Interviewing the queen (Spiffy)

[S'yal]

Z was nonchalant about the whole business with the dragonwatch. He wasn't threatened by them, despite his sordid past and rather questionable reputation. If they got rid of him, it mattered little. With a queen wher of his own he could easily become powerful again- wher eggs sold for thousands. Besides, cleaning himself up was beyond easy. He'd only ever been seen hung over in public, and it was easy to brush that off as illness or exhaustion from being out in the day. Not to mention his past was rather buried- so long as he was asked no direct questions it would be easy to dance around the subject.

It was dark out, yes. It was also Z's second day off, the one used for training and the like. He'd finished his training of the squad and paper work, and had given the wherlings the day off to be spent bonding with their whers. It was important that they bond as much as possible- a weakly bonded wher would be impossible to control. This was not a place where a wher could be allowed to run wild, and Z had kept his subordinates under control for far too long to just allow them to run about causing chaos. That was why Bellask and Bellatrisk posed such a large concern... they were a risk that Z wasn't willing to gamble on. Bellatrix would learn to control them, or she would lose them.

Z shook his head to clear his mind of the thoughts, turning his attention back to the task at hand. This task was scrubbing Zalmask- the gold was enjoying the attention and croon with obvious appreciation as Z ashed her. He'd neglected her over the past few weeks, and he honestly regretted it. She was his to care for and keep safe, and he'd nearly failed her.

He honestly could care less for the dragonriders- if they stayed out of his business, he stayed out of theirs. So long as they didn't make any moves towards Siatask or Lucisk, he was content to let them meddle to their hearts content. Of course, opinions do have a tendency to change...

[Spiffy]

Midith plodded quietly down to the river, J'tek following behind. Neither spoke, neither needed to, but they still talked. Although it was past sunset, J'tek doubted he would be able to sleep. They'd been provided shelter, if you could call it that, but the pair felt that they would rather get away from the prison for a bit.

I do not like this place, I think. There is much badness, sadness. And it is tiring you, my Joh.

J'tek sighed, rubbing his temples with his hand. I agree. There is much to hunting down criminals, but it has nothing on this. Just endless questions and diversions.

Midith padded, his rider taking consolation from the bronze's silence. The two had been together for long enough not to need words to express each other's feelings, to support the other when in doubt. It was almost second nature.

Mine there are others. A wher, golden, and her handler I think. The wherleader pair? She is the dark one, yes? So I'm told. Then that is her. He paused for a second, unsure what his rider was going to do next. I suppose we should talk to them? I highly doubt that you'd be able to talk to him during the daytime, so now seems as good a time as any. J'tek frowned. He'd really much rather just ignore the rest of the world right then and curl up against his dragon for the night, under the stars, but the man knew his duty, and if there was one thing you could fault J'tek for, not doing his duty was certainly not one of them.

He sighed, began walking over to the goldpair, keeping a close eye on the gold in particular, Midith plodding along behind him.

"Wherleader?" he asked, just to make sure, his soft voice making sound eternally uncertain. Even if he wasn't. But this wasn't one of those times. "Mind if I as you a few questions?" he added, almost hesitantly. Quite frankly, if the guy said no, J'tek wasn't about to go cry about it.

[S'yal]

Zalmask tensed as the pair were approached, broad head lifting so that she was looking directly at the bronze and his rider. He was not Yusuth, the rider was not Warden. Thus he was a threat. Her memories of culled hatchlings drove her to snarl at the pair, though Z's hand on her snout calmed the gold. Her eyes still burned red, focusing on the rider pair. She was not a friendly wher, no matter how kind she could act around her 'pack'. She was also a wher with good memory- riders were dangerous and not to be trusted. Even the one she liked was a danger to her pack, and she had to watch him carefully. Warden had shown her that.

Z waved a hand towards the pair, moving out of the river and straightening his shirt. Zalmask crawled out after him, an aquatic monster from the black lagoon. The wherleader glanced at the bronzerider, a friendly smile coming over his face. "Call me Z, please. No reason to be so formal." Zalmask grunted, and he rested his hand on her head. "This is Mama, otherwise known as Zalmask." He introduced her, knowing Mama would be offended if she was not introduced. Zalmask sat, raising a paw solemnly before nodding her large head. She was actually expecting a weird handshake, but it was rather unlikely that she would get one. Not many realized that whers were more then animals.

