Rain, Rain Go Away. Come Back Another Day. (PLOT)

[Lark]

No one saw it coming. It was death on silent wings, dark and brooding, rumbling its laughter across the skies and flashing brilliant teeth as it smiled. No one saw it coming. No one even considered what those few raindrops the night before at the Gather could mean. It hit about midnight the day after the celebration, sweeping in on swift winds, it tore at the Hold, whipping trees aside as if they were little more than sticks. The walls were not much better, and the rain flooded quickly.

People ran back and forth frantically to stop the structures from falling, some moving too slowly, forever to be lost that night. Riders that had done services by bringing holdsfolk back home were some of those gone; their dragons' screams piercing even the loudest sounds. One by one they blinked between, disappearing from the world in a fruitless effort to find their life-mates. It was after all, better than being left on this world alone.

The wreckage was found that morning, it being deemed safe finally to arrive. Those that came were quickly brought to tears as they searched for lost loved ones and dragged the broken bodies from the rubble. Inali shook her head, biting back a tremble that wanted to seize her body in an uncontrollable shaking. How many Loraketh? How many of us were lost? She closed her eyes, but the sight was forever burned into her memory. It refused to leave and she stumbled back against the Gold's form. The dragoness keened, equally in despair over her lost brethren.

I...I am not sure. Many though...more than we should have. K'tor and Zalanth are among them My Lady. The Queen crooned sadly over the loss of her clutchbrother, remembering the moment the blue had shrieked in fright and left his torment. It is better where they are though. It is so much better, I would cease as well My Lady...if you were gone. Inali gasped, grabbing urgently for her neck that was now offered, pulling her shining head into her embrace. "I won't leave you, I promise. Come on, go from the air dearheart and see if you can spot any injured dragons."

The storm had hit the Weyr as well, though not nearly as badly. The Weyrwoman sighed and looked upward at the still cloudy sky. The storm had reduced to a drizzle, the wind storms dieing down slowly little by little. It still rained though, still howled for those lost. She wanted to join them, but knew it was the last thing her people needed. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to be a child again in her mother's arms. Her mother was gone though too, and like this, it could not be changed.

Walking past a tree stump, Inali cried out suddenly, racing over to the form under it. She let herself fall nearby, throwing her arms out to touch the face that stared blankly at her. Inali! Loraketh's mental shout from the air rang through her mind but the young woman only shook her head. "Kierah...no, not you too." She shook her head in disbelief, not wanting to think that the WeyrHarper was now gone; but she was, they all were.

(Ooc: Okay, this is just after the riders and everyone else are starting to arrive and come out of the rubble. If you have people dead or injured play it out here. Panille and Alyara are here as well, so feel free to interact with them. Also feel free to throw in random NPC people if it helps things. If your character doesn't have a dragon old enough to fly *Loraketh's clutch*, then they could have hitched a ride with a rider.)

[Zirin]

Soheath's body shuddered as he tried once more to shove the wreckage off his back. Overhead, above the rubble, he could hear and feel the frantic squeaks of Trouble and Atla, the two firelizards, as they dove and twisted in the air, moving small branches when they could and offering worried encouragement. He tried again,but stopped when one of the branches threatened to rip his hide. Don't push yourself Soheath... Ad'os spoke mentally to the large brown, Call for help, there just has to be someone that can help? The young rider was worried yes, but not because they were stuck. From what he could feel, Soheath was relatively unharmed, just a little bruised and scratched from havign had the mud and trees slide onto him. He could feel the brown want to argue, he had always been stubborn, but the brassy bugle a moment later showed he had given in.

It thankfully wasn't much longer before a fellow brown and a couple of blues had found them and helped to remove them. Take a rest Soh, Addy said quietly, ignoring the brown's protest. Soheath had kept the weight of the mud and debris off Addy for a good few hours, and he could tell the poor brown was tired. Leaving him to take a breather, Addy found his legs - sore as they were - and, seeing Inali nearby, ran over to report, since he didn't see his wingleader anywhere yet.

"Weyrwoman I - " He stopped mid sentence, his eyes widening as he noticed who it was that had Inali so worked up. "K-Kierah no!" He cried, dropping beside the Weyrwoman, tears already slipping out of eyes. As if the loss of some of his wingmates and fellow riders hadn't been enough, Kierah had also been taken? "W...Where's Leotie?!" He looked around frantically, fearing the worst for his friend's daughter.

