Strike Number Four

[Lyrikitty]

This was getting to be too easy. The Illusion and Misery stayed high above, relaying information to the mastermind behind the plotting, and Veseleth, the crafty Wildfire, made her way carefully through Eden Weyr in the cover of night. For this particular task, Mia was not astride her, but safely watching from above with the Illusion's rider. Magmas were volitile beasts, and Veseleth would not risk Mia for this scheme.

She did not carry firestone this time, for most knew that firestone could be ingested by a Magma with no effects to fertilization. Instead, the Wildfire carried with her two different things. A sack of Riosian, stolen from Solainoti, and dragonspores, stolen from New Cove. It had been easy enough to obtain both things, and also a most important part of this plan. Neither were known to sterilize a dragon, in fact dragonspores were known to do many things, most of which were mroe beneficial than harmful, and the Riosian... Well not too much was known of it, unless you really knew how to get information.

Slowly Veseleth made her way to the hut which Xai selpt in, and around the side to where Honuth slumbered. She snipped the bags free with her teeth, placing them before her on the ground and taking a final inventory of how she would go about this particular attack. She'd have to be quick, to be sure Honuth didn't kill her outright, and keeping this in mind her wings remained slightly unfurled and raised, hre legs crouched as she prepared to leap up and out of the way in a flash.

~Wa-~[/color]

~Tell me what you're doing here, Wildfire, or I'll get up and peel the hide from your bones. I'm not afraid of that Amber at Black Sands either, flee there I'll follow.~[/color] The Magma's eyes slid open, her lips curving into a cold smile as her tail twitched, the long spines covering her body rustling against eachother. She hadn't honestly expected anyone to be so dim-witted as to come to Eden and target her, but light sleep was a virtue in dangerous times.

Veseleth stumbled back in surprise, and blinked, before giving herself a shake and resuming her cautious stance, admittedly with more distance between her and the Magma. ~I hadn't expected you to be awake... Late hours, no?~[/color] A chilly look from the queen dropped Veseleth's attempt at idle chatter. ~I come with gifts, to attempt to find an ally for Black Sands in Eden.~[/color]

~Yet you come to me? I am not a Senior Queen, silly beast. Now off with you, I wish to sleep. Go take it to Dharth if you want.~[/color] The Magma snorted and closed her eyes again, though the Wildfire made no move to leave. ~Firestone won't affect me, so off with you before you annoy me further.~[/color]

~It isn't firestone. As I stated, it is a gift of peace. Black Sands has no desire to war with Eden.~[/color] Veseleth twitched her tail and snorted, watching as Honuth sighed and opened her eyes, lifted her head again with mild curioisity flickering in her eyes. ~I come bearing Dragonspores, from New Cove, and Riosian, from Solainoti. They are both rumored to have exceptional effects on dragons, and the clutches of queens who ingest them are larger, and of stronger dragons.~[/color] She glared stubbornly at the Magma and sniffed indignantly, before stepping back to the two sacks. ~But what would I know? Mayhap I'll go give this to the Magma in Crystal Cavern. I'm sure she'd be willing to make a treaty with us.~[/color] The Wildfire's head dipped to grab at a bag, and she was stopped by a low snarl.

~Get your maw away from that. Medeath deserves nothing more than I do. this is mine.~[/color] Her teeth bared, Honuth dragged the bags closer to her before nosing one open and inspecting it. Dragonspores, as was promised. The other held Riosian. Well this was indeed an unexpected thing, honesty from a Black Sands dragon. ~A treaty you say? I suppose you will want my protection from the rest of Pern after the current stunts?~[/color] Honuth rolled her eyes and shook her head.

~Not... Exactly. I only ask that, if things turn bad, a place be willing to accept a transfer or two. Myself and my rider being among them, the rest I care not about.~[/color]

Honuth looked at the Wildfire and rumbled in amusement. Risking her life for a rider? Ah, foolish beast. A non-commital shrug was offered, and the Magma chewed thoughtfully on a dragonspore, finding it rather tasty. With energy, she continued to eat the spores, while the Wildfire watched silently. After a few moments, the Magma looked at the stone, sniffing it, and taking a chunk. While it's taste was not as pleasent, it was addictive. She could already feel herself wanting more. Greedily she went from spore to riosian, back and forth, hissing at the Wildfire, and then fiegning a charge to drive the dragon farther back.

Veseleth compliantly backed away, with more speed than needed, but essentially she wanted to leave Eden in one piece. Especially seeing as this was not a sure-fire plan, but rather, a wild hope that the two subtances would have a bad reaction in the dragon and keep her from clutching. There was no guarantee, only the fact that so far in her endeavors, Veseleth had proved incredibly lucky.

Her strumble woke a dragon not far, and the noise drew his attention. He was not the brightest beast, by a long shot, but he knew something was not right. Chayth, the lovable Roan who had the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or in his opinion where flights were concerned, the right place at the perfect time, peered at the Wildfire and Magma through the darkness, unable to be sure of what he was seeing. He blinked, baffled, and sat back on his haunches heavily. the sound alerted Veseleth, who spun, teeth bared fiercely as she snarled.

Hell broke loose.

