Dealing with a loss
Who: Ella, Issa, J'sek, Miniyal (and respective dragons for the weyrlings with a pop-in cameo from Tialith)
Where: Weyrling training cavern
When: Evening on day 1, month 8, turn 3 of the 7th Pass. (BACKDATED)
What: Six exile weyrlings do not survive the trip to the mainland. This news reaches the weyr by way of dragon and the weyrlings deal with the aftermath.
Note: <3 Issa for suggesting this scene and handling it.
4/18/2007
Another quiet evening finds the weyrlings savoring their rest in the hours following dinner; the training cavern is crossed by only a few venturing pairs, the rest taking advantage of the barracks or the bowl outside to pursue their leisure. But this quiet evening doesn't stay so quiet for long-quite the opposite in fact. Ear-shattering keening rumbles through the stone walls, confused dragon thoughts howling over weyrlings lost between.
She was napping, damn all things. No exercises to do, no homework working on her letters, no nothing. Ella had just found a bit of time to curl up and steal a few extra hours sleep when the wailing starts, Reth jerks conscious first, eyes tinged yellow and crimson. Usually so silent and composed, the little green throws her head back, opens her maw, and adds her own eerie and willowy sound to the overall din of dragon cries. Ella jerks upright with a start, hair spiking wildly, hands pressing to her ears. "Th'fuck?!" She shoves out of her cot and trips over to her keening lifemate. That's about when that wave of anguish hits her, so instead of ordering Reth to knock it off and explain what's going on, Ella finds herself on her knees, arms around the green's slender neck, head buried against her vibrating throat.
It's not surprising that a certain gold and her rider were out. Nor is it surprising they were on their way to the bath. However, what neither of them expected was for their bath to be interrupted. If it was bad enough living in a weyr and hearing the keening without a dragon it was only worse with one. Not even halfway there six legs come to a stop. Peloth stops whatever questions she had and lifts her head to join in with the other dragons. Little she may be, but when she raises her voice she demands as much attention as anyone else. Miniyal is quiet, unmoving other than when she wraps her arms around herself and closes her eyes. Somewhere in her own sorrow, Peloth lowers her head to nudge at her rider. With the nudge, Miniyal moves, stumbling a bit, but the pair head back for home. Whose idea it was to move is hard to tell, but they go together and if they must stop everyone few steps so one might console the other, well, there's no rush. Not from either of them. Just a slow heavy tread while one's eyes whirl a fast red and the other's leak tears that she is quick to wipe from her eyes.
Neither Areteth or J'sek are to be found anywhere near to the barracks on this quiet evening. Instead, the dark hued blue had settled for a late dip in the lake while J'sek went about his own tasks - most likely heading for the baths himself. Regardless, once the ear-shattering keening starts, all previous plans are forgotten. And it's not long before the weyrling arrives, slightly out of breath and in a state of confusion and upset. He's been through this before, after all, but it still hits hard. Areteth arrives shortly after J'sek does, the blue settling down with in an awkward manner not entirely due to his mangled leg, still keening in a deep but loud voice. The pair settles and lingers near the entrance to the caverns, J'sek eventually turning to rest his forehead against his dragon's neck, eyes closed, and jaw clenched, and most likely trying to drown everything out.
There is someone rushing, however. At a heavy run, Issa still seems to only creep across the broad expanse of the echoing bowl from the living caverns. Those crossing her path are given the same hurried, stern command that's not to be disobeyed-- "Training cavern now."-- before continuing on. Still, she arrives long after the Weyrlingmaster, who is first to stir the barracks into something more orderly, barking orders to get everyone out into the big cavern. So the wingsecond remains out in the training cavern when she reaches it, eyes sweeping faces as if she could tally them all immediately. When that proves impossible with the ringing in her head, she rallies them together. "Block formation!" she calls out with a voice that happens to drown quickly in the noise. But she enforces it with ushering motions, her expression squinting with fearful worry as she rushes them into their assigned spots in those long columns and rows so that it will be easier to pick out any absent weyrlings.
