Meteor Shower Over Xanadu

Xanadu Weyr - Beach

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The unerring range of subdued white rises and falls in a multitude of sandy dunes, creating an endless amount of tiny valleys constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of a dragon. Smoothing out as it slopes gently to the edge of the deep blue water, the sand darkens and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect. The beach itself is set along a low cliff - the height lessoning as one heads eastwards, blocking a portion of the beach from direct access.
The wide wide stretch of water opens up to the east, the far distant shore way beyond the horizon and the beach curves ever so slowly round to east and west, distant arms of land embracing the wind-ruffled Caspian Lake. East leads up to the mouth of the Rubicon River, where the protecting cliff is merely an arms length higher then the sand, and beyond that, a winding road leading out of Xanadu's territory. Westwards, the beach narrows as the cliff swings out, leaving a path wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to the sheltered cove designated the Weyrling Beach. However, cut in the cliff face to the north are a variety of rough, wide staircases, providing access to the clearing and to the meadow.


Its a beautiful night - in fact, it could not be a more perfect night for the peak of the meteor shower to occur on. The Starsmiths had done their best to pinpoint its arrival, and while the shooting stars had been hidden by clouds the previous night, today there's nothing to hide them. Belior and Timor are slivers, though they do cast their own light down upon the beach. The populace of the Weyr has spread themselves over the various 'best' viewing areas, while a number of people have chosen the beach.

Just to the left of the constellation known as the Gather Circle a bright light streaks across the sky.

A golden streak brightens the sky to the west.

Neferennu lets out a snort as she trudges up the beach and out of the water after helping another candidate wash a feisty green dragon. The dragon's preferences given by the rider she could handle, the complaining of the other candidate was grating her nerves. "You agreed to stand yet you complain about washing the underside of the tail of a green. What you going to do if you impress and you have to scoop all the poop up, and keep them clean?!" Mutter, mutter, complain, complain. The buffing cloth with oil residue is thrown into the bucket left on the grassy edge of the beach, after making her way through the crowd to get there. Her washing was done already this morning so the other candidate is left to his own devices now. Humph. Her legs cross and she plops down into the sand at the edge of one group, then she lays back just in time to see the golden streak across the sky. "Is that tonight? Wow…"

Fire in the sky! A large shooting star makes its way low across the sky, looking like a faint burning ball that shoots by.

Yet another shooting star zips across the sky. Make a wish!

Someone, it seems, has failed in their attempt to keep the cave-children inside. Well, other than Kate, who has basically been spending all her time doing as she will, becoming a working member of the Weyr. Keiva and her brother, however, have escaped what whatever poor soul was assigned to watch them, and are slowly creeping down towards the beach.

As another meteor falls, it leaves it signature as a thin line in the starlight sky.

Y'ki wasn't watching them? No. As much as he might be interested, and quite possibly even /like/ those odd kids, he's got things he has to do. Therefore, he so wasn't watching. Though he certainly is /now/ having been on the docks until just a moment ago. He stares at the sky, brows slightly lifted. Well.

Niva has decided to join the group gathered on the beach, despite having what is likely an equally fine view from her own ledge, and so the Weyrwoman has found a nice spot on the beach, the bronzerider C'ian at her side as they are settled on a large blanket, Cavin having fallen asleep on the blanket already, as they are quietly watching the falling stars, pointing at one as it falls overhead.

Directly overhead, a bright shooting star dominates the sky.

Thea steps onto the beach, leaving behind the deep shadowy darkness of the trees. She takes a quick side-step as the gaggle of kids pass her by and her attention is on them as the streak of light trails across the sky. Something draws her attention upwards. "What was—? I thought I saw a flash of light." She spots other forms on the beach, can't quite make out who is who, but heads in their direction.

Keiva and her brother are clinging to each other, not really watching where they are going, too busy staring in what can only be described as horror up at the sky. With the darkness, there are plenty of shadows for them to hide in, their voices carrying over those gathered. "Look!" Keiva whines loudly, sounding close to tears.

Himself, Aradir is pretty out of things, so he's walking out to the beach just to relax, fishing pole in hand. Though he sees the crowd gathering out here and tilts his head, confused. And then the brightness in the sky catches his attention, and he looks up. Aloysius is about to call out a greeting…but something stops him. For reasons unknown, he skitters back behind Aradir's head, latching onto the back of his shirt. Aradir gives him a look, and moves down the beach a ways, finding a suitable spot. Not to fish, but to watch the lights. He sets the fishing pole down beside him and sits down, crossing his legs Indian-style. He leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees, and watches the sky.

A glowing bug zips overhead! No wait, that's another meteor.

Ecoatleth moves out of the water slowly, although his head has also turned toward the sky. It's a low hiss that he gives, however. Really, one can't really expect a dragon to appreciate stuff that falls out of the sky. Even with Thread gone for such a long time.. /Hiss./ Y'ki glances over at the blue, giving a half-grin. "Flame won't take care of that." ..Snort! Well then. The bluerider's gaze does wander, not entirely captivated, blinking a little bit at the sound of some rather familiar voices. He turns then, Ecoatleth easily locating the children, and Y'ki heads that way. "Keiva?"

