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Post by dragon on Aug 7, 2011 20:49:09 GMT -5
It was nice, to be out and about. If a tad bit more uncertain of a life. After spending nearly all of his life in a Weyr, it was a bit of a shock to go back to not living in one. Where things were a tad bit less ... provided. It was a good thing that he had a skill that would allow for his wandering nature at the moment. It was also a good thing that he had taken with him most of his stash of collected marks.
It had taken him a long time to get to a Hold on foot. But he'd made it well enough, if a tad bit leaner. Between the heightened activity level and the leaner rations, it certainly changed him a bit. Once he made it to the Hold, he'd done a bit of entertaining and a few other Harperly type tasks to earn a few more marks, some food, a place to stay. But he didn't stay more than a week. Instead he had caught a ride along with a caravan headed to the next Hold. There, he was afforded a tent to sleep under ... or sometimes a wagon to sleep under instead ... and dinner in exchange for entertainment and news that he picked up along the way.
That and his pets actually helped too. Strange as he found that at first. Flitters were around Holds, but there weren't very many of them. Very few people had them, and those that did weren't entirely sure how to train them sometimes. Emoyan helped some with that. But Skink was the one that made the biggest splash. Every time she showed up, she caused a stir ... even when she wasn't doing anything. Which at first was rather disorienting for the tiny green. Luckily her entertainment and novelty factor out weighed the irritation, and people enjoyed having her around for the short time she spent in any given location.
Emoyan was convinced that was why ... she didn't actually live there. As long as he kept moving, Skink wasn't going to be a problem. But as he traveled from Hold to Hold, carrying news, songs, lessons, and other general Harper skills from point to point, he kept his ears peeled for any news of where the exiles were.
What he heard was sparse and scarce, especially since some people were of the opinion that they were raiding from and for Selenitas ... which baffled them. Why raid tithes already headed for the Weyr? Emoyan never commented, only listening to what he could hear.
He only stayed a few days in any one location, knowing that he wasn't going to find what he sought by sitting still. But he was also pretty certain that if anyone could find them, he could. Out here away from the Weyr, he might even get away with sending Rascal out to find certain individuals and report back.
But, he didn't want to risk that just yet. There was no telling if the exiles were going to panic and kill him for showing up unannounced like that. After all the friends he'd lost, the last thing he was going to do was risk Rascal's life.
Today, he was waiting for the next caravan to happen by to tag along with. In the mean time he was sitting outside the Hold drumming on his guitar idly. Passing time, enjoying the scenery and the weather. It really was a nice day, and he had nothing better to do than to cook up a new tune.
Bored. Skink complained from his shoulder. She didn't scamper too far in unknown spaces ... especially not after one certain feline had almost succeeded in catching her. Again, Rascal had saved her tail, but Skink had learned.
"So go to sleep." Emoyan answered.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Aug 9, 2011 14:44:14 GMT -5
Azrath kited on the wind like some giant bird of prey and turned his course resolutely toward Blossom Hold. His rider frowned and leaned forward to tap one gloved finger against the night blue hide. Is there some reason you’re flying us straight down to a major hold, Azrath, or did you just feel like a little extra entertainment?
The blue dragon’s response was a rumble as he dropped down and began spiralling down toward a mostly empty space. I don’t need entertainment thank you. You, however do. I believe I have found just the person to entertain you.[/color] The blue brought his hindquarters under him and backwinged to a neat landing in a cloud of rising dust, then shuffled around a bit to point his rider in the right direction.
Darya blinked through the dust at one of the people nearby. That couldn’t be... The man looked up from his gitar for a moment, letting Darya see his face. It really was! The bluerider was on the ground in a trice, striding toward the harper. ‘Emoyan! What are you doing all the way out here?’ She hailed her friend loudly as she closed the distance between them.
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Post by dragon on Aug 9, 2011 15:39:01 GMT -5
Dragons were a fairly common sight, one he didn't particularly pay much attention to. What with having spent the last few decades of his life in a Weyr where you couldn't look up and not see a half dozen or more. Out in the country, they were rarer, but with sweeps and searches being done, they were still seen.
However, that blue over there looked rather ... familiar. Again, he wasn't terribly surprised. The local Weyr was the one he'd just left after all. He'd seen lots of dragons there. Despite that, not being able to see the details of the beast particularly well, it still niggled at the back of his mind.
What surprised him more was that the dragon seemed to be coming in for a landing. Sweeps didn't usually warrant landings, though searches could. But Searches were done within a hold, usually, not out here. Only once the dragon was down did Emoyan realize just exactly which blue it was he was looking at. His fingers stilled on the guitar's box as he watched in concerted disbelief as Darya came flying off of Azrath's shoulders to stride in his direction.
