Do You Hear the People Sing? [Open to all Lesser Color Riders]

IC Time: Autumn
IC Place: Dining Cavern, Autumn

Emiline set the final pitcher of earth coffee down in the middle of the sturdy wooden table and wiped her hands on her apron. She had brewed and gathered thermal containers of coffee, Pernese klah, and hot water for making a strong black tea. There was a lot of talking to do be done that night, and she wanted to make certain everyone had something to drink while they burned a few liters of midnight oil.

Emiline had deliberately planned the meeting a bit later than most such gatherings so that the riders might reasonably be expected to have settled their dragons in to sleep in their wallows or on their ledges. Delyth was still young enough that Emiline didn't want her exposed to the more troubling parts of her day more than was absolutely necessary, and what she intended to talk about tonight certainly was troubling on a number of levels. At least, it was to her. It remained to be seen if her peers shared her worries about the future.

With nothing else to do she sighed, took off her apron and sat down to prepare herself a mug of coffee. She watched the cream swirl into it as she mused- planning what she would say to introduce her concerns and hoping that the message she'd tried to circulate via word of mouth had reached some or all of the green, blue, and even brown riders. There was nothing to do now but wait. At least it was quiet and what few people still ate had chosen spots far from the long table she'd chosen. There was little chance of this meeting being overheard... and given the somewhat clandestine nature of the gathering, Emiline thought that to be a good thing.

Striding into the dining hall with his usual exuberance, Roman grinned as he caught sight of Emiline sitting at a far, dimly lit table. She'd called them here, or so he'd heard, and judging by the look on her face she had a lot on her mind. Well, that was fine with him, he decided, as he pulled up a chair and sat across from her. Cadmuth was safely asleep in his wallow, and although it had taken a lot of persuasion on his part Roman managed to convince the brown that he would inform him of all the details in the morning. Cadmuth rather liked to be sneaky and feel like he was plotting something mischievious, and usually he was. Now, with this on the wind, all the brown wanted to do was be a part of it.

After he'd given Emiline a long, questioning look, Roman reached over and grabbed a mug of Klah before leaning back in his chair. A grin once again breaking across his face - wasn't it Emiline that had commented he couldn't last 10 minutes without grinning? -, he raised his eyebrow conspiratorially and asked, his Southern accent making his words drawl out lazily,

"So, Emiline. What can I do for you?"

Oh, please, Roman. Don't miss a detail; you must tell me everything.

You're supposed to be sleeping.

His voice was hard and left no room for argument, and so with a mental harrumph Roman felt Cadmuth withdraw and shut himself off. After a sigh, he turned his attention back to Delyth's rider, waiting for her explanation of this meeting. He had all night...

Tylar cast one last glance back at Wynnfrith, sleeping soundly in her wallow, and slipped out the door.

It was a good thing, she reflected as she closed the door softly behind her, that the dark green slept so soundly. It gave Tylar some much-needed alone time sometimes, because when Wynnfrith was awake Tylar had to be there to take care of her constantly, she was such a frail thing. Sometimes the greenrider thought she had no room for thought with all she had to do for the green, much less for herself. But usually by the time Wynnfrith did sleep Tylar spent that free time sleeping as well....it was exhausting work.

But she wouldn't give it up for the world. However they'd come together - Tylar winced, trying not to think of Finscoth - they were Impressed now, and that was irreversible anyway. Now, she'd heard from another that there was supposed to be some sort of meeting tonight in the Dining Cavern, for the so-called "lesser" riders only. Normally she would have scoffed at the idea of her at some boring meeting, but this time she had consented to go, for three reasons. Firstly, this thing seemed kind of hush-hush, and she couldn't possibly miss the opportunity to play a role in anything secretive. Second, it seemed to deal with the lower colors - and Tylar didn't know for her, but she hoped it had something to do with proving they were just as good as the rest. The weyrling was particularly sensitive of being put down because of her dragon - as she got scorned not only because of Wynnfrith's color, but for her frailty as well. She wouldn't stand for it,

The third reason was that Tylar was so socially starved she would have gone to just about anything.

