Post by Katlyn on Nov 12, 2012 19:48:14 GMT -5
(M'riel and Seleti - Part 1 of the Rebellion, Accusation, and Punishment JP)
Seleti was a bit more grumpy that morning than she had been as of late. Of course, she'd been irritable ever since the day when she'd interfered with Mac and M'riel's duel. According to Swift, she'd been irritable even before then, but she didn't really see how. She had tried to stay relaxed, and non-irritable, but her tensions levels had slowly been rising ever since that day, particularly now that M'riel's Oreath had won him the Weyrleadership.
It had been chillier as of late, but she didn't care. She could tell that on that particular day she was close to snapping at someone. So she pulled on some thicker clothes and had Cheyenth take her out to the confidence course, which was covered with a light layer of fresh snow. Grabbing a bow and a quiver full of arrows, she told her green to head on back to the warmth of their weyr before she proceeded to head into the forests at the mountains' base.
She hiked into the forest some before deciding to climb up a tree. There she waited on a lower branch, keeping eye out for a wherry, or some other poor, edible creature to come along. Instead, the first thing she heard that had her aiming and shooting was not a creature, but a human. She turned her hand away just quickly enough that it landed in a nearby tree with a thud, rather than in someone's body. She was indeed very tense...
M'riel had spent the morning keeping up on his marksmanship and sniper skills, but the cold dry air and the light layer of snow didn't help keep his usual passage quiet. Normally he would be dressed in appropriate gear to help him blend into the trees, but because of the weather he had little choice but to wear heavier clothing that practically made him stand out. He'd already told Shayna where he would be so she wouldn't have to worry about him, and Oreath was already well on his way back to snuggle with his mate Josiath.
He paused for a moment as the light breeze died down, and when he thought it started to pick up again to mask the sound of his walking, he heard a familiar reverberation of a bowstring being loosed, followed by the whooshing noise of an arrow piercing the cold air. M'riel dove for cover, crashing against the snow-covered ground and a *thunk* told him the arrow had missed him, embedding itself into a tree.
The Weyrleader got up and brushed himself off, then turned to look at the arrow. Based on the angle, it told him whomever had shot at him was probably in one of the nearby trees, and had to be within range. He studied the arrow a bit more, making some mental calculations in his head, then started walking in the direction the arrow had come from, looking up into the trees.
It didn't take him long to find out who'd shot at him. M'riel looked up at Seleti. "Not a bad shot, Seleti," he said wryly. "Another three to four inches and you would've found your mark, and I'd probably be lying on the ground slowly bleeding to death."
She waited up in the tree that she had perched up in, watching as he rolled away and the n got back up to his feet to find who had shot at him. Honestly, she hadn't expected there to be another human up here, in this chill, which was why she had shot towards the source of the sound first before actually checking to see what was there. Part of was simply due to the tension she was feeling though. At least she'd seen him come into sight quickly enough to move her aim away from him.
His words made her frown though, and glaring at him, she got down from her perch. "I didn't miss by accident," she said to him stiffly, walking over to where he was to grab the arrow out from the tree's trunk. "You're luck I saw you right when I did." She mumbled.
Her attempt to to get away from people had suddenly been thwarted by his appearance. Nevermind the fact that he was the one who had started things by going after Mac a few sevendays during that duel. "You have a death wish, don't you?" she demanded suddenly, having thought of that day just then.
"Luck had nothing to do with it, Seleti," M'riel replied as he watched the Greenrider descend from her perch. "You normally wouldn't have seen me pass through like this. I don't have anything to keep me warm yet blend in with the foliage." The Weyrleader was exercising patience with restraint towards her, and he kept himself in check when she practically yelled at him after retrieving her arrow from the tree. "Life's too short to have a death wish," he replied, giving her his classic knowing look, then looked at her bow before looking at his.
"You seem to be a decent shot with the bow," the Weyrleader commented, knowing he was changing the subject but didn't seem to care. "Let's see if you can out-shoot me on the archery range. In fact, I'll put up a decanter full of Benden's finest whisky as my bet."
"Do you come up with an excuse for everything?" she asked then, voice still holding that same demanding tone as moments before. She wasn't yelling, but she wasn't going to take a lack of response as an acceptable answer. But she did listen to his suggestion. "Oh...and what do you expect in return if you happen to win? Because I assure you, I don't have whiskey," she retorted softly, before a sudden thought came to her mind. She stayed silent for a few moments while she thought about it, but it was evident by her features that she had come up with an idea. Finally, she shook her head.
"No. I have a better idea," she said, all but smirking then. Oh this idea of her's was quite a brilliant one indeed. Crazy, but brilliant. "The range has blunted arrows. You're a former guard. I'm pretty certain you know how to track. Let's go back to the range, and each of us grab a set of those blunted arrows. Then you start off at one end of this mountain here, and I'll start off at the other. And go from there. First to get the 'kill' shot wins. No going home until after that." What she wasn't sharing was that she had been one of the top trackers in her clan before coming here. And what she wasn't considering was the weather. She didn't care though, because she was certain that this would be short, sweet, and she would knock him down an notch or two.
M'riel simply waited as Seleti again used that same tone of voice as before. "Watch yourself, Greenrider," the Weyrleader warned, his voice impassive. He wouldn't think twice of stripping the young woman of her flight status, grounding her for insubordination if she continued this line of attack. He wasn't going to put up with it nor her attitude. She may not be used to his style of leadership, but M'riel wasn't going to budge. "If I happen to win, you and I are going to have a very long talk." That was partially true; but the outcome of their proposed duel wouldn't matter. Either way, if Seleti's attitude didn't change M'riel was going to sit her down in his office and make her listen. Only then would he decide on her fate.
He raised his eyebrows when she suggested that they use blunted arrows, and try to track the other and score the 'kill' shot. She was apparently familiar with his past as a Guard, but M'riel shook his head when she used the term 'former Guard'. "No such thing as a former Guardsman, Seleti. Once a Guardsman, always a Guardsman. But instead of using the blunted arrows, I did have some arrows with hide-filled bags of paint at the end crafted not long ago." M'riel turned and pointed at a nearby path. "That path divides about twenty or thirty feet in. We can use that as our starting point and make our way to either side of the mountain. Otherwise, you're on."
The Weyrleader made his way over to the large quivers that contained various arrows: arrows with sharp points, blunted arrows; and the ones that didn't have any type of a point, but instead had the small paint-filled hide bags M'riel described earlier. Each arrow shaft had a small band of color painted on it, indicating what color was in the bag. M'riel picked out about a half-dozen arrows with a bright blue band on them. He would wait for Seleti to choose her color, then they would walk together over towards the starting point the Weyrleader designated.
