Logs:You Know Who?
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| RL Date: 1 June, 2009 |
| Who: A'son, K'del, Leova, Tiriana |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: K'del has received a note from the thieves, and brings in Leova and A'son to formulate a plan. Tiriana joins them, with issues of her own. |
| Where: K'del's Weyr, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 20, Month 11, Turn 19 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Milani/Mentions, Riahla/Mentions, Suireh/Mentions |
| It's evening, when the summons comes, Cadejoth uncharacteristically serious as he reaches out for Vrianth and Nikoth. « We've news, » he reports, chains restrained almost to the point of stillness, except for the odd subtle twang of one swinging against the other. « From Them. Are yours free? Can they come and talk? Now? Or later? We'll be home. » Waiting. But he doesn't say that. For that, Vrianth depicts an intensely vivid smell-o-rama version of a certain nameless dragonet who has discovered the joys thicktail, /already/. « They must wait for Isath's, » she takes the initiative of volunteering for herself and Nikoth both, a low-level haze of static evidence of what she thinks about /that/... though it also carries the strong implication that surely his rider's weyr should smell better. It had better. Nikoth's response isn't nearly as intense and vivid as Vrianth's. It's very hazy and just sort of a blurry representation of the barracks. Or rather, what he thinks the barracks look like and what appears to be A'son asleep on a couch there. « We'll come. Mine says just give us "five minutes".» When those minutes have passed, the stomping sound of a certain bronzerider can be heard approaching. Gross. /That/ is what Cadejoth thinks about thicktail, and the sensations Vrianth is sending back. /His/ weyr is definitely preferable, though, despite this, there's a lingering curiosity about those weyrlings, and all the secrets that go on within the barracks. « When they're available, then, » is what he says however, focused and certain. By the time A'son arrives, K'del is waiting, finger a piece of hide carefully from his seat near the hearth. It takes Leova longer, maybe ten-or-fifteen minutes' worth, possibly an eternity from Vrianth's point of view, before she's briskly taking the stairs. And yes, she's washed up first. A'son steps in, shrugging his jacket off once he's away from the elements. "You got news?" He asks, foregoing any sort of hello or introdution. He looks over at him while he pulls his gloves off. "Leova might be a few minutes behind me. She's just taking care of something down at the barracks." "Yeah," is K'del's response, and it sounds tired, teenage, distinctly less than thrilled. But he motions towards the empty seats, the whiskey bottle and glasses on the table, adding, "Cadejoth mentioned. Smelled awful. We'll wait for her." He doesn't have much to say, in the intervening time before the greenrider shows up, and then, in lieu of an actual greeting, "They're making threats." The letter, between his fingers, gets turned over once more. Amber eyes flick towards the younger man, towards the paper he's holding. Leova shrugs out of her jacket, first thing, and pushes up her sleeves like it might take a while. "What kind?" She doesn't sit, yet. Roams, instead: by the couch, behind the couch, by a chair, away. A'son settles down in a chair, likely the same one he sat in originally all those weeks earlier. He holds his hand out, "Can I see it?" As if there might be some telling clue in there, however likely it might be. When Leova arrives, he looks over his shoulder to her and wiggles the fingers of his other hand at her. K'del holds on to that note, head shaking at A'son, until Leova arrives; then, he hands it over, though his fingers linger, as though he's wary of letting it out of his grasp. "Return their boy, or they'll take one of ours. Though looks like they've already been at that, outside the weyr. Can only assume they intend to grab someone from the weyr." At that, yet another change of route takes Leova to lean over the older bronzerider's shoulder, braced on the back of his chair so she can read too. And scoff, only that smoky voice of hers has gotten itself a dark tinge that /wishes/ the note were so easy to dismiss: "You know who. /Really/." Her eyes lift. "Tiriana? She seen it." A'son plucks the letter back from his lingering fingers. Dark eyes scan it over quickly and then they falter when he reaches the end. Then he starts to just laugh and hands it over his shoulder to where Leova is roaming, despite her having it read it already. "You know who?" This is probably not the best time for laughter, but he can't seem to help himself. "If we knew /who/, we'd have them already. What a terrible joke!" After