Smoke Alarm

Writers: Devin, Paula
Date Posted: 7th April 2016

Characters: Z'ku, Aishara
Description: Z'ku and Aishara ride a sweep to find the missing Lord Holder.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 5 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Zathris, Benani

Z'ku

Aishara

Z'ku tightened up the last of the straps. "A missing Lord Holder." He
shook his head. "Amber Hills must be in a panic."

"I bet they are," Aishara agreed and checked her straps too. "They
really have had some tough times lately," she vaulted to Ayumith's
back.

"Yes. The poor Lady." Everyone had heard about Benani's kidnapping and
there were whispers about the true horrors she had experienced. Now
her husband was lost at sea.

"Poor hold. Now, where do we start from?" Aishara agreed and asked.
Ayumith fanned her wings, to warm them and to show off. She never missed a change to flirt and show off for the males.

Z'ku pulled out his map and pointed. "We've been assigned this area to
search. I have a visual for where the last team left off." The search
had started along the expected path of the ship and had been widening
from there.

"I'll take the visual from you, we never been to that region," Aishara
replied with a nod.

"All right." Z'ku mounted and in moments they were airborne. He had
Xemroth send the visual of their starting point to Ayumith and then
gave the hand signal for them to /between/. A vast expanse of water
spread below them when they came out of the blackness. A small chain
of rocky outcroppings too small to be properly called islands sat just
ahead of them. It was the only distinct feature around -- possibly for
miles.

}: I can see some sails, :{ Ayumith said, noticing tiny white spots in horizon.

**We're not looking for ships, we're looking for shipwreck,** Aishara
reminded her.
They flew in silence for a moment.

}: You're a strong flier, :{ Ayumith told Xemroth with a flirty tone.

**Stay focused to the task at hand and stop flirting,** Aishara
scolded and thumped her neck to get her attention. Of course, for a
dragon, it was just an affectionate pat.

}:And you are very agile,:{ the bronze complimented, glancing over at
Ayumith before scanning the horizon again.

After looking at nothing but water for almost an hour, Z'ku's eyes
were tired. He slid his goggles up to rub at them.

}:Something there.:{ Xemroth sent him an image, a faint gray smudge in
the distance. Smoke.

Z'ku waved to get Aishara's attention and pointed. His heart beat
faster. Was it a signal fire?

Aishara saw the thin wisp of smoke. }: We need to investigate it, :{
Ayumith relayed her rider's message to Xemroth.
Her pulse quickened. Would they be the ones to find the missing Lord Holder?

A small island came into view. As they got closer, Z'ku watched
through Xemroth's better eyesight. He could make out a small fire on
the beach and two figures sitting near it. Was it them? He signaled
Aishara to land.

When the circled down to land, Aishara saw the ship, small fishing
craft. **That doesn't look like a ship wreck,** she thought. It looked
like the ship had been pulled shore. Still, they needed to check them
out. Ayumith backwinded and landed near the ship.

Already disappointed at the sight of the ship, Z'ku was further
disappointed when the two men hurried over to greet them. They were
definitely not the Lord Holder or any of the missing men.

"Our duty to you, dragonriders. Is there some kind of trouble?" One of
the men asked.

"We're looking for a missing ship and a crew, it's possibly
shipwrecked. Have you seen any sings of it? Floating depris or
something?" Aishara replied and asked. If these men were local
fishcrafters, they might have noticed something. It was worth a try
anyways.

"Do you mean the Lord Holder that went missing in that storm?" the
taller man asked.

"Nah, we haven't seen anything." The shorter man shook his head.
"We'll be sure to send a message if we do."

"Thank you," Z'ku told them, unable to keep the sadness from his tone.
For a moment there, he'd dared to hope they'd found the lost men.

"Thank you," Aishara said too and added a pretty smile. "We do
appreciate you keeping your eyes open."

Z'ku patted Xemroth's neck and turned to Aishara. "Well, let's
continue the search."

Aishara nodded agreement. "Have a nice day," she said to the
fishcrafters and headed back to Ayumith,

Last updated on the April 15th 2016

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Smoke Alarm