An Arrival of Note - (Open)

[Raine]

Raine lifted a glove to wipe the frozen ice crystals of between from her goggles, as Imolith gave a little roll in the sky to knock whatever clung to her hide off. As the sun warmed her golden hide, Imolith purred in the back of Raine's mind, happy with the Weyr they had come too. Mine, this is our new home?, there was a hopeful air to the dragon's voice, even as she glided in lazy circles above the Weyr. The nearby watch dragon challenged them with a loud bugle, only to be answered by Imolith's imperious snort. For the time being, better than frosty Telgar . Raine laughed at Imolith's mental twitch of displeasure, the gold had liked Telgar despite Raine's aversion to the snow ridden Weyr.

The watch dragon says he will alert someone to our arrival, Imolith passed on. Don't get mad at him love, he's only doing his job by challenging you. Remember we are new here and things have changed over the turns. She only got a snort in answer as Imolith backwinged, rear legs touching down in the middle of the bowl. Raine had told her dragon things would be different here, at Great Cliffs, but of course the gold either didn't remember or chose not to remember. It was hard to tell with the gold who had been known to elevate arrogance to an art form.

Raine glanced around, pulling her gloves off before unbuckling her riding helmet. A thick rope of dark hair unspooled from the helmet, the feathery ends tickling Imolith's back though the dragon didn't notice. Raine stuffed her gloves and goggles in the helmet before tossing it on the ground at Imolith's feet. A few quick tugs and pulls and Raine slid down the dragon's side, landing on her feet with a soft puff of dirt. Imolith shook her head before nosing her rider's stomach. "I know you are hungry but you can eat tomorrow, once you get put on the rotation." Wrinkling her nose, Imolith blew a breath of hot air at Raine, obviously unhappy with that idea.

"Well whoever comes to show us around, we can ask them about it. Ok? Maybe you can get a beast," Imolith clicked her tongue, tossing her head into the air as if it was a foregone conclusion.

[J'zeni]

(Baizynth used with permission because I type for him too.)

From the air, the duo saw the eggs warming on the sands and gold Tuirith watching them with jealous suspicion in her gaze. Based on the fast whirring tinges of red in her eyes, this was not a good time for a meet-and-greet. No doubt later Raine and Klissi (probably Kitti too) would have their heart-to-heart. Of course, the arrival of a new gold dragon at all caused quite a stir and immediately the other dragons began to pepper Imolith with questions about her, dragons, of course, are notorious gossips and in the here-and-now of this new dragon presented to them wanted to know all about her. Especially since she was a gold dragon! It'd been a long time since they'd seen a new gold dragon. Several Weyrfolk approached her and greeted her but no one had specific information, instead were there to say "hello", "welcome", "fair skies", and the like - generally introducing themselves but not making a nuance of themselves. No other gold rider was forth-coming to meet her. Or any of the Weyr's obvious leadership.

Hello. Said an unfamiliar draconic voice to Imolith, one with a deeper resonance to his mental tone. I am Baizynth. Mine will come soon. But Baizynth's rider did not appear immediately, leaving the duo to be greeted by someone else first.


---
From one of the Lower Caverns, someone emerged to talk to Raine. It was a young man, specifically a teenager in his mid-Turns who greeted Raine and Imolath first. His crooked nose drew attention away from his deep eyes until he smiled and then his gaze lit up with a bright gleam. "Fair skies to you! Welcome to Great Cliffs." He said as he extended one of his hands toward her. "I'm J'zeni of Alvoradath er...and Tezorath. I'm the Candidate Master. I know that I may not be who you expected to greet you but there aren't a lot of us in higher ranking positions at the moment. And no weyrwoman about. You must be Raine and Imolath? It's nice to see a new face here, K'ivan and Klissi spoke with Kitti and me about your transfer."

No sooner had J'zeni introduced himself than not one but two young dragons began to speak, one over the other so their sentences all but merged into a single voice. The more feminine of the two had the haughty tones that easily identified her as a golden (if younger) sister to Imolith. I'm Tezorath ... Alvoradath and this is my ... our Weyr. You should be nice ... to mine because he is kind and ...but will eat you if you are not nice!

