"Okay." Aliana tried to fix A’liss’ disobedient collar. "Remember. Weyrwoman Magika is in charge, there is no Weyrleader. Head of your wing is Wingleader Mik’len on bronze Vekunth. The Wingfirst is J’kar and bronze Millith. You’ll be flying with Mishar and silver Seironasth. And for Faranth’s sake! I’m the Head Searchrider now so don’t embarrass me!" Aliana stepped back to examine her handiwork.
A’liss looked amazing, aside from the fact that he was pouting. He was clothed in beautiful new riding leathers befitting his rank as bronzerider, and his long white hair was pulled back and braided. "These shardin’ clothes are uncomfortable."
Aliana glared. "I’ve worked long and hard to make sure there is a position for you at Adanuk and you repay my efforts with complaints over riding leathers?" She swatted him. "Unless you want your sorry flesh thread-scarred you’d better get used to them." She stormed over, picked up his bag and gave it to him. She then picked up his beautiful harp and handed it to him. She then picked up his reins and handed them to him. By this point in time, A’liss was looking more than a little desperate and overstocked. The pathetic look on his face, accompanied by the vision of him in normal clothes for once was enough to make the new Head Searchrider finally smile. "A’liss..."
He sniffled and shuffled his feet. "I’ll be good, ma’am. I promise."
Aliana laughed. "Stupid." She removed the harp, bag and reins from his hands and replaced them with herself. "As soon as you get the Weyr, impress Magika and amaze all my friends you can go back to being yourself."
A’liss couldn’t help laughing. "Oh really? How magnanimous of you."
Aliana glared and smacked him, trying to pull herself out of his embrace. "If you want to do something stupid and get yourself laughed off the face of the planet..."
The taller man wouldn’t let her go. "I don’t think it’s possible to be laughed off the face of the planet." With a smirk, A’liss lifted Aliana off the ground a few inches and then let her fall. She landed, steadily, on her feet, as A’liss knew she would. "The ground seems to like us."
Aliana smacked him in the arm, hard. "We’ll see who likes you when you’re crushed into many small A’liss shaped bits." Aliana decided to carry the harp, giving A’liss his bag and reins. "Let’s go. Unless you have any more wise cracks?"
A loud chirp was the only wise crack the Head Searchrider received. Angou was in a panic. Neither Aliana, Xynoth, A’liss or Heraemth could convince the silly brown that he wasn’t being left behind.
Aliana sighed, shook her head and left the weyr. "C’mon A’liss. He’ll follow along if he wants to come."
That thought didn’t sit well with A’liss at all. "If he wants to come? Are you suggesting that he might prefer to stay here by himself instead of coming with me?"
Heraemth, who by this time was throughly fed up with all of them, stomped his feet and fanned his wings. Angou’s just being very stupid. He will come with us, he has no where else to go. Can we please leave now?
A’liss sighed. The brown flit nervously chirped and bobbed his head. He knew the flit was being a little idiotic, but the bronzerider couldn’t really blame it. He was leaving the Weyr where he impressed his lifemate and his flitter. He was leaving the closest thing to a permanent home that he’d ever had. He was leaving it, just when he’d finally found a place, when things were finally starting to look up, when he had a promising future in front of him...
"Angou, come." Aliana commanded the brown flit to her shoulder where it sat, dejected and upset. She strapped the harp to Xynoth’s saddle and mounted. She turned to find A’liss staring at nothing. "Amar?" His old nickname always came easier to her lips. He was startled out of his daydream and turned to face her with a blank expression. "Coming love?"
A’liss smiled. "Yeah." Strapping his bag to his dragonsaddle, he mounted Heraemth. "Adanuk Weyr, here I come." The two dragons leapt from the ledge, trumpted their departure and circled the Weyr once or twice, Xynoth double checking that A’liss and Heraemth had the right co-ordinates.
Heraemth was glad to be moving. If he’d been forced to stand around saying good bye to the only home he knew so far he might have become as emotional as the little flit. Leaving the only home we know...
A’liss smiled as he watched Aliana and Xynoth in the air. Yeah...for something much, much better.
* * * "Magika!" Aliana waved her arms as she dismounted to catch the attention of the rapidly vanishing Weyrwoman. "MAGIKA!!"
The Weyrwoman whirled, an annoyed look on her face. She ran over to them. "This A’liss?"
"Yes ma’am." A’liss felt rather silly being introduced to his new Weyrwoman while comforting a sobbing, overly distraught flitter. "I just want you to know..."
Magika cut him off with a smirk and a gesture. "Thread. Suit up." She touched Aliana’s arm briefly. "Better go meet the weyrlings." Aliana nodded and ran off, leaving A’liss very conufused.
