Sweepriding Discovery

Writers: Suzee, Estelle
Date Posted: 30th April 2019

Characters: L'keri, T'lat, Pinpin
Description: Time to fly sweeps and look for likely locations for the new Weyr
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr, Barrier Lake Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 9, day 15 of Turn 9

L'keri

T'lat

Today was going to be a long day, L'keri thought as he entered the
dining cavern after drills. He had sweepriding duty in the afternoon, so
he made sure to pile his plate high with plenty of hot food to keep him
going during the ride. He couldn't always hope to be as lucky as he had
been when those holders had fed him at Hidden Meadows.

He remembered that today's sweep would be shared with one of his
wingmates, a young greenrider. At least he'd have someone to talk to,
and Rhalith would enjoy flying with the green. Looking around, he saw
the young man sitting at a table with a few other Cyan riders, and went
over to join them.

"Hi, T'lat!" He set down his tray in the empty space opposite the
greenrider. "Ready for the sweepride this afternoon?"

"Hey L'keri," T'lat grinned at the brownrider. "Yep, I just have to
get her straps on and we'll be ready to head out." As silly as it
seemed, T'lat enjoyed sweeprides. Especially when he was paired with
another rider. He never knew what awaited him on the ground. Sometimes
holders were a bit unhappy with a male greenrider.

"At least it's not snowing today," L'keri said as he tucked into his
lunch. Sweeprides in this territory were rarely warm, but it was good to
stay dry and be able to see the ground clearly. "Last time we were out,
Rhalith and I found a trader caravan stuck in a drift. He showered
everyone with snow helping to dig it out. Of course, he thought it was
tremendous fun."

"I'm sure he did," T'lat chuckled. "Faucheth is much too dainty to
throw piles of snow unless there's food involved."

"Well, if we find another one, Rhalith will be happy to do all the
digging, if it means he gets to show off for her," L'keri added
sweetening to his klah. "Just make sure to stand well back."

T'lat grinned, "I'll be sure to do that." He shrugged. "I'm sure
she'll find him quite handsome." She was very flirty with her escorts
whenever they had the duty. "Do you know where we're going today?"

"Way up north, in the old River Bluff flight territory, starting near
Garnet Valley. Shouldn't be too eventful." He hadn't been out that way
in a while, not since he'd been at River Bluff in the old days. He
thought back to their wing meeting. "Orders are to make a note of any
cave systems that might be habitable. It sounds like they're planning
more settlements in that area. Oh, is Faucheth a Search dragon? We could
look out for any likely Candidates."

T'lat nodded, "She is," he said. "But she hasn't found many. They say
they grow into it so I'm sure once she has more experience..." he came
to the end of his thoughts on that track and kind of faded out.

"Well, we can keep an eye out." L'keri hadn't had much experience of
escorting Searchriders, but he thought it sounded fun. He much preferred
it when he could stop and visit a few times during a sweep. Even if the
holders didn't exactly approve of dragonriders, with Rhalith at his back
he knew he had nothing to fear.

He finished the last of his lunch and drained his klah. "Right, shall we
get going?"

"Sure," T'lat said and stuffed the last bite in his mouth. Then he
stood and picked up his tray and took it to the return and kept going
out into the Weyrbowl. He found his lovely Faucheth waiting for him.
He'd already put her harness on before he'd gone in to grab a snack.
She was already preening and flirting with Rhalith.

L'keri hastened to buckle the riding straps onto Rhalith, so he
wouldn't keep the green pair waiting, buttoned his riding jacket up to
the collar and added his helmet, scarf and gloves. Even if it wasn't
snowing, it was going to be cold up there. He could sense Rhalith's
satisfaction, and smiled to himself as the brown raised his head
proudly and spread his wings, no doubt to appear more impressive to
Faucheth.

**You can show her what a strong flier you are on the sweepride.** He
touched Rhalith's side lightly, then reached to swing himself up into
the rising straps and raised an arm to signal their readiness to fly.
**Ask her rider if he's ready to go?**

They sent affirmative back to the ready check and a moment later they
were in the air. Faucheth took up her place to the left and slightly
behind Rhalith. }:He is very handsome:{

**Yes, They both are** T'lat chuckled.

The brown dragon's powerful wingbeats took them higher still, soaring
over the plains below the plateau towards the sea. L'keri's heart
lifted as chill air rushed past his face. No matter what happened on
the ground, he would always have this, the exhilaration of flying with
his dragon. He sensed that Rhalith was making more of an effort than
he would have had they been alone, and glanced back over his shoulder
at the young green. **Yes, she's watching you, show-off,** he teased.

}:She is swift and graceful in the air. I have told her so,:{ Rhalith
replied, sounding very pleased with himself.

Faucheth practically preened in midair at the brown's compliments.
There were no clouds so she wasn't wary of running into anything. }:I
like his wings, they are very broad,:{ she said.

