Cliffside Rescue [Open]

[Deleted]

G'vrn of Blue Zakarith :

Four days.  Four days it had been, between the storm and their current predicament.  Zakarith wouldn't fly, he had repeatedly told him that his wings hurt and he refused to move from the entrance of the cave.  And though he was a small dragon, Zakarith still blocked the entrance, leaving the two humans inside to stare at his jewel toned rump all day.  While G'vrn knew this was the others way of protecting them from the elements, it still meant they were stuck inside with no way to get out and gather food.  And what supplies they had were going to run out soon.  By day's end, if he was any judge of things.  His dragon was hungry, he could feel it. He was hungry and had no clue what to do about it.  They were in the middle of nowhere, somewhere at the seaside.  If he could get out he'd go fishing until he caught something.  Inadequate as it was at least fish would be better than a hungry dragon.  He couldn't stand the sounds the other made, telling him he was hungry but trying not to complain.  

If you want to eat you have to move your great big rump.  He patted his hand down said rump, earning him a grumble and Zakarith wedging himself more firmly against the walls of the cave.  

::No.  Safer in there than out here.  So there you will stay.::

Stubborn beast.

::Practical, mine, not stubborn.::  But his dragon was distracted, and within a few moments had wriggled his body forward so that only his back legs were clinging to the mouth of the cave.  And started raising a fuss.  He bellowed at the top of his lungs, wings flapping and sending a draft of dust and sea air into the cave behind him.

Shard it Zakarith, stop that!  What's going on?

::People!  People and dragons!::  The little dragon kept making sounds that ranged from a loud bellow to a bugle and everything in between, sounds that meant nothing and were simply to grab the attentions of those overhead.  ::Hello!  Hello!  We're here!  Hello!  Down here, look down!  Look, look look!  Mine and I are here, we're hungry and lost and I want to go home please!  Look, see me?  Don't leave us here!::

G'vrn couldn't see around his dragon, and didn't dare try to slip out around the flailing limbs and wings of his lifemate.  Instead he went to the back where his sister was leaning against the wall to be out of the way and stood her up.  "Looks like someone's come to get us.  Don't worry, I'll protect you."

------
Weyrfolk Aileece

It had been a trying few days, with the storm turning what should have been a pleasant day out with her brother into a nightmare.  Leagues from home with no idea which direction would take them back, or even towards another Weyr or Hold or homestead.  Somewhere that there were people that could help them.  She had to trust in G'vrn, trust that he knew what he was doing and would make sure they got safely where they needed to go.  Benden rumbled against her neck, signalling that something was going on even if she hadn't been able to feel the powerful winds being blown in from Zakarith's tantrum at the cave's entrance.  She had no idea what was going on, but kept an eye on things to try and figure it out.

Maybe someone was overhead, or there was some danger approaching.  Weren't there huge wild animals outside the safety of the Weyr?  Nothing so big as could take out a dragon, of course, but her brother's blue wasn't yet grown and was either unable to or refused to between them.  She couldn't speak to him, so she didn't know which it was.  But G'vrn had told her on the third day, after the two-day storm, that the blue refused to between them anywhere.

Aileece held her brother's arm when he came to the back of the cave and got her to stand, trusting that he knew what was going on and that he wouldn't let her get into trouble.  It was much worse for her to be out here than it was for G'vrn.  At least G'vrn could hear if someone or something was about to come after him.  Alone, she'd have died by now.  She understood that.  "Someone's come to rescue us?"  Her words were soft spoken, hopefully still audible.  Given that G'vrn didn't ask her to repeat herself they probably were.  All she could feel in that moment was intense relief.  They were going to be okay now.

[Zen]

S'fin :: Green Rusath | S'tor :: Brown Delmith

Ah, sweepriding. A lot of riders groaned about it, but S'fin didn't mind it so much. It made for a nice change of scenery, you know, without Thread falling all over it. It wasn't like he was Searchrider or politically active for Mavros - not that very many riders were for that matter, being cut off and all - so he didn't really leave Mavros very often except for sweep riding, and the occasional transport of tithes from the Western continent when it was their turn to play flying draybeast. He didn't mind that either, really, but he preferred sweepriding.

