A Loyal Spy {Kia, Plot!}

[Kila]

Varya was perplexed. She paced back and forth in the makeshift camp that D’ror had called them to earlier that day. She had taken Osro and left after D’ror had explained his ridiculous plan, but she quickly realized that going out on her own with the boy was dangerous. Suppose they had a way of finding him? It would be her head if they tracked him down and found Osro in her care. Grudgingly she had returned and brought the boy with her. But that had not solved anything. They were still kidnappers.

As she paced Y’nis played with Osro in the background. The younger boy had a stick and was chasing Y’nis around with glee, waving it like a sword and occasionally tripping over himself. Y’nis had his hands to his face and was running around in mock terror, wailing like a damsel in distress. Y’nis slowed down and allowed himself to be caught. Osro seized the opportunity and hit his legs with the stick, toppling the Rider over. Y’nis fell dramatically and flailed as Osro climbed on top of him and waved his stick victoriously. Varya looked away as Y’nis began to tickle him around the waist and they both started to squeal. She couldn’t concentrate here.

”Y’nis, keep an eye on him, will you? You two seem to get along well enough.” That was an understatement. Y’nis was wonderful with children. ”Don’t let anyone else touch him,” she said quite seriously, striding off towards where Alizadehth lay. She needed to get away. And she had an idea. ”Will do, m’lady!” Ynis replied readily. He was having a fabulous time. Yu! Come play with us! he called to His. We get to babysit the Weyrleaders’ kid! Coming, YaMine! Yusriath agreed, bounding over with childish excitement. Did he knock you over, YaMine? He doesn’t look that strong…

Alizadehth, will you please bespeak Gulath as ask him to see if N’tal can sneak out to meet me? I need to speak with him, Varya said as they soared away from camp. She needed to know Dalibor’s reaction. Were they planning to retaliate? Look for the Renegades? She needed to know what they were doing so she could best find a way to protect her own. I will, Alizadehth rumbled. Gulath, she called to her son. Mine would like to speak with yours. Can you sneak away? We will meet you. Tell him not to compromise himself, Varya interjected. If there are too many guards and he will be caught getting out then he should not. It would compromise both of us and put him in danger. Varya wanted to make sure that her young ally was safe. Do not come if you will be seen, Alizadehth added with annoyance.

((Kia, there are going to be too many on watch for N'tal to actually leave. Let's just have them talk.))

[kia]

Mine, Alidaehth and her Mine would like to meet with us if it is possible, Gulath spoke, turning his head from where he sat at the ledge, looking at his Mine with light blue whirling eyes.

N`tal was laying on his bed, all the Fire Lizards cuddled up to him. N`tal had gotten use to all his Fire Lizards wanting his attention and wanting to be around him. He sat up, all the little head looking up from in his lap. Their eyes where all green, except Ian`s had a slight tinge of orange in them. Ian, his Black, the leader of his little group, was never comfortable being so close to the others but was slowly learning to deal with and not let him affect him too much. Both Ian and N`tal were very similar. They learned to deal with things. Ri chirped and flew up to N`tal head, her little claws and mouth moving to fix her Mine`s head, her motherly instincts kicking in to fix his hair. N`tal lifted all the Lizard from his lap, one by one, putting them on different places around him. Ian took the right shoulder as usual, Asu taking the left shoulder for once, Ri staying on his head, and Onal being moved to a pocket so he could continue to rest. He moved over to his dragon and looked out around the Weyr. The dragons were out. Ever since the Weyrwoman`s kid had been kidnapped, watch duty had been doubled, tempers were on edge, and everyone was anxious to find Orso. The letter, N`tal needed no prompting in figuring it out, knew it had been the Renegade Riders. But Varya... she did not seem like that. Maybe it had been the other Riders, either that BrownRider or IronRider. Tell her that I apologize, but we cannot risk leaving without being seen. The Weyrlings and Candidates have all been forced to stay in their rooms unless they are getting food, attending lessons, or bathing dragons. We are... being watched very closely, N`tal spoke.

