fool's rush [open]

[winged]

In retrospect, it had been a stupid decision fueled by indignation and a touch of hurt.

The evening had started out fair enough. The gray pair, resident ghosts of their personal eyrie, had taken the opportunity that the first breath of spring provided them to enjoy an hour's space outdoors. The last of the day's light was slowly filtering out of the high-walled canyon, and as typical the gardens had been evacuated in short order once chores and personal musings were wrapped up with the advent of suppertime.

It was a particularly good opportunity to stretch out on grass freed thanks to the spring's thaw, and enjoy the space of one another's company without intrusion. Rider and chick had encountered their fair share of tribulations through lessons - and the chance to perhaps patch up some of those sore spots was latched upon. And, in fact, things were proceeding quite smoothly.

I'dou was hardly the conversationalist, and it showed whenever she spent extended periods of time with the other residents of the Eyrie. With Laraph, though, words seemed to come easier. As if whatever dammed the flow of words eased in the gray's presence. The woman felt as though Laraph was interested in every word - not just her general thoughts, but everything that came out of her mouth, or out of her thoughts. This night was no different, before the gray happily progressed to a touchier topic, with as little caution as usual to what the reaction might be.

What was actually mentioned was likely to be lost in the annals of time - but whatever it was, had I'dou scowling and the genial mood shattered. Laraph, confused and concerned for such a sudden shift in emotions, responded as logically as she could - unwittingly insulting her rider further.

"Well if that's what you think, then fine!" Practically snarling at that point, I'dou had roughly shoved away from her simourv, bristling and ready to stalk back to sulk in their rooms. Laraph, understandbly hurt, and a bit miffed as well, had responded coolly. I didn't mean to insult you, I am sorry.

With all said and done, it was a peculiar transaction that finally led simourv and rider to their foolish deed. Any number of leaps of faith had been taken, bumps and obstacles wrestled through as both came down to their mutual decision - they would do this, and each would prove something to the other. I'dou that she was perfectly understanding of Laraph, and Laraph that she could perform better than her rider expected.

It was a clumsy scramble that had I'dou seated not-so-steadily astride Laraph's back, a moment's queasiness concreting immediate concerns - which were shoved aside with a teasing side remark from the gray. Words flowed into action, jolting action as Laraph began lurchingly padding around the Gardens. I'dou continued to cling there, sliding quite a bit without the friction and seating of a harness to steady her. Regardless, youth and exposure led to an exaggerated confidence, and I'dou vocally urged Laraph to pick it up. "Is that all you can do?"

Which was a particularly foolish thing to say, as Laraph broke into a much choppier lope - which I'dou suffered none of, to say, as the first jolting lunge unseated her entirely.

Flash forward to now - Laraph's eviscerating shrieks, combined potently with the confusion and outrage warring within her feathered breast. I'dou a groaning figure splayed painfully where gravity had dragged her - one leg, her right, posed at an unnatural angle and evidently broken. That was nothing to say of the nausea roiling in her stomach, the burning backwash of acid stinging her throat as her head throbbed, and every single abrasion twinged painfully in contribution. She'd struck the ground as fortunately as she could, given the circumstances. She hadn't broken her neck, at least. But she couldn't seem to think straight - perfunctory facts were now a confusing jumble in her head; still, she tried to rise, half-propped on shaking arms before turning her head just in time to expel the contents of her stomach in the grass beside her.

Laraph continued to carry on, unable to get a clear reading of her rider 's well being. She was ill! She was hurt - Laraph favored her own foreleg, which ached abominably. They were in trouble! The alarm rang out in the quiet night, shattering any notions of quiet sanctuary. HELP![/color]

[Kat]