The sound of feet and dragons causes Ella's shoulders to hunch and her figure to press tighter against the green. But after a moment she lifts her head, wincing and blinking, to notice the gathering of weyrlings just outside. "C'mon. Y'gotta...fuck me...y'gotta keep screamin', do't while y'walk." Ella slowly pushes up to her feet and carefully makes her way towards the forming formation. It almost feel like she's drunk, the way it's so hard to focus around anything but what's pounding in her head. Reth keeps close besides her as they try to find the right place in the block, but just end up settling for the nearest open spot.
It's slow going for one of the weyrling pairs. There's no hurrying Peloth, there's no hurrying Miniyal. They move as they move and it just has to be good enough. When they make it inside there are orders being issued and before they move from their spot in the entry way the queen lifts her head again and looks around the cavern as if she too is trying to note who is here and where they are. It takes a gentle slap to the side of her neck for her to move again and it's even slower now that she can look around at everyone. Miniyal has to nudge her gently every other step to get her to move and eventually they wind up in some spot anyway. And once they are there Peloth lies down so she can wrap her neck around her rider's legs and swish her tail slowly back and forth on the ground. For her troubles she gets a hand atop her head.
J'sek only seems to press himself in closer to Areteth as the barking orders, barely heard, sink into his buzzing head. Eventually, his eyes slowly open, although only half way, his grimace only twisting into a deeper one as he steps back from the mourning dark hued blue. There's a quick glance given to Issa, which then shifts over to those weyrlings - both from his class and the other - who begin to gather into the formation as ordered. With a slightly muffled groan, J'sek simply half-stumbles, half-walks into place, which ends up being the nearest one available to him. Areteth slinks in as well, head lowered even before the rest of him settles down next to the weyrling. The blue's keening has also quieted a little, but not by much until J'sek's is leaning into his dragon's neck again, one hand braced there for mutual support and reassurance.
While the stragglers are being herded out of the barracks and a few more stumble in from the bowl, Issa moves down the space that roughly marks the middle. Right at the front, she finds J'sek's face with her gaze and reaches out with a bracing hand on his shoulder. "Keep it together," she mutters close by as she turns to scan the rest of the gathering lines of weyrlings. "Help comfort the little ones." And not only the little dragons, it seems, as her head jerks to a young boy next to his green, fearful tears wetting his face. Then, with a soft clap to the senior weyrling's shoulder, she moves on. Her eyes squint as she determines the disorder in the predetermined ranks, but she says nothing of it as she nears the space between Ella and Miniyal. Their wingsecond places a hand flat on Miniyal's shoulder, uninvited comfort, and she asks them and their comrades nearby. "Keep calm," she murmurs idly, her voice soothing despite the frown worrying at her brow as she scans an empty spot over in the front right corner. Meanwhile, the Weyrlingmaster is beginning to conduct a headcount at the front of the cavern.
That Issa moves quickly means Ella hasn't a great deal of time to spit out a question. So the woman has only a beat to offer up, "What's hap'nin'?" as the wingsecond moves through the ranks. Her hand rests on Reth's head, fingetips white, jaw clenched.
Uninvited and unwanted, but Miniyal controls most of her flinch at the touch. It's just not what she wants at the moment. Still, calm she can do and with Peloth finally quieting down she just stands there, still other than the petting of one hand atop her dragon's head. That's it. She doesn't ask any questions or look around the room for any answers. If there's one thing she's learned to do it's to be quiet and still and wait for the answers to come to you. That, at least, keeps the dragon with her quiet. Whatever inner turmoil they share between themselves is hard to make out.
At the touch of a bracing hand on his shoulder, J'sek slowly glances up towards the wingsecond, a frown soon coming in to briefly replace the grimace from before. The weyrling's attention does eventually turn to focus on the young, fearful, boy next to his green, only to turn back to Issa. "I..." he begins to mutter, only to stop at the soft clap on his shoulder as she moves on. Again, the senior weyrling closes his eyes, one hand lifting up to scrub at his face wearily before he seems to give himself a bit of a shake, trying to snap out of it enough to at least attempt what he's been asked to do. Not that being emotionally helpful is J'sek strength in any situation - but he tries, at least, with the younger weyrling. He's slow to move closer, but eventually he does, murmuring what he hopes is encouraging or reassuring enough for the green weyrling pair as they both wait, along with the others, for answers. Areteth moves only a little, enough so that he can still fully see J'sek, but otherwise remains where he had settled previously before.