---

"Down there!" J'dol commanded from Kayath's back. The nine month old Topaz banked to the left, spiralling down quickly and landing near by J'dol's reference point. The young man unclipped himself and slid down the orange dragon's leg before rushing over to the two bodies he had spotted from the air. Kayath hung her head sadly as she watched her fellow dragons landing in various spots over the coast, looking, hoping, to find someone who was still breathing.

"He has a pulse! Kayath, get over here!" J'dol cried suddenly, his finger's still on the boy's neck as he waved the dragoness over. She moved quickly, carefully, making sure she stepped lightly as she went. Dropping low she helped move the rubble that covered the boy's body. A woman laid nearby. Her? Kayath asked, her voice holding only the faintest hint of hope; she had lost her hope long ago, after so many she had known had been lost. J'dol's lack of a reply was all she needed. He did all he could to get the boy onto Kayath's back, then they took off again, dropping the boy off in the make-shift infirmary that had been set up away from the chaotic mess. They took off again, in search of others again, the pair flying over Loraketh on their way.

Mother... Kayath crooned sadly at her golden mother as they passed.

[Akira]

A'thur groaned, and sputtered as he laid under what remained of a very large tree. He could see his brown dragon, but only barely. The large male was very badly wounded, just as he himself was. Merlinth opened his eyes slowly and looked at his rider. Help Mine He reached out for the closest dragon he could, which happened to be Soheath. He wasn't sure if the other dragon would help, but hopefully, someone would help His.

It's alright Merlinth. A'thur smiled at his brown as he tried to speak to him. His voice was weak, but he was doing his best to hold on to his life. He didn't want to be the cause of Merlinth's death, but with half of himself underneath a tree, that was pretty hard. Merlinth's breathing was shallow, and just as weak as his rider's voice. He had a broken wing, and if he did live through this, he would never fly again. He crooned weakly to his rider, and tried to move to him.

A'thur pushed the dragon back as hard as he could with the bond they shared. He could feel the dragon's pain that the movement had caused, something he didn't like in the least. Merlinth groaned, and laid still doing his best to just breath. That was the same thing A'thur was doing, only he could feel the life fading from him. It wouldn't be long before him and his dragon were no longer part of this world. If he could only make it over to his dragon, he would feel much better about dying.

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

N'ck shook his head, and stood up. Another one, dead. He sighed and walked over to where his white dragon stood. For once the proud dragon was silent, and let his rider hold on to his neck, and felt the warm tears that flowed from his eyes. Come N'ckMine, there are others that need our help. He knelt down and allowed his rider to climb up onto his back. He waited silently for the young man to give him the signal to climb into the sky.

Can we just walk buddy? N'ck's voice was quite, and unemotional as he spoke. Kicheth nodded his white head, and turned to walk away. They didn't get far when they heard something crying. N'ck quickly jumped off his dragon, and started digging in the rubble to try and find the source. Kicheth here! The white dragon ran over to where his rider was and started using his large claws to lift away the larger pieces of rubble. Both of them doing their best to try and save whomever was trapped.

It's alright, we're here to help. N'ck spoke softly to the young girl that him and Kicheth had uncovered. She didn't look like she was hurt too badly, but then again, he was no healer. He gently lifted the little girl into his arms, and winced when he heard her cry because of the way her foot hung limply from her foot. He walked over to Kicheth, and did his best to strap her in as gently as he could. After that was finished, he climbed up onto the whites back, and had the white slowly climb into the sky.

Kicheth crooned sadly to his mother and her rider as they passed. He was doing his best to fly as smoothly as he could. They were on their way to the Weyr so they could get this little girl checked out. He felt bad for the young human, and wondered how it must feel to have lost so much. I wonder if we will find her family. He shook his head at the silence he felt coming from his rider. N'ck didn't want to think about what would happen if they didn't find the girl's family.

[jillianna]

Alessandra stumbled back past the dragons and riders, numbly unaware of anything around her. Her home was destroyed. There were bodies... Human... dragon.... bodies and blood everywhere amongst the rubble and the water in the streets. Never in her most fearsome nightmares had her mind ever conjured an image half this bad. The smell of blood rang coppery in her nose as her waterlogged eyes searched the bodies for friends, neighbors, and worse... Family.

