(01.01.2762) What The Darkness Hides (Attn: I'zaj, Healers, Weyrlings, ANY)

[Collin 'Ridayah' O'Connor]

“I should have known I’d find you here.”

The voice woke T’kana, never the deepest of sleepers, out of a pleasant dream.  He could hear the sounds of whimpering nearby.  It had to be late… make that early.  There was no moon shining through his little cranny in the rocks near the weyrling barracks, leaving it completely dark.  The whimpering continued and there were sounds of footsteps.  He’d fallen asleep there after spending a bit too long at the Turn’s End Gather, and had come to his favorite spot to relax.

“Even now you try to relive your glory days!  Days that should have been mine!  And still they value you over me!”

He heard the sound of a slap after the deep voice’s words.

“You dare…”

The voice sounded angry, and T’kana didn’t like this at all.  His mind prodded at Cheith, whom awoke with a start, eyes whirling, where he was asleep on his weyr ledge.  The young rider looked towards his bronze.  [[I don’t trust this, Cheith.  Something isn’t right.  I’m gonna go look.]]

Cheith’s eyes whirled brighter as he looked up.  ((I understand, chosen.  This is something you must do.  You are right.  Go!))

T’kana rose out of the rocky hideout, grabbing onto a rocky outcropping to not lose his footing in the dark.  Even before he reached the top of the rock pile he heard a scream cut the night, cut off only an instant after it started.  The lad cursed as he did not dare jump, zigzagging over the rocks as rapidly as he could to reach the voices.  The sounds had changed as he grew nearer in the moonless night, dark with clouds overhead.  Now there was less whimpers, but more sharp, soft cries of pain.  Bolting off the last bit of stone and rounding the corner to confront the voices, T’kana couldn’t help but stop for a second in shock.

A figure, dressed in black, was kicking at something on the ground.  A tiny speck, darted about its head, coming in but warded off with smacks of its hands.  And on the ground…  Mirene!

“H… H-hey!”  T’kana shouted, or at least tried to.  He cursed his stutter now, which made speaking fast and loud enough hard. “S-stop, w-what a-are y-you d-doing?!”

At his voice, the black clothed figure turned, and then bolted as fast as he could away from the rocks and towards the weyr entrance.  The speck about his head chased, but what happened next made T’kana gasp in horror.  It grabbed what he could only assume to be a flit, and threw it to the ground, trampling it under his boot as he ran away.  His attention at the violence was distracted as he neared Mirene, whom was on the ground and whimpering.  She had blood about her face and hands, on her rags of clothes, and her movements were feeble, as though it pained her.

T’kana made his decision quickly.  [[Cheith!  Wake Subalth and I’zaj, get them here now!]]

He knelt on the ground, unsure of what to do next to best help the injured girl.

~Rida w/ T’kana and Cheith

OOC:  Weyrlings and others, feel free to be awoken and come running! 

[Aaron C.]

   Linauth knew that scream. And from the second she heard it, she was awake. Not but a few seconds later, and she was flying as fast as her wings would carry her toward it. There. By the weyrling barracks. But even so, she was too late. The damage was already done. Still, she was almost certain that she was not dead. The One Who Was Ixith's. She could not be allowed to die; not unless it was by her own choice. She had to be saved. Linauth trumpeted. She cared not who she woke - in fact, she hoped to wake as many as possible.

   ((Who was it? Can you show me what they looked like? Where they went?)) Linauth spoke directly to Mirene. She knew that it might hurt her to hear a dragon's voice when that dragon was not Ixith. But Linauth was not about to let this one get away, this Killer of Dragons, this Destroyer of Lives. ((Help is coming for you. You must not let go yet. We will find the Killer of Dragons together if you stay with me.))

   ((Listen to me!)) she projected to any dragon awake enough to hear her. ((Wake your riders, and send for healers!)) She showed them all exactly where they were.

   [[Lin... where are you? Where did you go?]] Remi asked groggily. The gold dispensed with words and simply showed Remiel exactly where she was and what she was doing. Remiel's eyes flew fully open, and she pulled on her trousers as quickly as she could manage, nearly tripping and falling as she did. Soon, she was running to join Linauth. It would take her a few minutes to get there, but she had to get there. 

