Chasing ... who? (Avu&Rii

[dragon]

Weyrs were soooo much fun! Especially those which were being lived in! Drawers, desks full of papers ... beds to kick around in ... so much fun! Especially under the bed! Skink danced happily into the newest weyr for terrorizing ... time to see what F'lix had for getting into!

Skink scrambled up a desk leg all the way to the top and started poking around up there, humming to herself. Paper![/b] She called happily, to Sylph. She shoved some of it off the desk, to the floor, before wrestling with a sheet all her own. At which point she spotted something even more interesting. An ink well! Eyes shining with mischievousness, she tossed her wrinkled page aside and danced over to the well, tail hanging over her head in a jaunty gesture. She sat down next to it, grabbed the well, and started chewing on the lid. Finally, with a tremendous tug, the leaf-sized mandyr got the lid to pop off ... but in the process she fell over backward, taking the well with her. It splashed on her belly, before rolling to the side and pouring all over the desk top. Runs of ink flowed all the way to the edge and started dribbling down onto the floor, too. Skink jumped to her feet, and hurried to the edge, heedless of the ink she was getting all over all four feet. She peeped down, to see where Sylph was. INK BELOW![/b][/color] She warned, before turning and scampering across the desk again ... leaving a trail of little black footprints the whole way.

She took a flying leap after that fast scamper, and spread her diminutive wings to act as rudders, tail waving. She landed neatly on the chest of drawers, then. Who needed wings to fly when you could run so fast as to soar all your own? She did a dance, and a victory cry, before slithering over the edge and into a drawer left ajar.

Ooooooh ... underthings! She slithered around in there, leaving black marks on everything from her feet and belly, before starting to shove articles out the little slot that it was ajar. Bits of clothing started squeezing bit by bit out of the drawer and dangling over the edge, some falling all the way to the floor. Some plainly had pawprints, but most just had random smudges inked onto them.

Wriggling out past one tightly wedged peice, Skink looked around. Look! Sisterlove![/b][/color] She called, before scampering the rest of the way down the drawer set and scooting over under the bed, vanishing into darkness.

[Avu]

This had to be one of their more elaborate schemes, Sylph decided as she surveyed her new playground with an air of delighted satisfaction. Three part scheme, in fact – Ahth and R’ahre had done the first; now this was their domain. The blue could be absolutely devious when he wanted to be, and it was he who had come up with the plan, R’ahre who had gone to find the Weyr listings, and Ahth who had watched studiously until he was sure F’lix and Saboth had both left the weyr before he gave Sylph and Skink the go-ahead; he’d warned them that he wasn’t sure how long they had – get in, get out. Lightning strike, wait for the reaction. On one hand, Sylph knew that she was being manipulated by the blue, but this was her element. Her domain – she and Skink, destroying, the feeling of things ripping and shredding beneath razor-sharp claws, things breaking and crashing – it was heaven, and Ahth provided her with ample opportunity to do so. It was thus that the blue had wormed his way into her good graces – and this made her decide that he was actually liked. She wanted to get back at the bluerider, too. He’d been mean, and at Hers’ command, she hadn’t attacked him then – but she would now, in her own way.

The small green purred at her twin before she took off, too, though not in the same direction as Skink: She slid lithely into the bathing rooms, gaze landing on the packets of sweetsand. There’d be none of those left to use once she was through, nope~ Bath place, at I am, she replied to Skink’s warning for Ink – she doubted that there was any ink here, thank you very much! But…but…oh, that was a good idea. Her claws dug into the packets of sweetsand, ripping open the fragile wrappings and sending the stuff over the floor, some of it falling into the bathing pool and the rest simply spewing across the floor, slightly shiny grains that stuck to her feet as she darted back into the room, looked at the spilled ink, and then promptly threw herself at it, unhesitatingly. Coming, I am. Wait, wait! was called to Skink as she rolled in the ink, her body thrashing, frill pinned against her body to prevent too much ink getting upon it; the rest of her was entirely doused in the black stuff soon enough.

Perfect.

Skink was below the bed, was she? In that case, the green-turned-black would just have to take the top. A flying leap landed her squarely in the middle, and Sylph purred as she rolled, smearing ink over the furs and covers, before she darted to repeat the process on the pillows. Her body wriggled over the fabric for a moment before she slid down the side of the bed and slithered underneath it to join Skink – just momentarily, of course. So much work to be done, so little time. See, lovesistermine? Look, she whispered mischievously, and then rubbed her body against the length of Skink’s, twisting her tail around the other green’s in a momentary touch of undeniable affection. All over black, all ooover. Pretty pay, he will. Whether or not Skink fully understood the revenge behind this mission, Sylph didn’t know – and she didn’t entirely care, either. Her taste for vengeance was being satisfied, in any case; that was all that mattered to her. Ahth probably had more planned, but that was Ahth – always a backup plan. Hmph.

