Stranded

Writers: Corrin, Duskdog, Halyonix, Heather, Sia
Date Posted: 29th April 2025

Characters: Rathandra, M'kadja, K'valas, N'dhavi, Evanram, Yik, Lissadra
Description: The Holdless refugees discuss options the morning after their rescue
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 5, day 6 of Turn 12

Rathandra

M'kadja

N'dhavi

It wasn’t the first night Rathandra had ever spent in a tent. The
smell of canvas and the crackling of a central fire were all familiar.
There were other sounds, however, that were unfamiliar but she could
guess what they were: the legendary crack of a dragon going /between/;
the warbling and trumpeting and other noises dragons made; and the
soft chatter of the people milling about in the weyrbowl as people
went about their daily routines.

Rolling over in the fur pallet she and Evanram had shared, her fingers
groped for him but found nothing except empty blankets. She was able
to stand in the relatively short tent due to her diminutive height,
but stretching was out of the question. Flipping back the tent flap,
she groaned a little as she stepped out into the early morning light
and lifted her arms above her head.

The clothes she’d been given by the Weyr yesterday had also served as
her pajamas, and wrinkled from sleep, but they were warm and dry.

There were already others gathered around the central camp fire. A
table had appeared from somewhere, the Lower Caverns she guessed, and
on it were baskets of pastries and fruit. Meat was being cooked over
the fire, as were pots of klah.

Her eyes caught with her husband’s as she poured herself a cup of klah
and then folded her legs and sat on the ground by the fire,
elbow-to-elbow with some of the others.

“Morning,” she said to the person to her left.

“Morn’,” the woman, Lissadra, answered. She took a sip of her own cup
but her eyes were on the Weyr proper. “Big place. Lots of dragons. Not
like where we came from.”

“Not like where we come from at all,” Rathandra agreed, watching as a
dragon on the top cliff of the Weyr snapped its teeth at another
dragon… playfully? It was hard to tell.

“I’m not staying,” Lissadra said. “I’ll…Carnet and I. We’re going to
pack up as soon as we can. We’re not staying here.” She paused,
realizing how sharp her words sounded. “You? What are you and Evanram
doing?”

Rathandra looked across the fire at her husband. “I don’t know. We
haven’t talked about it.”

Akadja was crouched near the fire, hunched over his klah. The steam
curled around his face, but he didn't drink yet--he was letting the
heat seep into his fingers on this frigid day. His sharp eyes flicked
up at the sound of the women’s conversation, catching on the word
‘staying.’

“You’re acting like there’s a choice,” he drawled, his voice thick
with a cynicism older than his years. “The Weyr played hero yesterday,
sure--I’ll give them that. Pulled us out of a bad spot, but do you
really expect them to let us linger? They’ll have us out on our ear as
soon as it suits them-- same as any other place.”

He leaned forward slightly, his eyes darting from one face to another,
watching for signs of agreement or doubt--or hope.

“Unless one of you’ve heard different?” he added, casual challenge on
the surface, but with a razor’s edge of curiosity beneath. He wasn’t
expecting good news, but if someone had any, he was keen to hear it.

Kavalas made a noise deep in his throat that was mostly in agreement.
"Ain't going to keep this up for long," He added gruffly and gestured
to the fresh food piled high on the table. It made him feel queasy to
look at, after he spent part of the night retching after eating too
much, and he still tasted the bile on his tongue. "Not when they rely
on charity from the holds. Better to go soon, to try and get out of
the mountains before winter freezes us."

“Maybe we could convince them to put us up for the winter,” Naldhavi
mused, scratching his chin. “We’ve got children with us. Let’s just
leverage the babes. ‘Look at how our babies are shivering! Your Weyr
is so warm!’” He chuckled, but it wasn’t really a joke. “And injured
folk, too. Maybe they’ll keep us for the sake of them. They like to
play the hero, don’t they? It’s their whole thing. We should use
that.”

Yik generally didn’t speak much -- it was safer to be a shadow -- but
she couldn’t help but be interested in this conversation. Everything
was out of sorts here. The tents were nothing like the caves she had
lived in all her life, and all this open space made her nervous.
Still, eating like this was going to be hard to give up. The food
wasn’t just abundant, it was _better_ in every way. The meat was
tender and juicy, the cheese wasn’t hard, and everything had so much
more flavor, as if they had spices she hadn’t even known existed.

The dragons didn’t bother her too much. It was just… the space.

“Our caves will dry out, maybe,” she said tentatively. “After winter.
Maybe go back.”

Lissadra snorted. “One of those holding walls broke. The one that got
shored up Turns ago. That’s why it flooded so bad. You think we’ll be
able to trust the caves again after that? No, we’ll have to find
somewhere new. Somewhere where a Lord Holder won’t get his underwear
in knot over us being in his territory.”

Evanram spoke up. “The Weyrleader wants some of us to join him and the
Weyrwoman to talk about our options.” He surveyed those gathered.
“Whoever wants to join me for the conversation should come. Everyone
here gets to decide what they want to do.”

No need to ask him twice.

“I’ll come,” said Akadja with a hard look in his eye. “I’d like to
hear what these “options” are..." He clearly didn’t expect them to be
good ones, but he wasn’t about to sit back at camp and let his fate be
decided without him.

“Me, too,” Naldhavi put in, nodding. “I don’t expect it’ll be a ‘talk’
so much as an ultimatum, but I want to know what they have to say, at
least. They’ve been… different than I expected so far.”

"Not a chance in frozen Bitra." Kavalas said derisively. He gestured
to Naldhavi, "He's right, ain't gonna be a talk. Y'all can tell us
what the Weyrleader has decided."

“All I care about is if he’s going to give us supplies to be on our
way,” Lissadra said. “If he thinks he can just keep us here under his
thumb…” She broke off, though her tone was lined with unspoken
threats.

Rathandra kept quiet, studying her husband’s face as the others
talked. She wasn't sure what she really wanted. There were times she
missed the comfort and safety of Amber Hills Hold. The Weyr could
provide that sort of stability as well…. But she loved Evanram. Had
left the Hold to be with him. She would settle wherever he did, even
if it meant living in another cave.

“Tomorrow, lunch, we’ll see what they have to say,” Evanram said to
those who had expressed interest in being a part of the conversation.
“Until then, let’s be good guests and not confirm every bad thing
they’ve ever heard about Holdless.”

“We’ll be on our best behavior, I’m sure,” Naldhavi said, barely
holding back a snort of laughter. He honestly didn’t think there was
anything they could do to convince anyone they were good enough, but
why not play along and see where it goes?

Last updated on the May 1st 2025

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