I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning [Forever Open]

[Lan]

{desc=Rainracers, Ondine}

|| note : This thread will probably contain medical gross-ness and a lot of feels. Viewer discretion is advised.

---

It had been two sevendays since the fateful hatching, and already fall was attempting to spread its leaves over the wounds that had been left since doomsday. Many of the injured had been taken back to the comfort of their own beds to convalesce and some had even healed. There was only one individual that remained...

His green dragon had been seen fretting before the exterior Infirmary entrance even as Rukbat rose and set. Her hide, normally so bright and full of life, had dulled a paler green as she refused to leave HerA'bar's side even to nourish herself. Furthermore, she had heard the herdbeasts themselves were to blame for the craziness that took place on those Hatching Sands, and she would not allow herself to partake of a creature that had caused HerA'bar pain. Every ache in his body, from the throbbing in his abdomen to the aching in his head to the very fever that radiated an inhuman heat, was felt by the sorrowful green dragon.

Today, however, seemed a little bit better. Rukbat shone over the Bowl, freshly dewed with the previous night's rain, and she could feel the sun on her back even as she angled her sore neck to try to peer in to where her rider was being kept. Her mind, tangled up in his, sung soothing songs of love his way like a perpetual prayer.

It had been like this since Halventh had finally let her up from her place on the Ledges high above the Stands.

She felt a shift in his mind and she cooed vocally, her vibratto a soft purr that just reached his ears. He stiffened, holding back a cough to clear the phlem that coated his throat in his sleep, and on weak arms attempted to push himself back up higher in his pillow. He could feel the vibration in his own chest, as if he were one with Ablath, and yet there was a pain deeper in his stomach that he knew to be his alone. A'bar frowned, blinking back sleep in his eyes as he tried to peer blurrily around for Ondine.

The pinkrider had been his primary caretaker since this ordeal had first began. If it had been many turns ago he would have been sheepish and angry of her discovering the secret of his biological sex, but it was not so now. In his time spent at Dalibor and his injuries he had sustained over those turns A'bar was no longer bashful of healers. Besides, something about Ondine made him trust her, other than the fact she had brought him from the brink of death and back. She seemed... kind... if that was even the right word for it.

How are you, A'barMine? Ablath asked, her mental voice as weak as the color of her hide. It hurt him to hear her that way, but he tried not to fret too much lest he cause her more worry. I'm sore. He turned to look for some water next to his bed, but the effort made him grimace and he sunk further down into his pillow. Sore and tired.

But you're awake. There was a small bit of desperate triumph in her tone that made his heart ache. The babies are coming to see us, A'barMine, when she sensed some confusion from his mind she continued, Our kids! They have been worried about you. Agnith and Mifth have been taking care of them. A'bar grimaced, swallowing but feeling only dryness. Where was Ondine? He wasn't sure he was up to company. They visited me while you were... asleep... she trailed off, her memories intermingling with his own.

Fine, he decided. Let them come. He didn't want to cause the Rainracers any more heartache than they had already experienced during their tragic Weyrlinghood. If this was what Ablath thought would help them he would trust her judgment. After all, it was ignoring her warnings that had gotten him into this mess.

[Zephyr]

It had been a tense couple of weeks for K’ius. He’d gotten in deep with both K’var and Delilah, and he wasn’t even sure how that had happened. He didn’t seem to be the talk of the weyr, and that was good, at least…but he’d been told to stay was from Sandr, at least for a while. That didn’t sit well with the moody teenager, and most of the time he wasn’t working, he was holed up in his weyr, ready to bite people’s heads off.

And that seemed to include Shobhaith, lately. Ever since he’d let the information slip about the boys, Kai hadn’t spoken to Sho unless he had to…and when he did speak to him, Kai was short with the purple. He knew Shobhaith hadn’t meant to get them in trouble, and once more, Kai tried not to blame him, but it was difficult to keep all the blame away when it felt like his entire life was crumbling in on him.

Sho had long since stopped trying to get K’ius to leave the weyr and socialize with the other weyrlings. Kai hadn’t been enthused with most of them before this, and the purplerider’s newfound grouchiness didn’t make things any better.

This morning found the boy sitting up in his bed, back against the wall. He stared listlessly at the antics of his flits. Puck and Jaeger were off planning the absolute perfect prank ever, Mab was helping Pony gather the items that Titania had stolen, Jax was asleep pressed up against Kai, and Oberon was watching Titania and Aaylii bicker. Ever since Kai had impressed the baby orange, the two had been at odds. The hatchling seemed to have claimed Kai’s left shoulder, and the two were constantly going at it over his personal space.