And so it was that the evening found her crossing the Caldera to the Dining Cavern, where it was late enough that the large hall was mostly deserted. She located Emiline, who was rumored to be the ringleader of this little covert operation, and headed immediately for the other green weyrling. There was another with her already, a brownrider. Tylar crinkled her nose slightly. Like they had anything to worry about, it was the blue and greenriders which were put down. She hadn't yet heard of a brownrider being called useless or underprivileged or unworthy - all things she had been called. Mostly by that dumb arse Alicia. Stupid girl, she hated to think of that encounter.

Pushing the thought away, she made her way over to the table. The diminutive greenrider's eyes lit up when she saw the coffee prepared; you didn't see that around too much anymore, what with klah taking its place, and she much preferred it to the bitter new drink. She reached over to grab a mug and pour herself a liberal amount of the drink, hoping it was caffeinated, and then proceeding to add as much sweetening as possible.

"So, what's up?" she asked, plopping herself down in a chair. "You told us to meet as here so here I am - so please tell me it's worth my time." She gave the German girl a grin to make sure she knew that she meant no offense by the half-teasing words.

Kaimry walked down the halls towards the dining cavern, wondering what this so called"lesser riders" meeting was about.
" what in the world go this be about?" she said to herself.
AS she drew closer to the Dining Cavern, she heard someone ask something.
"hmm, this is all so mysterious." She said quietly.

"Hey, you better tell me everything about this meeting, got it?I mean it, I wanna know eveything! And besides I'm your dragon and without me you wouldn't even attending this meeting! So your better tell me or I'll punish you."

"Syllath, please be quiet. I promise I'll tell you everything, when the meeting is over. And Go to sleep, please!" she muttered under her breath as she entered the Cavern.

"so what this meeting for? Are we some kind of Secret society and are planning to overthrow something?" she asked Mischeviously.She eyed the assortment of drinks and grabbed some coffee, sat down and began to drink it.

Emiline rose to greet and offer her handshake to each riders as he or she came into the dining cavern and took their place along the sides of the long table. "Hallo, Roman," she greeted the brown rider warmly. She had not been sure that any of the browns would come. Initially she had thought to invite only the smallest of the draconic family- the blues and the greens. Upon reflection she decided that the larger browns were a useful potential ally to her cause, far too valuable to exclude. "You haff already done it for me, by coming my friend."

As Tylar sat down, she passed the other green rider a delicate silver spoon to stir her coffee and smiled. "Ach! I am glad you are hier. You are very important, because you haff seen vat I haff seen. I must vait for a few more minutes for more to come... but I promise I vill tell you everyt'ing as soon as we get started. I t'ink it vill not be a waste of your time. How is your Winnfrith?"

Emiline put the sweetener in her own cup as Kaimry sat down, waving at the newest green rider. It was a good thing she had thought to bring so much of her coffee stash as it was by far the most popular thus far. "Hallo, I haff not met you I t'ink. Who do you ride?" She shifted a little in her seat as she purposefully avoided Kaimry's question and attempted to redirect the conversation to smalltalk. The purpose of her meeting wasn't quite as exciting as that... but it was close enough to the truth to be uncomfortable. She had to be careful as to how she worded this, 'lest it get back to someone who would not take a charitable view of her activities here.

Aria looked back one last to make sure that Finscoth was sleeping soundly in her wallow before she swiftly exited their room. Of course she'd head by then about the meeting for brown, blue, and greenriders but she wasn't quiet sure what to make of the meeting. She'd have the answers to the questions plaguing her mind soon enough though she knew as she entered into the Dining Cavern where this so-called meeting was going to take place. Spotting Tylar quickly, she moved to her cousin's side and stood with her. "Hello Tylar, how's Wyn doing? Any idea what's going on?

Tylar reached over to take the spoon offered, nodding her thanks, and stirred her coffee with it as she listened to the other greenriders words. Her grin grew slightly wider; Good to know I'm appreciated, she thought good-naturedly. Very important? Someone thought highly of her....she suppressed a giggle. But in another moment her humor had vanished; You have seen what I have seen. Wait, what? What was Emiline talking about....Then she thought about the only event they'd ever really witnessed together, and her lips fell immediately into a scowl. She hated how that one memory had the ability to completely ruin her mood.

