Bigger Than Yours

Writers: AL, Cali
Date Posted: 21st September 2008

Characters: Sorsha, Ri'len
Description: Sorsha and Railen go fishing.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 11, day 28 of Turn 4

"I don't know about this Railen," Sorsha said uncertainly as she sat on her runner and stared at the deep ditch that separated her and her friend. "Can't we just go around? It can't go on forever."

"Trust me, we'll go quite a ways out of our way and we won't be home in time for mid meal if we try to go around." Railen motioned to the beast that was beneath her. "It looks worse than it is, and Gaff is really surefooted. You'll be fine."

She swallowed hard but nodded and turned the runner around so she could make a jump of it. Once she was pretty sure she had enough room, she gripped the reins in her hands and grabbed the saddle horn. She gave him a swift hard kick and gasped as he raced for the edge. Just as she was sure this was a deathly mistake she was in the air... and then she was on the other side. The impact jostled her hard, her boots slipping out of the stirrups, she had no way to stop herself from sliding off the runners side. She had enough sense to drop the reins as she slid off, landing hard on her side and knocking her head against the thick grasses that lined the ditch.

"Sorsha!" Railen was off his runner and down by her side in an instant, hands reaching out to her. "Sorsha...are you all right?"

"Whoops." she replied, embarrassed as she got her breath back and sat up.She gave her head a good shake, but besides her hip aching a bit, she seemed to be intact. "I'm okay, I guess I just lost my balance, sorry."

"No, no, don't be sorry, I'm just glad you're all right." Railen slid an arm around her, giving her a half hug. "Hey, let me help you up - easy now."

She stood up, a bit more achy than she'd thought, but put on a brave face and acted like she was fine. She didn't want him to cancel her first fishing trip because of a little fall. "I'm okay Railen, really!" she assured him with a smile. She saw Gaff munching on some grass not far off and headed towards him. "Well, we'd best get going."

"Are you sure?" As much as he wanted to go fishing, Railen couldn't help but notice the stiff way in which Sorsha was walking. He came up to her side, a frown of concern clouding his face. "Maybe we should go back."

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed as she turned back to her over protective friend. "I haven't had fresh fish since I left Green Bend, and who knows how long it will be before we both get another morning off!"

"I know but...I want you to be comfortable and have fun." Railen hesitantly followed, then once they had reached the beast got into position to help Sorsha into the saddle. "You're not going to have fun if you're injured."

She huffed in annoyance as she looked down at Railen from Gaff's back, "I am not injured, maybe a bit sore, but that doesn't affect my ability to throw a line."

Railen didn't say anything for a moment. Finally he nodded and patted Sorsha's knee. "All right. Then let's go and catch some fish. If you start feeling bad, though, don't try to hide it, let me know."

~ ~ ~

"See, even if I was injured, which I'm not, I could still do this." Sorsha teased him as they both lay up against a fallen tree on the banks of the slow moving river. She watched both their lines as they bobbed slowly against the current.

"If you were injured, we wouldn't be here." Railen admonished gently. "Riding back wouldn't be pleasant for starters, and if you were injured we'd need to get you looked at immediately. I just hope you're not too sore for the ride back."

She turned and stuck her tongue out at him, "You're starting to sound like an old auntie."

Railen flushed at the remark. "I'm just concerned about you, that's all."

"Well you should be more concerned about the fact that you haven't caught but the one fish, while I've caught three." she pointed out with a grin.

"Yeah, well, I gave you the best bait." Railen gave Sorsha a lopsided grin which grew wider as he felt a tug at his pole. "And look, I'm about to get another one!" He held the line tight and quickly jerked back on it before starting to bring in the fish.

She sat up straight, hooking her simple stick pole behind the tree so she would have both hands available to help haul it up. "Smooth Railen, smooth or you'll lose it."

"I won't lose it." Railen assured her, though he did take her advice and eased up a bit. "This one feels big!"

Sorsha scrambled to the water's edge and grabbed the long silvery fish by the lip when it got close enough. She unhooked it and held it up to Railen to admire. "Nice one."

"Bigger than yours, anyway." Railen grinned. "But...this one is for you. So you can have this one to eat."

She chuckled as she reached out her free hand to have him help her back up the bank, "It's too big for me to eat myself, we can share it."

"I'm not going to argue." Railen took her hand and eased himself up. He held onto it for a moment after he was settled and smiled down at her. "I like sharing things with you."

"Me too, this has been alot of fun." Sorsha agreed as she put the fish on the hold line and dropped it into the water with the others. They'd have a nice string of fish to offer for this evenings meal if they could just get a few more before the sun got too high. "I wish we had proper poles though. Something with a reel would work alot better than these I made."

"A reel?" It took a moment for the light of recognition to pop into Railen's eyes. "Oh...I saw one when we were at your hold. We've never had those here."

Sorsha nodded, "Yeah, and it really takes a technician to make them, it's too complicated for me. Oh well, we're not doing that bad; and it's alot better way to spend the morning than handwriting or embroidery." she added as she picked up her pole again. She laid down on her belly at the edge of the bank and picked up the line of her pole enough to make sure her bait was still there before letting it drop into the water again.

"Practice makes perfect, though." Railen stated with a chuckle as he put more bait on to his own hook. "But yeah, I think I'd much rather be doing this than that. It's a nice break."

"A _very_ nice break." she agreed with a grin as she lazily kicked her feet in the air behind her as she watched her line bob against the current some more.

Last updated on the September 22nd 2008

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Bigger Than Yours