(OOC: I hope this is acceptable...)

[Aaron C.]

   Linauth knew that scream. And from the second she heard it, she was awake. Not but a few seconds later, and she was flying as fast as her wings would carry her toward it. There. By the weyrling barracks. But even so, she was too late. The damage was already done. Still, she was almost certain that she was not dead. The One Who Was Ixith's. She could not be allowed to die; not unless it was by her own choice. She had to be saved. Linauth trumpeted. She cared not who she woke - in fact, she hoped to wake as many as possible.

   ((Who was it? Can you show me what they looked like? Where they went?)) Linauth spoke directly to Mirene. She knew that it might hurt her to hear a dragon's voice when that dragon was not Ixith. But Linauth was not about to let this one get away, this Killer of Dragons, this Destroyer of Lives. ((Help is coming for you. You must not let go yet. We will find the Killer of Dragons together if you stay with me.))

   ((Listen to me!)) she projected to any dragon awake enough to hear her. ((Wake your riders, and send for healers!)) She showed them all exactly where they were.

   [[Lin... where are you? Where did you go?]] Remi asked groggily. The gold dispensed with words and simply showed Remiel exactly where she was and what she was doing. Remiel's eyes flew fully open, and she pulled on her trousers as quickly as she could manage, nearly tripping and falling as she did. Soon, she was running to join Linauth. It would take her a few minutes to get there, but she had to get there. 

   **A directive! The young, big, gold one calls. A Killer of Dragons runs loose. A broken young two-legs is here.** The brown wher, Sniffit's nose went to the ground, and he began to charge. Kodah, his handler, felt his heart sink into his boots. A Killer of Dragons. A broken young two-legs. Kodah had failed. Another attack had happened, and on his watch. It was on the ground level, at the entrance to the Weyrling Barracks. He cursed and then ran to where he was next supposed to rendezvous with his patrol squad for check-in. It was easy to become complacent. It had been an entire Turn since the last attack. And guards were often more concerned with fighting Thread than other humans. Still, the night squad's entire job was to keep skulking Holdless and the like from attacking its sleeping denizens, and Kodah was in command of that squad. Kodah let Sniffit go to where the attack happened, and he focused on gathering his squad.

   "There's been another attack," he said. "We need to first block off all of the ground level exits from the bowl. Then we'll search the Lower Caverns starting nearest the Weyrling Barracks. You six take the exit tunnels. You five follow me. We need to stabilize the victim until healers arrive on scene and then ensure that the attacker isn't in the Barracks. Make it so." With that, he ran off after his wher toward where the victim lay waiting, he hoped, still alive.

   **Young, big, gold one! This one is Sniffit! This one sniffs after the Killer of Dragons!** The wher very carefully sniffed Mirene and then immediately ran off, attempting to follow the scent trail the attacker left.

[Allison Herzig]

Osirith was sleeping restlessly when he heard Linauth's call.  He considered ignoring it, but only for a moment.  His J'rak retained an odd sort of fondness for these weyrlings, not to mention the call came from a Queen, whose orders were to be obeyed.  He nudged J'rak's mind gently with his own.  His rider was awake and on his back within an instant.  No words passed between them, just an easy wordless understanding between two minds long paired.

J'rak sprinted over to T'kana and Mirene as Osirith made a hasty landing, nodding a polite greeting to the queen who had alerted them to the incident.  He ran a quick appraising gaze over the scene.  Mirene was covered in blood, but the bronzerider's hands and clothes were clean.  He seemed calm, J'rak noted approvingly, or as calm as could be expected under the circumstance.

"What happened here?" J'rak directed his question to T'kana, doubting he would get anything but nonsense out of Mirene.

[[Osirith, help Linauth gather aid.  Healers and riders both.  I'm sure I'zaj will want patrols sent out, to catch whoever did this.]]

