Breaking Free (Plot 2.0)

[darkwanderer]

Once the group started moving, after the dispute between Silverlight and Weyrwoman, Se'Kt felt a little more at ease with the situation. He did not know who exactly these people were who had kidnapped the Weyrling and his Dragonet, but he knew they obviously had some kind of agenda against not only Silverlights but the entire Weyr. He did not regret his decision to follow his Weyrwoman into this place, but he did rather wish he'd come better prepared. Ahead of him was the young woman, Keirah perhaps? He had not met her before, but she appeared deeply troubled. Rallin was close by in the gloom, Se'Kt could sense him though he was adept as disguising his footsteps. But just as suddenly as a bolt of lightning, Rallin was suddenly falling into a black abyss that seemed to open up like a yawning mouth. Se'Kt had scant seconds to turn and gaze dumbly down as Rallin fell into a pit, landing between two of the nasty looking spikes, narrowly missing a most grisly end. He stumbled forward and knelt by the edge of the precipice and peered into the gloom,
"Rallin? Are you alright?" he hissed.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Rallin called back. He was irrationally pleased to note that his voice was still composed, though upon a brief reflection, he came to the conclusion that it was only irrational because of the fact that someone who has just delayed the escape by falling into a pit maybe shouldn’t be feeling pleased with much of anything. At least I’m still alive, he thought.

He heard a hissing sound, and, turning to face it, staggered back as something hit his right shoulder. He glanced down in mild surprise, not even truly hearing Rallisk’s angry hiss. There was an arrow shaft protruding from his shoulder.

If I hadn’t turned just then… he didn’t need to finish his own thought. If he hadn’t turned, that shaft would have traveled just enough further to lose a little more height, and it would have hit… he swallowed. It would have hit my heart.

More hissing sounds. Rallin quickly ducked behind the closest spike. “Look out!” he shouted, hoping the warning came in time. “They’ve got archers!”

—
Tivax was fast realizing that it was one thing to decide to risk everything in a gamble by joining forces with strangers, and yet another thing to actually do it. He’d emerged, cautiously, behind a group of archers. He’d seen one of the rescuers, the Wherhandler, if the whatchwher’s reaction was any judge, fall into one of the pit traps. He’d seen one of the three archers fire, and had been relieved to see the arrow miss its killing target, but he hadn’t been able to make himself do anything, he could no more slip away or warn the rescuers than he could try to stop the archers from shooting.

Then two of the archers fired into the pit again. As soon as the arrows were launched, the Wherhandler cried out that there were archers, warning his fellows. Tivax had waited, not even daring to breathe, as the third archer drew back his bow and took aim, not at any of the humans, but at the weyrling dragon.

Tivax screamed, his entire being trying to deny what his eyes saw. He lunged forward, bringing his sword around in a strike as he did so. The archer turned as Tivax charged across the half-dragonlength separating them, and the sword blow, meant to sever the man’s bow, severed his head instead.

Somewhere in the quiet privacy of his mind, Tivax was screaming, even as he leaped between the remaining two archers and slid down the side of the tunnel towards the rescue party, yelling: “Stay in the middle of the tunnel until around the next bend, there’s traps on the sides! Archers are behind me, take them down!” He tried to slow down, he really did, but he had been moving too fast, and ended up, somehow, simultaneously colliding with the blond woman who seemed to be in charge, and with the Silverlight weyrling.

[darkwanderer]

The arrow hit Rallin in the shoulder seconds later and Se'Kt realised his folly in calling out. No, it would not have matter if he'd shouted or not, those archers had been waiting for them, anticipating one of them falling into that pit,
"They've got archers!" Rallin called, but Se'Kt barely heard it. He was trying to see through the darkness and pinpoint their attackers, but he could not. Suddenly, more arrows were flying and all he could think to do was try and get to Rallin. but without sliding into the pit, what could he do? Powerlessness was not a feeling he needed right now, he needed to think!
Se'Kt Mine, someone comes! Epsilith warned,
"...archers are behind me, take them out!" came the shout. Se'Kt turned towards the owner of the voice and saw someone practically collide with Hedara and the Weyrling. Who this person was he did not know and thus he decided they were guilty until proven innocent. Drawing his short sword Se'Kt came forward, pointing the tip of the blade towards the newcomer,
"Who are you? And how do you know so much about our enemies?" he demanded coldly.