A short distance away, S'tor and his brown flew; a second set of eyes made it easier not to miss anything important, not that anyone was expecting anything important. It was just a routine sweep over the southern islands that Mavros still protected. Only it soon turned out not to be routine at all. Both green and brown heard the calls instantaneously and Delmith bugled back as S'fin spotted the dark blue hide below, Rusy?

Rusath. She corrected, predictably, There is a young blue down there with his rider. It seems they are in some kind of trouble. And then to the blue, We see you. We will be landing shortly to help. Are you injured? Is your rider all right?

S'tor signaled for them to land and the two dragons circled lower until they found a suitable place to land, not far from the cave which housed the blue, which looked, upon closer inspection, to not even be full grown yet. Weyrlings? What were weyrlings doing out here? Had they got lost during betweening practice or something? Rusy, are they ours?

No. I do not recognize the dragon. She lowered herself for S'fin to dismount as Delmith did the same and spoke to the blue again, repeating, We are here to help. Your rider will be safe now.

“Hello!?” S'fin called as he pulled off his flight goggles, slowly making for the cave with S'tor, but not getting too close to the blue in case he lashed out in his distress, depending on the state his rider might be in.

@justice

[Deleted]

G'vrn of Blue Zakarith ~ Weyrfolk Aileece
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Powerful back legs clung to the edge of the cliffside as he finally stopped making the frantic flapping with his wings. Good, he'd been seen and heard. It was for the best, his wings were beginning to hurt again. But he was still wiggling uncontrollably and making cute little noises of joy at the adult dragons. ::We are fine. Me and mine made the landing in the storm, but my wings hurt from fighting the winds. I did good right? I landed us without shredding my wings, and G'vrn isn't hurt and I'm not hurt bad. Mine wanted us to between, but I know better. No betweening without a grown dragon, could get lost.::

G'vrn behind him was patting his rump again now that he wasn't flailing. He had his sister pressed against his back, where he had his arm pressing against her so that she wouldn't wander off and he could protect her.

Are they friendly Zakarith?

::Big dragons, of course. The riders are landing now, they'll be here soon. Then we can go home, yes?:: His thoughts shifted back to the big dragons. ::I kept them safe, I sat down and didn't move, so no bad things could get to them. I'm a good dragon.:: His thoughts were simple still, and the way he processed things were in very simple terms. Cause and effect. He was also very concerned about doing his best for the protection of his lifemate and himself. G'vrn's sister was secondary.

The man's voice caused G'vern to move slightly to one side, leaning against the wall. "We're here!" He patted his great beast again. Move now so they can get to us. Why don't you waddle on out and visit with the big dragons? I'm sure they'll have tales for you.

::Okay.:: But on his way out the little blue leaned his head down and butted it against first one and then the other rider with a little happy noise thrown at them.

Once the dragon had made his way out, unblocking the entrance at last, G'vrn presented himself to the two riders with his head up and shoulders back. "Am I ever glad to see you two. We got swept away during a storm" He held his hand out to each one, making sure he shook each hand once he could. "I'm G'vrn, that large pastel rump is Zakarith."

::I heard that G'vrn! I am not pastel colored!::

He just grinned and kept going, giving a tug so that he could present his sibling as well. "This is my sister Aileece. We were just flying over our weyr and the storm swept in and swept us out with it. We tried to land but the wind was too strong for Zakarith and he refused to between us home again. So we've been stuck here, where we ended up when the storm came ashore, stuck in there staring as his backside."

Aileece peeked out from behind her brother's shoulders and waved at the two riders, wide eyed and not entirely sure what was going on except that they'd been found.

[Zen]

S'fin :: Green Rusath | S'tor :: Brown Delmith

Rusath relayed the blue's story to S'fin before making her reply, reassuring the young blue, Yes, you did very well. It seems perhaps you have more sense than your rider. I can relate.

