Everything falls to pieces (open)

[Tashe]

He felt sick to his stomach. Was this what it felt like to be the conquered rather than be the conqueror? Damn, he hated this feeling. He should have known something like this was inevitable for the Southern continent but he had allowed himself to believe in a little thing called hope. That thing was now crushed under the glossy boots of Ja'kin, looking like it wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. Truthfully, K'thay didn't mind returning to his old way of life. War was something he'd grown up with and became used too, but he had also tasted freedom from that over the last two or so Turns. So needless to say he was just a little pissed that Selenitas had been invaded and taken over. This is our home after-all. Oddly enough our loyalties have buried themselves deeply into this Weyr. Its only natural to feel angry... especially since it was Benden exiles who took over. The Bluerider threw a knife at a tree, a snarl set grimly on his face. I'm sick of all these Farnath damn Wastelanders in our Farnath damn Weyr.

Retrieving the blade K'thay sighed heavily and sat down where he stood. Everything he knew was falling apart and reshaping itself. He'd been taken away from Mi'rah (which sucked) and placed on the Alpha Wing (which both darkly amused and made him wary). It also meant Cass would have to get used to a completely different Wing... made up mostly of Wastelanders. A'emi was missing or dead, although Castidenloth had assured him he'd have known if the Green died in the Weyr, and half of the Weyr was gone. And by Weyr, he meant Riders. Not to mention there was a dead Goldrider and another one missing, bringing the Queenrider population down to just a Kaegan. There was what... one Selenitas Bronzerider left? (Which happened to be Mi'rah, go figure he'd be the one not dead. No offense to his Wingleader of course...) So only one chance to get a Selentiasian into power. But even that would be thwarted, Ja'kin would probably send them away when Millieth rose. Not to mention, he'd heard that both of their Weyrlingmasters had escaped. Which meant that the Weyrlings were probably going to be trained by Bendenites. Taking out a cloth he began to clean the traces of sap off of his knife.

Let us hope they do not find out about your particular set of skills. I do not know what would happen. It is bad enough that we are Ex-Fort. I don't know if they even know that much. Only way they'd know is if Mi'rah opened his big mouth about us. Although... was it a bad thing that he wouldn't put it past the Bronzerider to do so? Oh his faith in his (ex)Wingleader was just staggering... Glancing up from his blade, K'thay watched as his scared Blue picked at a herdbeast. He sighed. "... frikken Wastelanders... What the hell am I going to do now?"

[Ruby]

"Good question," Serissa commented, leaning forward against the chest-high fence more meant to keep the herds in than to keep anyone else out. Instead of looking directly at her company, she pushed her golden curls out of her face and turned her eyes to the sky, searching for the pale smudge of almost-cloud that would be Ildyth, far out over the feeding grounds, looking for a suitable snack. Of course, Serissa wasn't spying or anything, and she hadn't been there long, but considering the Bluerider's private monologue and apparent loneliness, she figured she needed to explain. Uncrossing one arm from where they rested on the top of the fence, she gestured towards the knife in his hand. "I heard the knife hit wood, figured I'd make sure Wastelanders weren't gutting anyone".

Dangerous words, to the wrong person, but given his previous statement, Serissa was pretty darn sure that this was not the wrong person. Plus, he looked far too familiar for her to have just seen him over the past few days since the invasion. Attempts to call up a name failed, although she felt like maybe it started with a hard sound, a t or a k or something. Oddly enough, his face sparked some memory from the past, rather than the present, although of course that made no sense. His knots of course labeled him a wastelander, but something about the pinning of it screamed 'SELENITAS' if you knew what you were looking for. A glance at his dragon didn't explain any more; he was a pretty enough blue, but completely unremarkable and unmemorable. Well, that was useless.

Not exactly one to beat around the bush, Serissa hopped up onto the fence's lowest rail, twisting through the bars so she was on the same side as K'thay. Whatever reaction the other Bluerider had had, Serissa still greeted him with a smile, shoving hands into pockets and leaning back against the fence this time. "Serissa," she offered, adding a hand extended for a shake if he was near enough, then added, "Of blue Ildyth. He's up in the sky somewhere. Do I know you, by the way? Beyond Selenitas, I mean?"

[Tashe]

Glancing up from his knife as he folded the cloth with one hand, K'thay eyed the woman wearily from where he was sitting. He'd heard her footsteps so the random appearance wasn't of a great surprise to him, but he hadn't expected to be spoken to. Normally, the Bluerider was left well alone when he accompanied his Dragon to the feeding grounds though he had assumed that this time would be no difference. There were some people that the Wastelanders would find terribly difficult to gut. Eyes danced over her body, more in caution than appreciation, before filing the woman in plausibly harmless. Sliding the knife back into its wrist sheath the Bluerider ignored the woman until she spoke again.

