Post by Thorney on Nov 2, 2010 10:41:20 GMT -5
Everything was pandemonium. Chaos. Too much to even process. Raelwyn felt her hands close over her mouth, attempting to hold back the sorrow that she felt like screaming into the skies. They were attacking Cerulean, her home! The girl choked back a sob and fought to gain control of herself, even as her heart gave a great wrench. How dare they! Standing on shaky legs, the harper watched Trith and Samhara with worried eyes, fearing that this would be all it took to send the queen back into the dark and silent state she had slipped into after her disastrous Flight. She wanted to help, but the candidate knew that she had no combat skills, no means with which to help defend the weyr. She was useless. Hands fisting in her skirts as even more riders left the sands, Raelwyn tried to calm her two flits, their minds a jumble of panic and fury as they sensed the chaos that emanated from her and the dragons. However, neither the bronze nor the brown could be soothed, sent into a near frenzy by Brillia’s panic. Letting out a breath, the girl began to make her way to the stands where the two sat, intent upon attempting to reassure them that everything was going to be fine. The riders would win this fight.
However, before she had even taken two steps, Gareth’s mighty voice rang in her head, and the candidate whirled, watching with widening eyes as the wing of dragons shot towards the hatching sands, led by the filthy, dirty beast that had attacked Trith. For a moment, the harper’s legs turned to stone, and she couldn’t move, could only stare in horror as she realized where his destination lay.
They were coming for the eggs.
They swept through Cerulean dragons easily, and Raelwyn watched the mighty guards fall from the sky, grief tearing at her heart. The sight set her blood on the fire, and the harper felt an emotion inside that had rarely visited her heart before. Hate. She hated those men, hated them for what they did to Trith and what they were doing to her home. Fisting her hand, the girl set her jaw and began to charge at the nearest attacker, feeling no regard for her own safety. He was approaching one of the eggs, and she wasn’t about to let him get it. Not if she could help it. As he saw her approach, the man smirked sadistically and raised his club, obviously not thinking her to be much of a threat. With an uncharacteristic growl, Raelwyn was about to throw herself at him when her two flits burst from between right before her, all snarls and angry, whirling red eyes. Tydus and Cloud launched themselves at the stranger, her bronze clawing at the man’s face while her brown went straight for his eyes. The man tried to bat at them with his club, but they were too small and far too fast, and they were pissed.
Cloud, with a hiss, made a bloody mess of the man’s right eye, and Raelwyn saw her opportunity. Darting forward, she did the first thing that came to mind. She kicked him as hard as she could right in the crotch. With a groan, the attacker fell, and harper did something she never had before. Gathering every bit of strength she had in her, the girl kicked him solidly in the head, hoping that at least stunned him enough to keep him out of the fight for a long time. But really…she had a feeling he wasn’t going to get up again. Ever. Swallowing, trying to come to terms with what she had just done, Raelwyn let out a strangled gasp as another attacker grabbed her by the throat, eyes wild as he stared at her cruelly. He squeezed, and the harper clawed at his hand, but to no avail. But he wasn’t about to get the best of her. Tydus and Cloud shrieked with rage and dive-bombed the man, calling for the help of their brethren as they did. Another brown and a green peeled off from the main fair of flits and winged to their side, hissing and crowing as they attacked the stranger viciously. He quickly dropped Raelwyn as he used both hands to try to fend off the firelizards, but they couldn’t be struck. As they attacked, the harper glanced around quickly to try to find something to fight with. Without warning, another candidate appeared before her, a boy by the name of Elric if she remembered correctly, and handed her a small dagger, a knowing look in his eyes. Nodding to him, the girl took the weapon with numb fingers, realizing that she just might have to use it. She and the four flits were going to defend the clutch, no matter what.
Darting forward with some instinctive move within her, Raelwyn forced down her nausea as she struck the man in the chest with the sharp, wicked dagger Elric had given her. It was a crude move, but an effective one, as he abruptly stopped fighting and slumped to the sands, red staining his dirty shirt. She had killed two men. She had killed two men! The candidate almost retched right there, but she forced her bile down, forced herself to realize that it was necessary. Tydus and Cloud hovered near her, as did the other brown and green. Apparently they had decided to stick close and help them. Raelwyn steeled herself as she moved forward again, hand tightening around the dagger as she found another target. As she did, a bronze voice echoed in her head, and the candidate nearly fell from shock. Silver Cove?!? How was that possible? Fire erupted above her as the bronze streaked through the sky, flaming the attackers, and the girl steeled herself and leapt at another man, the four flits diving with her. How could they do this? How COULD they?
