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Post by ShadowReine on Oct 29, 2008 23:13:30 GMT -5
Yselka woke slowly from a deep, dreamless sleep. She was lying on her bed, naked. There was something in the bed with her. A large something.
Most...odd. As was, also, the feeling of complete satisfaction that flowed through her. Mmm. She felt -good-. But still...tired. Floaty.
A large something in her bed, and she rolled to look at it. A back. Attached to it was a head of brown hair. Yes, there was a man in her bed. And judging by the combination of satiation, tiredness and faint soreness she felt, she'd...
..."Lyeth!"
Most women when they realize they've been 'had', blame the guy. Yselka knew squarely where the blame lay. And, indeed, sitting up, she could just see out onto her ledge, and the tail that was poking slightly into the Weyr was bronze, not gold.
Lyeth had done what she had to do, and the large lump in Yselka's bed was the weyrleader. Who was lying in such a way that all she could tell was that he was a brown-haired man. And when she looked at him...shards if she didn't want a second round.
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Post by phlysolo on Oct 29, 2008 23:28:36 GMT -5
The dead could probably hear him snoring. It wasn't loud, but it was consistent enough to be heard if one had taken the moment to listen to the sounds in Yselka's weyr. H'zu was warm, comfortable, and, above all, satisfied. He would be sure, when he arose, when it was, exactly, that he'd fallen asleep, but would be aware that it had happened several hours ago. Something in the form of dragonlust would probably be involved in the memory as well, but...
As it so happened, he was lying on his stomach, as naked as the Weyrwoman was, spread eagle. His head was burrowed comfortably into a pillow and, if Yselka were to look closely enough, drooling happily. He would have probably snoozed for hours and hours more, eventually suffocating in a pool of his own spit when-
"Lyeth!"
Whuzzat? "Oooz thuur?" He groaned, unable to lift his head from its position. H'zu's conciousness was slow in coming and for a few moments he felt like he was in some type of fellis induced coma.
It was inevitably his saliva that woke him up, as a trail of cold, gooey spit enclosed aggressively onto his cheek. Squeaking childishly in surprise and discomfort he sat up, his hair sticking up haphazardly around his face. Unaware of anyone else in the room, he pouted and wiped at his face, smearing spit all over his cheek in a very un-Weyrleader-ly fashion.
Just as he was grumbling unhappily to himself, his brown eyes locked onto a...naked...woman. Oh..Shard...Yselka? His eyes flickered rather obscenely on two very significant points on Yselka's body as his face turned a wonderful shade of burgundy. Vague images clouded by dragonlust slowly surfaced in his memory and mentally he wasn't sure if he should congratulate or scold Erusth for winning...
"Um..." He managed weakly, unsure of how much spittle was still on his face and even more uncertain if he should wipe any more of it off...or turn over the Weyrwoman's damp pillow..."I, uh...see you're awake.."
In such an awkward situation, H'zu coughed in his silence, eyes wide and downcast. "You sleep well?"
And H'zu had never felt more inadequate in his life. 'You sleep well? Was that the BEST he could come up with? He's survived the Plague, won a flight, Impressed Erusth and the ONLY thing he could say to his Weyrwoman, his weyrmate, was 'you sleep well.' What an idiot!
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Post by ShadowReine on Oct 29, 2008 23:34:59 GMT -5
Weyrmate...well, yes, that was the tradition, although not always kept to. Only silly holdbred girls -automatically- fell in love with the winner of their dragon's flight, outside the Harper's ballads.
On the other hand, Yselka could do a lot worse and she knew it. He was far from ill-favored, he was young...which worried the Weyrwoman part of her consciousness. And her body definitely liked him.
"I think I just rose from the dead. I blame those." She indicated the opening to the ledge. Now two tailtips were quite clearly visible, bronze and gold clearly in much the same position as their riders.
Yselka hoped that Lyeth had conceived. Which led inevitably to the thought that -she- might have conceived. Well, if she had, she had, there were worse fathers and she could think of three women in the lower caverns who made excellent foster parents.
And if she had, well, that was Lyeth's fault too.
No, her dragon informed her. It is Erusth's fault.
Liar. You wouldn't let a male catch you you didn't want.