“Hey!” S'fin mocked offense, “You didn't have to say that so I could hear.”

I did, she responded simply, shuffling her wings and folding them to her sides for the time being, You should be told often how much a fool you are, perhaps you will be less foolish then.

“Now you're just being mean,” S'fin muttered and returned his attention to the strange blue as he finally moved away from the cave. He was not entirely ready for the affectionate headbutting, and stumbled backward with a laugh, “Heh, you're welcome?” S'tor was therefore a bit more prepared.

S'fin was quite relieved to hear a human voice in response to his call, and even more so to see him moving on his own. Rusath did say the rider wasn't hurt. He stepped forward to meet him and took the offered hand, introducing himself and his companion, “I'm S'fin, and that's my Rusath. This is S'tor and Delmith.” He released the younger man so S'tor could offer his own greeting, clasping hands and giving the lad a nod.

S'fin was surprised to see the girl half hiding behind him. Rusath hadn't mentioned anyone but the dragon and rider. Still, he offered the girl a friendly smile, “Nice to meet you.”

S'tor frowned a bit as G'vrn expanded upon his story of getting blown away in a storm. “Must have been some storm to have blown you nearly to Mavros,” the brownrider said with no small amount of suspicion in his tone.

S'fin's expression faltered a bit as well. Some storm indeed. The closest Weyr was probably Tidewalk, and that was no small distance. Flying over their Weyr? Sure they were. He cleared his throat, because now was not exactly the moment to get into it, “Can your dragon fly, G'vrn? Rusath told me his wings were hurt in the storm. Did you manage to check him over? Wing strain or something worse? If he can't fly, we can carry him back.”

He cast a glance at S'tor for confirmation, and the brownrider nodded, “Delmith is certainly large enough to carry him, though it won't be a comfortable flight for either of them. We could also return to Mavros for a litter, if we need to.”

@justice

[Deleted]

G'vrn of Blue Zakarith :

Zakarith snorted mentally, as if that said everything the others would need to know about his rider. ::G'vrn doesn't listen to me all the time. If he did we wouldn't get into so much trouble.::

G'vrn rubbed at the back of his neck absently, giving his sister's hand a squeeze with his free one to reassure her even as her blasted flitt popped his head out and made this sort of chirping sound at the two riders before biting G'vrn on the face.

He barely kept his composure, shoving the creature back to its master before concentrating back on the riders. Stupid brown pest. "We'd never flown winds that strong before, so yeah it was pretty bad." He suspected given how long it had lasted that he'd likely accidentally flown them right into a hurricane. He knew he'd screwed up, he didn't need everyone telling him so.

He forced himself to concentrate when the question was asked, momentarily alarmed that these riders thought he hadn't checked his dragon. "He can, and of course I checked him. I wouldn't have left him in pain." Aileece squeezed him, probably knowing he was getting upset.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I guess I'm still stressed out." He took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself down again. "Once the storm stopped I looked him over, he just wouldn't let me out of the cave. Zakarith is a bit dramatic sometimes, but he'd tell me if he was seriously hurt."

::You are distressed. Should I come back in the cave, G'vrn?::

He startled a little, actually looking up as though the dragon were just there over his head. No, I'm fine. He didn't even realize he had his hands at his sides making a gesture that said he was okay despite the dragon being unable to see him. Stay up there and talk to the big dragons. We'll be up soon and we'll head on back to their weyr so we can get you fed and us sorted. We'll go soon, okay?

::If you say so, but tell them to be nice to you or I'll bite them.::

G'vrn laughed aloud, shaking his head. You won't do that, they have big dragons that'll get mad if you bite their riders.

::Don't care.::

The weyrling gave a lopsided smile to the riders, a little embarassed to have been distracted by his dragon. "Sorry, Zakarith is fussing at me."