Dionyph awoke first, and he woke in a frantic panic. His body jerked into wakefulness, and he stood up immediately after his brain registered that something was amiss. He started to beat his wings in a worried, agitated manner, which sent rivulits of air through the room. Ri’ley was also awake in an instant, even though he had no idea what was going on. He woke up in a panic, his mind racing with Dionyph’s agitation, but his mind also unable to figure out what was going on around him. Dionyph had never been this upset before. Ri’ley did not like seeing his simourv so upset. The man’s mouth opened as his eyebrows pressed together in a nervous pull, which scrunched his whole face.
Mine, Laraph is in pain. We must help. I think hers has injured herself. We must go! If anything happens to great I’dou, I will surely die alongside of my Laraph.
Dionyph announced to his rider. He continued to pace around the room, which was becoming smaller and smaller as Dionyph grew. Ri’ley could tell that soon, the room that Dionyph and him shared would be too little. Ri’ley was out of bed as soon as his mind contemplated Dionyph’s words. Dionyph’s distress coursed through Ri’ley’s veins and made the man feel sick and anxious. He knew that he felt what Dionyph felt, and it was almost painfully anxious. Ri’ley’s heart pounded. He felt it thrash in his chest. He knew that Dionyph felt the same way, and he wanted to calm the simourv down. He wanted to make Dionyph feel better. Ri’ley ached.

The large man tumbled out of bed in his haste to help Dionyph. He rolled, and fell almost on his feet. A few steps were taken to prevent Ri’ley from falling on his face, before he was standing in the middle of his room, a bewildered and nervous expression stretched across his face. His mouth was so tense that even though it was pulled into a frown, his dimples were easily seen. Dionyph was pushing Ri’ley forwards. Ri’ley could not move fast enough. Dionyph pressed him forwards. Ri’ley blindly fumbled for something to put on his body. Now that it was getting hotter outside, Ri’ley was sleeping on in his undergarments, and his current state of nakedness was vulgar enough that no matter what his hurry, he could not travel outside like that. Ri’ley found his pants from the previous day, and he threw them on his body, even though they were wrinkled and dirty.
Mine, where are we going?
Ri’ley asked, and Dionyph pressed his body into Ri’ley in an attempt to inspire him to move faster. The simourv’s weight pointed Ri’ley in the direction he was supposed to be running, and Dionyph transferred the location to his rider—the gardens.

Ri’ley ran, his body launching into a full sprint, and Dionyph followed, his limber form streaking through space. Ri’ley moved quickly, because he was long legged, but he moved with a certain gawky awkwardness which his height implied. The simourv, on the other hand, was growing into a more graceful and dynamic mover with every day he grew. Dionyph was becoming a creature of poise, a fit, kingly creature, as was expected of his color. While Dionyph started out padding behind his rider, by the time his eyes settled on Laraph, the black launched into a desperate run. When he reached Laraph, Dionyph pressed his body against her. For the first time in his life, he did not wonder if she wanted him there. He knew that she needed him there. She needed to be comforted, because she was scared and in pain.
Laraph, I am here for you. I brought mine here, and he will help I’dou. We will do anything for you.
Dionyph explained. Even though the black hatchling was frantic, his voice was calm and soft. He wanted Laraph to feel better.

Ri’ley reached I’dou, and he dropped down to the ground immediately, in one, fluid movement. His eyes flashed over her, scanning her injuries and taking note of what was wrong, before he even said anything. He moved his hands to her leg, even though he only gentle ran his fingers over her leg, so that he could tell what she had broken and the extent of the damage. As he preformed this check, with his large but delicate hands, he spoke.
”I’dou, can you hear me?”
Ri’ley asked. He knew that she would be in immense amounts of pain, and that she might not be able to process his words. He spoke in a curt manner, but his tone was soft and somewhat understanding. The bone was only broken in one place, but it was broken through. He could feel the gap in her femur, which was an unfortunate bone to snap. Ri’ley moved one of his hands to one of I’dou’s hands, which he grabbed.
”You have broken your femur, but it is a clean break. I can set it, but I have to do so in the infirmary. I will need to splint it, and I don’t have the supplies to do so here.”
And what did that mean for his next course of action. Dionyph’s frantic thoughts were clouding Ri’ley’s brain. He bit his lip in an attempt to focus himself. He did not feel his teeth cut through his skin. A small trickle of blood dripped down Ri’ley’s chin. Ri’ley was going to have to lift I’dou and carry her to the infirmary, unless he could find someone to bring him what he needed. But that was not a possibility, because Ri’ley had already surmised that I’dou had been trying to ride Laraph, and she could get in a lot of trouble for that. They needed to keep this insular.

