Welcome to Gaia! ::

((I remember the cram days. >.< RL always takes precedence, Tetra! =) Completely understandable. As I said, I missed a day of the event for RL reasons myself.

And look! First roll is an 18! Hahaha, you're already doing better than the rest of us!))

Kala followed Xanha up onto the dock and jogged after her, tossing a nod of her own to the busy Holder. Around them, people were running every which-way in an attempt to get all of the preparations done before the storm came in. Kala started to go offer Xanha a hand, but a Holder's call caught her attention first.

"You there! The strapping lass! Come give a hand to this!"

Kala was happy to oblige, and she quickly joined the man in lifting a table and carrying it toward the large open doors of a storehouse. They made fair work of the move and Kala offered him a large grin when they were done.

"Any other heavy lifting you'd like a hand with?"

"We can always use extra hands around storm time, dolphineer." Kala's dolphineering garb and dripping appearance had likely given her away, so the man didn't even hesitate with her title.

"Kala. My Matthew is with another dolphineer and her dolphin, helping to bring the boats to shore. We can finish up with the moving and then go lend them a hand."

The man nodded. "Let's get to it, then."

((Oh, no, cram days and school papers were easy. XD This is paid government work.))

"Boys!" Xanha looked sharply at Ajax and Kala's Matthew, smiling at both dolphins but not losing any of the intensity with which she was wrestling in a larger skiff to secure both ends to the pier itself. It was nice that most of the riverboats were shallow, poled craft; it meant she had less trouble getting at them and helping people wrestle them out. "Jax - and Matthew, if you want - check upstream a bit, see if anyone needs a tow-in." Poled craft were all well and good, but with the wind picking up and even the river beginning to waver unsettlingly (and the first patters of rain hitting Xanha's shoulders as she bent down to tie the uncomfortably-bucking craft's aft end to the dock) she didn't doubt that at least a few fishers and tradesmen headed toward Trine would need a hand.

Ajax squealed an affirmative and flipped his tail, casting a cheerful eye at Matthew. The humans might be fussed, but as far as Ajax was concerned, all he'd need to keep safe was the shelter of Trine's bay or deeper water. He'd have to bail on Xanha relatively soon, either way, but that wasn't that important. he inquired to Kala's companion before tailwalking a yard and then flipping back onto his belly to speed upriver.

Xanha watched him go and focused on finishing her knots. Not, perhaps, the most elegant of workmanship, but she secured the larger craft with a brisk nod before trotting after Kala.

All right, that wasn't going to work, and the boy laid them back down, carrying the nets only a couple at a time. It took more time than he would have liked, but at least he had gotten it done.

He wasn't really built for carrying heavy objects, though he was a lot better now than he had been before he decided to become a dolphineer.

He started back towards the dock, to see if there had been any more boats come in since he had come on shore to work. Things were starting to come together, and with any luck, they'd get it done.

[Try 2- Success- 11]

While Xanha responded, Kala nodded at the man she was working with and got a good grip on the bench. She was not the kind to give up easily and she wasn't about to let some bench best her when there was so little time to fool around with it.

"And... lift!"

As she directed him, in spite of his being older than her, she lifted with arms and legs and managed to get the bench into the air with a much surer grip than she had had the first time. Kala took deep breaths as they moved it the remaining distance to the warehouse, but she didn't so much as wobble it again.

"Watch the corner. Let me get around so it'll go in straight. There we are. Where do you want it?" Kala asked, eyes already scanning the warehouse for appropriate space.

"Back wall is where the rest are."

"Right, watch your step." When they reached the back wall, Kala lifted the bench, shifting it's weight so that she could turn it. "Set it on top of this one here. All right, got it?" She waited to be sure he was turning at the same time as her and at his grunted agreement, she finished flipping the bench and set it on the flat top of another one.

Rubbing her hands together again, Kala nodded and gave the man a grin. "Right then. Next one." She called back to her peer, "Xanha, I saw some lads coming down to give a hand. They can handle the rest of the furniture. You and I, we should see about getting some of the supplies in. If you don't mind." The last was directed to the Holder she had been aiding.