T'lat snorted and watched below looking for anything like a flag or
runners on the ground. **You like all browns** The trouble was while
the dragons were interested in his green the riders were rarely
interested in him. He shrugged and kept watching the ground below as
they flew.

The dragons levelled out once they'd reached the height for a sweepride,
then winked /between/, re-emerging over the mountainous terrain that
surrounded Garnet Valley. They hovered for a moment, catching an air
current and getting their bearings, then began to fly northward. After
admiring the view for a while, L'keri relaxed in the straps, huddling
himself into his riding gear and preparing for a long, cold ride.

**If you could stop flirting with Faucheth for one moment,** he teased
his brown, **you could ask her to tell her rider to let us know if he
sees anything he'd like to investigate.** The greenrider had been at the
Weyr longer, so although he was younger than L'keri he would be more
familiar with the land they were flying over.

"That looks like something," T'lat was peering down at a lake they
were flying over. "Right there on that cove."

L'keri received the message from his brown and narrowed his eyes against
the glint of sunlight on the water. Could those dark shadows be caves?
**Ask her if her rider thinks we should land and have a look?**

**Yes! Tell him yes," T'lat was getting excited. There was even what
looked like a small abandoned mining town down there. That wasn't
surprising really since Garnet Valley Hold was just across the wide
lake.

**All right, let's look for a landing place. Down there, by those old
buildings?** It looked like there was space enough for the two dragons,
and it would save a walk compared to landing further away. He leaned
forward in the straps as Rhalith glided lower, following Faucheth down
to the ground.

It was always quiet after they'd landed, without the wind whistling past
and the beating of dragon wings. There was no sign of any movement that
might suggest people were still living here, but it looked like T'lat
had been right about there being caves. L'keri could see several
openings in the rocky cliff face. He climbed down from the straps and
jogged over to join his wingmate. "What do you think? An old mine?"

"Probably," T'lat said and pointed to what looked like an old
processor. "Look at the equipment," he pointed at some discarded
pieces. The buildings looked in fair repair like they hadn't been
empty for long or that there might be caretakers of some sort.

"It's an old garnet mine," a voice called from up the slopes. "But
it's played out now."

"Hi old Uncle," T'lat smiled up the hill. "Is it safe for us to take a
look inside?"

"Oh sure," the man nodded agreeably. "Though you oughtta take some
torches or people as knows their way about in there. Easy to get lost
it is. If you stick to the big cavern and don't go into the side
passages though you should be safe enough."

"Thank you, sir," L'keri said, raising a hand to the old man. He could
see a path sloping down to the shore of the cove, and on to the largest
cave opening that the man had indicated. It was a little overgrown, but
still passable, he thought. Bright sunlight glittered off the surface of
the water, making the interior of the cave seem even more dark and
mysterious. He glanced at T'lat with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.
"Shall we go and have a look?

T'lat smiled back. "Absolutely."

L'keri needed no more encouragement to set off down the track towards
the cove. He thought he could see the remains of a dock, where boats
must once have unloaded supplies and taken on the produce of the main.
The water was clear and inviting, and he could feel Rhalith's longing in
the back of his mind as they descended.

}:I would like to swim.:{

**I know, but we won't be able to finish the sweepride if you're wet. We
can come back another time,** he promised. Now they knew the
coordinates, it would be easy to return. He smiled to himself, thinking
of one particular young lady he wouldn't mind visiting this lovely cove
with. Soon, they reached the shoreline, and followed it round to the
mouth of the cave.

"That's pretty big," T'lat said following the brownrider around and
toward the mouth of the cave. "If this was a mine it could have large
spaces already cut into the rock. Oh, and feel that breeze," he siad
as he stepped through the opening. "It's warm."

"It's dry, too." L'keri crouched for a moment to feel the dusty ground
beneath their feet with the palm of his hand before venturing inside. As
his eyes grew used to the dim light inside, he could see tunnels leading
off from the side walls and the far end. A few heaps of rusted metal
might once have been mining equipment, but otherwise it looked as though
the former occupants had cleared out everything that could be useful. He
called out, and grinned as the sound of his voice returned in an echo.
"Could be a good place to start a hold. There'd be shelter from Fall and
weather in this cave, and the lake for water and fish."

"This has real possibilities," T'lat smiled. "We should come back with
torches and glows and do some exploring!"

"We should." The brownrider looked around the cave speculatively, a
mischievous note creeping into this voice. "Wouldn't be a bad place for
a party, either. We could build a fire just outside there, on the shore.
Bring some harpers and some drinks." And the caves would be a good place
to slip away with a friend for some privacy...

"I'm all for that!" T'lat looked around at what he could see and the
lovely waters of the cove behind them. "This is a great place."

Last updated on the August 16th 2019

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Sweepriding Discovery