A Hurricane Is Coming

Writers: AL, Ames, Heather, Paula, Suzee
Date Posted: 26th June 2013

Characters: Aslvor, Milga, Kirten, Famell, Irabel, Shilara
Description: The dolphins arrive and warn the Hall of an impending hurricane
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 1, day 15 of Turn 7

Aslvor was enjoying today's lesson. She and some of the other
journeymen were teaching the apprentices some basic water skills and
ways of working with the dolphins.

"Tarnal, don't hold onto Cec's fin so tightly. You might hurt her,"
she called out and watched as the young apprentice tried to loosen his
grip. He was nervous. Most of the youngest apprentices hadn't swum
underwater long with the dolphins before. Today they were preparing
them to take a longer journey soon.

Aslvor glanced around at her fellow journeyman and the apprentices
gathered as well. She smiled. It was a beautiful day and she found she
greatly enjoyed helping the young apprentices to learn.

Milga treaded the water, and tried not to snort at the fellow
apprentice's clumsiness. Sea was second home to her, but the other
apprentices weren't all that lucky.

The newest apprentices were really struggling. Aslvor moved closer to
one who was barely able to stay afloat after the time they'd spent in
the water.

"Why don't you take a break?" She suggested, pointing towards the
ladder that led out of the water onto the pier. When she turned back
she noted a change in the atmosphere around them.

Cec swam up to her. "Doll-fins come," the little gray dolphin turned
her nose towards the far sea. Aslvor squinted her eyes to try and see
what Cec had already picked up on. Her eyes spotted the group coming
there way. Yet, they weren't heading for those in the pool. Instead
they were heading towards the giant dolphin bell that was kept for
times of emergency.

"Something's wrong," she stated to the others around her. Immediately
some of the journeyman moved towards her side, trying to figure out
what the problem was. "Let's get the apprentices out of the water."
She wasn't about to be reasonable for the loss of one of them because
they're attentions were diverted elsewhere.

Kirten scrambled out of the water when Aslvor shouted her orders. At
only 14 turns he was nearly as junior as they came. But even he could
sense the odd feeling in the air and thought he knew why. He ran down
the pier toward where the dolphins were heading. "They're going to
ring the bell," he shouted over his shoulder.

Just as Kirten shouted the words, the sound of the bell pinged loudly
for them all to hear. Aslvor ran faster.

Catching her breath as she got to the bell she called to the dolphins,
"What is it? What's wrong?" She could hear voices from the Hall,
people were amassing and heading towards the shore, but it would take
them precious moments to get three.

"STORM!" One of the dolphins called out, pushing himself out of the
water. "Baaaad Storm." Aslvor sensed their agitation.

"Soon?" She asked. She watched as the dolphins nodded and dipped their
heads in affirmation. She looked to the sky but saw no evidence of the
storm. Yet, she knew the terrible hurricanes could blast ashore at
just a moment's notice.

Turning to Kirten, she said, "Hurry, we must warn the others." She
pointed to the people who were already making their way to them.
Turning back to the dolphins she said, "Swim into the main Seahold. We
can lower the hurricane barrier to protect you all." She gestured in
the direction she wanted them to go.

**Cec and the others,** she thought frantically, picking up from the
ground and dashing back to where she'd left her life partner.

"Cec, get the pod into the hurricane shelter. Hurry. The storm is
already on its way," she called out the instant she saw her partner in
the water. With a click and a leap, Cec acknowledged her and instantly
swam away.

Turning once again, she dashed towards the people who were coming from
the Hall proper.

Famell was one of those people. The instant he'd heard the loud twang
of the bell, he'd dropped what he'd been doing and dashed outside. He
was one of the first to run into Kirten, Aslvor and the group that had
been out to sea.

"What is it?" He asked, knowing they had news from the looks on their faces.

Kirten skidded to a halt in front of the Hallmaster. "Sir, it's a
Hurricane. The Dolphins..." His voice trailed off as everyone began
talking at once.

Irabel was right behind Famell and she came to a sudden stop as people
began to frantically relay what was going on. Unfortunately, multiple
mouths were moving which meant words were getting jumbled into a
cacophony of sound. "Hold it!" Irabel shouted above the storm of
words in hopes that people would listen. "One at a time. Kirten, you
said hurricane?"

"Y-yes ma'am," the boy said to Irabel. "The dolphins say it's not big
big but it's fast."

Shilara hung in the background, her arms crossed over her chest. The
Senior Journeywoman had just arrived at the Hall a few days prior, and
she barely knew anyone besides Famell. She was close to obtaining her
Master status and she hoped that she could finish up her training
while at the Dolphin Hall. What she hadn't expected was to arrive and
be plunged straight into an emergency situation. As a dolphineer she
had weathered more than one hurricane, and was confident that they
could do so again.

Milga had followed Alsvor and Kirten. She didn't take a part to the
general confusion, but stayed calm and alert.

"Dragonriders, they need to be warned too," she said, quietly to herself.

Famell listened to the hubhub, nodded his thanks to Irabel when she
quieted the confusion, and checked the sky above them.

"It's clearly far enough away that we have some time. There are no
signs of it yet," he mused outloud, then heard Milga's comment.

"You are right, Milga. Why don't you and Aslvor run to the Weyr and
let them know, but first we may need a few more details from the
dolphins about what they know." He marched forward quickly, turned
when he was directed that the dolphins were in the inlet nearest them,
and approached.

"We need your help," he told them kneeling down. "Give us all the
details about the storm you came to warn us about." He reahed a hand
into the water and one of the dolphins popped up and batted his hand
with her head.

"Baaad storm," the dolphin emphasized. Famell nodded, "Yes. Do you
know how far?"

The dolphin nodded and then clicked three times. Famell knew that many
of them used the clicks to measure distance. He'd traveled with them
enough to know about how far out each click equaled. Thinking for a
moment, he turned and looked at the crowd. "It looks like we've got
about 4-6 candlemarks until the stormfront is upon up. That doesn't
give us much time, so let's get moving." He pointed to a few
dolphineers and sent them out to check on the conditions in the water.
He sent Aslvor and Milga to run to the Weyr now that they had further
information to share.

"Everyone else, let's get the Hall ready to brace for the storm. Start
moving any unnecessary items inside, tie down everything we can, you
know the drill!" Famell barked the order to the gathered crowd and
watched as many of them darted off to begin preparations.

Alsvor looked to Milga and with a nod, the girl took off, knowing the
apprentice would easily keep pace with her. A few candlemarks wasn't
much time, they had to hurry.

Milga set after the older dolphineer.

Shilara'a body hummed with adrenaline. It looked like she would get to
use her rescue and salvage training after all.

Last updated on the July 1st 2013

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A Hurricane Is Coming