Pushed to the limit [[Open]]

[Jenth]

It itched at her, like a bug crawling under her skin. And Inolyn had thought she had been frustrated before. With Shandor's death the last violetrider had accepted that for the time being it might be the safe option to stay Weyr-bound, and for a time it had seemed fine. But time flowed slowly, and with the investigation reaching a dead end the queen rider had grown not only claustrophobic but restless beyond measure.

With Nayarath on the Sands with her clutch, Kora now had more time on her hands and less need for assistance. So what was something she could do to pass the time? It seemed a long shot, but sitting herself down in front of a wax tablet she began to muse. Being a Harper seemed to have made her popular when she first arrived at the Weyr, but as her dragon grew she was needed to be a leader and not some sort of entertainment.

Always she carried around the piece of hide, scratching out and re-writing at every glance. The words came slow, the tune slower yet, and eventually it grew to a halt. It all grew too much, with a frustrated scream she crunched the hide up and threw it at the rock wall.

But you worked so hard! Its not like you to give up

"I tried... I really tried, I just cant do it any more..."

[Sparrow]

Hear that? I think someone needs some cheering up.

Someone does indeed.

K'laon didn't look at Inolyn until he had picked up her discarded hide and loosely closed his broad fist around it. "Good throw," he said. "Bad choice in projectile. I take it something's bothering you." He held onto the hide, not opening it but not offering it back to its owner quite yet either. In his experience, chances were good that she would just throw it away again.

Amirinth seated herself on the ground, a surreptitious eye on Jorindath. She rarely got the chance to talk to queens, never had with Jorindath, but the Violet looked like the more cheerful option between her and her rider. It was a bit of an awkward situation for the little Green, sitting there dwarfed by the massive Violet. Even queens known for being friendly were a fairly intimidating sight.

[Jenth]

Jorindath gave a rumbled greeting to Amirinth as she joined her, it wasn't often she got to speak to the smaller dragons. The larger ones always demanded her attention more. She tried to write a new song, but she got stuck...

Inolyn made no intention to take the hide back, despite having a dislike of people reading her unfinished work. As far as she was concerned, it was scrap and would never be finished. With a sigh the violet rider tried to compose herself. "I've been stuck in here too long, K'laon. I tried to pass the time by trying to write a song in memory of Shandor, but it just sounds terrible..."

Normally if this would happen she would fly out to the Harper Hall, something about the place had just seemed so inspirational. To be surrounded by music and song, it had always been so comforting to hear the collaboration of like minds working in harmony. "And what makes in worse is that I can barely pick up my riding straps without everyone thinking I'm going to get myself killed..."

[Sparrow]

Amirinth's eyes whirled and she looked at her rider. K'laonMine should write a song, she told him. K'laon disregarded her for the moment, so Amirinth looked back at Jorindath but wasn't sure what to say to the Violet.

"I can't imagine there would be much to say about Shador." She was a boisterous bed hopper who ended up Impressing a queen. That had been about it, as far as he was concerned. A humorous song would be easy to write, but it wouldn't be right at all considering the circumstances.

K'laon scratched his chin. "I bet if you took a chaperone along you could go out." Heh. Not a ranking rider; Tans, Bronzes and Browns would not disregard Nayarath's orders to keep Jorindath here. He and Amirinth happily would. They had never even been directly told; Kora didn't worry much about Greenriders. "It'll be getting busy around here soon enough." Events were the best things to disappear from.

[Jenth]

"Shandor was a mentor to me, and Kelth was a queen. Despite the flaws, she was still a friend to many and didn't deserve a sudden and bloody death down a flight of stairs..." The song was meant to emphasize the point that life was unexpected and to appreciate what you had before if disappeared. Maybe it was too much to ask, since it was inspired by maybe not the best of women...

Inolyn was about to reject the notion. She had once asked B'can to accompany her to the wher labyrinths but he had fussed enough for her to abandon the request. Kora might think she was keeping her safe, but it was doing nothing but holding her prisoner from a threat that may not exist. If Shandor had been killed because she was fraternizing with Tavel, then there was no danger to her...

