A Private Affair {Graduation!}

[Admin]

Like a little locket hangs,
Round your little neck so closely to your heart,
So shall I be forever,
I know you're going somewhere new.

The Freedomfighters were graduating. A light spring drizzle fell down but Kerath sat huddled right outside of the dining hall without question. A rectangle of tables had been drawn around an empty space to the side. Lights festooned every leg as well as sections of the wall. The event was a private affair, reserved for the weyrlings, their weyrlingmaster, and the few unlikely souls that might have been invited. W'al was the first to arrive, of course, because he'd set up the entire thing, but he waited with happy patience for everyone else to show up. He stood to the side, leaning against the wall, watching all of his pupils. Outside, Kerath shook water from his hide, looking about hopefully for some of the younger dragons to join him. He didn't mind a little rain. It was a warm day that was far too important to be wasted hiding inside.

Once everyone had arrived, W'al slipped through the small crowd and stepped onto the platform at the end of the hall so that he stood several feet above the others. "Congratulations! You're all riders now, not just weyrlings! There isn't much else to say. Enjoy your freedom, Freedomfighters." An energetic pride laced his tone for each and every single one of them, even as he smiled a ridiculous smile at his cheesy line. It didn't matter the mistakes they had made. He was proud of them. In the bowl outside, Kerath tipped back his head and let out a boisterous bugle. W'al let the call fade before he spoke again. "I have your wing assignments here." He raised a small roll of hide and waved it so that they could see. However, before he announced what was written upon the hide, he turned to regard the brownrider amongst the group.

"D'lios, you can now finally return to your hold. The Weyrwoman wished for me to tell you that you are always welcome here, but we all understand you have plenty of responsibilities." W'al managed his lines with a sincerity the Weyrwoman herself wouldn't have been able to manage. With that, he turned to the others. "A'tra, you and Avartiath are in the Dawn Wing, under the Weyrleader, O'sho of bronze Daidoroth." He smiled at the blackrider before continuing. "V'in, C'elin, both of you are now in the Dusk Wing, which is currently being led jointly by L'ven of bronze Valleth and Lio of brown Mikidith." He smiled a lopsided grin at that pair, mainly because of C'elin. "N'tal, Tesla, and K'lay, you all are in the Midnight Wing, under K'nan of iron Embraeth." His face turned more somber with them, but he continued to smile.

With a nod, the purplerider spread his arms wide, tilted his head to the side, and grinned an amused, relaxed smile. His job was done. Dropping his hands, he swaggered down from the platform, happy to leave it. He was still technically a weyrlingmaster until someone appeared and told him to drop it, but he had no class to teach. He was happy to be able to walk amongst his student as their equal, jealousies forgotten at least by him. Gazing about them, letting them return to their chattering and enjoyment, he paused. Awkwardly, he straightened his jacket, looking across towards a certain greenrider. C'elin was no longer his student, which left him wondering what exactly he was doing. In the back of his mind, Kerath remained silent, less than helpful. Taking a deep, calming breath, W'al approached the slightly younger man. "Hey."

Keep looking up, on past the birds,
And keep looking up past the clouds,
And when you reach up and clear away the stars,
I will be there where you are.

[kia]

Mine.

N`tal looked up. He had waited for this moment. Everything that he had put up with had been for this moment. He stood next to Gulath and waited until he saw Tesla and Irath leave their weyr to head to the Dining Halls. He quickly grabbed a letter he had written on his table and called for Ri. Ri quickly flew to his side and he handed it to her, telling her to put this letter on Tesla`s desk. Ri chirped with agreement and quickly flew down to the young woman`s weyr, placing it on the desk, and flying back to her Mine. N`tal stood there on the dragon ledge, looking out at the setting sky. The colors in the sky painted a beautiful picture that reminded him of Tesla. Tesla painted. Would she paint a scene like this one day? he thought. He sighed as he turned back into hiw weyr to get ready. This was his chance. He was ready. He had waited for this day, and it finally came. Ian chirped around his neck, wondering what his Mine was thinking. Gulath needed no prompting to know exactly what was going on. N`tal talked about this day. So it had come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why are we doing this again, Mine? Taburith asked as she shifted where she stood. M`grr was finishing tightening the riding straps on Taburith as he smiled at her. "Because, I think this is going to be fun. Neither of us likes Weyrs in general, and this will get us out of the Weyr for a good while. Besides, he is going to need a little help, whether he wants it or not. Besides, this will make you the only female out there again. No competing with that other Green, am I right?" he asked. Taburith rumbled with a smug look on her face. M`grr did not have issues with X`ni at all, it was Taburith that had issues with X`ni`s Green. M`grr chuckled at his Green`s happy look while he finished gathering his things. Taking one last look at his weyr, he sighed. "Well, Y`nis, I will see you around some time soon, I hope," he muttered to himself, saying goodbye to thin air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

