All Comes Crashing Down

[Desert]

Where in the world had a spring fire lizard come from? N'yx stepped out onto the ledge of the weyr he shared with Vsiasi and over to Xanntorith, whose eyes were spinning with a smudge of red at the cheeping, creeling creature perched on his brow ridge. The tempest shoved his head forward, nearly with enough force to dislodge the flit, and grumpily demanded that N'yx deal with the problem. He was deprived of sleep because of their weyrmates' constant demands and he couldn't sleep with a stupid flitter squeaking in his ear.

N'yx coaxed the lizard onto his arm. The spring had a few streaks of yellow through her eyes, and she was holding out her leg urgently. There was a roll of paper tied to it. Once N'yx snipped the twine holding it and took the page, the spring hopped from his forearm to his shoulder, clinging nervously to him. Apparently, she wasn't going to leave without an answer.

N'yx began to scan the page, did something of a double-take, and the hurried over to the desk where he could read the message properly. Xann raised his head, nap forgotten, and rumbled uneasily. What is the matter?[/b][/color]

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N'yx;

I wouldn't be bothering you with this, but there's no one else for me to turn to. Solainoti is the only Weyr close enough to really know anything about what happened, and I can't trust anyone else.

I need to get out of Eden. If I don't I'll go insane, if I'm not already. I didn't want to just barge in without letting you know, so I sent this with Juno. I hope she finds you soon.

Send word back with Juno. I can get Y'zem or someone to bring me if you can't spare a dragon. I'm sorry to shove this onto you when you have enough to deal with in your Weyr, but I don't know what else to do.

Kadran

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Blood had drained from N'yx's face. Kadran... so it was true. Dharth was dead.

The day the big black had died, Eden Weyr had been keening for Rownith; some renewed their keen for the black, but many did not. Word got to Solainoti via the tempest Wingleader Y'zem, though N'yx had barely believed the man. What could have killed a dragon the size of Dharth? What could have killed Dharth, and left K'dran alive?

Hastily, N'yx turned and strode over to Xanntorith. "Bespeak Yorth. Send him and D'kun to Eden immediately. This little one will guide them to Kadran. I need them to bring him back here as soon as possible." Now was not the time to be idle; it was painfully clear, if the former blackrider was sending a message asking for help, then he was truly in dire straights. N'yx wasn't sure how Vsiasi would take this sudden guest, but he was willing to run the risk of rousing her ire. It was time to act now.

Juno licked N'yx's cheek gratefully and took off from his shoulder, wheeling around over his head until the duskpair appeared at the ledge. She swooped over to them and landed on Yorth's head just long enough to send him a mental image of Eden's Weyrbowl, before taking off. Yorth flapped after her and went between.

With the message sent, N'yx went to stroke his dragon's headknobs. "Now, we need to let Vsiasi know what's going on," he said wearily.

Obligingly, the big tempest reached out to touch Vsiasi's mind. Vsiasi, there is news. The dead black's rider from Eden is coming here. N'yx thinks he is in a bad way. We need you on our ledge.[/b][/color]

When Yorth emerged from between, he answered the watchdragon and glided into the broad clearing that was the Bowl, landing where Juno bid him. The spring them blinked out to find her human friend and bring him.

As the minutes stretched by, D'kun figured that Kadran had been found in the middle fo something and had to rush back to his weyr to pack; this was proven when the lanky figure emerged from the trees, a sloppily-filled travel bag over his shoulder. He trotted over to the Solainoti duskpair and slung his bag over the straps. D'kun leaned over to help him, neither man speaking until Kadran had hauled himself onto Yorth's back.

As the dusk leaped into the air, Juno settled on Kadran's shoulder, wrapping her tail firmly around his throat. He reached up absently to stroke the spring's soft hide. "Thank you," he muttered; whether the rough-voiced gratitude was addressed to D'kun or Juno, no one was certain.

They blinked into existence above Solainoti's Weyrbowl soon after, and Yorth glided over to the Weyrleaders' ledge once again. No need to kick up a fuss in the Bowl; this was a private matter, to be dealt with by the Leaders alone. Yorth touched down and crouched, though it was hardly necessary since Kadran was used to dismounting from a much taller shoulder. He aimed a mutter of thanks toward the duskpair, then allowed N'yx to lead him into the inner chamber of the weyr.

