Come All, Safety Is Here (PLOT)

[Lark]

Panille shook her head as she watched more people file into the lower caverns. There were so many, the Weyr was playing refugee camp, and she feared there were maybe too many. After all, the storm had hit Sollace worst, but also other minor holds and villages in between Trelis and the coastline. Then they had the whole catastrophe with the missing Weyrlings, though by now they'd been found. Some had been injured, but they were getting better at least. Still, lost for almost a full sevenday? That wasn't good.

If there was one thing that wasn't getting out of here information wise, it would be that. Another wave of people came through, and Panille pointed out the dining room for them to file into. The Weyrwoman would be talking to them all soon. Then, rooms would be given out the refugees. Most likely there would be many to each, after all Trelis was a smaller Weyr. Outside, Iliath stood on the Weyr Heights near Loraketh and the Istan Obsidian's larger forms. They were watching, just watching. Beneath them a brown flew out to take down a kill, and the green licked her jaws. She was hungry too, but the people were frightened enough as it was without many dragons eating. The only reason Loraketh hadn't warned that one off was because the brown had been injured.

Besides orders, the Gold and Hers hadn't spoken much, at least not to the normal Weyr residents. Which, for some Weyrwomen and WeyrQueens would be normal, but not for Inali and her dragoness. They were always seen around the Weyr in some way or another, but lately? People would be lucky to catch even a glimpse of them, and when they did one of her daughters was usually in her arms, almost like a security blanket. Iliath tilted her head, warbling softly as she shifted her wings to a more comfortable position.

Inside her rider caught a glimpse of the Weyrwoman talking to Alyara, the other weyrlingmaster. They were close together, drawn off to the side of the group, though the goldrider did raise her head to check on the incoming crowd ever now and again. Finally she nodded her head, and then hugged her friend, moving over to the table where the leaders of the Weyr sat. She raised her hands up, the person beside her clinking a glass to get the attention. When that didn't work entirely, Loraketh bugled loudly which had everyone pausing in their movements.

"Thank you." She glanced around the room, and shook her head. "I am sorry for those we have lost....there were many who were dear to me as well, but they would not want us dallying on their passing when we could be making a new home for their family and friends. Let us grieve together now, and then let us move on....after all, that is what is most healthy. Next sevenday, I ride out to Southern Weyr to commission more workers. The ones we have already are either injured or off working on the new Hold. We need more to rebuild the lost one, and it will be rebuilt. If you go to one of the riders at the exists, they have lists of what rooms they can assign you to stay in. If they don't mind, any children above the age of 12 may stay in the candidate barracks since there is plenty of room there."

[Zirin]

Ad'os watched solemnly as Sollacians and holders from the various cotholds on the islands filed slowly into the lower caverns. It was heartbreaking, to say the least. Many of them were crying, mourning for lost friends and family, mourning for the home that no longer existed. Trelis was doing what it could to house everyone, but space was quickly running out. He had already offered to house a couple young folk in his weyr. It wasn't the most spacious or private, but it at least gave someone shelter and safety, and in the hopes of giving at least a little personal space, Addy had opted to sleep curled up next to Soheath. There current occupants of his room were, in fact, two of his sisters. His father, for the time being, was in the infirmary, and his eldest sister Idia.... He had to wipe away a tear at the memory of his sister's broken, lifeless body.

He sighed again sadly as he glanced over the faces of the newest arrivals. It was sad... just sad. Loraketh's bugle pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned attentively toward the Weyrwoman, his eyes showing the worry he felt. This had been hard on her, and he feared it was too much. He jumped as she mentioned going to Southern and rushed over to her side as soon as it was possible.

"Inal- Weyrwoman." He began, suddenly not sure what it was he was going to do. In truth, he hadn't been very trusting of the other Weyrs since the entire Ista incident, and the idea of Inali and Loraketh going somewhere... it made him nervous. "Please let me go with you to Southern." He wasn't sure what else to say. Not to mention, there was no guarantee that she hadn't already put together a small wing to go with her. Regardless, he had to offer. It was the least he could do. He had wanted to ask her something else as well. He had wanted to ask about who was caring for Leotie, to offer himself up if no one else was able. But the wound was too fresh, he knew he couldn't ask such a thing.

