Gather Grandioso - Celebration at Cliffside [E]

[Shoki]

We did not intend to arrive today, but events conspired. Free time is about to become far too fleeting. Things as they were at the northern Weyr meant that things got very busy, very fast. If the pair wanted to manage a day trip anywhere it meant that notice was very short. Like today.

Temperanth adjusted her course when she got the image, leaving Hedara wondering at the course change. The woman didn't mind so much, where she was being taken was farther away from the bustling. Nice and quiet. The wind tended to pick up near the coast and the smell of salt was in the air. Even with a little breeze going it was warm, enough that Hedara noticed it was slightly uncomfortable with her long sleeves and pants. It wasn't bad, just much more noticeable. The dragoness circled down when Hedara finally caught sight of the Weyrwoman, walking along the steep cliffs. It looked relaxing, she supposed.

Temperanth set down at a convenient spot a little farther away from the cliff. Hedara dismounted and turned back to the Ice briefly. "Will you be going to look around or staying here?"

Oh, I will be close. The sea looks lovely so perhaps I'll just have to watch it for a while. The Ice's tail flicked back and forth for a moment as the breeze ran over it. Yes very nice here. Be good.

Hedara raised an eyebrow at the dragoness, whose eyes whirled mischievously. Honestly, sometimes she didn't know about Temperanth. Still she gave the wintery blue hide a quick pat and turned toward the cliff and toward the other woman walking there. Hedara didn't pretend that she knew Rilora really well, but she had meet her enough times that her usual skepticism had worn off. That an it was nice to have someone to discuss things will on occasion. She walked closer, noting that Rilora was dressed up. Gathers demanded some of that, so she wasn't that surprised. However it was a far cry from Hedara's usual pants and long sleeved shirt. She walked within reasonable talking distance and gave a nod as she greeted the other rider.

"Hello Rilora. Faring well?"

[Kaya]

"Well enough with Faranth's will," Rilora replied looking out over the sea. She had watched Hedara arrive but she hadn't quite committed yet to a conversation. Her last solitary thought given to the bay she turned to greet the very casual looking IceRider. "I'm surprised you are able to be so far from the Weyr," Rilora commented. "All the same, it's good to see you Hedara. ...Did you need anything?" Rilora had to try hard not to let her lips turn into a frown. Seeing the Junior Weyrwoman made her think only of Ice Stone's problems, their missing weyrling and her own problems back at the Weyr. It was a relief no other tragedies had occurred, but the threat and gloom of it all, as a leader, was hard to shake. She had tried to talk to Kaya about it a sevenday ago and only managed to upset the her. And then she didn't dare talk to the previous Weyrwoman about the whole lot. The last thing she needed was a word to her face about how inexperienced she was. She knew. The whole Weyr didn't need reminding and she wasn't going to be the one to give it to them. Burdens sat heavy on her shoulders.

[Shoki]

"I would not be here if Tr'veal had not volunteered to hold down the fort. He agreed with my seeking another perspective." She approved of the Weyrleader, though she didn't know him as well as Sanshe. However, from what she did know they worked well together and were in general were well liked by people in general. Which, she had to admit, was part of the problem she was having. Problems had been easy to come by, solutions were more fleeting. Hedara pressed her lips together furrowing her eyebrows a touch. It was plain to see that she had a problem but she chose her words with care.

"I am finding myself in a strange limbo at the Weyr and would very much like another opinion on how to go about this." She paused for a moment then began to explain, not one to beat around the bush. "I am having an issue of not quite being recognized. Some issues it seems like it can not be helped but others they seems to want to pass along needlessly to Sanshe. I would not be so troubled by it except the time that she can come back properly just seems to get farther away rather then closer." Hedara folded her arms looking a little more worried. It wasn't hard to see how Sanshe's illness had her feeling. Still she recovered quickly and addressed Rilora again. "It is unhelpful to have these things pile up especially, certain issues." Hedara didn't say it, she hardly felt like dignifying the train of thought with a full comment. Silverlights were causing people to take sides and it had her blood boiling. Still they still wanted Sanshe's attention, her opinions, not the far too serious Hedara. Oh practically speaking she still was the replacement so most things were handled by her properly, but still some people still wanted to get to Sanshe even if it meant waiting. It seems they might wait forever though. Recovery was taking a long time.

