Partying Gone Wrong
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyrhold
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr (NPC)
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall
Writers: Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 2nd September 2019
Characters: L'keri, Urlene, Serlira,
Description: An evening of partying comes to an unfortunate end for L'keri
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 1 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Cyradis, D'ale (not by name)
L'keri stepped out into the night air of the Dolphin Cove Weyr bowl,
feeling the warm sea breeze ruffling his hair. He did like spending time
in the tropical Weyr. The night sky above was clear and scattered with
bright stars, which blurred a little as he tilted his head back. Dizzy
with the effect of an evening's partying and the seemingly endless
supply of good wine, he nearly stumbled and had to lean on his companion
to keep his balance.
He grinned, feeling warm skin. Another benefit of this climate was the
way the women dressed. Loose, light fabrics, bare shoulders and low
necklines, seemingly designed just to tempt a brownrider like him.
"Oops. Nearly lost me there. I'm not sure I should be flying back to
Dragonsfall tonight."
The greenrider beside him giggled, face flushed from the spirits and
wine she'd shared with him. She supported L'keri as her leaned on her,
then bumped her hip against his. "It's okay, you can stay with me
tonight." Serlira laughingly kissed at his ear. "I've got plenty of
room and Plinoth would enjoy your brown's company. It's only a short
walk anyways... across the Weyrbowl."
"I thought you'd never ask," he teased, letting his arm slide around her
waist as they began to follow a slow, weaving path across the Weyrbowl.
"I'm a very considerate guest, I promise. Always attentive to my host's
needs." His hand drifted lower to caress the tempting curve below.
"Whatever they may be..."
"Well," She added archly, "I wasn't quite sure of you." A drunken grin
played over her mouth. "But you do seem fun and I _do_ have some needs
that I think that you might be able to take care of.." She patted his
own bottom and stumbled for a moment before righting herself. "See
that over there?" She pointed towards a low building. "That's the
Weyrling barracks. I'm right above it on the cliff. We'll have to
climb some stairs. "
"Ah, the barracks. All the little weyrlings will be tucked up safe and
sound in their own beds." They turned, a little unsteadily and began to
weave their way towards the building. "Thank the Egg those days are
over, and we can enjoy all the pleasures life has to offer. Although,"
L'keri said, his voice turning sentimental, "there were good times. My
class must have been the despair of the Weyrlingmasters."
"I was in a very good, very well-behaved class." Serlira replied with
a sloppy grin. "Never any trouble." She nudged L'keri's side. "So what
kind of things did you get up to? I've always been so...straight with
everything."
"I think we can do something about that..." L'keri gave her a sly wink.
"Let's see, we usually behaved well enough in drills, but when we got
released for the day was when it got wild. Parties, dares, serenading
the Weyrlingmasters with drinking songs at midnight, naked races around
the Weyrbowl and down to the sea...this was at River Bluff, by the way,
I wouldn't dare do that at Dragonsfall, I might freeze bits off. Once,
some of us climbed up on the roof of the barracks and had a picnic up
there. Good spot for sunbathing, if you don't get caught."
He looked up at the building as they passed alongside it. "It was a lot
like this one, actually. Low enough to climb up, not too steep."
Stopping, he tilted his head back and eyed the roof speculatively. "I
wonder if I could do it again?"
"They have things like that here sometimes," she admitted. "But I
never do that." There was regret in her voice, but interest grew when
he eyed the building. Inhibitions lowered, she grinned at him. "We can
both try now can't we?" Studying the roof, she pointed. It's lower at
the back, but only a little. I can give you a boost up if you'll help
me up."
"All right." L'keri spoke with all the confidence of a man who was about
to show off his skill and agility to an admiring greenrider. He pointed
at a barrel at the corner of the barracks which looked as though it was
there to catch rainwater. "I'll climb up on that and then if you cup
your hands and reach up, you can push me up onto the roof. And then," he
went on with a wicked grin, "we'll get you up there too and we can do
some of the things we never got to do as weyrlings."
