Nasty Things

Writers: Kastaka, Devin
Date Posted: 4th January 2009

Characters: Cosani, Vasha
Description: Cosani acquires some dead tunnelsnakes with Vasha's help.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 3 of Turn 4

Cosani

Vasha had just finished putting the remainder of the numbweed back in the storeroom and closing the door behind her when she saw one of the newer Candidates coming down the corridor towards the deeper storerooms.

"Hey," she called, heading to catch the other candidate up. "Need a hand with anything?"

"No." Cosani waved her off.

"You sure?" asked the young candidate, disappointed by the reaction but willing to keep trying. "You're new here, aren't you? These tunnels can get mighty confusing. I've lived here all my life, I know my way around. What are you after, anyway?"

Cosani stopped and studied the girl. It wouldn't do to get lost down here, and she still didn't know her way around the more common areas of the Weyr. "I'll tell you _if_ you swear not to tell anyone."

"Sure," replied Vasha happily, glad that the other candidate was persuadable to let her in on the secret. "What'cha trying to sneak from the store-rooms?"

Cosani gave her another wary look. The fewer people that knew about this, the better, but if the girl really did know her way around the back rooms, it would save her a lot of time. "I'm looking for dead tunnel snakes."

"Ooh, tunnel snakes," said Vasha in a tone of delighted interest. "They're a bit hard to come by here as the salt and sand don't agree with them too much." She looks the other candidate up and down, as if trying to work out if she's carrying any equipment. "Do you have something to turn live tunnelsnakes into dead ones? I know where there might be a nest they haven't got around to clearing out yet. Might be safer to find them, claim they're in the way, and get someone else to clear them out, then follow them and see where they put the bodies, though."

"Yeah." Cosani made a face. "I don't want any risk of getting bit."

"Well," said Vasha, thinking fast, "first we'll need a nice long stick each, in case they do get a bit close. Let's head past the old cleaning store and snag some broom-handles." The girl set off confidently down the winding corridor.

Cosani followed her, a little unsure. She hoped the girl really did know what she was doing.

Vasha confidently led Cosani to an abandoned-looking store, and triumphantly handed her a large stick wrested from a somewhat decaying broom, before taking one herself. Then she headed back out into the corridor, slightly more cautious now. As the gloom deepened, she unhooked an old glow-basket from the wall and opened it up, letting the anaemic light of the dying glows out, holding the stick over her shoulder with her other hand. The glows obviously hadn't been replaced for a while and their faint light mostly acted to accentuate the shadows.

"Shouldn't we get better glows?" Cosani asked. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but the dim light would make it hard to see any tunnel snakes. Even if they were close. Like close enough to bite. She tightened her hand on the stick.

"Well, if you want to take all day about it," warned Vasha, not breaking her stride. "There's a crack in the ceiling up ahead where the light comes in, then it's just a little way under the beach." She glanced at the other girl to gauge her reaction to this news, to see if she was willing to go on with her or whether they were going to have to trudge all the way back up to somewhere well-maintained.

"I didn't think getting dead tunnel snakes would be this hard," Cosani grumbled as she followed along in the dim passageway. There was enough room to swing her stick. That was good. If she saw a tunnel snake, she was going to try to kill it.

"It's not like we'd let them live in the well-populated bits or breed them specially for you," joked Vasha. "Apart from the broken-down bits, we're quite clean and tidy here, you know. Aha, just over here." Vasha looked doubtfully at the pile of rocks for a moment, then had a bright idea, hooking the glowbasket onto her tunnelsnake-prodding pole to free up a hand to climb with. "There were some rustling just up here last time I was down in the area," she explained.

Cosani clambered up the rocks with little hesitation. She was growing more focused on the task and less concerned with unpleasant possibilities.

Suddenly, Vasha made a surprised noise and stumbled back across the rocks a way. When she'd recovered her balance, she took her poking-stick in a firmer grip and peered over the rise cautiously. "Oh, looks like they're already dead," she said with obvious relief.

Cosani was just the tiniest bit disappointed. It would have been nice to have something to take her anger out on. But now there was no risk of being bitten, and she could easily get what she needed. "Good. Want to help me get them back?"

"Sure." Vasha scrambled down and began to haul dead tunnelsnakes out from under the rockfall which had probably done for them. She slung one over each shoulder and called over to Cosani, "So where do you want them put?"

"Just find a sack and I'll take them."

"Now we're at the other end of the Weyr from the active storerooms, and you want a sack?" tutted Vasha in mock-exasperation, her broad grin rather spoiling the effect. "Very well then, Miss Cosani, let us get a sack." And Vasha marched off back down the badly lit tunnels, tunnelsnake over each shoulder, towards the storerooms that were actually in use to look for a sack.

Cosani grabbed two of the dead tunnelsnakes, making a face at their unpleasant feel, and followed her guide back out. This would all be worth it tomorrow morning when the girls found these nasty things tucked in with their clothes.

Vasha waved her companion cheerily goodbye at the base of the stairs. She was still kind of curious about what the other girl wanted the snakes for, but she didn't think Cosani was likely to be forthcoming. But it'd been a fun adventure anyway, even though she was now seriously in need of a good wash.

Last updated on the January 4th 2009

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Nasty Things