N`tal finished putting on his riding coat, pants, and boots. He grabbed his sword and quickly tied it around his waist, feeling its familar weight against him. He had missed that feeling, like the feeling of a long lost friend returning to you. He checked Gulath`s riding straps and patted the Blue on his shoulders. He called Ian, Onal, Asu, and Ri to him, gathering them to him and placing them in their respected places. Ian took his place around N`tal`s neck, but he had to share the space this time. Asu went on the oppsite side of N`tal`s neck, her tail curling around his neck. Ian and Asu were the smallest of his gang, and they both fit snugly around his neck inside his coat. Ri and Onal went into the left and right pockets of his coat, tucking them in. Onal immediately made himself confortable and fell asleep. Ri chirped a few times before rest her head outside the pocket so she could see what was going on.

N`tal got on Gulath`s back and let the dragon take him down to the Dining Halls. He stepped into the Halls and looked around. No one else except the Weyrlings and WeyrlingMaster were here. He snorted. This proved all the more to him what Dalibor was all about. He looked over at Tesla as he stood in the back, in the corners, in the shadows, not wanting to join the others. W`al congratulated them all and gave them their Wing assignments. N`tal did not pay attention. He thought it was not worth it with the plans that he had. As soon as W`al was done talking, N`tal moved forward quietly, not letting people hear him, until he was behind Tesla. He leaned down to her until his mouth was next to her hear. "Tesla, please check your weyr. I left a letter for you on your desk. Thank you for... being my friend and much more here, but my time here has come. Goodbye, Tesla," he said calmly and silently, for her ears only. While no one was looking, he leaned down and kissed her cheek before moving toward the middle of the now graduated Riders.

He looked at them all, C`elin with no emotion, V`lin with hate, A`tra with annoyance, K`lay with a roll of his eyes, D`lios with dispise, and W`al with obvious fury. He stopped and sighed with a sound that almost sounded like a growl. "Freedom? Are we truly free, FreedomFighters? We should be fighting for our freedom like out group`s name suggests. Look how Dalibor treats us, views us, watches us. They see us as a disgrace! They think we are a disgrace because of the dragons we Impressed! Any other Weyrling group would receive a feast for graduating, but not us! No, not the Riders of a Renegade Queen`s children! If Alizadehth were here, she would see that we were honored! Never forget, so-called Riders of Dalibor! Your dragons are children of Orange Queen Alizadehth, whose Rider was Varya, who fought to see change in Pern! And it was this Queen, their mother, that your beloved Weyr killed!" He turned to look at W`al, eyeing the man, glaring at him, ready to strike. "You killed the only true Rider of Pern. I will never forget that. And I will avenge her. And, to you, W`al, I will kill you. Do not leave your back exposed when you are sleeping with..." he sneered over at C`elin, not finishing his sentence.

As quickly as he had stepped up to speak, he had quickly left the room. He did not turn back. He would not. He walked out the door and grabbed the riding straps on Gulath. Gulath turned to fly away, but was met face to face with a Green dragon, Taburith. Gulath snorted. "Out of the way! I will not be convinced to stay!" N`tal shouted.

"Not trying to convince you to stay," M`grr replied with a smirked. "We are coming with you. Tabu and I do not like Weyrs in general. Besides, two people are always better than one. It helps with survival. Besides, boy, you have a lack in skills that you will need to survive out there. But, with me, it will not matter. I will help you and teach you, but in return you must let us join you. Do we have an agreement?" the GreenRider asked leaning forward in the saddle to hear N`tal`s answer.

