Logs:Lost in the Caverns
| |
|---|
| |
| RL Date: 10 September, 2015 |
| Who: Ellerey, Madilla |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Ellerey is lost; Madilla helps her find her way again. |
| Where: Lower Caverns, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 12, Month 10, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
 |
| Their caravan has been at the Weyr for less than 12 hours, and already the inquisitive, wandering Ellerey is lost within the guts of the Weyr. Surely the tall woman has been at the Weyr before, since it lies along their Turn-ly loop of holds, crafts, and other places they usually trade at. But, "this" time, she's managed to forget her hand-scrawled little map to the wandering tunnels, and thus had to rely on pure memory...which has apparently failed her. Instead of freaking out or wandering aimlessly, however, the crafty caravaner has realized her plight, and now remains in one place, sitting on cool stone while she plays a child's game of jacks. Surely someone will eventually pass and set her on the right path back towards the living cavern. Right? Oh, there are plenty of people coming and going down here, but most are focused on their business: carrying great baskets full of laundry, or walking in pairs or trios as they hurry on their duties. Madilla's unusual, for people wandering down this particular set of corridors, carrying nothing with her and striding through quite alone. She, however, unlike all those others, catches sight of Ellerey as she gets close, and turns to bestow a warm, friendly smile in her direction... even if she hasn't (yet) stopped. Footsteps nearing? The rubber ball and jacks too little for her hand are gathered up and shoved away in a pocket, in favor of a quick and slightly-gawky surge to feet as Ellerey hovers between jogging towards that sound and remaining in place. She'd heard footsteps and voices a half-hour ago, but the acoustic tricks of the tunnels spilled her into...well, "here," where nobody was at. Thankfully, there's a Madilla emerging from the glowlight further up the tunnel, and the trader women finds herself flooded with relief, smiling back at the calm, benevolent-looking lady. "I'm glad "somebody" showed up...and sooner, rather than later." Her slightly husky alto voice carries within it lesser portions of self-condescention and casual humor. "Is everything all right?" Madilla wants to know, her footsteps having immediately come to a halt as she's addressed, brow furrowing in concern. That she doesn't recognise Ellerey is plain; that she at least half-expects to is equally so, though in neither case does it shift that smile from anything but warm and helpful. "Perfectly...if you ignore the fact that I managed to get lost after Turns of passing through this place twice a Turn." There's warmth added to those other hallmarks of slight embarrassment in Ellerey's voice, her eyes twinkling a little as she offers a hint of a bow to the other woman. "I'm Ellerey; part of the caravan that your Weyr's hosting, right now." Pause. "And who do I have to thank for my rescue?" Understanding blossoms across Madilla's expression; she's amused, but not in a way that seems intended to poke fun at the younger woman. "I understand," she's quick to reassure. "It took me a long time to be completely confident with the tunnels. I can show you back to the main caverns." She gestures towards the passage ahead, and adds, then, "Well met, Ellerey. I'm Madilla." Phew; she's been allowed to tag along, instead of rot here. "Well met, Madilla. And thank you." Ellerey might be more polished than the "typical' Trader most people have ideas about, but her easy way of meeting and greeting perhaps shows her lifelong indoctrination into the circle of those many families that cross the globe in search of a mark. "Are you a rider?" is inquired with both polite curiosity and simply out of pleasure at having another genial human near, again, Elle falling into step at the other woman's side. "A rider? No, no." Madilla shakes her head, laughing again as she does so. "I'm a healer, though I've been posted to the Weyr for most of my life." She plainly knows her way through the caverns, directing them around a corner easily, without so much as a moment's pause. "You're passing through late in the turn for traders, aren't you? With the snows coming--" She glances sidelong at the younger woman, thoughtful and curious. "My grandmum's a journeyman Healer," Ellerey notes with pleasant warmth, her face set in curves of fond remembrance as they walk. "Stationed at a minor hold...until she literally ran into my grandfather. She told me it was love at first contusion." Eyes crinkle up just a little in her face with the grin this brings her. There's a pair of quick nods for the Healer's inquiry, the younger woman explaining, "We got a late start this season. More than half the family caught some bug, and we were down for the count for a half-handful of sevens." Beat. "We're only staying a couple of days, instead of the seven-plus we usually do." Madilla's expression suggests positive enchantment for that particular story, something she echoes in her tone when she says, "Oh, how lovely." Contusions and all. But as for that explanation, she's got more of a wrinkle of her nose for that; "I'm sorry to hear it. I hope everyone has recovered now. And that you don't get caught in any weather that's too bad." There's another smile for Madilla's enchantment at the story, Ellerey's features soon gaining some solemnity with the other's word of the season's often cranky weather. "So do we." Puff. "We're in good enough order at some places -- especially Tillek-ways -- along our route that