"Sure, I have free time." Z smiled at the bronzerider, careful to stay respectful. It wasn't his ass on the line here, it was Warden's. And there was no way in hell Z was letting his friend lose his job, even if Warden did seem to hate it. "You're lucky you ran into me tonight! Most of my time is spent with the wherlings, but tonight is for bonding." Surely a dragonrider would understand time spent between bond partners? Z scratched Zalmask's chin, a constant thing he'd picked up since Zalsk had died. He needed to reassure himself that Zalmask was there- the fear she would disappear at any moment was nearly all consuming.

Zalmask not trust riderman. Zalmask said suddenly, earning a glance from Z. He come with new men. About dragon clutch. Z regarded Zalmask for a moment, before looking at the bronzerider. Now that he looked closely, he realized that this was not any guard he'd seen. He didn't interact with dragonriders much, but he did know the bronzeriders. Who didn't?

"Zalmask says you came because of the clutch?" He arched an eyebrow, shrugging. "None of my business. I'm smart enough to keep my nose about of dragonman business."

[Spiffy]

J'tek skirted a little further around the gold as she snarled at his, eyes flashing the characteristic angry red. Midith rubbed his head against his near shoulder, positioning himself slightly in front of his rider on the side facing the gold. He didn't growl or make any move against the gold, but his eyes flashed faintly yellow, and he didn't take them off of the gold. Even a bit of orange flashed up when the pair came out of the water and got closer.

J'tek smiled back at Z, a little relieved that he hadn't got a hostile reaction, from the handler anyway. The gold unnerved him though, more than a thug with a knife. He frowned as Z introduced himself, completely unprepared to be told against being formal. It was just... weird. Most of his life he'd been following formalities and rank hierarchies, it was a deep seated habit now. If he were an awkward person, he'd go on calling Z Wherleader just because. As it was, he'd struggle with Z. He hardly knew the guy, he shouldn't be on nickname terms...

"As you wish... Z," he managed, nodding.

He was slightly taken aback when Zalmask raised her paw. What was she doing? His confusion was visible on his face, his frown, and the way he drew back slightly.

He looked back to Z as he spoke. At least he seemed fairly logical. And it appeared it was luck that he came across him this night, otherwise someone may not have gotten to speak with him. That is good. It is good to have his opinion, even if I do not think we will get the gold's. You think she even has an opinion? Not all whers are stupid, Joh. And she is a senior queen, do not forget. As you wish. You ask her then.

The bronze hmfd, J'tek automatically stroking his shoulder in reassurance that he didn't mind. Neither of them seemed keen on talking to Zalmask. He saw the goldhandler look at his wher, obviously a little surprised, then turned back to give J'tek a look that had him clenching his fingers in nerves. Midith immediately sent him a wave of silent support, which helped somewhat. He stood a little straighter.

"You are correct," he said carefully, wondering what had just passed between the pair. The wher said so? Strange indeed. Midith rumbled in slight pleasure at being proved right. If Zalmask was really as intelligent as Midith seemed to think, then that ran against pretty much everything J'tek had known of whers, which was admittedly little. That irked him. He didn't like things that didn't fit with his knowledge of the world. "I-- we are here because of the clutch, as the DragonGuard requested. I understand you not wanting to get caught up in all that strange business-" oh he understood, the whole thing just seemed so unnatural to him "-but I'm sure that you have heard of them? You must have some sort of thoughts or opinions on them?" He probably wasn't going to get much from this man, if he kept his nose out of things not his business as he said, but it was his duty to try. At least he may get something new from a different perspective.

[S'yal]

Z grinned, shrugging. "It's nothing personal, I just hate my name and I feel like I shouldn't be respected on rank alone." He waved a hand, a smirk on his face. "Don't worry, once I've earned respect you can call me lord wherhandler, if you like." He could tell the bronzerider felt awkward, and he was trying to reassure him. "It's more of a habit from being around the other wherhandlers." He tilted his head to one side as Zalmask huffed.

Z could tell that both we unnerved by the gold, and he sought to put them more at ease around her. "Don't worry, she doesn't bite. She's just being a bully. Aren't you, darling?" Zalmask hesitated, and then nodded with a ridiculously proud look on her hide covered face. Z grinned and rubbed her behind the ear. Last time Zalmask had been this close to a dragon she'd been arriving at Warden's, and that had not been a pleasant experience. He couldn't really blame her for being anxious. "She wanted to shake your hand." Z said after a moment, a smile on his face. "You don't have to. She's just trying to be polite."

