Hunting the hunter

[kestrel]

Vyralth had no qualms in working with the pretty green dragon he'd seen fit to flirt shamelessly with. K'tan just chuckled and then said nothing as his dragon took to the skies to block off the runners from the ravines as Rhia's dragon had instructed. The dark blue dragon seemed to have gotten lucky. A feline with a very nice colored pelt dashed his way on the way to the ravine's edge, and the dragon, mindful of his rider's words to have a care for the pelt, took it instead in his large claws and, careful not to make any holes, snapped the creature's neck cleanly. He didn't stop to drop it, merely got to the ravine, feline still in claws, and deposited it neatly in a safe spot in a tree before setting to work, roaring ferociously at the runners who were headed his way. Of course, part of that was showing off for Priath, who had the same job as he did. There were many felines running amuck now, and Vyralth noted one heading Priath's way.

*Priath, a feline comes your way!* He was not sure if she'd seen it, it raced out of the trees, heedless of the dragons in its pursuit of the runner it had been after. In fact, there were still felines that Vyralth could see getting ready to leap from their shelter and come this way. Well, at least they would get some to eat, after all! He noted that there were a couple felines that had been injured, and were trying to make their way back into the jungles.

~Vyralth, you need to inform Mneith that there are some that are escaping back into the jungles. They must not get away or they will heal up and come back, or suffer needlessly if they are injured too greatly.~ Even if they were here to kill off the felines, K'tan didn't want them to suffer unnecessarily. He knew they were dangerous, but they were still living creatures...

*Mneith! Mine says to inform yours that he saw two felines going back into the trees. They are injured, and he does not wish for them to suffer or to be left to come back.* That said, Vyralth suddenly snatched up another feline come his way. This one had a very light pelt, almost a creamy white. The blue proudly snapped its neck in the same manner as he'd done with the other, and deposited it deftly in the same place. There would be two pelts that seemed nice for his rider to sell. Maybe more-there were many felines here!

[Spirithawk]

Kilzanth headed towards a group of three that had broken off from the main group. He leapt upon one but wasn't quick enough to pull it in the air. P'rin let out a shout as his dragon roared in pain from the line of white fire streaking down his hind leg. P'rin twisted in his riding straps to see another feline hanging from his dragon's rear left leg.

"Go *Beetween*!" The bronze vanished into the cold nothingness. For a few moments, P'rin nearly panicked. He hadn't made sure Kilzanth had the coordinates before telling the dragon to go *between* In the dragon's pained and panicked state he might not have a clear destination in mind. The young bronzerider breathed a sigh of relief when the Weyr Bowl appeared underneath him. The dragon spiraled down, whimpering as ichor oozed from the cuts in his leg.

The Watch Dragon called for the Healers as Kilzanth carefully landed. "You had better tell Mneith that we are safe Kil." P'rin ordered his dragon as he unclipped his belt and slid down his dragon's side. The dragon dropped the beast in his mouth and turned to try to lick his wounds.

"No! The Healers are here with numbweed. Tell Mneith we are here." P'rin was glad to see the feline had been left behind in the nothingness of *between* and the cuts were shallow.

"Quit being a baby. They are just scratches Kilzanth." P'rin breathed a sigh of relief but his face was pale and he was shaking slightly. The cuts had *felt* worse when the feline had been ripping into his bonded.

Mneith, we are back at the Weyr. We will be back as soon as we can. We are well. The feline just scratched me. The dragon had more bravado in his voice than he felt. The wounds were quickly tended to, cleaned and covered with numbweed.

"Are you sure you can go back?"

Those things are dangerous. I want to kill them. Kaith, you may have my first catch. P'rin hurriedly set upon the feline to remove its pelt and drudges came to bring the pelt to his Weyr and the meat to the great Queen. P'rin then remounted his dragon and returned to the hunt.

