When the Bough Breaks

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 13th June 2017
Series: The Ruin of River Bluff Weyr

Characters: K'lvin, Bahji, Kaliha
Description: K'lvin returns to his demolished weyr.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 12, day 20 of Turn 8

The small bronze flit keened his grief softly even as he wrapped
himself tighter around the squirming whimpering child. ~~Baby safe.
Baby safe~~ That was what his pet had demanded of him, the last thing
she had emoted to him before her mind faded and her heart stopped.
Even as he attempted to croon to the baby to keep her calm, a hint of
keening grief clung to the effort.

Whirling eyes turned away as he repeatedly rubbed his chin against the
child and looked at the still hand beside them. The fingers curled,
barely touching him and the child, but he couldn't see the rest of
her. She was buried beneath the rubble that the shaking had crashed
down over all of them. There hadn't been time and his pet had been so
scared, but more for the child that he now tried to comfort.

Eyes whirling with distress, Burst tried to groom the child, the
little girl filthy from dust and the scratches that had been
unavoidable when her mother had pushed her to safety. But now the girl
was shivering and even trying to cover her with his wing wasn't enough
to stop it. He would not leave her, could not. ~Baby safe~ With all of
his little might, despite exhaustion and grief, he began calling out
both with his mind and strident shrieks. He tried to find the two
minds that he knew only second to his pet. ~Baby safe! Big bronze!
Pet's man! Baby~

The ground trembled again and Burst shrank back, quickly covering the
child again with his wing to protect her from the dusk and pebbles
that started raining down.

The dragons were still keening over Vilarth's death when Xmrenth
received the message from Burst.

}:You need to get to the weyr now. Burst sends distressing pictures.:{

K'lvin spun toward Xmrenth in panic, "Bahji!" The Wingleader leapt to
his lifemate's neckridge, not bothering with straps as the bronze dove
off of the cliff heights and down to their ledge at break neck speed.

Jumping down before Xmrenth had even settled fully, K'lvin stumbled
from the jarring impact, but pushed forward, his heart in this throat.

"Bahji!" He called, his insides frozen with terror as he took in the
damage from the earthquake, the rocks and dirt that littered their
home. "Bahji, can you hear me? Burst?" K'lvin pushed aside fallen
debris.

"Burst!" He gasped as the bronze flit came into view. "Kaliha," his
daughter's name was a cry on his lips as he saw her, still moving,
tucked as much as possibly beneath the firelizard's wing. He felt some
measure of relief as he scooped the child up and hugged her against
his chest. "Thank Faranth, thank Faranth."

But then his eyes saw it, saw the delicate hand, the hand he had
kissed before he left that morning, the hand that had felt his face to
judge his emotions and reactions so many times in the past. "Bahji,"
he strangled out, falling to his knees beside the pile of rubble
covered his weyrmate.

}:She is gone. I cannot reach her.:{ Xmrenth said solemnly, eyes
whirling with grief that he shared with his rider. He had liked the
weaver.

Gone. The world echoed and spiraled through K'lvin. "I am s-so sorry,"
he sobbed, "I s-should have came for you first." Why hadn't he? When
the call to evacuate to higher ground had come he had gone first to
the lower caverns to help clear the creche, then he had gone to the
Hatching Caverns to see to the safety of the eggs. Why hadn't he
gotten Bahji out first?

}:Take your hatchling to a milk mother. We will take your mate
/between/.:{ Xmrenth crooned.

K'lvin sat in the rubble, holding Kaliha to him, numb, in shock.

Kaliha clung to K'lvin with a frantic grasp, her eyes wide and her
body trembling. "Da....Da!" Her dirty little face was uniformly
colored with the dust and it was clear that the small child was too
shaken to cry.

As Kaliha was taken from his care Burst gave a low creel of relief
mixed with his own intense grief. The little bronze rose unsteadily
and stumbled, the wing that had been covering the child bent crookedly
and dragging. He managed to settle his body next to the delicate
hand, tucked his head into the curled fingers. and gave, soft sucking
breaths of draconic groans. His tail wrapped around Bahji's wrist and
he snuggled as closely as he could to what he could reach.

}:The hatchling needs you to act now, K'lvin.:{ Xmrenth prodded.

K'lvin looked around the crumbled remains of his life with a nod.
Before staggering to his feet, K'lvin reached out and touched the hand
that Burst was twined around. "I'll come back for you." He choked out,
scalding hot tears blurry his vision. Leaving her, again, felt like
another betrayal.

}:She would want the little one to be safe. The little cousin will
stay with her until we come back.:{ Xmrenth spoke of Burst.

The rational part of K'lvin knew that his dragon was right, but
turning his back on Bahji and walking out to the weyrledge felt like a
dagger to the heart.

}:I have told the foster mother that we are coming.:{ Xmrenth rarely
spoke to anyone outside of K'lvin, but his rider needed help.

"Right." K'lvin tucked Kaliha against his chest with one arm, while
using his other to climb up to Xmrenth's neckridge.

}:We will be back shortly.:{ Xmrenth told Burst before leaping from
the weyrledge.

Burst didn't moved from his spot as Kl'vin took that baby away. He had
done what his pet had wished him to. He duty was done. His wing hurt
and he could not stop the heaving breaths that grief brought to him.
The little bronze closed his eyes, burrowed his head against the still
fingers and keened softly. Gradually the keen softened and he went
silent; his breathing stilled and he laid himself to rest beside the one
who had mattered most to him.

Last updated on the July 4th 2017

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When the Bough Breaks