An Evening Delivery [Plot/Open]Freshwater

H’seo was settled contently in his weyr, oiling his flying straps with meticulous care. One foot was propped casually up on a stool, and he reclined lazily in his most comfortable chair. Drills were over for the day, and he was looking forward to relaxing for a couple of candlemarks. Reinth, too, was languidly sprawled on his stone couch, humming low in chest occasionally to express his satisfaction. They hadn’t eaten yet, but for now the pair were perfectly content to laze about and do absolutely nothing.

Stretching a tad before settling on his other side, the blue rumbled a bit before bespeaking his chosen. I’m hungry, Mine. But I seem to have a dilemma.

Pausing in his work, H’seo looked up at the dragon, quirking a brow. “And what might that be, partner?” The wingrider drawled, wondering what on Pern Reinth was talking about. A fellow’s life didn’t get much better than this.

Well, I’m hungry. But…the food is all the way out there, and I’m comfortable here. Maybe you should just bring me something. He replied, thumping his tail to accent his words. Of course he was joking, as the blue was never, ever lazy, but today he was just so darn comfy…he almost meant it. Almost.

Unable to do much but stare his dragon a few breathes, H’seo suddenly burst out laughing, slapping his leg. “Good Faranth, Reinth. I’ve heard of lazy, but shards, that’s just downright awful.” Shaking his head, the wingrider stood and tossed the straps down in his chair, ready to get up and a stretch a mite himself. Pausing to grab a shirt, the rather tall man pulled it on while striding out to his blue. “Come on, partner, let’s get you something to eat.” He was about to step onto Reinth’s foreleg when the dragon suddenly stiffened, lifting his head quickly.

The clutch from Southern is arriving! The blue trumpeted excitedly, hunger forgotten as the impact of the gold’s order descended upon him. Trith’s wants all riders to report to her for duty.

“Time to move, then. Let’s go, partner.” With an ease born from turns of practice, H’seo leapt gracefully onto Reinth’s back, using the dragon’s foreleg to step up. Bunching his muscles, the darkly-colored blue jumped from their ledge and beat his wings, spiraling upward towards the Sands. He could see lovely gold Trith, shining like the sun and easily discernable from any other dragon in Cerulean. Landing a good distance from the queen, afraid to encroach upon her at all, Reinth waited patiently for his rider to dismount. Excitement coursed through him and His as they awaited the arrival of the new clutch.

Unsure if he was supposed to report to the Weyrwoman or wait until the clutch arrived for her to give out assignments, H’seo stood a bit off the Hatching Sands, sure that Samhara would call him via Reinth if she needed anything. Which, of course, the tall wingrider would be glad to do his share. He always had been a hard worker.

(Rael to come in a bit))

The sun had just touched the horizon when the items for delivery were finished being packed; safely ensconced in their warmed carrying pouches, they would survive the cold of between for the trip. Half a Wing of dragons was ready to depart at the command of a single gold wherhandler. Standing next to her wher, handler Rozen of Rozsk eyed the delivery party with a cautious air, her mind going over the various things that would need to be done upon arrival. The goldpair had gotten up early -for a wher- and would leave as soon as the sun dropped behind the horizon line. Rozen felt refreshed and ready to begin her new life alongside this clutch, almost like they were all siblings heading out for the world. The eight eggs would bring new hope to the eastern end of the Southern Continent, with all the well wishes from Southern Weyr behind it. Rozsk’s duty would be to swell the Nightwatch’s ranks, while the pair worked to train the new handlers. Her estrus time was a bit far off, and there were hardly any bonded whers to speak of at Cerulean, but the goldpair had hopes that the wild whers could be enticed to chase. That strong wild blood would be perfect for their new base of operations.