The birth of the twin dragons at Great Cliffs eight months ago from one of gold Dysmeth's (Ampara) clutches may well have reached all the way to Telgar Weyr. It was a rare enough occurrence that it resonated throughout the dragonrider community and even leaked into the Holds of Western.

[Raine]

Imolith clicked her tongue as someone greeted her, head twisting in the sunlight even as her arched neck glittered brightly. "Who are you preening for love?" Raine did not see any dragons approaching, even as Weyrfolk streamed past in a friendly line, nodding and greeting the pair. No one, but the hordes of dragons had caught Imolith's attention, even as Baizynth greeted her. Enjoying being the center of attention for the moment, Raine rolled her eyes and set to taking the gold's riding straps off. A duffle was tossed to the ground, even as Imolith danced in place, in her mind trying to entice the bronze who had greeted her, out of his hiding place.

Raine turned as a voice caught her attention, using her sleeve to wipe sweat from her brow before tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. "I'm J'zeni of Alvoradath er...and Tezorath. I'm the Candidate Master. I know that I may not be who you expected to greet you but there aren't a lot of us in higher ranking positions at the moment. And no weyrwoman about. You must be Raine and Imolith? It's nice to see a new face here, K'ivan and Klissi spoke with Kitti and me about your transfer."

She took his hand that he offered, returning the shake with a firm grip. "I'm not exactly a new face here, though it has been a few turns since I've set foot here," she glanced around the familiar, but strange, sight of the weyrbowl. "My sister Impressed here about twelve turns ago. I was Searched here, even apprenticed as a dragonhealer here but had no luck with Impression so I followed my sister to Telgar." Raine's sister had had an issue with a fellow dragonrider, an issue which prompted a transfer and had been none of Raine's business. "All that to say you might not have been around when I was here before."

He should not forget you so easily mine, Imolith turned to stare at the new come rider. Not if he knew what was good for him. Then with a snort she threw back her head, growling at the almost nonsensical attack of the twin dragons. I shall do as I please and no hatchling will be the boss of me! Imolith that may have been a touch rude, Raine privately chastised the gold who only shook her wings in answer. I am grown and this my Weyr as well. The last part was said to the younger dragons, even as Raine shrugged in apology to J'zeni.

"I apologize if she comes off as bossy to your dragons, she doesn't like being told what to do. Even when it's harmless, and especially not by anyone she considers beneath her." She had indeed heard of the twin hatching, with it being a very rare occurence. However it did strike her as strange that an young man whose dragon was so young was the candidate master. At eight months shouldn't he still have been a weyrling himself? But that was none of her business. She was a newcomer here and unaware of how things were done.

[J'zeni]

"Oh?" J'zeni said when the new weyrwoman mentioned she was no stranger; however, he did not recall seeing her before this day and that concerned him a lot. He listened to the brief recollection of her history with Great Cliffs, his brow furrowed with a deep crease that reflected his growing concern until she came to when her sister Impressed. "No... I doubt that was the reason... I was born here so... oooh, it was twelve turns ago? At three turns old, I would have been one of the weyrbrats running around in the Stands during your sister's Impressing. Well, that would explain why neither of us recognize each other. Thank Faranath!" J'zeni's smile broadened.

"Since you were here after that for a while, I'm sure we crossed paths but we simply don't remember each other. I would have still been a 'brat and not even old enough to Stand. And, depending on how long you've been gone, the last time you saw me, I was probably this tall - " and he put his hand in the air at about the four-foot mark, palm toward the sky. " - or shorter. I had a growth spurt a few Turns ago and this - " He gestured to the first shadows of facial hair on his upper lip and cheeks. " - is even more recent."

J'zeni shrugged at Raine's apology about Imolith. Before he replied, he glanced up at Imolith and opened his mouth as though he meant to speak with her directly. Instead, he smiled at Imolith and inclined his head before he returned his attention back to Raine. J'zeni knew that some riders felt it impolite to address their dragons directly rather than them. Otherwise, he'd have paid more attention to Imolith specifically. He had to wait until he knew Raine better to decide whether dragon or rider thought that was a good idea. "She's a gold. I understand. I've known enough of them to know that queens are going to be queens and they can be um... particular?" It was obvious that he chose that last word carefully.