So she really did intend to engage him in conversation. He retrained his eyes on her again, but this time faltered when he passed by her face. Something nagged at the back of his mind. Normally that meant he knew something about a person, whether it be information or gossip. Perhaps he had run into the woman before? It was possible. She had a strong Northern accent, which despite being of a female tenor, matched his. Which meant she was Ex-Fort. Definitely not one of the Wastelanders. He seemed to always attract the ex-Fortians, it was almost like he had his own geographic-specific gravitational pull. Quietly amused, K'thay looked at her extended hand. He was sitting and she was standing, he could be rude, but eh. Flipping onto the balls of his feet, he rose and closed the distance between them in a few short strides. Although he didn't grab her hand in the common southern Style, instead, he clasped it in one more commonly used by Fort Riders. Do you know Blue Ildyth of Serissa? He could feel his Dragon sort through their memories. I have a vague recollection of the name. When we were newly Bonded Littlebrother.

A small smirk played across his lips. So thats why he recognized her face. Faint memories came rushing back to him from days long ago. "K'thay of Blue Castidenloth." He took his hand back and crossed his arms. "When I was a candidate, there was this small girl with vibrant blond hair. She was quiet and rather anti-social. I soon Impressed. But by the time that girl impressed, I was already a Senior Weyrling." He turned slightly and watched Casti flare his wings. "You wouldn't happen to be that girl, would you?" Face recognition training was one that always had been a pleasure to have gone through.

[Ruby]

Serissa was looking K'thay over with as much of an eye for detail as he was, but hidden behind her sunny smile, no one but another Fortian would notice. His handshake confirmed her suspicions, and she carefully kept her wrist rigid and her handshake firm, formal. Fort. Interesting, and of course more interesting was his name. "So you're one of the other Selenitas Alphas," she mused, letting his hand go. She hardly knew anyone else on her wing, with the exception of T'ke who helped out around the infirmary, but some of the names had looked familiar.

Pleased with her discovery, Serissa wiggled slightly against the fence, working herself into a more comfortable position. Fortian, and a Wingmate. Someone she knew - now that his origin had been discovered, there were a lot more options - and someone who, by his smile, knew her. She matched him smirk for smirk, used to playing this game, fishing for information while trying not to give anything away. "Sorry to make you get up. Have some fence?" she offered, gesturing to the beam next to her, just too high for her to sit on without boosting herself up - perfect for him, about an inch taller. These games took a while to play, he might as well be comfortable.

Or, perhaps, not so long. He thoughtfully jogged her memory, but his assessment made her laugh aloud. "I remember it the other way around, K'thay, darling," she declared, drawing out the 'darling' in a parody of Fort Hold's sometimes stuffy upper echelon. Her tone softened a little, tinged with a hint of fondness, but her eyes still danced, teasing. "I remember Kanthanay, that handsome Candidate just a few months older, who I couldn't talk to because I was new and he was prettier than any of the boys at the Hall, and had been standing for years. I had no chance of Impressing when he'd been waiting so long, but it was Ildyth that picked me first, making it even more impossible that I'd ever say hello when I was a Senior and he was a Junior."

If some of that was invented, Serissa didn't let on - he could pick the truth apart from the lies if it suited him. She did think she'd been in the older class, though - trust a man to remember himself as more senior. She hadn't quite answered his question, though, so she turned her blue eyes to the sky again, contemplating. "Kanthanay, K'thay. Not much difference. Even less between Serissa and Serissa, though," flashing him another dazzling, sideways smile at her conclusion.

[Tashe]

He inclined his head slightly as she mentioned their new Wing assignment. "Indeed. Remarkably funny though, that a man who was recently once a Bendenite would choose two ex-Fortian's to be on his Wing." He flicked his hand out in a sign that could be translated into a shrug. When offered a portion of the fence, he hopped up but allowed for there to be space between them. Cautious as ever was he. Although he shook his head with a smile as Serissa spoke to him about what she remembered. It had been such a long time since someone had spoken his birthname, it almost felt alien to him. But, handsome? He felt like laughing. Ah perhaps to each her own. At his old Weyr he'd been picked for certain infiltration assignments based on the fact he looked like just another face in the crowd. He wasn't ugly, sure, but he didn't have a face that was terribly rememberable. Which had been a key part of why he'd gotten chosen.

