Fleeing What Is To Come [Plot]

[Isilsk]

After Violent Delights and Violent Ends
@Fawkes - Safryn
@Ember - L'van
@Shaihulud - N'kili

---

”War is coming.”

Those were the warning words given by Pedagogue Vi’van himself. This small group of clerics heeded the words of the Pedagogue, slipping away on their dragons under the guise they were fetching more water to ensure the buildings were fully doused. In reality, they gathered those they knew they needed to. A few of the clerics had their dragons send private messages to the dragons of a couple of other would-be-defectors. Those that didn’t truly support of follow the Leadership anymore, but had resided in the Dragon Ward so far. A few took the chance, but some were too afraid to flee. So the group remained small, around a mere five dragonriders in all, but it made it easy for them to slip away without notice among the chaos of the aftermath of the attack on the ward.

A few betweened to a rendevous point, while others slipped into the other wards to gather friends and families. Some were quick to leave, already looking for a means before, while others had to be convinced that a war was coming. Some went, and some stayed behind, but the riders took with them those that would come, meeting with their comrades at their meeting point. It took a several days, the riders camping at their private place outside of Walled reach, gathering up those that would come with them. After over a sevenday though, it was time to move on. They couldn’t hide out in the wilds forever, and Vi’van had told them where to go.

Their group didn’t grow larger than what their greens and blues could carry, with no one carrying with them much more than themselves and just a few personal effects they could take quickly. The dragons were loaded with their passengers, and then with a signal, they rose up and jumped between.

Moments later, New Atricis Weyr opened up beneath them, and a bugle from the watchdragon alerted the Weyr to their presence, and also alerted the Walled riders that they were recognized. Down, N’iel and Viridith led the group, landing them in the Weyr Yard, the most neutral area of the Weyr, so as not to be seen as a threat, just to be safe.

”We come seeking refuge,” N’iel called out to those that gathered to see what was going on. Viridith called out similarly as well.

We come seeking refuge! We mean no threat, we just seek help. Please bring your leaders.

”May we please speak with your leaders to request asylum?”

[Shaihulud]

In the hours after Theria and Evora's departure, N'kili worried away at the floor boards with her pacing. One could count time by her steps, though N'kili still felt inclined to look up to the candle clock from time to time to see how much time had past. Half a candlemark. Any word Omiimiith? she asked her opal who warily awaited their return from the weyr cliffs.

No, no word yet, her lifemate regretfully replied.

Amuderudalya spoke up from her place on N'kili's couch. "Any news yet?"

The opalrider pressed her lips together from a sudden wave of intensified unease. The uncanniness of Amuderudalya's preternatural intuition never failed to unsettle N'kili. Even without a word spoken, the woman somehow always knew. Perhaps it was the distance in the opalrider's gaze that gave her away, yet she had been facing away from Inez's sister when she reached out to her dragon. So how did she know?

Amuderudalya averted her gaze, as though once more... she knew. Somehow she realised she had reason to retreat due to an unspoken offence, as though she knew she had set N'kili on edge.

A sigh escaped the opalrider, and finally, she offered a reply, "No. No news yet."

Her paces carried her over to the window, one that overlooked the grassy expanse that filled the distance between her apartment and the cliff edge. Each dragon that slipped from the void of between looked nothing like Siligath or Ostellith, though her heart begged for the hides to be that telling tone, one that promised safety... and perhaps success.

No... there would be no success, only the possibility of retreat and survival. Even if Theria and Evora did not give any indication of their intention before their departure, Inez, Amuderudalya and N'kili all knew what the sisters had set out to do. Dressed in black and armed as they mounted their beasts, they were about to set out on a mission to Walled. Inez did not wait in Atricis for her sisters. Instead, she slipped to the keep in Evanoria to see if they might appear there first, so Inez could talk some sense into them.

N'kili and Amuderudalya stayed behind.

Two candlemarks passed.

"If something happened, do you think we would have heard something by now?" the young woman asked.

N'kili cast dark eyes over to the baker, if only to acknowledge her before she looked back out the window. "I don't know."