"And I've learned far more than I ever thought I would since Tezorath and my Alvoradath hatched. Kitti really is the one who Impressed the queen. But Zora decided - " You are mine too, Zeni-othermine! Tezorath all but screamed in his head. To the point that J'zeni winched visibly. Zora why are you shouting? Alvoradath shouted at his twin. Ok, ok. You two don't have to shout! Even though it did nothing, J'zeni rubbed his ear in a fashion one might if they heard a too-loud sound and sought to comfort the injured body part. "Uh, yeah... I'm hers too. I can't imagine it being any other way since I've never known anything else. Though our bond is not as strong as my bond is with Alvoradath because I don't hear her all the time and she doesn't hear all my thoughts. I know this is abnormal - right? - " He looked to Raine as a confirmation, her being the representative of the "can only hear one dragon" club at the moment. " - whereas Alvoradath hears everything."

[Raine]

Of course Raine hadn't been in the Weyr when her sister Impressed, she came two to three turns later but she took the point. If he'd only been six, as a younger teenager she wouldn't have paid any attention to him. Especially as babies were not on her mind at that age seeing as she was the youngest in her family. And between being a candidate and being an apprentice dragonhealer, Raine would not have paid attention to him or even had the time. The same had happened at Telgar, she'd barely known anyone outside of her small circle though Raine had never been one to push herself front and center.

"Some queens more than other," Raine replied dryly, even as she gave Imolith a quick pat. I am not particular, she included J'zeni in her speech, even as her physical mouth mocked Raine's statement. With a very human shrug and eye roll, Imolith moved away from the riders, giving little half flaps of her wings as she prepared to jump into the air, giving Raine and J'zeni a warning of her future actions.

"Not abnormal," she assured him tying the riding helmet to the straps, she hefted the straps on one shoulder and her bag over the other. "just not normal? Dragons do what they want, it's hard to boss something that big around. There are others who can hear all the dragons, I don't envy you. I almost pity you, not ever having a moment to just be you or you and your dragon." What would it be like for him when the two dragons flew? Would the queen pull him in? Would his dragon even have an interest? While Raine was a journeyman dragon healer, she had more of an interest in the husbandry of dragons and the choosing of mates. Something that more riders did not think about as the usual rule winner take all. No one ever gave thought to what characteristics the winner should have or should pass on.

"Anyway, lead on. I remember some of the paths but I fear I do not know what weyr I was assigned."

[K'ivan]

From here. Mimi mentioned with permission.

---

At this point, more Weyrfolk emerged from the various places in the Weyr and one person approached Raine with a tray that had a cup of klah and some biscuits. The weyrbrats had come to investigate and having no fear of dragons that the hold-bred seemed to possess, the youngsters gathered close to the brilliant hide and whispered at each other as they dared to take turns touching or pretending to touch the dragon.

From one of the Lower Caverns, two figures emerged. One dressed in a rider's leathers with an impressive display of knots on his shoulder. His long blond-almost-white braid stood out against the darker colors of his clothing. Behind him came a young woman with dark hair. She wore a Healer's green, a satchel, and a radiant smile... they had several hundred more feet to traverse prior to being within conversational distance of the small group gathered around the newly arrived gold dragon and her rider.

Above them, a burnished bronze dragon dropped off a ledge and sailed down toward them, his long wings casting shadows over the humans and dragons below. His silhouette cast an unusual shape that denoted the missing portion of his tail. Other old scars graced the dragon's muscular frame. Proud and fair Imolith, K'iv-mine approaches.

[J'zeni]

J'zeni held up a hand to shield his eyes from any dust as he prepared for the gold to leap into the air too. Recent rain left the Weyrbowl muddy in places but there was still enough loose dirt to cause minor "dust devils" when dragons lifted off. Since Imolith's jump seemed inevitable, he merely held his hand there while he spoke. "Oh no, no I don't hear all dragons. Just those two - and those who wish to speak to me. I don't know about big dragons yet but little ones are hard to control so I can only imagine it gets at least somewhat easier as you get more practice."

He looked at Imolith again and nodded to her this time with a smile as he said directly to the queen: "I'm honored." Of course meaning, the queen decided to talk to him and that was a real treat. "And you're right, Imolith, perhaps particular is not the right word. Though perhaps you are particular with whom you speak?"