taking a few deep breaths, the bronzerider composes himself. "There's no way we can just /give/ the kid over. He's obviously important to someone. If we go there with him there needs to be some provision. So we can /snatch/ another one of them. You know? A trap, a real one this time." K'del can't manage laughter, nor even a smile, just nods his head slowly. As Leova lifts her gaze, he turns his slightly, away, shaking his head. "Not yet. Wanted a... plan of action. Or inaction. Before. Only arrived today, this afternoon. Dropped back in here after lunch to pick some things up, and... Firelizard, was waiting for me." He continues talking almost seamlessly, though it's obvious his attention has shifted towards A'son: "Won't they then aim to take one of ours, anyway, if we do that? Could be risky. Don't want anyone taken." "High Reaches Hold," Leova adds in somewhere after a brief nod's acknowledgement of not-Tiriana, not yet. She leaves space for discussion of risk, but when there's room: "'S pretty vague. Could be /anywhere/." She eyes the handwriting, gauging it: does it look educated? Clumsy-on-purpose? Ink or charcoal or what? What it's written on gets the same examination. "Don't suppose Cadejoth caught it. The firelizard. Don't suppose bandings either. Color? What shape was it in? Makes me wonder... how it knew to come /here/. Actually." "What plenty of people say is just... give the boy to them. But then that sends the message that we're going to just give in to any demand of theirs that they have." A'son shrugs his shoulders, "Like I'm sure you already know." He's hoping K'del does, at any rate. "And if we don't give him to them? They'll take someone. But who? It'd have to be someone important to us or why would /they/ think we'd even care?" He strokes the goatee growing on his face now. "Someone easy to take." Then he's shaking his head, frowning. "If we go there with him. Drop him off and keep an eye out with riders? Maybe somebody could track them." When Leova speaks his eyebrows furrow together. "Good point. Firelizard needs an image to between someplace. Or at least general knowledge of High Reachces in order to find /yours/ specifically." "I'd care," says K'del, simply, of this idea of someone being taken, though it comes after a firm nod: he knows that just giving in sends the wrong message. None of it seems to make him very comfortable; he shifts in his seat, glances at his shoes, then up again. The note is unremarkable: written on a scrap of hide, obviously quickly, though whoever wrote it is clearly not uneducated. Charcoal. "No; soon as he dropped the note, he zipped away again. Too fast. Blue. Seemed healthy enough, but I barely saw." A'son's idea gets a few nods, haphazard, and then, "Someone who's been here before, then. Or - to the weyr, at least, and could guess from there. I don't know." Leova's eyes have gone and narrowed, and she says on that same speculative note, "Don't know a whole lot about firelizards. Vrianth wants one, but," that's off topic. So: "Don't know about /directing/ them like that. Might talk to someone who does. Because if it /is/ someone who's been here..." She adds after a moment, "If it's at the Hold. Well. We already knew they could travel. But: how much talk's there been with the Lord? Want him on our side, I reckon." "I'd care too. We'd all /care/. But how would /they/ know that we care? I think if they're threatening to grab someone they'll make sure it's someone we'd notice was missing." A'son continues to rub his face, "I don't think that I know anyone that well who's got firelizards." Mention of the Lord makes him lift his hand, "Probably want to mention to the Lord that these bandits are going to hanging around in his main place of residence around the 27th." K'del's hands lift, his shoulders, too. "Don't know much, either. Milani's got one, but... Maybe her mother? They'll assume we care. Reckon they think we're soft, touchy-feely, anyway. Probably are, I guess." His head tips into a nod, careful; "Lord Rynien's been pretty good; we're friendly enough. I'll let him know. Maybe they can help." Though he doesn't sound convinced. "So. We drop him off, keep a tail on him? Dragons watching from above, people to blend in on the grond?" "Emilly's got more experience," Leova agrees. "Niena. Others. /Did/ he ever give up his uncle's name? His cothold? Don't know that I heard everything that went down, what with the hatching and people /here/ for the hatching and all." She pushes away from the chair, gets back to pacing, like somehow examining K'del's decor is going to be a clue. "If I wanted my kid back? My nephew? I wouldn't just grab some guy. And," A'son glances to Leova, "I heard the way they reacted when we said we'd bring them in." His eyes shift on back to K'del. "Like we were taking them to the