Damsel in distress?

[madb]

R'get pushed off Pallath's back and slid onto the ground with a solid thump. He rested a hand against her, not for balance, just an impulsive check. She turned her neck around so that her nose was in front of his face, and woofed out a breath that smelled like firestone. Yes, yes, I'm very proud. You were brilliant up there - like always. Pallath snorted. And I am proud of you.

Lady, meanwhile, clawed up under his vest and stuck her head out to keen. He ran a finger over her head to brush her fur down, which seemed to soothe her.

As he made his way down into the cool caverns, R'get felt comfortably exhausted. His limbs were aching and sore, and his sweat had soaked into his shirt, but it was a good feeling. It was satisfying to work hard during the day when you felt like you were actually contributing to something. Whatever bad habits he had fallen into in his past, Rau felt they were mainly behind him at this point. Yes, he deserved a large meal from the kitchens, maybe a nap.

At the moment, however, he just wanted to walk around and get his breath back, out of the range of Rukbat's rays.

The lower caverns weren't particularly busy outside the kitchens. During and after threadfall, sometimes the infirmary would get a little crowded, but everyday foot traffic was light when most riders remained above ground, in their personal weyrs, or flying around. Occasionally Rau saw someone and made brief conversation, but today it was even quieter than normal.

So when he saw the figure of a young girl, he was slightly confused. Had he gotten turned around somewhere and wound up at the creche?

"Hello there," R'get said, cheerfully. "Pretty sure rule one of the creche is stay in range of a caretaker. Not that I blame you! Did plenty of sneaking out in my day." He winked.

Lady, apparently uncomfortable with her current position nestled close to Rau's chest, wiggled out. "Ouch," R'get winced as she popped up, fluffed her fur indignantly. She shot him a withering look of contempt, and flew away to circle the strange girl.

R'get realized instantly that she was probably looking for a treat. He sometimes let the kids in the creche play with her, and they spoiled her rotten. Actually... he knew most of the kids around here, being it was such a small weyr, and this girl did not have a familiar face. That was rather strange? Perhaps there was a new transfer and they had brought their child. Yes, that must be it.

"That's just Lady there, she's harmless. Oh wait," R'get dug in his pockets. He was sure he had some dried meat in there that he carried around for just this situation. He pulled out a strip, and Lady chirped expectantly. "Here, you can feed her if you'd like. She loves being petted, just as long as you're gentle with her."

[Zen]

Azora

Azora frowned, casting a gray-blue gaze first down one side of the cavern and then behind her. She... thought her father's weyr was this way? Hadn't it been? Yesterday she had been remarkably successful finding it. She'd only had to ask for help once... about when she was as lost as she was now. She stood, chewing her lip lightly as she thought about what course of action she wanted to take.

She had only gotten to spend a little time with him yesterday. First she'd been distracted by his Bronze and his friend's Gold dragon and then when he'd taken her for a dragonback ride back to the creche, back to her mother, Orana had scolded her for running off when they didn't know their way around yet and then.... Her mother and father had left her in the care of the crecheworkers and gone off alone somewhere. When they had returned, A'zael told her he would have to say goodbye for the time being, that he had things he had to do, but they could spend more time together later.

He'd been very vague about when later was supposed to be. But, the good thing about vague was that Azora could fill it in however she liked. Now was later, for instance. He couldn't very well scold her when he'd left it so open for her to interpret as she pleased. She wanted another dragonback ride. She liked his Bronze, even if he wasn't very smart, like the Gold dragon had told her. He was friendly and talked a lot and he liked getting scratches.

A bunch of the kids in the creche had been in complete and total awe of her when she'd arrived on the back of a Bronze dragon, with the Weyrleader. Then Fath had let them all play on him while her father and mother went off together. Some of the kids had been scared to get close at first, but after she slid down his back a few times and they saw how fun it was, they soon lost their fear. Most of them anyway. Some of them still refused to get close to the dragon and Azora couldn't help but wonder what on Pern they were afraid of. Dragons were nice; they didn't hurt people, they protected them. Whatever, they were all just dimglows.

Just about when she'd decided which way to go, someone else appeared, heading her way. She debated with herself, wondering if she should ask him which way to go, or try by herself for a while longer. She was sure she could figure it out, she just needed a little more time, that was all. She was about to duck back out of sight, but he'd already spotted her. Shells. She took a step back as the man got closer, giving her a friendly greeting. She was about to open her mouth to argue when he went straight to the 'why are you away from the creche' route, but he rather unexpectedly turned around and made it seem... not quite so much like a scolding.

She studied him warily, then something moved on his chest and she jumped a little in surprise. Her eyes widened at the fluffy creature that took flight. She watched it circle her with intense curiosity. She had seen her father's, a fluffy brown, yesterday, and had promptly decided she wanted one. They were the cutest things she had ever seen. They were even better than firelizards! And this one was... Gold? A sharp intake of breath betrayed her excitement. Oh, if this man had a Gold... that meant, maybe, he could give her an egg one day. She had to be his friend. That meant she needed to watch her stupid manners.