[Lark]

A'mir froze as Rallin fell suddenly into nothing, the scream that had worked its way into his throat catching. This was terrible, this was....the weyrling barely showed any emotion on the outside though, he was just a deadpan of expression. Taking a step forward, the blonde nodded when he saw that the man was still alive, bending to help him up perhaps until an arrow wizzed by and the announcement was made, though honestly it was a little bit too late for that.

The next few moments seemed to blur together in a very confusing menagerie of events. Sayurith hissed as a form came running out, silver meeting flesh except it was steel and not dragon hide. She wanted to harm them though, how dare they try to keep her and Hers away any longer. The young Queenlet was thoroughly done with the imprisonment affair, and part of her hoped that Tiberax would find them, that way she could sink her fangs into his body until he bled out.

The shouting however was not just verbal, she could hear something in her mind, and it felt so very wrong. Shrieking, the silverlight dragonet snapped her head toward the boy, recognizing him whether Hers' experiences were helping her or not. She would remember this one no matter how long the time was. What are you doing here pest!?! How dare you...and how dare you try and speak to me. The silverlight snapped her jaws in the boy's direction, stopped only by A'mir's hand falling on her neck gently. "Enough Sayurith."

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Tivax tried to step away from the sudden onrush of the weyrling’s jaws, only to wind up with a sword pointing at his throat, and too close for him to try and use his own to bat it aside. He stared at the blade, he had expected a reaction, at least, but not one directed completely at him! What was wrong with these people, did they not understand that the archers wouldn’t wait! He felt his lips curling in… anger?

Wait a moment, I’m not angry… the thought trailed off as Tivax recalled how often he’d been irrationally angry when he got too close to the captives. The anger was replaced, sort of, by a burst of uncertain fear. What is this thing, anyway? Why am I feeling things that aren’t my feelings?

“But I wasn’t trying to speak to you!” Tivax protested, staring at the Silverlight weyrling in shock. He didn’t understand. He knew he’d heard the dragon back at the hold, but had Sayurith somehow heard him?

He was about to ask something along that line of thought when he recalled the brown-haired man’s question. Rather, was reminded by it because there was still a sword pointing at him.

“What does it matter?” he demanded. “I can get you out of here! I will get you out of here, all of you, just take me with you when you go.”

____
Rallin could hear shouting. It seemed there was a new arrival up with the others, trying to convince them to let him come along. Why’d he wait until now? Rallin wondered, tying a scrap from his shirt around the broken arrow shaft.

[darkwanderer]

Se'Kt's eyes darted to the Weyrling and his Silverlight. Was this newcomer talking to the Queenlet herself? He had no time to ponder this as the newcomer shouted,
"What does it matter? I can get you out of here! I will get you out of here, all of you, just take me with you when you go!" he pleaded with them. Se'Kt would have normally looked to his Weyrwoman for her guidance, but in this instance he was being overwhelmed by his Ice King's authoritative nature and so he sheathed his sword,
"Fine, you will help us out of here" he said quickly and then addressed the others, "but I am not leaving without Rallin. Will someone help me aid him?" he asked.

[Shoki]

Suddenly Rallin dropped out of view, startling Hedara. This wasn't good. She strode forward to see what had happened, her eyes widening when she realized how close he had been to falling on some of the deadly spikes. This wasn't good, traps like this were premeditated, which meant that they were planning on violence. A hiss was heard from the black wher and then an arrow hit Rallin. Hedara needed no further excuse to draw her sword. It flashed out into her hand, but when archers were involved, it meant that they had the advantage at this distance. That's when chaos ensued.

