Sky Darkening [OPEN]

[Reky]

Thread was glimmering on the horizon, far out at sea where it would drown and die - for now. Before long they would rain upon land, and the dragonriders would sear it from the sky, and send only ash down to the vulnerable verdance below. The silver tangles, writhing and pulsing and chaotic, were beautiful in a way, but they made H'tep's stomach squirm. It was something more basic than the danger of it - the danger only made him irritated - like the way it moved or shone. Like entrails, he thought, and maybe it was just because, with Iopiath's mind linked to his, he could picture the motions perfectly every single time.

He and G'ris had dressed together, fitting into their jackets and gloves and boots. There was a practiced immediacy about it - a force with which they pulled the leather, made it do what they wanted, whipped the laces up the boots. Everything was made tight so that no embers or Thread could reach the skin directly, and nothing would come loose in the air. Already he began to feel warm, the woolen linings too much for the tangible world - but not even enough for the cold void of between. Threadfall was, above all else to H'tep, hot. Stifling. Peeling free of his soaked gear at the end of a Fall was one of the most relieving feelings in all of Pern.

They check each others' belts and straps, and outfitted their dragons. Iopiath was indifferent to sharing weyrspace with the hulking Xuqulzeth, and on most days the space was fine, but when Fall prep was underway it suddenly felt cramped with the two men climbing and circling their great beasts to get the leathers secure. H'tep braced his boot against Iopiath's spring green shoulder and tugged the end of a strap; there was the pliable creak of leather. The smaller dragon done first, H'tep and Iopiath left with a curt "good luck" and glided down to meet their wing.

There, he circled his mount and did his ground check. Straps were tugged, checked, made sure of; there was no room for error. He glanced to the horizon and pressed his lips together. It wouldn't be much longer now. The glimmering onslaught was coming nearer to the cold front of clouds that hung over Dalibor. He was glad for the overcast sky, at least, because it was cooler to wait in his black uniform. He cleared the lenses of his goggles with his thick scarf, stretched his hands in his dark gloves, and checked his firestone canisters.

"Shard it," he hissed violently. He leapt swiftly to Iopiath's shoulder and stood tall, one hand tugging his scarf away from his face and the other braced on her strong wing. "Need firestone here!" he shouted, and then waved urgently.

[/blockquote]

[Minute]

Thread was on the horizon.

The fact almost made K'rin laugh. Not a real laugh, not a happy laugh, more like an angry, bitter thing. Once upon a time threadfall had seemed like nothing more than a dream. A dream that he might one day have to face, but when he did it would probably be nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Of course, that was back when he still believed with all his heart that he would one day ride a bronze. But now? Now he had a wonderful green, although it had taken him quite a while to accept that fact, and thread was a very real, very dangerous threat. A threat that could take lives. A threat they could take their lives.

But they were ready to face it.

Although 'ready' happened to have two very different definitions for them. For K'rin 'ready' meant that he had grudgingly accepted the fact that he was going to fly into the sky and score some thread. He wasn't happy to it. He didn't look forward to it.
He would take almost anything over going out and doing it. But, in the end, he would do it. But for Kaheksath? For her ready meant that she was ready. She would go out, burn that stuff to ash, and love every minute of it. After all, she was protecting Pern. She was a hero!

The pair was completely ready to go, but apparently a nearby rider was no. At H'tep's call for firestone K'rin narrowed his eyes before looking around, finally spotting a girl holding a bag of firestone, apparently supposed to be helping get the riders going, and... chatting. Annoyance flared through him at the sight of this. Didn't she realize that this was life or death!?

"You there," he snapped, "the rider over there needs firestone!"

The girl, a dual candidate by the name of Garna, turned around to cast an annoyed glare at the rider. However, she didn't say anything right away. Instead she marched over to H'tep and handed him the firestone, although she couldn't help but cast a distasteful glance at his dragon. She didn't bother trying to sound quiet as she asked, "I must ask, are you disappointed in the results of your standing? Riding a female dragon and probably flying in a lower wing. Not very fitting, I must say."

Okay, K'rin was really starting to dislike this girl. From where he sat on his dragon the greenrider called, "watch your tongue, candidate."

Kaheksath, meanwhile, couldn't help but grumble to her rider, great, it's a younger, female version of you, only more skilled at finding inconvenient times. He felt a flash of annoyance toward his dragon at this comment. But then again, she wasn't exactly wrong.

[Reky]

When H'tep saw Garna coming, he climbed down from Iopiath's shoulder and flicked open both of the large canisters. He began shoveling in the firestone he handed her as soon as she got there, and almost didn't pay attention when she opened her mouth. He didn't care about candidate chatter anymore. He'd been there, done that, two Turns ago. "What dragon do you think I'll Impress?" "What's it like to touch an egg?" "Are the mother dragons scary?" "I think I want a cute blue." "I feel like a King sort of person."

What Garna said, though, was none of that floozy, noncommittal, happy-go-lucky junk. Instead, it was an insult to Iopiath - and maybe, somewhere, a compliment to him, but he rejected it.

"Actually, I fly middle flight," he corrected her sharply. "And no. Iopiath is Mine and she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm disappointed in you, though, for insinuating that she isn't." Not everything had to shine. H'tep would take Iopiath over any other dragon, forever and always, especially over the likes of bronze Xuqulzeth. He was more fierce with his packing of firestone now.

"Smarten up," he said, watching as he placed each stone in the canister. He didn't look at Garna. "If you need to be right up in the face of Thread perched on a King or Queen to feel fulfilled, you're going to be disappointed." One canister was full and he slammed it shut.

[/blockquote]

[Minute]

Garna had expected the rider to either agree with her when she spoke to him or to cower. Really it was an unrealistic expectation, he was a rider and she was a candidate, a rather rude candidate at that. But her ego just so happened to be very large and so part of her had expected the man to submit to her. And so, when he didn't, it felt like a slap to the face. She tried not to let it show though, although she couldn't help how her eyes narrowed slightly. He was disappointed in her? She who had so much potential, not yet squandered on becoming some sort of freak? She, who would become a great wherhandler one day?

The candidate had to resist the urge to either laugh at the greenrider's face or yell at him. That could end badly, badly meaning with her candidacy revoked. Because, freak rider or not, he was still a rider. So she forced on a 'sweet' smile as she said, "actually, I couldn't care less about what rank my dragon is. I'm talking about how you are a man riding a female dragon. Don't you know only women are supposed to impress female dragons?" There was a pause before she added in a mocking voice, "unless, of course, you aren't really a proper man."

In all honesty Garna wasn't entirely sure how she felt about sexualities and gender roles at all, in fact she wasn't even sure where she herself fit inside that picture. But she did know that this man had upset her and so she decided to pick at something she assumed would upset him. After all, from her experience that kind of thing tended to get a rise out of people.

Unfortunately for her H'tep wasn't the only one in the area, and thus wasn't the only one that heard those words. As K'rin tensed up, anger beginning to bubble up inside him, Kaheksath let out a low growl. Her voice touched her rider's, the candidate, Iopiath, and H'tep's mind as she rumbled, the girl is a fool. I am not a fan of fools, all they seem to do is put others in danger. As she spoke the green's eyes narrowed, starting to whirl shades of yellow and orange. Garna just let out a snort, crossing her arms and pretending to be completely unimpressed by the dragon.