Studying The Sky (open)

[shadowreine]

Miriam had not stepped outside at night often since Impressing her dragon. Dragons were, after all, highly diurnal creatures.

Now she did. Her green was asleep, and she sat on a rock outside, looking up at unfamiliar constellations. The Pernese, no doubt, had names for them. They had an entire culture. She could even go there, but she didn't want to. With some exceptions for riders, they were still pretty patriarchal.

There was going to be conflict between Pern and Earth. She was sure of it. They were different worlds, different ways of doing things. Her eyes sought the world that was now Earth's sister planet.

Pern. At least it was less polluted. "We can learn from each other," she mused out loud, thinking herself to be alone.

[Stormy]

Reya hadn't been outside much since she had given birth, but now that Cristina was old enough to walk, she was trying to make more attempts to get outside other than the trips to the feeding grounds and the lake for her white wher's baths. Cristina, however, was notorious already for getting into trouble by getting into everything she shouldn't, so she rarely let the child leave her sight without her or her wher nearby.

As she walked out into the 'bowl, holding onto Cristina, who had recently woken up and had just been fed, she noticed someone else out in the Weyrbowl. She was sitting on a rock, staring at the foreign night sky, no doubt lost in thought. She didn't think to bother her until she heard the girl speak, likely to herself.

"I doubt it," she said, setting her squirming toddler down to run around. Reyask always kept an eye on the child, so she didn't have to worry as much about Cristina. That puppy of a wher would never hurt her, and she was as alert a guardian as any dog or dragon. But that was comparing apples to oranges. "Humans are notoriously stubborn, and some people won't even take this rather disastrous experience seriously. And the common folk rarely trust what they can't understand."

She shook her head. "Ah, but sorry. Didn't mean to intrude on your thoughts, and I'm a pessimist anyway. But I'm not sure I've seen you around much. What's your name?"

[shadowreine]

"I think we will. It might just take a while." She turned to see who was there. A wherhandler with a toddler. There were quite a lot of children around. Miriam had, so far, escaped the apparent plague of fertility. She did wonder how long that would last once Rityth started regularly rising to mate.

"Miriam. Green Rityth." She glanced over towards her ledge, on which she could dimly see the dark green shape. Old enough to need a Weyr, but not quite full grown yet. And thoroughly asleep, it being the middle of the night. "I suspect you haven't seen me because I'm pretty diurnal most of the time."

[Stormy]

"Reya. White Reyask. And my daughter Cristina." She glanced to make sure the toddler hadn't gotten into any trouble yet, glad to see Reyask was keeping an eye on her. Then she looked back to Miriam and nodded. "I don't see much of many of the riders, being a nocturnal wherhandler. Usually, I only see a few riders at night, or when Cristina is being fussy during the day."

"And we may have to...'help' the process along a bit. I don't see many people on Earth accepting help from Pern because of what they don't know and understand, and because Earth was once more technologically advanced than Pern. I suppose we'll get there again, but I'm wagering it won't be until Cristina is a young adult." Then she turned her eyes skyward, seeking out one of Earth's gravest omens. But the Red Star didn't seem to be visible at this time of night. That, or a cloud was hiding it. "I wonder how much Threadfall will change everything."

[shadowreine]

"It's going to be a mess. Some of the dragons here just aren't...up to it. Rityth's normal, at least."

And would now never get to clutch, Miriam knew. They would give the greens firestone...they would have to. Technology? She had realized how easily she could live without it, although not everyone could. Many of the people who had died had done so because of the sudden loss of technology keeping them alive. The rest had been buried in the cataclysm. There were fewer people on Earth, but the population would recover.

"The worst thing will be the idiots who stand out there watching it come. We can warn them as much as we want...but heck, I don't really know what Thread looks like. I've been told to trust Rityth's instincts." The dragons would recognize their ancient foe.

[Stormy]

"There will be those who won't believe us when we warn them that Thread is deadly," she said, nodding. "And I've discovered that most people don't trust whers because of their appearance. Their dispositions don't help much, either. Reyask is unusually calm for a wher, but Lakeesk has enough attitude to practically be counted as two whers."

Reyask would likely never clutch either, Reya felt. She may identify female, but she was over two years old now and had barely expressed any sort of interest in any of the males.

Reya looked back to Miriam, though her eyes were still somewhat distant. "Thread...looks like silver rope, almost. If you've ever seen rain in the distance as it passed by, Thread looks much like that as it approaches. It wriggles through the air, seeking any organic matter it can latch onto, and I've heard Threadscoring is very painful..."

