All for a dishcloth {Open}

[Sheari]

Her breaths came hard, puffing out of her mouth. Emilliah stood in the doorway to some random weyr, leaning on the frame staring at her tormentor. With the work that Emi did, Shrew liked to occasionally take things from what she was doing and fly off with them. Her's worked too much, she did, and the green was doing everything she could to get the girl out more. Usually her attempts were futile, the former drudge, turned possible candidate (she wasn't sure if she still held that ranking anymore) often simply ignored the missing item.

Not this time.

Shrew had grabbed the dishcloth that Emilliah was using (and subsequently needed, and held dear to herself) and for the girl, that was the last straw. The dishcloth, well worn and holey, she had kept since was a babe and a kind-hearted drudge had given to her. She'd hidden it well in the closet she'd lived in with her time with the evil man that she'd done so well to forget. She just couldn't stand the thought of losing it, even if deep down, she knew Shrew fully intended to give it back. With cautious steps she approached the fire lizard, at long last maybe she'd be able to retrieve the cloth. Shrew watched carefully from her perch. Just a little closer and...

Shrew spread her wings, chirped, and flew off again, waving the dishcloth in her talon teasingly. Towards the ledge she traveled, intending to drop the cloth a safe distance from the edge. Her pursued closely, and just as the green was getting ready to drop what Her's sought, the edge of the ledge gave way, rocks tumbling down and Her's with them. Shrew shrieked with concern, as she watched the girl fall, helpless. Emilliah scrambled for a hold on anything and found it in a precariously thin branch. Her damp, soft hands from washing dishes only a few minutes earlier made her grip less firm than she would have liked. Her feet scrambled for a hold and found them on an inches wide stone as her hands and arms strained from the sudden exertion.

After a few moments of whimpering and willing herself not to fall (or look down) Emilliah cried out. Surely someone would hear her, her voice echoing off of the nearby canyon walls. "Shrew, find help!" she called, but then chattered anxiously at the green. They didn't understand human speech, she remembered. The fire lizard subsequently began flying in circles chirping anxiously before flying away. A knot grew in Emi's stomach as she hung there and waited, too afraid to climb up herself.

[Avu]

P’ease?
“No.”
…now?
“No.”
…now, p’ease?
“I said no, Rook!”

And that had basically been it. In a fit of obvious temper, Rook leapt off of Vix’s shoulder and took off, a storm cloud positively hovering over the little blue’s head. Which left Vix to gape after his Salamandyr, furious with being deserted, because really, what?! He’d left Tekivisk at the Apartments with Darmosk (she’d been cuddled up to her larger clutchbrother when he left, given that it was still a little too early for her to be out yet), and he’d been okay with Rook coming along because otherwise the Salamandyr would’ve gotten into the packet of sweets he kept in his trunk, passed out somewhere inconvenient, and then he’d have to find him.

Apparently, though, Rook fully intended on doing just that, only after biting his ear in reproof, hard enough to draw blood.

Vix touched his ear, his scowl dark enough that it was close to emitting dangerous levels of radiation, and left the familiar path towards the Main Hall in favor of storming after Rook. He had the presence of mind not to just start cursing at the Salamandyr as he went, but it was a close thing. And he was definitely cursing in his mind. If it had been a normal Salamandyr, he sulked, it would’ve been fine, the going off on his own. But it was Rook and he had to watch Rook, have the Salamandyr constantly with him, or else the little idiot would go and get a sugar rush on his own and probably fall into a lake and drown.

“What’s wrong with my life?” he hissed under his breath, as the little violet-blue flash turned into the Rider Weyrs. And he didn’t even know why Rook would go there because it wasn’t like Rook had ever been there before. Vix hadn’t even ever been there before. Stupid stupid stupid…

Suffice to say that he had his very own personalized storm cloud by the time he’d pursued Rook up a few sets of stairs. He was even considering giving the storm cloud a name (like Pawn, since Rook was basically the only creature who summoned it. It seemed appropriate). Vix took the next set of stairs and whipped around the turn fast enough that he saw the last half of Emiliah as she went over the cliff. It took three more steps before his brain caught up with his eyes, and Vix stopped so fast he nearly overbalanced. Ahead of him, Rook spun, catching the blossoming of something that was not simple fury.

