Stuck in the barracks [Plot]

[ladybug]

Burena knew there was an attack going on, and she was scared out of her wits, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. No way she was fighting through all those people, so she was just going to have to hope that Selenitas folk braver than her would defeat Benden.

Maybe if some Bendenites get in here, I can flirt with them and distract them...heh... Then, she shook her head, ashamed of herself. Why am I joking right now? She gave a frustrated sigh, then started to fidget and ended up hitting her head. That would be because she was currently hiding under her cot. She guessed that humor was the only was she was going to survive this.

Doc whined, nuzzling her cheek, and she ran a finger over his dark blue hide. At least she still had him for company. She wondered where the other candidates were. Probably hiding in their rooms, too. They should probably find each other, but Burena didn't want to move.

[Lotty]

"I hate my life," he grumbled coarsely, breaking himself back into the candidate barracks, looking for someone who knew what the shards was going on - and preferably someone who wasn't swinging around a sword at the same time. He popped his head under another cot, and threw the blankets off of another but only found a pillow and someone's stash of late night snacks. Had this been any other time he would have relieved the kid of the burden of hiding it, but being under attack made him considerably less hungry.

Young, angry, alone, and hopefully forgotten by the Bendenese attackers, Kasella was like a one man army, dismantling the barracks in search of a man with an escape plan, or at very least a hole in floor that he could crawl into. Coincidentally, earlier, when there were plans and he was assigned a stronghold, he wasn't playing very close attention, and what he did hear, he thought was simply stupid. Safety in numbers? More like, lets all get killed in one place. It's safe to say the candidate wasn't one for following rules today, especially since he was in survival mode, and he just wanted to make it out alive - whether he hated his life or not.

Deciding to abandon his search of the bottom floor he worked his way up to where the ladies were to stay, though he doubted too many of the girls would be as brazen as to hold down their own fort when so many more were probably taking up spots in the infirmary. He started again, flipping blankets off beds and moving from area to area, crouching down below cots and pulling trunks away from walls. He would have yelled for people to pop out on their own accord if he wasn't too afraid that his voice would carry on over to the wrong ears and he would be done for. Little did he know, what little scuffling he made and the heavy footsteps he had could very well paint him as an invader himself if one couldn't look up to see he was just another Selenitas candidate.

He didn't know it, but he was about to come upon Burena under her cot. He came to her hiding place, but never expected to uncover anything. Roughly he pulled away any linens that drooped over the sides of the bed and gave her shelter...

((So if I did something wrong, or wasn't supposed to post here, then just ignore this I guess.))

[topaz]

Thora's roommate had quickly exited the barracks as soon as the alarm sounded. Silly girl, she'd get herself killed that way, Thora thought as she opened her trunk. Rifling through a few layers of clothing, the blonde found her knife, still sheathed and attached to a belt. Smiling, she took it out and quickly secured it around her hips, then pulled the knife from the sheath as quickly as she could. Dissatisfied with the awkward angle, she adjusted the belt and the sheath to try again. This time it was much easier to brandish the six inch dagger and bring it to a comfortable striking position. A knife was of no use if it takes more then a second to make useful.

Satisfied that she was as prepared as she possibly could be, Thora quietly opened her door, and peaked out into the corridor. No one to the left, but as she turned her head to look the opposite way, she caught sight of someone's foot just before they disappeared into one of the other girl's rooms. Since she herself wore boots quite often, it was hard to distinguish if the intruder was male or female, but the blonde assumed it was male, just to be safe. Walking silently up to the open door, Thora peaked in to find that the figure was indeed male, but a young male, not an enemy rider. Relieved, Thora let her hand hang back down at her side, as it had been hovering over the knife handle ready to pull just before. She slowly walked into the room, not wanting to jostle the boy's nerves any more then they already seemed to be. Watching him for a few seconds as he searched through all the beds, Thora raised an eyebrow. What exactly was he doing looking through the female candidate's beds? "You looking for something?" She said with a slightly amused tone.

[ladybug]

Burena heard footsteps approaching and froze. Her overactive imagination assumed it was a Benden rider, coming to collect the candidates and take them to Benden and be slaves. Or maybe just kill them. Neither option was appealing. She held her breath, hands tight around Doc, who wriggled around slightly in annoyance. He thought his owner was being too nervous about all this.

