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 Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:36 am
It was exceptionally early in the morning, the sun not even fully risen yet. At such an under-appreciated hour on any day, one would expect to be able to find peace - the day after a trying Hatching, one was more likely to find the Weyr abandoned and silent, haunted only by the ghosts of imagination. The kitchen staff hadn't even begun to serve klah yet, and the only ones who ought to be roaming the halls were the tired nightwatch stumbling their way toward their beds, those cursed enough to be afflicted with insomnia, and those lucky enough to be roused by their new, and hungry, dragonets.
Which made it especially baffling why there would be a woman stumbling about at this early hour, red-eyed and surly, grabbing the shoulders of anyone daring to pass by and hammering them with questions. "He's a boy," she was frantically telling a passing drudge woman, who wilted under the intensity of the older woman's stare - "just around nine Turns. Has the black hair like mine, straight to his shoulders, and about as tall now as this."
"I d'n know anythin' Herdcraft'a, j'st's I said," the young girl mumbled feebly, a slight tic developing in one shoulder. Her eyes wandered desperately away. "I go' work t'do, I go' git--"
"You aren't listening!" the woman cut her off cruelly, a rising note of hysteria in her voice. "He's a boy. Wearing an orange vest. He likes to go down into the Lower Caverns, goes through the tunnels. Somebody's seen him, somebody's had to seen him, and you tell me who!" The Herdcrafter's eyes were wide, her breathing shallow, and her fingers bent to claws on the woman's shoulders. When the drudge had nothing to say but another whining complaint, go' work t'do, d'n know anythin', the older woman's face paled, and her skin began to fade to white around her knuckles. "Nobody's said nothing? He must've been around the Stands. Nobody's seen nothing?!"
"I c'n only tell what I hear," the drudge complained again, squirming now under the woman's grip. "Leggo, y'r hurtin' me...!"
For a moment, it didn't seem like the Herdcrafter was going to let the drudge go. From the glare she was giving, it seemed more like she was considering thrashing the innocent girl until her arm got tired, or her frustration had passed. But the moment passed; she relaxed her hands, and the drudge dashed off the hall as quick as her feet could take her. "You hear something about my Dolmin, you tell me!" The Herdcrafter shouted after the fleeing girl, clenching her fists. Her brows were knotted in perpetual worry - shards of shards, where could that little boy have run off to this time...?
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:28 am
Sleep was for the weak- so Varth's early (very, very early) waking had suggested. Fortunately, A'bri didn't mind early mornings- he was disgustingly cheerful, even after feeding and oiling Varth. He could use some breakfast himself, though, and he headed for the kitchens, hoping to find something already ready. And also hoping to not get chased away with spoons.
He was about halfway there when he saw a woman interrogating another with a manic sort of energy. He paused, watching and listening, unable to help his curiosity. When he realized the woman was talking about a child, well. Brow furrowed, he crossed over to her, Varth following a little distance behind.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude, but... You look very upset. Do you need help?" A'bri was not one to ignore it if someone needed help. Especially if it was about a child. From the sound of the questions, a possibly missing child. "I was passing by, it sounded like..." He paused, but the woman was obviously upset. It was reasonable to assume she needed help, he was sure of it. "I can help, if you'll tell me what's wrong. Who are you looking for?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:58 pm
Looked upset. Looked upset? The woman turned to face the scornful voice, chest inflated and eyes livid, ready to tell him just what sort of dimglow it took to meekly approach a woman in a rage and suggest that, oh, my, she might look a bit upset--
Then she saw the dragon, and her mouth clicked shut. This pole of a boy was a dragonrider, was he? From the new batch, if the size of his dragon said anything - or else his brown got as much food as he seemed to. Ah, well - a new rider was still more useful than no rider at all....
"... Yeah," she answered, her disposition shifting fluidly from sharp and angry to distraught and ingratiating. "Yes-sir. My little boy's been gone since yesterday, and I don't know where. You've heard something? Or maybe, somebody else's heard something?" Her fingers played with the hem of her shirt, ragged nails picking at a loose thread. "Sir, he's just nine Turns. Left while I was at work yesterday, cutting up the meat for the new dragons. Please help...."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:19 am
A'bri felt momentarily guilty that the woman's son had apparently vanished while she was working to cut meat for the dragons- his dragon among them- but it was a momentary thought. He'd had no way of knowing, after all, and the dragons had needed food.
