Sights and Sounds (Open)

[kysseh]

"I still can not believe you talked me into this."

Savitri snorted and eyed the petite greenrider strolling lazily along beside her, well aware of the fact that it had not taken too much arm-twisting to convince Aliscia to come with. As soon as she heard of the approaching Gather at Selenitas Hold, the weyrling goldrider had approached her greenrider friend with the idea of attending. Aliscia had balked at first, and Savitri had strongly suspected that Aliscia had not attended one in Turns. Finally, after an imperious input from Tanith, the greenrider had relented, and now the two vertically-challenged women were strolling amongst the crowds. Both were dressed neatly, shoulderknots clearly visible though Sav rather wished she could have taken hers off. Between that and Aliscia's many scars, they did stand out, and both women had hoped to enjoy the colors and smells and sounds unbothered.

Glancing up at the young woman whom she and Tanith had tricked onto the Hatching Sands, Aliscia could not help but curve her lips in a faint smile at the younger woman's enjoyment. Though Savitri was many Turns her junior, the women had struck up a tentative friendship that Aliscia rather enjoyed. The weyrling goldrider was practical and sensible, and her sudden rise in status had not affected her attitude as had been feared. If anything, she was very simplistic and grounded about it, and Aliscia found herself enjoying their conversations, counting Savitri as top on her exceedingly short list of friends. Actually, the young woman was probably the extent of that list. Between Aliscia's own cynical detachment and Tanith's hostility, they were always short on good conversation partners.

Tanith's amused rumble in the back of her mind cemented that thought, and the greenrider rolled her light eyes at her dragon. Silly beast. Tanith had encouraged her attendance, and Aliscia found herself actually enjoying the bustle. It was a welcome change from weyrlife, and Aliscia had not attended a Gather for several Turns, too lost in her own sorrow to care a great deal. It was a breath of fresh air, and with just a few marks in her pocket, she was tempted to seek out a little something to bring home. "Have anything in mind to buy?" she asked of the young woman, startling Savitri from her thoughts.

Savitri shook her head in the negative, though her green eyes were still drifting curiously over the stalls. Oh, but she had missed Gathers when being at the weyr for the last months! She only had a single mark to spend, and she had no plans to spend it unless she truly wanted something. "Not really. I just like looking," she admitted, eyebrows raising as they passed a stall fairly draped with fine cloth. Beautiful... impractical, but beautiful. She would not have worn a shirt made of that cloth to anywhere, largely because feeding and oiling and taking care of a growing weyrling was just too messy. Still, looking had never hurt anyone, but after a moment, both women moved on, just wandering quietly through the crowded square.

[glamourie]

Is mine is mine is mine!

And off Showoff went. The salamandyr clutched in his mouth an earring, polished to a dazzling shine, that he had stolen from one of the jewelry stalls at the gather. Across the ground he ran at a remarkable speed, jumping and bouncing with surprising enthusiasm. His rich coppery hide caught the light brilliantly as he dashed around people's feet, narrowly avoiding being stepped on on several occasions. The little stud was secured in his mouth and he looked for all the world as if he intended to keep it for all time. The only problem with Showoff's shiny little trinket was that no one had bothered to pay for it. Stealing, evidently, was one of his favorite pastimes. It was almost as fun as the chase that inevitably followed.

Hot on his heels was K'lir, whose face was nearly as red as his hair. The greenrider was a lot of things, but a thief was not one of them. In fact, he tended to be brutally honest at times, and preferred the method of using the truth to cut to the bone than coming up with lies. The fact that his wicked little pet had developed such an annoying hobby was a matter of great stress for him, and great amusement for his green. He dashed along after Showoff at the fastest speed he could run, which given his size and build was rather impressive. K'lir was built small, slender and delicate, with hair like spun garnets that fell to his chin. He'd have been 'pretty' if not for the perpetual scowl he wore on his face or the odd amber hue of his eyes. His attitude often repelled the few people who might have been drawn to his appearance. Not that K'lir cared. He liked repelling people. Such a shame that being a grouch didn't seem to make the crowds at a Gather get out of his way.

"Move! Move it! CATCH THAT SALAMANDYR!"

Will never get me! Is mine!

Growling, Showoff threw himself onto some unfortunate's leg, earning a startled shriek. The salamandyr did not appear to notice, for just as soon as he'd climbed up the woman's gown, he'd leaped down and onto one of the tables near the food stalls. His frill flared, a show of threat, and he jumped forward, beckoning K'lir to follow. If his humanthing intended to get the shiny, he would have to outrun him, and Showoff prided himself on his speed. The salamandyr chittered and leaped from the end of the table to the ground and kept going, not bothering to glance behind him. He was quite convinced if he ran long enough he'd find someone worthy of hiding behind or on, and that would be that. He'd win, if it was the last thing he did. Showoff never accepted second place. Accept nothing less than the best! His mouth tightened, just to make sure that his prize was securely held and not likely to fall from how fast he was running.

And then he caught sight of his prey. Chittering, Showoff zoomed across the ground at remarkable speeds considering his size, and then made a flying leap straight at Aliscia's right leg. His little claws caught onto the fabric of her pants, and he scrambled up her side as fast as he could.