Honuth ceased her action, pouncing on the Wildfire and glowering at the Roan, as Chayth jumped back to his paws and bounded over, trying to be sure honuth didn't outright kill the Wildfire. They needed her alive for qeustioning, did they not? The Magma hissed at the Roan, snapping at him and mantling her wings. ~Get away you bumbling oaf! I'll spear you if you take another step! You, Wildfire, if I let you up will you stay put, or will I have to sear your wings to a crisp?~[/color] Here tail lashing, she sent a spray of Riosian in all direction, which promptly made her jump off the Wildfire to collect. The stone was far mroe important than the silly dragon.

While she was still in one, unharmed, piece, and the Magma distracted, Veseleth jumped, leaping atop Chayth and shoving off him to gain more altitude. This had not gone as smoothly, she silently cursed, and shook a paw as she felt hot blood drop from it. Must have sliced the Roan... Oh well. she rocketed herself to the Illusion, halting beneath him as Mia dropped down and wrapped her arms around the Wildfire's neck tightly, clinging to her. There was no sense in bugling victory this time, as they knew not yet what the outcome was to be, and the amount of noise caused by the intrusion was sure to have woke the entire Weyr. The Black Sands dragons vanished Between, returning home, and leaving a baffled Chayth trembling, his back shredded by the Wildfire's claws, and a furious Honuth trying to cole\lect the Riosian, snarling at the Roan who refused to budge, and sending gushed of flame into the sky.

[elainsie]

For late Spring it was a rather cool night. Kaliara sleepily reached out for the blanket to ward off the increasing chill, but having kicked the fur off earlier in the night she came up with nothing for her efforts. With a groan she sat up, bending over the left side of her bed to pick up the pool of blanket, wrapping it around herself quickly, the hairs on her arms sticking up from the low temperature, as she reclined back on the bed, ready to drop back into sleep.

However a noise broke the silence that engulfed the weyr she shared with her mother and her sister, the sound of a great mass trying to move stealithly outside, but still not silent enough that Kaliara, with her rather good hearing, could not discern the subtle change. Now alert, she gripped the fur around her, and peered outside of the window closest to her bed, her nose pushed up against the cold glass, her breath causing a fog to form on the hard surface. It was too dark for her eyes to discern anything, and she did not risk opening a glow unless Accalia woke up and told her to stop inventing stories again and go back to sleep.

Letting the blanket slide carefully from her shoulders she placed it onto her bed, pushing one of her pillows underneath so if anyone glanced over at it they would assume she was curled up under the covers. She crept over to the wardrobe she shared with Adria, opening a drawer slowly, a furtive glance at her mother's bed to see if Accalia had stirred, before pulling out her thickest jacket, and burrowing into it. Returning to her bed she pulled her boots out from underneath, quickly slipping them onto her feet, and made her way into the embracing darkness.

It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the dark, to make out the form of two dragons at the weyr across the clearing from her own. She knew Xai, or at least of the woman, everyone at Eden did. But why were there two dragons there? And so late at night? It made no sense to the young girl.

Kaliara's interest was piqued, and not having considered the idea of privacy, she crept over, skirting the other weyrs as she silently made her way, hoping that no one else was awake at ths hour to wonder why a thirteen year old girl would be out so late.

Kali was not so stupid as to go right up to the weyr, knew to remain some distance back. Spying a tree close by she stood beneath it, remaining concealed by the shadow of the overlying foilage. Her eyes grew wide in her face as she spied the Wildfire, she had never seen a dragon like her before, not even at the Gather she had gone to with Adria and Accalia, and there had been many different dragons there.

Unlike Adria she was no HAD, she could not hear the conversation between the dragons, but watched intently nonethless, wishing that she had thought to wake up her sister so then she could know what was going on. It was all so curious; what were those strange looking objects the Wildfire had brought with her, were they from her own Weyr, wherever that was, but why bring it now? Why not during the day when all the dragons may have some? Adria would have known, and she had decided to go back and get her sister, turned her head away from the two females, only to hear the sound of large wings beating the frigid air, the snarling of a dragon.

Head whipping quickly back so she could watch the action, she had to cover her hand with her mouth to stop herself from gasping audibly. There were three dragons now, one a Roan, and he seemed to be protecting the Wildfire? Or was he merely trying to stop the Magma, who was known for her fiery temparment, from rendering the other dragon limb by limb?

Kali jumped back, pressing herself as close to the tree as possible as the bag of Riosian went flying, a lump landing beneath her feet. Had the dragons seen her? Was Honuth going to kill her? For the first time since she had decided to see what was happening, she felt fear.

Glows from around the encircling area were opened up, people waking up as a result of the commotion, the area becoming awashed with light as the foreign dragon slinked off and Honuth buried her great maw back into the unusual rock. Having not realised she was holding her breath until just now, Kaliara let it all out in a great rush, thanking Faranth none of the dragons had spotted her.

OOC: I kind of just wanted to rp with Kali, if anyone wants to reply that's great but I know you're all busy with many posts so I am content if no one does so. ^^

[Lyrikitty]

As glows were uncovered and light flooded the area, Honuth snarled, snapping her jaws violently as if to drive away the lights. Her tail lashed, striking the side of Xai's weyr and the spines lodged themselves in the material, ripping out a chunk furiously.