He went over to the water barrel and, steadying himself against the
wall, managed to scramble up to it, though it creaked alarmingly in the
process and the lid bowed under his weight. "Here we go. Ready?"
"On the roof?" Her eyes sparkled at the idea. She would have never
_dared_ to do anything like what she was thinking of when she was a
weyrling. She'd been terrified of getting caught breaking any rule.
But L'keri's mischief was infectious. Serlira toddled over, weaving
just a little before offering her cupped hands. Visibly excited, she
grinned up at him and braced herself to give him a boost. "Up you go!"
L'keri pushed off with his foot and, with a grunt of effort, managed
to get most of his upper body onto the roof. His legs were left
flailing in midair, and it was only after some undignified struggling
with his backside in the air that he managed to get first one foot,
and then the other, over the edge.
"Made it!" He scrambled to his knees and then, wobbling slightly, to
his feet. With a whoop, he threw out his arms, the world spinning
around him, and took a few steps along the edge of the barracks roof.
"Look at me!"
Afterwards, he thought he remembered a loose tile sliding under his
foot, or perhaps it had merely been the effect of the evening's
drinking. But as he strutted along the edge, L'keri lost his footing.
He wheeled his arms in a desperate attempt to regain his balance, then
tipped over and fell to the ground below with a yell followed by a
loud thud.
At first, Serlira was laughing at his antics, but as L'keri's arms
began to flail, her jaw dropped open. Her inebriated brain was slow to
understand that he was not just showing off but he was in very real
danger. Gasping as he teetered over, she cried out, stretching out a
hand that could have never possibly reached him. As he fell, she
dashed forward, stumbling in her haste to reach him where he had
fallen. "Oh, Faranth, are you okay? Are you alright?" She knelt beside
him, uncertain as to what to do, so she shook his shoulder. "L'keri?"
The brownrider groaned. Stunned for a moment by the shock of falling,
he could hear Rhalith's voice in his head in a panic, demanding to
know what had happened. The brown, who'd been dozing on the cliff
heights, was now fully awake and raised up on his hind legs, eyes
glowing red and wings spread ready to fly to his rider's aid.
"Uhh..." His arm and side ached and he was vaguely aware that there
was something not right about his leg, which was a mass of dull pain,
but he could move his other arm and thankfully, he didn't seem to have
hit his head. **I'm all right, Rhalith.** Opening his eyes a crack, he
saw the greenrider looking worriedly down at him and managed a woozy,
drunken smile. "Oops."
"Oops?" Serlira was pale as she checked his head. "Sweet Faranth, I
thought you were going to die. Don't move." She swallowed roughly,
her throat working as her mouth went dry. Her wingleader was going to
throttle her. So was the weyrlingmaster. "Are you hurt bad? Im not a
Healer, but maybe we should call someone. That was a hard fall."
Racing out to her own Plinloth with a sense of dread, she had her
green reach out to the Infirmary.
Some part of L'keri's brain, befuddled and drink-sodden as it was,
recollected that he didn't want to be anywhere near Dolphin Cove's
Infirmary. "Ah - no, thanks, I think I'll be all right. Let's just
try..." He reached up, steadying himself on her shoulder, then tried
to push himself up to his knees. As he put weight on his leg, though,
a bolt of intense pain shot through his body and he collapsed with a
howl of agony, echoed by Rhalith's roar from the cliffs above them.
She bore up well under his weight, but as he collapsed, she nearly
fell on top of him. Plinloth echoed Rhalith's complaint of alarm,
immediately moving to soothe the brown, even as she mentally cried out
for a Healer to come as quickly as possible. Serlira caught herself
quickly enough, the cry of pain sobering her. She looked down at his
leg and gasped. "L'keri...your leg...it's not supposed to be bent like
that. And there's blood there..."
There was a sound of hurried footfalls on the gravel as several
Healers, apprentices and journeyman converged upon them. "Don't move
him." The cool crisp voice made the Healers part as Urlene approached.