And still they waited, letting the stillness fill the room once more. Not even Duke provided the typical chirps of excitement. Instead, he sullenly sat in his corner of the couch, watching N'kili wear her path into the floor boards when she resumed her pacing.

Omiimiith let out a bugle of alarm.

A familiar green had appeared over the weyr with several others. Walled beasts.

It's Viridith!

Already, N'kili slipped quickly out of her apartment, though not without telling Amuderudalya to stay put. Strapless, she rode her dragon down to the weyr yards to meet the cleric, an old friend and active accomplice. Nimuriel had proven to be a reliable source of valuable information for the cause over the turns.

”We come seeking refuge,” she heard the man beg to those who gathered around him.

She wove quickly through the gathering crowd to get closer to him.

”May we please speak with your leaders to request asylum?”

Asylum? What did Theria and Evora do? "Nimuriel!" N'kili called out to him, the anxiety straining her voice just as she arrived. Hands reached out for him, to give him the support he might require, for what on pern might send him here for asylum. To the crowd, she called out with a ring of authority in her voice, for all it cracked with her inner worry. "Get back!" she shouted at them before she turned back to the cleric. "Nimuriel, what's happened? Why are you seeking asylum?"

Though she wanted to ask it, she did not dare, yet the very hint of them tinged her words: Are Theria and Evora a part of why you're here? Where are they?

[Isilsk]

He didn't see her at first, but heard her, knowing only a few people who knew him by name called him by Nimuriel. In Walled he was supposed to go by N'iel, but he had never really felt the honorific of a male dragonrider was for him, and secretly skirted the honorific where he could. So when he heard a familiar voice call him that, he knew who it was, and climbed down off Viridith to greet her, placing hands on her shoulders heavily, but in a familiar, almost friendly manner.

"Dragonriders attacked Walled, they left some damage before The Harbinger took out their presumed leader. Pedagogue Vi'van told us to flee here. He says with the Trinity weakened, war is coming." Nimuriel said with furrowed brows before glancing around for a moment.

"Those of us who chose to flee here gathered a few of those closest to us as well," he said gesturing to their small group. "We are seeking asylum from impending rebellion." He might not have known all the details, but he knew enough of what was going on.

"We need to speak with your Weyrleaders."

@Fawkes (for Safryn)
@Ember (for L'van)

[Shaihulud]

@Fawkes | Safryn - @Ember - L'van

The weight he placed upon her was a heavy one, for N'kili saw into his eyes and recognised immediately the oppressive terror that rested upon his heart. For her old friend, N'kili supported him, reaching a hand to his own to squeeze in assurance. She leaned in close in encouragement for the greenrider to keep his words low for her alone. No need for the rest of the weyr to hear what was going on.

"Dragonriders attacked Walled, they left some damage before The Harbinger took out their presumed leader-" Theria! A panic rose in N'kili's throat before she managed to swallow it back. She felt the slightest air of loss, but N'kili would not allow the sorrow to percolate. And Evora? N'kili wanted to ask, but already, deep down, she knew the bluerider had perished with her sister "Pedagogue Vi'van told us to flee here. He says with the Trinity weakened, war is coming." She saw the way his eyes wandered to the others, thus she looked as well, spotting the knot of worried riders and family. "Those of us who chose to flee here gathered a few of those closest to us as well." Nimuriel lifted an arm towards those N'kili already saw... among them was a very familiar face. Her niece. The girl looked back to N'kili with eyes that spoke of terror and sorrow. But B'zon was no where to be seen.

Where is my brother? she thought in a panic, but she did not dare ask it out loud.

Omiimiith whined audibly at the worry coursing through her rider.

"We are seeking asylum from impending rebellion. We need to speak with your Weyrleaders."

Whatever had become of B'zon, Theria, Evora... N'kili could not dwell on it, not when the living still stood before her, pleading for help. "Mount back onto your beasts and come with me to the Weyrleader's Quarters." They had made enough of a spectacle of the circumstances. Surrounding the group were gathering spectators. Their whispers floated in the air like a dissonant song, notes of panic stringing into the tune. Eyes were wide with worry, faces fallen in despair. Among the growing masses was Amuderudalya. N'kili saw the baker, who looked to her, blue eyes begging for answers. N'kili gave her a stern shake of her head before she turned to Nimuriel. "I do not want to give the weyr reason to panic." The arrival of refugees was enough to set the weyr on edge, but it was too soon for the rest of the weyr to know the reason of their arrival. Let the Weyrleaders decide on when the rest of Atricis was to know. "Let us go."