…VixLove?
“Holy shit,” Vix replied eloquently, turned on his heel, and bolted back into the weyr. It didn’t register that the weyr was somebody else’s, because he was fairly certain his sight was near-perfect and he had definitely just seen a person slide off the edge of the weyrledge. Dragons weren’t that small, and whers didn’t fly, and firelizards weren’t that big, and…he barely registered Rook catching up with him, the Salamandyr leaping onto his foot and snaking up his leg to hook foreclaws into his pocket, clinging as he scrambled out onto the ‘ledge and threw himself flat on his stomach, looking over the edge.

Immediate vertigo hit, Vix blinking awkwardly down at Emiliah, jaw comically slack. “What the – ” He inhaled, absolutely did not think about the sheer drop he was looking at, and blinked again. “How do I – okay, okay, crap, hang on, just – ROOK. Go get…someone. Get a rope, get…my life is so screwed up…” Vix scrambled backwards from the edge, scrubbed his palms against his pants to ignore the nausea that came from looking over so high a drop (and thank you Faranth he wasn’t the one hanging on and about to die). Rook, at least, was helpful – the blue Salamandyr called a reassuring Right back! at Emiliah, and then leapt down from Vix’s pocket.

The Salamandyr scurried back out into the hallway (maybe if he was good he’d get candy, right?) and flared his wings, broadcasting – more widely than usual – Girlie gonna die, come help!

Oh, yes, eloquent was Rook…

[raii]

What?

That was a salamandyr in the hall. Some girl must be in trouble.

But…what? What kind of salamandyr said, ‘Girlie gonna die.’ There was a reason he had no use for the nasty little creatures. Loud, chattering, and obnoxious, salamandyrs couldn’t even formulate proper sentences. “Stay here,” K’ryn murmured to his dragon. Oh, and where would I go, exactly? Sryoth said bitterly. K’ryn ignored him. He was off to go save the day and impress his personal Weyrleader stalker. Yes, he could be a good boy. See?

He walked along the hallway, trying to locate the source of the problem. He nearly stepped on the little blue. “Where’s the fire?” he asked, almost boredly. Crazy little gremlin. Hush. You’re giving me a headache, he thought to himself. He could hear Sryoth’s rumble of amusement. K’ryn, of course, did not wait for a response. He didn’t have any desire to listen to an annoying salamandyr. He walked into the nearest weyr, which turned out to be the place he was looking for.

A younger man gaped down at…well, something. K’ryn came a little closer, and noticed the girl clinging to the ledge. The boy had no idea what to do, it seemed, and had sent his ‘mandyr out to get help. A girl was clinging to a branch. She must have fallen from the ledge. What in the name of Faranth had the girl been doing? She was out of his reach, and he obviously hadn’t known to bring a rope. If Sryoth could fly, maybe he could convince the brown to swing down ad get her. As it was, the dragon’s long neck might prove a good ladder for the girl, but Sryoth was too lazy.

In fact, he was pretending to be asleep at the moment.

“Are you just gonna stare at her like that or are you going to do something about it?” He mentally prodded at Sryoth, who let out a fake snore. The girl’s in trouble. Why don’t you come help? Sryoth snorted. Yeah, I just love letting dirty children grab at my head. She’ll be fine. I trust in your abilities, K’rynlove. K’ryn mentally rolled his eyes. Gee, thanks, you sharding beast, he teased.

“Another thing: are you going after her or are you gonna make me?” He gave a teasing, good-natured grin. He obviously wasn’t very concerned. As far as he was concerned, these kind of things happened all the time. She’d be fine. He didn’t exactly see what was wrong with this kid that he needed help. It would be one thing if the salamandyr had called for rope or something. He hadn’t, and K’ryn didn’t exactly want to go looking for some. Besides, he did enjoy death-defying stunts like creeping along the Weyrledge. ‘Rescuing’ this girl could be fun.~~

[Sheari]

'Right back!' the thing had said. Emiliah wasn't too comforted by it. Right back could mean any number of things. Where was the lizard going? How long would it be gone and what would the man he'd come with going to do? It confused her and she tried to keep her mind from busying itself up. It had oddly become rather clear lately. She no longer saw the elusive Dib, the transparent gold had slowly stopped appearing until she just vanished all together. It didn't disturb Emiliah, and in fact, she hardly remembered her invisible companions. It wasn't very helpful at the moment.

For dear life Emiliah clung, watching with wide eyes as two others simply gawked at her from above. The 'girlie gonna die' comment didn't help. Emiliah's knuckles were white as she clung to the branch. Her footing on a precariously small ledge that she didn't trust. After all, she'd just fallen from one that dragons rested on, just because the edge had given way. The girl silently cursed Shrew, the green that had caused this. If she'd been paying more attention to where she was...if she hadn't taken her dishcloth...if, if. A whimper escaped her.