"Thread?" He didn’t remember a warning set up for today.
Magika smirked and turned to a bronze/purple creature sitting on her shoulder. It disappeared. "Yeah, Thread. Annoying stuff, falls from the sky, eats everything." A’liss was about to make a sarcastic remark when Magika cut him off again. "Karia’s gone to get J’kar. He’ll be here momentarily to take care of you." Magika took a step back and did a quick examination of her new rider. "Welcome to Adanuk." With that, she turned and bolted towards a large, obviously angry queen.
"Thanks..." A’liss was a little shaken by his quick welcome and then abandonment. "I’ll just..."
"A’liss?" A tall, lithe, yet well-muscled man with Wingfirst knots on his shoulder was approaching A’liss from behind. "I’m J’kar. My bronze is Millith. I’m the Wingfirst. Follow me."
A’liss found himself running after the rapidly retreating back of the bronzerider. He was feeling a little dejected, a little underappreciated and a lot confused. "Jeez...I’m beginning to think we shouldn’t have come."
Heraemth, on the other hand, couldn’t have planned a better day. C’mon rider-mine!! We get to show them who rules the skies on our first day here!
"Magika." The spoken word caused A’liss to nearly trip and fall. The woman who spoke was smiling softly and holding a multitude of flits. A’liss opened his mouth to speak, but the woman motioned for silence. The bronzerider was beginning to feel like he was destined for silence or something. The woman smiled. "No time for talking. I’m here for the flit." A’liss realized that the multitude of flits didn’t belong to the woman. "Of course they don’t. I’m the Master Healer Celeste. Asst. Headwoman Mala and I watch the flits while the riders fight...that is if I’m not called to tend to an injury. You’d better hurry up. J’kar’s getting impatient, which isn’t something that happens all that often."
A’liss disliked the way the woman appeared to be reading his mind. "Angou doesn’t like..." Celeste clicked her tongue and with a swish of his tail that obviously said ‘so long and thanks for everything’, Angou went with the Master Healer. "...strangers..."
"A’liss!!" J’kar was losing patience. "In the air, now!!"
The ex-gypsy mounted quickly, muttering to himself about the politeness of people here. To his amazement, the little bronze and purple thing appeared inches before him, smirking to itself. You just have to get used to us. It a split second it was gone again.
Heraemth leapt into the air right as A’liss finally decided everyone here must be psychic. Not everyone rider-mine...just everyone we’ve met.
A’liss was amazed to find himself spoken to by the Sr. Queen. Magika would like to note the face we’re not psychic...not all of us anyways...we’re just a little crazy.
Xynoth broke formation for a split second to nudge Heraemth. It’s just easier to give up and admit you have no idea what’s going on.
"Let’s go!" The comment was echoed by every Wingleader, Wingfirst, Wingsecond, Wingthird and, of course, the Weyrwoman. It was a rather unique sound.
I have no idea what’s going on. A’liss thanked his lucky stars that he’d actually payed attention to Aliana’s earlier lecture. He knew he was supposed to be working with Mish-something-or-other and Silver S--------th. Luckily there was only one silver dragon he could see and the rider looked like a Mish-something-or-other.
We’re fighting Thread A’liss. Just like we were taught to do. Heraemth would have elaborated on the witty comment if he wasn’t so busy.
A’liss grit his teeth and pushed all the nonsense out of his mind so he could fight properly. Thanks Rae, I’ll remember that.
* * * "So what do you think of Adanuk?" Aliana pushed a piece of hair out of her face as she linked arms with A’liss. "Have fun?"
A’liss glared at her, wondering vaguely whether Angou was going to come back to him, or whether the brown had left him for good. "I need a bath."
Aliana smiled. "That’s why I’m taking you down to the ocean."
A’liss pouted. "But the ocean is cold."
"And secluded." Aliana’s smirk left little doubt about what she meant there.
A’liss smiled and grabbed her around the waist. "Really?"
Aliana laughed and kissed him. "C’mon."
A’liss... Heraemth was watching the gold’s land now.
I’m busy right now.... A’liss carried Aliana to Heraemth. She leaned against him as he guided the bronze to the sky. Xynoth was following them.
If thoughts of spending the night with Xynoth weren’t flooding his mind, the bronze might have remembered to mention the gold Miurath and her rider Roza, but unfortunately the older green knocked it right out of his skull.
* * *
A'liss impressed Heraemth at Tarizal Weyr.
A'liss impressed Angou at Tarizal Weyr.
Background from Myrror Images.