It was always so weird talking to those who didn't understand the intelligence level of Whers, Z honestly couldn't comprehend how they wouldn't realize they were dealing with something that neared the intelligence of dragons. No where close, but still, Whers were most certainly a sentient species. Z sometimes privately thought that in some ways whers were more intelligent- whers could plan for the future and he'd never heard of a dragon doing such.

"I am the wherleader- part of my duties is making sure that no prisoners rip the weyrlings to shreds. Some of my handlers patrol the outside of the weyrling barracks to keep them safe at night." He shrugged, glancing towards the sky. "I'm not really sure how intelligent it is to give away my opinion. Zalmask thinks it's too risky, but i'd rather you guys know where I stand then surprise the watch down the road." He laid his hand on Zalmask's head, pausing.

"The prisoner weyrlings make me nervous. The thieves i'm fine with- most of them are in for minor crimes that seem more like bad judgement then anything else. Plenty of candidates have stolen worse things. But the dusters... I don't like that. It's too dangerous to the infant dragon... some of them have shown willingness to give up the drug for good, but others seem like they're just waiting to start up again." He shook his head with a sigh. It disappointed him that any would risk their lifemate just for a high. He'd never heard of a wherhandler doing such, and they supposedly had weaker bonds then dragonriders!

"As for the new colors, to be honest, I don't see the problem. Things evolve, right? Maybe this is dragons just finally catching up with the other species." He looked thoughtfully at Zalmask, before shrugging.

"Besides, dragons are dragons. The thought of them being hated because they look different makes me angry, they're still dragons and they deserve respect and awe.... and they're babies. Their riders are just children..." He hesitated, looking down at the ground and kicking at the dirt. "Ruth was strange too, and look what he did! The best betweener ever born, and he ended thread. I mean, if half the world hated Zalmask because of the way she looked, i'd go insane. Wouldn't you? Dragons don't deserve that. They've done too much for the pernese."

"But like I said, dragon business isn't my business. I'll stick to the whers, thanks." Whers didn't randomly change on him. Even cases like Siatask had been seen before, though Lucisk was the first white wher to ever survive to get out of the shell. But even she wasn't a completely new thing- white wherlings had been found in dissected eggs before, and there was always Ruth. "They at least have the decency not to throw random mutations at me and cause chaos,"

Zalmask eyed the bronze some more, feeling like he was being quite rude. He hadn't even introduced himself to her. The gold puffed up, eying him up with a red eye. He might be a dragon, but she was queen and this was her territory. The least he could do was be a bit respectful. Zalmask decided that if they weren't going to talk to her, she was going to talk to them!

Zalmask not understand. Dragons still dragons, still catch criminals and be useful. Zalmask think cute. Z briefly wondered if he'd have to translate to the rider would understand her broken speech, and shrugged. Zalmask also think bronze and riderman VERY rude. Not introduce selves to Zalmask, Zalmask queen. Zalmask work hard and control all whers for dragons, and no dragon ever be polite to Zalmask. Zalmask at least get 'hello, Zalmask!'. Zalmask grumbled.

Z laughed quietly, stroking Zalmask's head. "Don't pay any mind to her. Like I said, things have been stressful for us handlers. Zalmask is usually much more pleasant." He gave Zalmask a warning look, and the gold sighed as if greatly chagrined. "Any other questions? I'll try to remind her of her manners." The gold huffed and flopped down, watching the rider and dragon carefully.

Zalmask, can you NOT mouth off to the bronzerider from the watch? Warden's ass is on the line!

Warden's ass is in warden's chair...

That's not what I meant! Now apologize!

Zalmask huffed, turning to look at the rider and dragon. Zalmask sorry.

[Spiffy]

"Shake my..." he tailed off in astonishment, shaking his head to dispel the strange thoughts and aggravation that came upon him. This wasn't right. Thankfully Midith wasn't of the same mind as his rider, the gesture serving to reassure the bronze rather than irritate. Well, if that was all she meant - and shaking hands was a friendly thing to do right? - then maybe she wasn't about to attack after all, although the colour hardly faded from her eyes. At least his revolved a little slower.

But it seemed as if they were going to get something from the goldhandler. Quite something, unexpectedly. For someone who supposedly kept to his own business, the wherleader seemed to be quite knowledgeable on the subject. But as he said, guarding was his business, and the weyrlings were being guarded. Made sense really.

