When Zychaelth's Attack

Winter - Month 3 of Turn 2717
Half Moon Bay Weyr - Weyrling Training Field
Near the tall black eastern wall of the crater is a cleared field. The earth there has been churned many times over by the landings and take offs of young dragons and only a few patches of grass cling to life in this active area. Wooden props and markers used to assist the weyrlings as they learn the precise maneuvers required for the rescue and protection work that the weyr is famous for, litter the training field. Close to the rimwall, in the east where the sun is usually shaded is a large wooden slat barracks for the weyrlings to live in. Tropical trees and shrubs have been allowed to grow here, perfuming the air with a floral scent.


Shrieks were heard in Half Moon and they echoed far and wide, for upon this afternoon a great terror descended upon the Weyr. Specifically, the hot springs. /Nevermind/ that the weyrlings have a beach. That just wasn't good enough for Zychaelth. It was while his life mate was snoozing that the surprisingly quick little monster scuttled his way into the wondrous area of heated pools. While there he set upon chewing some poor crafter's towel, /while/ the crafter was still wearing it and then proceeded to massacre jars of soap sand. By the time Suyi got there he was relaxing in one of the pools while people ran screaming.

Undoubtedly, R'sner has heard about the incident at the hot springs. Not least of all because there are people /screaming/ and /running/ in the opposite direction. It just smacks of Weyrling-shenanigans and so, of course, he's on his way to investigate. Toith? Not so helpful. She finds the entire thing hilarious (because clearly no one is dead or injured so… it's funny now). And when R'sner learns that the creature of the black lagoon… erm. Hot Springs was a suspiciously scuttly blue dragon? No more questions needed. So Suyi really ought not to be surprised with the Weyrlingmaster is calling her and Zychaelth out into the field for a 'chat'. « Ya and her, » meaning Suyi, « Res wants t'talk t'ya. Kinda now. » At least Toith has the grace to not be snickering in her mindvoice when she says it.

Suyi sensed the trouble coming, but at least she's /trying/ to keep a straight and somber face. Zeek….not so much. The blue's minds cape and voice precede the pair's arrival. The images? Particularly thematic. A small tub featuring a tiny whirlpool in which Zeek is spinning round and round and round while yelling, « Helllloooooooo! » His voice fluctuates between near and face despite none of this /actually/ happening. He's just got a whimsical mind! Suyi isn't quite as chipper in her greeting as she walks onto the field. "Ah….afternoon Weyrlingmaster." She pulls up a few seconds behind Zeek, whose tail flicks back and forth as he stands in place.

At least R'sner is not impatiently tapping his foot against the ground as he waits? That's a positive, surely. Even if his arms are crossed and he looks less than pleased at the conversation he is about to have. Zeek and the whirlpool… that gets a brief little wince, and a bubble of mirth from Toith who, bless her, /tries/ to act mature in this situation. She knows her job, really she does! But it's just so /hard/ to be serious when she finds the whole thing hilarious (and kinda wishes she'd been in on it). « 'ey, » offered to the little blue, Toith's head snaking down to peer one great eye at him. « Ya're not coughin' bubbles, are ya? » From the soap. "Good afternoon, Suyi," answers Res with a lift of an eyebrow. "So. What happened?" and he doesn't mean 'what did Zychaelth get into. He means 'how did it happen' in the first place? "And what should we do about it?"

« That's possible? » Zeek's mind voice lapses into raspy cackling at the thought and his mind whirlpool turns into a bubble whirlpool. He's already rifling through Suyi's mind for information on soap sand and calculating just how much would be dangerous. "Um….I was taking a nap, well /we/ were taking a nap and then he was not taking a nap and I didn't wake up until it was too late." The harper turned weyrling does at least sound apologetic. As for what should be done about it? Suyi is pretty silent on that part. Mostly because she /did/ kind of enjoy the chaos that happened and is kind of curious what would happen if Zychaelth was unleashed on the caverns.