[Spirithawk]

Priath turned on her wingtip after receiving Mneith's orders. I'm on it. She saw the direction her blue partner was taking and twisted in the other direction to make sure none spooked in the opposite direction and tried to escape that way. She kept her eyes open for the felines but missed the one that Vyralth was talking about. She neatly turned and rose above the running feline. She bore down on it. She snapped its back but one of her claws ripped into the pelt.

Sorry mine! I will be more careful next time. The pretty green's voice was chagrined.

That's ok. There will be more. We can save that one for our Weyr. Be sure to thank Vyralth for the warning.

Thank you for the warning. That herdbeast has broken free from the group! She returned the favor by warning the blue about a beast that had broken free. A few of the others seemed to want to follow him.

Anassa felt a cold shiver run down her spine when she heard a dragon's roar of pain.

It is Kilzanth. A feline has clawed him.

Does he need help?

No. He has gone *between* She paused for a few seconds. He is safely at the Weyr and will return shortly.

"Thank Faranth!" Anassa breathed a sigh of relief for her former classmate.

[kestrel]

K'tan and Vyralth heard the roar of pain from a dragon nearby as well, and until the blue confirmed that it had been Kilzanth, and that the bronze was safely at the Weyr and would return shortly, K'tan had been worried. Felines could do some serious damage to a dragon if they got it in the wrong place. Kilzanth had been fortunate it was just a scratch to the leg and not a gouge to the neck or flank! He was just in time to catch Priath's warning about the herdbeast that had broken away from the group.

The blue dragon had been a bit higher up, surveying the scene to see which feline to go for next. With so many of their pack being slain, some were now trying to retreat. That wasn't good, for if they succeeded they might hide out in the forest and repopulate. It looked like two smaller sized ones-perhaps females-were trying to get away. However, he didn't have time to cut off their retreat, instead he had to fly lower and round up the stray herdbeast before going back to the main group of them.

~Vyralth, ask Rhia's Mneith what we should do-shards!~ The two felines who had been trying to escape had gone unnoticed into the bushes, and that complicated things. ~Tell Mneith two have gone into the bush-and they looked to be smaller females,~ K'tan instructed the blue.

*Mneith, mine says two felines who he believes are female have gone into the bush to the south. They will likely escape if nothing is done. How do we act?* The blue wanted to go in after them, but his rider instructed him to wait, despite Vyralth's insistance that he was smallest only next to Priath, and he would be best to go in. K'tan didn't agree. He had bow and arrow and hunting knife. But if he and Vyralth went in, they'd need one more with them, so they might watch eachother's backs.

K'tan hadn't gotten a reply yet to his first query to Rhia, so he felt bad about sending another question her way when she was likely busy trying to deal with the other riders and felines. However, if they didn't act fast, the felines would simply go too far in to track and they'd be lost to them.

[Spirithawk]

Mneith heard Vyralth's warning. I'm going to take care of it. Mneith veered off from the felines he had been chasing. They were in the open and could be caught by someone else. He circled around the part of the brush that the felines had vanished into. They weren't trying to be stealthy, they were just trying to escape and one seemed to have a broken leg so they weren't hard to track. Mneith circled around and swooped in low over the brush, scaring the fighten cats into running in another direction. He herded them back out into the open and caught one of them. The other one snarled as it limped farther away from the brown on the edge of the brush.

Kilzanth be careful this time but catch that other feline.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bronze had only just returned to the hunt. He was somewhat annoyed that he had gotten nicked and he was determined not to repeat the mistake. He didn't repsond to the large brown, just swooped in and broke the feline's neck before turning to catch another feline. This one he managed not to mar its coat. The other one had been already marred and not by his claws. It wouldn't fetch as much of a price as the one he had just caught and the one that was already at the weyr.

[Sparrow]

Rolaranth hovered above the scene trying to scout out another feline to grab. The brown was about to dive towards a dark colored one when Kilzanth roared. Sh’rel turned to see what had happened but P’rin and his bronze were already between. Are they safe Rol? Sh’rel asked his brown.

