Spinners and Rainbows

Writers: Halyonix, Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th August 2026

Characters: Katora, R'hil
Description: Katora and R'hil go hunting for opals
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 7 of Turn 13

The two dragons came from /between/ over a rocky shoreline made bright in the summer sun. R'hil squinted down at the shoreline and wished he'd brought his tinted goggles so that he could see something besides glare.

}:This is nice,:{ Dath said as he followed Saoirth's tail. }:I am happy we get to land this time instead of flying past.:{

**Maybe you can help me find opals,** R'hil told him. Visions of marks danced in his head. If there were any left over after he sent some home to his family, maybe he'd buy a nicer Gather tunic so he'd look less like an awkward aubergine.

The brown dragon snorted. }:I am not interested in rocks, so I will go swimming while you and Saoirth's look at them.:{

**You're leaving me alone with her?!**

}:_You_ are leaving _me_ to look at rocks,:{ Dath pointed out. }:Saoirth's is nice. You will be fine.:{

**That's not--what if there are Holdless or wild boars, or we fall down a cave or something?** R'hil eyed the trees nervously. **I don't want to be responsible for her getting eaten, or worse. Stay close to shore in case I need you.**

The brown dragon canted his wings and followed Saoirth into a dive toward a pebbly beach. }:I won't let you get eaten,:{ he promised as he flared his wings.

R'hil noticed that Dath didn't say anything about staying close, but then they were already on the ground and Katora was jumping down from Saoirth's back. The brownrider hurried to undo his straps so that he could join her. "Remind me what an opal looks like?"

"The ones here look like milky rainbows," Katora explained as she undid Saoirth's straps. Her face lit up briefly with that indescribable affection as Saoirth looked back at her with gratitude. As she slapped the dragon's flank to send her off, Katora continued with, "But some look like blue-green fire. Others are more reddish-blue fire. Basically, colorful. They won't be one color like topazes or diamonds."

She folded up the straps and left them on a nearby rock. Nearby, a cave entrance loomed, hewn wooden beams supporting the opening. "This is the main mine entrance," Katora explained. "I talked to the mine owner last time we were here on sweep and he said it was fine if we dig a little. The left branch of the mine is newer than the others. Best chances down that way. But anything more than fist size, he wants us to report. That size is rare. I doubt we'll find anything like that anyway. Miners are pretty quick to find those."

"Hmm." R'hil unstrapped the small lantern he'd packed and bent to light it with a practiced flick of the wrist before tucking the flint into a pocket on the outside of his small rucksack. "We used to play in the old mine shafts around my cothold, sometimes. I hope you're not scared of spinners."

She wasn't. "No, but I better not catch them in my bed. That's really not fun to wake up to." She watched him light the lantern. "So you're not afraid of mines then, right?"

"Sometimes I'm scared of what's _in_ mines. Rotten joists, snakes, spinners that run along the wall and jump on your head..." He cast a sly look sideways at Katora. "That really happened once. Me and Pernin - my cousin - went exploring in this old mine shaft we found when we were travelling to a Gather once, and when we started in the walls started to crawl. All these spinners ran up the wall to jump on our heads as we came in. I think they were attracted to the light."

As she inspected the first visible area of the mine, she remarked, "Let's hope that isn't the case here. I doubt dragonfire will reach where we're going." She picked up a pick, a basket, and a shovel. With the light at her back, she led them into the dark. She noticed various closed glow baskets as they walked, marking the more commonly used tunnels. At the first branch, she went left and then left again, noting that the rock was rougher. After the last glows were a few dragonlengths away, she paused. "This could work," she suggested as she put down their tools in order to inspect the rocks.

R'hil held up the lantern so that light splashed along the stone. It looked like rocks, reddish and streaked here and there with grey. He could see the occasional groove from what he assumed was a pickaxe or chisel, but mostly what he saw was rock. "No spinners."

"Let's hope it stays that way," she said. She hefted up the pickaxe and jerked her chin at him to back up. "You might want to give me some room to swing. Unless you want to take the first crack at it?"