Xai woke with a start, having slept through the Magma's first course of noise. It wasn't uncommon for the dragon to be ill tempered and rage at night, and to find some unsespecting soul to take out her built up anger on. It was not so common, however, for the Magma to demolish buildings. "HONUTH!" Her voice was the firts thing to come, and by far the volume of it was enough to rival the magma's fuming. "You dim-witted, egotistical, spiney-backed, GLOWWORM!!!" The woman stormed out of the remains of her weyr, her lips pulled into a feral snarl that looked remarkably like the same one Honuth bore. "So help me- What have you got now?" Her eyes narrowed as she trod closer to the Magma, who hovered over the pile of stone she'd collected, hissing, her head weaving protectively over it. Why couldn't the little beast be so protective of a clutch of eggs? No, the so-called queen would rather smash every egg she saw! "Honuth, get your scaley, slithering rump away from whatever it is you've managed to hoard now and LET ME SEE!" Xai scooped up a rock, a normal one, and chucked it at the Magma's skull, watching it collide with a spine and clatter back to the earth uselessly, only enraging the Magma into a fit.

Honuth swiped at Xai, her claws leaving deep rifts in the soil, and bellowed furiously, leaving no doubt that very soon the entire Weyr would be roused by the commotion of a single dragon. The woman deftly dove out of the way and rolled aside, scowling at her bonded beast and snorting. It came as some shock when the dragon spoke, not at all to a single person, but rather anyone with the misfortune of being remotely concious. You mealy-mouthed, snivelling, fleshy excuse of a rider! Back away from it, it's mine! I'll behead you and play with your skull like a kitten with a ball of string you sorry excuse for a human! Don't you look at me with those beady eyes and try to plot against me, I could spear you on a talon and roast you over an open flame![/color]

Xai, well accustomed to a wide range of insults from the dragon, raised a brow in mild shock. That was creative, even for the Magma. Normally threats and insults were mild, and not wso wide in their range, nor so gruesome.

Before she could come up with a retort, the half-clothed and tattoed figure of V'yal was jogging across her line of sight, hurrying to the wounded Roan. Roan? Ah, yes, the Roan Chayth had made an appearance.

Said Roan was cowering off, well out of Honuth's way, his wings mantled and his eyes showing his anxiety. He'd only meant to help, and instead he'd got in the way. Long gashes had been sliced along his spine where the Wildfire pushed off to gain altitude even quicker, and he whined softly as V'yal appeared and strkoed his muzzle, murming softly to the stocky male.

Once Chayth was calmed and soothed, V'yal spun on Xai and the Magma, his shoulders quivering with rage. It was rare to see the Roanrider in such a state, for normally he maintained a stoic silence to those he didn't know well, and those who did indeed know him knew he was more of a laid-back and friendly sort. Not easy to anger or insult. "Xai! What in the name of Faranth has that beast of your's done?" He too had heard the Magma's volitile voice, and were he not so concerned for Chayth his blood might well have frozen for all the danger in those threats. The man had little doubt the Magma was not entirely serious, and looking at her now only furthered this opinion. MineV'yal... there was another dragon, small and fast, with many wings...[/color]

[Desert]

For the umpteenth time that night, Adria turned over in her bed, pulling the fur up over her head. Tonight, for some strange reason, she just couldn't get to sleep. She'd tried every trick she knew, but nothing worked. A heavy sigh slipped past her lips as the lanky girl turned back onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She was tired enough to sleep -- her eyelids felt leaden and they burned dully -- but inexplicably her mind wouldn't settle down.

Suddenly, something happened. Adria stiffened as, from high above the Weyr and nearly out to the reach of her still not fully developed abilities, she heard dragon-voices. Unfamiliar ones. She hadn't heard every dragon in Eden, she was sure, but she'd heard enough of them, and the new mind-touches she felt were completely alien. The distance was too great for her to catch much more than the gist of what they were saying: like normal hearing, she could pick up on the thoughts "spoken" loudest, or in the draconic case, the thoughts of most importance to the sentence, which tended to have the most telepathic emphasis. She could understand the words, but their meaning eluded Adria in a way that made her feel very uneasy. She sat up, looking about the quiet weyr briefly to make sure that her mother and twin weren't awake to see her, and barely paused long enough to grab boots and a garment more suited to the cool night before slipping out into the thin scrub surrounding the Weyrbowl.

Adria looked up, searching with eyes and mind for the foreign mind, and managed to spot the fire-colored dragon hoving in to land in front of Honuth's couch. Puzzled, she stashed herself behind a nearby bush and listened intently to the dragons -- so intently she didn't notice Kali sneaking up behind her. So the foreigner was from Black Sands -- that made sense: Adria didn't know of another Weyr that spawned mutations with multiple wings. It must be a wildfire. She suppressed a gasp as the two female dragons talked on. Dragonspores and Riosian? She had a vague notion what both of those substances did -- didn't spores produce hallucinations? And she knew that brimstones and chromes could flame and clutch because of the Riosian, because Riosian didn't sterilize. What did that wildfire think both combined would do to Honuth?