"Patience is fine but I need to be able to get them to come to me more. I was wondering if you had a suggestion on this." Part of the reason Tr'veal had agreed to take some of the work she had this afternoon was he had tried talking to people and for the most part just telling them to go to her hadn't worked. So she had come to Rilora. Rainbow Mists had its share of troubles as well and they were similar in age. The perspective would be helpful, at least she hoped so.

[Shoki]

Cr'wean was rather enjoying listening to music. Mostly because it required no movement on his part and sniffling didn't seem to bother it much. However he had not expect a dragon to just up and out of no where pop up in the middle of the piece. The man was startled and fell of the seat he had been on, mumbling some manner of oath in a voice that wasn't particularly convincing. He was tired, so it was almost like he didn't really want to bother. The curly haired man slowly got back up and slid into his chair, looking no worse for his surprise tumble.

You okay? You seemed surprised there...

Don't mind it. Take a nap or something.

Kiyosh seemed amused but settled into her favorite place to watch the festivities from a distance. She wasn't tired, so she was going to watch things. As she watched she noticed that there was some sort of commotion by the Runners' and spread her wings as she moved closer. She hopped into the air and gave a single flap, using her natural gliding skills to get closer. Kiyosh then hopped a little closer, as she usually did when she was she wasn't flying somewhere. Cr'wean had asked her why she did this but she couldn't tell him. It just seemed natural somehow. She craned her neck as she got closer to the group of people around, lots of them complaining. A lot of them seemed angry from what she could see no one was injured. She continued looking about until she spotted a boy that was lying on the ground with a guard around him. Oh dear, what was this? Was the adorable little human hurt? He didn't LOOK to bad but considering he was the center of this disturbance who knew what had happened. The Lifewing touched Cr'wean's mind to see if she couldn't persuade him to come and look but found something that made her amused. Ah well, she would get him over if anyone was hurt.

Cr'wean had been listening to the calming music for a while, hardly paying attention to whatever Kiyosh was doing. Probably finding some body she thought was cute and fawning over them. He never understood why she viewed humans like some people viewed flitteres or felines. Then again maybe he did. Still he was enjoying the music even as his head flopped down to his chest and he fell asleep.

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

"Oh look! The harpers!" Mau was leading Quimyenth around the gather, and had finally made her way to where the harpers were. They had taken their sweet time going around and checking out the stalls but they had finally gotten to the right place. There were already some people around and dancing already. The weyrling moved quickly, skirting the edge of the group of people, finding a nice place on the edge where there was room. The Green followed, eyes whirling with excitement. "Listen! Isn't the music lovely? You must listen first, otherwise you won't get the beat." The green nodded and listened dutifully, then observed Mau's foot tapping.

Is that the beat?

Mau laughed, still enthusiastic. "I guess you could say that. I've heard this one before. It's easier to pick up if you've heard it. Okay, watch me and listen to the music, then we'll see if you got it." The dark haired girl moved away, just enough to get some room and started to dance, matching her movements to the beat. It wasn't very elaborate, but she was clearly having fun even with the smallest of movements. Qui watched carefully unable to take he eyes off her rider. How did hers understand the music so quickly? She could see that it matched the music but didn't understand how it was done. Mau stopped soon enough then motioned to the Green. "Okay, try with me."

But I don't understand yet. Quimyenth looked a little worried, eliciting a smile from Mau. The rider tapped her temple with her finger and spoke again.

