Closure

Writers: Emma, Paula
Date Posted: 14th September 2010

Characters: Alrog, Fieayz
Description: Alrog and Fieayz deal with the after effects of the mining accident.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 10, day 6 of Turn 5

Alrog stared the hides in his desk, leaning his head against his hands. He
looked tired and drawn, and been looking that way since the mining accident.

He twirled with his pen. He was trying to write a letter to the Minecraft
hall and ask if they had any journeymen he could hire, hopefully with
families. They need more people to replace the lossess. The lossess. By
the time they had gotten the water out and reached those trapped men, it
had been too late. Even the extra pumps from the hall, brought by
dragonriders, didn't help. They had drowned in a darkness. He shivered.
What an awful way to go. They had tried to dug their way to out, but
without explosives, the walls were just thick. Iron Lake was so small
hold, that he had known those men personally, and their families. Vasmer
left a young wife and baby, Hindit, so young, and his wife.. Rinot, he had
played together with him as a child. Margen, reliable, capable Margen,
left a wife and three childre to cry after him.

Alrog swore and tried to wipe away the tears.

"It's okay," Fieayz told him as she poured her husband a mug of klah from
the jug she had just brought in. "They were your friends."

"Did you know that Margen was Miro's, my brother-in-law's, uncle?" Alrog
asked and accepted the cup with grateful and sad smile. "And Vasmer's wife
is my second cousin? Shards, if you go back the family tree long enough,
we're all connected."

"Can we help them in some way?" Fieayz asked. "Make sure the children are
provided for at least?"

"It's our duty as their holder to provide them. You could visit the widows
and see how they are doing and what they need," Alrog said and suggested.

"Will they talk to me?" she said. "I mean I'm so new here, I hardly know
what to say." She hadn't met that many of the holders yet, and this was
hardly the ideal circumstance to do so. Not to mention she knew she would be
judged by her actions and that it would reflect on Alrog as well.

"If you show caring, why wouldn't they?" Alrog said, although he didn't
sound that sure. They tended to be rather closeknit bunch, and getting in
wasn't always easy.

"They don't know me yet, and this isn't the best time to try to get to know
people. I know what it was like for me when my mother took us to the Weyr,
it was hard to get in with a new group of people. And it was harder still
when I went back to live with Papa again."

"Take one of my sisters with you. They are known by everyone. Alfginna
should come, but getting a word out of her is more painful than pulling out
a wisdom tooth, so take Rolfina or Rogalfia," Alrog suggeted.

"That's an idea." Fieayz agreed with him, at least if conversation dried up
there was someone they knew properly there. "Would it be wrong of me to take
them something? A small gift maybe?"

"Yes, that would be nice gesture," Alrog nodded.

"Perhaps we can find something in the stores that would be appropriate. I'll
ask the Headwoman."

"You do that, and I try to find us more miners," he sighed. "The hold could
house so much more people than we have." What they had was roughly 120
people.

"I'll go find Rolfina then, maybe she can bring the baby too." The baby was
a real charmer, able to get a smile from most people no matter what.

"Trust a child to break the ice," Alrog smiled, he was very fond of his
nephew too.

"He'll do that, no doubt."

"No doupt," he agreed. Alrog smiled at his wife. She was great. "You did
wonderfully, during the accident," he said.

"It was all you, I couldn't have done anything without your help."

"We did it together," Alrog said and that was his ideal for marriage, where
both complemented eacher other, supported each other.

"Now all we have to do is get things back to normal," Fieayz told him. "And
see how many of them ask when it is we'll be starting our family."

"Yes," Alrog managed a dry chuckle. "Life goes on."

"It does."

Alrog squeezed her hand and returned to his letter. It was closure of sorts.
Life would go on and new people would replace those who they had lost. New
generation was growing up, the passed on friends and relatives lived on in
his memories.

Last updated on the September 25th 2010

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Closure