Shelter From Trouble

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 12th March 2016
Series: Shipwrecked

Characters: Thayde, Zathris
Description: The two go seeking shelter.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 3, day 22 of Turn 8
Notes: Pt 5 of the Survival series

Thayde

Zathris

"Spear fishing is a lot harder, it seems, when your survival is depending on it." Thayde squinted at Zathris as he held up the three little fish that he'd managed to spear. "Luckily, I hit a jackpot of clams." He released his shirt, which he'd taken off and tied up like a sack, and two handfuls of clams tumbled out.

Chin-length hair still dripping down his neck, Thayde shook it out as he sat down on the sand near the fire. "Horizon looks clear, I think we're safe from Thread for the moment. Why don't we eat this breakfast of fish and clams, and then we can go exploring?" he suggested as he put the fish over the fire.

"At least you were more successful than I was." Zathris had tried his hardest, but while he could handle a pole and a net just fine, even a bow and arrow with some skill, the spear was a different creature. He had thought that since he had some ability in archery, the spear would be a little simpler to manage. Unfortunately, that was far from the truth and his healing wound twinged and ached with the necessary motions. Eventually Zathris had given up and gone off in search of more fruit. If nothing else, he'd been able to contribute a little that way. "There's a high ridge beyond the main level of trees. I think we might have some luck up there."

"I hope so. It would be rotten luck to survive a shipwreck, a storm at sea, and then die because we couldn't find shelter from Thread." Thayde slowly rotated the stick he had the fish speared on over the fire.

"Tell me about it." Zathris smirked, half amused. He drew the fish closer to examine it, then placed it back over the fire, not quite satisfied with its state of doneness. "I've also been thinking, we should try to find a way to let dragonriders know we're here. If they fly over, there's got to be something we can make big enough for them to see."

Thayde looked over his shoulder down the beach, "If we gather up enough driftwood we could write a message on the beach."

"That's an idea," Zathris agreed as he followed Thayde's gaze. There wasn't enough right then, but wood had appeared on the shore that morning, so it stood to reason that it would continue to do so for a while. "Shelter, first, though. It wouldn't do us any good to make a message only to be eaten by Thread."

Thayde pulled his fish from the fire and tested it by pinching the meaty part between his thumb and forefinger. "As good as it's going to get, I think." He murmured before tearing into the fish. As simple as it was, a fish over fire with no seasonings, it tasted amazing, the first real piece of food since before the shipwreck.

"How are the stitches holding?" he asked.

"So far so good, no bleeding." Which meant he hadn't ripped them. If Zathris had injured his other side, he might have also had better luck fishing. Trying to aim without the full movement of his dominant side also added to his annoyance. "I'll keep tabs on it and try not to tear them." Doing such could lead to an infection, which was just what they did not need. After another moment, he too began to tear into his fish. "I was hoping something with a blade would wash upon the shore. Could be useful."

"Hey now," Thayde tilted his head, "don't insult the one knife that we do have." So far it had been instrumental in sharpening the spears for fishing and doing other simple, but necessary things.

"I'm not, I was thinking of something bigger to hack through the brush. It'll be interesting trying to get through it, but I guess we'll just have to make do." Neither Zathris nor Thayde had any choice in that matter. With little further conversation he finished his fish and offed another piece of redfruit, then stood after Thayde was done as well. "Shall we get going?"

Thayde tugged his shirt on, now that it was free of clams, and pocketed the knife. "All set. Hopefully there is nothing ferocious living on this island." Wild felines would be worst case scenario, he thought.

"Yeah. Really." Though that was definitely a possibility, unless they had somehow gotten carried further north where the felines did not reside. Zathris didn't think that was the case. In general, they had to be careful.

He turned and led the way into the forest, delving into its waiting arms. Overhead, the canopy filtered the light, casting a dreamy, golden hue below. Though wild, wherever they were was quite pretty, and if he and Thayde weren't trying to simply survive, he'd be interested in exploring it more leisurely. At the moment, however, they had a mission to accomplish and no time to waste.

At first, the underbrush wasn't too bad. As sand gave way to more fertile soil, however, grasses and bushes grew thicker and taller. Soon, the two were having to zig-zag to find passable routes through. Eventually, however, they came across a rough trail. While that would make their travel easier, it also meant something else. "Looks like there is wildlife of a decent size here." What, he couldn't say, just that it was big enough to create a trail they could follow.

"Hopefully whatever created this trail is friendly and likes to eat leaves. I'll gladly give him my share," Thayde said as he smacked some foliage out of the way. Again he wondered where they could possibly be. Dolphineers spent time, considerable time, in the water exploring and mapping out land masses. Was this somehow an island that they had missed? Then, in the back of his mind, he remembered that Irabel had been exploring some unnamed islands on her last trip out to sea. He wondered if that's where they could possibly be.