She shook her head with a wan smile, refocusing on Emiline as she asked about Wynnfrith. "She's pretty good....sleeping at the moment, thankfully," was her explanation, and she added hastily after that, so as not to seem impolite, "And Delyth?"

A moment later her attention was distracted by the arrival of her cousin. "Fine, sleeping," she returned in a briefer version of her answer to Emiline; oh, she disliked having to repeat herself...but she brushed it off. "How's Finscoth?" And at Aria's question, she shrugged. "Not quite sure. She-" and she jerked a fingerat Emiline, "- wants to wait for more to come before starting this meeting thing."

"oh me? Syllath is my little green." she responded distracted.
"hmm..She avoided my question, I wonder why" she thought to herself. " I wonder if she has something to hide." she was stil thinking when she noticed there were quite a few people here. She didn't know a single one of them though. she hadn't really bothered to learn people's names or start conversations with them.
" looks like you got a big group here. So whens the meeting gonna start?" she asked slightly impatient and curious. The woman she was talking to seemed very kind and she wondered why she had called a meeting and why so secretly.
"What kind of dragon do you ride?" she asked to try and keep some sort of conversation.

Deran

Deran had known about what was going to happen; and had discussed plenty of the topic with his partner before she had posted the notice in the first place. He had taken the time to get Tarath settled into his wallow in their home along with Delyth; whom had naturally fallen asleep much earlier than the blue.

His pacing across the bowl made him think of Emi's words to him. The longer they played in his head, the more right they became. He just hoped she had not started til he reached the caverns. His relief when he saw her gathered with some of the other 'lesser' riders was quick lived, as the importance settled back in on him.

He strode right in and slipped behind Emi, giving her a bracing hug with his hands around her waist. "Hey, everyone... I don't think I know all of you. Can you introduce me, Emi dear?" He asked the green with a smile. His stance was a bit rigid however, and he knew this discussion would have pretty serious impact on them all.

---

CJ

The mechanic-turned-rider had heard about the notice through his greenrider friend, Jase. Since he had impressed a small blue, whom was while curious very polite and respectful, he figured it would be best to put in an appearance. So once little Jareth was settled in the barracks for the night, he bundled himself up and walked out into the bowl.

He had stood out there for a little bit, waiting and hoping Jase my show up, but the greenrider did not put in an appearance at the barracks entrance. CJ sighed, it was not all that surprising as the doctor was busy, but he couldn't delay any longer.

Fortunately it was not far. He set off at a brisk pace across the caldera towards the dining caverns.

The shy young man paused once he entered the dining caverns, spotting the slowly growing crowd before him. It took more than a bit of willpower to march forward, and mutter out "Hi" to the others present before taking a seat. He wished Jase was there.

Malcolm was not sure what this meeting was about, but his curiousness got the best of him, so he decided to go. Iorath was sleeping soundly, the little brown had worn himself out earlier doing a little bit of everything. When Malcolm got to the dining cavern it was already somewhat crowded. He tried to spot someone he knew a little better and found Deran, but Deran and Emi were both up front and looked to be getting ready to start this thing. So Malcolm silently found a seat and sat down. He'd know soon enough what this was all about.

ooc: I'm going to "open the meeting" now, but it's not too late to bring your character into this thread. If you come in, please just play it as if your character were among the "others arriving" I speak of vaguely in this post and behave as if they were present for Emiline's explenation.

IC:

Emiline smiled to Kaimry. "I, also, ride a green. My dragon's name ist Delyth, out of the last hatching. Your Syllath ist also one of die youngest, correct?" While she spoke, she smiled a greeting to another newcomer. It continued like this for several more minutes: small talk between riders who knew one another and introductions between those who didn't. As they spoke, more riders filtered into the little group and before too long the table was getting full. Emiline mentally calculated- there could not be many more coming. It was time.

Emiline stood up and gently rapped on her mug with her spoon in order to gather the attention of the gathered people. Taking a very deep breath to calm her nerves she began:

"I know dat you all wonder why I haff asked you to come here. I vill try to be to the point, but I ask dat you please let me say everyt'ing before asking questions or making comments, so I can be sure dat I haff said what needs saying.

