Missing Apprentice

Writers: AL, Vix
Date Posted: 20th September 2008

Characters: Mahantan, Ephron
Description: Ephron tells Mahantan that Alydelle has missed her classes.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 12, day 1 of Turn 4

"Mahantan?" Ephron eased the door open and peered inside. He gave a small, tentative smile to the master and entered the room once he was sure the man was there. "Sorry to bother you, but I felt that I needed to talk to you."

The Master of Apprentices finished the sentence that he was writing and set aside his pen. "Yes, Journeyman?"

"I'm sorry to bother you." Ephron drew closer to the desk and clasped his hands behind him. "But I thought I'd better discuss this with you." After all, he was the Master of Apprentices. "One of the apprentices didn't show up in my class today. Upon further investigation, I found that she's missed all of her classes."

Mahantan frowned at the journeyman. "Have you checked with the infirmary?"

Ephron nodded. "I thought, perhaps, she had gotten hurt somehow, but no one has seen her."

Are any of the others absent today?" The Master dolphineer thought over the current roster, wandering which would tend to miss classes in this way.

"Only Lillen, but she was given leave due to a family death." That had come as no surprise. "Alydelle would normally send a message if she were to miss due to illness."

"Alydelle?" Mahantan's frown deepened. Of all the apprentices, she was probably one of the least likely to do anything that might displease her instructors. "And she's missed all of her classes?"

"Yes sir." Ephron confirmed with a frown. "Not like her at all. And when I asked the other apprentices, no one has said they've seen her. I was going to go ask the dolphins, but I thought I'd better let you know about it first."

"The dolphins. . ." He remembered the girl's rapport with them. "Yes, they might know." Then as an afterthought, "You've sent someone to check her room – a journey woman, not an apprentice?"

"Yes." Ephron nodded, "That was the first thing I did after I found out she had missed her classes, but evidently her bed wasn't slept in."

The Master had been worried before but this was even more serious. "She's been gone that long? Is there any chance that she became homesick and went to visit family?"

Once again, Ephron shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't really know much about her homelife, but from what little I've been able to pry out of her, it wasn't the most pleasant of circumstances."

"You'd think that one of her friends would know something," Mahantan mused. "Of course, she enjoys being around the dolphins so she might be visiting them." He rose from his seat. "I suppose I could go with you to see."

Ephron nodded. "Yes sir." He took a step back, waiting for the Master to exit first, then followed. "This isn't really like her." He said after the door was shut behind him.

The Master's expression was grim. "No, it isn't." He led the way to the dock, silent as they walked. Squinting toward the horizon, he picked out the silhouettes of dolphins leaping in the distance. Assuming that one was his partner, he whistled shrilly. "Even if she's with the dolphins, she's some explaining to do."

"Yes." Ephron nodded, heading straight for the dolphins that laughed and played in the water. As he was dressed for a class on dry land, the journeyman chose to approach via the dock that stretched out into the water. He bent down and began to ask questions. At first it seemed as if asking them would turn fruitless, but then another dolphin arrived and paused in the middle of the interviews. After a few moments she came forward and began to chitter. After a few moments of speaking and gesturing, Ephron stood up and turned to the master. "Gaila says she saw her down by Rowlan's butte, with Sora."

Mahantan frowned at that. "The apprentices have been told not to go there alone. The land masses there are too unstable."

"I'll send someone down to get her." Ephron glanced back toward the hall proper. "I have a class in a few minutes."

"I'll go." Mahantan kicked off his shoes – slip-ons for just such a time as this – and quickly shed his shirt. He dove into the water, grasping the dorsal fin of one of the dolphins who had gathered at the pier and directed the pod seaward.

Last updated on the September 20th 2008

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Missing Apprentice