"Anything you say will be confidential, between you, me and the others of my wing. And unless you say anything especially striking, they will likely pay you no mind." There, he hoped that would reassure the man. Quite frankly, he knew for a fact that most of them wouldn't care, certainly not R'old, and likely not J'lan either. That was if he chose to tell them anything but it wouldn't be good to reveal the internal struggles of the wing to those they were supposed to be questioning.

But it appeared that Z needed little coaching to reveal all. J'tek, being a good listener, waited patiently until the wherleader was obviously finished before speaking. Quite frankly he had to agree with the man about the prisoner weyrlings, he'd had several such in his own weyrling class. But how the man could be so... so unconcerned about the new colours?! He was talking as if they were natural. Natural!? They were anything but. They weren't right. Dragons should be 5 colours only, as nature and genetics dictated. It had been that way for near on 3000 years, and why should things change now, just because a crippled queen ran and a blue caught her. There were so many things wrong with that clutch.

But he seemed so convicted in how he was saying it, a if he actually believed what he was saying. Or did he? He looked unsure of himself, kicking at the dirt like that. Maybe he was saying that to convince himself as much as he was convincing J'tek? He couldn't fathom why, but he didn't know the wherleader at all.

Then he cast off what he had been saying, as if he'd been thinking out loud and had just realised that head been heard. At least he seemed to have the sense to stay away from the things and keep to his whers.

"So you're patrols have not reported any aggressive or strange behavior from the weyrlings or their dragons? The prisoners?" he spread his hands. "Do you think that they should be allowed to stand again, if the opportunity rose?" If Semith ran again, which he thought unlikely. However, they had been proved wrong once, however much he disliked it, so he had to accept that possibility.

Midith's gaze flicked back to Zalmask when she moved. He'd wandered to watching Z for the second half of his speech, quite frankly agreeing with Z in respect to the weyrling colours, though he wouldn't have told his rider that for fear of upsetting him. So He was a little more prepared for the gold's speech than his rider. J'tek's eyes went wide in astonishment as the gold's irritated tones blundered into his mind. It spoke! And, hang on... it even made sense! What was this?!

And she thought he was being rude? That was certainly something he'd never been accused of before. It troubled him deeply. Now it was J'tek's turn to look at the ground, even as Z started speaking again. It was Midith's time to step up.

I am grieved that we have given offense, Wherqueen. I assure you that neither I nor my rider wished to offend you with our silence. He is not normally rude, but these are not normal circumstances for us. My rider has little knowledge of the ways of whers or the respect they are due. It is I who should be apologising.

His eyes flashed blue with amusement as he added Hello Zalmask.

[S'yal]

Z merely smiled at being told everything he was saying would be confidential. Zalmask huffed, thinking that didn't sound confidential at all. The gold rolled her eyes, before resting her chin on Z's shoulder. Her eyes were no longer red, instead a content green that whirled quite pleasantly now that she was sure there would be no insulting or yelling at her handler. Z lifted a hand to stroke her head, careful to avoid the huge collar that rested on her neck. One of the spikes was poking into his back. It hurt.

He paused at the question, scowling. "There has been aggressive behavior, but not from the new colors. Most of them seem rather pleasant, though i've only seen glimpses aside from the hatching. They're usually asleep when i'm around the barracks, for obvious reasons." He grinned, patting Zalmask's side. "Just from one of the greens. She mauled another green at the hatching, ripped the poor things shoulder open. She's been behaving herself lately, from what I heard." He paused, tilting his head to one side. "Her rider seemed like a pleasant enough woman, from what I know of her. Probably keeping that little beastie under control. The green hasn't hurt anyone since impressing."

"As for the prisoners, they seem like good kids. I don't think any of them are violent at all... mostly dust addicts and thieves, like I said." He shrugged, running a hand over Zalmask again. She was still there, she wasn't going to disappear. "One of them, the one that impressed the yellow, creeps me out though. I only saw her at the hatching, but she doesn't seem dangerous. At least, Zalmask didn't think so. Just sort of... empty." He scratched the back of his head, frowning. "I've never caught one trying to sneak out at night, and neither have my wherhandlers. Nor have any of them been reported doing anything bad. I think that they don't want to risk their dragons being hurt. I would behave myself too, if Zalmask was on the line." He bit the inside of his cheek, obviously trying to recall something. "Well, uh, one of the irregulars is pretty weird... She nearly had a break down on the sands when she didn't come out gold. I think that's mostly because everyone expected her to be one. I felt bad for her."