Diverting his full attention back to Raine, he said, "Ah your weyr - yes, let's go. I can show... oh we uh, oh well you may need a lift actually. The queen weyrs are up there." He pointed to the top tier of weyrs way up near the Rim. The view was partially obscured by the bronze dragon above them. A staircase led in zig-zagging patterns along the ledges and all the way up, up to the very top so a ground-bound person could get to the Rim without a dragon. But it was quite a hike.

"But I can - " He fell silent because as he turned he saw the two figures approaching and his eyes brightened as his smile widened. " - oh! Or if you're all right with it, let's dilly-dally here a few more moments because those two over there that just came out of the Healers ward? That's K'ivan of Baizynth - he's the Weyr's Dragonhealer - and Mimi. She's one of my Candidates and a healer. K'ivan's the 'rider who will have all the information. Maybe you recognize him? He's been here for Turns and Turns too."

A heartbeat or two after he finished speaking, chaos erupted in J'zeni's mind as the twins began to talk to him one over the other. Zen-mine, are you in the Weyrbowl? You are! We are coming to meet the new queen. I need to tell her to be nice! This is my Weyr. J'zeni sighed again, his eyes glazed over as he argued with the twins. No, we're leaving now and going to the weyrs. Stay with Kitti to finish your bathes.  Buut - she was mean to Zora - she was mean to me. I know, I know but that's what bigger dragons do sometimes. You have to learn to be polite to the older dragons. This was one of those moments that he wished he could mentally speak with Kitti too, not just their dragons. He imagined her attempting to calm the twins as she fought to clean them as well. NO! I AM A QUEEN! THIS IS MY WEYR! Again J'zeni put his hand on his ear. It put him in a really bizarre position with one hand raised to shield his eyes and the other one on his ear. Zora stop shouting!

[Raine]

Surrounded by a crowd of people, Imolith seemed mollified and decided to keep all her feet on the ground even as a bronze shadowed her from above. In Telgar she had not been anything spectacular, she'd been a known being and no one thought much of her beyond the fact she was one of the newest golds. Here though? Here she might as well have been a celebrity, or what passed for one. Imolith had a soft spot for children and didn't begrudge them the pretend touches. Had they landed it would have meant being scrubbed by her rider, and who was she to mess up a routine? She did give the older bronze a respectful nod of her head, a queen gave respect when respect was due after all, before turning to J'zeni.

I talk to whom I will. Raine hid a smile, the dragon had missed the point of the man's reply but at least that remark had been somewhat tame. She blinked, following his finger to the top of the Weyr, stairs pointing to the aforementioned weyrs. That seemed like a bit of hike, especially carrying a bad. Surely she could talk her gold into a lift, even as two figures approached them.

Now that he had pointed out who the approaching pair was, Raine did remember K'ivan. He might not remember a lowly apprentice but she'd been made to memorize everyone above her when she'd been starting out. As an apprentice she'd never been particularly memorable either. "Vaguely. I've met quite a few new people over the last few turns, not to mention I've aged as well," she pointed out. Raine watched the other man's facial expressions, imagining he was having a bit of time with his dragons. His was an expressive demeanor, but Raine waited politely while Imolith chose to ignore the 'dragonbrats'.

[K'ivan]

(Well, this is absolute garbage, but at least it gets the scene rolling forward again. I'm also going to wait to post for J'zeni until after Mimi posts.)

Although Raine might only vaguely remember K'ivan, her former master had a different opinion about their reunion. His gaze lit up when he saw her and he quickened his step across the Weyrbowl, tugging on his riding jacket as he moved. His longer legs might outpace his shorter companion and at this moment, K'ivan did not slow so she could keep an easy pace. K'ivan arrived with his hand extended toward Great Cliffs' new weyrwoman, and when he got close enough, clasped her hand with his strong, reassuring grip. This was the Dragonhealer who trained Raine. He appeared almost the same as he had when last they met. Almost ten turns had done little to age him, his general physique as hearty and hale as any dragonrider with no strands of silver in his pale tresses. When he spoke, K'ivan sounded as though he smiled with his words.

