Fort Weyr - Center Bowl
The wide center of the bowl is often bustling with activity as riders come and go. Off westward can be seen the entrances for the candidate barracks and the guest weyr, while to the east is a large opening that leads into the dragon infirmary. The bowl stretches off both to the north and to the south, where the sheer stone walls rise steeply to the sky.
As summer wanes and the afternoons become cooler, preparations are underway for the Winter Games that will soon be held at Fort Weyr. Despite his absence from the games at Ista, B'ky has continued to help organize practice sessions both for threadfighting formations and flaming. At the moment, the man is in the center bowl, in an area chained off and away from the traffic of dragons and people. A few members of Roc wing are with him, and a word has spread that there shall soon be flaming practice for any Fort rider willing to participate, which seems to have gathered a small crowd. The bluerider himself is still in those sleek black leathers and brown jacket, the braid in his hair still sporting Fort's colors. He's standing beside Avideth, helping unload firestone from the minecraft hall. A clear area, several dragonlengths across, holds logs apparently serving as targets. A number of them have little designs whittled into them.
Sabrina is one of those in the crowd, interested in seeing this particular practice. Too see dragons "breathing fire" will probably be the most amazing thing she'll ever see in her life for all she knows. So the hairdresser is practically leaning on the chain that's sectioned off the practice area while she watches the firestone being unloaded.
D'mos isn't dressed in his summer-games gear any longer, unfortunately. It took all of Thauth's doing to keep him from flying off the handle from frustration during the firestone tossing - and as a result, D'mos quietly stayed on the sidelines at Ista from then on. Even his discussion with Kessa hasn't seemed to improve anything. It's a good thing he's part of Simurgh Wing and not one of the actual wings with leaders and seconds: he's been getting up looking just bad enough the last little while that it's most likely he's had hangovers. This morning was no different, but he had to actually do work with the Minecraft in getting firestone here. It helped to have even a small brown in Thauth. He's unloading with B'ky, only doing so from the bags that are slung over his dragon's back. Placid, calm Thauth has contentment on his face, though, and perhaps a little curiosity. He's watching the area they'll be using for flaming practice, lying out happily while he's unloaded.
"There should be enough room to form a line," B'ky comments, as he regards the number of dragons and the number of logs. Indeed, there are far more targets than dragons at the moment, possibly intentionally. "Let's begin then," the man smiles, turning to the sack of firestone he's already unloaded and handing a piece for Avi to chomp on. Chew. Chew. Chew. Firestone be eated. Well, not quite, but as the firestone is finally unloaded, B'ky nods to the riders to line up their dragons, his soft voice carrying the occasional, "Over there," and, "Choose a target," as he moves back to give Avideth room. He spots a few familiar faces in the crowd, and he can't help but smile somewhat, nodding to Sarbrina and a few others. There's a nod for the Simurgh rider, B'ky saying to D'mos as the bluerider moves back away from the firing line, "You'll be joining in the winter games, I hope?" B'ky remembers what the brownrider looked like at the Istan games, and can't help grinning slightly.
Sabrina is doing her very best not to look at D'mos while watching the proceedings, and she's doing a decent job of it. She's only just gotten to the point where she's not red in the eyes constantly, and she doesn't want to break down again, not when everything that happened between the two of them was her fault. She does manage a smile and a nod for B'ky though when it looks like he's nodding at her. She even waves a little before backing up a step or two, more into the gathered people. Safety in numbers or some such thing like that.
D'mos shrugs one broad shoulder. His voice is harsh and gruff, as per the usual, matching his features. "Might just. If I'm sober. 'n' if I can stand th' competition without losin' m'temper." He doesn't look at the crowds. He hardly does anything anymore as it is when it comes to people: just sits in the library or his weyr, or quietly slips away on Thauth. He's been like a ghost on parchment. He hefts more of the stone down to the waiting riders and drudges below. "Wouldn' do well t'lose it 'n' hurt someone."
B'ky does note Sabrina's wave, and raises his own hand in greeting. "Whenever they're ready," B'ky calls to the other riders, and that slight grin on his face widens; he loves watching the dragons flame. Avideth's eyes whirl a little faster as he picks a target, waiting to make sure no one's too close and then… FWOOOOSH! A stream of flame engulfs the nearest log, setting it ablaze. The blue rumbles, immensely pleased with himself. He peeks back at his rider, and whatever is silently said, it has B'ky chuckling softly. The bluerider does raise an eyebrow at D'mos' words, but has to grimace somewhat, commenting quietly, "I.. didn't stay for the competition." An odd look passes over the bluerider's face, half-guilt and half-frown, but he shakes his head. "Mm, no, it ah, wouldn't," B'ky has to agree, and a brief glance at D'mos' face has the bluerider looking just faintly unnerved. "I heard some of what happened, however," and he purses his lips. B'ky might be getting just a bit stuffy, lately, who knows.
