This Log continues from A Sudden Storm and runs parallel to Saving the Eggs.
Xanadu Weyr - Caverns
A massive cavern in it's own right, this one has been skillfully adapted for human habitation. The high ceilings have been painted a light, soft ivory, as are the walls where numerous tapestries hang to provide brilliant color and insulation from the stone. The floor has been left in its natural state, pale pink granite speckled through with glittering mica and dark flecks of basalt, leveled carefully but kept sufficiently rough to avoid slips.
The cavern itself is loosely divided into areas, each one set up to be suitable for some segment of the Weyr's population. The most frequently occupied area, however, is the one near the Kitchens where tables of varying sizes provide a place to sit down and eat or chat and a buffet of consumables is almost always kept stocked. Its plain that on most days, this area wouldn't accommodate anywhere near the full population of the Weyr and equally plain that on such occasions when a formal meal is laid out, tables are appropriated from all the other areas.
A big fireplace is set into the wall near the Kitchens as well, several comfortable chairs nearby providing haunts for elderly residents or riders who like a good view of all that happens. Rugs cover the floor in strategic spots, all of them abstract or geometric in design and most in the softly neutral colors of undyed wool.
Exits lead off in all directions, a big archway the largest and that leading outside. Shallow stairs to the west lead to the offices and administration area while tunnels to the east lead to the infirmary, kitchen and resident's quarters. Southwards, a sloping tunnel leads down to the hot springs and southwest is a wide tunnel, carefully roped off to avoid accidents.
The mass of people in the caverns leaves little room for anything like personal space, and many are gathered near the entrance, everyone fighting to see out, for a glimpse of what's going on. The sound of the tornado echoes even within these walls, while children cry and people talk - most panicked.
Keziah spares on more look towards F'yr and then she's into the caverns as the hail comes down harder. "I hope she doesn't do anything too stupid and then there's the tornado and she's about to run out again. Except this time ALosynth is trumpeting in alarm and is ready to race after Kezi. The small greenrider is torn between duty and the need to keep someone from getting killed and then she's looking around and she swallows. Alosnth out in the ground weyrs settles herself and then Keziah is watching people "Away from the entrance people." she says as she tries to herd people in. "Lets not get anyone else hurt." she states and then is smacked by a hail stone that hits in at a slant and catches her in the hip. That alone gets some to move. "Shard it all."
M'nol nods to Vora, releasing his grip with a lopsided smile, "Sorry…" Then Kezi's yelling, then hit. And Alo and Faraeth are both trumpeting, far from their riders who aren't safe. He sends Faraeth a swift mental command, then calls out, "Kez! Are you alright?" He finds himself facing a wall of people as he attempts to help his friend. Gathering all of his voice in his lungs, he fills the space easily, "move!"
Vora looks up at T'burk, then touches the side of her head in alarm. It's wet, but more than that… it's slick, and feels odd. Her fingers come away with diluted, watery blood, and she makes a startled noise at the sight. "I think I got hit with that hail." She continues to stare at her fingers for a moment. "My head doesn't hurt but I suddenly feel a little… different." Her eyes become unfocused and whether she feels woozy from the wound, the realization that she's hurt, or the sight of blood is unknown to even her. Her surroundings go unnoticed and she sits, plop on the ground as M'nol releases his grip.
Zafirah is huddled under a table, an old stuffed leather runner is clinched in her arms as she whimpers with all the scary sounds of weather and the grown-ups in a panic. "Mama." she whimpers softly unwilling to come out especially after seeing people with blood on their heads.
T'burk immediately eases Vora to the floor and reaches into his medical bag that's slung over his shoulder. Eyes still on the Western Candidate he pulls out a clean cloth to dry the area to see what the damage is. Once assessed he applies a clean dressing and bandages her head. "Vora," he asks her, getting her to talk, "Just what was it that you said was so important you had to come over here to get it, eh?"
Outside the weather still rages on. The tornado hits the fenceline and eats it up and then suddenly it's gone, taking with it the hail and clouds and leaving a clear blue sky and vast destruction behind. Some people stagger out from their weyrs, others are silent but there are the sounds of dragons lifting their voices in panic as riders are hurt, or caught. Firelizards quickly begin to appear, many bearing massages asking for assistance as quickly as possible.
