Searching for Terren

Writers: Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 11th February 2022

Characters: R'fal, J'ackt, Aviday
Description: R'fal's father goes missing after the attack at the Hatching
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 17 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Y'gel, N'vanik, R'ayl

J'ackt

Aviday

R'fal trudged up the stairs up to the higher weyrs, telling himself that
the sooner he got his father's situation straightened out with the
Weyrleader, the sooner he'd be back snuggling and being comforted with
Aviday. Assuming he made it through in one piece. There was no way he
wasn't going to be in trouble over this. He had brought his father to
the Weyr and he was responsible for his behaviour.

**I should have kept a better eye on him. I should have said no to those
trips to the tavern...**

All the while he saw the Weyr through Marlath's eyes. The brown was
perched on the cliff heights with some of his wingmates, watching as
dragon after dragon took to the air, carrying hatching guests back to
the Holds and Halls. The sky was darkening and light spilled out from
the Hatching Grounds and the Lower Caverns, while above dragon eyes
glowed yellow and crimson.

For a moment he considered whether it wouldn't be better to leave Terren
in his weyr until morning, when it might be calmer. But no - he couldn't
put it off. It would only get worse, the longer they waited.

"Da?" He pushed open his door. It was dark and shadowy inside, the only
illumination coming from the dim glowbaskets in the corridor outside.
"It's only me." He reached to open the basket on the wall by the door,
then stared at the sight that met his eyes as light filled the weyr.

His press had been opened and clothes were scattered all over the floor,
as if someone had frantically pulled them out and flung them this way
and that, mingling with scattered papers. All the drawers were out of
the small desk where he worked on his dragonhealing studies and reports.
A book he'd borrowed from the infirmary lay at his feet where someone
had thrown it, pages downwards. Stunned, R'fal crouched down and picked
it up, checking for damage.

By contrast, the hooks on the wall where Marlath's straps and his gear
hung looked mostly undisturbed, but his riding jacket and a large bag
were missing.

He tried to think. Had J'ackt come here and ransacked his weyr, looking
for his father, or for evidence? It seemed unlikely. Surely he'd have
been summoned by now if they thought he'd had anything to do with this.
And besides, why would the bronzerider take his jacket?

Slowly, he walked to the desk and reached into the back of the top
drawer, where he kept the small bag of marks he earned from transport
duty and kept there until he could take them to his mother.

Gone.

R'fal turned, bolted from the weyr and sprinted down the corridor to the
stairs, which he took two or three at a time. Down to the lower caverns,
the kitchens - maybe he was there, with his friend, whoever she was. But
when he got there, though he examined every face frantically, his father
was nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse me - have you seen my Da? It's important. He looks a bit like
me, but older... He works here... Have you seen him?" But everywhere he
asked, he was met with blank looks and shaking heads. The staff were
busy, storing away what could be saved from the abandoned feast, brewing
jugs of hot klah for the riders who were returning from transport duty.

Transport duty. R'fal hurried out through the dining hall and out into
the Weyrbowl, a horrible sinking feeling in his belly. An older
bluerider was just coming in and he caught his arm.

"Excuse me, sir. Have you seen a man who looks like me, but older, in
his forties - did you take anyone like that back to their home?"

"No, lad, just an old greybeard and his wife, and two young ladies, back
to Emerald Falls. He your relative?"

But R'fal had already rushed out into the open, running over to where
another dragonpair was about to take flight. "Excuse me - please wait -
do you have a passenger, a man who looks like me..."

***
"So you don't know where he is?" J'ackt's expression had been dark,
almost frightening when he had questioned her. Aviday paced in her
weyr, waiting with a near desperation for R'fal to return to her, but
she'd not seen or heard from him since he'd left her near the Hatching
grounds. She gnawed at her thumbnail, glancing repeatedly out towards
her weyr ledge. She resisted the urge to ask Kobeth to call for
Marlath; surely he would come soon.