worst place on the Pern. I'd assume they're going to do the worst." The bronzerider's hand has migrated from his face to his forehead where it rubs away at the lines there. "There are only so many ways out of the main hold. Someone should follow him straight away from the drop off point, but there should be others outside the exits of the Hold. I imagine dragons flying overhead would be noticed by someone on the ground. Plus they'd be looking for it?" "Guess I'll talk to Emilly, then." K'del does not look terribly thrilled at this prospect, but nods, at least. "Yeah, we found where he was from. Uncle's been away for a while; they've no idea where he is. Seemed very confused by the interest. At this rate, won't get back before spring, I guess." His reaction to what A'son says is to nod, very slowly, lips drawing up into a grimace. "Right. No dragons. But people on the ground, keeping an eye out. To follow." Leova's got a brief nod back to A'son, only then, once she's heard K'del out: "Pity we can't just drop him off by his cothold, then. Considering." She rakes a hand through her hair, leaves her fingers tangled there for a moment before dropping them free. "And be careful, not that it's a distraction from something else. Want to make sure the twins stay all right," this in a quieter voice. "Just drop him off by his cothold." A'son repeats this part and then narrows his eyes, looking over to K'del and then back at Leova. "Why the hell /wouldn't/ they just ask to have him dropped off at his cothold? They must know by now that we've been there or we've gotten it out of him." His lips press together before saying, "Keep someone watching his cothold on the 27th. Just in case." For the part about 'twins', he looks at Leova and seems confused by this reference. "Because they want to be able to confirm that he's there and safe, so that if he's not, they can come straight to us," says K'del, wihtout hesitation. "Drop him off at the cothold, and they have to get confirmation of too much." He seems quicker to get reference to the twins, because he goes quite still at mention of it, and stays that way until, finally, a nod. Though by this point, he looks a little surprised by it. "Got to keep our guard up here, too. In case. Not going to let that happen. Not them, or Milani, or-- anyone." Leova swings a quick glance at A'son at that question, only K'del answers, and with it the set of her shoulders relaxes if not the press of her mouth. In the end, still quietly, "Seems more likely he'd... forgive me, K'del... go after your family, or Tiriana's. Than Satiet's. Now." Her glance has found the older bronzerider by then, not happily. It slips away. "Watch the papers you leave around, K'del. Not that a firelizard goes... exploring. /Wish/ we knew more... do we? ...about that uncle. What kind of man he was. Who his friends were. Whether any of them up and disappeared too." "They're going to be hiding out at either locale. And they obviously have firelizards to use. I don't think communication for them is a problem." When the begin bringing up guarding people's families, forgiveness, he holds up his hand. "Hold on a second here, kids. If you're going to talk about random things in the past that involve someone being out to /get/ you, maybe, possibly? Who's he? Why is he going after someone's twins... now." Suspicion begins to set in as he looks between the two of them. Some of the colour fades from K'del's cheeks at mention of his family; he notes, "I'm not sure how many people know where I'm from, but it's certainly easier to get to mine than Tiriana's. I'll..." He breaks off, goes silent for a moment, then changes tack completely. "Don't know, A'son. Just thoughts. Mostly thinking that Satiet's kids'd be a target close to home for a lot of people." For the rest: nods, some slower, some faster, and, finally, "Not much. About the uncle, I mean. Family didn't have much to say; good husband, good father. Looking after his family by taking extra work, is all. Don't think they had much of an idea more than that." Kids: the word earns a light cuff of traveling Leova's hand aimed upside A'son's head, once she's near enough, before she moves off yet again. "/Father/. Hmm. They speak of any hurts the cothold was in? Whether he gambled. Any of that. What kind of money he might have sent back." And back to the supposed-random: "What he said, A'son. Don't know that the uncle's the mastermind or nothing, but he's the only one we know anything about, hm? And... put it this way. If someone were going to take a hostage to make /you/ change your mind about something. And you had the will and the strategy and the access to do it. Who'd they take, for you?" "No, she said /he/. And mentioned that she'd think this /he/ would have likely /forgiven/ her. And that they'd be after your family