Dionyph nuzzled Laraph as Ri’ley worked. He fussed over her, his voice cooing little chirps of affection into her ear. He needed to support his Laraph. She was scared and in pain. He would make her feel better, because that was his duty. His duty was to serve her, because she was his queen.
Mine can help. He is good at this kind of thing. I promise that he will make yours better.
Dionyph repeated, and his words were actually quite calm. he knew that he needed to control his own emotions so that he could better serve Laraph. He continued to coo affectionately to the gray, and his white eyes were turned and focused only on her.

[Birdy]

[/color] the rainbow headed over to the ledge and peered down, remembering the injured gray rider below. Oooh, thas right, gotta hurry, the rainbow spread her wings and used them to glide down smoothly to a spot a bit away from the panicked gray and the black.


“What can I do?” she called as she was sliding down Tossitoph’s back. From what she could gather the winglets had been doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing but it wasn’t her place to scold them, she’d leave that to Ro’za or their winglet master. [/ul][/size]

[winged]

Laying there, collapsed after she'd run the gauntlet of dry heaving and other such unpleasantness, I'dou ruminated over the most ridiculous, inane details. There was, for instance, a very unpleasant tickle starting somewhere around her shoulderblades - somebody hadn't trimmed the lawn very well. Funny that the tickle was more relevant to her immediate interests than the constant, throbbing pain of a broken leg. The idea dawned on her that she perhaps ought to find the source of that awful caterwauling and shout at it to stop. The incessant wail was making her brain hurt...

Somewhere, in the space her functioning brain once occupied, a despondency made itself overwhelmingly known. Dire enough to twist the winglet's own stomach into knots once more. There were disjointed words to accompany the panic, certainly, but the fog of pain and confusion made searching and deciphering them a task not worth the effort. She simply pushed it aside, and tried once more to rise to a seated position. And failed, and bit back an excessively loud groan at the fresh spike of pain her failure cost her. This wasn't very good...that tickle was getting wor--oh, somebody was talking.

At the very least, the voice inside her head's gibberish had withdrawn with the advent of the man's (hey, he didn't have a shirt) presence, so she greeted him heartily. Amounting to an "ungh" and an attempt to focus her eyes on his puckered face. His mouth was moving, and some forgotten impulse lead her to follow his lips, as he was speaking too quickly for her to follow with hearing alone. "...that's not good." She could feel his hands traveling the length of her leg, so she presumed he was diagnosing her injury and not feeling her up.

Laraph was not caterwauling, she was only afraid and why was I'dou ignoring her? Her rider's newfound policy of ignorance and avoidance was far more extreme than the Gray was accustomed to (there were times when the human declined to respond, but never IGNORE), and it only intensified the simourv's disquiet. Everything she mentally relayed to the young woman seemed to...get lost in the haze that made reading I'dou's mind nigh impossible at that time. The disconnect was driving her into a near frenzy.

Of course, the sudden arrival of the help she'd been so desperately crying for...was awfully inadequate. Expanded into a legion of hundreds of well staffed Ri'leys (truly, the giant of the man was the only example of a healer Laraph had crossed in her short life) in her mind, one half-dressed winglet and his black did not fly well. At ALL. Feathers ruffled and voice gone hoarse from her incessant cries, the Gray appreciated Dionyph's almost smothering assurances not, and conveyed her point quite clearly by snapping her beak at his flank, tail lashing. Caught up in her maelstrom of emotion, and influenced heavily by her rider's disorientation, the chick was acting entirely out of sorts.

FIX HER![/b] The cry was less a plea and more of a frantic demand, relayed as poignantly to G'ir and her Rainbow upon the pair's arrival. She's hurt! And she won't answer me![/b]

The Gray rider's face had lost almost any trace of color at this point, the strain of her earlier, dysfunctional struggles and the drag of the long day before it eating steadily away at any reserves she had left. "I hit my head..." Laid out prostrate on the ground again, I'dou's voice was tight as Laraph's anxieties began eating away at her once again. Truth be told, she didn't really remember what had transpired. She'd climbed up on Laraph, and then...

Blank. It was like she'd been ambling along a mental trail, and then...BAM. Brick wall. That was frightening, and for an instant she bordered on losing any self-control she had on herself, and starting screaming and fussing like her big baby over there...

