Whatever Happened to the Good Old Days? (S'rei/Ope

[Zephyr]

Thinks didn't seem to be going well with the humans, Romeoth noted as he gazed towards where they were talking. Then he saw Onyth turn her head and he watched the green contemplatively for a while. As he was looking away, he heard Higginth speak and turned his head to watch the smaller bronze carefully for a second before chuckling lightly. Onyth's can be complicated. Mine has told me this many times. Though, Onyth herself isn't so much so. She might have simply taken what you said in the wrong context. I don't know because I don't know what was said. But I'm sure it was a simple misunderstanding. This was said privately to Higginth. No need to get Onyth upset anymore. She seemed to be preoccupied with her rider and Romeoth half expected her to leave then and there, but she didn't.

Suprised, Rom blinked at her for a second, then realized that Higginth was still talking. Looking at him again, Romeoth regarded the bronze curiously for a moment before speaking. It was a good thing that dragons didn't have eyebrows, because at this comment, he would have lifted one. That's interesting. I find plenty to occupy myself with. This and what he said next wasn't hidden from Onyth, if she chose to listen. He didn't see any reason to exclude her from the conversation just because she was a female. Ah. Nitrath, yes. She is an admirable female. She aided me at calming down the other dragons and the humans during the earthshaking. When mine was injured. I like her quite a bit. He didn't see the need to mention her flight as Higginth seemed to. It was obvious he would participate. He had little choice in the matter, as did Higginth. So why would he mention it to him? Was it some snide remark meant to throw Romeoth off or his arrogant, snipey way of saying he knew he would win? The coppery male couldn't tell, and privately, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He liked to think the best of his bronze brothers. They had such little support in the weyr as it was. Where would they be if they turned against each other? Sure, all flights are competitions, especially the goldflights...but in the end, the female chose. And if Nitrath didn't want Higginth, there was little short of force catching he could do to change her mind...and Romeoth wouldn't abide by force catching...unless it was what the female wanted.

Not really wanting to think about it anymore, he turned to Onyth, slightly concerned. It's fine. Is yours okay? He had seen Elysia disappear into the mist...and he hated the thought of anything happening to her, complicated or not. Is there anything I can do? He didn't really want to offend her, but he hated seeing her like this.

[Rei]

Onyth’s whirling eyes briefly reflected her inner turmoil as her tail twitched over the heated rock she was laying on. Rather hard to enjoy yourself when your bonded was hell bent on being idiotic after all. Not that yelling at or trying to convince Elysia would get her anywhere. When she was this upset it really was better to just let her be. But the green was really debating pushing that aside to trail hers into the snowy landscape anyway. She could sense that her rider was rather chilled and that wasn’t a good thing for humans either. Especially since they did not have thick hide to protect them from such things. Infuriating woman. Onyth only half paid attention as Romeoth spoke. She would have been more grateful for his attempt to include her in on the conversation had she not been preoccupied. As it was her bonded was far more important to her then fat golds.

Twitching slightly the dragon turned her head towards the direction of the pool the bronzers were in. She briefly considered saying something to S’rei but almost as soon as the thought formed she rejected it. Not because she didn’t like the man but because in this instance she rather doubted him chasing her rider was a good idea. Especially considering the direction her bonded’s thoughts were taking. The bronzer had his ways of soothing the woman, but alas this time Onyth had her doubts. She was startled out of her thoughts by Romeoth’s voice and she angled her head up to look at the larger male.

Physically yes. She responded privately to him. She is angry and very upset and when she gets like this she is difficult to reason with. Curling her tail tighter around her haunches she sighed deeply. I do not think that there is much that can be done. Not that she wasn’t grateful for the offer but yes. She saw nothing the bronze could do when she herself was, for the moment, quite at a loss. The green momentarily debated asking maybe if the bronze would mind taking hers home, but that thought was rejected as well. Onyth was in the end too possessive to be comfortable with her bonded riding another dragon. Unless she trusted that dragon without question. There were precious few dragons who fell under that category.