Once inside, Kadran collapsed, head in his hands. "I'm sorry for dumping all this on you," he began, voice rough.
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[Onyxaeon]

Vsiasi absently drummed her fingers across her faintly protruding stomach as she watched Isionyth fuss over her Riosian stashes. The Brimstone had taken to hissing irritably when one was not the right size and she had to exercise the smallest of efforts to crush it between her littlest claws, grumbling something about how Xann was useless and couldn't even have the sharding candidates for her babies bring up appropriately sized hunks of rock. Her rider's chuckling only irritated her more and the senior queen waddled right up to Hers and shoved her wedged maw directly in front of her face. If you have nothing constructive to offer then you are as useless as that couch-hogging Tempest slumbering in my weyr. Now I brought you down here to help me and all you've done is make fun of how I arrange my rocks and why I want this one big and this one tiny and so on an so forth. Since you aren't being helpful, you obese waddling wherry, you can leave.

The Brimstone snorted her hot breath swirling Vsiasi's black curls around her face and over her eyes. Without pause, the woman pinned her curls up and put her hands on her hips, staring down the far larger creature. "Fine, I'll leave you overstuffed, pot-bellied brute." Vsiasi couldn't help the smile as her dragon huffed and pouted, insisting she was not "stuffed" and that she would be asking her weyrmate later what he thought because he actually cared for her and would tell her the truth unlike her hateful rider.

The Weyrwoman merely shook her head, turning to leave the Sands with one hand resting at the small of her back for support. Shard it, she was going to have to kill N'yx for what he had done to cause this unnecessary back pain and stress. She only made to the main entrance before Xanntorith's mind-voice penetrated her thoughts. Dharth's rider was coming here? A frown marred her otherwise serene features and she cast her thoughts to her dragon.

Isi, I know you are cross and occupied with making the perfect pile of birthstones, but we will have visitors shortly. Kadran is coming to Solainoti according to Xann and N'yx and I am needed on the ledge. Would you grace me with the honor of your help in getting me to the ledge? I fear that they will be here before I have the chance to make it up half of the stairs. Her appeal to the queen's ego helped ease the Brimstone's ire somewhat and she conceded that it was indeed an honor for Hers to be riding atop Isionyth's back and that only a queen could perform such a task at the drop of a hat. Not true in the slightest of course but it was better to not argue with the terribly moody female when she was so close to clutching.

Vsiasi clambered up onto her dragon's back with the help of Isionyth's palm and settled between her massive black ridges. She sat side-saddle, clutching onto the nearest black ridge as the queen heaved her egg-burden body across the sands and into the Weyrbowl. She took several moments to stretch, permitting her wings to warm up before the intense amount of strength it would require for her to lift her bulk into the air directly from the ground. Her soot black wings extended as Isionyth crouched down, her muscles tensing before she lept into the air and a quick downward thrust of her wings caught her before she dropped back to the soil. Another set of strokes brought her higher into the air, rising in altitude until she could land after Yorth moved from her ledge. She crouched down fully, allowing her body to roll onto her side so that her rider was the shortest possible distance from the ground. Following her healer's careful instructions, Vsiasi climbed down her dragon's spines slowly, ever careful not to slip and fall. It took several minutes and the woman would be outrageously grateful when her current...situation abated and she could dismount with ease once more.

Vsiasi left Isionyth to sun on the ledge as she padded into the inner room of the weyr. Soft blue pools caught sight of Kadran first, seeing the man on his knees and a sorrowful frown covered her lips. She glanced to N'yx before she bespoke the former blackrider, one hand supporting the small of her back while the other rested on her stomach. "Don't bother with that nonsense," Vsaisi said gently to the downed man. "It's not a problem; you're not causing any problems at all. Now, what is it you need, Kadran?" Her voice was honey and milk soft, tender like a mother coaxing her young babe to hush after a fright form its crib.

[Desert]

Kadran waved away N'yx's extended hand and hauled himself into a chair. It was hard to recognize him; his hair, oily as if he hadn't bathed for some time, hung in front of his face. His eyes and cheeks were sunken, and his entire body seemed to have wasted away. He was nearly emaciated, and his rumpled clothing hung off his bones. His eyes, already piercing with their icy hue, held a hungry look about them that made it difficult for most people to look him in the face.

Hearing Vsiasi's voice, the former blackrider raised his face enough to look at her. Seeing her stand the way she was, supporting her six-month bump, brought a lump to his throat. Kadran hung his head once more until he had the wave of emotion under control and could speak with a mostly-level voice.

"I just needed to get out of there. The way people were looking at me, talking to me... I just couldn't stand it anymore." He shuddered slightly. "I had no reason to stay. I have no particular reason to be alive other than my own sharding pride."

