And then there were 22

[Kandarra]

Amparath and T'rin came out of between, and slowly lowered Kaith to the sand. When his job was finished, T''rin dismounted and Amparath awkwardly walked backward, watching for the eggs, one eye on the queen. He was worried. He did not like it that the queen was unconscious; it was setting off his danger signals and his eyes were whirling red. But under the influence of T'rin telling him it was alright, and Reinath's calming presence, he managed to keep it under control. He lifted into the air and flew out of the Hatching Grounds, still trying to keep watch on the queen.

T'rin sighed. He wouldn't want to go back to his weyr for a while. He thought of getting a cup of klah from the kitchens, and rushed off to get one. Better, get four. He grabbed a tray and four earthenware cups, filling them with steaming klah. He carried them back to the Hatching Grounds, and walked over to the weyrleaders and Miya. He offered the tray to Christae and Sh'iron, and held out a cup for Miya, wondering if she would take it or one from the tray.

[Tenma]

Miya watched as Sh'iron, the Weyrleader approached. He would probably be angry, no furious at both of them for the risks they took. She was shocked to see his eyes grow soft and not a loud word came from his mouth. She looked to Christae and had a feeling why. It must feel horrible not to be connected to your dragon, and Christae looked awfully upset and shaken up.

Her attention turned when she smelt the warm smell of hot Klah. Her dark eyes turned to see who was tormenting her so, but her eyes fell upon T'rin. She sighed slightly and took the glass from his hand. "Thank-you." She mumbled as her fingers tapped on the warm cup.

[Kandarra]

T'rin smiled an uncharacteristically shy smile and said, "You're welcome." He realized that his eyes were soft, and looked away from Miya. He took a cup of klah for himself and sipped it, to give himself something else to focus on. He wasn't sure if Miya was still angry with him, or even if she had been in the first place. She was notoriously hard to read, and T'rin wished he knew what she was thinking. Or maybe he didn't...

[Tenma]

Miya sipped on the Klah, welcoming the warmth into her body. Her eyes wandered upward and she realized that T'rin was looking for her. She cleared her throat. "Do you need anything else, Weyrwoman?" Miya had a slightly better understanding of why Christae was Weyrwoman. She had to stay calm, even when her dragon was berserk, and she had to make the choice to sedate her own dragon. Miya doubted she could ever do that.

When the time comes, you will do what you need to. Reinath pointed out.

[Spirithawk]

Christae bit her lip until it bled as she watched the bronzes lower her soulmate to the soft sands of the Hatching grounds. She knew that most of the bronzes would take it upon themselves to hold vigil over the entrance to the Hatching Grounds.

She watched Sh'iron come closer, not really caring if he was furious with her or not. She was oblivious to everything else once the other bronzes had left. She was still sitting on the younger gold, feeling the warmth of dragonhide under her but it was not the same. Sure, her flesh was connected to a living, breathing, conscious dragon, but the mental connection was gone.

Slowly the Weyrwoman slid from the other gold's back. "Thank you Reinath." She told the young Queen in a hoarse voice. "Miya, thank you for allowing me to ride your Queen and thank you for saving my life and the life of my Queen."

She took a cup of klah from T'rin but didn't drink. "Thank you T'rin. Miya, there is nothing for you to do now but have Reinath keep the dragons calm. Have her reassure them that Kaith is fine and only sleeping. I hope I can trust you to help direct the search parties. You have learned enough to be able to do that. I will come to relieve you when I am able. For now, go, please just go. T'rin, Miya, I need some time to think."

When they had gone, she rushed to her Queen. She fell to her knees near the great head and stroked the Queen's eye ridges, her emotions calming slightly thanks to the contact with her dragon. "Sh'iron, I don't know what to do. I am WW, I am supposed to know what to do, but I don't." The tears that threatened to fall began to trickle down her face.

[Tenma]

Miya nodded in reply to everything that Christae said. She walked off with Reinath at her side. They had to organize some dragons to search. But how? Which dragons? It would probably be easier to get those that are awake and willing, for now at least. She really wanted to go to bed, but knew that there was work to be done.

