Hunting and Scavenging

Writers: AL, Devin, Cali
Date Posted: 21st February 2010

Characters: F'gol, Meledei, Z'ku
Description: The three friends work on trying to win the scavenger hunt.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 21 of Turn 5

Z'ku

"Okay, let's take a look and see what we've got." Meledei unrolled
the hide and surveyed the writing upon it.

A smooth river rock
An old runner shoe
A string from a gitar
Empty bottle of wine
Piece of wood from a barrel
Fleece from an ovine
Piece of leather
Cord made from a weaver
A child's toy
A bubbly pie
A glow basket
A piece of electrical wire
A piece of unmolded metal

"Part of the rules says we have to stay together, we can't split up."
She reminded them. "What should we try to find first?"

"Maybe we can check the map, and figure out the most likely places
those things would be?" Z'ku suggested. "Then we can plot the best
course."

F'gol looked over the list. "We can get most of that stuff from the
merchants run."

Meledei shook her head. "No, that's another one of the rules, you
can't get anything from the merchants, you have to find it yourself.
They've already warned them not to help scavenger hunters."

"So we need to check the map, to know where the runner stalls are, and
the kitchens, and so on." And if they could plot a logical course,
Z'ku thought they could find the objects fastest.

"Forget the map, let's just go to the closest one. We're wasting time
planning it out." F'gol rolled his eyes. "We're standing on a stone
path, let's look for a river rock."

"I think we have to get closer to the river for an actual river rock.
Why don't we start there?" Meledei slipped her arm into F'gol's and
began to tug him toward the river. "But let's try not to get wet."

"Yes. It's cold enough without that." Z'ku followed them to the river,
where they spread out a little to look for the river rock.

F'gol didn't bother to look. The bronzeboy would find one he was
sure, and this whole hunt was already boring him. He just wanted it
over so he could be alone with Meledei.

The river rock wasn't difficult to find, though they had to dig
through snow to get one. Meledei led them back, cheerful in her
manner as she guided them to the next part on the list. "We should
head to the stables next." She stated as she read off the second
item.

This time Z'ku found the item, an old runner shoe in a pile of
discards. "Got it!"

"Great! Two down!" Meledei tucked the shoe into the bag that had
been given to her to carry the items in, then consulted the list.
"All right, other things come before it, but we're really close to the
smiths. We should get that metal next."

"Hey wait." F'gol grabbed Meledei's arm to stop her progress. "I
think that's a tech girl, let's see if she's got some wire."

The bluerider had spotted a girl in work pants with a dirty satchel
slung over her shoulders like the technicians at the Weyr carried. It
didn't take him long to catch up with her. "Excuse me. You wouldn't
happen to be a technician would you?"

"Why? Did something on your dragon need fixing?" Isily asked with a
laugh.

"No, we're in the scavenger hunt and we need a piece of wire for the
list." F'gol pointed to Meledei who held the evidence.

Isily hadn't realized there was a scavenger hunt. She had to work
during the gather, making sure everything stayed running. She hoped
to catch a few dances towards the end of the night, but it depending
on how the day went. She opened her satchel and pulled out a bundle
of old electrical wiring that had gone bad. She took a small piece
from the group and passed it over to the young bluerider. "Will this
work?"

"That's perfect!" Meledei had come up behind F'gol and brightened
when she saw the wiring. "Thank you very much, miss!" What luck,
that probably had to have saved them a good fifteen minutes of running
around. "We really appreciate it."

"Three down," Z'ku said, smiling. "Onto the metal?"

The metal, fleece, and wood were procured rather easily, and the three
soon found themselves staring at a rack of bubbly pies. "So we can't
buy them?"

Meledei shook her head. "No. We have to do something for them, but
we can't buy them." What, exactly, wasn't detailed on the list.

F'gol went up to the older woman at the stand. He'd sweet talked his
way into bubblies before, this should be no different.

"Don't even bother." the woman said, giving F'gol a cross look. "I
don't do freebies. You've got to give me something of value and you
can't buy it if you want to win your game."

F'gol looked from Meledei to Z'ku then grinned. "How about five
minutes alone with a bronze rider?"

Z'ku scowled at him. "I apologize, ma'am, for my companion's rudeness."

The old woman barked out a laugh. "Don't apologize. That's the most
original trade offer I've had all day! I can't accept though, my
husband wouldn't approve I'm sure."

"What would you like in return?" Meledei asked hoping the woman would
at least give them something definite.

"How about a song then?" F'gol offered. It worked on the kitchen
girls at the Weyr when he was still an apprentice harper. "A favorite
ditty I can drum out perhaps?"

"Aye." she replied with a nod. "Hook and Bay. A good drumming song."

Singing for a bubbly? Z'ku thought maybe it wasn't all that unusual
for a former harper.

F'gol started to tap out the beat on the edge of the stall, letting
his fingers move along until he found the parts in the wood that made
the best sound. Satisfied he started the stately beat, keeping the
tempo as he wracked his brains for all the words.
"Hook and bay
Hook and bay
Life on the sea
There is no other way"

By the time he'd finished all eight versus, his fingers were a bit
sore, and there was a small crowd around the stall. Also in front of
him was the bubbly he'd been promised.

"Come on guys, we can't dawdle." Meledei turned back to the list and
spoke as she let her eyes trace over it. "We still have other things
to get. F'gol, don't you dare eat that bubbly til we get back and
check in!" She grinned, then turned and walked quickly off. She
realized the boys lagged behind, lifted her arm and waved. "Come on
guys, hurry up!"

"You're not carrying a steaming bubbly." F'gol mumbled, but followed
a bit quicker.

Z'ku jogged to catch up, making sure he was a little ahead of F'gol.
"There were a lot of bubblies left. I hope that means we're in the
lead."

"It's a _gather_, dimglow." F'gol growled, happy that Meledei slowed down
enough for him to catch up. "They wouldn't run out."

"Now now, not so testy. Come one guys, let's go, gitar string is next!"
With that, Meledei led them all at a brisk pace. She wanted to win! Even
if she didn't, she was having fun.

Last updated on the March 6th 2010

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Hunting and Scavenging