Totally NOT a Kidnapping! (Jack)

[4horseshowgirl4]

Xela couldn't decide if she liked the Weaverhall or not. There was just too much... structure. She'd lived her entire life mostly left to her own devices, getting to decide when she ate, when she slept, where she went, etc. Well, really, Raelle had made all of those decisions, but there was only one of her, and she was easy enough to manipulate into doing what Xela wanted to do, for the most part, at least. But here? There was no manipulating, no getting out of the rigorous schedule. She had no marks, so there was no bribing her way out of the chores, and the Journeymen that were teaching them had heard every excuse in the book. Sure, she could sneak out, and she had, many times, but they always found out, and she really preferred avoiding the lectures and punishments. She was stuck.

She simply adored being among people her own age, though, even if she considered most of them to be total idiots. She'd made a few friends, something she hadn't been able to do with the renegades. And while she enjoyed a welcome break from her mother, she missed T'el. Her father, though it was still strange to call him that. She'd never had a father. Well, she had, but he'd always been just a figure in her head, with no face or name with which to associate her image. She'd liked him, too! He was nice! Unfortunately, she didn't have a way to communciate with him, even if he did seem like the letter-writing type.

She'd only been here a few months, and she was already itching to walk the tables so she could get out of here. The stuff was easy enough to learn; she felt confident that she could read how to dye and knit and weave from books and figure it out on her own, instead of moving at the class's snail pace. After a particularly boring weaving class (making simple stripes in fabric was so difficult, after all!), she'd decided to skip chores in the kitchen with the others. She had better things to do with her time, and, besides, she'd seen the Headwoman and the Head Cook go outside to buy fresh fruit from a passing caravan, so as long as she beat them back inside, it was likely that she'd get away with it.

It was a particularly cold and miserable winter day. The sky was blanketed by grey, heavy clouds. It was due to snow sometime soon, and Xela was surprised it hadn't already, but she was happy about that. She drew her coat more snugly around herself. The good thing about apprenticing as a Weaver was that she was never cold; they were so green and inexperienced that it would be nearly impossible to sell their clumsy wares, so they were allowed to keep most of them. Underneath the poorly stitched-together coat (it looked like it should fall apart any second now), she had a terribly ugly sweater (the yarn was from a dying mishap from her earliest days). Most of the girls there would have buried the hideous clothing at the bottom of their trunks, but Xela didn't give a wherry's egg what she looked like. If she had to choose between warm and pretty, she'd choose warm every time.

She found a nice little knoll outside on the south side of the Hall, so the massive building blocked the worst of the wind. She could see the caravan and the two officials from the Hall in the distance, so they could probably see her, if they happened to look this way. But even on the odd chance that they did, there was no way they'd be able to distinguish her. It was too dark. She was safe for now.

She sat down, crossing her arms over her knees and plopping her chin on top of her arms. Looking west, she imagined that she could see Dalibor Weyr, though it was awfully far, and was probably just some random mountain instead. It was more fun to imagine that it was Dalibor, though. So, that meant a few miles away, there'd be the renegade camp. She tried to imagine the spartan camp in this weather. Would they light fires? She thought with a smile of her mother, too afraid that the smoke would bring a Dalibor patrol upon them, shivering curled up next to Tossiteth in their makeshift weyr. T'el would surely have a merrily crackling fire, though; maybe he was cooking fish again, if the pond hadn't frozen over. Even if it had, he could probably have Sjueth carve a hole into it with one of the Iron's enormous talons...

She absently circled one finger on her knee. She hoped that these lessons got more interesting soon. At first, she'd vowed to be the best of the best and rub her background in the faces of the youngsters with Wingsecond, Wingleader, minor Holder heritage who couldn't keep up with her... but the fact was, she was bored, and she'd stopped trying. This stuff couldn't catch her interest, and being a Weaver wasn't her dream, anyway. It was just something she was going to do until she was Searched, and something she could use to make money in the meantime. She looked to the skies, eyes following the thick clouds as the wind pushed them on, as if somehow adventure would come bursting through them any moment now.

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[jack]

High above the bored little girl, the clouds began to flex. One bulged suddenly, breaking slowly into pieces as though something large had appeared within it, forcing it apart. A moment passed, and a glimmer of silver glinted across the sky, only to disappear into another cloud, which writhed as its innards were forced to the surface. Three more clouds suffered similar fates, and one could almost hear the wind whistling with their screams. But long before anyone could begin to question how unusual the cloud's actions could be, silver glinted again upon the horizon.

In an instant, however, the invader disappeared again, and all was still for several minutes. The air vibrated as the intruder reappeared, poofing into existence from between literally yards above the caravan, the sound of his amusement as the groups animals began to panic loud even in this wide area. Beneath the cackling interrupter, a great iron hide flexed, Sjueth shaking his heavy head mildly before--with a pump of his massive wings--he shot back up into the sky. It wasn't long before the duo returned, though, sailing lazily over the ground to land very close to a certain bundle of weaving in the snow.

Sjueth curled slightly around the figure, blocking the officials' views of the duo as T'el slid from his dragon's hide, grinning manically at his daughter. "Well hello, runt. You miss me?" Not bothering for a response he snickered and reached out, pulling her insistently to her feet, only to slip a hand to her head, ruffling her hair with odd fondness. Clearly proud of his own action, he gave a soft hum and adjusted the wherry hide jacket around himself, not seeming to be bothered by the cold. "Of course y' did. I'm impossible to not miss!"

