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Post by Femisis on Aug 26, 2008 21:40:53 GMT -5
With a sigh, C'ero wiped his gloved hands on the wherhide pants as he finished the examination of the last corpse, the Purple who's belly had been eaten away and and split open by the Jade, Partheluth he thought his name was. While he hated to see the carnage, the Purple had been to ill to have been allowed to Impress. Partheluth had done the right thing, even if it resulted in more sorrow. This had been a tragic hatching and even now everyone was still in shock, C'ero and Celestia most of all. Sephiroth had been nearly inconsolable even after looking at the tally: Half had hatched and Impressed, at least, and seemed healthy, though he still had yet to examine them. He'd been examining corpses since the hatching ended and was bordering on exhaustion, but he still needed to know what the maggots were. It was obvious now that the maggots had hatched in the eggs, but how had they gotten there? He was almost sure that neither dragon had carried them, so was it something in the water, or maybe in the wherries? He just didn't know...
Sephiroth hovered nearby, waiting for His to finish his work. It was difficult for him to simply stand by and watch the corpses of his children being picked apart, but the merciless part of him reminded him that they were dead and gone, so there was no point in worrying. Besides, His had to try and find the cause of the illness, there was no better person to do it. It still hurt to watch, though...
Don't worry, I'm going to find out what happened. The Weyrleader promised as he scooped up a writhing maggot from one of the corpses in a jar and tipped it onto a makeshift examination table to properly dissect it. He had put on a mask long before as a precaution, giving him a distinctly creepy look, but if there was some sort of airborn diesase carried here, he had to be cautious.
If you say so.[/i] Sephiroth replied, sounding uncharacteristically dejected. It didn't last long, though, as he sensed something coming. It wasn't long before two shapes emerged from the shadows, one human and one a small dragon.
"Sorry if I'm bothering you, but the feast was getting on my nerves and I had to leave before I punched someone." Crescentia announced,, noticing after a moment that Staruenth had abandoned her in favor of hovering curiously by her father who was currently nuzzling her affectionately. "I'm Crescentia, by the way, if you haven't heard the buzz yet." She added, fidgeting with the gown she was wearing.
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Post by Pheonix on Aug 28, 2008 19:55:37 GMT -5
It was an awful hatching. Just terrible. One of the worst. No, probably the worst ever. The blond Onyxrider was sitting up in the Stands, staring at nothing, just thinking. Why had this Hatching gone completely wrong? Even V'rel wasn't going to say that it was Sephiroth's fault. The same thing would have happened if Kaloath had won the flight. Kaloath agreed, it didn't seem like it was the other Onyx's fault. And V'rel couldn't find it in what little of a heart he had to mock C'ero about it. This was just... horrible. It wasn't something he was going to gloat over. There were Candidates out there that would never have the pleasure of being with Theirs due to those maggots, and the Weyr was low on dragonriders as it was. They needed all the riders they could get... but fate just seemed to be against them.
Tenatively, he touched his newly washed-and-cut hair, it was a little shorter than shoulder-length and clean for once. The lock of blond hair that always covered his eye was still there, and only one golden brown eye was visible. He had refused to move it out of his face... it was sort of like a security blanket. Kaloath even admitted that he just wouldn't look like himself without it.
V'rel looked around... the Stands were almost completely empty now, and he was sitting up in the very top, wanting to be as far away from C'ero and Celestia as possible. Well, that was why he had sat up there at the beginning of the Hatching, and by the end he was glad of the choice. It would have been even worse if he had been close enough to see the maggots and dragons dying... not that he had anyone blocking his view, most people knew better than to sit near him. As much as that kind of upset him, he let it go. You really do give them a reason to avoid you, Kaloath had said with a touch of amusement. Whatever. He didn't need to socialize with them anyway. They just don't understand your inner pain, Kaloath mentally snickered. Fully aware that the dragon was mocking him, he scoffed and ignored Kaloath. Stupid Onyx. Since when did he get such a stupid sense of humor, anyway?