Sabrina is quite effectively distracted when Avideth lets loose that stream of flame. Her eyes widen and she's leaning on the chain again, silent among all the cries of either amazment or fright ringing out around her. She can't hear what's being said over there by the riders, she's closer to the logs. That burning log has her full attention now, and even more so as more logs go up in flames as other rider's lifemates begin flaming.
D'mos snorts softly. "Aye. Girl flashed her chest at us, taunted th' Senior. We left after that. Better t' get drunk here than there with that type o' thin' goin' on. Didn't want t' wake up in some stranger's bed. Don' want t' wake up in anyone's bed but mine." He hefts another satchel down to the waiting arms. "Thauth don' chase no greenies either. Tried t' tell him s'all right, but he ain't listenin'." Down goes another satchel of firestone for the dragons, and those who may come later on to join them. He squints at his brown lifemate, though, and something mentally passes between them by the rumble that Thauth gives. The apprentice miner is then looking towards B'ky. "He wants t'give flyin' 'n' flamin' a shot with them targets. Y'willin' t'let us?"
B'ky's good humor evaporates in an instant. "That… would never be tolerated at Fort," the bluerider frowns (or at least B'ky hopes!), and Avideth's faceted eyes flicker with slivers of yellow for an instant before he lets loose another stream of fire at the log. FWOOOSH! Many of the logs in the chained off area are on fire now, but many more are still unlit, the heat from the burning ones causing the cool afternoon air to shimmer. There's a raised brow at the mention of greenies, but B'ky doesn't comment, having enough problems with greenriders lately to last him a lifetime. At the suggestion of flying and flaming, B'ky's brows rise slightly as he considers. And then he begins to smile, nodding to D'mos and saying, "Of course," and then motioning to the other riders, "Let's move the line back." And his grey eyes go over the crowd, calling for people to move back as well as he himself moves off. There's a nod to D'mos, "Whenever you're ready," and he ducks under the chain, finding a spot not far from Sabrina. Avideth and the other dragons move off as well, far enough back to be out of the way, though Avideth watches closely, the dragon perhaps as enthusiastic about the flaming as his rider.
Sabrina blinks slightly in B'ky's direction when she hears the call to move back. What if she wouldn't mind being caught on fire? She moves eventually though, backing up as her eyes finally are allowed to settle on D'mos and Thauth. She swallows hard and flicks her eyes to the wingleader coming closer to her. "What's going on exactly?" She asks. "Why are we all moving further back?"
Thauth rolls to one side so that D'mos can untie the straps holding the remaining rocks on, and drop them to the ground. First one side, then the other. Down he comes after in order to get Thauth enough of the stone to munch down so that he can flame properly. "No," he agrees aloud. "Don't 'magine it tastes good." He pats his lifemate all the same, and after a short time, stops the feeding in order to climb up with his gear on. Making sure he's strapped in, and that his straps are good, he gives the nearest riders a gloved thumbs-up to show he's ready to go. And so, with a sudden beat of his wings, the small brown, almost the size of a large blue at that, leaps skyward with a happy warble of excitement. He immediately goes for altitude, though, before swinging around to stabilize and plan his attack with D'mos privately. This is something that they haven't really done since weyrlinghood, and even then it wasn't all THAT important considering its use has only come down to wintertime avalanches these days.
There's a smile on B'ky's face that actually reaches his pale grey eyes, a rare enough occurrence these days, the man saying simply to Sabrina, "Flying and flaming," and he returns D'mos' thumb's up, even if the bluerider is amongst the crowd now. "We had better step back," B'ky murmurs, and he does so, gaze following Thauth as the dragon takes to the air. "I'm hoping to do this more often," the bluerider comments quietly, "Faranth knows, we could all use the practice." For what? Just the upcoming winter games? The thoughtful look on his face might suggest something more, but B'ky's attention is on the sky. Avideth, too, is watching, eyes whirling slowly.