K’ius couldn’t find it in him to train the fighting out of it. Watching them was really all the entertainment he had anymore.

Sho had been sleeping on his ledge, curled up in the morning sunshine. He stirred lightly, eyes unsure as he glanced to Kai. K’ius? Came the purple’s voice, a little hesitant. He didn’t answer, staring at Aaylii and Titania. Whether or not he heard the purple’s plea was unknown, so Sho went a little deeper. K’ius? We should go see Ablath’s A’bar. “Why?” The boy finally spoke, his voice grumpy. “I’m sure he’s heard what happened. There’s no way he’ll want to see me. You go.” The purple wasn’t taking no for an answer, and he crawled onto his belly futher into the weyr, laying his great head over Kai’s legs. He interrupted the firelizard fight as Titania disappeared. Please? It’ll do you both some good.

He’d felt so badly about how he was treating Shobhaith lately, that he couldn’t really say no to the dragon. He reached a hand out to brush fingers along Sho’s snout and sighed lightly. “Fine, but you need to get your fat butt off of me so I can get up.”

Twenty minutes later, Kai was being dropped off at the infirmary, and Shobhaith went to go socialize with Ablath. The purple nudged her happily, crooning softly. Hello Ablath. Are you hungry? I can go fetch you some fish or wherry. Kai wasn’t so upbeat as he made his way in. He was the first weyrling to arrive, and he half thought about leaving. Aaylii was on his left shoulder, as usual, digging her claws into his skin and snapping at Eponine, who was trying her hardest to wrap herself around Kai’s neck and stay away from her at the same time. Titania was displaying her superiority over a certain orange interloper and was perched on the boy’s head, claws in his scalp and hissing at the world at large.

He’d instructed the rest of the fair to stay outside…there was just no way he could pry these three off of him. And finally, he just gathered what little courage he still possessed and walked into A’bar’s room. Taking a deep breath, he stilled at the man’s bed and gave him a smile. “Hey old man. You look awful.” It was said in jest, a familiar teasing that hurt him deep down. His mood dropped considerably. “How’re you doin’?” Because talking about A’bar was much preferred to talking about himself.

Especially when Kai didn't think he should be bothered with this shit.

[Maggie]

"If you say one thing, one singlular tiny little thing to upset Ablath, Nessie, I'm going to keep you from seeing Enciath and Anablimyth for a month," Dawn hissed at her dragon as they glided slowly, ponderously down towards the ground towards where Ablath was mournfully waiting for her rider. Dawn had gone to see her a few times, and him in the infirmary. She wasn't all that fond of their Weyrlingmaster, mostly since she hated rules and those who had to enforce them were alwys annoying, but he was their Weyrlingmaster and she felt completely lost without him no matter how good F'dren and Delilah were.

I will not upset her, Nesdeth promised, a little miffed that her rider didn't trust her at all. She landed next to Ablath, folding her wings and looming for a moment. Hello, Ablath. Did you know that the human body can survive and overcome all kinds of horrific injuries. Your A'bar is proving this. He will be scarred like a wher perhaps, but he will be well very soon and he will give our graduation speech, she tried to reassure the green in her own way.

"Hi Ablath, how are you doing?" Dawn asked the green gently. "Do you need anything? If you do, you know any of the Rainracers would be thrilled to get it for you." She patted a green claw gently. "I'm going to go see A'bar."

She followed the rout K'ius had taken just moments before, aware he was there since Shobhaith was outside. She gave him a perfuntory nod as she entered, smiling a bit at his red flitt. She was rather entertaining. Lacey, on Dawn's shoulder, gave a disapproving cheep, though she watched them, curious for gossip about wht was going on that she could share with Gracey later. "We heard you were awake and we came as fast as we coud," she murmured to the Weyrlingmaster quietly. "Are you... Does it hurt a lot? Ablath's been so worried."

[Dragonwher]

Sho and Kai as well as Dawn and Nessie might have been the first ones to arrive; but they surely weren't the last. Though Mira had only held back so she wouldn't do Ablath any harm mentally by accident. Considering the rollercoaster ride her own mind had gone through watching her brother get mauled, and Impress to his mauler. But, mostly thanks to the encouraging feels from her flit trio and Mali she finally acquiesced to Malinoth's own almost shyly insistent suggestions to visit A'bar.