Reinath, tell the dragons that we need some dragons and riders who are awake and willing to help search for the queen's egg. Miya instructed. Reinath obeyed and sent on the message.

Reinath knelt down and Miya scrambled back between the neck ridges. Miya flapped her wings and took of. The two soared around the Weyr. They were pretty low to the ground, so that Miya could help look, but some times they had to fly above the trees and Miya couldn't see that far in the dark.

[nike]

Sh'iron nodded to T'rin, and took of mug of klah. Yes, the boy made a good bronze rider. The Weyrleader waited by the stands for the rest of the riders and dragons to leave the Hatching Grounds. Myranenth had flown to his ledge, and was looking down at his queen.
Once everyone had left, Sh'iron placed the mug down, and walked, if not ran, to Christae's side. His arms were wrapped around her tight as he held her. The Weyrleader rocked her back and forth for a few moments.

Sh'iron closed his eyes, then opened them to look down at Christae. "No Weyrwoman has known everything. You are not meant to know everything. No one is. We have a whole Weyr on our side, and the theif may be by herself, or only a few others. Do not worry. Miya and Reinath will be able to take over while you and I rest. Then, we can take over. We can't do this all tonight," At this, the Weyrleader kissed the top of Christae's head, and tucked it under his chin. "Do not cry, we have very capable riders who will find the egg, and the theif. Just calm down."

[Spirithawk]

The tears flowed as her beloved mate rocked her in his arms. "Everyone looks to me for guidance. You may lead them in Threadfall but they look to me to keep the Weyr stable. They know that I have my hand in everything that goes on and I try to keep things running smoothly. Now things have gone awry and they will look to me to make things right again."

"Who could have stolen her egg? Who would want to? None of the other Weyrleaders would have any reason to steal an egg. All of their Queens are producing well. Dicer is not female though it would be easier to believe that he was the one who stole the egg, especially considering that he was exiled from the weyr. I feel like I should be out there scouring every inch of the Weyr, looking for signs. I suppose there is no chance to look for footprints now because Kaith trampled the sands when she looked for her eggs."

"I just hope that the egg is found before the Hatching. Sh'iron, we have about a sevenday before they hatch. They are already hardening, if not, the theif would have cracked the egg. If the creature hatches and there is no one suitable for it to Impress, it will go between. I do not want the Hatching to be marred by the death of a dragonet just because someone decided to take an egg that doesn't belong to her."

The Weyrwoman fell silent for a moment, her face was pale and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "It is so horrible. I never realized how empty I was until Kaith emerged from that egg and called for me to be hers. For about four Turns we were one. We had our disagreements, but she was always there. Now I can't even sense her sleeping presence. She is completely unconscious. I feel so alone. Sh'iron, this is the worst form of torture for a dragonrider, knowing that your dragon is there but you cannot sense her and you cannot speak to her, and knowing that it was me who did this to her."

[nike]

Sh'iron closed his eyes, but kept rocking Christae back and forth.
"Yes, the Weyr does look to you, and I should be working with the Weyr more than just the dragon riders. Dark Moon will not look down apon you when you do not know what to do. The riders will understand that you are not in your right mind," he stroked her hair. The heat wasn't even bothering him.

"Yes, I would have thought that Dicer might have stolen the egg. He could have helped in stealing it, since he knows the Weyr well. No, the other Weyrleaders would never steal an egg from Kaith. Even if the other Weyrleader's aren't fond of us, they wouldn't have stolen an egg. No, you will not go looking for that egg. I will not let you. You are going to stay with Kaith and calm her down. I will work with Miya and Reinath to find the egg. You shouldn't worry.

"We will find the egg before the Hatching. We will have everyone look around the base of Dark Moon Mt. After all, someone couldn't have gotten that far with a dragon egg," Sh'iron took a breath, and calmed himself down. If he was calm, that meant he could get Christae calm.
"Yes, but she will awake soon, and she will need your help. I have always been with Myranenth since I was very young, well over ten Turns, and I have never been though anything like this. So I really can not say that I know how you feel. But I know that the riders who lost their dragons will. It may help if you talk to one of them for the time being."