---

J'dol was also looking through the crowds of people in the caverns, though for vastly different reasons. Instead of looking out at the new arrivals, he was looking out over the crowd in search of his fellow weyrlings, both his own class, and the younger ones. He hadn't seen all of them, since before the storm, since many were in the infirmaries. He spotted many of them among the crowd, some helping the homeless, others searching for friends and family among the survivors. He could see U'wa off to the side with Yufa, and one of the Istans was there in the middle of the crowd. J'dol had no relations to anyone in the area, and it appeared that his Weyr-friends had survived. There was one missing though. A greenrider from his class, Tahoi? He hadn't seen her at all yet, but after the many dragons betweening during the storm... he couldn't remember when she had left, or if she had even betweened at all.

He could feel sadness from Kayath across their bond. It was something he hadn't been prepared for, but the topaz did have an inborn mothering instinct, and though she had no children of her own yet, the loss of classmates and fellow riders was hitting the young dragoness harder than he had expected. Before long, Inali began her small speech and J'dol nodded, taking in the information. It was no surprise that she was going to look elsewhere for help. The Weyr was doing everything it could but they simply didn't have the necessary man power to rebuild the Hold on their own. LoveMine, don't forget what you are supposed to do right now. Kayath commented quietly from the ledge she was resting on. Thanking the topaz, he quickly lifted a large piece of brightly coloured cloth and waved it through the air.

"Candidates and anyone above 12 who are staying in the barracks, gather round me!" He called out. Ad'os had asked him to assist with gathering and leading the young folk who would be staying in the barracks, since the CandidateMaster no longer had an assistant to help him. J'dol didn't mind, it helped to keep him occupied. "Over for the barracks folks."

[Zero]

S’val had been lost in his own thoughts, idly drumming his fingers across the table while absentmindedly playing with the thick swath of bandages that wrapped around his head and concealed his left eye from view. It was too early to tell with the constant bustle of Trelis if the healers had been able to save the bronze riders sight, but S’val held some hope. To say a lot had happened within the past few days would have been a severe understatement. No one had been willing to put an exact number on the amount of dead holders and weyrfolk yet. The Junior Weyrleader shook his head at the thought as an echo of a dying rider and his dragon tore through his skull. Riders were used to the idea of death. It was something to be honored not shied away from.

The dark haired man sighed lowly and massaged his temples, wincing slightly as his fingers brushed a still sore spot. He couldn’t really dwell on it all now, there was too much to be done, too many souls to relocate and lives to rebuild. There would be time to honor those fallen later. Lorakeths bugle made him look up in time to see Inali move near to the table he was seated at and begin to speak for the whole crowd to hear.

What she said came as no shock for him. Of course they would need more workers to help rebuild but to send their own WeyrQueen? His eye narrowed as he scanned the crowd and easily picked out the Istan Garnet and his rider. After their previous encounter with the Istans his trust in other weyrs was at an all time low, after all it’s why his weyrmate had chose to leave Trelis, and him, behind.

He shifted the sling that clung to his right arm and gave a sharp nod of his head in the Weyrwomans direction and rose from his chair, already taking note as others spoke up with their own thoughts. “If you’ll have us, Solarith and I will be at your side and accompany you to Southern..”

-------------------

F’lon stood off to the side, unusually quiet for once as he watched the flood of incoming refugees. He was a little battered from the storm, just a few cuts and bruises here and there, but for the most part he had come out unscathed. Usually this would be his prime setting for pilfering and other ungodly deeds but not today, not on this occasion. It would seem that there was a certain line that this thief would not cross. Perhaps though, it had something do to with the presence of his cousin and the dammed garnet of his.