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Post by phlysolo on Oct 30, 2008 13:07:31 GMT -5
Never once before had H'zu felt so inadequate in another woman's presence. He was no heart-breaker, but he did have enough tact and poise, he imagined, to secure any woman he wanted. Then again, there was nothing to say that he didn't want Yselka, but...he'd never been in this situation before, in a woman's bed whom he barely knew, their dragons intertwined on the ledge...
"If you rose from the dead, then I must be beyond /between/," He blurted out, the rush of words escaping him before he realized just what he said. "I mean! I hadn't expected-no, I didn't think, ah...I-I think you're quite lovely."
And before H'zu could do any more damage, he stopped the foolish ramblings that were tumbling out of is mouth and forced his eyes to quit ogling. From the ledge, Erusth had apparently woken up and was roaring with laughter so loudly in H'zu's mind that he was certain Lyeth and Yselka could hear it as well.
It's not my fault. Blame Lyeth. She was the one who decided to Rise. I just played my part, He said coyly. His eyes were whirling with delight and affection that warmed up inside of H'zu. The man wished to parrot his dragon's actions as the bronze lowered his head to rest it lightly on Lyeth's forepaw, his tail flicking about and curling to wrap around the gold's.
"I, um..."
Do stop speaking, H'zu. I think it's hurting more than helping our cause. The bronze said, closing his first eyelid in content.
The bronzerider tilted himself towards the ledge the two dragons were occupying, his face bright red, a scowl hitched on his face. Quiet you!
"Would you like to, um, sit?" He asked, feeling as silly as a youth who'd just discovered his first crush and promptly scooted over to the far side of Yselka's bed.
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Post by ShadowReine on Oct 30, 2008 17:55:02 GMT -5
Yselka laughed, reaching for her robe. "Lyeth claims this is all Erusth's fault. I'd bet marks Erusth just blamed -her-."
She pulled the robe around herself before sitting down. "I would say that it does take two to tango, on the ground -or- in the air."
Why had Lyeth chosen such a young bronze? Because he was -strong-. The only thing on her dragon's mind had been a clutch. "I also think we seem to be stuck with each other, at least until we can get some tails disentangled."
Lyeth was certainly not objecting to her mate's attentions. She stirred, but did not really move. Stuck with him?
He's not bad, I suppose.
As long as eggs came of this, then Yselka did not really mind. She could not. She had chosen this when she had agreed to leave her Hold and Stand for the gold. She had 'risked' ending up a greenrider, too.
Not that that would have been a terrible fate. She knew very few unhappy greenriders, except during...
The plague. And the deformed firelizards. Would Lyeth's children...?
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Post by phlysolo on Oct 31, 2008 1:49:51 GMT -5
And then...she was clad. H'zu was surprised to see that he was disappointed by her dressing, but it would be inappropriate, he supposed, if she walked around naked all the time. Oh, well; she did have a nice laugh...
He himself found it infectious and chuckled along with her, his eyes glinting in amusement, "Indeed he did. And I'm surprised he's being so modest. Normally, I'm sure he would have taken all the credit for our...situation."
And H'zu's smile was genuine and there wasn't a trace of the embarassment or awkwardness in his gaze that had been there before. Yselka, it seemed, had some type of power over him now that their dragons were, ah, bonded. She could both make him feel like a child, or as confident as he needed to be.
"Surely, I'm not that bad, though, am I?" He asked quickly, feeling slightly stung though his words did not betray his hurt. "I've always thought that I was pretty good looking."
And he winked boyishly at her, dispelling concerns he had about their...relationship. It was true that they were stuck together until Lyeth Rose again and would, more than likely, pick a different partner. Still! They could make the best of their time together, couldn't they? But as friends or lovers?
"Where would you like to go from here?" His demeanor had changed subtly and for a moment his body language and facial expression flickered, becoming much more serious. Perhaps he was finally starting to step into his position as Weyrleader...
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Post by ShadowReine on Oct 31, 2008 15:28:22 GMT -5
Yselka laughed again. "I'm torn between 'back to bed' and 'getting to work'," the young Weyrwoman admitted. "I'll make sure B'toc or somebody..." She was still oblivious to what had happened to the unfortunate B'toc. "...gets you all the wing records. We're depleted, of course."
She glanced at the dragons. Could Lyeth repopulate Pern? To do that...she not only had to clutch and clutch well...it was imperative that there was a gold in the clutch. There...and a horrible, horrible thought came through her mind.
