Post by Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro) on Jul 11, 2013 0:44:50 GMT -8
Sometime around turn 3015 or 3016
‘Miss a Gather?’ T’mas thought, ‘Never!’ It had taken a little bit of work, but he was now watching, from a safe distance, as the stalls were set up. Normally, he would have gotten a little closer, but he was more conspicuous than he had used to be, considering he was standing next to a six-month old black dragon. Nasha and Malik didn’t help the conspicuous factor any, although they attracted less attention just by being able to hide. He hadn’t intended to bring Brackneth, and had debated not bringing Nasha and Malik, but Brackneth had decided that he would not be left behind while T’mas had fun, and had asked Crimson Morillarth for a ride. T’mas had woken up that morning, only to discover that Brackneth was already up and standing with Crimson Morillarth in the bowl, and R’kent was standing there as well, apparently trying to figure out a way to get Brackneth (who was luckily nowhere near full grown) onto Morillarth’s back. By the time T’mas reached them, Brackneth was already in place, which left T’mas with no choice but to scramble up after R’kent.
‘Of all the people he could have chosen…’ T’mas thought, wondering what it was that had convinced Brackneth to ask the annoyingly observant Crimson for a ride.
~He pays attention to us,~ Brackneth stated. ~It’s always best to ask favors from those that acknowledge your specialness.~
T’mas sighed. -It’s a good way to get the favor,- he answered, -but it’s also a good way to have people trailing you when you don’t want them to.- He looked around, but neither R’kent nor Morillarth were in sight. -At least we lost them now,- he added.
He and Brackneth walked around, watching the traders set up their booths. They couldn’t maneuver their way into the central area of the market though, since it was already crowded. Brackneth reluctantly agreed to relocate to the field that most of the dragons were landing in, and T’mas, Nasha and Malik safely out of sight overhead, started weaving his way through into the center of the square.
As he walked, T’mas looked around him, though he was careful not to show much interest in any single stall. The sounds, sights, and smells were almost too much to handle, considering that he had not been to many Gathers in his 14 or 15 Turns of life. In particular, a stand willed with knives, and the occasional sword, caught his eye, and he made a mental note of its location so that he could return to it later.
R’kent looked around the Gather, letting his eyes slide over the familiar set-up procedures of the merchants and wondering for what reason he’d let Morillarth convince him to be a part of transporting a Weyrling dragon to a Gather.
~You want to get to know them.~ Morillarth pointed out, ~By the way, Brackneth is in the landing field now,~ Morillarth added, interrupting R’kent’s thoughts.
‘Shard it!’ R’kent thought. -Is T’mas with him?- he asked, already scanning the crowd for the annoyingly hard to keep track of Weyrling.
~No.~ Morillath did not feel the need to say more. Keeping track of the boy was getting harder by the day, seemingly.
-He keeps getting harder to find,- R’kent commented. He thought he caught a glimpse of T’mas, but then the crowd shifted, and when he looked again, the boy was gone. Careful not to reveal that he was searching for anything, R’kent wove through the crowd in between the stalls.
Roderick walked through the stalls of the Gather. A small child darted past him, and he twisted his lips in contempt. The Gather was large and exciting, but Roderick was not in the mood to notice. He gritted his teeth as yet another firelizard flitted past him; it rankled him that, out of the five eggs he’d tried to Impress, not a single firelizard had stayed with him. It also didn’t help his mood any that he’d been having to work harder for the past seven months. ‘Shard that ungrateful dimglow Thomas, where did he run off to?’ he thought, kicking a pebble out of his path. He’d never liked his cousin Thomas, but he liked him even less now that he’d run off and left them all. The only bright spot on the day that he could see was that he and his father and brothers were at a Gather. His uncle had invited them to come.
“Roderick, where are you!”
Hearing his father’s voice Roderick muttered a couple choice words under his breath and then ran towards where the shout had originated. He rounded a corner at a steady jog, and he could see his father, as well as the rest of his family, including his uncle and his aunt Lyasora, his father’s sister, up ahead of him. A Sunset firelizard caught his eye, and out of habit he glanced towards the young man who held it, only to find himself face-to-face with his cousin Thomas. This Thomas however, wore nice clothes, and wasn’t thin and bruised. This Thomas had the shoulder knots of a Weyrling Rider.
For a moment, neither young man moved. Their eyes were locked, and it was obvious that all they could see was each other. Roderick was the first to break the silence.
“You sharding… You ran off and robbed us blind, and now you’re standing here with a firelizard! Hand it over! It’s the least you can do, after my father took you in and my brothers and I shared everything with you!”