Ysa was completely oblivious to the foretold event by the Starsmiths and had been just about ready to head home when she saw a lot of people heading out of the caverns. And unfortunately she was one of those really curious kind of people. So when she picked up word on the shower, she grabbed both boys from the caverns and followed a group out to the beach. "Faranth… They really are bright tonight," she murmurs to those nearby even as Lyram tugs her hand for her to let go. "Stars, mommy! Stars falling!" The goldrider shifts Illiam on her hip and chuckles. "Yah, I know. But you can see them fine right here." And she wasn't moving any further, finding a spot on the beach as her green eyes trail towards the Creepy kids.

"Keiva!" Keitari, or Kate as she prefers, is catching up with Keiva and her brother, the young teen grabbing the younger girl's shoulder to stop her, even though the same nervousness can be seen on Kate's face. "Keiva.." And then Y'ki is heading towards their little group, and she's giving him a nervous smile, even as she looks back to the sky.

A golden streak brightens the sky to the west.

Y'ki eyeballs Kate a little bit. Ecoatleth slithers in close behind him though, head lowered in order to give a prodding whuff toward those younger children. The bluerider's brows furrow just a little, crouching down to get a better look at Keiva. "Hey." ..Alright, so it's more like a gruff /hey/. But it's still functional, right? "You alright?"

This time Thea is already looking in the right direction and thus she sees the brief shimmer as another meteorite trails across the night sky. "Ohh…" Her voice is all wonderment, not alarm. She pauses mid-stride as she keeps her eyes glued to the sky; it wouldn't do to step on someone now, would it?

There's a sudden burst of glowing lines in the sky as a pack of meteors vaporizes into dust.

Neferennu watches the falling stars, er meteors, for a while before looking around to see who was around where she has ploped herself down. At first there is no one that she recognizes as friends, but she does recognize the Weyrwoman and her weyrmate a bit down the beach. Then it is Keiva's whining that draws her attention and they get a roll her eyes. Her foster mother would be upset with her for not trying to help younger kids, or even others her own age, but there is only so much one can take. You'd think they were raised in a world that thought everything was a danger to everyone. Another kid's voice makes her head turn and she eyes Ysa and her boys for a bit, before deciding to get up. Now which way to go, since this space is getting quite crowded with everyone coming down to the beach. Oh look, someone else with a white knot that doesn't look to be one to complain about dragon cleaning. So towards Thea she goes. "Hey, don't think I got to more than say hi to you the past few days. I'm Rennu." A large smile for the other woman, then she turns to put her eyes back on the sky. "Wow, now that one was good. So many different ones at once."

There's just a brief flash, a faint streak, that might have been something or not.

A dominant white streak navigates its way nearly the entire length of the sky as it shoots past.

With Keiva and the others around, Ysa decides to put some distance between them. "C'mon, love," she says softly to Lyram. Illiam was looking drowsy on her shoulder with his thumb stuck in his mouth. She actually moves again, this time closer to the Weyrwoman to settle. She does catch Rennu's gaze though and she frowns deeply. "How in the name of Faranth did /that/ one get a white knot?" she grumbles, possibly to the Weyrwoman, possibly to her boys. "Wanna play with stars, mommy!" Lyram, of course, didn't really care about those on the beach, and Ysa had to calm him down so that he didn't go off running.

Niva is absently motioning to the younger junior weyrwoman for her and her children to join her little group on the blanket. Of course, she's also glancing now and then at the others on the beach, though most of her attention is on the sky, as she leans against C'ian's shoulder.

There's a voice in the darkness saying her name, so Thea manages to tear her eyes away from the aerial show to squint at the shape beside her. "Rennu, oh that's much easier to say than Nefen, Neref… I'm mangling it badly, I'm sorry. Can I call you Rennu?" Good thing it's dark and no one can see her blushing. Most likely the embarrassment can be heard in her voice, but hopefully the smile that is there can be discerned as well. Ysa's comment carries, but hey—it's dark. She side-whispers to Neferennu, "Ah, which of us is she referring to?" Since there are several white knots present.

Aradir notes the children clinging to each other, and blinks. He doesn't know what it is that has made them so frightened. But then again…there's been some majorly bad stuff going on lately, he knows…so maybe they're just skittish after it. There's not a lot he can do. Matter of fact, Aloysius has managed to crawl UNDER the back of Aradir's shirt. A claw digs in…and Aradir's eyes widen slightly. He quickly decides that's enough, and reaches behind him. There's a short moment of squirming around comically, before the auburn-haired man's able to extricate the blue 'lizard from his shirt. He settles Aloysius onto his lap…and the blue begins trying to crawl under his leg! "Hey!" he grates, pulling the lizard back and settling him on his lap again. "Stay. There."

"H-h-hey.." Keiva gasps at Y'ki, as he greets her, however gruffly, before the girl is throwing herself at Y'ki, trying to bury her small face into the bluerider's middle. "Its coming!! Its coming!" And the girl is now sobbing noisily. While Kate is slightly more composed, it's pretty obvious that its only with a great deal of will that she's not in tears too. The boy is clinging to her, and she's nervously looking between Y'ki, Ecoatleth, and the sky.