The brown listened in on the conversation and relayed the information to his rider, They are back at the Weyr. They are fine. Just scratched a bit. Sh’rel sighed upon hearing this news it would not do to lose a dragon and rider not when the Red Star drew ever closer. The Brownrider glanced quickly up at the Red Star in the sky before turning back to the job. Be careful, Rol. he patted the brown’s side before leaning against his neck as Rolaranth dove to the ground to snatch up the feline he had been eying before.

Skillfully Rolaranth seized the dark brown, almost black feline in his jaws before pulling up from his dive. As he ascended, he snapped the neck of the beast, not even breaking the flesh. Nice job Sh’rel praised. The feline was deposited with their first kill and then they began to search for a possible third one. By this time, Kilzanth had returned to the hunt.

Welcome back Kilzanth, nice catch Rolaranth greeted the younger bronze.

[Spirithawk]

Yours is a nice catch as well Rolaranth. The bronze wasn't going to let the fact that he had been scratched stop him from catching as many of the beasts as he could, if anything he was more determined to catch more of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

It wasn't long before the felines were all taken down. Each dragon had several of them and a variety of pelts. The riders were busy cleaning their kills while the dragons enjoyed the steaming hot meat.

Rhia finished cleaning Mneith's kills and accepted a canteen of water from one of the holders that had come to check on the progress of the hunt. "There's more where that came from brownrider so you use what you want." Rhia voiced her thanks and cleaned the blood from her arms as best she could. She didn't want to be attacked by the flies that were already swarming around the meat. Mneith rumbled as the flies annoyed him and began fanning his wings to keep them away.

"Some of those beasties had cubs Brownrider." Antoher holder walked up. "Lookit them dugs. This one was nursing."

Rhia chewed on her lip as she weighed the options. "We can't leave them. They'll either starve or manage to survivie to wreak havoc in this area again. I'll have to send someone out there after them. They shouldn't be too hard to find."

She glanced around. K'tan and Anassa hadn't had as many kills as the others because they were keeping the herdbeasts in chek. They could have the pelts of the cubs to make up for the fact that they couldn't kill as many of the others.

Mneith have K'tan and Anassa report to me please.

Very well. Vyralth, Priath, my rider needs to speak with yours.

[kestrel]

*K'tanmine, Mneith says that his wishes to speak with you and Anassa. I go to them.* the blue announced, and with that said, flew the short distance over to where Rhia was. K'tan was wondering what it could be about, though he'd seen the holders speaking with the woman thought that perhaps it had something to do with that. It surely wouldn't be about the herdbeasts. He and Anassa had not let any be lost over the edge of the ravine. So what about, then? He looked to see if Priath had joined them, nodding politely to the brownrider as he waited.

[Spirithawk]

Anassa tried to wipe the blood from her hands as best she could from the feline Priath had caught trying to sneak up on the runners. She wiped it on the grass and then headed off at a jog when Priath relayed the message that Rhia wanted them.

"You called?" She nodded to K'tan as she approached.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The herders said that there are some felines with missing cubs. He said it should be easy to find them. I don't want to send just one person in case they are viscious. I figured that since you two were keeping track of the herdbeasts you didn't get as many felines as the others did. The pelts of the cubs should fetch a good price and we can't let them escape into the jungle and grow into another pack like this one. Be careful. The herders have some longer knives that you can use. They can point you in the right direction. Have your dragons fly over just in case you need help. They will hear you and we will come to your rescue."

[Sparrow]

Rolaranth deposited the two felines that he had grabbed on the ground and Sh’rel dismounted. The Brownrider quickly removed the hides and let Rolaranth have the rest. Pretty soon Rolaranth was snoozing contently in a patch of sun. Sh’rel had cleaned his hands with a bit of water that one of the holders offered him and now sat leaning against the belly of Rolaranth swatting at the flies that had been attracted by the kills. The two hides lay on the ground, one was a dark brown almost black and the other was a dark reddish brown. The latter was the one that Rolaranth had not killed too cleanly but it would still fetch a decent price.