I believe I do not surprise anyone when I say that it is clear dat there is an... expectation regarding the eventual leadership of our kind- the Dragon Riders of Pern. Namely, the gold and bronze riders seem to assume that, as the gold and bronze dragonets govern the wild, distant cousins of our dragons, so they vill someday govern us. In some ways dere is logic in dis. I haff heard of the power that a gold dragon can exert on the minds of our dragons. In combating dis terrible Thread, dat will be quite useful I am sure.

But now I must beg the pardon of our friend Tylar- for I must speak today of what I haff seen happen. I do not vish to embarass you, my friend and fellow rider, but dis experience has cemented in me the fear that I haff for myself and my dragon. Shortly after the newest dragons came out of their eggs, Gold Rider Alicia confronted Tylar and made quite clear her feelings regarding the smallest of our dragons. I t'ink at first dat dis is no big t'ing- there are people whom I haff no wish to know in the world and she is but one more. I vill not repeat most of vat was said because it vas not worth repeating, but during this argument Alicia said dat the golds were the only fertile female. Females dat matter. I t'ink to myself, "Dis kind of person vill direct my little Deylith in the sky when she is old enough to fly? Dis is who will lead her into battle against Thread? Will she care if die little females are scored, if they die?" I do not know about you, but I am not villing to risk that.

Und when intervention came, it vas from ANOTHER gold rider. I haff heard, and pardon me again Tylar, dat die older goldrider struck both girls in order to end the conflict. Struck dem. So ve haff hier, one young gold rider to send my little "doesn't matter" green into the sky, und another dat uses physical force vhere words or earlier intervention might haff served better. I did not see dis t'ing happen, but if it is truth, I feel I did not give my permission to strike me when I stood to impress. I don't think you did either, Tylar.

So I haff called you, because I feel dat it is our duty to ourselves AND our dragons... that we organize and assure that we haff some say in dis new world. We can not, in good conscience, sit idly by as dey treat us as second class citizens. It vould be a disservice to our dragons and to our children and our dragon's children. Eventually, there will be many more of us than there will be of the golds and bronzes, and we MUST be sure that ve do not let our world become one where a few elite rule the majority unchecked. In history, dis system brings only suffering for many and joy for very few.

For the time being, I vould not suggest dat we DO anything. It vould be bad if we were to tip our hands too early. But I vould ask you to be vigilant, I ask you to speak to your peers and vatch the gold and bronzes to see who is to be avoided and who is to be trusted. Finally, I vould ask dat you teach your dragons dat the golds and the bronzes are not infalliable Gods to be lead no matter vat the circumstances. In dis way, when the time comes to make decisions who will lead- we, the people who will be lead haff some say."

Emiline swallowed and sat down. Her voice had begun to tremor towards the end. She had never been very good at public speaking. She waited for the others to digest and react to what she had said, hoping that they would see her point of view.

OOC- we shall just say that for this Otania is not herself and is in a very bad mood.

Otania showed up to this meeting but Verreth did not sleep when she went. He knew she was not herself and wanted to keep an eye on her, plus he was not tired yet. She came in but did not say hi to those she knew, she more or less sat in the corner and waited for whatever this was to begin. She listened, a few times though she just wanted to stand and shout. Verreth did that for her.

"No one deserves to be treated that way!" She almost shouted at the top of her lungs, as if to add his own bit Verreth roared. It could easily be heard because he was being as loud as he could. "Verreth and I will not let that happen again to any rider! We shall do whatever we can to protect the greens, blues and even the browns." Otania sounded not only pissed off but very serious. "If we need to we shall both be scored to protect if we must!" she added, Verreth even said to all the other dragons for the riders present. I shall do whatever I can to protect you all, just like my Tani said. Even if I must take your injury for you.

Jase had been tending to a few children of the Caldera which had managed to scrape themselves up pretty well playing on the rocks near the waters edge. However even though he was late he moved his way through the crowd to rest his hand on CJ's shoulder to let the young man know he was there. He listened intently to everything Emiline had to say, and he agreed with many of the points she made. Even Sean who was seated near his brother John was nodding, though he knew not all of the riders of the bronzes and golds were bad people. Before Jase could say anything though there was a loud voice both mental and physical from behind them.