"Welcome home, Raine, it's a pleasure to see you again. And you've grown taller since last we met. I'm still so proud of you for walking the tables to journeyman, I mean to put your skill to good use." Without missing a beat, the man canted his head upward to as close an in-the-eye as possible to Imolith. Her general position and their height difference made it challenging, but the Dragonhealer did his best. "I'm honored to meet you Imolith. Thank you for choosing Raine."

It is an honor, Imolith. Rumbled the circling bronze, his silhouette casting the occasional shadow over the queen's hide as he continued his aerial laps.

"It is a pity Dysmeth isn't here to greet -" He stopped mid-sentence and his tone fell " - ah, well if she had been, you wouldn't be here." A series of thoughts about the unexplained disappearances of the senior Weyrwoman and so many other 'riders in the recent past flashed through his mind. Yet Baizynth claimed they yet lived for he had not sensed them go between.

Serious topics like Weyr leaderships and other subjects could wait until Raine settled in or at least had a chance to rest and eat. And K'ivan, not one to dwell on sorrows while a joyous occasion presented itself, K'ivan's tone rose again and the smile returned to his words. "How are you feeling? There's a time difference between the two Weyrs and I know jumps like that can mess with the mind. Even a small time difference could mean a lot." He shrugged. "Though for all I know, you could be one of those rare few who don't suffer from the time difference. Well, then." This close it was easy to see the deep circles under his eyes and the faint creases of carelines on the edges of his eyes and mouth. They increased in depth when K'ivan smiled again.

"Do you want the half-mark tour of the Weyr to get your bearings back or would you like to rest for a bit first? Either way, it might be good to deposit your belongings in your weyr." Taking in Raine's gear and with a glance to Imolith again, K'ivan unwittingly echoed what J'zeni had said a moment prior to his arrival. "Though you'll need your straps unless you want to walk up sixteen flights of stairs. Bare-neck is always an option too. You've been assigned to the one..." He turned in place to face the weyrs, presenting his left profile to Raine and Imolith. K'ivan began to lift his hand and then with a laugh dropped it as a realization came to him.

"Ha! You've been assigned to the one that I now realize J'zeni already pointed out - that the third one from the stairs. That leaves a gap between Klissi and Tuirith's weyr and yours. She has the one closest to the stairs. In truth, you can pick whichever of the two middle weyrs that you want. That big windsail above us is Baizynth, and he's always willing to give a fellow dragonrider a lift. I'm sure he'd be pleased to escort Imolith to the nearest herdbeast too if you're hungry?" As he spoke, K'ivan spared a moment to stare with a great fondness toward his dragon.

I will show you whatever you want, go wherever you want to go. Baizynth concurred, his send directed toward Imolith.

K'ivan then returned to the conversation at hand and gestured toward the young woman who arrived with him. "And this is Mimi..." K'ivan encouraged the stand-in Healer with a gesture and a nod so that hopefully the girl should introduce herself. He wondered about Melanie, and though Mimi reassured him that her mother should be back in a few days, K'ivan had his doubts. Great Cliffs had notoriously bad luck with both weyrwomen and healers.

[Mimi]

While K'ivan may have been someone that Raine would remember, the girl in green would not be someone Raine remembered. By her appearance the girl in toe was a little over half the goldrider's age. Her long black hair was held back in a loose tail with a tie that was long enough to make a thin floppy bow. A harden hide bag was slung over one shoulder, a healer's patch stained onto the flap. Mounted on her shoulder was a not as impressive knot work collection like K'ivan's, the simple loop with two knots graced her shoulder.

Mimi waited for K'ivan to introduced her, she was sure he would have a lot to say to the new gold as the acting Weyrleader. As the acting WeyrHealer Mimi was important as well, she just wished she had word from her mother soon. If her mom didn't come back soon they might just make Mimi the true WeyrHealer. "Fair skies to you Raine. I am the acting WeyrHealer at the moment. If you have anything that is bothering you, please let me know." She flashed Raine her typical beaming smile. "Imolith looks like she is enjoying all the attention." Mimi had no idea if the gold was or not, however with all the weyrbrats daring each other to touch the shiny hide didn't receive any warning, Mimi could only guess. She wondered for a moment if when she finally found her dragon if it would be one of Tuirith's or now Imoith's.

