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F'tiz raised his other eyebrow again as well, the faintest hint of a smile playing on his thin lips. "Weyrling Cetalese there is no call to apologise; Mine is called far worse things than merely strange on a nearly daily basis. In any case I think he takes quite some pride in his oddness, contrary beast that he is." Brumath's strange and confusing way of thinking was so unlike his own practical direct manner that even he felt a little lost to keep up at times, but he wouldn't have things any other way.

the brown concluded with a glance down at the green's rider. Turning then to Halith, Brumath gave a soft rumble.

For a moment, Halith was silent, her wings still mantled from her halted preparation to take to the skies. She tilted her head at Brumath. You mean ranks? Bronzes and Silvers can be leaders. I don't think we have any Brown leaders, but Browns are still seconds, and Silvers, too. I guess they have the tempers they're meant to have? Halith seemed a bit confused as to what Brumath was looking for, although she understood ranks well enough. We don't have any Whites. Only Malvren has those. What's red? Crimsons? We have one of those. She's here, I think. Halith thrust away from her spire and scanned for the Crimson she'd seen earlier, taking joy in stretching her wings again. I don't know her, but she's over there. And if you want to meet Blacks, Zetath is here. I was talking to him earlier, but he's not much fun. If the other Blacks are like him I don't think you'll like them much.

She looked down at Brumath and seemed to reconsider. Well, maybe you would.

Halith, please. Even with F'itz's assurances, Cetalese would still have preferred Halith remember that here at Southern, at this time, it was not the best idea to say whatever came to mind as it came to mind. Her gaze flicked to F'itz and then returned to Brumath and Halith. Beside a full adult, and one several ranks higher, Halith looked tiny.

Blacks aren't big enough to be leaders, though. I don't know if Crimson's can be; we don't have any anyway.

Ceta wasn't sure where to begin. Halith was always better at starting conversations than she was. Cetalese was content to sit in silence with others and let them carry on the conversation. F'itz, however, seemed as disinclined to carry on small talk as she was oblivious to it.

"You haven't come with others from your Weyr." She debated the wisdom of asking about Benden's stance on this meeting or their recovery after the loss of their Weyrwoman and decided to go with something a subject that was less volatile. "I noticed that Benden seemed to be coming singly more than in groups, at least since I've arrived. And your Weyrlings are still too young to come on their own and won't be separated from their dragon partners for such a distance, I believe. Did most of your groups arrive earlier?"

Halith almost spoke when Brumath had to end his sentence strangely again, but then stopped herself. She tilted her head the other way at him, eyes whirling a little more slowly as she thought about what he'd suggested. He had said she should watch what she said, as if she couldn't. Well. She would win this game.

Turning in the air, she flitted back over to Aerith, looking every inch the feline that got the baby wherry. She liked games. It was good that Brumath liked them, too. Now, what was it Ceta would have said to them if she was asking? Hm. Hello, she greeted again, focused on Aerith and the Blues near her. Will you please come exploring with us? Now Brumath has agreed to go and he's much older than any of us. Which was not offensive at all and made the trip totally okay.

Cetalese, on the other hand, had been brought to the touchy subject she hadn't been sure she should discuss. Her eyes followed Halith's path for a moment, but she eventually turned her frank gaze back to F'itz. "Thank you. We're still hoping she recovers, although right now it seems unlikely. I, too, am sorry for the loss your Weyrwoman." It was inconceivable that one man could so easily kill two and incapacitate a third and feel no remorse for it. "The tragedies that have hit our weyrs... and Malvren's..." She shook her head, unable to express how horrible they were. Still, Abigail's recent attack had added another piece to the puzzle Cetalese had been trying to put together since Malvren's Weyrleader died. The first death had been horrifying, but distant and only a single incident. It was possible it was one person working alone. But now... With so many more clues and two more attacked, Cetalese often found herself thinking of it for long periods of time unless she was interrupted.

"If anything, it shows us that all the finger-pointing so far has been wrong. No Weyr would willingly kill or... cripple," if that was what Abigail's condition could be called, "Their Weyrleaders or Weyrwomen. For all the blame going around, it can't be Trine, Malvren or Benden. We wouldn't do that to our own. Or to anyone else, either." What it did point to, Ceta wouldn't say. It could be another weyr, but to voice that would just be continuing . And, logically, she couldn't conceive of a Weyr coming up with and agreeing to such a plot. It could be a single rider, but what would their motive be? And why would they have let the man no one seemed to know ride their dragon?

There were too many questions. Ceta, with her logical thought processes, thought that that was entirely the point. So much mystery and such horrible things going on... Confusion was the point. She only wished she could discover what the end result was supposed to be so they could prevent it. Whatever it was could not be good for dragonriders anywhere.