~~~~~
Straightening from where he had kneeled beside one of the eggs, Elric’s eyes narrowed as he watched the events around him unfold. Men and dragons took to the air, each peeling off in a different direction as they went to aid those set upon by the strangers. The boy was about to offer his assistance to K’roi as he had quite a bit of combat experience when Gareth gave his mighty call, and the candidate’s black gaze settled coldly on the approaching wing. Elric had not been in Cerulean long, but they had taken him in, given him a new goal and a new life, and it was his home now. The only home he had left, and he wasn’t about to see it destroyed. Chaos erupted, but he was calm, steely, and prepared to do what he must to keep Cerulean safe. One dagger rested in his boot, but the candidate stood still, far more skilled in hand-to-hand combat than anything. In addition, he thought it best the keep the blade as a hidden weapon, in the instance he needed a surprise in the middle of the battle. As the three dragons approached, flaming a large group of men, Elric darted to the side, dancing out of the way of the fire. As he did, he came face to face with one of the attackers keeping the Cerulean fighters at bay, and the boy flexed his hands.
Time to go to work.
The man raised his whip, but he lacked finesse in his style, and Elric swung to the side to avoid the lash. Whirling, the candidate backstepped and then darted forward, grabbing the man’s arm in a vice-like grip before he could crack the whip again. With a skill born of practice, the boy twisted the attacker’s arm down and around, effectively turning him and pressing his arm against his lower back. For a moment, the runner found himself hesitating to do what needed to be done, but he glanced up and saw how the strangers cut through his fellow candidates without remorse, and Elric felt his resolve harden. These men had brought this upon themselves, and they deserved no mercy. Pressing the man’s arm painfully against his body, the candidate drove him down the ground, his knee in the stranger’s back, and then jerked his head suddenly, breaking the attacker’s neck. The boy felt his gut wrench as he heard the snap of bone, but he knew there was nothing to stop this. They had started this battle, and no one in Cerulean could show mercy if they were to win.
And he wouldn’t either. Rising fluidly, feeling something dangerous coil within him, Elric stepped toward the next attacker with the grace of a stalking feline, smoothly avoiding the first swing of a club with a sure, poised side-step, and then struck. One hand clasped around the wrist of the man, twisting until he felt a snap, and then he struck again with his other hand, this time driving the heel of his palm against the attacker’s nose with all of the strength and rage within him. The fight took all of five seconds, and the stranger slumped to the ground, blood pooling on his face. The candidate stood only long enough to take one steadying breath, and then he was moving again, his eyes catching sight of girl being held by the throat. Darting forward, Elric was intent upon helping her until the four flits attacked, quite effectively doing it for him. For a moment, the boy stared at her, watching the fire in her eyes, and knew that she could fight if she had to. If she had a weapon. Without a word, he slid his dagger from his boot and handed it to her, not waiting even a moment before he was gone again.
Engaging another attacker, the candidate tried to concentrate fully upon the battle as the bronze’s voice cried in his head, bringing forth a sick feeling within his stomach. Elric had heard the stories of Silver Cove, just as everyone else had, and could only try to keep his mind off it. Why would they do this? He knew that they had been driven to madness, but to do something of this magnitude? How had they survived, how had they planned so carefully? Narrowing his eyes, the boy ignored those questions, ignored the heaviness in his body and ice in blood as he killed the man before him. That was three, now. Elric had minor cuts and bruises across his arms, but there was no serious damage, and he knew that he was a far better warrior than any of these men. Hopefully, they ended this before any more Cerulean men or dragons got hurt. They needed to end it now! Darting forward, light and quick, Elric engaged two more of the attackers, intent on ending them as well.
~~~~~
There was so much going on, Keiko almost felt dizzy as she tried to take it all in. Just what the Fall was happening? The whole weyr was reporting strange occurrences and attacks taking place all across Cerulean. Crossing her arms, the girl chewed on her bottom lip, worry gnawing at her as she eyed everyone about. This was not good, this was SO not good! For a moment, she considered going back to the barracks to make sure Jazzy was safe, but she soon found herself unable to move. The wing of dragons approached quickly, and Gareth’s words made her whole body turn cold and numb at once. Attacked? Cerulean? With a strangled cry, the candidate stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide and terrified as she watched the utter pandemonium descend upon the sands. Men and dragons swarmed about, dirty and disgusting but petrifying, and Keiko shrieked, glancing wildly about for V’ton. He, of course, had already joined the fight, and she was on her own. She couldn’t get out, and she couldn’t call for help. There was no one to help her. Taking a deep breath, the girl crouched down behind one of the larger eggs, hoping to hide until she found a way to get out.