That done, Sylph was darting off again, pulling herself onto the desk again. The Salamandyr certainly had no idea how to read, but the least she could do was hope that these papers were important. She grabbed one in teeth and claws, rolling onto her back on top of another and writhing to smear the black ink onto it even as she went to work shredding the first. Stupid pretty too slow, too slow, come back too slow, she crowed to Skink – never mind they were still in the middle of the crime scene. There was no firelizard on which to pin the blame, but it didn’t matter to any of the three mindmates; F’lix would have to be stupid not to know who’d arranged the whole thing, but if he didn’t know, they certainly wouldn’t be around to give him extra pointers. In theory.

The reason Ahth had a backup plan was because he didn’t know how well it would work. There was always a backup plan. He was determined to win. Hard and fast, the blue said softly, addressing both Sylph and Skink privately. In and out. He was safe in the Weyrling Barracks, with HisR’ahre – and knew he couldn’t possibly be there, but he wished he could; Ahth was sure he wouldn’t mess up. Not so much with Sylph and Skink. Oh, he’d use them, but how reliable were they? He wasn’t quite sure yet…and that made the blue fret, even if he didn’t show it. Mustn’t loose his two miniature demolishers…

[rii]

F'lix stood in the doorway, arms crossed and shoulder against the frame as he observed the tiny salamandyr's wreck his room. Not that he felt any attachment to the items they destroyed, most of it had been in there prior to his arrival. The few items he had brought down with him from Benden were safely locked away. The bedding, however, that was annoying. Hn, maybe he'd just go stay a few nights with someone else.

A pet, yes, that was what he needed. Something mean and terrible and liked to eat little Salamandyr's. He would have to look into that. What bothersome little pests. F'lix reached over to the desk to pick up a glass bowl. He dumped out the contents and twirled it between his hands. There was only one exit out of the room, the little things would have to near soon enough and there he would wait.

The last thing he was going to do was chase them blindly around his room, but he did want to punish them. Why were such things allowed to run amuck around the Weyr? F'lix had half a mind to try and poison the lot. Absolute vermin. F'lix couldn't even begin to properly describe his disgust for the salamandyrs. He crouched slightly, fingers tensing around the bowl as he went still, waiting..

Saboth came in from the ledge, laying down at the door--the dragon always laid there to prevent entry from outside. F'lix didn't like unwanted visitors. And if it helped stall the salamandyr's from escaping then all the better.

[dragon]

In and out, hard and fast~ In and out, in and ouuuuuut~~~ Skink sing songed, dashing back and forth, out from under the bed and back under again, accomplishing not much of anything. Just ... having fun in responce to what Ahth said. She came to a skidding halt when Sylph turned up. Sylph so pretty! Skink admired, rubbing all over her sister in return affection, twining her mobile tail with Sylph's for a bit before Sylph scampered off again. Now quite thoroughly covered in ink, Skink went back to dashing back and forth under the bed, successfully getting the bottom edges of the coverings all inked up. Not to mention bits of whatever happened to be stored under there and leaving little bitty footprints on the floor.

Skink had no idea why she was in this particular weyr ... and didn't really care. To her, it was all about having fun, and not a scrap about revenge. Skink had no idea revenge was involved... it was just fun! And a blast! Following Sylph back toward the ink spill, Skink dropped and rolled in the puddle that had formed on the floor. Now all nice and sticky wet black, Skink darted off again. Clambering up the wall and taking a flying leap, she splatted nicely on the pillow before scampering off again.

Oh! A dragon! How neat! Hers didn't have a dragon, so the only dragon Skink ever really saw up close was Ahth, and that only occassionally. This one was bigger! She scampered over to him, and jumped onto his snout, before racing up his snout. This, naturally, left bitty black prints all the way up.

Wheeee! She exclaimed, before taking an uncerimonious slide down the side of the dragon's face quite before she was ready to ... the thing had moved! Oh, well. Oh, heyyyy! There was someone else, waiting to play! Didn't he know standing there and watching was an awful way to play? She scrambled up a leg to the desktop, and then launched herself at the top of the dresser again, where she flashed her frill wide, showing off the lightening strike whiskers emblazoned there (never mind mostly obscured by ink) Thrusting her tail up over her head, Skink bounced a few times, and started screaming vocally at F'lix. Turning around lightening-quick, she scooted across the top and dropped back down into the drawer of underthings, leaving even bigger ink smudges along the way, this time.

Working busily, she started shoving more laundry out, before grabbing up a peice in her teeth and launching herself out of the drawer. She parachuted down to the floor, before scrambling backwards toward the ledge. What she planned to do with an ink-stained undergarment at the ledge was anyone's guess.