Lady. The man named the creature and pulled out a piece of meat, holding it out for her to offer to his pet. After a moment, she took it and broke off a piece to give to the little Gold. She giggled softly when Lady landed to accept the offering and reached out to pet her gently. Then she realized she was getting distracted again, though who could blame her really? Dragons and Gemgliders were infinitely more interesting than people. She looked up at Lady's owner and tilted her head, eyeing the man's rank knots. She didn't know most of them yet, but she knew a dragonrider's knots when she saw them, the thread of green indicating just what color he rode. Even better. Her face brightened at that revelation and she grinned happily, “You're a dragonrider!? What's your dragon's name?” Yes, dragons were infinitely more interesting than people.

[madb]

Lady made a satisfied noise. Without so much as a by-your-leave, she circled one last time over the girl's head, and then landed right on her shoulder. She wriggled a little bit before finding her place, and then straightened up. Once righted, she began to fastidiously clean herself and settle her fur.

R'get smiled, happy to talk about his dragon any time of the day, to anyone. "Yes, I am! Her name is Pallath," he said, as dreamy as a newly-Impressed weryling. "She's a beautiful green, way too good for me if I'm honest, and the strongest dragon I've ever met. Physically and mentally. But," he laughed, "any dragon rider would say the same, I suppose."

He eyed the kid again, consideringly. At this point he should probably take her back to the creche. He knew as well as anyone how annoying it could be to be a weyrbrat. All the communal raising really meant was that you were stuck with other kids and or a guardian 24/7, it really limited your freedom. That was why so many of them got to being little scoundrels.

He sympathized instantly.

"I should probably convince you to head back to the creche but I'm guessing you're not there because you don't want to be there, for whatever reason," R'get said. "You could hang out with Pallath for a while before you have to go back. I'll vouch for you so you don't get in trouble."

Wouldn't do any harm. Give the kid a break from the creche for a while. He knew as well as anybody that she'd probably just scamper off again on her own if he just sent her back. It wasn't all that unusual of an offer, really, he knew that he'd tag around with S'fin quite a lot when he didn't want to be in the creche.

Palla, my love, I might have invited a young two legger to be your new friend, so. Heads up.

Thank you for the warning. Pallath's headtone was dry, but Rau knew she didn't mean anything by it.

[Zen]

Azora

Momentarily distracted by the Gemglider on her shoulder, Azora reached up to scratch the little creature's chin with one finger, imagining owning her own one day, hopefully very soon. She didn't even care what color it was, she wanted one more than anything in the whole world... except her own dragon, of course. But that was turns away from being a possibility. She could get herself a Gemglider before turn's end if she played her cards right.

Talk of dragons brought her attention back to the man standing before her. Pallath. Pallath and Lady. It was then she realized she didn't know his name yet, or he hers for that matter. She remembered Srunae's scolding about introducing herself before asking for someone else's name and inwardly grumbled. But manners were important when you wanted to make a good impression, at least that's what her mother always said.

Before she had decided either way, he started to suggest that she needed to go back to the creche, and she again was prepared to argue. She was surprised once more when she found she didn't have to. All the prickly attitude that had instantly begun to rear its head washed away in an instant when he offered to take her to meet his Green instead of returning her to the creche.

“Really?” she looked up at him with wide blue eyes, hardly believing the offer was genuine. Surely it was a trick, he would just get her to his dragon and take her back to the creche on dragonback. He wouldn't have lied to her then, she would have met his dragon, and he still would have accomplished getting her back “where she belonged”. And then she would have start all over again trying to find her father's weyr.

She glanced over at Lady, on her shoulder, and chewed her lip thoughtfully once more. Maybe she should just tell him to take her to her father instead? But she did really want to meet his dragon.... Her foot tapped indecisively, “Okay.... I wanna meet Pallath, but... after that....” She glanced down at her feet, slightly annoyed to be asking for a favor, but... if she didn't tell him her intention now, he likely would return her to the creche after she'd met his dragon. She looked back up at him, “After that, would you take me to my daddy's weyr? That's where I was going... before I ran into you instead.”

She wasn't lost. At all. He was just a detour, and it was just more convenient this way, that was all. She could get there on her own if she wanted.

[madb]

R'get chuckled. "Sure thing, kid."

They walked in silence for a moment, Rau spending some time trying to place the weyrbrat's face. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't really put his finger on it. He was pretty sure that he hadn't ever talked to this kid before, but it was likely he'd met her mother or father - after all, it was a small weyr.

Casually sticking his hands in his pockets, R'get leaned back a little and stared at the ceiling as they walked through the lower halls. He wanted to get her to talk a little more, because quiet kids made him uncomfortable - they were either causing trouble or planning to do so, in his experience. But you couldn't just ask a kid what was going on with them. So Rau tried to relate instead.

"My name's R'get, by the way. I spent most of my time at your age trying to get out of the creche, too. My mother was a green rider and I couldn't imagine anything more boring than hanging around with crecheworkers and other weyrbrats, when I could be flying instead." He grinned.