Issa drops her eyes from scanning worries back to the nearby greenrider, her hand falling from Miniyal's shoulder with a swift motion only to be tucked into crossed arms. "Keening's for lost weyrlings," she tells them frankly, blue eyes conveying the gravity of those holes in their block formation. After a second, she glance back at D'ven who catches her eye and holds up a pair of solemn fingers. "Disappeared between," she adds, her voice gone suddenly blank, automatic. The young greenrider J'sek has been instructed to comfort looks up shyly from his distracted crying when the senior weyrling steps closer, a stiff sniff sounding. A reluctant, "Yeah," is all that he gets for his efforts, the young boy diverted by the appearance of two senior blueriders. Thankfully for the weyrlingmaster and 'second's sanities, they enter to fill the missing number, sopping wet in haphazard clothes and trailed by their whimpering dragons. Due for more than a sound talking to, it seems. There's little hiding the relief flowing in Issa's voice as she says, "Not ours, apparently."
Ella's eyes scan the nearly full...oh, thank Faranth...entirely full block as Reth's own cries splinter off into silence and a few small shudders. "Not ours," she repeats, the words a faint sigh of relief. "Whose?"
Head tilting to one side as the last of the other weyrlings wander in Miniyal absently chews on a fingernail. The other hand continues to pet. Like she can't stop and likely she can't. For Issa's pronouncement there is just a tilt of her head to the other side. And for Ella's question the other weyrling just gets a blank sort of look. It's all calm on the surface other than the continued swishing of Peloth's tail that gets closer and closer to smacking into one of the other dragons. Certainly not on purpose, but it does it anyway. Her rider doesn't notice or doesn't care. She just keeps petting and the both of them are quietly watching everyone.
J'sek can only muster a faint, brief, smile in response to the younger greenrider's response. He's half paying attention to Issa's explanation for the moment - most of it focuses on the late arrivals and it seems only then that he notices that there had been gaps. With the younger weyrling settled, somewhat, J'sek turns to move back to the patiently waiting Areteth, who immediately nudges him with the tip of his muzzle once he's close enough. The weyrling, in response, reaches for the blue's eyeridges and strokes them gently to sooth the still softly whimpering blue. However, J'sek's focus doesn't remain on Areteth for long, as Issa's statement causes him to glance up sharply, first eyeing the late arrivals and then both wingsecond and Weyrlingmaster. Even more visibly confused one brow quirks up questioningly before he asks, his own slight relief over that news edging into his voice. "If not ours, then who's? Another Weyr's?"
It takes a moment for Issa to recognize the questions being asked of her, her eyes unfocused on the floor, perhaps on the lingering dragon calls rising up from out in the bowl. "Another Weyr's," she repeats, as if on autopilot still, but when her eyes blink back to J'sek she misses not a beat in the conversation. "Must be. Probably running betweening drills." In fact, she seems to be almost babbling straight from mind to mouth, and if that's the case she hasn't much more of a clue than the weyrlings themselves. "I'm... trying to think of which would have weyrlings old enough this time. It's the eighth month, yeah?" With this her eyes flicker over to Miniyal, rest a second, then move on to Ella.
With only a few swift downbeats to announce her, there is another presence in the weyrling cavern. Tialith steps inside, her wings tucking against her sides and her pale green gaze resting on the gathering of weyrlings and those they look to. The hatchlings are offered something like the psionic equivalent of a giant blanket. A place to tuck up where it's warm and dark and quiet. A place to rest, until they are ready to peep back out again. With a soft rumble, she takes up a sentry position in the corner, seated tall, attention fixed.
Ella and green Reth watch back. Well, Ella does. Reth has her focus fixed on the queen and slowly, her own eyes begin to darken back to calmer colors and stop whirling quite so quickly. Ella breathes out a small sigh of relief, one hand lifting to rub at her messy hair. "When'll w'know, y'think?"
