N'mol reappeared at the clearing from between and instructed Tyeth to set down in the clear area near the forest's edge. It was apparent from the other riders tramping into the woods where the hatchlings and their guard had taken shelter. N'mol unstrapped himself, double-checked to make sure all of his Benden riders had made it, and then slipped off of Tyeth's back. He had stayed until all others had gone, making sure none of the handlers left unconscious on the ground were stirring and that all dragons had made it between before he allowed himself to follow them.
Kindra?
Suunath's is with the Trine Wingleader, straight ahead. She is still unconscious, but stirring.
N'mol headed straight into the woods, removing his riding helmet as he went, and found the now quite-large group of refugees from Trine and Benden. His eyes scanned the assembled group and he spotted Cetalese and Eliza speaking to D'lin. N'mol made his way over to them, and sure enough, there was Kindra. D'lin was occupied; he would distract him with more news of this conflict after he'd had a chance to wake up-- and after N'mol had had a chance to speak to Kindra.
He carefully knelt beside her, looking her over for her obvious injuries. They had been patched with an inexpert hand, but they were patched. He would have to remember to see if the handler had survived as well; she was on their side and as long as she stayed that way he would owe her a great deal of gratitude, at least enough to check in on her. For now, Kindra took all of his attention, as she was quite clearly stirring.
He waited a few moments for her to wake, reaching out to run a hand over her hair instinctively. He felt his stomach tighten as he remembered how close she had come to dying-- several times. He had told her to stay back!
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Kindra stirred at the touch, bringing her hands up to rub at her eyes and stretching.... until she yelped at the pain in her leg from the wher bite that had finally taken her down. "Dammit" she cursed, "Where am i?" she mumbled to herself as she sat up and looked around, noticing N'mol kneeling by the makeshift bed "N'mol!... " she winced again, this time it was her side, shallow scratches but enough to sting "Who hit me with a dragon?" she said, rubbing her eyes a final time, her head a little fuzzy but that was due mostly to waking up other than anything else.
The aggressive Wherhandler and her Wher knocked you out Mine but i took care of the Wher for you after it bit you but i could not get close enough to stop the woman, said Suunath who moved to sit beside Tyeth. One of the Greens from this Weyr brought you somehwere safe but you did not wake up, it appears you needed the sleep.
Kindra groaned, looking at her leg but she didn't dare take the bandage off to see what the Wher had done to her, she knew her face was bruised and that annoyed her just as badly.
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N'mol stared at Kindra as she awoke with her usual temperament and careless attitude. He felt the stomach clenching and a rush of anger, but he blinked and kept it off of his face as Kindra tried to get her bearings. It would do no use to yell at her, even if N'mol was prone to those sorts of outbursts (which he wasn't). In fact, trying to fight with her would only earn him her stubborn disregard of his counsel, and they could not afford for her to ignore him again.
"I distinctly remember suggesting that you stay back, not get into a fistfight with a handler and her full-grown wher," N'mol said very quietly. In part, that was to keep anyone from overhearing the conversation. The other part was keeping him from getting angry with her again. He knew who Kindra was; she wouldn't back down from a fight, whether she was the one who engaged it or not. That she couldn't see that she was far more valuable to them safe and alive wouldn't have crossed her mind.
His gaze was direct on her still sleep-fogged one, his face serious, but showing nothing else. He spoke before Kindra could get a word in and build herself a defense, because if she did that the conversation would be lost. "I know you want to save Trine as much I do. I know you aren't the type to back down from a fight, and I can't and won't yell at you for defending yourself from Dinah. But have you considered why I asked you to wait at the beach for us instead of dropping yourself into the middle of a fight? This was why." His blue gaze was intense, but his body was eerily still, not even wobbling, though he was down on one knee. It seemed as if everything he was saying was pivotal, as if every cell was focused on Kindra and his speech alone. "You were almost killed, Kindra. Even if we had brought you back from death, Suunath would have betweened and we would have lost our only Benden Gold. Kheth hasn't shown up. We don't know if she even made it out of the weyr. We would have lost you, one way or another." N'mol's jaw clenched faintly for a moment, but whatever thought had made the involuntary reaction occur, N'mol seemed to power through it. "You have a responsibility to keep yourself safe. For your dragon and your weyr. You can't be that reckless again."
What would we do without you? N'mol brushed aside his internal thoughts so he could focus on keeping the upper hand in the conversation. The 'we' there could have meant Benden as a weyr. That was the angle he was using in his chastisement. But N'mol knew it ran much deeper than that and decided not to acknowledge it. Not now. Considering his and Tyeth's personal investment in Kindra was... not appropriate for the fight. There were bigger concerns now, and Kindra had to be focused on being a Weyrwoman for the duration of their stay at Trine, not a brawler.
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Kindra mumbled something incoherant at his comment "You seem to forget.... I didn't start a fight with HER, she jumped me from behind.... her AND her sharding Wher," she replied, somewhat huffily when he let her speak again. She'd bitten her lip when he reminded her she could have lost Suunath.
I won't leave you, Mine, I am here.
Kindra sighed, "I'm sorry N'mol... but I wasn't going to sit behind and wait around for something to MAYBE happen" she rubbed her face "If WE don't show them that Benden isn't going to sit around and do nothing.. who WILL?..... there were so few of our dragons there...."
