Kindling the Flames (PLOT)

[Plot]

Who: Anyone not on the Sands who wants!
What: Pyromania?
When: About fifteen minutes after Trith's announcement.
Where: Main cooking area of the kitchens.
Warnings: Violence, possibly death.
Note: Yes, I swiped the drudges' names from the gossip entries. <3





Kavvi was working hard kneading the dough for the midday meal, a bit before the others would all file in and make a crazyhouse of things. She knew she'd better be working hard, since she was in enough trouble from the night before. She'd been caught gossiping with Leywin again - but who could blame her! That tidbit Cally had given her was too juicy to resist!

Sighing and blowing her bangs out of her face, she glanced up and had to blink. "...Jelian? Jelly! I havena seen you in four forevers! Where you been hidin'?" Her face lit with a grin as she abandoned the dough. It would live. "Didja get moved elsewhere? That's gotta su-" Pausing just as she was wiping the flour from her hands, she noticed that something wasn't right. Jelian wasn't greeting her in return, but was instead fiddling with some of the cooking equipment. Normally that would have just been so rude...but something felt off here.

Getting a bit closer, she finally saw what the other was doing and gasped. "What-?! No, stop that!" So focused on the items, as she darted forward to stop the other, she didn't realize that he had grabbed a pot. Her forward motion was abruptly halted as he swung it back and knocked her out cold. Wide, bloodshot eyes regarded the fallen woman for only a moment before returning to their task with a frightening intensity. Two more were barely acknowledged as they came to help him, revealing the forms of three prone figures just outside the main kitchen.

Wood was built up in the fireplaces and ovens, spilling out onto the floor. Grease was flung about and vats of oil smashed. A final flick of a burning log was all it took to start the flames. It wouldn't be long until they were raging.





OOC NOTICE!!! There is now a large chemical fire in the kitchens, as well as containers of flammable liquids and sealed containers that could burst at any moment. Feel free to try your hand at dousing it and/or saving any of the six prone people within (they could be unconscious or already dead, mind). Also, the three assailants can be seen exiting the kitchen area; feel free to do as you will. Take note, they will fight back, and with no reservations...but also little finesse.

How this plays out and how much damage is incurred is in the hands of the players! (Yes, that means YOU!)

((Note: if your dragon is injured here, he will probably not be able to chase Dalisth. Keep injuries light or none at all if you wish to do so!))

[Kristin]

F‘ren was humming a cheery Harper tune under his breath. Patch was perched on his shoulder, eagerly awaiting the foodstuffs he was going to get soon from the kitchens. The pair was in a good mood. Eneth was finally fit to fly and earlier they had gone flying together, Eneth had actually allowed Patch to come with them, all ill-feeling forgotten in the euphoria that followed free flying – without breaks. Both dragon and man had pushed the memory of the flight to the back of their minds and were also getting better emotionally and everything was finally fine again.

But what was this? F‘ren heard strange noises coming from the kitchens and immediately started hurrying to the kitchens, instantly wary. As he drew nearer he realized something terrible – there was a fire in the kitchens and a large one. Three men ran past him and F‘ren just knew that they had started the fire. F‘ren was going to run after them but remembered that there must be people in the kitchens – the drudges that he was going to sweet talk into giving him and Patch some food. F‘ren actually really liked the people that worked in the kitchens and considered some of them his friends.

Patch disappeared in terror into his bag but F‘ren had no time to comfort the blue. He tried to cover his mouth and nose with his shirt and ran into the kitchens. The sight was horrifying but F‘ren knew that as bad as the situation was now, it was going to get even worse. He knew that he wasn‘t going to be able to stop the fire, it was too late, but maybe he would be able to save a life and hopefully not lose his while doing it.

MINE! WHAT IS HAPPENING? THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! THE EVIL ONES ARE BACK! There was blind terror in Eneth‘s mind voice, and in his mind he was back in Trith‘s flight. Eneth was scared. F‘ren paused a little. He knew his dragon was too terrified to be of any use in the battle and in all honesty F‘ren just wanted Eneth to be safe, other dragons and people be damned. He tried his best to send calm and reassuring thoughts to Eneth, but he didn‘t have much time. Listen to me carefully Eneth. I want you to go now to the Crystal Caves and stay there until I say it‘s ok to come back. Ok? I‘ll be all right. I promise. I‘ll be safe, Patch will be here to protect me. Please Eneth, you have to go, I won‘t be able to focus on my own well being if I know you‘re in danger. F‘ren used a dirty trick to get Eneth to agree, he knew that by implying that Eneth would only be a distraction he was guranteeing that Eneth would go. And he was right, moments later Eneth had fled the Weyr.