[shadowreine]

"Which is why we need to drill on going Between quickly." A pause. "What do the whers do?" They couldn't fly, and she wasn't sure if they chewed firestone, but if they did they could help on the ground...if Thread fell at night, that was.

"But a lot of people are going to die if we can't get it across to them...and a lot of houses are wood, too." That was an unpleasant thought. Brick and stone houses with clay or slate roofs would be fine, but they built in wood in many places. She shuddered at the thought of people thinking they were safe indoors.

[Stormy]

"Actually, I'm not sure what the whers would do. Everyone but the riders is usually inside during Fall. I'm sure they could certainly keep people from trying to sneak out during Fall, but I'm not entirely sure what else they could do to help..."

A pause. "Aren't there several Threadscored dragons about? If we can get across that a few moments did that before being frozen in between, then they might realize how serious we're being. And aren't a lot of the city buildings made out of glass and metal? Inorganic materials? If we can convince everyone to move to the cities, it will be easier to protect them. And there will be more supplies and rations..."

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "But getting some people to move will be harder than we can anticipate. I know farmers especially are rather attached to their land."

[shadowreine]

"The inner cities, yes, but moving to the cities means moving into one or two rooms. People won't do that until they know there's a threat."

She considered that. "Also, there's vast swathes of the midwest where you can't build in brick or stone 'cause the next tornado that comes along will blow it down. Wood's the only thing that can stand up to it, and even that can't take an F4 or F5. Going underground is the only real option, and people aren't going to want to live in hobbit holes...again, until they realize they have no choice. Plus, we need to protect that farmland anyway. People are going hungry as it is, with the communications breakdown."

People were dying. Miriam knew that. She knew that she was lucky. She also knew that her life expectancy was considerably lower than it had been. Greens took most of the risks in Threadfall...

[Stormy]

"Hmm," Reya hummed as she paused to think. "At this point, the needs will outweigh the wants. We as a planet will have to get used to that. As for the wooden houses in the midwest, what about brick facades? That way, the structure of the house will be wooden, but it will have the stone exterior to resist Thread."

But that still didn't protect the farmlands. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, though. And crops won't grow underground. Not well, anyway. My papa always told me that to get the best crops, you need good soil, plenty of sun, clean water, and lots of time to look after them." She would certainly be willing to help if Rocky decided to start growing their own food, but as a nocturnal being, it would definitely put a strain on her other responsibilities. Both as a mother, and a handler.

She sighed and shook her head. "But I don't know. I'm glad I don't have to ultimately make those calls. The Weyrleaders are resilient people who have more knowledge about things like this than I do."

[shadowreine]

Miriam nodded. "Makes me rather glad I Impressed a pretty ordinary green. Nobody's going to look to me for leadership any time soon."

She considered that. "First tornado that hit would blow the facade right off. Underground would be the best answer. I'm not talking of going all the way underground, I'm talking partially underground with a sod roof. Protecting the farmland...that's our job, I suppose." She made a wry face. "Why is it Rityth is actually *excited* about the idea."

Maybe dragons were just crazy. Or normal for a dragon was crazy-ish at least. Rityth was pretty normal, even if she never had put a lot of meat on her bones.

[Stormy]

Reya wrinkled her nose, hearing how a tornado would simply rip the facade off. "Well, merda. I thought it was a good idea, anyway." She shrugged, then chuckled a little. "Fighting Thread is ingrained into everything a dragon is, just as deeply as finding the right rider. A lot of the dragonriders I knew back on Pern said their dragons rather looked forward to searing Thread, even with all of the risks."

She then glanced over to where Cristina was poking a stick at Reyask, who was taking it good naturedly, though she could sense the wher's frustration. "Cristina, bambina, no. Don't do that," she scolded the toddler, stepping over and easing the stick out of her little hand. Cristina pouted for a minute, glowering at her mother, then stumbled off to find something else to do.

Reya stepped back over toward Miriam, keeping an eye on her child. "Sorry about that. Reyask may be good natured, but she still is a wher. Being prodded at by a toddler isn't exactly good for a wher's temperament."

[shadowreine]

Miriam smiled. "I don't know much about whers...I'm afraid I just think of them as "nocturnal ground dragons." But I don't think Rityth would appreciate it much either."

She considered that, studying the white wher. Nocturnal ground dragon wasn't a bad description. He had smaller wings, clearly on the way to being vestigial, but much more powerful front legs. The wher was definitely built to run rather than fly, but he wasn't ugly in the way some of the pernese claimed whers were.