"Oh God." A curiously colloquial phrase, clunky and unfamiliar as it tumbled off her tongue; an instinctive crutch so that she did not, in fact, start pitching a fit. "...I can't remember." If it were humanly possible, I'dou's face might have blanched a bit more.

[Bre]

Thursday night everything's fine . . .

The pain of a rider is the pain of their simourv. Only drunkenness seemed to leave the odd beasts untouched, though their reactions to such a state varied between them. The pain of a simourv is the pain of every simourv. They were connected. Interlinked. It was giant web and who stood at the center? Eceph. She had been preparing to rest, but turmoil drew her attention quickly, even though she wasn't the most empathic of individuals. Her daughter hurt. Ro'za. A sharp order, but an unnecessary one, for the grayrider had already heard the wailing. It took them only a moment of silent communicate to get on the same page. Confusion. Pain. Something was wrong. Ro'za was on Eceph's back in a flash, settling into a place immediately, experience lending her great aid. She knew exactly where to sit above the wings, exactly how to sit.

They were not the first on the scene, but they arrived with speed. Eceph glided down to the gardens like a looming beast, wing spread wide. They surveyed the situation as one, two sets of eyes, one conclusion. Two bodies, two voices, to get what needed to be done finished. Laraph lashing and screaming. I'dou sprawled in an unnatural position on the ground. Dionyph trying to comfort his irreconcilable queen. Ri'ley assessing the grayrider's injuries. Tossitoph standing off to the side. G'ir trying to offer to help. For a brief moment, Ro'za was concerned that their future grayrider was dead, but she realized that the girl was speaking with effort when she slipped off Eceph's back ten feet off the ground. Then her concern turned to frustration. She wanted blood for this. She had one guess and it wasn't her fault that it was a damn good guess.

"You tried to ride her, didn't you?" There was only scorn in Ro'za's voice, no sympathy, as she surveyed the scene. She knelt down beside Ri'ley, pushing his hand away from I'dou's with a sharp slap. "You do realize that we figured out all of this for ourselves? That we know it isn't easy to ride a simourv, especially when they themselves can barely walk quite right yet? We do know best, idiot." Her voice was a hiss of disgust. Carefully laid plans. Sense. All fed to the dogs. Despite her berating of the injured winglet, Ro'za did eventually turn her attention to what needed to get done. Her revenge, which would come, no doubt about it, could wait for later. Even if she was never going to concede power or any control to I'dou after this, she needed the grayrider to live so that Laraph could make more babies that she could turn into warriors.

Eceph did not blame I'dou like her rider, but she was in her own fit of rage. It was a time to act, so act she did. She turned on Dionyph and Tossitoph, wings spread wide as if she was still flying like she had been just a moment ago. Leave. Her voice was no louder than normal, but the tone was different. It held an unnatural weight. It was the voice of a queen, the secret voice of a gray, a trick she had discovered. She was the biggest. She was the most intelligent. She was the stubbornest. She had all the will. Tossitoph and Dionyph and even Laraph, until she grew older and stronger, lived under her rule and she forced them away with her mind, pushing at their senses. She physically shoved Dionyph away from Laraph for good measure, though only so she could wrap the gray in her wings. She could protect their future from harm better than he.

Leaning forward, Ro'za passed a finger in front of I'dou's eyes, watching to see if the fall might have made her any stupider than she was before. "Take a deep breath. If you can't get in touch with Laraph, she may try and kill your blackrider friend. Oh, and it would also mean that you're probably bleeding in your brain and your organs will slowly stop functioning, so you may want to try really, really hard, right now;" she grunted, nudging at the grayrider's ribs to make sure none of those had snapped. The winglet might have strained a couple out of place or cracked a good few while she was at it. Ro'za only looked up, rage not truly abated, to give orders to G'ir. She appeared to be ignoring Ri'ley for the most part, though Eceph watched him closely. "Four healers. Supplies. Stretcher. Go now. Quick;" she order the rainbowrider.

. . . except you've got that look in your eyes.