"Alright! Let's go then! Harper Hall. If there is any place on Pern I can go to get help on this, its there." Holding out her hand she offered to take the hide back, if he actually believed she would finish what she started.

[Sparrow]

((*Shador))

Not every queenrider had gone down in history as a great person. K'laon couldn't think of anything really that she had done worth repeating. Kora would have been far more a mentor than Shador; K'laon wouldn't put more trust in the Violetrider than most people put in himself.

Songs were for things of repute. Or funny things, but whatever Inolyn had in mind wasn't going to be either of those, not to mention most Harpers disagreed about the greatness of silly songs.

"Right now?" K'laon looked over at Amirinth, surprised. He hadn't meant to go adventuring immediately.

Amirinth is all for it, she replied, eyes whirling. Running away with a queen sounded like just the thing she would like to do.

If the Weyrleaders find out, I'm blaming you. K'laon handed Inolyn back her hide and Amirinth knelt for him to mount. They wouldn't be pulling any crazy maneuvers going to the Harper Hall and Amirinth was small enough that holding on to her was fairly easy; K'laon didn't need straps. Not to mention tacking her up would let people know they were going somewhere, and it would probably be best to disappear suddenly in this case. He climbed on and looked down at Inolyn. "You want to ride with me?"

He couldn't imagine sitting on the massive, shifting neck of a flying queen without anything to hold on to.

[Jenth]

This is Inolyn's choice, she'll protect you Jorindath spoke to K'laon. The queen settled herself down on the heights, where for days she had watched others come and go. It would be best for her to remain here, since violet was too noticable a color to miss. Inolyn almost dispaired to leave her lifemate behind.

I will be fine, we will be found out as soon as we leave. Rider and dragon said their final farewells before Inolyn jumped up onto the green's back. Being used to a larger dragon the woman nearly made it look too easy. Her winter jacket may not be wher hide but it should hopefully protect her well enough from between.

Keep her safe, Amirinth. Return quickly.

[Sparrow]

K'laon didn't think it would matter much that Inolyn had made the choice; he had inspired it. Nevertheless, it was fun to go against the wishes of those in charge and he could deal with the consequences later. What could they do to him anyways? He was already the pseudo WeyrlingMaster and it couldn't get much worse than that.

She's better at that than you, Amirinth taunted her rider as Inolyn leapt far more adeptly onto her back.

Her dragon's three times your size!

Excuses, excuses. Amirinth's eyes whirled brightly as her riders got settled, and then she leapt into the air. We'll be back as soon as we can, she assured Jorindath. Soon she was a good height over the ground, K'laon shared an image of the Harper Hall, and Amirinth popped between.

A few chilly moments later, the trio reappeared over the Hall and Amirinth swirled to the ground. Safe and sound, she rumbled as K'laon slid off her. The broad Greenrider held out a hand to Inolyn to help her off, knowing she didn't need it but also knowing he was with a queenrider in a public place and it was better he look polite.

[Jenth]

You're safe! Jorindath rejoiced. The few short seconds of between their bond had been stretched, and Jorindath's life swayed in he balance. It was so scary....

Its alright, I'm here. I'll try not to be too long Being polite Inolyn took the offered hand and she slide down, K'loan most likely wasn't used to transporting fellow dragonriders. Familiur enough with the place she didn't wait for someone to greet them and beconed for the greenrider to follow her. It was almost evident the difference their precence had caused. Jorindath normally caused a stir, but a green... music and song alike were interupted and master's voices rose up for attention. Greens were search dragons and Nayarath had a clutch.

A woman trotted out to meet them, wearing the knots of a journeywoman. "Inolyn?! Well this is a pleasent surprise, but I didn't see your violet...You're not here on Search, are you?"

Inolyn laughed and embraced to woman, clearly old friends. "No, no, no... It's good to see you, Lytah! K'loan brought me here, I came hoping to speak to Master Jatze or Hinac. Had an idea for a new song, but I hit a wall..."

Lytah raised an eyebrow, but accepted it. "Had to happen eventually, you have a Harper's mind and throat but you're heart and being belongs to Weyr and Pern. Come! Lessons are being held at the moment, but maybe not for much longer knowing how excited the apprentices must be." As they walked the two women chatted about news and rumors, journeyman placements and the up comming hatching. They then sttled into an empty study to wait. "So K'loan is acting as your guard? There was a lot of talk about the whole inccident at the Hold."