[Requiem]

Negotiate with Fort. If by negotiate with Fort, M'gnum meant kill the powerhungry Weyrleader who had changed the face of the Weyr after the deaths of arguably its most effective Weyrleaders...S'rei was all for negotiation. He had ideas, most of them just half-formed. Ideas that would change many things. But first R'anatar had to be removed. R'anatar and his closest 'generals,' the wingleaders and powers at Fort.

"Between, M'gnum," the man reminded his fellow bronzerider mildly. "As far as I'm aware no one has ever been able to track dragons through Between." A muster and staging point was unnecessary, especially up north where sweeps or just a random dragonrider out flying could discover them. The underground weyrbowl was perfect for it, actually. Even should a stray northerner have the time to fly sweeps over the southern continent there would be nothing for them to see. "What we'll need is direct contact with Benden to stage the initiative." No, he didn't have to correct M'gnum. He could in fact just have smiled and nodded, accepted the agreement and moved on with his own arrangements, but at present M'gnum and Mi'rah were his best resources in terms of leadership and planning so better to be on the same page.

Nodding, he smiled a little crookedly at the younger man. Sure? If by ending this war they somehow managed to end all future ones until the end of time he wouldn't be upset about it, certainly, but it wasn't really something high on his list of things that must be done. One step at a time. Protect Selenitas from further invasions and massacres...and the best way to do that was to not only end the war but break down the divisions in the north. S'rei had germs of plans. Plans that many probably wouldn't like so much, but while he and Salenth had fought in the wars for a longer period of time than most of the dragonriders here had been out of weyrlinghood, while strategy was not something new to S'rei, Mi'rah was the strategist and there were war veterans far more dangerous than the seasoned bronzepair. S'rei's realm was politics. Things would be changing. He'd lost too many children, and it was eating a hole in his gut.

"Well, let's just get started on contacting Benden and stepping up the training for future missions first. Then we'll worry about saving the world," he added with a soft chuckle that wasn't the least bit mocking. An almost fond smile was flashed at the ex-Fortian. He liked M'gnum's concern for the holders and other riders, actually, even if the reasoning was something he didn't really fully understand. No one would ever call S'rei an idealist.

[Aftershock]

"Perhaps," replied Higginth directly to Romeoth, in response to the possibility of his words being taken the wrong way by Onyth. To his fellow bronze's next words, he responded directly with, "Well, I try not to begrudge others their hobbies. A bronze must always remember, though, everything else in life comes second to what we must do... fight Thread, and breed with golds. We were made to battle Thread, as all dragons were, and all colors must be ready to do their part, but if a bronze wears himself out with hobbies, he will be unable to perform his best when it truly counts and Thread falls upon the land, and the other colors will fail without a bronze to lead them. Without us, everything falls apart."

Lifting his head very slightly, he caught Romeoth's eyes with his own, and added (not bothering to direct his telepathic words only to Romeoth's mind, though Romeoth was his target), "As for breeding with golds, it is our duty as bronzes as well. It is one's choice if one chooses to divert themselves with greens, but a bronze's duty lies with golds. Without a bronze, clutches are smaller, and have no chance of making more bronzes. With smaller clutches, less of our kind are born into this world. We owe it to our species to conserve our seed for goldflights, in my personal opinion. When a brown catches a gold, or a bronze who has wasted his most potent seed in a green, we bronzes as a color have failed in our duties to our species." Giving Romeoth one final flash of red-orange, the draconic equivalent of an, "I hope you were listening," gesture, he settled back down into his pool, relaxing as he loved to do.

On the human side of the pool, M'gnum listened to S'rei, nodding, and responded, "Yes, we definitely need a direct contact with Benden. As you remember, I was involved in many of the diplomatic missions between Fort and Benden before J'lorin... know that if you require my assistance for any diplomatic missions, I will be the first to volunteer my services." Listening as S'rei continued, M'gnum replied, "Yes, it has been a while for some of the riders since they've engaged in dragon-on-dragon combat. We should be careful in selecting our strike teams... this is a battle where it will not do to have those inexperienced or sloppy when it comes to fighting other dragonriders. Losses are never acceptable, but in this case they will be especially dangerous... we'll need everyone in top form to make this work. Once we've joined, and lost the element of surprise, our involvement in the war will become much more dangerous for our Weyr. We must make this strike count."