((I know it’s not much but I needed to post))

[kestrel]

K'tan raised an eyebrow slightly at the blood Anassa had on her, smirking slightly. He wasn't really much for the whole 'feline killing' himself. He knew they were dangerous to the herds and Weyr, and even dragons and riders if they took a mind to it. However, he took no real pleasure in killing things. Obviously, the carnivourous Vyralth wasn't even phased by it, really. It was meat, and marks in his rider's pocket. What did it matter, then? But it was the thought of cubs that made him twinge with an odd feeling inwardly. Cubs couldn't be left to starve, they couldn't be left to grow alone and repopulate the area. He understood that. But it made his stomach clench up nonetheless, even as he smiled and nodded politely, and responded, "that's true-shall we, then?" the last to Anassa, before he jerked his head off into the direction the felines seemed to be coming from.

Vyralth was puzzled by his rider's feelings-it was like K'tan was bothered by something, though he was almost trying to sheild it from the blue. it had been at the mention of going after the cubs, though, and Vyralth was, if nothing else, a smart dragon. He didn't say anything, but the idea that Ktan wasn't pleased at the task given him did seem to be the case...

[Spirithawk]

Anassa grimaced. She didn't want to kill young cubs but that was her orders. She had to follow orders. Christae had put Rhia in charge of them since she couldn't come herself with her gravid Queen. She nodded when K'tan asked if she was ready.

"As ready as I'll ever be." The holders were waiting at the edge of the jungle. They pointed out some of the tracks and told them to holler if they had any problems. Their dragons would be acting as lookouts but the Holders didn't really know that. Anassa took the knife that the Holder offered her and headed into the growth, following the tracks that the felines had left. The moist soil held their tracks well. It wouldn't have been as easy to track them if it hadn't rained the day before. The humid air kept the soil moist but not muddy.

It wasn't long before Anassa and K'tan found the den. There were at least two litters of half-grown cubs in the den. The riders had found them just in time. In a few more weeks they would have been big enough to hunt on their own. For now they still needed their mother's milk but they were almost old enough to fend for themselves. The cubs snarled at the riders as Anassa approached.

"Let's get this over with. I don't really want to kill babies but these will die if we don't and they are viscious."

[kestrel]

K'tan followed Anassa into the dense forested shrubbery, walking on in silence, the feeling of having his stomach all twisted up in knots only getting worse as they went on. He felt almost silly-feelings like this were unwarrented, really. He'd been given a job to do, and orders were meant to be followed. He took no pleasure in following them, however. There were two dens in sight, both had cubs in them. He felt rather queasy looking at them, even though they snarled and spat ferociously. They were...cute. Not a very 'manly' way to look at them, but nonetheless...he felt ill just looking at them.

K'tan swallowed back a wave of nausea, trying to remember how the bigger felines had wrought so much destruction. How Kilzanth had been attacked. This needed to be done. So, without thinking about it, he braced himself, and went to work. There were only four of them in the den he went into, silently and feeling like a harbringer of death all of a sudden. He wore thick riding gloves, and it was over in a matter of a minute. He wasted no time, but made the going quick and painless. As he turned to leave, he heard a weak sort of mewling coming from further back in the den, and grimaced. He'd thought it was over and done with. He had the cubs as proof, he would not waste their furs, since he'd had to take their lives.

He walked further back in, where a shaft of light pierced the cavern. There, lying in the corner was a cub who seemed to have wandered astray from the rest. It wasn't snarling at him, though it growled a little at his approach. He went to pick it up, and though it cringed down, it didn't attempt to strike out at him like the rest had done. K'tan let out a line of curses, looking nervously behind him as he did so.

*What is wrong, mine? You seem very upset...it is one more only, and then no more need be done,* Vyralth said, picking up on the severe inner conflict in K'tan's heart and mind. However, the rider only looked behind him once more, and sent back warily, ~yes...only one more, and I haven't the will to do it. The four were bad enough, but at least they were quite viscious little things. This one doesn't even put up a fight-I feel like I'm going to kill something utterly defenseless!~

*Then perhaps you should take it to Anassa, and let her do it, if it troubles you so,* the blue said reasonably. K'tan sighed and shook his head, even if Vyralth couldn't see.