"I'm afraid I haven't heard anything, but I'll help you search. Two can cover more ground than one. You shouldn't have to try and canvas the whole Weyr yourself." The note of concern and sympathy in his voice was unmistakable- he wasn't being patronizing, he was honestly worried for her and her child. "Tell me what you can about him? He's nine turns... What's his name? What was he wearing? Who are his friends, where does he like to spend his time?"
In his mind, he was already laying out the areas of the Weyr he'd explored like a map- he'd been there long enough to have poked into a good number of corners. If he was a little boy, where would he be hiding? Or if he wasn't hiding, where might he have gotten stuck?
"Where have you looked already?" That would be a help to know, as well- the poor dear had probably left quite an impression wherever she'd been already, people there would know to keep an eye out.
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:30 pm
"His name's Dolmin," the woman began, her words articulated at first, but slurring more and more as she went down the list. "He was wearing his favorite orange vest yesterday. It's bright, you wouldn't miss it. He's, oh... he's friends with everyone! He spends a lot of his time wit' the girls in th'kitchen - he's so popular with the girls there, you see - but he might've gone to the Stands yesterday, I thought, even though I told him he couldn't go without me."
"I already looked there, though. He wasn't at th'Stands and he wasn't at th'kitchen and I can't find him out with the herdbeasts, and he's such a smart little boy, you know, he knows all the nooks and crannies in the Weyr. He ran off from me once, you know," she looked tearful, "and I still don't know where he was hiding at. You don't think he'd have run off on me again, do you?" Stricken by the thought, the Herdcrafter grasped at the collar of her shirt, gripping a tight fist of material against her breastbone. "Shards... he might'a run off, if he was mad at me for tellin' him he couldn't go to Hatching. He'd really wanted to go, but I had to work, and... oh, Faranath, I was just thinking of him!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:29 pm
"I'm sure he's not run off on purpose," A'bri said, his tone as soothing as he could make it. "Really, if he tried to sneak off to see the Hatching, maybe he just got caught up in everything and is tucked away with some friends somewhere. It was so late, maybe he just got tired and fell asleep." It made a reasonable amount of sense to A'bri, anyway- he would have been the sort to sneak off to see something, and then get distracted and fall asleep wherever he was.
If young Dolmin had gone off to try and see the Hatching, where would he be if he wasn't still in the Stands? Thinking it over, A'bri gently patted her shoulder. "I'm sure that's all it is, he wandered off to try and see the excitement and fell asleep. I doubt he meant to worry you."
He'd start at the Sands, give the Stands one more quick look in case the boy was intentionally hiding, and then work through the corridors around them. That would probably be the most efficient way to handle things, especially if Dolmin had wanted to see the Hatching. ...Not exactly the best Hatching for a young boy to be watching, really, considering everything-
:Mine, that does not help,: Varth pointed out, sensing that A'bri was working himself up into another fit of grieving. Varth had put most of his upset behind him, focusing on the more important details of what came next rather than what came before. :If you intend to find the small lost one, you should start looking. You will not find him if you just stand there.:
"Right," A'bri said aloud, reaching down to scratch Varth's head. "Right. So I'll go look. I'm A'bri, by the way, and this is Varth- if you find him while I'm looking, tell the nearest rider and ask if their dragon will tell Varth. If I find him, where should I bring him?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:22 pm
The Herdcrafter was little persuaded by A'bri's assurances that her son wouldn't have run off. She knew the boy better than he did, after all, and how spoiled rotten he was; but she'd been trying, she really had, to set boundaries and discipline for him! It was only recently that she'd realized what sort of ingrate she was raising... but oh, if she just knew he was safe, she wouldn't mind that so much....
"My name's Olyen," she introduced herself on cue, "and I'll do that, brownrider. If you find him, just see him over to the Herdcrafters near the corral, and they'll look after him until I'm by." Whether, at that time, she'd be smothering the boy in affection or beating him for his dimglowedness, well, she wasn't sure just yet. Maybe both at the same time, just to properly confuse him.
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:49 pm
"I will." A'bri was fairly sure he wasn't actually convincing Olyen of anything, but he hoped that it would at least bring her a bit of peace of mind to know that she wasn't searching alone. He hated leaving people in distress- it made his stomach churn. "I'm sure he'll turn up soon." He turned away from Olyen, beckoning for Varth to accompany him, and headed toward the Stands.
:Where will we look first, Mine?: Varth asked, mildly curious. He had not yet seen much of the Weyr, and he wanted to know as much about it as he could. It could only benefit him to increase his knowledge quickly. He stalked along side A'bri, not letting his dignity go even for a moment- one never knew when one might run into another dragon, after all. A'bri, for his part, kept the pace slow enough that Varth wouldn't be at risk of stumbling trying to keep up.
