Hold Our Own - Fires at Golden Flight! [C]

[Kaya]

| 76.01.13 | Half an hour before sunset | Fields of Golden Flight |

They had been holding their own until then. If holding their own implied barely getting by, saving less than they wanted to, and losing good men and women to smoke inhalation. In the drier part of the Turn the days of respite from the strong coastal winds had been few and far between. Yesterday had been one of them. Today was worse. Much worse.

Winds had carried the fire onto the summer dried cropland of Golden Flight. The fires had already consumed the smaller fields near the more densely treed areas to the north, but here began the bulk of Golden Flight's fields. They grew food for themselves, for the Weyr, for neighboring communities and traded globally through Cliffside for other goods they couldn't produce.

If fate favored them, let the fires in the forests start to burn out, move into the fields, then perhaps with enough manpower they could see them all put out soon. If the winds kept up and the rains stayed away, there could be many more days of this yet.

The farmers of Golden Flight knew that without the foodstuffs growing in these fields the coming Turn's southern winter would see food shortages and even famines in the smallest and isolated places. The work that had been, that would be, left undone by sick farmers and dying beasts would reduce what was harvested of the amount that survived.

In the later day the wind started to die down. Now was their chance. It would take all of them, but just maybe they could save the fields of Golden Flight.


Challenge thread!
Scenario: Save the Golden Flight cropfields from burning uncontrollably.

Goals and Outcomes
**Goal: Have at least 4 RPers post 8 [Rider, Wher Handler, LifeWing, and Weyrfolk (any other)] characters in a total of 20 posts by Jan 11th.
Goal Success Outcome: Fields are minimally burned and fire in this region comes under control. It can be put out in about a sevenday when the smouldering sections are all accounted for.

Goal: Have at least 3 RPers post 6 [Rider, Handler or 'Wing Rider, and at least one other Weyrfolk] characters in a total of 15 posts by Jan 11th
Goal Success Outcome: Fields are somewhat burned. Food will be shorter in the coming months. The effects will be more annoying than painful. Small fires will persist in this region.

Goal: Have at least 2 RPers post 4 [Rider and and at least one other character type] characters in a total of 10 posts by Jan 11th
Goal Success Outcome: Over half the fields in this region are burned but some are saved. Moderate fire danger and smoke will remain a problem in the area.

No Goal met: The firefighting effort is unsuccessful. Fields are largely burned and food shortages will become a major problem in the coming months. Involved characters may suffer from lung and eye irritation at best. Fires and smoke remain a plaguing problem for the people of Golden Flight

**01.20.14 update: The top goal has been reached! Congratulations on successfully completing this challenge thread!

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

((tag Shoki summerrain))

This won’t be easy once night falls.

The thought stood out clearly in T’kar’s mind, hovering there as he walked along Ancalanath’s side, tightening the straps that held the barrels of water in place, as well as checking that Ancalanath’s wings had enough clearance for the strong downbeats required for take-off. The special knots that would release the barrels when pulled by the rider were properly tied; he checked them twice, just to make sure.

That done, he sprang up and, catching the fighting straps, pulled himself up onto Ancalanath’s back. The smaller barrels were already filled and in place along both sides of the RR Flame’s back, leaving a walkway perhaps a foot and a half wide down the middle of Ancalanath’s almost nine and a half foot wide back. All but the smallest dragons could carry barrels like those, but the size of the barrels had to be decreased in order to leave enough of a walkway. Ancalanath’s barrels were nearly four feet in diameter, whereas Green Quimyenth’s back-barrels were a little less than three feet in diameter.

Checking the top on the last of the barrels lying Ancalanath’s back, T’kar paused to look around. Everywhere he saw dragons and riders. The severity of the fires in Golden Flight, the seriousness of the risk to the food supply, had resulted in an all out emergency effort to contain and extinguish the fires. The Wings were going to be departing in shifts, so as to maintain a constant pressure on the flames, but the Bowl was still filled with dragons, though the Weyrfolk had pulled back so the riders could perform one last check before departing.

