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 Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:32 pm
Mairin was currently torn between the glee of impressing, of feeling another mind meeting hers and the urgency of the first message her dragon had ever given her. She was shoving her way not towards the green dragonet but back through the crowd towards the healers. " Move out of the way," the words were not a request they were an order and she put as much force behind them as she could muster. " Make a path!"
The people were not moving fast enough, the injured man was not getting help and Curith could not bear this. The young green gave a warning bugle and stumbled forward after Hers, determined to help make a path. It would be okay, she needed it to be okay.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:34 pm
If only they were in a movie, Brambel could have managed to say more. The agonizing pain didn't allow it no matter how hardened his personality was. To be fair, he did a lot more than many his age could have under the circumstances. (Those circumstances being he was heavily bleeding and poisoned.)
Vaguely, he was aware of someone trying aid his wounds, but what really stuck out was the voice of his Whersecond. His hand swung around listlessly until it found Bekar's arm. He squeezed it.
"Bekar," wheezed the Whermaster. "Listen to me, Bekar."
No healers were in sight. Too busy tending to the candidates, perhaps?
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:43 pm
Roxyn, for his part, was barely aware of the goings on. After being knocked senseless on the ground, he'd been scooped up by J'aro, passed like a baton to his father. He could hear Arisa, and craning his neck, the battered candidate spied his friend and muttered something unintelligible.
Finally, he managed to gather what was left of his wits. "M'done Standin', I think," he croaked, making a poor attempt at a smile. Even if his dragon were here, the pain in Roxyn's leg was keeping him from standing, literally. It was time for him to retire.
He was well out of the way by the time the dragons had started to hatch.
***
Meanwhile, F'sey had taken a step back from the man. He wasn't a healer, and Brambel was asking for his second, anyways. There wasn't much that could be done for the Master to begin with, and so the greenrider looked away.
Where had J'aro gone?
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:44 pm
The very moment the tunnelsnake jerked out and grabbed the green, Kaeyne no longer held Adetsu's hand. The taller man had moved or jerked somehow, managed to step in front of him. Instant temper flare and the only reason Adetsu didn't get a punch to his kidney was the sickening shrieks of the green girl and the following yells of the two older men. Smell of blood (ichor? From the distance?), the sound of something cruel.
"Adetsu-" Kaeyne snarled the name, grabbed Adetsu's arm to drag him back when it jerked out in front of him, a solid wall of muscle and bone and shards, he was so lucky that Kaeyne didn't stab him with his nonexistant knife.Adetsu's hand twisted, grabbed one of Kaeyne's wrists to hold him in place before the smaller guy could even begin to protest. "You sharding--"
Another snarl, words falling to deaf ears and in such, Kaeyne quieted. He could twist to the side enough to see what was happening, dark eyes narrowed, lips peeled back. No fighting green in sight (he felt guilt, having compared her to the same damn tunnelsnake that attacked her). A blue, Impressed, a green, impressed.
A master, most likely going to die.
The candidate fell still, the scowl faded on his face. What next? When wherries attack?
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Dragonriders of Pern Shop Captain
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:55 pm
Such a tragedy Mairin's efforts would be for nothing. There were no healers standing around in the back -- they had dispersed much earlier and were all busy with the injured candidates. There just weren't enough trained medics on the island for this hatching.
Brambel tried to breath, but it was no good. He was dying and all of them knew it. "Bekar, tell..." A wheeze. A hack. A cough. His hand fell slack. "..my wife... tell my wife... that I never liked her." He could feel the poison. He knew it was the end. "Don't..."
He knew Bekar was going to replace him, appointed by means of death within the next moment.
"Don't... touch him... in my... in my office, you b*****d."
The Whermaster's body convulsed. More blood.
By time J'aro reached them, Bekar was the Whermaster.
The Dark Yellow Egg had been knocked far away from the clutch. The dragon inside kicked through the shell with his leg, then poked his brown face out, annoyed with the relocation.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:02 pm
...Well.
That was it then.
Letting out a slow breath X'nar got to his feet, not bothering to recover his blood-soaked shirt. There wasn't really much he could say given he hadn't known the man, and so he merely threw a salute to the new whermaster before turning his back and moving towards the stands once more; no sense him getting in the way, and at least now there was another dragon coming onto the sands now...
He'd have liked to know Brambel better.
The man had had balls.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:06 pm
The last couple of minutes had passed in a bit of a haze for Ash. She wished she possessed courage like the whermaster, who threw himself into the beast's teeth and hung on no matter the pain. She wished she was a healer, so that she could help him, or that valiant little green. Both of them fought in vain for their life, and Ash was suddenly grateful for the darkness of the hatching ground; nobody would notice her wiping away tears.
At least that other green had Impressed.
At least now there was a healthy looking brown coming onto the sands.
There was hope, even in this tragedy there had to be some hope, and at least the monstrous tunnelsnake was dead...
Had the valiant green been mean for her?
No. Surely she would have known if it was. She would have felt it... right?
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:12 pm
Bekar certainly wasn't hoping for anything touching or meaningful, but he had been hoping for something of importance. Advice? Orders? Anything, really.