--
Weyrfolk Aileece : 

Aileece was watching the two riders, following the conversation enough to get the gist of what was going on. As long as she could see their mouths she could read them decently enough. She felt as though they should know the entire story, especially as distracted as her brother was getting. G'vrn didn't say so, but he was exhausted. So was his poor little blue. He was just stubborn about admitting to it.

When she spoke her words were soft, at least until Benden tapped his tail against her back to tell her that she wasn't speaking loud enough. "G'vrn takes me flying over the Weyr with him as often as he can, since I'm not being allowed to stand anymore. We were flying over the weyr, and the storm just blew in out of nowhere." She slowly came to stand next to her sibling, hands in front of her wringing together in an expression of her nerves. She'd picked up the mention of a word she didn't know, and G'vrn was clearly too distracted to realize it himself.

"Where's Mavros? I don't think I've heard of it. We were over Monaco Bay Weyr, so how did we get here? Were we blown that far? I know Zakarith is small still but surely we can't be too far from home?"

Zen

[Zen]

S'fin :: Green Rusath | S'tor :: Brown Delmith

S'tor's frown deepened at the young man's explanation. S'fin raised his hands in the universal 'I'm not a threat' gesture as the weyrling rider seemed to get defensive, “I didn't mean to suggest you were neglecting him, you just made it sound like you'd been stuck in there so I didn't know if you'd gotten a chance.”

The younger man got the look of talking to his dragon and S'fin took a moment to look the girl over, wondering just how long the two of them had been stuck here. G'vrn apologized for getting distracted by his dragon but S'fin waved his hand dismissively, mildly amused, “You get used to the lulls caused by dragon interruption after living among riders long enough.”

Aileece spoke suddenly, drawing the attention of both men as she offered her own piece to the story. “Monaco Bay?” S'fin looked over at S'tor incredulously, “That storm really did a number on you. Mavros is in the Western Ring Isles, pretty far north from Monaco, near the Far Western Continent. You're lucky none of you were badly hurt.”

“Indeed,” S'tor agreed, looking entirely displeased with this whole situation, “Well, we can guide you right on back to Monaco. We-”

“S'tor, they've been through quite an ordeal already. I think they should be fed and rested before they attempt a between, and it's a long flight otherwise,” S'fin cut the brownrider off, frowning himself in some concern for the two of them. He cast another look at S'tor, “Mavros is closer, if the blue is good to fly, he should be able to make it.” He also didn't want to turn the two back over to their Weyr where a punishment could very likely await before they'd had a chance to rest and recover. But he wasn't about to tell S'tor that, for the brownrider was rather lacking in the empathy department.

“Hm...,” the brownrider considered the two of them briefly, a frown fixed on his lips the entire time, “Very well.” He gestured vaguely toward their dragons, “Unless you're keen to remain on this island any longer?” And the brownrider turned to make his way back to Delmith.

S'fin offered them an apologetic smile and waiting a moment until S'tor was out of earshot, “Don't mind him, he's always like that. Do you think your blue is up to carrying the both of you? Mavros isn't too far, closer than Monaco at any rate, but your sister is welcome to ride with me to give him an easier time of it. I wouldn't want the three of you falling out of sky just as soon as you'd been rescued.”

@justice

[Deleted]

G'vrn of Blue Zakarith :

It was good that the abrupt lull he'd experienced listening to his dragon was something the two men were used to. He hadn't been thinking too much on his weyrling lessons and how the others dealt with their dragons. He'd been too busy planning their flight out of the Weyr to bother with such things. He took in what he needed to know from the Weyrlingmaster, but didn't bother to make friends among his peers. If he had his way, they'd never go back there. Or...at least she would never go back there. If he had to return and face the consequences of his actions then at least Aileece would be safe. With her deafness she'd had no idea what he was planning. She was innocent in all this. Thinking on it he'd essentially kidnapped her from the Weyr. Not the best impression to make on dragonriders, so he'd keep that comment to himself.

