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What was that noise? Another landslide? Worse?

Korsi would have been offended someone had thought her whers were such a thing! The Wherhandlers that had been at the hatching from the beginning were either obeying Bekar, digging of their own accord or finding some other way to be helpful.

The heavy big boned! widow stormed onto the grounds like a woman on a mission. Why not? That's just what she was! Her gold wher trailed behind, and behind her, ten other handlers and their own whers.

"BEKAR YOU SHARDING FOOL! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THESE DRAGONRIDERS!"

In her sixties if not older, the hunchbacked wherguard -- now Whersecond, having ranked behind Bekar -- found him in the crowd. The glows didn't allow him the ability to see if she were crying or not; it could have just as easily been sweat running down her cheeks.

"GET TO WORK YOU IDIOTS! DIG! NOW!"

Dig the whers did.

"Where is that idiot Sesabal? He doesn't know a sharding thing about tunneling! Who does he think he is to lead these people?! Brambel would have been better and we know sharding well how smart he was, apparently!"

(Kellon and those around her have found the foot of a male Wingleader. He seems to be among the dead.

Kalania and those around her have found a living, male Wingleader.)

Contrary to Beksk's desires, Prigdith only roared louder.

"Shards, Prigdith--shut up!" Felena shouted, glaring up at her dragon. She had been poking at a cut on her arm that a falling rock had given her, but was now totally forgetting her 'three c's' of life in favor of trying to get her stupid fat dragon to quit roaring so perhaps they could get out of here. The Gold hissed and returned the glare, but surprisingly enough, lowered her roar to a still considerably audible snarl. If we were not stuck here--
"But we are, Prigdith! And you're only going to make it worse by being so loud." Felena cut the Queen off, tearing a strip off of her tunic to bind the cut. Prigdith shifted around her clutch, tucking her tail in close to the foremost egg. This was a mess, plain and simple, but the Gold wasn't about to let any more of her offspring die today. She had already had enough of that.

When another rumble came, both Prigdith and Felena looked up--something else was happening. Perhaps it was the whers? Or maybe it was just another landslide to say 'oh hey you two, life hates you and so we're going to crush you down here, that okay?' That would just be perfect.

Well it looked like the calvary had arrived, what with that woman running around leading a pack of whers. Jerishude had only seen the one out there digging alongside the rest of the candidates and those who wanted to help dig away. He moved further to the side and thus more away from the main group of people, his hands tossing rocks to the side with ease. He was a candidate after all, manual labor was no stranger, but was it really doing him any good to be this far away? At least he wasn't bumping into people or worse, getting in the way of a wher, so maybe his position was for the best. Let the new riders, old riders, and the wherhandlers do their job. He could mosey around and help out to the best of his ability, but that was about it. He had no connections to these people other than lessons and names, maybe the occasional face and personality to go with it.

The only people he knew had already impressed, so why was he still worrying about those that were buried beneath the stone? Was the roaring queen and her ice-b***h of a rider worth saving that much? How about the eggs? It was funny that his mind was moving slower than his hands were and he soon had a little hole where he was digging. Of course he couldn't see anything to tell if he'd actually found anyone beneath but judging by the sounds. . . maybe the others had found something?

"Hello in there. . . is anyone down there?"

He didn't really shout or anything but at least he was making an effort to see what was going on. Jerishude didn't want people to die on account of him, that would sort of make it hard to sleep at night.

"Crackdust!" The words came from A'tsu lips, strange words for a man who was never much more than mild. Maybe, maybe it was his dragons anger. Lets pretend that's the case.

Because Jacth was furious, turning on Emaleth with a low hiss. If he'd been a cat, his fur would be standing on end. As it was, his eyes whirled bright, fierce red. He very much hat- that is, he was feeling a lot of dislike toward the bronze at the moment. The Whitemaster saved us. Saved you, Emaleth. He risked his life for us and now you'd like to let him die? I am ashamed of you.

At the very least, his fury, was enough to keep him from fighting A'tsu, who had, at this point, released him.

