In for a Penny

Writers: Aaron, Devin
Date Posted: 18th March 2024

Characters: N'vanik, Ã‡'pier, R'lor, Calbarran
Description: Pierce repeats his tale for R'lor, N'vanik, and his pet guard. Follows "Take Care of Her"
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 3 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Saedyna, Shuvan, Talryne

N'vanik

Ã‡'pier

R'lor

N'vanik had taken Loseth out of the Weyr so he couldn't get greedy and
was enjoying time with Talryne on a far away beach. The first message
from Loseth was expected -- a grumbling announcement that Santhiath
had been caught. But on the heels of that Loseth's eyes turned red
with anger.

}:Two of the Candidates were attacked by a bad man. One is very
hurt.:{ Loseth didn't have many more details, but N'vanik knew he had
to get back immediately.

He headed for the infirmary as soon as Loseth landed, leaving Talryne
to take care of his riding straps.

The journeywoman at the duty desk explained that one of the Candidates
was unconscious and in serious condition, and the other was being
treated for a broken arm. He asked to see the Candidate -- demanded,
really. She weakly protested that Pierce was still being treated but
since his injuries weren't life-threatening, N'vanik didn't care.

}:Calm down,:{ Loseth said. }:Being angry will only scare the hurt one.:{

His dragon was right, and N'vanik battled against the tide of rage and
fear. Just like Shuvan said . . .

The Candidate was a victim, and N'vanik needed to treat him
accordingly. He had a better control on his emotions when he reached
the cot where Pierce was having his arm wrapped. The kid definitely
looked roughed-up.

"What happened?"

The Healer had not been exaggerating. N'vanik had been quick to come.
Pierce took a few deep ragged breaths and rubbed his eyes gingerly
with his uninjured hand. It was not difficult to sound upset.

"When the gold went up, Iâ€" we... I didn't mean to..." Tears began to
flow. "She went off first. And I went after her. Maybe if I hadn't, we
wouldn't have... and then she wouldn't be..."

"When I caught up to her, we went into one of the storerooms. We were
just about to... you know. But there was someone else in there
already. I thought maybe he was going to want to join in, you know?
But he didn't."

"He started swinging a club or something. I tried to block it, but..."
He lifted his arm. "We didn't even have to ask why. He just started
saying we would have to be the ones to pay for what the Weyr did.
Neither one of us is from here. I tried to tell him that, but he
didn't care. We'd already seen him."

N'vanik clenched his fists, fighting to keep from punching something.
They were being attacked again. _Again_! He started to speak, but then
R'lor came in.

"Weyrleader, sir." He sounded slightly out of breath. "I can wait
outside if you'd like."

"No, you should hear this too," N'vanik said. At least R'lor was less
likely to be wrestling with blind rage and might be able to ask
coherent questions. "He said . . ."

}:We will find them, like the bad man who hurt the hatchlings.:{

N'vanik took a breath. "He said he and another Candidate were attacked
in a storeroom, by someone raving about the Weyr."

R'lor's eyes widened and he looked from the Weyrleader to Pierce. "Who
was with you?"

"Saedyna, sir," said Pierce. "I..." He broke down again. "I shouldn't
have followed her. I just... The flight. It's such a stupid excuse,"
he sobbed. "She probably wouldn't have wanted me if not for that. She
never would have gone in there. It's my fault."

R'lor stepped closer and patted Pierce's good arm. "It's not your
fault, lad." His stomach was tangled in knots. First the Hatching, and
now this? What could the holders be thinking?

"Did you recognize the man who attacked you?" N'vanik asked.

"I've never seen him before," said Pierce. "I'm sure I haven't. But he
was familiar somehow. I can't... I don't know that I could say exactly
how tall he was. I only saw him from... you know, close to the ground.
But probably no taller than either of you. Maybe somewhere around your
age. He... He had black hair. And blue eyes. Very blue eyes. I
just..."

Pierce had never seen Jarrin before. But he knew from Blue that the
two of them bore a striking resemblance to one another.

"Did you get a good look at his face?" N'vanik asked. "Could you work
with a Harper to get a sketch?" He asked Loseth to send this scant
information to all the dragons, to have everyone in the Weyr looking
for a middle-aged man with black hair and blue eyes. Faranth, he could
be hurting someone else even now, poisoning food . . .

The Weyr echoed with alarm cries as the news spread.

"We need to find him before he hurts anyone else," N'vanik told Pierce.

"I'll do my best." Pierce did feel bad for Saedyna, although it could
not change what he had to do. But he did not feel bad for Jarrin. He
deserved whatever he got.

Of course, if she woke up, none of this would matter.

"Do you have any other details?" N'vanik was desperate for
_something_. "Anything he might have said, plans he might have?"

R'lor was torn between asking to let the boy rest and the urgency of
the situation. And he also wanted to check on Saedyna. For the moment
he stayed where he was.

"I... He didn't say anything else," said Pierce. "I'm sorry, sir, I
wish I had something better to give you."

N'vanik took a breath. The kid was injured and traumatized, of course
he couldn't remember every detail. "A harper will be here shortly.
Give them the best description you can of this man. And tell the
harper everything, every detail no matter how small."

"Do you need me to stay with you?" R'lor asked. "Or I could send for a friend?"

"I'll be alright by myself," said Pierce. This man really cared,
didn't he? He hoped R'lor did not blame himself for Saedyna, if she
managed to die. "Thank you."

"All right." R'lor patted him gently and turned to N'vanik. "I'm going
to check on Saedyna, if you'll excuse me, Weyrleader."

N'vanik nodded absently. "I'm going to check that storeroom. Which one
was it?" he asked Pierce. If he happened to find that man, N'vanik
might strangle him with his bare hands. How _dare_ he? How dare _any_
of them? He had half a mind to let a few Holds get Threaded so they
could find out just what happened when dragonriders removed their
protection.

Pierce described the route to the storeroom from the Candidate commons.

"I can show you if you need it, sir," he said.

N'vanik looked him over: the wrapped arm, the bruises. His voice had a
more gentle tone when he said, "If it won't be too hard on you, yeah.
Maybe you'll remember something else."

"No. I can do it," said Pierce.

Before they had the opportunity to leave, a guard rushed into the Infirmary.

"Sir!" Thank fate, the Weyrleader was still there. Calbarran was not
about to let an opportunity to track down every last one of the
degenerates who had murdered his G'fan go to waste. "Allow me to
accompany you. Please." He eyed Pierce but dismissed him quickly.

N'vanik arched an eyebrow but all he said was, "All right." He watched
Pierce to see if he needed any help getting up from the cot.

Pierce stood slowly but surely, prying himself up from his seat with
his good arm.

"Who's this?" He jerked his head toward the guard.

"Guard Sergeant Calbarran," said the man. "I... heard what happened.
You and I have something in common now. They killed my weyrmate, too."

"She wasn't my weyrmate," said Pierce. "We barely knew each other. It
was just bad luck, Cal."

Calbarran frowned, but he nodded nonetheless.

"I'm going to find who did this. No matter what it costs me, I will
have justice."

"The girl's not dead yet." N'vanik swallowed against a lump in his
throat. Faranth, he hoped she'd make it. "C'mon, let's make sure no
one else gets hurt."

Pierce tried with little success to swallow the lump in his own throat. If she woke up, he was done for, and he had no way of making sure she did not.

Last updated on the March 19th 2024

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In for a Penny