Polaris, to the North
Dawnsisters to the East
Watch for the Hammock the further South you go
Trundlebug, and Jumping Canine in Winter months
Summer months ShipFish, Redfruit, and Hoe
-Stars to Know, Teaching Song
Captain Natlysu roused from her slumber, woken by strange dreams of Thread falling in night dark skies. She shifted in her hammock, and stroked her sleeping fire lizards. Her fair was an ironic accident, she had been transporting a clutch to be traded when a storm blew her off course, and the eggs hatched. Between herself and the crew they didn't lose a single lizard, but there was more than a little joking that she managed to impress eight greens, and the clutch's gold. Out of respect for the rest of her fair she named the queen 'Starboard'.
Starboard twitched, then woke and chirped questioningly.
"Hungry?" Natlysu asked, rolling out of her hammock. The rest of the fair woke at the thought of food and swooped after her, as she climbed barefoot onto the top deck. Clear Dawn, her ship, lay at anchorage several miles offshore of Desert Island, a day's travel west of her final destination, the Master Sea Hold of Tillek.
She paused, noticing her fair massing on the rails, chirping and rustling their wings. Walking over to them, she peered westward into the predawn gloom, wondering what they were looking at. A sharp image of roiling waters inserted itself into her mind - her fair often worked in tandem to show her something beyond human sight. While mostly useless for chartwork, she found her 'lizard-sight' had practical applications on deck.
"Surf, my pen. Wavey, my paper." The two named greens popped out, returning with the requested items. The fair turned their luminescent eyes towards the slip of paper, illuminating it as Natlysu recorded the unusual shoaling behavior. She tied it to Starboard's foreleg.
"Take this to the Fleetmaster, the Fleetmaster." She visualized the weathered face of the Fleetmaster and his three legged bronze firelizard. Starboard gave her a querying thought.
"Sooner you deliver the note the sooner I'll feed you." She chided the little queen. Starboard chirped irritably, but vanished between.
"How does swimming help?"Char asked, staring down at the black feathered hen resting in a tub of water. The hen peered back up at her. Tegrram smiled.
"She's soaking, not swimming. I'm hoping to rehydrate the oviduct enough to pass the egg without the medicine," the wherqueen handler explained, kneeling down and lifting the hen out of the water. "She's been soaking for most of the morning, let's see if she can lay now." She placed the hen down, and immediately the hen squatted. They watched in silence as the hen strained then stood, no egg in sight. Tegrram sighed and placed the fowl back into the water tub. The hen settled down and floated placidly.
"If she hasn't passed the egg by dinner, I'll give her the medicine then." Tegrram explained, washing her hands in a bowl of water smelling faintly of redwort. There was a loud cluck and the hen flapped her wings, trying to climb out of the tub. An unusually large egg was left behind, floating in the water.
"Looks like you won't have to worry about it now." Char remarked, picking up the just slightly smaller than fist sized egg.
"Thankfully. Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm thinking of making egg drop soup."
Glanees followed Redell back to his quarters, where he was rapidly changing.
"You will not fight Thread!" She snapped, shutting the door tightly behind her. Redell glanced up, startled by her sharp tone.
"I can't just abandon-" he started to object.
"Which is precisely what you would be doing if you caught Thread! You may be WherLord, but you are no dragonrider! They train for two Turns before they fly Fall - can you even tell me how much firestone Redellsk needs to support repeated bursts of flame?" She demanded. He opened his mouth to reply then clicked it shut, his face darkening with anger. Wordlessly he pushed past her, and she followed, although she said nothing to him in front of the other holders.
Reaching the Wherery Redell stopped in his tracks, baffled as to why his bronze was hunched in the far corner, eyes whirling red with white streaks.
"Wha-?"
"Even a bronze as large as yours won't disobey his queen." Glanees stated flatly, deriving no joy in this victory. Redell whirled and grabbed her by the throat. Galnees stared steadily into his eyes, remaining calm, as a warning hiss issued a mere stride away from her wherqueen.
Gritting his teeth, Redell released her, and she continued to stand her ground.
"Hear me out, my lord. Ring Island has the sandworms, that's why we settled it first. So long as the holders got to shelter - and we built so very many shelters - they will be safe. Furthermore, Merrisk already pulled anyone too far from shelter into his wherery. Otherwise we wouldn't be treating his handler for frostbite. Lastly, anyone caught by Thread is already dead. You flying off to fight Thread saves no one, and the risk to you is far too great. We need you, but more importantly, we need you alive." She argued impassionedly.
He scowled at her, but didn't dispute, for he couldn't find fault with her logic.
"Arrange a medical team. We fly once the skies are clear." He replied, walking over to Redellsk, who uncurled and allowed him to mount.
"Where are you going?" Glanees asked, eyes still flinty.
"To check the other islands."
Language notes: wherery = a word coined by Redell to describe the wher enclosures. He wanted a word as unique as weyr but disassociated from the dragonriders.
Note: Story update schedule is listed in the story description.
Shorter chapter, my apologies, I just changed jobs and am back to 60 hours a week until the end of the year.
If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors please let me know ASAP.
