Escape! [Jack, other renegades?]

[Nia]

Caelin had lost track of how long he'd been here. Days? Weeks? It was probably only days, really. But the blonde finally had enough of being here, not that he ever liked it in the first place. Being constantly... er, well, he didn't want to describe it, not even mentally. He'd much prefer never to think of it again. Not that he hadn't... maybe... a little... no, bad thoughts, bad thoughts! He wasn't coming down with a case of stockholm syndrome, not in a million years!

His only issue now was how to get away from these creeps and their dragons. The young blonde hadn't really interacted with a lot of the others, he usually shied away or just stayed around T'el. There wasn't any point in running away, he had no idea where he was! Which was a serious problem. But now Caelin had finally had enough of this and decided to make a break for it. He knew how to survive, and he could easily just live out here in the wild until someone found him! They must be looking for him... he wasn't that invisible. Really, he wasn't.

Anyway... the young man had waited until T'el fell asleep (which was a painful enough experience) and then slowly crawled away. His heart was pounding frantically as he slowly approached the sleeping dragons, wondering if they were REALLY asleep or just faking. Faking to catch him. He felt his heartbeat quicken at that thought and walked as slowly as possible. About halfway towards the forest he started having second thoughts and paused. Would they kill him if they caught him? He knew some secrets, not a lot, but he knew a little bit like the names and such of the leaders and how many there were... but that probably wasn't anything helpful.

He also knew how cruel certain members of these people could be, but that probably didn't mean anything either. He stopped, thinking. Maybe he should stay a while and learn some more secrets. Was it worth it? He also faintly wondered if they had someone similar to a watchdragon... he'd never been up this late before. Stupid, he should have thought of that! But he continued his quiet (or what he hoped was quiet) creeping through the hideout, it wasn't worth staying here any longer.

[jack]

While not quite a 'watch dragon,' it was hard to suggest that Sjueth was actually asleep tonight. Worn with His's thoughts, the dragon found himself awake this evening, lone eye open and staring with a remorseful silence out of the camp. His breathing was slow and calm, his heart reaching out to T'el soothingly as he rode out the nightmares his Mine suffered. It wasn't unusual for the dragon to be up at this time of night, even when the blackette wasn't innerly writhing in memories. He enjoyed the cool breezes of the evening, and the way the moon played upon his hide. Perhaps it was nothing but a similar shade, but he enjoyed the shimmer of moonlight on his scales.

So as the great Iron waited, listening absently to His's inner cries, it wasn't too surprising that he would pause, glancing to the side at the sound of breaking twigs. The creature gave a soft grunt and tilted his head subtly, flicking the very tip of his tail thoughtfully. He recognized the young man immediately, it was hard not to recall that which His was...so well acquainted with. As to why the man was slinking off...well...Sjueth wasn't so blind a dragon as to not be able to see such things.

Giving a long sigh, eye closing for a moment, he shifted and moved to his feet, stretching out his wings. And where are you wandering off to?
The Iron lazily strode through the underbrush, careful not to make too much noise even as he approached the youth, not bothering to wake His...yet. Mine would be displeased to see you leave.....although...he is becoming bored. Perhaps it is time for you to go.

A yawn slid past from the dragon's maw as he sidled up beside Caelin, curling around him subtly, but not trying to stop him yet. You think you'll get far on your own two legs?

[Nia]

As he saw the Iron approach, Caelin felt his heart drop painfully. He felt like he might throw up any second as he watched the enormous dragon stretch it's wings. And worse than just being one of the biggest dragons on Pern, this was T'el's dragon. It couldn't possibly get any worse. He froze, and was trembling with fear as the huge dragon approached. Oh Faranth oh Faranth oh Faranth oh Faranth he was going to die or worse he was going to die or worse and he was.. he was going to die.

Though, really, the voice of Sjueth in his mind wasn't angry. It wasn't booming with rage, at least. That, however, didn't stop Caelin from trembling in fear, as hard as he tried to calm himself down. It's okay, he could come up with an explanation for this. .... shard it, no he couldn't. He swallowed nervously, glancing around as the Iron curled around him, faintly wondering if the dragon was only pretending to yawn to lure the blond into a false sense of security. Shards, what kind of security was this?! He'd been caught trying to escape and he didn't have a single excuse; his brain was fizzing out.

