A Fading Hope
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 6th March 2006
Characters: Ailyn, Glorvanna, Kethifra
Description: As Ailyn eavesdrops on a conversation between to married refugees,
she realizes that she may never see her husband again.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 11, day 2 of Turn 3
"Do you think there will be more aftershocks, Kethifra?" the young woman asked the crafter's wife next to her.
"I'm really not sure, Glorvanna. I hope not. It would make the clean up all that more difficult," she answered.
They continued in silence a few moments, rocking back and forth along with the cart that carried them off towards the Woodsmith Hall.
"Did you see how the cliff was just... gone?" Glorvanna whispered.
"Yes," Kethifra nodded. "Yes, I was lucky. Bofisal wasn't in his office at the time. If he had..." She suddered slightly at the thought.
"So many people are missing. Do you think there is any chance that anyone is still alive in all that rubble?"
The crafter's wife shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt it."
Clutching her coat tighter around her, Ailyn stirred and glanced up at the woman's words. Her usually bright, cheerful green eyes were dulled with fatigue, bloodshot with dried tears and unceasing worry. Her face was smudged with dirt, her long, dark hair a tangled mess, and her cheeks were streaked with long-dried tears. She couldn't tear her mind away from visions of her husband...as he had been this morning...as he could be now...
No.
Ailyn swallowed hard past the lump in her throat that wouldn't go away. Again she lowered her gaze to her hands. Dark bruises covered the backs of her palms, long scraps ran along her fingers, and pink indentations could still be seen on the inside of her hands. Those were from her own nails.
"You doubt it?" she asked Kethifra, her voice hoarse.
"My dear, did you even _see_ the cliff face? It was as if the whole cliff had come tumbling down into the Hold. It is unrecognizable," Kethifra said with a sad shake of her head. "We can only hope that more of it won't come tumbling down on the men as they search."
"Do you really think that could happen?" Glorvanna asked, her eyes wide with fear.
Kethifra nodded gravely. "It could happen. Not to mention what is left of the building seems highly unstable. The next aftershock could bring the rest of it down."
"But Baethir!" the young woman gasped, her eyes begining to fill with tears.
The older woman put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry. Our men will be safe."
Ailyn looked at them, bitter anger welling inside her - the despair that had already taken root deep within her heart growing. Her hands clenched, her nails digging into the already tender flesh of her palms. **Firon...
Firon...** She chanted his name over and over again, as if just by repeating it he would be at her side, his arm would be around her and he would hold her close, whispering in her ear that she was safe, that he was safe, that they were together...
Her eyes filled with tears. He wasn't there. And he wasn't going to _be_
there. She'd seen with her own eyes the mountain of rubble that had fallen over the cellars...had seen with her own eyes how thick the rocks were, how heavy, how sharp... Ailyn flinched as her mind conjured the image of her beloved, pinned beneath the dark slab of rock, his handsome face twisted in agony as he tried to call out for help as his world caved in around him...
No.
Firon couldn't be... He just couldn't be...
"At least the rain has stopped," Kethifra continued soothingly. "And they are making hot meals for them in the Hall. It's the only kitchen left, I dare say. The men will be cold and hungry when they finish."
"I wouldn't want to be trapped under all that," Glorvanna whispered. "Cold, hungry, alone..."
"But we're not," Kethifra reminded her firmly. "Don't think about it, dear. Don't think of it or we will go mad."
Ailyn's expression was haunted as she turned it on the two women again. You didn't have to be trapped beneath it all to feel cold, hungry, and alone. So alone... She blinked then, and the tears trailed slowly down her grubby cheeks. **Firon. Oh, my love...** Her hands tightened even more as she fought to keep hold of that one, single spark of hope, that somehow they would find him. That he would be all right. That he would come back to her. And then they would start a family together, like they'd always dreamed of doing. And once Firon won his masters knots, they would move out of the Hold and watch their children play in the fields, watch them grow up until they were old enough to have families of their own. And she and Firon....they would grow old together, and they would tease each other about how gray and decrepit they were getting when really they felt no older than there were on the day of their wedding.
More tears filled her eyes, and she looked away. **Firon...**
Last updated on the March 6th 2006