[Kandarra]

T'rin bowed to Sh'iron and Christae, and left. He sighed, feeling rather useless, and began to walk out to the Weyr Bowl. He walked with his eyes to the ground for the first time in his life, and dark thoughts swirled in his head. He was imagining how life would be if it had been Amparath's egg that had been stolen, and when the bronze emerged, no one suitable was around...

Stop! Amparath yelled into his mind, startling the bronxerider out of his thoughts. My egg was NOT stolen, he said in a rather indignant tone, and you have me. I am here. Now stop, because Reinath asks that anyone awake and alert help search for the egg.

Okay, T'rin said, still a bit in his thoughts, but ready to help. Amparath winged down from his weyr and they waited in the weyr bowl for commands, T'rin leaning on his dragon's flank.

[Spirithawk]

Christae looked up as Sh'iron spoke. Her brown eyes were haunted. "Our riders expect you to deal with the wings and such. They know that it is your job to lead during Threadfall and my job to lead during any other time. It has always been that way. It does not bother me to take over the day-to-day running of the Weyr." She didn't mention the fact that everyone could see the toll her job was taking on her young body.

"As WW I can't let chaos defeat me. I should be out there organizing search parties and leading one into the depths of the Lower Caverns. There are only two people who know all of the secret passageways. Uslanee needs to keep order in her kitchens so she cannot lead a search party through those passageways. The thief could have found one of those passages and hid there. There are even emergency tunnels that lead out of the weyr in case the weyrfolk need to evacuate and they cannot escape adragonback."

"I never got a chance to teach Miya all of the passageways. As Junior Weyrwoman she could lead one of those search parties but I never thought that learning those passageways was that important. I figured that learning medicine and how to lead was more important. In a way, teaching them how to lead was the best thing, because if Reinath wouldn't have been able to keep the other dragons under control they would have gone beserk when Kaith went under. I can't just sit here and let those passageways go uncombed."

"Miya will have to lead the weyr-to-weyr search. All Weyrs, Barracks, and caverns must be searched in an organized fashion so that the theif cannot hide in one place until the search comes and then slip away. What if Miya just tells everyone to just search and everything is unorganized and some placed don't get searched? All of the riders and weyrfolk must participate."

"I know the other Weyrleaders wouldn't steal an egg. To do so is unthinkable for any dragonrider. The ones who stole Ramoth's egg so many years before were desperate because their Queens were not producing. Now it is different. What if they hear that we lost and egg and then they decide to remove us as Weyrleaders because they think that we are not capable of running our weyr? Sh'iron, Dark Moon is my home, our home. I cannot think of moving elsewhere and Kaith has been Senior Queen all of her life, even when she was a dragonet because there was no Senior Queen to keep order."

"Kaith will be out for twelve hours. Nike said that the sedative would keep her unconscious for that long. If everyone works hard the egg could be found before then." She turned and embraced him. Her face was set and there was almost a fanatical gleam behind the anguish in her brown eyes. She slid out of his arms and stood up. "You will need to find the riders that are the most familiar with the cave systems outside Dark Moon. I will get a few riders that can be trusted and bring them with me through the passageways of Dark Moon. I doubt they will remember how to get to the secret passageways after we return."

"Bring me Rhia, Akki, Nike and T'rin. The boy seems trustworthy. I really shouldn't be calling the young bronzerider a boy but I still remember him as a Candidate before he Impressed Amparath. I think that should be a big enough search party for me to take. Akki, Rhia, and Nike have probably explored half of the caverns with me during our Candidate and Weyrling days anyway."

She was still upset, but now she was determined to get that egg back before her dragon woke to find it still missing. If she found it then Kaith's short term memory would allow the event to fade from her consciousness. She doubted the Candidates would be allowed to touch the eggs after this incident and she knew that Kaith would give them trouble when the Hatching started until she was made to see that she needed to step back and allow the dragonets to Impress. Once the dragons were under the care of humans they would be safe.