A golden streak brightens the sky to the west.

Neferennu chuckles and shakes her head absently. "Neferennu, but I go by Rennu so that's fine." Her voice is light until the comment from Ysa drifts over at which she frowns, barely seen in the darkness. "Me." The tone is half acidic and half sadness. "A story I do not wish to tell." Eyes watch as Ysa goes over to sit the senior weyrwoman and then a heavy sigh. "Anyways, how are you settling in…uh…what's your name again?" A hand reaches over to pat Thea's shoulder.

A bright shooting star zip across the sky right over the horizon, then vanishes.

Y'ki blinks rapidly when Keiva latches onto him. And really, he might just look a tad embarrassed. But he does hold onto Keiva, clearing his throat just a bit, and lets her sob. Instead, he turns his gaze right onto Kate, eyes vaguely narrowed. "/What's/ coming?" That just seems like something that's important to know. Ecoatleth whuffs out a heavy breath, his nose prodding toward that little boy.

A star falls from the heavens and makes its mark on the backdrop of Pern's sky.

"He… Kefai.. Said there'd be a storm… And.. It was a sign of.. of something." Kate offers, quite distracted as she absently rubs the back of the boy at her side. "I.." And she shakes her head again, even as Keiva continues to cry, clinging to Y'ki.

Thea is distracted by some scuffling down the beach, but it's hard to see if it is really Aradir in the gloom. She can see some sort of tussle going on and hear his annoyed voice, though. It's difficult to keep a ripple of amusement from invading her tone as she turns back to Rennu, "It's just Thea." Simply said, then she adds, "Think we ought to rescue him?" A thumb jerks towards the spot where the man is. She doesn't press for a story on Ysa's ire. Sky, watch the sky, Thea.

Keiva screams and covers her ears, as Kate uses that man's name.

Ysa gives a quick half-wave over in Aradir's direction when she recognizes the boy from before, especially with his troubles with the blue. She does take the Senior's offer, finally sitting down and placing her youngest in her lap. Lyram was still bouncing in place in a bundle of energy. "Wait for your father," she says in a stern voice, frowning at her toddler before she looks to the shouts of Keiva. "What in the shards is up with them now?" she says darkly, staring at the kids. "You think they just like to cause a scene whereever they go."

Y'ki winces at the sudden scream, and gives Kate half a glare. She should /know/ better than to use that word around the younger girl by now. Right? Though his gaze shifts to a narrowed and dark look in Ysa's direction. Way over there. He couldn't have heard that, right? Oh well. Glare anyway. He pets Keiva's head though, eyes rolling. "So the guy had access to the Starcraft stuff. Doesn't mean it's anything other than what /he/ tried making up." Ecoatleth rumbles just a little bit though. "Well I don't care if /you/ don't like it either, Eco. It's just stupid rocks."

A golden streak brightens the sky to the west.

Neferennu smiles once more and nods, strolling off towards the boy with the scared firelizard. "Thea, that's pretty. One of the riders pick you up at a craft, hold..? I ask since I haven't seen you before the influx of candidates for the two clutches." As more streaks cross the sky she stops briefly in her trek to watch them, then starts off again. "He doesn't like the show?" This is asked of Aradir now that she has reached him and can see his trouble with the blue.

"I wish I knew.." Niva mutters to Ysa, as Cavin is now awake from the crying, the toddler crying a bit and cuddling with C'ian, as the bronzerider comforts the boy. "Sometimes I wish I could send them back." Even though Niva's not really that mean.

There's a bit of a flash in the sky as a particularly aggressive chunk of space rock makes its descent.

Thea winces and jams a forefinger into her right ear— the one closest to Keiva— and twists it back and forth. "Youch!" Her grimace of annoyance is most likely lost in the dark. She walks with rennu towards Aradir, although her eyes scan the skies. "Oh, look!" But the 'star' winks out before the words have fully left her lips. She stops in time to keep from tripping on Aradir. "Try sitting on him," she so helpfully suggests.

"I don't like it." Kate declares, almost in contradiction to Y'ki's words, though she does drop her gaze long enough to give Ecoatleth an almost thankful look. But then the boy is joining his sister in screaming, and Kate is trying to comfort him, even though she whimpers audibly as she spots a particularly bright flash.

Aradir looks up in time to spot Ysa waving - or rather, half-waving - in his direction, and waves back to the woman. his smile is probably pretty easy to miss in the darkness. Neferennu's comment causes Aradir to look up at her…and away from the blue. This is just long enough for the blue to skitter to the sand, and around to one side, where he promptly buries his head in the sand. Aradir's gaze turns back to the 'lizard. And then he sighs, looking back up to Neferennu and Thea. "Sorry. Scared, I guess," he notes. His voice is raspy, as if from disuse.

Y'ki shrugs. "You don't have to." He doesn't expect anyone to /like/ it. He's not too comfortable with the thought of rocks from /space/, himself. Though there /is/ a vague glare given to Kate after a moment though. "When you head back up to the Weyr, you need to move into the candidate barracks. Probably all sorts of safe from flying rocks, at least." What, it's not an option? Of course it isn't. He keeps his hands lightly on Keiva though, trying to calm her a bit.