N`tal growled. "Do what you want! I do not need a watcher. I will kill you ar the first opportunity if you give me a reason to." Gulath spread his wings and flapped them, rising into the air, with Taburith behind them. Before Gulath got too much further into the sky, N`tal leaned forward. "DALIBOR!" he shouted, "You are a disgrace to this world! Killing innocent people and claiming it justice... Your time will come! I will avenge Varya and Alizadeth. A life for a life! Watch your backs, you fools! N`tal, Rider of Gulath, will avenge them!" With that last word, Gulath bugled and roar, flying higher into the sky before betweening, finally, to Western Continent, to the old stomping grounds of the Rebnegades. Yes, N`tal was a Renegade. He had remained a Renegade since the day Varya had welcomed him with open arms into their ranks. N`tal would carry on Varya`s dreams: To see Dalibor in ruins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tesla

You are the only exception to my threat. You are my friend. I think highly of you. I think more of you than anything. If you want to ever see each other or even just talk, you can send one of your Fire Lizards to get me. I will see only you. Tesla, I must do this. You know I have always been an outcast here at Dalibor. I was Renegade Searched, Renegade Impressed, and Renegade adopted. Even the Weyr treats me like am a Renegade. They treat all of you like a Renegade by not celebrating our Graduation like they would with any other Weyr-born dragon. Tesla... I care about you. I care too much for you. I...

-N`tal

[arratra]

A'tra was the first to arrive after W'al, as he often did. He listened to the speech patiently. And when he was told which Wing he was serving in...
"The Dawn Wing?!" he exclaimed, startled and honoured, "Under O'sho himself? I am honoured!"

And then came N'tal's outburst. He opened his mouth to fire something back at him, but Avartiath beat him to it.
Protect this world or not, N'tal,[/i] he said, Shirk your duty as a rider of a dragon if you will. But do not ever bring about another war... This world can ill afford the loss of more fighting dragons with Thread on the horizon.[/i]
Where did that come from? A'tra asked after a moment of silence
I simply said what felt right,[/i] Avartiath replied, shifting his wings in an imitation of a shrug.

[Nia]

Finally... graduation. C'elin spent a lot more time working on how he looked than he normally did, though that was definitely all due to the now full-grown Upiditath. She hadn't matured even a little bit since he'd Impressed her, which was going to bring him so much trouble he could already feel it. Upiditath preened herself endlessly, occassionally prodding at C'elin. Mine, mine! Do you think they'll flirt back with me now? The male dragons, I mean. They ignored me before! Some of them, I mean. It's sad. Isn't it sad, mine? None of them wanted to flirt with me! Even Kerath wouldn't! Oh, but he will now, right? Let's go try, Mine, I wanna go try!

[/i] Upiditath babbled on. C'elin gave a nervous laugh. Why don't we just... um... not... But Mine! There are going to be sooo many handsome males! How can I not!?[/i] W..well... you could... Come on let's go![/i]

It wasn't an extravagent graduation, but C'elin was fine with that. He nervously ran a hand through his wavy, light blonde hair, looking around for someone he knew to talk to. Upiditath was flirting with everyone she could contact, and he wasn't suprised when she got a few responses from some various NPC dragons. C'elin kept his eyes on W'al almost the entire time, though he had good reason. He shot a quick smile at V'lin at hearing they'd be in the same Wing. It'd almost grown to where C'elin was dependant on the Bluerider... not the other way around. It was a kind of strange switch.

W'al began to approach him and C'elin felt his pulse quicken... for some reason he didn't quite understand. "Um, hey," he said awkwardly, smiling as kindly as he possibly could. He was almost greatful when N'tal gave his outburst, though... as it interupted what could have been a very awkward conversation with a lot of standing around and looking nervous. He glanced nervously at W'al, but then back at N'tal. Renegades... the word struck a painful cord in C'elin's mind. He already knew that the... the one who... that one was here, in the Weyr, but C'elin had managed to avoid him so far. But... why? Why revive the Renegades? They'd already been beaten. N'tal was just going to get himself killed.[/blockquote][/size]

[Admin]

If I could walk on water,
If I could tell you what's next,
I'd make you believe,
I'd make you forget.

At the sound of N'tal's voice, W'al turned, looking away from C'elin. The young bluerider's words didn't surprise him. He wished that they did. He'd tried to forget, and forgive, time and time again that N'tal was angry. Hurt. Ignorant. Numbly, he let the speech play out. The only thing that made a true emotion other than vague hurt twist in his gut was the bluerider's insinuation towards him and C'elin. Not even the death threat irritated him as much as that. How could N'tal think himself some sort of crusader when he spoke like that? The bluerider's supposed ideals hardly sounded like they had any room for heartless vendettas. Of course, his supposed ideals hardly sounded anything like the renegade. W'al let N'tal run, leaving the dining hall. His hands simply curled into loose fists. Head tilted slightly back, his posture was rigid. He breathed slowly.

