The Pirates' Gather

Writers: Estelle, Halyonix
Date Posted: 20th May 2025

Characters: Iskara, M'trel
Description: Iskara and M'trel visit the gather at Renegade's Bay
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 28 of Turn 12

Notes:

Hylith made a graceful landing just above the high tide line on the
beach below the sea hold. She spread her wings for a moment to enjoy the
pretty color made by the bright sunlight on their delicate pale-jade
membranes, before neatly folding them and settling down on the sand.

**Show-off,** Iskara teased, glancing over at the brown who'd landed
close by. She slipped down from the dragon's back and took off her
riding helmet, shaking out her dark hair, then waved over at M'trel.

}: Interesting. :{ Noruith remarked as he snaked his head back and
forth, observing the place. His faceted eyes flickered to Hylith
briefly, taking in her fanned wings with a low, appreciative rumble,
before his gaze returned to sweeping.

M'trel was shucking off his gloves and helmet as he approached. "This is
new," he remarked to Iskara. "We've never been here."

"I've only flown over on sweep - I heard about the Gather from a
wingmate. Looks like we're in the right place, though." She looked up to
the cluster of buildings further up the shore, nestled into the curve of
the bay. The cheerful sound of pipes and drums playing a sea-ballad
drifted over from the brightly colored stalls and trader wagons drawn up
in front of the hold. Iskara stowed her helmet and jacket with Hylith's
straps. "Let's go and see if it's as exciting as they say. I've heard
the food is good, if you like fish!"

That brought a groan from the brownrider. "I'd love a good herdbeast,
honestly. We get plenty of fish at the Weyr." But he was smiling as he
said it, which meant that he wasn't going to complain too much if they
found some. The music was plenty lively enough to lift a sour mood. "I
haven't see a Trader wagon in a while either. I wonder what wares they
have."

"Fishing nets," Iskara suggested, mischievously. "Compasses and sextants
and charts. They exchange them for pirate treasure."

"Treasure?" M'trel echoed with an incredulous smile. "Is that really a
thing?" He didn't believe it but he _did_ like the idea of possibly
getting a sextant for his desk. He'd always been fascinated with the
devices.

"It must be," she replied as they approached the stalls, where
mouthwatering spicy scents and the sound of sizzling drifted on the air.
"You can't have pirates without treasure. It's a law."

The Wingthird laughed at the joke. Or what he thought was still a joke.
His nose also caught the scents of cooking food. Seizing on the
opportunity, he asked, "Hungry? My treat."

"In that case, I'm starving." Iskara followed her nose to where a pair
of holders were running a booth, one grilling skewers of meat and
vegetables while the other dealt with the customers. "Those look good,
and maybe they're not all fish..."

She was correct. Not all of the skewers were fish -- some were
herdbeast, others had wherry, and there were a few with a sort of
shellfish that M'trel had never seen before. He paid for a small
variety. Dividing them with Iskara, he began to nibble on the unknown
shellfish one. His eyes cast furtive glances at her to see if she was
enjoying her treat. "Not bad for...crab? I think it's a crab," he
remarked. "Where to next?"

"Let's go treasure hunting," she suggested, licking her lips after
taking a bite of the tasty wherry meat. They strolled away from the food
sellers towards a row of booths where the gleam of metal caught Iskara's
eye - as did the number of burly guards keeping a watchful eye on the
traders' wares. The sea hold might be law-abiding, but clearly no one
was taking any chances. She passed by a smith selling various hooks,
chains and boat-building tools, then slowed to examine an elaborately
illustrated map of a stretch of coastline, complete with tiny sketches
of leaping dolphins, wrecks and mist-shrouded isles.

"Look at this! I don't know if you could navigate with it, but it _is_
pretty." The artist must have drawn it to demonstrate his skill and draw
in customers. "Where do you think it is? Somewhere up near the point
east of Topaz?"

"Wherever it is, I'd gladly visit it," M'trel answered. He leaned closer
to the painting. Nearly all of the artwork had the same beautiful
detail. M'trel itched to find one that would work well in his weyr. "Are
these places you've visited?" he asked of the artist as he began to
browse through other pieces.