Behind him, K'lir barreled through the crowd, pushing and shoving with absolutely no embarrassment. Several complaints were voiced but he did not appear to notice - at least not until he shoved someone and managed to topple onto him, falling in a chaotic display right in front of the two people Showoff had stopped at. The only reason he noticed then was because the person he knocked over happened to have long black curls, dark green eyes and a colorful entourage that gave voice to a series of high pitched shrieks. Three blues swarmed through the air, flying in circles rapidly, while their green dived toward K'lir and Li, the lone bronze of the group, flew up from the ground to land quite elegantly on one of the chairs nearby. The most passive of the group, the bronze spat at the greenrider but otherwise did not react. The other four on the other hand raised quite a loud fuss, something near impossible to ignore. But K'lir did not respond to them.

"Rawign!" he hissed, grabbing his friend by the shirt, as Rawign squinted up at him. "Have you seen Showoff?"

"No, now get off me," Rawign replied, shoving K'lir with as much force as he could muster. It wasn't hard. While K'lir was small and delicate, Rawign was tall and lithe. He climbed to his feet and then pulled K'lir to his by grabbing his wrist. The look he received was near murderous, but the healer was accustomed to K'lir's I kill you with my eyes expressions. Dusting himself off, he glanced to his side, only to notice the glint of bronze on Aliscia's shoulder. Without any hesitation, he pointed at her before turning to K'lir. "He's over there, now stop trying to cause a riot..."

[kysseh]

If Savitri and Aliscia heard the ruckus heading their way, they paid very little attention. Gathers were usually noisy places, and neither woman was in any mood to acknowledge such things unless necessary. Savitri did raise one eybrow as the commotion got closer, though Aliscia seemed spectacularly unbothered. Or... perhaps the greenrider just always looked that unconcernd with the world in general. It was often hard to tell with the scars and the half-smirk usually gracing the older woman's face.

Someone appeared to be shoving through the crowd, and both women fervently hoped that intervention would not be necessary, though Aliscia looked just a tad too gleeful at the prospect of doing damage. She had been in a bit of a temper as of late, a temper which was promptly distracted into a growl when the woman felt something latch onto her right leg and start scurrying up her body. She turned to accost the thing using her as a perch and only caught a brief glimpse of something shining before the creature ran all the way up her side and to her shoulder. What the- "Savitri, can you get this thing off me?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet. If she reached for it, the creature would not survive.

Savitri, however, was appropriately distracted by the bronze salamandyr with the earring clutched in his mouth. Bronze, a 'mandyr, and a thief... she strongly suspected an unfamiliar but known pest. "Showoff?!" Ignoring Aliscia's look of surprise that she knew the creature, Savitri extended her hand near the greenrider's shoulder to give the beast an alternate perch. If left to the greenrider's whim, the creature would not live. "You'd better get off her, or her dragon will eat you," she sternly told the little beast. Tanith would have no qualms about such things too. Anything disturbing to Hers was liable to be munched on, regardless of who owned the pet.

The tumble of limbs and color right in front of both women gave them pause, and Aliscia let out a frustrated growl, instinctively wanting to reach for one of her concealed weapons until she realized who was involved in the mess. The tall man seemed to have at least a small measure of dignity, despite the fact that his fair of flitters was raising enough ruckus to disrupt half the Gathergoers. The smaller man, however...

"He is using my friend as a hiding place," Savitri replied when the more reasonable man pointed out the bronze creature on Aliscia's shoulder. "Which means he's not going to survive unless he gets off," she added sternly for the benefit of the little beast. Aliscia was already looking dangerously annoyed, and the longer he stayed put, the more annoyed she would get. Something told her that the smaller of the two men would be incredibly upset with his pet's demise, even if the thing was a thieving pain in the neck. She glared at Showoff. "Now!" Oh, if only Cath was here. Nearly everything obeyed her, when the little queen did raise her voice, which was all of once so far.

As if to add further problems to the situation, Savitri felt something wiggle in the vicinity of her chest, just beneath her left breast in Shadow's favored nap spot. She squirmed and glared downward as the white creature emerged from her shirt and crawled to her shoulder, emitting a soundless yawn and itching at his side with one hindfoot. Oh, yes... it was still early by Shadow's reckoning... even though Savitri was rapidly losing her temper with both 'mandyrs and the chaos-raising... wasn't he a greenrider? Aliscia gave a punctuating snort at the sight of her friend's tiny pet, reaching up with the intent to remove Showoff from herself. Stupid little pest...

[glamourie]

Showoff turned toward Savitri and thought about it for but a second before throwing himself right onto her hand. The opportunity was golden and he couldn't resist. Here was one of the people with one of the Big Ones - a shiny gold great big winged one - and she was Shadow's. He remembered that. His motives were entirely selfish. The idea of getting to sit on one of the big one's, and on Shadow's, was too good to pass up. His memory wasn't good enough to remember much about Shadow except that he was another salamandyr and smaller, therefore less; Showoff was very conceited that way. He chirruped a happy note, higher pitched than most firelizards could accomplish, and curled rapidly around Savitri's wrist. He was careful, though, to keep his prize in his mouth, and his mouth pressed firmly against her wrist, where to grab the little bauble, she would have the option of only one hand. Much harder to steal his shiny that way.