Now F‘ren had to focus on the kitchens. There were several prone figures on the ground and he knew he wasn‘t going to be able to save them all. The first one he noticed was Kavvi. Sweet, stupid Kavvi. She always had some food to spare for him and gossiping with her was one of F‘ren‘s favorite pastimes. F‘ren refused to let himself see who the others were, that would mean having to choose, and F‘ren didn‘t want to do that. So he picked Kavvi up in his arms and got out of there as fast as he could, his heart breaking for the other people inside, desperately hoping that someone else would come help him.

[Mango]

After making sure the Candidates were all on the Sands and behaving, M'ma was jovially walking to the kitchens. He looked to the blue flitt on his shoulder with a smile. The gold mother on the Sands had been through an ordeal, but she would be fine. And the Candidates didn't seem to have too many troublemakers.

"What do you say, Toto. Let's get some klah and..." he was cut short by screams coming from up ahead. He rushed to the kitchens. Even before he got there, he could feel the heat from the flames that were springing up. He gasped as he rounded the corner and felt a burst of heat. He gave a short cough form the smoke, eyes widening as F'ren came out carrying out Kavvi.

"What's going on?" he demanded, though he didn't stick around to hear an answer. He jumped into the fray, grabbing the first person he saw. "Toto, try and find a bucket." he demanded and the blue took off from his shoulder, squealing in panic.

"Shards," M'ma muttered as he tried to pick up a heavy-set drudge. He was answered by an angry crack from his back. Tears sprung into his eyes as he pulled the drudge out. He felt bad about dragging her, but there was little he could do.

[Kira]

Mira glanced about shiftily...and tiredly. She was exhausted. Misk loved to get up just as the last rays of sunlight were filtering by, so she herself had to get up a bit earlier just to stay ahead of the wher. As such, she was now dead on her feet and admittedly sneaking out after curfew. But, shards, she was hungry. She and Misk had gotten so caught up in practicing various moves that she had completely forgotten to feed herself. And her stomach wasn't about to let her sleep without doing so, as bad as she knew it was to eat just before slumber.

The noise from the kitchen-fires seemed louder than usual, but Mira hazarded a guess that it was just her tired ears. She wrinkled her nose when she smelled smoke. Great, they burnt something. It would have amused her had she been awake enough to tease them over it, but right now it just made her grumpier since she'd have to smell it until she could escape back to her rooms with some sustenance. Hopefully it wouldn't linger on her.

She was abruptly torn from her thoughts as a trio barreled past her, knocking into her shoulder along the way. It was a testament to her exhaustion that they'd managed to do it, and she hissed out an angry swear at their backs. How rude! Now even more irked, she all but stomped to the kitchen area - and was met with a horrifying sight.

Flames leapt almost everywhere. The walls were stone and many things were sturdy metal, but the wooden prep tables were probably toast. She saw F'ren coming out carrying someone, and quickly stepped in and to the side to make room. Good, he should be able to get them out better than she could. The sweet old Weyrling Master was there, dragging another. She just caught what he ordered his fire-lizard. Yes, that was a g- BAD idea. The flames that licked up even the non-flammable surfaces were the product of a chemical. Water made chemical fires spread.

"SAND!" she yelled. "If he gets a bucket, fill it with sand! NO water!" Finally snapping out of the initial shock, she burst into motion, tiredness forgotten in the rush of adrenaline. If she could get through the kitchen to the stores, there might be flour and meal there...that could help soak it up, right? Dirt would be best, but the likelihood of finding that in the middle of the Lower Caverns was doubtful. Gathering her skirts to the side in her hand so they wouldn't brush, she gingerly made her way through the flames. She felt wetness around her bare toes and grimaced, but kept moving. Sparks leapt around her and the heat was unbearable and the smoke made her choke, but she made it into the storerooms. Finding a small bucket of sand that was meant for putting out small grease fires, she quickly tossed that out in front of the doorway before chucking the bucket across the kitchens to hopefully be refilled. A large bag of flour was located next, and she set to work dragging it closer to the door.