[zeis]

Canph dreamed of running through Chydyn, in an area too tight to fly in. Ahead of him was a creature he could not easily distinguish, some unknown, mysterious beast that as far as he knew in the real world did not exist. But this was the world of dreams, and in a dream everything made sense. The animals form was blurred, a constantly shifting being of colors and shapes. But there was one thing definitive about it. One, it was dumb, which was an unkind thought but true. It was insensitive to his gifts, incapable of expressing the terror it obviously felt to him in any other way than its bleating cries. It was food, and the sight of it fleeing from him felt right, pleasurable even. His pounding claws tensed beneath him, and he leaped, pouncing on the insubstantial crying thing and bringing it to the ground with him.

He was about gnaw the creatures neck with his beak when it turned to regard him. And all of a sudden it was not the senseless screaming that had galvanized him, but horrible and familiar cries of pain. The cries of a child, a child which might have very well been his own. The creature in his grasp was no longer some mysterious other but an adolescent simourv, equally terrified but suddenly mentally coherent. He knew that mind, and he recognized those feathers. It was Laraph.

Canph jerked uncertainly up from his splayed position on his ledge, with a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a sympathetic keen. He rolled to his feet, swaying a bit from the heaviness of sleep lingering on his mind, and his eagerness to stand. He only barely registered the sound of his rider rapidly stirring from his bed over the wailing of a chick, and the few cries in response. He rushed to the furthest point on his ledge and gazed keenly down to pinpoint the source of the sound, spotting Laraph far below and noting the quick arrival of others. Koxi? K'huna's mind made urgent contact with his own, demanding a response. The red had no doubt he was already belting on his sword. No. Laraph is in pain. We should-


That train of thought was cut off abruptly by an overwhelming mental force from Eceph not long after the senior gray's arrival. The red who had been leaning over the edge, preparing to glide down, recoiled slightly from that single powerful command. He paced uneasily on the ledge, and resettled his wings uneasily, glancing from the scene below to the other eylings where people were no doubt stirring. Eceph doesn't want any of us down there. He spat almost plaintively.

K'huna stalked out to join his upset simourv on the ledge, seeing the scene majorly through Canph's keen brown eyes. He nodded in understanding, though his jaw was clenched and his mouth tight lipped. The Wingletmaster saw the wisdom in Eceph's decision. Too many curious simourv around might panic I'dou and Laraph further, if they truly were hurt. What happened? He demanded, reaching out to put a hand on Canph, more to calm himself down than to appease the red. I can't ask them. The simourvs gaze locked on the likewise repelled simourv, but only lingered for a moment on Tossitoph before moving to Dionyph. From what he had seen, the black chick was first to arrive. Little one, what's happened to Laraph and I'dou?

[Kat]

At the scene of a broken bone, which, despite being extraordinarily painful, was quite fixable, the words a doctor least wanted to hear was the expression of another more serious injury. Head injuries were the bane of every surgeon’s existence, the injuries which were not obvious, but which were deadly and slow acting. When I’dou stated that she ahd hit her head, Ri’ley flinched. Luckily, his hands had lifted briefly from her leg, because he clenched them automatically, as his face twisted into an expression of extreme and warranted anxiety. He bit his lip again, which sent a second stream of blood trickled down his chin—a bad habit, before he took a deep breath into his muffled lungs. ‘Oh God’ was right, Ri’ley thought, but he did not express that sentiment. Instead, he drew his face as close to I’dou’s as he dared to do, close enough that their noses almost touched, in an attempt to determine if her pupils were both the same size. he could not tell, though, with her dark eyes in the dark night, and Ri’ley sighed in a deflated, and if someone was good at reading him, a frightened manner, before he straightened himself. When the rainbow rider had arrived, he was not positive; she just seemed to have appeared out of the stars, but he turned to her in an instant with his stony, neutral mask in place across his face.
”I need light. You need to get me light.”
He spoke in an emotionless manner, and as he spoke, enough blood slipped down his chin that Ri’ley noticed. He did not even bother dealing with it beyond a movement of his arm so that the blood smeared across his chin and onto his bare flesh.

And then, Ri’ley turned back to I’dou in time to hear that she could not remember. He had already guessed what had happened, so he did not bother asking any more questions. It would only stress her in her attempts to recall memories which might have been perminately lost. The memory loss was not a good sign. It meant that the girl had done some damage to her brain, and Ri’ley could only hope to whatever power ruled over the souls of the people of Pohono that I’dou only had a concussion. Ri’ley did not believe in lies. He did not believe in instill false hope into the minds of his patients, so instead of ensuring to I’dou that she would be fine, which may or may not be true, he only squeezed the hand he held lightly in an attempt to provide some gesture of comfort.