'That will not be necessary young one'

"That's a lovely thought sweetie but it won't be necessary"

Mikhael squeezed Otania's shoulder as he moved through the crowd of them effortlessly towards the front. He agreed with many points, but he also knew Ravana very well she was a fellow Squadron Leader, a woman of great strength and kindness though many would not see that. Though Zharath was the same age as Verreth he spoke like one beyond his own years, however some of that could be put down to Mikhael already being a thread fighter and a leader at that, what remained was simple who Zharath was.

"I don't condone Ravana's actions however she would not be so callous as to send someone to fight who was not fully recovered from anything. She is one of the best Squadron Leader and Sled Pilots I have seen. She is also and incredible Thread fighter who would give her life for any of you. She appears cold and her actions may be so too, but do not judge her so harshly when you have our current safety to owe to her and her squadron."

He stepped forwards to come to stand next to Emiline and placed a hand on her shoulder. He inclined his head and gave her a smile before turning towards those that had gathered, he may have been out of place in a room dominated by those 3 colours below his Zharath, but he had every right to be there.

"However I do believe that a precedent should be set in case such a thing should happen. Having fought Thread for longer than most of you in this room, I can speak first hand in saying it will scare you like nothing you ever seen before. Sean here can speak first hand as to what a Thread score feels like, he can even show you. Jase and John here will teach you the basics of first aid before we ever take to the skies. For those sled pilots among us I can personally vouch that you can trust them and should they prove other wise I will personally take their punishment and I will personally be the one to punish them."

Dropping his hand from Emiline's shoulder he folded them behind his back, feet shoulder width apart he stood at ease in front of them. He had nothing to hide and he trusted those other pilots with his life, just as he trusted Jase and John.

"You have my support and backing for as long as I live."

Taking one hand from behind he back he indicated for everyone to join the discussion or for Emiline to take over again.


[[Hope this was alright Syl.. I kind of half forgot what I was suppose to do ^.^...]]

ooc: It is a little problematic, only because I'd wanted originally to wait to broach the subject at all with the gold and bronze riders until after the second passers came and made it clear about how weyrs are 'supposed' to be run. So... I kind of don't know where it's going to go at this point, but it will go somewhere I'm sure! It will work out, just probably differently than I had in mind if, theoretically, golds and bronzes will know about this meeting.

But that's the fun of roleplaying, you never know how it'll go!

BIC:
For the barest second, Emiline felt a flash of resentment. Of course this man, a bronze rider, would defend the status quo. After all, it appeared as if the bronze riders could come to expect a defined place in the new hierarchy that threatened to become as much a part of Pern as Klah or the dragonets. She had a brief flash of irrational anger that her express directions to pass the message only to those colors impacted by what she had to say had been ignored. Already there had been exclusive gatherings of Gold riders talking about shards knew what... how was it that their, the so called "lesser" color's right to assemble privately was so flouted when they could have their little clucking party unmolested? How was it that he felt it was his right to crash the meeting and speak to them as if they were all erring children? Did this not supported every suspicion, every fear she'd had up until now? A cold wave of fear washed over her as well. Without the discretion she'd hoped for, how could they guarantee the ability to quietly strengthen any opposition to a totalitarian gold and bronze run governing system?

But as quickly as it began, she fiercely throttled the furious indignation that grew within her. This was precisely the danger of enacting social change... that what begins as a move for equality becomes a polarization of 'us' versus 'them.' The danger that hatred or resentment would come to replace the firm handed resolve of those correctly protecting their own natural rights. She could not, none of them could, give that mentality a chance to take root. She had seen Alicia's gold react menacingly in reaction to her rider's anger, and Emiline understood deeply in her soul that it was a very short step between rider against rider and dragon against dragon.

Instead, she took several long moments to cool her cheeks and collect her thoughts, using the time to refresh her cooling coffee with fresh. When she finally did speak her voice was cool and even and her tone was polite.

“Thank you, Bronze Rider. You haff made one very good point here. That point is dat not all bronze und gold riders are deserving of our mistrust. Dat is why I haff asked you not only to pay attention to whom cannot be trusted, but also to who can be. I awknowledge dat we vill in most likeliehood be led by at least some of them someday. Ve must make sure ve know who is best to follow.