[Kaemi]

He hadn't gone to bed yet, shardit.

Yawning widely, Toven finished another meatroll. He was finally beginning to curb the hunger brought on by missing his usual three meals. Of course Tovsk had fallen asleep in the apartments a few candlemarks ago, leaving Toven free to continue his research. During lesson last night, a question had arisen about wher hide that he wasn't entirely sure how to answer... and, thus, he canceled the second lesson and had holed up in the library researching, only coming out now in desperate need of food. He'd probably end up going back there and continuing to research until he found an answer... but now, food was important.

The handler took a sip of klah, forcing his eyes to stay open as his mind drifted around. He didn't do well on little sleep and too much eye-strain, but he had work to do. Still, the lids drooped a little lower... and lower... and lower...

There was screaming. Why in Faranth's name were people screaming in the Kitchens?! It was probably a bunch of annoying little girls. Forcing his eyes back open, Toven had to blink a few times before he registered what was going on. Smoke? Screaming? Running around? Shells, was there a fire? He stood up, shaking his head, still wondering why a kitchen fire would cause this much chaos. There was fire... all over. How did it get this out of control?!

His answer was found when he looked to the front of the kitchens and saw a man literally building up the already-raging fires. By the first egg! A weyrling was carrying out a drudge who appeared injured, and the Weyrling Master was dragging another away from the flames. Then Mira was yelling about sand, not water- sensible. If they threw water on the grease... shells, that wouldn't be good. Probably the main thing right now would be containing the fire, as opposed to putting it out at right this instant. His wherling began throwing things- sand, flour, etc.- to create barriers and stop the spread. He would ask why she was out after curfew later: now he was grateful.

“If you can't help, get out,” he told the remaining drudges, ushering them towards the doors and throwing the bucket that Mira had thrown after them. Unless they were helping, they needed to leave and find someone who could. Thankfully, the Kitchens weren't crowded but there were enough to raise the panic level, which was already high enough. Make them do something useful! “Go find dirt, sand, anything like that. Not water.” Then he turned back around and joined Mira in throwing anything he could find that would help onto the fire. It was getting hot!

[Kira]

Mira coughed again as she backed into the storerooms for another bag. The smoke was thick, but the flour kept lingering in the air too. It was making a nice patch of no-more-fire in front of the storeroom doors, but she had a lot more ground to cover. She realized that she had sort of blocked herself in as the flames licked over the slick patches she'd had to walk through. There was something else nagging at the back of her mind, but the adrenaline rushing in her ears made it hard to focus on anything except the flames before her. Swearing, she hefted the sack as best she could and began trying to spread it again.

She hissed when she felt some of the flame trying to creep up her leg where the oil had splashed and quickly turned to pat it out. As she turned, the flour dispersed just a little more. There was almost no warning as the thick particles in the air suddenly ignited. Mira was knocked back into the storeroom from the blast, and hit a bunch of shelves hard with her back and head. The half-empty sack had followed her, striking her in the chest as well. Trying to gasp in air and getting only smoke, she fell. Hacking twice as blackness closed in on her vision, she finally figured out what was nagging her: airborne flour could be incredibly explosive. The irony, was the last thought that passed her mind as she finally tipped over into unconsciousness.

The flames continued to roar right outside of the door, billowing smoke into the enclosed area. A few small flames licked over her feet and up her ankles for a moment, burning up the splashed oil there.

[Mango]

M'ma watched in horror as the flames continued to grow and spread, despite their best efforts. One girl. he recognized her as one of the Wherlings had joined and advised him not to bring water. Of course! The old Weyrling Master had been too rash in his order. He sent a quick noted to his flit, trying to convey him not to bring water. No water.

Toven soon joined and began trying to stifle the fire. M'ma joined in. His breathing was becoming heavy. Shards, it was hot. Who had done this? He jumped as a small explosion occured. A girl, he recognized her as one of Toven's Wherlings, had disappeared in the explosion.

"I'll get her," he roared of the flames. Toven seemed in a cycle that M'ma had not yet reached. Toven would probably be more help there. Then M'ma could get out of the heat for a short moment. He waddled over to the store room, but paused as the flames roared higher.

With a small curse, he leapt through them, taking off his vest and trying to beat out the flames around her feet. It wasn't working very well. He had to get her out. "You ok?" he asked her, moving to her head to see if she could get up on her own. It didn't seem so. He let out a small grunt as he lifted her up into his arms. M'ma glared at the flames in front of him for a short moment before he backed up and leaned slightly over her and ran through the flames again.