As his eyes scanned the crowd, he took notice of Panille standing off to the other side of the room but he made no move to draw her attention, she might have been directing refugee traffic and with him being uncharacteristically nice at the moment did not want to interrupt anything. It was beginning to wear on his nerves somewhat though, especially when the announcement went out that everyone could be forced into sharing their rooms with the refugees. He scowled to himself at the thought and cast another look around the area. There were already too many people and it was starting to make his skin crawl. The thief shifted his weight from one foot to the other and adjusted his grip on the hand of the small toddler clinging to his leg. The dark haired boy had his tear streaked face buried in his fathers pant leg and seemed to stick to the mans side for dear life. It was to be expected though, the boys mother had perished in the Storm but F’lon shed no tears for the lost girl. He had his son and he was relatively unharmed. Now, if the rest of these people would find their way and leave…

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[Lark]

Inali shook her head. It was sweet of them to offer, but she needed to go alone. "I only expect to be there for three days at the most. Not even a full fortnight. There is no need for an entire wing to leave with me. In fact, I think it will be good for me to get away for a bit. I need to clear my head after..." The Weyrwoman trailed off as she looked at her hands by her side. A tugging at her skirt hem had her looking up again though.

"Inali, she's crying again. I can't get her to stop." Leotie was there, sweet little thing she was. The eight turn old girl was holding Inoria, the babe crying and wiggling in her arms, tears in her eyes. It was amazing that Kierah's daughter could work through this so easily when Inali could not. She had lost both her parents....they had something in common in that. "Thank you dear. Normally Loraketh's the only one who can."

She bent down a bit to catch the baby girl as Leotie passed her over, Chime-bell chittering to Ghost who nodded back. The two greens then left to do Faranth knew what. Petting Leotie's head, Inali drew the young weyrbrat against her side, smiling softly when she wrapped her arms around her torso. "Like I was saying. I need to do this myself." Her eyes leveled out as she looked at S'val and Ad'os. She dared them to tell her otherwise.

A moment later Loraketh arrived at the doors to the outside. Her golden nose poked through the hall partially, upsetting a young couple who were clinging to each other. Have her here. The Queen crooned softly as Inali gave Leotie the baby back and the girl went to bring her to the golden dragoness. Dipping her head down to touch Leotie's hand and Inoria's side, Loraketh chortled softly, a sound she rarely made.

Finally, the crying stopped. "One never makes a sound, the other won't stop crying....though I think the healers finally figured out what was the matter with Talian." The Weyrwoman shook her head sadly. They feared the babe was mute, as did she.

---

Pan finally was done with her group. Brushing a stray piece of hair from her eyes, she let her body slide against the wall, the feeling of the cool ground welcome. This wasn't easy. The grief and pain these people were feeling mixed with the images she had seen at the Hold the morning after the storm. Shaking her head, she lowered it into her hands.

---

Zikira never thought she'd end up at the Weyr...again! Her home was destroyed, her mother was dead, father injured, her sister in another sharding continent! Could this get any worse? Oh yeah, she had to share a room with a ton of other people. Sighing, the girl curled her hand around the Nightshade huntyre who crooned and went back to sleep. For once he was shut up. A brief thanks that was only received after being fed. "Well Raven, looks like we'll be in this mess again."

[Zero]

S’val remained standing, his undamaged eye following the movements of the Weyrwoman as she looked fondly, yet sadly, down at the young weyrbrat holding the Weyrleaders daughter. Then she spoke and the older Rider was forced to hold his tongue although a wave of pros and cons were currently building up inside him. Yes a whole wing would be silly when the manpower could be used here to help the refugees but to have at least one Rider there to watch her back… S’val dropped his gaze to the table to think before focusing his eye on her once again, just in time to catch her firm look in his and Ad’os direction.

Her mind seemed to be made up and the Jr Weyrleader knew just how stubborn the Weyrwoman could be. “As you wish m’lady…” His voice was low and gruff but in the end S’val slowly nodded his reluctant agreement. After all, he had limited use of his right arm at the moment and his left eye was still heavily bandaged. Even if something broke out in Southern he would be little help in his less then perfect condition. The bronze rider stood tall and once more looked over the crowd at the many weyrfolk and Riders still assisting the now holdless. Yes, this was going to be a massive cleanup but he silently vowed to pull extra shifts while Inali was gone to help get things sorted around Trelis.