"There's some other stuff I need to discuss with you as soon as possible, too. But some of it, I'm going to need the headwoman in on."
Some of it was making sure that the new Weyrleader was up to speed on the state of the lower caverns, as much as he needed to be. He didn't need the full work up, but he did need to know certain things. "I'll also make sure you get the list of riders willing and able to ride Search, although we may not ride full Search."
She considered that. "Depending on the clutch size, we may be able to put together enough candidates with transfers from other Weyrs. But I'm not going to turn away likely holdbred youngsters."
Yeah. They had to handle business, and she could seduce him again later. It was fairly clear that it would not be hard.
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Post by phlysolo on Nov 2, 2008 12:16:02 GMT -5
Oh, phew. So Yselka didn't despise him or seem to feel that he was going to be an inadequate Weyrleader...or lover for that matter. Well, this got his day off to a good start! And suddenly, things turned abruptly to business as she stated she wished to get him the Weyr's Wing Records. H'zu's eyes became suddenly more alert and focused, he even ran a hand through his bangs, straightening them out over his face.
Listening to her all, the while, he reached onto the floor and picked up what he hoped to be his own discarded shirt and pulled it onto himself. Yes, yes, the Wings were depleted, probably painfully so. He doubted there were more than fifty actual dragonriders at the Weyr who were physically sound enough to even Ride a Sweep. However, he did not know for sure and learning the exact amount of dragons, and the color spread for that matter, was vital to any decision making he would have to do concerning the redistribution of the Weyr's strenght.
"You're right. I'll probably have to do some meeting with B'toc sometime in the immediate future. Not sure how apt he'll be to handing over such records to such a young bronze rider, but," H'zu said nonchalantly. His tone of voice expressed explicitly that he had no qualms about standing up the man who'd been Weyrleader of Ista for what could probably be Turns before H'zu even been Impressed to Erusth.
"Well, whenever the Headwoman is free, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult for all of us to sit down and have a chat," H'zu replied, thinking that any meeting between the two of them would probably concern the Candidates and their actual numbers.
"I think we'll at least need one full Searchrider, regardless of Lyeth's clutch size," He replied swiftly, hoping that his confidence in Lyeth fertility would be enough to ease any worries Yselka had. "We'll need Candidates around for the Clutches that come after Lyeth's first, after all."
He paused for a moment, considering the situation with a little more severity. If Lyeth did Clutch, but produced no other Clutching dragon, what would that say for the future of Pern? This was her maiden Flight, however, and he wasn't sure if he could expect Lyeth to have even a large enough Clutch to even Impress to all the Candidates that were already at the Weyr.
On the other hand, if there was a large enough Clutch, but an absence of a queen egg, would that really be the end of the world? Certainly not, H'zu imagined. If Lyeth could produce offspring at all, it would definitely be her second time in the air for her to concieve another gold.
"I think we need as many Hold-bred youngsters as possible, actually," He added, scratching his cheek. "Most Candidates that I knew of from Benden gave up their statuses as Candidates and made off to the Crafts."
This was the truth. With the news about the gold infertilities circulating around Pern, it most, if not all, the hopeful Candidates on Pern give up their dreams of dragons. Some, of course, like that infuriating Lenia, had, whether out of spite, determination, or sheer blind hope, decided to remain at a Weyr, any Weyr, regardless. Lyeth's Rising, naturally, had spurred most of them to Ista already...
"I think we should round up more Candidates on Search right now, though Lyeth is fresh out of Flight," H'zu finished with some finality. "We must show Pern that hope is not lost until the very last moment. We must believe and stand by that belief that Lyeth will Clutch. If not...well..."
And he shrugged, as scared about the prospect to Pern, and the remaining dragonriders, to fall into some sort of civil conflict over the future protection of Pern and the worth of the dragonriders if Lyeth proved to be barren as that thought in itself.
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 2, 2008 14:14:40 GMT -5
Yselka nodded. "I agree, but we do need to bear in mind the general rule that maiden clutches are a little smaller."
That was pretty much always the case, that a maiden queen laid fewer eggs than one in her full prime, which Lyeth was probably five turns or so from.
She brushed back her hair. "And if there is a gold, then of course the bronzeriders -must- ride." She paused. "And we -must-...this is going to be difficult, but..."
