Storm's End (Hatching Feast)

[Kitsuneko]

He wanted to kill someone. Poison wasn't good enough anymore, it wouldn't satisfy the rage inside of him when he wanted to rip someone apart with his bare hands. It wasn't fair! For turns and turns he'd watched other people stand on the sands and walk away with dragons, but not him. Never him. Every time that joy was denied him, and he was right back where he started, never given a chance to advance.
It was time he got out of here. Past time, really. He probably should have left as soon as the ban on travel was lifted, but no. He'd stayed, if only for the sake of the eggs on the sand. And where had that gotten him? Nowhere. Damn his luck! If only he'd been more careful...the whole Feast fiasco had been the result of an accident--he'd had fireroot in his pockets, but he didn't realize any of it had gotten into the soup. Not until it was too late to take it back. And after what he'd done to Kolyka, he couldn't very well tell them who was behind it. That hadn't been an accident.
Now there wasn't anything left to keep him here. It was time to leave. Besides, he thought there were one or two people who were getting suspicious of him. They might start pointing fingers at him soon; all the more reason to get out while he could. He'd already gathered all his things, and with everyone busy at the feast, nobody would even notice he was gone. He called for his fire lizard and went for the exit, but a voice stopped him in his tracks. "Going somewhere, murderer?"

--------------------------------

The Hatching Feast in honor of Marquitth's clutch was not as large or extravagent as the last had been, nor were there as many guests. The long enforced stay the past month had severely damaged the Weyr's relations with many of the Holds, and it would probably be a long time before many of the Lords and crafters would visit the Weyr for feasts and gathers. Sitka just hoped enough would allow them to Search that they would be able to find enough candidates for future clutches.
With everybody still watchful for poisoning attempts, a constant guard had been put on watch while the cooks worked, and soup of any kind was conspicuously absent from the menu. Sitka looked around, nodding and waving to those she knew, but it soon became obvious a few people were missing. Where was the Weyrhealer? All the patients had fully recovered by now; even Lord Kalgar, who had made an appearance at the Feast before he prepared to go back to Southern Hold. There should not have been any reason for the healer to miss the feast. It seemed one or two of the candidates had chosen to skip the feast as well; that wasn't so odd, but still, it gave Sitka a bad feeling...

(OOC: Nothing suspicious going on quite yet, just a few people missing from the feast. Once a few people reply, the rest of the plot will be revealed.)

[Akira]

A'lik frowned as he glanced around him at the people that had showed up at the feast. A lot of people had left as soon as they had heard that the ban had been lifted, and he wondered just exactly how many people would attened the hatching feast. Midori crooned affectionately to Hers, and was actually enjoying the recent decline of people in the Weyr. It meant that Hers had more time to spend taking care of her, and less time worrying about other people.

A'lik reached up to his shoulder, where his green firelizard was sitting with her tail wrapped around his neck, and scratched the female's chin. I'm sure there will be plenty of people attending A'likMine. A'lik nodded his head at his dragon's words, and started wondering if Cassondra would be attending, and at the thought of the green rider, he could feel his dragon crooning, and wondered if the large brown was actually with the green now.

[Night]

Freya walked into the feast, she didn't exactly want to go, but her friends were here as was her "brother." She needed to make amends with Tai'n, they hadn't even talked in a long few sevendays. The girl pushed her hair back out of her face, she hadn't bothered to do anything with it, deciding to just leave it down. As she had kept her hair simple, she had also just thrown on a tunic and thin pants. It was dark purple, a color at least that complimented her well, but it showed that she wasn't here to show off or look nice. Not that she normally thought specifically of that. Thor and Tala crooned from her back and shoulder, for once getting along since they had to work together to shield Theirs from that morning's rain.

Reaching up to pet the bronze and brown, Freya smiled slightly. She was happy to have them with her, even if she didn't have a dragon yet. Or at all, the fact was, she needed to consider that she may never have one. A turn and a half and she'd be old enough to age out. That time would fly by, but at least Greens flew more often than Golds. Maybe the frequency would help matters. After all, one more hatching then it would only be a matter of months till the next one. In the mean time she'd work on being the best she could. Perhaps it was her attitude that kept her from a dragon...yes perhaps.