"I-I was just...." he thought for a moment, and then blinked in surprise. B..bored...? For some reason, that offended him. And he had no idea why. "What do you mean, bored?" he said, trying to hide the hurt tone in his voice (Faranth, what was wrong with him?!). He couldn't have gone through who knows how long just for T'el to get... wait, that was what he wanted, and maybe the dragon would even help him leave! But there was that stupid weird feeling again... shards.

His blue eyes dropped down to the ground, not meeting the dragon's faceted eyes. "No... I guess I wouldn't be able to get far," he muttered, frowning.

[jack]

Mine is...often bored. Sjueth rumbled after a moment, tilting his head to better see the boy, his lone eye lazily gleaming. That which has lost everything, finds solace in posessions and things. But Mine wants more than that...and thus is easily bored with things he can only physically have. The dragon shrugged, working his jaw absently as he glanced again to the moon.

His was still asleep, but his mine was finally still. It was rare for his Mine to sleep soundly, the circles on his face not from a lack of trying to snooze. Sjueth was all too familiar of the images that kept the young man awake--the looming outline of the dragon who had taken his eye...the bloody corpse of a father...the grinning smile of the fiend who had taken it all. The dragon gave a long sigh, looking back down to the blond again.

There are...dangerous things here. He mused thoughtfully, Not even Mine will walk alone here..not that he goes anywhere alone. The beast broke off, pausing as he thought his idea through before rising to his feet with a grumble. I will escort you to the edge of the small dock on this island. According to Mine, a ship comes by there every few weeks to rake the sands for the small fliers.

Stretching out, the images of the flits flooded into his mind. Dastardly little things, he really had no fondness for them. Especially not since the creatures had attempted to harm His. But humans were fascinated with them...and a ship would no doubt be coming soon. I will not tell Mine if you move quickly, and he will not think to look there. However, if Mine should wake-up...I shall return you to him. And if he requests your whereabouts directly, I will not lie. He tilted his head, turning it so both his live eye and his dead one stared at the boy, But do not forget...I am not helping you. If you will not stay, you will not help Mine. Anything that should hinder Mine, I dispose of. For now, this suits. His eye narrowed, But if you should not escape, and should you risk my Mine in any way...I will kill you.

ooc: Yay helpful Sjueth~ xD Sorta. Sorta helpful Sju!

[Nia]

Caelin frowned at Sjueth's explanation of T'el's boredom, but didn't press on it. Hmph, he didn't care about T'el's angsty past! Really, he didn't, because he didn't care about the monster that had been holding him captive for... who knows how long. Caelin had lost his sense of time a while back, not that he had a very good one in the first place. But it did kind of explain a lot, and it kind of made Caelin feel bad... for about a second, then he was ready to escape again. Shards, he really did have stockholm syndrome!

"D-Dangerous?" his blue eyes widdened fearfully, and he was suddenly very glad that he'd caught Sjueth in a good mood. Why would the dragon need to kill him if the dangerous things in the forest would have done it for him? He shuddered, suddenly very, very glad for Sjueth. Shards, good thing T'el had Impressed Sjueth and not the bloodthirsty Black that one of his comrades had. That thing was just plain scary. "Thanks," he said sincerely with a small smile. He was finally getting out of this place!

The blond nodded quickly, "I won't do anything to put him in danger and I'll move as fast as I can," he tried to assure the dragon that he wasn't going to do anything "funny" or anything that would put His in danger. The boy's throat caught at the thoughts of what Sjueth would do if Caelin hadn't gone fast enough or made noise or... well, he wasn't going to think about it, because he was fast. The Iron's threat rang loudly in his mind, but Caelin tried to ignore it. He had to escape, he couldn't be here anymore.

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[jack]

The dragon gave a wide yawn, teeth showing boldly in his maw, and he spared the youth another glance. Indeed. He mused thoughtfully, not bothering to comment further even as he pictured the beasts and things that T'el had absently dubbed dangerous during their walks. Wild whers and wherries...a small group of very feral herdbeasts and pitfalls...poisonous plants and other such things. None of them were a threat to him, of course, but a threat to His was close enough to be considered dangerous.

The Iron seemed content to wander along in silence, but at the thanks he paused minutely, giving a thoughtful look. It is...alright. He rumbled, his visible expression bemused, if a shade surprised. Mine will not entirely disapprove after all.