Granted, this was why he had come all the way out here. To somehow find his missing friends. But it still shocked him greatly that it had, in the end ... worked. Quickly, he set the instrument off to the side in the grass and rose to his feet. "Looking for you, actually." He answered with an impish grin, closing the gap and seizing her in a hug once he reached her. "Faranth it's good to see you again."
No no, this was too real to be a dream or speculation. He'd succeeded! Or more precisely, instead of finding them, she'd found him instead. But hey, that worked too. The end result was the same. At least, so he hoped. Because there was yet another hurdle, which he could completely understand if it proved insurmountable.
The exiles were probably going to be too twitchy to allow anyone to be brought to their hiding place, regardless who they might be. Because spies would be a real threat. "How is everyone? Is everybody okay?"
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Aug 24, 2011 17:05:19 GMT -5
Azrath watched the two humans approach each other with a certain air of smugness, conveyed to those around him by a certain tilt to his head as the dark blue moved himself out of the way in a corner between two buildings, not conicidentally the area that gave the most shelter from prying eyes that might pass by overhead.
Ignoring how pleased with himself her dragon was Darya wrapped her arms briefly around Emoyan’s body and rested her head against his shoulder for a moment, letting some of the nervous tension that tended to infect her every time Azrath landed at a hold these days flow out of her, although she supposed the risk of being caught actually increased when she met someone from Selenitas. It looked like she was susceptible to illogical emotional reactions to other humans after all.
‘Looking for me?’ Darya questioned with a raised eyebrow that Emoyan would be able to see as she stepped back from him, not that Darya would have bothered if it wasn’t so hard to have a conversation without eye contact. ‘Or looking for anyone you might happen to find?’ The second question was added with more of a teasing tone than anyone else, obviously it had been the second option, it was preposterous to think that Emoyan would scour the south looking for her in particular. But since the Blossom gather he’d have to know the exiled riders were out there so... Well it followed on logically to her mind.
‘Well I can’t speak for everyone but things seem to be going pretty well right now. Food’s boring, hardly any vegetables except onions, and there seems to be epidemic of minor sniffles.’ Darya described current events very briefly when it would be all too easy to turn them into an hour’s whining, particularly about the colds, she’d never been subjected to so much moaning about the utterly trivial.
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Post by dragon on Aug 24, 2011 22:47:21 GMT -5
Emoyan was aware of the dragon moving off to more or less hide, but didn't think much of it. It was a perfectly logical thing to do, when exiled from a suddenly rather militant Weyr. They'd managed to stay hidden this long not by being flamboyant, that was for sure. "Looking for you." He reiterated in confirmation. "And everyone else too, I guess. But yes, looking for you." He let her go as she stepped back, taking a moment to look her over. She looked fairly well, all things considered. Maybe a bit trimmer, but if the diet was as limited as she suggested, that only made sense.
"I was willing to settle for whomever I could find, I admit. Mostly because I was hoping to have them lead me to wherever you were hiding. I suppose I was still hoping to find you, though ..." though even now, he wasn't entirely sure of the success of his self appointed mission. "I don't suppose I could follow you back, huh?"
Sniffles. Didn't they have a healer or three with them? He was pretty sure they had. Maybe they hadn't survived ... that would be a rather dire turn of events, to be sure. But at least it was just sniffles. Even if sniffles had the potential to become things much worse, it was still a fairly minor thing. Maybe he should purchase a few things here at the hold before he made that last leg of the journey ... which he fully intended to do, even if he couldn't catch a ride.
He at least knew he was in the right general area now. Might take him a few turns, but he'd find them eventually if stuck on foot. Eventually.
"I can get you some supplies, if you need them?" He offered. "Anything that you need particularly direly?"
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Aug 31, 2011 15:07:38 GMT -5
Darya blinked in sheer bewilderment at Emoyan’s insistance that he had, indeed, been looking for her. The added admission that he’d have settled for someone else wasn’t too surprising though, looking for any exile was hard enough let alone finding a particular one. Darya was quite convinced that Emoyan had enough determination to have turned up on her doorstep on day of his own accord though, she didn’t think he’d ever really give up on a goal even one as mind bogglingly hard as combing the entire continent for his missing friends. As Emoyan interrupted her musings with a question the bluerider broke into quite a brilliant smile. ‘Follow me home? Only if I don’t have to feed you and clean out your cage.’ Actually Emoyan would have to run quite fast to prevent Darya from trussing him up and flinging him over Azrath’s back, which she might have done if the harper had looked even slightly reluctant.