Looking around for Shenzi or Tor, or Tai'n even, Freya sighed. She found her "brother" at least. His blue at his feet resting. Walking over, she picked her way through the crowd. Would he want to talk to her? Would he still ca.... "FREYA!" Tai'n rushed over to her and held her in a tight hug. "I was starting to wonder when you'd forgive me!" The boy hugged his "sister" one last time before letting go. Did she hear that right? She was to forgive him? " I thought you were made at me though Tai!" Exclaiming her fear, the girl widened her eyes. Both flits on her body hissed slightly at her sudden movements and righted themselves, sniffing curiously at Tai's blues.

Magpie was busy nearby looking for pretties to steal, Skye was looked around similarly but for a green to flirt with. Or perhaps one of those new colors. Braith meanwhile looked up at Freya and crooned. It is nice to meet Mine's sister finally. The blue dipped his head in greeting, flicking his wings as he did so. Tai smiled as Freya tensed. The dragonet's mind in hers wasn't like any of the other dragons. It was younger, and newer...hard to explain really. Freya wondered again what it would be like to have her own dragon talking to her, but then shook herself mentally. No, she was happy for Tai'n. She honestly was, and that made her glow with pride.

"It's nice to meet you finally too."

--

Zorasn had gotten to the feast a bit early and was sitting, Chevalier in his lap, Shadow by his side. The bronze looked around, puffing up slightly as people passed. Wanting to laugh, the candidate forced it back as the flit hissed at him. He wouldn't dare! "You want to bet?" The young man whispered back. His voice held a challenge, but was also filled with love for his bronze. Shadow meanwhile huffed and whined slightly. She could tell something was wrong, hear it too. Someone...someone was upset. For what reason though she didn't know. Moving away from her master, the large canine sniffed around following her ears to wherever the voice was coming from.

[alyx]

N'var was a little wary of going to the Hatching Feast, especially how the last turned out. But seeing as he was a Weyrling of this Clutch, it wasn't like he could simply seek away and avoid it. He did know one thing he was going to: avoid the soup.

'Why mine?' N'var looked over at Atuinth, trying not to laugh at the Green's new headwear of Dorian's Klah colored form. Iota still wasn't sure of the new Green gray member of their family, but she had decided that the Green's back was the best place to spend the rest of the day's events. "Nothing, Atuinth - don't worry too much about it. You ready?" 'Yes yes, I am.' N'var reached over, scratching the spot just under her chin before the new pairing headed to the Feast.

They slipped in as quietly as they could; not a easy feat with a Green hatchling in tow. Atuinth chirped greetings to those around her, N'var simply ghosting at her side for the time being. He couldn't help but be a little.... nervous.

"Navir!" The boy spun on a heel just in time to be hit full in the chest by the little blond. Arms around his waist, Atuinth turned and looked at the girl, unsure who she was or how to react. N'var was puzzled, looking at the girl blankly for a moment before he realized.

"Ris?" Risrryn leaned back, eyes sparkling up at her brother as he finally realized who it was and returned the hug. " What are you doing here?" The girl giggled, practically bouncing in his grip. It was clear who she was for the family resemblance between the pair pretty evident to anyone that cared to look. "I got Searched. I'm a candidate - I get the chance to be a dragonrider."

[Zara]

Cassondra was not sure she wanted to come to this feast. Not after what happened last time. If this poisoner had, indeed, targeted the previous Weyrwomen, what was to keep him from targeting not just the Weyrleader, but the rider's of the clutching Greens? To stop him from attacking the Candidates who had newly Impressed? And what of Amaranth and her Rider? Would he go so far as to attack them? She hoped not. She wanted this man caught. And fast. She smoothed her blue-gray dress and pushed her curly blonde hair, which she had worn down today, behind her shoulders, which were ornamented by a rather wide square neck with gold trim.