However, I feel you do not understand, Sir. I must explain to you all dat I do not come here because I do not trust one individual, or two, or the whole group. Nor do I suggest by dis dat those who haff flown thread on sleds are not to be honored. You perhaps do not know of me, dat I am vas medical staff before I impressed. Vhat you battled in die sky, I battled on the ground on die bodies and the skin of the fallen. Other of us haff seen our loved ones seared, broken und dead. Ve haff stamped them out in the ground and seen dem wiff our own eyes. I promise you, I haff imagination enough to know exactly vhat ve face even if we must yet vait a bit more to do it in the sky ourselves. We all know, und dat is why it is so important ve get a say in how ve face it.

And so I come here because until I know dat our opinion vill matter. Can you tell me, Bronze Rider, who will lead us? How vill they be chosen? For all we know right now, it could be as arbitrary as...” she waved her hands in the air as is plucking examples from the very sky. “As who's dragon vas born first, or which gold has die first clutch. Do these facts indicate anyt'ing about their riders to us? No. It does not.”

((Well.....as long as we're going with it....here's Ty's input))

Tylar sipped her coffee to mask her impatience, answering slightly shortly the people who made small talk with her. Her eyes were on Emiline, waiting for her to reveal the reason they were all there. It really was a good turn-out; word had indeed reached many of the "lower" riders, but luckily none of the higher....so it seemed, anyhow. She only hoped it was worth all the fuss.

She did not need the rapping of the spoon to catch her attention; her gaze was already riveted on Emiline, and her already-alert body tensed when she saw the greenrider stood up. She sat poised on a stool, legs and arms both crossed, waiting.

She listened to the German rider, absorbing every word and, for once, listening closely. Emiline was right when she spoke of all the gold and bronzerider's assumed power. Tylar, personally, thought that was stupid - just because they impressed a pretty color they thought they were entitled to lead, that they'd already earned that right? - but she also had to, grudgingly, admit the greenrider was right when she said there was logic. Somebody had to lead, she supposed, and it did seem that golds were able to exert force over the others, and that at least would be useful fighting Thread.

But it didn't mean it was right. Tylar definitely didn't think it was right. And there was a reason for that - a reason that Emiline reached in her speech the same time Tylar did in her thoughts. She nodded slowly when her name was mentioned; Emiline could say what she liked, because so far Tylar was agreeing with her every word. And she already knew what the next topic would be. With each word, as the outrage was spoken of clearly for the first time, her impulse to blurt out, to say something, to unleash the anger slowly building inside her about such an injustice, grew stronger. Yet she clamped down on the impulse, remembering Emiline's request to let her finish.

Still, it angered her so! The other weyrling was absolutely right. Alicia hadn't exactly acted like a leader; she'd acted like a vain brat instead. And it was complete injustice in Tylar's eyes that Ravana had slapped her, when all she'd been doing had been defending herself and her dragon, and calling Alicia out for her behavior! (Well...maybe calling it out a bit forcefully, but still....) It wasn't fair, in no way was it fair.

Emiline was right, absolutely right. How could they sit there and do nothing while their world was slowly taken over by goldriders and bronzeriders? Green and blue and brownriders all mattered just as much; they didn't deserve to be treated like scum. Tylar was more sure of that with every word she heard. Thou....she was slightly dissapointed that Eiline didn't want them to ctually do anything yet; Tylar didn't want to sit around and wait, she waned something to be doen! But maybe the greenrider was right.....as long as they'd have their chance.

Once Emiline had finished speaking - and a bluerider from the first clutch that Tylar didn't recognize had finished her shouting - the diminutive weyrling stood up. Not that that made much of a difference, she was so tiny, so she cleared her throat loudly to get the audience's attention. She had her piece and she was going to say it.

Only she didn't get a chance. From behind her came a voice even she recognized, and her blood ran cold. Damn. That was Mikhael, the bronzerider. They'd been found out. She watched him come to stand by Emiline, and waited for the harsh words, the sharp dismissal. But to her surprise it didn't come. Instead he vouched for Ravana - of course - then he talked about Thread. He didn't, she noticed, say anything about power or who would rule, neither agreeing with them or vouching for the assumed role of his own kind.

And still he never dismissed them. Odd; Mikhael seemed to think such a 'secret' (didn't turn out to be so secret anyway, did it?) meeting was so unusual. But if he wasn't going to tell them off....she still had her piece to say.

