Something Wicked This Way Comes...

(Light god-moding has been permitted by Rae)

Kumari had dropped into the crouching stance of a predator, and his lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. He sniffed heavily, smelling the musky smell of dragon. His heart thudded so painfully that he thought he would perish, the void left by Ramroarideth sucking at his soul painfully. He grimaced, unconsciously rubbing at the flesh over his breast. The grief was too fresh! He was going to die...

He snarled to himself quietly. No. He had come here for a purpose. He would have to endure the beasts, and the pain they brought for only a short time, and then he would take Laloraine away with him. They would find a new life together, she and him. The Green that she was Bonded to could take them anywhere on Pern, and then they could exist together. And perhaps he could reImpress once the Greenrider vouched for him, and they could share dragon passion again to renew their love.

There plan was so delicious. All would be right again once he got his hands on the Greenrider. She was the key. He stepped forward, drawn forward to find his quarry. He broke into the open clearing of the Weyrbowl, and it was the first light of morning. How fitting. The light of dawn heralded their new start, she and him. Where Ulrict fit into the plan, he was not sure. To be honest, he was not too fond of the unsavory man he had tangled himself with, but it had all been in the name of his greater goal--to find Laloraine.

He was not expecting the sight of the very much hated Bluerider to be the first sight of the Weyr that he entered into. The red-haired man was strolling casually through the Weyrbowl, as if he owned the place. Kumari bristled at the sight of him. What was he doing here?!

The wind shifted, and the confused, angry man caught the scent of the Greenrider Laloraine. He looked around, dark eyes darting to find her. It took him several moments to realize that the smell, the light, delicate smell of peaches that the curvaceous woman wore as her signature scent, was coming from V'sos! It was as if the other man had taken a bath in the perfume of HIS woman.

That rankled. Molten anger coursed through his veins, and a vicious leer split his oval of a face in two. "YOU HAVE BEEN SLEEPING WITH MY WOMAN?!" He could not restrain his anger. It yowled like a drenched feline in the back of his mind.

He did not bother to quell it, not thinking of the fact that there was an entire Weyr full of people to back the Bluerider up, and only one convict to back himself. All that he could see was that another man had defiled his lady--had touched her in his absence!

The Greenrider Laloraine was and forever would be HIS! He draw his blade from a sheath at his side and charged for the exposed Bluerider, his face maddened by grief and pure, livid ANGER.

(Tweaked this a little before I left, Rae. Anyone else, feel free to jump in!)

Laloraine startled awake at Kimkinth's bellow and heard Ilydeth's answering bugle. The Green was ANGRY. She never was this mad unless she was Rising. As well should she be, what with an attack on their newly-taken lovers! The red-haired woman streaked from her sleeping furs in naught but her shift, and she jumped astride her lifemate.

Ilydeth, GO! The sage-hued Green did not need to be told twice. She dropped from the weyr ledge, unfurling her wings to kiss at the early morning air. As soon as Ilydeth lowered herself over the Weyrbowl, Laloraine dropped to the mossy, springy earth, her eyes wide with fear and anger.

Below was V'sos--already hurt from the looks of it--and K'mari! Where was his Blue?

He is no more, Ilydeth said.

Kumari, then. The man was temporarily distracted as the object of his desires appeared from the sky, and dropped down to join them. Ilydeth remained airborne, calling out her anger and defiance as the scene below unfolded.

"Laloraine!" The Greenrider moved between the Bluerider and the former rider, using her slight body as a shield. Her face was drawn and pale, but her eyes were shining bravely. She looked out of place in her light sleeping shift and slippers. Her bright aureole of hair flared in an unruly halo about her face. Still, she was beautiful to him.

"Yes, you came for me, did you not? Well, I am here." She said, spreading her arms, "You have no quarrel with anyone else." Kumari took a step forward, as if to grasp at the Greenrider. Laloraine couldn't believe the change that had occurred in the man since she had seen him last. He looked like he was fifty Turns old, rather than in his mid-twenties. He was also filthy--coated in mud from the depths of the jungle, which is where he undoubtedly came from.