Winged dunghead not scary! Showoff informed Savitri, before making a sound like half-hissing, half-spitting in Aliscia's general direction. (Perhaps it was the salamandyr equivalent of a raspberry?) She should've been flattered that he had perched on her! Well, not his fault she was dumb. And so were they!

They being Rawign's firelizards, who were finally beginning to calm down. As their person-perch managed to dust himself, Li, the bronze of the group, took to wing and glided back to perch on the shoulder of His. The blues chattered and disappeared between. The Journeyman Healer managed to reach out and catch Roxie in his hands (resulting in another ear-piercing shriek as she squirmed in his hands, though she was by far used to his methods of dealing with her) before she could continue diving at K'lir and get herself hurt. (Rawign did not trust the redhead's temper, for while Lir was small, he was prone to bursts of fury that Rawign did not fully understand -- and he was most thoroughly convinced that Lir was half-mad.) The little green was deposited on his other shoulder before he turned to look at the weyrling goldrider, a long string of black curls dangling over the bridge of his nose.

"It appears she is now using you as a perch," he corrected, before turning back to Roxie. "Calm down, beautiful; you don't want to have to deal with Calistoth complaining at you, do you?"

"She'll complain at me and then I'll just break your nose." K'lir scowled at Rawign as he managed to get himself upright again. Unlike his companion, though, he did not immediately turn to regard Savitri. He instead turned to look back at Aliscia. The look wasn't entirely friendly, but could anyone blame him? The goldrider had just threatened his pet and, obnoxious as Showoff was, he still loved the little creature more than words could describe. Showoff and Calistoth gave him headaches on countless occasions but no one was allowed to mess with their strange little triad, no one. He didn't even like that Rawign was implying he knew anything about Calistoth, but then, Lir was possessive. And moody.

After a moment, he turned back to Savitri and raised an eyebrow. Did she think just because she was a gold weyrlingrider that Showoff would tolerate her treating him that way? She was mistaken if she did. Neither he nor Showoff gave a flip about rank. The girl could prove herself like other people. "Showoff and I are very much alike, goldrider," and he spat the word like the insult it was, "and neither of us exactly like being told what to do. You were doing better when you asked. It's hard for him to move with something that big in his mouth. You have a salamandyr pet. Surely you realized that." He was just ready and rearin' for a fight, what of it?

[kysseh]

Savitri was beyond annoyed when the bronze 'mandyr decided to take possession of her wrist, and it was with much force that she glared down at the thieving creature. Rawign's correction earned him a flicker of a non-smile, but K'lir earned himself a full-force look of distinct maternal disapproval. She extended the claimed hand and wrist out toward K'lir, indicating with the other that he should remove the little annoyance. The instinct of the young woman was to snap at the man for his disrespect, but patience and dealing with children for Turns taught her that getting on his level was only going to make things worse. Instead she just waited, arm outstretched, for him to take back his little pet.

"I do have a salamandyr pet. However, he does not steal things nor turn other people into his own possessions," she began as calmly as she could manage. The man was obviously not going to back down if she pointed out that the salamandyr had moved just fine with the little shiny before clinging to her. Very well. She would have to resort to something a little more underhanded and pointed, which she disliked. But.... well, in this case, it might help a bit. She felt Aliscia shifting her weight from foot to foot beside her and gave the greenrider a warning look that clearly stated no fights would be allowed. The other woman merely chuckled, though it was a humorless sound that indicated her dislike.

Shadow began to pace back and forth on her shoulder, and Savitri gave him a little mental nudge and directed his attention to the redhaired man standing before him. The white 'mandyr stopped, stared, tilted his head from one side to the other. Then, the foursome of humans--and Showoff--were treated to a mental broadcast of Shadow's stored images. The overtones of the images were of extreme excitement, and the white 'mandyr was beyond pleased that his spying had become useful. See how the redhaired man tumbled with the pretty girl while their dragons Flew? Was it not a magnificent series of images?! He was a brilliant spy!

While Aliscia smothered a laugh with one hand, Savitri just lifted her free hand to stroke the little white 'mandyr, silently praising him for doing what she asked for once. Oh, yes... now she knew how to make the 'mandyr do what she wished. All she had to do was offer the opportunity to share his spying with the world. "Yes, I do have a good idea of what salamandyrs can do. And I also know that a Gather is no place for a fight," she said simply aloud to K'lir, glancing over at Rawign and then back at the greenrider. "Please take Showoff back. Getting upset isn't going to help." She nudged Shadow again, and the stream of images reluctantly stopped. The white 'mandyr crawled up and curled his little body around her earlobe, now ignoring the nearby people.

Aliscia was barely keeping her laughter under control. The images had not been quite as embarrassing as they could have been, despite their explicit nature. After Turns in the weyr, she was largely immune to such things. It was only the fact that the little salamandyr was the source that made her cover her mouth to hide a smile and a chuckle. She directed her attention to Rawign, distracted by his colorful display of firelizards since Savitri could obviously handle the errant and temperamental greenrider on her own. Too bad. She had been looking forward to calling Tanith in to eating the little bugger of a salamandyr. "Looks like you've got yours well-trained... or at least under control," she commented, looking him over for knots. "Candidate?"