or Tiriana's? I'm not deaf?" A'son poses it as a question as he points to either ear. Just in case K'del hasn't noticed they're there. "If there's someone out there, some threat. Some other threat, I want to know. Unless I'm misunderstanding what Leova said?" Uplifted eyebrow here. A'son looks at Leova when she asks the question and then points once into K'del's bedroom and then across to the entrance to the bowl. "Isn't it obvious? They'd take /Milani/. They'd take our Headwoman. The person without a dragon to protect them. A person who thinks she can wander around and handle anything, goes out all the time to gathers. A person that if we lost her right now? We'd all be really fucked." "Just that it had been a bad turn. Couple of turns, maybe. He said that, too. Didn't say anything about whether they'd received anything. Yet. Didn't look terribly well provisioned, though, for this time of turn, so maybe nothing." That much he gets out before A'son starts, and though he first looks confused, that fades away fairly quickly under the weight of what the other bronzerider has to say. He goes quite still, quite silent. Evidently, that possibility hadn't occurred to him. Finally: "Fuck. Yes." Was he paler before? Twice as much, now, his knuckles on the armrest of his seat white as he clenches his fist. "Forgive?" Leova's gone narrow-eyed again, not that she's ever really lost it in this talk just now. And then, "If you mean /she/, for /me/: was talking about K'del. Turn of speech. Forgive-me-for-saying-this-awkward-thing-but: like that." She doesn't bother aiming to cuff A'son for that: more importantly, "It /would/ be Millie. If they knew us... wouldn't necessarily even take knowing us that well. Actually." A deeper breath, "Not that it couldn't be someone else, but Millie... would be the best." A'son stares at the greenrider for a second and when she explains, he stares a few seconds longer. His cheeks take on a healthy flush and then he laughs. "Oh. I thought... Nevermind." The pointing hand goes to the side of his face. "Easy solution to this: Milani gets fifteen bodyguards at all times." Pause, "Maybe a little less than that. But she gets watched, she doesn't go anywhere special for fun. She's on lockdown until this mess is sorted out." His eyes go to K'del's clutched fists and he shakes his head. "Calm down, kid. She's not going anywhere." A'son's 'kid' would usually make K'del wince more, but that kind of thing doesn't seem to be affecting the younger bronzerider tonight. "Don't like to think of it. Of them considering it." He takes in a deep breath. "She's going to hate it. Being... watched. Restricted. But. Right. Even ignoring everything, she'd be obvious." Breathe. Breathe. "We'd just better catch them, then. Soon. The twenty-seventh... We have a little bit of time." It's only this that relaxes the tension in Leova's expression, at least to the degree that it does: A'son's laugh. At least, to the degree it remains that way, before she's pacing again. "With what leads," she says, wandering along by the fireplace, less for heat than to check for knickknacks to fidget with. And: "/Got/ to have the Lord's help: people he wouldn't expect. If they're not in on it too... only if we think too hard about that, then we're suspecting everybody." Tiriana heads in from the Weyrleaders' complex. "She's going to have to suck it up." A'son points out, with his eyebrows lifted. "It's not like it's going to be your fault. It's just the situation." His hands are held out before him and he begins ticking fingers down. "Things you plan on us doing." The 'you' there is emphasized. "Put some riders on Milani's tail to keep her safe. Maybe you or K'del should break the news to her?" He looks over his shoulder at Leova and her pacing before turning back to the young Weyrleader. "Get at least one guy to fly over that hold on the drop off date. Maybe it's nothing or... maybe it's something? Couldn't hurt? Then, arrange a party for the /actual/ dropping off of Jamden." Three fingers are down. Now he points at the teenager, "You need to tell Tiriana about this note, first off. Then you need to talk to Lord whatever his name is. And... was there something else..." He's looking down at his hands, like they're going to answer the question. "Try not to look worried." Was that it? He's not sure. "Have to trust Lord High Reaches," decides K'del. "Got no reason to believe he's in on it. He can pick loyal men. To help us out." A'son's litany draws more nods from the young rider. He and A'son are sitting, Leova wandering. It's evening, and none of them look all that pleased. "I'll tell her. She'll probably be h--" He breaks off. "I should be seeing her soon. And the rest... Right. Right." He can't keep the worry off his face, but he looks rueful, too. "Trying. Hard." Back in her place of honor on the ledge, Iovniath can keep a good, if subtle, eye on the various comings-and-goings around. But for all that, it's some time before Tiriana is returning from her day's duties, marching up the steps and straight to not her ledge but K'del's, hands already fists. Such good timing she has. "K'del! K'del." "She's got a firelizard," Leova reminds, toying with the empty brandy bottle, making it rotate around and around in place. "Big help there. 