A soft breeze blew in from the nearby ocean, and Rozen took a deep breath. A brown flitter blinked into existence in front of the goldpair, and Rozen held out her arm to him. The firelizard warbled a happy greeting, and landed on her arm, climbing up to perch on her shoulder, his head against her cheek. “Zeek, done packing?” She asked with a small smile, and the flitter chirped in agreement, despite not understanding her words. The riders chatted amiably between themselves, and both the dragons and Rozsk had lively, excited colors swirling in their eyes. A few of these dragonpairs would by staying in Cerulean to assist in bolstering their numbers further. Truth be told, Rozen was a little glad that some of her new acquaintances would be joining her in their new home. They all had a difficult time ahead of them.

Rozsk turned a look on her handler, the gold’s thoughts a riot of eagerness to be off. Rozen hopped up astride the gold wher with the offered foreleg of assistance, and the pair began the short trek to the summit of the cliffs closest to Southern’s hatching grounds as soon as the sun’s light dipped below the horizon. Zeek, having launched when His moved, sang a happy song around them as he twirled around his golds. Rozsk already had the location well in mind, planted there by one of the dragons who’d visited the island Weyr before, and she passed it on to the little brown. Hers had better hold on tight though, as there was a bit of a headwind and it was time to leave. The wher’s second eyelids were closed to block the remaining light and heat, and Rozen guided the gold with her own sight to the edge of the precipice. The wher spread her wonderfully large and powerful wings –a gift from her own wild heritage. Are they ready, love? The woman asked the gold, and the chorus of answering yells told her that the wher’d sent the message through. In perhaps the first time in Pern’s growing history, a gold wher led the wing of dragons into the sky on glittering wings as Rozsk leapt from the ledge as the light disappeared from the sky.

Despite her prowess over most whers in the sky, Rozsk could not actually fly. She could flap her wings and retain current height for a time, and she was superb at gliding and catching the winds to carry her higher, but she could not build height herself. So, locking her wings and sliding into an updraft, the gold wher lead the wing of considerate dragons and riders, the entire group blinking out of sight all at once accompanied by one brown flitter and a handful of other firelizards both bonded and wild.

The sky over the island Weyr was suddenly full of dragons as the wing winked out of between. They were not unexpected, and a chorus of welcoming bugles from the gathered dragons below ushered the delivery party towards the open hatching sands. Half of the collapsible roof was up, while the seaward side was down in an attempt to catch the remaining sun’s heat before it had set. The wing settled lightly to the sand, careful to not jostle their precious cargo. Helpers rushed from the side to assist in removing the eggs, while Trith, a majesty of gold wreathed in the sunset’s colors, directed where they would lay near the queen’s couch.

Ranen was not lost. Definitely not. All the way to the end of the corridor, and then a left, and the staircase should be right there, he was sure about it.

Or maybe not, he thought with more than a little frustration as he rounded the corner only to be met with another corridor and no stairs in sight. It wasn’t like the Weyr was that large- he shouldn’t have any problems getting around. Even though he had only been there for a few days, that was more than enough time to get accustomed to the layout of the area. But then again, he had rarely had to learn new places, spending most of his life at the same small hold and then two full turns at Southern. He had become complacent, he decided as he backtracked back down the corridor. He had allowed himself to get comfortable with his life at Southern, too comfortable. If he was going to make it at Cerulean, he was going to have to adjust.

With a new determination, he set off on what was surely going to be the right way. He passed one or two people, but carefully kept himself from asking for confirmation of the path. He had to learn, and getting lost was the best way to do that. He wasn’t even supposed to be on this level, really. He had been just wandering around, trying to get a feel for the Weyr that would hopefully become his new home when he had been stopped and asked to take something down to the library. He had found it easily enough, but had taken a wrong turn somewhere on the way out.

Finally he made the right turn and found a staircase, which he quickly took to emerge outside, in the area that was much more familiar. He sighed with relief as he tried reoriented himself, figuring out which way would take him back to the candidate barracks. But then he saw a dragon overhead, and then another, headed towards the same place. The hatching sands. There was an air of excitement surrounding the place, similar to when….