She was weaving her way through the crowd, greeting those she knew and congratulating the new Weyrlings. She spotted Sitka, though she was some distance away, and gave her a dubious smile. She was not entirely confident over all of this, but she would not let on. She couldn't. It wasn't right. Well... She supposed she should go find her weyrmate about now... If she could find him.

He is there, Mine...[/color] The Green was becoming very egg heavy, even now. Cass, of course, was starting to worry, always wary of when Hasth's clutching might happen. When it did, she was almost positive she would have to stay on the sands with the green... But, she supposed you never really knew...

Cass spotted A'lik a short distance away. But she didn't want to just walk up and talk to him. No... She wanted to do something a little more fun. She circled around, trying to stay out of his sight, and walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle. "Well, handsome... you looking for someone?" she asked him flirtatiously. This was definitely more fun.

---

Banalii looked at her new little Green. Every time she looked at Taffyth... She felt an overwhelming love. She was the most wonderful dragon there ever was or ever could be. Of course, her young Il didn't much care for her, but Taffyth seemed to be able to deal with the flitter quite roundly.

Are we going yet, BanaliiMine? The green was laying, looking up at her Rider who was braiding her hair back. She tied off the braid and smiled. "Yes, yes we are, Taffyth. Come now..." She started walking. Taffyth was a little difficult, Banalii had found. She was so much like her. So willing to do anything, even get into trouble, in order to help others. It was a little bit... troublesome.

---

Jaysarrae walked into the dining hall, her green not with her, but her blue sitting on her shoulder, tail wrapped around her neck. Yep. He was something else sometimes, the little thing hiding from some people. The girl with the large black birthmark seemed to try to fade into the background. She soon approached a table with food, deciding that, if she were going to try to spend this time alone, she might as well get herself some food. She was starting to wonder if the dragon hadn't made a mistake in searching her... But, then again, she was sure that she would be proved wrong soon...

---

((Will post the others soon!))

[tariala]

Jrolann could hardly miss the feast for her own dragon's hatchlings- four healthy, normal dragons. She knew it was smaller and less well attended than the last had been, but that was alright. Well, not alright from the point of view that the Weyr likely had a lot of work to do to repair their good will with those affected. But neither Jrolann nor Marquitth had a huge ego and both figured that fewer people just meant less need to fuss over anything except the new weyrlings.The greenrider circulated among the crowd, taking care of what social obligations were expected of the clutchmother's rider.

She just hoped it ended better than the last feast.
********************************

Lingering signs of Lord Akand's displeasure were apparent in the presence of his Heir, Dakis, at the Hatching instead of the Lord himself. Akand had tried to give the Weyr the benefit of the doubt, but their general ineffectualness in catching the saboteur had left him irritable and disgusted.

Still, the fact that Arnus had sent a representative at all was probably a good sign in itself.

[Kitsuneko]

She ate and waved and chatted for awhile, but Sitka found it difficult to hide her unease. The Weyrhealer was still missing, and she noticed one of the unImpressed candidates had not shown up either. Berengar was his name, she remembered after a moment of thought. He'd been standing for a long time, but had yet to attract a dragon. Normally she would have seen his blue fire lizard flying around even if his owner had skipped, but neither candidate nor flitter were anywhere to be seen. It made her uneasy.

She quickly finished her meal and then excused herself from the feast. Sitka went to the Infirmary--if the healer wasn't at the feast, he'd most likely be in his office there. A strange smell was in the air when she stepped inside, but it wasn't until she saw the healer's private office that she recognized it as the scent of blood.

There was a body in the Weyrhealer's office. She couldn't see exactly who it was at first, with the angle it was laying at, but as she crept closer, she recognized the Weyrhealer, despite the copious amounts of blood. Someone had stabbed him in the throat, and not very long ago by the looks of things, even if Sitka wasn't an expert at this sort of thing. One hand went to cover her mouth as she turned away from the ghastly sight. Wapitith, tell--She stopped in mid-thought. Should she alert the whole Weyr? The news might throw the already wary population into a panic, and besides, the killer was surely still nearby. Such an upset would no doubt alert the killer that he or she had been discovered, and it would be laughably easy for them to disappear into the crowds.