Ready? T’kar asked, resting a hand on Ancalanath’s neck.

If you are.

T’kar glanced around one more time, confirming state of readiness.

Let’s do this then.

Ancalanath answered with a roar. All dragons prepare to lift in five, four, three, two, one,

The last count was signaled only by Ancalanath’s power upward spring and downbeat. Three second of flight to insure the entire Wing had sufficient room, then T’kar raised his fist and pulled it straight down, signaling the transfer between.

They emerged over an inferno. The flames were easily half a dragonlength above the ground, and the smoke, even at this, the normal cruising height for a high-level wing, was an instant crush on lungs already damaged by continual exposure.

[summerrain]

Mine, it is time to go.

Hold on! I have to finish strapping these things in. Tera quickly strapped the small barrels of water of Picosith's saddle. Do you think you can carry all this?

It will be easier once they are empty, but yes, I can carry them.

Tera finished tying the last of the barels in place, then quickly jumped on. She had to forget about N'kio and Metanath for the moment. There was a much more serious problem right under their noses. She strapped herself in, making sure that the cloth covering her mouth was tied well, and then they were airborne. Just a few seconds of flight while the rest of them got enough room, and there was the signal.

Oh, it was incredible! Picosith was knocked momentarily off-balance by the heat that buffeted her wings, but stabilized herself quickly, and without knocking into anyone else. The smoke assaulted their lungs, and Tera was already coughing. She saw the concerned looks from the other Wingriders, and was actually a little surprised. She'd heard the mutterings, what they said when they didn't think she was listening... But maybe... Had they just been worried about her safety this whole time? She stopped coughing quickly, and gave the others a thumbs-up to tell them that she was okay. They nodded and turned to face T'kar again, as did Tera. She grabbed the first of the straps holding the barrels, waiting for the next signal that would tell them to drop them.
___________

Unable to help fight the fires, Wynah and Alzdith instead insisted on helping with the evacuation effort.

Hurry! This way!

"Come on! Children and elderly first! The sooner you get away from here, the better!" Wynah called. She was also wearing a cloth tied over her mouth. "As you pass the boxes, take a cloth and tie it over your mouth! Make sure it is tied securely so you don't breathe in the smoke!" She started coughing just then, having inhaled more smoke than she realized back at the Weyr.

"Dearie, are you alright?" asked an older woman as she passed. Wynah nodded.

"I'll be fine miss, but thank you for worrying about me," she said kindly. "Now miss, please, you must get to the safe zone." The old woman nodded and followed the rest of the crowd. "Please keep moving in a calm, orderly fashion!"

[Shoki]

Lets do this Quiorith!

The Cloud took to the air with the others, burdened down by barrels, but not to the point he couldn’t fly. It would take quite a bit to make a Cloud unable to fly. The pair of them kept and eagle eye out for what was going on, though they looked for different things. R’le was keeping his eyes on the other dragons, and riders. So he leaned forward when Picosith had a little trouble keeping balance, but that subsided. As they traveled over a heat pocket Quiorith naturally took advantage of it, letting his wings take a break and the heat do the work. Quiorith’s focus was on the air around them. The pockets of heat, the slight breeze, how the smoke reacted as it curled upward. He didn’t want anyone to be suddenly put off course with the weight on them. However for now, no rouge winds.

On the ground there were people buzzing, getting people to safety. Among them was a Weyrhandler, who was taking advantage of his height and his powerful build. Lan was helping move supplies, be they from the weyr or from the refugees. Currently he was giving a ride to two small ones, their mother having her hands full with her other three children. The moment they got to a box Lan gently put them down and got scarves over their mouths. He didn’t have a single member of his considerable menagerie with him, but that didn’t matter, he could be helpful just with himself.