"I don't know. If I remember correctly, the clutch Ildyth came from was in a winter month... November or December? I was still sixteen when I impressed so that means Castidenloth's clutch had to have been closer to the spring or summer months." Therefore, he was the one remembering correctly, although he hadn't revealed when exactly his Turnday Month was. "Perhaps you are remembering another but putting my name to his face. There were certainly more good looking guys than myself in the Candidate ranks. There was this one, Kantan, who was rather close to me in looks." But personality, no. That boy had been a little pompus when dealing with other men, although a natural leader. He had impressed in 3007.

"I suppose." He rolled the names through his head once or twice, comparing their sounds. "I don't believe I would have liked to be called anyother variation though. Anything else is too harsh like K'tan, or to soft, like K'na." Your name suits you the best, that is why I picked it. There was a touch of pride in his Blue's mind voice. He glanced backward, watching the male for a moment before returning his attention back onto Serissa. "How do you feel about this takeover?" Moments later Castidenloth's head appeared on K'thay's other side, his scared nose nudging his human gently before stepping over the fence and curling up where there was space for him. He then proceeded to clean his paws of blood.

[Ruby]

"It is, isn't it? I wonder if he knew," Serissa mused, although - as ironic as it was - to her it made sense. At least a Bendenite would know that Fortian riders had been trained a certain way, and were capable fighters no matter their Weyrlingmaster or Wing assignment. These Selenitas wings were patchy at best, some perfectly capable Riders mixed in with those who either had no training or had never had the stomach for war. Even as a coddled healer with a dopey dragon, (Hey! Ildyth protested), Serissa had seen her share of war. She'd killed, she's seen the horrors of aerial battle... she just kept a smile on and got through it. Would these Selenitas softees manage it?

Then again, could she fight against Fort, Ildyth's birth weyr?

Well, she'd find out. For now, she caught the hint of a smile when she called him handsome, and not the kind of smile that usually occurred when someone was flattered. The space he left between the two of them spoke volumes, Serissa just couldn't quite figure out what it was trying to say. At least his mouth was saying things she could understand. "Mm, perhaps I have gotten you mixed up," she conceded, still fairly certain he'd been in the younger class (of course, it would be very like Serissa to remember herself as having the upper hand, too, even if that wasn't the case in truth). "I still wouldn't have spoken to you," she laughed, "Whatever order we actually impressed in. And I remember Kantan - that kid had a chip on his shoulder the size of the Northern Continent. What did he end up impressing? Blue?"

Serissa reached up to pull one of her curls forward, twisting the end back and forth through her fingers and rotating towards K'thay a little as she did. "I like K'thay," she confirmed, repeating "K'thay. Good job, Castidenloth," she added, with a grin for the blue. "I've always thought it was a good thing I wasn't a boy - What would I be? S'ri, like S'rei's little brother or something?" Ildyth, mostly giving up on his snack, circled back, adding, I would have called you S'ss, I think. That made Serissa laugh, and she translated for the other Bluerider. "Ildyth says he would have called me S'ss, thank Faranth I came out female. I'll take Serissa or Seri any day."

The female bluerider felt her dragon tuck into a dive, finally having found something tasty. Took you long enough, I want you to meet Castidenloth, she called out. Ildyth snorted back, My beast needs to be better than his, you know that. It will take me some time. Tuning back in to the conversation, Serissa realized it had taken a more serious turn. Allowing a touch of a frown to pout her full lips, she considered her answer for a moment before responding. She was trusting that K'thay was a Fort rider here under his own desire, but even if he wasn't, she didn't plan to give away anything that would put her in danger. "I was Southern-born, not Fort. So between Ildyth's blood ties and mine, we've covered most of Pern besides Benden. I was loyal to Fort while I lived there, but when they started campaigning against the South, I put in for a transfer." Not exactly the truth, but she hid the lie well. "Now I've lived under the control of all three Weyrs on Pern, and I don't think any of them really has it right. The Wastelanders - Bendeners - shed a little more blood than I think is necessary, but that might just be the healer in me talking. I'm planning to lay low, and see how it goes." She paused for a minute, to give him time to pick out whether she'd actually answered his question or not, before asking, "And you?"