He stood back and held the lantern aloft. Shadows jumped across the rock face which, to him, looked like rocks. R'hil let his gaze wander to the rafters supporting the roof and, spotting a likely looking nail, hung the lantern on it before wandering a little further down the mine shaft and kicking pebbles idly into the dark ahead. Behind him, he heard Katora strike the rock face with the pickaxe.

Maybe his cousin Pernin had gotten lost in a mine and that's why he'd never come home. His bones could be mouldering in the dark somewhere, the eye sockets of his skull filled with phosphorescent mushrooms or glittering insect carapaces. R'hil shivered and kicked another rock into the shadows, but as it tumbled away he caught a gleam of white - like bone. "Hey, Katora? What colour are opals again?"

She grunted as her pick hit stone. "Milky white stone with rainbows in it," she answered, but her tone relayed that she was concentrating on her swings.

R'hil crouched down where he thought the stone he'd kicked might have landed and began brushing his hand over the pebbles. A glimmer of white caught his eye. When he lifted the rock to the light it winked back at him from a broken facet: blues and greens like summer skies. **An opal.** It had to be.

Katora wasn't watching. He could put it into his pocket and she'd never know. He could sell it at the Smith Hall for marks to take back home to smooth over the awkwardness. The temptation was strong enough that he could taste it.

"Hey, Katora? I think I found one."

The swinging pick paused. She looked over her shoulder. "You did?" she asked, incredulously. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she abandoned her dig spot to come investigate. "You did!" she confirmed. She made a fist. The stone was smaller, which meant it was theirs. "A decent sized one too. What are you going to do with it?"

"You keep it," he blurted, pushing it into her hands. "You-- ah, this was your idea. You should have the first one."

She took it but only to inspect it further. "Look at that streak," she pointed out. Her finger traced a blue-green-red vein through the creamy color. "You could cut that into a pendant and give it to your mother. Or your girlfriend."

"Or you." He flushed. "Ah, I don't-- my mother'd just sell it."

She canted her head at him in both critique and confusion. Was he attempting to flirt or evade some subject? There was something there that Katora couldn't untangle and even though her attempt at it showed in her dark eyes, she eventually went over to their pack and deposited the stone. "Let's see if we can find another," she suggested, "while you tell me about your mother." Maybe that was it. Maybe it was something to do with his mother.

R'hil's laugh echoed nervously down the cavern. "She's nice. We're... kind of poor. That's why she'd sell it. What's yours like?"

His response made it more confusing as to why he _didn't_ take the opal. If they needed the marks...? Weird. But her voice had absolutely no bite to it as she said, "Traders. So we sell a lot of stuff. That's normal to do when you don't have money, by the way. Totally acceptable by society rather than going hungry."

"She... doesn't like Traders much," R'hil admitted after a moment. "Well, she likes Traders more than most. She always said that at least you were honest in..." **Dishonesty.** The brownrider tried to think of another word that didn't make his mother sound like a monster. "In what you wanted."

"We Traders are straightforward like that," Katora confirmed. She retrieved the pickaxe and handed it to him. "Your turn. Let's find another one."

R'hil twirled the pickaxe in his hand. It was lighter than a bag of firestone and felt right in his hand. "Let's go further in. I have a good feeling about it."

She tilted her head at him curiously but decided not to dig into his thought process on that. Instead, she strode forward with the light leading, until she came to another rough hewing of stones. Stones probably not yet explored thoroughly. "Here?" she suggested.

R'hil hefted the pickaxe and grinned, conscious of Katora's eyes on him. "If you think it's a good idea, then I trust you. Stand back." He took aim at a shadow in the rock and let the pickaxe fly. It struck the rock with a satisfying clang and the reverberation made his arms tingle. It felt good. Straightforward - and the brownrider realized he liked that. His entire life had been complicated. It was about time that changed.

Last updated on the October 28th 2026

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Spinners and Rainbows