(( OOC| Ahhhh. 8D Gotta' love first posts. ))

The cool and crisp feel of the airs this morning was refreshing, though there was hardly a single cloud in sight. The two moons were still visible, not having fully disappeared while Rukbat was giving off the first show of the light for the time of day. People were just stirring, getting ready to go off to work hard to provide for there families. Often people had two or more children, seeing as a rise in the population was always needed since it meant more people to help with the never-ending timberwork. The trees around Thyra Hold were highly valued, there use having more recently-over the years-become limited to just the Hold itself. Most agreed that is was the wisest decision, to ignore tithing to any Weyr, since Dragonrider’s made home there, yet on occasion there was one or two whom kept there mouths shut (while rare). Flitts were never seen in the skies and the same went for there larger cousin’s. Most disputed whether or not Dragon’s were even necessary for Pern’s survival, having naively brought up the idea of issuing more flamethrowers. When Thread came the people would really see just where’d they’d be with out Dragon’s to keep the Thread from eating there precious trees!

All of these idea’s and more went around and round in the head of a young girl whom was presently walking about her parents land, wanting to keep away from the home where her parents were starting there day. She’d done enough chores the day prior to make any many envious and had the bruises to show for it. Currently she just needed some time alone to walk through the open grassland, or perhaps take a walk in the plot of forest that her parents also owned. Either way she’d be spending an eventful day outdoors… Well one would assume that this day of hers would only bring loneliness and possible conversations that she’d have with herself, they’d be wrong. A rush of cold air brought from /between/ a Green flitt. The creature was chirruping wildly, hovering in front of the girl’s face.
“Calm Coral! You’ll bring both mother and father out here with the noise your making! What has up set you my friend?” She extended out an arm for the flitt to perch on, smiling warmly when she did so. She obtained a rush of emotions from the tiny creature: Love, hunger, and sadness. Mixed in with these given emotions were also some helpful images that brought the pair closer together. “I’m so sorry that we had to wait out here to feed you. You are spoiled you know, I don’t keep you from sleeping in my bed,” the teenager teased. Coral rubbed up against her bonded’s face, crooning all the while.

Rayya, the girl, took out a fresh chunk of meat from the carrying bag that was presently slung over her shoulder. She fed it to the Green, watching her swallow it down hastily. Coral then announced she wanted another, watching a chuckling Rayya reach back in to her bag to get a second chunk. “Of course you want more, when do you ever eat just one?” she asked. Rayya’s flitt lowered her tiny head, outspreading her shimmering wings, having just been oiled last night. “Don’t be shamed over it, its certainly all right! The better fed you are the better I feel, knowing that you’re happy.” The flitt chewed the next piece of meat more slowly, seeming satisfied by the time it was complete. “Your hide looks beautiful,” Rayya noticed, observing her flitt with care. “I did quite a fine job, didn’t I? It took me quite a bit to fetch that oil too, but I’m sure you appreciate it. Being itchy is no fun, no fun at all.” Coral’s faceted eyes whirred a calming blue while she moved on up to Rayya’s shoulder. “Good, my arm was getting tired anyhow,” Rayya said. She commence her walk once more, listening to the quiet, yet reassuring sounds, coming from her one and only-truest-friend.

((Tried to make up some excuse as to why a greenie would be over Thyra, so hopefully this works out. If not Nako, tell me and we'll fix it somehow lol))

Kiara leaned out over Milarth's left flank, scanning the grassland below her absently. She wasn't particularly fond of the extra watch duty assigned to make sure Thyra hadn't been plagued by a small Thread burrow, but their resources were important- even if they were rarely sent to the Weyr. Milarth swooped down slightly lower, and Kiara sensed a change in the green. What's up? Milarth swung her head around to make brief eye contact with her rider. There's someone down there.[i/] Kiara grimaced. [i]Well, go lower and we'll see what we have. The green obligingly swooped closer, and the blurry figure became clearer to Kiara. She saw with relief that it was only a young girl, not an angry Holder armed and ready to attack.

Nothing to worry about, keep flying. Milarth hesitated. My wings grow tired. Kiara swore. Bloody fine time to want a rest, dearheart. We're not exactly in neutral territory.
What's going to happen?? The green demanded heatedly. Is the girl going to spit on me? If she calls for reinforcements of some sort we'll be away between before she even moves. Stop being a brat. Kiara thumped the green's sides hard with her feet. Milarth was sure to have barely felt it, but retaliated with a sudden twist upside down as she swooped down to land a quarter mile or so from the girl.