Nothing to see where Miniyal is other than her watching everyone else. She's keeping whatever thoughts and guesses and questions to herself. Perhaps sharing them with Peloth as the queen swishes her tail in a wider arc until it does come up against another dragon. This does not stop the action, instead she makes sure the next time the same thing happens. A soft swish and then smack against the poor dragon behind her and to one side. It's not her fault the other one had the poor luck to wind up in the way of her tail. It only happens two, maybe three times, before Tialith arrives and that presence stops the tail swishing. As best she can she twists her head to look over at her clutchmother while still wrapped around her rider. "When someone bothers to tell us. Which will be later than anyone else finding out." Mumbled, quietly. Loud enough to be heard by Ella, but beyond the people around her it's just obvious she's spoken, not quite what she's said.
J'sek doesn't even so much as side glance as Tialith lands, but Areteth's attention does shift, momentarily to also fix on the queen. His soft whimpers eventually end completely and the dark blue relaxes a little and is at least calmer then he was before. The senior weyrling's attention, however, is still focused on Issa. He can only shake his head in response to her question, followed by a helpless shrug. "YesI believe so?" he murmurs distractedly, frowning deeply as he glances down at his hands, which now rest again on Areteth's dark blue neck. Miniyal's remark, somewhat overheard by J'sek but the meaning lost, earns her a quick glance before looking downwards again, slipping back into his own private thoughts that are most likely being shared with the subdued blue curled up next to him.
Tialith's entrance earns the senior queen a distracted but respectful nod from the wingsecond among the weyrlings, but that's all the attention she spares for her comforting presence. Then J'sek gets another, for his confirmation of her supposition about the date. "I'm sure the Weyrleaders will let everyone know what happened as soon as they know," she assures everyone nearby, her voice raising just a hair to carry a bit further than before. She uncrosses her arms and rubs her palms along the edge of her riding jacket, edges that then get drawn, tighter than normal somehow, across her front and held closed there.
"Well fuck that," is offered back as a low mutter beneath Ella's breath. Her hand stays settled on Reth's muzzle and she draws in another long breath. "S'what d'we do til then?"
Blinking a few times as she draws her gaze away from wherever it was to glance down at her dragon, Miniyal sighs. "A lot of waiting for them to forget." Not as cynical as she might have sounded so she must still be somewhat shaken from the whole thing even if she's trying to appear calm. This was spoken louder than her previous words, but she's never had a loud voice. Still, she's not trying to keep anyone from hearing it this time. And shortly after the words there is a sigh as she focuses on Peloth once more.
There's mostly silence from one weyrling pair, save for the slight grunt of a response that J'sek gives to Issa's statement. He doesn't have any sarcastic remark to throw out either, instead he only clenches his jaw tighter and keeps his eyes, more or less, focused down on his hands. Areteth tilts his head a little towards the weyrling, rumbling low in his throat as he does. Something must be shared between the two, as J'sek does relax a little with a soft sigh, but is still silent.
"Comforting them before they forget," Issa tacks on to Miniyal's comment, looking evenly at the goldriding weyrling for a moment before continuing. "And go back to your rest. You're going to need it for drills tomorrow." And like that, it's back to business as usual, the greenrider beginning to meander away lest some more weyrling questions call her back.
The oldest green weyrling heaves a sigh. "Yeh," Ella agrees faintly. "A'right. Hey, y'wan'a bath?" This is addressed down to Reth. "Think mebbe I wan'a bath. C'mon." Her hand falls away from her lifemate and she begins to move out of the cavern, only pausing long enough to glance behind at Miniyal. COming?
Damn her and the world. Miniyal does /not/ want a bath. However, from deep down below the pain, Peloth latches onto the word and for the first time she unwraps her neck from her rider and rises to her feet. Bath. She knows that word and to show it she gives her rider a nudge in the small of her back. Miniyal doth stumble and let out a weary sigh that is entirely put upon. "Thrilling. I just can't get out of these things." So, they will trail along behind the other two. One of them decidedly more eager than the other at the prospect of bathing.
Areteth has already had a bath, or at least a partial one, but slowly rises to his feet as well, ruffling his wings a little as he does. J'sek has stepped back at this point, giving Issa a quick glance and a nod of his head. Suddenly he does feel rather tired and the senior weyrling turns to head towards the barracks, careful to avoid bumping into any of the other weyrlings who may head in the opposite direction. Areteth follows in his usual slow, unusual lumbering pace, still keeping as close as possible to J'sek for now.