While his rider fretted over I’dou, Dionyph fretted over Laraph, or rather, he started to obsesses about her rejection of him. She had never rejected him before, and all of the sudden he swallowed his head. He felt the pain burn through him in a rush of potent passion and emotion, and he expressed it as a drooping of his entire body. His shoulders fell. His knees bent. His tail dropped so that it slipped between his legs. Dionyph looked, suddenly, his gray and black body drenched in moonlight, so tiny. He had dimmished himself for his queen to the size of a green or blue in posture. He was destroyed. The pain ate him from the inside and radiated out to his extremidies so that he could not move. Dionyph was stunned. Without Laraph’s approval, Dionyph had no reason to live. He was alone, all of the sudden, without his Laraph. This loneliness which controlled Dionyph, which made him shake with pain and worry, was intensified by Ri’ley’s rejection of him. The blackrider had blocked his connection to his bonded with his stony stoicism. The man needed to concentrate on Laraph, and to do so; he had removed himself from Dionyph’s mind as much as he could manage. The black let out one, small, dejected and pained whimper, before he moved away in shame, his whole body drooping in a swell of the wave of disappair which washed over him. Dionyph was so disparaged, that he did not even lift his head at the arrival of his mother and her great rider. He did not acknowledge their presence.

Ri’ley did not look up either at first, because he was too busy attempting to peer at I’dou’s eyes from far away, trying to asses her condition from his impossibly shaded position. Only when the older grayrider knelt down next to him and pushed his hand away did Ri’ley even flinch from his position of watch, his vigil at I’dou’s side. The woman slapped his hand. The hand Ri’ley was trying to use to comfort the girl who was in an extreme amount of pain. He hissed with displeasure as his brown eyes whipped towards Ro’za, and instead of reflecting the stoniness his eyes had been reflecting, they showed a passionate, fiery emotion which was beginning to brew inside Ri’ley’s chest. He was the person best equipt to help I’dou. He was the one with the expertise to help her get better, and right now, she was in more pain then he could imagine at that instant. She hurt, and she was in enough pain that her simourv shrieked like a homesick banshee. How could Ro’za not understand it? How could Ro’za not understand that I’dou hurt too much to be rational? That yelling at her did no good until she was well enough to comprehend the words. Ro’za was just going to stress the injured woman. She was going to raise I’dou’s level of stress to a point which was detrimental to the winglet’s curretly fragile health. At first, Ri’ley allowed the Phoenix to speak, and then he even let a pause hang over the situation and coat the air with an ominous and tortured musk. But then, Ri’ley pushed his body so that he was as close to Ro’za as he dared, and in that moment, that was quite close, almost as close as he had been to I’dou when he had been attempting to determine her pupil size. Then he lifted his chest upwards, so that his body heaved higher in position so that he loomed over Ro’za with his inhuman size.
”I’dou is in considerable pain. She is disoriented, confused, and scared. How dare you scold her when she is in that state. She is too frightened and too hurt to comprehend your words, and your tone will only elevate her level of stress, which could worsen or intensify her condition. As a doctor, I refuse to allow people who create stress around my patients, and if you have any concerns about I’dou’s behavior, you will direct those concerns to me away from I’dou or you will wait until her leg is set and casted, and her emotional state is lowered out of a shock level.”
Ri’ley spoke softly, so that he did not further the stress around I’dou, but he spoke in a way which conveyed an almost poisonous level to his words. He over articulated every word so that he spat them at Ro’za. His tone was sanguine, drippy, and sweet, but it was so in a way which conveyed a certain type of thinly masked contempt. He had learned this tone from his master; it was the tone that Donovan used when he scolded Ri’ley in front of patients, and it was cruel in its own ironic way. The fact that the woman to whom he spoke was the power of the Eyrie, the Phoenix, a woman to be respected and admired, and a woman who could make Ri’ley’s life absolutely miserable after this point, was forgotten. In the moment all that mattered was that this woman put one of Ri’ley’s patients in danger, and he reacted with the a passionate, building rage which clouded his common sense.