Hedara made a snap decision not to attack the boy that ran into her. As much as her paranoia was set to distrust anyone who didn't come with her or was being rescued, it made more sense if he was being truthful. Tactically speaking, the other side had the upper hand, even with less people. After all, the archers could pick off people while they had to trouble themselves with the traps. So rather then attempt to capture him, she focused on the archers. She didn't want anyone dying today, and that meant making sure no half rate archer was getting a lucky shot into a vulnerable spot. Visibility was less then good so it meant that their archer probably was going to have a time taking out two of them. So practically it meant getting close.

Hedara don't do it!

The thing Hedara never really got about being a Queen rider was the whole, avoid danger bit. Honestly when she was a candidate she really wanted to impress a male dragon. So it was why she was thinking, that practically speaking, someone had to run up there and take out the archers. As it seemed like some people were busy with a quick interrogation it would be better if she went ahead and got on that.

"Cover me." The words were directed at no one in particular and she ran up, heading toward where the arrows were coming from. On instinct she charged forward with the widest part of her sword over her heart, and the blade's flat toward the archers, raising it so it was in front of her. It meant that of course, some of the arrows quickly directed to her. One missed entirely but another got her in her left arm, though she couldn't quite grace him by slowing movement. She finally spotted her target in the shadows, namely the one who had loosed an arrow on her and did the best thing she could with a sword being held in that position. With a quick movement she adjusted her grip, rotating the sword back and her body to the side, and using the force of her run to thrust the hilt of her sword into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. She grabbed the bow from him while he was off guard and then tried to block from the arrow from the other archer, as she had given him time to reload and loose another arrow.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Tivax was still dazed. The whole situation seemed almost un-real, like a story from a song, something that had happened to someone else, a long time ago. Yet, at the same time, the situation was terribly real, people were getting shot at and…

“There’s rope in the pack on Rallisk’s back!” Rallin called. Tivax spun towards the sound. It must be the one called Rallin, at least, “Rallin” was the name that the sword-wielding man had given for someone not to be left behind, so “Rallin” must be the one in the pit.

Tivax opened his mouth, only to end up staring in shock as the blond woman raced off in the direction he’d come from, raising a sword and obviously intending to dispatch the archers.

“I’ll help,” Tivax volunteered. He was eager to prove himself useful to these people, since he’d just thrown his lot in with them.

—
The other archer swore and stumbled backwards as his arrow was deflected. He stepped down on the body of his fellow, the one Tivax had killed, and his foot slid out from under him, landing him on his back with a cry of surprise.

((For expediency, whoever goes to get the rope out of Rallisk's pack can control her.))

[darkwanderer]

Se'Kt rushed to the Watchwher, Rallisk and found the pack on her back. Without waiting to see if she'd bite him or not, he quickly extracted the rope,
"Come on girl, would you come and stand right here?" Se'Kt coaxed, managing to get the beast to trundle forward enough so that he could attach the rope to her and also lower it to Rallin. Once it was secured around her body, Se'Kt called down to the injured man,
"Can you secure yourself?" he called.

[Lark]

Sayurith did not like the boy, she certainly didn't trust him. The fact that he was obviously lying about not knowing she could hear him also burned deep within her. Of course you can hear me you wherry-brained fool...now, send me the image of how to get out of here, I'll send it to the others. Mine, help Se'kt to pull up the Wher's handler. The silverlight shoved A'mir in the direction of the other rider, the young man holding onto the part of the rope that fell behind the older person, prepared to help pull the handler out of the pit.

