Fear is the enemy~ (Tags Mer)

[Rei]

Too dark. Far too dark. Dark eyes peered into the pitch black hallway. She had stayed out too late. Elysia made a point of being back to the weyr and safely curled up with her weyrmate before it got this dark. But today she had gotten distracted and by the time she had reached the stone hallways of Burimyu they where pitch black. How often had she grumpily mentioned they needed more glows for the hallways to S’rei? Maybe not as often as she should have. Baron perched upon her shoulder rustled his wings restlessly as he to peered into the dark halls. It shouldn’t be a problem really. Elysia had never been someone who was ‘afraid of the dark’. To be honest however it wasn’t the darkness she was afraid of. It was what could be lurking in those dark corridors….the memories always came back along with the phantom scent of blood and….other things.

A shudder ran down the Benden woman’s frame. Well she couldn’t very well just stand here all night. Furthermore if Elysia had S’rei come fetch her she’d never hear the end of it. Nothing for it but to just be brave and enter those dark halls. The weyrs weren’t that far off. In fact they should be extremely easy to find. It was but a short walk through familiar hallways. Darkened familiar hallways but hallways all the same. It vaguely occurred to her that she could just ask Onyth to guide her but said dark and lately grumpy female was already blissfully sprawled upon Salenth and lost to Pern for the next few hours. Could prod her awake but then the dragon was just going to be even more grumpy. No better for Onyth to just get her sleep. It wasn’t like Elysia was incompetent. In fact her pride rebelled against contacting her dragon anyway. The woman mentally kicked herself. It was but a short and simple walk. No need to be such a baby about it.

With that stern thought in mind Elysia stepped into the darkness, her boots tapping against the stone the only noise in the corridor. She had just rounded a familiar dark corner when Baron dug his talons into her shoulder and tensed. The action an odd one from her normally completely calm firelizard. Trying to quell the sudden wave of anxiety that ran over her the greenrider froze in the hallway and just strained her ears to listen. From somewhere behind her came a soft chirp. Had she known it was only Amour come to find her she would not have reacted. But her overactive imagination was already imagining the tapping of claws and the echoing of those noises of pursuit. Not waiting another second Elysia bolted down the dark hallway, Baron blinking between with a startled cry and Amour trilling in confusion before blinking between as well. In her startled state the greenrider ended up passing the turn she was supposed to make and ended up running deeper into the weyr. Into unused and abandoned corridors.

The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her boots on the stone and the blood pounding in her ears. Rounding another corner Elysia had time for one scream of alarm before she full on collided into a figure with a glow basket, sending them both crashing to the floor and sending the glow basket tumbling further down the hallway. Groaning from the fall the greenrider started to untangle herself from the other figure and winced. Chances were she was going to have some nice bruises from that collision. The woman blinked in the darkness as she tried to make out who she had just crashed into. A hand came up to rub at her head before she spoke, the name coming out like a question. “Merridan?”

[Rowana]

Auran cling to Merridan's shoulder as they walked. Vikky was safe in their Weyr with Chaoth, but the blue fire lizard was not going to let Mer walk these hallways alone. It wasn't safe, after what had happened. That didn't stop Mer from doing it, however. At least once every few days when she could manage it, the brownrider walked the lower halls of Burimyu, looking for any sign that the dark monstrosities were making their way into any other part of their home. It was partly out of a sense of duty to the weyr, but mostly out of guilt. She relived those moments often in her head, sure that if she'd just been faster, smarter, and braver, she could have saved Meira. She had let everyone down and one of her friends had payed for it, maybe even the whole Weyr.

Half of her thought these trips were insane. Even if she did find more of the creatures, they would probably kill her before she could even get the warning out. The larger half, however, wished they would show up so she could let them taste vengeance on her blade. She would make them pay for what they had done. Either way, after months of doing this, she had yet to hear a peep out of the creatures. It was probably a good thing, but Mer still felt like they were mocking her. Sitting behind the walls, biding their time until they ripped through some other innocent victim.

Rounding a corner, Mer only heard Auran's shriek of warning before she crashed into something. For a sickening moment she thought her nightmares had returned at last, but the lack of claws and teeth told her otherwise. Wincing, she pulled herself free of the other figure, rubbing a scrapped elbow. Frowning into the dim light of the scattered glows, Mer recognized who it was by the voice. "Elysia? What are you doing down here?"

[Rei]

Sitting there in the dark hallway, the glows scattered all around and casting the faintest of shadows over them, Elysia regarded the darkened figure of Merridan. It was too dark to make out anything but a faint outline so expression would have to be interpreted though words instead of facial expression. The greenrider took another moment to let her heart slow down and her breathing even a little before she answered. “I was trying to get back to my weyr. I think I might have gotten a little lost.” Trailing off the woman tried to fight the shiver that ran down her spine. What was she doing ‘down here’ the other woman had said. So that meant she had gotten turned around somewhere in her startled flight. Elysia rather thought the halls she was running though felt a bit unfamiliar but she had attributed that to her anxious state. Damn.

Brushing her hand through the light covering of dust on the stone floor she frowned in the darkness, her eyes flitting back to the woman she couldn’t quite make out. “I know how I got here. But what are you doing around here in the dark?” Oh Elysia’s mind could come up with many reasons for why the brownrider would be lurking around in the dark. But whether any of them were the right reasons were up for debate. Thus, though she wasn’t sure if she really cared, it made sense to ask. Surely Merridan wasn’t a common thief or hiding from something. There wasn’t much around Burimyu worth stealing and the population was so small that you really couldn’t hide from anyone even if you wanted to. Well unless you hid in one of these unused hallways she supposed. Rubbing again at the lump forming on her head Elysia winced again.