-------------------

F’lon scowled as yet another refugee knocked into him, nearly trampling his son in the act. The toddler whined, sniffling as his tiny grasp tightened on his fathers pant leg. That was the last straw. This cramped space packed with the hot bodies were starting to grate on his nerves, he needed to move. He turned to his cousin and rested his hand on the garnet riders shoulder before uttering a few quick words. The pair gave each other a small nod in understanding, and in parting, before F’lon turned and began to make his way through the crowd.

It was no easy task maneuvering around the bunched people alone but with little Traylor attached to his leg, it made his movements all the more awkward and slow going. Eventually he reached his destination and was glad to see that the space was a little clearer then where he was previously standing. What, or who really, he saw there shocked him slightly and for a moment he was caught off guard. The thief looked down at Panille, with her head cradled in her hand, and quickly thought back to their prior conversations. He remembered her being from Ista but had she mentioned having any family in one of the outer lying holds? Shard it, he couldn’t remember.

“Hey,” he cleared his throat, stepping out of another families way. “Are you or Iliath hurt?” Traylor sniffled, pulling his face away from his fathers leg just enough to look her way, seeing at they were practically eye level, and made a motion to reach for the green rider. F’lon caught his sons hand before he could reach her though, unsure of how she would react to the young boy. “Was there any family you needed to look for?” His voice was low as he spoke, silently hoping he hadn’t caused any further distress by his few questions.

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[jillianna]

Jillalene knelt over one of the refugees from Sollace in the less crowded area of the weyr. Another girl knelt with her, speaking to her in hushed tones. The two were brother and sister from what she had said. Lene cleaned the cut along the boy's forehead before dragging waxlined thread through a needle and beginning to drag it through the edges of the cut, making small neat stitches, tugging the edges of the cut together to knit and heal. Thankfully the boy was unconscious or else lene had no doubt about what would have happened. She considered herself strong and able to handle a lot, but... sewing a man together while he watched and flinched every time the needle touched him, would have gotten to even her. She finished with his forehead and began on his arm, cleaning it and her needle before threading it once more and sewing the gash shut.

"Thank you for this Jillalene. It really means a lot that you're not a doctor, but you'd do this for him anyway." Alessandra looked at the girl, already a blue weyrling, and so young. When she'd come to them she had sent her blue off in search of someone. She could tell from the light in the bluerider's eyes that she was worried. Akiko and Rokai, the two firelizzards that must be Jillalene's by the way they gravitated toward's her, sat on the rocks above the small group as their's finished her work and checked the boy's legs.

The numbweed had been a nice touch on j'dol's part. It kept the pain from the outside from penetrating into what was already a bad situation. It looked as if both legs were broken, and she could probably, if pressed, count five different colors of bruising along them. one leg was bound completely with a full brace, the other, she smoothed over with the salve Rhiannon had given her. a mixture of numbweed and some other plant from the sea designed to make the numbweed soak into the skin, deadening the pain receptors better than just regular numbweed did.

"It's really nothing Allessandra. There's no need for your thanks. We're..."She broke off, looking around again for any sign of Eulurth or the Opal pair of Svirath and Aodfin. They'd been missing for hours before the storm had hit. She had sent Eulurth to ask everyone if they'd seen hide or hair of them but her blue wasnt anywhere near yet. "We're all doing everything we can to help everyone recover from this." She finished tying the bandages back around keegan's leg and settled back against the rocks for a moment, the two flits slipping down onto her lap to snuggle reassuringly against her.

"You seem worried.... Anxious. " Alessandra scooted behind her brother so that his head was pillowed on her lap and her back was against the rocks. "Is everything okay?" The dark haired girl's eyes were sympathetic and warm with genuine concern. She meant well. And it brought a warm half smile to Lene's face. gently pushing a lock of the raven dark hair away from keegan's face, she looked at Alessandra.

"You were really worried about him, weren't you?" Alessandra nodded sparing a tender smile for her brother.

"Well, any siblings I have, I'm unaware of, but I have one I would claim if i could. He's a sweet boy, caring and kind to a fault. It's like I've known him all my life, and he's the only one i'll ever want as a brother like this." He's been missing since before the storm.... and yes. I'm worried about him."

Alessandra reached over and touched her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry. I hope you find him, and that he's okay.... thank you again... for taking such good care of my big brother..." Jillalene shrugged .