To Omiimiith, N'kili moved. Once mounted, she waited for the others to secure themselves before she led them up the cliff face. She made sure to send word to the Weyrleaders through Omiimiith.

Weyrwoman Safryn, Weyrleader L'van, refugees from Walled have arrived. There was an attack, and the refugees bring dire news to Atricis. N'kili and I are bringing them to L'van's quarters now, so as to prevent the sensitive matter from being discussed out in the open where it might cause unnecessary panic.

Omiimiith took a direct path to the Weyrleader's quarters. Once they arrived, N'kili dismounted with grace so that Omiimiith could return to the air and step out of the way of other dragons backwinging for a landing. Once the entire group was accounted for, N'kili led them to the Weyrleader's quarters. Once L'van came into view on his porch just outside his quarters, N'kili walked up to the man. She came face to face and motioned to her fellow Wallese. "L'van, this is Nimuriel, an old friend of mine from Walled. He and his companions brings dire news from Walled."

Only out of courtesy did N'kili not press into the man's home, though she hoped he would lead the lot of them in soon so as to not garner themselves with further attention from around the weyr.

[Ember]

There had been a suspicion that something was going on at Walled. Words and whispers traveled fast when you kept your ear low to the ground. But never in his life had L'van expected it to explode quite like this. He glanced between N'kili and Nimuriel, his heart hammering in his chest, and without another moment's hesitation, he stepped back to allow everyone inside. "Please, take seats wherever you can, there's plenty of room. N'kili, can you get drinks from the kitchen?"

*This is not good, L'van. I am hearing things from the dragons. Things are spreading fast, people keep coming from Walled... what is going on?* He wasn't entirely sure, but they were going to find out, all of them. He asked Zenjarth to have the Wingleaders prepared just in case they were needed, while Safryn would obviously have the queenriders set if necessary. He didn't want anyone speaking until she arrived, and until then, he would see to the comfort of the people that were in his apartment.

"Nimuriel," he gave his head a bow in the man's direction. "I know the matter at hand is a dire one, and I respect that. I would rather wait until the Weyrwoman arrives to discuss it, however, so that we can all remain on the same page. Until she does, is there anything I can do to offer you and your people comfort in my apartment?" He wasn't entirely sure what offerings he might be able to give, but even if it was as little as a cup of water, or as great as a few bandages, he would provide it willingly.

[ @Marvealle ] - Nimuriel
[ @Fawkes ] - Safryn
[ @Shaihulud ] - N'kili
[ @Parker ] - As member of staff

[Isilsk]

N’kili was right, it would be poor to speak too much in the presence of so many. Already their arrival and announcement had stirred things up, and even as people distanced themselves at the opalrider’s command, he knew people were already concerned. Word would already be spreading, if Atrician dragons gossiped like Walled dragons did.

Nimuriel gestured to his companions, and anyone who had dismounted remounted as he did as well. With an anxious pat to Viridith’s hide, he then signaled the others to follow after she told them where they were going through their dragons. Then, they followed the pale opal dragon, small and delicate, but the most graceful thing in the air as well as she winged her way up the cliff and to the Weyrleader’s apartment. Soon, the small group of dragons and their passengers landed in a flurry of dust kicked up from wings, but once it settled, goggles were removed and riders dismounted again with another signal from Nimuriel.

Soon enough, they were before the Weyrleader of New Atricis Weyr. Nimuriel was no stranger to being before people of high rank, however, an exalted Bronzerider, and a Leader of his people at that, gave him a moment of pause in awe. When the man bowed though, Nimuriel returned it in kind.

”Of course, Weyrleader L’van of Bronze Zenjarth. I would not dream of speaking with you without Weyrwoman Safryn present. I believe many of us could use some water, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble."