[A'ric]

Welcome to Great Cliffs, Imolith. Sent another strange dragon with a mental voice of smooth baritones. There was no rider who appeared through the throng of Weyrfolk to greet Raine. Only the draconic words that touched the gold’s mind. The remarkable sight of dragons as a whole being infrequent around the Weyrbowl meant determining which among those above spoke to Imolith might be easier. Few of those visible had grown to their full length and most remained yet younglings. This made identifying the new stranger easier still for unless by some unusual circumstances an immature dragon had such a deep voice, he who spoke to Imolith must be longer and larger than the majority of the others visible.

[J'zeni]

"Hm, well it was Turns and Turns ago. So I'm not surprised you don't remember him that much." J'zeni said to Raine which fairly well closed their conversation prior to the others arriving. Looking absolutely relieved when K'ivan (and Mimi) showed up, J'zeni released an audible sigh. The "dragonbrats" quieted down and he lowered both hands to shove them into his pockets. Quiet to allow K'ivan to speak and to listen to Raine's response, J'zeni focused on keeping his emotions steady which helped calm Tezorath and Alvoradeth further. He nodded in agreement to some of the things K'ivan said but otherwise didn't interject. If anyone was the Weyrleader at the moment, the man with the multitude of shoulder-knots would be it.


From between a gold fire-lizard appeared with the distinctive -pop-. She ignored her larger cousin in favor of flapping her wings once to give her enough oomph to glide to her human's shoulder. Starjumper flopped rather ungracefully onto J'zeni's shoulder, the front half of her body draped down his chest and the back half down his back. She dug her tiny claws into his jerkin as she straightened up and looped her long tail loosely around the back of his neck to his other shoulder. As alert and curious to the proceedings as her bonded, the fire-lizard held J'zeni's ear and occasionally chittered into it as though making a side comment about the conversation. 

[Raine]

Inundated with male dragon voices, a few of which sounded distinctly mature, Imolith preened to great effect, forgetting that she was still in that gangly teenage era of life and showing all the promise of the beauty she would be in a few years. Enjoying yourself love? Immensely. “My skills are yours as needed, Imolith is good in the hall as well, especially with dragons of injured riders.” With a flick of her tail, the gold let it be known imperiously that she’d heard the man say he was honored, but she was too busy listening to the other dragons to answer. With an inward sigh Raine turned back to her mentor as he asked her a question about the time differences.

“I’m sure I’ll be up all night in an effort to adjust, one way or the other, but for now I feel fine. I don’t if I’ll suffer from time differences it has never bothered me in the past. Thought I must say, the humidity and climate differences bother me than time.” K’ivan had more wrinkles than she remembered but almost everything else about the man was the same. Mine. A mental nudge from Imolith made Raine aware the gold had heard the last snippet from the healer and the thought of a beast made Imolith perk up towards the humans. The beast sir, Imolith bespoke the healer, craning her head to look at him even as Baizynth spoke to her again, seconds before a dragon with a deep voice greeted her.

“A pleasure Mimi,” Raine greeted the young woman, taking in her appearance and patch. “Dragons she’s never met before, and the brats too. She doesn’t mind people for the most part, especially when they pay attention to her. As for the weyr, I suppose a quick tour would be better, while she’s goes to eat. Then I can entice her to take me up before she falls asleep.” She watched as a gold flitt appeared, taking over J’zeni’s shoulder and couldn’t hide a jealous glint in her eye.
“You know, I’ve never had much luck with the firelizards? For turns I have tried to impress one, even before Imolith. I either missed the clutch or didn’t have food, once I overslept the egg hatched and the creature was impressed to someone else. Horrible luck, though since Impressing her, I’ve mostly given up.” Raine explained shaking her head in exasperation.

[K'ivan]

K'ivan enjoyed the brief exchange between the ladies. Even the presence of one more dragon made the Weyr feel healthier again. It was a good start.

The beast, sir. Said the queen. K'ivan chuckled when Imolith craned her neck to look at him directly, pleased that his unusual trait worked on this gold too. Though no HAD because he could only hear Baizynth passively, from the beginning other dragons spoke directly to K'ivan too. Imolith's face so close to him gave the dragonhealer a chance to admire her well-cared for hide. And unobtrusively study her health. His dark gaze slid across Imolith's eye facets as he sought for anything untoward but found only a healthy and curious young gold dragon peering at him.