"As i said. It's no problem. Stay with him until someone comes to get you and tells you where to go okay? I have to go find Eulurth." She got upthen, the two flits crawling onto her shoulders, twining their tails behind her neck to hold on more securely. Weaving through the crowd calling for hers with her mind.

[Akira]

T'rian scratched his head, and rolled his eyes, he needed a hair cut. He shook his head, and told himself that he would just have to deal with that later, just as he had for the past two weeks. He smiled when he finally saw Inali, and walked up to her. He reached out to pull her into a quick hug, if she would let him. He gently kissed her on her cheek, before looking around to see who all was there, and who wasn't. He raised his eye brows when he saw Leotie holding Inoria in front of Loraketh.

She was crying again? T'rian looked at Inali, with a small, teasing smile on his face. He knew she was worried about Inoria and her twin sister, Talian, but didn't know how to reassure her that the two of them would be fine. Well, he hoped they would be fine. That's when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned around to see a drudge holding a silent baby with a very wide-eyed, and mischievous look on her face. Thank you. He took Talian from the woman, and turned around to Inali with a very curious look on his face.

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

Talian looked around her, and wondered where this woman was taking her. She had gotten a hold of something very expensive that her father had bought her mother, and had broken it. It was her fault, she just wanted to see the shiny thing. She then saw her fathers face, and smiled mischiviously at him. There was no way he was going to get mad at her, there was no way he could have found about what had happened so soon. Though, she was sure the woman was going to tell on her.

Talian reached up for her mother when she saw Inali, and smiled sweetly. She was going to do everything to act cute, and innocent. That's when her tummy started rumbling, she made an upset face, and tried to reach out for any firelizard she could feel. It seemed that that was the only way she could get her parents attention without her sister being around. Speaking of which, where was her sister? She looked around for Inoria, and wondered where she had been taken.


(((OOC: If you would like to rp with any of my other characters, they're all here.)))

[Zirin]

She couldn't stop the tears, no matter how hard she tried, from pouring down her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy and swollen, and her breathing uneven as she fought to control the sobs that shook her body. She had found a corner in the Weyrbowl, away from the prying eyes that might judge her for her behavior. I will crush anyone who judges you. Braymoth said from his place. He had wrapped himself around his rider, not entirely sure how to deal with her sorrow; he had picked her for her strong will and independance, not this. He knew that deep down she would get over it eventually, but for the time being he had no choice but to let her deal with it in her own time.

"If only we had found him sooner... they might not have..." Her voice cut off as a fresh sob tore through her and she threw her head into her arm, the necklace clutched tightly in her hand, as if holding it would bring back its owner. It was hard to say how much time had passed, but by the time Yufa had regained her composure she had become exhausted in every way possible. She wanted to run back to her room and hide under her sheets like she had always done when Father was in a bad mood. You know it must be done. You will feel better when its done. The garnet's voice was rigid and unsure in her mind, but Yufa knew he was right. She could not keep crying in the corner. Standing and brushing off her clothes in an attempt to look at least semi presentable, Yufa turned to enter the hall. Braymoth watched her go, reamining outside because of the lack of room inside.

It was the sound of her voice that alerted Yufa to Jillalene's location within the crowded hall, though it was still difficult to make her way towards her. She had been searching for a while now, squeezing through the throngs of people as she looked. There she was, just behind that next group.

"Jillalene!" She called, coming up behind her, "I... I need to talk to you...May we go somewhere private?" Not waiting for an answer she headed off towards the side, dipping down a corridor and into an empty room, desperately hoping the other weyrling would follow. A tear leakign down her cheek, she was unable to say anything more, instead just holding out the necklace for the girl to take.

[Zara]

((Feel free to have ANYONE any of my chars that are here. (Mostly my riders, Zaekrin, and Iirla, but I'm just posting Iirla and Iz for the moment.)))

BraymothBrotherMine. Mine looks for yours. If she is busy, we will wait. There is much to attend to. The gold's voice was composed, if strained. She was distraught and upset and Iirla was upset as well. Though they both did an alright job of hiding it. They were young. Mostly untrained. And that was something of a bother for Iirla. She was doing her best.