She didn't like the idea of keeping something like this from her people...but did she have a choice, if it would help them catch the murderer? Wapitith, she reached out for her dragon again.

What's wrong? Are you hurt? The green fretted, worry plain in her thoughts. She hadn't overheard everything her rider had discovered, but she knew something was very wrong.

I'm fine, Sitka replied firmly. Listen, tell Cherith to tell L'cal and no one else that the Weyrhealer has been murdered. I think it was the same person who poisoned Kolyka and the Hatching Feast. Faranth, she hoped so; otherwise they had two bloodthirsty criminals loose.

There was a short pause, and then, Cherith says L'cal will be there soon.

Good, she replied. Now contact Marquitth and Hasth, and the Wingleaders' dragons as well I suppose, and have them tell their riders to be on the lookout for people acting suspiciously or sneaking around where they shouldn't be. You better contact whoever's on watch duty as well; tell them to stop anyone trying to leave the Weyr, whether on foot or dragonback. She didn't know how they could stop the killer if it turned out it was a dragonrider--how did you capture someone with a dragon that could go between whenever they wished? But she didn't know what else to do.

-------------------------------------

A steady stream of expletives flew from Berengar's mouth under his breath as he strode the the halls of Alietran Weyr. At this hour, they were mostly deserted, with everyone else busy at the feast. Semi creeled and whined worriedly as he clung to Berengar's shoulder. He hadn't liked the way his human had felt since the beginning of the feast. He also liked it at Alietran and didn't want to leave, but Berengar had already made up his mind.

It wasn't like he'd wanted to kill the Weyrhealer! That hadn't been part of his plan at all. But the man had discovered his secret somehow. Berengar didn't even know how; he must have gotten sloppy somehow. He'd been getting sloppy ever since the last hatching feast when the fireroot he'd collected earlier that day fell into the soup he was tending. He had tried to at least get rid of Lord Kalgar in the process by giving him an extra dose, but even that hadn't worked correctly. The wretched man just wouldn't die.

It wasn't fair, he wanted to shout. He hadn't meant to kill anyone this time, he just wanted to get away from Alietran. But that healer stopped him, and then Berengar realized he would have to be dealt with. He'd given in easily enough, pretending to be cowed by the man's greater size, until they were alone in his office. Then Berengar saw his chance, and took it, with the knife he kept on his belt.

The whole business was a lot messier than he intended, but there was nothing he could do about it now. His clothing was all dark, as he had shed his white candidate's robe directly after the hatching ended, and with night quickly falling, hopefully nobody would notice the bloodstains, as long as they didn't get too close. He just had to get to the Weyrbowl, and then sneak past the pair on watch, and he would be free. It couldn't be that hard.


(OOC: Of course, there's no reason things should go exactly according to plan. Anyone is free to play the watchpair currently on duty if they want, but even if your character wasn't specifically contacted by Wapitith, there's no reason they can't stumble across events. Sitka and L'cal are loitering suspiciously outside the Infirmary, and Berengar is currently in the Weyrbowl trying not to be seen. Someone should catch him before he escapes; I don't want to do all the work. XP)

[Akira]

A'lik smiled when he felt someone come up behind him, and ask if he was looking for someone, thankfully, he recognized the voice. Otherwise, he might have done something he would regret. Why, yes I am. Maybe you've seen her. She is beautifully tall, and slim. She has pale skin, and a wonderful heart shaped face, and she has the most beautiful blue eyes this world has ever seen. He lifted a hand up, and took one of the hands covering his eyes, and kissed it gently, but he didn't turn around, he wanted her to decide when she showed herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira didn't want to go to the feast, but Amaranth hadn't wanted to stay in their room. So the two of them were walking through the Weyrbowl. Akira paused slightly when she saw someone else, but then she quickly realized who it was. Greetings Berengar. She sighed as she approached him. He was the only person, besides Tai'n and Freya that she had let near her, and she considered the candidate a friend. You seem upset, is everything alright? It was dark, and she couldn't really see him all that well in the dim lighting.