[darkwanderer]

Se'Kt glanced around to see the Weyrling approaching him, having been nudged by his Dragoness. Se'Kt shifted his position so that he could reach further down into the pit,
"Ok, can you hold the rope here? And pull with all your might. Rallisk darling, you pull too alright?" Se'Kt explained calmly. With three of them they would be able to get Rallin to safety in no time. He looked back down into the pit,
"Rallin I do hope you've secured the rope to your person somehow!" he called and gave the rope an experimental tug.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Rallin had managed a fairly decent knot of the rope, though it had taken so much concentration to do it with a the arrow wound that he hadn’t managed to answer Se’kt’s first shouted question about whether he could secure himself. A couple moments later, and he felt pressure applied to the rope, as Se’kt shouted that he hoped it had been secured.

“I have!” Rallin called back.

Rallisk cocked her head at the human who had spoken. She understood the command to pull though, and would wait for an order to do so.

——
Tivax started. He was trying to get a grip on himself, but the fact that he kept getting caught in what, to him, felt like a maelstrom of anger —all or most of which was directed at himself — wasn’t helping. “How?” he asked, not sure if he even spoke it aloud, and not sure if he was asking about sending images, or about the dragon’s seeming ability to determine what he thought. He tried to edge around the dragon, wondering how he could ever have thought of her as helpless, but it didn’t seem to be working and he quickly abandoned the whole idea. He tried to think about the way out, but the images were disjointed, and even he could tell that there was no force behind them, they were barely present to his awareness actually, buried under his awareness of anger and his concern about more archers, and his fear of what his father would do to these people, and to him, if the rescue was not a success.

[Lark]

Sayurith hissed at the boy's ineptness, her eyes blazing the now familiar red or anger. Just calm yourself.....you're much too worried. Breathe, breathe with me. I want you to close your eyes, think of the place...please, just imagine it, just think as if you were walking through it. I know you can do this. You must do this. Her gaze shifting momentarily to A'mir, half-way speaking with the weyrling as well as just by herself, the dragonet wobbled over to the younger boy, hesitating for a moment before nuzzling against his side. Relax Tivax...just relax.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

If there were anything harder than trying to be calm in the presence of a furious four-month old dragon — who was ordering you to calm down — while worrying about what had happened to a wher-handler you’d never met, with a high chance of incoming arrows from archers that a crazy-lady just ran off to attack, and a large chance of death at the hands of your father’s furious cronies, Tivax had yet to discover it.

The Silverlight stepped closer. Tivax started to step back, barely aware of his surroundings, his mind still reeling from the impact of powerful emotions, only some of which were his own. Before he could do more than shift his weight, he was being nuzzled by the Silverlight.

What the… The thought floated through his mind, as for a brief moment his own confusion at the weyrling’s actions overrode his awareness of that other mind. Then the disorientation was back. He tried to focus, tried to breath steadily…

Finally, silence! Nothing in his head but his own thoughts! The effort involved in — he supposed he could call it shielding, for it certainly felt like holding a shield against an attack, only it was literally all in his head — was immense. He was gasping for breath, but he didn’t dare peak around the imaginary shield to check if he could relax it, not now that he was finally regaining his ability to think rationally.

He glanced over his shoulder towards where the woman had raced off, up to the archers. There were no more arrows flying at the group from that sniper-spot, so he reckoned that the archers had been… dealt with. He felt queasy all of a sudden, and resolutely avoided looking at the red stain on his still-unsheathed sword.

----
The archer stared up at Hedara, then quickly drew and arrow and fitted it to his bow, scrambling back and into a crouched position. He clearly intended to prevent the swordswoman from approaching by the simple expedient of ending her ability to draw breath.

[darkwanderer]

Se'Kt heard Rallin's call and then turned to the other two,
"Come on, let's pull him up!" he ordered and gave the rope a heave. He felt the tension snap into place and felt the man's weight. Rallisk pulled with great strength and Se'Kt was actually very surprised he'd managed to coax her to obey him. His thoughts however turned back to the dire situation they were in. He was concerned for Hedara and her brave frontal assault on the archers and he was worried about this newcomer who seemed to be conversing with the Dragonet. He wanted to get brave Rallin to safety and then he intended to aid his Weyrwoman before she was blindsided and injured.