Shy in a sense because they had gotten their ears figuratively twisted once A'bar had found out about their antics at the Gather just before they'd been sent back to the Weyr. But that was some time ago and now was important. Though she hoped he'd at least be happy to hear she and Malinoth had NOT had any repeats of the Gather insanity they had incurred. Upon getting the feeling that Mira was going along with his idea to go see A'bar Malinoth had been better than ever sitting still for his riding straps. Mira laughed a little as she finally got on Malinoth's back "you only sat still because I wasn't putting all your straps on weren't you?".

Malinoth dipped his head slightly before responding as he launched from their new weyr no...I was behaving because you were being happy to go see our Weyrlingmaster Miramine thats all. As he flapped a bit to get where Ablath roosted Nymeria, Asher and Meridia trailed after him, Perrin had opted to stay behind. Once Mali landed however Nymeria and Asher perched on Mira's shoulders as she slid from Malinoth's back and stumbled lightly. Then smiled at Ablath "hello Ablath, are you and A'bar feeling better?". Then she couldn't help a giggle as Meridia sort of bounced her way into the area A'bar was in, hopping like a little cyan sparrow between Dawn's feet to enter the room with a 'wreep' at every hop.

Any laughter died when Mira got a look at A'bar though as she swallowed nervously "um...Weyrlingmaster A'bar Sir...I wanted you to know I haven't caused any trouble for your temporary replacement teachers. She seemed unaware of how fretfully she stressed the word 'temporary' as she kept talking "though Malinoth is still fighting the idea of Betweening...". From outside Malinoth simply sat near Nesdeth and Shobhiath, not yet wanting to interrupt. Meridia however; feeling Mira's discomfort, popped back to her and climbed up her person till she got under the girls tunic then popped her snaky little head and neck from the girl's clothes to 'giggle-razz' at A'bar for making her person so unhappy sounding. It didn't seem to occur to the flit that her person's unhappiness wasn't due to A'bar.

[Chimera]

No one in the Weyr was left the same after the most recent hatching, whether or not they attended - that was for sure. None of the Candidates - none of them had went off the Sands unscathed, whether or not they had Impressed. But as sorry as Nora felt for all of the people, she and Aypoth were very worried about their own Weyrlingmaster. Even Delilah and F'dren were good temporary replacements, but they were temporary. They could not truly take the place of the greenrider that should have been their guide until the graduation, and even after - Nora and Aypoth still hoped A'bar would recover in time for graduation at the very least, but it could be a futile hope.

Aypoth waited with Shobhaith, Nesdeth, and Malinoth outside. She looked up at Ablath, and nuzzled the green's neck with a worried croon.

We're there to help with whatever you need, Ablath.

"A'bar?" Nora softly said as she reached the man's bedside. "How are you feeling?" Her four firelizards accompanied her - Triantan lied belly-down on her head, holding onto her brown hair, Imni was snaked around her neck and right shoulder with Oraiste sitting between her wings, and Ceannaire hovered in the air, his shiny bronze wings making soft whooshing noises as they beat against the air. All four of the fair had worry colored in their gem-like eyes. Oraiste did not understand what was going on, except that it was cause for worry. She noted the place they were in, that the strange horizontal "titan" did not seem well and that her Nora-titan-father was very concerned for him. Imni was worried herself, as always, but the green reassured her accidentally adopted orange flit with a strong chirp.

"Time flies so fast...We Rainracers are going to be wonderful riders once we graduate - we all already are! And Iola will be a wonderful Weyrwoman, I know it. And you're going to heal up very soon!" Despite her best attempts to retain her usual cheerful attitude to help spread the feeling to A'bar, Nora couldn't. Her words felt so empty, so fake.

Nora waved a little to her fellow Weyrling R'lan as the tall boy arrived. Ainoth lied down with the others outside, though she distanced herself a bit from them out of skittish, withdrawn habit. R'lan nodded in some sort of grim salute-greeting.

"Weyrlingmaster A'bar. I came as fast as I could once I heard the...news. Please tell us if you need anything. Uh...yes. Lessons are going well for me and Ainoth, and Delilah and F'dren are doing their jobs well as Weyrlingmasters while you are unavailable." He stepped back a few steps so some other arriving Rainracer could speak to A'bar if they wanted.