"Remember what I said? If you dance alone, its not nearly as fun. I don't have anyone else to dance with right now, so its got to be you Qui. You saw the beat, yes?" The dragon nodded once, confident that at least she had that. "Well then, the easiest dance is just moving your feet to the beat. See?" Mau moved back and forth, her feet moving in tempo. "Come on!"

Qui looked a little skeptical then started to move her feet like Mau's and realized rather quickly that four was different then two. She soon found that rather then Mau's easy side to side, it was easier to move if she did so diagonally forward and back. Mau caught on and adjusted her steps to match, grinning all the way. It was interesting to watch the pair dance, but it was easy to see, once Quimyenth got the hang of it, she was having fun.

[Kaya]

Rilora listened. She held her tongue even when the IceRider looked pained over the illness of her superior and likely, also friend. She didn't have such a relationship with the other QueenRiders herself, but the relation made sense. She frowned instead of speaking, feeling it was best to remain quiet and let Hedara finish speaking.

"How to get people to come to you with their problems?" Rilora restated, making sure she understood the question. "How to get them to recognize you and trust your decisions? Well,...honestly for me I've never had trouble with people not knowing who I am. The Weyrleaders before me did a good job of toting me around and letting all of Pern know who this up and coming, charismatic, young GoldRider was. I...just hope their description of me can live up to, well, me." Rilora sighed. Her own insecurities were slipping out, she had to get a better grip on expressing them.

"I think the best way to get people to trust your judgement, leadership and know you better is to be involved in their affairs and make those decisions well. I understand there is a missing weyrling at Ice Stone, and my heart goes out to the young pair and all of you. If you want the attention of your Weyr, make a statement about what's going on and put your foot down. If you want their respect, pitch it from an angle they can all get behind. ...easier said than done, huh?" Rilora had some thoughts on generic, we all need to be safe, our relation with the Hold, points for speeches of sorts. Then it hit her, "You wouldn't even need to give a big, formal speech really. I think. Just start telling people in serious, sincere conversation. Word should get around the Weyr.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar blinked. The light seemed too bright. Slowly he started to push himself up, noting the crowd of people, standing behind the… Oh, Shards! How did they get here this fast? he thought, catching sight of the man closest to him and realizing that he knew the uniform for that of a guard. He swallowed, forcing his face into the calm mask that his father had made him practice. It wasn’t easy, he kept remembering getting thrashed for similar stunts back at Stormy Plains, and he wasn’t sure how Viarth would handle that.

Viarth, was still afraid because of the close proximity of the dangerous-other-things-with-hooves, and he didn’t understand why the large-Black-commanding-dragon was angry with him. He’d only been trying to protect His, and why was His afraid now? The purple dragonet moaned, his eyes whirling yellow as he tried to peer around the angry-large-Black-commanding-dragon. His was frightened, the other-two-legged-armed should leave His alone. Quickly, Viarth ducked past the angry-large-Black-commanding-dragon and stumbled forward, shoving his way through the crowd until he was between His and the other-two-legged-armed-which-threatened-His, tensing every muscle and raising his wings in an attempt to look larger and more imposing.

K’tar quickly evaluated his options. He didn’t want to miss out on the Gather, and he definitely was not keen to get beaten, so he quickly decided to pretend to be worse hurt than he actually was.

“I think so,” he said, in response to the guard’s question. He started to stand up, intending to stumble once he got up, but his aching muscles wouldn’t let him get past a sort-of half-kneel. Maybe I won’t need to pretend anything, he thought, hissing a little as he again tried, and failed, to get up.

“Viarth, stop it,” he said, but the dragonet didn’t listen, except to flare his wings a little more.

The runner wanted no part of the guards. There were still dragons near, and it danced nervously as they approached, though its hanging head showed that it was too tired to go much further.

“Look at my runner!” one of the merchants in the crowd demanded. “I come all the way from Melisong for these races, and this Sharding dimglow steals and terrifies my best runner! I don’t care if he’s a Weyrling or not, you can’t let him get away with this!”