Gulath rumbled lowly, understanding his Mine`s annoyance. But N`tal was acting very calm for once. Calmer than usual. Gulath figured that N`tal was possible assessing the situation careful. That and he was probably trying his hardest to stay under the radar for now. Queen Alizadehth, Gulath spoke, adopting the formality that N`tal told him too. After all, they would be serving her and would need to continue to stay in her graces. If they did not have Alizadehth, who did they have? The Weyr would disown them for betraying them, and Alizadehth group would surely rip them to shreds. They were dancing through a dangerous game now. N`tal knew this. They would have to play things carefully. But N`tal was not entirely worried. Since his first meeting with Varya, he had not only been very loyal to her but had become infatuated with her. Maybe it was the way that Varya held herself: Strong, cunning, and knew what she wanted. That could have been it. But Gulath had watched his Mine as he spoke of Varya highly. But Gulath had asked N`tal what he thought of Tesla. N`tal had actually paused. He ACTUALLY paused! He had stared at Gulath, but never answered.

Queen Alizadehth, we apologize, but we are unable to leave. The Weyr is being carefully guarded. Weyrling and Candidates are under close watch since the kidnapping of the Weyrwoman`s little one. Mine says we are being watched very carefully by all, he said, sending the message to the Orange Queen.

[Kila]

Alizadehth relayed Gulath’s message and Varya sighed. She was not surprised at the news, but she had hoped she would be able to see N’tal nonetheless. They would just have to speak through Theirs. Quietly. Alizadehth, take us down here to rest. I have a lot to for you to relay. Alizadehth complied and the two settled against one another as they began the dictation. They fit together well, Varya sitting back against her bonded and the Queen wrapped slightly around her, but there was too much afoot for them to be comfortable. Tell them as I say…

Gulath. Please repeat to Yours what Mine says through me and respond with his reply, Alizadehth spoke. Her voice was commanding, but there was also a tinge of pride and fondness in it. This was her son she was speaking to- a fine, brave dragon. Mine needs to know what is going on in the Weyr. She paused as Varya spoke to her. We also thank you for the Hatching information you relayed to us earlier. Mine was very greatful and had meant to say so before. Alizadehth seemed slightly bored by this part of the message. It was old news and they were not her children.

We should tell him what happened, Varya realized, closing her eyes against the very thought of the horrible event. She felt betrayed and lost. Long ago she had come here to do something big and be more than herself. She had wanted to do things and help people. The only time she had accomplished that was when they had saved two lost little boys. How had it all come to this? Just tell him, Alizadehth, she said, the pain welling up in her heart at her failure.

During the Hatching D’ror kidnapped the Weyrleader’s hatchling, Alizadehth resumed more softly than before. Her Rider’s pain affected her, and though she did not intend it, bled through her mind so that Gulath might pick up the images she saw if he tried. He used the confusion as cover and we are now watching over him. He is safe.[/color][/size]

[kia]

N`tal received the message and swore. "Jays! Why?!" His loyalty was not with D`ror, it was with Varya. To hear Gulath tell them that the Renegades had Orso, and the fact sounded like Varya knew where the boy was kept, did not help the situation. What if the Weyr knew he could communicate with the Renegades? Would they torture him to gain the information? No, they would not. They were too passive. They would not dare harm him since they still thought of him as their own. They were wrong. He was Varya`s soldier. Tell her not to tell me where he is, N`tal told Gulath. The less i know about his location, the better it will be and the less info I could give up if something were to go wrong here, he added, looking out across the Weyr. So, with the child in their hands, a war was getting closer. Would he be fighting, even though he was ranked Weyrling? And what of Alizadehth and Varya. If he was allowed to fight...? This was an odd predicament. If he was allowed to fight, his natural instinct would be to protect Varya. He had to, she was his leader.

If a fight comes, I...