Seleti all but glared at him, but she bit her tonguge to stay silent for a change. Having someone who didn't even know her tell her to watch herself was...well....she felt almost insulted by it. AS for having a long talk afterwards, if he were the won to win, she could already feel herself telling herself that he could talk all he wanted, it wasn't likely she would listen.
She shook her head as well, though, before saying, "You're either Rider or Guard, not both. There's two completely different loyalties there," she said then. Just like she was either Raider or Rider, not both. She had chosen Rider. Yes, she still had ties to the Raiders, but in the end, she was ultimately Rider. They were completely different frames of mind and loyalty ties.
But she stayed silent as he gave his small alternative to her idea. She frowned slightly, watching as he brought the quiver over and selected the ones that he wanted. She wasn't familiar with that particular type of arrow, so she only picked one up to get a feel for it. They were certainly weighted differently, but she was confident that she wouldn't have any issue with them, once she got used to that difference. "Fine then," she said, grabbing an equal number of green ones before she started down the path he had indicated, not waiting for him.
Either M'riel didn't pick up on her glare, or he chose to ignore it. He was willing to give Seleti a little slack, but even his patience was wearing thin. Granted, he didn't know the Greenrider well enough, but he certainly wasn't going to have her be insubordinate to him. He'd seen this type of attitude before, when a few raw Cadets back-talked him, and showed a blatant disregard for his orders. Two of those Cadets were stripped of rank, formally charged with insubordination, and dishonorably discharged before being shipped home. The third Cadet was likewise stripped of rank and sent home, but vowed he would seek vengeance against M'riel, calling him every name under Rukbat's rays.
M'riel wound up firing the shot that proved to be fatal, when that same Cadet was found to have joined a group of Raiders on their assault of High Reaches Hold. The Guardsman only needed a single arrow, and it found its mark, piercing the younger man's heart and killing him instantly.
"I no longer wear the rank of Sergeant Major, Seleti," the Weyrleader corrected the Greenrider. "But once you become a Guardsman, that training you endure, the camaraderie you build with your fellow Guards...that stays with you even long after you resign your rank. Yes, I'm a Rider. I've been one for sixteen Turns. There may be two different loyalties in your opinion, but it is possible for someone to stay true to them both. It's a matter of perspective." M'riel knew Seleti had been a Raider in her past, but at least hoped that her experiences as a Raider would continue to serve her well in her role as a Dragonrider. The time M'riel had spent in the Guards gave him a sense of pride and honor, of professionalism, of duty and loyalty. Oreath had sensed all that in a younger Mitriel when the Bronze Impressed to him. Oreath also had somehow sensed M'riel had been a proven leader at one point, even though the man had his flaws. To this day, M'riel didn't know why Oreath chose him, but he was thankful nonetheless. The Bronze pair had proven time and time again during their Weyrling days they were highly skilled leaders, eventually earning M'riel a Wingthird position upon graduation.
Just because there were two different loyalties didn't always mean their philosophies clashed with each other. And M'riel was living proof of it.
The Weyrleader watched as Seleti didn't seem to like the little twist in the game she'd chosen to play, watching her as she picked up a paint-arrow to test its weight before picking up five more like it - all green - then watched as she started down the path. M'riel followed at a slight distance, walking towards the path he indicated earlier, then watched as the Greenrider took one path. He waited until she disappeared from his sight, then started down the other.
It was obvious to Seleti that the new Weyrelader obviously didn't understand the point that she was trying to make. She was willing to accept that he had learned things as a guard that would be with him his entire life, because she had those own things herself. Her point though was that a guard's loyalty was to protect a single location against the people there, or outside of that area, who might wish harm. A Rider's loyalty was to protect all of Pern, no matter what. Guards could kill someone, if necessary, but Rider's couldn't, not if they were to fulfill the mandate passed down over generations. This was the difference.
She sighed as she continued down the path she'd chosen, listening as she walked. After she'd gone a way down the path, she had turned around to discovere he was no longer there. She supposed he had gone down the other path and would be a bit of a distance away from her at that point. "Sharding idiot," she muttered quietly to herself. Now was when her fun would begin.
This was, after all, a test of tracking. That had been her intention. If he thought she would continue idly down the path until they met back up some distance along the mountain's side, then he was surely kidding himself. And with that thought in mind, she promptly got off the path. She went a way into the forest before she found a group of trees close enough together that she could move from one to the other, and did just that, climbing up one, and moving along the group until she couldn't do so without risking falling. It was far enough away that she didn't mind getting back down.
So she got back down and continued walking through the forest, still close enough to the path of her choice that she wouldn't get too close to his, if they got near each other. The snow would only serve to help in tracking eachother down. Which was why she did the same tree hoping trick the next chance she could. And a while later she climbed up a third grouping.
A few trees into her 'skipping' she stopped, the wind having died long enough for her to hear something faintly. She grabbed one of the arrows and got ready to aim. It was movement out of the corner of her eye that had her swinging towards her left and aiming, ready to release, but not doing so quite yet.
What very few people knew about M'riel, save for those who'd come with him, was he wasn't just a mere Guardsman who knew his way around a wooded area. No, M'riel had been a highly skilled, if not deadly; marksman and sniper, often blending in with his environment and moving swiftly yet silently as he cautiously approached his target. In most cases, he only needed to fire a single arrow to bring someone down, rarely missing his mark. As a Guardsman, he had been tasked with the defense of the Hold. As a Rider, that responsibility expanded beyond the walls of High Reaches, charged with the defense of all life on Pern. Instead of fighting brigands, Raiders, and other ne'er-do-wells, M'riel's primary foe was the long strands of filaments known as Thread. He'd only seen it once in his lifetime, some two hundred Turns into the future, and like many others had been woefully and inadequately prepared to properly fight it.
Coming into Pern's past to learn how to fight Threadfall, the Weyrleader didn't expect to come into an Interval, a period of Turns where none of the deadly rain filled the skies. Just because no Thread had been seen in a generation or more didn't mean it would never return. The Weyrleader's instincts were telling him that eventually it would return, and he had better be ready for it this time. His instincts were also telling him that there were unseen forces at work, all arrayed against him and those under his leadership. He knew that, as a Rider, he couldn't take the life of another. Such was the mandate, the one rule all Riders were to obey without question. Yet even M'riel knew that pragmatism often won out over a utopian ideal such as the mandate, and was forgiving in most cases. To him, it wasn't a "shoot first and ask questions later" mindset, but more of seeking a diplomatic solution first before relying on one's weapon. He wasn't necessarily the violent type, but M'riel would not hesitate to use deadly force if all other options failed. His responsibility as Weyrleader meant he was charged with the defense of Izuko *and* the defense of Pern. M'riel wasn't going to hold back nor would forbid his Riders from fighting to protect what was theirs, no matter whom or what threatened them, be it another living being or Thread.