Hands caught at her, demanding to know if she was okay. A rider. She pushed the rider violently back, never even seeing him as her shop/home came into view. Her heart dropped. It looked as if the building had collapsed . the wall had fallen forward, and the ceiling was mostly intact, being held slightly up with assistance from the beams.

A shock of black hair was untouched beneath the edge of the ceiling and she stumbled, falling and cutting her knee on the debris as she scrambled to her brother's side. She had to lay almost completely on the ground to see him. He was trapped under the roof, the majority of the weight on his hips and thighs. His eyes were open and his mouth worked weakly. No sound came from him, having already screamed his pain until his voice was gone. His eyes found her terrified ones, and his hand reached weakly for her own. reaching in, she clasped it tightly, tears running down her face as she offered up prayer and thanks to the almighty for sparing her brother, and praying that he would somehow make it through.

"I'll get help for you! I promise Keegan!" with a sob she tore herself away and scrambled to her feet, screaming for help, anyone, anything to save her brother. . .

[Zirin]

Soheath lifted his head from the ground where he had been doing his best to gain a few moments of rest while His was reporting. However, the sudden emotional pain from Ad'os worried the dragon, and rest was not something he was going to do now. No, not with the instability of His' mind. He went to move, to go to Addy when a dragon's voice reached him. Spinning his head around to look for the source, his eyes landed on Merlinth, the dragon who had called him. He needed help! Ad'os. We are needed. He called, but his rider was too far into misery and worry about Kierah that he wasn't hearing his own dragon. Soheath rose, rumbling worriedly. If His wasn't going to hear him then he would defy his rider's order to rest. He was needed.

He moved over to Merlinth as quickly as he could, crooning sadly as he looked over the other brown and then over his rider. Something about the look in their eyes, the way they were both physically fighting pain, told the young, intelligent brown all he needed to know. Be ready. He said to Merlinth's rider, not happy about having to speak to another human, but he knew he couldn't be picky in a time like this. Finding a gap under the tree, the brown did all he could to shove his head under the tree and pushing with all his might, trying the lift the tree enough for A'thur to dragon himself out. Another rider ran past close enough to see what was going on and ran over.

"Can you move?" He asked gruffly, offering a hand in the hopes of pulling the man out from under the tree. It was easy to see Soheath wouldn't be able to hold the tree for much longer. Take him to Merlinth. Soheath said to everyone there, his body starting to shake from effort. The man kept jumped down with the intention of lifting A'thur and carrying him to his dragon.

[[OOC: Aki, the man who arrived is NPC, so feel free to play him ^^]]

---

Off in another area of the tragedy, J'dol and Kayath where circling, trying to catch hide or hair of someone else stuck or in need of help. Someone is calling Mine, I can here it. Kayath said as she banked to the left, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. It was difficult, there was crying and screaming coming from many different directions, but.. ah! there! She swooped down over a girl who appeared to be the one screaming and landed nearby.

Hush girl! The topaz commanded fiercly. There was no time for yelling and screaming, she and J'dol had much work to do everywhere else and did not have any time to waste. What is the problem? Kayath is here to help. J'dol slid off her back and ran towards the girl, aware his dragon was trying to get the story out of her as quickly as possible.

[Akira]

A'thur watched with blurry vision as another dragon seemed to make his way over to him. He smiled weakly when he heard the dragon speak to him. He was going to be helped. He nodded his head at the dragon, and finally realized who it was. Thank you Soheath. His voice was weak, and barely a whisper. He felt the pain start to fade when the tree was lifted off of him, then another man showed up, it wasn't the brown's rider, but at this point, any help was welcome.

A'thur cried out when the man lifted him off the ground. It is alright Mine, the pain will go soon. Merlinth crooned weakly at his rider when the stranger laid him next to his brown head. A'thur lifted his hands and held the big males snout between them. Thank you, I think it's time my friend. He laid his head against the brown's snout, and let the life drift slowly from his body. Merlinth screamed in pain that the death of his rider caused, then he too, was gone from this world.