Simultaneous stars blur as they dart past, too quick and only seen by those scanning intently.

Keiva's sobbing is slowing a bit, though her body is still shaking, the girl too afraid to look up. Of course, its probably for the best, lest she be sent back into noisy hysterics. Kate is still quite distracted, and Y'ki's words seem to go in one ear and out the other after only a brief pause. But then, the sky is clear for a moment, and she's staring at the rider. "B-barracks?"

Neferennu winces physically as not only the girl but now the boy starts screaming. She tries to ignore it but this is going to be hard to do if it gets any louder. "I heard stories they got scared when Thread fell too, though nothing like that." A hand motion towards the buried head. "I guess just leave him there if it makes him feel better." Eyes happen to look up right as several streaks go across the sky at once and she sits down just to the left and behind Aradir to better keep watch. "It sure is a beautiful sight watching the light created by these rocks. They are rocks right?" Having heard about the event probably third-hand, all she knew is it was going to be a light show from rocks. Nothing was mentioned about the starcraft predicting it.

Yay, children screaming and now baby Cavin crying. What they need now is another baby crying. Illiam's next on the list and Lyram looks around him with big frightened eyes. "Aw, love, it's nothing. They just don't understand about the silly little stars," she coos to her eldest as she cuddles the baby close. She sighs and rolls her eyes towards Niva. Brats. Comforting children doesn't keep her eyes from wandering. She eyes Aradir and the two candidates before she turns towards the source of the screaming and crying. Her eyes narrow there, though, at the bluerider. "He isn't… what I think he's doing, is he?"

A dominant white streak navigates its way nearly the entire length of the sky as it shoots past.

"If you sit on him, he'll be too busy tryin' to breathe to be scared." So free with the advice, Thea is, one might think she's a Mindhealer. Speaking of such… two screaming kids and not enough fingers to block out the racket. But she tries anyway. Her eyes wander towards the sky once more. Then Rennu speaks and out come the ear-protectors. "Huh?" Even this close to the girl, she's unlikely to hear her over all the crying and screaming kids.

Several consecutive faint stars flash across the sky, too quick to be easily spotted before they disappear completely.

R'miel heads down to the beach. This is where Ysa told him to meet her, after all. He'd been busy off doing… something at some sort of meeting, as usual. He had also gone down to the nannies to pick up the boys, and was a bit surprised to find them already picked up by their mother. The bronzer points up at the sky as he makes his way over to where Ysa is with his boys. "Hey there, love. Hey, Lyr!" The bronzer bends down to scoop up his eldest and give him a kiss, then kisses Illiam as well. "What's going on?"

Y'ki tilts his head somewhat, and then just snorts. "Yes. Barracks. Where the candidates are? Yeah, those things. You're gonna be staying there. Make some friends. Do..whatever candidates do until the eggs pop." So there. On orders from Y'ki! His hand absently pets Keiva's hair though as she seems to be calming down a little bit more.

Niva sighs as Illiam joins in the crying, and she's managing to at least quiet Cavin down for the moment, distracting him by pointing up at the sky with a finger. The toddler oooohs softly, turning to babble at his father, telling him all about what he just saw, while C'ian lets the boy do just that. As it seems the noise of the children, at least, is slowly starting to quiet down, she's left to to watch the others, shaking her head at each in turn, until Ysa's question has her staring at Y'ki and the children. "If.. At least its just Kate?" The non-psycho one, woo.

"Think so," Aradir replies in response to Neferennu's question. "Don't know much. About…." Here he points up, indicating the white streak across the sky. And then he nods. "Let stay there. 'Till this stops. Or go back." He tilts his head towards the entrance to the weyr. He's managing to ignore the screaming pretty well…but he's confused by it. And he tends to ignore things that confuse him. To Thea, he shakes his head. "Sit on him? Hurt him. No." He smiles to her. "But thanks."

S'ya appears shortly after R'miel, the pregnant greenie carrying Zallesh in her arms. It's a brat party! The baby looks up shyly at the sky before ducking his head into his mother's hair, S'ya giving him a pat. "No need to worry, love. The stars cannot hurt you." She says happily as she scans the beach for a spot to settle down. When she catches sight of Ysa she moves over, waving to her before placing her blanket down. "Hope I have not missed much!" She spots the others and sends a quick little wave to all before placing her son down.

Only a wispy tail remains as a meteor lives its last moments in the outer atmosphere of Pern.

"Wait, I.." And Kate starts to protest a bit, but then there's a bright streak, and a bunch of smaller ones, and the teen is distracted again, simply nodding in agreement. "Okay.." She murmurs, much as if she just agreed to meet someone for dinner.

Neferennu turns to Thea with a disgusted look on her face. "Sit on him and keep his mind on breathing, that's just disgusting!" Though coming from a dragonhealer student that is to be expected. "Now, this light show tonight, it is just rocks right?" A confused tint to her voice but her eyes are quickly back on the sky to watch the show above.

