River Bluff Revisited

Writers: Chelle, Suzee
Date Posted: 20th October 2010

Characters: D'ale, E'rae
Description: D'ale visits his daughter and sees E'rae.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 5 of Turn 5
Notes: Mentions: K'sedel, G'nir, U'kaiah

D'ale

Drills were over. Dusty, sweaty, and tired, E'rae wondered if it'd be
worth it to get a bath just then or if he might want to eat first. He
was starving. The bluerider stood in the tunnel during the moment
of indecision.

So back to River Bluff he went but luckily this time Lesora was
working and Dalora was with the fosterer when he came to visit. He was
glad for that. It made things less stressful all around. They'd had a
good playtime and he'd brought her back thinking that next time he'd
ask if the three turn old could come to him for a sevenday at Dragonsfall.
He was a bit hesitant about asking the question right now but he'd
find a way to bring it up.

Walking back down the corridor he caught sight of a familiar figure.
"E'rae!" he said.

The bluerider's head came up, caked with sand as it was. He looked awful.
"Aye?" he tried to see with the glows' help.

"It's D'ale." he smiled at the condition of the bluerider. "Haven't seen you
in awhile. Just came back for a little visit. How's things?"

"Oh yeah? Same old same old. Still fighting thread and trying not to die.
You?" E'rae grabbed a cloth from inside his pocket and tried to wipe off
his face so he could see.

"Sounds like my day too." He chuckled. "You wanna get something to eat
and catch up? I"m going to have to get back to Dragonsfall pretty soon."

"Yeah okay." Putting the cloth back in his pocket, he walked with D'ale to
the Dining Cavern. "So is the food over there any better?"

"Oh man," he exclaimed. "You wouldn't believe it. We have a new
candidate that was just searched. She came from the bakercraft hall and

this girl can bake. _The_ best bubby pies and meat pies. They're
always gone the moment she brings out a new tray. Of course I'm going
to miss them if she impresses."

"Meh, it's the meat and tubers that really count. They put hair on your chest."
E'rae walked inside and began filling his plate.

D'ale just laughed and shook his head following E'rae into the dining
hall. The man had his own tastes and that was perfectly fine. "How's
your daughter doing?" he asked as he followed the man into the line.

"She's fine. She does her chores and all during the day as she ought. Not
old enough to apprentice or anything yet. And yours?" The bluerider picked
through the desserts and put one on his plate.

"Oh she's still busy with her wood blocks and stuffed firelizards, and
of course everything has to be tasted, including da." He smiled at the
memory of the little girl trying to stuff her entire fist into her
mouth. "Is yours expressing any preference or talent?"

"Werenn? I don't know...My sister raises her really but she comes with me
sometimes. She'd make a sturdy thing, whatever she did." E'rae didn't really
know to be honest.

D'ale smiled. It was good to see a familiar face even though they
hadn't been close. River Bluff still felt like home. "Oooh they just
brought out some bubbly pies, want me to grab you one?" he asked.

"Aye sure. Marshberry please." Pouring his drink, he arranged his things
and headed to a table with a bit of room.

"Marshberry it is," he said reaching and burning his fingers in the
process. They were worth it he was sure. He juggled the food over to
the table E'rae had found and went back for some juice picking up one
for his friend as well.

E'rae looked at the pie and grinned in anticipation. It had to cool, though,
so he couldn't eat it just yet. Arranging his food and spicing it like
he wanted, he began to cut while he waited for the other rider.

D'ale got back to the table and set the juice in front of E'rae before
sitting himself and digging into his stew.

"Thanks. This is some good herdbeast steak today I tell you what.."
He poured some sauce there to dip.

"It looks great. I may have to go back for some." He dipped a generous
slab of fresh bread into the stew to soak up some gravy before
stuffing it into his mouth. For some reason he hadn't been able to eat
this morning knowing he was coming here and would see Lesora. "Anyone
new in _your_ crosshairs?" he asked

"Me?" He had to think about that. "There was a greenrider there for awhile
but not lately." It had been some time since R'sedel had popped up on his
radar. "And you? I hear Dragonsfall has had some shakeups."

He smiled as he chewed. "You could say that, but every Weyr has its
drama... you would think we were all harpers." He made a face, he was
as bad as the rest and knew it.

"Meh..I stay out of all that. But seriously..is the new guy worth it?"
E'rae wondered about that. If a Weyrleader was a feckup, that was very
bad.

"Hard to say yet," he started. He didn't want to be disloyal or spread
rumors. "I've heard some good and some bad. Only time will tell."

"Old K'sedel managed to hang on again," E'rae remarked.

D'ale tilted his head. "Who can tell why golds choose? But he's
certainly effective." He'd given up long ago trying to guess who of
the bronzeriders would win gold or what color would choose a particular
Candidate.

"Sure is. Like Rukbat. Always around." E'rae smiled, thinking of his
Wingleader. It was good to know what to expect and to trust the man that
led the Wing into Threadfall.

D'ale laughed then raised a cup as a drudge passed by with what looked
to be a fresh pot of klah. "I'm going to have to get going soon," he
said. "Training tomorrow morning early and U'kaiah can be a task
master when it comes to that."

"Faranth help you. We've got exercises and all that in the morning before
the heat comes on. Have fun." E'rae ate quietly, starving after
drills. He almost
forgot that he was dirty.

He sat back with his fresh klah and the bubbly pie to finish after the
stew. He felt warm and full and in friendly company. "He's a good
wingleader and the wing is better for the drills. At least I know that
when we're flying thread my wingman has my back." He smiled. He'd been
a wingsecond at one time and even helped U'kaiah plan some of the
drills he was still using. "Shards you need a bath." he said with a
chuckle.

Making a show of sniffing, E'rae frowned. "Yeah...quite ripe. Well I'll
leave you to it. Gotta go get my carcass clean." He left his dirty dishes for
the drudges to gather then rose and left, waving as he went.

Last updated on the November 7th 2010

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River Bluff Revisited