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Post by Lynn on Dec 5, 2014 6:35:10 GMT
It had been a quiet day, all things considered, and the young man now striding through the forest was happy and content with his lot in life. He'd just found a large fire-lizard egg all by its lonesome on the beach, and while it made him wonder why such a prize would be there, it also didn't concern him enough to worry overly much about it. Humming happily, he continued on his way, following the twisting hunting paths he knew like the back of his hand. A strange noise made him stop abruptly, and his head came up, eyes narrowing. His hand inched towards his dagger, hanging loosely on his belt just in case, and he wheeled as the strange noise came again, this time from behind him, and much faster, much heavier. All he saw was a shadow, dark, with glowing red eyes, then, a piercing pain in his chest, and everything went dark...
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Several candlemarks later, his body was found by a traveling caravan, who alerted the Weyr at once to their discovery. The body was retrieved and brought back to the Weyr for examination, but after as thorough an autopsy as they could make, nothing had been revealed save that the young man had been killed by some kind of piercing weapon, narrow at the tip and broader at the hilt, which left a strange, round hole at the point of entry and all the way down. A blood trail had been found and followed by the best canines, but they could not find the killer, the trail leading to a small, clear pool, where the blood had been washed off and the killer retreated, leaving the only clue as four strangely shaped hoofprints, which APPEARED cloven, but which the stablemasters also insisted were made by metal, therefore shoes.
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Aura had heard all of this as it was relayed to Lin and J'mael, and she frowned to herself as she stood at the edge of the forest, her new baby in her nursery bag-as she'd come to call the pouch Shadow had lived in first as an egg and now she was Hatched-and Quinith at her feet, eyeing the forest with just as much worry. What had happened in there?
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Post by summerrain on Dec 5, 2014 6:56:08 GMT
Of course, Eternity had heard everything too. It was unsettling, to say the least. The weapon seemed a bit like a dagger, sword, or a spearhead, but at the same time it wasn't. Spears and swords didn't leave round puncture marks... Neither did arrows. The only thing that came to mind that would leave a wound like that was a gun, but those didn't exist yet here. Gunpowder itself wasn't a thing, and Firestone wasn't strong enough to fire a projectile at such a high speed. Eternity sighed and pushed away from her desk, looking out the window. Oh, was that Aura? Eternity decided to get some air and went outside.
She ended up next to Aura, and as always Cvath was nearby. "I just don't understand it..." she said with a sigh. "The only weapon I can think of that would leave a wound like that would be a gun, but there aren't any here... Though, it is possible that its one of our own... If they're horseshoes, then there's definitely some Earth knowledge there. They don't have the technology to make them here yet, from what I've seen..." She sighed again. "At least the word hasn't gotten out yet, everyone else would panic."
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Post by Lynn on Dec 5, 2014 7:09:04 GMT
"Their blacksmiths have been getting knowledge from one of our's who used to be in that field," Aura replied quietly, staring into the forest still. Quinith quietly greeted her sister, offering to sniff noses with her, then looked up at Aura when she made a small, frustrated noise. "I wish I understood as well. The SHAPE of both the wound and the horseshoes has me baffled though. A round puncture that delved almost all the way through his body, narrowing down to a pointed tip, combined with horseshoes in the shape of cloven hooves. Pern doesn't know the legend of the classic unicorn, so that's impossible. I can see maybe a lance making that kind of wound, but in that case, you'd think they would have found some trace. Lances tend to break when used." She frowned. "Course they're not usually applied to flesh and bone either, but to wood and metal, so maybe not..."
Emerald gaze turned to her fellow Queenrider, and then behind them, back towards the budding Weyr. "I hate to think of one of the Earthers doing this, but as you said, they don't have the knowledge or the technology."
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Post by summerrain on Dec 5, 2014 8:18:43 GMT
"Ah, I forgot about him," Eternity admitted. "I've been shut up in that office so long recently that I've kind of lost touch with what the others have been doing." Cvath tapped her nose to Quinith, then tilted her head sideways, eyes slowly whirling green. She attempted to reach out to Quinith's mind with her own, simply to establish contact, but it was up to her sister to decide if she wanted to talk.
"You know, now that you mention it... Its quite possible," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, it isn't entirely impossible... Look at this place where we're living now. We're bonded to dragons, firelizards, and now you have that new creature... I wouldn't be surprised if there's at least something related to a unicorn around here." She ran a finger down Siren's spine. "I hate to do anything that might cause unrest among the rest of the Weyrfolk, but we might have to impose a curfew... If this happens again. I don't see any reason to make them worry right now, but maybe we should at least suggest that everyone is back in the Weyr by nightfall. But we might be better off just leaving this to Lin and J'mael..." She sighed and shook her head.
"I just don't know what to do..." she finally admitted.
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Post by Lynn on Dec 5, 2014 8:44:11 GMT
"I can't stay in the dusty place for overly long. It drives me batty," Aura said with a sheepish smile. "I try, but..." As Eternity continued, she frowned again and cocked her head, reaching down to gently run her fingers over Shadow's tiny head. "But Unicorns aren't known for being killers. At least, not the ones we know in our legends. All the legends name them kindly creatures with perhaps a little too much love for virgin females." She lowered a hand to Quinith's head and hmm'd thoughtfully. "Of course, all the legends of dragons, save those of the Eastern Cultures, name them evil beings with viciousness in their hearts, killers and eaters of virgins."