And all that talk about Eden giving the wildfire and her rider shelter -- Adria had to smirk. Dharth would surely get a kick out of harboring a pair whose subertfuge had caused so much chaos, but she knew her father's black too well. Dharth would probably turn right around and hand them in to the rest of Pern, should it come searching for the fugitives. Such betrayals and double-crossings were common to the big black. Besides, since she probably didn't know about how slippery Dharth could be, surely the wildfire knew better than to try and make deals with a magma? Queen or no queen, they were just as untrustworthy.

Then the action started. Adria started as Chayth woke and alerted his presence to the wildfire; she wiggled backwards away from the scene when Honuth made a lunge for the smaller dragon. She watched the scattered Riosian spinning away, and following one particular hunk with her eyes led her to spot her twin sister, finally. She crawled over to Kaliara as the other girl let out her breath, reaching out to grab Kali's shoulder. "What are you doing here?" she hissed. "Hanging around an angry magma you can't hear is one of the stupidest things you've ever done, Kali!" She shook her head. Adria knew better than to try and tell her sister to go back home, so she just shoved Kali into a crouch and dropped down next to her.

By the time the first few glows were lit in the Bowl, Dharth was roused. The big black looked up grumpily just in time to see Veseleth go between, while Xai shrieked angrily at her dragon. He growled irritably, his eyes already a bright red from being woken up, and did a quick sweep with his mind, touching each awareness to see who was involved. A frustrated hiss dripped from his bared teeth as Dharth regognized Adria and Kali. K'dran! Wake up, K'dran, something has set Honuth off and your daughters are too close for comfort. You know I won't protect them if Honuth spots them.[/b][/color] Dharth had learned, as the pair of rather inventive girls grew, to let K'dran know of they got into fixes that could get them hurt. The man was so stupidly attached to them that he got far too distressed when they were harmed; it was annoying, and since the big black had come to accept while they were still babies that K'dran's family were there to stay, Dharth found it easier on himself to keep K'dran from getting idiotically upset when something happened, so if he saw something happening in time, he forestalled the resulting kerfuffle. It irked him to have to do it -- it made it seem like he actually cared about the little striplings' lives -- but for his own sanity, it was a necessary evil.

The blackrider woke with a start, twitching so violently it unseated Juno, and half-fell off the bed in his hurry. Dharth snatched him by the hem of his tunic on his way and tossed his rider negligently onto his shoulder, then leaped into the air to glide over the trees toward the squabble. Of course, when they reached the area, Dharth landed right on the edge of things, dipping his shoulder so that K'dran all but fell to the ground. He staggered a few paces into the scrub until he located Adria and Kali, then glared at the two girls. "I don't want to know what you two are doing here, I just want you to stay put and keep very quiet," he said, his voice barely above a growl. It wasn't safe enough to try and get the out of there: Honuth might spot them and decide to switch targets.

Dharth walked between the roan and magma, ignoring the two dragons' riders, and let loose with a deafening telepathic and audible bellow. ENOUGH! Honuth, you will stand still and stop this idiotic rampage. Xai, try to figure out what it is your dragon is making such a fuss over. Chayth, what in the name of Faranth happened? It's no use trying to get sense out of Honuth, so you will have to fill me in. You can get those gashes looked at afterwards.[/color] The big black's eyes were spinning with pale blue interspersed regularly with streaks of red as he glared first at Honuth then swung his gaze to his Wingsecond.
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[elainsie]

Figuring that no one would miss the rock that had tumbled at her foot, Kali bent down to pick it up, long fingers clasping around its unusual texture, and nearly dropped it back onto the dewy grass as the most terrifying voice filled her head. She had heard her parents' dragon's from time to time, but their voices were echoes of Accalia and K'dran. The furious voice that filled her head was foreign, and the young girl nearly tripped as she edged back to the relatively safety and obscurity of the tree's shadows, glad that the voice was not directed at herself.

It was as she pocketed the stone she felt her shoulder being grabbed, and let out a yelp of surprise. Kaliara had been caught. It was with relief that upon turning around to idenitfy who discovered her, she faced a mirror image of herself. Well an almost mirror image, the girl who faced her angrily had shorter hair, but that was as far as physical differences went. "Just because I can't hear her doesn't me I have any less of a right to be here than you," Kali shot back to her sister, folding her arms over her chest stubbornly, but allowing herself to be pulled down next to her twin. "And anyway I did hear her just then," the girl gave a cheeky grin.

She dug an elbow into Adria's ribs, keeping her voice low so as no one else discovered either of them or the Magma that stood only a few dragonlengths away decided to direct hre displeasure at the twins. "Now that you are here, do you mind telling me what happened earlier? What was that dragon with the six wings? Where was it from, and what did it want with Honuth? It's a whole lot harder trying to figure out what was going on when I could not hear a word of what was going on. Please, Adria," Kali cajoled, "It won't hurt any...." but she was cut off by her father's disapproving voice.