Sjueth again lapsed into silence, quietly thinking to himself about the whole ordeal even as he listened to His sleep. It was a surprisingly brisk walk from the camp to the dock, but it was plain to see why T'el would never think to look. They now stood on the edge of a small cliff that dove straight down, more likely than not impossible to scale safely. The dock, so close and yet so far, was highlighted by the moon, and the Iron found himself rumbling at the irony.

I will help you down, and then I will go on. Sjueth spoke aloud before shockingly kneeling, offering his neck to Caelin. This is for Mine's own good though. He warned, glancing at him, Do not think that if the situation were any different I would assist you in such an...inappropriate manner.

[Nia]

The fact that Sjueth kept showing his rows of many, many sharp teeth wasn't helping Caelin's nerves, though he supposed that since Sjueth had said he wasn't going to eat him... he wouldn't. He would, er, trust the Iron. What choice did he have? Still, he was now extremely glad he hadn't gone off on his own, gradually walking closer to the Iron as he noticed the shining eyes staring at him from deep in the forest. But they were all just in his imagination... they weren't real. Not at all.... and even if they were Sjueth would scare them away, so he would be fine.

Those thoughts didn't stop his heart from pounding, though, but he walked as if nothing was wrong, completely fine to walk in the silence that Sjueth had made with his last comment. Caelin did smile, however, at the response to his thanks. He'd never really talked much with Sjueth (how could he, anyway?) but he found that he kind of liked the Iron. He was... cute, in his own sort of way. Not that it was the right word to describe Sjueth at all, but Caelin felt it suited in a sort of strange way.

Anyway, the silence was fine with him, as Caelin felt that if they had to converse the whole way he'd slip up and call Sjueth "cute" or "adorable" or "nice" and send the Iron off the deep edge. And then he'd die. Caelin didn't want to come this far just to die because he'd said something stupid. Luckily, they got to the cliff-thing without Caelin being ripped to piece by- oh... a cliff.... That wasn't good. He definitely would NOT be able to go down that... was Sjueth just playing with him?

The blond was shocked as Sjueth lowered his neck for him to apparently climb on so he could be helped down. The boy was in awe and didn't know if this was some kind of sick joke or something. ...deciding it would be bad to question it, Caelin nodded quickly. "Thanks! And... um... o-of course not," he agreed with another frantic nod. Trying to calm down, he attempted to climb onto Sjueth's neck without doing anything wrong, and he thought he managed that pretty well. He gripped tight on to one of the dragon's neck ridges, forcing himself to keep his eyes open and not shut them out of fear. "Um, okay, I'm ready?" he said hesitantly.

[/size]

[jack]

The dragon waited patiently as Caelin clamored up onto his neck, careful not to shift of shake in a manner that would upset the precarious position the boy was in. He was far from a foolish dragon, a noble individual who understood unusually well just how difficult it could be for a human to stay situated without anything to hold on...despite the fact that most riders chose to do so. But ordinary people were far from riders, and this was a sort of logic that Sjueth easily grasped.

As the weight of the child settled and finally spoke up, the Iron rose, moving slowly so as not to jostle before shifting slightly--checking to make sure he was honestly secure--and moving forwards. Deciding the best option would be to glide he stepped to the edge of the cliff, taking a quick glance to make certain he'd judged the distance correctly before--with a powerful push of his hindquarters--he leapt into the air. Massive wings opened with a snap, grabbing at the air greedily as he tucked his legs in, soaring over the dock and to the ocean as he steadied his position. The wind was nice this evening, and Sjueth drank it in greedily, a deep breath filling his ribcage with the smell of salt water and fish.

Rumbling to himself he tilted ever so slightly, changing his direction to circle once, twice over the dock. Selecting a good place to land he began to slowly drop, landing with a delicacy almost unheard of with his size. Content with the landing--and innerly pleased that he'd done it twice as well as most in the dark with half the vision--he knelt down again, stretching his neck out against the sand with unhidden pleasure. Sjueth waited until the boy had slid off before straightening, shaking a small amount of the sand clinging to his scales off. I would wish you the best of luck. He rumbled after a moment, eye wandering to the sky as though watching something, But it seems as though you already have it.

He worked his jaw for a moment, as though thinking, before giving a soft rumble. Perhaps we will meet again. But perhaps not. He turned, the roar of a dragon not-so-distant, echoing around him, Good-bye. Without another word he leaped up, spreading his wings and pumping them to soar away, disappearing into the trees a while later.