T’mas’s first instinct upon seeing his cousin was to run, but the people in the area had stepped back, forming a thick circle around them, and his sense honor rebelled against the label “robber”. “I took a half-mark,” T’mas said icily, “which is hardly robbing, considering that you took anything I ever got.” His senses sharpened, and he shifted his weight into a fighter’s crouch.
“Liar!” Roderick shouted, drawing his belt knife and lunging at T’mas. T’mas sprang to one side, tossing Nasha into the air and drawing his own belt knife, just in time to block another swipe from Roderick.
Nasha hovered in the air, but when the strange boy attacked Hers again, she shrieked in anger and dived at him, her darkblue brother beside her.
T’mas heard Nasha’s shriek and tried to call her and Malik off, but had to whirl and defend himself again, for two more of his cousins had entered the fight. The fight was chaotic, and growing worse, and from somewhere outside the central area, Brackneth’s angry bellow could be heard. T’mas was no longer trying to call Nasha and Malik off, for in the situation he was in, three on one would be deadly, for the crowd was packed tight, and without Nasha and Malik, he would not last long. He was fighting by instinct, and already had a slash down his left arm. His opponents were worse off, though. All three of them had bite and claw marks, and Roderick had one cut on his chest, and another across his face.
Malik dove for one of the attackers and Roderick seized the opportunity and lunged forwards, his knife streaking towards Malik’s wing. Seeing the knife heading for Malik, T’mas stepped closer by half a stride and brought his own knife up. He heard running footsteps and spun around on his heel to face what was surely a new threat, ripping his knife out of the wound it had caused as he did so. His uncle was there, as well as two people, a woman and a man, that he did not recognize. They were standing just inside the circle of onlookers and staring at something just behind T’mas. It wasn’t until then that T’mas noticed how quiet everyone was. His other two cousins, Kiystelk and Shomalu, were watching him as though frozen in place, Nasha and Malik hovering in front of them. At first T’mas wondered what his uncle was staring at, but then he remembered Roderick and glanced over his shoulder. Roderick lay there, with blood staining the rich fabric of his shirt, and pooling on the ground near him. The image filled T’mas’s head, filled his mouth with a bitter taste, like bile. He had never intended this, not really. He’d only wanted to protect Malik from Roderick’s lunge.
“You sharding ungrateful little…! He was your cousin! After everything we did for you, you went and…” His uncle’s words trailed off as he charged forwards.
T’mas braced himself and sprang away as his uncle drew close. He heard a warning cry from Nasha, but it came too late, for even as he turned Kiystelk and Shomalu slammed into him, immobilizing him.
‘Miss a Gather?’ T’mas thought, ‘Never!’ It had taken a little bit of work, but he was now watching, from a safe distance, as the stalls were set up. Normally, he would have gotten a little closer, but he was more conspicuous than he had used to be, considering he was standing next to a six-month old black dragon. Nasha and Malik didn’t help the conspicuous factor any, although they attracted less attention just by being able to hide. He hadn’t intended to bring Brackneth, and had debated not bringing Nasha and Malik, but Brackneth had decided that he would not be left behind while T’mas had fun, and had asked Crimson Morillarth for a ride. T’mas had woken up that morning, only to discover that Brackneth was already up and standing with Crimson Morillarth in the bowl, and R’kent was standing there as well, apparently trying to figure out a way to get Brackneth (who was luckily nowhere near full grown) onto Morillarth’s back. By the time T’mas reached them, Brackneth was already in place, which left T’mas with no choice but to scramble up after R’kent.
‘Of all the people he could have chosen…’ T’mas thought, wondering what it was that had convinced Brackneth to ask the annoyingly observant Crimson for a ride.
~He pays attention to us,~ Brackneth stated. ~It’s always best to ask favors from those that acknowledge your specialness.~
T’mas sighed. -It’s a good way to get the favor,- he answered, -but it’s also a good way to have people trailing you when you don’t want them to.- He looked around, but neither R’kent nor Morillarth were in sight. -At least we lost them now,- he added.
He and Brackneth walked around, watching the traders set up their booths. They couldn’t maneuver their way into the central area of the market though, since it was already crowded. Brackneth reluctantly agreed to relocate to the field that most of the dragons were landing in, and T’mas, Nasha and Malik safely out of sight overhead, started weaving his way through into the center of the square.
As he walked, T’mas looked around him, though he was careful not to show much interest in any single stall. The sounds, sights, and smells were almost too much to handle, considering that he had not been to many Gathers in his 14 or 15 Turns of life. In particular, a stand willed with knives, and the occasional sword, caught his eye, and he made a mental note of its location so that he could return to it later.
R’kent looked around the Gather, letting his eyes slide over the familiar set-up procedures of the merchants and wondering for what reason he’d let Morillarth convince him to be a part of transporting a Weyrling dragon to a Gather.