[glamourie]

If Savitri was expecting K'lir to be embarrassed, she was very, very mistaken. He was too busy being angry and he wasn't capable of dealing with multiple emotions at once. Her comment about her salamandyr and the images the little creature sent were enough to make him visibly twitch, but not out of embarrassment.. or even real anger. In fact, K'lir did not care much what the little creature saw. It was a flight. Flights were exactly that: Flights. They happened. Anyone who was a dragonrider knew that, and knew what came with them. It wasn't as though K'lir was embarrassed. Not by himself, and most certainly not by Beka. She was his friend, and there were no romantic attachments involved. He raised an eyebrow at Savitri, giving her a pointed look, before reaching out his wrist to Showoff. If she'd been trying to coax her 'mandyr into embarrassing him, she should've convinced him to show everyone about him and Uu'n, when Dael ran. But then, that was likely to make K'lir get excited anyway. Uu'n was...extremely yummy.

"Come on, Showoff, leave the goldrider alone," he said, and Showoff looked at him. "Don't make me pry you off her wrist, I will subject you to Calistoth if you push me."

Shrieking in annoyance, Showoff uncurled from around Savitri's wrist and shot her a look that said without words, "Now do you see what you did?" before he leapt over, to his bonded. His gaze whirled and he zipped right underneath K'lir's shirt, carrying his trinket with him all the while. If he had to go back to His, he'd make sure that no one managed to take his bauble! He'd worked for it, it was his! At least until he lost interest in it; then he'd probably drop it somewhere or give it to Dael...

As the salamandyr settled himself, K'lir turned back to Savitri and shifted his weight. "This begs the question of why you're letting your salamandyr spy on people sleeping together -- or is it just me and Beka that you felt were that interesting? I can hear the rumors now, 'The gold weyrlingrider is secretly quite naughty.' I wonder what the Weyrwoman would think - or even the other riders. I expect with that attitude you've a steady stream of young bronzeriders trying to climb into your furs. My congratulations." He was teasing, though. K'lir didn't spread rumors, despite being a jerk. He didn't have the attention span for it, really. Most people knew him well enough to know that, but he was counting on Savitri not being able to recognize that about him. "Mm? For the record, I don't encourage Showoff's stealing, and he only steals from people who won't let him look at things. If you cater to his ego and show him whatever he wants to see, he loses interest rather rapidly. He's got a terrible attention span..."

The images flashing through his mind had quite a different effect on Rawign than K'lir. The black-haired boy bowed his head and shifted his weight uncomfortably, pointedly not looking at the redhead. K'lir may not have possessed an ounce of modesty, but Rawign did, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with Beka to begin with, let alone ... everything. There was a reason Rawign was very glad he'd never managed to Impress. Well, a reason other than the fair of five that followed him wherever he happened to go. He wasn't sure he could handle all aspects of rider life. He could barely handle all aspects of having five firelizards. It still annoyed him that all three of his blues felt compelled to chase Roxie whenever she Flew. He was just glad Li was faithful to Mona.

A voice - speaking. Still blushing slightly, Rawign looked up at Aliscia, then bowed his head again. "Far too much credit. They don't like Calistoth, that's the only reason they behave," he admitted quietly, "except for Li; he's usually very placid. Stumpy and Ennayoh are shy. Roxie is loud and Beggar... lives up to his name. Thank you, though." He brought one hand up to poke Roxie, who chirped at him. "I have the advantage of the fact most of mine are older than Showoff, and they're usually willing to obey Li. I don't know what I'd do without him..." He trailed off. Truthfully, Beggar wasn't ill-behaved, either; he was the oldest of the group. He was just... a beggar. Stumpy and Ennayoh were mostly independent, Roxie was prone to flying into things. He hardly considered them well-trained, though he did try. Li knew his way around the infirmary very well. Just... Kalierre's salamandyr made it hard. All of Rawign's firelizards hated salamandyrs, and Showoff and Lust were top of their list for dislike.

Since Rawign almost never wore knots, he wasn't surprised when the question of his rank came up. He shook his head slightly. "Not since Aslath's first clutch. Junior Journeyman, Healer. Poisons specialist. I'm called Rawign. Religna is my younger sister," he explained, gesturing vaguely into the distance, as if in the direction of Religna. She'd Impressed Ith at that clutch. He'd just gotten mauled. But it could've been worse. Calistoth proved that...

[kysseh]

"Please... it's Savitri," she corrected him with patience borne of many years of dealing with fractious children. "Half the weyrfolk use that as a form of flattery and the other half as an insult. It's tiring." If the obstinate brat had been saying it with some sense of politeness, she would have accepted it with some amount of grace. As it was, she was getting sick of his rudeness. Savitri was more than a little relieved when the beast released her and went back to his owner, though she graciously ignored the dirty look he sent her way. If he chose to bother her again, she would prod Cath into chasing him off. The gold would balk but eventually give in. She did like to have her nose in things, after all.

His idle threats of rumors had the young woman snorting softly. What did she care, really? Rumors and gossip were for children, not dragonriders, and she chose to ignore that for the moment. "I can't control his spying. I can control whether or not he shares it, and on occasion, he does bring back some useful information," she admitted candidly, watching the little white flit amble down her arm to twine around her fingers. The little creature gazed adoringly at her, and she rolled her eyes. Bratling. "He's genderless, so sex fascinates him. He spies on anything and everything having to do with mating. Embarrassing, but it's good to bribe him with when I want him to cooperate." How said bribery was done was a secret she would keep, though. She did not want people taking advantage of her pet. Annoying as the little creature was, he was hers, and his devotion, even if it was largely long-distance, was touching.