On impulse Darya all but flung herself at Emoyan and practically crushed the man in a hug. How could anyone be this wholeheartedly generous? Eventually a serious expression, slightly tinged with regret crossed Darya’s face and she sighed into his shoulder. ‘I’m afraid I wasn’t totally truthful with you just then.’ She admitted softly. ‘That’s how things stand now. But... a fair bit’s happened between the last time we met and now, and very little of it’s been good. I’d let it stand at that but if you’re serious about wanting to come back with me, you should know the whole of it.’ Once again Darya pulled away, but this time only far enough that she could make eye contact without putting a crick in her neck.
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Post by dragon on Aug 31, 2011 16:16:00 GMT -5
Emoyan smiled at the sight of Darya's own expression ... it was good to see her smile so. He laughed at what she said, too. "I promise you won't have to cage me, and I'll clean up after myself." He promised, almost unable to believe the luck he'd stumbled into. Not only had he managed to somehow get away from Selenitas with all his bits and pieces still attached, but he'd actually managed to find Darya ... even more astounding, she was willing to let him go back with her!
Emoyan caught her and hugged her snugly in return when she flung herself at him so. But before he could think of anything to say beyond a heartfelt "Thankyou", she was off on another tangent again. Which brought a thoughtful expression to his own features. Not entirely truthful ... he could understand that. It was hard to hide an entire colony if the truth were blurted in every statement. A 'fair bit' having happened was actually a massive understatement in his understanding. The world had pretty much been turned on it's ear after all. "Alright." Emoyan agreed, understanding completely that she wouldn't be saying that if there wasn't something significantly important behind it. Not just observations to the obvious. "I dare say that I am quite serious, so let's hear it." He didn't quite let go of her as she drew away, though. Having just found her, there was no way he was going to let her get away that easily.
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Sept 9, 2011 12:32:15 GMT -5
All traces of Darya’s previous smile were wiped off her face by the appearance of a small frown as she considered how best to break a great deal of news, and most of it bad. Eventually she sighed heavily. ‘Well I don’t know if you were there when all us exiles had to hit the ground running after we got caught out at Hyphen’s gather. But the wastelanders managed to kill a few off, including Ka’rys.’ Darya’s mouth twisted bitterly as she spoke, Ka’rys hadn’t been a particular friend of hers but it was a bit much to admit anyone had been killed at a gather.
‘ Things were loooking up for a bit after that I’ll admit, Jingth managed to get her Flight done without attracting a crowd of enemy bronzes and browns. A smaller clutch I’ll admit but she picked a brown again.’ That wasn’t totally relevent information but Darya was rambling a bit, trying to avoid the worst of the news. ‘Not too long after she clutched there was a big disturbance in the records room, a group of us who’d been around at the time went to look, found some kind of clawmarks and near everything that could be destroyed had been. When Meira thought she’d seen something she turned out to be right, some creature dragged her off, one the firelizards didn’t want to go near. We chased it down of course, but it’d hurt her too much to save, then it came back, with company.’ Darya’s eyes darkened with anger but she shuddered in Emoyan’s arms. ‘Don’t even know how many there were, a dozen or more, shapes in the darkness and birdlike calls, we had to run. Jingth stayed for her clutch but that was it.’ Her bad news story done the bluerider dropped her head down to rest against Emoyan’s shoulder, making it clear she was finished relating bad news for the moment.
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Post by dragon on Sept 9, 2011 21:49:27 GMT -5
Listening patiently was a skill that Emoyan had in spades, and he exercised it now in hearing her out. Letting her take her news-telling at her own pace, letting her work through the emotions that went along with it. Watching her face contort through them as she did so was almost like torture, but he let her continue until she was done, until she relaxed slightly and leaned on him.
Again, he hugged her as he blew a slow sigh. "Shards." He said simply. At first, this was all he said. But he understood - their little getaway gang was ... pretty much doomed. Not that they hadn't been to begin with, but more so.
Rys was gone ... that ... honestly, that was not something that Emoyan had ever expected to hear in his whole life. But he had heard it - not only when it happened, for they couldn't not gloat about it - but again now when she relayed it. Which only confirmed it as truth to him. Ka'rys and a whole lot of other people hadn't survived that fateful gather ... the same gather where he'd actually run into Darya herself for a short span of time.
But Miera? Jingth? Those were resounding and hard losses indeed. Added ontop of this the mention of some unknown person-mutilating monster roaming the area ... it certainly wasn't good news at all. No Gold meant no new dragons ... on top of the burgeoning loss of the individuals themselves. But one thing did give him pause to the positive...