~Vyralth, I can't even bring myself to do that, but nor can I leave it here...~ he trailed off, and wasn't surprised to hear back,

*You are not thinking...oh my. You are. You had better hope Anassa does not see or hear it. This could be trouble. Remember that I had nothing to do with this,* the blue dragon said smugly, and then, as K'tan cleared out a space in his knapsack and placed the cub inside, Vyralth merely sent a hint of what would have been a snicker.

K'tan walked out of the cave, sure that the cub was wrapped up and secure, and could not get out. It was being pretty silent and still-it had looked like it was underfed, and perhaps pushed aside, even...he silently hoped to Faranth it wouldn't give itself away...

No such luck.

"Anassa, here are the ones I fou-"

"Mew."

"Inside the cave!" K'tan cursed the kitten for moving now, when he was talking, and making noise. Would she have heard? He had only paused a split second, and so...

"Did you get all yours? There were only four in-"

"Mew."

"Mine! Um, ready to go?" Would the nervous look give him away? His knapsack moved. He couldn't see what was going on, he was sweating nervously by now, and so there was no way he could have seen the head that was poking up over and behind his left shoulder. The kitten was younger than the rest of the ones inside the den, and it blinked at Anassa, K'tan totally unawares!

[Spirithawk]

Anassa emerged from the other den, her hands covered in blood. Some of the blood was from the felines but not all of it. There was a nice sized gash across her arm "Little monster caught me." She was too preoccupied with the burning in her arm to really pay attention to K'tan.

"There were 5 in mine. I hate killing babies but after seeing what they did to Kilzanth and that runner carcass by the edge of the ravine I just bit my lip and did it. I wish Rhia had sent someone else. I wasn't paying attention and one of them caught me. It's not deep but I need to get it cleaned as soon as possible and get some numbweed. I don't know what kind of diseases they harbored."

She glanced around behind her and then looked up. Her eyes widened. "Uh..K'tan?" She gulped. "There's a feline on your back. Hold still."

The kitten poking its head out of K'tan's pack was tiny compared to the little monsters she had dealt with. It was downright cute but she didn't want to risk it mauling K'tan. It could really hurt him if it decided to attack him in the back of the neck. She raised her knife but it was a half-hearted gesture. She could force herself to kill the others but this one didn't seem to be trying to kill K'tan like the others had been trying to kill her. It mewed again and she bit her lip.

[kestrel]

K'tan was nervous that he'd be discovered, but when Anassa mentioned she'd been hurt, he nodded in concern, and then said, "there's a stream nearby-the water is clean and fresh and you can wash out the wound there. I have numbweed and bandage wrappings in my pa-" In his pack. He turned a bit of a paler shade, but then he saw Anassa's face.

He took a step back when she raised her knife, but he didn't miss that she looked reluctant. He sighed heavily, knowing that he was 'busted' now, and he couldn't simply pretend that the feline cub wasn't there, now that it had made itself seen. It batted playfully at a strand of his hair, though its claws were not unsheathed. It was too young to be viscious, and it didn't know better than to not be afraid of people. It must've been a few weeks old, it looked younger than the rest he'd had to take care of.