“Thank you, Bronze Rider."

Well, hell. Tylar sat back down with a frustrated sigh, letting Emiline take the stage once more. Not that she didn't care what others had to say - she did - but boy, she figured that Emiline was right; she had a big part in this and she wanted to talk. Jeesh. But still, she listened. Her impatience overrode her sense for the first moment - when Emiline was conceding Mikhael's point - but after a bit she started really listening again. And, once more, agreeing. Did the Bronzerider think they did not know the horrors of Threadfall? Did he think them ignorant children simply because they had not yet fought it? Tylar may never have seared it from the sky, but that didn't mean she did not know of its terrible effects. Not by a long shot.

And again, with the way of handling power. Who gets it and how? Well, Tylar firmly believed it was a right that should be earned, not given freely; you had to show you were fit to lead. But somehow that wasn't what appeared to be happening here.

Finally it appeared that all were at last done speaking, and Tylar sprang up before anyone else could open their mouths. About time. "If nobody minds, I've got something to say, too. What bothers me the most is that some - not all, but some - of the gold- and bronzeriders seem to think that they deserve leadership because they Impressed a pretty color. That they're entitled to it because their dragons might be a bit bigger and shinier than the others. But where's the sense in that? Seems to me that power should be earned, not freely given.

"Now, some riders-" (she indicated Mikhael for one), "-have sense in their head. Some already have earned such a right, I'll give them that. But what of others? What of Goldrider Alicia, who seemed to think she had the right to put me and my dragon down because of not only her color, but her condition too? She openly scorned us, saying golds were the only females that mattered. Huh, greenriders? Do you think golds are the only females that matter? I sure as shells don't! And then Ravana - you say, bronzerider, but good things about her, and I don't doubt they are all true. However you leave out her wonderful diplomatic skills. If anyone here thinks that physical force is the right way to stop anything, tell me, because I don't understand that. She slapped us, both of us, hard. And I don't think that's justified; all I was doing was trying to defend the honor of myself and my dragon, and call her out for what she herself was doing.

"And her gold. She imposed her will, forcefully, on all of us present. My friends, be glad you have not felt it. You could hardly move, hardly speak, hardly even breathe; it was like suffocating, like a giant pressure that rendered all helpless. Would you want that done to you? I don't think so; true, it might prove useful sometimes, but crushing someone's will, their ability to even defend themselves - that isn't right, surely? Tell me if it is, tell me! Explain to me why that is right.

"So are we going to simply hand over our allegiance to people like that? What of Alicia, who clearly scorns us all? What of Ravana, who resorts to physical force? What of Adrienne, with her known short temper? And why, pray tell, have none of us even been looked at? Will we be ignored entirely because of the color of our dragons? I bet some of us would make great leaders. I'm not saying I would, because I wouldn't." She shrugged; she knew it was true. She didn't even want to. "But it seems wrong not to be given a chance, doesn't it? We don't want to become a dictatorship, or a monarchy, do we? It seems a short step from "goldriders and bronzeriders leading" to "goldriders and bronzeriders first", and then "goldriders and bronzeriders only. Do you not agree? We will fight Thread, when the time comes, won't we? Just as much as they will, just as willingly as they will! We are the people - shouldn't we be heard?"

She was about to finish, then realized that she'd had something more she'd wanted to say first. "Oh! And, bronzerider Mikhael, you speak to us of Thread as if we haven't seen it before; as if we don't know what it does. I assure you ,we do. True we haven't fought it like you have, but not one person in this room is untouched by it. My father died of it - I watched him die, I watched my mother cry over his body....over the horrible mess it had become...." She halted, eyes filling unexpectedly with tears. "Forgive me, bronzerider, but some would say it has already scared us like nothing we've seen before," she finished much more quietly. "I am one of them. Emiline is right: we know. All we want is to get rid of it, just like you."

She finished with a shrug, and sat down, looking somewhat proud of herself; turns out she could speak well when she wanted to, couldn't she? And she thought she may have brought up some good points. And she was looking forward to seeing what responses that got.