"Let the thieves stand again." He made a face of disgust suddenly, a scowl on his features. "I know dust addicts very well, and I can tell you that they don't go clean. The cravings stay forever" That might not be true, but Z was convinced it was. He was the son of a dust lord, after all... "They might not want to hurt their dragon, but the poor sharders can't help it."

Zalmask huffed as she was apologized to, eying up the bronze. Zalmask forgive this time. Dragon be polite to whers, now. Zalmask beat up dragon if dragon not polite to Zalmask's pack. Zalmask warned, just as protective as any queen dragon. Maybe more so, since whers focused less on their handlers then dragons did. They were more capable of spreading their affection. Hello, dragon. Dragon polite now, so Zalmask won't eat dragon. Z snorted with restrained laughter at his Wher, grinning at the rider.

"Did she surprise you?" He teased, a little smirk replacing the grin. "She's not the only one that can talk, even the greens can. You ought to have a conversation with Siatask or Ask, they're the runt green and blue. Siatask is weird looking but she's strong as hell and intelligent, and I think Ask might be the best spoken wher in turns." Zalmask growled in protest, and Z grinned at her. "Aside from Zalmask. She's learned some big words that even I can't pronounce."

That because Zalmask's stupid. She grumbled privately, before turning attention to the rider. Zalmask is brains! Rider stupid, asking Zalmask's. Zalmask's not even know how to dress himself half the time. Zalmask complained, huffing. He stupid. Ask Zalmask a question.

"Zalmask, I don't think he has anything he could ask you... unless he's curious about your recent clutch and the uh... oddities." Z looked uncomfortable suddenly, obviously hoping that the rider didn't question Lucisk and her siblings. "There's not much to talk about us wherhandlers with, except for the discovery of double bonding and the..." He hesitated, before shaking his head.

"Anyway, I think Semith will probably run again. I mean, there's nothing stopping her. I hate to say it, but losing a limb doesn't make ones womb shrivel up and stop working. Whers run as well, and they reproduce just fine." He hesitated, pausing. "It's a good thing. I mean, most of her clutch was small dragons and they're the most useful for catching prisoners. Even if they are strangely colored, it's just color. They're just as good as any other dragon."

[Spiffy]

J'tek nodded when Z talked about the dragonets. That there had been blood spilt at the hatching was no surprise to him, it was commonplace for dragonets to get tangled with each other or with candidates and riders-to-be. But from the way the wherhandler spoke of the green, it seemed the dragonet had attacked with purpose. That was strange. But at least the situation was under control now, it appeared.

"That is a relief."

And the prisoner weyrlings too were behaving. That was good. He'd heard of the threat that the Warden had given the prisoners, of their dragons being crippled should they step out of line, and as little as he approved of harming a dragon, under any circumstance, he had to admit that it was a very good way to dissuade someone from playing up. If there was ever a way to get to a dragonrider, it was through his dragon. Still, the thought made him uncomfortable, unconsciously reaching for the everlasting support of his bronze, which Midith wholeheartedly gave. He approved of the situation even less.

"A breakdown? Why was it expected that she be gold?" He asked, perplexed.

"I too, know Dust well. Not everyone goes into it willingly," he said quietly when Z began talking of Dusters. "More than a few are glad to see the back of it once through detox." He paused, thoughtful. "I know good men who have been through Dust," he added even quieter still. It was true. With his 13 years in the 'Guard he was surprised to learn that one of the people he counted a friend, also a member of the guard, had been through detox, though he had cleaned up before Impressing, thank Faranth. He was one of the most outspoken opposer of Dust, and utterly committed to the guard and his fellows. A better man he did not know.

I will endeavour to be so. Midith rumbled quietly, the draconic version of laughter, joining Z in his mirth at Zalmask's words. He was a small bronze by dragon standards, and however big Zalmask was for her species, the thought of her eating him was a funny one. My name is Midith. It is a pleasure to meet you, Zalmask.

The bronze nudged his speechless rider, who was mildly gawping at the gold, back into reality when Z spoke to him. "Yeah... yes she did," he managed meekly. No big proud bronzerider here. He chuckled when Zalmask spoke again, though in a rather humourless way, like when people think 'I'm going mad...' He looked up at Z when Zalmask demanded that he ask her a question, expression rather hopeless, trying to think what he could possibly ask a wher about strange dragonets... and failing.

"Double bonding!?" he spluttered when Z hesitantly mentioned it, momentarily breaking his own tradition of a quiet voice. Oh Faranth, this was too much to take... he slumped against Midith's shoulder. Too much in one day.