Not ugly at all. He was meant to be the way he was, that was all, and she suspected that if pressed most would admit the real reason they looked down on whers was because they couldn't fly.

[Stormy]

Reya chuckled. "That's a good way to think of whers, I suppose. And I'm afraid I don't know too much about dragons. I know enough, because I was Standing for a while, but not like I know whers now." She looked over to her white and smiled, then looked back to Miriam.

"I had actually been hoping for something a bit more like Lakeesk. A fierce, angry creature. Instead...I Impressed to this puppy. But let me say this: Reyask is the best puppy I ever had. And now that I have Cristina, having a wher like Lakeesk wouldn't be exactly the best environment for her."

She looked back toward Cristina, making sure the toddler wasn't getting into any more trouble. She seemed to have found a puddle and was playing in it, which would make for a mess to clean up later, but it was better than poking a wher. Looking back to Miriam, she said, "So you Impressed a green? Has she started Rising yet?"

[shadowreine]

Miriam laughed again. "Yeah, people think all whers are fierce and bitey, but he certainly isn't."

And they thought all dragons were nice...except Crucith...but Rityth wasn't exactly *nice*. She was a good companion, but she wasn't a nice, gentle, cuddly person. They were people, in their own way, albeit ones dependent on a human partner.

Well, whers less so, but still. "Not yet. Not sure how I feel about it, but not much to be done about it. Makes me glad *humans* don't have heat cycles, mind." And very glad, thus, that there wouldn't be any kind of...sync up.

[Stormy]

Reya laughed. "However, you should have seen Reyask when I was in labor. I do believe that was the first time I ever heard her growl. But she was young at the time, and had no idea what was happening. I think there were a few times where she was about to bite the nurses."

Then she glanced at her wher. "Whites don't Run, so I don't have to worry about it. But I wish you the best of luck once your dragon does Rise. And I have to agree with you on being glad humans don't have heat cycles like that. Though that would certainly make things interesting," she chuckled.

Her face darkened a bit as a thought struck her. "And I wish you the best for when we have to fight Thread. It's dangerous enough for the most experienced of riders, and even more-so for greens and blues."

[shadowreine]

Miriam nodded slowly. "I know. Greens and blues take the most risks." Which they had to...the bronzes and browns could not keep up with their smaller kin in the air.

They had the stamina and the breath strength, but they simply could not keep up. Miriam thought the dragons seemed entirely too well designed...well, they hadn't evolved naturally, but the firelizards had, and showed the same size spread.

Adapted to fight Thread. It was what they were for. "I suppose that's an advantage of being a wherhandler..."

[Stormy]

Reya watched Miriam for a moment, then sighed. "I'd say I'd trade places with you if I could, because I've seen how dangerous Thread can be, and I want to help protect my home, but I couldn't give up Reyask for anything. Being a dragonrider would also make it hard for me to be a mother for my daughter.

"So...I suppose that is an advantage of being a handler." She looked out toward the lake for a minute, then looked up to the Weyr. "But ultimately, I suppose I feel rather useless. I'm sure the wherhandlers are going to be necessary in the times to come, but right now, I don't see what I could do to help out..."

[shadowreine]

Miriam considered. "They're still doing SAR in some places. Wouldn't whers be ideally suited to that? They have a good sense of smell, right?"

Of course, the people not introduced to dragons would be wary of them, but whers, for all of their ferocity, were so much smaller. It might even be a good introduction for people...and heaven knew people needed to get used to having dragons around.

Even the Earth technology that survived was not an efficient defense against Thread. For that, they needed dragons.

[Stormy]

Reya thought about that for a minute, then nodded. "They also have a sort of thermal vision, so even if it'd be hard to find someone by scent, they'd be able to find them through their body heat."

However, the first introduction to the dragonkin might be better left for the firelizards. Whers, while smaller than dragons, were almost always unerringly foul-tempered to people other than Theirs. Exceptions certainly existed, but even those exceptions could be pushed only so far. But humanity as a whole definitely needed to be introduced to the dragons. That was their only method of survival once Thread began to fall.

She just wondered how long it would for the accursed Red Star to start dropping Thread on the planet.

[shadowreine]

Miriam nodded. "That's really useful...of course, we wouldn't keep whers around if they didn't have plenty of redeeming qualities."

She flickered a grin. She was well aware that whers could be foul-tempered beasts, although Reyask seemed pleasant enough. Whites, though, tended to be more level-headed, from what she had seen.

Maybe Reyath...nah, Reyath could be foul-tempered too, in her own way. The green was not the easiest of dragonkin to deal with, although Miriam truly loved her.