[Igen - PRP] Oh Worm! (for thali)

[TawnyAngel]

1

(kitchen, around a week before the contingent reveal themselves)

It had been a couple of turns since Igen had been abandoned and it showed. Spinners, crawlies, and - most problematically - tunnelsnakes had moved in. It was the latter of these creatures that occupied S'var at present; fire-poker in hand he peered behind the dusty bread kneading trough at the crack the pest had slithered into.

"I know you're in there," he called, ignoring how ridiculous it was to speak to the animal. "Either we do this the easy way, or we do it the hard way!" Soon enough this kitchen would need to serve more than just fifteen riders, there would be a class of weyrlings, their teachers, and support staff - not a full population or even close but enough that they'd need the bread troughs and so the snake had to go.  

[Thaliawen]

“Are you threatening someone, S’var?” Leiya called, before entering the kitchen. She blinked. He had a firepoker in hand but there didn’t seem to be anyone around... Ah. Had he found a trundlebug?

“Maybe it’ll come out if we leave it alone?” She suggested.  

[TawnyAngel]

2

"Ah, Leiya." S'var straightened up and chuckled slightly at the figure he must cut right now. "A tunnelsnake," he gestured with his poker, "I think he must have lived here for a while now, but it's time for him to move on - can't have him biting kitchen staff when they arrive from Fort. I've been after him for an hour but he's outsmarted me so far." S'var eyed the crack again and then smiled at the young rider. "Perhaps he will, would you like to join me for something to drink? I have a kettle boiling for tea, or klah if you prefer."  

[Thaliawen]

“You? No,” she gave him a smile, “it only thinks it has the upper hand.”

Something to drink was tempting. “I would love to join you. Maybe it’ll convince the tunnelsnake that you’ve given up for the time being. We can fill that hole once he’s left it.”  

[TawnyAngel]

3

"Ah, you flatter an old man," S'var replied with clear amusement as he headed over to the now boiling kettle to make tea in his own little pot brought from Telgar, to Monaco Bay, and now here to Igen. Who knew, if he was very lucky it might even travel onward with him to Fort.

"I plan to catch him in a sack and take him away from the Weyr." S'var poured the water over the leaves, watching them carefully as he spoke. "It seems only fair to give the creature a chance, wouldn't you agree? It may not be a very large one, but it's still a chance."  

[Thaliawen]

3

That was much gentler than the threat of the firepoker! Leiya watched S’var with some amusement. “No poker involved,” she teased.

“I agree. It was here first, too. Why should it be interrupted by us?” She shook her head. Who knew how long the tiny creature had been there? “But you know, if it’s been here long it probably knows it’s way back. Probably knows every hiding spot here.”  

[TawnyAngel]

4

"Ah, the poker was to try to nudge him out - not to beat him to death." S'var smiled slightly at the tease as he selected a pair of cups and carried them and the pot over to a table they'd set up within the kitchen. "You may well have a point about him knowing the ins and outs of this place, I might have to get Nemanath to take us some distance away to make sure he doesn't find his way back in. I'm sure there are plenty of caves around the territory that aren't so different to a kitchen cavern."

Thaliawen

 

[Thaliawen]

4

“He’d probably like a cave better,” she said. Bigger, no people to bother him. “You might have to. He won’t know his way back, and then he’ll find somewhere better.” Hopefully with plenty of food so he didn’t get into mischief. Didn’t tunnelsnakes like firelizard eggs?

She’d followed him the table. “Maybe we can bribe him out.”  

[TawnyAngel]

S'var 5

"I'm sure he will like a nice quiet cave better when things start to get busy around here," S'var agreed with a brief glance back towards the snake's hiding place before his gaze returned to Leiya's face. "One day riders will take back all of the northern Weyrs from the 'snakes and spinners, but this is a good start."

The mention of bribery made S'var smile again, and he nodded slightly at the suggestion too. "Perhaps we can, once he's had a bit of time to calm down and relax. I'm sure we can find something around here to tempt a tunnelsnake."  

[Thaliawen]

5

That one day seemed very far off. The plague that had taken over the northern continent made it seem even further away. “We’ve taken the first leap,” she agreed.

“We could offer a wherry egg, maybe.” She suggested.  

[TawnyAngel]

S'var 6

The first leap, yes. It might be a leap into the void but if a good number of Julith's eggs hatched into greens, and if they survived, then it would be worth it even if none of them lived to see it come to pass.

S'var did not say this aloud however, what he said was; "Indeed we have; taking leaps such as that, reaching out to others in hard times, striving against the odds - by those deeds we come to be truly alive, like the riders who have faced Thread throughout our history." If she survived of course Leiya would number among such riders, and he hoped that he and Nemanath too would be able to offer some aid even if not in the main wings by that time.

But, eggs.

"Seldom a bad prospect, I've often been tempted out of my cavern in the morning by the promise of a fresh egg," he said as he carefully poured two cups of tea.  

[Thaliawen]

“Thread seems awfully far away,” Leiya murmured. “But then, I suppose it’s like that for every change. It seems like forever until it happens.” It had before they’d come to Igen, certainly. “I hope our leap isn’t a shot in the dark,” she said. If Julith’s eggs hatched well, it would be worth it.

Back to eggs.

“It might work, it he has the same taste for eggs as you do.”  

[TawnyAngel]

S'var 7

"Quite right, and the older you get the faster things seem to come around despite them having seemed so very far away last you looked." S'var smiled again, but not in an especially happy way this time. "How times does fly," he murmured softly. Va'li, Cor'var, he remembered them both as infants and yet they were gone before he was. Life never was fair.

Eggs.

S'var picked up his cup and took a sip of the hot fragrant tea as he gave Leiya another smile of the same not quite happy calibre as before. "I think he may well be tempted, I'm certain that we've brought richer pickings with us than he's ever seen before. Perhaps I will leave him with a little cache in his new home, an apology for taking over this one." He couldn't do that for every tunnelsnake of course, most of them would simply be exterminated, but he could let this one go and.... Well, that meant something.  

[Thaliawen]

7

“You’re probably right,” Leiya agreed. Turns did seem to go by faster as each went by.

She was quiet for a while and took a sip of her tea. The flavor was lovely and the heat reminded her of home. Igen, at least, didn’t have as much chill as she’d expected.

She was surprised at the offer to appease the tunnelsnake, but gave S’var a smile all the same. “I think he’d appreciate that,” she said. The critter would probably gorge itself in one sitting instead of storing it until it got the hang of eating in its new home, but he’d have food.  

[TawnyAngel]

S'var 8

S'var toasted his cup lightly at Leiya and nodded agreement. "A little bit of compassion goes a long way, even if it isn't appreciated, or understood as the case may be." The tunnelsnake would still try to bite him but not out of any malice, they weren't clever enough to be good or evil - they just were.

"How are you finding Igen so far?" S'var enquired, punctuating the change of course with another sip of tea. "I've visited here many times over the turns, it's strange to see it empty. Have you ever been before?"