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"Except it did happen," N'mol replied. "As a Goldrider you have the ability to do things we, as regular riders, can't. You and Narisa didn't need to get involved personally and risk yourselves." He would leave Trine's junior Weyrwoman to D'lin, if he saw fit to speak with her once he found out what she'd done. That wasn't his place. Kindra, though, was his Queenrider and his responsibility. No one looked out for her quite the way N'mol did, and they both liked it that way.
"Your Golds command respect where dragons are concerned, but when you're dealing with whers it makes you a target. I'm not asking you not to fight at all. I'm asking you to find another way to do it. You are just as capable of leading and offering support on Suunath's back as you are in the middle of the fighting." He smiled faintly, but there was pain in his eyes as he added, "Probably more so."
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Kindra shifted, swinging her legs out of the makeshift cot. "I know N'mol.... i know...." She COULD have gone for the Wherhandler but until the b***h had turned on Kindra, she'd ignored the woman. "I've just had enough of doing nothing while everyone else around me ... well THEY get to do things" she grumbled "YOU of all people should know how it was for me... being on constant watch after Impressing Suunath" She looked for her Dragon, saw her perched next to Tyeth and smiled a little. "N'mol... " she bit back a sarcastic remark when she saw the hurt in his face and she reached for his hand "Get up ... you don't need to kneel... and i want to get to Suunath... so come help me" she said with a light, humorless chuckle.
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It was going to take work to get Kindra to the point of seeing things from other people's perspectives, but N'mol noticed that as time passed, she was slowly working her way to getting there, and that would benefit her as Weyrwoman. There was no doubt in N'mol's mind that she would be one someday; it was just a matter of getting there.
Her half-demand prompted an instinctive smile in return, and he stood and reached out. However, rather than taking the offered hand he put his arm around her back and slipped the other one under her legs. He hadn't run errands all over the weyr for Turns for no reason; he'd needed the strength as a dragonrider, and it made this task relatively easy as well.
"Until you get a real healer, you are not walking on that leg. I'll take you, but from now on you're staying on Suunath if you want to come to a fight, unless you have no option but to get down. Any pressure on that wound is only going to open it again and you can't lose anymore blood."
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Kindra struggled when he grabbed her waist then under her legs, she went so far as to mock punch his shoulder "They're doing their best N'mol" she sighed, resigning herself to allowing it. "I doubt Suunath is going to let me... strangely i remember strange noises" (Sleeth's singing.. lol)
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The lack of force behind Kindra's punch told N'mol that Kindra's anger-- had there been any, since he'd only seen signs of frustration as they spoke-- was long gone.
"I know they're trying. We're all stepping outside what is usual for us and doing the best we can with it," N'mol replied, feeling something tight in him uncurl as they slipped into their usual conversational tones. He shifted his grip slightly on Kindra and hefted her slightly higher into his arms, grateful that he had had to button his jacket for the trip between. He wasn't sure how they would have felt about her being pressed against his bare chest, but the very thought sent a sharp flash of heat through him. He counseled himself to focus as Tyeth turned from his conversation with Suunath to watch them approach.
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Kindra held onto N'mol when he shifted her into a 'safer' position for carrying her, he must have been ready for a struggle as until he shifted her higher, his grip was fairly loose. Stubborn and independant as Kindra usually was, she kind of enjoyed the attention. She tried to hide her slightly bashful smile behind her hair, pulling her hand up as if she was moving it out of her face. "Did you get hurt?" she asked him. Not bothering to ask about the Wherhandler, Suunath told her the Wher was dead... hopefully the woman would go and jump off a cliff or something.
Suunath watched their approach and rumbled in an amused tone, glad at the happy feelings coming from Hers and commenting to Tyeth on it as if conspiring.
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N'mol had forgotten his own bruises, but they were nothing compared to the injuries some of the others had sustained. "No." Eventually he expected a bump to form from Agrin's headbutt that would belie that, but he really was one of the least injured. No sense in gving her a way to turn the tables on him.
He settled her very carefully next to Suunath. "I have to speak with D'lin about our next move. If you need a hand into your riding straps, have Suunath bespeak Tyeth. I'll be right over."
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Kindra got herself comfy when he set her down, stubbornly using her good leg to sit backwards "Hey N'mol.... don't you lie to me.. you come back here after you've spoken to D'lin and i'll put some Numbweed on you" she said.."if we have any"
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N'mol met her eyes at her chastisement, but the order made him swallow slightly. Judging from her face, she didn't realize that she had said anything particularly shameful, but N'mol's eyes dipped to her mouth before he nodded.
"It's nothing bad enough for Numbweed, but I'll return when D'lin and I are done. Honestly, have Suunath bespeak Tyeth if you need me," he instructed, then turned and briskly strode toward D'lin, as if driving distance between him and his thoughts. He swallowed again on the walk over and steeled his backbone. He and D'lin were going to have to decide what their next move was. They could try to drive the handlers to the beach still, but it might mean splitting their already small group into smaller parts to hit several parts of the weyr at once. They just had to hope that they had enough allies inside the weyr to bolster their numbers and send the revolutionaries running.
Dragonflight: An Alternative Pern (Old Guild)
A B/C Pern Roleplay