That was why, as a Guardsman, he could take the life of another if necessary...but, again, only if all other options including diplomacy failed. Seleti might disagree with him, M'cleod might disagree with him, Swift...anyone whom had been under Mac's leadership would probably question M'riel's supposed contradictory viewpoints. But the Weyrleader wasn't going to budge from his position. Otherwise, there would have been no need for Mac to train with the quarterstaff, venting his frustrations on Swift. There would have been no need for M'riel to spar with the Brownrider, funneling his own anger at Mac for beating up on a younger Rider. There would have been no need for M'riel's little game he had earlier, nor would there have been a need for him and Seleti to square off like this. What many had hoped for, a utopia where war did not exist, where mankind could live in harmony with each other; was often supplanted by flawed personalities, greed, anger, jealousy...in other words, M'riel never fully believed in a utopian state. He had seen the harsh realities of life one too many times as a Guardsman and as a Rider. The mere fact the Holds were on unfriendly terms, if not nearly hostile, with Izuko was more than enough evidence for M'riel to ensure his skills wouldn't atrophy. What made matters worse were Zalleah and T'rain had stolen a Gold Egg before making this trip into the past, and the Weyrleader wouldn't put it past his old leadership to come and find them, accusing them of theft and taking aggressive measures against them.
Both the mandate and pragmatism would definitely be tossed Between should that happen. For M'riel and all of Izuko Weyr, it would become a matter of survival...and the Weyrleader was determined to put up a furious defense and counteroffensive.
But he needed to focus for the moment. M'riel stopped when the slight breeze stopped, and listened. He had come down just far enough on the path he'd chosen, quietly counted to fifty, then doubled back towards the diverging point where the Greenrider's path broke off from his. The Weyrleader moved silently, one foot in front of the other, moving only when the breeze stirred and stopped when it didn't. His eyes scanned the ground, and found what he was looking for: Recent footprints in the snow-covered ground. Seleti. M'riel looked down the path the girl had taken, and couldn't see her. Either she had progressed down far enough out of sight, or...
...she had moved off the pathway into the trees.
The Weyrleader followed his opponents' footsteps down the path until they disappeared. He was right, Seleti opted for moving through the forests and try to surprise him. He knelt down to inspect the twigs and branches that covered the ground, a light dusting of snow on the underbrush, and noted it had been disturbed. M'riel quietly followed the nearly imperceptible trail, again moving only when the breeze stirred, until he came up to a cluster of trees. His lifted his head and looked up, trying to spot where Seleti had gone; a few branches had been disturbed, which meant the Greenrider had just been here moments ago. But which way?
He combed the area carefully until he found a light footprint that wasn't his. Kneeling down for a moment, M'riel scanned the underbrush briefly, again spotting the disturbed twigs and branches here and there. It wasn't much, but he knew he had picked up the trail again. Following it for a ways, M'riel came upon a second set of trees. Then it came to him. Seleti was trying to "tree-hop" in an effort to not only throw him off his game, but to hopefully get in a clean shot before he had a chance to react. Her trail was running roughly parallel to the open path he'd been on earlier, which meant she was waiting for him somewhere up ahead. Probably in one of the trees. M'riel skirted around the second cluster of trees, this time a little faster, but making sure he only moved when the breeze stirred. He readied his bow and notched an arrow, knowing he was close.
M'riel finally came up to a cluster of trees and he looked up into the branches. He thought he saw the waiting form of Seleti perched on a branch, her back to him. He could have just as easily "shot" her, but instead he decided to teach a different lesson. The Weyrleader purposefully waited until the breeze died down, then he moved, knowing the Greenrider would easily hear him. He lifted his bow and raised the arrow at her, and watched as the girl swung towards her left and aimed right back at him.
"I could have just as easily shot you in the back, Seleti," the Weyrleader called out, looking at her. "But that would have been dishonorable of me to do so." He lowered his bow, but kept the arrow notched. "Walk with me." Despite his lecturing tone, it wasn't a request.
The greenrider knew that she had been played the moment the Weyrleader had spoken. How he had gotten behind her, on her side of the path, she didn't quite know, as she'd been paying careful attention to all movement coming from the direction that his path lay. She did manage to keep herself from glaring at him as she let both the bow and arrow drop to the ground before she flipped down and got out of the tree herself, picking them both up the moment her feet touched down.
She walked towards him, tossing the one arrow first, and then the others that she had taken, towards him. "The deal was, we talked if you won. You didn't shoot, therefore you didn't win," she pointed out. The walk and tree-hopping had helped ease the tension she'd been feeling some what, but now that they were in eachother's presence again, she could tell it was rebuilding. Her issue with him probably stemmed from the fact that he had tried to beat up on her at the time Weyrleader more than anything. As far as she had been concerned that day, her mate would've been deserving of any beating that Mac might have dealt out. They both knew that it was a foolish thing to interfere with the brownrider when he was in the mood he had been in, but Swift had done so anyway. And she'd torn into him later that evening for it.
No, her issue with the bronzerider was the way he went about trying to "teach" lessons, particularly to those who didn't need a lesson taught to them. The duel with Mac had been a prime example. She could tell that he was trying to do the same thing to her. But she ignored it, at least for a moment, as she walked passed him and looked down the direction she had come from. That's when she spotted how she'd been played. There were her few footprints, and then there were his. He'd backtracked on her. It was, as much as she hated to admit it, a fairly impressive move to have made.
Even when she turned back around to face him though, the fact that he had somewhat impressed her was the only thing that showed. As far as she was concerned, he still hadn't earned the respect that the weyr's last weyrleader had. "I have to admit...I didn't expect you to backtrack on me like that. That doesnt' me you won, though. Shoulda shot." And with that she shrugged, and moved to continue her hunt. As far as she was concerned, he hadn't wont the bet. There was, therefore, no reason for her to stick around.
M'riel wasn't surprised as Seleti jumped out of the tree, tossing the arrows at him, then reminded him of the terms of their deal. Granted, he didn't shoot, but he didn't have to. All he wanted to do was to show the Greenrider that she wasn't as stealthy as she thought she was. He watched as she figured out how he'd managed to follow her, then faced him as she admitted she didn't expect him to backtrack her, but still didn't mean he won. But for her to disregard his order for him to walk with her, well...