[Ondine]

It had been a long two sevendays.

More than any other hatching, the injured had packed the infirmary. Nearly every Candidate, Wherling or Weyrling had some kind of injury, and Dalibor's healers had been...taxed. Perhaps not strained to capacity, but taxed, to accommodate them all in a timely manner. And, in the case of one man, who was neither Candidate nor Weyrling, to work on him fast enough to save his life. Ondine's smile was back to being the same mask that it had been during the plague, a bulwark against worry and sometimes despair, because while she had saved A'bar's life in the stands, he might have died again if they hadn't been able to operate on him.

The journeywoman still wasn't entirely sure that they had saved his life, but things were looking up. After first aid that had saved the greenrider from bleeding out, they'd determined that he had internal damage. Even after attempting to repair that and cleaning the toxic poison that had leaked into his abdominal cavity, his blood had remained tainted. They had been forced to drain it and replace it, much like they had done to Sebolaren perhaps a turn and a half back. That process, through discovery to treatment, had taxed A'bar, and several on the healer's staff had expressed doubt that he was going to make it. The night had been harrowing, and she had staggered into her weyr on the back of Dilath before collapsing into the bed she shared with Sian.

Ondine still wasn't sure exactly how much the rider remembered of the two sevendays that had passed between. They had tried, and failed, to coax Ablath to eat even fish, but the dragon had refused, slowly starving herself for as long as A'bar remained in the infirmary. Nothing would move the green, not that the healers had stopped trying. But it was hard to force a dragon to eat what it didn't want to without the help of the rider, and the rider was still recovering from a very close encounter with death.

She bustled into the room that contained her patient and paused in surprise. She hadn't expected him to be awake...or to have people in the room with him. And him was still the right pronoun to use, as it was obvious that despite the body, A'bar called himself a male, as did his dragon, and that was what others should use as well. “Oh, you're awake! Excuse me everyone, are you thirsty A'bar?” She beamed softly, walking over with the cup of water and taking a long look at her patient as she did so. And because of that examination, she helped him drink, carefully raising the mug to his lips so that it wouldn't splash over before placing the mug on the table next to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

She might be acting lighthearted, but she was still worried. Dilath flitted at the back of her mind, easing her fears and giving her the sweet, easy love that she always did. And right now, Ondine needed that. After all of this was over, and A'bar had been released, she was thinking of taking several days and just...relaxing, tucking herself away in her weyr with her dragon and one of her lovers. That she was even considering time away from the infirmary spoke volumes about how tired she was. But she kept smiling and kept going. It was what she did.

Should he even have visitors though? He was still tired and wasn't doing so well. Actually, why hadn't anyone stopped them from coming in? She kept herself from sighing, but resolved to have another chat with the apprentices. Even if none of them had said yes, someone should have spotted all of these Weyrlings before they came inside.

[Kiran]

After some coaxing from her rider, Dreaneth had reluctantly agreed that they should go visit their weyrlingmaster and his dragon. The green had been antsy about the whole matter. She was perfectly comfortable with helping out physically with problems - she had nearly fallen over herself when they had been assigned to ferry Firestone to the wings, and had actually Ben disappointed when Threadfall ended - but this was something the green was out of her league for, and she knew it. Setting down gently among her peers, fully aware of her size and how to move around the others so she didn't hit them, Dreaneth let Fyris off her back and pawed at the ledge nervously for a few moments.

Go reassure her. Say something nice. Fyris gave her own greetings to the other dragons as she headed inside to check on the weyrlingmaster.

Dreaneth shot a small glare at her rider. That was no help! But... The green moved forward to give a gentle nudge to her smaller, but older, counterpart when her clutch siblings had said their part. Ablath, your rider is doing well. You should eat. If you Between from it, them A'bar is sure to follow. Dreaneth didn't know if it was true, but the green was certain that not eating couldn't be good for either Ablath or her rider. FyrisMineMyOwn taught me to fish. Perhaps I could get some for you? It seemed the least she could offer... And would occupy her and get her away from having to try and deal with emotions instead of actions since it took far more time to fish than kill a herdbeast.

Fyris ended up coming in the room closely on the heels of Ondine. She gave a small nod to everyone in the room, deciding to hang back and lean against the wall instead of crowd about her weyrlingmaster like the rest of the people here seemed to want to. No surprise, as he had been so brutally injured... Fyris gave a small wince at the memory, recalling how she had been forcing Fyska's face against her chest to block out the violence. She couldn't block the screams, though.