Lady took that moment to nudge Azora affectionately, and then take off from her shoulder. Rau stretched out his left arm and she perched on it delicately.

"Problem with dragon rider parents - always busy." R'get said, reaching out to scratch Lady's fluffy chin as she crooned. "It isn't really our fault but it kinda sucks. A lot."

They had made their way out of the caverns at this point, Rukbat shining high and bright in the sky. R'get raised his free arm to shield his eyes as a pale, muted green form began making her way down to meet them. Her wings flapped powerfully in the air, blowing up a gust of wind around the two two-legggers and one gemglider (Lady made an indignant squeak in protest).

R'get chuckled. "There she is. My Pallath."

Pallath's whirling eyes alighted on the weyrbrat. Are they all this small? She asked, mildly. I am worried I could crush her.

[Zen]

Azora

Calling her 'kid' had Azora inwardly bristling again, about to insist that she had a name, though reason won over before she could say anything, for once. After all, what else was he supposed to call her? She hadn't properly introduced herself yet. But neither had he, so she didn't think it was too big of a deal at least.

He introduced himself almost as an afterthought, causing her to look back up at him as he talked about his own experience as a weyrbrat. She always wished her mother was a dragonrider and not a boring crecheworker, but when she'd told the woman as much, Orana had only chided her, telling her that she wouldn't have had nearly as much time to spend with her if that was the case. As R'get also pointed out.

She liked having her mother around... but she still wished she was a dragonrider. So when Orana had finally decided to tell her about her father, and that HE was a dragonrider, well... she had been incredibly excited to meet him. This way was perfect, actually. She got to keep her mother around AND have a dragonrider for a dad.

She gave Lady a last quick pet before she took off from her shoulder, returning to her owner. She had a moment to look longingly after her, pondering finally introducing herself, before wind buffeted around her, tossing her long blonde hair every which way as a pale green dragon descended to the ground. Her possible introduction was once again forgotten as she pushed her hair back, out of the way, and bounced with excitement, looking up at the Green. Pallath.

The dragon's words elicited an indignant huff from the girl, however, as she planted hands on her hips and stared the Green down, insistent, “I am NOT small... you're just really big.” Just about anything was small when compared to a dragon, after all. With that settled, she stepped forward, tilting her head curiously up at Pallath, “Do you like scratches too? My daddy's dragon likes them.” She cast a quick glance back at R'get, in case his dragon didn't feel like answering her. Sometimes they didn't seem to like talking to her for some reason. She supposed she didn't mind. There were people she didn't like talking to either.

[madb]

Pallath's eyes whirled in amusement. There were not many two leggers who could understand a dragon without their thoughts being directed to them. She tilted her head to the side, considering the girl, amused at the protest. You are small, but you will grow. Pallath said decidedly. I am small compared to many dragons and you do not see me kicking up a fuss. She let out a rumbling sound, a dragon's laugh. You are firey. That is good.

"Why did you tell her that, Pal?" Rau laughed, oblivious to what had actually occurred. "I've never accused you of tactfulness, but you have to be careful with children. And you are large compaired to most things, lovely."

I would not underestimate her. She has hidden strengths.

R'get grinned and put his hands up, surrendering the point. Dragons could sense a lot about a person, after all. "I only meant, you never know how a kid will react. We might wind up in a weyr full of tunnelsnake poo if you irritate the wrong one - not that I ever, ever did that. To anyone. Even awful old bronze riders."

He turned his face and covered his mouth with one hand to whisper dramatically to Azora."It was only a little."

Pallath rolled her eyes at her partner's dramatic play-acting. I am sorry for him. He can be tiresome. She spoke to Azora directly this time, not that she needed it, but kept the conversation private between them.

Hmmm, Pallath considered the offer, and then delicately extended her neck down so that Azora could reach up and scratch her eye ridges.

R'get leaned against Pallath. "Let me know when you are ready to go, and I'll help you up."

[Zen]

Azora

For a moment Azora was ruffled by the dragon's insistence that she WAS small, but she let it go when the Green conceded that she would grow, and also pointed out that she was small for kind and was not at all bothered by the fact. She considered the Green for a moment, and Greens in general. Very few weyrbrats ever seemed to dream of riding Greens. The vast majority wanted a metallic. The girls all seemed to want Golds and the boys, Bronzes, though they would often relent to a Brown if they must. Some of the boys, only a few, would happily claim a Blue, excited by the prospect of the speed and agility the smaller males could perform. But Azora could honestly never remember a single one of them hoping for a Green above all else. Most would concede that any dragon was better than no dragon, of course... but that was not the same. Greens always seemed to be a last resort.

She frowned thoughtfully over this for a moment, as she drew comparisons and wondered about the reasons behind it. Was it merely their smaller size that left her peers wanting for more? They all desired so badly to grow up, to be bigger, so everyone would take them all more seriously. She wondered if Greens ever felt that way, for it seemed no one tended to take them seriously either. They were, for all intents and purposes, the weyrbrats of the dragon world, so easily pushed aside and ignored as though being small meant they had nothing of value to contribute. She felt suddenly defensive for them, a brief flash of indignant fury coursing through her, but R'get's voice pulled her out of it almost instantly and she looked over at the rider as he conversed with his dragon.

