DCW: Our Special, Secret Place

Writers: AL, Ames
Date Posted: 12th April 2011

Characters: T'nom, Meledei
Description: After a little swim, Meledei leads Tanom to a hidden cave full of wonders
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 14 of Turn 6

T'nom

"Come on, slow poke!" Meledei called out, running in front of Tanom. Her
clothes were loose, the kind that were easy to take off. The sun beat down,
heating the sands and the air, though certainly not as hot as it could be.
Still, it was pleasant enough that Meledei was more than happy to make her
way to the water, the lake glittering just before them. She laughed,
picking up her pace and not giving Tanom a chance to catch up.

He let her run ahead, jogging at a bit of a slower pace behind her. He
couldn't help but grin as he watched her clothes flapping along as she sped
towards the water. For some reason being around her made him smile a lot
more
than he did around the others. It wasn't something he could explain. "I'm
coming!" He shook his head as he moved towards the water. He knew he needed
to disrobe, so he plopped himself down in the sand to begin tugging his
shoes off. He knew she'd likely be in the water long before him, but he
didn't mind, he'd catch up to her and give her a good dunking to show her
that though she ran fast, he was still stronger than she was.

Meledei did indeed make it to the water before Tanom. She had reached the
shore and stripped of her clothing before Tanom could even think about
removing his. By the time he'd done so, she was halfway to the middle of
the enormous lake. There weren't that many people swimming, more taking
time at the seashore than at the lake, but Meledei didn't mind. She
preferred it when the water was less crowded anyway. She raised her hand
and waved to Tanom when he finally got to the shore.

He chuckled and waved back to her as he finished shedding his clothes down
to what was appropriate for swimming. He quickly waded into the water,
aiming to make good on his promise to give her a good dunking. He dove under
the water and came up right at her side, splashing her as he emerged. "You
might be fast on land, but I can catch you in the water!"

"Oh yeah? You haven't spent most of your life at a seaside Weyr!" Meledei
spat back playfully. While many accused Meledei of having holder values,
she didn't mind the shedding of clothing for swimming. Unlike many of those
who really were from holds. But, when she was around them, she tended to
cater to their more delicate sensibilities. "I'd like to see you try!" She
screeched playfully, as Tanom came up beside her and lifted her arms to
block the water and splash back. "You only caught me because I wasn't
trying to get away!"

"True," he grinned, reaching his arms around her and pulling her under the
water before she had a chance to protest. Satisfied that he'd come through
on his promise that he's give her a good dunk, he came up laughing and
spitting out water.

Meledei came up in the same manner, and managed to spew a stream of water at
Tanom, water that she had filled her mouth with. "ha!" She turned and swam
away quickly, then dived, disappearing beneath the surface.

He shook his head to clear his eyes, but Tanom was smiling. It was nice to
unwind a bit and relax. Deciding to let her explore he floated happily on
top of the water, knowing she'd turn up again soon, likely to try and get
him wet once more.

Except she didn't. The ripples she had caused in the water finally faded
away, but Meledei didn't return. She didn't rise to the surface. Didn't
gasp for air. Didn't try to splash Tanom with the water, laughing with
delight as she did so. She didn't do anything.

Tanom floated without a worry for a few minutes time, but when Meledei
didn't emerge, his features became concerned as he started to tread water.
He turned around in a circle in the water, assuming Meledei had popped up
somewhere else in an attempt to try and surprise him. Yet, he didn't see
her.

Growing more concerned, he took a deep breath and went under the water,
circling as he searched for her. When he popped up for air, he was full of
alarm. There was no sign of Meledei! She couldn't just vanish. Was she hurt
or stuck under water? Fear gripped Tanom as he took in a big gulp of air and
dove down as far as he could, searching frantically for her.

It was some time before Meledei came into view, popping up behind Tanom and
sputtering, "Tanom, you have to come see this!" She cried, her eyes bright.
She was fine, very wet, but certainly not oxygen deprived. Elleth hadn't
panicked either. "It's so neat!"

He whirled, reaching out and grabbing her by the shoulders, his eyes wild
with worry. "Where were you?" He cried out, pulling her towards him and
wrapping his arms around her and nearly causing them both to sink
underwater. "I'd thought you'd drowned or were hurt. You were _gone!_"
Tanom's expression was full of his emotion and the near panic that he'd been
in. Even now, knowing she was safe, his heart was still pounding furiously
in his chest. He'd thought he'd lost her. In that moment Tanom couldn't have
imagined what life in the Weyr would have been like without her smile to
help brighten his days.

"Well _that_ wasn't expected." Meledei sputtered as the motion sent them
bobbing into the water, then up again. Meledei pushed out of his embrace,
shaking her head. "Good grief, Tanom, if I was hurt or gone or anything,
Elleth would be putting up such a fit, the entire Weyr would be looking for
me!" She laughed and swam backwards. "Come on, I have something to show
you!"