we can hole up with them until things clear up...but we'd prefer to make it back to Boll, if possible." Her words are earnest, but they sound cautious, somewhat pensive, as if she can't quite believe they're even trying to do this. "At least," Madilla supposes, thoughfully, "the weather will get less inclined towards snow and more inclined to simply rain the further south you get... but there are still mountains to get by." She shakes her head, admitting, "I spent a few months in a riding position, but it was summer, and even that... I've never had that kind of wanderlust, and I suspect that's required for such a position. For me... stability and home, that's what matters." "Exactly; rain we can mostly deal with," Ellerey notes with a few more hints of hope in her voice. "Nearly everyone prefers Boll to Tillek in the winter, of course..." "But" is left unstated, lingering at the corners of the trader's mouth. "I guess I have that, now that you mention it," is ventured to Madilla when she speaks of wanderlust. "I think it's a near "must" for Trader-folk." Her reply is easy, voice mostly Bollian-accented, with ample burrs of many other regions Elle's family encounters throughout their extended travels. "Gra'mum brokered a decent deal with the Hall; she was wedded and allowed to keep practicing as long as she faithfully took care of all the cotholds and minor holds that can't yet afford a proper healer along our route." "You've got to have some healers who enjoy that kind of riding post," says Madilla, approvingly. "And to do it in company with others makes more sense, I think, to doing it alone. It can be so lonely, otherwise." She gives Ellerey a side-long glance, turning another corner into what is obviously a much more public part of the weyr as she does. "I know a number of riders who share that wanderlust; they may live here, but travel is... just part of who they are. What's the longest you've ever stayed in one place?" "Takes all kinds, like gra'mum says..." Ellerey murmurs with more ease now that they're off of the worrisome slope of weather versus the traders. "Now that she's starting to get on in Turns, we wonder when she's going to retire. Won't feel right not having a Healer along with us when she does." A soft nibble of the inside of one cheek might show some worry about that upcoming fact. "None of the other younger folk've shown any hint of wanting to follow in her footsteps." And then there's Madilla to the rescue, again, her inquiry helping the young woman move on from this second, more lingering concern. "Oh...around four months, I think. There's been longer periods, but not since I was born." A quirk of her dark head brings brown eyes to the Healer's face once again, and Elle finds herself politely asking back, "What's it like being around all these dragonriders...dragons all the time?" Madilla has obvious sympathy, but no real answer for that concern over Ellerey's grandmother; just a press of her lips and a slow, thoughtful nod. "Four months-- that's all!" It shouldn't be a surprise, surely, but the healer shakes her head nonetheless. "It's-- I don't know; I suppose you get used to it. When I was still an apprentice, I half dreamed of being one myself," is an admission that she seems somewhat rueful about. "But they're just like the rest of us, really, except that they have a dragon in their head. And dragons... you get used to them, too, no matter how huge they are." "It was almost like a vaction, to me," Elle notes of that four months of relative inactivity. "And after about a month and a half, I thought I was going to start pulling my hair out." Grin. "I got put to work on the side wrangling the children and animals when needed. And then I was nearly exhausted by the time my head met the pillow." Never "ever" admit to an adult that you're a bored teen. Quieting to listen to the Healer's thoughts of Weyrfolk, the trader finds herself nodding in easy agreement as they approach the busier part of this tunnel. "I did too, when I was little," is gently confided. "I think most every kid does." She doesn't seem truly sad about losing the dream, however, as her life is full, and seems good to her. Suddenly grinning impishly over at the other woman, Ellerey continues, "I've even got a handful of dragonrides over the Turns. Some of the riders...and the dragons, I guess, don't mind taking a brat or three up to the Rim, or on a quick tour of the skies." Those memories glint brightly in the younger woman's brown eyes, linger in the soft smile on her mouth. "There is... something about dragons," agrees Madilla, her voice soft for the thought, though she seems in no way wistful or full of regret. Now, however, she pauses, gesturing up ahead and adding, "The living caverns are just there... do you think you can find your way? I'd come with you the rest of the way, but I need to collect my daughter." There's a slow, but genuine nod for Madilla, as if Ellerey mulled the other's words over, and found them somehow profound beyond measure. "Oh! Pardon me, ma'am." Grin. "Madilla. Didn't mean to keep you from your little... though you saved my family from hunting me down and me from the horror of having to "live" that down." A slender, callused hand soon lifts to the Healer, and Ellerey's murmuring her warm and earnest, "Clear skies." Nothing like ending their happenstance meet-up on a dragonrider note. "Not at all," promises Madilla, promptly. "I had to come this far anyway. Enjoy the rest of your time here, Ellerey-- and good luck with the trip south." With that, she awards the trader another bright smile, and then turns to weave her way off into a different direction-- towards the nurseries. |
Leave A Comment