Pushing aside his plans to return to the candidate barracks, Ranen found himself making his way into the sands. He slipped inside, only to pause. The eggs were finally there, the objects of the attention of probably every person in the vicinity. Ranen wasn’t quite sure if his presence was expected or completely undesired, but he couldn’t really bring himself to leave. The eggs were there. He knew how important they were for the Weyr and its future, but for him they were much more than that. They were his new chance. Could one of them hold a dragon that would chose him?

Finally he forced himself to move, slipping into the stands where he might have a good view of the event without getting in his way. The last thing he wanted to do was get in the way and be sent out. Trying to be as quiet and invisible as possible, he found a place to watch and settled in.

H’seo stood patiently, arms crossed and leaning casually as he watched the skies, awaiting the arrival of the eggs. Reinth took to the ledges above, settling his blue bulk quickly and his eyes whirling an anxious myriad of colors. He, like His, watched the skies above, muscles tense. As many of his brothers and sisters landed, the darkly-colored dragon greeted them, stammering only a little when he bespoke the greens. He would never get over his shyness around them, it seemed.

Greetings, Astonmarth. And to you, Heneth. The smaller dragon trumpeted, watching as the brown landed near him, and the green landed with Hers. He was guider of the young ones, Reinth knew.

H’seo nodded amiably as his fellow riders appeared, easy-going as always. He was excited about the clutch, yes, but the wingrider was always a calm sort of man. He never really appeared ruffled over anything. “Howdy Wingrider, Weyrling Master.” He drawled in turn, nodding respectfully as the others arrived. Suddenly, the sky above was full of dragons, bugling and trumpeting filling the air from both the ledges and above. Reinth, too, lifted his head and bellowed an eager call, greeting the new dragons enthusiastically. The bluerider stepped forward with many of the others to help with the unloading of the eggs, his deft hands, used to hard labor, were quick and skillful.

~~~~~~

Raelwyn smiled anxiously as she and her new companion quickly made their way up the steps, hurrying to match her stride to the much taller boy’s. The clutch was going to arrive any minute, and she wanted to be there more than anything. As the weyrling spoke, Rael tilted her head, grinning quite happily. Not only had the bronze sent her a reply, but F’ren wanted her aid. That was perfect. “I would be more than pleased to help you bathe Eneth. Thank you!” The gold candidate replied, brushing some of her hair out of her face. Brow furrowing a bit, she put a steadying hand on her tiny firelizard, her little pet cheeping in question. “He doesn’t like them? Well, I’ll make sure Ty leaves him alone.” The girl had heard of a few dragons who thought of the small flits as nuisances.

Smiling a bit dryly, the candidate chuckled. A sense of humor? She liked F’ren already. “Well, I suppose dragons would be best. I’d hate to see something else pop out.” Raelwyn slipped her gaze to the side, watching the weyrling become serious. She had heard, like everyone, of the horrific occurrences at Silver Cove. No doubt many of the riders here were anxious about the clutch, waiting to see good, sturdy dragons to bolster their wings. “A healthy clutch is exactly what Cerulean needs right now. Not just for the numbers, but for the boost in morale it’s sure to bring.” Rael knew the young Weyr needed something wonderful to happen, to help everyone to move on with confidence.

As the humans spoke, Tydus had crept to Raelwyn’s opposite shoulder, now sitting on the side F’ren was. The little bronze cocked his head, eyeing the weyrling with a mixture of fierce protectiveness and curiosity. The flit knew that the boy had complimented him, and so he might have warmed up to him some. If their relationship continued. However, Ty’s attention was quickly pulled away as the sky above the Hatching Sounds erupted with dragons, and the bronze straightened to his full height and gave a brassy cry, warbling his greeting to the newcomers.

Unable to keep from laughing delightedly, Raelwyn put her hand over her eyes to shield her green gaze from the last rays of the sun. She watched with unbridled awe as the eggs were carefully arranged by the stunning gold Trith, her loving gaze protective and proud. Rael sighed softly, etching the scene into her memory. She would have to write a song about this, as soon as she was free.