High above them and far distant, Shoth shifted in the air, diving straight downwards--to the displeasure of his rider--without any explanation or comment. B'rak, forced to cling for his life at the shockingly steep dive, clenched his eyes shut and ground his teeth, silently willing the dragon to snap out of whatever stupidity he'd caught and pull up already! As if on cue, he did.

Angry and distraught the dragon landed with a ground-shaking thud, having giving a hawk's eye view of the world to his still-stunned rider. A furious roar sounded in his throat again and he snapped his tail, stamping his feet like a rampaging herdbeast. he walked in place for a moment, shaking himself, before pausing just long enough for B'rak to slide off, watching with confused eyes as the dragon immediately turned and bolted into the sky again, rocketing in the same direction Sjueth had disappeared to a moment before.

The white-haired man shook his head, turning to look off after his dragon as he sorted through the Bronze's thoughts, trying to work out what exactly the other had seen that he not only was neglecting to explain, but had sent him in such a tizzy. But he abandoned his attempt after a moment, turning to look at the only thing he had noticed during the whole affair.

"You're not a rider." He commented idly as he approached Caelin, looking him up and down quietly, "But there was an Iron here, wasn't there?" He frowned, looking off after Shoth once more. "You have some things to explain, boy."

ooc: xD I'll explain in the next post<3

[Nia]

As Sjueth started moving Caelin dug his nails as far into the dragon's hide as he could make them go, hoping that Sjueth wouldn't mind and brush it off as nerves. If the Iron could even feel it, he must have pretty thick skin. He barely had time to prepare himself before they were soaring and he was absolutely terrified of falling off. But Sjueth had made sure he was okay and seemed to be taking extra precautions, so for some reason Caelin felt kind of safe. Even the landing wasn't as bad as he'd thought, Sjueth was surprisingly delicate.

But it was over long before Caelin could fall off, and he dizzily slid off the Iron's neck anyway. He'd never ridden a dragon without it's rider... it made him feel kind of weird. Like a Dragonrider, almost. But he'd never been searched and he was already 19, far too old to be Searched now. Maybe they'd let him move to the Weyr as a favor for letting him get sharding kidnapped, though. He could probably work as a cook or something, he was pretty good with food.

Anyway, he nodded to Sjueth, only faintly understand what the dragon had meant by "lucky". "Good bye, Sjueth," he said with a wave as the Iron took off. He stared at the sky where Sjueth had disappeared for a while. Well, it would have been a while, had another dragon not crossed into his vision. It wasn't Sjueth, but... a Bronze? Maybe. The boy watched the Bronze (or so he thought, it could have been a Brown or something) now, wondering if maybe that was what Sjueth had meant by lucky. Until the dragon started charging in a straight downward dive... right for him.

The blond shrieked and dropped to the ground, covering his head. Oh faranth oh faranth oh faranth oh faranth they were more renegades and they were going to kill him oh faranth oh faranth oh faranth oh faranth.... except they hadn't approached him yet. Or seen him. Had he done something to upset them? ... maybe Sjueth had. Well... if they weren't renegades weren't they from a Weyr...? The thought made the rather freaked out boy stand up promptly, though he was rather shakey on his feet. The Bronze was starting to scare him.

He tensed a little bit as the rider approached and his mind immediately went to: oh faranth no he's going to kidnap me too it's going to start all over again no no no no no, but his comments seemed to be, well, innocent questions. Innocent questions that Caelin had no idea how to answer. "Um, no I'm not but... um...." Oh shards, how did he explain himself without giving away T'el and Sjueth? He'd said he wouldn't put them in danger. "But I... um... I'd really rather not talk about it," he muttered, looking down at his feet.

[/size]

[jack]

A white brow was arched, dark eyes staring steadily at the boy, before he gave in with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, "Alright, alright. You'll have to explain eventually, but for now.." He shifted, glancing up to the sky as he noticed his dragon returning, grumbling loudly to himself.

B'rak had been skeptical--and a shade bit annoyed--when Shoth had woken him up in the middle of the night, demanding to fly. The Bronze had given no explanation, but the way he had shifted and moved assured the young man that, more likely than not, it was a simple urge. The strange creature got them occasionally--although they had become rare--and the rider knew better than to deny them. So off he had gone, trailing sleepily after Shoth as the dragon escorted him--sort of--to where he kept his clothing, and waited with false patience for him to get dressed, get on, and get out!