[Tashe]

"I believe so, but I can't remember exactly. I stopped keeping tabs on the Weyrlings when I was picked out for my first Wing." Pressing the tips of his fingers together for a moment, he itched his chin before interlacing them. "Castidenloth says, Thank you. As do I." Mentally he winced at the Weyrleader's name, not having entirely forgotten about the Bronzerider's betrayal so many years ago. Having lived at Selenitas and ridden under S'rei's leadership, he'd gotten past the animosity he had harbored when they first came here. Now it was just an uncomfortable childhood memory in the past. It was hard to forget when a Rider you used to look up to skipped Weyrs in the middle of the war. "S'ss. That would be a... unique name. I'd think it would be rather hard to call out though."

He tapped the back of his boot against the bottom railing as the other Bluerider spoke, committing a few things to memory for future use. K'thay wasn't watching her, the usual sign that he wasn't terribly concerned with whether or not she was telling the truth about her history, though he did look over when she mentioned the Wastelanders. "Going to be kinda hard to lay low when we're going to be working under him directly." He shrugged slightly. "But I know what you mean. Play a good soldier, etcetera."

K'thay stilled his foot when she asked him about his opinion. "To say it bluntly, I don't like it. Irks me a bit that it was Bendeners who took us down, though I wouldn't be happy if it had been Fort either. R'anatar is a fool." He rolled his eyes. "I was loyal to the D'loro regime. When he died so did my passionate loyalty. I left after J'lorin did, couldn't stand fighting under R'anatar's standard and I would never fight for Benden." He shrugged again. "Now me and Casti are loyal to S'rei and Kaegan. Rather, to Selenitas. Simple as that. I like it down here, though the Wing training is a bit lacking. Not much military preciseness. Though I have to say my old wing did pretty well with that." Damn Wastelanders taking him from Mi'rah.

Itching his flank with his nose the Blue stretched his limbs. He was full and content at least for now and he didn't have to worry about his "accidentally" killing someone with a throwing knife. It was a perfect time to just unwind from the stress they'd been feeling. Rumbling contently, he fixed the humans with an eye as he tucked his maw under his tail. He quietly eavesdropped on their conversation.

[Ruby]

"Ssss... it would. I feel like people would just start calling me Hiss," she giggled, kicking her legs out like a little kid. Even for Serissa, who basically let nothing get her down, it felt like too long since she'd laughed. K'thay didn't exactly seem to share her good mood, but that didn't stop the Healer. Leaning over, she poked the other bluerider in the arm, stopping short of tickling only because they were sitting on a fence and she didn't want to explain a split head to Ja'kin if she could help it. "C'mon, why so serious? It's not all bad, a pretty good percentage of people made it out." Unless he'd lost someone, of course, but Serissa really wasn't in the mood to discuss that. Luckily, he'd changed the subject.

Cocking her head, she leaned back with a suddenly wise look on her face... and a betraying sparkle in her eye. "Ah, but haven't you ever heard 'keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer'? If that isn't Ja'kin's plan, it's certainly mine. He doesn't need to know the tiniest thing about my history for Wing Training - I plan to be a reclusive Southerner if anyone asks. We were always better liars than Bendeners, anyway." With wide-eyed innocence, she added, "If you need a cover story too, we could always be lovers, trying to hide our relationship, hence our reclusiveness... people tend to see what the expect, and if Ja'kin doesn't already know he picked two Fortians for his wing, he won't expect it in the least." As if she needed to tell K'thay that last bit, he was certainly raised with deception, while she'd just learned it as a teen.

Without waiting for the other bluerider to answer that, she hopped off the fence, swiping a stick from the ground to fiddle with, eventually cracking it in half so it was approximately the length of a surgical knife while he spoke. His assessment of the Fort Weyrleadership earned a pensive "Mmm"; Serissa hadn't been a huge fan of D'loro either, but then it was R'anatar that ordered the attack on Selenitas that had sent her running. The rest, though, she could empathize with. "Sounds familiar," she agreed, flipping the stick up so it rotated once in the air before she caught it again. "I hadn't actually been tapped for a real wing, yet - I'd been training with Miles until they figured out where to put me, but honestly, that wing was a joke. Sel'n was competent enough as Wingleader, though. Wish they'd moved me to something more challenging before the attack. Maybe I could have been useful."

Ildyth had finally come in for a landing, the oddly-shaped Blue taking the space Castidenloth had recently vacated. In his claws was absolutely the biggest herdbeast Serissa had ever seen, at least twice the size of Ildyth's stomach. You'll never finish that, she commented, flicking a little bit of stick at the lighter blue. Ildyth didn't bother to answer, turning his attention instead to K'thay's blue. Mine says you're Castidenloth. I'm Ildyth! Have you seen how big my herdbeast is?