Finally having had enough of just sitting there, V'rel stood up and began walking down to the Sands. He wasn't sure why, it was empty now except for C'ero dissecting the maggots. Truth was, he almost felt bad for the other Onyxrider, even though V'rel detested him, he hadn't deserved this. All V'rel could really think about was what he would have done in C'ero's position. He would have... well, freaked, for lack of a better word. But V'rel really didn't want to think about that. There really was no telling what he would have done. Gone out and smashed all the eggs in a fit of anger? Maybe. Cried in his room again? Maybe. But it wasn't his burden, it was the new Weyrleader's.
As he was making his way down to the Sands, a girl came up. The new Queenrider, he recognized her from the Hatching. The little arrogant one who was completely certain she was getting the Queen. He frowned. Why was every sharding Queenrider exactly the same? The arrogant little girl who is so sure of herself. Come to think of it, every Onyxrider was the same too. Or at least to V'rel, but he never was very good at judging character. You know that's not true, V'relMine,[/i] Kaloath commented with a small mental sigh. Really, judging people based on what they Impressed? Surely V'rel was above doing that.
In any case, he finally made it down to the Sands, nodding once to the girl with the Silver, then turning to C'ero. He immediately felt rather awkward, but decided to attempt to make a temporary truce. Afterall, the young Onyxrider was rather curious about the cause of the maggots as well. But C'ero had, er, hit the blond a few times already and he wasn't really sure if he wanted to repeat the experience. Especially not in front of a girl. "Do you know what caused it?" he said tensely.
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Post by Dragon on Aug 28, 2008 21:13:13 GMT -5
Shock. That was all he could feel. Even now, after almost all the other Riders and spectators had cleared the sands, V'lon still sat here staring at the lifeless, maggot-ridden corpses that lay on the sands being slowly devoured. He was completely oblivious to most everything else. Just recently given the rank of a full Rider along with all the other Weyrlings, he sat among the first few rows of Riders in the stands. Or what had been the first few. Now, he was alone here, staring at the sands with a blank expression. Everyone else would be at the feast right now, trying to forget this painful hatching. But he could find no resources of happiness in his heart right now. Well, people had always said he was overly-emotional sometimes. This seemed to be one of those times.
-Mine, should you not go to the feast?- Leith asked, his mind voice careful and slightly worried. V'lon blinked himself out of his daze, glancing up and around him as if not realizing everyone else had left. -No Leith. I dont want to go.- He replied, eyes falling on C'ero down at the sands. The girl who had Impressed the new queen was there too. And V'rel. Well, he was glad to see he wasn't the only Rider would had stayed behind. Still slightly dazed, it took him a moment to notice that C'ero seemed to have been working at figuring out what went wrong. He got to his feet awkwardly. While Leith may have finally grown into his body, V'lon was as awkward as ever.
Stretching his stiff muscles, he watched as C'ero was approached by both of the others that had stayed behind. Likely as not they were asking what had gone wrong. He couldn't imagine the pain C'ero was in right now. As Weyrleader and Healer, this had to effect him more then the others. Although all those Candidates left standing on the Sands must not be in too great of shape either. How many of them had lost their Life-mates to this disease before even feeling the joy of bonding with them? Forcing these thoughts out of his head with some difficulty, V'lon made his way down to the Sands to join the small crowd there.
Rather then say anything, he just stood there at the edge of the group, watching C'ero carefully. He felt awkward and rather bothersome when he was around the Weyrleader, and yet he wanted to stick around and find out what went wrong. Still, he figured if he stayed silent he was less of a pain to C'ero. Clasping his hands behind his back in a soldiers stance, he waited to hear anything that might explain why... why this terrible tragedy had happened.
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Post by Femisis on Sept 1, 2008 22:03:25 GMT -5
Lifting his head to look at the Candidate(Weyrling now, he corrected himself.), C'ero merely shook his head and returned to his work. He didn't have the time or energy to chat, nor did he trust himself to give the girl a civil answer. He was tired, hungry, and upset all at once which didn't make for a good speaking companion. Hopefully she'd just stand there and watch so he wouldn't have to make a big scene of sending her away. Then again, having one of his children here seemed to have settled Sephiroth down, even if poor Staruenth had a look of mixed annoyance and glee on her face. Oh Faranth, she was going to be a handful, she could tell. He only hoped that her poor rider was up to the challenge of raising her.