"Not at all. Good heads on both of your shoulders. Thanks for the help, dolphineer. The supplies are more important, but the last thing we need is the larger objects out here getting whipped about and damaging buildings, which they will if we don't bring them in."

Kala smiled at him again and then returned to the door of the warehouse to join Xanha.

((Whoo hoo, 20!))

"Boats are okay. Most of the crafts're in by now, sent 'Jax to see if anyone's still up the river!" Xanha shivered a little in the gathering wind, rubbing her shoulders for a moment before snapping back to attention. She knew her dolphin would be fine upriver, and if he needed to, he could swim much faster without her and make it to the ocean without much difficulty. Dolphins were made for weather like this. People, however, were not.

Kala was talking to a Holder, and Xanha stood behind her solemnly, waiting for him to finish his talk and then giving him a crisp salute. If the young men could take the furniture, she'd be glad to gather up the last of the supplies outside before things started to get bad. It wouldn't do for nets and lines and crates to end up blown around altogether too much. The 'neer inclined her head and trotted back in the direction she'd come, startling when a gust of wind all but knocked her off her feet. "Shards, this is getting bad!" she cried out over a howling gust, but it wasn't her business to decide when to work or not. Dolphineers worked when dolphineers were needed, and not any other time. She reached out to clasp Kala's shoulder, hoping that the two of them would be able to keep each other grounded in the gathering weather.

"Don't know how much more we can get before it's time to batten down, but one more pass at least!" she called, loud as she could over the gathering winds. It was raining, now, the water and the wind chilling her to the bone as she briefly let go of Kala in an attempt to gather up an armful of nets and spiderclaw traps before another gust sent them tumbling.

Xanha: Staying at the Hold

Ack, that didn't work! The craft bucked and bobbed in a sudden gust of wind, almost sending Ajax tumbling mouth-over-fluke as it struck a jutting branch and twisted away. Squealing his annoyance, the dolphin altered his course and pushed forward more resiliently, turning so that the craft itself was less likely to strike him or jerk out of his mouth. It didn't work, though, and another gust sent the craft again pulled from his teeth, spinning away upriver and half-beaching itself on a stone before it flipped, spilling whatever cargo there had been into the river. Ajax squealed again, leaping out of the water and coming down on his side with a colossal splash, tail-slapping for further emphasis of his irritation.

he grumbled underwater to Matthew, but without any real gumption. It would give him the chance to check up on Xanha before he actually headed out. Humans were fragile animals, especially when it came to weather, and it was important that he see his partner safe before he went off and did his own thing.

Xanha was lucky enough to get up the armful of nets and traps, but she wasn't going to stop and wait for things to settle down. Instead, as soon as she got the nets into the arms of a Holder indoors, she was back out, scouting for anything else she could help with.

The sleek dark shape of Ajax bobbing up at the end of the dock caught Xanha's attention, and she sprinted down to get a better look at her partner. "Jax!" She couldn't help the smile as she hit the end of the pier, dropping down and wrapping her arm around a pylon as she reached down to scratch the slick hide. "Did you find anything?"

"Found boat, broke away," the dolphin answered a little sheepishly, rolling onto his stomach for a scratch for a moment. Xanha complied with that small gesture of affection, earning a wolfish grin in response as Ajax rolled back onto his stomach and sprayed her with water from his blowhole. "Sorry couldn't help more...gonna head to deep ocean, though."

"Yeah, I getcha, big guy." Xanha's smile was fond as she slapped Ajax on his melon, and the dolphin answered her with a squeal.

"Do good here?" he offered, and Xanha nodded.

"Do good here. You stay safe."

And she straightened up to watch Ajax speed off, turning and sprinting back up the pier as soon as that sleek shape was out of sight again. The water was getting darker and choppier, and the wind knocked Xanha momentarily to her knees. She scrabbled at the ground for a moment, but righted herself a moment later, grabbing a wayward basket as it rolled across her path. Following the direction it had come from, she caught sight of a stack of spilled hides and sprinted off after them, doing her best to gather them. She got the majority of them to hand, stuffing them in the basket and heading back in the direction of the warehouse. Hopefully things were starting to get under control and the situation was going to improve.