--
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[Arielle]

Le'car woke as he thought he was falling out of bed, but when he opened his eyes and saw what was really happening he could only half choke back his scream. This was not how riders were meant to fly on their dragons! [[POLLOTH! What are you doing!?!]] The flying bronze did not look down at his rider, cradled carefully in his forearms, but did reply with deadly seriousness. ((An attack has occurred. Linauth called. I did not want to squash you when I left, so I took you.)) Shard it all, that was right. The young man swore to himself over the situation and over his habit of falling asleep with his dragon instead of in his bed like a proper rider. It was a vestige of his life before, when he was only a Beastcrafter, and how comforting it had always been to him to fall asleep with the runners.

Polloth settled down next to Linauth and carefully set his rider on the ground. The bronze crooned to the injured girl and Le'car dusted himself off and checked to see how presentable he was. Decent enough, he wasn't unclothed. It would do. Lea approached Mirene, recognizing her instantly, and tried to assess her wounds. He wasn't a healer, but he knew enough basic first aid to at least help somehow. One of the Assistant Weyrlingmaster's was present already, J'rak, and Le'car knelt by Mirene but looked up at his former teacher. "Sir, what do you want me to do? I can try and help with her injuries, if she's got any." Polloth looked towards his sister, eyes swirling a yellow-red in the night. ((What would you have me do, Linauth? Justice must be served, now when we have the opportunity after so long with a cold trail.))

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tori had woken, as had Luigith, in his weyr, and had gone out to the ledge to see if he could figure out what was wrong without leaving, in case he wasn't needed at the scene of whatever had happened. ((Call the healers, Mine. Linuath said to, but I don't know if anybody else has.)) For once, the normally chipper brown was serious, and worried. T'val ran back inside and dragged on his boots, badly bruising his shoulder when he lost his balance and fell sideways into the wall of his weyr. "Ouch!" Running back out to his dragon, the young man didn't need to use words to tell his lifemate his intent. Luigith waited impatiently for his rider to hop onto his back - sans straps - before gliding down to land outside the Infirmary.

Tori slid off and ran inside the Infirmary entrance, breathing a bit heavily and clutching his bruised shoulder with his uninjured hand. "Healers! Healers are needed outside the Weyrling barracks!" He leaned forward, bracing himself on his knees and stopped holding back his pants. A worried looking apprentice approached him and T'val realized he was shirtless; his shoulder must have started to bruise. A sideways glance told him he was right, the red and purple of a beautiful sunset starting to show up on the peak of his right shoulder. "Just get me some ice or fresh meat or something. I'm fine. Healers are needed at the barracks!"

[Collin 'Ridayah' O'Connor]

T'kana knelt on the ground in front of Mirene.  She'd been kicked, savagely, and already the blood was all around her face, her upper body, and her stomach.  What worried him most was that whomever had done it had done some sort of internal damage, as Mirene was weakly coughing blood and groaning.  He leaned in as her arm outstretched in the direction her attacker had fled in, and towards the small lump on the ground that wasn't moving.  He heard her whisper, "No, Olanic... don't melt..." before her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

The sound of footsteps and voices made him turn even as he reached towards Mirene, afraid to touch her for fear of more damage but also fearing her slipping away.  Hand outstretched, he looked up to see the arrival of several individuals.

"S-she w-was a-att-ack-ed b-by s-some-o-one!  R-ran th-that w-way!"  He yelled, pointing in the direction of the gather and weyr entrance.  It wasn't so late that the late-night revellers in Turn's End had left yet, and bodies could be seen in the distance moving among the stalls.  A good cover for whomever had done this.  But then his glance gazed down towards the ground. "H-he k-kill-ed h-her f-flit..."  He added afterwards, voice thick with anger and confusion.  "W-we n-need h-heal-lers. I th-think sh-she's g-got b-bleed-ding ins-side f-from b-being k-kicked."

Cheith had risen from his ledge, and landed with a soft whump on the ground before T'kana and Mirene's prone form.  His eyes whirled angrily. ((I do not hear her little one, Mine.))  Turning his gaze at the other angry dragons he sent out a call.  ((Subalth, Yours is needed, now!  Please, hurry!))