"I won't ask again, Seleti," he said, a bit more forceful with his tone. "Walk with me." He wasn't about to let her show any disrespect for his position as Weyrleader. If she chose to do so, he wouldn't think twice about what he'd thought about earlier: Strip her of her flight status, order her grounded and confined to quarters until further notice. Then again, he did still have his arrow notched...
She bristled at the tone in his voice, but turned around to look at him, stopping where she was. She could feel her green grimacing back int their weyr, knowing that her rider was far from pleased at the moment, but she ignored it, at least for now. It was true that she hadn't been in this kind of mood for quite a few turns. Swift had told her so, but she'd ignored it. She wondered, though, how much she could test this whole situation.
Finally, she spoke again. "You know...I didn't take you for the type to make a deal and then, when the deal wasn't won, go back on it and turn whatever you were trying to accomplish into an order." She knew it was probably the last thing that she should've said, but at that point in time, she didn't entirely care. After all, she was pretty certain that he would have whatever conversation that he was wanting to have.
"You could have just as easily shot me when I came around, Seleti, but you also held back," M'riel countered. "And yes, I could have just as easily shot you from behind, but I didn't. That's not honorable. Consider this a draw." He wasn't already happy with her for accusing him of being just one notch above a Bitran, but right now the Weyrleader didn't care what the Greenrider thought. She was insubordinate to him, and he wasn't going to tolerate it one sharding bit. "I already know you don't think too highly of me, but I can live with that. I also know you weren't pleased with the way I dueled Mac the other day. All I know is I see Mac holding Swift by the neck when I walk up, and I don't appreciate anyone taking out their frustration on a younger Rider. The reason why I walked after the duel and didn't bother turning around was Rule number Eleven: When the job is done, walk away. Don't dwell on it, don't discuss it afterwards, just move forward."
"I didn't ask to become Weyrleader, Seleti. But as long as I hold that position, it falls on my shoulders to ensure that everyone under my command is safe. You may or may not have heard of the various 'rules' that I have, but they're there for a reason. It's my responsibility to teach them, it's your responsibility along with everyone else's to learn them. You may think that my rules are made to be broken, but they're not. When I give an order, only the Weyrwoman has the authority to countermand it. I've already asked you twice to walk with me, but you've disregarded it both times."
He lifted his chin, his eyes narrowed. "I hereby formally charge you with insubordination. Consider yourself and your Green Cheyneth grounded until further notice. You're also confined to your quarters until I say so. I also will be expecting you to report to the Healers to have a full medical evaluation performed, both mental and physical, within the next twenty-four candlemarks. I remember vaguely reading a little bit about your background, Seleti. From what I recall, this isn't like you." M'riel bent down to pick up the arrows that Seleti had tossed at him, then turned and started to make his way back towards the woods.
M'riel shook his head as he replayed the conversation in his head. If this was the way Seleti wanted it, well...
{{Oreath.}}
{{Yes, Mine.}}
{{Pass a message on to Shayna for me. Tell her that as of right now, Seleti and her Green Cheyneth are stripped of their flight status and grounded until further notice. Seleti is also confined to her quarters and is to report to the Healers for a full medical evaluation within the next twenty-four candlemarks, and that eval is to include both physical and mental. I'm charging her with insubordination.}}
{{Something happen, Mine?}}
{{She wanted to play a little game and tried to prove that she was better than me. I managed to backtrack her movements but refused to fire because I won't hit anyone from behind.}}
{{I know you've always tried to be honorable, Mine, but why does Cheyneth's despise you so?}}
{{Good question, old friend. Hopefully, Eodira, Macira, and R'en can provide some answers. Maybe Shayna can also shed some light on the subject.}}
{{I'll let Josiath's know, Mine, but she'll be expecting you to discuss this further with her in private.}}
{{I know, Oreath. I know.}}
Seleti all but laughed at that. "You honestly think that Mac was taking his frusterations out on Swift? That's actually fairly amusing, but no, that's not what happened," she said, actually quite amused by his assessment. "Swift made the mistake of getting in the middle of Mac trying to vent his frusterations...alone. Mac was in a mood. I could see it, I know Swift could see it. And considering that his mate had just lost her gold, and almost her life giving birth to the twins, it's no wonder. Swift was a fool to try and get in the middle of things. And he knew it. There was no reason for anyone else to get in the middle of things. The only reason I even did was to get Swift to back off..."
"And you're right, I do have an issue with you. Not because you're the Weyrleader. If that were the case, then I would've had issues with Mac. My issue is in the way you try to "teach" people these so called 'rules' you have. Like what you did with Mac. You just barged on in and tried to teach him some lesson, not even thinking to consider the full situation or the frame of mind of everyone involved, and then you practically beat up on him. Would you have even stopped if I hadn't stepped in to protect him?" she demanded. She knew full well that she had interrupted him, but he had wanted to talk, so there she was, talking. Without the walking.
And then he continued on and as the next words were spoken, she paled and all but froze where she stood. Grounded? Because she had an issue with him? Because the way she saw it, she had stayed for his conversation. Sure, she'd all but called him a two-faced bully, but that was the impression she had of him. Her green caught onto her rider's sudden change and gave a soft warble where she lay.
((Please make yours change your mind, Oreath,)) she said to the weyrleader's bronze suddenly while her rider contemplated a response once she got over the shock. ((She's only in an odd mood. She's normally very good...)) Cheyenth didn't understand the mood changes of her rider recently, which had gotten worse over the last month or so. She knew that her rider had a feeling of being able to do absolutely anything right now, which was why she had even bothered to interfere in the duel between Mac and the new weyrleader. The fact that the weyrleader had managed to sneak up on her had only dampened that feeling a little bit. Now it was back and worse than before.
Suddenly her hand was pulling out one of the real arrows from the quiver on her back and she aimed and loosed. It flew passed M'riel just as he was leaving, missing quite intentionally by less than an inch, before it thudded into the tree in front of him. "That, bronzerider, is insubordination," she growled, calling her green to her, who was already mid-flight to her rider. "Not me turning around for your so called conversation. And I don't care which gold your bronze flew, you're not my Weyrleader."
Cheyenth landed nearby as she said that, strapless. It was a good thing the greenrider had experience riding her green without straps as she promptly mounted her green and told her to get skybourne, not waiting for the Weyrleader's reponse. ((Go, Cheyenth. Before Josiath gets word and we have to stay.)) The green took of then, flying fast pace out over the sea. For some reason, the pair didn't between, but neither really thought about it.