Rather than let the conversation stray into such delicate territory, Kadran snapped his teeth closed around that thought and sighed. Slowly and with a visible effort, he raised his head to look at Vsiasi again. "Do you know what it is?" he asked, nodding to her bump. His voice had gone uncharacteristically soft; thick, as if he was holding back tears. His eyes, though, were dry. Haunted.

N'yx thinned his lips. He wasn't sure how to help this broken man, other than to give him a refuge. That was probably all they could do. Stepping around the chair into which the ex-blackrider was slumped, N'yx went to the side of the room, where he called down the shaft for klah and food. Kadran looked like he was on the verge of starvation. When was the last time he'd eaten?

Hearing Kadran's rough, strained voice drone on without change in pitch or inflection put the tempestrider's nerves on edge. He had seen many riders lose their dragons; many of them had been in his youth, when the Riosian addiction had dragons fighting each other to the death over the diamond-hard stones. He was worried about the man's apparently emotionless state. That couldn't last long. N'yx sensed that the former blackrider would soon lose all the composure he'd imposed over himself in the days since his dragon's death, and when that happened, it would not be pretty. It never was.

[Onyxaeon]

Vsiasi's frown deepened as she watched the man struggle into a chair. The entirety of his being seemed to be hanging on by a slim thread; his clothes were disheveled and hygiene a forgotten concept, his body's needs-such as decent food-ignored, and all compassion or empathy seemed to have fled from the man. He was in every measurable sense, a shell of his former self and the Weyrwoman was not at all certain that all of his behavior was due to the loss of his dragon. It was no secret amongst the individuals whom had met Dharth and seen him and his rider interact that they disagreed on just about everything beneath Rukbat. Their personalities seemed mismatched from the get go and, more than anything, the black generally caused nothing but trouble and violence in his wake. That being said the loss of a life partner, no matter how sadistic, was still a traumatic experience. If nothing else it was at least the reason for his perceived lack of purpose and his aimlessness. Now his distance and hollow tones...that was due to another event-the Weyrwoman was almost positive of this. Call it women's intuition but her gut told her something besides Dharth and Rownith's death was plaguing the man. And, seeing as she did not know much of the former wing leader's life before his dragon's death, she would have to ask.

"The healers and terribly empathetic dragons can't be one hundred percent certain, of course, but most have come to the same general idea. I'll have to tell you later if you're truly interested because I've sworn a great deal of pain and torture by Isionyth's hand if anyone bespeaks a word to N'yx about the babe's gender." Vsiasi gave a small, half smile as she momentarily forgot the tension lingering in the weyr. When she glanced back to his haunted eyes, however, the moment of peace was forgotten and she quickly pulled her resolve in order. The bells chimed from the shaft as the food was pulled up and she quickly, or as quickly as she could manage, went to attend to the matter. She brought the klah out first to Kadran then to N'yx and finally herself. The cheese, bread, and fruit she left all still on the plate for Kadran which she placed directly in his lap and glared don at the man in a most intimidating of manners for a petite, mother-to-be.

"If you don't eat you're gong to die before you have the chance to explain what else is bothering you. I'm not a dense person, dear; something else is bothering you and you need to share it with us."

Vsiasi brought the warm klah to her lips to take a quick swig, watching the man's reaction intently. "We can't help you unless we know what's wrong." Her voice got quieter as she continued, hesitant even, as though the topic were terribly sensitive. "What happened to Dharth, Kadran? He was not a small beast by any means...We heard the stories of massive lacerations and so forth. Blacks don't go down easy just...tell us what we need to know. I'm sorry I have to be so harsh and blunt with you, but there's nothing for it. I can't tip-toe around the issue to spare your feelings especially if you're asking for our help. I don't like going into things that blind."

[Desert]

Had the situation not been what it was, N'yx would have pulled an indignant face at Vsiasi's statement. He didn't understand why the woman was so determined that he not know! But, in the face of the ticking emotional timebomb sitting in front of him, N'yx put aside that thought for the matter at hand.

Taking a sip of his klah, the Weyrleader watched Kadran warily. The older man had accepted the mug and was nursing it, though his gaze regarded the food as if it was some alien object he had never seen in his life. When Vsiasi blundered right over the sensitive topic of what, exactly, had killed the big black, N'yx shot Vsiasi a sharp look that she didn't see. Give up all shred of tact, why didn't she, and force Kadran into a situation he wasn't ready to face!

