The Pen Pal Diaries
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: Shawna, Sia
Date Posted: 24th May 2025
Characters: Cirina, Aydhara, O'rosin
Description: The girls get some long-distance gossip in
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr, Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 18 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: A'radess, Sh'del, Ketlyn, Aydhan, Oriene, K'lvin
Notes: Actually happens over a couple days.
It took a while, but _finally_, a slate-blue firelizard appeared in the candidate barracks of Dolphin Cove Weyr. He did not go looking for the right person to deliver his message to, however. In a move that could be construed as smart by some, but mostly dumb as rocks, Slate delivered the message tube to the foot of Cirina's bed and disappeared back home again.
Eventually, when Cirina found it, it read,
"Hey Caprine-girl,
A'radess knows I know about your midnight tryst during my party, and he keeps asking me how you're doing. I've been telling him that you're very busy out on your harper circuit, but you're going to need to give him a better excuse soon. What did you even do to that guy?
"Love, Aydhara"
Cirina squealed with delight when she saw the letter, telling a completely disinterested Digger, “Look what a good job Slate did.”
Scrambling for a pencil, Cirina flipped the note over to write.
“Oh Slate is such a good boy!
Tell him I’m on some assignment in a tiny little seahold way outside Topaz Seahold. You know. O’rosinSeahold. I’ll probably be back in a few months. Maybe for your hatching. Is he really asking about me? I didn’t even think he’d remember me. He wasn’t supposed to remember me.”
Cirina paused, annoyed at the pleased little flutter she felt at that. Scowling at the air, she went back to writing.
“I didn’t do anything to him I’m going to put in writing. When can you visit again? Now I’m afraid to have my mother drop me off at Barrier Lake. I’d die if he caught me like that.
Love, Cirina”.
She quickly folded up the note and whistled Digger over.
Digger did not leave the letter on Aydhara’s bed. He dropped it on her sleeping face just past lights out in the barracks and then went to nose about her treat jar.
The commotion as Slate dove for the treat jar as well sent the barracks spiraling into chaos that got Aydhara in trouble. After all was calm again and lights were once again out, Aydhara cracked a glowbasket open and scrawled on the bottom of the paper:
"Gross. I don't want any of those details anyway. I can't handle the thought of parts flip-flopping around. I'll tell him you might be able to negotiate a break if you can get a dragon-ride from where you are.
"Oh you've put such hardship on me, begging for a ride to a place where it's warm. Mom can probably take me, now that she's not Acting Weyrwoman anymore. Or maybe Casmari or Ketlyn. Ketlyn's face is doing much better now, she can probably /between/ just fine. She needs a break."
Slate did not deliver the message to Cirina's bed this time. He delivered it to O'rosin's seaside weyr when no one was home. O'rosin found it sitting abandoned on his table, recognized Cirina's name, and hand-delivered it to her himself.
“O’rosin, are you doing mail deliveries now? Wait what happened to Ketlyn’s face?!” As if the brownrider had any idea what she was talking about.
When it was clear O’rosin had no gossip to share, Cirina settled down to writing back.
“Nothing was ‘flopping’. Flopping is such an unsexy word. Oh, yeah, see if your mom can drop you off. I can pretend I need to help show her around again and get out of chores.
Listen, stop telling him anything. It was just supposed to be one night of fun. He didn’t even get to see me in full lighting! Oh unless the lighthouse counted.
What happened to Ketlyn’s face? She had a nice face.”
Aydhara didn’t get to see how it began, but by the time she chased down the startled squawking sounds, Digger and Slate were involved in a tug of war match over the letter.
"Faranth! C'mon, no no no!" Aydhara cried. Slate blinked /between/ and reappeared at the foot of the bed, just out of reach, trembling like he had been traumatized and Aydhara was to blame. Aydhara pieced most of the letter back together and assumed that Cirina was mad about her word choice. She grabbed another piece of hide and replied,
"She has a gorgeous face, excuse you. She and Varinth got messed up in Threadfall. Varinth's fine, but Ketlyn lurched forward and broke her nose on Varinth's neckridge. She puked on K'lvin. I didn't see it but I wish I did.
"I don't bring you up for no reason, he thinks he's just being so clever. Why are all the bronzeriders like this? Hey, if I say you're out on a faraway circuit, what if he offers to come get you? Your web of lies falls apart."
This time the letter was found in Sh'del's office, the _obvious_ culprit this time being Trouble. Obviously. Because Slate would never forget what he was doing.
Cirina was likely not being as sneaky as she thought she was as she scribbled back during harper lessons.
“It’s like we didn’t think this through. Just… pretend you haven’t heard from me in a while so we can come up with a better plan.” As if Aydhara were somehow required to help her get herself out of her own mess. “We can talk about it when you come to visit.
“I’m glad Ketlyn will be ok. I think getting puked on is probably an occupational hazard of being weyrlingmaster. I would never want to be one. So can you come over next rest day?”
That letter was delivered directly to Aydhara and almost certainly because she was eating dinner. Digger waited patiently, chest puffed out proudly.
The final reply went straight to Cirina, only because it was returned by a fat and happy Digger.
"Mom says she can take me over in the morning. That would be late afternoon for you, right? Do you think we can sneak out and see if Orienne has a dolphin yet?"
Last updated on the June 8th 2025