Recruitment Drive, or Poaching Weyrfolk (Concluded)

Tualarth's morning was a little unusual for a few reasons. Ordinarily, she and M'lonwei had a routine. M'lonwei would wake before the sun, occasionally mate with her weyrmate, always tend to Tualarth, and then ready herself to leave for the infirmary. Lately, however, that routine had been upset by M'lonwei needing to use her adjoining bathroom to vomit quite often, and Tualarth was getting concerned. Was her rider sick? If she was, it was in a way the dragon couldn't sense along their bond.

And then a most welcome distraction spoke in her head. The voice happened the same way Weyrwoman Sandasa's voice happened, but it didn't sound at all like Sandasa.

Good morning! the nearly-grown green answered brightly, perking up in an instant. Someone new, and friendly! The voice had called her dear one! You sound nice. Not like Barandath's rider, but M'lonwei told me riders get like that when dragons are...proddy? She was really very unkind to me. But you sound kind. Where are you from? You sound very far away.  ...my rider is sick but I don't know why.  I can't feel it.  Do you know why?




Yuleth, Alimbeth, and Kalynath waited in the Weyr Bowl when Sandasa arrived, appropriately caffeinated. Yuleth had even apparently allowed Jahena to strap her up, a rare privilege. Sandasa took a moment to quietly marvel at Kalynath, one of Yuleth's own daughters. She was nearly grown, not quite large enough to rival her mother, but definitely on the path, and her color was incredibly rich and saturated. She all but glowed in the rising sunlight.

"I wager it won't be long before her first rise," Sandasa observed, nodding at Kalynath. "She's got that sparkle."

Veridanza, looking strange in Haven Weyr flight gear instead of her traditional garb, smiled enigmatically. "Not long now, but long enough. Shall we?"

The three women mounted up and strapped in. Before they could command their dragons to leap into the air, a fourth queen boomed from between above them.

The watchdragon bugled a challenge, and was roared down by Chenzirath, senior queen of Exaltis Weyr.

Distinctive by her bone armor and decorative feathers, the barbaric-looking Chenzirath landed beside Yuleth with an intentionally heavy whump of disturbed sand. There was nothing dainty about Chenzirath. She had the grace of a jaguar but the presence of a rearing grizzly bear. Astride her sat a supple and voluptuous woman with the horns of a demon and lips that promised sin.

"Weyrwoman Velaska," Sandasa hailed. "What brings you here?" Unspoken were the words 'unannounced' and 'uninvited'.

The succubus grinned, revealing a set of perfect teeth bookended by sharp fangs. "I may not have your gift for dragons, Sandasa, but I've got a special feeling for all my sister queenriders! And if you think I'm not coming along to watch you make Belandriel squirm, I'm here to provide you with another think. Besides, she owes me eggs. You know how she fobs off mottle eggs on Aerion Weyr. Aerion's over-full and Exaltis needs those mottles, so. It's not all pleasure."

Jahena snorted. Veridanza smiled serenely. Sandasa rolled her eyes.

"Everyone have the image?" Jahena boomed. Unnecessarily, but she was Weyrlingmaster and habit was habit.

And so it was that four golden dragons leapt into the air and spiraled once in tight formation around the Weyr Bowl before blinking between.

Eight seconds later, they boomed back into the world above Aphadon Weyr, one of only two Weyrs in all of Teragaia not built into a mountain somehow. The elves had eschewed the claustrophobia of caverns for their own arched and looping architecture, pearl marble and white wood creating a vast, mostly open-air structure of incredible beauty. Every arch was supported by spiraling legs, every new layer of construction was supported by hundreds of arches, making it look almost like a giant spread of lace from the air.

Aphadon's Weyr Bowl was less a bowl and more of a clearing, grass underfoot.

Iearath and Alluvath were there, their riders dwarfed by them from the sky, more visible once the three Haven riders and Exaltis' Weyrwoman touched down and dismounted.

"What is this?" Belandriel demanded by way of greeting, storming up to the gathering. Weyrleader Timorean was right behind her, looking almost as cross. "You promised one junior and your Weyrlingmaster, not-"

"Oh, shut up," Velaska told her, lazily leaning against Chenzirath's side. "I came on my own, so you can't blame Sandasa for me."

"And I did bring one junior queen and my Weyrlingmaster," Sandasa replied, stapling on a cheerful smile. "Meet Veridanza, my junior," she gestured and Veridanza bowed, "and the prickly blonde is Jahena. You should remember Jahena. Your predecessor argued vehemently against allowing me to utilize her as my Weyrlingmaster."

"As did most everyone else with half a survival instinct, if you'll recall," Jahena supplied helpfully. "Don't mind me, though. I'm just a bystander here. Consider this Veridanza's training day. Your business is with those two."