As she did, her terrified mind screamed at her to run, but her heart called her a coward, a weakling. Squeezing her eyes shut, the candidate tried to ignore it, tried to reason with herself. She couldn’t fight! She was just some eighty pound girl who only knew how to paint and draw and make herself pretty; she wasn’t a warrior. But…she was supposed to be. She was here because she had been Searched, had been deemed perhaps worthy of a dragon, of holding something within that made her fit to be a rider. Riders weren’t cowards. Riders battled Thread without batting an eye, and Riders did what they had to in order to keep the people they served safe. Keiko was supposed to be a Rider someday.
But she wasn’t acting like one now.
With a strangled cry, the girl grabbed at her rings and bracelets, ripping them off viciously, quickly followed by her necklaces and little pins too. Rid of her baubles, Keiko stood, swallowing as she saw the carnage before her. She wanted to puke, but she could do that later. Right now, she had to start acting like a rider. It was amazing how it had taken something so monumental to make her grow up just a little bit, but that didn’t matter. At least she had finally answered the call of her deeper heart. “Oh Faranth…this is like, gonna suck.” The candidate whispered, then began running forward, throwing herself at the nearest attacker. His back was to her, so she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his throat and trying to scratch at his face with one hand. With an angry curse, the man grabbed one of her arms and pulled her before him easily, her slight weight nothing to him in his enraged and insane state. He raised his club, and Keiko thrashed wildly, but she couldn’t loosen his grip. Suddenly, the attacker was surrounded by firelizards of nearly every color, each one of them clawing, biting or even flaming to get him to relent.
Dropping the girl, he whirled and swung his club haphazardly, trying to fend them off, but the flits were stubborn. Shaking her head, Keiko struggled to her feet and stared in surprise at the little creatures that had saved her life. They were so small, but they had helped. They were not afraid. That, more than anything, gave the candidate deeper insight to the world, and she knew then that she had matured even a bit more. It didn’t matter what happened to her…but she was going to help. Once again, she threw herself at the man, and this time, she knocked him down, knowing that he was already unbalanced from trying to spin and fend off the attacking flits. As he fell, his cracked his head upon the ground, and she and the flits backed up, the girl putting a hand to her mouth. “We, like, killed him!” Keiko whispered, but one of the bronzes darted before her, chittering warningly. “Right…we gotta help.” She said resolutely, and followed the firelizards as they darted off towards another attacker. She only hoped Jazzy was safe in the barracks.
However, before she had even taken two steps, Gareth’s mighty voice rang in her head, and the candidate whirled, watching with widening eyes as the wing of dragons shot towards the hatching sands, led by the filthy, dirty beast that had attacked Trith. For a moment, the harper’s legs turned to stone, and she couldn’t move, could only stare in horror as she realized where his destination lay.
They were coming for the eggs.
They swept through Cerulean dragons easily, and Raelwyn watched the mighty guards fall from the sky, grief tearing at her heart. The sight set her blood on the fire, and the harper felt an emotion inside that had rarely visited her heart before. Hate. She hated those men, hated them for what they did to Trith and what they were doing to her home. Fisting her hand, the girl set her jaw and began to charge at the nearest attacker, feeling no regard for her own safety. He was approaching one of the eggs, and she wasn’t about to let him get it. Not if she could help it. As he saw her approach, the man smirked sadistically and raised his club, obviously not thinking her to be much of a threat. With an uncharacteristic growl, Raelwyn was about to throw herself at him when her two flits burst from between right before her, all snarls and angry, whirling red eyes. Tydus and Cloud launched themselves at the stranger, her bronze clawing at the man’s face while her brown went straight for his eyes. The man tried to bat at them with his club, but they were too small and far too fast, and they were pissed.