Sabrina ohs silently and nods. "I see." She steps back further with B'ky though her eyes involuntarily follow Thauth up into the sky. "He's such a smart dragon, I'm sure he'll do well at this." She nods again when he says he wants to do this more often. "Planning on raiding another weyr and taking over are you?" Only other reason she could think of for practicing flaming and flying at the same time. The thought brings the first full smile out of her in a while and it kind of hurts her face.
D'mos sails through, and then just as suddenly - he DIVES. It's a corkscrew turn that's violent, almost too sharp for the rider on his back to be unaffected, and yet due to the brown's small size, he has the agility to pull it off. As a brown, he has the strength to pull up out of it as well, which is why he goes earth-ward at such a rapid pace. Were it not controlled, Thauth might just look as if he were falling instead of plummeting with a goal in mind. Another corkscrew turn happens unbelievably close to the ground, so much so that the dragon's wings come perilously close to striking it as dust swirls from the roll. It lines him up, however, and he flames upside down and from a reasonable distance, spot-on. No guessing for him. Thauth has a clinical mind, a logical one that is linked to the sturdy rock that is his rider so that nerves are hardly an issue. Once he's breathed his gout of flame, an undulating motion of body and wings pulls the small parchment brown skyward once again, the breeze of his passage close - so much so that he looks far larger than he really is, and the goggles that D'mos is wearing are actually viewable where he's pointed towards the crowd.
B'ky is still watching the brown in the sky, although Sabrina's suggestion of raiding another weyr has the bluerider blinking and turning sharply to look at her. She might be smiling at the thought, but B'ky is outright frowning at her. "No," he says softly, brows drawing together slightly, "Flaming dragons.. are important for search and rescue." A brief pause, the man adding more quietly, "All riders should help maintain the old traditions," and he turns back to the sky, watching Thauth. Although there is something he's /not/ saying, perhaps. And it might show on his face, the tightening of his jaw, and the tenseness in his shoulders. Then again, it might just be watching those acrobatics of the flaming brown. In either case, seeing the successful maneuver, B'ky is amongst those in the crowd actually clapping, the smile winning over his expression again. That is some impressive flying, after all! Avideth gives an appreciative rumble to the brown, the blue obviously approving of the display. Now that's how dragons are /supposed/ to be.
Sabrina gives B'ky a smaller smile, looking much like she understands what he's really getting at. "I was only joking B'ky." Watching Thauth drop out of the sky suddenly, makes her stomach lurch for a moment. She knows he can fly like this, but it's still uncomfortable for her to watch. Especially when he gets so close to the ground. When the pair pass so closely over their heads, she holds her hair down, but for loosing herself in the moment and turning to smile and clap along with the rest of the crowd for D'mos and Thauth.
Over the highest arches of the stones and mountains that make Fort Weyr a cherry-auburn brown stain appears in the sky. However as a pair of darkly-tinted brown-black wings spread into the air, it's clear it's no spot, just an approaching rider. The watchrider is peered for and then Najath pulls up short watching Thauth. « Have I interrupted someone? Or something? » The brown broadcasts at large to any dragons/riders in the area. His rider is still a pinpoint on his back.
D'mos hoots a bit as his adrenaline hits. He pats Thauth on the shoulder as they right themselves. Which is when, just after, the duo double-back and come in for the type of approach that fighter jets probably did back in Terra's past when preparing to strafe their target. Which is more or less what Thauth winds up doing, too. He takes a deep, hugely deep breath for such a little brown, and releases it in a line straight across the line of targets so they're hit one after the other. He's pulling up for a joyous celebratory whirl when a stranger's mindvoice startles him. He goes too fast at that point, and the G-forces not only disorient his rider and himself, they cause the straps to malfunction. D'mos is flung off to dangle precariously by one of his remaining straps, and Thauth shrieks in terror for his lifemate. His abrupt halt causes the rider to swing into the side of the bowl, and though D'mos sees it coming and flings out an arm instinctively, it's not really enough. He lands on his arm and side and bounces away with Thauth giving vent to another wild cry. He immediately hovers with wildly whirling eyes. He has to slowly descend with his rider dangling beneath his forebody, mentally crying out, «He is wounded! Help my rider!»