« Dunno, » admits Toith. « Maybe? Never tried. Don' like soap, m'self. Def'nitely never ate it. » But she falls silent when she is (sternly) reminded by R'sner that she's meant to be an authority right now. Not a friend. And certainly not a potential accomplice. "Let's consider this another way," decides R'sner, who appears to be all about empowering weyrlings to better behavior rather than simply dishing out rules and punishments (though, yeah, there will probably be some sort of punishment coming…) "What sort of things could have gone /wrong/ that, thankfully, did not?"

"He could have eaten the soap." Suyi supplies, though this is soon supplemented by a very unhelpful, « HAHAHAH, that would have made it better! » This results in a cough and a somewhat subtle nudge of the blue's foot with one of Suyi's. So unhelpful. "He could have drowned." Followed by, « Impossible! » or "He could have hurt someone." Which gets what is perhaps the most unfortunate answer of on, « That one is true. » At this a small groan escapes Suyi and she glances down at the very unapologetic blue. "I'm sorry, I should have paid more attention to what he was doing."

A small nod follows each statement, though it's done in that 'half-sideways' sort of way that indicates the answer is technically /right/, but not what he was looking for. "Soap is unlikely to kill him," notes R'sner, "though it would undoubtedly be an unpleasant experience, had he ingested it. Drowning… perhaps. Though I would imagine his distress at such a thing would have brought half the weyr's dragons in to rescue him," but injuring people? Definitely one of the right answers. "Yes. Inadvertently, as I would hope," and there's a sharp look for the blue, "that he would never intentionally hurt someone. Let us also consider the… emotional impact of the situation. Not everyone is comfortable around dragonkind, and we cannot assume that everyone in the weyr is Weyrfolk. We do host visitors," which seems to be his next point, which is, "As a Harper, I am sure you were aware that your actions reflected back on the crafthall, yes? Well now you are a dragonrider. Your actions and, more importantly, /his/ actions," and yeah, there's a point of his finger towards Zychaelth when he says it, "reflects on you, and on the Weyr as a whole." A pointed look, a very 'do you understand me' sort of expression. "You cannot physically watch him at all hours. That would be impossible. So perhaps… you can find something that would motivate him to want to behave?"

To be fair, Suyi doesn't care much for the Harper craft hall. Though, the same can't really be said about her feelings for the Weyr. She's honestly grown fond of the place so there /is/ some guilty in her features when he mentions it reflects poorly on Half Moon. (But /still/ it was funny, she's just not going to show her amusement!). « I will be their exposure the…thera….therapy.» It's right about now that Suyi is wishing that she could effectively tell Zychaelth to shut up. « Motivate? AHAHAHAH » Wait no, it's /now/. The weyrling runs a hand over her face and lets out another groan. "I'm pretty sure I could figure something out." Currently her mind is screaming 'not now, behave!' in the tiny blue's direction. "Food, or extra shoes from the storage caverns or…." /Something/.

Extra shoes. It gets a twitch of R'sner's eye, but right now he'll take it. If /shoes/ will motivate Zeek to some semblance of obedience? He'll raid the caverns himself. He's definitely looking less and less pleased at the apparent lack of disregard on behalf of the little blue monster. "I know he's young," but it's not an excuse! "But he does need to learn that some behaviors are not welcome and are downright inappropriate. When people are screaming? That's a fairly good indication that he's done something wrong." Even if it was a /little/ funny (or a lot funny). Toith can laugh about it. Suyi can laugh about it. Valeska can laugh about it. But Res is just going to look sullen and disapproving and all sorts of 'strict weyrlingmaster' about it. Because it's his job or something. "Figure out what motivates him to behave," he encourages, "because it will help you moving forward. In the next few months, it's only going to get worse unless you get a handle on him. And," he gears up, looking at least a little resigned, "because actions have consequences, I have to assign you some sort of punishment." Of course he does. "Apology letters, to start. Expressing your deepest regrets for frightening the daylights out of people. There's also the waste of supplies and general destruction of property…" even if it was just soap-sand jars. "But you tell me Suyi. What would an effective punishment be for Zychaelth?"