Soon enough the family was safe and Lan put down the kids before mumbling to be excused and hoofing it to the supplies. More cloths. He adjusted his own, making sure it was okay before hefting the box and heading back toward where people were still coming. There just seemed to be so many, the only think he knew was that at least there were plenty of people lending a hand.

He stopped close to Wynah, putting the box down.

“M-more scarves.” He nodded briefly before spotting some else struggling forward. He didn’t wait to explain, just headed over to help out again.

Closer to the Weyr there was a different sort of chaos. The Lifewing riders and healers were set up here, out of danger, but close enough that people could be dispatched with speed to those affected by the blaze. In the middle of it, was someone who was eternally stressed out.

“STOP! You are not going any further walking on that ankle.” Cr’wean stomped after the offender, a young guy who was walking with difficulty. He had no idea what happened, but people were trying to get out of there now, so he wasn’t going to judge on what occurred. What he was going to do was keep the people in here from aggravating anything. The man protested but Cr’wean already had a bag open with his gear out. Twists, broken bones, all that, that was what he specialized in. The man had hardly lifted his foot before his boot was stripped off, Cr’wean had determined that it was actually the toes that had the issue, and it had been wrapped up to reduce the problem. “Once you get in, you keep weight off it. And keep it elevated.” There were a thousand small injuries, lucky it had been reduced to that. If it was an arm, it could weight, but feet and legs he had been getting as fixed as he could manage and letting them go.

After he left Cr’wean checked in to see if more serious injuries had occurred. But it didn’t seem like it. At least not yet. Kiyosh silently watched, as the Lifewings were not bidden to sing until things got to a certain level. So she merely watched. This spooked some of the refugees, but the Vulture couldn’t help that.

[shapeshifter]

Bamath and R'niaan had been called in to help while at Rainbow Mists. They had been visiting Yuki, who remained on R'niaan's mind even at this moment. He checked the barrel straps on Bamath's back and lunged upwards, catching the foot strap with his boot and hoisting himself up to his dragon's back.

We rise! Bamath said as he lifted into the air after the Flame, Ancalanath.

Black, blacker, blackest...


R'niaan was sent into a fury of coughs as they erupted above the smoke and flames. He felt the heat impact almost instantaneously. Bamath bugled in surprise, backwinging to push some of the smoke back but was of no use.

We must wait on a signal from Ancalanath, this smoke is too thick! Bamath mindspoke to R'niaan who was in agreement. He readied his hands to the release straps and waited for further instruction. He could feel the heat burning at him, and he could also feel Bamath's body growing weaker from the heavy load and the lack of oxygen in his body.

[summerrain]

Ayleneth was helping with the evacuation effort, while Yuki remained at the Weyr to prevent any further complications with the unborn child. She was not too far from Wynah and Alzdith, and she did her best to help. Wynah was ever-observant, especially with the youngest children. She darted into the crowd and caught a young child who was trying to escape from the window of a second-floor room and had slipped. She caught the child, a young girl, in her arms.

"Thank goodness," she said with a relieved sigh. "You couldn't use the front door?"

"There were too many people," the girl said, surprisingly calm about her close call. "I couldn't get the door open."

"Well, you need to be more careful," Wynah said, carrying the girl through the crowd over to the pair of dragons. "Alzdith, take her to the Lifewings, will you? I want her looked at after a fall from that height."

Got it. Just strap her in and tell her to hold on to one of my neck spikes. Wynah had modified a spare saddle for Alzdith, this one with a second, smaller set of straps just in case something like this happened. She strapped the child into the smaller straps.

"Hold on to one of Alzdith's neck spikes, and she won't let you fall," she told the kid. "She'll take you to safety." The girl nodded. "If everyone could stand clear of the dragons for a moment please!" Wynah yelled into the crowd. The people shifted away from the two dragons, and Alzdith flared her wings and took to the air, keeping low to avoid the smoke. She landed in a clear spot not far from Cr'wean.