It occurred to her, as R'get again referred to her as a kid, that she still had yet to introduce herself. Oops. She raised an eyebrow up at the man curiously as he spoke of placing tunnelsnake dung in someone's weyr. She couldn't help but giggle, and shook her head when Pallath apologized for her rider's antics. “It's okay. He's funny.” She reached up when Pallath lowered her head and scratched at her eyeridges, nearly bouncing where she stood, “You're very pretty, Pallath. I like you.” Not just because she was pretty, of course. She cast a glance over at R'get when he offered to help her up onto Pallath when she was ready. Why did everyone always assume she needed help with everything? She'd been climbing stuff since she could walk, she could certainly climb atop a dragon.

With a dramatic, world weary sigh, she looked at Pallath, “Does everyone always think you need help all the time too, just 'cause you're 'small'?” She rubbed the Green's nose affectionately, feeling as though she had found something of a kindred spirit in a dragon that very likely never got as much credit as she deserved, in part due to her size. She supposed she had spent enough time being distracted, however, and made her way over to R'get. If she didn't get to her father's weyr soon, her mother would probably beat her there and take her back the creche before she had any decent chance to spend time with him. She'd been thoroughly scolded for her impatience, for going off on her own in a place neither of them were entirely familiar with yet, and for barging in on A'zael when he very likely had very important matters to attend to. But she had gone six whole turns without ever knowing him, and she was determined to change that.

She looked up at R'get seriously, “My name is Azora and I'm six. I can climb a dragon by myself.” And because she wasn't entirely sure if that had come off as rude or not and she wanted R'get to be her friend so he would give her a Gemglider egg, she added as an afterthought, “Thank you.” She turned to survey the Green, using the dragon's leg as a starting point like her father had told her, and managing to scramble up Pallath's side a deal more easily than she had her father's Bronze. Settled atop Pallath, she looked down at him proudly, “See?” Climbing a Bronze was a lot harder than climbing a Green. She narrowed her blue-gray eyes with a certain amount of suspicion down at the Greenrider, “You'll take me to my daddy now, right? He's the Weyrleader.” She wasn't about to be tricked into going back to the creche.

[madb]

"See," Rau winked at Pallath, who snorted in his direction. "I'm funny."

You are full of yourself, that is what you are. Pallath directed at him, unmoved, before turning her attention back to the smaller two-legger. Pallath's tail twitched behind her body in slight frustration, finding an unlikely like-mind in Azora. Yes, she growled. You are wise, small one, to see something many are too blind to notice. It is fortunate that you will grow to match your own kind. Do not forget what it feels like to be defined by something you cannot help.

Rau, beginning to sense something was up between them, and not sure exactly what it was yet, shifted nervously. He wasn't entirely sure if Pal was all that kid friendly. Now that he thought of it. Why was she twitching and growling at the child - and only now did it strike him that he had never asked for her name - and in private so that R'get couldn't hear anything that was happening.

More than unusual. Weird. R'get thought, well, she's gonna snitch on me and Pal to the crecheworkers for having a bullying dragon, and then it'll be back to the goldwing with you.

When Azora rejected his offer, Rau was too dumbfounded for a moment to realize what she was about to do. At a grand total of only six turns - six, geeze, he'd been sure she was older - that little daredevil looked him right in the eye and climbed his own dragon like a ladder.

Pallath, who for some reason looked intensely pleased by the turn of events, stood still as a statue as if this was the most natural occurrence in the whole of Pern. Oh, I like her.

"Sure, I, uh--" R'get's thoughts caught up with him. "Weyrleader?"

You did promise to bring her to her father.

Well, yeah, I said that, but I was just going to take her back to the creche - her father is the weyrleader, Pal, do you know what that means.

Pallath's wings unfurled. It means, she stated mildly, that you are going to get on my back, make sure she doesn't fall, and we are going to fly to Fath's weyr. I know what it means.

Rau laughed, partly in shock. Dearest, I really don't think you do. I mean, what the flying wherryshit, Azzy either has a daughter or. This kiddo has a lying sharding father. How old? No, nope, still weirded out. This is weird.

He realized that a full minute had passed since the child - Azora, Pallath corrected, which. Azora, Azzy, ok. HIS KID - had climbed on the greens back. Rau realized he was just sorta standing there like a dimglow, gaping and bewildered, and tried to snap himself out of it. He could do this. This was fine. Azzy just had a secret daughter he'd never told Rau about. It was cool. Nothing strange about that. Maybe he didn't know?

Idle speculation brewed discontent, or so mom always said. Best to talk to the source. R'get, in a practiced, natural move, climbed onto Pallath himself. He sat behind Azora and was suddenly very aware that she didn't have any gear. Azzy was going to ... kill him. Yes, this was turning into a very bad day. Thankfully it was just a short hop and a skip away to the sharding Weyrleader's weyr. 