[Avu]

Of course she was pretty. Sylph was always pretty. The Salamandyr dropped the now-shredded paper, dashed across the floor again, pausing to purr at Skink’s proclamation, though she didn’t speak. It was not of immediate importance. The black ink left prints of her claws everywhere she stepped, fading as she went, but the black concealed her identity most efficiently; while it was streaky due to her squirming around, it darkened her hide considerably; only the lines on her frill, reminiscent of lightning bolts, remained visible; in her rolling, even the paleness of her frill had darkened and smudged considerably. She looked like a dark-green wraith – possibly much to her advantage, given that otherwise, F’lix likely would have recognized her. As it was, Skink was probably recognizable (assuming she paused long enough to give him a look) given that they were twins, but it was no matter to the Salamandyr, who took a flying leap onto the bedding again, and started…digging.

Claws tugged and snared at the cloths, cutting through the occasional stitch and loosening others, though not enough to break open the sheets entirely, until she found the bottom layer, the thinnest, and crawled around on top of it, seeking a loose thread. Hmm, hmm –

Person. She froze at the sight of F’lix, frill fanning out momentarily. Her eyes whirled rapidly as her mouth fell open, tongue flicking out defiantly at the bluerider, yellow and scarlet blurring her gaze for a moment before her tail lashed in an open show of insolence. She was so much better than him and if he was silly enough to think that standing there would save his weyr from certain destruction, he was wrong. And his dragon was there, too, and Skink was headed…right for him. Sylph froze, almost calling out to stop her sisterlove, but Skink was already climbing the blue’s muzzle…sliding back down. Safely? Sylph wasn’t sure; certainly if she didn’t get out of the way she ran the risk of becoming Salamandyr mush. Sylph remembered, she did; that one had knocked Hers into the river and had even kept the Ahthblue from saving him – not that Ahth was stupid enough to try and go through Saboth – but regardless, it proved he wasn’t to be trusted. And her sisterlove didn’t know that; hadn’t Ahth filled her in on why they were here?

SisterloveMine! Sylph called, agitatedly bouncing on top of the bed and shooting a glance at F’lix. SkinkloveMine, not go blue. Not near! Bad mean, blue is. Pretty stupid, too. Not go near. Hurt you, blue ‘n stupidHis will. Then, since she still had a mission, after all, and she could do very little to help Skink, Sylph dropped to her belly, squirming to rub the ink along the blanket even as claws and teeth were set to work on a frayed spot. Every once in awhile, a glance was directed towards F’lix to make sure he hadn’t gotten too close to her before she continued to tear at the fabric. Much more difficult than paper, and it tasted quite disgusting – it smelled and tasted like the stupid did, she assumed, since Hers’ covers had the smell of Hers on them – but in the end, it ripped, a little frayed hole; Sylph snatched the fabric and jerked back, her entire body quivering with the effort of the attack on the fabric. It tore (unwillingly), and after she’d jerked it into a three or four-inch long hole, Sylph desisted, scurrying rapidly over the blankets and jumping down on the far side – away from F’lix.

Ahthblue, here is pretty stupid. And pretty blue. The green’s report to Ahth, something the hatchling had insisted upon, was voiced without fear – only suspicion as she jumped to the nightstand, and threw her body against the wall, trying to reach the basket that held the glows. She fell just short, and, with a little hiss of annoyance and another glance towards F’lix, Sylph bounced onto the bed again and threw herself up against it, pulling herself first to the headboard and then leaping squarely on to the glowbasket. Coming, bright warm is, she warned Skink, dropping onto the side of the glowbasket and then trying to nudge the contraption open. Both tiny wings flapped in frustration before she glanced around for her sisterlove. SisterloveMine! Help, help. Come help. Bed to topbed to brightthing. SisterloveMine cooooome.

Don’t get caught was Ahth’s only input, directed at both greens. The blue was not unduly worried for them; the two greens were tiny, difficult to spot, and nigh on impossible to catch owing to their speed – it had taken him two sevendays in order to get accustomed to spotting them when they wanted to go unnoticed, and part of that was aided by the fact that His was linked to Sylph and knew where she was, constantly – and Sylph always knew where Skink was. Of course, when they were being destructive, they wouldn’t be hiding, but their speed was a decidedly helpful asset. And if F’lix did catch one of them (Ahth refused the idea that both would be caught) certainly Sylph would have no problem outright attacking him; while Ahth preferred the subtle revenge, and never did anything but plot himself, Sylph would have been delighted with the opportunity to hurt the one who had hurt Hers, and Skink…she could convince Skink. Probably.

[rii]

Saboth rumbled in amusement as the little salamandyr crawled up his snout. The small feet tickled, and the blue dragon couldn't bring himself to be annoyed at the little creatures inside. He knew his bonded was angry, but Saboth had never mirrored F'lix emotions. Grudges were a waste of his memory. Let bygones be bygones. However, Saboth did completely support his rider regardless of the situation and circumstances. Saboth may be willing to forgive and forget, but not F'lix. The large blue exhaled a long warm breath into the room, his muzzle sitting in the archway as he tried to watch the little greens dart around the room. Little ones are very fast. A chuckling compliment he sent to the destructive twins.