[Sparrow]

Amirinth found a sunny patch to lay in while K'laon followed Inolyn. Her whirling eyes fell on the apprentices. She wasn't much of a Searchdragon, and they had plenty of Candidates for the clutch, but she liked to play at it.

Don't go getting anyone's hopes up, K'laon warned her. Amirinth only rumbled. Maybe they would come play with her.

K'laon hadn't thought of what he would do now that he had gotten Inolyn out of the Weyr. The Violetrider was visiting her friends and working on her things, he was just a chaperone. He had never really contemplated just how dull it would be to follow someone around and make sure she didn't get into trouble, but now the fact was hitting him.

Shards.

Inolyn didn't really introduce him, but K'laon nodded to the woman that had joined them- Lytah, apparently. Soon enough they would be meeting more people he also probably wouldn't be introduced to. Eh. He had never really spent time in the Harper hall (although he did feel he had a good enough voice to have tried the occupation), it was a chance to look around in the company of important people.

When they stopped in the study, K'laon leaned against a wall. The mention of being Inolyn's guard made him perk up a little. That was a more exciting title. It implied he was watching out for danger rather than just sharing the fault of this excursion. "Personally I think they've overreacted a bit," he put in. "Understandable, I guess, with Nayarath just about to clutch, she would have been moody and jumping to conclusions, so Kora would be too, but... nothing else has happened. Nixsha likes to makes things seem a lot bigger than they are. I would guess Shador and Teval were just too drunk to stand and died for it."

He hadn't particularly liked either of them. But the other Lord Holders did need to hurry up and decide on a replacement.

[Jenth]

Lytah nodded to K'loan, "And as far as we can see neither were well liked which makes finding a motive even harder. Teval caused unrest when he seeming refused to choose a wife, even going to far as to having rumored at least two dragonriders in his bed. Oh course he being in an unstable seat of power, motive to kill the Lord holder was simple."

Of course the Harpers were investigating, being a most trusted source of news spread over Pern. There wasn't much that didn't fall on harper ears, one way or another. "Shador more or less likely was in the wrong place at the wrong time, unless of course you bring jealous lovers or traditionalists into the equation. It's one tunnel snake of a riddle... Any way, lets see what you got?"

Inolyn passed over the skin for Lytah to study. After reading it a few times over, without a word she stood up to retrieve a guitar on the shelf. More reading. Eventually she started plucking out a tune, a soft gentle song. "You might have something here, but you're right. Its needs at least one more verse...Sing?"

"Her rusty voice wont do it any good..." The sudden male voice made the girls jump. A lean man entered the room, his hair graying with age. "The dragons take my prodigy, and now we can't have her around because every apprentice thinks he's candidate worthy...Its not often you bring friends either"

"It's good to see you, Master Jatze." Inolyn embraced the man, her old voice teacher. "This is K'loan, greenrider to Amirinth. We didn't come on search, just for a song."

"Then warm up, girl! I taught you better!" Inolyn started scales and voice excerises, but obviously not to standerd. Thought she never stopped she constantly had to fix something. Stand straighter! Shoulders back! Breathe deeper from the gut, don't figit! "Stop! Lets see what you brought us..."

Lytah started up the tune...

Just as the sun rises in the East
A new day with new begginings too
But nothing given, nothing gained
As true as the sky is blue

Easy come, easy go
But why does it still hurt so?
You were here, now you're gone
It all started with 'hello'

A kind smile or one kind gesture
A purpose I can never forget
A small beginning but worth the world
A friend when I'm happy or upset...

Jatze sat, brows together in thought and concentration. "K'loan, your thoughts?"

[Sparrow]

If anything, the rumor that there was actually a murderer, and that he was actually after Shador and Kelth, was more exciting. But K'laon couldn't imagine anyone trying to kill dragonriders. Maybe that was part of the vanity that came with the occupation speaking, but it seemed like a foolish idea. Far more deadly than trying stunts on a Green or playing pranks on Bronzeriders.

