DCW: Can't Complain

Writers: Jane
Date Posted: 26th May 2007

Characters: O'rian, Grehga
Description: Odarian surveys the Weyrbowl as the water recedes.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 19 of Turn 4
Notes: Storm eases, water starts to recede

The senior apprentice healer did what almost everybody was doing – took
a moment to watch the water draining away. With the still heavily
overcast skies there wasn't much light on the early evening scene, but
enough to see that the water _was_ retreating out of the Weyrbowl.

His vividly blue eyes roved over the huge, lake-sized puddles left
behind. Salt water, all of it. He looked down to where the Weyrlake
had been but there was no way to distinguish it from the rest of the
water in that area. He wondered how long it would take for the springs
to make that run fresh again and what the dragons would do for drinking
until it did.

"They can drink from anywhere on Pern," he reminded himself, then
wondered what the Weyr residents, himself included would do. Weren't
there cisterns up on the top of the volcano that the Weyr occupied?
Collecting rainwater and acting as header tanks? At least they wouldn't
be contaminated like the rest of the water was.

There was no doubt about the contamination – and he didn't need five
Turns of healer training to tell him it was likely. Though the light
wasn't good the sight of herdbeast bodies, their legs sticking up at odd
angles was unmistakable. Having dead bodies in the water couldn't be good.

Odarian rubbed his chest in a reaction to the discomfort he was feeling.
This was the second disaster to strike Dolphin Cove within a Turn, and
the third in his life, if he remembered back to the earthquake at Thayan
Peak. He was fairly certain he could cope with this one but he was more
than ready to have these things stop.

What was there to do now, anyway? Go downstairs and dig out the sand,
he supposed. Remove things ruined by the water. (He couldn't begin to
imagine how much that would be. What would they _do_ with it all?)
Wash and disinfect walls and floors and anything that was still usable.

His own rooms were off a dark corridor on an upper level, and he
supposed he would return to them to find some of his family in residence.

"When you finish up here," he told himself with a grin. Most of the
serious injuries had been dealt with but there was going to be work for
healers as long as there were people working downstairs; and then
tomorrow was Threadfall.

How could dragonriders help but be distracted by this? He didn't want a
repeat of his father's disaster because the Weyrleader was worried about
the whole Weyr. Perhaps they would get some other Weyr to fly tomorrow?

Luckily he had more immediate things to worry about. How would the
healers cope without their infirmary? Surely it couldn't be readied
overnight since it would have to be especially clean. Odarian had
visions of himself down in the infirmary shovelling sand with the lower
caverns workers until his hands blistered and he hoped the visions
didn't turn into reality.

"Odarian? How's it looking?"

He glanced down at the bouncy twelve Turn old junior apprentice and
shrugged. "Still a lot of water."

"Huh," she said, leaning out to get a better view. "I guess there is,
but it looks a whole lot better without the _waves_ breaking against the
eastern side of the Bowl."

He hadn't seen that, but little Grehga said she had and he believed her.
Certainly she had always been wet enough to have been out looking
every time he caught sight of her.

"And the wind's almost gone." With all the intensity of a Weyrleader
before 'Fall she studied the sky, and looked all around the rim of the
Weyr. "It'll be sunny tomorrow."

"It couldn't be," he protested. Not after such a storm.

"Wanna put marks on that?"

He shook his head. Though one of the youngest apprentices she already
had a reputation for making marks from suckers and he didn't want to be
numbered among them.

"Thought not." She peered around into the darkening evening and nodded.
"A bit of sun, lots of heat to dry things out. Can't complain about
that, can we?"

Last updated on the May 27th 2007

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DCW: Can't Complain