She tightened her robe, stepped out towards the ledge. "There must be a guard on the eggs. Twenty-four seven. I am going to want all of the Weyr's firelizards banded and unbanded ones chased out. We have desperate Weyrs and desperate riders. Egg theft is...not beyond the bounds of possibility."
She turned back to face him. "I'm even tempted to ask if a couple of the miners who have bonded whers could lend some time, but that may not be possible."
She might be young, but she knew...it had happened before, a queen egg stolen from a clutch...and it risked the egg and its occupant to take it between, with all the precautions. "I don't want to turn Ista into an armed camp, of course, but we have to be careful."
I will clutch Lyeth insisted in her mind, a quiet, strong reassurance. But how could a dragon tell if she had conceived?
They would know soon enough, they would know before she actually did clutch, whether she would...
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Post by phlysolo on Nov 2, 2008 20:54:13 GMT -5
H'zu nodded, not at all ignorant to that particular rule of thumb. Indeed it was Lyeth's first Clutch, but there was so much at stake with this first mating Flight. Surely the gold could instinctively sense this? H'zu knew that she couldn't; after all Erusth had been on high alert for days before Lyeth had even blooded her first kill.
"Even still, I remember reading Records correctly, golds who sensed that Threadfall would be upon them soon, or were under similar stressful situations Clutched the best, did they not?" H'zu challenged calmly, gazing steadily at his weyrmate.
"I'll arrange the bronzes and those riders able to Search as soon as Lyeth produces Clutch," He paused for a beat, considering. "I would like to send out one Searcher tomorrow, or at least by the end of the sevenday, however."
As she made her way towards her ledge where the dragons lay, H'zu also clamored out of bed, pulled his trousers on. For support, he told himself meekly, he followed her out, though the better part of his mind knew he simply wished to be close to her. Dratted dragon emotions! He surely wouldn't be this smitten by her already had it not been for Erusth!
"A guard you say?" His eyes were wide and his tone quiet as Yselka turned to face him. Did she truly mean that? Was she really scared that her Lyeth's precious Clutch would be ravaged? Stolen? Yes, she could, and she would for that matter. These could indeed be dangerous times and it would only be prudent to prepare for certain unpleasantries.
"I suppose it would be a necessary step. As would be banding all the Weyr's firelizards. Do you want a particular color scheme? We need to find some measure that wouldn't easily be copied or forged if there is a plot that hatches that is both desperate and cunning," The pun was probably despicable, but necessary, H'zu thought.
"Well, Erusth would not wished to be spared from any guard duty. We should amass our larger dragons outside and around the Hatching Grounds when the time comes and have greens and blues stationed around the rest of the Weyr. They need not be entirely visible to everyone else, but their presence should be in areas that they can see quite well."
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 2, 2008 22:54:30 GMT -5
"The tradition from the last pass was to use the weyr's knot colors. And I hear they -can- be trained to announce their business on arrival."
Yselka sighed. "Forgery, though, is a definite concern. We also need to reduce the -motivation- to touch Lyeth's clutch."
If there was one. "And Search, of course, will be ridden." She was bowing to him on that, but she had, yes her own plans.
The two tails entwined not far from them said it all, and she was glad he had followed, glad he was there. Shards. She -was- acting like some silly holdbred girl who thought flights were romantic. No, they were a matter for pure business.
Especially Lyeth's, now and always...Yselka had no plans on stepping down until her gold was too old to clutch.
Shards. Let there be eggs. It was her mantra, and she glanced towards the entrance to the hatching grounds, quite visible from here. There had to be eggs.
Lyeth lifted her great golden head and turned around to regard the two riders along almost the entire length of her body. She was not the biggest gold ever clutched, no, but this close, she truly earned the name 'great beast'. Erusth was hardly...small. Which was a good thing.
They needed many eggs and they needed healthy dragons and they needed them fast...
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Post by phlysolo on Nov 7, 2008 2:47:32 GMT -5
H'zu nodded, his arms folded at the elbows, feeling slightly chilled in the morning light. He'd have to get any weavers in the Weyr set out to craft up some of those bands for the flits. The man would also have to make some kind of announcement about it during a meal time, perferably dinner tonight.
"In that case, we will keep a register of all the firelizards currently residing in the Weyr. Shouldn't be too difficult," H'zu said with a slight nod. "I think that the first hour after a meal time within the next couple of days, each person living in the Weyr Impressed to a firelizard should come up to the Weyrsinger, or highest ranking harper here at Ista for the flit's color, age, and what name it will respond to, who it's Impressed to..."
