Falling, Falling

[NPCs]

Weyrleader N'kem and rose Rath

N'kem was at his desk when Rath alerted him, looking over reports on the recent drills. Drills had been much rarer since Thread started, but they still occurred at least once every two weeks, and more when Thread chose to fall on the other Weyrs.

There would not, however, be any drills occurring today. N'kem glanced up as Rath, previously settled in the next room, was suddenly moving. His mental shout of Thread! was fractions of a second ahead of a loud, echoing bugle, and followed by a repeat, which was broadcast to every dragon in the Weyr. Thread! Another bugle, less echoing, drifted back from where he'd gotten out to the ledge, almost covering the sound of his talons scraping against the rock.

N'kem jumped up as more bugles, challenging shrieks and yelling echoed around the Weyr, racing for his riding leathers. His pants and boots were on; he pulled the jacket on as quickly as possible, grabbed the gloves and tucked them under his arm as he ran for the ledge, pausing to grab Rath's harness on the way out.

"Where?" N'kem dropped his gloves to work on the harness, dodging around Rath's lashing tail.

Poreth says it is over the water, and will come over us later, Rath replied after a pause.

Straight West, then. "Call up the day wings, and tell--" N'kem had to search for the names "--Bukharmath, and Lakoth to get the winglets and candidates helping with firestone and the healers, if any of them are good at it. Let the night wings and winglets sleep." If they can in this noise, anyway.

I know. Rath's mildly offended tone was not well supported by the following pause that indicated he was speaking to them.

"Of course." N'kem slapped Rath's shoulder affectionately as he finished tightening the harness, then pulled the gloves on and scrambled up to Rath's shoulder. The rose snorted, holding still while N'kem climbed and buckled himself in, then launched off of the ledge, beating his wings to take them up to the top of the ledge where he could hover, letting them both watch the Weyr prepare and wait for the wings to form.

((OOC: I'll post again once everyone is ready to go.))

[summerrain]

Maika had been laying on her bed, on her stomach, reading a scroll about nocturnal dragons. There hadn't been that many scrolls about nocturnal dragons in Garnet Hold, at least none that were easily accessible. They were so interesting! Maybe a nocturnal dragon would be best for her. She loved watching the stars after sunset, and these dragons seemed to be a bit like a starry sky on a clear night.

A loud dragon roar startled Maika. She jumped, falling off the bed. Taro chirped at her, concern flowing through their bond. Aki fluttered nearby, but landed on the bedside table nearby. Maika sat back up, rubbing her head where it had hit the ground. She got a strange, semi-blurry picture from Aki, who was close to the window. Shimmery silver things falling from the sky... Thread! Maika jumped up, sweeping Aki into her arms as he was still too young to really fly, and stuck the Bronze flit in her pocket. Taro flew behind her as Maika darted down the hall. She already knew what she had to do. Get firestone for the dragons, and keep watch for possible strands of Thread that happen to be missed by the dragons. She made sure to keep a handfull of small Stones in her pocket, just in case something did happen and she had to send Taro into a burrow after a strand of Thread.

Maika stopped by a pile of firestone, out of breath. Taro landed on her shoulder, strangely silent. He knew from the images Maika showed him that the silvery strands falling from the sky were really dangerous, and that they could do a lot of damage. Maika had already let the Brown flit know what his job would be if the dragons missed even a single strand of Thread.

"Just tell me what to do," Maika said after a moment. Taro chirped in agreement, as if saying he wanted to play his part in helping the Weyr keep off the silvery things.
_______

Tera had been with the dragonhealers, watching as they did routine checks on some of the older dragons. She was facinated by it. She had a small leather bag hanging from a strap that went from her right shoulder to her left hip. Within it was a flit egg. Fuyuki, her Bronze flit, was on her shoulder, and her two-Turn-old canine Amaro was laying near the door. The loud roar startled the canine, and Tera went quickly to his side.

"Quiet Amaro," the little girl said. She knew what the roar meant. She had heard it plenty of times, and the thought of what it meant sent her heart racing. Tera walked over to a corner, Amaro nervously following close to her. She sat down in the corner, making sure she'd be out of the way. Amaro sat next to her, and Tera wrapped her arms around the canine's neck. Her eyes closed, and she remembered the last Threadfall at the Weyr. Her own mother had been lost that day, and she had lost the friend that she'd had in her mother's dragon. Tera felt tears begin to fall down her cheeks, into the canine's red brindle fur. Fuyuki chirped quietly at her, worry flowing through their bond. Tera couldn't think enough to explain to the flit her strange fear of the silvery strands that fell from the sky. She wasn't thinking straight. It was all she could do to keep silent and stay out of the way. Amaro barked once before Tera spoke to him again.

"Amaro, Threadfall," was all she had to say. Amaro fell silent, taking a protective position in front of the child. He was completely silent, though, as he had been taught to be. He would only listen to Tera now, until she gave the release. He had been trained to protect the child, and that was his job.

[redwerecat]

It had been silent, at least until Bukarmath interrupted the quiet with a fierce snarl.
Mine, Thread falls. He hissed, eyes narrowed and flicking up toward the sky. M'khor just grunted a response, waiting, as usual, for the further instructions to come from the Weyrleader.

"Kharma?" He said, quietly, not moving from his rather delicate yoga-like pose.

Winglets and candidates. The blue said, finally, shaking his head to clear away the distant look that came with communication with another dragon. On firestone duty, as usual. Let the nocturnal ones sleep...

"Mmm." M'khor threw his leathers on, finally taking action. "SO nothing out of the ordinary." He sounded so calm, but there was a tension in his movements, like barely restrained terror and anticipation warred inside him. Bukharmath rumbled quietly as he finished checking the dragon's harness, and they paused for a moment before he mounted...

