Welcome to Gaia! ::

E'lai heard the trumpet of another dragon, and Eltimioth's head swerved towards the sound. Another green and her rider are touching down, it sounds like, Eltimioth reported.

I suppose it's good manners to go greet them, E'lai offered. They probably weren't from Trine, or Eltimioth would have mentioned them by name. Still, all the weyrs were searching around Malvren and Trine, so it wasn't unusual that a lot of unfamiliar dragons were flying around as of late. Besides, we're not finding anything here anyway.

True enough, Eltimioth said, disgruntled that the plant they'd thought perhaps might be the elusive weed had proved to be something else entirely. Ho! she called out, broadcasting on a wide mental band to the green they'd heard.

Taith and Keela of Benden Weyr, Eltimioth relayed to her rider with a mental hiss. Benden riders, on their weyr's lands! Her eyes whirled orange at the mere thought of it.

We've already hailed them, E'lai admitted with a sigh. If he'd known it was a Benden green, he probably wouldn't have bothered. But they have a... He hesitated to say "right" but that wasn't quite the word. They have permission to be here, he settled for instead. Tell them who we are, we might as well exchange pleasantries. And perhaps he could keep an eye on them to see if they came up with anything worth taking back to their weyr? He was sure the weyrleaders would appreciate being kept informed on if Benden was managing to acquire the weed.

Very well. Eltimioth sounded resigned. She wasn't going to enjoy this...

Given Taith's reply, Eltimioth had argued for going to meet them before speaking again, to which E'lai had reluctantly agreed. It wasn't that large of an area, and heading back into the air helped them find the large green all the easier, and they landed within sight of the other pair, just barely within shouting range for the two humans. Eltimioth and E'lai of Trine Weyr show themselves, the smaller green said haughtily as she tucked her wings shut, her rider dismounting.

"No more so than Eltimioth, I assure you," E'lai called in reply, mildly apologetic. She had been broadcasting loudly early and he wouldn't be surprised if she'd spoken to Keela in the process. It was a habit of the green's that had caused some trouble in the past... "Well met to you, Rider Keela, and your Taith as well." That was a rather sizeable green dragon she had there...

Bulky and ugly, Eltimioth muttered darkly to her rider. E'lai sighed.

Though she may not be as attractive as you, please don't go around insulting her, all right? You don't need to start a fight. He was quite sure the 'no fights' rule from when Benden was last visiting Trine still applied, and punishments from above would no doubt be swift and severe.

Eltimioth did not answer as she lifted her head high. The other green may have been bigger but that did not mean better. The other dragon colors were built for such things; the purpose of greens was to be light and speedy. And Eltimioth was definitely the better looking of the two greens. But everything in Trine was better than in Benden; why else would Benden have to come to Trine to get their precious weeds?

E'lai nodded in agreement and set about to surveying their new area for the elusive Mystweed. Combing the ground was slow, tedious work, and all too often a promising bit of leaf proved to be something completely different. Looks like nothing once again...

A golden flit burst out of between and landed on Eltimioth's head, chittering angrily. How dare the green one leave her behind? Eltimioth may have been a big dragon, but Kirel was a gold, albeit a firelizard, but the flit saw no reason why Eltimioth shouldn't obey her regardless. E'lai winced and sent calming thoughts at the gold, who trilled happily catching sight of Her E'lai, and dove from the green's head to land on his shoulder. "Sorry we left you behind," he told the gold apologetically, stroking her tiny headknobs. Kirel chirped and snuggled in around E'lai's neck for the long haul.

You don't need to apologize to the tiny mad one either, Eltimioth muttered darkly.

Her ego is larger than her size, Eltimioth replied stiffly, suspecting that this might very much be the case with the Benden green as well.

Kirel trilled to her friend, sending a feeling of apology. When she realized E'lai and Eltimioth had left without her, she'd been so angry she'd left to find them straightaway. She was glad that Ruby had come along though.

"Ah, just the gold. The crimson belongs to a friend," E'lai said, hoping that S'ren wouldn't mind too much. Still, the Benden greenrider seemed curious, not condemning, and he was puzzled by her comment. Crimsons, everywhere? "I didn't think there were crimsons to be found elsewhere but the new Weyrs," he said, hedging his words carefully. Ah, hadn't Benden had a Hatching recently? But--no--they couldn't...could they?

One might say it is their prerogative, Eltimioth said, though a hint of disagreement with her own statement snuck into her mental tone. Yes, the golds were born to lead, but that didn't mean they had to rub everyone's faces in it. That younger gold at Trine, the tiny one, she was somewhat different than the average gold. Eltimioth approved.

Kirel agreed; and what a fun thing they had stumbled into! It seemed there was some kind of tension in the air, but it wasn't quite a bad one. E'lai was very curious about something.

"My friend's timing was impeccable," he said with a nonchalant shrug, wishing the Benden greenrider would be more straightforward. But he couldn't ask specifically without being completely obvious to his motive. "Yes, two crimsons at our last double Hatching," he said, choosing his words carefully again. Double Hatching--when was the last time Benden had been able to boast of one of those? And a queen along with those two crimsons. "And Benden had a Hatching recently--how did that fare?" he asked politely. He expected her to dodge his question, but he might get lucky.

Eltimioth did not approve of this sneaking around, especially not if juicy gossip was to be had. Remembering that Taith had not approved of Eltimioth's speaking directly to Taith's rider and also E'lai had warned not cause to a fuss, Eltimioth addressed her remarks for Taith alone. So, has Benden acquired a crimson of their own? They could still be breeding dragons, and Eltimioth was inclined to think, in their situation, surely one breeding dragon was better than no breeding dragons, since they could not have a queen without this Mystweed.

Music sounded like fun, Kirel thought. E'lai did not even try. But there was another greenrider who tried to coax the firelizards into trilling in unison. She was fun!

"Congratulations to your Weyr on a successful Hatching," E'lai said politely. He was already holding a pleasant mask on his face to keep from showing his curiosity--one that came in handy when Eltimioth smugly relayed him the news she'd gleaned from the Benden green. He managed to look not entirely sledgehammered in the head, only briefly surprised before his face smoothed over again into neutrality. They--what?!

Impressed in the egg and her new rider broke her free, Eltimioth continued breezily to E'lai, pleased to have gotten hold of such interesting gossip. Benden with a crimson!

E'lai wondered if "serves them right" was the proper expression to use here. At least if they ruined one of their own, it would be apparent the Old Weyrs were really good for nothing. Dragons were too precious a resource to waste, and since the distasteful task of breaking free of the egg had already occurred, surely their hidebound attitudes would be forced to re-evaluate their positions. If not, Benden's crimson would surely be welcome at Malvren or Trine.