Out in the bowl, Kerath jerked around as Gulath took flight. He started to flare his wings, but it was too late. He was quick, but he could only pursue and they were gone, disappearing between with a green from the old renegades in their wake. Eventually, they would be found, but they were gone beyond where he could follow. Zucherroth could find them, if that became necessary. If they thought they could escape, they were truly foolish. Home of the strange, welcoming to all, Dalibor was probably the last place anyone would want to try from escape. Slowly, Kerath settled his weight back. He bugled an assurance to the watchdragon, having nothing else. The bowl was mostly silent besides that. Some were staring and talking about the shouting, but Dalibor was Dalibor, squabbling weyrleaders, insane renegades, and so much more.

Calming himself, W'al surveyed who was left. Six weyrlings turned rider. Six kids not much younger than himself. He could have said so many things. He could have made a big speech about how they were all welcome, but he didn't. Instead, he simply said one sentence to them. "Thread falls in three Turns;" he informed them, speaking in a clear but simple voice. Giving them all a nod, he turned again, bringing his gaze back to just C'elin. He paused for a moment, blinking. He didn't feel so awkward anymore. Leaning forward, he kissed the greenrider's cheek. He wasn't thinking, but it didn't matter. If that was what N'tal and everyone thought, fine then, because he had more important things to go fix and he didn't even know how he was feeling. Straightening, he smiled sadly at C'elin. "I gotta go." With that, he turned and hurried to leave.

Striding outside, the weyrlingmaster sought solace with his dragon, coming to stand beside him, gaze skyward. Unbelievable! Does he actually think he can kill me?

Apparently when you're sleeping. Kerath kept his tone light, but he didn't sound pleased by the idea. Few dragons are fans of even violence, let alone death.

Uhuh. As if Gulath could slip past the watchdragon unnoticed. The actions W'al had made just a moment before were far from his mind as he spoke with Kerath.

The purple had nothing to say to that, so he moved onward. Joker he might be, he could be responsible when it was required. What should we tell the watchdragon?

W'al paused for a moment, glancing up towards the dragon that was perched on the watcher heights. He responded with another question. Where's the Weyrwoman?

Kerath paused, hunting out information, trying to find the presence of Kalith and to see if anyone knew where she was. She isn't here. She's away on business.

What about O'sho and Daidoroth? W'al was trying to form a plan as he spoke.

I think they are busy doing things the Weyrwoman doesn't usually let them do because she's handling other things. Kerath managed to bring back some of his usual humor as he spoke. He respected the weyrleaders greatly, but they far too amusing.

When will they be back? A vague hope of a plan was forming in W'al's mind.

I don't know. What about Callistath and her Weyrwoman? Kerath was picking up on the fragment of idea and he was more than willing to help with his quick little mind.

We'll deal with them later. We'll take to the watchdragon and go over the upcoming roster. We'll tell them to watch. W'al didn't even bother to mention to the missing pair by name, even though he was trying to save the bluerider's sorry tail.

Then what? Kerath didn't doubt his rider in the least, but he was going to question the gaping hole in their plan. He didn't mind trouble, but he wanted some hope.

Again, W'al paused. By Faranth, he wished he had an answer. I don't know. Kerath accepted that mutely. Their exchange hadn't taken long, a few breaths and a few moments. The magic of telepathic communication. Vaulting and scrambling up onto the purple's back, W'al settled on his shoulders. Crouching, he lunged into the sky, heading for the rim. They could fix the rumors, but it was going to take someone else to save N'tal. To start, he probably didn't want to be saved by W'al.

It's all wrong, it's all wrong,
It's all wrong, it's so right,
So come on, get higher,
So come on and get higher.

[arratra]

A'tra brushed his fingers on the handle of his knife, sighing as he pushed away from the table. His cloak swirled around him as he paced the room restlessly.

About ten seconds after he started pacing, a bronze fire-lizard suddenly popped into existence barely centimetres from his head, causing him to duck reflexively.
"What the-?" he began but stopped, recognising the lizard.
Avartiath sensed this and rumbled questioningly.
"Zego," A'tra said, holding out his arm; the bronze landed there clutching a scroll in his little paw, "Does this mean..."
The fire-lizard placed the scroll in A'tra's waiting hand, and jumped down to the table, watching as he unrolled it.
A'tra read the letter, and breathed out a long, slow breath.
"Mom. Dad. It's good to finally know you're safe," he said in a voice that clearly conveyed how worried he had been for his parents.