He looked Anassa in the eye, and then said with a hint of boyish defiance, "I couldn't kill it. I took care of the rest, but it didn't even attempt to fight back. It's young..." he trailed off, and then said quickly, "maybe it can be tamed! It's so young that I bet it hasn't even had time to know how to react to others. It seems friendly enough, and no one would have to know for now!" He sounded half helpless, because if Anassa didn't agree to keep this a secret, he'd have to...well, he didn't want to...he looked at her, eyes imploring. She'd just said she hadn't liked killing the babies-maybe she would see things as he did? He had his own Weyr. He could hide it in there, and it was way easier than caring for a dragon! He could feed it and train it...maybe it would even be useful? He had to try, and he heard Vyralth's amused draconic chuckle in the background. Vyralth didn't want to see it killed, either. But in the end? It was up to Anassa. He took it up out of his pack, holding it in his arms like a child, paws askew in the air. It made no effort to escape or struggle, it actually seemed happy to be there. His own hands he'd quickly cleaned free of the blood, he hadn't been able to stand the smell of the dead feline cub's blood, he felt wrong even though he knew they were old enough to be a threat-just look at Anassa. She'd been attacked by one.

[Spirithawk]

I can't bring myself to kill another baby.

Won't you get in trouble?

Probably but I still can't bring myself to do it.

I see what you mean. It is rather cute.

"Shells and shards what a pair of softies we are." She said. She walked off to the stream to clean her cut and called back over her shoulder. "If we get caught with the creature I am blaming it on you."

She hissed as the cold water poured over the long but shallow gash on her arm. "Shards that burns." She was swearing more than she usually did but she didn't think K'tan would say anything. Its not like she was back at the Harper Hall or her parent's Hold.

"If he turns viscious you will have to kill him. It is a he isn't it?"

[kestrel]

K'tan had made ready a few retorts if Anassa said he'd have to do away with the little cub. However, he could see the look of reluctance on her face, and clearly realized the look that said she was conversing with her dragon. He held his breath in anticipation of her answer, only hoping it was in agreeance with him. He was rewarded when she comfirmed that he was to take the blame if he was caught with the cub. He wouldn't be caught, not with a Weyr and a dragon of his own! When he couldn't watch the cub for whatever reason, Vyralth could. Maybe even Anassa-if she wanted to.

He grinned his quirky grin, and nodded ferverently, "of course I will! If anyone asks, you had nothing to do with this!" He removed the cub from his pack, just as she said that he'd have to kill it if it got viscious. She was right, though, and he knew it. "Well, then I'd better see it never comes to that, hrm? I bet it can be tamed just fine. It's probably no more than about seven or so sevendays old. Probably just starting to eat solid foods." He hoped so, at least. There were concoctions one could make for baby felines that would likely do the same for this one, but it would complicate things a whole lot more if that were the case.

He cradled the cub in one arm, while getting the numbweed and gauze wrappings out of his pack, and carrying them over to Anassa. "I can fix that up right proper when you're done giving it a good clean. Make sure there's no dirt inside it-wouldn't want it to get infected..." What she'd said about the felines harbouring diseases, though, bothered him a tad. She'd gotten blood in there-whatever they had, she was more than a little prone to getting. However, felines hadn't carried diseases in these parts for so many turns, it was highly unlikely she'd get anything more than cat scratch fever, at the very worst-nothing at all hopefully, though.

*You do realize that this makes things complicated, don't you? I will have to stay nearer the Weyr when you are in the dining hall, or doing your duties. You are fortunate Thread does not fall, and it will have time to grow before it does. However, when it grows large, how will you hide it then?*

K'tan didn't reply right away, but answered Anassa instead, "yes, it's male, by the looks of it. How did you guess?" he asked curiously. The only way he'd been able to tell was when it had flipped over on its back. Woman's intuition, perhaps? Then he realized that he should probably give it a name, when he could think of one.

[Spirithawk]

She smiled reluctantly. "He may be young but remember he's not like our domesticated felines. I have to admit, he's cute."

Anassa looked down at the cuts she had just cleaned and then stuck her arm back into the water to scrub them again. "You can't be too careful." She said through gritted teeth.

"I think I remember reading somewhere that male felines have broader faces or something like that. I had a cold once and started reading up on the Southern Continent because I hoped to be stationed there as a Journeyman Harper but I was searched not long before I was due to walk the tables. I picked up all sorts of useless trivia from the Hall archives. Faranth knows I spent too many evenings copying old Records."