((To Part 2))
Seleti was a bit more grumpy that morning than she had been as of late. Of course, she'd been irritable ever since the day when she'd interfered with Mac and M'riel's duel. According to Swift, she'd been irritable even before then, but she didn't really see how. She had tried to stay relaxed, and non-irritable, but her tensions levels had slowly been rising ever since that day, particularly now that M'riel's Oreath had won him the Weyrleadership.
It had been chillier as of late, but she didn't care. She could tell that on that particular day she was close to snapping at someone. So she pulled on some thicker clothes and had Cheyenth take her out to the confidence course, which was covered with a light layer of fresh snow. Grabbing a bow and a quiver full of arrows, she told her green to head on back to the warmth of their weyr before she proceeded to head into the forests at the mountains' base.
She hiked into the forest some before deciding to climb up a tree. There she waited on a lower branch, keeping eye out for a wherry, or some other poor, edible creature to come along. Instead, the first thing she heard that had her aiming and shooting was not a creature, but a human. She turned her hand away just quickly enough that it landed in a nearby tree with a thud, rather than in someone's body. She was indeed very tense...
M'riel had spent the morning keeping up on his marksmanship and sniper skills, but the cold dry air and the light layer of snow didn't help keep his usual passage quiet. Normally he would be dressed in appropriate gear to help him blend into the trees, but because of the weather he had little choice but to wear heavier clothing that practically made him stand out. He'd already told Shayna where he would be so she wouldn't have to worry about him, and Oreath was already well on his way back to snuggle with his mate Josiath.
He paused for a moment as the light breeze died down, and when he thought it started to pick up again to mask the sound of his walking, he heard a familiar reverberation of a bowstring being loosed, followed by the whooshing noise of an arrow piercing the cold air. M'riel dove for cover, crashing against the snow-covered ground and a *thunk* told him the arrow had missed him, embedding itself into a tree.
The Weyrleader got up and brushed himself off, then turned to look at the arrow. Based on the angle, it told him whomever had shot at him was probably in one of the nearby trees, and had to be within range. He studied the arrow a bit more, making some mental calculations in his head, then started walking in the direction the arrow had come from, looking up into the trees.
It didn't take him long to find out who'd shot at him. M'riel looked up at Seleti. "Not a bad shot, Seleti," he said wryly. "Another three to four inches and you would've found your mark, and I'd probably be lying on the ground slowly bleeding to death."
She waited up in the tree that she had perched up in, watching as he rolled away and the n got back up to his feet to find who had shot at him. Honestly, she hadn't expected there to be another human up here, in this chill, which was why she had shot towards the source of the sound first before actually checking to see what was there. Part of was simply due to the tension she was feeling though. At least she'd seen him come into sight quickly enough to move her aim away from him.
His words made her frown though, and glaring at him, she got down from her perch. "I didn't miss by accident," she said to him stiffly, walking over to where he was to grab the arrow out from the tree's trunk. "You're luck I saw you right when I did." She mumbled.
Her attempt to to get away from people had suddenly been thwarted by his appearance. Nevermind the fact that he was the one who had started things by going after Mac a few sevendays during that duel. "You have a death wish, don't you?" she demanded suddenly, having thought of that day just then.
"Luck had nothing to do with it, Seleti," M'riel replied as he watched the Greenrider descend from her perch. "You normally wouldn't have seen me pass through like this. I don't have anything to keep me warm yet blend in with the foliage." The Weyrleader was exercising patience with restraint towards her, and he kept himself in check when she practically yelled at him after retrieving her arrow from the tree. "Life's too short to have a death wish," he replied, giving her his classic knowing look, then looked at her bow before looking at his.
"You seem to be a decent shot with the bow," the Weyrleader commented, knowing he was changing the subject but didn't seem to care. "Let's see if you can out-shoot me on the archery range. In fact, I'll put up a decanter full of Benden's finest whisky as my bet."
"Do you come up with an excuse for everything?" she asked then, voice still holding that same demanding tone as moments before. She wasn't yelling, but she wasn't going to take a lack of response as an acceptable answer. But she did listen to his suggestion. "Oh...and what do you expect in return if you happen to win? Because I assure you, I don't have whiskey," she retorted softly, before a sudden thought came to her mind. She stayed silent for a few moments while she thought about it, but it was evident by her features that she had come up with an idea. Finally, she shook her head.
"No. I have a better idea," she said, all but smirking then. Oh this idea of her's was quite a brilliant one indeed. Crazy, but brilliant. "The range has blunted arrows. You're a former guard. I'm pretty certain you know how to track. Let's go back to the range, and each of us grab a set of those blunted arrows. Then you start off at one end of this mountain here, and I'll start off at the other. And go from there. First to get the 'kill' shot wins. No going home until after that." What she wasn't sharing was that she had been one of the top trackers in her clan before coming here. And what she wasn't considering was the weather. She didn't care though, because she was certain that this would be short, sweet, and she would knock him down an notch or two.
M'riel simply waited as Seleti again used that same tone of voice as before. "Watch yourself, Greenrider," the Weyrleader warned, his voice impassive. He wouldn't think twice of stripping the young woman of her flight status, grounding her for insubordination if she continued this line of attack. He wasn't going to put up with it nor her attitude. She may not be used to his style of leadership, but M'riel wasn't going to budge. "If I happen to win, you and I are going to have a very long talk." That was partially true; but the outcome of their proposed duel wouldn't matter. Either way, if Seleti's attitude didn't change M'riel was going to sit her down in his office and make her listen. Only then would he decide on her fate.
He raised his eyebrows when she suggested that they use blunted arrows, and try to track the other and score the 'kill' shot. She was apparently familiar with his past as a Guard, but M'riel shook his head when she used the term 'former Guard'. "No such thing as a former Guardsman, Seleti. Once a Guardsman, always a Guardsman. But instead of using the blunted arrows, I did have some arrows with hide-filled bags of paint at the end crafted not long ago." M'riel turned and pointed at a nearby path. "That path divides about twenty or thirty feet in. We can use that as our starting point and make our way to either side of the mountain. Otherwise, you're on."
The Weyrleader made his way over to the large quivers that contained various arrows: arrows with sharp points, blunted arrows; and the ones that didn't have any type of a point, but instead had the small paint-filled hide bags M'riel described earlier. Each arrow shaft had a small band of color painted on it, indicating what color was in the bag. M'riel picked out about a half-dozen arrows with a bright blue band on them. He would wait for Seleti to choose her color, then they would walk together over towards the starting point the Weyrleader designated.