Had she done the right thing by telling J'ackt that Terren had spoken
to R'fal? Terren couldn't be found in the Weyr...did that mean that
R'fal had taken him away? She knew he felt responsible for the
horrible man and often felt guilty. Surely R'fal wouldn't go against
the Weyr, but where was he? Why hadn't he come to her?

Aviday felt tears well up as the candlemarks passed and a growing
sense of betrayal set in her chest. **R'fal, what have you done? Are
you a part of this? What did he convince you to do?**

***
It was full dark when Marlath emerged from /between/, calling out his
name anxiously to the watchdragon as he sensed the tension that all the
dragons shared.

R'fal leaned forward in his straps, his heart sinking as they circled.
It was no use. He'd found no-one who remembered taking his father
anywhere. He'd even flown to the tavern Terren favored in desperation,
but the moment he'd set foot in there he'd known dragonriders weren't
welcome. No-one had seen his father but he doubted they'd tell him if
they had.

**We've got to tell someone, Marlath.** Probably J'ackt or the
Weyrleader, although he was tempted to go to Master Y'gel first.

}: What about Kobeth's rider? :{

**Kobeth? Oh, shards - Aviday!** He'd completely forgotten that he'd
promised to meet back at her weyr. His stomach lurched in guilt and
shame. **All right, Marlath, let's go to Kobeth's weyr first. We'll have
to explain.**

Aviday didn't hear Kobeth's reply to Marlath's inquiry; she was curled
up in her bed, closed eyes swollen from anxious tears as she fitfully
slept. The young, normally affable green, was curt, her own mindvoice
revealing the hurt. }: Oh, now you reach out? After Mine has been so
worried? She sleeps now. I am angry at you and yours. :{

Marlath backwinged in surprise and altered his course to head for his
own weyr. }: We are sorry. My rider was looking for his sire. We
couldn't find him anywhere. :{

R'fal clung to his dragon's back through the abrupt change in direction,
confused and alarmed by Kobeth's emotions that Marlath shared with him.
He knew he shouldn't wake Aviday, particularly as her lifemate was so
upset. **Can you please ask her - when her rider wakes - to tell her I'm
sorry, too? I can explain.**

He wondered, as they landed on their ledge, if the green would want to
pass the message on, or if she'd remember it come the morning. Perhaps
he could write a note? He hurried into the weyr in the hope that his Da
would have returned, but found nothing but his ransacked belongings
still lying on the floor. **Where are you, Da? Did you really do this?**

One thing he couldn't put off any longer. Steeling himself, R'fal spoke
to his dragon again. **Marlath, would you please tell Zith that I heard
his rider was looking for my father, and I've been looking too, but I
don't know where he is. If he's not asleep too,** he added hopefully.

}: Mine will be with yours in just a moment. He is tired and has been
quite...occupied this evening.:{ Zith answered Marlath's request, his
own mindvoice oddly tense.

It didn't take long for an exhausted looking J'ackt to reach R'fal's
weyr. His hair was disheveled, his eyes shadowed, and his clothes
marked from what appeared to be a scuffle. Slipping off of Zith's
neck, he announced his presence with a brusque, "I'm here."

R'fal hastily closed the lid on his press, where he'd tossed his clothes
in any which way in an effort to hide the signs that someone had rifled
through them, looking for marks. Maybe it hadn't been his Da. He kicked
the last few scattered papers under his bed and went out to the ledge.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to - " His brow rose at the bronzerider's
appearance. "I heard you were looking for my father. Terren."

J'ackt met R'fal's eyes and his lips thinned. "Yes. I have been. And
then I found out that you were out of the Weyr too." His arms crossed
over his chest, debating on what information to give R'fal. **Zith,
question Marlath. Ask if he and R'fal got him out of the Weyr.**
"Where is he, R'fal?"