A louder, more official, "Dismissed!" falls over the gathered weyrling classes a second later and life returns to normal. Sort of.
Where: Weyrling training cavern
When: Evening on day 1, month 8, turn 3 of the 7th Pass. (BACKDATED)
What: Six exile weyrlings do not survive the trip to the mainland. This news reaches the weyr by way of dragon and the weyrlings deal with the aftermath.
Note: <3 Issa for suggesting this scene and handling it.
4/18/2007
Another quiet evening finds the weyrlings savoring their rest in the hours following dinner; the training cavern is crossed by only a few venturing pairs, the rest taking advantage of the barracks or the bowl outside to pursue their leisure. But this quiet evening doesn't stay so quiet for long-quite the opposite in fact. Ear-shattering keening rumbles through the stone walls, confused dragon thoughts howling over weyrlings lost between.
She was napping, damn all things. No exercises to do, no homework working on her letters, no nothing. Ella had just found a bit of time to curl up and steal a few extra hours sleep when the wailing starts, Reth jerks conscious first, eyes tinged yellow and crimson. Usually so silent and composed, the little green throws her head back, opens her maw, and adds her own eerie and willowy sound to the overall din of dragon cries. Ella jerks upright with a start, hair spiking wildly, hands pressing to her ears. "Th'fuck?!" She shoves out of her cot and trips over to her keening lifemate. That's about when that wave of anguish hits her, so instead of ordering Reth to knock it off and explain what's going on, Ella finds herself on her knees, arms around the green's slender neck, head buried against her vibrating throat.
It's not surprising that a certain gold and her rider were out. Nor is it surprising they were on their way to the bath. However, what neither of them expected was for their bath to be interrupted. If it was bad enough living in a weyr and hearing the keening without a dragon it was only worse with one. Not even halfway there six legs come to a stop. Peloth stops whatever questions she had and lifts her head to join in with the other dragons. Little she may be, but when she raises her voice she demands as much attention as anyone else. Miniyal is quiet, unmoving other than when she wraps her arms around herself and closes her eyes. Somewhere in her own sorrow, Peloth lowers her head to nudge at her rider. With the nudge, Miniyal moves, stumbling a bit, but the pair head back for home. Whose idea it was to move is hard to tell, but they go together and if they must stop everyone few steps so one might console the other, well, there's no rush. Not from either of them. Just a slow heavy tread while one's eyes whirl a fast red and the other's leak tears that she is quick to wipe from her eyes.
Neither Areteth or J'sek are to be found anywhere near to the barracks on this quiet evening. Instead, the dark hued blue had settled for a late dip in the lake while J'sek went about his own tasks - most likely heading for the baths himself. Regardless, once the ear-shattering keening starts, all previous plans are forgotten. And it's not long before the weyrling arrives, slightly out of breath and in a state of confusion and upset. He's been through this before, after all, but it still hits hard. Areteth arrives shortly after J'sek does, the blue settling down with in an awkward manner not entirely due to his mangled leg, still keening in a deep but loud voice. The pair settles and lingers near the entrance to the caverns, J'sek eventually turning to rest his forehead against his dragon's neck, eyes closed, and jaw clenched, and most likely trying to drown everything out.
There is someone rushing, however. At a heavy run, Issa still seems to only creep across the broad expanse of the echoing bowl from the living caverns. Those crossing her path are given the same hurried, stern command that's not to be disobeyed-- "Training cavern now."-- before continuing on. Still, she arrives long after the Weyrlingmaster, who is first to stir the barracks into something more orderly, barking orders to get everyone out into the big cavern. So the wingsecond remains out in the training cavern when she reaches it, eyes sweeping faces as if she could tally them all immediately. When that proves impossible with the ringing in her head, she rallies them together. "Block formation!" she calls out with a voice that happens to drown quickly in the noise. But she enforces it with ushering motions, her expression squinting with fearful worry as she rushes them into their assigned spots in those long columns and rows so that it will be easier to pick out any absent weyrlings.
The sound of feet and dragons causes Ella's shoulders to hunch and her figure to press tighter against the green. But after a moment she lifts her head, wincing and blinking, to notice the gathering of weyrlings just outside. "C'mon. Y'gotta...fuck me...y'gotta keep screamin', do't while y'walk." Ella slowly pushes up to her feet and carefully makes her way towards the forming formation. It almost feel like she's drunk, the way it's so hard to focus around anything but what's pounding in her head. Reth keeps close besides her as they try to find the right place in the block, but just end up settling for the nearest open spot.