Seleti all but glared at him, but she bit her tonguge to stay silent for a change. Having someone who didn't even know her tell her to watch herself was...well....she felt almost insulted by it. AS for having a long talk afterwards, if he were the won to win, she could already feel herself telling herself that he could talk all he wanted, it wasn't likely she would listen.
She shook her head as well, though, before saying, "You're either Rider or Guard, not both. There's two completely different loyalties there," she said then. Just like she was either Raider or Rider, not both. She had chosen Rider. Yes, she still had ties to the Raiders, but in the end, she was ultimately Rider. They were completely different frames of mind and loyalty ties.
But she stayed silent as he gave his small alternative to her idea. She frowned slightly, watching as he brought the quiver over and selected the ones that he wanted. She wasn't familiar with that particular type of arrow, so she only picked one up to get a feel for it. They were certainly weighted differently, but she was confident that she wouldn't have any issue with them, once she got used to that difference. "Fine then," she said, grabbing an equal number of green ones before she started down the path he had indicated, not waiting for him.
Either M'riel didn't pick up on her glare, or he chose to ignore it. He was willing to give Seleti a little slack, but even his patience was wearing thin. Granted, he didn't know the Greenrider well enough, but he certainly wasn't going to have her be insubordinate to him. He'd seen this type of attitude before, when a few raw Cadets back-talked him, and showed a blatant disregard for his orders. Two of those Cadets were stripped of rank, formally charged with insubordination, and dishonorably discharged before being shipped home. The third Cadet was likewise stripped of rank and sent home, but vowed he would seek vengeance against M'riel, calling him every name under Rukbat's rays.
M'riel wound up firing the shot that proved to be fatal, when that same Cadet was found to have joined a group of Raiders on their assault of High Reaches Hold. The Guardsman only needed a single arrow, and it found its mark, piercing the younger man's heart and killing him instantly.
"I no longer wear the rank of Sergeant Major, Seleti," the Weyrleader corrected the Greenrider. "But once you become a Guardsman, that training you endure, the camaraderie you build with your fellow Guards...that stays with you even long after you resign your rank. Yes, I'm a Rider. I've been one for sixteen Turns. There may be two different loyalties in your opinion, but it is possible for someone to stay true to them both. It's a matter of perspective." M'riel knew Seleti had been a Raider in her past, but at least hoped that her experiences as a Raider would continue to serve her well in her role as a Dragonrider. The time M'riel had spent in the Guards gave him a sense of pride and honor, of professionalism, of duty and loyalty. Oreath had sensed all that in a younger Mitriel when the Bronze Impressed to him. Oreath also had somehow sensed M'riel had been a proven leader at one point, even though the man had his flaws. To this day, M'riel didn't know why Oreath chose him, but he was thankful nonetheless. The Bronze pair had proven time and time again during their Weyrling days they were highly skilled leaders, eventually earning M'riel a Wingthird position upon graduation.
Just because there were two different loyalties didn't always mean their philosophies clashed with each other. And M'riel was living proof of it.
The Weyrleader watched as Seleti didn't seem to like the little twist in the game she'd chosen to play, watching her as she picked up a paint-arrow to test its weight before picking up five more like it - all green - then watched as she started down the path. M'riel followed at a slight distance, walking towards the path he indicated earlier, then watched as the Greenrider took one path. He waited until she disappeared from his sight, then started down the other.
It was obvious to Seleti that the new Weyrelader obviously didn't understand the point that she was trying to make. She was willing to accept that he had learned things as a guard that would be with him his entire life, because she had those own things herself. Her point though was that a guard's loyalty was to protect a single location against the people there, or outside of that area, who might wish harm. A Rider's loyalty was to protect all of Pern, no matter what. Guards could kill someone, if necessary, but Rider's couldn't, not if they were to fulfill the mandate passed down over generations. This was the difference.
She sighed as she continued down the path she'd chosen, listening as she walked. After she'd gone a way down the path, she had turned around to discovere he was no longer there. She supposed he had gone down the other path and would be a bit of a distance away from her at that point. "Sharding idiot," she muttered quietly to herself. Now was when her fun would begin.
This was, after all, a test of tracking. That had been her intention. If he thought she would continue idly down the path until they met back up some distance along the mountain's side, then he was surely kidding himself. And with that thought in mind, she promptly got off the path. She went a way into the forest before she found a group of trees close enough together that she could move from one to the other, and did just that, climbing up one, and moving along the group until she couldn't do so without risking falling. It was far enough away that she didn't mind getting back down.
So she got back down and continued walking through the forest, still close enough to the path of her choice that she wouldn't get too close to his, if they got near each other. The snow would only serve to help in tracking eachother down. Which was why she did the same tree hoping trick the next chance she could. And a while later she climbed up a third grouping.
A few trees into her 'skipping' she stopped, the wind having died long enough for her to hear something faintly. She grabbed one of the arrows and got ready to aim. It was movement out of the corner of her eye that had her swinging towards her left and aiming, ready to release, but not doing so quite yet.
What very few people knew about M'riel, save for those who'd come with him, was he wasn't just a mere Guardsman who knew his way around a wooded area. No, M'riel had been a highly skilled, if not deadly; marksman and sniper, often blending in with his environment and moving swiftly yet silently as he cautiously approached his target. In most cases, he only needed to fire a single arrow to bring someone down, rarely missing his mark. As a Guardsman, he had been tasked with the defense of the Hold. As a Rider, that responsibility expanded beyond the walls of High Reaches, charged with the defense of all life on Pern. Instead of fighting brigands, Raiders, and other ne'er-do-wells, M'riel's primary foe was the long strands of filaments known as Thread. He'd only seen it once in his lifetime, some two hundred Turns into the future, and like many others had been woefully and inadequately prepared to properly fight it.
Coming into Pern's past to learn how to fight Threadfall, the Weyrleader didn't expect to come into an Interval, a period of Turns where none of the deadly rain filled the skies. Just because no Thread had been seen in a generation or more didn't mean it would never return. The Weyrleader's instincts were telling him that eventually it would return, and he had better be ready for it this time. His instincts were also telling him that there were unseen forces at work, all arrayed against him and those under his leadership. He knew that, as a Rider, he couldn't take the life of another. Such was the mandate, the one rule all Riders were to obey without question. Yet even M'riel knew that pragmatism often won out over a utopian ideal such as the mandate, and was forgiving in most cases. To him, it wasn't a "shoot first and ask questions later" mindset, but more of seeking a diplomatic solution first before relying on one's weapon. He wasn't necessarily the violent type, but M'riel would not hesitate to use deadly force if all other options failed. His responsibility as Weyrleader meant he was charged with the defense of Izuko *and* the defense of Pern. M'riel wasn't going to hold back nor would forbid his Riders from fighting to protect what was theirs, no matter whom or what threatened them, be it another living being or Thread.