...am not sure if Weyrlings are allowed to fight, Gulath relayed to Alizadehth. If we are allowed to fight, what are we suppose to do? Mine`s first reaction would be to defend you and Yours. If that is the case, the entire Weyr will know of his deceit and he would surely cast of the Weyr. What do you need us to do? Stay close to the leaders and get an idea of when they will strike? The Weyrwoman has already sent out a search party to find Orso with our only White dragon and Rider in the lead. The rest of the group, comprising of a Wingsecond, are following them to protect them, Gulath said, speaking every word N`tal had asked him to say.

[Kila]

Varya sighed at the idea of a bare-faced fight. She had never wanted to fight Dalibor, nor had she ever believed it would come to this, but the facts were plain before her. We cannot attack him, and he cannot attack us- we are one in the same. I will not attack my hatchlings, Alizadehth obstinately agreed. Neither can he defend us or show his true loyalties to Dalibor either. He cannot put himself in such a position.

Mine agrees that you cannot defend us or fight against us. She says if it comes to battle it would be best if you disappeared and were not at all involved. She says not to help us. Do not seem sympathetic at all. Mine will not see you get hurt- she says that you and she and I and Yours are one and the same now. Mine will not speak any more of the boy child. She did not mean to upset you- she is very angry at D’ror for taking the hatchling in the first place. It was not her idea.

Varya was unhappily not surprised to hear that a search party had already been sent out. Ask him why there is a White in the lead, she requested, confused by Fajra’s choice. Mine wishes to know why a White is leading the search, Alizadehth quickly relayed. This is the kind of thing we need to know. This what we need you to do. Mine says you should remain in the Weyr, close to the action, with your ears open wide. News of any battle is very important.

[kia]

They were one and the same. Yes, they were. Both were not seen for the potential they both held. It was nice to know that Varya that was watching out for them, but the fact that he could not defend her irked him. And to be out of the action? Yes, it would be easy to become invisible during the action, but if he decided to go missing during the action, they would notice it after it was all over while taking into account who had died or was injured. This would be interesting to figure out once the incident occurred. Gulath...

Mine thanks you for your words of wisdom. We were not upset about knowing you had the little one, but we were merely concerned about your safety upon learning this. We do not want to know where he is because the little we know about him, the less we could say should things be revealed. But we will tread carefully and not allow ourselves to get caught up in such an incident. As for the WhiteRider, we can only speculate that he was chosen because of special traits Whites are known for. But, we are not entirely sure of those abilities, but we will try to find out more. We will keep our ears and eyes open and report back anything we find. Forgive us if what all we report could be a mix between trivial and concerning information, but it will be to keep you informed.

N`tal sucked in some breath and released it in a loud sigh. They were involved. Fully involved. And N`tal felt strangely calm about this at the moment. Maybe it had not fully sunk in yet. Maybe he had and was looking at this with a calm and level head. Whatever the reasons, he would be prepared. His next stop would be the Records. He would find out what made those damning Whites so special. He would.

[Kila]

Varya smiled and laughed softly in spite of herself at Gulath’s words. Hear that, Alizadehth? They were concerned for our safety. Isn’t that nice for a change? That they did not want to know about Osro made perfect sense. The less information he knew that the Daliborians could extract the beter. She didn’t think he was in too much danger of being pressed by the kindly weyrfolk, but she did not doubt that it push came to shove that Fajra would use any means necessary to obtain information about her son. Things were moving too quickly for that, though. It was unlikely that Fajra would think to seek N’tal out over all others. She grinned inwardly. If anyone would get the heat it would be D’lios- an obvious connection to the Renegades.

Any information you can supply us with is not trivial, Alizadehth said. Learn what you can about the White and report back to us when you can, along with anything else you find. He is a good man. Thank him and remind him again to be careful, please. We thank you for all of this that you do. Mine insists again that you be careful and remain safe.

There was not much else they could say to each other under the present circumstances. Speaking through their dragons could only convey words, not what they were feeling. The first and last time they had met N’tal had said that he hoped their memory would grace Pern, and Varya was afraid it would. She had a strong feeling that this might be the last time she spoke to him. Things were spiraling out of control and D’ror was leading it down ever father. She would fight it to the bitter end, though- she would never lie down and take the crap that fate had in store for her.