[jack]

Socordiath was as slow to rise as ever. Soft blue flesh, as ever-shifting and delicate as clouds passing overhead, moved reluctantly over smooth muscle, the long neck uncurling from around the large body with purposeful, slow movements. Blearily, the dragon opened his eyes, both of which were whirling a peaceful shade of pastel blue. He looked towards where His was always perched--held snugly against the Blue's great hide--and distantly, noticed he was gone. A tilt of his head revealed the escapee, however, and with a blink, he stared at the young man.

V'lin seemed to be ignoring Socordiath entirely as he pulled on his boots, buckling the clasps with practiced ignorance. His eyes were misted over in thought, and his lips were tight. Socordiath tilted his head further to the side, his absent little stare as lackluster and yet boredly intrigued as ever. "We graduate today." The rider's explanation was minute at best--but Socordiath gave a rumble of a chuckle, rising delicately from his place curled around V'lin's bed. He moved with shocking fluidity, almost pantherlike in his graceful motions. As sluggish as he was, nothing would beat him when he wanted to win.

A blue nose gently touched V'lin, shuffling through the messy brown hair. Worn hands reached up, touching the blue flesh and gently caressing. Foreheads met, and the dragon's eyes closed in time with V'lin's. They needed no words. There were no words to be said.

---

The graduation was quick, but it didn't take long for even the pleasantness of the ceremony to be dwarfed by one individual. N'tal had hated him for he didn't no how long, but it didn't make it anymore right when the Bluerider flew off. V'lin--as always--was silent. But he leaned a tad closer to C'elin as the man left, his eyes narrowed in an uncharacteristic showing of displeasure. He was angered by this man's betrayal; insulted that the rider would abandon the weyr that had taken him in. He leaned a bit closer to C'elin, one arm sliding around the Greenrider's shoulder for a mere instant.

He withdrew at W'al's approach, but eyed him carefully. Socordiath too eyed the purplerider, his tail curled gently around his Mine's legs. W'al brushed his lips over C'elin's cheek...Socordiath's tail tightened around V'lin's legs. The bluerider stared, his grey eyes dull and distant. His frown tightened, a sharpness coming into his gaze. Without warning or farewell, he whirled on his heel and began to walk off, Socordiath looming behind him as he left. There were no words.

[kyrillion]

"Irath, we did it!"
The green snorted indignantly from where she was curled up on her couch, waiting impatiently for Hers to finish preparing for the feast.
Of course we did.[/color] She retorted levelly, tail flicking back and forth as her crimson eyes followed Tesla around the room. At length, she said: You look perfectly presentable, TeslanaMine. May we go now and get this over with?[/color]
Oh, all right. You don't let me have any fun, you know.

The now official greenrider of Dalibor was in high spirits on the eve of the celebration. It was to be a small affair - but then, it was a small class, and not one that had always been... well, entirely welcome to the Weyr. Still, satisfied with the braid she'd done her hair up in, and the simple skirt and shirt that, while by no means extravagant, seemed nice enough for the occasion, she at last turned and strode over to where Irath reclined languidly in her corner. Patting the green fondly on the nose, she reached out to allow Arc and Coil, who had curled themselves into a pink little crown atop Irath's head, to scramble down her arm and situate themselves on her shoulders. Tails wrapping possessively around her neck and tiny claws pawing at her rather atypical hairdo, Arc boisterously chirped her approval, while Coil only buried her nose in Tesla's shirt and huffed uneasily. Dismissing their neurotic antics as normal (even Irath hardly seemed to pay them any mind these days), she scrambled up to situate herself between Irath's shoulders, still-gangly limbs preventing her from being graceful about it even after nearly a turn and a half of practice. Irath, though her rage was tempered somewhat by Tesla's buoyant spirits, was hardly looking forward to spending any length of time with her infuriating clutchsiblings, and made immediately for their ledge. The sooner they got there, the sooner they could leave.

She didn't fly to the dining hall so much as glide. Dropping unceremoniously from the edge, she flared her broad wings to check their descent and angled them towards the entrance, where the open doors were spilling warm, golden light into the evening. Even from a distance, and despite the light drizzle that had started sometime after sunset, it had a festive, happy feel. Already, Tesla fancied she could hear music; though of course it was only an up-beat little number playing in her head. Irath, frankly, was indifferent to the situation. It made no difference to her whether she was a weyrling or a rider. However, Tesla seemed excited enough for both of them. She'd been at Dalibor practically since its founding, and now she could officially call herself a Dalibor rider. It was a good feeling - even if weyrlinghood had been a bit more stressful than she'd anticipated (it wasn't always easy, you know, being bonded to Irath). The green, for her part, had become good at travelling about the weyr with as few flaps of her wings as possible (she glided, or even walked, wherever she could) because Tesla had taken to counting wingbeats, as well as steps, and even after all this time Irath found it all but impossible to ignore her.