T'kana turned back to the others, motioning them to come around.  "D-do y-you th-think its s-safe t-to m-move h-her?"  He asked to the gathered.

~Rida w/ T'kana and Cheith and a very poor Mirene

((OOC:  Looks great, thank you all for getting involved!  I'll start another thread for dealing with Mirene once she's at the healers, so there will be two here - this for the hunt, and the healers to help Mirene!))

[Aaron C.]

Linauth bowed her head in thanks to all those who came with swiftness, especially to Polloth. ((One of the guards has sent his watchwher ahead. He... sniffed the one Ixith left behind and left to follow the trail just before you all arrived. I believe that his handler will arrive shortly. Perhaps, between them and Subalth, we will learn what must be done.)) She might have had ideas about what to do, but she was yet young and concerned that while haste was necessary, too much on her part might result in mistakes that would lose them the chance to bring justice to this Killer of Dragons, now also a Killer of Firelizards, and perhaps soon a Killer of Men.

As promised, Kodah and his half-squad arrived at the entrance to the barracks, running to catch up to the dragons. Near to the same time, Remi, who had been watching and listening through Linauth, arrived as well.

"Start first aid. Be very careful, and don't try to move her until the healers arrive and give you more instructions," he said to two of his squadmen. "Riders," he addressed the rest of the group, "my watchwher follows the scent trail of the attacker now. If any of you would like to come with me, I mean to cut off his escape route. The rest of my squad is already moving to close the exits from the bowl to the outside." He motioned to his compatriots, and aside from the two who stayed to administer first aid, the remaining three followed him after the way Sniffit had gone.

Remiel folded her arms. She did not terribly appreciate feeling ordered about in the middle of the night while a friend lay bleeding to death on the ground. But she quashed those feelings. The guard was right - at least, she agreed with him - and this was his purview. And he had been quite diplomatic given the circumstances, after all.

Remi still could not help but wonder why he and his men had not stopped this from the beginning. Was that not the entire purpose in the first place of bolstering what had been all but only a nominal night guard before the first attack?

"Please help him, if you can," she said to the riders present. "If any of you feel you could see well enough in the dark, adding an aerial search might not be a bad idea. Le'car, I'd appreciate it if you'd stay here with me until I'zaj or the weyrleader get here." She knelt down beside Mirene and said gently, "Who did this to you?"

[Rachel]

Bhira had retired early, in some dire need of beauty sleep. Channith had as well, in dire need of getting away from the joyfully sycophantic dragons in every direction. They were both startled awake, Channith responding to Linauth's distress with a scream of her own. No one panicked her young golds like that. No one.

Bhira fell out of bed. It rather hurt, landing on the stone like that, and she would surely have an unflattering bruise or two on her elbow and hip where she landed. At least she could get up again, springing up to her feet and tangled in her dressing gown. She rubbed her elbow, cursing under her breath. It would take an older lady like her far too long to get moving. ((Go without me!)) She ordered Channith. The large queen growled and moved toward her ledge, wings rustling as she prepared for flight. ((Coordinate with Linauth and whomever's there. The guards. This is not the time for ego and hierarchy. If Linauth has the area under control, perimeter. Lock this place down. Nobody leaves until I say so. Pound that into the guards' heads. I'll be there as soon as I can.)) She shoved her feet into pants, into boots, fastening her jacket with fingers trembling from adrenaline.

Channith took off, gliding toward the barracks. She angled into a circle, looking over the chaos. There was certainly no space or reason for two queens there. ((Linauth, I am staying in the air. Enforce this with me: nobody leaves this Weyr. Have your rider inform the guards.))

As Bhira made her way to the door and then the unending stairs, Channith made another call. ((Watchrider! Hold your position! Watch every angle!))

There was a wher scurrying around as well, following an invisible trail. Channith drifted closer. ((Linauth, who owns this wher, and what is he doing?))

Despite Subalth's roar and charge outside, I'zaj woke sluggishly. He hadn't slept well, and even with panic and adrenaline--queens all riled up in the middle of the night was a guarantee for panic--he was having a hard time making his brain come awake. That was odd and disconcerting, and maybe the Gather had been too much for him... checking in on ten-month-old Weyrlings at all hours was quite tiring... he could figure it out later.