Akiramine, something isn't right. I smell blood. Akira put her right hand on her dragon's neck, but made sure to keep the garnet dragoness' words to herself. She wasn't sure who's blood it was, for all she knew it could be Berengar's. She didn't want to take any chances though, and wished someone would see them. Milo go get Sitka. The blue firelizard crooned before popping between to the feast. He flew around a bit, but when he didn't see the woman His wanted, he flew off in the direction of the infirmary.

((OOC: I hope this is ok, if not, just let me know and I'll edit it.))

[Zara]

"Oh... Are you sure that's who you're looking for?" she teased grinning as she felt him kiss her hand, almost giggling slightly. "I think I may have saw someone kind of like that in the mirror earlier... though... I'm not sure she is quite as lovely as you may have made her out to be." With that she came around him, gliding her hand across his shoulders and his shoulder. She grinned again and stretched up, wrapping her free hand around the back of his neck and gently pulling his face to hers as she kissed him. "But if you say so." She brushed a stray lock of hair back from her forehead, her cheeks a slight rosy color.

And that was when Hasth stood, giving a message from Sitka to Hers. "A'lik..." She looked around worriedly then tried her very best to compose herself as she gave a flirtatious smile to her weyrmate, but there was something of a tense-ness about the way she moved and looked around, as though on high alert. Tell Wapitith to inform Sitka that we are on the lookout and if she needs anything else, we would be happy to assist.

She could feel the affirmative from her dragon, though she did not say anything. The bright green was laying, curled up on the ledge of the weyr of her mate and Hersmate. She had not been leaving quite as often as time progressed after her Flight.

[Kitsuneko]

He stopped when he heard someone call out to him, and Berengar bit back another stream of profanity. He turned around just enough to see who it was that had spotted him, hoping to hide the bloodstains on his clothes. It was Akira, the rider of the garnet weyrling. They'd talked in the past and even gotten fairly friendly with each other, but this was still terrible timing.

"What do you want?" he snapped, and immediately regretted it. That would just make her suspicious. He smiled grimly, pressing his back against the nearest wall. "Sorry, I'm just...upset. About not Impressing, you know." It was a reasonable excuse, given the circumstances, and one he was sure would not raise any doubts. "I'm not in the best of moods right now. Don't let me bring you down, though. Why don't you go back inside and enjoy the feast?"

He dared not try leaving the Weyr with a witness there; it would look too suspicious. Hopefully she would take the hint and leave him alone. Otherwise, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He certainly didn't want to deal with a dragon, even a half-grown one.

--------------------------------------------------

Hasth was the first to report back, and Sitka nodded to herself as Wapitith relayed the other green's message. "That's good," she murmured. Hopefully they'd receive more news soon.

And indeed they did, though not necessarily from the source either Sitka or L'cal were expecting. A fire lizard flew through the halls from the direction of the dining hall, apparently heading for the Infirmary. It was a blue, and L'cal scowled as it stopped at the two of them. "Whose is that thing, and what does it want?"

"I think it's Akira's," Sitka told him, and she held out her arm in an attempt to coax the blue onto it. "What's wrong, little one?" She looked at Milo, but the flitter didn't seem to be holding any sort of note. She frowned. He'd seemed to come from the feast. Was there something going on in there?

[Zen]

The newly named R’zon did not find the idea of attending the feast at all appealing; however Hortonth was ever so curious about it and wanted to meet all the people who were supposed to be there. R’zon sort of regretted telling him that there were usually lost of peoples at feasts. To him that was a reason to stay away, but to Hortonth it was all the more reason to go.

With a sigh he half led his new dragon to the feast, unable to deny the eager little Blue, who found it hard to stay by his lifemate’s side rather than rush ahead and explore. His Brown flit Shadow lay curled around his neck, mostly hidden by the collar of His’ shirt. He may seem to be asleep at times but his little multifaceted eyes missed nothing. Hortonth had been immensely curious about Shadow while Shadow had observed the much larger Blue from afar with some interest.