"She clutched? Did any of the eggs survive to hatch?" Emoyan asked. Hardening a clutch of eggs - even a brown's clutch - would be immensely difficult without a hatching cavern and heated sands! "How did that work?" But ... obviously it was possible! That was hopeful at least. Though useless now that they had no Gold to use that knowledge for.
"If ... if any of that was supposed to change my mind about wanting to go back with you ... it failed miserably by the way. I still want to go." Emoyan added, just in case. "I want to help, and I certainly don't want to support a regime that I abhor."
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Kisha-Ra
Rider Mo?rya Rider Darya Rider K?fuzzi Rider J?on Handler Vivano Handler Yoalla
Happier'n a pig in mud ABOUT WHERBABIES!
Posts: 1,109
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Post by Kisha-Ra on Sept 10, 2011 16:30:05 GMT -5
Emoyan remained silent through her tale, giving Darya no way to gauge his thoughts, which was really just as well, all the worst events in this sequence were at the end and If Emoyan had started venturing an opinion halfway through she might well have avoided recounting them entirely.
A sigh, a curse, then silence. Darya could could have looked up to see what was in the harper’s face but she wasn’t sure she wanted to, besides she was comfortable here leaning on Emoyan, comfortable and oddly comforted. Eventually she did raise her head to look at Emoyan when he asked a few questions. ‘The normal way I assume, I’m not an expert on clutching.’ Darya couldn’t help being flippant, and she answered the last question, the wrong way, first then doubled back on herself. ‘They all hatched, Chaoth helped her watch over them, and Emoyan you won’t believe what we found.’ Darya hesitated slightly over telling him, then decided what the hell, he was probably coming with her anyway, 'We stumbled upon an abandoned Weyr out there, hatching grounds and all, positively perfect. Well until we found those... creatures.’ Though she always thought of them as monsters to herself Darya didn’t voice that, monsters in the darkness frightened children, not grown women.
‘I’m glad, I shouldn’t be. I should try and get you to stay out in the holds, but I’m selfish enough to want to take a friend with me. Besides I truly believe I’d find you on the doorstep one day anyway.’ Darya managed a weak smile for the harper’s level of determination and pulled away from him slightly. ‘What have you got to collect?’ She asked curiously she could she one instrument where he’d laid it aside, clothing was a given, and she couldn’t imagine for a moment that Skink and Rascal would let Emoyan go without them. ‘If you can gather it up quickly we can steal you away now, if you need a day or so we’ll come back for you.’ Darya noted a strong feeling of smugness radiating from her dragon as she said that but she thought nothing of it, Azrath was like that when a plan came together.
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Post by dragon on Sept 13, 2011 15:56:52 GMT -5
"A Weyr." That ... explained a lot. Almost all of it actually. An old Weyr would have hatching sands ... long abandoned, but sands nonetheless. Sands were always hot ... ideal for an outcast Gold to clutch upon once they were cleaned. "Nice." He mentioned, all the while wracking his brain to try and think about what Weyr would have been out there that they could have found. History was something Harpers were supposed to know like the back of their hands, but so much had been lost over the course of the war.
He really truthfully couldn't think of a Weyr out there. Not that he knew where exactly she was talking about. People-eating creatures roaming the tunnels would be a rather interesting reason for a Weyr to become abandoned, that was for sure. Certainly notable enough to be memorable? He should have paid more attention to the histories...
But he smiled at her as she stepped away. "You have no idea how happy I am to know they you're not roughing it out there in leaf huts." He said, clearly pleased at the idea of a Weyr. Creatures aside. "Do we know any details about these creatures?" Talons ... could be whers. Whers were known to haunt caves and what not. But bird like calls? That ruled Whers out rather effectively.
He laughed a bit at her assessment of his determination, and nodded agreement. "That you would. One day maybe many days from now, but one day certainly." He paused a moment to look back the way he'd come, and then at the hold. "I don't have much. Only what I could carry and what would follow me." Which was basically a rucksack, his gitar, his pets, and one pup that had belonged to a Candidate back before the attack. A Candidate that had gotten out, thankfully. "I'll go get things now ... there's no way I'm letting you leave without me." Emoyan flashed her a grin, gripped her arm for a moment and then moved off to go get things. His ruck was back in the hold, but his gitar was here ... his pets would come to him, but the pup he had to go find. Not that the pup was really a pup anymore...
He certainly didn't take his time. Very quickly he had things gathered up, canine at his heels as he returned to where Darya was waiting near Azrath. Who received a freindly pat of greeting from the Harper. It also wasn't any secret where Skink was hiding, for she poked her head out of the ruck's opening to peer out at everyone else curiously. Thankfully, for the moment she was still and silent.
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