But Kadran didn't flinch, or move at all. He sipped the klah without seeming to taste it, and half-heartedly picked up a slice of fruit. "I killed him." He spoke so quietly that it was inaudible, but then he picked up his head to glare at the two Weyrleaders, eyes now ablaze with intensity that made N'yx's stomach drop. "I killed him. What else was there for me to do? Nothing, other than kill myself, but that would mean he had won."

In the Turns before, when Dharth had pushed him to the edges of sanity, Kadran's demeanor had held hints of this instability. Now he had tipped across the line separating madness from normalcy. He jerked upright, spilling the food and drink across the floor. His eyes were wide, like the eyes of a runner chased by some predator and driven to foundering; pupils contracted to pinpricks so that it seemed they had disappeared altogether, leaving orbs of pure white staring out of his hollowed face. His lips pulled back into a horrible, mirthless grin, flashing teeth and gums.

"I'm sure that makes me a monster of a man. A rider who killed his own dragon." He shook his head, and a tipsy giggle bubbed up from his bony chest. "I just don't care anymore. I never cared before, and as soon as I did start caring, look what happened. Everything I touch shatters into pieces, doesn't it? I suppose it's par for the course." Now he was pacing, prowling around the room in fits and starts.

N'yx stood back and drew Vsiasi away from the raving ex-rider. So far he wasn't violent, but that could easily change. He decided to venture a comment, hoping that he could distract Kadran from his restless pacing. "From the little that we have heard about it, it seems your actions were perfectly justifiable." In fact, his stomach was churning in horror, though the tempestrider managed not to show it in his voice. How could a man be pushed so far that they could kill their own dragon? Outside, Xanntorith moaned. He had already shielded his mind from Kadran's thoughts; the man's mind was chaotic, overwrought. Nearly diseased.

An uneven, toothy grin tugged at Kadran's lips. "Liar." He grinned with sickening cheerfulness and shook his head. "You're no good at lying to me, N'yx. I can tell you think I'm a monster. Go ahead; I don't mind. It's nothing new."

he turned and went over to where the tray of food had clattered to the floor, and gathered up the spilled produce, replacing them on the tray before putting it neatly back on a table. It seemed that as soon as the plate hit the table and left his hands, all the manic energy that had possessed him drained away. he swayed drunkenly and collapsed, grasping feebly for the chair. He managed to hit the floor sitting upright, and slumped forward, unmoving.

[Onyxaeon]

Vsiasi backpedeled swiftly, nearly falling backwards over N'yx as the clatter of the metal tray against the floor rang throughtout the weyr. Out on the legde the scrapping of claws upon stone answered, and Isionyth's low, menacing growl pierced the silence of the room. She scrambled, managing to get her egg burdened bulk to her feet in mere seconds. Her great, spiked skull thrust through the hall, snaking around to curve protectively around her rider's body. A hiss accompanied the action, lood shot orbs following Kadran as he paced restlessly. Give me a reason to end your miserable excuse of an existance. Her lips curled back revealing ivory spears, the embers along her hide appearing to flash in responce to her rage and the threat ot Hers. The massive, spiny exapanse of her head blocked the ex-blackrider's path, effectively cutting him off from the Weyrwoman and Vsiasi away from him. I have been too lax, it seems. I haven't sunken my fangs into anything foolish as of late. Go ahead-give me just cause and I shall gladly end that streak by shredding your scrawny body bit by bit.

Vsiasi quieted her dragon, assuring her that Kadran was merely suffering from his loss and was not to be held responsible for his actions. The Brimstone did not see it so and as such continued to periodically growl toward the man. Isi, don't worry. I had to goad him; he wouldn't have responded other wise. Now we know what happened. Please, let me go so I can go to him. Isionyth grumbled, reluctantly lifting her head ever so slightly so that the woman could duck under her to walk slowly toward the downed ex-rider. She crouched down with some effort, her hands moving around his shoulders as she shook him faintly. "Kadran. Kadran, look at me."

She shook him once more and, when he did not respond, she called to N'yx, ordering him to get a healer. It was probably nothing more than simple shock but still. He needed to be taken to the infirmary and he needed decent rest and food. Until he regained consciousness, that would be the best place to stick him. Especially considering he was mentally unstable and, at this point, a danger to the Weyr as well as himself.

The healer appretices came swiftly, one on each side of Kadran, to heave him to his feet. Each shouldered a portion of his weight as they made their way toward the door. As Vsiasi was still kneeling on the floor, she extended her hand toward N'yx for help. It was a small feat, but she muscled herself to her feet. "Shard it, please don't let me do nonsense like that again." The woman huffed, her breathing slightly elevated from the effort. Pregnancy was a bitch on the body. "Or at least not interfer with the mentally unstable. The getting up and getting down isn't as much of a problem as that. I'm sorry I had to do what I did, N'yx but...shells, he needed to be pshed over the edge. He didn't look like he'd slept comfortably in over a fortnight."