Re're has his brood has been some of the first to gather in the caverns, his weyrmate currently settled in an out of the way corner, the greenrider minding their younger two, while the older children have been put to work, trying to drag kids through the crowd to their parents, and now and then there's a cheer - a bit of happiness as the storm continues to rage outside. The brownrider, meanwhile, is checking on people as he works his way through the caverns, until suddenly the storm is still and he freezes, stretching to peer over heads towards the exit.
Keziah winces a bit and then she nods to M'nol. "I'll be all right." she says with a strained voice and then she grins "It's just a flesh wound." She glances outside and is startled to see the clearness off the sky "Wow. It almost looks pretty." she murmurs. If you ignore the felled trees, the debris and the sounds of the dragons. "Shards, there's people out there hurt." forgetting her own injury.
Vora clenches on T'burk's supportive arms as he helps her to the ground. She dizzily notes that he /is/ Western's Weyrhealer, lucky for her, and thanks her lucky dragons. She tries to look at him as he asks her a question, quite numb to the happenings about her head. "Hmm? Oh… the necklace. In… ah… the kitchens." She tries to concentrate, and succeeds in recalling an image of it. Her thoughts are so forceful, in fact, that her brown Slip slides out of her sling and flutters toward the kitchens. The two greens, left behind to fend for themselves with the wounded girl, warble plaintively after him. Slowly, as the bloodflow stops, she notices the halt to the storm. "Done? It can't be… is it the eye…?"
M'nol looks down at Kez' injury, having managed to make his way through the crowd now that it had thinned, then glanced back at Vora, "There are. You are too. How would Alosynth feel if you made yourself worse? At least get some numbweed before we go galavanting off to save people." where'd that we come from? okay, he wasn't going to let her go alone, but still…
Zafirah still stays under the table even but she watches the healer works and then she's glancing at the others. At the quiet she stops sniffling "Storm all gone?" she asks as she lets the nanny coax her out from under the table "Storm's gone honey." Anadine says softly as she strokes the little girls head.
With the storm now gone, several dragons and their riders are spreading out to outlying areas to help with rescue efforts. Then in comes a couple of Search and Rescue riders who've been sent to draft those able and willing to clear debris and help move it out of the way as they go in after the injuried in the weyrs. This includes the dragons.
The Galaxy wingrider works his way through the crowd, standing at the entrance, looking out over the destruction that the sudden storm brought to Xanadu, and then Re're's pulling out a chair as riders come in. "If you go, tell someone else where you're going, and don't go alone!" He calls out over the crowd, stepping up to the seat of the chair. "People and dragons first, belongings later.."
Keziah mutters a bit, but she does allow herself to get some numbweed applied to the hip. Sure she's showing a bit of skin, but she's also sporting a slowing darkening bruise that covers much of her hip. She looks down on it as she gives a soft whistle. "That's gonna smart tomorrow." she remarks and then sighs as she numbweed starts to take effect." She's then glancing at the riders and then to Re're. She looks over at M'nol and then there's a smile. Alosynth is already out of the ground weyr and looking anxious and then she's out over to go comfort her dragon and wait for M'nol to come on out.
M'nol nods and follows, waving quickly to Vora, "I have to help however I can." Faraeth was out as well and gladly accepted comforting scritches from the young boy that he called his. After a beat M'nol turns to another rider who appears to be organizing things, "We're not cleared for /between/ yet, but we can carry people."
T'burk looks at the girl with slitted eyes. "A…necklace? This is because of a necklace?" Then he shakes his head. "How are you feeling now, Vora? Dizzy at all? Can you focus on me?"
Vora sniffles slightly, rubbing at her eyes as though very, very tired to hide what could have been tears, but she keeps them in check. No crying, now, she tells herself. Silly thing. She removes her hands from red eyes and blinks a few times, looking up at T'burk. "I feel a bit better. Thank you, T'burk." She feels the matted hair at the side of her head and the bandage hidden therein. "You did a terrific job." An arm is raised to return the wave to M'nol, but drops again as the movement makes the girl woozy. When her head clears, she looks up at T'burk again, a defiant look in her eyes. "Well, I didn't know it was going to be like /this!/" She gestures with the flick of a wrist at the hurt and worried people milling about in the caverns, discussing things in hushed tones, or getting preparations together for the Search and Rescue effort." Then she pokes T'burk's nose to lighten her exclaimation, "Yes, I can focus on you. I'm still a little… dizzy, but I'm okay, otherwise, I think."