Otania jumped as she felt a squeeze on her shoulder and she looked up to see Mikhael. "It may be nessecary one day, you never know..." Otania whipered mostly to herself. She was not having a good day and she needed someone to know that. Instead she went back to sitting in her corner to more or less suffer in silence. The look on her face was not something someone wanted to see. It was sad, depressed and totally stressed out and it looked like she was going to cry any minute now. She curled her knees up to her chest and put her forehead on her knees. She didn't say a word. She just sat there motionless.

As the more people arrived, Roman nooded to each of them in turn as they entered, offering all his usual wry grin. It seemed that this was turning out to be a pretty large gathering, all things considered. There were many here, but the only other brown riders present were Malcolm and John. Where was Alex?

Roman stopped searching the room for his friend, though, when Emiline began to speak. She had a lot on her mind, it seemed, and while he didn't agree with the notion that their leaders would be based solely on those chosen by either gold or bronze dragons, he didn't think that all of them were bad. He hadn't had any problems with the riders of the "higher" colors... but it bothered him that some of his friends had.

He was about to say as much when Mikhael entered the room. After shooting a questioning look at Emi, he watched the Sled Pilot stride through the crowd and end up at the front of the room. As Mikhael spoke, Roman listened once more, nodding where he agreed. The sled pilot and bronze rider had some valid points, and Roman as well knew first hand the devastation of Thread. After all, he'd had to watch his father be consumed by it. Before he could really dwell on the emotions, though, Zane blinked in from between and perched on his shoulder, chattering anxiously. Absentmindedly he scratched Zane's neck, still in thought as Tylar spoke up.

She, also, had her points, and after listening to both sides Roman found himself feeling like he was stuck between either a rock and a hard place. On one hand he had the Gold and bronze riders who treated him like one of them, and on the other hand he had the greens and blues, who seemed to want his company just as much. At the moment, Roman really wasn't sure what he wanted, and so he kept his mouth shut, just content to listen for the moment.

CJ

When Jase entered, CJ turned and slipped one arm about the greenrider's waist. He kept look comfort from the other man, especially as the greenrider Emiline's words sunk in. It was something he had noticed himself in how some others around the caldera treated others.

A frown spread across his face when the older bronze rider arrived however. It was like party crashing, and the scowl deepened as the words from the greenrider Tylar brought forth more evidence of a class heirarchy rising. He leaned and murmured to Jase, "I couldn't bear to lose you to someone's bad decisions." His face mirrored the troubled thoughts running in his head.

-----

Deran

The bluerider had slipped behind Emi after her speech and slipped his arms about her waist. But when the bronzerider entered he stepped back, and frowned slightly. It would be fitting that the higher colors would interrupt this meeting.

His fists clenched a bit at the bronzerider's words. His eyes narrowed at the same time. There was nothing this bronzerider knew! He coughed for a moment after the others had spoken, and raised his voice.

"Emi had a point though Bronzerider. We must have some sort of backup plan for the lesser colors. Just because you and some of the gold riders and other bronze riders are trustworthy now, there is still the fact that any or all of you could die. Or things could change. There may be a time in the lives of our children's children where that gold and bronze riders dictate what all lower colors will do and none of them would be trustworthy."

He raised his head and looked right into Mik's eyes. "Emi and I have a son, Kai. The way things are going the golds could dictate what they wanted, how they wanted. I don't want him to grow up in a place where say that Alicia's gold clutched, and he was searched for it to try and impress, and she simply decided to say 'no' to him. Or where he was forced to act as a servant to higher colors. Can you not deny that the path from criticisms to demands is an easy and short one?

"I could not find any reason we should be forced to deal with such a life. Now I understand that you bronzeriders and the goldriders have a purpose in our new world we are building. Even if they are in the end the leaders, the ones who guide us, we cannot be left without recourse should they fail those duties. Remember the regulations of old Earth, in democratic societies, and the ability of the governed to impeach and depose those whom failed in their duties. We cannot forget either what happened in societies without those protections for the people, and the suffering and eventual revolutions that came about. Pern was meant to be a peaceful world, one of cooperation and coexistence. But that is the society we are losing right now.

"So please bronzerider. Tell us. How do we preserve equality for all riders, even though we are to have leadership? How do we protect those of us without the rarity of our dragon's birth colorings as a status?" Deran set his chin, his hand reaching down to hold Emi's.