"I don't know. I've searched everywhere. The Lower Caverns, the stables,
I asked around, checked with the riders who were taking the guests back
home. I even went to this tavern he likes, out in Emerald Falls
territory..." R'fal ran his fingers through his hair, clearly anxious.
"I last saw him just after we'd finished cleaning up, after the
Hatching. He was worried, so I told him to come here, to my weyr."

}: Did you and your rider carry out his sire from the Weyr? :{ The
questioning from Zith was firm, with a whip of will that the bronze
usually didn't employ outside of fighting Thread.

"Emerald Falls territory..." J'ackt's lips compressed. "And now he's
not here. He's been named as a part of this, R'fal. Planning this. If
you're hiding him or covering for him..."

"No - he was supposed to wait here, we were going to go to the
Weyrleader together once I'd cleaned up. But by the time I got here, he
was gone." R'fal felt the panic rising, forced it down for his dragon's
sake. "My Da wouldn't have anything to do with what happened. He's not
like that, he's happy here at the Weyr. I don't know, maybe he's scared,
he's lying low somewhere."

Marlath hunched down on his couch, his eyes glowing a dull yellow that
spoke of both his rider's unease and the stress of the bronze's
questioning. }: We flew out of the Weyr, but we carried no one with us.
We were searching for that man. We couldn't find him. :{

}: They did not remove him from the Weyr. Marlath's tells the truth.
:{ Zith reported, easing his pressure off of the younger brown, then
sending a soothing mental rumble.

J'ackt relaxed just a little at Zith's proclamation, but faced R'fal
with thinned lips. "Unfortunately, the fact that he's missing is
pretty fecking suspicious, R'fal. He's been named by the woman who
tried poisoning the hatchling you helped to save. N'vanik is going to
want to speak to him...and you. Do you know of anywhere else he would
go?" He didn't mention the attack on R'ayl's family, not yet. He
couldn't fully trust R'fal in this, not if he was protecting his
father in anyway.

R'fal's eyes widened. A _woman_ had tried to poison that poor little
blue? Who would do such a thing? And why would she name his father? It
made no sense.

He bit his lip. He didn't want to drag his mother's family into this,
but... "Only my uncle's farm. But I doubt he'd go there." His father
wasn't stupid; if he was on the run that would be the first place they'd
look, and he wasn't likely to get much sympathy or help from that
quarter. "The tavern I went to, I'm not sure they'd have told me if he
had been there. I don't think they like dragonriders."

Running a hand through his already mussed hair, J'ackt cursed softly.
He couldn't go there himself and he was exhausted. This was something
that N'vanik would have to handle. "I'll inform N'vanik about this.
He'll want to speak to you, so my advice is to not leave the Weyr,
R'fal." He rubbed his eyes. "Stay in your weyr until N'vanik calls for
you." **Zith, let Loseth know.**

"Yes - " The brownrider started to nod, but then his face fell. "Stay in
my weyr? But...Aviday. I was supposed to go to her after I'd dealt with
my father, but I went to look for him instead. Kobeth says she's asleep
now, but when she wakes, I have to apologize." He stared down at the
floor. It sounded unimportant, given what had happened in the Weyr and
his father's problems, but he had to try.

Remembering how upset the young girl had been, J'ackt felt a moment of
pity for the young man, but didn't let it sway him "It'll have to wait.
She's already been questioned but I'll have Zith explain to Kobeth. This
situation is more important than apologizing to your bedmate."

"But she's not just my..." R'fal's voice trailed off as he realised it
was no use. His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yes, Bronzerider."

J'ackt eyed him; he looked almost as exhausted as he felt. "You might
as well get some rest while you can. I don't know when N'vanik will be
calling for you."

"Yes, sir." R'fal watched him go. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead, as
did his heart, but he couldn't imagine he would sleep much this night.
His father was gone and he'd no idea where, or if he was safe. And
tomorrow, he'd have to face the Weyrleader alone.

Last updated on the July 15th 2022

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Searching for Terren