Safryn written with permission from Fawkes

Of course it didn’t take long for word to spread, the dragons had arrived suddenly, and Safryn even checked her schedule to make sure she hadn’t forgotten some important meeting with Walled envoys. There was nothing though, and as soon as it came to her from Soquilith what the dragons were saying, she felt a sense of concern rise in her chest.

Zenjarth, Safryn is on her way to L’van’s apartment. She passed along soon. She didn’t keep them waiting too long at L’van’s apartment, arriving only shortly after the Walled riders had been brought inside with N’kili in tow.

”Welcome to New Atricis Weyr,” she said as a way of greeting to them all and announcement to her arrival as well. ”What has brought you here so suddenly?” She looked to L’van in silent question, wondering if he knew anything yet.

As the people and riders that had fled alongside Nimuriel were taken care of, glasses of water handed out, Safryn made her arrival, welcoming them with her words, but also with her exalted presence. Nimuriel had never even spoken to Sonia before her passing before, having been deemed a lowly male greenrider, not worthy of speaking to someone of her status. So having the Weyrwoman of New Atricis Weyr before him gave him more pause than L’van’s presence. With her here, he bowed low to her, finding a knee and lowering his head.

”Weyrwoman Safryn of Senior Queen Soquilith, it is a deep honor,” he expressed, only to have her urge him to stand once more, assuring he would need no such severe show of subservience to her. Soon they were all seated, and it was time at last… What was going on?

”A group of riders attacked Walled Hold’s Dragon Ward a few sevendays ago. It was quite the attack as well, a small but elite group. I didn’t see most of it, but they even set flames to many of our buildings. The attackers, however, I don’t believe survived…” He paused a moment, taking a moment of silence for all the lives lost in that single day. The sounds of keening dragons and smoke in the air. He shook his head before he continued, holding his hands together and fiddling slightly.

”Pedagogue Vi’van, however, gathered some of his most trusted clerics and told us to flee Walled immediately. He insisted war would be coming on the heels of these riders… I think he knew a lot more than many of us knew… He told us to flee here, that we would be safe here if we requested asylum. We are now deserters to our Hold and the Mother, but many of us aren’t cut out for fighting if Vi’van’s warning holds truth. A few of us also haven’t… agreed with some of the choices our Mother and Harbinger have made in the turns since New Atricis graced us with your gift of a Golden Egg… Some of us… I will not outright implicate any of my comrades, but… Vi’van may not be wrong… I didn’t know why at times, but he had me supply notes and small packages to people. Likely information to those who have been quietly seeking to undermine the rule of the Mother ever since Goldrider Sonia’s and Queen Phoenith’s tragic passing. I believe there may be a rebellion brewing from different sources… but I think with the Dragon Ward damaged, and the Harbinger injured… Vi’van may have been correct about oncoming war.”

[Shaihulud]

Though N'kili quietly made her way around the room, depositing glasses of water into outstretched hands, she still listened carefully to what her old accomplice had to say. When he mentioned Vi'van has the source of the information he had past along to the various insurrection groups, N'kili glanced up to the man with a telling look. Even if he did not say it, they both knew he had given N'kili much of the information she passed along to the abolitionists. They both knew she was part of a treasonous faction, for she was a seditionist and abolitionist. Even as he spoke of attacks, and injuries, and war, N'kili said nothing about her work for the cause, not when so many stood in the room with ears peeled to the conversation between the Leaders and Nimuriel.

What if one of them was a spy? After the events of the last few turns, N'kili knew better than to breathe a word of her work without careful thought and consideration. It was bad enough that in a moment of weakness she had told Calibane of her work with the cause, but N'kili refused to repeat the error. Calibane kept her secret safe, which was something she could not yet trust any other in the room to do.

Rather than utter a word, the Speaker held her tongue entirely, at least for now. Let the Leaders dictate the outcome of this conversation. If they needed confirmation of Nimuriel's dependability, N'kili would freely give it, and claim to know the man well from her time in Walled, which was a partial truth. In actuality, N'kili trusted Nimuriel with her life, if only for the fact he had risked his own every time they spoke.