B'ky nods absently to Sabrina, the man looking faintly sheepish as he murmurs a with soft, tired sigh, "I know," and rubs the back of his neck, holding his own hair down. He really needs a haircut or something; the faded strands are getting fairly long. Quietly, more to himself than to Sabrina, B'ky says, "I truly hope he volunteers for the winter games," and he smiles somewhat. Avideth tilts his head upward at the approaching Najath, and even as the Gabrieth, the watchdragon, bugles a greeting, Avideth sends a polite, «We are practicing with flame. You are welcome to join-» then suddenly goes silent, the blue's head snapping to watch the… accident, and perhaps letting out a startled cry of his own. B'ky is moving. Ducking under the chains, the bluerider and likely many others are hurrying to D'mos' aide as Thauth descends, Avideth flaring his wings in alarm and cautioning a barely-calm «Descend slowly. Help comes.» B'ky actually swears, albeit softly, and then calls out a, "Find a healer!" and glancing back over his shoulder, "Keep the crowd back!"
Sabrina doesn't see the approaching rider from watching Thauth's acrobatics. She's all cheers until Thauth gets startled and then D'mos is suddenly dangling and Thauth is shrieking and D'mos is hitting the wall and Sabrina can feel herself screaming! Without thinking, she's following quickly after B'ky to where Thauth is descending too to try and help where she can as well. Forget staying back, she'd like to see B'ky try to keep her back.
Healer? Nimen has been watching the flaming practice for some time, the senior journeyman having been invited while at the Hall where he was giving lessons. The rider he was with has disappeared into the crowd, but Nim's still here. And he sees the accident. Even before a healer is being called for, Nim is racing after the others, waving off anyone trying to stop him with an irritable, "I'm a /healer/, let me through," and then following after Sabrina and B'ky.
D'mos is slightly curled over when Thauth finally, gently as he can manage, gets him into waiting hands and lands himself. The strap is deftly cut, and it's obvious one of his arms has broken - either the blood there was from the rocks scraping away flesh when he hit it, or from the bone cutting through. Either way, it's being cradled by the rider and is bleeding profusely. The hunched position and scrapes away from his ribcage on that side promise nothing good either. In fact, the impact of that arm and side against the wall actually tore through his leathers to get to the skin. He even manages to cough up a little blood - not from a punctured lung, but simply because his lips and tongue and such are bleeding. The most frightening thing is that the craggy-faced, gravelly-voice, rather unattractive miner apprentice isn't making a single noise of pain. He's aware of what's going on. He's not as shocky as he could be. He's simply… not letting the pain come out. Except in his eyes, once the goggles are removed: the grey gaze is focused elsewhere in front of him so intently that he has to be concentrating on holding himself still and quiet. If his arm or side are at all probed with fingers, it will elicit a distinctive, rather feral snarl from the man, one that is echoed by his small brown. It's wordless, but full of meaning all the same. He just doesn't focus on the one doing the probing when it happens. He is, as with a mating fwith a mating flight, almost certainly wrapped inside his lifemate's mind completely to help him deal with it all, leaving him in a relatively primal state - the same as a dragon might be in the same position, and without its lifemate to calm and guide it due to unconsciousness.
B'ky helps lower the injured rider down, carefully. He swears again when he sees the injuries, and then there's a sudden look at Avideth, the blue dragon likely being asked to bespeak one of the queens to help calm things. Avideth himself settles down far out of the way. B'ky frowns as he realizes Sabrina has followed him, but all he does is state a quiet, "Help me get him down," as the straps are cut, and then helping move the injured rider. The healer gets a glance as well, and B'ky steps back when Nimen arrives there, letting the man take over. The Roc wingleader is pale, the expression on his face nearing a scowl as he calls for the logs to be doused and the bowl to be cleared in stiff, clipped voice. Flaming practice is over.
Sabrina nods lightly as she does what she can to help get D'mos to the ground safely and gently. Her brows are pulled up in a worried furrow as she watches him with his growling and far away eyes. She looks to the healer that arrives to help the brownrider and can't help the worried expression she gives him. "Is he going to be alright?" She asks him, way before he can tell anything no doubt, but that's the thought at the fore front of her mind so she needed to ask it.
Nimen is there, kneeling beside the injured rider, and indeed talking to the man, ascertaining the extent of the injuries. Nim glances up at Sabrina and says calmly, "We should know soon." He puts on what he hopes is a reassuring smile and then turns back to the injured man. There are probably more healers on the way, from the weyr's infirmary, with supplies. Nimen does what he can, but it's not until the arrival of a stretcher that he gets into full healer mode. They will take D'mos to the infirmary and care for him there, jostling him as little as possible on the way.
'The World of Pern(tm)' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern(r)' are copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) l967, 2000. This is a recorded online session, by permission of the author but generated on PernWorld MUSH for the benefit of people unable to attend.