[Zero]

Solarith roared angrily from the still dark sky as he haphazardly dropped from the air to land hard amongst the destruction below. Instantly he found his claws sank deep into the muck of what used to be Solace Hold but he felt nothing from the sights and sounds around him. A toppled stone wall cracked and popped beneath his weight as he twisted and shouldered his way through the rubble. There were so many faces. Some were still and unmoving while others stared blankly ahead in a mixture of shock and fear while silent tears stained their dirty and battered faces.

Things that would normally phase him barely managed to hold his furiously swirling gaze for more then a mere moment. The bronze king’s lip curled back in a wicked snarl, a throaty growl threatening to spill from his jaws as he dared to snap at those stumbling to approach him. Fools! None of them were His. How dare they simply approach him with outstretched arms. Solarith hissed at the bunch as his tail lashed behind him. Could they not tell he was too busy searching for His to help them?!

Barring his fangs at the group the wounded and lost King turned from them and resumed his search. His mind was nearly lost to him and threatened to die every moment His did not answer. Why wouldn’t he answer? Another roar tore from his jaws, to match that of the dying screams of Riders and Dragons alike, as he swung his head from left to right. It was so hard to see though as ichor oozed and dripped from a hidden wound somewhere above his left eye.

With red and grey swirling eyes, Solarith blindly wandered past Loraketh, in his fear and pain threatening to trample innocents with each step. S’val was no where to be seen, the only clue to how the Jr Weyrleader became separated from his bronze companion was a pair of snapped and torn riding straps trailing behind in the muck.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the devastated Hold, strewn across broken stone and lying in a puddle of water and filth lay S’val. It was clear he was unconscious just by looking at the wound to his head and the blood caked in his hair. His arm was twisted at a sickening position and ribs were surely broken. Who knows how much blood he’s lost and how much time he could have left. Let us hope there’s a healer among the rescuers to reach him in time…

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[Lark]

Inali shook her head as a few voices came to her ears. She barely heard them, but then finally, finally they started to seep through. Leotie? Kierah's daughter? "I don't think she came with her....Loraketh?" The Weyrwoman didn't have the strength at the moment to call for her dragoness mentally. The Queen sought out the dragons left at Trelis quickly, a relay message of sorts telling them the news going on so far and asking different questions. Loraketh after all needed to keep things going when Hers was finding it difficult. She is safe in the Weyr My Lady. More dragons are coming now to help clear the debree.....Merlinth's Own is hurt...I fear they will depart soon. Solarith! His is hurt as well.

The Gold crooned to her daughter as she passed by, then darted to where the bronze was, bugling for some nearby healers to come to them. The riders stopped looking around then and came over, that done she was airborne again and to Merlinth. Easy now Merlinth. My warrior you have done well....I will stay with you until the end. Death was something all Queens knew about the moment they were born, it was something that happened all the time, something they could feel easier than some when a dragon betweened. She would stay here with her brown brethren, sitting stoic and arcing her neck proudly. Do not let their passing be a moment of grief until it was finally over. That's what she had to tell herself.

[jillianna]

Alessandra would normally had freaked out if such a large dragon landed right in front of her. Her mind registered what the dragon was demanding, but it seemed strange, never having been spoken to by a dragon before. Like she wasnt the only one inside her head anymore. It was an interesting feeling... She didnt have time to ponder it, her brother's life was on the line. She nodded the panic still in her voice but her terror contained.

"Please! My brother is burried underneath this wall!" she went to her knees beside itgrasping the side with both hands trying to pull up on it. "He's trapped and there's blood! I dont know how bad it is, I cant move it by myself. I just know he's still alive... Please, help me!"

The tears still streaming down her dirtstreaked face left small tracks through the dirt and she looked for all the world like a distraught refugee. which was, she supposed, exactly what she was now.

[Zirin]

Soheath dipped his head as Loraketh came to join the silent vigil, and crooned softly, as the life slowly drained from Merlinth's rider's eyes. As the dragon soon followed his rider into death, Soheath lifted his head, a keen ripping from his already tired throat. So many losses... The brown, his respects paid, stood and walked away. There were others out there still... Ad'os.

