Little Fish

Writers: Ames, Chelle
Date Posted: 5th August 2013

Characters: Rhosyn, Pahal
Description: Rhosyn gets it confirmed.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 2, day 28 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Tamah, K'sedel

Pahal was busy checking his gear while Narc swam happily in the water
a short distance away. He looked up as the gray dolphin leaped out
of the water with a happy sound. Pahal snorted and chuckled to himself.
He was eager to get back in the water himself, but his flipper had
gotten a bit distorted when they'd bumped into something a while back.
He sat, with the flipper in his hands and worked the material to
straighten it back out again. Satisfied, he slipped it onto his foot
and had just started to rise when he heard a sound behind him.

Not wanting to do this where many might see, Rhosyn had inquired of
the few dolphineers at River Bluff to see if any of them might be away from
the Weyr for the day. One of them had said Pahal was down by the far beach
so she had decided to meet him down there. Letting K'sedel know of her intent
in case he wanted to go, she mounted up on Orlaith and got herself ready. Much
easier than a ride in the little boat she'd have to borrow from Tamah and she was
not walking that far. Not with her swollen feet.

When Pahal turned he found himself frozen in place for some time.
There, landing on the grassy shore not far from him was the most
magnificent golden dragon. He watched as the dragon settled into
place. He had no idea why she might be here in this rather desolate
area. **Perhaps she likes alone time as much as Narc and I do,**
he mused.

Once Orlaith had landed and had gotten down as far to the ground as
her massive size allowed, Rhosyn carefully dismounted, grabbing the
straps to get down easily onto the sand. When she managed, she looked
around and saw the dolphineer. At least she was pretty sure it was him.
Walking towards him, she waved. "Hi there!"

When she greeted him, Pahal rose and moved towards her. "Hello,
goldrider," he called, uncertain exactly who she was until she came
close. "Ah, Weyrwoman," he amended when he could finally make out her
features. "Can I help you with something?"

"I hope so. I was trying to find you and your partner." She glanced
around, trying to see if there was a dolphin head nearby. Orlaith
could talk to the creatures, but she didn't bother asking her to since
this was Pahal's job.

"Oh, okay," Pahal smiled. He was surprised she'd come looking for
_him_. Narc, sensing the dragon's presence, popped his head
up from the water and clicked a call towards Orlaith, as though asking her
to come in and play with him.

"We're honored, Weyrwoman. How can _we_ help you?"

"Well, my healer seems to think I'm pregnant. And I'd like to know for
sure." She said it with a small uncertain look. Behind her, Orlaith
rose back up onto all fours, obviously protective over her worried rider,
though she did want to go in the water with the dolphin and her head turned
that way. "And maybe how long, if it's possible?"

"Oh," Pahal said with a faint smile. "Narc and I can definitely help
you with that." He turned and gave a whistle to Narc and motioned for
him to swim to a shallower area.

Then turning back to Rhosyn he said, "Over here there's a nice spot
where we can wade into the water." He looked over her clothes and
added, "I'm afraid you're going to get wet though as you'll need to
go in to about here," he gestured to just about mid chest, "if you
want Narc to get a good reading on things."

"That's fine." She was wearing a long dress so she wasn't worried about
getting wet. It was just one of those things. Following the dolphineer, she
picked her way along the beach until she found where the dolphin was waiting.
Orlaith followed along behind her, but didn't move to get in the water since
she'd displace too much water.

"Narc's very good at sensing things," Pahal assured her, stepping
into the water himself and turning to offer her his hand.

The dolphin was happy and chittering from his spot a few paces out. He
was eager to have someone new to play with.

Rhosyn carefully walked into the water, getting out beyond the waves where
it was deep enough for the dolphin to swim easily. She held onto the dolphineer's
hand, enjoying the rhythmic feel of the water against her body. The ocean always
soothed her.

Narc was excited the moment she entered the water. His reactions told
Pahal what he suspected. The dolphins got overly eager when they were
around new life, and Narc's reaction matched those he'd seen in the past.
Just to confirm, though he had Narc voice his discoveries.

"Narc, the Weyrwoman needs us to confirm for her whether she is having
a baby or not?" Pahal asked the dolphin.

"Baaa-bee. Yuss. Baa-bee in belly." Narc said, splashing his
beak in and out of the water in excitement.

Pahal glanced to Rhosyn, knowing there was no mistaking what the
dolphin was telling them.

"Good boy, Narc," Pahal replied, still holding her hand, while he
took the other to rub the dolphin on his melon. "Now, the Weyrwoman
also wants to know if we can give her an idea of the size of the babe."
He knew this was a harder task for the dolphin. Narc moved closer
to Rhosyn, being careful not to actually bump her with his beak.
He slipped to the side a bit, made a few clicking sounds and then
moved back to the front.

"Fish-ee," the dolphin replied. Pahal thought a moment then asked Narc
another question. "Bigger or smaller than the fish you caught this
morning Narc?"

The dolphin clacked its beak a moment and then replied, "Same fish--eee."

Pahal turned to Rhosyn and gestured that she could start her way out.
"We can make our way out, then I can tell you more about the size Narc
is describing."

Never having experienced this before, Rhosyn was actually paying more attention
to the dolphin itself rather than what it was saying. Only when the dolphineer
was telling her to leave did she realize what had just happened. **So I
am pregnant.** Resigning herself to the fact, more or less, she gave a
sigh and then turned and made her way back to the shore slowly. When she
got there, she didn't bother to grab a towel since it was warm enough to
drip. Of course the dress she'd been wearing was now clinging
to her larger body everywhere, not leaving much to Pahal's imagination. Rhosyn
didn't seem to notice as Orlaith made a soothing crooning sound from where
she laid on the warm sand.

Pahal had to look away a moment after they emerged from the water.
Rhosyn was a fine looking woman, and her now damp dress clearly showed
_just_ how attractive she was.

Clearing his throat he moved near her, trying to keep his attention
focused on her face, rather than her body.

"So, as Narc said. You definitely _are_ pregnant. Now you indicated
you were interested in the size. Based on Narc's description of the
fish, which would be about the size of a Fingertail, and
what I've learned over the Turns from what that size means." Pahal held up
his hands to show her the size he was talking about it. It wasn't a
tiny size, like they often saw when someone was _just_ discovering
they were pregnant. "So, from what other women have shared in the past,
I'd estimate you were about half-way through your pregnancy."

She tried to count back in her head, but it was still just about. It wasn't
a certainty. So she didn't know. It had only been two sevendays before.
Rhosyn sighed and nodded. "Thank you. And thank Narc for me too." Walking
towards her queen, she pulled a towel out of the saddlebag and then waited
before she climbed back up.

"You are welcome," he replied, then turned back to join his dolphin partner.

Last updated on the August 8th 2013

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Little Fish