Honestly, what was going on. Mysterious daughters pop up sometimes in weyrlife, sure, but they were too young for this. 

"Alright, ki- Azora. Let's take you to your dad. I've actually got to talk to him about something anyway." R'get said, trying for casual and missing it by a mild. Six turns, Faranth.

Pallath jumped into the air at the same time that her wings made a powerful down stroke, launching them up decisively.

[Zen]

Azora, A'zael :: Bronze Fath

Azora absently rubbed the Green's neck as she waited for R'get to follow her up, looking down at him and wondering what on Pern was taking him so long. He was staring at her like she'd sprouted a second head or something. She glanced around, wondering if something strange had happened, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Maybe he was just weird. She considered the Green's words as she waited. Yes, she liked this dragon quite a lot. It didn't even bother her that Pallath had referred to her as small one, because she was beginning to realize that the word didn't define her, just as it didn't define Pallath. Maybe she was small, but small was not synonymous with incapable or incompetent.

She was about to ask R'get if he was coming or not and considering asking Pallath if she would just take her to her father's weyr herself when her rider finally climbed up. Glancing back to give R'get a curious look, she wondered why he sounded so strange. She was pretty sure he was just weird, at this point. But she still wanted a Gemglider so she supposed it was okay. She could deal with weird. She squealed happily as Pallath took off; the rush of flying never got old. Not that she'd been on many dragons... only her father's and now R'get's so far. But she was sure she would never ever, EVER get tired of flying.

Unfortunately, just like her first flight, this one didn't last very long. The Weyrleader's weyr hadn't been very far at all. Pallath landed and inside on his stone couch, Fath raised his head curiously, brushing over the minds of those that had just arrived. He rose excitedly, A'zaelmine'sHatchling! He greeted Azora enthusiastically and turned toward the room in which his rider seemed to spend so much of his time, A'zaelmine, yourHatchlingishere! And almost as an afterthought, PallathandHerstoo.

In the Weyrleader's office, A'zael paused in puzzling over Threadfall charts at his dragon's announcement. Azora and... and R'get? Shards and shells. He threw up his hands in surrender as he headed out into the main part of his weyr, where his daughter and likely a very bewildered best friend were waiting for him. He clearly was not going to be getting anything productive accomplished right now.

Azora frowned slightly at being called a hatchling again, but... as Danovelith had said, she supposed that was true, and the thing about hatchlings was they could grow. She hugged Pallath's neck before scrambling down ahead of R'get and greeting her father's dragon, “Hi Fath!” She turned to look at R'get seriously for a moment, “You can talk to my daddy first, but don't take too long, okay?” She didn't want R'get to take up all her father's time from her. She was quite certain her mother would come looking for her soon, or send someone to look for her, either way. Her mother was smart, she would know where to look first. She ran over to Fath and the Bronze lowered his head expectantly, so she reached up to offer him eyeridge scratches and giggled as he rumbled pleasantly.

A'zael paused to take a deep breath as he spotted the little girl with his dragon, and then glanced toward where Pallath, and Rau, waited. He gave a sheepish grin and made his way over to his friend, “Ahah... hey Rau.... Guess you've met Azora....” He cast a quick look over at the girl, who seemed occupied with Fath for the moment. He scratched the back of his head, “She ah... she didn't cause you any trouble, did she?” The redfruit didn't fall far from the tree, as the saying went.

And then an explanation sort of came rushing out in a hushed tone before his brother could accuse him of keeping something so huge a secret from him. “I just met her yesterday, Rau... honest. I didn't even know about her. D'you remember Orana back at Southern? We both kinda thought she was a bit of a stick in the mud, you know? Always used to give us those dirty looks like we were just overgrown 'brats and.... Well we were both kinda drunk after we didn't Impress one Hatching Feast and I guess we sorta... you know? And then I didn't really ever see her again and... until yesterday, anyway....” He ran his hand over his face and through his hair, “I... I was gonna tell you.... Today, probably... when I got a chance.... You and S'fin, both.”

There was something else to be told as well, but he wasn't about to say it around Azora. Orana didn't want their daughter to know she dying yet. Instead she'd just saddled him with the burden of that knowledge, and asked him not to say anything. That was a promise he could easily keep. He wasn't about to tell the daughter he just met that her mother was dying. But Orana had brought her here hoping he would become part of her life to help her through the loss, when it happened, and to be there when she was gone. And... he was going to need both his brothers' help on that front.

Azora was too independent for her own good, headstrong and fearless and... too much like him. But she was smarter... definitely smarter than he'd been at her age. He'd garnered all that just from the one interaction so far. She was... going to be a lot to handle. Especially on top of everything else he had to handle. He would need all the help he could get. He gave a soft half laugh, “So uh... what do you think, uncle Rau? She's... she's something, isn't she?”

[madb]

"Thank... you," R'get said, after Azora deigned to give him her permission. He wasn't really sure what to make of this kid, but thinking about how much trouble he and Azzy had been at that age, it really was becoming less surprising by the minute.