She rolled her eyes at his words, her face breaking into a wide smile as K'dran turned away from them, her voice dropping to a whisper so that only Adria could hear her, "I think we really scared him this time." It was a bit of a game between the two, seeing how far they could push their father and this certainly was one of the most risky stunts either had pulled. Although she did wonder at the punishment they would receive when all this was over, not to mention the reaction she could be sure to expect from Accalia. Their mother was not one to take their safety lightly, especially considering the vicious dragons that roamed Eden.

"You won't tell mum will you?" perhaps K'dran would refrain from telling Accalia if she went the right way about getting out of it. "It wasn't as if I meant to be here, it's just I heard something and thought maybe someone was in trouble. It sounded like a child," she crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping that it would earn her bonus points as she wheedled her way out of any retribution.

[Lyrikitty]

Honuth paused, her head swinging rapidly to stare at Dharth. For a moment it seemed the Magma would listen to the big Black, but her lips quivered up into a smirk, and she expelled flame in his general direction, as if to mock him. Who do you think you are to order me Dharth? No more than an oversized Bronze you are, and I've killed plenty of the fools in my lifetime. Xai! Don't you think of touching hat stone or I'll rip your hand of and shove it down your own throat![/color]

With honuth distracted for a moment, Xai had tried to snatch up a chunk of the stone, or at the very least some of the fungus, only for the Magma to see her at the last minute. Honuth's bulk spun, hr haunches dropping low as her forequarters reared up and slammed back down, trapping Xai between them. The Magma's head hung over her rider, eyes wheeling murderously, which for this particular dragon meant that the red of everyday life was sullied with flecks of blues and greens. What now little one? Will you run? Will you beg me to spare you on some ill chance that I would consider for even a momen?[/color] Smoke spiraled from her open maw, thick and reeking.

"Why in the name of Faranth would I pleade my life from the likes of you, you maggot? Hopnuth you can't live without me. Now shut up and leave me be. I WILL be taking one of thiose stone if I have to ask Dharth to pin you to the ground and flame you, understand?'

She had a point. Honuth continued to seeth over her rider for a moment, still debating the ups and downs of killing the woman, before she finally gave in. She did not step away from any of the stone or spores, but instead snatched up a piece of each in her paw and dropped it over Xai.

Now you will-[/color] The Magma froze, her muscles stiff, taut, as her head slowly turned away from Xai to the next nearest noise. Children? The blues and greens flickering through her eyes brightened, replacing mroe of the ruddy, dangerous red that was so often present. Crooning, she steped away from Xai, her tail twitching slightly, and nearly catching her rider on a spine as she prowled away from the woman, and to the girls. She couldn't have cared about K'dran, but the children... Well youth made such wonderful sounds when they were in pain. It was tghe only thing about eggs she'd ever enjoyed, knowing that the few which survived her rampaging would hatch, and she'd have new toys. She had yet to keep her words private, broadcasting everything clearly. This was no different. What have we here? A pair of lambs for the hungry wolf? Come here litle kiddies, Honuth wants to play.[/color] Her clws sank into the soil as she settled down, close enough that she could have swept her wings around and likely knocked them all over. Why look what I found Dharth, I think this one belongs to you.[/color] She rumbled mirthfully, flames jumping from her maw as she did. The combined nature of Honuth herself, and her ability to flame without stone was troublesome, but the Riosian in her system had sent her into a hallucination, which she was rather enjoying. Adding in the spores, and she was by far Pern's 'highest' dragon, and perhaps more dangerous now than even Dharth himself was.

Xai snatched the spore and rock dropped on her, and watched the Magma's attention shift. Shards. She could deal with the beast, had been doing so for some time now, but she didn't think the girls had a chance. Xai was far from maternal, but she, unlike Honuth, wasn't so eager to see them dead. "Hey, Dharth? If by some off chance you are listening right now, subdue her. She isn't going ot listen to reason. Just don't hurt the idiot, I don't think it's all her right now." Shaking her head she strolled to V'yal, shoving the substances in the man's face. "Either of these look familiar to you? You've been around Pern, haven't you Roanrider?" ow that she wasn't speaking to the dragon she was, for her, reasonably diplomaic, while her tone was terse and edgy, she didn't csound half-crazed herself, or as if tshe was threatening anyone.

As Dharth made his appearance, Chayth tried to sink into the ground. Honuth was bad enough, but adding in the Black... the only thing that could make this worse would be if you aded Seth in. As if woried about this very occurance, the Roan peered cautiously about, thankful he saw no signs of the tiny menace. Looking at Dharth again, the Roan put his chin on the ground and sighed. There was no getting out of this, one way or another he was going to have to talk to the Black, and he was going to have to risk his hide doing so. I was roused from sleep by a noise near Honuth's couch. While she can get restless at night it didn't sound like her, so I came over to investigate. When I got here, Honuth had pinned down a Wildfire...[/color] He paused, thinking on the name of the dragon. If there was anyone on Pern who'd be able to name almost any female from almost any Weyr, it was chayth. Veseleth, if I'm not mistaken. I wanted to be sure honuth didn't kill her before we got answers, but before I could do anything Honuth scattered the stones and went to grab them up and Veseleth used me to jump into the air. Can I pleas ehave numbweed now?[/color] His eyes wheeled a myriad of hues, pan, fear, anxiety, concern, all dancing through in the rapid spin.