The green fire lizard in question had taken to perching on the ledge, mimicking what the boys were doing. Her eyes were whirling a very concerned yellow. This was forgivable, Emiliah knew that Shrew was too small to help her up, but the other two... At present she was too scared to be mad at them. "Emi doesn't want to die!" she cried. Her hands were dry now and she could get a better grip on the branch, a tiny shred of confidence building up in her. Perhaps she could help herself? Carefully the removed a hand from the shrub, to try and grab at a nearby rock that protruded. Success! It was lodged well in the stone but...what now? She had one hand on a branch, the other on a rock and her feet on another that she couldn't see and she would NOT look down.

"Help?" she whimpered, and then squeaked, though it was meant for Shrew, it could have been from the fear. So high up she was, she wanted down so badly. She looked back up to her potential saviours with an expression that nearly screamed hurry. She might be able to hold on now but who's to say she won't slip?

[Avu]

Rook made no response to K’ryn, partly because he didn’t know what a fire had to do with anything, and partly because it wasn’t in his job description to answer stupid questions. He was done. The Salamandyr flicked his tail, turning and scampering back through the unfamiliar weyr to Vix. Girlie still livin’? the Salamandyr inquired as he leapt onto Vix’s foot, and climbed up his pants, claws pricking little holes in the fabric until he could clamber onto his human’s shoulder, the spines around his neck flicking out in a skeletal attempt at frilling. A light nip at Vix’s ear, just to make sure he had his attention. Noms now?

Vix ignored him in favor of glaring at the man (idiot, his brain supplied cheerfully) that Rook had apparently hailed. His question was entirely too relaxed, and while Vix wasn’t exactly panicking or hysterical either, he also wasn’t making all-too-cheerful comments about the…situation. “I,” he snapped, “am not going to dangle myself above the canyon.” His gaze cut briefly to K’ryn’s knots. “You’re the one with the fat flying dragon, it’s daylight, this is your rescue attempt. Get rope, tie it in a knot so she can hold on, pull her up. Or better yet, just get your dragon to grab her.”

Dragons: Incompetent.

At least, that had been Vix’s (admittedly highly biased) opinion ever since the Feeding Grounds fiasco recently. He hadn’t been there but the rumors were more than enough to make Vix decide that dragons and their Riders were dumb. He dropped to his knees at the edge of the stone weyrledge, carefully, and huffed out a breath – whoever owned this ‘ledge had to have an extreme weight problem going on with their dragon – weyrledges did not just decide to spontaneously break. Especially not under the weight of a girl that was barely more than a kid.

“You’re not going to die,” he added to the girl – Vix had never claimed to be good at consoling distressed people, ever. “Just – can you see if there’s a foothold down there?” He gestured vaguely, crinkling his nose – he couldn’t actually reach Emiliah and even if he could, Vix didn’t think he was strong enough to pull her dead weight up by himself. And he also wasn’t going to try it. Distressing as it would be if she fell, Vix was certain it’d be even more distressing (for himself, anyway) if he fell too. Not even going there. “Hang on, okay? Dragons are slow, Faranth…”

Of course, insulting dragons while a Rider was right behind him probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do ever, but Vix’s brain-to-mouth filter wasn’t working particularly well at the minute.

[raii]

The girl was freaking out, to say the least. She wanted help, and she wanted it now. She could survive a few more minutes. Fear did good for the youth. Built character. Still, he might as well help now, especially considering the gawking boy. The boy in question was glaring at him, it seemed. “Well, I can see you are too busy to soil yourself by saving your little girl friend, but you have enough time to sit there and look stupid? And, for the record, my dragon is not fat, and is currently grounded. Maybe a cute little boy like you should learn a bit before you order others around. Just sayin’,” he said teasingly.

Sryoth, get your ass down here. You are going to help, got it? Sryoth grumbled but complied. His rest was ruined, but a good deed didn’t hurt anyone. K’ryn turned back to the other male. “And she’s not going to die. If you can’t handle the speed of a sleeping dragon, go get a rope and save her yourself.” Sryoth took this moment to enter the weyr. He spared no attention to the boy, but K’ryn grabbed Vix to give Sryoth more room.

