A Wild Wherry Chase (1)

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 7th April 2008

Characters: K'hetah, Zelle
Description: K'hetah reluctantly shows Zelle his weyr, with unexpected results
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 16 of Turn 4

}:I see Loeth.:{ Zelle's lifemate circled the bowl, her eyes whirling happily.

**Ask him where K'hetah is.** Zelle gave Rillith a pat as the green came to a landing beside the familiar bronze. The greenrider dismounted and moved over to Loeth and gave him a polite nod. "Hey Loeth." She reached out to give him a friendly pat as well while she waited for the two dragons to finish their exchange.

K'hetah walked out into the Weyrbowl from his office and started across it toward Loeth and Rillith, looking about him as he walked. It was a lovely evening after the heat of the day - the heat they'd been drilling in - and he was slightly surprised that Loeth wasn't in the water.
Perhaps, finally, his dragon was tiring of his obsession with the sea.

}:He says his rider is coming this way.:{ Rillith lifted her head and looked beyond her rider.

Zelle turned and saw a figure heading toward them. She raised her hand and waved, then waited as K'hetah approached. "Hey handsome. How goes it?"

"Not too bad. They haven't suggested sending me back where I came from ... yet. How about with you? More errands?" he asked, reached out to pat Rillith's green hide.

"Yep. Messenger duty again." Zelle shrugged. "Don't ask me why."

Rillith twisted her head to nuzzle Loeth, then crooned softly at K'hetah in a greeting.

"So, since I was in the area, I thought I'd drop by again." Zelle grinned and winked at her old friend. "I know you just can't get enough of me."

"Yeah, yeah," the bronzerider said with a grin. "It's your dragon I love - you know that."

"Who wouldn't love my darling Rillith?" Zelle laughed, "But I must say, "I feel rather unloved now. For that, you have to treat me to a beer."

"I know where we could find one. Isn't it a little early for one -
your time?" He glanced up at the sun. "No problem with me having one, though."

"Eh, one beer won't hurt." Zelle playfully punched K'hetah in the arm.
"Hey, why don't we have a beer in your weyr? I've not seen it yet."

He punched her back and dismissed her comment. "Why would you want to see it? The dining cavern's the place for beer."

"Because I haven't seen your weyr." Zelle shrugged. "So why not? It would be interesting to see how different the weyrs are down here."

The bronzerider waved his arms. "Look around you. Weyrbowl full of weyrs, just like you're used to. Mine's on the outside, but it's _just_
a weyr. Hole in the cliff. Ledge. Chair, bed, clothes press."

"You are such a spoilsport." Zelle placed both of her firsts on her hips. "Come on, why don't you show me where you rest your head? Every weyr is different, you know. There's more to a weyr than just rock. I want to see your home."

K'hetah drew breath to argue and then grinned. "All right. It's quite a walk, though."

"I'm in better shape than you are, old man." Zelle crossed her arms over her chest, grinning broadly. "I think I can handle a little walk."

The bronzerider glanced at where her arms crossed her body. "Uh-huh.
You always were. Come on, then. We've got to get down to the beach first."

"All right." Zelle motioned for K'hetah to lead the way and followed him down toward the beach.

"You know this was all underwater a few months ago," K'hetah said as they skirted the Weyrlake and headed toward the point where the broken crater rim trailed off into the beach.

"It was?" Zelle increased her speed a bit to keep up with the bronzerider. "What caused it?"

"Hurricane. The storm surge, apparently," K'hetah said, using the unfamiliar words with some self-conciousness. "The whole Bowl was flooded, water from side to side, and into the lower caverns."

"Oh, I see. I guess I didn't think about that." Zelle tried to match K'hetah's stride. She wished she knew why he was being so evasive.
She wasn't trying to jump into bed with him - well...not at the moment anyway. "So where's your weyr? I don't feel like we've made any progress. " She grinned, "Are you just trying to get rid of me?"

"It's on the outside of the crater. Hanging over the sea. Give us a chance to get right down onto the beach and along those rocks ..."

"You have a view of the sea?" Zelle sighed, the sound wistful. "It must be lovely. My view is just over the bowl, which can be useful, but I'd love to be able to have a sea to view!"

"You know, Zelle," K'hetah teased as they finally came out of the shadow of the crater cliffs and could look along the beach to the left and rocks to the right. "Living in the middle of a mountain range makes a sea view fairly difficult to achieve."

"Yes, I am well aware of that fact." Zelle stuck her tongue out in a rather childish gesture at the bronzerider. "Though the mountains are lovely, I don't even get a good view of them."

"Now, be careful on the rocks, because we're going to have to go a fair way out on them," he said, having climbed onto the jagged surface himself and extending hand to help his companion up.

"Is it just me," Zelle took the proffered hand, using it to pull herself along. "Or is this harder than it should be? We could always take a dragon."

"This way's better. In fact, we're almost there," he said as they clambered out on the rocks, knowing she in for a disappointment.

"How?" Zelle was wondering if she was in for a wild wherry chase.
They were nowhere near any weyrs. "What, do you live on the beach or something?"

"Turn around," he suggested. "And look."

Now that they were far enough out on the rocks they could see the outer curve of the broken volcanic crater, and those cliffs rose almost vertically out of the sea. The beach, now to their right, was non-existent under the cliffs and it was an impressive sight even on such a calm, sunny day. In storms - K'hetah grinned, still enamoured of his new home.

"You are such a wherry." Zelle poked K'hetah in the stomach. So much for seeing his weyr. "Good grief, most guys wouldn't hesitant to take a pretty girl to their weyr." She crossed her arms and surveyed the scene.
"Nice view though, even if I have to share with with a wherry-headed bronzerider."

"But Zelle," he protested, laughing, "You wanted to see my weyr - and there it is! On that sort of third level up, across from the end of the cliff, a bit, but not quite in the middle ...."

Zelle punched K'hetah in the arm, a little annoyed, but also amused.
"You stink. And now I don't have time to actually go and see your weyr.
Oh well. Maybe it's better this way. You might be harboring holdless bandits or something."

Still laughing the bronzerider punched his former wingrider back.
"Yeah, the place is crawling with bandits, but you won't get to see them. Come on. Wouldn't want to make you late."

Zelle stuck her tongue out at him again and then turned to make her way back through the rocks. She glanced over at him as he too began to make his way back, then playfully tried to bump him. Somehow, he read her mind and moved out of the way. Zelle stepped forward to keep her balance, but her foot landed badly, twisting as it fell in a rather deep crevice, right between two rocks. She let out a squeak as she felt a pop in her ankle and her body began to head toward the ground.

Last updated on the April 9th 2008

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A Wild Wherry Chase (1)