Dismounting, Kiara stalked to face Milarth who was hunkered down defensively, ready to bicker. "And what, shardit, was that? Were you trying to kill me or just drop me off so I'm maimed? Do tell, I'm dying to know." The green snorted a puff of hot hair in Kiara's face and lashed her tail. You were strapped in quite securely and you know it. Just because you're grouchy today doesn't give you the right to be snarky with me. She nudged her rider a bit harder than perhaps she had to, and turned her head away firmly. I rest now if it pleases you, oh great master. "Like I have any choice in the matter." Kiara muttered. Rummaging in a bag, she pulled out a redfruit and settled down cross legged, watching through the grass to make sure the distant girl meant them no harm.

Coral began to chatter up a storm, ignoring Rayya's narrowed-eyed gaze and shushing. "Coral..." she hissed, "Coral!" Coral flew off of her shoulder, hovering in place stubbornly while still making a huge fuss. Rayya felt a much larger rush of air (something quite uncommon indeed when there happened to be no storm) and turned around in the direction her flitt was facing. All color completely drained from her face, and she stared at the scene in front of her with utter disbelief. "It can't be,” she whispered to herself, feeling her heart beat quicken. She looked to Coral, whom had quieted by this time, and seemed to be awaiting her approval to go and see the new arrivals. Rayya began to stutter, not knowing what to tell her, so the flitt grew impatient and flew on over anyways. The green landed on Milarth's head, folding her wings in to her side neatly while she crooned a greeting to her larger cousin. Apparently she was more then happy to see Milarth, regardless of what the Holder's would think or say on the matter!

Rayya, while hesitant, wasn't going to pass up on such a well-presented opportunity such as this. She walked, or more like ran, over to the pair. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and fixed the wrinkles in her shirt. Her heart wouldn't stop racing! Why would a Dragonrider, if having any sense at all, have stopped here? "Excuse me," she called out, stopping only once she was directly in front of where the rider sat. She looked down at Kiara, wide-eyed. She brought her voice level down a notch or two. "Do you know where you are Dragonrider? I must say, this is the worst of places to stop..." In all her terror, due to wondering whether or not the stories about Dragonrider's were true, she hadn't thought of what may have been a proper greeting for such a one. Her expression was quite neutral, revealing nothing of what she thought. The neutrality then turned to seriousness; "I'd hate to see what would befall you and your dragon if the Holder's decided to come running on back here..." She really didn't know what harm they could really do to a dragon, if they'd even dare to try. Her gaze then fell on Milarth, watching Coral fan her wings out pleasurably while still seated up on the dragon's head. "Don't mind Coral, I suppose that... well, she's never seen a dragon before. I haven't either, in all honesty." Rayya made a huffing sound, and then crossed her arms over her chest before returning her gaze back to Kiara. It was fairly difficult to make out whether or not the girl's huff had resulted in her disapproving of the dragon or in her disapproving that she hadn't seen any.

She didn't plan on giving away too much to the Dragonrider; after all, she didn't know what Kiara was here for. She very well could've been here to plan an attack on her household, and the other surrounding household's. If that is the case then she sure picked a fine time to take a break, she thought, not suspecting that taking a sit in enemy territory was on the list of intelligent things to do. Why any Dragonrider would want to attack Thyra, other then the fact that most of the Holder's were arrogant dimglow's and a pain to deal with, was beyond her. She'd really hoped that someday, somehow, she could learn something about the Weyr's with out it coming from those whom were biased. Could this be her chance? "What Weyr is it you're from?" she questioned.

((It's very well and fine to have a dragon in the territory. After all, they'd been having more dragonriders in the area since the raid, it's just they normally go to the main hold only. Shoot, I might end up throwing a character in eventually but I'll let you guys rp a while before I start butting in XD I'd imagine Kiara may have another dragonrider or two with her scanning other parts of the Hold. Till then, you guys have fun =D ))

Milarth's eyes flicked open immediately as she felt a new presence on her head, and she emitted the draconic equivalent of a groan. I thought you left the annoyances back in the weyr. Kiara turned, puzzled. "I did. Kana was annoying Kiah for a change, and Kami was-" she broke off, surprised to see a green firelizard perched on her dragon. Her head whipped around and she saw the girl sprinting towards them. "It must be hers, then." Milarth sighed, causing the grass around her to bend over nearly flat. Will I never be free of the beasts? Every time I try to nap.. Her mindvoice trailed off into incomprehensible mutters and the occasional noise of disgust.