She'd been just about to go to bed when she'd been summoned, her hair
was unbound and the night dress she wore was barely covered by her
robe. She ordered two journeyman to get a stretcher before kneeling to
examine L'keri's leg. "What happened?"
The brownrider was still shaken from the pain and the effort of trying
to calm his dragon, but the sight of Urlene in her night dress brought
a saucy, if rather strained smirk to his face. "'Evening, beautiful.
Looks like I, uh, fell over. Been to a party, and 'm a little bit
unsteady on my feet. 'S nothing really..." He shifted and went white,
gritting his teeth.
Ignoring his smirk, Urlene examined the visible injuries.He smelled
like a distillery and the scent of his breath told Urlene enough. She
turned to Serlira. "What really happened?" The greenrider glanced at
L'keri, then cleared her throat and quietly admitted what they'd been
up to. Urlene exhaled and requesting a blade from an apprentice,
promptly slit the trouser along his oddly bent leg. Her lips thinned
as Serlira paled and backed away, wretching. "You don't get a compound
fracture from falling over, Brownrider. You, get a stretcher." She
directed an apprentice, then turned to Serlira. "You, report to your
wingleader after you've washed your mouth out. Eirlon, go with her."
Serlira wiped her mouth and nodded, rising unsteadily while a junior
journeyman helped her.
Urlene examined the bleeding wound, not touching it, but examining the
visible break that had pierced through the skin. "I'll try to save
your leg, brownrider, but I can't promise that I'll be successful.
Where else are you hurting?" She glanced up as two apprentices rushed
towards them with the stretcher. "Down here. We'll lift him on to the
stretcher. I don't know if there's any other injuries."
"Uh. My arm aches, and my side, but it's not... What d'you mean,
you'll _try_ to save my leg?" Even through the drunken haze, L'keri
felt a chill run down his spine. What was wrong with him? Why had the
greenrider looked like that? He tensed and tried to sit up to see what
was happening.
Urlene calmly and firmly pushed him back down, her voice brisk. "Don't
move. You may have broken or cracked ribs. Your shin bone is sticking
out of your skin. It's called a compound fracture and there's a risk
of infection and the bone not healing correctly. And you're bleeding
quite a bit. Like I said, I'll try my best to save it, but it's not
always successful, even with the best medicines. But you'll be with us
for a few sevendays either way." She gestured to the apprentices, who
laid down the stretcher and moved to stand at his hips and shoulders.
One handed her a vial and she held it to L'keri's lips. "Drink this.
It's laced with fellis for the pain." She tipped it to his lips, not
waiting for a reply before moving back down to gently cup her hands
underneath his legs, supporting his injuries."Now hold still and lay
your arms over your chest if you can. This will probably hurt." She
looked up and nodded. "One, two, three, lift."
Despite the fellis and the dulling effects of having drunk copious
quantities of alcohol earlier in the evening, even the gentle movement
sent another overwhelming spasm of pain through the brownrider and he
groaned through clenched teeth. It hurt worse than Threadscore. For
the moment he couldn't think of anything else other than the effort of
shielding Rhalith from the pain, perhaps fortunately since he couldn't
think of the possible loss of his leg. Just as it was starting to
recede, the apprentices lifted the stretcher and he gasped in agony
again.
"Keep him steady. " Urlene walked beside the stretcher, already
listing necessary supplies that she'd need in her head. He'd be out by
the time they reached the infirmary, which was all for the better;
trying to reset that leg would be tricky and painful, but had to be
done as soon as possible before swelling set in.
"I'll call for a goldrider to calm his brown." The journeyman carrying
the stretcher, a rider himself, offered.
"Do that." Urlene agreed. "And call for Cyradis. She'll need to know
about this...accident."
"N...no, it's just a fall...no need to tell the Weyrwoman..." L'keri
was vaguely aware, even through the haze of fellis, pain and drink,
that he was in trouble. Very big trouble. Perhaps even worse than when
he'd insulted his Wingleader. But mercifully, the fellis took hold,
his eyelids became too heavy to keep open and he slumped into
unconsciousness.
Last updated on the September 3rd 2019