Suyi is looking less and less pleased at the prospect of having to write letters. But she's probably lucky she didn't get anything worse! There's a glance down towards her life mate who has /finally/ had the good sense to quiet down because now he is getting /punished/ and oh dear. His ideas? (That are totally being projected): Cooking him in a massive pot of soup, slingshotting him into space via a very fast bronze, and being sprayed in the face with a bottle. NEVERMIND that he was just relaxing in the hot springs. Apparently a spray bottle is a whole different story. "Spray bottle filled with water and…." well they can't really /starve/ him, "keep him from visiting the beast craft animals?" Cue a /very/ unhappy gurgle from the tiny blue.

And the unhappy gurgle wins. "Done. Spray bottle though? Really?" questions R'sner with a look to the blue. Though to be fair… Toith /hates/ baths and would probably find the idea of the bath coming to her in the form of a spray bottle just as insidious. "Zychaelth is grounded from visiting the beast craft animals for the next sevendays. And I will be sure you get a spray bottle by this evening," because if it works? It's a heck of a lot cheaper than those other options. Even if Toith is debating the merits of sling-shots. « Could be worse, » she tells the little blue in a consolatory fashion. « He coulda said month. ». "It should be noted," and this is definitely for both blue and bluerider, "That should the lesson not be learned, the discipline will increase. He's only going to get bigger," and his potential for chaos will grow with him.

"I'm not sure why it's any worse than an actual bath, but…." Suyi shrugs a bit and glances down towards Zeek who is now making gagging noises. Not because he's gagging, but at the thought of the spray battle. His tongue is lolling out of his mouth and everything. Toith's words earn a confusing picture of a human in pink fuzzy socks. Apparently it is meant to be tragic. « The punishment can get longer? » Cue another sad gurgle. How long his remorse will last is another question entirely though. The blue proceeds to flop down and roll over onto his back and make rather loud piteous noises. "Shells…Zeel, come /on/." Finally the harper's frustration's hear the light of day!

« Y'have no idea, » says Toith with the inflection of one who knows. Even R'sner is smirking just a little at that, and casting a look back at his green to share in her brief nostalgia. "It can," he says aloud, for the benefit of all perhaps. "And it /will/, if you do not behave." But R'sner is a realist. He knows Zychaelth will not be a perfect little angel overnight (or… ever…?). For Suyi there is brief sympathy. "Toith was a difficult dragon," he notes. "She broke my nose the first week of weyrlinghood, and I got to run laps for it." Punished for a broken nose, yup. "And it only got worse." Is this meant to make her feel better? Maybe Res fails at pep talks. "You'll figure it out. I'm sure. That's what weyrlinghood is for." To learn manners before they are unleashed upon Pern at large.

Zeek just continues to…..moan. Moan and writhe and flail his legs and tail about on the ground in a very dramatic fashion. Which eventually just leads to Suyi reaching down and grabbing him by the tail. "Sorry, we'll head back so I can start on those letters. Maybe it will get better." Though she doesn't mind it as much deep deep down. Punishments are just no fun! Seconds later she is…dragging. Yup, dragging him across the field and back towards the barracks. Not that Zeek seems to be against this. He's gone completely limp now and while he's trying his very best to /look/ pathetic he can't quite keep the excited /feelings/ out of his mind. « Much better form of transportation, Suyi! »

"I'll uh… I'll go get that squirt bottle," because R'sner is starting to feel like /now/ would be a pretty good time to put it to use. And if he's twitching just a little bit at Suyi physically dragging her dragon away… well. Surely the healers have a cure for that, right? "I need a vacation…" he decides as he turns and heads towards the caverns, muttering beneath his breath about how /there's always ONE/ in each clutch.


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