Hurricane: Desperate Flood (5) (Part 4/4)

Writers: Devin, Clancey, Eimi, Jane, Kaysea, Roxanne, Vix
Date Posted: 25th May 2007

Characters: I'lan, D'ren, J'darin, Br'nick, C'lor
Description: The Hatching Grounds begin to flood requiring drastic measures.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr, Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 19 of Turn 4

J'darin

- O'ris -

O'ris quickly explained to Dicorth what they were expected to do.

}: Save the eggs? The queen will allow us take them away? :{, the disbelieving bronze asked.

**She has to,** O'ris replied, mounting Dicorth, **Otherwise the eggs will drown.**

---
Dicorth curled his claws carefully around two eggs.
** Carefully, don't break them, they're soft! ** O'ris warned him.

}: I know what I'm doing, I won't damage them, :{ the bronze assured his rider. He was proud of this honor and treated the eggs with outmost care and reverence.

They received the image of Dragonfalls' hatching cavern and got the permission to go. Dicorth beat his wings few times to get his feet off the sands and then went /between/. They have never before /betweened/ directly from the ground or in such enclosed space. They were both nervous and more than little frightened. The howling hurricane outside and the knowledge that the sandbags weren't holding didn't help.

--
It was chaos in Dragonfalls Weyr. The hatching cavern was full of bronzes coming and going. Dicorth and O'ris materialized in mid air, but too close to the wall. Dicorth let out a distressed bugle when his wing scraped against the rock. Somehow he managed to twist away, but his wing was bent to unnatural angle. Still bugling, with pain, Dicorth managed to land and lowered his precious cargo to the hot sands. There were already half a dozen eggs.
** Are you all right? **, O'ris was almost frantic with worry.

}: No, my wing hurts! :{ the bronze replied.

"Is there a dragonhealer here?" O'ris called, while the pair was moving aside to make room for the others.

---
O'ris watched the dragonhealer spread generous amount of numbweed to Dicorth's wing.

"How is he?" O'ris asked.

"He's twisted his wing rather badly. It's swollen and sore. But a sevenday or two of complete rest will cure it and it will be as good as before," E'naer replied reassuringly.

"Great, does that mean were stuck here for the time?" O'ris groaned.

"Well, he still can fly but it's going to be painful. And he won't be able to manage strong wings. You two have to stay here at least until weather clears in Dolphin Cove," E'naer replied thoughtfully.

"But we can't go on with the egg saving – effort?" **Shards, shards, shards!** It stung.

"No, I'm afraid not. That would just damage Dicorth's wing more. You don't want him to become crippled, do you?" the greenrider replied.

"No," O'ris let out resigned sigh.

- Th-ral – }:Hasaarth says to drop everything, NOW:{ Taoath almost bellowed in Th'ral's head.

The rider dropped the bags he had been about to toss over this shoulder, and turned towards his Weyr.

}:No time - go directly to the Hatching grounds, I will be there soon:{ he could hear the concern in Taoath's mind.

Th'ral took off at a sprint, the need for speed imperative at this time, but awkward as well, the corridors were crowded with weyrfolk rushing back and forth with supplies and belongings, taking them to higher ground. The sandbagged walls outside not really coping with the water that was battering at it.

He could saw the other riders appearing from all directions, all bronze riders - his concern grew, what else had befallen them at this time for the bronzes to be called en-masse? They all came to a halt in front of J'darin, the rider looked frustrated, concerned and distracted at one and the same time, Th'ral didn't envy J'darin his leadership at this time.

He listened closely to the instructions, passing them on to Taoath up above, and when J'darin broke them apart instructing them to begin the rescue operation, he had no need to instruct Taoath when to appear. Flight straps we still on Taoath from earlier in the day, but they were just his everyday ones, then again, Th'ral thought, they wouldn't need anything more, from one Hatching sands to another.

His dragon appeared high up in the huge cavern, waiting for Hasaarth to go /between/ before dropping to the cavern floor himself. The dragon gave a bugle of greeting to the Queen, before moving forward and carefully selecting the two closest eggs. Taoath's tongue snaked out, as Th'ral pounced up across the bronzes back and onto the neck ridges high above. The bronze slipped his tongue gently around the nearest egg and slipped it forward enough for him to take it in his foreleg.
Edging closer his repeated the procedure until her had both eggs cradled together at his chest.

With a leap and a great downbeat of his wings, Taoath was airborne, rising to a safe height before blinking /between/, Th'ral thought the dragon may have cut it close, too low to the ground could mean the death of rider and dragon.

}:I will not lose us:{ Taoath intoned gravely. }:Speed and agility mean life right now:{ They appeared above the Hatching Grounds of Dragonsfall and Taoath bugled his presence loudly to the other dragons from Dolphin Cove.
Confusion reigned, here as well as the dragons appeared and disappeared one after the other.

Taoath backwinged tot he ground, landing gently. He placed first one, and then the other of the eggs on the heated sands, using his tongue once again to gently move them into place.

**Will they be alright?** Th'ral asked, hope tentatively rising in him
- these eggs at least had a chance of survival.

}:Only time will tell - it's too soon right now:{ Looking up and over his shoulder, Th'ral gave Taoath the order to rise again, it wasn't easy with so many doing so much at the one time. He thanked Faranth for the ability the dragons had of always knowing where another dragon would appear, at any time.