Can’t we hurry, mine? I don’t want to miss anything! What if something wonderful happens and we’re not there to see it? Will something wonderful happen at the feast? The Blue turned his gaze up to R’zon for answers.

“Something wonderful…?” he thought of the last feast where quite the opposite had happened. He shrugged, “I don’t know, Hortonth. We’ll just have to find out.”

The little Blue huffed impatiently, Then can we please hurry, mine?

He smiled in the slightest as they entered the Dining Hall, “We’re here, you silly thing.” Hortonth scampered off immediately toward the nearest person and R’zon, with a rather shocked look on his face at the hatchling’s speed, chased after him.

~

A’zael was already at the feast, drinking and flirting, his two favorite things. He knew Fath was having a good old time chatting up any dragon that would listen, but that was nothing special, he always did that. He'd also left Devi back in his weyr where she was fast asleep. He had had a few drinks already and was feeling just a little tipsy, but he didn’t plan on stopping of his own accord. He did not drink to excess often, only on special occasions, and this was special, hatchings were always special.

He had been rather disappointed at how few guests were attending this one, not that he could really blame them, but the holder girls were also so easy to Impress. He was a Bronzerider and though he didn’t flaunt that within the Weyr (he didn’t think Bronzes were any better than any other color himself), holderfolk seemed to think it was a much more impressive accomplishment than being a Blue or Green rider. He thought them rather narrow-minded, but that was holderfolk for you. When he was drunk he didn’t much care what they thought of Blues and Greens or even Bronzes.

However, pretty holder girls were not so numerous at this feast, though he’d found one who seemed a bit taken with him. One was enough. Eventually she asked if she might meet his great Bronze and he readily agreed, giving her his arm which she quickly took and leading her away, calling mentally for Fath. Fath was quite willing to oblige, he loved the chance to talk to someone new, or anyone at all really.

~

Talaria and Tanith were on watchrider duty. She’d actually requested it because she had no desire what-so-ever to attend the feast. She was not social and she didn’t want to get half poisoned like last time either, thank you very much. It hadn’t affected her very bad at all, but it had made her miserable enough to make sure to avoid it this time around.

She surveyed the goings on about the weyr, which was growing increasingly harder with her own eyes as the sky darkened, however Tanith’s eyes were still working quite well and she was able to see in the dark much better than her rider. The Green lifted her head slightly as she received Wapitith’s message. She actually pondered not telling Talaria at all. Her rider may have wanted to be on watch duty but SHE most certainly did not. Grudgingly, she growled softly and told her anyway, Wapitith says we are to stop anyone from leaving, either by dragon or on foot.

Talaria looked up at her dragon, What? Why? What’s happened? Has there been another poisoning?

Tanith shifted her wings slightly in the dragon equivalent of a shrug, I wasn’t told. You’d think there’d be a great deal more racket if there had, though.

She supposed her dragon was right, though she set her jaw in annoyance anyway. Something was going on… why weren’t they being told what?

I see someone….

She looked up again, watching Tanith’s gaze and trying to follow it but she could hardly make out anything at all at this point, Well?

Garnet Amaranth and hers are there, and someone else, I do not know who. Shall I ask Amaranth?

No, we’ll ask ourselves. I’m sick of not knowing what’s going on, she mounted Tanith and they took off without another word between them, landing a short distance from the three Tanith had seen. She dismounted quickly and strode toward them.

Tantih flared her wings slightly, her eyes whirling with hints of orange and red, There is a strong scent of blood.

Blood!? She walked a bit faster, “What’s going on, is anyone hurt?”

Tanith stretched her neck forward, The boy… it is him. He reeks of blood.

Talaria stopped a few paces away from where the boy was standing. He didn’t look at all wounded to her, though with this sharding dark it was hard to tell. Still, she had a bad feeling. Tanith stepped forward slowly, her head low as she peered at the boy. She could sense her rider’s unease. Tell Wapitith... tell her we’ve found someone covered in blood… someone alive… and…, she glanced at Akira and back again, still waiting for an answer, “Well?” she demanded. Tell her something is certainly not right.

