Punishment

Writers: Ainsley1, Jane, Kaysea, Patrick, Vix
Date Posted: 11th July 2007

Characters: Mahantan
Description: Mahantan returns the apprentice dolphineers' equipment and tells them their punishment.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 4, day 24 of Turn 4
Notes: This is the final in the dolphineer apprentice "Inspection" series.
Thanks to everyone who participated!

Hantala shifted from one foot to the other as she waited with the other apprentice dolphineers. Her father was now on the dock, inspecting the equipment of still other apprentices, but here she was, waiting for him to return to his office - and to mete out punishment to those waiting. "I am going to be in so much trouble." She sighed and shook her head, wishing that she had returned to the equipment room to repair her gear as she had planned.

"You're an apprentice," Seriand said with a grin. "You're supposed to be in trouble."

"This isn't in the least bit funny," Iasion said, just wanting to vent his frustration on someone.

"What is it then? Revolting? Terrifying? Life-threatening?" Some people were just made for drama, in Seriand's opinion. "You know it's not going to mean even the end of our apprenticeships, so we just have to put up with it until it's over."

"It's annoying! And certainly doesn't help those of us who are hoping to advance soon," Iasion shot back with a glare for the other apprentice which extended to Hantala. At least the Master of Apprentices own daughter had been caught up in this, but he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything mean.

"And some of us don't like to be in trouble," added Tala. "Besides, mine was clean but draining. I had a strap to mend, but that doesn't seem reason for it to have been taken away. There must have been something more."

"Well who's going to admit their gear _was_ in a mess?" Seriand asked, wondering if he was stuck in a room with people who all thought they were innocent. That would be tiresome but useful. Protests of innocence would likely deflect attention away from him.

"I didn't say my gear didn't need a good cleaning," Iasion conceded grumpily. "I've been meaning to get to it." The apprentice bit his lip, wishing there were some away to avoid the fact that he indeed had been in the wrong.

"There's no sense any of us denying anything." Tala shifted from one foot to the other nervously, but her voice held a note of resignation. "If says he removed dirty equipment, then it was dirty. It may not have been that way when we put it there or we may have thought it was clean and it didn't meet his standards. Whatever the case, we'll find out when he gets here."

Iasion sighed heavily, knowing Hantala was right, but not liking the fact. Though usually fairly self-centered, he took a moment to consider the other apprentice's situation. "Isn't it kind of hard to have your _father_ as the Master of Apprentices?"

Seriand wondered how hard the other apprentice thought it was to have Master Tarehg as a grandfather and, since he couldn't change that, just hoped his grandfather wouldn't hear about this. Certainly his grandmother wouldn't mention it, and he didn't think his father would, either.

"Sometimes," Tala admitted. "When I get into trouble, he seems to take it much more personally. Of course, that could be because he feels more responsible for my safety, as an apprentice and as a daughter." She glanced around at the other apprentices. "That's what this is all about, you know - our safety. He worries that something will happen to one of us that could be prevented."

Avia stood back and watched the other apprentices debate who was guilty and who wasn't; feeling partly outraged that they should just assume she was guilty as well, and party scared that if she piped up and declared her innocence they would all just laugh at her anyway. She shifted from one foot to the other, if the others believed her guilty then obviously Master Mahantan would as well - it just wasn't fair. She could feel the heat of tears behind her eyes and felt angry with herself for being so weak.

Iasion noted the quiet girl observing them and could tell she was very upset, but he was in no mood to be comforting. He turned back to Seriand, "Well, I suppose it could be _worse_. We could be dealing with Master Tarehg," he said pointedly.

"Instead you're dealing with me." Mahantan stepped into the room and glanced around at those who had been caught out with no equipment. He crossed his office and opened a cupboard to reveal the missing diving gear. "Collect your own equipment and look it over. I want each of you to tell me what needs to be done to prepare your gear for a swim."

Iasion's face reddened. He just seemed to be having the worst luck today. He shuffled over to retrieve his equipment, already well aware that it needed a good cleaning. Beings how it hadn't been cleaned in some time, he might also need some straps replaced.