As he got through the flames he heard a sound behind him. It sounded a lot like glass shattering. This was followed by a sharp pain in his shoulder and back of the neck. At the same time,he saw other shards of the glass whizz by his head, thankfully over Mira, and land near him. A warm liquid was soon running down his neck. He opened him mouth to cry out in pain but was left hearing a gurgle.

This was not good. The glass was deep. But he had to get Mira out first. He continued forward from his momentary pause and, after a couple of steps, found himself staggering. No, he had to make it. He shuffled as fast as he could and soon emerged from the flames.

"Help her," he managed to choke out, "Someone." As he set her down in a safe area.

Mine! Mine! What'swrong.What'shappening?You...you... The Green was freaking out. She could feel the pain hers felt. The blue had also reappeared, empty handed. He flitted around M'ma, chirping loudly. Ohohoh!Why was no one helping His?

Heneth....We have lived long. I'm sorry.....for this pain. The little one needed to be saved. I...don't know if there is anything we can do...But I need to go back in and help. His thoughts stopped as he was sent into a real fit of coughs that led him to fall to the ground. As the blood rose in his throat, it soon found its way out to the floor. As he emptied the contents of his stomach from the pain, it mixed with the blood and made a horrid mixture on the stone.

He reached behind him and grasped the glass in his shoulder. It was amazing how the explosion of the wine bottle had gotten so much force. He clenched his teeth and pulled it out, but didn't cry out. No, he was too tired. He dropped the blood-stained glass next to the wall and went for the other piece in his shoulder. That one wasn't as deep. Not that it mattered. The last one, the one that had skimmed past his spine to lodge into his throat, was much more difficult. The pain he felt overcame his tiredness. and reenergized him for a moment.

He gripped the wall and raised himself up, leaving bloody handprints and streaks in his wake. He stumbled into the flames again,ignoring cries of protest. He knew that the fire needed to be put out. "Keep it up...be safe," he choked out to Toven as he passed him. The old man picked up some flour and threw it onto a group of flames. He would continue working until he fell.

The heat was exacerbating his pain, nearby flames licking at his bleeding wounds. he picked up another bag and dropped it. Then, fell to his knees. He fell, draped over the bag. The blue flit cried out. The horrible scream of a green was heard. The blue echoed as both disappeared between. Toto could have left but it was His and hislovelygreen. No,he could not live without them.

[Kristin]

Once F‘ren felt that he had gone far enough, he let Kavvi gently down. She was beginning to wake up and started mumbling something but F‘ren put his hand over her mouth . „Shh, you‘re safe here. Don‘t go anywhere, I have to go back. There are other people there that need to be saved, and perhaps the fire can even be extinguished.” He gently removed the hand that was weakly grasping his wrist and had turned around when he remembered Patch. He located the terrified fire lizard and put him down beside Kavvi. “Listen Patch, I know you don’t want to leave me, but you have to stay here. It’s very dangerous and scary where I’m going.” Of course Patch didn’t like leaving F’ren one bit, but he remembered how hot and scary it had been in the foodstuff place and he didn’t want to go back there. So F’ren was able to leave the drudge and the blue behind, where they were comforting each other, and run to the kitchens.

When he got back to the kitchens, he observed with relief that other people had arrived and were busy extinguishing the flames. It apparently was a chemical fire of some sorts and you couldn’t use water to extinguish it. He had just arrived when there was an explosion in the storage rooms. M’ma was yelling something about getting someone, what was M’ma even doing there? It couldn’t be good for him. Everything was just so confusing and F’ren didn’t know what to do…

He forgot about M’ma while he started to copy Toven, doing everything in his power to stop the fire from spreading. But then he saw M’ma again and he was injured but still the strong Weyrling Master continued fighting the flames. F’ren started to run to him, he had to get the stubborn man out of the kitchens, he needed to be seen by a Healer. But he was too late, M’ma fell down to the ground and his blue firelizard disappeared between forever. F’ren choked back a sob while he lifted his Weyrling Master up in his arms. No way was he letting him lay there to be eaten by flames. He didn’t go far with the body, as soon as he saw a relatively safe spot he let him down. He had to go back to help. Had to focus on the task on hand and forget about M’ma for the time being. There would be time to grieve later.