Firelizards were the bane of the green's existence, Kiara reflected. She hadn't meant to bond so many- Kiah was the only intentional one. Kana was a gift, and Kami was purely an accident. The green had grabbed food from her that she was preparing to pass to another rider instead. While the trio was loving, if occasionally a bother, to Kiara, they shadowed every move Milarth made. They popped between if the green ever lost her temper, but soon reappeared and rejoined her again much to her dismay.

Inspecting the girl closely as she ran, Kiara was relieved to see she did not appear to be armed, and the expression in her face was more terrified than furious. That's bound to be a good sign. She remarked dryly to Milarth. As the girl approached and began to speak, Kiara listened impassively, raising an eyebrow at the mention of Holders confronting her. When Rayya stopped speaking, Kiara stood, brushing dirt and grass off her pants. "I'm Kiara, from Kharasi Weyr. And this is Milarth." She added hastily as the green flicked her tail against Kiara's ankle. "We were scouting with a few others to make sure no Thread had burrowed here. It would be a shame if errant Thread would stop caravans of goods from being exported." That last bit would be said completely deadpan, without batting an eyelash. "As for the Holders, I believe we could handle them." She grinned suddenly. Handling them meant vanishing between of course, but she let the other implication hang quietly in the air. After all, she still had no idea of the girl's motives.

Rayya nodded at the introductions, figuring she ought to give her own. When Kiara went in to an explanation of why her and Milarth were here she kept quiet to allow her time to give the full explanation. She could sense that the Greenrider was trying to make a point about mentioning the burrowing of Thread, and this point was not lost on Rayya. When Kiara made mention of handling the holder’s she could hardly believe that either dragon or partner would have meant it in a violent means. Neverthless, she kept her guard up. “I’ve heard of Kharasi,” she told her, supposing it’d be intelligent to express that she knew something when it came to life outside of Thyra. “I’m Rayya,” she introduced herself finally, “and that would be my friend Coral.” She diverted her eyes to the flitt, whom was curled up in a napping position. “Well I’m very sure that the both of you are capable of dealing with the Holder’s the fact still remains that you’re presently on my father’s land and he’ll not hear of Dragonrider’s coming anywhere near Thyra, let alone his dwelling.” She appeared saddened, frowning noticeably. “Well I do not share his opinions, preferring to figure things out for myself, I’m by no means equipped to deal with his discipline at such a time; no matter how long I’ve waited for an opportunity such as this to arrive.”

Rayya silenced herself once again, wondering just what kind-of person she was speaking to here. Coral was only ever both a loving and considerate friend to her, so she could only really imagine dragons being an amplification of the aforementioned two qualities. She studied Milarth with out fear, managing to find a temporary means of trust somewhere within her. “She’s beautiful,” she said quietly, not really haven’t meant to say what she was thinking aloud. After she was done her scan of the dragon she turned back to Kiara, not putting high hopes in her in case she wasn’t what she imagined her to be. Nothing can ever turn out perfectly, she reminded herself, never wanting to stray from a realistic path of thinking. This Greenrider was here one moment but too she could be gone the next. There was nothing that said that the life of a sixteen-turn old girl would matter, not when the fate of Pern was a far greater-far more important-thing to take care of. So, of course, continuing to check the area for burrowing Thread would be this Greenrider’s top priority if that were her assigned task. The likelihood of her seeing a Dragonrider again, and speaking to them, was zero.

Kiara laughed and rolled her eyes, patting Milarth's side fondly. "Now don't you go giving her a bigger ego than she's already got. She's not that great, trust me." But as she turned to share a smile with the dragon, her hazel eyes shone with the all-encompassing devotion and affection known only to dragonriders. Milarth in turn crooned back softly, eyes whirling more blue. Turning back to Rayya, Kiara absently rubbed some old, long-healed threadscores along Milarth's flank and back leg. "And as for being on your father's property, I do apologize. Milarth grew tired and asked for a short break." Her mouth twisted around the word ask- the green had certainly done no asking.