"We will not rest until the egg is found. No one will." She did not realize that she was as obsessed with finding the thief as her dragon had been. She had been tired before the theft had been discovered but she did not feel the tiredness.

[nike]

Sh'iron listened to Christae. He found no real reason to reply to his Weyrwoman. He should just let her talk it out, then she could feel somewhat better. As soon as this egg was found and the clutch hatched, Sh'iron was going to take Christae and Kaith to the beaches. The Weyrleader stroked her hair as he waited for a moment that it would be best for him to speak. The Weyrleader listened intent, then looked up at Christae as she slipped out of his arms. Sh'rion gave a little sad sight, then stood up himself.
"Alright. I'll take charge of searching the base, you the caverns, and Miay the weyrs," And at this, the Weyrleader turned around and walked out of the Hatching Grounds.

The Weyrleader spotted T'rin in the Weyrbowl, so calling his name, Sh'iron rushed up to the young bronze rider.
"T'rin! Christae wants you along with a few other riders to Search the caverns for the theif and the egg. You will be with her. So gather up all the supplies, and glows that you might need and meet Christae and the others in the back of the Dining Hall," Sh'iron turned back around and walked into the Dining Caveren.

[Spirithawk]

Christae stood and watched her mate walk away. "Wait, you aren't going to argue with me? You won't make me go rest?" Her face held a bit of surprise as she followed him. She listened to him giving orders to the younger bronzerider and smiled. She was glad that he wasn't going to argue. She would have thought that he would have put up more of a fuss about her leading a search party. "Thank you Sh'iron." She called out to him.

"T'rin, come on. I will have Kaith..." She broke off. "Birinj." The flitt waited until the WW was out of the Hatching Cavern before he appeared. "Get me Rhia, Akki and Nike." She began walking to the Dining Cavern in the wake of her weyrmate.

[Kandarra]

T'rin turned when he heard his name, and was a bit surprised to see it was the weyrleader. "Yes, sir?" he asked, curious as to what he wanted. When he said that Christae wanted him to help her search for the egg, T'rin was both startled and honored. The weyrwoman had asked for him, specifically?

Don't stand there looking shell-shocked, just go, Amparath said, his eyes whirling a yellow-tinged green.

"Yes, sir." T'rin said, and waited for Sh'iron to leave before going off to gather some glows. He found a spare basket in the kitchens, and put them in there. He felt silly with the basket on his arm, but decided it was okay, because they had to find that egg; the eggs were all hardening and couldn't have more than a sevenday left before Hatching.

T'rin found his way to Christae, bowing and smiling supportively. "Just tell me what to do when I need to do it, Weyrwoman," he said respectfully, waiting on the other riders Sh'iron had said would be there.

[Torva Anian]

Sorcha had been gone for only a day or two before she decided to come back and talk with the weyrleaders. She came back the path she had gone through so that the watch weyr still wouldn't see her. She hoped to at least get to the maze-like lower caverns before anyone spotted her. Of course the trusty flitt keep a watch out in the skies for her.

The egg was resting in its' bag of sand with Dicer watching over it. She hoped that the sand would keep it warm enough and it seemed warm still so she supposed that worked. She knew better than to take the egg with her. Without the egg as leverage she was just dragon food for the first angry dragon that flew by. All she had to do was hope no one found Dicer and the egg.

She let out a small sigh as she finally made it to the caverns unseen. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth as she thought of just going to the sands and stealing another egg and leave with the two. She knew it was foolish after they discovered the theft of the first egg they would be on high alert. They only reason she hadn't been spotted yet was because she was so far into the dusty unused corridors.

On top of that she would have to pass the queen's weyr to get to the eggs. She decided to head towards the hatching sands anyway. It gave her a direction to head to while she waited for someone to spot her. The little cerulean blue flitt had disappeared at her bidding. It would hang around Dicer and let her know he was still safe.

Feeling more uneasy than she left herself admit Sorcha started humming a little gather tune while making her way through the place. It helped distract her from the fear of meeting a person at every turn of the corridors. Yes, she should just play it cool. It's not like anyone could look at her and say she did it. For all they knew she was another candidate trying to help find the thief. She knew she would have to fess up soon but thinking this helped her move through the caverns easily.