Why would we eat virgins? I don't know what they are, but those can't taste good... The abrupt comment from her Queen, broadcast to the other pair as well as to her, had Aura choking, and she coughed as she tried to get her breath back, causing Quinith to creel with concern and Shadow to mew/growl with the same emotion. "I-I'm alright girls," she coughed, trying to reassure them as well. Once she could breathe again, she eyed the Pearl with amusement. "You don't need to worry about what virgins are," she informed her lightly, then looked to Eternity again. "A curfew may be a good idea, but perhaps we should merely suggest it to Lin. Right now, people are having issues trusting our word, especially with that blonde bubblehead spreading her lies about me STEALING Quinith." She shook her head. "You can't STEAL a dragon."
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Post by summerrain on Dec 5, 2014 18:16:53 GMT
"That's true, but I don't remember any legends that showed unicorns being overly kind to guys," Eternity mused. "And the only dragons I've ever read, besides the legend of Draco in Greek mythology, were the Pern series, Eragon, and Harry Potter, so I can't really say anything about that." Eternity found herself laughing at Quinith's comment, as did Cvath.
I think the word virgin, when applied to the two-legs, means something close to... The person hasn't mated yet? Cvath mused.
"That's close enough," Eternity laughed. She turned to Aura again. "That's true. And we are still Weyrlings after all, even if we are Queenriders. Speaking of the blonde... Maybe I should talk to her? If she's got any sense in that head of hers, she'll understand that there'll be more Queens. Of course, she could just be that upset that she was late and missed the Hatching... From what I've heard about her, she's just another Queen-seeking girl who doesn't like the thought of Impressing anything else." She sighed and shook her head.
A thought struck her. "What if there are other lands that haven't been found yet?" she asked suddenly. "Like, what if dragons aren't all over Pern like we thought... I wouldn't be surprised if there's another land mass out there somewhere that has a unicorn-like creature as their bonded. Not sure how unicorns would fight Thread, but I'm sure they've found a way."
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Post by Lynn on Dec 6, 2014 6:41:33 GMT
Quinith cocked her head slightly, considering her sister's words, even as Aura frowned and again looked to the forest. "I don't think she CAN be reasoned with," she said with a soft sigh. "She struck me as someone who was furious that power, as well as rank, was, as she puts it, stolen from her. She's a Queenseeker, yes, but she also wants the ultimate say, the power that comes with having a Weyr's eldest and/or most powerful Queen." She glanced at Eternity. "In short, she struck me as a girl who HAS to be a Weyrwoman to ever truly be, if not happy, then at least content. That's why it's me she went after and not you. She doesn't see Cvath as ever having the potential to be a Weyrwoman's dragon, but Quinith, as a Pearl..."
Shaking her head, she then considered the Diamondrider's next words with care. "It's very possible. Hell they don't have to FIGHT it, just avoid it, like the wherries and other non flaming Pern natives do. A cave system in a mountain would be an ideal hiding place after all, since Thread can't go through stone or metal."
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Post by summerrain on Dec 6, 2014 18:23:15 GMT
"I guess that does make sense," Eternity agreed with a sigh. "With the way you describe her, I kind of hope that she doesn't Impress, or that she doesn't Impress a Queen at least. I don't know if I'd be able to be her Junior Weyrwoman, especially with how small Cvath's going to be. I mean, look at her. She's only as large as an Amethyst, even after this long. I know she IS a Diamond, and that should be enough to keep the other dragons from trying to pick a fight, but with a Pearl, there's nothing Cvath can say that would stop it. Having that girl around makes me nervous, even if there's not going to be another Clutch of eggs for at least a Turn."
Then Aura spoke about the possibility of unicorns. "That's right, I forgot about that," she admitted. "But that presents another problem... How would they grow food? While herdbeasts aren't overly difficult to raise in caves, crops can't be grown in the dark. Unless they have some sort of technology that we don't know about..."
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Post by Lynn on Dec 6, 2014 23:49:45 GMT
"Crops can be protected by metal shielding, which can be made by even the most untalented blacksmith," Aura reminded her lightly, her eyes sparkling with amusement, but also respect for her fellow Queenrider. "Besides, I was speaking only of the Unicorns themselves, not the human element. If it WAS something of that nature that killed Jadorni, I don't think humans are high on their list of favorite species." A frown touched her lips and she lowered her hand to rest on Quinith's head. "We should probably move, at the very least, just in case. Now I really think about it, it was probably foolish to be this close to the forest so soon after it happened."
She motioned the other Queenpair ahead of them, glancing back every now and again, though nothing followed them save Siren and their Queens. Once she judged they were a safe distance away, she plopped down on a convenient boulder and sighed. "And as for that twit-you know, I don't even know her name..." She thought about that and shook her head. "I REALLY hope she doesn't Impress, if only to keep the rest of the Weyr sane. I'm pretty sure if she did, she'd be ordering everyone around worse than she does now. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was some Lord's stuck up offspring, so used to ordering others around she doesn't even think to do anything herself..."
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