"Cater to his ego? I'm fed up with feeding and putting up with human egos as it is," she said with a mildly derisive snort, though it was obvious the comment was not intended for him. She was sick of being swamped by fawning people who just got in her way and distracted her from more important things. The young woman had better things to do with her time, including taking care of her beloved Cath, who was apparently awakening from a nap. Even from a distance, she could sense Cath's curiosity with what was going on, and a gentle smile touched her face, unbidden, at the thought of her mindmate. Shadow, seeming to sense Cath's alertness as well, vibrated with a soundless croon.

Aliscia had a touch of pity for the boy who was obviously so affected by Shadow's spyings. Poor thing. Probably holdbred... or just not of the temperament to learn to be immune to it. She had long-since gotten used to sex and Flights and their place in weyrlife. Granted, she did not enjoy those aspects, but she was adjusted to them. Deciding to spare his ego and avoid more unpleasantness, which would ruin what had previously been a good mood on her part, she made no comment on his obvious embarrassment.

She let him give an eloquent explanation of his firelizards and then shook her short-haired head. "Keeping up with Tanith is plenty for me. Don't know how you manage it." Her tone was a tad on the gentler side, though, mostly out of sympathy... or perhaps just to spite the other greenrider. Hmph. She would have loved to swat the boy--and yes, he still qualified as a boy--for his lack of respect for the goldweyrlingrider, but Savitri seemed to be holding her own. Pity. Aliscia has not gotten to swat anyone in quite awhile. "Another healer? Good to meet you, Rawign," she said, genuinely meaning it. She wasn't fond of being fussed over by healers, but the people had her respect for all they did. "Aliscia, of green Tanith. I'm sure you already know Savitri." Who didn't, really?

[glamourie]

At least she was intelligent enough to comprehend that the usage of her title was an insult. K'lir smiled unpleasantly. His experience with goldriders and their dragons had not been pleasant throughout the turns, no they had not. The first nuisance had been Paryal; curse him for feeling the need to speak ill of the deceased but the woman had been a ridiculous fool to call on Weyrlings rather than ask for help from someone who could do something about it when she'd been attacked by felines. No, she'd called Z'hin and Kalierre. While Kalierre was a skilled healer, what had that wherry-brained fool thought she'd accomplish by not calling S'rei and someone to handle the real danger of the felines? She'd nearly gotten herself killed and others. Z'hin had been in terrible condition. K'lir wasn't Z'hin's friend but he certainly didn't like the idea of someone suffering because of another's idiocy. The fact that Rawign had been there didn't help matters. K'lir's attitude was that she'd endangered a close friend of his, too. He'd seen Rawign's scars. He'd seen the twisting marks of white-pink on otherwise tanned skin and he knew how much pain they'd been, at least roughly. He could guess how bad it was as far as sensation, and he did not like that one of his friends was put at risk. K'lir blamed Paryal. She may have been killed, but that didn't change that she was a fool. Shmee and Aslath hadn't improved his opinions. He'd watched Rawign leave the sands because he was "too weak" to attend the touching and he'd been more than annoyed. "Too weak" because he'd tried to help some ungrateful goldrider. And Shmee had stood around looking like a victim. She'd been through a lot and some of that was excused, but she was Weyrwoman, she had to set the example. K'lir was a very harsh critic when it came to that.

No, he didn't like Savitri. By Impressing a gold, she'd thrown herself to the mercy of the stereotypes, the ill that came with the title of Weyrwoman. Even Kaegan didn't fill it with any level of competence. His attitude was that goldriders were nothing more than self-absorbed, pathetic weaklings who deliberately and maliciously inconvenienced others because they could. It would take a lot to change his mind, and bossing around his salamandyr as if she was better than him wasn't on the road to redemption. Not that K'lir was arrogant enough to believe that Savitri really cared what he thought. She was a goldrider. He doubted she put much stock in the feelings of anyone other than the bronzeriding suitors she doubtlessly had. None of them had brains enough to recognize the worth of all dragons. Yes, K'lir was a very, very harsh critic, and he wasn't even trying to be fair.

Savitri's explanation for her salamandyr earned merely a shrug. The truth - cold and hard as it was - was that K'lir did not much care. He'd just been making an off-hand remark to be bratty, nothing more, and nothing less. He was tempted to comment on that when a flutter nearby caught his attention, and made Showoff flare his frill threateningly. K'lir blinked, and glanced up at Troublemaker, the brown firelizard he'd Impressed from one of Tirea's first clutches. His primary role seemed to be "Calistoth's minion"; it was rare to see him away from her...

Rawign smiled weakly at Aliscia, pointedly ignoring K'lir and his attitude problem. He was used to the greenrider's attitude. Lir was one of the first associates Rawign made at Selenitas and the two rarely saw eye-to-eye but he was intelligent enough to recognize that K'lir must have viewed him as a friend. He made an effort to talk to him. K'lir was not the kind of person who talked to others if he could help it; he never had been as far as Rawign knew. Despite the attitude K'lir was offering, Rawign also believed quite whole-heartedly that the greenrider was not trying to be overly nasty. Far from friendly, but K'lir was incapable of being that. He hadn't started screaming yet, which generally meant that he wasn't trying to be too ill-behaved.