Slowly F'lix advanced, only moving when the little lizards turned their heads away to focus on their task. A barely noticable series of small steps, one or two at a time so much like that of a stalking feline. F'lix let his mind drift and allow his eyes to unfocus so he was no longer looking at specific details but concentrating only on movement. The bowl started to lower little by little as he neared one that seemed to be watching his movements less than the one jumping on the bed. As Skink began to dart near him, dragging the piece of clothing behind her, F'lix snapped into motion. Like a tightly coiled spring suddenly released, the motion was nothing but a blur, the glass bowl began to snap close over the little green salamandyr..

So.. childish. It disgusted F'lix. He seriously wanted to maim R'ahre for his petty revenge (and he fully blamed the rider) that suited a weyrbrat. F'lix didn't play these sort of games. If people pissed him off, they would bare the mark of the transgression. The end. Patience, the blue rider reminded himself. He would have to be calm and plan things out to make it look like an accident. A bit more subterfuge would have to be put into his methods at Selenitas.

[dragon]

Very fast, very fast! Skink chorused, happily, still tugging on her claimed piece of undergarment. Pretty Pretty Sylph, dark or light till! OooooooH! Comeing~! She answered, spotting where Sylph was hailing from, way up high on the wall. What a clever sister she had, to figure out how to get all the way up there! Skink bounced twice, awkwardly, cloth dangling from her mouth. And then she seemed to realize that there was no way she could get her prize up there ...

Oh, well. It'd just have to wait here, where it was. Spitting out the undergarment from her mouth, she flapped her jaws and flicked her tongue a few times. Pthewy. Garment fuzz stuck in her teeth was never a nice taste. The little pale green inky mandyr jumped into the middle of her prize, and boinked up and down a few times on it, turning a little bit each time, before starting off toward where Sylph was calling from.

Coooommmiiiiiinnnngg~~! She sing songed, starting off on her trek. But before she quite made it up to speed, the air suddenly became quite solid with a loud bang. Smacking into the side of the bowl in which she was trapped, Skink piled up against it in a little heap, so startled she just went limp for a moment. Springing backwards, back onto her feet, she spun around, little eyes taking on a rather distressed color. Looking up, she saw the resident human sneering down at her with a rather ... distasteful ... intent written upon his face.

Skink hissed, arching her back and flaring her frill as wide as it would go, tail flung up over her head in defiance. YOU NO WIN! BAD MAN, BAD BAD BAD! EAT TURD UGLY PRETTY!!! she stated boldly, before realizing that he really meant to kill her. At which point she went completely ballistic inside her bowl. Screaming like only a leaf sized mandyr could, across all frequencies, she bounced back and forth, round and round inside the bowl. If that bowl came off the floor even a crack, she'd be gone ... that is, if she didn't brain herself on the glass, first...

Mere moments after she started her high-pitch mental screaming, a bronze flitter appeared in the middle of the room. It did not take Voyager long to figure out what was going on and why his charge was screaming like she was ... with a battle hiss, the bronze flung himself at F'lix's head. He reached for the man's nose with his mouthful of teeth, trying to claw out anything else he could reach on the face with his talons, even as he repeatedly smacked the man about the ears with his wings, trying to drive him off of Skink.

A moment after that, a brown also appeared, but instead of trying attack anything, Rascal turned his attention upon that bowl, and freeing Skink. The two flitters were very protective of Theirs, and by proxy, that meant Skink, too. They seemed to understand how closely connected the mandyr and man were, and would do everything in their power to extract their naughty little mischievous mind-mate.

[Avu]

Very fast? Oh, Sylph knew they were, but she was agitated, and therefore did not reply. Saboth received the same level of hatred as did F’lix, and the green’s frill rose as she worried at the latch keeping the glowbasket closed and the glows beyond her reach. F’lix was sent quick glances almost constantly, and Sylph crooned uneasily to Skink, squirming. Watch out! she insisted, broadcasting as usual, frustration swirling into her eyes. Didn’t Skink know anything?! Ahth was supposed to fill her in about their mission, and now she was happily letting the human get close to her! SISTERMINE! Sylph squirmed even more, claws biting into the leather latch; her tail lashed and twined around the latch as well to keep herself balanced as her frill displayed frantically to catch her sister’s attention. So stupid! She’d be having words with Ahth, she would; clearly Skink hadn’t the slightest idea how dangerous and mean and hurtful this one could be and she was supposed to know! The green chattered agitatedly to herself, and then –

She jumped visibly as the glass bowl descended upon Skink before loosing a shriek of indignation, claws slipping on the latch, which – released. The glowbasket lay open before her, and Sylph hissed viciously at F’lix before she scrambled up, clutching the rim of the basket and teetering precariously as she hissed again – and then blatantly stared at Skink, fascinated by the maneuvers her sister was going through. She wouldn’t have done that. It was so…lacking in the element of surprise. You had to wait and act scared, all scrunched in the middle of the bowl, and then when it lifted – there was your chance; shoot out and maybe drop your tail along the way if necessary; wouldn’t that work better than bouncing and wasting energy? (One could tell Ahth had been teaching Sylph; she wouldn’t have come up with such an idea on her own.) Both claws dug agitatedly into the side of the basket, and Sylph bounced, her entire weight leaving the basket before she landed again, chattering loudly at F’lix.