Pallath pressed her wings close to her body and moved away from him to follow Azora and greet Fath. Her tail lightly tapped his legs, almost chiding, and that was what he was left with before A'zael appeared, Weyrleader of Mavros, best friend, and father of at least two.

It is good to see you, Fath. You look shiny. Pallath greeted her clutchmate politely.

Lady followed, probably hoping to coax a treat out of Azora. She alighted on the girl's shoulder again and snuggled up next to her neck in a pitifully obvious attempt to try and persuade her for attention and pets. As they got closer to Fath, who was very large, her fur puffed up and she glared up at the Big Thing unhappily.

You should shoo that silly creature away, Pallath said of Lady to Azora. It is demanding and useless. She had no luck on this front with Rau, and was rather disappointed to see yet another two-legger humoring these fluffy, strange things.

"Trouble? No. Surprisingly, considering her blood..." R'get trailed off, grinning. "She's angling to steal Pal away from me, I'm pretty sure, but besides for that. No trouble." He was pretty sure his laugh sounded weird. Strained. He coughed, trying to cover it.

Rau was pretty sure he wasn't the one who was supposed to be freaking out. He felt a little - well, a lot better, when Azzy approached looking pale and even more weirded out than he was. It was almost impressive. In fact, it made him feel better to see that he wasn't the only one of them that seemed to be in complete shock. He let A'zael ramble for a little bit before he finally spoke up.

R'get put both his hands up. "Whoah, woah, slow down. I found out before S'fin?" That was clearly the most important part. He was grinning honestly now. "Oh man. I can't believe it. And, really, Orana?" He tried to remember his impressions of the girl, but he honestly couldn't put more than two or three fuzzy memories together. They weren't friendly and she always kinda judged him a little. Not that he was going to judge Azzy for falling into one of the more common routes to deal with non-Impression blues. He'd had a night or two like that, himself.

Only, he never had to worry about kids.

"Shards, Az!" He started to laugh, unable to help himself. "Six whole turns old. Between this and becoming Weyrleader, you're really trying to beat me into middle age. 'Uncle Rau'" he shook his head, incredulous, "Here I thought I was going to have to wait until the baby grew up to get my spoiling on."

R'get glanced over his shoulder at where the two dragons and the weyrbrat were hanging out.

"I have to tell you, I don't know what is going on, but she's impressed Pal. And that isn't an easy thing to do. So what I'm trying to say is..." He clasped a hand on Azzy's shoulder and winked. "Congratulations."

[Zen]

Azora, A'zael :: Bronze Fath

Fath half opened one whirling eye to look over at Pallath as she greeted him, enjoying the scratches that his rider's hatchling was providing. His tail thumped once, like a pleased canine, Ilookshiny? He nearly raised his head to try to look at his own hide, as if his clutchsister's statement needed confirmation. However, after moving only slightly, the scratching stopped, and he lowered his head back down for Azora to reach so she could begin again.

Azora giggled at Lady's demands for attention and reached up with one hand to pet her even as she continued scratching Fath with the other. It was a bit awkward, but it just made her laugh. She looked over at Pallath as the Green told her she shouldn't pay any attention to Lady. “She's cute though. And soft.” She absolutely adored the little fluffy creatures. She giggled again, “Don't worry Pallath, I still like you better.”

A'zael laughed as R'get suggested that his daughter was trying to steal his dragon. Well, at this point he didn't think it was too out of the question. Azora seemed just as interested in dragons as he'd ever been, he was sure she was eager to Impress her own. He was glad at least to hear that the girl hadn't caused any real trouble... yet. He rolled his eyes slightly as Rau focused on the fact that he had found out about his daughter before S'fin had. He had meant to tell them the news together, both part of it, but... it couldn't exactly be helped.

“Yeah, really, Orana.... To be honest I don't even really remember that night, but...,” He shrugged. He remembered waking up in a tangle of furs and limbs with her the next morning, though he'd half thought he'd imagined it in some sort of half asleep, half drunk stupor later on. She'd apologized and dressed herself faster than he'd ever seen anyone get dressed and then she was gone from his life faster than she'd entered it. And then she'd kept his kid a secret for six whole sharding turns. Not that he blamed her, she had good reasons. He hadn't been in any fit state to be a father when Azora was born. He wasn't even sure he was fit now as he looked over to watch the girl talking with their dragons like they were old pals.

He shook his head with a soft laugh. There was no way Azora would be anything but a dragonrider. He grimaced as Rau accused him of trying to beat him to middle age. He wasn't trying, everything was just dropping into his lap like a ton of rocks against his will. “Wait, wait... spoiling...?” He was about tell Rau explicitly NOT to do that, but... considering what was soon enough to happen, he supposed Azora would deserve a bit of spoiling. So he let it go, for now, though he was sure it wouldn't her any easier to deal with in the long run.