V'rel and V'lon come, Mine. Sephiroth informed His as he lifted his head away from Staruenth to watch the other Onyxrider cautiously. He sensed no animosity from the other, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious. Who knew what he was going to do, after all? Then again, Kalaoth wasn't with him, so maybe this wasn't a personal vendetta.
Staruenth looked up curiously as the Onyx drew away, cocking her head to the side before noticing V'rel. Oh, his was the other Onyx, the other big one, not the barely grown one. Mine, is something wrong? She asked, noting the tense exchange of emotions. She may have only been hours old, but she wasn't stupid in the slightest. She flicked her tail as Hers laid a hand on her back reassuringly, though it seemed to reassure hers much more. I don't know, Star. Crescentia replied quietly, taking assurance from the feel of her dragon's hide under her fingers. There was just so much she didn't know about that she needed to understand, and soon. Maybe the whole Queenrider thing was a bit more work than she'd thought...
C'ero looked passively at V'rel over his shoulder. The other rider seemed genuinely curious, so he wasn't going to make a scene here, not after the LAST time. Shardit, that had been so unecessary... "I still don't know the cause, but I do know that the maggots hatched inside the hatchlings eggs quite early on, so the source must be something Sephiroth or Amath ate, though it's more likely something Amath ingested." He sighed as he squished another maggot under his finger. How could these things have even gotten there in the first place, though? "Just make sure that none of them get on you. I don't know yet if they'll eat human flesh or not." He added, looking from V'rel to V'lon to Crescentia. Now that he was done, the hardest part had to be done.
"It's time, Seph." He said sadly, motioning for the dragon to come over as he pulled a small sack of firestone from a corner. The Onyx nodded and made his way over to his rider, even as the man said, "I need you all to clear the sands." Snorting, Sephiroth opened his great maw to allow C'ero to feed him the stone, crunching and grinding them up to feed the flames in his second stomach. Once he was sure everyone was clear, he reared and flamed the sands, the bodies and maggots becoming consumed in the hot flames. It was hard to do this, but due to the nature of the disease, it was too risky to leave the sands uncleansed. Celestia might even want the sand removed as a precaution as to make sure future clutches were unharmed. Right now, all that was left to do was to watch the inferno blaze across the Hatching Sands as a makeshift funeral pyre for those hatchlings that didn't make it.
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Post by Sintarith on Sept 6, 2008 10:41:00 GMT -5
Nwalme looked at the sands desolately. There were so many dead bodies, and still more unhatched eggs. Well, at least there had been before C’ero had begun to dissect the corpses. Thus far, she hadn’t heard what had caused it. She itched absently at the bandaged on her leg – the numbweed was still working, but had made her leg feel a bit prickly, instead of completely numb. Sitting in one of the higher rows of the sands, she didn’t feel up to being babied at the feast, as she knew some of her friends were likely to do. She hadn’t lost the use of her leg, she was just stupid enough to be in the way of that shading copper when she had gone on a rampage. If she wasn’t fast enough, then she deserved it!
Partheluth was sitting under the row of seats in front of the girl, and poked his head out when he felt her self-loathing. His eyes whirled lovingly at her, all blues and greens. He rubbed his head gently against her good leg, assuring her that he was there and that he didn’t think she was stupid or slow. ~It was Her fault, Mine. Please remember that.~ he crooned to emphasise the fact. He yawned, sleepy from the full belly that stilled weighed him down. He had trotted after C‘ero when he realised that they were taking His away, but had stopped in fear when he realised a huge dragon was following him. It took a while for Sephiroth to assure the little jade, and with a lot of pushing, managed to get the dragonet to the infirmary. Sephiroth had brought him probably enough food for two hatchlings, but had insisted that the Jade eat most of it. It was probably his way of making sure this son grew up strong. Partheluth was obviously grateful for the food, but when it came to the older dragon himself, he was rather indifferent. He nuzzled Nwalme’s leg again, before letting a huge yawn escape.