[Shoki]

Hedara didn't respond to the first bit. Charisma was something hard to learn and in the view of the Jr. Wyerwoman, she didn't have it. It made sense, she hadn't ever been one for getting to talk to people, she was better at explaining. It was a delicate difference, one she understood by now. However as Rilora continued to speak she began to ponder the suggestion she was given carefully. Getting involved more? Well it made sense. If one couldn't handle the work they had there was no use for extra work so make sure it was done and to show that one could take on more. As the Goldrider continued speaking she pressed her lips together into a though line. She was not sure how to do that properly. Speeches were fine and all but she didn't know if she could pull it off to what was needed in this situation. A'mir vanishing was a tough thing, and even though she never took things lightly, she didn't know if she could seem appropriately passionate. She had a bad habit of holding things in, but it didn't mean that she wasn't absolutely angry that this had happened. Someone was lost and on her watch! It boiled her blood. Still, she wasn't sure about that, until Rilora followed up with another suggestion. Hedara's eyes quickly snapped to the Goldrider as she processed the idea. After a moment a small smile appeared on the Icerider's face.

"I think that will be productive. In fact, I think I know just how to go about it." Hedara's words were hardly different from usual but there was a little more confidence in them so she sounded truthful. It was true, as long as she had a goal and a means to go about it, Hedara was much happier. "Thank you for the recommendation."

The blond woman paused for a moment, the most pressing issue in her mind now relieved. Her mind began to work again, but now on less problematic issues. It meant that after a while she spoke again. "Perhaps there is something I can aid you with while I am here?" Hedara didn't feel that just popping down, grabbing her answer and bailing out was such a great idea. Besides, it would be diverting.

[summerrain]

Clutchmate Viarth, stop! called Picosith. Those things called runners are afraid of you. They were running from you. You are the one who is in the wrong. There was sympathy in her mind-voice. They fear us. Can't you smell it? It is us they fear. Please, Viarth... If you anger Metanath-Cliffside-protector, it will not end well...

"Easy there kid," Tera's father said softly. He pulled on the makeshift reigns of the runner he was on, stopping it. He turned to the runner's owner. "It was an accident. His dragon was concerned for the boy's safety, and wasn't thinking clearly. I'll help round them up, if that's alright."

"K'tar!" Tera called, running up to him. She ignored the guards, her focus on her fellow Weyrling. "Are you alright?" She caught what Picosith was telling Viarth, and a thought struck her. "Have you told him that the runners are afraid of dragons?" she asked softly, eyes wide. "I told Picosith about that a while ago. I thought all Weyrlings were supposed to tell their dragons to stay away from the runnerbeasts..." She looked over at Viarth. "You need to let him know that you aren't afraid. You need to keep yourself calm, and then he will calm down. It's like with the runners, except on a more extreme level." For such a young girl, she sounded surprisingly mature. Then again, Impressing at such a young age would make a kid mature faster, mentally at least. And Picosith's mental influence had also done the girl some good.

Tera blinked. "Sorry," she said quietly, averting her eyes. "You're older than me. I'm not supposed to correct you. Mama says that correcting someone who is older than I am is rude. I shouldn't have said anything." She backed away slightly.

In this case, I believe it's fine, Picosith told the girl. After all, he would've heard it from someone else later.

True, Tera agreed reluctantly. She looked away from her fellow Weyrling. But that doesn't make it right. She started to walk away, still oblivious of the guard.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Talira ran through the Gather, making a beeline for the music. Upon reaching the dancing circle though, she came to a sudden and complete stop. One of the Weyrlings was out in the middle of the dance floor, dancing with a dragonet!

“What does she think she’s doing?” her cousin Rezamon demanded. “It doesn’t make any sense at all!”

Talira’d been about to laugh at the sight herself, but Rezamon’s comment changed her mind completely. “And why shouldn’t a dragonet dance,” she said, from the lofty perspective of nine Turns to Rezamon’s eight. “After all, dancing is fun, and it’s probably good for them, too.”