[4horseshowgirl4]

At first, Xela thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. The clouds were moving, shifting, but much faster than any amount of wind could cause. She squinted, but it was difficult to see the clouds in any detail. The broke apart, revealing a flash of silver, but before Xela could train her eyes upon it, it was gone. She dismissed it to the weak winter sun storming through the breach in the clouds, but then she caught sight of it again. And again. What was it?

Before she could figure out the answer to that, a faint yell of terror drew her attention to the caravan in the distance. A smile began to spread over her face as a great, hulking Iron hovered over the caravan, so close that she was surprised the wind from his beating wings hadn't flattened all of them to the ground. The smile from the amusing sight only spread when she recognized the Iron, which meant she was pretty sure she knew who that tiny figure was (she was too far away to hear the telltale crazed laughter).

However, that momentary joy turned to annoyance when she saw the two silhouettes of the Headwoman and the Head Cook abandon the fruit and flee into the safety of the Weaverhall. She'd planned on getting back to the kitchens with the rest of her class far before they'd left, and at the rate they were running, the only way Xela would be able to slip in unnoticed was if they didn't go to the kitchens immediately. She scrambled to her feet, slipping on the slick grass in her haste to get back inside.

She froze when a massive shadow passed over her head, far too opaque to be that of a cloud. She looked up to see none other than Sjueth; how he and T'el had recognized her from that distance was beyond her, but they were here! Against all odds! And what sort of welcome was running away from them as if her life were on the line! She jogged back to them a little sheepishly to receive an affectionate hair tousle. She shot forward and hugged T'el tightly, not truly realizing until now how much she'd missed him.

"'Course I did!" she said emphatically, releasing him. "Although, I'm supposed to be doing chores right now, and was kind of hoping to beat the Headwoman back..." she looked over her shoulder, but both of the women were already out of sight. "Can I meet you back at our next break? It shouldn't be more than a candlemark or so!" She was a bit nervous, anxious not to get caught and have to do the double chores she'd get as punishment.

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[jack]

A surprisingly light, happy smile faded onto the young mans lips and he cheerfully hugged the girl back, finding it an odd situation at best, but shockingly fitting. Chuckling, he smirked as she withdrew, and he cocked his head to the side, arching a thin brow at her words. "Wait? A candlemark?" He snorted, an all too smug look sliding its way onto his lips, and he leaned in, pressing his forehead against the child's with a wink.

"I'm afraid that Sju and I don't play the waiting game all that well, runt. But I have a better idea. It isn't exactly like we're known as renegades everywhere. And who's going to know the difference? I still have my knots on my old jackets." Cackling like a man who'd come upon some great secret he scooped Xela up, tossing her over one shoulder lazily. "You have two options; A) I kidnap you and thus you can't be blamed for not working, or B) I get to barge in like the self-obsessed Ironrider I am to give you not only the reputation of a fantastically amazing father, but reason to be out and about that not even the fattest headwoman can complain of."

Decisively smug about his wonderful idea, he set her down on Sjueth's foot, the dragon giving both His and His's child a roll of his working eye. Humans.

[4horseshowgirl4]

Xela was a bit concerned for a heartbeat when T'el repeated the amount of time she'd asked him to wait, afraid for a moment that she had said it too bluntly in her growing panic and desperation to get back before she was missed. However, it seemed that her worry was premature; as T'el bent down, smirking, Xela realized that he had a devious plan in mind, and she grinned devilishly, quite eager to hear what he was plotting to do, leaning her head into his, wide-eyed.

She was surprised and speechless for a moment when T'el threw her over his shoulder-- no one had ever done that to her before-- but she laughed when it dawned on her what she planned to do. When he finished giving her her two options, she couldn't help but cackle evilly, sounding unnaturally like a higher-pitched version of her father's telltale laugh. However, she made up her mind in a split second, even though both choices were equally tantalizing. Her father rocked, he really did. His timing was impeccable.

"The first option, obviously," she said, trying to twist around for a moment to look T'el in the eye when she gave her answer, but she failed miserably and resigned to hanging there like a limp noodle. "I think a good dose of sheer panic when they lost a Dragonrider's kid and have no idea where she went will be good for those deadglows!" she proclaimed smugly, smiling at the idea of the Master in charge of all of the Apprentices realizing that she was nowhere to be found. She wondered how long it would take them. She was bad about skipping chores, but she always attended lessons on the off chance that they were set to learn something interesting, but it would probably be her friends who first reached the epiphany that she was truly gone.

"But you can definitely barge in when you return me, so everyone will know how absolutely amazing you are," Xela added quickly, not willing to lose that part of the deal, either. She was fairly certain T'el would go along with it; surely he had to be as happy to show off as she was eager to show him off. Yes, some of the kids in her class had a Dragonrider parent or two, but she couldn't think of anyone who rode a King, or a tough renegade like T'el, much less both at once!

She was plopped down on the Iron's massive foot, and she scrambled to her feet immediately, eyeing the Iron back before looking the huge distance up to the crook between his neck and his back. She was used to climbing up on little Tossiteth, but Sjueth was twice as big. She looked at T'el imploringly. "Any chance I could get a leg up?" she asked sweetly.

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