Cr'wean, Wynah caught this girl as she fell from a second-floor window, the Sunlace explained quickly. She doesn't appear injured, but Wynah wants her checked just in case.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

T'kar tried to do a quick visual check, but the smoke was bad enough that he couldn't see any but those riders closest to him in formation.

All in place.

Now!

Diving run, nose to two o'clock. Drop water in front of the flames. Ancalanath suited actions to words, entering a steep dive and rotating into it, turning to the right.

T'kar hung on. Finally, they broke through a wall of smoke. Below, through the still thick smoke of the air, the advancing front of the fire. T'kar pulled the release straps, sending the barrels strapped to Ancalanath's sides tumbling down. As Ancalanath continued to hug the ground, T'kar stood up and walked down Ancalanath's back, pushing barrels off over the dragon's sides. All water delivered, Ancalanath swept up once more, hovering for the Wing to regroup before returning to the Weyr for more water barrels.

[Shoki]

Cr’wean looked to the Sunlance as she arrived and was updated quickly. He went over to unstrap the prospective patient, trying not to look too annoyed. Not at the girl, just at the entire situation. These fires seemed to have been going on forever, it was certainly way too long by his watch. Kiyosh was watching, as always thinking that the small human was adorable and that she wouldn’t’ stand for her being injured. Cr’wean helped the girl down off of the dragon and helped her to the side.

“All clear, I’ll take it from here.” Cr’wean nodded to the Sunlance, heading to a seat to check the girl for injury. Kiyosh watched them move before turning her attention to the Sunlance.

Remember to tell the relatives where she is. Kiyosh fidgeted a bit. What with all of the fires it was hard enough to keep families together, and when people were ferried off to the healers, well, that just made things harder. She just didn’t want people to end up separated. Keeping an eye on this was something she could do for the time being.

“Watch my finger…” Cr’wean was going to double check for head injury, then anything else physical. And he had to do it well, even with the pressure to see as many people as possible. Incompetence would just make things worse. Still from the looks of it, this girl would be just fine, even with her fall. She probably would take a minute or two to mentally catch up to what had occurred though.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K'tar watched as the Sky Jumpers Wing disappeared between, then moved Viarth down into the WeyrBowl. He kept one eye on Wingleader D'gan as he joined the others in D'gan's Waterfall Fliers Wing in helping to strap barrels to their dragons.

Viarth stood completely still as barrels were strapped under his wings and hoisted up to his back by teams of Weyrfolk and refugees who had stayed at the Weyr. In no more than a couple minutes, the last check had been performed on the barrels and straps and the Wing was taking to the sky.

On signal, they entered between, emerging over Golden Flight. Immediately, they dove, following the same approximate path as T'kar's Wing had and preparing to dump their loads of water in front of the fire.

[shapeshifter]

When R'niaan and Bamath came in for their first sweep, the smoke caught Bamath.

A roar rang in the air, furious heat began to become hotter and hotter. Bamath felt a burning as he began to fall, R'niaan letting out a yell turned cough. He felt his lungs hurt more and more with every sharp breath. He felt his dragons muscles give another hard wing beat to push then up again, however there were burns beginning to appear on Bamath's hide.

A flame burst caught R'niaan's riding jacket, causing R'niaan to try and yell out again, beating the flames down from his shoulder, unfortunately not without burns to his neck. Bamath still began to fall from the high wing, trying to beat upwards with the smoke steadily causing him to become weaker...R'niaan blacked out after one last call for "Help..." escaping his lips and Bamath letting out a pleading roar for help himself.

[summerrain]

Tera released the barrels at the same time as the others, but she'd tied them in such a way that they were all within reach from her saddle, so she didn't have to move from her spot. Picosith followed Ancalanth down, but she had slowed when they pulled away from the fire. They landed, and Tera unstrapped herself.