Lyram is definitely happy to see his daddy there, which distracts him from bawling out like all the other children. Even a kiss doesn't stop Illiam. Ysa holds him close and rubs his back and sighs up to R'miel. At least she's got Lyram off her hands now. "Took ya long 'nough," she says up to him. "The sky is dropping stars and your son wants to go play with 'em, that's what's happening." And she glances back towards Kate and Y'ki again with a frown before turning back to glance at Niva. "True, but should that be allowed? So soon after all this mess… What if she's still partial to Kefai?" Paranoia at its best. S'ya gets a wave and a wry chuckle. "Look up, and you'll be seeing everything we've been seeing since we've been here. 'Cept for those brats running all over the place." And she waves in Creepy kids' direction as well as the candidates.

Thea crosses her ankles and sinks in one fluid movement to sit cross-legged in the sand on the other side of Aradir. She laughs softly, "That's the idea." But of course her tone clearly says she doesn't mean it. She leans forward to see around the boy at Rennu's question. "Shhh. Don't say R-O-C-K." Her eyes flicker towards the blue. "Hope he doesn't know how to spell."

Several consecutive faint stars flash across the sky, too quick to be easily spotted before they disappear completely.

Laera wanders over from the clearing, Kereth ambling along beside her. She looks to be off duty in her sarong, halter top and 5 months of pregnant belly poking out between. Kereth's eyes whirl curiously as he looks up to the sky, though he keeps wings tucked in at his sides. There is a similar look of wonder on Laera's face, really making her look the teen she is. "Well ain't that fortuitous…you doing your first search and now this…" She murmurs with a hand going to her lifemate's side.

R'miel strokes his younger son's head soothingly. "Sorry, got caught up. I'm here now, though." He chuckles a bit. "I see. What happened to Illi? You want to play with some stars, Lyr? Maybe when you're a little older and taller you'll be able to reach them, buddy." The bronzer bounces his son a bit then looks towards Niva. "Hm? Should what be allowed?" He gives the greenrider a wave. "You get bigger everytime I see you, S'ya. How are things going for you?"

Niva glances up at S'ya as she joins them, and R'miel takes his older son, nodding to them both. And then Ysa's questioning more, and the senior is shaking her head. "You saw how she looked, when she found out he was gone.. I'm not worried." She shrugs, cuddling Cavin and leaning against C'ian as she sighs softly. "At least the others are too young yet. THey're the ones I'd be afraid of."

Seeming to stream out of the Gather Circle comes a large meteor, lighting up the sky.

S'ya tilts her head a bit when Ysa talks about Kefai. Someone's totally clueless about that subject. "Kefai, love?" Oh, but there's Zallesh moving over to where Lyram is. The toddler looks at Lyram curiously, glancing back over at his mother for reassurance. "Hmm, seems Zal wants to play with little Lyram." When Thea spells out the wrod, her eyes moving over to where the 'creepy kids' are. It's then that she catches sight of Laera and excitedly waves to the bluerider. "Shells, love. You are huge! How is that little baby coming along?" Belly buddies! "And I do? That is great to hear. Everything is going fine, not a single problem." That's to R'miel on her pregnancy. Her eyes flicker up every now and then to the heavens but she seems more interested in talking at the moment.

Y'ki shifts after a moment, and then reaches down to pull Keiva up. He'll just have to pick her up and hold her that way. "Good." Mission accomplished.

Neferennu shivers uncontrollably even in her warm clothes. "Ok, so I really don't know what is going on outside of the weyr. I didn't even hear about this until this morning." She rocks back and forth on the ground slightly, keeping her eyes trained on the sky. "Actually, to be honest, half of the time I don't even know much of what is happening in the weyr." A soft chuckle and then a glance over the firelizard with his head still in the sand. "At least I'm not stuck inside doing laundry or something. Probably the worst necessary thing imaginable." Red wort on her hands is fine, gooey soap for hours is another.

There's a sudden burst of glowing lines in the sky as a pack of meteors vaporizes into dust.

Thankfully, Keiva is being picked up, and she's clinging to Y'ki, whimpering some, but at least there's no more screaming or yelling. Just quiet sniffles as the tears run down her face. Kate, meanwhile, is continuing to stare nervously. After a moment, though, she's giving Keiva and Y'ki a look before silently turning to usher the boy back towards the safety of the Weyr. No more falling stars for her.

"Right. There ain't no sharding way I'd allow for the littler brats to stand." Ysa glances towards little Keiva when she says this before snorting. She looks up to S'ya with big wide eyes as if that greenrider had been locked away in a little closet… and came out with two heads. "Yah, Kefai. You know, the man responsible for all the murders down by the coast, S'ya." She frowns and looks down to Zallesh and then her belly. "Ya might want to take care to know what's going on, to protect yourself and yours. At least that one, since it's little Mike's and all." She points with her chin to her belly and then smirks up to R'miel. "Let Lyr down to play some, so long as they keep close."

A few shooting stars skip between their still counterparts in a game of hide and seek.