Unfortunately, what Z went on to say next was only too true. J'tek, for all he was stubbornly attached to tradition, was not stupid. Of corse Semith would run again, there was nothing stopping her. He only wondered why she had only run now, after many turns of apparent infertility. But he still maintained that there was something wrong with the new colours.

Alright then, Zalmask, tell me about your clutch. What are these 'oddities' that your handler speaks of? the bronze asked gently, perceiving how touchy her handler was on the subject, not wanting to worry her. But if there were oddities in the wher clutch too, and the guard had not been told of it, it was his duty to report the matter. Even if he personally didn't see what was wrong with them.

[S'yal]

Z looked at the rider thoughtfully, shrugging. "She was in a gold egg. You know, shiny?" He rubbed his arm, a scowl on his face.. "It must suck, being expected to be something since before you were even born and to come out being something completely different. Wher eggs, at least, are a bit telepathic. I imagine dragons are the same... she must have known everyone was expecting her to come out gold." It must be horrible to feel that way, he thought privately. To be expected to be something you could never be... "Then she impressed a man. Not that I would mind if a gold decided to pick a man for a rider, obviously." He laughed, gesturing at Zalmask with a smirk on his face.

Z merely stared at the rider for a moment, growling, "They can try to get better. It doesn't matter, because the cravings are always there. There are plenty of bad people who will take advantage of that." A bitter smile covered his face as he glanced at the bronze, at the dragon guard. "I'm sure you've seen those people plenty of times. You are on the watch." He knew those bad people very well, thank you very much. Z had been raised by one, after all.

Zalmask huffed at the dragon, eying him... before nodding curtly at him. She wasn't going to answer him- she was a queen. She pulled herself up, tilting up her head and giving him the best condescending look she could manage, quite like any angered queen.

A bitter smile was on Z's face, a look of grim amusement flashing in his eyes. "Makes you stop and think about the culling and the wing clipping when they actually talk to you, huh?" He ran his hands down Zalmask's back- Zalmask had never had her wings clipped, due to the fact that Z had simply not allowed it. But she'd grown up around whers that had been mutilated in the same way, and she knew very well what happened to her kind in the holds of the north. "Or maybe it doesn't. If it did, I think there'd be a lot less of it." All of the bitterness that came from watching the children of his bondmate be killed was suddenly present, and Zalmask reacted in much the same way as her eyes suddenly flashed not red- but a mournful gray. The quick change was gone as quickly as it had come... Z had learned to keep his mouth shut and his head down. He growled, before gladly taking the riders surprise as a chance to change the subject before he launched into a rant.

"Yes. Double bonding. Because of the clutch, we lost a few of the guards and other candidates for the whers. I was rather desperate not to lose any hatchlings this time around, and I allowed some wherhandlers to stand to see if it'd work." A smirk was on his face, proud of himself for saving what he considered to be 'his' family. "It did. Not just for the handlers either- a few candidates impressed two. We, for the first time in record, managed to impress every wher. There was even a gold and three greens." Greens and golds were always something to be happy over- they meant more whers!

Both Z and Zalmask tensed, and Zalmask was about to answer before Z laid a hand on her head. Better he answered this one, as he was much more eloquent then his wher. "Well, let's just say we made history. One of the greens has severely stunted limbs, but she's a powerful enough creature that i'm not worried about her. She's the largest green i've ever seen. A blue is oddly small, but otherwise normal and..." He hesitated, not wanting to continue. What would this dragonrider do?

[Spiffy]

"Indeed, dragon eggs are empathic also. Midith near assured me that he liked me from inside the egg when I touched him the first time around, though of course I had no idea what colour he would come out," he said, turning an affectionate smile toward his bronze. "It is not easy when you're expected to be something you're not." Indeed, for all his being a bronzerider, neither he nor Midith had shown much inclination to leading. He only smiled faintly, insincerely when Z spoke of golds choosing males, an unusual but not unheard of occurrence in whers, but unspeakable among dragons. But this dragonet he spoke of wasn't gold, for all expectation from her egg. They knew next to nothing of the strange coloured dragonets, what they were, what they could do, or not do for that matter.

The half-smile deepened into a frown as Z went on though, eyes creasing in distaste. "Be assured I have," he said shortly, all but growling. But J'tek never growled, his voice never lost that quiet tone, no matter his mood.