"Picosith, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

I... I can't... Catch my breath...

The two of them fell out of formation, Tera realizing that Picosith just couldn't keep up with the rest of them in this smoke.
_________

Ayleneth saw him backwing, saw the smoke trip hem up, and then she was in the air. She used her claws to free R'niaan from his straps, grasping his riding jacket in her jaws, and then she did her best to bring Bamath around enough to get him to fly to safety. She even went as far as to bite his tail and pull him toward the healers' area. She flew over to the healers and landed as carefully as she could, putting R'niaan down gently. She roared loudly, hovering over the man who was so precious to Hers. He was barely conscious... She turned toward Bamath, eyes whirling a strange mix of colors. If this man was lost, then she would lose them both... Neither the Aurora nor the Rider could take that right now.

Of course, she hadn't gotten away unharmed. However, her concern for the other two blinded her from the burns on her side.
_____

The girl with Cr'wean began to sniffle, realizing finally what had just happened. A woman was walking nearby, looking a bit frantic.

"Mommy!" cried the girl. The woman looked over and smiled with relief.

"There you are, oh Lalita!" the woman cried, running toward them. She picked up the girl and hugged her close. The girl, Lalita, began to cry.

"Mommy, it was so scary!" she cried.

"Hush now, you're perfectly safe. You're alright." The mom smiled at Cr'wean. "Thank you for helping my daughter. I'll get her out of your hair now, so you can get back to work." She started walking away, toward a young man and an older couple.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

((If I mistook any prior actions, please note so in your next post and I will edit this one to reflect the actual reality))

Bamath falls!

Ancalanath’s shout was almost certainly a relay of other information, the RR Flame was already flipping over in the air, returning to come to the aid of the larger Crimson. T’kar had no choice but to hold on.

“R’le! Take them on! Water!” T’kar cupped his hands to his mouth, putting as much volume and power behind the shout as he could, with no regard for the further damage to his voice.

Despite his speed and agility in the air, Ancalanath was only about halfway back to Bamath when the Crimson was pulled to safety by an Aurora.

Ayleneth, Ancalanath supplied absently, starting to level out. He began to turn, only to see Picosith on the ground, Tera beside her and…

“Tera! Tera, get her up! Go to the Aerie! Have them clear her lungs!” His words to the rider were echoed by Ancalanath’s to the dragon. T’kar refused to admit it, but this whole scene, especially the flight of the last refugees, was striking too close to home. Way too close. If they were unlucky, they could lose dragons and riders this day. It might not be likely, but it was possible, and this, the youngest of his Wingriders, was not going to be the one lost.

The fire continued to roar closer. The second Wing, D’gan’s Waterfall Fliers, was already beginning their run. A herdbeast screamed in agony of the flames. T’kar started, his eyes widening slightly at a memory, a flaming log and…

[shapeshifter]

Bamath was breathing hard, his rider holding on for life. Bamath nudged his rider when Ayleneth let go, crooning softly. Rniaan coughed, letting Smoke residue out of his lungs.

Mine....

I will be fine... Rniaan said as healers rushed to the pair assessing the burns on the rider pair. Bamath felt relief as the healers began to use burn salve on his hide.

R'niaan was lifted by the healers, screaming out in agony from burns on his shoulder, neck and sides. His face had a burn line starting just below his eye, down his neck and spreading on his shoulder. His right side had taken most of the damage, even his rib cage had burns of all levels. He winced as they layed him down and began to apply salves to his burns, stripping down his upper clothing all the while.

"How bad is Bamath? My dragon! How bad is he? I need to see him!" He yelled out as the healers hurriedly replied, "Hes burned, but he's better off than you are...now hold still!" The healer said as he pushed the rider who was fighting them to sit up, his pain being the only force to stop him.

I hurt...I hurt badly...but they make me feel better. Bamath said, trying to assure his rider he was being well taken care of outside the healers temporary tent.