Nwalme smiled a little before looking over to C’ero again. She gave a half hearted wave that she didn’t think Cresce had seen. She pretty much ignored V’rel when he walked past her, as he was wont to ignore everyone else. The onyx rider was too mopey for her liking, but then again, she supposed that she was too. She gave another half hearted sigh. She saw another Jaderider, but again, wasn’t that interested. They were just people. People who wouldn’t like her anyway. Or so she assumed. Partheluth nudged her again, prompting that she should go down to hear what C’ero was saying better. She gave him a sceptic look, but agreed and stood, wincing as she put weight on the wounded leg. She may not be able to feel the pain completely, but the numbweed was wearing off and it sent pins and needles all up her leg.
Stumbling down the steps, she hung around at the back of the crowd. Partheluth took a little while longer to navigate down the steps, still not used to his longer forelimbs. He squeaked as he almost fell off the bottom step and got a noseful of sand. Nwalme listened quietly, although she avoided everyone else’s gaze. Apparently it was something in the food. Although how the herdsbeast around this part of Southern were any different, Nwalme didn’t know. She stood back when told, as C’ero fed Sephiroth some firestone. Unwillingly, tears sprang to her eyes as the whole of the sands were flamed, the corpses igniting, then charring into cinders, blown away by the slight breeze. Partheluth nuzzled against his rider for comfort, a slight keen escaping him as the sand was urged of the disease.
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Post by Pheonix on Sept 30, 2008 11:00:48 GMT -5
V'rel nodded in silent thought, thinking about the maggots himself. Personal grudges could wait, for once he felt genuinely scared. What if some of the dragons had the maggots inside them, and those who had Impressed would be eaten out from the inside until they go between? They only had half the clutch hatch, and that was bad enough. Vyzern was small, and they needed all the riders they could get. Not to mention it would just be plain awful if the dragonets that had Hatched were to all pop between after Impressing. It was the worst thing that the Weyr could ask for. What had they done to deserve this? Okay, so perhaps V'rel had done some bad things, but nothing to punish the whole Weyr for! Besides, he'd really just been sulky and rude. That was nothing to kill the Weyr over.
Not that it was his fault anyway... It was no one's fault. And V'rel really needed to stop blaming himself all the time. Of course the dragonets weren't his fault, it hadn't even been Kaloath that caught Amath! Ow, there was that little twinge of pain he always felt when he remembered the Flight, though it was less than usual. Was he now slightly happier about not being able to win? Well, yes. He was. This was not something he would ever be able to deal with. He could feel Kaloath's troubled thoughts on the edge of his mind, and he was grateful the dragon was trying to shield him from them. He had enough sorrow to deal with, he didn't need to remember the Flight. It was over, he needed to stop living in the past.
"Have you checked the herdbeasts?" V'rel sprang curiously, looking at the maggot C'ero crushed. "If it's something Amath ate, I'd assume that it was one of the herdbeasts," he added quietly. Perhaps this was just stating the obvious, but still, he had an idea. The herdbeasts didn't usually give diseases to the dragons, but hey, there was always a first. It might be something in the water as well.... They had to inspect every single one of the things Amath had eaten, they had to stop this from happening. Something like this couldn't happen again, it just couldn't. Especially not if Kaloath were to spawn something like this Clutch... V'rel involuntarily shuddered, and Kaloath still didn't respond.
At C'ero's warning, V'rel headed back up to the Stands, watching with a solemn look on his face. He wasn't going to cry again, but it was a horrible, heartwretching moment. But he stood there, a sort of unspoken memorial going through all of the riders there as they all watched the flames. Are you okay?[/color] After a while and the flames had died down, Kaloath sprung the question from where he perched higher up in the Stands. Yes, I'm fine. It was almost the truth, as V'rel didn't feel the need to run off back to his weyr. No, he would do his duty as an Onyxrider and help C'ero. This was beyond hatred, this was a crisis.
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