"Pardon me, Greenrider, but yes, he does," The venom in a nearby voice made the Greenrider whirl to see a Blackrider emerging from the shadows of the Weyrbowl, his blade drawn to its full extent, "For I have a quarrel with any that dare draw a blade on a dragonrider!"

C'val put himself between Kumari and the lovers, circling with his blade drawn, gleaming thirstily in the early morning sunlight. This was the only time that the Blackrider smiled--when he was in a duel. He had never once lost--he had trained since he was a little boy. When he smiled, his heavily scarred face looked eerie and frightful. His amber eyes burned daggers into the dragonless man before him. He also kept an eye on the other antagonist , knowing that soon, if lucky, he would not be alone against two men.

Surely the rest of the Weyr would show up in defense of the Bluerider, as he had, after hearing Kimkinth's announcement. He could only hope to Faranth that they were all as well-seasoned fighters as he, and would not therefore, get in his way. He was unused to fighting in a large group. He preferred one on one combat, but until the others arrived, he was more than skilled enough to take these two on. His ire was stirred at the possessive stance that Kumari had taken when he had seen Laloraine. As if one such as himself had any claim to a dragonrider! More still disturbing was the gleam of fear in Laloraine's eyes, as if the Greenrider had something to fear from him.

Quietly, he heard Laloraine croon to the Bluerider, "Are you alright, my love?" Yes, C'val had seen that V'sos had already sustained a wound. He would need to see a Healer before long, by the look of that painful slash in his arm. The Blackrider was alert, standing at ready on the balls of his feet, his sword raised defensively to block any blows headed his way. For now, all he had to do was keep Laloraine and V'sos safe until backup arrived.

Morning meant running, no matter the weather, no matter the location. Luckily, this morning was clear and the humidity had not yet lifted from the ground, so Taralo's morning jog was going smoothly. It would be time for morning lessons soon, so Taralo turned her path towards the Weyr. While she was keeping an eye out for anything dangerous, humans weren't on that list, and so at first she didn't take any real notice of V'sos except the fact that he existed.

Then came Kumari's scream.

Then the explosion of Kimkinth's voice in her mind.

There was no time to think, only to react. Her pace quickened to a sprint when she saw one man burst from the foliage. There was a flash of steel, the scent of blood. Taralo's gaze went red. She may not have a weapon, but that did not mean she was unarmed. There were others there, sure, but none had made a move towards the man that dared to attack.

Unacceptable.

Upon approaching Kumari, she would reach out in an attempt to grab the dragonless man's wrist and if she succeeded, slam her other arm into his in an attempt to break some kind of bone. Even if she missed, the force of her sprint would cause her to at least tackle the man if he wasn't able to dodge in time.

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Predawn was the best time to smith, especially in this environment. The rain forest heat was bad enough without adding the forge to it. And so X'ric, the early riser, was at the smithy plying his craft. He was, perhaps ironically, working on hammering out machete blades. The jungle did not relent in its constant growth, reaching out to retake Xian and return it to its organic form. To cut it back and to blaze trails to needed resources, machetes were the best choice.

With one blade formed, he dropped it into a bucket of water, ignoring the hissing and billowing steam as he reached for another iron blank in the furnace. He placed it on the anvil, but paused after the first strike when he felt a surge of energy from Kiranth.

Mine, there's... The Brown didn't have to explain as Kimkinth very quickly explained the uproar that was beginning in the Weyrbowl. The hot iron was dropped to the floor as the Weyrling turned heel and began running towards the scuffle. He may not be a swordsman, but X'ric had a hammer and fifteen turns of practice using it. Anyone that dared to try and hurt or kill a member of Xian - shells, anyone - would not find X'ric to be a poor excuse for a defender. He arrived in time to see Ulrict emerge from the foliage, moving towards the man to draw him away from the cluster of riders.