"I'd hate to get you in trouble, so we'll be leaving as soon as she deems ready. If it helps at all, we haven't seen any sign of life out here other than you so far, so I doubt he'll find out. I know all about harsh fathers, trust me." Her eyes flashed angrily at the memories that flared up, and her hand trembled for a moment before she returned it to her side. Milarth's head suddenly snaked above Kiara's shoulder, but rather than nuzzling her as she had expected, Kiara was surprised to see the green studying Rayya as intently as the girl had been studying her.

Taking a step aside, Kiara cocked her head curiously. Surely Milarth hadn't... of all the places.. I am sure. The green said decisively. Furrowing her forehead, Kiara looked from Milarth to Rayya and back again. The green had been inching closer, so Kiara firmly placed a hand on her leg. "Hey, cut it out before she thinks you want to eat her, you wherry." She sighed heavily, not sure how the girl would react to this news. "She's not trying to scare you, I promise. It's just... I think you've just been Searched." Kiara raised her arms and shrugged helplessly. You just HAD to Search in Thyra, huh? Couldn't have found a nice girl from Hurricane or even Ista, for Faranth's sake! Noo, you had to go and find the most difficult sharding prospect. How do you intend to get her out of here even if she somehow agrees?? Kiara demanded. Milarth huffed and replied testily, I don't see that being my concern. If I feel the spark, I tell you. That's how it goes. Anything beyond that is your problem, ridermine.

"Of course, this doesn't mean we're going to kidnap you out of your home. It's entirely up to you. Given the circumstances, I can see this being a rather... difficult.. decision to make." Kiara hesitated, thinking. "I suppose what Milarth and I could do is to continue with our original objective and make sure no Thread burrowed here. It should take only a few more hours at most. I also need to reconvene with my search partner soon anyways. If you decide you want to come back to Kharasi, you can meet us back here four candlemarks from now. How does that sound?" Bending down to retrieve her bag, Kiara began to refasten it to Milarth's straps to give Rayya a moment to consider. She wouldn't have been surprised if the girl decided to spit in her face rather than accept the Search, but there was always the chance. After all, she hadn't seemed to opposed to Milarth's presence so far.

((Hokay, this can give Nako time to jump in and meet up with Kiara on the next few posts if she wishes, and leaves room for Rayya to battle her inner Thyra demons before making her decision. :) ))

Rayya couldn’t suppress a chuckle, a smile escaping her as well when she looked down; fiddling with her hands. “Don’t apologize,” she told Kiara, “if she needs to rest then by all means let her.” The dragon was deserving of a break after a hard day’s work. Rayya knew that if she had sprouted wings she wouldn’t want to have to be using them with out letting up at some point, while that scenario was quite comical for her to picture. “Do you?” she questioned at the mention of harsh fathers. “He really is a pain, I won’t lie.” She looked up, keeping the conversation going. She smirked, only because what she said was true. “Rarely does he listen to a word any one says, or take opinions from others.” Her face had returned to that same serious look that she often had, and the life in her eyes was draining. “He won’t hear talk of Dragonrider’s.” She knew that her last comment would not come as a shock to the Greenrider since she was currently in a Hold that felt little respect for her kind. She felt as if she was on a roll, able to list off a ton of things her father had otherwise done in the past and/or said. Though, the way that Milarth was studying her all of a sudden made her surprisingly not lose her trust in the dragon but rather built it up. She stared in to the dragon’s faceted eyes, her own eyes going wide with wonderment. Just as she was about to ask what had gotten in to the Green no sooner had she been informed that she’d just been Searched.