[nike]

Nike cursed as she wove her way through the halls. She was dusty, dirty, and tired. While some of the riders tried to clear out the blocked off areas of the caverns, one got badly injured, and Nike had to come aid them. Of course, since she hadn't been in that part of the halls lately, she had gotten lost, and come to many dead ends. It was almost like the makers of Dark Moon started making all these tunnles, and then when the rock was too hard to chip through, they left it a dead end. Shaking her head, Nike lifted up her glow basket, looking at the foot prints, hoping that she could get out.

It was the humming that caught her attention. Head tilted, the healer made her way to another passageway, and peeked around a corner. She was just in time to see a Candidate walk past. The Healer was confused. No one but full riders and support staff was allowed in the caverns. No Candidates. None of the Candidates were even allowed to help seach for the egg and the theif down here. So Nike set out to following Sorcha. As she did so, Nike tried to remember where she had seen the girl. Of course, she hadn't met all of the Candidates, but this one she did remember. She was in one of the old rooms with a newly hatched blue firelizard. Ah, but where was it now?

Soon, Nike got tired of following the girl. She had only learned that Sorcha was heading to the Hatching Grounds, but she was wondering why. So, the healer picked up the pace, and caught up with Sorcha.
"What do we have here?" the white rider asked with a hiss from Zim, who was perching on her shoulder.

[Torva Anian]

(( If I remember right -has bad memory so might not- The flitt wasn't in the room when Nike found her -shrugs- doesn't matter much though. ))

Sorcha tensed when she heard someone speak behind her. It seemed someone had found her already. She flinched slightly as the flitt hissed at her. Sorcha had the irrational fear that the woman already knew that she was the thief but pushed that aside, she couldn't know...could she?

She turned around slowly, an uneasy smile on her face. "Hey...Nike right?" She remembered only Nike and Christae from the weyr. The rest were blurs in her memory as she hadn't really met anyone else. She breathed a deep sigh as she tried to relax herself. It would help no one if she got too wound up. Sorcha knew that she should be talking more to convince the other girl that she wasn't the thief but the way she acted Sorcha was afraid she already knew somehow.

She kept running the story over in her head so she could speak without stutters but in the end she decided to keep quiet. Wasn't there something about over thinking a situation? She knew she wasn't imagining the hostility in the other's tone for the flitt had hissed but maybe that was just because of the situation with the egg and not her. In the end Nike's words would tell her what she thought and what would happen next.

[nike]

Nike tilted her head as she looked over the Candidate. "It would be Master Nike to you," The white rider said. Zimhissed softly at Scorcha, but Nike slowly stroked the little queen, calming her down. Green eyes stayed on her firelizard until her friend's inner lid closed. Nike smiled, and turned back to the Candidate. "Anyways, what are you doing down here? It's not safe, and only full riders with the permission from the Weyrleaders are allowed down here," She said, and started leading the way out of the Caverns.

The Healer did find that the girl's acting was a little strange. But Nike just thought that the girl was acting that was because she was caught down here without permission. Mabey the girl didn't know the new rules? She may have not been there when Sh'iron and Christae spoke to the Weyr about the missing egg, and the new rules.

[kasharq]

Viron head an uproar all th way from his barracks. He as confused, something big was going on. He went up to the white rider. "Could you plese explain wat in going on?" He asked, though he tried it politely,it didn't come out that polite.

[Torva Anian]

Sorcha sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "...sorry." She started following Ni...Master Nike out of the lower caverns but halted at the appearance of a new person. She tilted her head. Must be another nosy rider. Nike said only riders were allowed down here. She wrinkled her nose trying to remember how to identify them. Knots. It really was simple, why she couldn't remember....she huffed slightly.

But then again, it was like that sometimes, she could grasp difficult things but something so simple like colorful knots stumped her. Ah well, it didn't really matter who came anyway. She was going to be surrounded soon with powerful people and needed to plan her words while they talked anyway.

(( Again sorry about the delays in my posting but I have had the worst writer's block in a long while. ))