[lee]

He was not a weyrling. Hadn't been, for turns now. But F'dren had come, nevertheless, because something still felt wrong about stepping into the new role that had been shouldered, a foreboding permanence in the face of a severed path that should have gone on straight for dragonlengths. He had hoped, as the rest of the Weyr had, that it might not have been as bad as it had looked on the Sands. But now, sevendays later, it was all too clear that it had been. F'dren leaned against the wall outside of the Infirmary, listening but not entering, knowing it was more important for the young ones to see the greenrider now. The Weyr still had A'bar and Ablath. But F'dren, a pessimist at heart, could not quite stop himself from wondering how long they would be able to say that.

For a long time yet, he hoped, staring morosely down at the mug of klah gone cold in his hands.

Sighing, he pushed himself off the wall to leave. He would return another time to speak with him, if he could. For now... Mifth? Their conversation was quick and quiet. They'd been a pair so long they didn't need words.

Little ones, Mifth gently reached out to the dragonets—most of them not so little anymore—around Ablath. Perhaps if you brought fish for yourselves as well, and offered to eat together? The cheery blue hid his own worry, though hints of the soft concern for the pretty green colored the thoughts. It was a suggestion, not an order, for neither blue nor bluerider knew how to make it better. Thank Faranth for the healers. The thought came not unbidden to the morose man's mind. They had a thankless task.

[Lan]

Old man. It was all A'bar could do to keep from cackling. If he was old, then those other Weyrlingmasters must be ancient. And if he looked awful he felt a million times worse. "Better'n..." his voice gave out and he weakly cleared his throat with a grimace. "Better'n dead." He turned his head to the side, glancing over at the purplerider with a half-glare, but a smile slowly came to his lips and his gaze softened. K'ius the Troublemaker. He had labelled the lad as that in his head, but even as he muttered curses under his breath he never meant a word of it. As much of an egotistical jerk the boy could be, there was something about his spark that A'bar admired... something that would make him an excellent wingrider someday. That is, assuming he could survive Weyrlinghood.

"It's good to see you." There was no wax to his words; he meant them. There was something cathartic about seeing his problem student as the first at his bedside. For all his strutting and foolish behaviors, it seemed there was something else to the weyrling than met the eye.

A deep breath was drawn to say more, but before he spoke others were filing in. Dawn was first; Dawn the Responsible. He had heard her come in even as she was talking to Ablath. Man and dragon seemed so close now; it was as if sometimes his consciousness was indistinguishable from hers. He heard what she heard, saw what she saw, and felt what she felt.

"Ablath needs food." He could hear her stomach pains as if they were his own; his own brand of pain that he was feeling could go between. It hurt to ask kids for this, but he had no idea when Dilath would be returning and he knew if he asked Ablath to talk to Halventh that she would refuse to leave him even for that. Dawn was always offering help, as well. He knew she and Nesdeth would act to make things right.

Next was Mira; Mira the Earnest. A faint hint of a smile traced his lips as she informed him that she had, indeed, been good for his replacements. "Good," he encouraged, taking a breath after. He found he could only breath shallowly lest the pain return in stronger force, so he tried to keeps his words to a minimum. He hadn't had time to respond to her update on between training until Nora (Nora the Determined) entered as well. Goodness, when Ablath said all the kids were visiting she meant it. He didn't know how much more would fit in the room. He blinked a couple of times, his head spinning. Was it supposed to do that?

R'lan was there next, R'lan the... well, he didn't really have a secret nickname for the lad. It was probably for the best; at least he could not claim the name troublemaker.

Finally, however, Ondine appeared and he turned his attentions gratefully to her. Before he could even cough out an affirmative to his question a cup was at his lips and he greedily slurped at the water. Only once he was done did she pull away and he allowed himself to relax back on the bed with a light-breathed "Thanks." Next came the question; it was the question he had heard from so many healers before and tried to ignore. His impulsive "Fine," came up but then he grimaced and thought better of it. "Sore. Aching." Yep, those words probably just about summed it up. Turning his attention back to his growing audience, however, he realized there was something to this visitors thing that raised the spirits even a little bit.