"We'll just have to keep our eyes wide open." The trail wasn't always easy to follow, but if Zathris stopped and peered carefully, he would eventually find it after it disappeared. At times, it seemed to arch away from the hills, then would suddenly curve around and aimed straight for the hills. Eventually, it became more obvious that they were headed up an incline, though the trees shielded the hills from view.

"I hope we find some fresh water soon." Thayde panted as they hiked. The humidity of the island left him feeling dehydrated much faster than usual.

"There has to be water somewhere." Animals couldn't live without water and if they were on a path made by creatures, there would have to be water somewhere not _too_ far away. As they stepped forward, the trees suddenly opened up and a large swath of open sky greeted them. The ground was carpeted in green and above them a small mountain stretched up. Zathris pointed. "There's a darkening in the greenery. Perhaps there might be something there."

Thayde surveyed the area, taking a moment to put his hands on his hips and enjoy the view. Even if they were shipwrecked there was no denying the beauty of the island they were on. "And hopefully there's a nice cave somewhere on that mountain."

"That's what I'm hoping that depression will be. Come on, let's keep moving." Zathris pressed on. As the path traversed over steeper ground, the pain in his side began to throb, though he did his best to ignore it.

The mountain wasn't particularly tall, but it was steep enough that effort had to be made to climb it. Although in good shape, the injury did slow Zathris down enough that he eventually had to stop and rest for a moment. He didn't wait too long though, and pushed onward.

The depression was distinctly disappointing, simply an area where rock had been cut away and overgrown with foliage, far too shallow to offer any shelter. If they continued, they might find something else, but Zathris asked to stop again and sat down a moment. "Sorry." He muttered. Up there, the wind was more intense than it had been on the beach and rustled the foliage all around them, as if they were attempting to whisper the land's secrets to them. If only Zathris could understand, maybe he'd be more successful at finding shelter.

"No apologies needed," Thayde said as he sat down beside of Zathris, his eyes trying to take in as much of the landscape as possible now that they were at a higher elevation. "I've been thinking, if we don't find a cave, we could try to build a better shelter over us on the beach. Shore up wood for a thicker roof, and then layer the top with rocks. Granted, if we could find some river rocks that would be best."

"We may have to." Zathris shifted and winced. If that blasted injury wasn't bothering him, he might be in a more optimistic. The Lord Holder rubbed at his eyes, the wind teasing the tendrils of his air. After a moment, he lifted his head and cocked it. "Do you hear that?"

Zathris pushed himself to his feet and listened intently. Beneath the whistling tune of the air, he could hear a deeper timbre of sound. "I thought it was the wind, but it's not. That's water. Come on." With renewed vigor, he traced his way back to the trail which sloped even further upward, then curled around, offering a scenic, if a bit precarious, view below.

Thayde followed Zathris, wondering if it had been a good idea to let the injured Lord do all of this hiking so soon after stitching up that wound. When they came around the bend they were near the top of a waterfall that was thundering down into a small pool of water that trickled down into a slightly large pool.

"Thank Faranth." Thayde breathed. Fresh water, a place to bathe, was one thing they could check off of their list.

"Indeed." Zathris breathed in agreement. The question was, how did they get down? After a few moments of searching, Zathris found another rough trail that, while narrow, would allow them passage down to the pool. "Come on, let's get down there and take a look."

Thayde took the lead on the way down, since between the two of them he had no injuries, and in no time he found himself standing at the bottom of the fall. Fresh water speckled his face as it sprayed on them from where it crashed against the rocks. Dropping onto his knees beside of the crystal clear pool, Thayde cupped his hands in the water and brought it greedily to his mouth. Nothing had ever tasted so good to his parched lips and tongue than the cool water.

Lying down so that he could put his face to the water, Thayde drank his fill of water until his belly felt bloated from it. Rolling onto his back, he closed his eyes for a moment to savor how good this moment felt. A little ray of hope in their otherwise bleak circumstances.

After drinking his own fill, Zathris sat up, and peered up at the sky. The waterfall wasn't particularly large, and though the falling liquid hit the pool with enough force to require them to raise their voices a bit when speaking to one another. He peered up at the sky. Thankfully, there was no sign of Thread, but there was no indication of any dragons either. With their new position, they were too far away from the beach to allow for anyone to see them. Perhaps they would do well to think of ways to attract attention from afar. "One problem down." A million more to go.

Last updated on the March 13th 2016

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Shelter From Trouble