[Desert]

Even when Isionyth's head pushed into the weyr and interposed between Vsiasi and the raving ex-rider, N'yx was tense. He watched the lanky, older man until Kadran collapsed, and when Vsiasi went around her dragon to go to him, he stepped forward, a hand on her shoulder. He should have stopped her; had Kadran shown any sign of reviving, he would have pulled her back not caring about her reaction. Thus far he'd been trying to let her do what she felt was right, even if it was far from the best thing to do; now, he knew he should be the one to deal with Kadran from now on. Vsiasi meant well, but she wasn't going about helping the ex-blackrider in a constructive manner.

Once Kadran was out of the weyr, draped bonelessly between the two healer 'prentices, N'yx showly released a sigh of relief. That could easily have gotten violent, given Kadran's past. N'yx helped pull Vsiasi to her feet, not really listening to her statements. It was the 'Don't let me do that again' statement that he caught, and he snorted.

"I certainly won't." Lips thinned, N'yx held Vsiasi at arm's length so he could look at her. "Next time, please let me handle it. Kadran's case is very different from other dragonless riders, and he needed to be dealt with carefully. He came here to find refuge from people at his Weyr - people who were probably harassing him for information, or at least they seemed that way to him - and the last thing he needed was someone pushing him to explain. He's mentally unstable right now, and dangerous." His hands tightened on her shoulders. "This time he didn't tip very far over the edge, but he will break down soon, and when that happens, you don't need to be there. He needs to settle down, let his mind come to grips with what happened, and have his breakdown in peace. I've seen it before enough to know."

Sighing internally, N'yx released Vsiasi's shoulders. "While he's unconscious, we can go tell the Healer exactly what we've let into his infirmary. He'll know what to do from there."

[Onyxaeon]

Vsiasi shook her head simply, sighing in slight exasperation. "Oh of course because you have the cure-all for every issue that crops up in the Weyr." It was only half dripping in sarcasm, mostly just meant as a cynical after thought than anything. Nothing too offensive, mostly just meant to give him a raise of a brow instead of rouse any ire. "You seem to often forget I've also seen riders lose their dragons, and vice versa. Sure, it's an ordeal and a wretched situation to be in, but it's not the end of Pern. To him, perhaps, but you would know nothing of that. Have you ever been dragonless? No. Therefore you're in the same boots as me: we neither know the best way to solve the problem and simply have to try it all. Regardless of both of us having seen plenty of examples to go by. It's not so simple as having a step-by-step formula, N'yx. People are far from being similar to one another, especially where loss and grief are concerned. Kadran is no exception to this. In all honesty, I doubt anything we attempt to do for the man will have any great effect."

The Weyrwoman shrugged off his uncomfortable grip along her shoulders, listening to her dragon grumble about having to get off of her ledge and move away from Rukbat's rays to keep a raving fool away from Hers. It was not like her to simply give up on someone as she had just admitted with the ex-blackrider. People could always pull back from their lifemate's death...They just needed time and a little bit of help. To her in this moment though, Kadran was a lost cause. Gone within a sevenday perhaps along the back of some dragon through to between where he would not return. "I am sorry N'yx but you might have to accept the fact he might not make it through Dharth's death. As far as they were from being amicable toward one another, it still cut deep enough to harm the heart. Unless something suddenly spurrs him on, I don't know what good-if any-we can do. It's best just to let things run their course and stay out of it as best as you can. But go on and inform the healer as you wish, but know I want no part in this. As far as I am concerned, he was dead the moment he took his own dragon's life."

The words, if coming from any other, would have seemed devoid of any compassion and bitterly tainted with realism. Considering whom she Impressed to, that should not come as a surprise. At least not to anyone whom knew the Brimstone who claimed her place by the Weyrwoman's side. Still, to hear her so...uninterested in the blackrider's fate was mildly troublesome. Where had that healthy dose of realism come from? As she straightened up the tray full of spoiled food and took it to the shaft, Isionyth pipped up her own thoughts careful to include her mate's rider. Indeed, his mind is diseased. Xann felt it. I felt it. You saw it. Try to stay away from the darkness in such a time as this. New lives are on the way, and this certainly isn't a time to cloud that joy with worry over the already lost.