It's slow going for one of the weyrling pairs. There's no hurrying Peloth, there's no hurrying Miniyal. They move as they move and it just has to be good enough. When they make it inside there are orders being issued and before they move from their spot in the entry way the queen lifts her head again and looks around the cavern as if she too is trying to note who is here and where they are. It takes a gentle slap to the side of her neck for her to move again and it's even slower now that she can look around at everyone. Miniyal has to nudge her gently every other step to get her to move and eventually they wind up in some spot anyway. And once they are there Peloth lies down so she can wrap her neck around her rider's legs and swish her tail slowly back and forth on the ground. For her troubles she gets a hand atop her head.
J'sek only seems to press himself in closer to Areteth as the barking orders, barely heard, sink into his buzzing head. Eventually, his eyes slowly open, although only half way, his grimace only twisting into a deeper one as he steps back from the mourning dark hued blue. There's a quick glance given to Issa, which then shifts over to those weyrlings - both from his class and the other - who begin to gather into the formation as ordered. With a slightly muffled groan, J'sek simply half-stumbles, half-walks into place, which ends up being the nearest one available to him. Areteth slinks in as well, head lowered even before the rest of him settles down next to the weyrling. The blue's keening has also quieted a little, but not by much until J'sek's is leaning into his dragon's neck again, one hand braced there for mutual support and reassurance.
While the stragglers are being herded out of the barracks and a few more stumble in from the bowl, Issa moves down the space that roughly marks the middle. Right at the front, she finds J'sek's face with her gaze and reaches out with a bracing hand on his shoulder. "Keep it together," she mutters close by as she turns to scan the rest of the gathering lines of weyrlings. "Help comfort the little ones." And not only the little dragons, it seems, as her head jerks to a young boy next to his green, fearful tears wetting his face. Then, with a soft clap to the senior weyrling's shoulder, she moves on. Her eyes squint as she determines the disorder in the predetermined ranks, but she says nothing of it as she nears the space between Ella and Miniyal. Their wingsecond places a hand flat on Miniyal's shoulder, uninvited comfort, and she asks them and their comrades nearby. "Keep calm," she murmurs idly, her voice soothing despite the frown worrying at her brow as she scans an empty spot over in the front right corner. Meanwhile, the Weyrlingmaster is beginning to conduct a headcount at the front of the cavern.
That Issa moves quickly means Ella hasn't a great deal of time to spit out a question. So the woman has only a beat to offer up, "What's hap'nin'?" as the wingsecond moves through the ranks. Her hand rests on Reth's head, fingetips white, jaw clenched.
Uninvited and unwanted, but Miniyal controls most of her flinch at the touch. It's just not what she wants at the moment. Still, calm she can do and with Peloth finally quieting down she just stands there, still other than the petting of one hand atop her dragon's head. That's it. She doesn't ask any questions or look around the room for any answers. If there's one thing she's learned to do it's to be quiet and still and wait for the answers to come to you. That, at least, keeps the dragon with her quiet. Whatever inner turmoil they share between themselves is hard to make out.
At the touch of a bracing hand on his shoulder, J'sek slowly glances up towards the wingsecond, a frown soon coming in to briefly replace the grimace from before. The weyrling's attention does eventually turn to focus on the young, fearful, boy next to his green, only to turn back to Issa. "I..." he begins to mutter, only to stop at the soft clap on his shoulder as she moves on. Again, the senior weyrling closes his eyes, one hand lifting up to scrub at his face wearily before he seems to give himself a bit of a shake, trying to snap out of it enough to at least attempt what he's been asked to do. Not that being emotionally helpful is J'sek strength in any situation - but he tries, at least, with the younger weyrling. He's slow to move closer, but eventually he does, murmuring what he hopes is encouraging or reassuring enough for the green weyrling pair as they both wait, along with the others, for answers. Areteth moves only a little, enough so that he can still fully see J'sek, but otherwise remains where he had settled previously before.