Ad'os breathed a sigh of relief as Leotie's location was found. She was safe... and that's what mattered. He moved the rest a hand on the Weyrwoman's shoulder in a silent gesture of support and shared sorrow. His eyes gazed back down at Kierah's body. She wouldn't want him to stand idly by when there was somewhere else he should be. Soheath's voice managed to reach him this time, and he moved away from Kierah and Inali. There was no time to be sad now; they had worked to do. Quickly mounting the brown, they took to the air and took off, looking for a direction where no other dragons circled. Elsewhere in the air, Addy's two flits, Atla and Trouble, were flitting around in the wreckage, looking for tasty morsels of fish since they didn't quite understand the severity of the situation. Atla cheeped, cocking her head as she came around a rock to see a man lying there. Curious, Trouble also came and looked at him, squaking at him to get up. When there was no answer, she left, off to find something else. Atla though, was more intelligent. She blinked between, reappearing in the air near Soheath and giving the brown a confused image of the man. Roaring, the brown twisted in the air, circling, trying to find the spot shown in the lazuli's mind. There! He banked and landed, Ad'os sliding off to run over to the form, recognising it in an instant.

"S'val!" He called, gently trying to shake the man, trying to wake him up. Loraketh, Mine has found Solarith's. He is worried. Solarith's does not respond. He passed the message to the gold, knowing she, of all dragons, might be able to calm Solarith enough. He then contacted the bronze, sending only an image to him.

---

J'dol raised a hand, trying to motion she should calm down as he looked over where she had indicated. Shards... moving that thing would be a pain. Kayath... can you? The topaz shook her head. She was strong, but there was no way she could get a good grip on the wall on her own. She sent out a command to any dragon nearby, and mere moments passed before two greens had found their way to them. It wasn't much, but the three should be able to do the trick.

As the dragons carefully positioned themselves and began to push, the wall moved... barely.
"We have to hurry, grab his other arm!" J'dol commanded, quickly reaching down to grab the boy's nearest arm. He didn't care much about injuring the boy right now; it was more important to get him away from the wall first. "Pull!"

[jillianna]

She reached under the wall thankful that the dragons and riders were here to help. finding her brothers other arm, almost losing her grip because her hands were slick from the pool of blood around him. She helped to pull him out biting down on a whimper when Keegan's cry of pain came. Soon though, they had him out from beneath the wall, and could see the damage. His legs were skint and bruised, oozing blood through the dirt and grime that covered them through the rips and cuts in his pants. They were positioned at odd angles, and with the exception of a cut along his forehead and a gash down one arm, those were his only injuries it seemed.

"Thank you rider... and my ladies." She bowed her head over her brothers as his world went black, tearing the sleeves from her dress to make tourniquets for his forehead and his arm. The dragon's presence seemed to effect her more, now that her brother was out from under the wall. The curiosity and draw of their presence pulled more at her and she couldnt help glancing back up at them.

"...I dont know what to do... I have to help him, but I dont know how."

[Zirin]

Good, J’dol mentally sighed, they had gotten him out. He tried to ignore the cry of pain, knowing there was nothing he could do to ease it. He had a couple jars of numbweed sure, but that would only do so much; he was no healer. Kayath and the greens let the wall drop and the topaz thanked them both before sending them on their way to help others, she would finish the job with this one. He looked over the boy now that he was out of the worst part, noting the odd angles of his legs and the amount of blood everywhere. At first glance though, it did seem that his legs were the only major problem.

“I’ve got numbweed,” he replied, holding out a jar for the girl after she had made makeshift bandages for the cuts he could see,” It won’t do much, but if we can numb the pain enough Kayath and I can take you guys to the infirmary.” He didn’t really know what else to say, so he went on with what he knew of what was going on while he tried to rip a chunk of the boy’s pants. Succeeding, he began slathering numbweed, trying to be as gentle as possible despite his hurry.

“If we can get him to the infirmary, they should be able to fix him…” His voice held a hint of nervousness. Sure the boy looked mostly alright (and kind of cute if you ignored the blood), but he didn’t want to promise anything until the boy had been looked at. “And you’ll both have somewhere to stay at the Weyr.. Plenty of room in the Barracks…” In truth, they also needed more people on the lookout for survivors, but he couldn’t ask that of her so soon.

I will carry you both. All will be well. Kayath added in for both J'dol and the girl to hear, hoping to ease their minds more.