"They make me glad Aslath threw me off the Sands at the Touching," Rawign admitted, indicating Li with a smile. "I can't imagine five and a dragon. They're a handful. I don't think they're as much work as a dragon though - even combined." He shook his head slowly, and then glanced over at Savitri and K'lir. "I've seen her before and naturally know her name. I wouldn't say I know her." There was a decided difference in Rawign and K'lir. Lir assumed he knew everything. Rawign assumed he knew less than most people. By never talking to Savitri himself, he by default would never claim to know her, only know of her, and would clarify if anyone began to imply otherwise. Just like he wouldn't allow people to claim he was friends with people he'd only barely spoken to. He didn't have very many friends. The ones he had, he cherished. Everyone else was an associate. There was a pointed difference between the two.

Low growling caught Rawign's attention, and he glanced over at one of the nearby stands. Ennayoh and Stumpy had both moved to perch there. They were near inseparable, the two of them, though of late, keeping Ennayoh up in the air was a task. He seemed exhausted constantly, and Rawign was worried. The growling made him nervous, too. Ennayoh was usually a very sweet tempered firelizard. The fact that something had upset him to the point of growling made him frown and he glanced over at Aliscia, apologetic. "Something's wrong with Ennayoh -- would you excuse me a mom--"

Whatever else he was going to say, it was cut off as Troublemaker screeched and threw himself into the air, then right into Ennayoh. Both K'lir and Rawign jumped back, the black-haired boy actually knocking over the redhead as the two firelizards ascended into the air, swooping and diving at one another far above the heads of spectators. Far out of reach of anyone pulling them apart. Stumpy shrieked in distress, but before he could fly into the air, Li and Roxie both swarmed over to keep him down - down and out of the fight. The bronze of the group chattered in distress, and Showoff flared his frill again, displaying in a show of obvious threat... but his eyes whirled, distressed. The distress was mimicked quite clearly on K'lir's face.

"Rawign, make them stop --"

"I can't. Ennayoh's not listening to me--!"

[kysseh]

Aliscia arched an eyebrow at the information that the senior queen had thrown the boy off the Hatching Sands at a previous Hatching. Really now? Back at Benden, it was normally the male riders--bronzeriders, of course--or the candidatemasters who would remove unworthy candidates for one reason or another. To hear or the senior queen singling out people and pointedly removing them was.... mildly disturbing. Perhaps that was just the northerner in her speaking, but it made her feel vaguely nervous to hear of such things. The senior queen's job was to protect her eggs, not sort through candidates. The hatchlings made their own decisions, independent of her.

She had to admit that the five flitters did seem to be quite a handful, and she snorted softly, her hair brushing along her jawline as she shook her head in disbelief. "Five is.... far too many. Far more than I could think of handling. But still, I don't think oiling five little bodies is quite as difficult as oiling a single big one. Nor are these little ones capable of eating a whole herdbeast in one sitting, though I'm sure they could try." The greenrider could hardly begrudge him his happiness, though, so she opted to not point out that he should attend the Hatchings anyway. He had a good head on his shoulders. They needed more riders like him, who were possessing of brains. The petite greenrider followed his gaze toward the arguing pair, grinning wickedly. "You'll know her sooner or later. She's not as bad as she looks."

Both Savitri and Aliscia were startled by the abrupt appearance of a brown flit in midair, and as the closer of the two, Aliscia was further alerted by the growling that a newly arrived blue flitter was emitting. The greenrider looked back and forth, trying to sort out what was going on with the sudden disturbances. Savitri was similarly bemused, though the narrowing of her eyes suggested that Shadow, who had taken refuge down her shirt again and had wedged himself along the underside of her left breast, was giving her clues that what was coming was bad. The little 'mandyr was shaking in his terror, and Savitri wanted to yank him out to keep him from vibrating against her like that. His images were a chaotic mess of blood, ichor, and firelizards, of which she could understand none. What-

The screech echoed, and then the battle had begun. Aliscia instinctively reached for her concealed knife but did not draw it, unsure what to do. Rawign and his bratty friend seemed to be falling all over themselves in their surprise, and their pets seemed to be doing little better. The greenrider seemed the most upset, for his distress was written all over his face. She frowned and searched the battle for signs of what was amiss. "What's going on?!"

Savitri was similarly disturbed and wished there was some way she could get the two flits down with no damage done. All too soon, she realized that was not an option. They were far out of reach, and the fact that neither the brat nor the healer could make them listen was a bad sign. Shardit... but what were they going to do?! The two firelizards seemed to determined to rip each other out of the sky, and she let out a quiet exclamation, wishing Cath were present to screech at them both. Though... perhaps that would not do any good. If they would not listen to their bonded humans, then would they listen to anyone else? Likely not. "Shardit, where's Tanith when we need her?!"

[glamourie]

Any response Rawign might have offered Aliscia was abruptly cut off at the firelizards in the sky, flying around and diving at one another. Beggar screeched and soon joined them, the two blues both flying at the single brown. They were as little more than colored blurs, ascending higher and higher into the sky before a cry pierced the air - high pitched and terrible.