Off off off get off pretty off off GET OFF! Her shriek was hardly as upset as Skink’s was, but it too ripped across an octave, every bit as shrill as her size suggested. The green scurried back and forth across the glowbasket for a moment before she leaned down to pick up one of the glows within, lidding her eyes against the brightness, and spun to fling it at F’lix. It fell short – just as well, as Voyager and Rascal took that moment to arrive and set to work freeing their Mine’s owner. Sylph stared at them blankly – how often they’d trashed the Candidate Barracks and then blamed it on the two flits, after all – before she crooned quietly to himself, the confusion clear in her rapidly whirling eyes. She bounced again, and then hurled another insult at F’lix. One more. SO PRETTY, YOU – That was all she had time for. Because the next instant, whether or not Sylph agreed with it or had even planned it, the glowbasket fell.

Sylph didn’t weigh a lot. But the glowbasket was not designed to put have any excess weight at all put onto it, much less have weight bouncing on top of it, and as it happened the weight of the glows already in it had put a strain on the already-weak adhesive that attached it to the wall. Down Sylph went, clinging to the basket for dear life; it hit the bed and sent glows rolling every which way into the furs and onto the ground; Sylph was flung onto the furs as well with a squawk that spoke very eloquently of her startled dismay before she bounced resiliently to her feet, and skittered with alarming speed to the edge of the bed to sit upright in the famous ‘meerkat’ pose, frill quivering and outstretched, the streaks of black ink creating a truly grotesque effect upon the usually pale green hide.

Do not do anything stupid. You cannot go /between/ if he catches you, Ahth warned her privately, and Sylph lowered herself from the meerkat pose into one more suited to breaking into a run at a moment’s notice. See, see? What would she do without an evil genius blue plotting in the back of her mind…? Stupid pretty stupid pretty stupid, she chanted, determined to assault F’lix mentally since she couldn’t physically (the voice in her head said so!). Pretty stupid stupid so pretty stupid. Off Sistermine, you get! Off! Yes; she could be the one who arranged compromises and deals, Sylph decided, and Voyager and Rascal could be the ones who went and did the dirty work. Yes yes; that suited her just fine!

[rii]

Oh~ He caught one. F'lix only had a fleeting moment to enjoy the sight of the hissing Salamandyr and her futile struggle to be free of the bowl. The reinforcements came swiftly. Now to defend his prize. F'lix planted his boot on top of the bowl and straightened to his full height. Reflexively his arm shot up to defend himself from the attacking fire lizard. Its claws scratched against the leather he wore--always wore--while its wings hit glancingly at the sides of his head. He held the arm away from himself to keep the snapping mouth from his nose. F'lix couldn't help himself, he laughed. The situation struck him as hilarious. Such lucky vermin. It would be too easy to slice the flying rodent open. Oh, he should do it.

Be calm little one, Saboth rumbled gently to only Skink, his voice deep and calm. He continued to send gentle, rolling waves of the emotion to the distressed salamandyr. Mine will not hurt you. I will not let him. Saboth's muzzle was in the doorway, tilted in a way so he could see the glass bowl and pale green inside. Little fast one, you are not in danger. Be calm. What is your name?

F'lix, the dark half of the bluepair, continued to chuckle while keeping the flit at bay. The salamandyr screams in his head amused him to no end. Soon enough their bonded halves would come to save their precious pests. The human side was the part F'lix wanted to deal with, not half-witted lizards. Besides, there were two salamandyr's. To who did the other belong? Who was helping that weyrling brat? F'lix wanted to know how far to extend his gratitude.

If anyone comes up to fetch them, don't let them in.

Of course. Saboth rumbled again, this one a warning toward the fire lizards to stop. He repeated the earlier emotion for them to be calm. To make his point, he inhaled deeply and exhaled in a sharp snort--the warm gust of wind catching at the flit's wings. Enough.

[dragon]

Skink slowed, gradually, until she came to a puffing halt, tiny sides heaving in and out in an exaggerated looking fashion as she stared up at the boot sole that was trapping her in the bowl. She frilled at it, defiantly. BAD! Skink chew! Skink destroy! Skink UGLYFY!! she threatened, even as she saw Rascal digging at the stone floor near the edge of the bowl. The flitter really wasn't that dumb ... he just figured it'd be easier to dig through rock than to try and move the leg that was attached to that boot. With a chirp, he pushed on the bowl for a moment, then went back to digging, determined.

He would not fail His! He tried to keep track of what Voyager was doing, but there was so much flapping and beating of those big bronze wings that Rascal really could not tell what the flitter was up to. Oh well ... Voyager could take care of himself, he figured.