With another leap, this time more forceful than the last Taoath was airborne and spiraling to the top of the cavern, before disappearing /between/ again.

The clutch of eggs had shrunk perceptibly, which was just as well; the first thing Th'ral noticed as he and Taoath reappeared over the hatching ground, was the water which had broken through the sandbagging at the entrance - Weyrfolk were busily reinforcing the wall of hessian and sand, with not much success.

Backwinging to the ground, Taoath edged closer, the crush of dragons had thinned with some in the air here, some at Dragonsfall and some /between/ but they still had to step carefully, Th'ral looked at the Queen, she looked ready to strike out at any that would harm her clutch, even in error. He urged Taoath to caution.

}:Have no fear, she knows we help:{ his bronze replied, despite the urgency, Taoath was emitting a deep sense of calm, more so than his rider was feeling.

It didn't take long for Taoath to cradle another two eggs close to his chest. His talons were wrapped tenderly around the softened membrane of the newly laid eggs, holding them close, where, Th'ral hoped the dragonets within would feel comforted by the deep thud of his dragons heart.

**Take it easy, big fellow.** Th'ral cautioned once more, **Remember the higher the better.**

}:Have I ever chanced us?:{ Taoath asked, giving a strong downstroke that took them higher.

**No dear one, and I doubt you will, but please, just humor your rider this one last time?**

}:We will be ....:{ Taoath intoned, as they blinked /between/ again, }:...fine. See?:{
**Nice to see you can keep your humor in such a dire situation.** They reappeared over the Hatching ground where the other dragons were still depositing and arranging their charges. **Are there many more to come?**
Th'ral tried to estimate the amount that had already been transferred, it looked to him as if more than half were here, and there were more dragons appearing above and beside him, all loaded with their own precious bundles.

Taoath backwinged, and glided around the top of the cavern awaiting the chance to land, it was chaotic, but now seemed a more managed chaos. Eventually Taoath landed, and carefully deposited both eggs closely against the others, the heat of the sands would hopefully banish the cold of /between/ that the eggs had been exposed to.

With a backward glance at his charges, Taoath leapt once more into the air, rising quickly to make way for more arrivals. Five quick breaths later, and they were hovering over the Dolphin Cove Weyr Hatching ground, again, which now looked the worse for wear. The last of the eggs were being collected, and Th'ral realized he still had other work to do before this day ended.

**Leave me below, and then return _safely_ to our weyr. I will be there when I can.** He leapt from Taoath's foreleg as the bronze hovered above the Sand, he wished he could roll across the now empty Sands to remove the cold of /between/ from his bones, but there was no time. There was still much to accomplish.

- Br'nick and C'lor -

C'lor was very nervous about being responsible for an egg let alone two at a time, but Hayreith was confident that they could do this.
They _had_ to do this to save the eggs from the water. He looked over at Br'nick who didn't seem to be worried about anything.

Br'nick smiled encouragingly at the younger bronzerider standing not too far from him. This would be a new experience for them all, but at least Br'nick had been around eggs more than most bronzeriders as Cendarnth had sired a clutch before. **Are ready for this?** he asked his bronze who was waiting just outside the grounds.

The first trip wasn't as hard as the young bronzerider had thought it might be. The Weyrleaders at Dragonsfall were there to coordinate the egg transfer. C'lor had never been in and out of /between/ so quickly that by the third return to Dolphin Cove, he felt like he couldn't do it again.

}:We have one more trip, C'lor. Nyith is counting on us to save her eggs.
You don't want to let her down do you?:{ Hayreith asked trying to encourage his rider. He was tired too, but the eggs had to survive.

**One more.** C'lor agreed as the bronze carefully gathered another pair of eggs. He got the visual again and went /between/ as soon as he was aloft.
They reappeared above the hatching grounds at Dragonsfall. There were a lot more eggs on the Sands now and Hayreith settled his cargo into the warmth of the sands. They made sure the eggs were alright and returned to Dolphin Cove.

Br'nick had a near miss with the wall as Cendarnth came out of /between/ too close to the side of the hatching grounds of Dragonsfall. **Careful, you almost scraped me against the wall.** he cautioned as the bronze landed in the sands.

}:Sorry, I'll do better next time. We go back to Dolphin Cove.:{ the bronze replied as he set his cargo carefully onto the warm sands. As soon as the eggs were on the sand, he was airborne again going /between/ to get the next set.

The hatching ground had more water in it than they had when they had left for Dragonsfall with the third load of eggs. That wasn't a good sign, but it looked like most of the eggs were on their way to dryer ground. Cendarnth readied himself with the last eggs that they were ferrying over and pushed himself into the air. They had been at this for quite some time and it was wearing on both rider and dragon.

While unloading the eggs, Cendarnth informed Br'nick that the Weyrleader was injured and that they were needed back at Dolphin Cove.
The bronzerider nodded and the pair returned home to see what they could do to keep the Weyr together with their Weyrleader out of commission.

Last updated on the May 25th 2007

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Hurricane: Desperate Flood (5) (Part 4/4)