Lyram grins to Zallesh as R'miel sets him down. He's become quite social, having been hanging around in the caverns most of the time. But he's still a bit shy and outside of his comfort zone meeting another toddler on the beach. He holds onto his father's pant leg a bit and points upward. "Stawrs." As one of the meteors streaks across the sky Lyram throws his tiny hand to follow it. R'miel nods to Ysa and sits down in the sand near his boy and Zallesh. "I see. So… the oldest one was searched, then? And I think S'ya can take care of her own sprats, Ys." At least he hoped, since she wanted quite a brood.

"As I am the Great Uncle's only patient…we are doing great…" Laera says beaming as she runs a hand over her belly, then nods down to S'ya's belly, "Tonny's as well? Or did his seed miss one of us?" She asks with amusement in her voice before looking up to the sky again, just amazed at the display before glancing over to Niva then leans in to whisper something to S'ya with a smirk.

Cavin is squirming in his mother's hold as Zallesh is there too, and the toddler is looking at his parents with wide eyes, before he's scooting out of her lap to teeter towards the others, though he's not going to go too far. Invisible toddler leash? Niva seems content to let R'miel help keep an eye on her youngest, even as she's narrowing her gaze, looking from S'ya to Laera.

Thea sighs audibly as the little ones begin quieting, an amazing feat considering she couldn't have heard herself think moments ago. She reluctantly pulls her gaze from the skies to look at Rennu for a moment. "Yeh, I hear ya. Who has time to talk these days?" At the mention of laundry, she curls her soap-wrinkled hands in the sand as she turns her eyes back to the sky and asks, "So what did you do today?" Aradir seems to have fallen silent, but at least he's not getting his back clawed up.

If there's an invisible toddler leash, there's an invisible dragonhealing-candidate leash as Saige wander sonto the beach, startled as she looks into the sky as the stars skip. "Oooh." She breathes, softly, then her gaze goes to the riders.

A flash of brightness, and the western horizon is a glow as not one but two shooting stars cross the sky.

Zallesh is just as shy as Lyram, though he is always curious about kids his own age. The toddler imitates Lyram's reaching to the stars, his own pudgy hands moving after. "Staaaa." S'ya chuckles a bit before correcting her son. "Stars, love. Not 'staaa.' And oh, /Kefai/. I forgot his name." She admits with a little giggle, obviously not too stressed over the incident. After all, that was in the past! "No, this baby belongs to K'ael, R'miel's brother." And she gives the belly a loving little pat. When she catches sight of Saige she beams. "Candidacy treating you well, love?"

Neferennu tears her eyes away from the skies and then looks around to find the younger kids rescued from that cave being escorted away. "Good, no more screaming." Ignoring them for so long hasn't exactly been hard as long as remained inside. "Oh, I had a couple dragons to help wash this morning, then a lecture this afternoon on torn wing repair…again." The end gets a sarcastic tinge of tone and a snort. "Ah well, can't help to get things repeated over and over I suppose. Still, it was kind of boring. I would rather use the microscopes any day. You?" A warm smile and then slowly her eyes return to the sky as two shooting stars go past.

Only a wispy tail remains as a meteor lives its last moments in the outer atmosphere of Pern.

Ysa shakes her head a bit at S'ya but chuckles. At least she was in a better mood around the greenrider and didn't resort to just glaring at her and punching her in her face anymore. "Careful not to say that name /too/ loud, though, now that ya remember it. Those brats definitely don't like the sound of it." She nods towards Keiva and her siblings, still watching them every so often. As Cavin joins the group, she grins widely. "Well, at least this is the perfect playdate for the kids, too." Illiam at least quieted, possibly tired himself out from crying. Ysa lowers him to her lap to clean his face with the sleeve of her blouse.

"Stuck inside doing laundry all day," quips Thea, using Rennu's prior words. She gives a small wave towards Saige as another Candidate arrives. Hard to miss that white knot in the darkness. She eyes the leftover trail, asking anyone within earshot who might know, "This shower happen every year?"

Easy to miss if anyone blinked, to the south is a quick, pale glowing line.

R'miel gives a wave to Saige. He remembers her from the observation area the other night, though he was never introduced. Then he grins at little Cavin. "C'mere buddy and join the play. I know the sand is a little tough to navigate." Then he turns to his son. "Well, introduce yourself, Lyr." The toddler shakes his head a few times before finally seeming up to the task. He turns to Zallesh and points to himself. "I'm Lyr'm. And… and dat's Cavin!" He points to the slightly younger toddler with a grin. R'miel is stuck with the babysitting apparently.

Neferennu ughs and shakes her head. "Glad it was you and not me." A hearty laugh and then a pat on Thea's shoulder. "Sorry you got that today though. I'll probably have it within the week again." Out of the corner of the eye a familiar shape is recognized and she turns, giving a short wave to Saige. Then her face contorts into one of embarassment and forgetfulness. "Oh shells, I forgot to make sure my oils were ready to keep for a couple months until after the hatching! I'll see you back in the barracks." Quickly she gets up out of the sand and makes a running beeline for the caverns, not even bothering to brush any sand clinging to her.

Saige grins slightly. "It seems to be… mmm…. remotely much like my life before the candidate barracks." She says, innocently. "Hey, 'Rennu, torn wing repairs aren't the easiest things in the world." She protests, taking a seat by Thea and Neferrennu… only to see Rennu run off. "Remind me to tell her to calm down." She comments, dryly.

