There's monster out there

Writers: Chelle, Paula, Suzee
Date Posted: 8th May 2014

Characters: Jylanya, Milga, Veerona
Description: Milga has a sleep over with Jylanya and Veroona but they can't tell the girl why.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 6, day 11 of Turn 7
Notes: Follows "Nightly Assault". There should be post between that and
this, but Ames had her baby so it's unlike to be ever finished.
Mentioned: Famell, Naton

Jylanya

After Famell left, Milga sat huddling in the infirmary cot. Olwinna
watched her with concern. She had been called here from Weyr after Milga
refused to let a male healer touch her. A rather intimate exam had been
nessesary, to ensure she was all right.
"Do your parents life here? So you could go
to them?" the healer asked. Milga needes a place she felt safe, place
where she was surrounded with people who cared for her.

"No. they live in a island hold far away," Milga replied with miserable
voice.

Olwinna sat next to her and hugged her. "Do you have anybody here?
Perhaps older dolphineer you feel close with?" ... and prefertably
female one, since Milga was wary of men right now.

"There's Jylanya, she's the Headwoman," Milga sniffed.

"Sounds good, I'll call her here."

When Jylanya had been summoned there was little information given her
so she was puzzled when she arrived. "What's going on here," she asked
as she came into the room.

"Milga here was assaulted by a man who tried to rape her. She escaped
unscatched but she's shocked and frightened," Olwinna explained
briefly. "She needs a place she feels safe and the dorm isn't it."

"Oh no," Jylanya slipped an arm around the girl. "Want to come to my
rooms," she asked softly.

"Yes, please, can I?" Milga asked and leaned to Jylanya.

"Of course you can dear," she felt badly for the poor girl. Not only
that but she had her own measure of fear for any of their apprentices
venturing out of the hall after dark. She was going to have to talk to
Famell about hiring some more guards.

Her other arm went around the girl as well. She'd always had a special
spot in her heart for Milga. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

Meanwhile in the quarters, Veerona was hastily rearranging her stuffies.
They were not in the proper order or in the proper clothing. Sighing, she
fussed
at them some more before turning her head when she heard a noise. Forgetting
about the toys, she went to investigate.

Milga shook her head as an answer to Jylanya's question.

"I've given her mild sedative and pain killers for menstrual cramps.
She might feel sleepy," Olwinna told the Headwoman. "If she wants to
cry, let her, if she wants to talk, listen to her. If she wants to
went anger, let her as long as she doesn't harm herself or others,"
the healer instructed. Any emotional reaction was better than hiding
in inside where the trauma could fester and develop into mental
problem.

"Come on then dear," Jylana nodded to the healer but didn't take her

arm from around Milga's shoulders as she guided her out of the room
and down the corridor to her own quarters. "You're not going to be
alone tonight," she said as she opened the door.

When the noise turned into the door opening, she turned around and saw
Jylanya and Milga. Her face lit up. "Oh is Milga staying over? Really?" And
then she noticed the sad look on Milga's face. Wanting to cheer her up, she
walked forward. "Do you feel sick? Maybe...I'll give you a stuffie to hold
okay?
One of the best ones?" She ran to get it.

"Yes, I'm coming for a sleep over," Milga said, mostly to Vee's back.
She forced a smile to her face, not wanting to expose the little girl
to all _this_.

Jylanya's lips twisted into a soft smile. It was just like Vee to offer

her best toys to help someone else feel better. "Do you want something
to drink?" She brushed some hair behind Milga's ear.

It took some time but she returned and handed over the animal to Milga.
It looked like a dolphin of course. Veerona idolized shipfish much more than
she did dragons or any other animal. "Sleepovers are fun. Do you want to
play
a game? Or maybe Lany can tell a story." She looked hopeful.

Milga shook her head in answer to Jylanya's question. She accepted the
toy from Vee and hugged it against her chest. "Thank you Vee. You
know, I have almost similar when I was your age," she said. She
suddenly missed her family and old home on Caldera Island. She didn't
know what she was supposed to feel now. All emotions were churning
inside her and she didn't know where to start unraveling them. "Vee,
promise me one thing," she looked the little girl seriously. "Never,
_ever_ go out alone after dark," her voice was very emphatic and
contained barely hidden fear.

Veerona had never done that before and would never think about it, but
she picked up on the fear behind Milga's statement and saw it in the
look of her eyes. She didn't understand why and it scared her. "Why?
Did a monster get you?" She whispered, fearful that maybe it would get
Naton or someone else out
there.

"Almost," Milga said with whispered tone.

"But our Milga was very brave," Jylanya tried to smile encouragingly
at the teenager. "Vee, do you think Milga can stay with us for a few
nights? Maybe in your other bed?"

"Sure. Okay. I don't have any monsters in my room. No big dragons trying to
grab me up." After the hurricane, that was Vee's idea of a monster.

Jylanya pressed her lips together to stop from smiling and turned to
the kitchen to retrieve some cookies and juice for the girls. Bringing
it out she put it on the table and sat down. "Want some cookies," she
asked. Maybe changing the subject and making things seem like a normal
night could help Milga regain some stability.

"Vee, dragons aren't monsters," Milga said. It was the people who were
monsters. "Sure, I could take some," she answered to Jylanya. Suddenly,
she was craving for sugar. Her body had used lot of energy.

"Are too when they rip you up into the sky and then take you away from your
home and don't take you back." Her mouth turned into a thin line when
she thought
of how scared she had been that day. "Anyways, yeah I wanna cookie?" She
looked
hopeful.

"They saved you from hurricane and that same storm prevented taking
them back here straight away," Milga explained patiently. At least Vee
was providing welcome distraction and got her mind off from her ordeal.

"it was very dangerous for them to come for you Vee," she'd tried to
explain it to the girl before but couldn't seem to get through.
Perhaps Milga could and maybe just maybe help her get through her own
troubles by helping someone else through theirs. She brought the
plate of fresh cookies out from her little kitchen and set them on the
table with a small pitcher of cold milk.

"If dragons can just go through between like that, then it wouldn't have
been
hard for them to bring me home. Instead I had to stay in that awful
stupid place."
She didn't want to admit to the fact that she had been so scared and
she didn't know anyone there and that was what she hated about it.

"But dragons have to /between/ to _somewhere_ Vee," Jylanya said. "And
we don't have a place big enough inside the Hall so they'd be out of
the big winds. Do you remember where you were after they /betweened/?
You were in the giant hatching cavern weren't you?"

"Dunno. We was in the black then we was at the Weyr. The black was so cold
and scary and I couldn't see nothing." Indeed, she hadn't liked that not at
all.

Milga hugged her. "Just stay inside after dark and when storm's coming, so
you won't have to go thru it again."

Veerona cheerfully hugged Milga back, thinking this was so much fun. It was
kinda like having a sister sometimes. Reaching for a cookie, she handed
another
to her. "No worries, I don't go outside much anymore anyway." Indeed, since
the
incident, she had stayed close to Jylanya.

"I know the feeling," Milga murmured and snatched a cookie.

Last updated on the June 2nd 2014

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There's monster out there