He shook his head again as Rau offered his congratulations, “Thanks, Rau.” Zaelin had only just been born and then he'd discovered a second daughter as well. Two kids in one month. He eyed Azora, torn between pride and pity for the girl. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to Rau, “There's... something else, but.... Would you come back with S'fin tonight? After dinner, maybe.... I....” He gave a short, cold laugh, “Sorry to be so cryptic, but it's... sensitive.” He glanced at Azora again.

As if sensing eyes on her, Azora turned to look at the two men, finding her father looking at her with a strange expression on his face. She narrowed her eyes, so very like his own, and gave Fath a last scratch before bouncing over to them and grabbing A'zael's hand, tugging him back toward the dragons with her, “Can we go flying? I wanna ride Fath again. Higher this time.” Despite the fact that the Bronze constantly called her a hatchling rather than by her name, she thought he was funny.

A'zael shook his head, “Sorry, Azora... I can't.” He gestured vaguely back toward his office, “I've got work to do.” Her bottom lip jutted out in a sassy pout and he laughed, “I know I told you we could spend some time together, but... it's probably going to be a couple days before we can do much.” He crouched down to her level and his voice dropped conspiratorially, “Being Weyrleader isn't as fun as everyone seems to make it out to be.” He gave a thin smile at the admission, “There's a lot of work to be done. But I'll make time for you soon, I promise.”

Honestly he would like nothing more than to just forget everything he had to do and take his daughter for a long flight, but.... Yeah, being Weyrleader had changed him. Orana ought to be proud, at least. Azora only made a face and looked over at R'get curiously. A'zael glanced between them and it didn't take a genius to figure out just where her train of thought was heading. “Azora....”

She ignored him in favor of R'get, reaching up to pet Lady again, “Can I go flying with you and Pallath? You're not busy, are you?” She glanced over at Pallath, wondering if the Green would agree. She liked Pallath a lot, and it seemed like Pallath liked her too.

A'zael stood and shook his head, “Azora, I'm sure your mother is looking for you.”

Azora looked at him, “You can tell her where I am.” She waved her hand at him dismissively as if that would solve the problem entirely and looked up at R'get hopefully.

[madb]

R'get frowned, catching the coldness in A'zael's laugh. "Sure, brother. I'll put aside my busy schedule of drinking bendon wine alone in my weyr - but only for you." He laughed, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The green rider wasn't sure exactly what Azzy meant to pull him and S'fin together for a sensitive discussion, but if he had to be cryptic about it, it likely involved the six-turn old surprise over there. He wouldn't press for more information. There were many things that he had been called in his life, and while maybe he wasn't always the first to catch on to something, he wasn't entirely oblivious thank you.

At that point, the girl in question ran over to Azzy - her father - and R'get had to shake his head a little in bemusement, because this was obviously going to take a while for him to adjust to. She pulled him along trying to convince him to ride with her. Rau had to laugh at this. He remembered all too well how difficult it was to be in a weyr with all those dragons around you, and have to beg rides off of other people.

I'm so glad I have you, Pal.

Pallath huffed. And I am glad as well, though I am not here just for rides. I am not a runnerbeast.

R'get chuckled. No one would ever claim otherwise, love.

In a classic move, as soon as Azzy tried to gently let his new daughter down, she got a stubborn look of defiance. Really, Rau wasn't sure how he had missed the resemblance between them before. He was pretty sure that face had been a common one that his friend had pulled when they were children. Stubborn is as stubborn does. Oh, Azzy would have his hands full with this one.

Although, R'get suddenly realized, if she only just now showed up and with her mother, then it was likely they were just visiting. Though it seemed an odd time to bring her, uh, existence up. Something was off?

She is looking at you now. Pallath interrupted his train of thought, amusement clear in her headtone.

Uh-oh.

R'get traded glances with A'zael, trying to figure out where he stood on this. "I mean. My wing just got my afternoon drills done with..." he admitted. He could probably take a candlemark, two if he stretched it, before evening chores, dinner, and then whatever was up with Azzy.

"Well..." And her mother? What would she think about a six turn old flying on the dragon of Rau's. They'd never gotten along. Would she appreciate that Azzy had let Azora spend so much time with such an 'immature' rider? But they'd all changed since they knew each other... Rau wasn't that man anymore, and he had no reason to believe Orana had stayed as she had been.

Pallath nudged him. I do not mind a short flight to the lake and back. Perhaps she would be willing to learn how to clean a dragon. I still have not been attended to, and I sweat. R'get looked at her whirling bright eyes for a moment, and caved, because Pal made so few friends. And, really, even if it was a human child he still couldn't begrudge her anything in all of Pern.

He sighed, then laughed. "Oh, c'mon Azzy. It'll be alright. She's with me - what trouble could she really get into? Did I mention that she'd escaped the creche before I found her? So really, I'm just keeping her from causing a ruckus." He coughed. "But this time we're going to get you a helmet and some extra straps for Pallath's harness, if we're going to go on a longer flight..."

Pallath waltzed over to the ledge of the weyr, considering the conversation over, and lowered herself down.

Not a slight on your abilities, she told Azora, mildly, but you shouldn't climb me as though I am a rock. You should be able to get on with less grabbing and pulling this time. Just one smooth move from my foreleg to my neck, please.