And indeed, he was no baby flitter any more, though sometimes he acted like it. Though not quite so much of late anymore. Ignoring the blue dragon entirely ... as the dragon likely as not did notrealize what was at stake at this very moment, Voyager continued to struggle with and flap and claw and bit at any part of F'lix that was handy for only a moment. Then he vanished right out of the man's grasp into between, leaving F'lix's fingers quite cold. Just as quickly, the bronze was back, with another feral war cry, attacking the back of F'lix's head. Grabbing at strands of hair and then yanking for all he was worth, Voyager slapped him over the head with his wings again, before diving for that nearest ear with his teeth, from behind.

All he had to do was get the man off balance for one moment, so that Rascal could free Skink. And he was determined to keep up his end of the assault until the mandyr was free. The dead silence coming from the brown down below let the big bronze know that they were not successful yet. So onward to the attack!!

Rascal stared up F'lix's pant leg as he dug, and then turned his head to look at Sylph, Skink's little friend. He chirped, to get her attention, then flashed her an image of one of those really big, really poky, nasty-to-have-in-your-britches tree crawling beetles. Could she get one? All the while his forelegs were scrabbling busily on the stone, making not much of a dent. Squeezing his claw tips under the edge of the glass bowl, Rascal tried to lift ... but that was a naturally pointless endeavor.

Getting desperate, Rascal did something rather brash ... forget the beetle! He jumped upwards, tackling F'lix's foot, and dived up that pantleg himself, snaking his head up in there. Grabbing ahold of bare flesh with his little talons, he opened his jaws as wide as he could in the cramped space, and bit down for all he was worth. Just as quickly as he could manage, but not as quickly as he would have liked, he poofed between himself, to avoid getting his neck snapped during the anticipated flinch and jerk that he hoped followed that.

Skink UGLIFY~!!! Skink threatened again, impotently, from under the bowl. Boy howdy ... if she ever got out of this bowl, she was going to seriously chew some stuff up for this thoughtful human!! Skink hates! Skink hates, Skink make ugly! Skink make sorry!! She hissed, hopping up and down under the bowl, hating intensely on both the man and his infuriating dragon.

[Avu]

Sylph did not understand the concept of deserting her sister. No matter how infuriating she could be sometimes – like, not dodging out of the pretty man’s way; didn’t she knew he was bad? – Skink was still her sisterlove, she was, and Sylph didn’t leave. She couldn’t leave; her mission was not done yet. The tiny green chewed on the covers thoughtfully, scratching at the fabric with her claws, hissing in frustration. Oh, she didn’t like firelizards; that Voyager and Rascal thought they had any claim on Skink made her fiercely unhappy – or it would have in any other context. Since she was trapped, though, she supposed it was just an advantage. Maybe she should be like Ahth – hate them, and manipulate them instead of just blatantly hating on them. Maybe it would work better; Ahth’s plans generally did. She didn’t know what she’d have to do to make the two flits listen to her, but she’d figure it out. Oh, yes she would, and then what? F’lix and anyone else she wanted to hurt would be hurt; they would pay and oh, she’d rule, she would, she and Skink and Ahth.

But back to the problem at hand; there would be more time for plotting later. The tiny green didn’t frill – her entire body flattened till she was practically melting against the bedspead, though her ink-smeared form stood out against the brown of the furs; a low snarl emerged from her jaws. What to do, what to do…? Distract F’lix? But that wouldn’t make him move and let Skink out, it wouldn’t, hrm. Had Sylph thought it would actually do anything, she would have thrown herself onto F’lix in an attempt to make him stagger backwards away from Skink, but logic dictated it would do no good: She didn’t weigh enough to make much of an impact, he would grab onto her and hurt her, and she couldn’t go between to get away if he did manage to snag her. Ahth’s presence in her mind was a comforting one; Hers had…gone to sleep, as it were, to avoid letting Sylph’s emotions reflect upon him, leaving the blue dragon to direct their attempts; Ahth knew how everything was supposed to go and the blue was a self-proclaimed criminal mastermind (though he was still learning, of course; two months simply wasn’t enough to learn everything).

You may do as you wish, Sylph. Time it well, though, make sure there is no other choice, and remember to evade – in and out, do not allow time for a return strike. And remember, above all – you are much more important than your sister is. She may not agree, but Ours will agree, and I think so. You are worth more. Do not take foolish risks.

Her body flattened further, eyes flushing with agitation as they locked upon F’lix – and then flicked to Rascal at his question. A low hiss emerged from her jaws, a denial – did she look like she could get one of those fat beetles? She didn’t play with bugs, she didn’t know how to find one – and there wouldn’t be time. Couldn’t go between, remember? So pretty, was her annoyed reply, So pretty, don’t be. She didn’t wait for a reply, though; the instant that Rascal acted, so did Sylph; she leapt from her perch on the bed and landed squarely on F’lix’s shirt. Without pause, she slid down the back of his shirt and locked her talons in once she’d found that spot directly between his shoulderblades – that spot that was either impossible to reach or required a great deal of stretching – before she bit down as hard as she could. If he stretched to grab her, she’d feel his moving and she could slither either up or down (depending on how F’lix twisted) and if he didn’t deign to grab her, she’d just bite until he did something.

