It's Not That Bad

Writers: AL, Cali
Date Posted: 16th October 2008

Characters: Sorsha, Ri'len
Description: Railen realizes something about himself when Sorsha's in a scary situation.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 12, day 2 of Turn 4

"Now remember, don't be discouraged if there isn't anything in the traps," Sorsha reminded Railen as they walked the runners over to the spot they'd laid their traps the previous day. "I might have to make adjustments to the size or we might have to try another location."

"Hm?" Railen turned back to Sorsha, his mind on something completely different when she had spoken. Her words seemed to sink in after he had said something, however and he nodded. "Oh yes. Sure. I mean, it's the first time we've tried this so I didn't really expect to have an abundance."

He'd been distracted all morning, so she didn't think anything about his lack of attention. She just smiled and dismounted, he would tell her what was bothering him if he felt like it. "An abundance? You have a very positive frame of mind, if we have _any_ I'll call this drop a success."

"Oh." Railen watched her for a moment, then dismounted. The problem was, he wasn't just distracted, but he was distracted by _her_. More so, by what he was feeling. Railen had been feeling stirrings of...of...something. He had been pondering the issue since the day prior, trying to sort things out, to be logical. "You don't think we'll have any?"

Sorsha removed her boots and overdress as before and pulled her bloomers up past her knees so as to not get them wet. "I won't be disappointed if we don't. But I'll be happy to have some fish to bring to the table tonight if we do."

Railen didn't look away like he had before, but he didn't openly stare at Sorsha either. "Fresh fish is good." He offered as he eased his boots off of his feet.

"The river looks up." she noticed as she stepped down towards the river. Where there had been a rocky beach the day before, now there was an inch or so of water lapping again the side of the embankment.

"Well, it rained overnight and rather hard, too." Railen eyed the water. It didn't look swift, but looks could be deceiving. "Hm. Maybe we should wait til tomorrow - maybe it will be down again if it doesn't rain once more."

She took a few steps out into the water and turned back to Railen, "It's not that bad, quit worrying." A few more steps and she had to hike up her bloomers even higher as the water surged over her knees.

The water looked faster once it had something to beat against and Railen closed a good amount of the distance between him and the girl. "Sorsha, let's wait." He repeated, stopping just as his feet entered the water, the liquid swirling around his ankles. "It's not that big of a deal - the fish are in the water, surely they won't die and spoil in a day or two."

Sorsha reached the first of the trap ropes, the water lapping at the cuffs of her bloomers. It annoyed her that they were getting wet, but she ignored it and focused on pulling up the trap. "I'm here, it's not that deep, I'm used to the sea remember."

As she strained to pull up the trap against the current, he ankle rolled on one of the smooth stones the lined the bed. Sorsha grabbed at the rope for balance, but the branch it was attached to bent at her added weight and she fell into the swiftly moving water. She was under only for a second before she broke the surface, and struggled to keep ahold of the rope and find a stable footing.

"Sorsha!" Railen's first impulse was to launch into the water, but to do so could mean both of them getting pulled away by the current that, now that the water was butting up against his body, was obviously swift despite the depth. "Hang on!" He sprang forward, grabbing at the rope and pulling at it. The water pulled back, loathe to give up its prize. It was a tug of war between the river and the young man.

She'd been taught to never take a breath when swamped by a wave, but just as she thought she'd pulled her head up high enough she slipped again and took in a large mouthful. She sputtered and coughed as she pulled herself up, reaching over and gripping Railen's outstretched arm. With him as solid support she was finally able to get her feet under her and stand back up.

Railen didn't seem to trust her footing and he slipped and arm around her, hugging her tightly to him. His heart was pounding against his chest as he eased the two of them fully onto the shore. It was then and only then that he thought about what could have happened. What if she hadn't been able to grab the rope? What if she had gotten hit from some floating debris? These possibilities only made him tighten his hold upon her and not let go as he got her further up the bank. "Are you okay?"

Sorsha coughed and looked down at her soaked and now somewhat muddy underclothes and frowned. "I'm all wet." She coughed again and looked up at Railen, "Thank you. I'm sorry if I scared you, I guess I lost my balance."

"If you hadn't caught that rope..." Railen couldn't finish the words and he felt himself begin to tremble. He drew Sorsha into his embrace even more, hugging her tightly. "Shards, Sorsha, I don't think you realize how close you came to getting swept away!"

"Railen," she cried, her voice muffled against his chest. "I'm okay, really. And you're going to get all wet!"

"I don't care." Railen did ease his hold upon the girl, though he didn't let go. "I'm sorry it's just..."

She coughed again and her throat felt raw. "Come on, we should get back to the hold. We can come back for the traps when the water level drops and we'll try again some place where we can secure the ropes on land." He really was making more of this than was necessary.

The young man nodded though it was another moment before he released his hold upon her. It was almost as if he were afraid the water might reach up and grab her, spiriting her away from him. Slowly, he stood and reached out to help her up. "My cloak is on my runner. You can wrap that around you."

Sorsha nodded as she put her boots back on and secured her overdress to her saddlebag. "Can we walk the runners a bit so I can drip dry some?" The thought of riding with soaking wet bloomers was very unappealing to her, but she knew they couldn't sit out in the sun until she dried, people back at the hold might get worried.

Railen went to his runner and took his clock from where he had rolled it and secured it. He shook it out, then moved back to Sorsha, draping it around her. His arm remained there, drawing her close for a moment more before releasing her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure." Sorsha assured him, her throat was feeling better already, "I was caught in a riptide once. It pulled me out and I almost drowned. This doesn't really even compare." She did realize she was lucky though, if Railen hadn't been there, she might not have been able to steady herself before she lost her grip, and there was rougher water just a little downstream.

The young holder looked doubtful, but he didn't press the issue. "Come on, let's get back to the hold and get you dry and warm."

As they started walking the runners back Sorsha took Railen's hand and gave it a squeeze, "Thanks for worrying about me."

"Why wouldn't I?" Railen squeezed her hand back. "I like you. You're my....you're my best friend." He smiled to her, then offered to take her runner's reins. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

"Oh you'd probably get more work done around the hold if I wasn't always stealing you away for riding lessons... or failed fishing trips." She said lightly. "You're my best friend too you know." She'd had friends at Green Bend, girls mostly, but there was always something distant about them, she didn't have a confidant or someone she wanted spend all her time with. She'd never known what she had missed until she'd met Railen.

Railen smiled, clasping the reins of both runners and began to lead them back to the hold. The whole way there, while they chatted, he stole glances at her. Yes. His best friend. Yet...Railen was still a bit shaky from what had happened. He had not been lying when he had said he wouldn't know what he'd do if something had happened to her. What _would_ he do. The thought of losing Sorsha somehow made a stone drop into his stomach, weighing each of his steps. Shards, no. He couldn't lose her. She had become a part of the hold, a part of him. She had...

It was then he realized, as his throat tightened, that Sorsha was more than just his friend. Losing her would be like losing a piece of him. Worse than an arm or a leg. It would be like losing half his heart. The realization made him almost dizzy. As they finally came to the hold, he sent her inside with his cloak still around her while he took care of the runners.

His parents had planned for him to marry her, but he had a feeling they hadn't foreseen something happening - they hadn't foreseen him falling in love with the very girl they wanted as his wife.

Last updated on the October 17th 2008

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It's Not That Bad