Dionyph should have been horrified that his rider talked to the Phoenix in that manner, but the black was too wrapped up in his own pain that he did not comprehend the horrible misstep his rider had just taken. All that mattered to Dionyph at that moment was Laraph and him, he existed in a world of only Laraph and him, and that world was being shattered by seismic activity of his wailing soul. His mother was there, and at first, Dionyph wanted to press himself against her so that he was comforted in his time of pain, but he could tell that now was not the time. She commanded him, and the command gave him strength, if only because it provided him with a way to order his frantic thoughts. Dionyph looked towards Ri’ley, because he did not know where to go, before he scooted under the ledge on which Canph now perched. Dionyph wished he could press against the red giant for support, but the black managed only to slump his body against the canyon’s wall.

Ro’za continued her check of I’dou, and she did so without the tender care Ri’ley knew was necessary. He was a trained surgeon, and he was a damned good one, too. He knew this, and so watching Ro’za worked only intensified his fury. She was so curt, so cruel. It was not acceptable. He had already done these checks as well, with a lot more grace and kindness than Ro’za used. And then—Ro’za continued to speak, and while Ri’ley was not the best with his bedside manner, Ro’za’s words appauled him. he hissed with shock, before he shook his head. He could not let Ro’za’s threat hang over I’dou’s already frightened mind, so Ri’ley bent over, and with a soft, and unfamiliar, sensitivity, he spoke directly into her ear.
“Mild retrograde amnesia is not uncommon in relatively mild head injuries. You are probably not bleeding into your brain; I promise you this, and I do not lie about these sorts of things. You can take your time trying to exert yourself, and you might need to give your brain a few minutes to recover from the jarring.”
Ri’ley whispered, and he grabbed the fallen girl’s hand again. He could not even tell if he preformed the action out of spite for Ro’za or affection for his new patient. When Ro’za barked orders at the rainbowrider, Ri’ley did not move his gaze away from I’dou, but he did hear the orders and nod his head.
”Bring some sort of light source as well.”
Ri’ley called, and then he paused for a second.
”And make sure one of the healers is Tanya and another is Ceric.”
Ri’ley knew the medical staff by now, and he knew which of them he believed were the best and the most competent. He thought that all of them were good healers, but he had a particular preference for the work of the two he mentioned, especially the former, who he believed was equally, if not better, than Ri’ley himself.

Ri’ley was not connected very much to Dionyph at that instant. He had been blocking the black out of his mind out of necessity, because he needed to be in complete control of his emotions, a task at which the black was currently failing, but Canph’s question to Dionyph sparked a novel enough throught in the black simourv’s head to catch Ri’ley’s interest for a brief second. He shifted his attention for a microsecond from I’dou to Dionyph, and it was enough time from Ri’ley to understand and react to Canph’s inquiry. Even Ri’ley was a bit shocked by the automatic reponse which burst from his head, a reaction that undermined many of his superficial virtues but which upheld his intense and passionate desire and need to protect I’dou. That was the only passion in Ri’ley which mattered now; until I’dou had recovered enough to function and to be safe, her needs were Ri’ley’s only dedication, only morality.
If you want to protect Laraph, as you must protect Laraph, then you will not tell Canph what happened. He will be angry at Laraph’s, and that will cause more pain to the queen you are sworn to protect.
Ri’ley had been intimately connected to Dionyph long enough to understand the language which he needed to call upon to make an appeal to the black. The result was that Dionyph’s eyes widened and he dropped his head. The direct question that Canph asked created a tension within the fledgling of his love and devotion to Laraph and his moral structure which dictated that he could never lie. Dionyph dropped his head, and after a few minutes of silence, he raised it so that he looked Canph in the eyes. Dionyph’s gaze was drenched in shame.
My rider has commanded me not to tell you.
Dionyph stated quietly, sheepishly, shamed. The statement, though, was the only way he could rectify his two conflictions which existed in his mind. Dionyph could think of no other way to fix the issue, even though this solution was not ideal. Ri’ley was betraying him, Dionyph thought, and Dionyph would have to process the betrayal later. He was too upset to think, now.