Go To the Beach and Swim
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: Jane
Date Posted: 2nd January 2007
Characters: O'rian
Description: Odarian crosses the Weyrbowl and thinks about his options in life.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 11 of Turn 4
Even with the occasional cloud cover the Weyrbowl was still baking hot and the tall, dark haired young man revelled in it. His long-legged stride carried him across the Bowl at a good pace but he wasn't in much of a hurry. He was just going home to get out of the clothes he'd worn in the infirmary and head out onto the beach for a swim.
The senior apprentice healer hadn't always lived at Dolphin Cove Weyr – he had been born at Thayan Peak Weyrhold and had a few memories of the place before the earthquake had destroyed it – and more than a few of the earthquake itself – but when he had arrived at the beachfront Weyr he had been besotted from the first moment. The sea! Just there, right at the foot of the old, broken volcanic caldera. And sand – everywhere.
He grinned at his thoughts. Perhaps his affection for the sand had diminished over the Turns. The stuff was insidious and there were very few places in the Weyr where it failed to reach. In the entrances to the main corridors it would form small drifts before the lower caverns staff arrived to shoo it back outside with their brooms and brushes.
But the baking heat - Odarian still loved that. In his early days at the tropical Weyr he had suffered a few bouts of burned and peeling skin from the strength of the sunshine, but now his skin had darkened and he had learned to take more care of himself. If he went out in the middle of the day he would smear a salve on his nose and shoulders that would slow the burning, and almost any time outdoors he always wore a big shady hat he had woven himself from dried plant fronds. It wasn't a work of great skill, but it had been his first attempt and it made him grin every time he put it on.
He paused by the Weyrlake to admire the clear, fresh water. It was so crazy to have such a thing so close to the sea, but who could tell springs where they could or couldn't appear? Personally, he liked swimming in the sea with all its waves and tides and currents. The lake was just there, fresh and cool and flat and he liked the occasional rinse in it, but to him it didn't hold the challenge of swimming in the bay.
Apparently not everybody agreed with him as the lake was teeming with bodies; dragons and riders, adults and children. Even firelizards flitting and canines chasing. If the lake was like this, the beach must be packed to standing room only. Probably like him most people intended to get wet during the last candlemarks of the heat and then eat afterward when the day cooled and appetites returned.
"Now would be a good time to have a dragon," he muttered under the noise of the crowd, though that was as foolish a reason for Impressing as he could imagine. Being a dragonrider was about so much more than having the means of getting away to a private beach somewhere, especially nowadays.
He was weyrbred and had the right to ask to Stand at any Hatching at the Weyr but he had never wanted that. From childhood he had wanted to be a healer, despite being the child of two dragonriders and open to the possibilities of that option. When he had been very young being a dragonrider hadn't been incompatible with following his craft but as the clutch sizes increased and the old knowledge had been unearthed it had seemed more and more likely that the Turns of being both crafter and dragonrider were coming to an end.
He had apprenticed less than a Turn before the start of the Pass and once Thread had started falling the decision had become more difficult because the Weyr and dragonriders needed healers, too. He wasn't normally indecisive – that wasn't a good trait in a healer, after all – but within a day he could range from believing that he should Stand, to convincing himself that he could do more good as a healer. Sometimes, apparently just to add to his confusion, he was reminded how much more often dragons suffered Threadscoring than their riders did, and the possibility of transferring his apprentice skills to dragonhealing seemed a better thing.
"Coming swimming Odarian?"
He shook his head and waved to the young woman, moving again toward his room with a final appreciative glance in her direction. She was weyrbred like him, but she Stood at the Hatchings even while saying she didn't think she had much chance of Impressing. Meanwhile she worked in the kitchens and he thought about the importance of having food ready day and night for so many people. And no study … With a grin he walked into the coolness of the corridor and decided that what he really wanted to do as his part in the defence of Pern against Thread was to go to the beach and swim.
Last updated on the January 2nd 2007