Enter Teldan
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: Shale
Date Posted: 9th February 2008
Characters: Teldan
Description: A boy and his canine wander into trouble.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 15 of Turn 4
"Yuck!" Teldan exclaimed, pressing himself into the rough stone wall at his back. Before him, Rags playfully shook a tunnel snake; he could hear its little bones cracking with each jerk of her powerful neck.
The puppy's needle-teeth punctured the vermin mercilessly, and its wounds spattered ichor about the tunnel as it was shaken. As its acrid blood finally overwhelmed her senses, the tawny canine dropped her prize and sat, gazing expectantly up at her master.
"_Good_ girl." Teldan grinned, dropping to his knees to fondle a silky ear. This was certainly preferable to catching the little pests on his own, even if Rags' methods were just a hair more gruesome. They weren't actually on tunnel snake duty today; it just so happened that here, in the bowels of the Weyr, the creatures managed to establish themselves without contest.
The boy rose and gingerly grasped the mangled snake's tail with two fingers before dragging it to the side of the passageway, leaving it to either decompose or feed its own kin. Cannibals. He scrunched his face into a disgusted little frown.
Satisfied, he set off again. Rags bounded joyfully around his feet, jumping against his knees and tangling herself in his legs, as Teldan had learned to expect. She was obedient in everything but this; it seemed that no amount of reward or discipline could squash her enthusiasm in Teldan's presence. When she stopped, then, he grew instantly wary.
"Another snake?" he asked her, straining his eyes in the dusky tunnel.
She stood rigid, staring at nothing in that odd prescient manner that canines often possess-and in an instant, a small blast of frigid air assaulted Teldan, fading as quickly as it had escaped from /between/.
Another second passed before he recognized green Miss hovering in the dim glowlight. Teldan lunged at her, startled and angry, but his arms closed around empty space as she flitted /between/ once again, no doubt reporting to Dolma his whereabouts. Unbalanced, the boy fell heavily, bruising his knees and palms against the stone floor.
"Ahh," he moaned, shaking his head and covering his eyes. It wasn't that pain that distressed him. Young children were not permitted to venture so deeply into the Weyr, where they could become easily lost, or, in Teldan's case, injured. He'd certainly proven the adults correct today.
It was Miss Priss, he thought bitterly. She tricked me, that slimy, nosy little... Now his foster mother would know where he'd been all afternoon. At least he had finished changing the glows in the upper tunnels, as Dolma had instructed-but that would earn him no pardon for wandering into prohibited areas. "She'll keep me in the Kitchens forever," he groaned aloud. Rags, sensing his unhappiness, wriggled over and licked his salty face with fresh enthusiasm. Her breath was pungent with tunnel snake ichor, and he pushed the little canine away, scratching her chin in apology.
Reluctantly dragging himself to his feet, Teldan began to jog back through the gently ascending tunnel. He would do his best to reach Dolma before her little green lackey could do _too_ much damage. Each step jostled his screaming knees, but he preferred bruises to whatever mind-numbing restrictions he had surely brought upon his head.
Rags, as always, followed, weaving herself ecstatically into his stride.
Last updated on the February 14th 2008