[fidelli]

What made the "damning White's" so special was the fact that they were... White's. Zucherroth could no more help being a White than he could help being blind. Alright, he helped being blind a lot, and he wasn't really blind, but that wasn't what I meant. What the poor tired puppeteer is trying to state is that Zuchie just was special. No records would have it, because all White's were very different. They were a mutation that did not happen very often, and they had special touches to them that makes them... Different than others. Zucherroth, had he been born a "normal" White, would have been empathetic more so than most dragons. Put the fact that you take away one thing and you get another - such as a blind dragonet being so empathetic he knows things that he shouldn't. Zucherroth was very sensitive, both in mind and body. He used his wings, even now, some times, as feelers, and he could feel and hear the breath of a dog from across a small room.

He was, in all words, sensitive. So, as the blind dragon flew closer and closer to the boy he had carefully found, he did not worry about why he could do this. What made him so special. Why he had been asked. He worried instead for His on his back, the girl who worried about everybody and everything. He worried for the small child that he was trying to find, and he worried for the dragons behind him, winging with the pair. He just... Didn't worry as much as much as Nim did, on his back. The girl worried about everything as she fought to help Zucherroth as much as she could. She fed him her strength, helping him Fly as long as he could. He was just a White, anyway.

If Nim had known N'tal was helping out the Renegades, she would have probably ripped his face off. As it were, the pair had no idea that the Orangerider was conversing with a Weyrlingpair, and Nim was much more focused on the boy. He couldn't get a totally clear reading, and as they moved swiftly through the air, catching the thermals he could just sense rising in the air, he began to stir, excited in His's mind. He is somewhere nearby! The girl only nodded tightly, scanning everywhere. Tell L'can's than. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid until we can get a better fix on Orso. I don't care if he outranks me - I won't risk you getting hurt. Or Orso.

The White passed on the message - Please explain to Your's that the Weyrleader's son is nearby, and Mine asks politely if you could not yet do anything until we know more. Leave it to Zucherroth to make things nicer. But the White did not dilly-dally on that - he was much more focused on the going ons of Orso's mind. He was happier now, and the threadlike emotion he had been following was getting thicker, but he was not sure where to go from here, and he hesitated in mid-air, hovering as best he could. ...Now what?

[Admin]

So, help me decide,
Help me to make up,
Make up my mind,
Wouldn't that save you.

D'ror had left Varya and Alizadehth alone. He had let them take Osro and hang out with Y'nis and Yusriyath. He had gone, for a few candlemarks, away with Abeneth to check over the finer details of all of his planning. Things seemed to be going according to what he had wanted. Eventually, the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader would have to cave under his demands. He would get the things he wanted. His renegades would get some proper recognition, even if some of them didn't want it. Fame was a sometimes unfortunate side effect of rebellion against social orders. One could try to hold it off as long as possible, but it would come eventually and it was better to use it. It was better to control. The brownrider had worn a twisted smile as he sailed about, careful enough but daring at the same time. Then he had seen the white. That blind white.

For a moment, there had been shock. A numbing pain in his head. The blind white could fly straight, and was headed right for the secluded camp, growing closer every moment, with a contingent of dragons in his wake. He watched them. They couldn't see him and Abeneth, way off in the distance, tucked behind a rock formation. He made sure that they couldn't. That was the one thing that he made sure of right then. They knew everything else. They could find Osro. Every little thing he had been banking on was thrown in his face. His one mistake. In all of his life, that would be his one real mistake, not that he would think that then. Mind hurrying to form a new plan, to make it work, D'ror ordered Abeneth to between, the image of their camp firm in his mind. Appearing right in the hidden space would be dangerous, but he didn't care about that.