Its one of the hazards of being Weyrsecond - babysitting that is. Cavin wobbles on his feet, looking a bit unsteady as he peers from Zallesh to Lyram, and then to Ram with wide eyes. But then the older boy is introducing them, and Cavin is nodding, before he's waving his hands around, pointing at the sky, and then at the stars, and then waving his hands around, babbling the whole time, though the occasional word is decipherable. Laera gets another roll of her eyes, but at least she's not going to fight with anyone, though a lot of that probably has to do with C'ian's steadying hand on her knee.

Zallesh watches as Cavin wanders over, the toddler plopping down on the sand in order to look up at the stars. "Mommy, staaar." He tries again, catching the tail end of one the meteor's. "Star, love." S'ya corrects yet again with a giggle. She misses Niva's glaring too focused on the celestial light show and keeping an eye on her son. "Oh? Oh yes, I forgot." She says to Ysa's warning, pursing her lips a bit as she sneaks another peek at the creepy kids. "Well I am glad to hear you are adjusting well, Saige. Things should get more interesting as time passes." Zallesh watches Lyram as he introduces himself and Cavin, a shy little 'Zal,' issued. "Zallesh, love." He peeks over happily at S'ya when she corrects him before trying once more. "Zallesh."

Just to the left of the constellation known as the Gather Circle a bright light streaks across the sky.

"Well he is a might good speciman as well, always was on the herbs with him alas." Laera says with a shrug before looking around and spots the Weyrwoman looking at her and she gives the woman a wave and starts in her direction. She offers a salute to the woman, before resting a hand on her bare belly again, "Ma'am, thought I would let you know that Kereth just performed his first search and well on this fortuitous night with stars falling on the sky, your daughter Vivian was his lucky first." She says ever so brightly, with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes.

A brief flash, and another meteor comes and goes.

Ysa can only beam at her babysitter-weyrmate. Why not? He did such a good job at it! "You're such a good boy, Lyr," she praises her take-charge son. "Hope ya haven't had such a rough day, being late and all," she says up to the bronzer. To S'ya she merely nods her head, her eyes scanning as she watches the one candidate go running off. She presses her lips tightly as if to stop herself from saying anything before she finally sits back, leaning Illiam against herself as she glances up to the skies. "It's definitely a very active shower."

Niva is busy watching her son, but then the teenage Laera is talking, and Niva and C'ian are both looking at her in surprise, though its Niva that speaks first. "Shards, Vivian?" And she sighs softly, shaking her head, glancing sidelong at Ysa. "And you were worried about Kate.." She murmurs, before sighing quite exasperated. "Shards.. At least there aren't any that really look… gold.." Her children will give her an aneurysm, one of these days, they will.

Thea raises an eyebrow at Rennu as her shoulder is patted once again. "Oils?" Confusion is in her tone, but then, she's not a dragonfixerupper-in-training. As Saige sits, mentioning torn wingsails, Thea shudders. "Sounds…painful." Then there's Rennu running off and yeh. Never a dull moment. "We'll have to try sitting on her," she comments dryly.

Simultaneous stars blur as they dart past, too quick and only seen by those scanning intently.

Saige nods. "Hide oils." She explains to Thea. "Dragons get cracked and dry hides from all of their strenous activity, so we have oils that, when applied, help soothe their hide. Much like what you'd use on a firelizard. Torn wingsails aren't -that- bad. It's merely a matter of stitching them and then, as they fly, the built up wingsail gets smoothed over by the flying dirt and stuff." And then at Thea's comment, she covers a loud giggle. "Rennu's always running around." "Oh, look!"

Lyram is also trying to catch the meteors. He's breaking out of his shell here, and starting to run around in the sand, snapping his fingers closed above his hand. He stop for a second when Zallesh introduces himself, with his mother's badgering, of course. "Zalwesh! Whee!" R'miel looks up to S'ya. "You always correct him so much?" The bronzer then smiles up at Ysa. "Nah, it was pretty normal. But I'm happy to be home with you and the boys." His attention is then drawn to Laera and the weyrwomand. "Oo! Viv was searched!? Aw, my littly bubbly is all grown up…" Sniff.

A meteor puts up a valiant struggle against the atmosphere of Pern, its legacy written in the vanishing traces left behind.

S'ya giggles at the comment about L'ton before she watches curiously as Laera delivers the news to the Senior, a faint smile tugging at her lips. When R'miel asks her about her constant corrections she gives a sheepish grin. "How else is he going to learn to speak properly? He has to become a wonderful singer like his mommy after all, right love?" Zallesh is too busy chasing after Lyram to answer however, the toddler giggling madly as he tries to catch the stars as well. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt and Zal is the first one to fall. He looks stunned for a minute, having tripped over his feet, before starting up his cry. "Oh, love, are you alright?" S'ya asks as she gets to her feet, moving to where her son is still sniffling.