With the odd searching manner of a suspicious watch-dog the dragon had soared for miles, betweening with little warning and little comment. It was strange and had put B'rak on edge--even Shoth wasn't known for 'kidnapping' his rider in this sort of way. Countless questions went without answer, the dragon continuing on his way with his eyes set on the ground and his movements slow and careful. At least a candlemark had passed when the Bronze at last answered one of His's questions, stating that he had a 'gut feeling, as you squishies say.'. Apparently, his gut hadn't been lying.

Shoth arrived a few moments later, B'rak moving to face the dragon while keeping an eye on Caelin. "Well, what's the fuss, Shoth?"
Sjueth.
The white-haired man's eyes widened, muscles stiffening visibly, "What?"
It was Sjueth.
"Did you catch up with him..?"
No.
"Then ho--"
I saw from the sky. Sjueth's scar. I tried to speak to him, but he ignored me. I lost him in the trees--he can disappear like thread burrows when he wishes.
The dragon's tone was reserved, his attention clearly split as he moved his gaze from Caelin to the skyline.
"...so T'el..is still alive."
Indeed.
B'rak gave a long sigh, a mixture of relief at knowing his old friend was alive, and horror that he was alive...and not at a weyr.
"I almost can't believe it." The Bronzerider gave a shallow laugh, rubbing at the back of his neck, and turned his attention to Caelin. "You won't speak? Good. Keep this to yourself..and maybe me, okay?" he gave a soft smile, "I don't know the situation, but if it involves that man, it can't be good." He moved towards Shoth, who was now eying the young man with keen interest, "On the other hand...I don't want to jump to conclusions, and I'd rather not put a...very old friend in more trouble than he has to be in." He gave a shallow laugh and tugged at his bangs, noting Shoth's gaze at long last.
"Shoth...?"
... The dragon moved forwards suddenly, peering down at Caelin before pressing his nose against him, breathing in thoughtfully. A Candidate.
"Wait, what?"
He's going to be a Candidate, Mine. The Bronze replied, shaking himself slightly, Now hurry up and bring him along--I am very ready for sleep.

Confused, but knowing better than to question his dragon when he was ready for a nap, B'rak turned to Caelin, giving a bemused smile, "Well...you heard him." He wheeled around and climbed up the dragon's neck, offering a hand down to Caelin, "Come along, kiddo. Looks like there's going to be work to deal with now."

ooc: Sorry--its rushed. xD;
Think we can move this to the personal weyrs? I doubt B'rak would want to wake anyone up until morning, and would offer his own home instead. o3o

[Nia]

Caelin nodded meekly, still not making eye-contact with B'rak. The thought of having to explain what T'el had done to him made him blush profoundly and wish that the whole ordeal had just been a bad dream. The horrible man had been right when he'd said that Caelin kind of enjoyed the attention, but hey if you were ignored for your whole life and suddenly someone paid attention.... oh Faranth, he was starting to sound like a basket case. If Pern had a Happy House he was probably one straightjacket away from spending his life in a padded room. Not that he didn't have a good excuse for it, though, being kidnapped was pretty traumatizing.

He watched as the Bronzerider seemed to doze off or something, but then apparently went to address him. His blue eyes widdened and he blinked in surprise at what he had to say next. Did this guy know T'el? And he wasn't going to have to tell anyone what had happened? ... it would probably do him a bit of good to talk about it, though. And he was pretty sure his Hold would probably want to know what happened. But just "I was kidnapped by T'el, the Ironrider" was probably a good enough explanation, he didn't have to go into detail or anything. If they knew T'el they'd know what had happened, and he wouldn't have to say anything. For a while Caelin had wondered if he'd been the first one kidnapped by this guy... though he figured that wasn't true, there must have been others.

But he felt a little too ashamed of his position to say anything else, so he just waited for B'rak to inevitably invite him back to the Weyr until they could contact the hold he came from. ...however, that didn't happen. Instead, he heard another dragon's voice in his mind. A-a-a Candidate?! He couldn't be a Candidate! None of the other Searchriders had ever sent him even a passing glance! Had he changed mentally or something? Did dragons like people with stockholm syndrome? Was this Bronze just smarter than the other dragons?

"I-I... but... I..." he stammered on about how it must be some sort of mistake, but caught himself, and instead took B'rak's hand. He was going to a weyr, now. There would be time for questions and declining of the Candidacy later. ... except Caelin was pretty sure he wasn't going to decline.

ooc: yup~ to the personal weyrs we goooo!