To know Vi'van supplied Nimuriel with the information he fed N'kili did not shock the opalrider in the slightest, for Vi'van had always been a good man, a caring man... though she worried now for the Pedagogue she worked under for so long. Part of her wanted to ask about Vi'van, but once again she did not dare. Later, when there were not so many prying ears, she would speak with Nimuriel about Vi'van, their work, and what this meant about the future, both for the cause and the new refugees of Walled.

[Ember]

L'van swallowed hard as he listened to what was being told to them. Obviously this was not something to be considered lightly, but it was something that needed to be decided upon swiftly. He glanced towards the Weyrwoman, someone with whom he trusted, and with whom trusted him in return. They had worked together a number of Turns already, and they knew they could rely on one another during this time and others, and it was with that in mind that he spoke next - it was on their shared behalves that his words were said, not just his own.

"If what you said is true, then I am assuming we can expect more than just the people that are with you in the coming days, yes?" He didn't wait for a response, but continued, for the answer was already obvious to everyone that was in his apartment that very moment. He gave Safryn a final look, they nodded at one another, an understand between them, an unsaid decision and agreement, before he turned back to the greenrider from Walled. "What more can we do, aside from the obvious, in order to prepare ourselves for the numbers that will surely come?"

[Isilsk]

Safryn written with permission from Fawkes

The numerous Igenites that New Atricis Weyr had taken in had only just found their footing, and yet here they were, refugees before them, telling them information that surely meant more would come. It was a lot for a single Weyr to take on, even one as well off as New Atricis was in these recent turns. How could they turn away those in need though? New Atricis would surely struggle to take in more refugees than the Igenites it had already taken in, but what else were they to do? Turn away those from Walled fleeing internal war?

No... Safryn knew she could not do that to people who needed her and her Weyr. And with the look and nod shared with L'van, she knew they were of like mind in the face of this dire news.

"Perhaps could your dragon contact Vi'van's own? Perhaps he can relay more information to us, an idea of what to expect or how else we may prepare?" He had sent them here after all, perhaps he had a plan for them. She hoped anyway.

Hearing the words of the Leaders of New Atricis Weyr, their questions, gave Nimuriel a sense of relief that forced a smile to creep to his face. Perhaps many would be able to be kept safe here then, he hoped. But then the Weyrwoman's query came, a request to perhaps give them more information. Nimuriel, however, would not deny the request, nodding and sitting up a little straighter again.

"Yes, of course, Weyrwoman Safryn."

*Viridith, my darling. Can you reach Niyolth? We must get information from Vi'van.* Surely it would be no problem for her, and he felt her respond with affirmations before she withdrew from him a little to send out her own mind to reach to the mind of the familiar green across the continent.

Nimuriel waited, waiting for a relayed message of some sort, but after several minutes, Viridith touched his mind again, instantly a sorrow palpable in her thoughts as they swirled with his.

*I cannot reach Niyolth, my Nim... She is no more, gone to between for good. I do not sense her anywhere.*

In that moment, Nimuriel's expression dropped, eyes widening as his mouth fell slightly open. He stared forward in momentary shock before closing his mouth and clearing his throat, though his eyes did not relax.

"Viridith can't sense Niyolth... Vi'van... the Pedagogue... They're gone."

[Shaihulud]

"Viridith can't sense Niyolth... Vi'van... the Pedagogue... They're gone."

Shocked by the very thing uttered Nimuriel, N'kili believed she misinterpreted what the greenrider spoke of. How could Vi'van be gone? In the pit of her stomach, she knew the answer, but she could not bring herself to accept it, not after so much loss.

D'ran and Aniday... Theria, Evora, D'met, O'dyen, and Veridel...

Yet deny as she tried, her heart began to swell as she slowly began to accept the fact she had lost Vi'van. The Pedagogue mentored her for turns, gave her leave to Atricis to become a rider, and brought her back into the fold when she returned. Diligently, she served under him during her time as an Envoy, loved him like family. Now he was no more.

Tears weld in her eyes for all she tried hard to keep strong, yet the blow of the loss proved far to strong for her to withstand. "He can't be..." she began with a quivering voice. "Not after everything and everyone we've already lost." A tremble claimed her lips before she turned away in an attempt to hide the sorrow and mourning that began to clench tight about her throat and heart.