from the sky?”
Tag Any
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Feb 2, 2011 18:23:08 GMT -5
He laughed openly, "Good thing our leaders were gamblers, wasn't it? It certainly seemed to have turned out alright." He gave a playful smirk, letting his eyes trail down from her shoulder, to her wrist. "Is that from the rocks?" He tilted his head, and pulled up his own sleeve. A wicked, silvery scar wound its' way down half of his forearm. "Caught this in the last Fall."
"Though, I got off a good bit lighter than most - E'dwyn, one of our other Blueriders... It hit deeply enough that going between didn't kill the Thread. He had to get his arm opened up, to kill off the Thread that was left inside." He winced. "Thankfully, something I haven't experienced. I don't intend to, either." He shook his head.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Feb 2, 2011 21:26:12 GMT -5
"Is that from the rocks?"
She scoffed before explaining, “Practically. Aereth and I were fleeing Fort, suddenly Thread started to fall as well, as if things weren’t hard enough. While dodging a flaming piece of rock, we were hit by Thread. Fortunately, we went /between/ before any real damage could be done.”
At the description of the other Bluerider’s injuries, N’la grimaced. It wasn’t something she was anxious to experience either. Being hit was bad enough, but for the things to actually be inside... she shuddered, shaking her head, “Nasty stuff,” she muttered. Of course, if it wasn't, they wouldn't be fighting it.
She silently watched the eggs for a few moments, not really thinking about anything in particular. "Where are you from?" she asked, both honestly curious and simply making conversation.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Feb 2, 2011 23:45:44 GMT -5
"Ista," he replied, almost absently. "My... Wing, and I, were away when the rocks began to fall." He shrugged, slightly, as if shaking something off. "We were hoping to find our own glory," he reflected, with a taste of bitterness. "Well, we sure found something." He gestured around himself. "Four of us found a new home, and the fifth found his grave. Misjudged a jump /between/, popped out right underneath a pretty thick clump. Even a rapid /between/ couldn't kill them, fast enough... Comprehensive wounds." He frowned. "There were quite a few wounded, and a few dead." He shook his head. "Some shard of a learning curve, I guess."
He glanced over at her, and looked quietly, thoughtfully into her eyes, as if searching for something.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Feb 3, 2011 16:24:14 GMT -5
She took a breath, letting it out slowly. “That’s one way to put it.”
Pensive, she reflected on how she had waited until the last possible minute to leave Fort, vainly searching for any way she could stay. She’d grown up there, it was the only home she’d known. She had never run from anything in her life, until then. If it hadn’t been for Aereth, she might not have made it out.
Her mask of confidence faltered an instant. She’d been able to view her journey to a new home as a chance for adventure, another move in the game, but irrational guilt still plagued her. With practiced ease, and a minuscule shake of her head, she pushed the feeling aside, becoming suave and self-assured once more.
Realizing K'rill was watching her, she met his gaze with a questioning look.
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Feb 4, 2011 2:56:41 GMT -5
He chewed his lip, thoughtfully, then looked back over at the eggs. "What do you think of the other riders of our wing? Or our Wingleader, B'lor?" He half-glanced back at her, but didn't make eye-contact. He seemed to be distant, thoughtful. "And... Did you fly, in the last Fall? I... Didn't pay near as much attention to the Wing as I should have, before the Fall. It was only after that I realized - Well. I guess training isn't everything, is it? I was trained pretty well, but even I missed a few things. Obvious things, at that."
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by N'la and Aereth on Feb 5, 2011 22:04:42 GMT -5
She shook her head, curious to know where exactly this was going. “I got here later than the rest of you, haven’t really got to know anyone yet. L’yst is the only one from our Wing I’ve really talked to, till now. I didn’t fly last Fall, but everyone certainly seems very capable.” At least, they did until you asked about the Wingleader, she silently thought to herself.
Cocking her head to the side, intrigued, she asked, “What sort of ‘obvious things’ are you talking about?”
Tag: Any
|
|
|
Post by K'rill and Morisath on Feb 8, 2011 3:12:27 GMT -5
He winced, "Formations... Look good on paper. But, that was the issue. They looked too good. We spent so much time working on formations, that we couldn't really adapt to the Fall on its' terms... Which, unfortunately, it turns out, is the only way to fight it. We had too many people that just weren't properly covered. Thankfully, we also had enough people in the air to keep our little slice of paradise Thread-free." He sighed, heavily.
"High price for it, but there isn't much to be done. We learn, and, next time, we do better. This time coming, we'll hopefully avoid losses altogether... Even if that is a bit much to hope for."
Tag: Any
|
|