~~~~~~

Kheron was in the candidate barracks when the call came from Cerulean’s queen, straitening up the area around his bed. He had always been a neat and organized person, and at the Weyr it was no different. Though he had only arrived four days ago, Kher was settled in nicely, taking to his new work easily. The ex-beastcrafter was used to hard labor, and his only regret was being unable to practice his bow regularly. Of course, after a couple of sevendays, he was sure that he would have more free time to pursue his study of archery. He was, after all, one Fall of good shot. It would be terrible to let his talent deteriorate.

Folding his few shirts, the candidate was careful to not jostle his little firelizard as she slept, curled up on his pillow. Kheron had found the clutch around Monaco Bay when he was out riding his runner one evening, Calan’s hooves almost stomping the eggs until the beastcrafter’s sharp eyes picked them out among the dense foliage. It was a good thing Kher’s eyes were so intent. He had never had such a pet as the green flit, but he loved her all the same. Riona, the daughter of the journeyman who had instructed Kheron for the past seven turns, had named her for him. The candidate grinned in remembrance, recalling the first time he had seen Yumi’s overly protective side. She was vicious as a tunnelsnake, and had no problem getting in anything’s face.

Kheron suddenly saw the firelizard tense and lift her head from the corner of his eye, and he could tell she was listening intently. Amber eyes focusing on the green, the candidate straitened as she stood quickly, impressing the golden one’s message upon him. Eyes widening, the ex-beastcrafter tossed the rest of his laundry down, tugging his boots on. “Oh shards!” He hissed, quick to get dressed.

“Let’s go, Yumi.” Unusually quiet for a green, the flit hopped up and settled on his shoulder when he stood, wrapping her tail up between them. Dashing to the stairs, his long stride eating up the ground, Kher arrived as the clutch did, the dragon’s deafening calls filling the air and drowning out any other sound. Utterly alert, the sage-green firelizard watched from his shoulder, trilling softly. As he was new to Cerulean, Kheron did not really know any other candidates, and so found himself a place to settle down where he could watch. He had never seen dragon eggs before, and the small clutch that had birthed Yumi could not even begin to compare to what he saw before him. He watched, awed and silent, overwhelmed by the eggs and by the queen herself. He had never been this close to Trith before, and her sheer size and majesty was breathtaking.

M’ma grinned as the eggs began to come in. He leaned back slightly, hearing his back cracked and looked to his shoulder at Toto. “You go with Heneth now. I have to go help with the eggs.” Though M’ma couldn’t do much, he helped with some smaller eggs. As he helped, he looked over the Candidates. They’d soon be Weyrlings. Then they’d be under his thumb. He chuckled a bit at the thought. He saw a few of his current Weyrlings helping out and nodded.

They needed to have a Lesson soon, he thought to himself, nodding. They would probably be around a good age to start learning how to fly. The poor things hadn’t been able to have a proper lesson. With the trouble in Silver Cove Weyr, they had been shuffled around too much to be able to. He started thinking about what he needed to do to properly inspire them. They were all growing so beautifully.

---
Cheko blinked as a draconic voice popped into his head. He had heard a telepathic voice before so it didn’t frighten him but it had been a while since that had occurred. Eggs were arriving now? He looked to Polo, who was lazing about on the boy’s furs, and grinned widely. There was pretty much always a grin on the boy’s face.

He hadn’t been on the Hatching Sands of a Weyr since he was five turns. That fateful night had led him to get into a lot of trouble. But it also gave him Polo. For that, he was happy. The firelizard, though no one else could see, feel, or hear it, was his best friend. He almost never left Cheko’s side.