"Aye, all the decorative maps are, though some of the plain charts are
copies. That one that the lady's looking at, I worked my way along that
stretch when I was newly made journeyman, before the Pass began." The
stallholder had seacrafter's knots and was deeply tanned, his skin
weathered by the coastal air. His eyes, blue-green as the sea,
brightened as he recalled those days. "My main trade is map-making for
sailors, but some folk like a more artistic piece for their cabin or
chamber, showing their home port or a place that means something to
them. You're Dolphin Cove riders?"

M'trel nodded absently as he continued perusing. His mind was made up --
he would bring one of the pieces home, especially after hearing the
story of how they were made. "What do you think about this one?" he
asked Iskara, holding up a sketch of a sunset along a tree-lined coast.
"Though I do like the blues of this one," he added, pointing to what
looked like a misty morning somewhere.

Iskara peered closer at a small, indistinct shadow on the second
picture. "Is that a sail?" She glanced at the artist, who merely smiled
and raised an eyebrow. "A mystery, then. A sailor enjoying a morning out
on the ocean, or a lonely rock in the waves - or a smuggler creeping in
under the cover of the mist."

"A smuggler?" M'trel echoed with a naive chuckle. He missed the look
that the artist gave Iskara. "You have such an imagination sometimes,
Iskara," M'trel said. "Are you sure you aren't a harper in disguise?"

She laughed and shook her head. "I haven't the talent for music or art,
nor the patience for the archives. But then...if I _was_ a harper spy, I
would say that, wouldn't I?"

That earned her another laugh. "Spoken like a true spy," he said
jokingly. He made his decision and fished out the payment for it. "Did
you see one that you wanted?" he asked Iskara, thinking maybe to get her
an impromptu present.

"Not a landscape, but - do you have any charts of the coast around the
Weyr?" Iskara asked, remembering her conversation with the new
Wingleader a few sevendays ago. The craftsman nodded and turned to
search through a box of papers at the back of the stall. "I started an
apprenticeship as a seacrafter before I Impressed Hylith, and I've been
thinking of taking it up again when I have the time. Perhaps some of the
coast holds have small sailing boats for hire."

"Or you could fly the coastline on Hylith, right?" M'trel suggested.

"Yes, it'll help me memorize the charts." The stallholder spread out a
chart and she bent her head over it, touching the outline of the
half-circle Weyrbowl, and the tiny inscribed dragon next to it. **What
do you think?**

}:I don't know why you would want to be in one of those little boats
when we could be flying together.:{

**Of course I could never love sailing as much as flying with you,**
Iskara reassured her. **But you like to swim as well as fly, don't you?
This is the same. You can swim and sun yourself on the beach while I'm
out on the water.** She looked up at the craftsman. "This is just what I
want. I'll take it."

Hylith was slightly appeased, but she still sounded huffy as she spoke
to Noruith. }:Your rider would not do anything so foolish, would he?:{

}: Take a boat? :{ Noruith queried. He thought about it. }: Perhaps. He
does enjoy trying new skills. Though I am certain he would be out of his
league with that one. :{

"That looks like a fun time," M'trel remarked to Iskara as he looked at
the scene. "Any skill with sailing?"

"I learned to sail small boats as an apprentice. It was a popular hobby
at Windswept Islands. We used to race out to the little rocky islands
and back, or take a picnic out there sometimes." Iskara handed over the
marks in exchange for the rolled-up chart and they wandered on to the
next stall, which had a display of gleaming brass compasses and other
navigational and weather-monitoring devices. "Then Hylith came along and
I was far too busy. Have you ever tried? Sailing?"

M'trel shook his head. "I believe Noruith would be properly offended if
I tried it, though I'd like to. Maybe one day soon?"

"I'll take you out, if you like. I promise to try not to capsize." She
grinned. "Or run into any pirate ships."

His arm snaked around her waist with a grin. "But think of the adventure
we could have with either of those things," he said with the air of
someone who had never come remotely close to experiencing the danger of
said things.

She glanced mischievously at him. "You can have all sorts of adventures
in boats. Perhaps I can come up with one that doesn't involve getting
soaked or being made to walk the plank."

"I like this idea," he answered as his head dipped close for a sly kiss.

Her sea-green eyes glinted, perhaps in anticipation of the proposed trip
and what they might get up to out on the water or in some secluded bay.
"Then it's settled. I'll let you know as soon as I find us a good boat."

Hylith huffed to Noruith in exasperation. }:Well, I don't suppose we can
stop them.:{

Last updated on the May 26th 2025

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The Pirates' Gather