[Desert]

Dharth's red-stained eyes remained boring down at Chayth as the roan explained his involvement in the whole ordeal, tail twitching irritably. Well, for once that roan's annoying ladies'-man attitude was actually useful, since they now had the perpetrator's name. The big black snorted scornfully and turned away from Chayth, flicking his tail dismissively. Yes, go.[/color]

As Honuth spat a trickle of emission at him, Dharth tilted his head to one side as if to cock an eyebrow scathingly. Never one to take anyone else's words seriously, the black behemoth was unimpressed by the insults and threats. Sticks and stones, my dear, sticks and stones. And please do us all a favor and kill your rider -- it would make everyone's lives so much easier if you were removed.[/font][/color] He rumbled a chuckle, knowing that Honuth was perverse enough that his reverse psychology stood a good chance of working, especially now that the magma was so far out of her normal state of mind. Manipulating her was depressingly easy: nearly as easy as bending dull-witted jades to his will.

Adria tugged sharply on her sister's arm as Kali begged their father not to tell Accalia. "Dimglow, shaddup!" she hissed. But it was too late, Honuth had spotted them. Adria shuddered as the magma's voice echoed menacingly in her mind: it was 'louder' than she was used to hearing, which probably meant that the magma was broadcasting her voice to everyone present.

K'dran was about to turn to tell Kali the same thing her twin was, but was forestalled by Honuth spotting them. The blackrider whirled around and shoved both girls farther back and stood protectively in front of them, murmuring over his shoulder, "Both of you, back up until you're out of the immediate area, then run back to your weyr. While I'm standing here Dharth will hold Honuth off." Dharth didn't give a flying rat's anal orifice about Adria or Kali, but he did care enough about preserving his rider's life that the big black would stop Honuth from attacking if his rider was between the magma and her targets. The big black hissed balefully, eyes now almost still and blazing a watery blue as he advanced on Honuth, thick smoke and tongues of bluey flame licking his maw.

That is Mine, do not touch it![/b][/color] he snarled, feinting at the magma's wings with a swipe from one broad forepaw. He followed up the feint by rearing up and slamming his forequarters down on Honuth's body, careful to avoid her spikes, and splayed one forepaw on her shoulders and haunches. The black behemoth's head lowered, his breath hot and sulphrous, flames leaping from his maw to dance perilously close to her eyes. Be still, Honuth, if you value your life. I could just as easily turn around and kill Xai, and the effect would be the same.[/color]

While Dharth was distracting and trying to restrain the half-sane magma, Adria took K'dran's word for it, and scrambled backward, towing Kaliara after her. She could tell that Honuth wasn't normal -- even for a magma, with whom the term 'normal' is very loose -- and she wasn't about to hang around and be crispied. K'dran kept glancing back at them to see if they were far enough away, all the time slowly walking backward until he too was out of the immediate danger zone. Then he turned and jogged up to his daughters, and hauled the both of them upright. "All right, let's get out of here. I'm sure half the Weyr's awake by now, so your mom won't be too upset if we barge in," he said, winking at the twins.

Adria managed a smile back at her father as she trotted by his side back toward the jaderider's weyr. "Shouldn't you be back there?" she asked.

The blackrider shook his head. "And be in the range of Honuth? No thanks! Besides, if she tried going after me, Dharth would have a fit and kill her. We need to have her alive and as coherent as possible to figure out what went on." K'dran paused, then looked shrewdly at his daughters. "How long were the two of you there, anyway?"

"I was there when the wildfire touched down. I couldn't sleep and I sensed Veseleth's thoughts and a few others, though since I didn't recognize them I followed her, to see what she was up to," Adria explained. It was better, she'd realized, to tell the truth. At least in situations like this: this was serious, and not a time for stupid transparent fibs like the one Kali had been telling that nearly got them all fried.

K'dran ushered them into Accalia's weyr, smiling apologetically at jade and rider as they entered. Then he glanced back down at Adria and Kaliara. "So you were there the whole time?" At the nods, he crossed his arms over his chest and gave his daughters a stern look. "Then, out with it. Tell me what you saw, from start to finish. Including, Adria, what you heard."

ooc; blargh. i'm surprised i got this much out, considering how bitchy Melpomene has been. >_O
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[elainsie]

Kali, in a moment of utter stupidity, forgot that one of the most vicious dragons to grace Pern's skies was inching towards her, forgot the voice that broadcasted to those within a certain distance belonged to a creature who would think nothing of tearing her limb for limb, revelling in the cries of horror such an act would no doubt evoke. Perhaps not forgot exactly, but certainly paid little heed to. No, instead she fixated on the words spoken, and before she could clamp her lips shut, the words spluttered form her mouth, "I'm not a kid!" Her tone indginant, her youthful features taking on a look of displeasure. Well, it was a truth of sorts, if perhaps not the best time to assert the point.

Her sister's voice brought her back to the reality of the situation, a hand rising to her mouth in horror. "I'm sorry, I didn't...." she stopped her own tirade, realising that the more she spoke the more she endangered them all. Kaliara stumbled as her father pushed her back, using Adria as support to prevent herself from a rather ungraceful fall, having only just regained her balance before being yanked backwards by Adria. "Let go, I am not so stupid that I would disobey Dad," Kali pulled her arm out of her twins grasp, but followed Adria back nonetheless.