That was why, as a Guardsman, he could take the life of another if necessary...but, again, only if all other options including diplomacy failed. Seleti might disagree with him, M'cleod might disagree with him, Swift...anyone whom had been under Mac's leadership would probably question M'riel's supposed contradictory viewpoints. But the Weyrleader wasn't going to budge from his position. Otherwise, there would have been no need for Mac to train with the quarterstaff, venting his frustrations on Swift. There would have been no need for M'riel to spar with the Brownrider, funneling his own anger at Mac for beating up on a younger Rider. There would have been no need for M'riel's little game he had earlier, nor would there have been a need for him and Seleti to square off like this. What many had hoped for, a utopia where war did not exist, where mankind could live in harmony with each other; was often supplanted by flawed personalities, greed, anger, jealousy...in other words, M'riel never fully believed in a utopian state. He had seen the harsh realities of life one too many times as a Guardsman and as a Rider. The mere fact the Holds were on unfriendly terms, if not nearly hostile, with Izuko was more than enough evidence for M'riel to ensure his skills wouldn't atrophy. What made matters worse were Zalleah and T'rain had stolen a Gold Egg before making this trip into the past, and the Weyrleader wouldn't put it past his old leadership to come and find them, accusing them of theft and taking aggressive measures against them.
Both the mandate and pragmatism would definitely be tossed Between should that happen. For M'riel and all of Izuko Weyr, it would become a matter of survival...and the Weyrleader was determined to put up a furious defense and counteroffensive.
But he needed to focus for the moment. M'riel stopped when the slight breeze stopped, and listened. He had come down just far enough on the path he'd chosen, quietly counted to fifty, then doubled back towards the diverging point where the Greenrider's path broke off from his. The Weyrleader moved silently, one foot in front of the other, moving only when the breeze stirred and stopped when it didn't. His eyes scanned the ground, and found what he was looking for: Recent footprints in the snow-covered ground. Seleti. M'riel looked down the path the girl had taken, and couldn't see her. Either she had progressed down far enough out of sight, or...
...she had moved off the pathway into the trees.
The Weyrleader followed his opponents' footsteps down the path until they disappeared. He was right, Seleti opted for moving through the forests and try to surprise him. He knelt down to inspect the twigs and branches that covered the ground, a light dusting of snow on the underbrush, and noted it had been disturbed. M'riel quietly followed the nearly imperceptible trail, again moving only when the breeze stirred, until he came up to a cluster of trees. His lifted his head and looked up, trying to spot where Seleti had gone; a few branches had been disturbed, which meant the Greenrider had just been here moments ago. But which way?
He combed the area carefully until he found a light footprint that wasn't his. Kneeling down for a moment, M'riel scanned the underbrush briefly, again spotting the disturbed twigs and branches here and there. It wasn't much, but he knew he had picked up the trail again. Following it for a ways, M'riel came upon a second set of trees. Then it came to him. Seleti was trying to "tree-hop" in an effort to not only throw him off his game, but to hopefully get in a clean shot before he had a chance to react. Her trail was running roughly parallel to the open path he'd been on earlier, which meant she was waiting for him somewhere up ahead. Probably in one of the trees. M'riel skirted around the second cluster of trees, this time a little faster, but making sure he only moved when the breeze stirred. He readied his bow and notched an arrow, knowing he was close.
M'riel finally came up to a cluster of trees and he looked up into the branches. He thought he saw the waiting form of Seleti perched on a branch, her back to him. He could have just as easily "shot" her, but instead he decided to teach a different lesson. The Weyrleader purposefully waited until the breeze died down, then he moved, knowing the Greenrider would easily hear him. He lifted his bow and raised the arrow at her, and watched as the girl swung towards her left and aimed right back at him.
"I could have just as easily shot you in the back, Seleti," the Weyrleader called out, looking at her. "But that would have been dishonorable of me to do so." He lowered his bow, but kept the arrow notched. "Walk with me." Despite his lecturing tone, it wasn't a request.
The greenrider knew that she had been played the moment the Weyrleader had spoken. How he had gotten behind her, on her side of the path, she didn't quite know, as she'd been paying careful attention to all movement coming from the direction that his path lay. She did manage to keep herself from glaring at him as she let both the bow and arrow drop to the ground before she flipped down and got out of the tree herself, picking them both up the moment her feet touched down.
She walked towards him, tossing the one arrow first, and then the others that she had taken, towards him. "The deal was, we talked if you won. You didn't shoot, therefore you didn't win," she pointed out. The walk and tree-hopping had helped ease the tension she'd been feeling some what, but now that they were in eachother's presence again, she could tell it was rebuilding. Her issue with him probably stemmed from the fact that he had tried to beat up on her at the time Weyrleader more than anything. As far as she had been concerned that day, her mate would've been deserving of any beating that Mac might have dealt out. They both knew that it was a foolish thing to interfere with the brownrider when he was in the mood he had been in, but Swift had done so anyway. And she'd torn into him later that evening for it.
No, her issue with the bronzerider was the way he went about trying to "teach" lessons, particularly to those who didn't need a lesson taught to them. The duel with Mac had been a prime example. She could tell that he was trying to do the same thing to her. But she ignored it, at least for a moment, as she walked passed him and looked down the direction she had come from. That's when she spotted how she'd been played. There were her few footprints, and then there were his. He'd backtracked on her. It was, as much as she hated to admit it, a fairly impressive move to have made.
Even when she turned back around to face him though, the fact that he had somewhat impressed her was the only thing that showed. As far as she was concerned, he still hadn't earned the respect that the weyr's last weyrleader had. "I have to admit...I didn't expect you to backtrack on me like that. That doesnt' me you won, though. Shoulda shot." And with that she shrugged, and moved to continue her hunt. As far as she was concerned, he hadn't wont the bet. There was, therefore, no reason for her to stick around.
M'riel wasn't surprised as Seleti jumped out of the tree, tossing the arrows at him, then reminded him of the terms of their deal. Granted, he didn't shoot, but he didn't have to. All he wanted to do was to show the Greenrider that she wasn't as stealthy as she thought she was. He watched as she figured out how he'd managed to follow her, then faced him as she admitted she didn't expect him to backtrack her, but still didn't mean he won. But for her to disregard his order for him to walk with her, well...