Midith was a little disappointed when Zalmask did not give him an answer. But as Zalmask gave him her best condescending look, he could hardly help but be amused. She may be a queen, but she was half his size, and a wher. Still, Midith was about as easy going as bronzes came, and said nothing to anger her further.

J'tek could do little but nod grimly at Z's rhetorical question. "And yet it still happens, and among your own people, no less," he said.

"That is something to be glad of," he said, referring to all the whers Impressing. J'tek may know precious little of whers, but he knew enough to know that it wasn't a good thing to have unbonded whers running about too often. "Ar the handlers with two progressing well?" he asked, feeling he should, even if right then he wanted to turn his back on this most disturbing conversation, grab himself a mug of hot klah and go to bed. But he knew better than to do that mid conversation, with anyone, let alone someone with any form of standing.

Midith was again surprised at the wher's silence, this time at her handlers cautioning. He was immediately suspicious, his rider picking up on the subtle change in his dragon's mind and looking closer at Z, though outwardly he changed little. What was he hiding? He'd stated to reply but then tailed off, evidently there was something he'd been about to say but left unsaid, anyone would have caught that.

"And?" he asked expectantly, almost coldly. J'tek, for his part, would not 'do' anything, neither would Midith, for simply withholding information, it was simply not in their character. Depending on what he thought, he'd let J'lan know and let him deal with it, that was his kind of thing. But it could easily be nothing, in which case not even that would happen. He was pretty easy going, but he didn't like being lied to.

[S'yal]

"The last clutch was a bit disturbing to the poor candidates." Z grinned, a savage look that showed his obvious amusement. "Siatask creeped out a few candidates, sent her own handler runnin'." He laughed in a rasping manner, shaking his head. "Wher eggs tend to be a bit more aggressive then dragon ones, from what I know. We tried the wher touching for the first time and it lowered the rate of maulings by whers that don't belong to the maulee, at least. Though Bellask had a bit of fun." His face became sorrowful, his entire frame sagging as if all the pride and happiness had gone out of his body. "She killed a hatchling after it impressed. It was... bad." He didn't say who the wherlet had bonded to- it was best to keep that as underwraps as possible.

J'tyk's tone made Zalmask nervous, and she shifted and growled until Z rested a soothing hand on her head. "Watch the tone." He said, but not in a scolding manner. "I don't mind, but Zalmask seems to think she's Faranth herself. It's a common trend in queens, except for Semith." He laughed, rubbing the golds headknobs until she relented and crooned in delight. "Sadly, they've got better memory then the dragons so it tends to go bad when you get on the queens bad side. Especially since the whole shardin' pack finds out in a sevenday. Not to say you're on her bad side. Just warning you." He didn't care if the rider was offended- Z was a blunt man.

"I love whers, but i've learned the hard way that sometimes it's kinder to the wher to just cull it." His mouth flattened into a grim line as he rubbed Zalmask's remaining ear, glancing towards her unaltered wings. "Though we don't alter them except for voluntary ear cropping. For one, they're more intimidating with wings."

"Most of the ones with two are older wherhandlers. They're both progressing well, and the whers are adapting fine to another partner. The goldhandler has a green as well, and unfortunately both her green and the gold are of the violent type and tend to encourage each other. Zalmask is keeping them under control and they're starting to mellow out." A bit of a lie- Bellatrisk and Bellask were behaving themselves, but Z had a feeling they were just getting nastier. "Bellatrisk has no respect for Zalmask, but Zalmask still has seniority on her and she can't do anything about it."

"You remember Ruth?" Z began uncertainly, watching the rider for a reaction. "One of the whers came out white and crippled. She had no wings and her legs were misshapen, but she's beginning to walk and Whers don't use their wings often. We've put her in the infirmary and she's rather useful- her heat vision helps the healers pick up on healers while lowering the risk of infection." He paused, looking upwards at the sky again. "We were going to cull her if she didn't grow right, but she's been advancing farther then we thought and it'd be a waste of a good wher to get rid of her. Her name's Lucisk, if you're interested in investigating her. She's bonded to whitehandler Lucine." He paused, his face going grim as a surge of protective, almost paternal instinct hit him. "Before you suggest culling her, know that she's looking to reach the size of a dog. A wher the size of a dog is smarter, stronger, faster and more obediant then any canine, and she's fairly useful in the infirmary. She's also got a good temperment, which is rare in Whers."