As he spoke, he slammed a fist into his palm to emphasize the word, "count", and at S'rei's chuckle, he put one hand on the older bronzer's shoulder and replied, "I know you do not mock me, S'rei, but I do wish you to realize that I hold no illusions that we have the ability to defeat the very nature of man... but if a dragonrider does not aim for the clouds, he will never even leave the ground," he concluded, giving S'rei a wry grin.

[Zephyr]

Romeoth no longer bothered to hide his speech from Onyth. Higginth could think him rude for not keeping their conversation private, or Onyth could think him rude for hiding the conversation from her. Either way, someone would be upset. And Rom rather thought that the green had enough on her mind with her wayward rider than to worry about him hiding things from her. In general, Romeoth was a rather open beast. There wasn’t much he hid from anyone, because really…what was the point? All secrets came out eventually, no matter how much one tried to hide them. He didn’t understand why he’d change now.

The coppery bronze thought on the other’s words, dipping his tail in the warm pool once before flicking it up to smack against his flank. He had met bronzes who took the “mating with a gold” thing seriously. He did. When a gold rose. But there was nothing wrong with mating with greens. Even though the didn’t clutch, he saw them as equal to the golds. The flights much more challenging to win, maybe…and it was definitely easier to be with most greens. EVERY dragon must fight thread, not just us bronze dragons. And it isn’t the metallics that make up the majority of the wing. The meat of the wing, the most important part of any wing are the blues and greens. Without them, we wouldn’t have the numbers to protect this planet we love so much or the golds you seem to live for. And who are you to say that anyone who doesn’t live for golds and fighting thread isn’t going to be able to perform properly. I do my drills. I excel in them even. I resent you telling me that I wouldn’t give my best when thread falls. All this was said very sedately. He wouldn’t outwardly show it, but Higginth insulted him. He was offended that the other bronze thought that he didn’t care enough about the weyr to protect it. At the same time, he was still very cordial. Not once did he raise his voice, but he looked pointedly at the other bronze, who seemed to have a false sense of his own importance. Everything falls apart without all dragons, regardless of color. Do you truly think that the weyr would be able to thrive with only bronzes and golds? With how many golds inhabit any given weyr, clutches would be down to two, three eggs at max. We wouldn’t be able to protect the weyr by ourselves. We need the other dragons much more than they need us.

Those were his thoughts. Higginth could think him a fool if he wanted to. At this point, Romeoth had lost interest in his opinion and his self-important attitude. He had met arrogant bronzes, but this guy took it to a different level. He was actually starting to rile Romeoth up, and not much riled him up. He gazed at Higginth steadily, unafraid, unfazed. He listened to his words with a nod. Mating with golds is a duty we have, but that isn’t all. There’s desire and even love in some cases. Some dragons mate for life, and duty has nothing to do with it. And you must remember that the gold chooses who she ultimately wants. A bronze might be able to force catch a green, if that is his way, but it is a much harder feat to force a gold. And if you think any gold in her right mind will be force caught… He sighed lightly, his eyes swirling with blue and orange, but he still wasn’t showing any anger. A gold can CHOOSE whomever she wants, be it bronze or brown or blue. If a gold wants a brown or a blue there is little we can do to change her mind. All we can do is respect her choice. It isn’t a failure on her part or our part if she wants a clutch with a color not bronze. It all comes down to what she wants, and if she doesn’t want you, or any bronze, all you can do is fall back. That’s all he said on the matter. Arguing with Higginth was really like trying to argue with a brick wall. Neither of them were going to change their opinions and he wished the other bronze would just talk normally for once instead of spouting off all this crap about duty. It was all well and good to want to mate with a gold, but you didn’t go berating others when they don’t have the same priorities as you, and you certainly didn’t go about with such a haughty attitude.