"What are you going to name him?" she held her arm out for him to see the gashes.

[Wolf]

{ OOC| Just thought I’d officially wrap up R’xis here, no need to acknowledge him. xD }

R’xis had managed to take down some of the beasts, well, more like Ersith had managed to. R’xis had just come along to support her, and give her direction. He knew that Ersith would likely take all the credit for the large cats they had killed, and he didn’t mind in the least bit. After this task, though he knew that the creatures were deadly, he was starting to take on the same view as Wolf. ‘Animals lives are still lives, but we must do what we have to,’ he reminded himself. ‘As long as Wolf doesn’t have to. I wouldn’t want her going against her whole ideal moral code thing she’s got going in that head of hers,’ R’xis thought. He smiled gently while thinking about his sister, he really did love her.

R’xis, the others are taking care of those that are left, would you like to return to our weyr? I’m sure that now would be a good time for you to eat something, you seem famished to me.
So kind of you to notice Ersith, thank you. Ersith did take good care of him, didn’t she? It was really hard to determine who the dragon was and who the rider was. Of course, R’xis trying to carry Ersith would be a definite fail, he bet Akki would love to see him try.
Oh I’d get a kick out of you trying too, Ersith said; on the flight back.
You get a kick out of just about anything Ersith, be fair.
R’xis pretended as if he’d meant his words as a scolding, but really, he’d just been giving into engaging in banter.

[kestrel]

K'tan raised one eyebrow quizzically as he opened the jar of numbweed. He hadn't known Anassa was at Harper Hall before coming to Dark Moon. In fact, he didn't really know much about her at all. So, he said curiously, "oh? I didn't know you were going to be a Harper...think you'll walk the tables in the future? Some still do, even after impressing, you know." He smiled at her as he gently applied the numbweed.

She was right-those claw marks were nothing like the simple scratches a domesticated feline would give. A pack of felines had been known to go after a dragon, even! They were far bigger, and far more dangerous. However, no one had likely ever tried to tame one...and if they had, he was sure that they just hadn't heard of it. Still, looking at the gash on Anassa's arm, he made a silent oath to make sure that this feline never ended up like its wild kin. It was young, he had plenty of time yet, and he would take full responsibility for...taking care of things...if it ever did.

"A name?" K'tan blinked once in surprise-yes, she was right. It was his, he was going to have to call it something. He wracked his brains for something that would suit the little beast, and then said, "I think I'll call him Kyou. Short and simple, but it works. He smiled and ruffled the little feline's head, making it purr. Well he hadn't known that they could do that! Guess this would be a learning experience for him, too!

He finished applying the numbweed, and then he took out the bandage wrappings, and applied them over the wound, wrapping them up so that they were a tad tight, but not uncomfortably so. "There," he announced. A job well done. Then, another thought hit him, but he was relieved that the solution wasn't too bad. He had his own Weyr as a rider-heavens forbid he found this as a Weyrling! He would have to construct a sort of holding pen for the feline. It could climb over anything without a top that was made of wood, but he didn't want it to be too small and unfair to the little critter. Of course he would take it outdoors plenty-he was a rider, and not a Wingleader or Weyrleader, or a Weyrlingmaster. He could afford to spend his extra time doing as he chose. Since Vyralth was a full grown dragon, he could hunt for the feline while Vyralth was out hunting for himself. Maye Vyralth would even share?
*I heard that thought. I suppose I could, at that. He doesn't look like he eats very much,* the blue acquiesed. K'tan was glad he'd not gotten an over pomptuous bronze at that moment. Dragons weren't apt about sharing their kills. Vyralth seemed pleased with that thought, to say the least.

Turning to Anassa, he asked, "so, what now? We're going to have to report back to Rhia. I can't do that with this little guy here. And I have nothing in my Weyr in which to hold him, or else I'd just drop him off and come back. I don't want to tie him to my bed post just yet-he might very well strangle himself. The cub wasn't trained to be quiet in his pack, either. This was not a very good situation.