He was thoughtful and, surprisingly, excited to do his part to protect the future of Pern. With a thought, he summoned his Bonooru from wherever the flit had been previously. Yes, they were easily trainable and, for the most part, willing to please who they were bonded to.
"If that's the case about them learning to state their business, so to speak, I'm sure we could train that gold of T'nul's, or any bronzes or browns who are smart enough, to learn to recognize wild or firelizards not Impressed to any of our inhabitents," The new Weyrleader suggested as the bronzie-blue landed on his shoulder. Idly, he reached out and stroked the Hatchling's side and belly, perversely thinking that he would rather be so tenderly touching something else.
"We'll have to organize something soon with the Searches, then. However, I suppose it would be a bit hasty to send a slew of them out right now. I think one for now will be sufficient," He said, smiling.
He closed the distance between himself and his weyrmate subtly, his hand had dropped from Bonooru's little body moments before.
"How do you suggest we...deter eager Candidates from sneaking into the Sands?"
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 7, 2008 15:37:45 GMT -5
Yselka glanced at Bonooru, she'd not seen the mutated firelizard up close. It was really quite an attractive creature. Maybe she could entice it with some food to perch on her arm so she could look at it properly.
"We probably could. How smart is that little one of yours...I realize it's hard to tell as yet."
He was coming closer, and even at that she felt her body respond. Business first, she told it firmly.
I think a good loud roar should give them enough persuasion. They don't get near my eggs unless I say!
"Lyeth says that she'll roar at any she sees, and that's usually enough. Naturally, I'll talk to them too. Remind them they will get to touch the eggs and everything. And tell them any -I- catch will find themselves with extra chores."
That had been an effective deterrent when she was a Candidate. She was certain it would still work now, with these youngsters. If nothing else worked, she could start assigning latrine duty. Most people would do anything to avoid that unpleasant, but necessary task.
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Post by phlysolo on Nov 9, 2008 18:01:42 GMT -5
H'zu considered that; Bonooru hadn't done a whole lot more than eating and sleeping since he'd been out of his shell. Then again, the little bronzie-blue hadn't even been out of his shell for more than a sevenday. The bronze rider cocked his head to look and the firelizard and Bonooru returned the gaze, angling his head to the same degree as his Bonded. Bonooru chittered and flicked his forked tongue out, lapping at H'zu's nose.
Mentally, he commanded the flit off of his shoulder. Bonooru's eyes whirled faster, his head tilting father in his mild confusion; H'zu had never ordered him anywhere...But the command became stronger and the bronzie-blue chirruped in annoyance, taking flight off the man's shoulder. He hovered for a moment and at H'zu's second command begruggingly swooped over to try to find a good way to land on Yselka's unfamiliar shoulder.
"Seems smart enough to me. Never made him do much, really," H'zu said, nodding at Bonooru who looked exceedingly displeased that he'd been forced to do anything.
H'zu took his gaze off his firelizard for a few moments to regard Yselka, wondering if he was already too close to her. Then again, she did have his flit on her shoulder. Another pace that separated the two was gone and H'zu pretended he was merely curious to study his firelizard's behavior.
"Yes, I think that'll do quite nicely. No one wants to suffer the wrath of a gold dragon! They're testy enough as it is," He responded with a laugh. "I think that between the four of us we can send off overly curious and anxious Candidates.
"What troubles me, however, are those who want to see them who aren't affiliated with our Weyr."
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 9, 2008 19:46:26 GMT -5
Yselka nodded. "I will permit people to see the eggs from the galleries with an escort."
She turned her head to study Bonooru, not to look away from H'zu, although she could feel her heartrate increase. Man, she was acting like a smitten Hold girl! "He looks normal other than his color, I'd say about the size of a brown, but proportioned a little differently. It's almost as if he couldn't make up his mind whether to be a bronze or a blue."
Her own bronze chose that moment to appear, fly a circle around the two and then land on the end of the bed. She mentally compared the two. Bonooru was smaller, and proportioned a bit more for agility..yes. He mixed blue and bronze characteristics. "But it seems he -acts- like a bronze. Am I right?"
H'zu did, after all, have personal experience with..very...handsome bronzes. Sigh. Lyeth...
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