We'll be alright. M'khor reassured them both...

Then they were off, rounding up what candidates they could find in the candidate rooms, tracking down whoever else they ran into, and leaving a standing order with the remaining flits Bukharmath gathered that any candidates were to report for firestone duty, report to the healers if they had any training, or to seek shelter if there were no other option. They'd wait as long as they could to make sure they reached as many candidates as possible, but aside from the fact that these children might be new to the Weyr, Threadfall was not something unusual. Bukharmath sought out each of the candidates specifically and made sure to send each one the location of the shelters in case they needed it.

M'khor left a message with the firestone handlers as well, as he loaded his dragon up, to keep a count of which candidates were present and around- he wasn't technically their teacher yet, not until they impressed, but he'd appreciate not losing any wither. Luckily he didn't have to worry about the Nocturnal class, presumably asleep within the weyr.

Then the blue was winging his way toward the cliffs to join his wing and prepare.

~~~~~~~~~

Siarryn shivered slightly, tail wrapping around himself unconsciously in fear. Thread was hardly unfamiliar to him, but at the same time, he'd had too many close encounters in his years. Sure, wandering was fun, but threadfall in a light-coverage area? Enough to ensure that even a reckless idiot like him made sure to find a safe place to hide.

At his side, Bounty and Gambit hissed and spat, instinctively angered by their age-old enemy. Sia had nicked a bag of 'stone chips for them, knowing full well exactly how important it would be if any of the riders missed a mark and the flits had to be sent after a stray thread. Still, that wasn't what was bothering him. Even as he was making his way to the firestone stores, he was distracted, moving mostly on auto-pilot and responding when someone set him to a task.

He was waiting for- AH! He jerked back to himself as he recognized the mint-green hide he was leaning against as he passed a firestone sack up to a rider.
"Dad." He said. "I..."

The greenrider flashed a smile, unusually relaxed for ...well, being about to fly into the midst of a storm of flesh-eating strands of evil incarnate, basically. (Sia really kind of didn't like thread.)
"Don't worry, kiddo." S'vyr told him, hefting the bag up onto Eamith's side and securing it in place. "We'll come back. Always have, right?"

That was about all Siarryn got from his father before the rider was gone, and Sia just watched the green dragon wing her way into the sky, and, like every other threadfall, Sia bit his tongue and prayed his father would come back whole.

Well. Back to the Stone, right?

~~~~~~~~~~

Naz was... surprisingly unaffected. She was Holdless- this time, it was kind of a welcome relief to be somewhere she could be relatively certain she had protection. It was a welcome sight to see the dragons taking to the air here... she whistled, a strange little tune that yet had her little funny blue swooping to her aid.

"C'mon, salt, that funny goat-tailed says we're to hit the stone stores or the healers. Which you up to, buddy?"

Salt chirped, and zipped off down a hall marked with green signs.

"Healers it is." Naz followed the little blue along and waited in the back of the healers areas, trying to figure out who she should report to.
"Hello, friendly candidate here, put me to work?" She tried, and hoped she didn't sound as sarcastic as she was sure that had just come out as.

((Feel free to npc M'khor and Bukharmath if you like...))

[catnip]

Threadfall days were always busy days, and this one was no different. Currently Serain was gathering up supplies, preparing for the wounded that would be arriving as soon as the dragons and riders began to fight thread.

"Always happy to have a volunteer," Serain chirped, glancing over at the candidate. There were always a few that came to work with them, ones that Serain was always pleased to see. "Have you got any training in healing?" She would be put to work regardless, but her answer would decide just what sorts of things she could help with.

---------------

When M'khor came into the candidates area, Echlerov was dressed and ready, his firelizard's alert and perched on both of his shoulders. He knew better than to go and help out the healers, having tried that in the past but not doing as well as other did, and so he would be working with the firestone.

Firestone duty wasn't the most fun, but no one could argue that it wasn't important. In fact, it was one of the most important tasks that the candidates did, preparing the firestone to be sent to the wings.

He reported in, and then took his place, shoveling firestone into an empty bag. Almost as soon as they were filled they'd be taken up to the wings, and the sooner they got started the better.

-------------------

F'nell had just finished the repair to his harness when the dragons began to bugle. Thread falls.

Shards. That was cutting it close. He tugged on his stitches to make sure they were secure, and then, finding that they were, grabbed it up, and darted into his sleeping chamber. He dropped the harness onto his bed, quickly changing into his flight leathers, and then snagged it again.

"Good thing I got this finished then, isn't it." He joked, heading out to where his dragon was waiting.

I would not drop you.

The rider patted his dragon, and then began the process of getting the harness onto his dragon. "I know." He had done this hundreds of times and the harness fit practically effortlessly, and he tugged it once after it was on. "Any uncomfortable places?"

No.

"Good." He climbed up onto the dragon, settling into position. "Let's get firestone first, and then we'll take our place in the wings." They flew down to the firestone grounds, landing briefly, long enough for a candidate to pass up the bags of firestone. He made sure that they were secure. "Thanks."

The pair rose into the air, and then headed towards where the wings would be forming up.

[vworp]

Cyndell followed the other candidates to the firestone piles. He didn't have much experience with Healing, and he didn't want to get in the way there. Stuffing bags full of firestone should be easy enough. This was a novel experience, having dragons in the sky protecting them. Like Nazene, he had grown up hiding from Threadfall in the caravan.

He picked up a piece of firestone and examined. Briefly, his tongue flicked out and he tasted the stone. Not surprisingly, it was disgusting. He coughed, throwing the stone into the sack along with the others. Hmm, too bad for the dragons who had to chew it. Maybe it tasted better to them.

Finishing off a sack, he tossed it up to F'nell. "Good luck!" Once the Brown had lifted off, Cyndell began preparing the next bag of firestone.