When K'dran joined them she let Adria do the talking, knowing she had said too much before, easily matching her her sister and father's long legged stride, although Kali was reluctant to reach their destiantion. It was obvious Accalia was going to find out what had happened, she thought self-pityingly. "I was there about as long, it's a wonder I didn't notice Adria leaving," Kali replied to her father's question, not eager to add anything more for once.

Accalia of course was up, had been one of the first awake when the commotion had resounded around the clearing. And it had taken a mere fraction of a moment from her waking to realised the twins were missing. Heart-hammering she roused Rownith with her anxious questions. Did you see where they went? Are they safe? What if that noise, what if it was something to do with them?

Rownith's eyelids only rose half way up her eyes, the dragon not particularly happy to be awake at such an hour. I have no idea where they are, like you I too was sleeping. Perhaps Dharth knows? Shall I ask him? However it was at that moment three figures burst into Accalia's weyr.

Her eyes narrowed as she faced the twins and K'dran, allowing them a brief moment to catch their breath but no more. "Why were you two out of bed? Did you know about this?" The latter question was directed at K'dran, now the anxiety had decreased a suppressed displeasure colored her tone. "And what in the name of Faranth is going on outside? You two had a part in this didn't you?" Her dark eyes were penetrating, Kali dropping her own to the ground so she did not have to meet her mother's disapproving gaze.

Knowing there was no way out of this Kali spoke up. "I heard a noise, someone, or something was moving outside. I thought I'd go see what it was. It ended up being this dragon I have never seen before, with lots of wings, and it gave something to Honuth, two things I think," Kali cocked her head as she tried to remember. Her hand tucked in the pocket of her jacket brushed against the stone she had picked up. "Oh yeah, this was one of the things, I don't know what it is though," she held the Rioasin in her outstretched hand for all to inspect.

Accalia looked to K'dran, "Do you have any idea what it is? It looks familiar, but I can't recall where I have seen it before." She gave a shrug of her shoulders, her memory refusing to dredge up anything.

[Lyrikitty]

Honuth curled her lips, sharp teeth flashed beneath them, as the children were ushered away. What was worse though, and far more insulting to her pride, was the Black. His bulk came down heavily on her back, paws splayed batween spines, his head hovering over her as he gave her a warning. He? Warn her? Ha! This bumbling oafe of a beast knew nothing. Her tail continued to lash, searching furiously for skin to lodgde the spines in, crashing against the ground irately until she found herself in an even greater fury.

Xai watched, dispassionately, until Honuth was pinned. That would hopefully keep the Magma subdued for a little while. Watxching K'dran and his girls leave the area, and guessing that at least one of them might have an idea of what was going on, Xai followed, taking the long way around Honuth and Dharth. She was stopped though, as she came round and back into Honuth's line of sight.

You! You back-stabbing, snack! Don't you dare prowl off and leave me here or I'll tear the rest of that meager hut down and burn it to ash! You'll have nowhere to sleep, and nothing to your name save the clothes on your back and me![/color]

Xai stopped, looking at Honuth with a raised brow. "You do that dear. I can sleep well enough without the comforts of a cot, it wouldn't be the first time. Unless you plan on making sense for a change, I need to go talk to K'dran and see if any of them know anything." Xai tossed the Magma a mocking salute and continued her way to the Jaderider's Weyr, entering only enough that she was inside, and leaning on the doorframe. Her eyes narrowed at the rock produced by one of the girls, though for the life of her she couldn't tell the twins apart. Firestone? No... Everyone knew that Magmas were able to chew and clutch, and ost knew Honuth capable of flaming without stone. What purpose would it serve to give the psychotic female firestone? Some other material? She couldn't think of anything, and sighed. It would be much mroe useful if Honuth would simmer down and speak intelligently, instead of raging and making threats.

As Xai walked away form her, Honuth sent jets of flaming emmision in the direction of the woman. None would touch her, she knew that, but she needed to do something. How dare that human be so bold, so arrogant, so utterly imbecilic as to speak to her that way!?! Let go of me Dharth! I want to flay the skin from her bones, and if you don't let me I'll add that stupid rider of your's to the list as well! How dare she! How dare anyone![/color] Her claws raked the ground as she trid to writh and throw the Black, or at the very least catching him offguard and stick a sharp length of dangerous spike into him. Did they expect her to sit idly bvy and watch the happenings? No, she'd do no such thing. She continued to flame, jets leaping out in all directions and searing the area clear of any green it might have had, just as she continued to writh and squirm, until her energy ebbed, and she was panting, she struggling, but the worst of it gone for now. Her sides heaved, no more flame licking from her muzzle, even the thrashing of her tail was slowed and more of an irritable twitch.

[Desert]

Dharth's humor, now that he had Honuth pinned beneath his broad paws, began to return. His eyes lost the watery blue, and much of the blazing red morphed into seafoam green. Dharth rumbled a throaty chuckle, tail flickering in amusement, eyes dancing. The magma, though crazed, was only slightly over half his size, so Dharth was easily able to keep her pinned, no matter how she thrashed and writhed. Settle down, Honuth, unless you would rather I sit upon you. I am rather less comfortable to be on your back than Xai,[/i][/color] he told the magma in a mocking tone.