I'zaj jogged outside in only his pants and boots. The cool air energized his bare skin, but he found himself still to be a bit out of breath. Probably excitement. And then he reached his recent graduates and older Weyrling, with Channith's mammoth silhouette floating overhead, and his heart sank and he had to remember to breathe at all. Poor Mirene. She was easily the most tragic case they had ever had. And the worst part... was that there was nothing he could do. Mirene hadn't been under his charge in a full Turn.

"J'rak, if you've got this side under control, I'm going to go back inside and handle the younger ones." I'zaj told his assistant, who had beaten him outside. "Subalth will be guarding the entrance. No one's coming inside or out again without going through him."

Subalth snarled a bit for emphasis, eyes whirling a malevolent red. He shifted his weight from forelimb to forelimb, just waiting.

With that settled, I'zaj jogged back to the dark safety of the cavern. The younger Weyrlings had roused and he heard the usual clamor of nervous, frightened dragonets. Lights were coming on already. He rubbed his shoulder, idly wondering if he had careened into a wall during his mad dash outside. No matter what kind of tragedy outside, the life inside his cavern went on.

--

[Arielle]

Le'car looked towards Mirene's face, seeing that as the area of her body with the most bloody wounds and the most concern for a concussion or broken neck. Gently, as gently as he could, he felt along her neck, his hands wrapping around it so his fingers could palpate along the bones. He wasn't a trained healer, but for animals broken bones were an emergency, especially leg bones. He knew some of what he was feeling for in any case. "It just feels like bruising, from what I can tell, no broken bones in her neck at least." He moved next to brush her hair back from her face, to keep it from sticking in her open wounds. Looking down at his shirt, Lea decided he didn't care about it enough not to sacrifice it and pulled the small knife he kept in his pocket for situations like this out. Unsheathing it, he began to cut strips from the hem of his shirt. Making them into a layered pad, Le'car began to press it to the bloodiest of Mirene's facial cuts. Head and face wounds always did bleed more than they looked like they should.

((Good. We need swift action. I don't like staying still with something like this,)) Polloth replied, shifting in his spot next to his queenly sister. He watched the goings on with concern and impatience. It was too long without justice for this Killer of Dragons and now Firelizards. Whoever they were, they would be brought to justice, even if it was Polloth who had to do it himself. Killing a human repulsed him, but the bronze could not be sure this Killer of Dragons even was or counted as a human. Humans were supposed to protect dragons and those who could not care for themselves, like the dragonless.

Le'car looked up when Remiel arrived and the guards followed. He returned to his work at stopping the bleeding as two of the guards joined him in performing first aid. When his former classmate spoke to him he offered the older rider an encouraging smile. "Of course, Remiel. I'll stay." The seventeen turn old reached out one bloodied hand to his friend, offering comfort if she wanted it, his other hand still pressing the pad made from parts of his shirt to Mirene's cheek and temple. Polloth echoed Subalth's snarl after I'zaj appeared and gave orders.

[Arielle]

((OOC: Aaaaaron, here it is.))

[Aaron C.]

On Thursday, January 23, 2014 9:02:49 PM UTC-5, Arielle wrote:

Le'car looked towards Mirene's face, seeing that as the area of her body with the most bloody wounds and the most concern for a concussion or broken neck. Gently, as gently as he could, he felt along her neck, his hands wrapping around it so his fingers could palpate along the bones. He wasn't a trained healer, but for animals broken bones were an emergency, especially leg bones. He knew some of what he was feeling for in any case. "It just feels like bruising, from what I can tell, no broken bones in her neck at least." He moved next to brush her hair back from her face, to keep it from sticking in her open wounds. Looking down at his shirt, Lea decided he didn't care about it enough not to sacrifice it and pulled the small knife he kept in his pocket for situations like this out. Unsheathing it, he began to cut strips from the hem of his shirt. Making them into a layered pad, Le'car began to press it to the bloodiest of Mirene's facial cuts. Head and face wounds always did bleed more than they looked like they should.