"We'll check the Stands first... Just in case he's actually hiding from his mother, it won't hurt to double-check. We'll circle out from there. If he did manage to sneak into the Hatching, he probably didn't go too far afterwards... It was rather late, and he's young. He probably just fell asleep somewhere."
:There was much noise, Mine. Would that not have kept him awake?: Varth inquired, remembering distantly that there was a great deal of screaming going on from humans and dragons alike. Of course, he felt not the slightest bit of concern that he'd been a fairly large part of that.
"Maybe, but some people can sleep through anything. And it probably got quiet after we all left." A'bri ducked down a corridor that would take them in the right direction, looking around for any flash of orange, in case Dolmin was up and moving and not aware that his mother was practically tearing the Weyr apart looking for him. "And it doesn't hurt to be thorough, right?"
Unfortunately, when they got to the Stands, it was clear that Dolmin was not there. A'bri had never been to the Stands when there wasn't a Hatching happening- well, really, he'd never been to the Stands specifically, he'd always been down on the Sands- and it was eerie how quiet they were. They seemed forlorn without a crowd of eager spectators, without the noise and color of excited people pressed together to observe a communal event. It must be so lonely, being empty all the time-
:They are seats, Mine. I do not think that they get lonely,: Varth interrupted, nudging A'bri with his nose. :You should not feel sorry for them.:
"...Right. Sorry, I'm being silly. I shouldn't be woolgathering, we have a little boy to find." A'bri shook his head, glancing down over the Sands. It was hard to believe that it had just been a few hours ago- too few, probably, he ought to have tried for more than a short nap- that he'd been down there, waiting and hoping. And then the wait had been over. He wished things hadn't ended on such a stark note...
If only that girl hadn't crept in through a crack in the wall like a spiteful tunnelsnake and-
"The crack!" A'bri hastened out of the stands, Varth grumbling as he stumbled trying to keep up. "I'll bet you that's where he's vanished to. It's where I would have gone, if I'd wanted to see the Hatching but wasn't allowed in the Stands. And Olyen said he knows all the nooks and crannies... What good mischief maker doesn't want to catch a glimpse of the Sands now and again?"
With Varth close on his heels, he made his way through the corridors around the Sands. He knew where the opening of the crack was, of course- who didn't want to see the eggs on the Sands? When he reached the opening, he stopped, looking at the width of the crack and the width of his dragon.
"You'd best stay here, I don't want you to get stuck. You're really too big to be poking about in holes in the wall like this." Varth snorted, and sat down beside the entrance- he had no interest in attempting to fit into the narrow space.
:Just do not take too long,: he instructed, busying himself looking fierce in case someone wandered by. :I do not want to sit here all day.:
"Shouldn't be too long," A'bri agreed, rubbing Varth's head affectionately before he headed into the little space.
"Dolmin? Dolmin, are you in here?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:33 pm
Dolmin knew it the second he heard someone calling his name - he was going to be in trouble.
The boy hadn't really meant to be at the crack for so long in the first place. When he'd first come here with Kagiya, he figured that the two of them would sneak back as soon as the Hatching was over. With two of them together, he figured, anyone who saw them coming out of the tunnels would assume they'd just been playing. With both of them saying the same story, they'd have to be believed - it was a perfect plan!
Of course, then the girl had run off and left him to his own devices - but he still could've gotten back on his own without being caught. He just would have had to have waited a bit longer, made sure that nobody saw him, and hope that his mother was still working by the time he got home.
But then the Hatching had actually happened. And that little blue had gone between. And he didn't think he could go home so easily, tear-faced, without raising suspicions....
And besides. Someone ought to have stayed around for that poor little egg. So he had decided to stay until the egg was taken off. And after that, he'd been crying a bit again, so he had to stay a little longer.
And then he'd fallen asleep. And by the time he'd woken up, well, there was no way to get around it - he was going to be in trouble the moment he went home. He didn't know exactly how late it was, except that his glow wasn't so bright anymore and he didn't hear anyone walking around anywhere, so he just stayed put and scratched at the ground with a fingernail, trying to think up a good excuse to feed his mother that would keep him out of trouble.
He wished Kagiya was still with him. Maybe she'd have a good excuse - or maybe she could get her bronzerider daddy to keep him from getting punished.
But it was too late, far too late, for any excuse by the time that he heard someone in the tunnel with him. Dolmin cringed where he sat. He was tired and hungry and saddened and anxious, and didn't want to have to go home and get yelled at. Maybe if he just stayed quiet, whoever it was would go away....