Yuleth glanced Sandasa's way wordlessly in a way that very clearly said that if Jahena was just a bystander, then Yuleth was a green.

"I still do not see what right you think you have to appropriate one of our riders-" Timorean began before Sandasa gave him a Look so very Jahena that he snapped his mouth shut audibly.

"That's the problem, though, isn't it? Jessera isn't one of your riders." Sandasa stepped closer, meeting Timorean's gaze steadily despite being a good foot shorter. It gave her the illusion of height she didn't have. "She's never Impressed here. And by your own laws, she can never stand on the Hatching Sands again. You would keep a human -- who has a very limited lifespan compared to yours -- trapped here while you think about how to approach this problem, wasting her drive and talents, and there is no one here who can mentor her in her abilities."

"That is not fair!" Belandriel snapped, clearly overwhelmed by the ambush tactics.

Veridanza breezed forward, one hand raised in peaceful supplication. "Oh, but you have the right of it, Weyrwoman. It most certainly is not fair at all. But please do consider Weyrwoman Sandasa's point, if you will. Not every human has my god's blessing, to live thousands of years. Most live between seventy and ninety years, if that, and your lifespan is... nearly a thousand years? You have more time to think because you have so much time at your disposal. Humans are not like you, however. Humans live day by day, and quite urgently. Young Jessera is probably going to become quite distressed between aging out of Impression ability and you coming to a just and reasonable decision at what is, to you, a normal pace. Also, Sandasa is the only other person on all of Teragaia who knows what she has, what she is going through, what it is like to hear all dragons. It must be as much a burden as a gift, and she needs a mentor who can walk her through it. Train her, hone her. Teach her."

Behind her, Jahena hid a victorious grin. This was exactly why she'd told Sandasa to bring Veridanza.

Belandriel chewed at her bottom lip, at least partially pacified by Veridanza's more measured approach. Then she rolled her elf-green eyes toward Velaska. "That does not explain why you are here."

Velaska laughed. "I admit, I wanted to see you react to this. But mostly I needed to tell you to stop fobbing the mottle eggs off on Aerion Weyr. They're at capacity. Exaltis, however, is badly under-strength. If you could drop the eggs off my way, I'd be appreciative. Must be some kind of compensation Exaltis can send your way for the extra trouble."

"Just promise me my searchriders will return from the demon kingdoms safely," Belandriel murmured after a moment, waving off the offer of compensation.

"Tell me when they're incoming and they'll be escorted," Velaska promised.

Belandriel nodded. Velaska smiled.

"Then I can get out of here. I promise I won't stick around to mock you," Velaska signed off cheerfully. She mounted Chenzirath and strapped in. "Good luck with the rest of your day, all!" And with wingbeats mighty enough to flatten the grass around her, Chenzirath launched into the sky, circled, and vanished.

Timorean remained in a locked staring contest with Sandasa, nearly chest-to-chest, both refusing to back down. Eventually one of them had to give, however, and to only Belandriel's surprise, it was Timorean who backed away first, casting his eyes down.

"She...has a point, love," the Weyrleader choked out, as if the words physically hurt to say. They probably did.

---

Time for Jess to talk to Tualarth a little bit more before she's summoned. Belandriel and Timorean are breaking down, but it'll take a bit more. XD

Tualarth considered this new information. She'd never heard of a sickness in a rider that a dragon couldn't also feel. What's a baby? I don't...understand. Doesn't everything hatch from an egg?

Luckily for Melonwei, she was too busy in the bathroom to be in on this conversation.




Sandasa grinned unexpectedly. "Your Jessera is already making herself at home in Haven, it seems."

Belandriel raised her perfect auburn eyebrows.

"She's talking to one of my greens. Five time zones away and no training, that's impressive. But she could hurt herself that way if she isn't careful. I know I did at her age. And I'm not talking about the painfully awkward conversation with dragons about where babies come from."

Jahena cackled. "They ask that every time!"

The way Belandriel and Timorean looked at each other said more than words could that their dragons had also asked That Question.

Sneaky spy Belior would make it to the Weyr Bowl in time to see Chenzirath leave, and thus miss most of the drama, but that was quite all right. It was about time to introduce themselves to Jessera anyway.

"I suggest," crooned Veridanza, in a voice pitched exactly to soothe wounded pride, "that we bespeak Jessera herself and ask what she would prefer, to stay here, or to join us in Haven Weyr."

Timorean looked to Belandriel for her lead. Belandriel hesitated, but then nodded. "I will-"

"Allow me." Sandasa offered her a genuinely friendly smile this time and closed her eyes, though it took little focus this time to find her target.

Jessera, I am Weyrwoman Sandasa of Haven Weyr, rider of Yuleth. Would you please join us at the Weyr Bowl as quickly as you can get here?

