Counting Rapids
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Avery, Len, Yvonne
Date Posted: 30th July 2017
Characters: Jaylene, F'lin, K'ran
Description: The Rapids wingstaff discuss the state of the wing.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 12, day 20 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Uetia
Long days didn't end when the sun set. F'lin had found a mostly sturdy table to set up under a tree, along with a pair of mis-matched chairs and a glow lantern. The offices above the Hatching Caverns where most of the Wing rosters had been stored were still being checked for safety by the masons. F'lin hadn't wanted to go there anyway. So he and Jaylene sat beneath the tree and reconstructed Rapids' rosters themselves.
"That's all the brownriders accounted for, and the bronzes. T'reol is still not fit to fly, and I don't want V'nari in the air..." Until he was done grieving. The Wing had escaped relatively unscathed physically since most of the riders had been pressed into evacuation duty, but that didn't account for the anguish of losing family and friends.
"Yeah, hang on." Jaylene pressed her fingers to her temples. "This headache won't go away." She smiled at him in a 'I'm sure you'll understand' sort of look. "Erm...we've lost only one of our blues." Her voice caught on the last word. "And two greens." Now she did begin to cry.
F'lin reached across the table to take her hand. "We'll be okay." He wasn't sure if the reassurance was more for Jaylene or himself. He swallowed back the lump in his throat. "River Bluff Weyr will carry on."
"You think?" Jaylene blinked back her tears. It was so not like her to cry.
"Of course. River Bluff has been here since the end of the Ninth Pass. The masons will fix whatever it is that needs to be fixed and we'll be moving back into the mountain in no time at all." His home was under the cliff, and it had provided a safe harbour in storms for him since before Topaz Sea Hold had been hit with a hurricane. His grandmother had been Weyrwoman. This place ran deep in his veins and it was _his_. No sharding earthquake would change that. "You'll see."
It was taking K'ran a longer time than usual to get anywhere, partly because people kept stopping him to talk, and partly because of the after-effects of the rocks. He desperately needed to sit by the time he reached Jaylene and F'lin.
"It's been a tough day," he said when he saw the pair of them. Neither of them looked particularly happy. Given the damage that had been done, it was absolutely understandable. "How are you holding up?"
"I need a drink," Jaylene said with complete honesty. At least she was one of the lucky ones. All of her family was accounted for, including her mother and youngest brother. And her best friend Uetia was, likewise, alive, as was her baby.
"I think we all do," K'ran said sympathetically. "I see you're working on something?"
"We're trying..." Jaylene took a deep breath. She was not going to cry again! "We're putting together the lists of who survived our Wing." She tapped the papers before her with a pencil.
"Thread's falling the day after the rest day and we'll need to be ready to meet it. Despite what... happened," F'lin said grimly. "We'll need a tally of who can fly and who can't so that we know if we _can_ face Thread, or if we need to ask the other Weyrs for extra riders."
Again Jaylene tapped the papers before her. She didn't try to hide the stress in her voice. "There's enough...but just." Again she inwardly sobbed at the thought of how many they had lost.
"River Bluff will be fine," F'lin echoed. He sounded more confident than he felt.
"May I see what you have so far? Perhaps I've found a few you haven't," K'ran said. Though he wasn't sure. Having been knocked unconscious for a bit, he suspected he'd missed several things.
He was proud of Jaylene and F'lin - this hadn't been an easy task for them to start. But despite the stress, they were doing admirably.
Jaylene slid the papers across to him. "The colours most affected were our greens - we've lost two. Two brownriders are also injured, but thankfully not too seriously." She tapped at where there should have been names of survivors but weren't.
He inspected it and frowned. Out of thirty riders, they were down four by deaths and another seven injured too badly to fly in Fall. "I knew H'larin had been hurt but I didn't know he was gone," K'ran murmured.
"He died about eight candlemarks after the tsunami. Internal bleeding." F'lin shook his head. "Rapids is out enough dragonriders that it makes covering the Fall difficult, but not impossible. I've also been down to the storerooms. We have firestone. I haven't had the chance to speak with any of the other Wingleaders yet to see how their Wings came through, but at a glance, I think we can do this."
"I've spoken with the other wingthirds via Reanth, they all seem to think we can handle this." Jaylene gathered her notes from the men and frowned down at them. "What do your bronzes say?"
"Every wing had at least one casualty and multiple injuries, but all will be above the 12 dragon threshold," K'ran said. "The queen's wing is going to be supplemented by whatever weyrlings Weyrlingmaster K'sedel deems ready."
"Okay then." Jaylene nodded her head. "One bloody disaster's not going to destroy us."
"See?" F'lin clapped her on the shoulder with a smile. Despite everything, they'd meet Thread as a working Weyr should. That would count for something. "River Bluff Weyr will be back in no time."
Last updated on the August 23rd 2017