Tanith growled lowly, not liking this any better than her rider, and passed along the message, We have found Amaranth and Hers with a boy covered in blood, he is quite alive, but he reeks of it. Talaria is questioning them. We are in the Weyrbowl.

[Akira]

A'lik smiled happily when he heard Cassondra's voice tease him. Oh, I'm sure she is. He watched as she came around to face him, and he smiled lovingly at his weyrmate. He let her pull him to her, and returned her kiss, with a great gentleness in his touch. He ran his fingures lightly over her left cheek, and smiled at the rosy color. There was nothing about this woman that he would change, except for the fact that she either cut her hair, or she tied it back. He believed she looked just as beautiful with it down and long, as she did with it cut short, or tied back.

A'lik's happy expression changed to one of concern, and suspicion. A'likMine, nothing is wrong with Hasth or Hers. Others are saying that the order has gone out to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious. The man could tell that his brown dragon was already on alert, and keeping his swirling eyes open. A'lik nodded, and felt relief at the fact that nothing was actually wrong with Cassondra, or her dragon. He didn't think neither Moruth, nor himself could handle it if anything happened to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira took a startled step back when she heard Berengar snap at her. She wasn't sure what had gotten into him, but she nodded when she heard his excuss. She didn't know what it was like to be left standing, after all, she had impressed Amaranth the first time she stood for a clutch. I'm sorry Berengar, I'm not sure what it's like to be left standing, but I'm sure you'll impress a dragon soon enough. AFter all, Hasth still has to clutch, and you're dragon might be one of them. She had a feeling that there was something wrong, but she just couldn't bring herself to believe her worrying.

Akira listened intently to what the boy she believed of as a friend, said, before speaking herself. I was actually hoping to avoid the feast this time. After all, you never know what will happen. She remembered the night that the two of them first started to talk, and become friends. Things had gone wrong, horribly wrong. Akira shivered slightly as the memories of that night flooded her mind. Amaranth crooned comfortingly to Hers, trying to make her feel better. Akira placed her hand on the back of her garnet dragon's neck, and started stroking the red hide.

Akira mentally shook herself, riding herself of those memories. She turned, and looked behind her when she saw Amaranth do the same. Greetings ma'am. She wasn't exactly sure who this green rider was, so she made sure not to even attempt at guessing her name. No, at least, I don't think so. She turned her gaze on Berengar, and wondered if he was hurt. She hadn't asked him before when Amaranth had told her about smelling blood, but then again, she didn't want to upset him either.

Amaranth growled at the woman when she spoke with a demanding voice. It's alright Ama, I think she's just worried. The garnet dragoness quieted very little when Hers spoke to her, but that didn't mean that she had quieted completely. She kept an eye on the green rider, after all, she needed to protect Hers, and Hers' friend, and she didn't like the way this new person was acting. Akira moved away from this new person, and moved closer to Berengar, where Amaranth stood in front of both of them, trying her best to protect them.

Milo moaned when he finally found the person he was sent to look for. He tried to grab onto the sleeve of her shirt when she held her arm out for him to land on. He started whimpering, and flying a little ways away from Sitka, before flying back to her, and trying to pull on her shirt again. He needed her to follow him, he needed to get her to His and His' Red One. He wasn't sure why, but His was upset when she sent him, and he needed to get back to her to make her happy again.

[Kitsuneko]

The fire lizard had no interest in Sitka's arm, apparently. He gave a little moan and pulled at her sleeve instead. After flying off a ways and then circling back to her, she began to get a sense of what he wanted. She gave a look at L'cal. "I think he wants me to follow him," she said.

The Weyrleader practically growled. "Do we really have time for this?" he muttered.

Tanith is in the Weyrbowl, Wapitith interjected suddenly. She and Hers are on watch, and she says they've found a boy covered in blood.

Sitka hissed. "I'll bet you anything that's our killer." Then she gasped as she looked at the fire lizard again. "That's probably where he wants us to go as well."

L'cal gave a short nod. "That would make sense. Come on, I want to catch this son of a wherry too." He went off in the direction of the Weyrbowl.