Sandasa favored Jessera with a smile. "Good morning, dear girl. Your current Weyrwoman and I have been having a...discussion about your future."

Jahena snorted, loudly.

"Discussion is a diplomatic way of putting it," Belandriel all but agreed with Jahena's assessment. "Weyrleader Timorean and I are deeply reluctant, I must admit, but Weyrwoman Sandasa argued inarguable points, though her junior was infinitely more delicate with them."

"I have had some practice," Veridanza admitted with a small smile. She didn't need to tell the elves where and how she'd gotten that practice in.

IF I may, Alimbeth interrupted, seeing as everyone was taking too long to get to the point. As it stands, by Aphadon Weyr rule of law, Jessera, you are now too old and thus ineligible to stand for any further hatchings. Weyrwoman Belandriel and Weyrleader Timorean do not want to let you go because they truly value you and your talent for speaking to all dragons, but you want and indeed need to Impress, which brings us to where we are now, and you to your very important next choice. Do you wish to remain at Aphadon Weyr...or do you wish to join us at Haven Weyr, where no such age restrictions apply? I can promise you Haven will provide you infinitely more chances at Impression, infinitely more joy, and infinitely more pain.

Belandriel and Timorean stared at Alimbeth, wide-eyed.

Pure Pernese dragons were not supposed to grasp complex concepts at all, less better than their human/elven/other counterparts. There was something deeply disturbing and troubling about Alimbeth's ability to understand the situation and break it down, remember names, ranks, and also grasp the gravitas of the future. Aphadon wouldn't provide Jessera with a dragon by this point, no, but Haven Weyr was home to tragedy as often as not. Aphadon was safe.

Sandasa shrugged with her hands. "Well, Alimbeth isn't wrong."

Belandriel and Timorean frowned almost as a singular entity. First there was a disturbingly intellectual dragon telling them their business and now their much-treasured Jessera was choosing to leave them.

"You're not late," Sandasa assured her, reaching to pat Jessera on the shoulder when the lass arrived. "I had to convince Belandriel and Timorean to let go of you. They really do value what you have. They treasure it, they treasure you. They've watched you grow from infancy to adulthood. They're not keen on letting go of you so soon. I think they're as much proud parents as your actual parents are."

The way Belandriel's lips pursed and her eyes misted said that Sandasa had guessed correctly. Well, not guessed. Telepath was cheating.

"We will always be proud of you, Jessera," Timorean concurred, squeezing his mate's hand.

"But Weyrwoman Sandasa is right," Belandriel finally admitted. "As much as we want to keep you, we cannot. You deserve your own dragon, your own dreams, your own opportunities to soar. And, perhaps most importantly, you do need someone who can teach you to use your gift to the best of your abilities."

Veridanza bowed, retreated, and mounted Kalynath, strapping in. Jahena loped up onto Alimbeth.

Sandasa looked up at them. "You're awfully quick to mount up, considering she hasn't even said her goodbyes or packed her things yet."

"Indeed, that's what dragonspeaking is for," Sandasa agreed, grinning more openly. "You can ride with me on Yuleth to Haven. SINCE YOU TWO ARE SO EAGER TO LEAVE, YOU PROBABLY SHOULD."

"Ha! I've got weyrlings whose asses I've gotta kick and this one's gonna rise any time now," Jahena called down from Alimbeth's back, jerking a thumb in Kalynath's direction. "We'll see you both back at the Weyr, and Jessera- I look forward to the day I can kick your ass too!"

With that, Alimbeth and Kalynath were off and gone.

Sandasa shook her head. "I told Veridanza Kalynath was going to rise soon. Then again, she also told me she had time enough for this. S'pose we were both right."

After a moment of consideration, Sandasa turned her attention back to Jessera. "Get your stuff, take whatever time you need. And you should probably hug Belandriel before we go."

Sandasa chuckled, watching Jessera flail a bit, and waited patiently for the lass to grab her things.

"I realize this is difficult for you," she said to the elven Weyr commanders. "I do. And I'm grateful for your sacrifice, don't ever forget that."

"You could have led with that," Timorean grumbled, but it was the kind of grumble that said things were forgiven.

Jessera returned, dressed for the cold of between, and hugged Belandriel and Timorean farewell. Each of them hugged her back fiercely.

And then came the issue of Yuleth's size, and she was indeed a sizeable queen. She dwarfed Iearath by quite a fair bit.

Sandasa grinned. "Come on, I'll show you. And Yuleth will help, won't you, Yuleth?"

Obligingly, Yuleth knelt and offered a foreleg. Sandasa used the foreleg as a step and grabbed a strap for balance, swinging up into the ridges of Yuleth's neck. She held out a hand for Jessera to take so that the younger woman could mount up behind her.

"I've got extra safety straps too. Just take my hand and I'll pull you up."