And How Was YOUR Sevenday?!

Writers: AL, Anaria
Date Posted: 12th June 2011

Characters: Tiernan, Meledei
Description: Tiernan visits Meledei, and finds out that he wasn't the only one to have a bad sevenday.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 14 of Turn 6

It hadn't been hard to bribe a trader to take him from Topaz Sea Hold
to Dolphin Cove Weyr. One month for the repairs to
the Seawing. And she'd been at sea for over a turn now, so the
Seacraft Hall had seen fit to give Tiernan some time off until his
vessel was repaired. They anticipated a full month for the repairs,
due to the difficulty of finding wood that was proper for replacing
the mast. Tiernan swore softly to himself. He still felt like an idiot
for trying to navigate through the hurricane.

"Squirt, ask a dragon where Meledei is. Not Elleth. I want to surprise
her," Tiernan directed.

Squirt flew over to a bronze dragon that he saw floating in the water.
He didn't look too busy.

~~Image of Meledei~~

}:You're looking for Meledei, little one?:{ Loeth asked the unfamiliar
firelizard.

Squirt cheeped affirmation.

}:I'm sorry to say that she was hurt,:{ Loeth said.

Squirt chirped inquisitively. ~~confusion~~

Loeth responded by sending Squirt the image of Meledei in the
infirmary bed, as K'hetah had seen her the day before.

Squirt cheeped his thanks, before flitting back over to Tiernan.

~~Image of Hurt Meledei~~ Squirt sent.

Tiernan broke into a run towards the Weyr. He didn't know what speed
would do to help in this situation, but he wanted to see Meledei, and
soon. Fortunately, he was able to find a Weyr resident to direct him
to the Infirmary, where the goldrider was still resting.

"I leave you alone for a few sevendays and this is what you get up
to?" Tiernan said, trying to hide his concern behind humor.

"Huh?" Meledei opened her eyes. She hadn't really been asleep, but
she'd been reading for a while and her eyes were tired. She got tired
a lot more easily with that injury - the healers told her it was
normal. As soon as she saw who it was who spoke, her face lit up with
a smile. "Tiernan! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I happened upon some leave time and I decided to surprise you.
But it appears that you went and got yourself hurt," Tiernan said. He
would hold the explanation of why he was on leave for a bit later. He
knew he looked terrible - his face was weather worn, and he still felt
quite weary from the ordeal.

"Yeah, well, Threadfall and all." Meledei shrugged and she started to
say something more, but she got a better look at his face and what came
out was, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good now. A sevenday ago... not so much," Tiernan said. "We got
caught in a little hurricane."

"What?" Meledei jerked as if she was going to sit up but a stab of
pain kept her from actually doing so and her features twisted as she
fell back from the effort. "Shards, Tiernan, no hurricane is
_little_! What happened?"

"I... uh, well, I kinda broke my boat... a bit," he said, flushing
brightly red. It was extremely embarrassing to him to admit the loss -
even temporary - of his beloved Seawing. "We had a tight schedule to
run taking some goods up north, and the storm wasn't anticipated to be
that bad," he explained. "There's a lot more to it... but it's a long,
long story."

"A _bit_?" Meledei stared at the man incredulous then let out a long,
slow breath. "Shards, Tiernan, I'm sorry. I'm glad you're all right,
though you look like you're still half drowned from a sevenday ago."

"Well, it took a bit for us to get rescued, I fear. And there was a
rough day or so where there was nothing to eat or drink," he said,
frowning. "Until they sent out a Weyrling to drop off some supplies
that is. I found out I had a half brother as well."

"You do?" That was a surprise. Meledei lifted her arm to lay it under
her head, propping it up a little more. "I'm glad you guys are okay.
How did you find out about your brother?"

"He was on my ship. Apparently trying to meet my father. Right after I
found out about him, though, he fell overboard," Tiernan didn't want
to cry. It wasn't a manly thing to do, and he felt stupid doing it in
front of Meledei. But he'd kept his emotions in check for days, and he
needed to get it out. "I failed him..."

"Oh Tiernan..." Meledei reached out with her hand to grasp Tiernan's
and squeeze it tightly. "I'm so sorry. Don't say that though. You
didn't fail him. You guys were in the middle of a hurricane! I'm
surprised you managed to have anyone come out alive at all! Don't
blame yourself for something that's not your fault."

"Fortunately, the Masters at the Hall believed that I made the right
decision. I have about a month off while they get the Seawing put back
together. I... need to visit my mother. I don't think she knew that my
father slept with another woman." Tiernan ran a hand through his
already disheveled hair. "I'm so glad you're okay, though. I was
terrified when I heard you had been injured."

"Most women don't know." Meledei's voice took on a bitter tone. She
hadn't known, not at first, but then through the dragons she had found
out. She shook her head. "I'm fine. Sore, but fine. It's my first
scoring, but I won't be surprised if it's not my last."

"I think my mother deserves to know, but I'm so torn," Tiernan said.
"I don't know how my father could have done something like this to
her. He's always acted like she was the only woman he needed. But I
found a note in my father's hand that spoke of starting a family with
this woman." He shook his had in disgust.