Sitka told Wapitith, Tell Tanith and Amaranth to try to subdue the boy if they can, but be careful. He's suspected of murder. As soon as the green confirmed that the message was relayed, she followed the Weyrleader outside.

--------------------------------

Berengar found it difficult to hide his impatience as Akira continued to talk. He didn't care about Hasth anymore, he wouldn't be around to stand for her clutch anyway. He shook his head. He was about to tell her to just leave him alone, but apparently their talking had finally drawn the attention of the pair on watch. He cursed under his breath as the green dragon and her rider approached.

"We're fine, it's nothing serious," Berengar rushed to assure the rider (and Akira). By the way the green dragon flared her wings and stared at him, though, she had noticed the blood, and he doubted either of them was fooled.

His hand began to drift toward the dagger at his belt. Maybe if he was fast enough...but no, there were four of them and only one of him. He stayed his hand and bit his lip instead. They were already suspicious of him, and he couldn't risk them dragging him back into the Weyr to inspect the blood on his clothes. The body he'd left in the Infirmary would be discovered soon, if it hadn't been already, and the dragonriders weren't idiots. They'd figure out what had happened, and then what would they do with him? There was only one chance left.

He broke out in a sudden run, away from Akira and the watchrider, toward the exit of the Weyrbowl. If he could just get beyond the Bowl, he could disappear into the forests long enough to shake his pursuers. If he could just get away...The sudden movement jostled Semi off his shoulder with a shriek, and the fire lizard creeled and flapped his wings as he took to the air.

(OOC:) Feel free to godmode/powerplay Berengar a tiny bit in order to subdue him...Or let him get away. Heck, I'll work with either. XD

[Night]

Shadow had followed the scent and sounds all the way from the dining hall. Perking her gray ears, the female yipped. There were those big things that her master liked so much! Not to mention a boy that had suddenly started running. The canine whimpered, unsure before barring her teeth. Sharp canines flashed in the night as she bunched her muscles together. All Shadow knew was that this running boy was dangerous. He had distressed, the large things and their masters. Now he was running toward her!

It only worstened things when her keen eyes picked out Zorasn's shape nearby. Her master had apparently noted her absense finally. The young man was between the runner and his destination, and Shadow didnt like that one bit. Snarling, she took off toward the boy and flung her large weight onto his body. It probably toppled him over, and her teeth aimed for his arms or chest. Anything she could hold onto! Seeing this Zorasn raced over and cried out. "Shadow!" The female perked ears, but refused to let go. Her ears pinned back and instead she delivered a threatening growl low in her throat. "Will someone help me? What in Faranths name is going on?" Zorasn yelled over at the watchrider and weyrling.

[Akira]

Akira jumped in surprise when Berengar started to run away from her and the green rider. Akiramine Wapitith says to subdue him until Hers gets here. Akira didn't even hesitate, as soon as Amaranth told Akira what Wapitith had said, she set out at a dead run after the boy she had started to think of as a friend. BERENGAR STOP!!!!! She called out to him, if he would just stop running, maybe they could find a way out of this, and maybe he wouldn't get into so much trouble.

Akira watched as Berengar got tackled to the ground by what looked like a canine. She slid to a stop by Berengar, and realized that he did in fact, have a canine on top of him. Amaranth was close by Hers' side when they approached the boy. She growled low in her chest, and put her two front claws on top of the boy's chest, trying to stay clear of the growling canine as she did so. This boy had upset Hers, and now he was going to pay for it. The garnet dragoness barred her fangs close to the boys face, daring him to try to escape.

Take it easy Amaranth. She moved so that she was standing above the boy, looking down at his face. Why Berengar? Her voice was quiet, but it had a tone of confused disappointment to it. Milo chose that moment to pop in from Between, and chirped and trilled to His. The person he was sent to find was coming, and she was bringing along another to help. He looked around him, and noticed that more people had joined His, and there was another Large one there too. He chirped in confusion, and wondered what he had missed.

((OOC: Wasn't sure what else to put >.> ))