"Good to meet you," K'laon put in quickly after Inolyn introduced him, standing. He was pretty sure a Greenrider was of lower rank than a Master Harper. He fidgeted while Inolyn warmed up, not even the slightest bit interested in listening to her run through her scales. Finally she sang, and his brows contracted a bit.

"Sounds a bit cliche, and far from how I picture Shador." She was flighty and careless, and K'laon still didn't think she deserved a song. "She didn't do much." He knew Kora had been good friends with her, but even the Weyrwoman would admit to Shador's faults without much regret. They shouldn't be going and trying to hide them.

He leaned against the wall again and grinned toadishly. "I think she'd be better off writing a song about me, there'd be a lot more to say." He was the oldest rider at Nyocia. That had to stand for something. But he was joking here.

[Jenth]

"We lost more then Shador that day, K'laon. I never said it was about her, I guess 'inspired' is a better word to describe it." Inolyn told him, however a small smile on her lips said she wasn't falling for his taunt. Of course she could write a song about him but she couldn't think of how it wouldn't turn into a tavern ditty, the escapades of a silly greenrider.

"It makes it more viable for repetition to not use names, there is no reason to remember them. The song is about loss, though it needs more strength, depth, meaning to its words..." The Master Harper murmered, staring at the hide in his hands. Ink and quill were placed in front of him as if knowing he was going to make changes, and hurt was seen on Inolyn's face as he crossed out the last verse. thinking carefully he rewrote it and passed it back to Inolyn.

"Even if time passes and I age/a kind smile i can not forget. Our small beginning but worth the world/just think back and look how we first met...." The violetrider seemed to find these lyrics more to her liking but knew it was up to her to write the next verse. It needed more heart...

A long bell vibrated through the Hall, shattering her concentration. Master Jatze rose first, "Why not continue after lunch? You both are more then welcome to join us."

[Sparrow]

"Still sounds cliche to me," he grumbled. He watched the Harper cross out the third verse, wished it was the second, and doubted anyone would have much interest in his word, even if he had been asked. "I only know one good song that was inspired by a loss, and that's because it's about heroics: Moreta's Ride. Shador can't inspire something like that." It wouldn't be worth listening to. If Inolyn performed it, it would only hurt Kora and who knew who else.

Writers were defensive. He was used to that. Bug, this is disgustingly boring.

Amirinth seems to remember it being your idea. She rumbled. It's going home that's going to be fun.

That was true. On Jatze's part, lunch was also a good suggestion. "That's a worthy suggestion."

[Jenth]

All three Harpers looked at each other at K'loan's comment, but none said a word with a shake of their heads. All ideas and inspiration were created from something. Moreta's Ride was a historic ballad of a woman giving her life to save Pern from a deadly disease, this song was merely for entertainment. If it wasn't for the fact that Inolyn admitted getting some inspiration, none of them would have presumed Shador had anything to do with this.

How much longer? Soon.... [/i] Inolyn had the quill in her hand, writing again though all around her they stood waiting on her. Putting the feather down with a sigh, she knew this was as far as she would get today. "Its your decision K'laon. I'm sure the Masters would want the apprentices minds back on their practice, and Jorindath worries..."

They could always have lunch back at the Weyr, and it was clear as day that the greenrider was beyond bored. These halls felt as home to her as the Weyr, knowing nearly every face by name. Still, home was where Jorindath was...

[Sparrow]

((I honestly don't know what suddenly turned K'laon so crotchety. e.e Well, maybe I do a little bit, and it's because the second verse reminds me a lot of Bohemian Rhapsody, which seems wrong for the subject. xP))

K'laon wouldn't have liked the song no matter what the inspiration came from. Songs about death and losing people were not songs for entertainment. He didn't like sad things; he had seen far more than Inolyn and her young queen had.

"My decision for what? I thought we were getting lunch." He was all for lunch. Except for that Harpers likely didn't eat as well as dragonriders. "But if Jorindath's getting anxious, we should probably go back. Everyone notices when a queen is nervous."

They would be caught for sure if Jorindath fretted too much. If Nayarath asked her, the Violet would have to tell her what was up, and Amirinth was sure to tell this was K'laon's idea. He had thought of a punishment worse than being in charge of the weyrlings.