Flawlessly, Abeneth burst into the limited air space of the confined little huddle of supplies and tents. He knew what he was doing. He always did. In some part of himself, he was always painfully aware of every action and task. Osro was running around with Y'nis while Varya and Alizadehth seemed more distracted. The little boy was distracted by the arrival of the scarred brown. D'ror didn't waste time. Swiftly, he leaped to the ground. Abeneth remained in the air. It was a long fall. He landed and took it in a roll. Popping back onto his feet, he covered the distance he needed in two bounds. He hauled Osro, kinder than before, his touch firm but more soothing in his movements, up into his grasp, away from Y'nis. For a moment, Abeneth alighted, and, the child grasp in his hands, D'ror hurriedly slithered up onto the brown's back, out of the reach of Varya.

Together, in mind and body, Abeneth and D'ror surged out of the camp, up into the dark sky. They were plainly visible to the search party, which lay just across the dead plateau that surrounded them. However, they only hung there for a moment, not long enough for the dragons of the party to reach them. Come, if you will; Abeneth called to the renegades. That was all he even said to Alizadehth, who he didn't doubt was in a fury just below him, prepared to attack him for what he had done with his rider's actions. He didn't remain to let her do that. They couldn't remain. They couldn't lose just like that! D'ror pictured Dalibor in his mind, the sight of the rim of the island Weyr familiar to them with all the work they had done. The image, the knowledge of where they were going, was passed onto the others. They went between.

Something's gotta break,
You gotta swing the bat,
Too many years of dying,
Why is that?

[Kila]

Varya had returned from her mental rendezvous with N’tal before Zucherroth and his legion had drawn close. Her composure had wavered as they had flown back to camp, a complete breakdown threatening to consume her, but Alizadehth had forbidden it. Mine, hold yourself together, she had snapped, sensing the imminent catastrophe. Now is not the time, nor is it ever. If you do not keep your wits about you we will surely all die. You have a hostage to protect and a madman to keep in check.

Yes, the madman. Varya looked up from where she sat in camp with her back up against Alizadehth. The lethal Orange was curled partially around her and supported her like a rock. But D’ror and Abeneth were not there. Faranath knew where those two were. Hopefully not causing any more trouble, but Varya doubted there was much else worse they could do now. Their graves were already dug. Maybe some of their numbers could flee, but not the Renegade’s Queen and her Rider. No matter how much she rebuked D’ror’s idiotic decisions, she would stand behind him. They were all in this together. Since the day she had foolishly allowed herself to love him she had had his back. Varya knew that nothing was more effective than a united front.

”No! No! Spare meeeee!” Y’nis shrieked as Osro chased him around with a stick. The game seemed oddly morbid to Varya. She looked away, feeling somewhat queasy. Initial shock quickly replaced any sickness she felt as Abeneth burst into camp right among the tents precariously. D’ror leapt off of him, rolled and ran towards her. Alizadehth growled and Varya jumped to her feet, but he was past them before they could do anything to stop him. ”No!” she cried as he scooped up Osro from his play. All of the laughing from moment before ceased. ”D’ror! What are you doing?!” she howled as he ran and Abeneth picked him up. It had to be something she wouldn’t approve of for him to pull such a stunt. And if she wouldn’t approve of it, well, it must be a bad idea.

Abeneth rose, hung in the air for an instant, looking at something far away, and then disappeared between. Come, if you will, he called, his voice haunting every head. And Varya would come; she was already on Alizadehth’s back and taking into the air. Come! Alizadehth ordered with a furious roar to the others. She too hung in the air in the place where Abeneth had disappeared, and Varya looked ahead. ”By the first egg..” she gasped, the air seeming to seep from her lungs all at once and the swear only coming out a whisper. Heading toward the camp was a wing of Dalibor dragons, headed by the White that N’tal had warned her of. She realized too late Zucherroth’s abilities. He could find Osro. He had found Osro. And he had found them. ”Fly! Fly now!” Varya shouted to her people below. ”We’re soon under attack here.” And taking their own advice, Varya and Alizadehth disappeared for the coordinates that had been left behind. Right into the heart of danger. Right where their hearts led them.