”No, I haven’t,” was her slow to come response. Rayya was still staring at Milarth, her mind actually convincing her that Kiara was joking. She wasn’t going to say she was lying straight to her face, not wanting to offend her… but this came as an extreme shock to her! Coral awoke at her friend’s quick change in emotions. The Green flitt crooned soothingly, landing on Rayya’s shoulder to wrap about her neck loosely. Rayya ignored her flitt collar, trying to come to her senses as to make a final decision: Here and now. Rayya wasn’t one to take a long time to think about things, depending on what they were. Being offered a dream opportunity like this, her dream opportunity, seemed unreal. It did happen though… but just not to her. Regardless, “Four candlemarks from now, I’ll be here.” She turned back to her home and ran, ignoring the protest of her creeling flitt whom didn’t appreciate being jostled around by Rayya’s fast movement. All she could think about was getting in to her home and packing up everything that she could fit in her back bag and her side bag. She’d need clothing, food snacks, the two nice dresses that she owned for special occasions, and maybe even some of her reading material. She was sure that the reading opportunities at Kharasi were plausible and there must’ve been an endless supply of food and living necessities. She was sure that she wouldn’t have to bring much at all, which made her stomach feel less knotted. She went straight to her room, opening her side bag, which was now empty of raw meat. She wiped it out, doing her best to disinfect it. Then she threw in some meat rolls, but not before stuffing one in her mouth. The bag would probably hold those meat rolls alone, along with a dagger that she was adamant on bringing, while her knapsack would hold everything else. She went and grabbed it from underneath her bed, placing it a top the bed while she ran to her chest to gather together her clothes. She was assuming that she’d be given tunic’s to wear, so the clothes that she had here weren’t of any real value to her, other then her good ones (i.e. dresses). She took out her best two, and only two, dresses and folded them neatly before walking over to her bed to carefully put them in to her pack. Rayya sat down on her bed, looking around her room while deep in thought. Was that really all she needed? She had no possessions of high value, especially since she was completely out of marks, and she guessed that starting fresh meant getting new things-different things.

She found herself walking around outside again, taking one last turn of the grounds that she had become so fond of. It was the only thing that she was fond of, everything else about this place meant nothing to her. She was sure that Coral felt the same way, likely seeing home as the place where her bonded was. Rayya, for the life of her, couldn’t stop smiling. She was really getting out of this place, getting away from her parents, and from her future working with wood alongside her dad. She guessed that nothing had gone right for her in this place since her birth. The only company she’d ever grown accustom to having been her flitt, and her parents were just fine with that (not her flitt but her being completely alone). As long as Rayya didn’t complain then the world was right by them. I’ll be doing my own thing, she chuckled, shaking her head back and forth. The idea was foreign to her, but she knew that it wouldn’t be for much longer and she couldn’t remember a time when she’d been so excited about something before. Being excited, being happy, those things were sadly foreign to her as well. Coral was napping around her neck, seeming to have been doing a lot of that since Kiara and Milarth had showed-up. Maybe it’s a lot for her too…

Kiara nodded, but managed to keep a triumphant grin off her face. Barely. It had been ages since Milarth had Searched anyone, and Kiara had been slightly worried that her green had lost the talent. Of course not. I'm just picky. Milarth interjected touchily. Of course, dearheart. Now, if you've had enough rest, back to our duties. Taking the leg Milath proffered her, Kiara swung up and settled herself, watching Rayya disappear through the grass. "Away we go, then. And Milarth, contact our sweep partners and let them know what happened. They're welcome to join us here 4 candlemarks from now if they wish. Who knows, we may need backup if her parents find out." She winced, praying fervently that wouldn't happen. Milarth rumbled her assent and launched into the air, continuing the sweep.

((Joining, Nako? Not sure if we're looking for some conflict between the parents and dragonriders or not lol))

((Yeah, just give me a day or two. Technically a Weyr needs permission to Search.. even though technically it is their right. XD))

(( Augh,for the love of cheese.. I can't write this post to save my life. If I try, it's going to be made of utter fail. I'll give you guys the lowdown. The Lord Holder Shigan is taxing his people pretty heavily, probably more than necessary leaving little profit for the people. So, those who comply with search get a slight increase of the wares they are allowed to keep for personal profit. That will be tempting for anyone, even those who don't think highly of dragonriders. ;D Sorry I couldn't come up with a post ;_; ))

No one could have really expected what happened next… Well, actually, the whole situation was quite ironic. Rayya’s father came around to the land outback, which was ironic part, seeing as he was never home around this time. His immediate reaction to seeing his daughter in the distance was an unimpressed snort, automatically assuming that she was shirking responsibilities again; in that case he’d be right. He took another step toward her, readying himself to yell something out, but his mouth snapped shut when he saw the green flitt resting around his daughter’s neck like a choker. He gave the thinning brown hairs on his head an angry ruffle, walking all too quickly in Rayya’s exact direction. With the way that she was facing her only chance of spotting him would be for her green flitt to pick up the waves of anger coming off of the man, or to hear his stomping footsteps…