The greenrider wasn’t sure what she had hit with her head but the collision had been a hard one. She was sure she wasn’t the only one smarting from it either. Slowly Elysia stretched out her legs and arms making sure nothing was broken before she slowly rose to her feet in the darkness. Giving a soft curse as her ankle throbbed at the addition of weight the greenrider wrinkled her nose. Just her luck.

[Rowana]

Merridan raised an eyebrow. Elysia was more than a little lost, which seemed strange in itself. Mer began to wonder if something else was wrong. Elysia was usually a very strong person, but the incident in the Record Room had effected almost everyone who'd been there. Auran chirped, dropping her lost glow into her hand and Mer raised it a little so they weren't completely in the dark anymore. "I'm just..." she searched for the right word. It was still hard to talk about what happened and she didn't really want to admit to her own fears. "Walking," she finished, knowing it sounded pathetic.

Mer started to get to her feet, wincing at some of the new bruises. None of them seemed that bad, though. She knew she'd gotten worse during weapons practice. She glanced over at Elysia, noting her discomfort. "You alright?" she asked, almost apologetic. Really it was party her fault for wondering around down here without telling anyone. The council probably would not approve if they ever found out.

[Rei]

Bracing herself against the wall, as she tested out the extent of the injury to her ankle, Elysia bit her lower lip against the pain. Twisted or sprained more then likely. It could still support weight. It was just painful to walk on. A sudden influx of light caused her to blink and she noted that Merridan had gotten a glow back. Well good then. Being completely bathed in darkness in one of these stone hallways was just a tad bit disconcerting lately. The greenrider let her eyes scan the female brownrider in front of her as the younger woman searched for an answer to her question. Really it wasn’t a hard question at all. Which told the older woman that Merridan didn’t really want to answer truthfully. Interesting. When the brownrider finally spoke up Elysia raised an eyebrow. “Walking? All alone in the dark this deep into the corridors? I find that unlikely.” She finished evenly but didn’t elaborate further. If the girl wanted to lie that was her prerogative. But the benden woman wanted the other rider to realize that she was no fool and understood that what Merridan claimed was not the real reason she was creeping around so late and far into the tunnels.

When the question as to her wellbeing came across Elysia gave a light shrug. “I’ll be fine. Got a lump on my head and twisted my ankle but it’s not terrible. I can probably walk on it just fine.” To put the words to the test the woman stepped forward wincing when her ankle throbbed but she found that she could limp well enough on it. For a moment the greenrider debated tearing her shirt and using it as an ankle wrap but clothing was few and far between and it would be more of a waste then a help. Turning her gaze back to her collision partner Elysia glanced around the corridor. “So. Where are we exactly? And more importantly how do we get back?”

[Rowana]

Merridan shrugged. It didn't matter to her if Elysia believed her and she didn't think the other woman would approve of what Mer was really doing. Hunting for trouble that came with sharp claws and teeth wasn't exactly a smart plan. It did keep her from dragging herself down with guilt though and it wasn't like she came unprepared. Elysia looked alright, at least, if limping a little. Next time, Mer thought, I'll bring brighter glows. Mer moved forward to offer a shoulder for the older woman to lean on if she wished. Mer wouldn't have just walked on it herself, but she didn't mind offering help if others wanted it.

"We're in the lower levels," Mer admitted, patting Auran as he returned to her shoulder. "Just a few halls from the Records." Mer glanced back down the darkened corridor, but it was silent. "The way up is this way," Mer nodded back the way Elysia had come, prepared to lead them both back into more well lit areas. She'd probably done enough pacing for tonight anyway.

[Rei]

Standing in the hallway Elysia simply watched Merridan. Obviously she wasn’t getting the real reason out of the brownrider just then. Well fine. What? Did she not deserve a real answer? Dark eyes narrowed slightly at the younger woman when she offered her shoulder to her. The comment raced across the greenrider’s mind, ‘Do I look incapable to you?, and the benden woman barely resisted snapping it at the younger rider. She did however limp forward and away from Merridan’s offered shoulder. Yes Elysia was stubborn. Besides she could take care of herself. She didn’t need help merely for a twisted ankle. And certainly not from a woman who rode a brown. That wasn’t to say that Elysia didn’t tolerate Merridan. She was just a bit biased about women who rode browns. As a lot of riders were. Browns traditionally went only to men, with only a few quite masculine women ever impressing them. Though even the greenrider had to admit that she would have thought that a brown fit Caden better then Merridan and Caden had gotten a gold. Who really knew the mind of a dragon until you were attached to it?

“Lower levels?” Elysia repeated and she couldn’t quite stop the shiver that ran down her spine. Just a few halls from records. “Great. Wonderful. Just freaking peachy.” She murmured dark eyes darting to the shadows of the hallway before back to Merridan. Now she knew why the other woman was out here. Out of all of them she had been the most upset over Meira’s death. A fact that really wasn’t all too surprising considering her dragon had caught the gold. “You can look for those murderous things all you want outside those doors but I swear to you if you mess with those blocked doors…” The greenrider trailed off when she realized she was letting her own paranoia run over. Wrinkling her nose Elysia snorted, though she certainly wasn’t offering any apology. “At any rate. Yeah lets please get out of these halls?” Limping forward, in the direction Merridan indicated, she turned to glance back at the brownrider as she had the only glow. “You coming?”