---

Ablath cooed weakly to Shobhaith, snuggling herself against his larger mass. Someplace inside her mind stored a memory of his being much smaller than her, although she could not recall when that had been. Hello, Shobhaith. Thank you for visiting me. She ignored his question about her hunger. He may be larger than her, but he was still her kid. She took care of him, not the other way around. Nesdeth was given her attention next and she reached out her snout to bump lightly against the cyan's shoulder. I did not know that, Nesdeth. Thank you. Her words made Ablath more distressed than calm, but the green was being polite. Nesdeth was her kid and was just trying to help.

Aypoth was the next to be drawn into her cuddle puddle and Ablath leaned in to the pink's gentle nuzzling. Thank you, Aypoth. I am glad you are here. She welcomed Draeneth in as well, although the green's words cut her to the core. MyA'bar will not leave so long as I am here, she assured the younger dragon, I promised him when we met that I would never leave him, and so long as I keep that promise he will be okay.

[Rii]

There is a gathering. Most gathering-y of gatherings, Acreth lilted for V’kyr’s mind alone as she perched comfortably on their weyr’s ledge. The teen left off from checking over their flight straps to go out and see what his beloved, off-kiltered green was talking about this time. Isn’t it odd, that we always note when people come together and name it, but never when they stray apart?

V’kyr grinned and shook his head. “Suppose you’re right, Acreth. We notice when a group breaks up because there was a group, but a lone dragon or person isn’t much worth noticing for some reason.”

They are going to see A’bar and Ablath. Should we join them, or be the ones to leave before we arrive?

The greenweyrling covered his face with his palm for a moment. “Acreth, that’s just called ‘not going’.”

My way is more interesting, don’t you think? Something different.

He gave it some serious thought. On one hand, he really wanted to go and offer A’bar some smiles and well-wishes. On the other, there were already a few down there, and that many visitors would probably be a strain. “For a little,” he decided finally. “We can just peek in and say hi, and then go.”

Mifth says perhaps we can get fish and eat with Ablath. That will help her feel less hungry, Acreth commented, spreading her wings and lifting a foreleg for her rider to use as a step up to her back. For such a quick flight, they weren’t going to bother with straps. Their first detour was for fish. Delicious, tasty fish to share around! By the time they’d acquired a substantial dragonsnack, the few dragons had grown to five from their class plus Ablath. Circling, they set down with their net.

A snack is a meal you eat ahead, Acreth hummed, extending her neck to bump her head against Ablath’s. We brought enough to share. Oh, Ablath. It is so good to see you again.

V’kyr meandered inside, offering a wave and a cheerful grin. “Hey, A’bar. Good to see your eyes open again. Acreth and I brought some fish over for the dragons.” He winked, relief making him playful. “I promise we haven’t flooded the Weyr out in your absence.”

[Ondine]

She had guessed right about his needing water, but it was unlikely that he wouldn't. He'd been fairly thirsty throughout, and most people who were in recovery needed more water than usual anyways. Ondine smiled when he gave her the stock response, even if it was complete wherrydung, but before she could gently call him out on it he backed up a bit and gave her something that sounded just a teensy bit more realistic. 'Fine' he most certainly was not, or else he wouldn't still be here. But it was a reflex that she knew well, which somehow even persisted when people came into the infirmary. One would have hoped that such small talk would have stopped at the sharding door! But no, it didn't, it came all the way in and stuck around for a while longer before the healers could dig beneath it.

Sore and aching though, sounded much better. He'd been much worse for quite some time, and she was glad that he was at least beginning to get back on his feet. And, if she was reading his mood at all, maybe the visitors were actually helping. It'd be nice if they were, since both his and his dragon's morale had been rather low for the duration. “Good, I'm glad its only sore and aching. That's at least recovering from what it had been.” But it was time for another talk that she wasn't looking forward to. They kept trying to feed Ablath, and she kept refusing to eat anything that might have been related to her beloved's injuries. “A'bar...I need you to tell Ablath to eat.” She finally said bluntly, “She barely even eats fish, and she refuses to eat herdbeasts. I'm sorry to ask that of you, but she won't listen to us at all.”

Which was sad, but certainly true enough. Even the herdbeasts from other continents that Dilath had brought were refused. All herdbeasts were suspect, and she refused to eat even when she must be so hungry as to be nearly dead from it. Both she and A'bar would have a long road to recovery ahead of them, and her's had been entirely preventable...if only they had been able to get her to eat. But they hadn't, and it was up to the rider, now, to help them help his dragon.