When Rayya’s father was a few feet away the green flitt woke out of its slumber with a creel, unwrapping itself from Rayya’s neck to shoot up high in to the air, beating its wings rapidly. Rayya gasped, the flitt’s nails having left a cut by her shoulder. She watched her creature go before looking about to see what had startled Coral so. It didn’t take her long to see that it was her red-faced father whom had disturbed the flitt, his hand shooting out to take a firm hold of her arm. “What is that thing doing here?” he shouted out, his eyes narrowed, and his chest heaving with his fast intakes of breathe. Rayya attempted to tug herself free but it was no use, so she simply stood there matching her father’s narrow-eyed gaze with one of her own.
“I could ask the same of you,” she replied in a quieter tone, keeping her cool… for now.
“I want it gone, and I want it gone now,” he told her through gritted teeth. “Your lucky I don’t just take a knife to that thing and do the whole lot of us some good! How did it get here?” he asked her, his voice continuing to rise in level.
“You don’t have a right to touch what’s not yours!” Now she was mad. “You’ll do no such thing and he’ll go nowhere!” She finally managed to tug her arm free, her glare intensifying. “Back off father, you don’t own everything and have the right to question all the time!” That was most definitely the wrong thing to say, her father’s left hand turning in to a fist.
“You’re my daughter, and I’m demanding that if you live under my household you’ll get rid of that abomination now and speak no further of it!”
“I never said I wanted to live under your household, and I won’t be! I’m leaving, and it’s to a Weyr. The Weyr’s can be trusted, and I trust them!” She felt as if she could see her entire life flashing before her eyes in that moment, never had she seen her father so angry. She’d just questioned everything he taught her and everything he’d ever come to believe in a few sentences. Surely with the way things have been going he didn’t really think I’d always stay? she wondered, feeling the fear coming off of Coral. The flitt was concerned for Rayya’s safety, but knew enough to simply stay in the air, Rayya’s mental imagery keeping the flitt away. It took her father some time to answer, which was a surprise since most often he was hot headed and didn’t give things much thought at all.
“Shards and shells! You’re not going anywhere! There’s never been a Dragonrider in these skies that I’ve seen for a long while, and mark my word, there won’t be any!”
Rayya could feel her lips forming a smirk, which she knew would only make her father question her all the more. He always thinks he has the upper hand. She felt free, though she knew she was far from free yet.

Glancing up to the sun, Kiara frowned thoughtfully. By her reckoning, it had been just about four candlemarks by now. Their sweep had just finished, and she felt pretty proud of herself for being able to predict the times near perfectly. Nudging Milarth with her heel, the green turned and began the short flight back to the agreed meeting spot. As they approached however, Kiara leaned over, squinting. Surely there wasn't someone else with Rayya. Pointing, she directed Milarth's attention to the girl, wanting to use her superior vision. It's an older man.. probably her father. Milarth stated blankly, worry bare tinging her tone. Kiara grimaced. She had hoped to avoid this. Well, it wasn't too late to turn around and vanish back to the Weyr... No! Milarth thought at her fiercely. We Searched her. We will not abandon the girl after getting her hopes up. Kiara sighed. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Milarth landed a couple hundred paces away, watching the man with Rayya warily. Kiara slid down and rummaged through her bags for the hides her partner had given her earlier. They were a decree of sorts that allowed families who let their children be Searched give a percentage less to the Weyr during tithing. The little bit added up for an individual family, and Kiara fervently hoped that the man would see reason and allow personal greed to overcome his hatred of dragonriders and the Weyr. Turning, she waited for Rayya and the man to approach, chewing her bottom lip nervously. She was beginning to regret letting her partner return to the Weyr. An extra rider would be a comforting presence right about now.