Cloud, with a hiss, made a bloody mess of the man’s right eye, and Raelwyn saw her opportunity. Darting forward, she did the first thing that came to mind. She kicked him as hard as she could right in the crotch. With a groan, the attacker fell, and harper did something she never had before. Gathering every bit of strength she had in her, the girl kicked him solidly in the head, hoping that at least stunned him enough to keep him out of the fight for a long time. But really…she had a feeling he wasn’t going to get up again. Ever. Swallowing, trying to come to terms with what she had just done, Raelwyn let out a strangled gasp as another attacker grabbed her by the throat, eyes wild as he stared at her cruelly. He squeezed, and the harper clawed at his hand, but to no avail. But he wasn’t about to get the best of her. Tydus and Cloud shrieked with rage and dive-bombed the man, calling for the help of their brethren as they did. Another brown and a green peeled off from the main fair of flits and winged to their side, hissing and crowing as they attacked the stranger viciously. He quickly dropped Raelwyn as he used both hands to try to fend off the firelizards, but they couldn’t be struck. As they attacked, the harper glanced around quickly to try to find something to fight with. Without warning, another candidate appeared before her, a boy by the name of Elric if she remembered correctly, and handed her a small dagger, a knowing look in his eyes. Nodding to him, the girl took the weapon with numb fingers, realizing that she just might have to use it. She and the four flits were going to defend the clutch, no matter what.
Darting forward with some instinctive move within her, Raelwyn forced down her nausea as she struck the man in the chest with the sharp, wicked dagger Elric had given her. It was a crude move, but an effective one, as he abruptly stopped fighting and slumped to the sands, red staining his dirty shirt. She had killed two men. She had killed two men! The candidate almost retched right there, but she forced her bile down, forced herself to realize that it was necessary. Tydus and Cloud hovered near her, as did the other brown and green. Apparently they had decided to stick close and help them. Raelwyn steeled herself as she moved forward again, hand tightening around the dagger as she found another target. As she did, a bronze voice echoed in her head, and the candidate nearly fell from shock. Silver Cove?!? How was that possible? Fire erupted above her as the bronze streaked through the sky, flaming the attackers, and the girl steeled herself and leapt at another man, the four flits diving with her. How could they do this? How COULD they?
~~~~~
Straightening from where he had kneeled beside one of the eggs, Elric’s eyes narrowed as he watched the events around him unfold. Men and dragons took to the air, each peeling off in a different direction as they went to aid those set upon by the strangers. The boy was about to offer his assistance to K’roi as he had quite a bit of combat experience when Gareth gave his mighty call, and the candidate’s black gaze settled coldly on the approaching wing. Elric had not been in Cerulean long, but they had taken him in, given him a new goal and a new life, and it was his home now. The only home he had left, and he wasn’t about to see it destroyed. Chaos erupted, but he was calm, steely, and prepared to do what he must to keep Cerulean safe. One dagger rested in his boot, but the candidate stood still, far more skilled in hand-to-hand combat than anything. In addition, he thought it best the keep the blade as a hidden weapon, in the instance he needed a surprise in the middle of the battle. As the three dragons approached, flaming a large group of men, Elric darted to the side, dancing out of the way of the fire. As he did, he came face to face with one of the attackers keeping the Cerulean fighters at bay, and the boy flexed his hands.
Time to go to work.
The man raised his whip, but he lacked finesse in his style, and Elric swung to the side to avoid the lash. Whirling, the candidate backstepped and then darted forward, grabbing the man’s arm in a vice-like grip before he could crack the whip again. With a skill born of practice, the boy twisted the attacker’s arm down and around, effectively turning him and pressing his arm against his lower back. For a moment, the runner found himself hesitating to do what needed to be done, but he glanced up and saw how the strangers cut through his fellow candidates without remorse, and Elric felt his resolve harden. These men had brought this upon themselves, and they deserved no mercy. Pressing the man’s arm painfully against his body, the candidate drove him down the ground, his knee in the stranger’s back, and then jerked his head suddenly, breaking the attacker’s neck. The boy felt his gut wrench as he heard the snap of bone, but he knew there was nothing to stop this. They had started this battle, and no one in Cerulean could show mercy if they were to win.
And he wouldn’t either. Rising fluidly, feeling something dangerous coil within him, Elric stepped toward the next attacker with the grace of a stalking feline, smoothly avoiding the first swing of a club with a sure, poised side-step, and then struck. One hand clasped around the wrist of the man, twisting until he felt a snap, and then he struck again with his other hand, this time driving the heel of his palm against the attacker’s nose with all of the strength and rage within him. The fight took all of five seconds, and the stranger slumped to the ground, blood pooling on his face. The candidate stood only long enough to take one steadying breath, and then he was moving again, his eyes catching sight of girl being held by the throat. Darting forward, Elric was intent upon helping her until the four flits attacked, quite effectively doing it for him. For a moment, the boy stared at her, watching the fire in her eyes, and knew that she could fight if she had to. If she had a weapon. Without a word, he slid his dagger from his boot and handed it to her, not waiting even a moment before he was gone again.