“Still, she shouldn’t be doing it. I bet you wouldn’t.” Rezamon said.

“Maybe I will,” Talira shot back, stepping away from her cousin and into the circle. She recognized the Weyrling pair: Mau and Quimyenth. Recalling the time when she’d seen the adults dancing, she walked out towards them, politely waiting for them to finish.

As soon as the dance paused, she stepped forwards. “May I have the next dance, good Quiyenth?” she asked, bowing to the dragonet.

[Shoki]

Mau smiled wider as Quimyenth got more into the dance, noticing the Green got more confident with her steps as time went on. By the time the song wound down both were just delighted with the dance. The dark haired girl turned her head and looked perplexed for a moment as the young girl approached, but smiled wide when she spoke to Qui. The dragonet looked very surprised indeed but her eyes whirled with excitement still. Qui turned to face Mau, curious how to take this invitation to dance. Mau however took a step back and nodded to both this new girl and her dragon friend.

"Oh dear, time to find another dance partner. Have fun you two." She smiled then went to look for someone else to dance with this time, hoping Qui would do well now on her own. The Green looked a little flummoxed then faced this new, smaller dance partner. After a moment of not being sure what to do, she decided just to dive in.

I accept your dance! Qui attempted a little bow, not nearly as impressive since the most she could do was lower her head to make it sorta like a bow. Um, sorry if I don't dance so well.

[Shoki]

Kashpa was glad that their performance was over. They had done well, like she thought, but now she could relax and hang out with the other harpers. many of them hadn't gone far, and were chatting near the stage, though not waiting to go on. Yavin had gone elsewhere so she was chatting with the quiet Lostra. The woman was very well mannered, but Kashpa hadn't gotten to know her as much as she would have liked. So they were chatting about their favorite stories. Kashpa nodded as Lostra talked about her most liked tales.

"Good ones, though I admit I like the ones with a little more adventure in them. Stuff with Dark Mists in them always seem to get the young boys excited." Kashpa gave a lopsided grin, but quickly caught Lostra's less then appreciative mood. The fair woman was looking at her dress folds with great interest. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I think you should be careful with talking about...them. Especially with all of the rumors."

"What rumors?" Kashpa didn't deflate at all with Lostra's mood, she just looked more interested.

"You haven't heard?"

Kashpa shrugged. "Can't say so. Only got to Melisong a little while ago and most of it was signing up for this gather and getting practice in. Haven't had much time to get in the local gossip. I was at Zaran before that, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." Lostra looked pensive, then leaned forward, Kashpa mirroring the action. "Well, I was at Golden Flight before and some of the other harpers were talking. Someone said they heard that a former member of...them had been seen. Or heard from. Something like that." The women shared a look of a serious neighbor, hardly noticing when another harper was walking by and started eavesdropping. He stopped and looked at them both, before the pair of girls spotted him and turned to look.

"You both talking about the Dark Mists thing?" Kashpa glanced at Lostra, who looked a little bewildered, before nodding to this new harper. "I heard about that. My buddy from Dragon Ridge mentioned something about it. Said something about a supporter looking for former members."

"That wasn't it! It was a former member who was looking for candidates!" Another harper jumped into the conversation quickly eager to get in their two cents. "Or rather people to impress eggs they were gonna steal. I think." The new man looked a little sheepish, Kashpa gave him a hard look.

"Well, where did you hear this?" Kashpa didn't seem very convinced about this new input, and didn't seem to thing much of this rumor at all.

"Here of course. One of the other harpers at Cliffside." The conversation quickly picked up but Lostra only looked bewildered at how fast the other harpers jumped on it. Kashpa on the other hand looked perplexed. It was odd, she hadn't heard this rumor at all, but apparently it was all over the holds, at least it was quietly everywhere. Where on earth had this come from? Kashpa didn't notice that the harpers were getting louder, and forgot that people tended to listen to gossiping harpers.