((Good. We need swift action. I don't like staying still with something like this,)) Polloth replied, shifting in his spot next to his queenly sister. He watched the goings on with concern and impatience. It was too long without justice for this Killer of Dragons and now Firelizards. Whoever they were, they would be brought to justice, even if it was Polloth who had to do it himself. Killing a human repulsed him, but the bronze could not be sure this Killer of Dragons even was or counted as a human. Humans were supposed to protect dragons and those who could not care for themselves, like the dragonless.

      Channith took off, gliding toward the barracks. She angled into a circle, looking over the chaos. There was certainly no space or reason    for two queens there. ((Linauth, I am staying in the air. Enforce this with me: nobody leaves this Weyr. Have your rider inform the guards.))

      As Bhira made her way to the door and then the unending stairs, Channith made another call. ((Watchrider! Hold your position! Watch every angle!)) 

      There was a wher scurrying around as well, following an invisible trail. Channith drifted closer. ((Linauth, who owns this wher, and what is he doing?))

 

Le'car looked up when Remiel arrived and the guards followed. He returned to his work at stopping the bleeding as two of the guards joined him in performing first aid. When his former classmate spoke to him he offered the older rider an encouraging smile. "Of course, Remiel. I'll stay." The seventeen turn old reached out one bloodied hand to his friend, offering comfort if she wanted it, his other hand still pressing the pad made from parts of his shirt to Mirene's cheek and temple. Polloth echoed Subalth's snarl after I'zaj appeared and gave orders.

   Linauth projected the force of her order along with and beside Channith's, like a harmony to her melody. ((Nobody leaves this Weyr!)) Linauth then pressed Remiel to do as Channith ordered in relaying that sentiment to the guards, but she felt reluctant to repeat the order after the guard with the wher had already reported that he was locking down the ground level exits. Still, at Linauth's insistence, she said,

   "Make sure you do as the sergeant and the Weyrwoman say in this: no one leaves the weyr. This is the most important thing now after healing Mirene." She blushed, feeling silly. But she had a role to play, and she would be flamed if she did not play it the best she could. She took Le'car's hand for a moment and squeezed it gratefully.

   ((Channith, this wher belongs to one of the guard leaders, and he is attempting to track the scent of the attacker,)) Linauth explained. ((Attempting... I do not know whether he can truly smell him or not.))

[Rachel]

Acceptable. ((Thank you, Linauth.))

Channith continued to circle, flying higher to peer at the ground immediately outside the Weyr. Her slow glides let her take everything in, and she redirected Bhira to the infirmary first to find out their status.

To Linauth and Polloth on the ground, she relayed, ((The infirmary is prepared and sending out  healers. Please cooperate with them and help them to carry the victim.))

OOC: Please direct attention to the following thread for more Mirene-healer-action:
"[EasternWeyr] (1.01.2762) Fixing What's Beyond Broken (ATTN: Zarak, Meria, HEALERS)"

Guards and others prowling the area can stay in this thread, but some help is needed in physically relocating Mirene.

--

[Collin 'Ridayah' O'Connor]

It was terrifying to see someone in this state.  T'kana just kept it clamped down as he helped, where he could, as the healer arrived and bundled her off.  He wasn't one of those transporting her, as his anger was too great and the was not sure he could maintain a steady hold to keep her flat and calm.  The way she just... seemed to fade and go still.  It terrified him, and the thought of losing first your dragon, and then your flit sent a blade into the heart of any rider.

Cheith's eyes, whirling red, and orange, turned to T'kana.  ((Action is called for, mine.  The queens demand we seal the weyr.))

T'kana took a look at Re'miel, Le'car, and the others present.  "W-we s-should g-go g-guard th-the w-weyr ex-xits.  Ch-chieth and I-I g-go t-to the w-weyr ent-trance."  He gave a bow and quickly leapt towards his bronze, and the two winged off.

OOC: As Rachel said, this thread can redirect, we're getting ready to launch the other threads!  Keep your eyes open folks!  Healers DEFINITELY go that route!