Double assault – unfair? Not at all. After all, it wasn’t fair to put Skink into a glass jar, was it now?! And they didn’t have a human person to aide them (she didn’t want Hers to be there: He would get in trouble for hurting the bluerider and that was bad), so that wasn’t fair either. Biased in her favor, who, Sylph? Of course not! It had occurred to Ahth that Emoyan might be badly affected by Skink’s emotions – fear and anger did not mix well, and if Emoyan was half as in tune with Skink as R’ahre was Sylph, he’d feel it – but the blue hadn’t thought much of it: He cared for Sylph, and Showoff (to a much lesser extent) as far as Salamandyrs went. Beyond that, they were little more than tools that he could use to achieve his own ends. Humans? His and K’lir – and Showoff and K’lir primarily because they were Baoth’s and he liked Baoth. He didn’t actually like anyone else; therefore, what they were put through did not occur to him. They were not important.

Let go, let go, go let Sistermine! The hissing was punctuated by her claws scrabbling against the skin on which she was perched to keep herself in place. Go go go let gooo.



((I think I might have done a little godmodding in there, so if you want me to change it, lemme know~ <3))

[rii]

The laughter slowly died out as a scowl took over. A low growl sounded in the back of his throat as he grew more annoyed with the situation. He was not going to compromise with vermin. Instead of defending himself, F'lix shifted to take a more offensive approach. Those little claws on the attacking flit were starting to catch his uncovered hand. Tiny beads of blood dotted his skin, and when F'lix finally had enough, they flung to the floor. F'lix swiped his arm out to knock the little beast back, repeating the process whenever the thing came near. At least he had not reached for his dirk, yet.

Did firelizards understand speech? Or were they as witless as the Salamandyrs?

"I haven't killed her yet, so it shoulder be clear I don't plan to. So either you get your bonded up here to fetch her, or I'm going to start slicing your wings off--"

--Wretched beast, biting him. How the flit managed to snake it's head past his boot and leathers stumped the rider, but it had managed. It didn't hurt, F'lix had a very high pain tolerance and something so trivial barely registered in his mind. He did kick his leg out to get it off, the bowl rattling with the movement, hearing the glass move, F'lix instantly stomped his foot back down to keep it in place. He tilted his head down to see if his prize was still inside, but became aware of the mandyr slithering down the back of his shirt and leather. Such nasty vermin, digging their claws and teeth into him.

F'lix sneer and arched his back, not to try and loosen Sylph, but to trap her there. He hunched his shoulders forward to pull the fabric and leather tight against his body. Maybe he could squeeze the very breath out of her. As the flit came near for a second attack, the dirk freed the scabbard in one swift motion, the sharp edging singing through the air toward Voyager.

[dragon]

Voyager squalled, continuing the assault in an effort to get and keep the man off balance. He didn't know what Rascal was doing, but he hoped it was something useful. But knowing the brown ... it likely was. Or something potentially useful. The bronze took a few of those blows, riding the arm away, and then back again to renew the assault. He didn't bother to pop between and back, mostly because it took too long, as fast as it was. And all it would take was a split second. He'd take the bruising ... for the moment.

On the floor, Rascal reappeared again, just in time to see the jerk that rocked the glass bowl. He chirped, but too late ... Skink already saw it and was moving. She was fast, but when she was desperate, she was even faster. Flattening out only like a bitty mandyr could do, she scooted out of the bowl in a blink, before that foot came slamming back down again. But, as fast as she was, she wasn't fast enough. She squalled as the edge came back down on the forked end of her tail, neatly chipping the ends off. Still squealing, she fled all the way to Rascal, who readily scooped the bitty mandyr up, launching back into flight and into between again.

Voyager knew the instant that the other two were gone. And was glad ... and full of pride over a battle successfully won. But there was still one other present. Skink's little playmate. She needed rescuing, too, didn't she? Still ... he had to disentangle from the battle before he could figure out what to do next. It took a moment, but Voyager managed to pull free of the thrashing man, winging back away from him.

Just in time for that dirk to flash at him. He never saw it coming. The blade neatly severed through the Bronze's neck just above his chest. With a gouting spray of ichor and a pained cry, the flitter vanished between, to never be seen again.

---

Far across the Weyr, Rascal successfully brought a terrified and paining Skink back to Emoyan, who had been trying to figure out where his mindmates had got off to that they were in such trouble. The three reunited, just in time to collectively feel the loss of their fourth member. Staggered, the Candidate Master silently sank to the ground where he stood in shock, holding onto his bleeding mandyr and keening brown.