It didn’t take long for Rayya’s father to feel the rush of air from Milarth’s landing. It cut him off completely, and even the stupidest men likely wouldn’t show any hot anger to a dragonrider when the dragon was present. Nevertheless his angry stomping wasn’t postponed for a later time while he made his way over to Kiara. He kept a good distance from her, jabbing a finger in the direction of his daughter. “That girl is going nowhere dragonrider, and your kind aren’t welcomed here, if its not already clear enough to the despicable lot of you.” He squinted his eyes, staring her down, not that it’d do much. He seemed to think that gestures made a world of difference, though sometimes they did with the submissive-type.
“You can’t control everything, you’ve always controlled everything I do!” Rayya yelled out while coming up alongside the angry man that was unfortunately her father. She seemed to have gained more then enough courage with the dragonrider present, though she had been doing just fine on her own when it came to letting her thoughts be known. “This is going to happen, and you’re not going to prevent it. I don’t care how you feel, or what your opinions are. I’ve had to hear them all my life!” He was staring right at her now, which was what she had hoped for; there was no way she was going to let the stranger (Kiara) take the heat for something that wasn’t her fault. She had made clear that she didn’t have to go from the very beginning. She wanted to go; she wanted to get out of here more then anything. Coral was very disturbed, hovering over the girl’s head with whirring red eyes. Her father raised his arm to her, gritting his teeth before bringing his arm down to hit her face. Her head tossed to the side, but when her eyes returned to him she didn’t look surprised, or hurt, just more up set if possible. She wasn’t even surprised that he’d done it in front of the dragonrider. Coral dove down with a shriek, ripping at the man’s shirt with her talons, using her mouth to tear the cloth apart.
“Coral stop! I’m all right!” She was afraid that her father would hurt her beloved flitt, especially since he was currently trying to smack the quick flitt away. Coral, though very heated, obeyed and perched herself proudly on Rayya’s shoulder.
“Those things are a menace and they should be exterminated!”

An angry flush suffused over Kiara's face as Rayya's father began to berate her. Milarth sent a wave of calming reassurance to her, stopping the greenrider from unleashing her temper on the man. Luckily, Rayya intervened and began to argue, giving Kiara a few minutes to gather herself. As soon as a break in the conversation occurred, she stepped forward. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't yet heard the news, sir. All who comply with Search are allowed to keep a small percentage of their wares that would normally go towards the Weyr tithe. From what I hear, Shigan recently raised taxes here, so I'm sure anything extra that you're allowed to keep would be most beneficial." She fell silent, wondering if the man's greed would overwhelm his desires to keep his daughter away from the Weyr.

The only two words that registered to Rayya’s dumbfounded father were “wares” and “beneficial.” “Well then,” he said, pretending as if he had approached this situation all civilly in the first place. “I was going to miss her is all, I don’t really see much of a problem with her going. She’s all packed, isn’t she?” Rayya could only scowl and glare at the man that was supposed to be a father figure to her. She wasn’t about to reply hotly and have him change his mind, instead she smartly replied in a calm tone of voice:
“Yes, all packed and ready to go.” Her father stared her down, in a reverie, it taking him a bit to come out of it.
“Right, okay then, I suppose you’ll be off.” And with that he extended his hand out to her for her to shake. She rolled her eyes and went to stand next to Kiara, not willing to put up with his phony behaviour. His acceptance of her leaving was what she had wanted in the first place; course, so that was the one thing she was willing to stand. As for his pretending to care now that she was going to be gone, out of some kind-of false notion of love for her, she wouldn’t stand for, if his offered handshake could really have been perceived as an action of love anyhow.
“You’re no longer needed,” she told him coldly, and watched while he appeared solemn for all of two seconds and then turned around-leaving her life once and for all…

Coral was very pleased to see Rayya’s father go, and was eager to go on a new adventure somewhere else. She knew that Rayya would be much happier too once they’d gone off and arrived at Kharasi Weyr. She sent Hers feelings of love and comfort, wanting her to know that she’d be with her always, supporting her every decision.

Kiara blinked in surprise, and Milarth shifted her weight slightly, her eyes slowing their cautious whirling. "Well, that was easier than I expected." The greenrider murmured under her breath. Recovering quickly, she clapped her hands. "Well, come on with you, then! Nako's no doubt expecting you back at the Weyr- I told someone to carry the message to her. Oh, she's the Candidate Master, by the way." She added.

"Now I'm gonna assume you've never been between before." She smiled wryly. "It's a bit scary at first, but Milarth and I have yet to get stuck.. as you can see!" She paused a moment for comedic effect, then continued. "But no worries, it'll all be ok. You won't be able to see anything, and it's bloody cold, but we'll be at the Weyr in no time. A slow count to three is all it takes before we're out. Now! Up with you!" She swung up onto Milarth and reached a hand down for Rayya as the green extended her foreleg helpfully for the girl to step up onto.