Instead, Brambel was in fine form even as he lay dying. Bekar nodded, vexed even over his worry. "I will," he said, to the message for Brambel's wife. "I won't," he said, his voice a bit stiff now, as Brambel finished. "Good job, Whermaster." Bekar's voice softened at that, for Brambel truly had been a hero, even though he hadn't saved the dragon. Perhaps by going after the tunnelsnake when he did he had saved many more of the hatchlings.
Boggled and covered in blood, Bekar didn't feel much like a new whermaster, certainly not with his wher stomping around roaring at the darkness and apparently trying to tempt more tunnelsnakes out of hiding. Stop that, he ordered silently. You'll upset the dragons.
Beksk was not at all abashed, but he did shut up and return to his place among the dragons. Can I eat that tunnelsnake?
Maybe later.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:16 pm
J'aro had missed the entire thing. He had a bad feeling something had happened. Anyone would have with the tunnelsnake frightening everyone to death. Where had he been the entire time?
Where else?
Only when he failed to find Sesabal and punch him square in the nose did J'aro head back to into the mess of people to try and find Bekar. (R'xen would take his boy somewhere safe, so that was of no concern.)
Before he found him, he found X'nar. On his way back to the stands, it seemed. J'aro said nothing to him, simply gave him a curious look and continued on his way. The Whitemaster was not known as a friendly man by most of them, just as he intended.
"BEKAR?
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:21 pm
The candidates start to settle. With the tunnelsnake dead and the new dragonet looking plenty healthy, many of the candidates started to return to where they were supposed to be. If anyone had missed the dramatics, they would not be left if the dark. --The figurative dark, that is.
A voice touched the minds of each and every person on or around the hatching grounds that night; female, gentle and reassuring. Calm down. It is all right. It is dead. Calm yourselves.
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Dragonriders of Pern Shop Captain
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:21 pm
Finally, that tunnelsnake was dead. Good--wait, somebody else died. And a dragon too. This was just a nightmare all over, and while Valdi silently cheered the most recent Impressions, he gulped and glanced nervously at the dead egg. A Green--that tunnelsnake had gotten a Green. That was definitely a sobering thought, and Valdi took a moment to assess the situation. Two dead, not counting the dragonets and the firelizard, but a few Impressions. That was a plus--and there was a Blue remaining near his ruined egg, in addition to a newly-hatched Brown. Alright, alright, this was a horrible situation, but maybe something good could come out of it. Valdi fidgeted and returned to where the rest of the Candidates seemed to be lumping, really wishing that he knew more of them. This was all going too horribly fast for Valdi's not-quite-fast mind to gather at once, and the Candidate scowled and continued to twist his fabric. What would happen next? Seemed like anything that could go wrong already had.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:22 pm
There was no one for Mairin or Curith to find and as soon as it was obvious the Whermaster had died their search ended.
Curith's eyes whirled grey and the dragonet sunk to the ground miserably. Why? Why did this have to happen, why was there no one to help?
Able at last to really see and get to her bonded Mairin crouched down beside Curith and rubbed softly the spot between her headnobs. " We tried." There was nothing more either of them could have done, they were not healers. Concerned for Curith and the anguish she could feel leaking through their bond Mairin murmured reassurances to the little green and tried to coax her back to her feet. " You need to eat, you'll feel better."
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:26 pm
There went J'aro. He'd figure what must have happened by the bloody scene when he got there, so there was no need to stop him and babble an explanation. Maybe he, X'nar, would get some kudos for trying to help... Or maybe not, but he didn't really care all that much either way. Honestly all he cared about right now was getting to the end of this hatching so that he could get a drink.
Clambering back into the stands, X'nar folded his arms across his bare, heavily scarred chest and turned to look back over the unhatched eggs. How long was it going to take them, anyway?...
How had a tunnelsnake got so big?
They should have had a hunt or something as soon as they'd known about the issue, then at least they could say they'd tried to do something. As it was, anyone who could reasonably be expected to go hunting the sharding things currently looked like a stupid dickhead...
At least that voice inside head his was calming.
Whose was it?
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:29 pm
As the tunnelsnake died along with the man who had so valiantly jumped on it Connor, long with man of the other candidates it seemed had calmed somewhat. That wonderful soothing voice had certainly helped, there weren't as many scrambling about in a panic anymore in any case and everyone seemed to be making their way back to their assigned places.
Connor followed suit and as he did so he recalled how he had considered the hatching ground trashed earlier..it was certainly in far worse shape now..but the tunnelsnake was dead..and there was a brown newly out of his shell. Surely it as a good sign...the rest of the hatching would get better. Right? Of course it would!
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:33 pm
Yes... It was dead. They had to move on now, for the sake of the dragonets. Wiping her eyes on her sleeves again, Ash moved the short distance from where she was (in the male candidate area) to where she ought to be (right on the edge of the gaggle of female candidates). Now back in position, she turned her mind to that voice. It had felt as though it could wash away every fear she or anyone else had ever had...
It must be a dragon's voice, mustn't it? Could it have been the Queen? Dragons did sometime address people other than their riders, when they had enough cause to do so, and if anyone had cause to gently urge everyone back into order it was the mother of all of these dragonets, hatched and unhatched.
Just in case it had been the Queen, Ash turned towards her and gave an almost imperceptible bow. It was dead, and she would be calm. She was ready to welcome a dragonet into her life, if one would only Look to her.
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