A Sledding Trip (1)

Writers: Cali, AL
Date Posted: 29th January 2010

Characters: Briata, B'lamick
Description: B'lamick takes Briata sledding and the two get more than they bargained for.
Location: River Bluff Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 7, day 14 of Turn 5

Briata

"All right, I'm dressed and layered as thick as I can and still move." Briata shifted and wondered exactly how well she _would_ be able to move in her get up. She stepped through the door B'lamick had opened and wrinkled her nose at him. "Now, I know you said dress for as cold as /between/...can you tell me now where we're going?" The young woman tried to insert some whine, but it fell flat and her voice was tinged with amusement instead. Then her eye caught hold of something and she blinked. "Is that what I think it is?"

B'lamick grinned as she pointed to the object strapped to Latarth's side. "Yep, it's a sled. The guys were all talking about it the other day and I wanted to try it out. You're not scared are you?" He added with a tease.

"No, I'm not scared. I've been sledding before. It _is_ fun." Onyx Peak got colder than the major hold it was beholden too, and one could always draw closer to the mountain and go on the snows there in the winter. "It's been a while...I think you'll like it." Without anymore hesitation, Briata made her way over to Latarth's side and patted the dragon. "Shall we go?"

B'lamick had to admit he was surprised that she had experience. She seemed so formal sometimes, but it was nice to know that she could be irreverent and playful too. "Latarth got a visual from one of the guys, he said the place is great and has a little cot that his family uses in the summer when they're herding. It's stocked with Klah and snacks and everything."

"Sounds perfect indeed." Briata couldn't help the rise of excitement that was building in her. B'lamick had been so kind and she was glad to get away and have some fun for a change. "So what are we waiting for?" With that, she took it upon herself to mount the bronze.

*********

B'lamick jumped off Latarth into the snow, slightly off balance as he sank in a few inches. Looking over at his bronze's feet, sunk only slightly deeper, he was grateful the snow wasn't waist high- he hadn't thought of snow shoes. As he helped Briata down, he looked around at the valley they were in. It was surrounded on all sides by high peaked mountains, though he could tell where during the summer, a pass would open up for access.

The land was hilly for the most part, but he guessed there was a lake or pastureland at the base of the north side as it was plain flat without a single tree. The cottage was easy enough to find, it had been one of the visuals they'd used to get there, so with Briata in hand, he made his way to check the place out. "Sorry for the bucking up there. That wind was stronger than we'd thought."

"It was kind of fun, actually." Briata hadn't doubted Latarth's ability to handle the wind, and really, the chills that had gone up and down her spine had been rather thrilling. It was a good thing she didn't have a fear of heights or get sick easily, though. Jewel chirped and her head bobbed up and down as she regarded the new sights, her tail still wrapped around Briata's neck. "So this is the place your friend told you about?" She peered at the little cot and smiled. "I wonder what this looks like in warmer months. Does it ever completely thaw, or is it always snowy?"

"It must thaw. Herdbeasts are up here in the summer." B'lamick opened the door and looked inside. It wasn't very large, enough for a bed, a shelf of supplies and a pile of other supplies resting on a small table. Just enough room for a lone herder looking for a place to hide from Threadfall. "Well, not exactly a Lord's chambers in here. Barely enough room for both of us to stand."

"That's all right, we won't be using it very much anyway." Briata cast her gaze back to the door. "Ready for some sledding?"

It took them awhile to get the hang of it. Even with Briata giving suggestions, the long wooden sled kept getting stuck half way down their chosen hill. Finally they found one steep enough to keep them going, and after a few times going slowly, they got the snow packed down enough to make a fairly speedy track.

Of course, such a steep hill meant they had to climb up it every time they went down, and B'lamick soon found that tedious. Still, every time they sat on the flat sled, he got to hold Briata (albeit through about ten layers of clothes), and he couldn't help but enjoy it. Even Jewel was having fun. She rode down a couple of times with the couple, then set about darting in and out drifts of snow.

"Do you need a break? I could start a fire and warm us up for a bit." B'lamick suggested when he saw how red her cheeks and nose were.

Briata thought about saying no. The rides were fun even if the trek was hard. still, her nose was so cold she couldn't feel it and her cheeks stung. "That might be a good idea, just to get the chill off." They could make something warm to drink, perhaps, get their insides heated up. "Can't take the cold?" She asked and her eyes twinkled in her teasing.

B'lamick laughed. "I'm the one who's used to the cold of /between/. I was only concerned for your comfort's sake."

They made their way back to the small cot fairly quickly, and B'lamick went to the back to fetch some wood from the woodshed attached to the cot. He quickly returned and discovered that Briata had already pulled out a pot and mugs from the small collection of kitchenwares. "Do they have klah?"

"Yes, actually, though there's no telling how old it is." Could Klah go bad? Briata didn't know, the hold people used it so much that it didn't stay in the pantry for long. "If you get the fire stoked, I can make the klah."

It wasn't but a few minutes and he had a decent blaze, the wood was nice and dry from the shed and caught quickly. They both laughed when he stood up and almost turning right into her, so he quickly took a step over to the thin bed where he sat down to give Briata a small amount of room to prepare the klah.

"Do you like your Klah strong?" That was how her father had liked it. It had been strange for Briata not to be involved in the cooking after she had married, and it was still strange since she didn't cook in the Weyr either. It was nice that she could do something like that again, even something that small and simple. Jewel sniffed at the klah and made a sound of displeasure. Not one for klah, Briata supposed with a smile.

"I'd drink it no matter how strong it was as long as it's hot." B'lamick said as he took off his riding jacket, the small room marginally warming though his fingers and toes were still semi-numb. "However you like it is fine. It may taste horrible anyways considering it could be turns old."

"Guess we'll see soon enough." Briata put the water on to boil and opened up to klah to sniff it. "It _smells_ all right at least." She glanced over at the young bronzerider. "You look half frozen."

"You look worse." he teased. "We'll warm up soon enough, the fire won't take long to heat this little place."

"I wish it would hurry up though." Now that she was out of the cold, Briata could feel the stinging of her skin coming back to life. It was worse as she tried to fiddle with utensils to make the klah - they were stiff and numb from the cold, even though she had worn gloves. They hadn't been her nice, thick ones - those had been taken to Onyx Peak. Briata made a mental note to retrieve them. "It's already warmer than outside, but the chill seems hesitant to leave."

There was a brief flare of the fire as a gust of wind came down the chimney and filled the room with icy air. "I don't particularly fancy leaving either. Now that I'm inside, you might have to drag me back out to that sled!"

Briata laughed as she danced away from the fire. She hadn't really been frightened, but merely started. She checked on the water and shook her head. "Not quite there yet. And you have to go out at least once more. We can't leave without going down it one more time. Besides, if we do that, it might keep /between/ from feeling quite so cold."

"Okay, for you I'll go out again." B'lamick gave in, he had no will power when it came to beautiful girls. "But first some of that klah."

"Sounds like a deal." Briata reached for the water as it had finally started to bubble. Another gust of wind came through and she almost dropped the water in her surprise. "The wind must be picking up outside." A frown creased her lips as she worked on finishing up the klah.

There weren't any windows in the small cot, so B'lamick stood up and cracked the door to peek outside. What he saw startled him. The air was full of snow, it was being spun around by strong gusts of wind, and he couldn't tell if it was new falling snow or just snow that had been picked up. Either way, it was no place to be sledding. Closing the door he turned back to Briata. "Briata, we'd better get out of here. Looks like a storm came in over the mountains."

Last updated on the January 31st 2010

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A Sledding Trip (1)