"Congrats, Niva," Ysa says as she catches word that her daughter was Searched. But then her grin fades and her brows go up. "Oh? Can't be that bad… at least she's Weyrbred and not the daughter of some psychopath." Though, others might reconsider that… right? R'miel's reaction gets a bit of a stare and brow lift, but Ysa was still pleased by his response to her question. "That's good to know. Well, whenever we get tired of this show and actually get back home." She keeps her arm around Illiam, the other behind her to hold herself up as she watches the boys and occasionally the skies. "Faranth… you'd almost be scared of those brighter ones just dropping on our heads." She looks away to chuckle at S'ya and her comment. "Give him some time to grow up a bit, though." But she sits up quickly when the kid trips.

Laera laughs at Niva's response, "Yeah she did ask Kereth about that…she was in a fine mood today I must say." She comments in regards to the gold dragon. "Well, congrats either way, or is it condolences?" She asks with a wink before she ducks away into the crowd to continue watching the show.

The shimmer of a shooting star disappears behind the trees.

Thea blinks at the sky several times with unseaing eyes. "You do wha—?" She is staring right at the streaking lights, but doesn't remark on them; istead she gulps and peers at Saige in the dark. "Oil them? Just the flaky spots, right? Not -All- of them? They are huge! It must take hours." She mutters something to herself. "Please tell me they jump in a pool of the stuff." Plead, beg.

A wipsy trail remains across the sky as a meteor works its way to the ground.

The night is edging on towards midnight, and the crowd is slowly beginning to filter back to their respective homes. Keiva's keeper has finally discovered her charge's location and has come to retrieve the exhausted girl and try and calm her down the rest of the way before bed. It seems that the time between the meteors is growing longer, though it could just be the late hour playing mind games.

Saige's mouth twitches, and she laughs. "There's not nearly enough oil for that, y'know." She says. "Yes, we do it in patches. Which you know, even with some patches it can still take some time to finish off even a green." A pause. "It's called a hidecrack infection; it's quite common, really, especially with a busy rider."

R'miel chuckles at S'ya. "No pressure there, right? He's only a couple of turns, isn't he? And I don't think Tonny carries any harper genes. And I know Mike doesn't." Lyram blinks at Zallesh as he falls over onto his bum. Lyram's bottom lip starts quivering in response, and he moves back to his mother as well, clinging to her while he cries. Why he's crying is anyone's guess. Empathy? R'miel just sighs, and gets to his feet. "Well, looks like it's time for us to be heading back with the boys all sniffily."

Two meteors crisscross each other forming a vanishing X in the sky, as if marking some hidden treasure.

Cavin is starting to whimper as Zallesh falls, the toddler almost yelping, and running back to his parents to curl up between them. However, it seems that Ram and Ysa aren't the only ones dealing with sleepy boys, for Niva and C'ian are left with Cavin, who's now yawning and rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands. And so C'ian moves to pick him up and head home, even as Niva's left to begin to pick up the rest of their belongings. "Boys.." she murmurs softly, watching her own two disappear with a bit of a smile. She'll deal with the fact that Vivian is now a candidate tomorrow.

S'ya scoops up her crying son in her arms, gently smoothing his hair as she comforts him. "No need to cry, love. Just a little accident." She says before giving him a kiss on those chubby cheeks of his. "Well, it is never too early to start?" She says to Ysa before moving back to join the goldrider, remaining standing though. "I am not pressuring him, love. Just giving him an edge. And even if L'ton or K'ael do not have any Harper tendencies the babies will get all they need from their mother." It might sound like she's dead serious but there's a smile on her face. It's obvious she'd be happy with her kids no matter what they ended up being. "Hmm, I should probably go too." She says as people start filing out, Zallesh done crying and now falling asleep in her arms.

A bit of space dust streaks its way across the sky and disappears into the atmosphere.

Thea slowly rises from sand as she's listening to Saige, "I didn't know." Dismay colors her voice. "Shells, you'd think with all this technology there'd be some way… a spray apparatus or something." Grumblegrumble. "No wonder Riders look so tired all the time." Speaking of tired, she yawns, rubbing her back, flexing it a bit. "Sorry, laundry always makes me tired." And she's dragging off to the Barracks.

Ysa is glad that Illiam is nearly completely asleep when the kids start crying again. He shifts uncomfortable on her and whimpers but she gently rubs his back. She holds her arm out for Lyram to bring him up into a close hug. "It's alright, love," she says, kissing his forehead before getting up off the ground. "No, never too early, though I let Lyram be how he is. Let the Weyr Harpers train him and I'll let him beat on his little drum at home." She nods down to her son as she glances back to S'ya. "See ya on the sands, Weyrwoman," she calls over to Niva as she starts heading out. With one last look to the skies she turns to R'miel to hand the sleepy baby over.

The peak of the storm appears to have passed, the meteors slowing once again to single streaks minutes apart. Starsmiths guess that there have been at least five hundred in the past hour - an occurrence never before recorded on this planet.

Niva is busy folding up the large blanket and the like, still glancing up now and then at the sky, but when it seems obvious that the best part of the show is over anyway, she's putting it over her shoulder, nodding to the others before following in the direction that her weyrmate vanished. Tomorrow is still an early morning.

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