Now, that wasn’t going to change. “Come on, let’s go see the eggs!” the boy shouted to the flit, arm outstretched so the brown could climb on. Slowly, Polo stretched, yawning with a small chirp, and floated up to the boys arm, wrapping his tail around the boy’s arm gently. He couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Cheko had him. He knew that His wanted a dragon though. But what would happen with their relationship?

Well, Polo would have thought that if he had been real. The idea of Polo thought of that in Cheko’s mind as Cheko dashed towards the Sands. The lanky boy didn’t stop until he reached the Sands. He saw dragons, both young and old, and whers. He took a step forward. His foot touched the Sands and he felt the warmth.

Suddenly, his heart started to race. His eyes widened and he frowned-something that the boy never did. He began to clutch at his shoulder, the shoulder that Polo would have sat upon and made strangled cries. A sudden fear was rising in him. He really didn’t want to be here. Polo didn’t want him to be here. Polo had gotten off his shoulder. Where was he? A full-fledged cry escaped his lips and he stumbled back, falling onto his butt and staring in fear at the Sands and the creatures upon it. Slowly, he felt Polo land back onto his head and a tear roll down his cheek.

M'ma heard the cry of the boy and straightened up. He couldn't do much with the eggs, but if someone was hurt, he knew enough from his years to offer a hand. Or he could always help anyone with emotional trauma! He ambled out of the Sands to find a small little boy on his butt, staring in fear towards him- no towards the Sands in general. There was certainly nothing scary about his appearance, right? Heneth assured him that that could not possibly be so.

He would have ambled over to help the boy. He didn't seem hurt. Maybe just got scared. Some people did around dragons. But, if that was the case, they shouldn't be Candidates. Whatever the matter was, Tessarin was there now. He nodded gently and returned inside. If she needed help, he'd be nearby and she could call on him.

---

"Polo..." the boy whispered, though it didn't seem to be an answer as he didn't turn to look at Tess at her touch. Cheko felt the firelizard go from his shoulder to his knee so that they were eye level. "Polo, don't leave me again. It wasn't nice!" No doubt, this was an odd sight for the Healer. The boy was just in his own mind. He had been very close to going into shock. Polo didn't leave unannounced. Certainly not like he had.

Cheko's mind began to ponder what had happened as he slowly returned to reality. As this occurred, he heard snippets of a female voice. kiddo....wrong? It was a very calming voice. Blinking away the tears that were in his eyes, he looked up at Tess, his green eyes staring at her inquisitively.

"Huh?" he asked, the usual grin slowly returning to his face. The rubbing on his shoulder felt good, "What are you doing here?" He honestly was confused. The back of his mind was still processing why Polo had disappeared but he wasn't sure why someone was hovering over him. He didn't realized that he had cried out and undoubtedly gathered some attention.

---

Valee had been doing chores when the call came. Yes, still doing chores. She realized that it was taking her a long time. But the end results were always wonderful. And then she didn't have to worry about returning to do it again because of a shoddy job. When the call came, warning her to look, not touch, she decided she'd finish her task first.

After all, this would fill her with too much excitement to finish anything. Now, she came running, her curls bouncing with each step. In fact, all her round bits bounced a little. She was too excited to care. As she approached the Hatching Sands, she noticed a boy on the ground. She slowed as she past him. He was saying something. Polo? She shrugged. The Healer was there, right? She wasn't needed. She just wanted a look at those eggs.

She came sneaking onto the Sands and bowed low to Trith, who had just seemed to finish arranging the eggs all pretty. She was slightly out of breath, so she didn't speak, but instead bowed slightly too to the Weyrwoman. With the formalities out of the way, all she could do was stare in wonder at the eggs. A longing to touch them filled her, but she held it back. She didn't want to get in trouble.

She saw a few other Candidates seated nearby. Well, she assumed they were Candidates. She wasn't sure if she had seen any of them before. She had been too wrapped up in chores and disappointment to meet anyone, really. Well, no time like the present. Slowly, she walked towards them, not sure if any would want to talk.