'Less...." The greenrider doesn't say forgive-me this time, just sets her chin. "'Less she's kept where she can't see. Knocked out. Like that." She's got a nod for K'del, for trust, for loyalty, then: "Could get some people to camp out /ahead/ of time. Except smoke shows." And without it? Brr. "/Still/ got to track where the stuff went and," in comes Tiriana, and her fingers still on the fine glass along with the rest of her. Silent. "Maybe send someone to check out the are around that waystation that got sacked. See if there's /something/ there. We need to find something." A'son repeats what they've all said there, dropping his hands. "She should sleep someplace safe too. Above ground. May-" It gets cut off there because then Tiriana is marching her way into the situation, "Evening." He'll say calmly once she arrives. "Some people could camp out ahead. If they don't mind freezing." "That's probably what they'd do, though," puts in K'del, for Leova's remarks. "Just got to make sure they don't get her in the first place, is all." More nods, his mouth opening for a response, and probably also to disagree with A'son's comment of Milani sleeping above ground (SO not going to happen) and then, there's Tiriana instead. Now, he looks /distinctly/ rueful. "Tiriana. Good timing; got some things you should know." Distracting her from whatever she's going to blame him for always works, right? "Yes, you do," Tiriana says, though she hasn't a clue what, for sure. She stops just inside, her mouth pursing up as she frowns at the trio of plotters. Finally, "You better have a damn good plan this time. That lady--" She breaks off, scowls. But at least instead of breaking anything, she moves to flop herself down in a seat, too, heavily. "What are we going to do?" The greenrider's fingertips relinquish the bottle and its stopper, still silently, and she doesn't replace it with even one of the books as she drifts back behind Sonny-boy over there with her own, "Evening," added to his. Those amber eyes are watchful, quiet as the rest of her. A'son gestures in the direction of the younger bronzerider. Seeing as how he's recently just rehashed most of their conversation, he leaves it to him. "K'del has some things ready." But then he's really just quiet, eyes casting over to Leova momentarily. K'del is clearly taken aback by Tiriana's remarks, and gives her a searching look: what does she know? But, since no one else seems willing to say anything, "Made a threat, going to take one of ours if we don't return theirs. So. Someone'll fly over, on the drop off date. People undercover, to follow. Help from Lord High Reaches. Watch the cothold the boy comes from, too. And Milani. Because she'd be a logical choice, for someone to take. Have extra guards here, too." He casts a glance at the other two, brows raised: has he missed anything? "/What/?" says Tiriana, and so much for sitting; she's jumping back up, staring. "They're threatening /us/ now?" It's her turn to pace a few steps, worked up. "I had to go talk to that kid's mother. Tell her that yes, we're doing everything can. Yes, we're going to make them pay and get her kid back. And the best plan we've got is to send /Milani/ after them?" Frustrated, she glares at K'del. "What's she gonna do, keep them busy fucking until we can ride in and capture them all?" Leova stirs at last, and although she's gotten to leaning on the back of A'son's chair, she's straightened past it: no protection there. "The concern was, Tiriana, that our headwoman might be taken as a hostage," this with the greenrider's voice deliberately paced, not quiet, not hushed. "If it came to that. She's not a rider. Is more vulnerable. Could be made to talk about the innermost workings of the Weyr. Question is, though... if they wanted to influence /your/ behavior: who might they try for instead. If it came to that. Who should we protect." The conversation continues after this, with the eventual decision being that K'del will take Jamden, the prisoner, to High Reaches Hold, and that others will shadow him in the hopes of finding out more information. This will be coordinated by Tiriana. Eventually, Milani arrives to visit K'del, and gets briefed. Lucky girl, she gets to be protected for the next couple of weeks, until everything seems to have calmed down. |
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