Troublemaker was usually a placid firelizard, sweet as could be and eager to please. The cry came from Beggar, his throat badly damaged from the brown's wicked claws, and the oldest of the three combatants shrieked before disappearing between. The effect on Rawign was near instantaneous; while he was not as close to his firelizards as a rider was to their dragon, the shock that showed on his face might have suggested otherwise, and he stumbled backwards in surprise as the three that remained near him reacted. Li's tail tightened around Rawign's throat with near bruising force, and Stumpy began to tremble, a terrified mess of blue hide that was nothing short of pitiful. Roxie, on the other hand, screeched out a high pitched keen and started to wing, only to be caught quite roughly between both of Rawign's hands. He stumbled back until he reached a stand to lean against, and held the screaming, furious little green firelizard with as much force as he was able to.

Beggar was gone.

The shock (and force of effort it took to keep Stumpy, Li and Roxie restrained) kept Rawign silent, his eyes locked on the sky as though staring could fix things. Beggar was gone for good and he was the first of all of Rawign's firelizards. The dead pit in the lower part of his stomach didn't please him at all. He was rigid, his entire body tense from surprise. Beggar hadn't been acting off at all. Ennayoh had; he'd been frothing and sick like some of the other firelizards. Rawign was giving him regular water, trying to keep him well, trying to find out what was wrong, but - Beggar hadn't been sick. He'd... just been trying to stop the fighting. He'd just been trying to stop them and he'd been killed - killed --

"Rawign --"

"Shut up, K'lir." Three words, but more than enough to make it clear Rawign was not up to speaking. Anything the greenrider might have had to say was going to be ignored. If Rawign had bothered to look down, he might have been surprised by the amount of fear and worry on K'lir's face, but he didn't. He was staring.

Calistoth, can you make them stop?
Like they'll listen to me. Since when? Even the little --
SHARD IT, TRY!
Oh, fine! Don't get your leggings in a knot!

Disgruntled, Calistoth screeched from the other end of the Gather, as loud as she was able to, and then pointedly reached out to Troublemaker. Typically the brown obeyed her, though whether it was out of loyalty or terror, she couldn't say. But as she was about to reach him she recoiled, as though burnt, and flared her wings.

There is something very wrong with him. He won't listen to me. I can't even talk to him.

K'lir paled before running away from Savitri and Aliscia. Onto one of the tables he climbed, then proceeded to jump up and down trying to grab at the firelizards in the air, but to no avail. Back and forth the two firelizards went, screeching and chattering loud enough that anyone nearby could hear. The sounds continued for several moments before a numb feeling washed over K'lir and his eyes locked, transfixed, on the two firelizards. Green ichor splashed down to the table top, right above K'lir's head, and then both firelizards were gone - gone between for the last time. He knew it as surely as he knew his own name and he wobbled on the table top for a moment before crumbling down into an awkward, uncomfortable mess. Showoff wound around his neck and held the bauble he'd stolen out to K'lir with his little claws, as if it could help, but the stunned greenrider did not react.

The healer, on the other hand, turned to the side of the stall and proceeded to vomit. He was still holding Roxie, who was making enough racket to cause nightmares, and Stumpy vanished between to go hide. Li, the lone bronze of the group, made a low keening noise and rubbed his entire body against Rawign's cheek, seemingly oblivious to how sick his person was -- both inside and out.

"C-can one of you get him some water?" K'lir asked quietly, turning back to Savitri and Aliscia. "Please?"

Mine? K'lirmylove? -- Are you okay?
I.. I think so. I don't know. Rawign isn't.
I don't care about him. Come to me. I don't want you to be alone.
I have Showoff.
I am not comforted.
I'm not sure I can stand, Calistoth...

[kysseh]

Savitri was appalled by the violence of the airborne battle, and she belatedly realized that the crowd around them was probably absolutely flabbergasted and terrified at the sight. Shardit. There was nothing she could do about the trio, and though it pained her to see the expression on the other healer's face as the blue flitter disappeared between for good--Shadow's trembling and images reaffirmed that he was gone--she could do nothing for the trio. Their exceedingly strange behavior had her suspicious that they were suffering from the same infection that had taken no few of the flitters at the weyr lately, and that had her moving into action.

"Everyone, get back, please. If you've got firelizards, get across the square," she said firmly to the nearest group of people, and when they hesitated, enthralled by the sight, she repeated it with the force of demand in her tone. It took some doing and a little encouragement from her greenrider friend, but by the time K'lir got it into his head to get onto the tabletop to try to intervene, the area had been largely cleared of humans and other firelizards. That, at least, was something, but Savitri felt otherwise powerless to do anything besides damage control.

The splash of ichor was the only warning before the sudden absence of combatants, and Aliscia immediately disappeared into the lingering crowd. Savitri was distressed, and Shadow's frantic images in her head echoed that. She moved to K'lir, watching as Showoff attempted to cheer up his person. "Aliscia is on it," she said softly, having picked up that thread via Tanith through Hepaticath. Despite his rude obnoxiousness, she could not imagine the agony of losing a pet like that. Her eyes flicked over the spilled ichor, and she kept well clear of it, though she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. "I'm sorry." And she meant it, her green eyes softening a bit around the corners.