K'dran glanced over his shoulder as Xai entered. At first he was wary, but since the magmarider seemed to be in a far more sane state of mind than her dragon, he simply nodded and turned back to his daughters. Xai had every right to hear what the twins had to say, after all, since it was her dragon currently in an atypically unbalanced condition. He took the Riosian chunk from Kaliara's hand and held it up; on closer inspection, it looked, smelled, and felt like ordinary firestone. But there would be no reason to give any magma firestone, if the aim was to sterilize them, so K'dran rejected the assumption that what he held was normal firestone promptly. "It looks like firestone, though I'm almost completely certain it's not. Either way, we should keep this away from Honuth -- or any other dragon -- until we know what in the world it is." The blackrider looked grim as he turned to hear Adria's account.

At Accalia's accusing gaze and K'dran's penetrating one, Adria's chin jerked up defiantly, while Kali dropped her eyes. "I was there first -- Kali was still in bed when I left. I didn't do anything, I just watched. The wildfire -- Chayth said her name was Veseleth -- landed outside Xai's weyr and started talking to Honuth. She said she wanted to become an ally of Eden, and she brought the gifts as a peace offering."

K'dran broke in. "Did she say what the things were she brought?" he asked urgently.

Adria was tempted to shrink from the intense scrutiny by all the adults, but kept her stance. "She said they were Dragonspores from New Cove and Riosian from Solainoti. Anyway, she tricked Honuth into eating some of both, and you already know what happened after that. Chayth woke up and Honuth pounced on Veseleth, but she was waving her tail around so much that it spilled the Riosian all over the place, so she let Veseleth go. Veseleth jumped onto Chayth's back and into the air. That was about the point you and Dharth showed up, Dad." Adria shrugged.

K'dran shoved the Riosian into his own pocket. "Sometime soon I'll get in touch with N'yx and N'nika and ask them about this. They know a lot more about Riosian and Dragonspores than we do." He sighed. Y'zem would be fairly useless for this; the other Wingleader, however valiant a Threadfighter he was, had no tact and was unsuited to working with anything not to do with Eden Weyr and its environs. Dharth's manipulations had put K'dran as the unofficial Weyrsecond/leader, though technically all the Wingleaders and queenriders had equal say. Since the other Wingleader was a pushover and the only queenrider was... well, Xai, K'dran was left as the main authority in Eden Weyr. It wasn't a position he particularly enjoyed, though between Dharth and his own sense of responsibility (having blossomed with the raising of Kali and Adria) he hadn't made too many blunders thus far.

Considering that it is highly doubtful that we have been the only ones hit by a raid from Black Sands, I have a feeling that a Conclave of Weyrleaders will be called sometime soon. The Riosian was probably not parted with willingly by Solainoti, given how jealously they guard it, so they will surely attend; that will be ample opportunity to question N'yx,[/i][/color] Dharth remarked, allowing every human in Accalia's weyr to hear him.

ooc; and here's where Melpomene goes poof. -sigh-
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[elainsie]

Accalia's eyes glanced in the direction of the newcomer, surprised to discover the Magmarider was a part of this rather untimely soiree, however as the girls spoke the Jaderider was less perplexed, although not entirely at ease. Was Xai going to place the blame of what occurred on her daughters? Accalia could tell the two girls were telling the truth, that they had really had minimal involvement, she had had Turns of practice in deciphering what was truth and what was falsehood from the lips of the twins but Xai on the other hand had not, and it was unlikely the Queenrider would be in the most understanding of moods given the current state of her dragon.

"Honuth will be ok though, won't she?" Kaliara lifted her pale eyes up off the ground, shooting a nervous look at Xai, before searching both her parents for an answer. "If this...Riosian," the unsual word faltered slightly from her mouth, "If it's like firestone, then nothing much could happen." But even as she spoke her mind was ahead one step. "Oh, but it's not is it? And then there's the spores." Her brows met in the middle as she considered the possiblities. She knew a little of spores, one of the other Candidates had mentioned it and Kali had asked them to elaborate. But Riosian, whatever it actually was, AND spores? What had that Wildifre been trying to do to Honuth? And why?

"I think that's best K'dran, I don't think there is anyone here that has a good enough understanding of either susbatnces to predict the effect, although it does seem a rather odd combinaton. I wonder if the Black Sands dragons themseleves knew what they were doing, or were just hoping something would come of it. How is Honuth at the moment Xai? Is there any sign of her calming down?" Accalia turned from K'dran to question the Queenrider at the doorway. "Is there anything I can offer you? Klah? Wine? Somewhere to rest?" A Magma in any kind of fury was surely a hardship for a rider, however one that had been forced to consume two different types of drugs would be that much worse. Accalia almost pitied the other woman, and hoped not just for Xai's sake, but that of the Weyr that the effects would be short-lived. Eden normally was not the most serene of Weyrs, how could it be with a devious Black, a Magma and Cyans? But Accalia also knew it could get a lot worse very quickly.