A Trip to the Beach

Writers: Kenya, Sunrose
Date Posted: 30th January 2006

Characters: Jer'ic, Illiana
Description: Jerric and Illiana go down to the beach for a swim
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 9, day 28 of Turn 3

It was a nice restday, really. It was just a shame that Jerric couldn't have found a better way to enjoy. Carefully taking the gitar his father had made him so long ago, he left the Candidate Barracks and found his way to the Weyrlake. There were a bunch of people enjoying the waters. He debated heading north towards the ocean but decided this would due for a while. Finding a tree, he leaned his back against it and began to pluck a few strings and tune them. When he had decided it was perfect, he played a short tune. In he midst of doing so, he thought he heard someone near but disregarded it. He was in his zone now and the person probably had no interest in him anyways. The lake was crowded today so he just kept on playing until the tune ended.

Illiana was currently pearched in the tree above Jerrec, she looked around for something to drop beside him and she found the perfect thing - a little nut. She aimed and had it hit his foot right on the tip of the toe.

A bit startled, Jeric looked up and then became even more surprised. "Illiana? What are you doing up there?" he asked. He was a bit worried at first but then when he saw that dumb sile that was always on her face, he began to smile too for the first time in her presence without being under the influence of wine.

"Well I wanted to try to get a good look of the place so I decided to climb the tree." She gracefully swung down from the branch she had been pearched on and landed with a soft thud on her two small feet. "Nothing too exciting to see." She admitted as she plopped down on the grass across from her fellow Candidate.

"Been listening long? You should have told me I had an audience. I would have played better," Jerric told her. The other days he had met with her, she had made him so nervous that he had almost felt sick to his stomach but today, she seemed more approachable. Granted, the nervousness was still there, just a little less intimidating.

"Well as long as you've been there." She grinned. "And your playing was beautiful, I wish I had even an ounce of your talent."

"Now you are either playing with me or you just want my attention. Either way, I am thankful for it. I was thinking about heading towards the ocean. It's a bit of a walk but if you don't mind, I think I would like to see the waves. The lake is too crowded today," Jerric said, standing up and brushing his pants up. He then held outa hand to help her up, as any gentleman would. "Come with me?" he asked, looking down at her with his brown eyes.

Illiana, still with that grin on her face accepted the hand and rose to her feet, keeping her green eyes locked with Jerric's brown ones for a few moments. "Wanna hear something kinda dumb?"

Jerric picked up his gitar and put the strap over his head so that it stayed comfortably across his back while he walked. "Sure, I guess," he said. It was really one of those rhetorical questions he supposed that he really wasn't supposed to answer but it didn't hurt.

"I have never really been to the ocean before." She looked down athte ground and blushed a little. I live inland up North, then travel via Dragonback to Garnet Vally Hold." She explained as she kicked a pebble in her path. "Been around plenty of lakes and rivers, just no oceans."

"That's not so done. I grew up on the Northern Continent too. I travelled over here on ship. Got really seasick and though I would never want to be near it again. I take it you can swim though?" Jerric asked hopefully. He wasn't a great swimmer but he wasn't about to drown anytime soon. Every since he had come here all he had done was think of ways to get cool and a nice swim seemed to be the answer today.

She bobbed her head up and down. "Oh I love to swim, my brothers used to tease me and say that I should have been a Dolphineer rather than a BeastCrafter, hey - do you have any siblings?" She said, going on a completly different train of thought.

Jerric's smile faded away. "Er, no, not really," he paused. "My mother had a baby girl, a few turns before me but she died when she was a few months old. My parents didn't really get along all that well after I was born so I guess they never really got around to it... I would have liked one though," he said the last on a slightly more hopeful note but at that same time, it was a bit depressing.

Illiana's smile almost faded from her face for a moment. "Well you can have one of my brothers, I've got five to pick from." She hoped that would help to lighten the mood a bit.

That was the first time he had ever seen her not smiling and he had to admit, she looked a lot prettier while smiling. He made a mental note not to make her unhappy again. It didn't seem natural for her. "That's all right. They sound like pains from what tell me about them. I'm probably better off as an only child anyways." Jerric looked ahead. He could see the ocean in the distance. They didn't have much farther to walk. There was a sandy path leading to the beach that was a bit steep. Jerric went ahead first and nearly lost his footing. "Need any help?" he offered, looking up at her.

"Oh why thank-you," she accepted his hand and did slip a bit, sliding down to bump into his chest.

"Hey! Careful now! I don't want to mess up my gitar," Jerric grinned. He really didn't want to mess it up but she hadn't been at all close to making him lose his balance. Once they were safely on the sand, he let her hand go. Immediately, he noticed sand leaking into his boots. "Just great. Here, there are some rocks over here where we can put our things down," he said, gesturing to them. they weren't far from the shore so they wouldn't have to go far.

Illiana followed in Jerric's foot steps, trying not to get anymore sand into her boots. Once at the rocks she sat down and pulled her boots off - dumping the sand out of them. She was wearing her normal attire of tanned pants, with a blouse and a vest. Decided that she didnt't want to bake anymore in the sun she threw the vest onto the rock and went to tying her hair up into a runner tail. "It is simply beautiful down here. The smell, the sounds, everything is so different from back home."