Aliscia reappeared a brief instant later with a flask of water, and she approached Rawign, lightly gripping his forearm with one hand and offering the flask with the other. Her face was a careful mask of neutrality, though she was struggling to keep herself under control. She had lost a pet before... two, in fact, though never two at once. It did not hurt as much as the loss of a weyrmate or dragon, but when all one had was those sort of pets, then it became that much harder. She could not bring herself to say much, though the screeching green flit earned herself a glare. "Drink. You'll feel better," she told him, attempting to ignore the earsplitting racket.

The pets are gone, like the others at the weyr. They were sick. Where are you?! Tanith demanded, and the green rose from her perch, alert and upset by the distress Hers was radiated. She saw another green looking similarly distressed and wondered if she was the one attached to the owner of the thieving pet. That seemed reasonable. Tanith lacked the ability to be comforting, especially to another green, so she said nothing, her attention wholly on Hers.

[glamourie]

Take take. Take. Is yours. Showoff insistently held the bauble out for K'lir, his eyes whirling tiny, colorful shades. His frill flared, displaying vibrant scarlets. Tiny as he was, he was unmistakable. Too close to red to be anything but. The little salamandyr scrambled to the dip in K'lir's shoulder and curled up in it, holding the bauble more insistently. The earring caught the light and shimmered a perfect rainbow, flawlessly beautiful. It was no wonder it had caught Showoff's attention, nor was there any reason to doubt why the stall keeper was quite furious at having it stolen. Not that Showoff cared; anger was attention and he loved the limelight, even if it meant he was being chased by people screaming insults at him. Oh, he was intelligent enough to know when he was being insulted, but pfft. Half the reason he was trying to hand off the earring to K'lir was because he didn't like that the brown-thing had gotten more attention than him. No one ever said Showoff was nice... though he did care about his K'lir; enough that he was trying to calm him down. He was. (And he wouldn't have complained if that attempt made everyone stop and lavish him with praise for being 'such a good pet' or anything of that nature...)

Unfortunately, 'praise' was hardly up to K'lir's mood. He settled for gingerly taking the earring from Showoff with his index finger and thumb, his head still bowed - until Savitri's hand came to his unoccupied shoulder. Then he outright jumped before turning to look up at her through long red hair. He held the earring out to her, earning a disapproving chitter from Showoff, but the salamandyr did not otherwise protest. K'lir cast him a glance, but otherwise didn't respond. Anything more would just make Showoff happy at having won. The only way to punish the bronze salamandyr was to totally, completely ignore him. He eventually gave up. Calistoth had yet to learn that.

"Thank you for getting everyone out of here," he said quietly, not responding to her other statements; what was he supposed to say? Apologies didn't fix things. They didn't take the pain away. He'd be fine in a few moments; he had Calistoth and Showoff. He would be fine. But some part of him was extremely upset. K'lir didn't do well with losing people or things. It would be quite awhile before he wrapped his mind around the shock of it. He settled for uncurling slightly, his legs hanging off the side of the table, as Showoff slipped down his arm to curl around his wrist quite possessively. "More would've been... bad." Eloquence, thy name was K'lir. It was truly a wonder he was speaking at all, though.

I want you to come here. Let's go back to the Weyr.
I'm okay.
Well, I'm not. I don't want to be here, let's go home.
Calistoth --
I WANT TO GO HOME!

Grumbling, K'lir put one hand to his temple as a sudden surge of anger filled the back of his mind. It was promptly responded to by Showoff, who emitted a high shriek, even for a salamandyr, We stay! I stay! We stay! Of course, he had to argue with Calistoth. Winged dunghead!

"Shut up, both of you," K'lir hissed, the words not meant for Savitri. "I cannot deal with you two fighting right now --"

HE STARTED IT! IT STARTED IT!

Oblivious to K'lir's ... drama, Rawign scrambled away from the area by the stall where he'd gotten ill. He wiped his mouth as best he could, well-aware he was ruining his finest gather shirt, and then proceeded to release Roxie. The green firelizard squalled horribly and then disappeared between, doubtlessly going to find the last of her blue trio. Li remained, rubbing his entire body against Rawign as comfortingly as he could, and as Aliscia approached, the bronze firelizard turned and offered her a soft, sweet trill. It was meant to comfort and encourage. Li was probably the best mannered of all of Rawign's firelizards; he was easily the most obedient, though that likely came from being one of the oldest and the only bronze of the group. Or maybe it was Mona's influence. Whatever it was, Li had no problem laying around behaving himself flawlessly. He also had no problem with the lady helping his person.

The offered flask was taken with a weak smile; it was meant to be grateful, but Rawign couldn't really manage any words to express his feelings. He took a sip of the water, then turned to look at Li, who chirped at him as reassuringly as he could. Then Li turned to Aliscia and chattered - clearly trying to explain something to her, but what was unclear, since only someone who spoke fluent firelizard would know what he meant. But that was soon followed by a barrage of images of Roxie and Beggar that made Rawign flinch.

"Beggar -- the first blue -- was Roxie's mate," was the only explanation he offered, and his voice cracked as he said it. He then added, "Thank you," as quietly as he could. But at least he'd said it.