"I think Pal's made up our minds, yeah?" R'get held up his hands in surrender. Look at you, playing runner.

Pallath snorted.

[Zen]

Azora, A'zael

A'zael raised an eyebrow in R'get's direction as he seemed to be agreeing to his daughter's request. She bounced happily and glanced back at him suspiciously, clearly expecting him to tell her no to this as well. She gave a little squeak and ran over to Pallath as the dragon suggested she help give her a bath. “I can help, I can help! Pallath will be the cleanest dragon ever!” she proclaimed, eager to have the chance to actually be helpful rather than underfoot as her mother often scolded her about. She would help a lot more if people would just let her, but they never thought she could do anything.

A'zael blinked after her in surprise and it took him a moment to figure out just what she was talking about. Pallath really did seem to like her, Rau wasn't kidding. He could only laugh as Rau tried to convince him to let her go. “What, trouble? With you?” He smirked at his friend and shook his head, but at this point he didn't really care. It would be a waste of breath to argue anymore when there really wasn't any harm in it, so long as he let Orana know what was going on so she didn't worry unnecessarily. If Rau had time to spare to keep Azora out of trouble for a while, more power to him. With a a laugh that was half a sigh, he relented, “I'll make sure Orana knows where she is.” He waved his hand as if shooing them away and turned back toward his office, “Maybe I'll be able to work in peace for half a candlemark.”

Azora followed Pallath to the ledge, turning to wave at Fath, “Bye Fath! I'll visit you soon and give you more scratches.” Fath raised his head to look after her, wishing she would stay. She gave nice scratches and she was so tinycute. Azora turned back to Pallath as the Green addressed her. She nodded at the dragon's advice and stepped up onto her foreleg, taking a moment to decide how best to go about one smooth movement up onto the dragon's back. It wouldn't be too hard with her lowered like she was, the stretch from foreleg to back wasn't as great as it was on her father's Bronze, after all.

With a slight wiggle, she swung herself up and settled against Pallath's neck, giving the Green's smooth hide an affectionate rub. "That was better, right?" She was starting to think Pallath might be her favorite dragon ever. Pallath knew what it was like, so she didn't treat her like just because she was small, she was incapable, or stupid, or in the way. She held conversations with her without that stupid tone Azora hated that so many adults used, like they were talking to a baby that couldn't really understand what they were saying or something. She liked her father's dragon a lot, he was silly, but she didn't feel the same sort of connection to the Bronze as she had almost instantly with Pallath.

She looked impatiently down at R'get, pondering briefly over his interaction with her father. What had he called him? Azzy? That meant they were friends, right? People usually didn't use nicknames like that with others unless they were friends, certainly not with important people like Weyrleaders. Hm. Curious, she raised an eyebrow at him, “Have you known my daddy a long time? What's he like? Mommy told me it's been too long since she's seen him so she doesn't really know him anymore, and I keep trying to spend time with him, but he's always busy.” The two times she'd tried so far. That meant always.

[madb]

R'get laughed when A'zael mentioned this might get him some peace for a candlemark. "Let no one say I don't do anything for the Weyrleader, hey? Though you've cursed it now, my friend, anytime you say the word 'peace' out loud - it won't happen."

Pallath was pleased by the show of respect as Azora followed her instructions. It was true enough that the girl had experience with dragons, with how comfortably she sat - Pal had carted around enough nervous candidates and hopefuls in her time, to understand that two leggers were not always so.

Much better. Do hurry, mine, I am past due for a wash.

Alright, alright. "See you tonight, Azzy." He waved, and ran up to his dragon.

Rau grinned. "I've known him forever. We were weyrbrats together. Let's get up in the air and I'll tell you anything you'd like - I know all the best stories."

R'get swung up easily behind Azora and, after a brief pause, handed her his helmet. "It really is a smooth ride, but do me a favor and wear this? It'll help my heart." Before he could say anything further, Pallath made a frustrated noise - honestly, how many times had they ferried candidates to and from the hatching sands without worrying about this - and pushed out of the weyr.

Her rider sighed, but figured that was just how a dragon was. He wasn't actually sure if Pallath could empathize with his worries, considering baby dragons start flying in months. Technically, Pal was younger than Azora. Which was just... a bizarre thought to contemplate really.

"We've been causing trouble together since before we Impressed. Don't let him being Weyrleader fool you - he caused at least half of it. Anything to get out of the creche or gain some attention. Stealing bubbly pies from the kitchen was a favorite, although begging rides from dragonriders was just as common. In that way - the redfruit doesn't fall far." R'get patted Pallath's neck.

"Anything in particular that you are curious about?"

R'get was sure that between the flight to the lake and washing Pal, he could probably remember a few stories. He had never felt odd about being raised by just a mother, but he could sympathize with wanting to know someone better. If Azora wound up knowing some of the more embarrassing stories by the end of tonight... well, Azzy knew what he was signing up for, really, when he let R'get volunteer to take care of her for a while.