In Keigharia's quarters, where the captain would have typically stayed, the three men crowded around the young woman now lying on the space bunk, cushioned by several fluffy, thick comforters beneath her. "You're going to have me spoiled," she murmured, still somewhat lax from the sleep aids. Ijael shook his head, holding her hand.
"I thought I'd lost you forever, when your mind snapped out of mine. Don't ever scare me like that again!!" Keigharia gave a soft laugh. ~I won't, I promise.~ Her skin was still light-colored, more so than normal, but her eyes were sparkling, or close to it. The four talked on for a bit longer, until a knock sounded on the door. Varus opened it, admitting Fuinraug, who ushered everyone out, demanding that his patient be given time to sleep off the effects of the sleep aid, and her experience. After a bit of fussing, and a good night, the three left the room, leaving only Fuinraug in Keigharia's midst.
He sat in a vacant chair, close to her, lightly brushing his fingers over her throat, her temples. "Are you feeling better??" he inquired, feeling her head to be sure of no fever. She nodded, blinked to regain focus, and answered,
"I would be, if my head and the room were both still. And, if I weren't being fussed over so much. Between the three of them and you, I don't think that I could take another person." He rose, agreeing, though mentioning, "well, perhaps not tonight, though tomorrow, there is someone I believe you should meet." Before she could object, he handed her a glass of sleeping mix, and left the room, closing the door behind him. Ijael stood waiting, as though he'd known he would be needed.
"Is she alright, I mean, really??" he asked anxiously, protective as only an older brother could be. Fuinraug nodded, and Ijael noticed that the black man was eye to eye with his sit foot one status. "Other than the fact that her heart is full of anger, due to the suffering that Umrinc put the two of you through all these years, she is fine. Her equilibrium is off a bit, though sleep should help that. My only problem is that I am unable to help her with that, as anything I've given her has gone through her system, leaving little or no effect the last four hours." Ijael nodded, understanding. "I can fix that," he commented, closing his eyes. Moments later, Fuinraug and Ijael could hear Keigharia breathing deeply.
"I have something no one else does with Ari: a mental connection that allows me to send waves of calming emotions directly to her mind. It's the only thing that has helped through the years, and she's too weak now to refuse or block it." Fuinraug nodded, as he turned to go to the room Shola had shown him.
All was quiet that night as the ship moved on through space, its occupants all sleeping soundly, or as soundly as one could sleep in a new bed on a moving vehicle, even one as massive as the Kakuyochi. Each person was immersed within their own dreams, though Ijael's was hardly what could be called a dream, closer to what Keigharia would have called a premonition.
He didn't know where he was, or why he was there, and he certainly didn't seem to recall ever seeing the place before him. It was, in essence, a large sand pit, enormous, large enough for several dragons. A large gold sat preening, watching her eggs carefully, as though waiting for something. All around the sands were stands, where a large multitude sat, as though gearing up for a sporting event. An egg cracked, revealing a dragonet, though it appeared to him as if he were color-blind only to the hatchlings' color. His attention was caught when the tiny dragon sort of waddled/stumbled up to a young woman, and the two appeared to connect, going off the sands together. What in the world?? Like Shola perhaps?? His concentration changed when he heard a commotion upon the entrance of the sands, and turned to find... Ari!! Impossible!! Not only was Keigharia there, but himself, Jarre and Varus, Fuinraug, Shola and Quioqueth, as well as a large brown dragon and his rider.
Too strange, he thought to himself, as he saw a white robe appear, and Ari slip it on. What's she doing?? Is she... his question was answered as she moved up to the sands, while not too close to the young women there, close enough for it to appear as though she were joining in.
Ijael sat upright with a jolt, as he realized that plans had been changed, that was for sure. Moving to dress, he awoke everyone, realizing that this was significant to his sister's continuation. Alright, now, how do I explain this to her, so she doesn't think I'm going to go mad?? Sounds like she'll be meeting Shola sooner than we thought.
It was the next morning, well, closer to three am Irayleu'minmuy time, and nearly midday on Pern. That had taken some explaining on Shola's part, to explain to them how exactly bonding worked. She'd been amazed at his vision, that it was so clear, even despite the lack of color on the dragonet. The place he'd seen was called Tripaldi Weyr, Shola had been able to guess by the description of the place. She'd visited it before leaving to search for he and his sister, they were told, and knew, through Quioqueth, about this being a special clutch.
"It sounds as though Keigharia is to stand there, if I'm not mistaken. The clutch is due to hatch any day now, though there may be a spot there, waiting for her, only they aren't aware that she is the one to fill it yet." Keigharia, still under the effects of the magically induced slumber, combined with Fuinraug's latest concoction, was trying to make heads and tails of what was being said, and only catching the parts where her name was used.