[Kaya]

"Glad I could be of some help," Rilora replied shortly after, resisting the urge to find her shoes. It felt good to be approved of, something she didn't get a lot of from Isodae. Maybe if she just kept on working and took a little of her own advice, she'd be on the up and up as far as Weyr politics went.

"You know, yes actually," Rilora responded to Hedara's offer. "Because though I love my Weyr, I know we are a little slower to action than some it seems. Though with Archith I think justice will come swiftly to whomever she finds guilty. ...In any case, you know of the murders committed outside of our Weyr in the jungle. It still doesn't sit right with me. And now with Rainbow Mists connected to freely to Cliffside, I'm worried we might get some more problems cropping up just as the benefits roll in too. I feel stuck because there isn't someone missing to find, someone known to avenge. There's just the waiting. I don't want one of my Riders to be next- I don't want one of my Weyrfolk to be next."

Rilora had her hands clinched in fists. She wasn't sure what to do. The Weyr was all charisma and no help, no worries and no panic. She didn't want to cast a dark tone on the lives of the hundreds, but what could she do? This was serious. People were found dead. It could happen again. And they had done a grand total of nothing. Nothing. Brows furrowed and suddenly enjoying the day much less Rilora let out one large, pent up sigh.

[Kaya]

Holt and Korith had missed the earlier excitement. They were new to the scene, taking in the many colored stalls and waving banners. Holt marveled at it all. It wasn't like anything they had back at his home in Dragon Ridge. He passed one food vendor after the other, each offering something tastier looking than the next. It was hard not to give in, but he didn't want to buy anything on a whim.

Look, Mine. Qui is here. What is she doing? Korith asked as they approached the square.

"Well..." Holt said with a smile growing on his face. It looked like fun.

Well what?

"They're dancing...I think," Holt replied, just as Mau and Qui finished their song.

We can have fun too. Korith insisted, nosing his way forward. If HoltMine said it was fun, then it certainly was. Holt followed just behind his Blue, making sure that they didn't knock anything over. Korith was growing bigger by the day. It wouldn't be too much longer that they could casually walk everywhere together like this any more.

"Did I hear you ask for a dance partner?" Holt asked, watching Mau move away from her Green. He had thought he heard something of the sort, though if not he wanted to extend the offer all the same.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“That’s ok,” Talira said, beaming with joy and fidgeting with restless energy as the Harpers got ready for the next song. Another Weyrling came over, the tall boy with the Blue. Talira didn’t know his name; she resolved to ask it as soon as the dance was over. She wondered if the Blue would dance too.

The music started. Talira cocked her head to one side, listening for the beat. It took a couple measures, but then she had it, her toe tapping. “Ready?” she asked Qui, grinning broadly. I can’t believe it! I’m dancing with a dragon!

As the dance picked up, Talira waved to the Blue, trying to signal him to come over so that he and her and Qui could form a triad.

[Shoki]

Mau stopped and grinned when Holt intercepted her. Lucky someone was listening, it saved time. "Indeed, I happen to need a dance partner. Volunteering?" As Mau spoke she extended her hand to the tall boy. She wasn't afraid to ask for a dance partner. Dancing was just too much fun to not have a partner to dance with.

Qui looked very pleased that her partner wasn't going to judge her for her dancing. So when the music started she listen really close for the beat, and the moment she got it, her feet started moving. The beat was different, and so was the partner but Qui saw how Mau felt about dancing. It was like once she got the rhythm she had to move! The little girl danced differently then Mau had before, but she caught how she should move here and adapted to it. You are good at dancing![/color] Qui honestly believed it, mostly because she thought that the human dancing was much nicer looking then how she imagined she looked. She didn't know precisely how she looked though.

As Talira motioned to the blue dragon Qui turned toward where she was pointing, and then gave an excited hop. Korith! Join us, dancing is lots of fun![/color] Quimyenth could see herself dancing for a long, long time.