Engaging another attacker, the candidate tried to concentrate fully upon the battle as the bronze’s voice cried in his head, bringing forth a sick feeling within his stomach. Elric had heard the stories of Silver Cove, just as everyone else had, and could only try to keep his mind off it. Why would they do this? He knew that they had been driven to madness, but to do something of this magnitude? How had they survived, how had they planned so carefully? Narrowing his eyes, the boy ignored those questions, ignored the heaviness in his body and ice in blood as he killed the man before him. That was three, now. Elric had minor cuts and bruises across his arms, but there was no serious damage, and he knew that he was a far better warrior than any of these men. Hopefully, they ended this before any more Cerulean men or dragons got hurt. They needed to end it now! Darting forward, light and quick, Elric engaged two more of the attackers, intent on ending them as well.
~~~~~
There was so much going on, Keiko almost felt dizzy as she tried to take it all in. Just what the Fall was happening? The whole weyr was reporting strange occurrences and attacks taking place all across Cerulean. Crossing her arms, the girl chewed on her bottom lip, worry gnawing at her as she eyed everyone about. This was not good, this was SO not good! For a moment, she considered going back to the barracks to make sure Jazzy was safe, but she soon found herself unable to move. The wing of dragons approached quickly, and Gareth’s words made her whole body turn cold and numb at once. Attacked? Cerulean? With a strangled cry, the candidate stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide and terrified as she watched the utter pandemonium descend upon the sands. Men and dragons swarmed about, dirty and disgusting but petrifying, and Keiko shrieked, glancing wildly about for V’ton. He, of course, had already joined the fight, and she was on her own. She couldn’t get out, and she couldn’t call for help. There was no one to help her. Taking a deep breath, the girl crouched down behind one of the larger eggs, hoping to hide until she found a way to get out.
As she did, her terrified mind screamed at her to run, but her heart called her a coward, a weakling. Squeezing her eyes shut, the candidate tried to ignore it, tried to reason with herself. She couldn’t fight! She was just some eighty pound girl who only knew how to paint and draw and make herself pretty; she wasn’t a warrior. But…she was supposed to be. She was here because she had been Searched, had been deemed perhaps worthy of a dragon, of holding something within that made her fit to be a rider. Riders weren’t cowards. Riders battled Thread without batting an eye, and Riders did what they had to in order to keep the people they served safe. Keiko was supposed to be a Rider someday.
But she wasn’t acting like one now.
With a strangled cry, the girl grabbed at her rings and bracelets, ripping them off viciously, quickly followed by her necklaces and little pins too. Rid of her baubles, Keiko stood, swallowing as she saw the carnage before her. She wanted to puke, but she could do that later. Right now, she had to start acting like a rider. It was amazing how it had taken something so monumental to make her grow up just a little bit, but that didn’t matter. At least she had finally answered the call of her deeper heart. “Oh Faranth…this is like, gonna suck.” The candidate whispered, then began running forward, throwing herself at the nearest attacker. His back was to her, so she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his throat and trying to scratch at his face with one hand. With an angry curse, the man grabbed one of her arms and pulled her before him easily, her slight weight nothing to him in his enraged and insane state. He raised his club, and Keiko thrashed wildly, but she couldn’t loosen his grip. Suddenly, the attacker was surrounded by firelizards of nearly every color, each one of them clawing, biting or even flaming to get him to relent.
Dropping the girl, he whirled and swung his club haphazardly, trying to fend them off, but the flits were stubborn. Shaking her head, Keiko struggled to her feet and stared in surprise at the little creatures that had saved her life. They were so small, but they had helped. They were not afraid. That, more than anything, gave the candidate deeper insight to the world, and she knew then that she had matured even a bit more. It didn’t matter what happened to her…but she was going to help. Once again, she threw herself at the man, and this time, she knocked him down, knowing that he was already unbalanced from trying to spin and fend off the attacking flits. As he fell, his cracked his head upon the ground, and she and the flits backed up, the girl putting a hand to her mouth. “We, like, killed him!” Keiko whispered, but one of the bronzes darted before her, chittering warningly. “Right…we gotta help.” She said resolutely, and followed the firelizards as they darted off towards another attacker. She only hoped Jazzy was safe in the barracks.