"I won't ask again, Seleti," he said, a bit more forceful with his tone. "Walk with me." He wasn't about to let her show any disrespect for his position as Weyrleader. If she chose to do so, he wouldn't think twice about what he'd thought about earlier: Strip her of her flight status, order her grounded and confined to quarters until further notice. Then again, he did still have his arrow notched...
She bristled at the tone in his voice, but turned around to look at him, stopping where she was. She could feel her green grimacing back int their weyr, knowing that her rider was far from pleased at the moment, but she ignored it, at least for now. It was true that she hadn't been in this kind of mood for quite a few turns. Swift had told her so, but she'd ignored it. She wondered, though, how much she could test this whole situation.
Finally, she spoke again. "You know...I didn't take you for the type to make a deal and then, when the deal wasn't won, go back on it and turn whatever you were trying to accomplish into an order." She knew it was probably the last thing that she should've said, but at that point in time, she didn't entirely care. After all, she was pretty certain that he would have whatever conversation that he was wanting to have.
"You could have just as easily shot me when I came around, Seleti, but you also held back," M'riel countered. "And yes, I could have just as easily shot you from behind, but I didn't. That's not honorable. Consider this a draw." He wasn't already happy with her for accusing him of being just one notch above a Bitran, but right now the Weyrleader didn't care what the Greenrider thought. She was insubordinate to him, and he wasn't going to tolerate it one sharding bit. "I already know you don't think too highly of me, but I can live with that. I also know you weren't pleased with the way I dueled Mac the other day. All I know is I see Mac holding Swift by the neck when I walk up, and I don't appreciate anyone taking out their frustration on a younger Rider. The reason why I walked after the duel and didn't bother turning around was Rule number Eleven: When the job is done, walk away. Don't dwell on it, don't discuss it afterwards, just move forward."
"I didn't ask to become Weyrleader, Seleti. But as long as I hold that position, it falls on my shoulders to ensure that everyone under my command is safe. You may or may not have heard of the various 'rules' that I have, but they're there for a reason. It's my responsibility to teach them, it's your responsibility along with everyone else's to learn them. You may think that my rules are made to be broken, but they're not. When I give an order, only the Weyrwoman has the authority to countermand it. I've already asked you twice to walk with me, but you've disregarded it both times."
He lifted his chin, his eyes narrowed. "I hereby formally charge you with insubordination. Consider yourself and your Green Cheyneth grounded until further notice. You're also confined to your quarters until I say so. I also will be expecting you to report to the Healers to have a full medical evaluation performed, both mental and physical, within the next twenty-four candlemarks. I remember vaguely reading a little bit about your background, Seleti. From what I recall, this isn't like you." M'riel bent down to pick up the arrows that Seleti had tossed at him, then turned and started to make his way back towards the woods.
M'riel shook his head as he replayed the conversation in his head. If this was the way Seleti wanted it, well...
{{Oreath.}}
{{Yes, Mine.}}
{{Pass a message on to Shayna for me. Tell her that as of right now, Seleti and her Green Cheyneth are stripped of their flight status and grounded until further notice. Seleti is also confined to her quarters and is to report to the Healers for a full medical evaluation within the next twenty-four candlemarks, and that eval is to include both physical and mental. I'm charging her with insubordination.}}
{{Something happen, Mine?}}
{{She wanted to play a little game and tried to prove that she was better than me. I managed to backtrack her movements but refused to fire because I won't hit anyone from behind.}}
{{I know you've always tried to be honorable, Mine, but why does Cheyneth's despise you so?}}
{{Good question, old friend. Hopefully, Eodira, Macira, and R'en can provide some answers. Maybe Shayna can also shed some light on the subject.}}
{{I'll let Josiath's know, Mine, but she'll be expecting you to discuss this further with her in private.}}
{{I know, Oreath. I know.}}
Seleti all but laughed at that. "You honestly think that Mac was taking his frusterations out on Swift? That's actually fairly amusing, but no, that's not what happened," she said, actually quite amused by his assessment. "Swift made the mistake of getting in the middle of Mac trying to vent his frusterations...alone. Mac was in a mood. I could see it, I know Swift could see it. And considering that his mate had just lost her gold, and almost her life giving birth to the twins, it's no wonder. Swift was a fool to try and get in the middle of things. And he knew it. There was no reason for anyone else to get in the middle of things. The only reason I even did was to get Swift to back off..."
"And you're right, I do have an issue with you. Not because you're the Weyrleader. If that were the case, then I would've had issues with Mac. My issue is in the way you try to "teach" people these so called 'rules' you have. Like what you did with Mac. You just barged on in and tried to teach him some lesson, not even thinking to consider the full situation or the frame of mind of everyone involved, and then you practically beat up on him. Would you have even stopped if I hadn't stepped in to protect him?" she demanded. She knew full well that she had interrupted him, but he had wanted to talk, so there she was, talking. Without the walking.
And then he continued on and as the next words were spoken, she paled and all but froze where she stood. Grounded? Because she had an issue with him? Because the way she saw it, she had stayed for his conversation. Sure, she'd all but called him a two-faced bully, but that was the impression she had of him. Her green caught onto her rider's sudden change and gave a soft warble where she lay.
((Please make yours change your mind, Oreath,)) she said to the weyrleader's bronze suddenly while her rider contemplated a response once she got over the shock. ((She's only in an odd mood. She's normally very good...)) Cheyenth didn't understand the mood changes of her rider recently, which had gotten worse over the last month or so. She knew that her rider had a feeling of being able to do absolutely anything right now, which was why she had even bothered to interfere in the duel between Mac and the new weyrleader. The fact that the weyrleader had managed to sneak up on her had only dampened that feeling a little bit. Now it was back and worse than before.
Suddenly her hand was pulling out one of the real arrows from the quiver on her back and she aimed and loosed. It flew passed M'riel just as he was leaving, missing quite intentionally by less than an inch, before it thudded into the tree in front of him. "That, bronzerider, is insubordination," she growled, calling her green to her, who was already mid-flight to her rider. "Not me turning around for your so called conversation. And I don't care which gold your bronze flew, you're not my Weyrleader."
Cheyenth landed nearby as she said that, strapless. It was a good thing the greenrider had experience riding her green without straps as she promptly mounted her green and told her to get skybourne, not waiting for the Weyrleader's reponse. ((Go, Cheyenth. Before Josiath gets word and we have to stay.)) The green took of then, flying fast pace out over the sea. For some reason, the pair didn't between, but neither really thought about it.
((To Part 2))