Romeoth offhandedly wondered if he had any friends.

Speaking of, the bronze turned to Onyth, tilting his head at her. Just looking away from Higginth seemed to calm him, and Onyth was a dragon that Romeoth liked quite a bit. Well, he liked all females quite a bit, but Ony was special, even if he never would win her flights. I know the type. He said to her, but not to Higginth. He had spoken of Onyth privately to him at the beginning of the conversation, surely he wouldn’t mind if he afforded Onyth the same courtesy. Humans are rather complicated things. I’m sorry that you are so upset. You could always…snatch her off the mountaintop? He half joked with an amused chuckle in her mind. You are bigger than she and she would get over it eventually. She has to. She’s yours. At least you’ll know she’s safe. Rom said with a shrug and a slightly playful mental nudge. It was a joke. He didn’t actually expect Onyth to go snatch up Elysia, but he wanted to say something, anything to raise her spirits.

It was a tragedy to see someone so beautiful upset.

[Rei]

Onyth was trying to ignore Higginth, she really was. But the more the bronze was speaking the more irritated she was becoming. Perhaps because she felt his words were, in a way, an insult against her bronze mate as well. Not that Salenth really needed defending. Nor really did Higginth’s opinion matter one bit in the whole scheme of things. It was his arrogance that was off-putting. Simple as that. The fort bronze was a perfect example of why Onyth, as a rule, usually did not like metallics much. There were exceptions yes. And she would always follow a bronze’s command to the letter because it had been ingrained in her to do so. But that didn’t mean she had to like the male if she found his temperament disgusting. And this bronze was certainly edging into that territory. She did not comment at all though. There was no need and it would get her nowhere. She might curl up with Salenth later and vent because she needed to, but to this one she would say not one more word.

It seemed she didn’t have to anyway. Though the green didn’t get Higginth’s private part of the conversation she sure got the full outpouring from Romeoth. Onyth tilted her head towards the younger bronze and listened in silence. She idly wondered what exactly the other bronze had said that had sparked such a reaction from the younger male. Her mind brushed against Romeoth’s in light and silent gratitude for his words all the same. This male at least showed appreciation for those ‘supposedly’ beneath him just because their hide did not shine. Bronzes like him were ones she could respect. All bronzes were arrogant to some extent. Even her Salenth. But there was a difference between arrogance and outright contempt.

Higginth came across as if he thought her far lesser of a female simply because she did not have a glittering golden hide. Could she produce clutches? No. But that did make her any less valuable of a dragon? In Onyth’s mind no. She had logged more time in actual defense of her kind and the humans then any gold ever would. She could out fly any bronze she chose to given the right circumstances. Kill him even if that was her duty. Onyth had taken down creatures far bigger then herself in battle. Not always all by her lonesome of course but the fact of the matter remained. She was valuable, green or not. And she knew it. This was why Higginth's dismissive attitude bothered her. Though some of that thought line admittedly could be run off from hers. Her rider tended to effect Onyth more strongly when she was highly emotional.

The green's tail wound more tightly around her as Romeoth began to speak of the golden ones again and her head turned to mentally track the progress of her rider. She had nothing to add to the discussion so it didn't warrant more then a small portion of her attention. When he spoke to her directly again however Onyth responded, her agreement with his words quite obvious. Yes complicated does not even begin to describe them sometimes. To his suggestion of dealing with her rider she broadcasted light amusement. Oh she would shriek something awful. She might cause an avalanche. On top of that I might never get oiled again. Not that the bronze's idea didn’t warrant consideration however brief.

This is true but Elysiamine could probably hold a grudge for eternity if she really wanted to. On top of that hers had directly asked her to take Salenth’s home. Which was of course a request Onyth would obey. The playful mental nudge from Romeoth had the green rumbling lightly at him. It is an amusing image at the very least. Onyth was still positive that Elysia would wander back towards them eventually though. She would have to if she couldn’t find another way home after all. Hers may have a fiery temper but she certainly wasn’t suicidal.