"Could you please slow down?? My head's spinning as it is, without the help of all of you talking as though a storm is about to strike." Putting her hand to her head, she leaned against Ijael, her head resting on his shoulder. All talk ceased for a moment, and Shola explained again, a bit slower this time, how Search, Standing, and Bonding worked. "Would you be willing to Stand, should you be Searched??" Shola inquired, as the young woman gingerly raised her head. Fuinraug, who sat on her opposite side, placed two fingers to her nearest temple, closing his eyes. Within moments, the pain had dissipated.
"It's only temporary," he spoke, his voice low and controlled. "It should easy your pain though." Keigharia nodded, stretching a bit to relieve tight muscles. When she realized that everyone was waiting for her answer, she stated,
"Yes, I'd be willing to try, I believe." When they still said nothing, she rolled her eyes, rising. "What?? Do you think that I can't??" All three of her ‘brothers' shook their heads vigorously, and she put her hands to the back of her head, her elbows facing out, sighing. "How soon do we have to be there??" she wondered.
It didn't take long to make the jump, though it did take another of Fuinraug's touches to ease her head, as jumping through space was indeed a stress point to the body. However, that one jump was enough to propel them close enough to the planet of Pern to simply fly in the rest of the way. It took Shola three trips to bring everyone to the ground, as they figured that a ship, that close to a Weyr, was probably not the best way to blend in. "Whatever that means," was Keigharia's only reply. The seven, counting Quioqueth, entered the Weyr together, all four of the men surrounding the female shifter as though she needed protection.
"Enough!! Can't I take care of myself?? Yes, my head spins from time to time, and yes, I need one of you then, but could you all just give me a little space to breathe??" A dragon rumbled in reply, and Keigharia laughed, thinking it was Shola's female blue. "Just what is so funny, Quioqueth??" she asked aloud.
The fact that you do need them, but you don't, and how you could contradict yourself as such. Keigharia jumped when she realized that the voice inside her head was certainly not female, and definitely not her brother's. It was a warm baritone, steady, at the moment laughing a bit. "And just who are you??" she demanded, not quite sure if she were willing to let something else into her mind.
The question is, who are you, why are you here, and how is it that the dragons start humming the moment you appear?? Keigharia stalked forward and around the corner to come face to face with a lounging creature whose head was nearly as big as she was tall. "Um... yeah, ahh, I'm sorry if I disturbed... wait a minute, you're just like Quioqueth, aren't you??" The brown rumbled an agreement to this, appearing to smirk a bit. Perhaps. She held her ground, staring into one of his eyes with both of hers. "My name is Keigharia Seibutsu, daughter of Analyn and Ton'loran, formerly located on Irayleu'minmuy. I'm here because my brother has premonitions, and he happened to have one that saw me here, on the sands, in a white robe. Our friend Shola put two and two together, and figured out that this was the place, the sands that he saw. As to why the dragons start humming when I arrive, I don't know, I don't believe that it's my job to know, is it??"
A man laughed, coming around the corner to find his bondmate. "Mrinalth, are you giving someone else trouble again??" No, it's more like I'm searching her, only she doesn't realize it. We're still missing a candidate for the Queen and Rare egg ratio. Keigharia, despite knowing that, should she be clad in a white robe, that she would be Searched, wasn't prepared for what Searching was, or at least as prepared as she'd thought she'd be.
The man extended his hand. "Hello, my name's M'ron, and you've already met Mrinalth. I'd take the time to go through all the formalities, but there are dragons humming, which tells me that there eggs are due to hatch at any given moment. Keigharia Seibutsu of Irayleu'minmuy, are you willing to Stand for the Queen and Rare eggs??" She took a deep breath, nodding, feeling as though part of her had left the ground, the other part would have preferred the ground to still be staying in one place. Fuinraug must have seen her swaying, for he moved to touch her temple again, leaving his hand there longer this time.
"I can't keep doing this, you know," he grunted, and yet, when he was through, even the light-headed feeling was temporary in remission. She turned to M'ron and answered, "yes, I would like to Stand." No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was hurrying her along the way down to the sands, muttering about there not being time to grab her a robe. Ijael figured this would be a good time to do a little ‘mind scanning', and found the located of the robes, both in name, and place. It was seconds before a robe appeared in his arms, and he ran to hand the robe to his sister.
"How??" M'ron asked, stopping himself when he realized that there wasn't time for an explanation. As they entered the Sands, they viewed a green dragonet bonding to one of the young women there. Shola gave Keigharia a shove towards the other young women as the raven-head struggled into her robe. "Hurry up, get out there!!" she said, and Keigharia looked over her shoulder at her brother. "No matter what, through thick and thin, we'll always be together, right??" He nodded.
"Through life and death even, you'll never leave my heart." Rojarre reached out, touching her hand. "Get out there, Raven, if the dragonet is there, waiting for you, she'll wanna see you." All smiled at the thought as the sound of another egg hatching brought their attentions back to the Sands, as she made her way over to where the other young women stood. She figured she must look a sight, bruises on her neck, though faded greatly, her longish, black hair hanging loosely about her shoulder, while all the other young women wore theirs back. However, the appearance of the next dragonet stopped her own worry about her looks...