F'itz might not understand that the faint smile that curved Cetalese's lips was the equivalent of a grin for the introverted girl before him, but Ceta, at least, understood his question for what it was. Polite chit-chat, making nice with other weyrs. Definitely a relief considering that she hadn't expected Benden to play so well with others, especially those whose weyrs embraced the colors they supposedly disliked.

"It was wonderful. All eggs hatched, which was a blessing." Any color surviving should be a blessing, though she was sure he asked only because now, more than ever, the Golds looked so important. "We did have a Queen. A lovely large one, Cepheith. I believe someone mentioned that we had fewer mutations than usual, but since Halith's Hatching was my first Hatching, I wouldn't know that for sure." She paused, looking off into the distance, thoughtfully. Her mind dredged up their Clutch numbers through her memories of their many Weyrling lessons up to this point. "We had our Gold, a Bronze, a Brown, two Blues, and five-- I'm sorry, six Greens. And two Blacks, one of whom is present, of course."

Although I haven't seen his rider yet... Ceta thought, glancing over her shoulder briefly in a look for Z'iv before she returned her attention to F'itz.

"We heard tell of your twin Golds at Trine, as well as some rumors about high numbers of Bronzes as well. I suppose that the mystweed did work. Are the Golds healthy and strong?" She wouldn't mention them as runts, as that would be rude, but their small size was as concerning as the size of mutations, in her opinion. All small dragons needed to be carefully looked after.

Halith's bugle rang off the rocks as she performed a rather awkward barrel roll and then zipped over Aerith before turning dangerously sharply, nearly fouling her own wings, and zipping back under the White. She's coming, Cetalese! Oh, Cetalese is over there. Here, I'll show you. Halith was off like a shot. What she lacked in grace she would always have in speed.

She zipped over Cetalese and let out another cry. There she is! With Brumath's. Talking. She doesn't like to have fun the way we do. Right, Brumath?

Cetalese turned her eyes skyward, following Halith's path. Her demeanor was unruffled; if anything, it appeared to calm even more. Here was a situation she was familiar with. Halith. I have plenty of "fun" with you at Trine. Don't be cruel.

Halith's eyes immediately dulled and she looked contrite, warbling sorrowfully down at her rider. I didn't mean it that way, Cetalesemine. I didn't.

Shh, I know. Go explore. Make sure you remember a lot so you can share it with me later. Why are you looking for us?

Oh. I don't know. Aerith asked.

Cetalese immediately turned, knowing where the White had been before she joined her Green in the air. Aerith's rider would likely be looking for them. Ceta would have been curious about these foreign riders whose dragons wanted to play with her lifepartner if she were in Aerith's rider's boots, too.

Cetalese nodded as F'itz enlightened her to the status of the Queens' health, but the comment about the White's rider had her looking back to see if anyone in the pockets of visitors was going to turn and head their way. Cetalese was a bit curious herself, although more because this would be the first Malvren rider she had met (not to mention it was a first meeting with a stranger), and less because of what color she rode.

"Yes, it would be." Cetalese spied a woman heading their way and watched her approach until she was certain that the woman was, in fact, heading for them. As if that was a signal, Halith broke off her circular path and headed back towards Brumath.

Okay! Let's go! Her duty done, Halith was fully fixated on getting out of the weyr, and she shot off, turning the adventure into a race at the first get go. First one to the jungle is the winner!

"Not at all. It's nice to have more company," Cetalese replied, smiling in return. "I'm Cetalese, rider of Green Halith. I do hope Halith didn't disturb you." They really needed to work on her manners, but sometimes Cetalese got the niggling feeling that it might be a lost cause.

Still, her boisterous nature had given Cetalese an excuse to meet with not one, but two other weyrs. The Weyrs Trine was so at odds with, true, but where better to start building bridges. It seemed as if a lot of trouble was coming from keeping the weyrs at odds. Perhaps that was what the weyrleaders were discussing. Maybe they had realized that the worst thing for the weyrs would be to turn on one another. Cetalese hoped they could come up with a strategy that would best serve all the weyrs and not just one or two.

We're just in the polite stages now, but it wouldn't do to assume that these riders think poorly of Trine just because of the recent tragedies. If we all take things as they come, we might surprise ourselves with how friendly we all can be, and working together can only increase our odds of discovering what's going on.

Cetalese glanced between Mercy and F'itz as F'itz introduced himself to the Whiterider. Would these two riders, older than her with at least a few Turns more experience at dragonriding, be as optimistic about their odds as she was?