She was carrying blankets and helping a rather young blind girl around the Weyr who seemed to jsut hold her head and cry most of the time. Part of why she was hoping Yufa could help... or at least help her find the Weyr Healer. "It'll be alright..." Shards... This was so hard .THere were so many people and so many things going on that it was rather ridiculous.

She knew Inali was busy and that she would be leaving soon. That just made her feel more stressed. She and Izanycorth neededA to be able to step up to the plate and take on as much as they could. Even with the older sub-queen riders around, she still felt it her duty and she would not appreciate anyoen who told her otherwise.

Ama chirped and took off, flying above the crowd. Why? Well... she was hungry and hers wasn't going to be feeding ehr any time soon, apparently. So she woudl find her own food. That was that. In addition, Trivol, Iirla's blue piped up and tried to demand attention. Izanycorth huffed. Hush. Now. Go follow the little bug. The bug and the flying beetle... Yep. Izanycorth did not like either one of them.

((Sorry. Sorta short...))

[jillianna]

Lene had moved on to the next group of injured refugees when she heard Yufa's voice. Something was wrong... her voice sounded hoarse and pained, and Jillalene's first thought was that braymoth had struck again. Turning, she saw the red of the girls face, it looked like she'd cried until she should have made herself sick, but before she turned Jillalene couldn't discern any new injuries on the Garnet rider, and she made her excuses to the others, having a greenrider take a look at them while she was gone.

She had to walk rather quickly weaving in and out of the milling refugees not to lose the girl and her stomache felt like it dropped about a mile. The Garnet was nowhere in sight. And despite his violence and penchant for abuse he was still her dragon. "Yufa! Yufa is braymoth okay???" She finally reached the cleared edge with Yufa and ducked down the corridor with her.

As she came into the blissfully empty room, she stopped dead. In the light from the torches, her eyes locked with a dead, quivering gaze at her hand. Dangling from the other girl's outstretched hand was a familiar golden chain. Her hand shook as she touched the chain, lifting it from Yufa's fingers. sure enough. The locket dangled from the end and she stared at it for what seemed like forever. blood dried in the clasp and it seemed to her for all the world like she was having an out of body experience. Her mind was screaming no over and over again. She cried so much her Tearducts left trails of red tears tainted by blood down her face and dripped to the floor. The melody of the necklace played sickeningly through her head as her inner turmoil slowly worked itself to the surface.

"N-No... Aodfin... " Her voice was soft, and as the tears came, it seemed the strength that had kept her going since the storm seemed to flood out of her body. She stumbled back against the wall and slid to the floor still staring at the locket. All she could do was cry and repeat his name over and over. He was the sweetest boy she'd ever known. It wasn't right that someone so bright and so full of happiness could be gone.

[Zirin]

It never would have dawned on Yufa that the lack of the garnet nearby would cause others to worry, and she was thankful for the worry and kindness that Lene was showing, but even still, she wasn’t able to speak. She knew if she started talking now she would spill it all, and the busy hall was no place for Lene to hear what she needed to hear. She remained silent at first in the room, watching as the other girl stared at the locket. Yufa knew how hard it must be for her. Just seeing the locket made the garnetrider want to crawl into the corner and cry again. She had to stay strong for Jillalene!

“Lene!” She cried as the girl stumbled backwards, and in an instant she was at the weyrling’s side, dropping to the floor and moving to wrap her arms around the other girl. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” She couldn’t stop the tears from falling now. In the back of her mind, she felt Braymoth once more. Not the grumpy, demanding young red, but the other part of him; the part that genuinely cared for her.

Outside, Braymoth rumbled in discontent. His was strong, she would work through this, but it would take time, time the garnet didn’t have to waste. He slipped away from where he was waiting, seeking out the blue. He found Eulurth eventually, and moved towards him. He stopped nearby, far enough that the blue hopefully wouldn’t turn and hiss at him, and sat down, keeping his head poised and confident despite his inner worry. He couldn’t offer the blue kind words, couldn’t comfort him as Yufa was trying to do with his rider, but he could hold off messing with him for a while.