The footsteps neared, then stopped. The linens were thrown off, exposing her. At the same time, she heard the voice of a fellow candidate, but she ignored it, her fear already in motion. Burena let out a scream, probably directly in the boy candidate's ear. She gave him a shove and launched herself out from under the cot, only to almost collide with Thora. She staggered, losing her balance to stop from running into the girl and tumbling down to the floor.

Doc fluttered over and landed on her shoulder, chirping in what sounded like amusement. Burena blushed, realizing her mistake. "Sorry. I thought you were Benden," she offered casually, getting back to her feet. Feeling a bit shaky, she backed up and sat on the cot. "Um...have we met? I'm Burena, and this is Doc."

[Lotty]

Had he been the jittery type, he would have been scared senseless by Thora's approach and question, but Kasella was rather level headed and cool under pressure and was able to calmly and vaguely answer, "Some of the others..." Besides, in his logic, since he had his back to her, and she could quickly and easily attack and dispatch him, but instead took the time to address him, she obviously was no enemy of his. And even if she was actually a Benden rider with the sick desire to play with her prey before taking him out, well then who was he to stay silent and disappoint? He did enough of that on a regular basis, he wanted to make at least one person happy before he died.

But before he could even finish that thought he heard a scream tear right through his eardrums and felt himself thrown back against the floor, probably by "one of the others" he had been so vehement about finding. It wasn't like he had fallen far or hard, but the shock of being lunged at and floored by the girl was enough to illicit a groan and his own very special brand of downtrodden gloominess. He ignored Burena's apology for the most part, excusing it as the ramblings of a frightened girl, and proceeded to pick himself up. He straighten out his shirt here, pulled up his pants there, and only bothered to look back at the girl again when he heard her introduce herself.

It wasn't that he was unimpressed or didn't appreciate the attempt at conversation, but one could say that being under siege didn't quite put Kasella in the mood for small talk. He couldn't help but let a little sarcasm slip off of his tongue, "Well that's fantastic, I'm Kasella. Or at least that's what you can call me for the next ten minutes before the Bendenese track down the source of that scream of yours and kill us all." He was just so optimistic about all of this now wasn't he?

[topaz]

Thora gave no reaction to Kasella's response. There was no need. As long as he wasn't a Bendenite, and not looking to plunder her fellow female candidate's things in the midst of the attack, she had no qualms with him. However the blonde was slightly put off by his demeanor, and was content to cross her arms under her bust and let him search on his own.

As he pulled up the latest bunch of sheets however, there was a deafening scream. "Well there's one . ." Thora muttered with a slight smirk as the frightened girl scrambled out from under her bed, pushing her finder frantically out of her way. As Burena came barreling towards Thora, she quickly sidestepped and watched the girl fall down to the floor. Her reasoning was expected with all that was going on, and Thora nodded at her introduction. As Kasella spoke, Thora's dark blue eyes snapped towards him, a brow lifting in mild surprise and annoyance. "Uh huh . ." Thora did not appreciate the boy's morbid pessimism when they were supposed to be trying to escape from here alive. Turning back to Burena, she flashed a friendly smile.

"It's nice to meet you Burena. I'm Thora, and I plan to be alive for many turns to come." She smiled, and her dark eyes sparkled with amusement. Of course she'd stay alive. There was far too much she had not done yet in her life for it to be ended by a filthy, bloodthirsty Bendenite. "There are plenty of other people screaming to the high heavens in this Weyr, and I can't say that we, as candidates, would be priority targets for the Bendenites at the moment. I doubt you've put us in much more danger then we're already in." The blonde uncrossed her arms and pointedly rested her right hand on the hilt of her fishing knife attached at her hip. "I suggest you two arm yourselves with something though. If we do get attacked, I won't be able to fend off more then one at a time."

Thora looked around the room for anything worthy to be considered a weapon, but her eyes were soon drawn back to Burena and the adorable blue creature on her shoulder. She smiled softly as she looked upon the flitter, and was instantly reminded of her father's blue Cod. The f'lizard - as her dad would often refer to them as - would follow Thomin around constantly, even helping him fish by plucking smaller fish right from the sea and plopping them into his humanpet's hands. "Doc huh? That's a cute name." Thora commented favorably, sending warm, friendly feelings in the flitter's direction.