"A lot of men are like that. Unfortunately." It was rampant
everywhere. Meledei always found it ironic how the holders complained
about the sexual looseness of the Weyrs, but turned their gaze when
such sexual looseness was present in their own holds! She studied the
man's face and sighed softly. "I'm sorry Tiernan. I wish I could
offer some advice, but I honestly don't know what to say."

"I hate putting you in this position, but as a woman, if you were with
a man, and someone you trusted knew that he had cheated on you, would
you want him to tell you? Even if chances are you'd never find out on
your own accord?" Tiernan asked.

"Gee, Tiernan, I don't know." Meledei bit on her lower lip. She'd had
a situation like that - and she'd found out. "The thing is, I don't
know if I would want to be with a man who did something like that. I
mean, that's why I broke it off with F'gol. He cheated on me and I
found out. The thing is, he wasn't really sorry about it, except that
he got caught. I think if I had to hear about it, I'd rather hear
about it from my husband and hopefully he'd be repentant."

"I guess I'll talk to Da first, man to man. See if I can figure out
why he did it. I think I feel almost as betrayed though. I've always
wanted to be like him. Faultless sea captain, loyal husband, all
around good man. Now I wonder if it's not possible, if it's all just a
lie." Tiernan said. "I'm sorry F'gol hurt you. He's obviously a moron
if he would give up a woman like you."

"We all make mistakes. If F'gol had admitted his mistake and truly
been sorry, I would have forgiven him." But he hadn't and Meledei
couldn't take the fact that he was trying to make it seem like he
hadn't done anything wrong. "And thanks. Keep telling me that. I
like to hear it." She paused, then stated softly, "It is possible.
My father was always faithful to my mother, I have no doubt in my
mind about that, and he's a dragonrider! If you wish to be faithful
to someone, you'll be able to. And you'll be the best sea captain
Pern ever saw!"

"You probably wouldn't say that if you saw the sorry state of my boat
when I left her," He turned to Squirt, on his shoulder. "Squirt, show
Elleth so Meledei can see." He imagined the Seawing as she was when he
last saw her, in a dry dock with a missing mast, a damaged mast, torn
sails, and a slightly burned hull. "But hey, at least it bought me
some time to come see you. I was supposed to be gone north for two
months."

"I don't know. How many men actually survived that storm instead of
dying in it?" Meledei hoped he'd focus on that number rather than the
one he mentioned who didn't. Had there been more? "Two months,
really? Well then, I'd say visiting me is much more profitable. For
me, anyway. I've been bored to tears in here." She paused as Squirt
managed to pass the image and whistled. "Wow...I'm surprised _anyone_
survived that! See, just goes to show what a good captain you are."

Tiernan smiled ruefully, grasping one of Meledei's hands in his own
again. "Yeah, when they pulled her out of the water and I got a good
look at her, I was amazed that we got as lucky as we did. And only one
loss, and a bad injury. I had to help our healer amputate a man's arm."
He shivered despite himself. "And it appears that my poor fortune is
your good luck, as I really have nowhere to be for the next month, and
the Headwoman has been so gracious as to give me a weyr here for a bit."

Meledei winced. She'd never seen an amputation in person and frankly,
didn't want to. "I'm sorry. But I am glad you're here, and I'm glad
you're able to stay for a while. We can catch up and I can show you
around if they ever let me out of here!"

"Can you leave? Like, if I got one of those chairs with wheels, do you
think they'd let me push you around? I bet you miss poor Elleth
something fierce. Is she alright, by the way?" Tiernan said.

"She's fine. The Thread missed her, thankfully." Meledei sighed
softly. "They aren't letting me leave yet, and shaffit, the hatching
is going to happen soon! I'm going to go to that thing whether they
say I can or not, though."

"Oh! The Hatching!" Tiernan said. "I had completely forgot about it. I
guess this means that I will be available to attend it. Perhaps this
isn't the worst thing that could have happened."

"As long as you make sure you attend mind." Meledei took the
opportunity to poke Tiernan in his stomach. "You're coming to that
even if I have to get someone to take me and land on the sea and pluck
you out of your ship."

Tiernan smiled. "Yes ma'am. I'm not about to argue with you on the
matter!" He pondered for a moment. "So what are you allowed to do? Are
they bringing you edible food, or are you still stuck on that Healer
fare that tastes like nothing?"

"Actually, the healer food is the same food served at the Weyr, they
just bring it down here." Meledei giggled a little. "So it's not bad
at all. I'm really not allowed to do much right now. It's only been
three days and they say I'll probably be released in another sevenday
or so, but I'll need crutches."

"Well, thank Faranth for good food," Tiernan said, squeezing Meledei's
hand reassuringly. "Do you mind if I keep coming down here to visit
you? I don't really know too many people here, and I'd like to help
keep you entertained, if that's alright."

"I don't mind at all! Please do!" Meledei could only read for so long
and company was the best way to while away the time.

Last updated on the June 13th 2011

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And How Was YOUR Sevenday?!