Issa drops her eyes from scanning worries back to the nearby greenrider, her hand falling from Miniyal's shoulder with a swift motion only to be tucked into crossed arms. "Keening's for lost weyrlings," she tells them frankly, blue eyes conveying the gravity of those holes in their block formation. After a second, she glance back at D'ven who catches her eye and holds up a pair of solemn fingers. "Disappeared between," she adds, her voice gone suddenly blank, automatic. The young greenrider J'sek has been instructed to comfort looks up shyly from his distracted crying when the senior weyrling steps closer, a stiff sniff sounding. A reluctant, "Yeah," is all that he gets for his efforts, the young boy diverted by the appearance of two senior blueriders. Thankfully for the weyrlingmaster and 'second's sanities, they enter to fill the missing number, sopping wet in haphazard clothes and trailed by their whimpering dragons. Due for more than a sound talking to, it seems. There's little hiding the relief flowing in Issa's voice as she says, "Not ours, apparently."
Ella's eyes scan the nearly full...oh, thank Faranth...entirely full block as Reth's own cries splinter off into silence and a few small shudders. "Not ours," she repeats, the words a faint sigh of relief. "Whose?"
Head tilting to one side as the last of the other weyrlings wander in Miniyal absently chews on a fingernail. The other hand continues to pet. Like she can't stop and likely she can't. For Issa's pronouncement there is just a tilt of her head to the other side. And for Ella's question the other weyrling just gets a blank sort of look. It's all calm on the surface other than the continued swishing of Peloth's tail that gets closer and closer to smacking into one of the other dragons. Certainly not on purpose, but it does it anyway. Her rider doesn't notice or doesn't care. She just keeps petting and the both of them are quietly watching everyone.
J'sek can only muster a faint, brief, smile in response to the younger greenrider's response. He's half paying attention to Issa's explanation for the moment - most of it focuses on the late arrivals and it seems only then that he notices that there had been gaps. With the younger weyrling settled, somewhat, J'sek turns to move back to the patiently waiting Areteth, who immediately nudges him with the tip of his muzzle once he's close enough. The weyrling, in response, reaches for the blue's eyeridges and strokes them gently to sooth the still softly whimpering blue. However, J'sek's focus doesn't remain on Areteth for long, as Issa's statement causes him to glance up sharply, first eyeing the late arrivals and then both wingsecond and Weyrlingmaster. Even more visibly confused one brow quirks up questioningly before he asks, his own slight relief over that news edging into his voice. "If not ours, then who's? Another Weyr's?"
It takes a moment for Issa to recognize the questions being asked of her, her eyes unfocused on the floor, perhaps on the lingering dragon calls rising up from out in the bowl. "Another Weyr's," she repeats, as if on autopilot still, but when her eyes blink back to J'sek she misses not a beat in the conversation. "Must be. Probably running betweening drills." In fact, she seems to be almost babbling straight from mind to mouth, and if that's the case she hasn't much more of a clue than the weyrlings themselves. "I'm... trying to think of which would have weyrlings old enough this time. It's the eighth month, yeah?" With this her eyes flicker over to Miniyal, rest a second, then move on to Ella.
With only a few swift downbeats to announce her, there is another presence in the weyrling cavern. Tialith steps inside, her wings tucking against her sides and her pale green gaze resting on the gathering of weyrlings and those they look to. The hatchlings are offered something like the psionic equivalent of a giant blanket. A place to tuck up where it's warm and dark and quiet. A place to rest, until they are ready to peep back out again. With a soft rumble, she takes up a sentry position in the corner, seated tall, attention fixed.
Ella and green Reth watch back. Well, Ella does. Reth has her focus fixed on the queen and slowly, her own eyes begin to darken back to calmer colors and stop whirling quite so quickly. Ella breathes out a small sigh of relief, one hand lifting to rub at her messy hair. "When'll w'know, y'think?"