[Spiffy]

J'tek was about to ask what Z meant by one of the whers "having a bit of fun" when his face changed and became sorrowful, and he swallowed his words. What brought that on? he said to Midith. Maybe someone he knew got hurt, or one of-- the bronze would have continued, but Z gave him the answer himself, without any further questions needed. I wonder who the wher in question bonded to. I'd guess someone he cared for. Is it painful for a wher handler when their wher dies? I should think so, he said, ending that most sorrowful conversation with his dragon by sending out a wave of affection for the bronze. He didn't like wher that conversation was going, and instead concentrated on what Z said next.

He narrowed his eyes slightly when told to watch his tone, unimpressed both with himself for letting slip and with the handler for bringing it up. Midith, however, was amused about Z's comment about queens, rumbling quietly in what passed for a draconic chuckle.

He simply nodded to the next sentence. This whole conversation was getting to the point where the nagging voice at the back of his mind telling him to get out of the situation and go to bed was getting more than a little insistent.

He frowned as Z spoke of the violent whers again. Two with one handler? Surely that was dangerous, something should have been done about that. He'd not heard anything about something having gone bad, but that didn't mean that it'd not been kept quiet. Though with several hundred gossiping prisoners on site, he doubted such could be kept quiet for long. He could only assume that the handler was capable of keeping them under control, with Zalmask's assistance. He sighed. "Just as long as she's under control. I hope t stays that way," he said wearily. This conversation was taking it's toll on him, and it was beginning to show through.

He saw the handlers uncertainty, nodded curtly, equally uncertain about where this was going. "Of course." You could hardly be a dragonrider for long and not hear about that, Weyrs being the rumour mills that they were. When Z went on his frown deepened, but by this point he could only have been expecting something like that. "And I take it someone helped it out of it's egg?" he asked in resignation, no longer caring much what the handler thought. The only recorded white ever had been helped out, by Lord Jaxom, so he could only assume that the thing couldn't have hatched naturally; someone must have helped it.

As Z finished he said nothing, pausing for a moment, trying to take it all in. It didn't work. He sighed again, passing a hand over his brow, then dropping it decisively. "You know what, do what you will; the whers are your responsibility, not mine." By Faranth he needed a stiff drink... "I came here to investigate a dragon clutch not a wher clutch." He was about to turn away, Midith nuzzling him reassuringly in the shoulder when he turned back.

"One last question, since I've asked all the rest. What do you think of Warden V'tya? Is he doing a good job?" Just say yes and let me go...

[S'yal]

Zalmask took note of the narrowed eyes and huffed, glaring at the rider. He was starting to irritate the queen despite his otherwise politeness- Whers communicated more with body language then actual words, after all.

"They can't do a shardin' thing with Zalmask andd the other queen around." Z assured the rider, smirking. "Much as they might like to, Bellatrisk can't lift a paw with the other queen backing up Zalmask. Their handler is pretty determined to keep them under control, and she's one of those with an iron will. I'm probably boring you to tears, as well." Z rubbed the back of his head, an apologetic smile on his face. "I'm a rambler, i'll admit."

"Not a human, actually. The bronze pulled it out of it's egg and made sure it was alright, and then Zalmask ended up bonding it to one of our guards, Lucine. I was a bit busy bleeding in a corner at the time." He rubbed his scarred shoulder, grimacing. "Getting in the way of a baby wher is almost as bad as getting in the way of a baby dragon."

"Of course. But i've learned the hard way it's best to make sure the watch knows all of this." Z grinned in a distinctly humourless way. "You might not care, but someone will." Zalmask, meanwhile, was furious. She snarled at both bronze and rider, tensing and curling back. She relaxed a bit as Z ran his hand over her head, silently cursing at her to calm down. "Telling you saves me a lot of trouble down the road."

Zalmask tired of dragonman. He leave. Now. Zalmask had no problems with letting the rider know how she felt, glaring at him with malevolent red eyes. He try be polite, but Zalmask see. Zalmask see how he annoyed with Hers, Zalmask not like. Zalmask say if dragonman want to stop talking to Zalmask's so much, he leave. Zalmask hesitated, glancing at the bronze. Zalmask not mind bronze though. He visit, Zalmask not eat him.

"Hun, he's just tired. Leave the poor man alone." Zalmask huffed in response as Z turned to look at the man. "Don't worry about her. I understand that you don't care about the wher clutch, or half the crap I say. Warden's a good man, and he's always done right by the prisoners here and the guards. This place would fall apart without him." Z smiled, shaking his head. "He's also the only rider that Zalmask doesn't spend all her time glaring and snarling at, aside from Leshta."