Gone Swimming

Writers: Bree, Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 15th December 2005

Characters: Harki, U'kaiah, Sarian
Description: Harki, Sarian, and U'kaiah decide to go to the beach, and Harki goes cliff-jumping
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 21 of Turn 3

"Let's go to the beach." Harki's eyes glittered with mischief and too much wine. She was draped over the back of Sarian's couch with a wine glass in one hand and the bottle in the other. "I want to go swimming!"

"Why not, my bottle's empty," U'kaiah replied, equally inebriated. "Fresh air will do us good... If it wasn't _freezing_!"

"I'm not suggesting going swimming _here_, dimglow. I want to go to that place with the cliffs you can jump off of." The greenrider swung her feet around and plunked the bottle down on the side table. "And the little beach in the cove. It's a few candlemarks behind, so it'll still even be sunny!"

"Hey, don't leave empty bottles lying around!" Sarian protested
vaguely. She was lying sideways on the couch with her feet hanging over the arm, viewing Harki upside down. "I hate cleaning up."

"It's not cleaning up! It's a gift. There's still some left in the bottom for you to kill your hangover with." The greenrider stood and stretched. Her shoulder popped audibly. "You both know where to go so I'll meet you there. Last one to arrive is... brings the wine next time!" The greenrider grinned. "Or even better - beer!"

****

The sun was dazzlingly orange and hung like a blooming rose in the lower half of the sky. The air that hit Harki's face was hot and humid and sticky, and she laughed for the joy of it and the gentle bob of Cerillith's wings beneath her. For a moment she debated undoing the green's riding straps and letting herself fall into the ocean below, but the race from Sarian's weyr to her own and the uncouth slap of Dragonsfall's cold winter air had sobered her up enough to realize that it was a bad idea. But very tempting...

}:I see Kalamath,:{ Cerillith said, and a moment later Ryerth and
Sarian appeared in the sky behind them.

The two green dragons landed on the rocky outcropping that overlooked the beach below. Harki gratefully stripped off her riding gloves and jacket before slipping to the ground and lifting her face toward the sun. **Do you mind if I leave your riding straps on, love? I don't think we'll be here longer than a candlemark or two.**

}:I am in the sun and warm instead of on my couch and not as warm. I do not mind, only loosen them before you swim,:{ Cerillith said placidly, and Harki did just that before climbing down the rocks to join her friends. "This is _so_ much better than drafty old Dragonsfall,"

"It certainly is," U'kaiah murmured as he enjoyed the warm rays. "Do you think the water is warm still?"

Sarian's shirt hit him in the face as she strode past, losing her
pants along the way. Obviously she wasn't in the mood to sit around discussing the probable temperature of the water--or was too drunk to care if it wasn't warm.

Harki wrinkled her nose. The surf was doing its best to pound the
tiny pebbles along the shoreline into sand, and spray hung thick in the air. When she licked her lips, she tasted salt. "Careful, Sarian. It'll knock you on your ass."

"It sure is strong today, isn't it," the bronzerider remarked as he shaded his eyes from the sun. "There must be a storm somewhere out there kicking it up."

A sputter came from Sarian, who had, indeed, ended up getting dunked by the first wave to pound over her. The shivering greenrider emerged from the water as quickly as she'd entered it. "Shards, it _is_ rough! Can we go somewhere where we can actually _swim_?"

Harki swallowed her laughter and headed back towards the cliffs that the dragons lounged on. "Just because _you_ can't swim doesn't mean that I can't! You just need to get out past the surf."

"And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?" Sarian demanded. "Fly out over it and have your dragon dump you?"

The greenrider put her foot against the rock and began to climb. "Cliff jumping. We've done it before." The spray from the waves that crashed against the base of the cliff had made the rock slick - she'd have to be careful.

U'kaiah watched her nervously as she began her climb. "Harki, we've done it _sober_, but I'm not exactly sure this is a good idea..."

"Why? You scared?" Harki pulled herself onto a small ledge and reached for the next handhold. "Big old bronzerider like you?"

Sarian wrapped her arms around U'kaiah's elbow. "Don't fall for that. She's going to break her neck and someone's going to have to haul her back to the Weyr, and I can't pick her up."

The bronzerider had a sinking fear that Sarian might be right.
"Harki, seriously now, come down. The sea is too rough today."

"I came out here to go swimming, not moan like an old auntie!" Harki reached the ledge she wanted to jump off of and looked out over the sea. The waves crashed into the cliff below sent spray flying and coated her with a fine sheen of salt. The sea shimmered green-grey and wild - it was exhilarating just to look at it. She grinned into the wind and jumped.

For a moment she felt as if she was flying. The wind buffeted her and suddenly she was hurtling towards the green sea below. It surged and licked the cliffs behind her hungrily and the foam swirled in enticing circles and carried strands of seaweed torn loose by the distant storm. Harki closed her eyes as she hit the water. It closed around her and suddenly she was encased in noise: the scrape of pebbles on the bottom, the crash of waves against the cliff. Her hair tangled in eddies and she opened her arms to slow her descent so she wouldn't hit the bottom.

Too late - her ankle slipped past a rock and scraped up her leg. She barely felt it, got her other foot beneath her and kicked for the surface. But the sea wasn't done with her yet and instead dragged her sideways. Harki's foot hit another rock, then her hip connected, and her shoulder. A thin stream of bubbles escaped from her lips as she winced in pain and tried again to swim for the surface. Her lungs began to burn as the sea turned her sideways and she fought against the current that wanted to drag her deeper. A sharp, bright note of panic cut through her thoughts and she felt, but didn't see Cerillith stir from her perch on the cliffs, and suddenly she broke the surface and gasped for air.

*SMACK*! A wave caught her full in the face and Harki found herself trying to breathe water. She coughed, tried to tread water, tried to catch her breath. }:Where are you!?:{ Cerillith called. Harki tried to collect herself and finally subdued her aching lungs. }:Harki?!:{

**I'm in the water. I'm fine.** Harki looked up as a shadow passed over her: Cerillith. The dragon's eyes were bright with relief.

}:You are bleeding!:{

**I am not!** Harki raised her hand to her cheek and it came away red. She frowned: when did that happen? **I'm fine,** she told her dragon. Her lungs ached. Her leg hurt where she'd banged it against the bottom. **You nearly drowned,** her traitorous brain whispered, and she shivered even though the water was relatively warm. It felt as though she'd been swallowed by the ocean, chewed up, and spat back out again.

}:They want you to come back to shore,:{ Cerillith said. She swooped past her rider again, her wings brushing against the tops of the storm-blown waves. Harki had already begun heading for the beach, eager to feel solid ground beneath her feet again even if it meant a litany of 'I-told-you-so's.

She never wanted to go swimming again.

Last updated on the December 15th 2005

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Gone Swimming