Nothing to see where Miniyal is other than her watching everyone else. She's keeping whatever thoughts and guesses and questions to herself. Perhaps sharing them with Peloth as the queen swishes her tail in a wider arc until it does come up against another dragon. This does not stop the action, instead she makes sure the next time the same thing happens. A soft swish and then smack against the poor dragon behind her and to one side. It's not her fault the other one had the poor luck to wind up in the way of her tail. It only happens two, maybe three times, before Tialith arrives and that presence stops the tail swishing. As best she can she twists her head to look over at her clutchmother while still wrapped around her rider. "When someone bothers to tell us. Which will be later than anyone else finding out." Mumbled, quietly. Loud enough to be heard by Ella, but beyond the people around her it's just obvious she's spoken, not quite what she's said.
J'sek doesn't even so much as side glance as Tialith lands, but Areteth's attention does shift, momentarily to also fix on the queen. His soft whimpers eventually end completely and the dark blue relaxes a little and is at least calmer then he was before. The senior weyrling's attention, however, is still focused on Issa. He can only shake his head in response to her question, followed by a helpless shrug. "YesI believe so?" he murmurs distractedly, frowning deeply as he glances down at his hands, which now rest again on Areteth's dark blue neck. Miniyal's remark, somewhat overheard by J'sek but the meaning lost, earns her a quick glance before looking downwards again, slipping back into his own private thoughts that are most likely being shared with the subdued blue curled up next to him.
Tialith's entrance earns the senior queen a distracted but respectful nod from the wingsecond among the weyrlings, but that's all the attention she spares for her comforting presence. Then J'sek gets another, for his confirmation of her supposition about the date. "I'm sure the Weyrleaders will let everyone know what happened as soon as they know," she assures everyone nearby, her voice raising just a hair to carry a bit further than before. She uncrosses her arms and rubs her palms along the edge of her riding jacket, edges that then get drawn, tighter than normal somehow, across her front and held closed there.
"Well fuck that," is offered back as a low mutter beneath Ella's breath. Her hand stays settled on Reth's muzzle and she draws in another long breath. "S'what d'we do til then?"
Blinking a few times as she draws her gaze away from wherever it was to glance down at her dragon, Miniyal sighs. "A lot of waiting for them to forget." Not as cynical as she might have sounded so she must still be somewhat shaken from the whole thing even if she's trying to appear calm. This was spoken louder than her previous words, but she's never had a loud voice. Still, she's not trying to keep anyone from hearing it this time. And shortly after the words there is a sigh as she focuses on Peloth once more.
There's mostly silence from one weyrling pair, save for the slight grunt of a response that J'sek gives to Issa's statement. He doesn't have any sarcastic remark to throw out either, instead he only clenches his jaw tighter and keeps his eyes, more or less, focused down on his hands. Areteth tilts his head a little towards the weyrling, rumbling low in his throat as he does. Something must be shared between the two, as J'sek does relax a little with a soft sigh, but is still silent.
"Comforting them before they forget," Issa tacks on to Miniyal's comment, looking evenly at the goldriding weyrling for a moment before continuing. "And go back to your rest. You're going to need it for drills tomorrow." And like that, it's back to business as usual, the greenrider beginning to meander away lest some more weyrling questions call her back.
The oldest green weyrling heaves a sigh. "Yeh," Ella agrees faintly. "A'right. Hey, y'wan'a bath?" This is addressed down to Reth. "Think mebbe I wan'a bath. C'mon." Her hand falls away from her lifemate and she begins to move out of the cavern, only pausing long enough to glance behind at Miniyal. COming?
Damn her and the world. Miniyal does /not/ want a bath. However, from deep down below the pain, Peloth latches onto the word and for the first time she unwraps her neck from her rider and rises to her feet. Bath. She knows that word and to show it she gives her rider a nudge in the small of her back. Miniyal doth stumble and let out a weary sigh that is entirely put upon. "Thrilling. I just can't get out of these things." So, they will trail along behind the other two. One of them decidedly more eager than the other at the prospect of bathing.
Areteth has already had a bath, or at least a partial one, but slowly rises to his feet as well, ruffling his wings a little as he does. J'sek has stepped back at this point, giving Issa a quick glance and a nod of his head. Suddenly he does feel rather tired and the senior weyrling turns to head towards the barracks, careful to avoid bumping into any of the other weyrlings who may head in the opposite direction. Areteth follows in his usual slow, unusual lumbering pace, still keeping as close as possible to J'sek for now.
A louder, more official, "Dismissed!" falls over the gathered weyrling classes a second later and life returns to normal. Sort of.