~You want to get to know them.~ Morillarth pointed out, ~By the way, Brackneth is in the landing field now,~ Morillarth added, interrupting R’kent’s thoughts.
‘Shard it!’ R’kent thought. -Is T’mas with him?- he asked, already scanning the crowd for the annoyingly hard to keep track of Weyrling.
~No.~ Morillath did not feel the need to say more. Keeping track of the boy was getting harder by the day, seemingly.
-He keeps getting harder to find,- R’kent commented. He thought he caught a glimpse of T’mas, but then the crowd shifted, and when he looked again, the boy was gone. Careful not to reveal that he was searching for anything, R’kent wove through the crowd in between the stalls.
Roderick walked through the stalls of the Gather. A small child darted past him, and he twisted his lips in contempt. The Gather was large and exciting, but Roderick was not in the mood to notice. He gritted his teeth as yet another firelizard flitted past him; it rankled him that, out of the five eggs he’d tried to Impress, not a single firelizard had stayed with him. It also didn’t help his mood any that he’d been having to work harder for the past seven months. ‘Shard that ungrateful dimglow Thomas, where did he run off to?’ he thought, kicking a pebble out of his path. He’d never liked his cousin Thomas, but he liked him even less now that he’d run off and left them all. The only bright spot on the day that he could see was that he and his father and brothers were at a Gather. His uncle had invited them to come.
“Roderick, where are you!”
Hearing his father’s voice Roderick muttered a couple choice words under his breath and then ran towards where the shout had originated. He rounded a corner at a steady jog, and he could see his father, as well as the rest of his family, including his uncle and his aunt Lyasora, his father’s sister, up ahead of him. A Sunset firelizard caught his eye, and out of habit he glanced towards the young man who held it, only to find himself face-to-face with his cousin Thomas. This Thomas however, wore nice clothes, and wasn’t thin and bruised. This Thomas had the shoulder knots of a Weyrling Rider.
For a moment, neither young man moved. Their eyes were locked, and it was obvious that all they could see was each other. Roderick was the first to break the silence.
“You sharding… You ran off and robbed us blind, and now you’re standing here with a firelizard! Hand it over! It’s the least you can do, after my father took you in and my brothers and I shared everything with you!”
T’mas’s first instinct upon seeing his cousin was to run, but the people in the area had stepped back, forming a thick circle around them, and his sense honor rebelled against the label “robber”. “I took a half-mark,” T’mas said icily, “which is hardly robbing, considering that you took anything I ever got.” His senses sharpened, and he shifted his weight into a fighter’s crouch.
“Liar!” Roderick shouted, drawing his belt knife and lunging at T’mas. T’mas sprang to one side, tossing Nasha into the air and drawing his own belt knife, just in time to block another swipe from Roderick.
Nasha hovered in the air, but when the strange boy attacked Hers again, she shrieked in anger and dived at him, her darkblue brother beside her.
T’mas heard Nasha’s shriek and tried to call her and Malik off, but had to whirl and defend himself again, for two more of his cousins had entered the fight. The fight was chaotic, and growing worse, and from somewhere outside the central area, Brackneth’s angry bellow could be heard. T’mas was no longer trying to call Nasha and Malik off, for in the situation he was in, three on one would be deadly, for the crowd was packed tight, and without Nasha and Malik, he would not last long. He was fighting by instinct, and already had a slash down his left arm. His opponents were worse off, though. All three of them had bite and claw marks, and Roderick had one cut on his chest, and another across his face.
Malik dove for one of the attackers and Roderick seized the opportunity and lunged forwards, his knife streaking towards Malik’s wing. Seeing the knife heading for Malik, T’mas stepped closer by half a stride and brought his own knife up. He heard running footsteps and spun around on his heel to face what was surely a new threat, ripping his knife out of the wound it had caused as he did so. His uncle was there, as well as two people, a woman and a man, that he did not recognize. They were standing just inside the circle of onlookers and staring at something just behind T’mas. It wasn’t until then that T’mas noticed how quiet everyone was. His other two cousins, Kiystelk and Shomalu, were watching him as though frozen in place, Nasha and Malik hovering in front of them. At first T’mas wondered what his uncle was staring at, but then he remembered Roderick and glanced over his shoulder. Roderick lay there, with blood staining the rich fabric of his shirt, and pooling on the ground near him. The image filled T’mas’s head, filled his mouth with a bitter taste, like bile. He had never intended this, not really. He’d only wanted to protect Malik from Roderick’s lunge.
“You sharding ungrateful little…! He was your cousin! After everything we did for you, you went and…” His uncle’s words trailed off as he charged forwards.
T’mas braced himself and sprang away as his uncle drew close. He heard a warning cry from Nasha, but it came too late, for even as he turned Kiystelk and Shomalu slammed into him, immobilizing him.