Avia moved forward, but waited for the others to remove theirs before she dragged hers from among the leftovers; she was relieved to see it wasn't as badly damaged as some that had been reclaimed. The rust was surface only, but it would always mar the once pristine look of the tanks. Her mouthpiece was white with encrusted salt splashes and the strap from the headgear looked as though it had been snagged on something, and had begun to fray on one end.

She moved back and waited for Master Mahantan to start questioning them, doubting she would be given the chance to explain that she had left her gear cleaned and drying, not just dumped straight from the sea.

Apparently nobody wanted to say anything so Seriand spoke up. "Mine needs cleaning. Straps, mainly. Could polish out the scratches in my mask." He knew his crime was more than likely that he'd just pushed his gear in all over the place, rather than any particular fault.

The Apprentice Master took the young man's gear and looked over it, holding the mask up to the light. "You'll definitely need to polish those scratches. I doubt that you could see very far under-water with it this way. In addition, some of these stains look old, as if you've not done as thorough a job as you should in the past as well as this time."

Seriand nodded. "Yes sir," he said, relieved that the criticism wasn't any worse.

Mahantan turned to the next apprentice who happened to be his daughter, holding out his hand to silently accept her equipment.

"One flipper strap is wearing," she reported. "I. . . I cleaned my gear and left it to dry, intending to return and replace the strap but was distracted and left it for longer than I should have. I don't know what. . . anything could have happened while it was there."

He eyed the items she had given him intently, inspecting it more conscientiously than he would that of any other apprentice, wanting to be fair. "It does look as if the grime on it is more drips than immersion-based. As to the straps, the one on the flipper should have been fixed before this, but replace those on both flippers to ensure even wearing. In addition, the end of your breathing tube shows some fray so you'll want to either file or replace that." He handed it back to her without a smile and turned to Avia. "And yours?"

She fiddled with the frayed end of headgear strap, but looked more determined as her eyes met that of the Master of Apprentices, "It. . .it seems to have been caught or snagged on something, but it wasn't like that the last time I wore it Sir. All of my equipment is only a few months old, it was in good condition the last time I returned it to stores, Sir." she confessed, finally.

He examined the girl's equipment with a nod. "Yes, drips only. And the strap," He held it and pulled, "could have been damaged out of the water, no salt around the fray." He stepped back to regard all of the apprentices. "This brings up another point: each of you should have an assigned area in which to keep your equipment and should be mindful of that of others. Some of you are probably responsible for others being here, but rather that than responsible for an equipment failure that results in injury or worse." He paused to give that time to sink in.

Iasion bit his lip and nodded in response to the Apprentice Master's lecture. The condition of his equipment was his own fault and he had decided that excuses would do more harm than good. He was deciding whether to offer an account of the damage now or wait for Mahantan to call on him when the Master continued.

"Now for your punishments - and all of you will be punished, whether this situation is of your own making or not. First, all of you will report to me for daily equipment inspections. This will be an open-ended punishment, which will be lifted for each of you when I see fit, based on the care of your equipment and your attitude toward it. In addition, you will be assigned additional inspections of the equipment room and will be responsible to hose down the drying shelves and floors and to be sure that the drains taking away the salt and debris are not clogged. This duty will also continue on an individual basis and will be stopped at my discretion for each of you. Any questions?"

Haruhi shook his head with the majority. He had snuck in as quietly as possible behind the Apprentice Master and stood with the rest, just glad he was done being singled out.

Seriand said nothing but breathed a silent sigh of relief that the punishment was manageable. Some masters assigned punishments that affected other masters' classes and the explanations went on forever - and sometimes being late everywhere attracted extra punishment.

As for Hantala, she had no desire to question her father's decision, especially in front of the other apprentices. She shook her head as well.

Mahantan glanced from one end of the line to the other once again. "In that case, take your gear to the equipment room and start cleaning it. You'll be finished for the evening after I have inspected and approved your gear." It would be a long night for him as well, but if his tirade of this night saved any of his charges from injury, it would be well worth his time.

Last updated on the July 11th 2007

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Punishment