The brown dragon extended his neck to the girl. He was surprisingly gentle for such a large creature as he grabbed the edge of her clothing, lifting her up out of the tree and into the weyr. He spoke directly to the girl, which was quite strange for him. You are safe now, little one. Be more careful. He ignored Vix still. Anyone who thought he was slow and fat obviously didn’t appreciate dragons. If he didn’t appreciate the dragon species, there was no reason to give him attention, now was there. Sryoth turned his attention to K’ryn.

I am going to sleep now. Don’t wake me unless you are in grave danger. You, not anyone else. K’ryn grinned as Sryoth left the Weyr as suddenly as he came. “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s tired. Now, what is your name, miss?” He approached the girl, his voice kind, a drastic change. He inspected her mentally. Would she show any signs of trauma? She had suffered quite a scare, it seemed.

[Sheari]

They were talking above her, she could hear their voices. It both frustrated Emi and made her angry. She was hanging from a cliff! Were they blind?! The girl bit her lip to keep from yelling once again for help. Where she once would have completely panicked in this situtation, she was quite resolved and calm. That did not, however, get rid of the knot of fear in her stomach or the sweat on her brow. Her hands were slipping and her foothold wouldn't be much help soon either. Emiliah whimpered. She could feel Shrew's panic and fear as well.

A drown dragon decended and a bit of hope rose in the girl. When he landed and picked her up and almost fought against the assitance and clung to the branch harder. His strength was no match for hers and soon she found herself on the weyrledge, well away from where she had fallen. Her legs gave out as she was put down and she sat on the ground. The voice seemed to be omnipresent, though it didn't echo off the walls as the others' did. It was a male voice and at first she was disturbed by it, but she soon learned it was the dragon.

The dragon left and one of the two who had gawked at her approached. Shrew flew over and landed on the ground, puffing herself up and hissing at him, her eyes whirling a furious, and vicious red. He hadn't helped her! He hadn't pulled her up and in her mind, that meant he couldn't go near Her's until she was looked at by one of the healer people or one of the drudges. Emiliah leaned forward and picked up the angry firelizard, holding her so that she could get away and attack the one approaching.

"E-emi," she whispered to his question, chirping softly to Shrew to calm her. The green's eyes spun slower but kept the vicious red colour. "Emi," she replied more confidently, pointing to herself. "Shrew," she said, indicating the creature she held. "You? Brown dragon-man?" she asked. She had assumed the man was the rider of the brown, the knots on his shoulder matched those of the other dragonriders she'd met, though the cord was of a shade to match the one that had just left.

Tekivix was ignored for the most part. He hadn't moved towards her yet and in general she didn't mind him there. He would be afforded attention when he managed to require it. At the moment though, the release of tension on Emiliah's knuckles and arms made her hands sore and her arms very tired and sore as well. She really just wanted a good mug of tea and some rest.

[Avu]

The brown dragon was finally there. Vix pushed himself upright, backing away till he was almost back in the unfamiliar weyr, cupping one hand over Rook to keep the Salamandyr quiet. The blue licked his fingers quietly, too interested in the proceedings to consider speaking to anyone – be it the girl, or the dragon or his Rider. It suited Vix to just watch, too, glancing once over the girl critically to make sure she was okay when she was hauled over the edge of the cliff face.

No gaping wounds, in any case, and she could fall at the feet of the brownrider and worship him for all Vix cared. His gaze narrowed on the brown dragon’s retreat, a brief sneer curling his lips; what a time-waster, the idiot, didn’t he care? If all dragons were like that, Vix was glad he’d Impressed Tekivisk before he’d ever set foot on the Hatching Sands. Tekivisk, at least, would hurry if someone’s life depended on her, unlike the self-absorbed dragon and Rider pair –

It would not do to punch the man. Even if it was awfully tempting since the girl was okay now. But no; Vix’s forte was definitely not in fighting, nor in comforting people who accidentally ran off weyrledges. Silently, the greenwherling turned on his heel, shoving his hands in his pockets and letting Rook curl quietly around his collar, and left the weyrledge, passing unseeingly through the weyr – he hated to think of whose it was; surely they wouldn’t be happy by the thorough invasion of privacy.

Besides, he was all too happy to continue his walk away from Riders and children that couldn’t take care of other people or of themselves.

VixMine, Rook commented reproachfully, and okay, maybe it wasn’t fair, but Vix was too angry to care about fair or unfair at the moment. It was mostly the dragonrider’s lack of concern, and his fat dragon’s lack of action – so, so frustrating. Wait till he fell off a cliff – see who’d hurry to his rescue then.