Ayleneth saved us...didn't she? R'niaan asked, with the reply from Bamath being Yes, she did.

Send her my thanks. R'niaan mindspoke before falling silent and letting the healers do their work.

R'niaan is grateful, we both are. Are you hurting? Bamath asked of the Aurora dragoness, who seemed to be in pain, whether she was ignoring it or not.

[summerrain]

Tera nodded. "C'mon Picosith, let's get you over to the healers... You've gotta get your lungs cleared before anything happens." The pair made their way over to the healers, but only as fast as the dragoness could manage. Tera wouldn't let Picosith push herself when she was already hurting. "Wait her, I'll go find someone," Tera told Picosith. The dragoness was perfectly fine with that, and settled down in the clear spot. She noticed that many of the Holdes were avoiding her, but she didn't particularly care at that moment. She just wanted to be able to breathe again.
_____

Alzdith returned to Wynah's side, glad that the child and her mother had been reunited. Wynah turned to her dragon. Looks like that's most of the ones in the direct danger area... We should go street-by-street and get the rest of the Holders out.

Agreed. However, some of those streets are too narrow for me. I may not be able to help you if you go in there.

We haven't got a choice right now, since we're not graduated yet. Just stay as close as you can, or see if you can be of use somewhere else. Maybe moving refugees to the Weyr?

I shall see.
______

Ayleneth kept insisting that the others were more injured than she was, that her wounds could wait. But a few of them insisted regardless, that any wound left untreated could end up being fatal. Though they did heed her words and went to look at the two who she had saved. The Aurora rubbed her head on Bamath's neck.

I got burned, But as long as the two are alright... One of the Lifewings came to inspect her burns, now that Bamath's were under control and didn't need so many. She shuddered in relief when she felt the cooling magics that were worked from the songs. I hope I did not hurt your tail.

"You really got lucky, both of you," said the Lifewing's Rider, an older man. "I've never seen anything like that, and Aurora pulling a Crimson to safety. Which reminds me." He turned to one of the younger ones working on Bamath's burns. "One of you go check his tail! With the strength of a dragon's jaw, we need to make sure there's no major damage."

"Yessir!" said a girl who appeared only eighteen. The man went back to work on Ayleneth's burns.

"What a story this will make," the man said with a laugh. "But it looks like you managed to get away with minor burns, you didn't have much contact with the flames during that stunt you pulled. I doubt any of these will leave any noticeable scars, if at all. Your rider must be proud to have a partner like you." With that, he had finished his work and moved on to the next task.
______

Wynah looked up and spotted something abnormal. "T'kar... Something seems... Off about him."

You are right... Alzdith agreed, looking skyward. Ancalanth! Is Yours alright? Even from down here we can see something is wrong... We need all our wits about us to win this battle! It was a statement of fact, but hurried as a nearby building burst into flame. Wynah cried out in surprise, then leaped onto Alzdith's back.

"Let's do a quick fly-over and make sure that there's no one else stuck in any of the buildings!" Wynah suggested as she strapped herself to her MindMate's back.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Whatever possessed these people to set up a small town in the middle of the fields? Even as he thought it, T’kar knew the answer. Ease of getting to their daily work would have been more than enough motivation.

Tera’s nod served for an answer to T’kar’s order, though Ancalanath stayed near the ground until the Woodrider and her dragon had made it through the firelines the WherHandlers were digging and into the hands of the Healers at the emergency station.

Ancalanth! Is Yours alright? Even from down here we can see something is wrong... We need all our wits about us to win this battle!

T’karMine is ok, it was a brief flashback.

Ancalanath’s response was punctuated by yet another of the small buildings catching fire. Ancalanath could only continue driving upwards once more, gaining clearance before disappearing between to rejoin the Wing with water deliveries. There was no room for him in the tiny streets of that small town, and he and his would be of more use delivering water. Even T’kar agreed with that, for all that he didn’t like it.