He blinked, realizing that what she'd said was true. Yet, in that moment of
panic, he hadn't thought rationally about how her dragon would react. "What
do you want to show me?" He asked swimming with her.

"Take a really deep breath." Meledei instructed as she got further toward
the back end of the lake where the rock formations towered over them. "And
then follow me." She watched him until she was sure he would do so, then
inhaled and dove beneath the surface.

He did as she directed, wondering where she would lead them. He swam quickly
after her, making sure that nothing bad could befall her. He was still a bit
shaken up from the thought that he had lost her just moments ago.

Down the goldrider dived. Down as the streams of sunlight sliced through
the water. Upon the the bottom of the lake, not the deepest part, but the
bowl began to rise up, something glittered. Something metal. It was
difficult to say what it was, but Meledei was headed right toward it. Then
she picked it up as she changed direction a little, shifting to the left and
then swimming straight for a blackness that receded underneath a large
overhanging rock. Through this, she disappeared, the metal giving one last
wink as if calling for Tanom to follow.

He could feel the pressure building in his own lungs as he watched her,
wanted to call out to her to stop. What happened if they got in there and
couldn't get out! They would drown and no one would know...well about him at
least. Though he didn't think this was wise, he was not about to let her go
into that gaping hole. Pushing hard, he vowed to catch her, drag her back
out and save her before she did something foolish to herself and her
beautiful Elleth.

Except that one minute he was in the water and the next, his head was
bobbing above the surface. Well, not quite. He wasn't quite to the surface
and a glow surrounded them. Meledei's figure could be seen a little further
up, pulled onto the rock of a cave that was glittering with glows. "Look
what I found!" She exclaimed, spreading her arms wide.

When he burst forth from the water he was gasping for breath. Then, however,
his eyes opened wide at what he saw. Tanom swam to the ledge and pulled
himself out. "What if you'd been wrong Meledei? When you swam in here?"
Concern filled his eyes at that thought. Sure, it was a truly amazing find,
but he still could not get over the fact that she could have been lost to
them...to him.

"Glows can't grow in water." Meledei pointed out, then lifted the bit of
metal. It had come off of something. What, she didn't know, but it was
shiny still and reflected the light of the glows. "I got curious when I saw
this, and then I saw the hole. I mean, I have decent breath control and
wasn't gasping, so I checked it out. Isn't this neat? A cave! Under the
water! She turned, then pushed herself up to a crouch. "I wonder where it
goes. It gets narrower up that way." Even though there were glows, the
tunnel twisted and they could only see so far.

He still wasn't sure it had been the smartest decision on her part, but at
least it had turned out okay. "Well, I guess we could explore it, now that
we're here. Maybe we'll even find another way out."

"There's got to be air coming in from somewhere. I don't think glows can
grow without it." The cave wasn't high enough for Meledei to stand straight
so she hunched over as she half walked, half crawled toward the bend. "Not
to mention we're having an easy time breathing. Must be something up this
way." Up indeed, for it curved to the left and spiraled upward, growing
more narrow as she went on.

Tanom followed, bending low to keep from scraping the cavern walls. "I hope
we find something soon," he grumbled under his breath, feeling his muscles
tensing from the crouched position.

The tunnel continued to curve, then made a sharp turn upward. Meledei tried
to climb it, but it was far too steep. She reached back to tug at Tanom's
shirt, then pointed up. "Look!" She breathed. Far above them a hole cut
through to the sky, the blue and edge of a wispy cloud seen through it. "I
bet that's the Knife Edge." It was a peak of rock that was far too
dangerous to climb and too small for even the newly flying dragons to land
on safely. It over looked the lake, hovering on the edge of it, a watch
tower that unable to be used. "So that's what's up there. A hole. Huh."

Tanom pressed forward, glad that he could actually stand straighter here. He
looked upward, noting the sky above. When he turned his eyes back to her, he
was grinning. She'd found a treasure of a spot after all. His eyes took in
how close he was standing to her, something he hadn't noticed in his haste
to see what she'd found. He stepped back just a step so as not to make her
uncomfortable.

"I'd always wondered about that. Now, perhaps we are the only two who know
the secret?" He raised his eyebrows at her almost mischievously. They're
little adventure had resulted in a rather interesting find.

"I bet we are." Meledei had honestly never thought that the Edge would be
_hollow_! She turned back to peer at the tunnel, then squeezed past Tanom
to go back to the main cavern. "This is so neat. We could come here any
time we wanted." She turned, her wet hair swaying with her sudden
movements. "This could be our special, secret place."

Last updated on the April 27th 2011

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DCW: Our Special, Secret Place