As though they would. If he wanted them to leave him alone, then, he'd have to come up with a better way to keep out of trouble....
"Go 'way!" he replied in his nastiest tone. Surely, that would solve all his problems!
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 2:22 pm
Excellent! That, if A'bri was not mistaken, was the sound of success. ...Slightly cranky success, perhaps, but success nonetheless. And A'bri was fairly sure that if he'd spent the night alone in a crack in the wall, he'd be cranky too. Of course, if he spent any time alone, really, he got cranky...
:But you will not be alone any more,: Varth pointed out from his position guarding the entrance. :I am here.:
:And a bright big bundle of joy you are, at that,: A'bri replied silently, sending a wave of joy and affection to Varth. Maybe Varth wasn't the most sweetness-and-light dragon out there, but he was A'bri's, and they were together. And that was plenty of joy, right there.
Returning his focus to his task, he scooted further in until he could see the boy, sitting alone in the fading light of a glow. "Hey there, no need to grouse. I'm not here to yell," he said easily. "I've been looking for you, is all. Your mother is worried about you. I don't suppose you're ready to come out and let her know you're alright?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:14 pm
There was really just one problem with this setup: Dolmin didn't care if his mother was worried about him. She was always worried about him, no matter what he did! He just didn't want to get into trouble for having snuck off to watch Hatching.
But ah - he might be able to make this situation work to his benefit, now. He just had to get this guy on his side, whoever it was that his mother had gotten to come look for him, and then maybe he could get out of this mess altogether!
The thought was enough to brighten up the boy's mood, if just by a fraction. Better not let A'bri catch on to his improved mood, though, or it would be harder to coax him into saying what Dolmin wanted him to say. "She'll just yell at me," Dolmin answered in the saddest whine he could dredge up. "She's gonna be mad...."
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:23 pm
"Mothers are always mad when they get scared," A'bri countered, though there was a note of sympathy in his tone. "The longer you stay away, the more angry she'll be, because the more scared she'll get. The sooner we go find her, the less yelling you'll have to handle, right?"
"Besides, you don't really want to sit here in this tunnel all day, do you? Your glow is almost out, and you have to be hungry. It's almost breakfast time." A'bri maneuvered so that he could sit down- not quite as easy in the cramped space for him as it was for the much smaller boy- and offered him a friendly smile.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:33 pm
Breakfast... was pretty tempting, Dolmin had to admit. He'd been getting a bit hungry by the time that the Hatching had ended, and that was so long ago. His stomach ached, threatened to gurgle, and he did his best to hush it down - he didn't need to let A'bri know that he was right on the money.
Time to really work it. If he let on to A'bri that he wasn't really as distressed by the situation as he claimed to be, that he just didn't want to face the consequences of his actions rather than being worried about how upset his mother was going to be, he was sure to lose his chance! "But if she finds out where I got to," Dolmin sniffled convincingly, "she's gonna be really, really mad. I just wanted to see the dragons, and I was gonna come home right away, but...."
It was the perfect card to play, because it was genuine. Now he didn't even have to pretend to look sad. His eyes flicked toward the crack, out on the Sands, and the boy shifted uncomfortably. "Everybody left, y'know," he muttered, "when the egg was still there. I didn't want to until it'd gone, too."
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:46 pm
"I know... I wouldn't have wanted to go either," A'bri said softly. That had been hard, although practically being chased out by Cheoth had made the decision somewhat easier. And he'd had Varth to look after, and he'd wanted to try and provide some cheer at the Feast... But to be all alone, and so young, and see all that... Well. It had to have been seriously upsetting for him.
Of course, that wasn't something A'bri could really fix. Breakfast, he could do, however, and maybe he could at least distract Dolmin. "If you come out, you can meet my dragon," he said. "He Hatched yesterday, you probably saw him. He's waiting outside for us. But you'll have to come out- he's too big to come in here with us." A'bri motioned to the exit, trying to look reassuring.
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:12 pm
Oh... oh shards. This guy was good. The conflict between going and staying could hardly be called a battle - it was more like that "going" represented Thread falling, and "staying" represented a herd of oblivious wherries. Breakfast, on top of meeting a dragon, on top of - well, just getting out of this uncomfortable spot....
Dolmin bit his bottom lip, then nodded. There was plenty enough room for him to stand and stretch out here, and his back thanked him for it with an inaudible pop. "But, you don't hafta tell my mom where you found me, right?" he asked, still trying to weasel out one more advantage. He'd be in trouble no matter what he did, but as long as she didn't know he'd been spying at the crack, he might not get into too much trouble.
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