Thudding to a halt near the entrance, so that Hers would not get too wet, - I will not have you getting sick, TeslanaMine. Now go and be social with the other humanthings,[/color] - the green watched as her happy, gangly rider hopped to the ground and hurried inside. After one, solitary huff of a greeting directed at Kerath, who was also outside, she proceeded to curl up on the ground right where she was and pointedly ignore everybody. Because Hers was happy, she would refrain from trying to bite anyone for as long as possible, and that meant interacting with others as little as possible.

Tesla found an open seat towards the center of the room, offering a cheerful wave to her once-partner-in-crime C'elin, and a smile to anyone else who happened to catch her eye. It was a very small little get together, sans either of the weyrleaders, but she didn't mind. The Freedomfighters were celebrating their success - they didn't need anyone else there, with them. When W'al stood up and began his speech, she listened as attentively as she was able, though she felt momentarily melancholy when she realized they'd all be assigned different wings. She had grown rather fond of their own little 'wing', and she had become accustomed to working and flying with them all. She knew their habits, the ways they moved and the little decisions they were inclined to make while running drills in formation. Still, a little change could only be a good thing, right? And so her smile persisted until he called out that she, N'tal, and K'lay would be flying in the Midnight Wing. How splendid!

Irath, love, did you hear? You'll be flying in a wing with Gulath!
What should I care?[/color] The green retorted casually, but there was a certain smugness to her voice that suggested she was pleased. As W'al stepped down from the podium, she stood and turned, searching the room for N'tal so that she could congratulate him. She still remembered how the callous, abrasive bluerider had dismissed her at their first lesson; but over the course of their weyrlinghood, he'd seemed to soften some around her. Not around anyone else, really, but she fancied that he counted her among his friends, now.
You are that wherry-brains only friend.[/color] Irath interjected with an audible snort. Just because her rider had a soft spot for the holdbrat hardly meant that Irath shared her sentiments. All that she remembered was that she'd wanted to rearrange his face when he'd been rude to her Tesla at that first lesson. Despite her own, rather odd friendship with Gulath, not much had changed since then. Ignoring Irath's dark little commentary, Tesla did at last spy N’tal - but any words of congratulations died on her lips when she saw the expression on his face as he came towards her. She felt suddenly frightened, and an acute sense of foreboding stole over her, though she couldn't have said why. She sensed Irath come fully awake, outside, as she sensed this, eyes sparking red and suddenly alert.

As N'tal lent down, she froze, and listened with bemused astonishment to his goodbye. How could he be saying goodbye...? And yet before she could muster up any one of the dozens of questions she wanted to ask, he stopped her with a kiss on the cheek, and with the exception of a quiet gasp she was rendered speechless as she watched him move past her and into the center of the room. She watched, confusion turning to horror, as he delivered his ultimatum. Death threats? Praises for the renegades? Talk of Dalibor’s injustices. Why ever would he want to kill W'al...? No, no, no, he had it all wrong, couldn't he see? That wasn't right at all. Didn’t he understand? He couldn't really be serious, could he, it must all be some sort of joke... But then he was pushing his way through to the exit, and she realized that he really did intend to leave. She finally found her voice, then, and staggered forward to try and catch up with him, but by then it was too late. "N'tal, please, wait!"

Out in the bowl, Irath watched as Gulath and Taburith took to the skies, and as she felt Tesla's beautiful, redeeming happiness slowly be replaced by dismay and misery, she could feel her own anger rising proportionally in response. How dare he? How dare he take her sweet, her joyful, her good rider who was everything Irath was not, and cause her such pain? Suddenly, it didn't matter that it was Gulath who carried the boy away, that the blue was her oldest, perhaps only, friend. All that mattered was his rider, and Irath - wrathful, indignant, righteous - was going to kill him. Coiling back on her haunches, the green threw back her head and let out a shrill, earth-shaking scream of rage for all the Weyr to hear, before she launched herself after the deserters. Talons outstretched, she did not pause or slow her mad ascent when Gulath and Taburith disappeared between, but veered around to claw vainly at the place where they had been only moments before. Circling in the sky like a predator, her eyes gleaming molten crimson in the darkness, she opened her jaws and screamed again in frustration. Down below, Tesla's smile was long gone, replaced by a look of perfect shock and desolation.[/size]