"We were very lucky. I'll have to be more careful from now on. I don't want Zakarith to get hurt, and I sure don't want my sister injured because I was over confident." He took a deep breath and listened to the rider explain that Mavros was close even as the other one seemed like he'd rather kick them out. Like it didn't matter if they made it home or not. Right now they wouldn't, Zakarith wouldn't make the trip. "He refuses to between, and that long of a trip we'd go down before we made it. I'd really appreciate the chance to rest."

His gaze canted up again as he asked his blue if he could make the trip. "Zakarith says he can make the trip so long as its just me. He's starting to complain so can we get going?" Hunger pains of a young dragon could be physically painful.

--

Weyrfolk Aileece :

She watched her brother, noting the drop of his shoulders and how he was running his hands through his hair over and over again. She was so concentrated on him that she didn't catch what the rider said, and had to frown in confusion when one of them left to, she assumed, go back to his dragon.

Benden nibbled her cheek to get her attention so that she'd look at the other rider. S'fin his name was, if she remembered correctly. "Are we leaving now?"

G'vrn turned her to face him, making sure she looked at him. "We're going to their weyr for a little while so we can all rest and get a meal. Zakarith can't carry us both, so this nice rider has offered to let you fly with him. You'll be okay, just hold on tight."

She nodded and looked at the rider, head tipping and then realizing her firelizard was nibbling on her again. "Should I have my little Benden hide until we get to your Weyr?" And she dipped her head. "I'm sorry we've been so much trouble for you and your friend, thank you for stopping to help us."

Zen

[Zen]

S'fin :: Green Rusath

“Of course, of course,” S'fin waved his hand, a sheepish smile on his face, as G'vrn expressed his and his blue's eagerness to be going. He shook his head as the girl asked about her flit, “Oh, he ought to be fine, unless he bites I guess.” He gestured for them both to follow and led the way to where S'tor was already mounted on his brown, Rusath nearby, studying the young blue as if she expected his wings to fall off at any moment.

At her rider's approach, however, she turned to look at the three humans, We are finally leaving then? Zakarith is hungry.

We'll be carrying the boy's sister too, he informed her.

Good. I worry for him.

You worry for everyone, like we're all silly hatchlings.

If everyone had more sense than a hatchling I would not have to. She snorted, lowering herself so he and Aileece could mount easier. He turned to look at the girl, “Not sure if you've ever flown on a full grown dragon, but I'll go up first and help pull you up if you need it. Just watch how I go up and follow once I'm settled.”

Once they were both safely on Rusath's back, he waved over at S'tor and the brown lifted into the air first. Rusath waited until the blue was airborne before joining the two males, letting Delmith take the lead so she could keep an eye on the young blue as they made the flight back to Mavros. As they approached the island, the brown bugled a greeting to the watchdragon, who returned the greeting and watched the three of them curiously.

Rusy, will you take Zakarith to the beast pens after he's let his rider off on the beach?

Rusath. And of course. I was already planning to do that. A pause. Delmith says that he and his will report our findings to the Weyrleader and we are to watch the weyrlings.

Works for me. Just make sure Zakarith knows to land on the beach rather than follow Delmith. She told the blue and with a few swift wing beats, slid in front of him and circled around to land on the beach as Delmith flew toward the Weyrleader's weyr. Oh yeah, and tell Delmith I'm taking these two to the dining cavern first thing.

As Rusath once more settled onto the ground for them to dismount, S'fin undid his straps and slid down first, waiting to help Aileece if she needed it. Patting the green's leg, he stepped away from her and she took a few paces before leaping back into the air, calling Zakarith after her to the best pens so he could find his own meal even as his rider did the same.

“Dining cavern isn't far now,” he told them both as he led them inside a cavern entrance on the beach, “We'll get you both fed and then we can worry about the rest.” Fretting only slightly over the two of them, he insisted on their remaining seated and went to fetch them a meal himself once they reached their destination. Setting a bowl of hot stew in front of each of them as well was some steaming klah, he sat down opposite them, asking with some humor, “Not sure if the stew'll be exactly to your liking, but after being stranded on an island I figure you might not be too picky about a hot meal, hm?”

@justice