[Avu]

It was tight. So tight, dark, and warm, and there was skin that did not belong to Hers beneath her claws. Sylph hissed, her body flattening to accommodate for the tight quarters, her frill trembling, flat against her body, as she bit again, frantically. What was wrong, had Skink gotten out yet? Her entire body wriggled furiously against F’lix’s back – to her mind, it was all his fault. If he hadn’t thrown a rock at Ahth, then Hers would not have gotten upset, and then nothing would have happened, and if he hadn’t come now, then none of this would have happened. They would have happily gone on their way – and her desire for revenge, at least, would have been satisfied. And she wasn’t stupid – Sylph was incredibly intelligent, most of the time. Ahth was even more so, one of the only reasons she stood to pause and let him have his say, and right now, she knew that her freedom was on the line. If Skink got caught for good – RusaHers would be furious. He let her run loose because he trusted her to keep herself safe and not to get hurt – and up until now, they never had been caught. Never. That it was for his sake, this revenge, didn’t seem to matter to him as much as it did to his Bondeds.

Gone. Sylph stopped moving the instant Skink’s squealing had stopped. She was safe. Now…her tail twitched before the green dropped downwards. The fabric was tighter there, and breath came hard, but Sylph was of the draconic species – her lungs inflated, body flattening before she dropped out of the bottom of his shirt – so suddenly that she emitted a startled mrrp sound as she smacked against the floor (hard enough to make an audible splat) and then bolted instinctively, darting behind the first thing she saw: A chair leg. Small enough to be completely concealed by said furniture, Sylph peeped out cautiously, trying to judge when was best to bolt for it. The sight she was presented with stopped her cold. Her previous emotions, which was primarily irritation towards F’lix, was replaced by a cold fury. Her body stopped the trembling, and she became…still enough to pass for a statue. Her frill was flattened, and eyes flashed scarlet in a brilliant display of pure hatred. No longer was it for RusaHers – now her fury was all Hers. Where did he get off, hurting her sisterlove like that?!

What was that – a tail piece? It would make sense that Skink would just drop her tail sometime later – had it been Sylph, the green would have dropped her tail the instant the bowl fell back, but Skink had apparently been panicked enough not to consider it and – her body flattened again, the green pressing low to the ground, staring at the stains of ichor on the ground. Whose, exactly? – she didn’t know. Not Skink’s, because Salamandyrs couldn’t go between and had it been the Salamandyr, she would be as good as dead. One of the flits, then. Dead? Likely so. She wasn’t waiting to find out. If one of Emoyan’s pets had actually gotten hurt, then they had failed. Not entirely; she was very pleased with the mess that she and Skink had left behind, but their own sacrifice far outweighed what they had given. And Ahth would not be happy, and RusaHers would not be, either. They had agreed – she didn’t get hurt, didn’t get anyone else hurt, and she could do as she pleased; he’d even help her, but once that line was crossed, her independence was gone.

Sylph tossed another glance at F’lix before she shot for the door, diving under the crack and darting down the hallway. Mission: Revenge version 1.0 had failed. That was not to say there wouldn’t be a round two. There almost certainly would be. Sylph might have been satisfied, but now there was a new grudge to be held, and Ahth certainly was hard to please – he wouldn’t be satisfied. What would have satisfied the blue would be to see the enemy squirm, but that would, as far as he knew, require actually hurting him, and that – was against the rules.

[rii]

That was annoying. The bluerider flicked some of the ichor off his dirk, straightening in his stance when in the span of a few seconds all the pests left. He could feel a trickle of blood running down the curve of his spine, but the pain remained non-existent. Slitted eyes examined the ichor staining the edge of the blade. The bluerider was well tuned with the fact that if he drew a weapon, he meant to use it. Yet his aim had been to maim, maybe slice up a wing or tail--but the flit had changed direction too quickly for him to adjust the arcing path of the dirk. If he had meant to kill he would have, but he hadn't, and therefore, he was annoyed.

He crouched low on his heels, knocked the glass bowl over before reaching for the abandoned piece of garment that Skink had dragged. He used the cloth to clean off the blade while examining the tiny piece of green tail, the only remains of the tiny intruder. F'lix clucked his tongue, stood, and slid the cleaned blade back into the leather sheathe. He still didn't know to who the other green mandyr belonged. But now with them all gone, F'lix calmly set about cleaning the mess..

Saboth rumbled to himself, stretching lazily over his sunning ledge. His eyes were closed, but he did send a thought out to the little blue hatchling. Lovely images of the small bronze flit's life blood spilling out from it's neck before it betweened. Had he not told Ahth that his rider, nor himself, practiced sympathy? I advised you to turn the other ridge. The distaste clear in his deep tone. The death was not on F'lix hands, they had clearly laid down the warnings more than once. Yet the hatchling had risked the lives of others over nothing. Maybe the little blue would do well to learn--but he highly doubted it. Silly ideals of revenge over a simple thrown rock. Hmph. If this had been a show of what they weyrling pair would be like when older, Saboth had only one word for them: cowards. His own rider may do foolish things, but at least those things only involved himself, F'lix didn't manipulate others. The act of using another person disgusted them both. Such people were no better than the vermin they sent.