"Agreed," Jerric said in simple reply. He pulled off the gitar and set it down carefully. He then followed Illiana's example and began to untie his boots. He set them next to hers and pulled off his shirt. He had a light tan already from being in the South for the few sevendays he had been but it was certainly nothing to brag about.

Illiana unbuttoned her blouse, underneithe she had a little sleeveless shirt. She then went to rolling up her pants. "I bet the water is cold, a nice break from all this heat!"

"It better be," Jerric said quietly. It seemed to be one of the only releases from all the heat. Iliana seemed to be ready so he thought only now would it be polite for him to walk down to the shore without seeming like he was leaving her behind. He was always very conscious about his manners. He tested the waters as they rushed up around his feet as a wave came in. It felt nice. He looked out over the horizon and as far as one could see, there was nothing but water.

Standing beside him, Illiana couldn't help herself and she giggled like a small child as the waves lapped around her feet and her feet sunk into the wet sand slighty. "Perfect temperature." She declared as she began to wade out in to the water with a sigh of relief.

Jerric followed behind her, being very careful. His only complaint was that he couldn't see what was below the water as it got deeper and deeper. His characteristic timidness appeared as he moved slowly, not wanting to step on anything slimy or worse, alive. "Hey, don't go out too far," he warned Illiana. "Might be monsters," he teased only because he was actually a bit worried to go out too far himself.

Illiana turned and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah like the big scary sea monster that my brothers used to tell me abo . . ." Suddenly Illiana wasn't standing there talking to Jerric but under the waters surface, arms flying up above her head.

Jerric stodo there for a second. "Illiana! That isn't funny at all," he frowned but then it got to him and he went forth like a maniac to get her. The water wasn't very deep but he still put his head under water and as soon as he spotted her, despite the stinging that the salt water caused to his eyes. He tried to make a grab for her.

Illiana squinted her eyes through the water, the salt burning them. It wasn't like swimming in the lakes or rivers back home at all. But she spotted what appeared to be Jerric's torso and began to tickle him.

Jerric went to open his mouth to laugh but got a mouthful of water instead. Nearly choking, he was force to resurface and retreat. His wavy messy hair was truely a mess now, with a few strands in his face. He brushed it all back with a hand once he had recovered his breath. Illiana had resurfaced by now too. "That wasn't very nice," Jerric told her. He wasn't really mad. He had just never had very many siblings to play around with before so he wasn't exactly sure how to act. Besides, she was a girl. What could he do? He gave her a sheepish grin and looked down at the water. "I got worried."

lliana pretended to pout. "Oh I'm sorry Jerric, didn't mean to worry you. Just having a spot of fun that's all." She then began to splash the water towards the Candidate with her long arms.

Not really wanting to fight back, for that just didn't seem to be a nice way to respond to a female, he went forward attempted to catch her. Succeeding, he held her close so that she was unable to continue splashing him. "You family didn't exactly teach you manners, did they?" he teased. He then suddenly realized just how close he was holding her and let his grip loosen slightly.

"Hey I was raised by seven men, with them I had to learn to fight back and tease." She explained as she struggled to get free of Jerric's grasp - but with no such luck, and she wasn't about to start fighting dirty.

"You certainly do tease a lot," Jerric said and then suddenly she slipped away from him. He hased her all about in the water but he seemed unable to catch her again. She was like the fish that got away and so, growing tired, Jerric began to head towards the shore. They had been playing in the water for quite sometime now. Once he reached the shore, he laid down on the sand and took a deep breath. A wave came in but it reached to his knees. He then propped himself up with his elbows and looked to see if Illiana was coming.

The young woman was splashing around in the waves, giggling to herself again before she plopped down in the sand beside Jerric. "We will certainly have to come here more often!"

"I'm not sure about that. You're too much, you know that?" he told her with a laugh. She always seemed to be a handful whenever he was with her for some reason but as to why he thought this, he could not say. He shifted slightly, not quite enjoying the feeling of wet pants against his skin any longer.

"I don't know about you but I'm starving, I'm so hungry I could eat a whole herd beast. And I bet if we leave now we will get in line before most of the Weyr." Illiana pointed out as she rolled over and stood up, this time she offered a hand to Jerric to help him up off the sand.

**Ugh,** he thought to himself as the sand refused to unstick from his back. He had never liked to be dirty and knew his mother would never approve of seeing him get his nice clothes soaking wet and sandy with some strange girl. The thought of his mother made him smile then. He supposed she did nag a bit too much. "Yeah, sure. If you want, we can head back now. Just let me get my things." He had to hold up his pants with his left hand as he walked for now they were weighing him down.

Illiana followed Jerric again and grabbed her own belongings, she slung her boots over her shoulder and held onto them by their laces, and the vest she carried in her other hand along with her blouse. "Ready?" She asked as she carefully navigated her way up the little path and back onto the well beaten trail.

Jerric carefully got his gitar, making sure not to get a grain of sand onto it (as if he wasn't going to clean it as soon as they got back anyways). It was by far his most precious possession. He took his boots in his other hands and followed Illiana. "Ready," Jerric muttered. He didn't really know why he had felt a need to say it but with the same naivety, followed Illiana blindlessly home like a lost puppy.

Last updated on the January 31st 2006

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A Trip to the Beach