"Jacth, you will stay here with Emaleth. I will try and help. But only if you stay here. If you move, we both leave." It was not A'tsu's normal tone, but a low, rumbling growl. The dragon, almost pointedly, lay down where he was.

Hurry mine. And then, trying because he wanted to believe, even if it wasn't true, that his connection with his idol would be enough, he tried to reach the Whitemaster. Sir? Sir, are you okay?

But he was a young dragon, who'd never even mindspoke the man before. It'd likely be for naught. Not to mention, even if he was heard, it wasn't like J'aro would be able to respond.

A'tsu meanwhile, sprinted to K'yne's side and began moving rocks, his huge build making it a bit easier, "You," he said, without even looking at his partner, "are a fool. A wherry-brained dimglow. This is not safe."

There were shouts that people were being found, and now that there were glows set around the edge of the drop-off, Ren felt she would probably do more good if she helped dig those people out. It was not an accident, however, that her glow basket happened to fall into the darkness below. Maybe someone down there would see it and find it helpful.

Picking a direction at random, she set off to help shift stones and found herself unpleasantly surprised to be working near Jerishude. At least she didn't need to speak to him for this part of the action. They just had to move rocks. That could be done in silence. In fact, if more people would work in silence, that would be better. Then she could hear what was going on.

"Shift over," she said to him. "Let me help."

When he uncovered her face, he could have punched it or even stoved it in with a rock. Pushing down the violent urges that he was sure Faladeth was exacerbating, X'nar settled for spitting in the unconscious woman's face. "See she gets to the healers, and that she knows who found her," he growled. Then, as an afterthought; "See she knows I ******** spat on her too, the b***h." This said to those around him, X'nar grabbed his basket and scrabbled across the uneven ground to join R'xen.

At least Yours has some sense. Emaleth purred, his small frame twisting into a circle to watch both A'tsu and His. He gave his clutchsib a pointed Look and wandered towards the table instead, nosed against it with interest. They could not go and dig, after all! Why not try to eat? Stop wailing, Jacth. It's unbecoming, even from a color such as yours. Show some dignity, sib.

K'yne, some distance away, glanced at A'tsu from the corner of his eyes. "I never said it would be safe, 'Tsu. I said I would be alright - there is a--" Yelling, panicked yelling from an overly large and horribly scared man K'yne recognized as the Whitesecond. He dropped the rock he'd been moving to the side and grabbed at A'tsu's arm, pulled at him as K'yne himself stood.

They'd orders to fall back and get away and in his mind, Emaleth was beginning to fret in his head over lack of food, that spoiled, self righteous little--

Shut up. He shot once more towards the little dragon and tightened his grip on A'tsu however briefly before his hand dropped. "People. To the healers."

As the Whitesecond wanted, ordered. K'yne jerked his head towards the persons in question and started off on that next chore. Emaleth, distracted by food and his clutchsibs anger, did not question the Whitesecond or His. Not yet.

Narenne was relieved that Jerishude didn't put up a fuss and just let her help him. He wouldn't have been her choice of work companion. In fact, the last time they'd spoken he had been her assigned working companion and there had been few pleasantries exchanged between them. At least, few sincere ones. Ren had started it, now that she thought about it.

She pulled and pushed and shoved at rocks, occasionally bumping shoulders or elbows with the creepy young man and unable to forget who she was working alongside of. Thus whenever they did come into accidental contact, Ren tended to flinch, but she guessed in the dark he wouldn't notice. And even if he did, he was probably used to that reaction. For all she knew, he enjoyed it. He certainly seemed to enjoy his overall effect on people.

When he said he'd gotten a clearing, though, it was probably a good thing she was repulsed by him, or else she might've tried to stand right where he was to get a better look. In the dark. She shouldn't have dropped her basket, maybe. She also didn't know what to say in response to his self-pitying tack-on at the end of his declarative, and so she ignored it.

"Sounds okay," she agreed.

It amused her to think that being busty would probably mean she would not be the one going into the hole, unless it suddenly got much wider. And - shells - the eyeful people would get if she did, given the tailoring of her robe and the fact she wore nothing under it because of her activities prior to this debacle.