Of course, Imolith. It is my pleasure and Bai's too. K'ivan's grin made him look younger. The bronzerider sent Imolith a detailed image of the large wooden and stone pens on one of the ledges overlooking the Weyrbowl. Each pen had enough room for a dragon to land within it and the animals within to run several yards before coming to an obstacle to block their way. Just enough room to quell the dragon's hunting instinct. Opposite the hatching ground, these pens had various animal species in them that might entice even a queen's selective palate.

Yes, it is my pleasure. Baizynth butted into the conversation. Which he'd said before but it still remained true so he said it again. Allow me to guide you there. Adding to K'ivan's impressions of the feeding pens, Baizynth added details that only dragons cared about. The angle of the landscape and where the best places to land or appear from between could be. Those vital coordinates that would prevent Imolith from jumping into a rock. They wanted their new queen to get to her food in one piece. And in peace. If you care to hunt instead, there are ovids on the mountains and this close to the ocean we also have a wide array of cold water fish. Already anticipating a few hours alone with Imolith, Baizynth canted his wings as he invited her to join him aloft...


...then the watchdragon announced another new arrival as a strange bronze descended toward the Weyrbowl some short distance away. It is Ebonth and his - - oh, D'nel. Great! Send D'nel over here, please. He should meet Raine too. She's more than likely set to be our new Weyrwoman. I know. Baizynth sounded pleased.


"Oh perfect." K'ivan said aloud so as not to leave Raine hanging while he conversed with his dragon. Dragonriders understood that three-way conversations took time but she'd just landed and hadn't even a chance to exhale let alone unpack. He wanted to get as much of her today as possible before the travel did catch up to her. "There's the other transfer we expected." With a gesture toward the descending young bronze, K'ivan said, "that'll be young D'nel and his Ebonth from Southern transferring here today too. He's our new WeyrHarper. I'm sure that will be a relief to N'mes." He said, referring to the Jr. Weyrling, rider of brown Silexth. "We'll linger here a bit for D'nel to cross the 'bowl and take the tour together."

A slight turn of his head to one side to Mimi and then a nod toward J'zeni included both the teenagers into the conversation again. "I think he's about your age, Mimi... J'zeni. Maybe the two of you can make a new friend? He just graduated to full status so the lessons are fresh. That should be helpful to the Weyrlings. I'm hoping to get him involved in the records research too." The earthquake caused a wreck in the Records room so it had to be reorganized, again. He knew J'zeni had a hand in reorganizing the archives a few Turns back when they cleaned up from the Dark Times but that was prior to him Impressing Alvoradath (and Tezorath?), so K'ivan had no idea where the Candidate Master stood on it now.

K'ivan offered a quick mental aside to Baizynth. Be sure to offer Ebonth food too, Bai. Take him with you. They're in the third tier, fourth weyr from the stairs. He heard Baizynth's mental grumble. Of course, Baizynth wanted time alone with the new gold so they could get to know each other before she rose. But K'ivan insisted that he take the younger bronze too. Not for any kind of fairness in love and war only because it was a necessary task that Baizynth needed to do. Sensing Baizynth relaying his message, K'ivan turned his attention back to Raine, J'zeni, and Mimi.

"Do you have any questions, Raine? Oh - before I forget..." K'ivan fished into his satchel and produced two hide sheafs. One had a list on it (in a PM) and the other was the local Threadfall chart for this month's falls, showing four falls in the previous two weeks and several scheduled for the next two weeks of the month. "I included everyone - as well as you and D'nel - but we haven't had a full count of the missing yet since the earthquake."

[D'nel]

D’nel made quick time, not wanting to keep K'ivan and Raine waiting. He approached the man whose image Ebonth had given him. “Weyrleader K’ivan?” he asked as he reached the older man. “Bronzerider D’nel, reporting for duty.” He saluted before holding his hand out in greeting.

Ebonth followed Baizynth to the waiting queen. He landed a respectful distance from Imolith and lowered his head before her. Queen Imolith, he said. If it pleases you, I am Ebonth. It is an honor to be in your presence. He spoke in a soft tenor, like his rider, with all the same confidence and warmth.