Ryan was about to ask something else when he paused and looked around.

"Hey... where are the weyrleaders?" he asked instead. "Aren't they usually here by now to start dinner?" He'd noticed taht was how things worked in the mountain weyr; the weyrleaders had to arrive before dinner could start.

Faith glanced around and shrugged. She had no idea.

Xander frowned when she noticed that, but food started arriving anyway. Even before the weyrleaders got there. In fact, the weyrleaders never showed up to dinner.

Corey frowned. This felt... weird. Very werid." He looked around to see if he could spot them anywhere, but they never showed. He glanced at the others, uneasy.

Faith looked around the mess hall. The older riders all looked just as uneasy, maybe even more so. It wasn't normal that the weyrleaders didn't show up for dinner. Something must have been going on. She almost wanted to go look for them, but resisted. She'd gotten herself into enough trouble already for one week, no sense in looking for more.

"Something's not right," she murmured after a moment anyways.

Ryan noticed as well. While in the north it wasn't uncommon, since things were generally a bit more relaxed and laid-back, it was clearly a big deal here in the mountains.

Dinner passed in an uneasy silence for most everyone, and by the time they finished, most everyone was eager to get outside and figure out what was going on.

Corey stayed with the other three, a little farther back, but he relaxed a little when the weyrleaders lit the bonfire, letting everyone just chat and relax for a few minutes.

Xander glanced at Ryan and then back to the bonfire. This was weird.

Faith didn't relax all that much. Why were the weyrleaders out lighting the bonfire instead of having dinner with everyone? After a moment or two, she found herself a seat around the fire pit, far enough away so she didn't get too hot but still close enough to be able to hear the weyrleaders if she needed to.

Ryan thought it was unusual as well, and found himself a seat immediately. He wanted to know what was going on.

Xander ended up sitting on the ground in front of Ryan, leaning back against his legs. Her own leg was starting to ache, and she stretched it out with a little grimace.

Corey sat next to Faith, keeping most of his attention on the weyrleaders.

"I know that this has been very unusual," the weyrleader said. "But we have been discussing certain changes in our policy." He paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"No riders are allowed to go to the cities anymore," the weyrwoman said, and almost instantly there was a clamoring of people to know why.

Faith wasn't surprised. After everything that had happened to her and Xander, she was expecting something like this to happen, and actually relaxed slightly next to Corey.

Ryan let Xander lean back against him. As long as she was comfortable, he didn't mind at all. He made a mental note to offer to walk her back to her room later, just in case she ended up needing help. Not that he would say that last part aloud to her, though.

When the clamoring riders didn't settle down after a moment or two, Faith stood up.

"Honestly," she started, loud enough to be heard over the noise, "the cities aren't letting riders in anyways. It's not worth trying to get in."

Both weyrleaders looked at her, and the weyrwoman didn't look entirely pleased.

"You proved that you can get in," she said, her voice quiet. The riders all shut up. "And we would rather not have any other riders captured by the cities."

Corey grimaced and tugged on Faith's sleeve to get her to sit down again.

A shiver rippled down Xander's spine, and she shifted uneasily.

"And now that we proved that, they're not going to let ANYONE in at all," Faith said. She didn't say anything more than that, though, and sat back down. She didn't want to get into too much trouble.

Ryan glanced from the weyrleaders to Faith and back again. He wasn't entirely sure how this was going to pan out for Faith, and he didn't want to get in the middle of it quite yet.

The weyrleaders looked at her for a moment more before they went back to looking at everyone else to make sure they'd all obey.

Corey looked at Faith and shook his head a little. "I think we'll be done soon."

Xander didn't get up yet, but she could tell things were coming to a close, unless people wanted to just hang out.

"I hope so," Faith murmured. She wanted to go back to her dragon's eyrie for a while. She was probably going to stay in the eyrie all night.

Ryan glanced at the weyrleaders again, but when they didn't say anything else, he slowly turned his attention back to the others.

A couple other riders got up and left, so Corey got up too. He wasn't in a social mood at the moment, and he'd rather go stay with Vyren.

Xander got up slowly, her injured leg a little stiff. But she got up on her own, and started back towards her temporary room on her own too. She still had her pride to consider.

Ryan got up as well, and started walking with Xander. Hey, if she complained about having an escort, well, his temporary room was in the same direction hers was, and he wasn't above hiding behind that excuse.

Faith got up as well, and headed straight for Lapis's eyrie. Getting comfortable with her dragon was better than hanging around the rest of the riders when everyone was in that kind of mood.

Xander glanced back at him before she shrugged and kept walking. His choice if he wanted to walk with her. At least he wasn't trying to offer her help or anything.

Corey walked with her, since they were going the same direction, and glanced over at her. "You alright?" he asked quietly.

"A little annoyed," Faith admitted. "But I did kinda deserve that, so I can't really complain."

"How's your leg doing?" Ryan asked after a minute or two. It wasn't technically an offer to help her, at least.

Corey nodded. "You want any company tonight, or will you two be fine?" He looked between her and the eyries, knowing exactly what she was planning. He planned to do the same.

Xander shrugged, unwilling to answer. Her leg clearly hurt her, but she wasn't going to complain.

"...I don't think Lapis would mind company for the night," Faith said after a while. That was as close as she got to admitting she wanted him to stick around. After a moment, she blushed and added, "I wouldn't mind, either."

"That's not an answer," Ryan pointed out. "Just take it easy, alright? You don't want to reopen that."

Corey smiled a bit and nodded. He wouldn't mind the company, either.

"We'll have to see what we can do about Vyren. I'm pretty sure he wants to come, too."

Xander nodded. "I understand," she muttered, a bit glumly. She made it back to her temporary room and leaned against the wall for a few moments.

"Alright," Faith replied. If there wasn't enough space in the eyrie, they could always go out onto the mountain or something.

Ryan walked with Xander up to her door. Once he was sure she was in her room, he kept going down to his own room. He would check in with her in the morning to see how she was doing.

Corey nodded and went to go collect Vyren, returning the the eyrie a few moments later. Vyren moved in after him, managing to squeeze himself in, curling up to make himself smaller.

Xander flopped down on her bed, glad to be able to rest for a while.

Once both dragons managed to fit into the eyrie, Faith climbed up onto Lapis's back so she could see Vyren and Corey. It was easier to just climb on the dragons than it was to try to finagle a spot on the floor.

"Feels good to be home again," she commented after a moment.

And I'm never letting you go anywhere outside of the weyr without me again, Lapis stated.

Vyren rumbled an agreement, and Corey settled himself on Vyren's side. He was comfy and warm.

"At least we don't have to worry about getting cold," Corey said with a grin.

"Seriously," Faith replied, grinning. "What we have to worry about is being cooked." Leaning back, she settled herself between Lapis's shoulderblades. "It'll be nice to relax tonight..." She sighed. "I hope my parents are alright... I don't want anyone going after them for me being in the city before..."

Corey was quiet for a few moments. "I don't think they will," he said, glancing over at her. "I mean, I don't think they've bothered my sister, so I think your parents will be okay."

"I just can't help but worry about them, you now?" Faith said softly. "I mean... Whoever it was that had us, they had us long enough to figure out if we had any relatives in the city... I just don't want anything to happen to my parents because I happen to be a dragonrider."