"You can't between, but I'm certain they can dig and lift as well as the next dragon.." Re're says firmly to M'nol's question of what to do, "Start in the meadow, but be careful, it could start shifting.." The brownrider warns the younger riders, even as nannies begin to make their way through the crowd to gather up the children, freeing the adults for the hard work that lies ahead of them.
Zafirah still clings to Anadine, even as the nanny tries to set her down. "No!!" she cries and settles once Anadine decides to leave her there for a moment and starts gathering the rest of the kids "Zafi, you're a pick girl arn't you?" Zafirah whimpers "No! No I'm not!"
T'burk smiles at Vora and even chuckles a little. "You just rest there for a while. We'll get your necklace as soon as we can. You feel bad in any way, you call out to me, y'hear?" He gets up and looks around for the next wounded person.
Chaton hurries in looking disheveled from a recent dragon-ride. He's got his new companion in tow, and the healer bag that he always carries. He spies T'burk, and is at his side doubletime. "Hey T'burk. What's going on? Someone from the Hall said that there was an incident with the weather here, and help was needed. Where do I start?"
Shorynia follows beside Chaton, as glad to see T'burk as he is, "I'm not a healer, but I can do first aid."
"Chaton!" T'burk says brightly and places his hand on Chaton's arms in a friendly greeting. "If there was anybody I could want to see in a mess like this, it's you. Have you ever triaged before? Check to see who is injured the worst and we'll take care of them first. Find out who is bleeding. We need to get them bandaged and stitched. I've got a good supply of redwart, numbweed, suture and needle and bandabes with me today."
Vora watches, smiling as T'burk joins fellow healers, or non-healers that can "do first-aid." Slip comes charging helter-skelter in the large cavern from the kitchens, carrying what seems to be a strip of rough cloth. As he nears the crowd and flits his way through, it becomes clear that it's a necklace of some sort, holding a large cats-eye pendant that he drops right into Vora's lap, on the two green firelizards. The greens scold him petulantly and he warbles apologetically. Vora gives him another fond smile, yawning as she ties the odd necklace around her wrist, concentrating hard. After managing this feat, she lays down on the cold, hard floor, looking for all the world as though she floats on a cloud, and curls up with her flits, falling fast asleep.
"Stop by the infirmary, Healers, I'm certain they'll have requests for aid as well, though the riders would likely need a hand, getting the less injured taken care of." Re're says, the turns he spent as a Wingleader at Western shown through as his attention passes over the caverns. "The meadow, the meadow's going to be the worst.." And as if that's a dismissal, Re're's waving his hands and clammoring down from his perch, sorting out groups to help here and there.
Zafirah is finally coaxed out of Anadine's arm by the promise of bubbles and sticky buns and no vegetables. That last part has her sliding down in a jiffy as the nanny sends one of the older children out to bring snacks back for the younger ones. She in turns helps to distribute drinks around to those staying behind and food as well. Zafirah is happy as she sinks her teeth into a partially cooled bubbly. "Nummies!"
Chaton nods at T'burk. "I have my bag, too. Stitches, redwart, numbweed, assorted mindhealer toys…" he nods. "I can do trieage, though it's not my strong suit, or I can dart off to the infirmary and help there. You're call, T'burk. You're the S&R specialist, here."
T'burk says to Chaton, "I'll stay here, you go to the infirmary." It's a quick decision. "If you ned me you can send back your lady friend there." He gives a smile and a nod to Shorynia.
Shorynia nods, hand on Chaton's shoulder even as her tiny new brown begins chittering madly about the horrible conditions and where *was* his food and why weren't they home where he could sleep on teh papers… and on, and on, an *on*. Shory ignores hi and nods to T'burk, "I'll get him there and make sure he sleeps between shifts." She gives Chaton a sidelong look.
Chaton ignores the comment about sleeping between shifts, as he gives a nod to T'burk. "Got it. Be safe." he nods, and turns on his heels to hurry out, Mercury chittering about how *exciting* this was, mimicking Chaton's own internal excitement.
Shorynia clamps her fingers over the vile brown's infernal chittering to follow Chaton to the infirmary, nodding again to T'burk as she does so.
The action continues as they go to Find F'yr.