Day 11 - morning

Dolfis waited patiently near the warrenlady's office.  He wanted to get going and get the new mast for his ship.  Tara was not overly happy with him being here, however much she felt she owed him this chance, and there was no sense in pushing his luck.  As he waited, he heard a dragon's bugling cry and then noticed a bright pink dragon soar over the waters off Jasra's coast.  Several other dragons - of many colors - shot after her. 

"Captain?"

He turned from his musings to see a young lady, dressed in riding gear.  She was a slight blonde with a friendly face.  He couldn't help but smile in return.

"That's me, young lady.  How can I help you?"

"I'm Darlea, the warrenlady's courier.  We were to be going to look for a mast?"

"That's right.  Is there a problem?"

"Oh, I hope not.  It's just that we'll be a little late getting started.  Tara asked that we take Ghost and her dragon Kikeane along, but Kiki rose to mate this morning...so they might be a while."

Dolfis frowned momentarily in thought.  Mating flight? Had that been what he'd seen?  Half-remembered stories of what went on in the warren broke through the surface of his thoughts.  His eyes opened wide in shock and then he chuckled.

"Well, wouldn't want to interrupt her then.  I'll go work on the ship if you'll come and get me when you two are ready?"

Darlea nodded and Dolfis headed down the beach toward the Marquesa.  He could see a fairly large crowd of men working at various jobs around the listing ship.  He stopped a ways back to simply watch.  He could just make out two brightly colored shapes in the water, that looked like dragons.  The green one blew out a gust of steam, making the men on the ship jump backwards in alarm.  Dolfis chuckled softly.  It was good for his men to stay on their toes.

He settled down into the sand, enjoying the sight of others working far harder than himself.  As he sat there, his thoughts drifted north along the coast to Cabral.  He was so close - and yet, a chasm still separated him from home.  Idly, he found himself wondering if it wouldn't be worth it to try once more.  He sighed.  There was no way to even know if she still lived.  He'd failed finding her once...who knew what had happened to her since? He rubbed his temples, trying to suppress a wave of sadness.  He'd failed her, what could he say to her now - even if he did find her?

"Long time no see, old friend."

Dolfis slewed around to see Darcron the trader standing just to one side.  Dolfis chuckled sourly.   

"Long time indeed.  Trading around here now?"

"Ayup.  Got some Marrid red for sale..."  Darcron's voice trailed off invitingly.

"Well, I'm more in the market for some information."

Darcron shook his head sadly.  "Dolf, I'm sorry.  If the girl's alive, she's not in Cabral. I know how much it means to you."

Dolfis nodded.  "I know you do - and thanks.  So, I guess one bottle would be nice."

 Dolfis handed over the coins and waited for Darcron to hand over the bottle.  "So, trader-man, what have you been up to?"

{{Tag, Barb!}}

******
<snip>
Corwin nodded in understanding."At least you don't have to replace the
mizzen, too." He looked around at the deck, "The rigging has all been
cleared away, and it shouldn't take long to get that mast up -- not with
dragon's help."

"I can see that!" Griffen replied as he noticed that the men were already
hauling the ropes up the sides. Things moved quickly with the two
seadragons helping and soon the vessel was being towed to shore.

<end snip>

Suddenly, the Marquesa listed to one side.  And then, with a lurch, she heaved over towards the other side and drifted slightly back out to sea.  From where he was sitting on the beach, Dolfis leapt to his feet and started off toward his ship.  What the hell was going on?

On the beach, struggling with ropes suddenly gone slack - instead of tautly pulling the ship to shore - Griffin peered towards the ship.  They'd been working there all day, if there was a hidden reef or sandbar, he should have noticed it.  

"Corwin!" He called out.  "What the hell is going on?"

Corwin was atop the mast, trying to direct the incline efforts, when the ship began to lurch.  After the first side-to-side movement, there was a pause.  He waited, peering into the waves, but saw Syngnath grip the rope he had apparently lost. Nodding in satisfaction that the problem was taken care of, Corwin turned back to direct those on shore when the ship gave another lurch - back and forth - followed by another and then another.

<Sy?  What's going on?>

Below the water's surface, Khamorray gave another hearty tug - well, as hearty as a day old hatchling could manage - to the rope.  The ship gave another bobble, making pretty shadows dance under the water.  Irritably, Syngnath tugged back and Khamorray chortled gleefully.

<This is fun!>

<Khamorray,> Syngnath began sternly.  <We are to pull the boat-thing the other way.>

Khamorray ignored his fellow seadragon and continued his game of tug-o-war.  Syngnath swam back under the ship to Khamorray's side, intent on bringing his little partner in line when he saw...her.

She was a beautiful shimmering mix of blues and greens - like Khamorray, but altogether different in a special way.  The pink frill along her neckline was radiant in the sparkling waves.  A female - of HIS kind.  Syngnath flicked his tail and grabbed the rope to tug the boat-thing into shore, intent on impressing the female.  He failed to notice that Khamorray had wrapped part of the rope around himself for a better tug.

<Ouch.  Syngnath, help me!>

Syngnath looked back to see Khamorray trussed up neatly.  Giggling somewhat, he began to tug at the ropes to get his partner free.

On the surface, things were less amusing.  With the various tugs on the rope, the Marquesa was yanked side to side.  Atop the mast, Corwin could feel the movement all too well.  He'd been a sailor most of his life and had been on many a tossing sea, but this - this was simply too much.  His stomach lurched, roiled and finally turned inside out.  There was nothing Corwin could do.  He leaned out over the waves - in consideration for the crew on the decks - and spewed.  Sadly, with training over for today, many of the new riders had hurried down to the beach to watch ship repairs. G'ret, eagerly interested in what was happening on the ship - but without awareness enough to stay back - stepped forward to see - and directly under Corwin's missile.

{Tag guys - have fun!}

*****
Dolfis nervously swung up aboard Kikeane.  He was actually going to ride aboard a dragon!  He stifled a sense of embarrassment that the dragon in question was a brilliant pink.  His heart leapt - followed quickly by his stomach - as the great beast surged upward.  He watched as the green dragon that the courier rode soared upwards and then, with no further warning, the scene changed from the sky above the warren to the sky above a forest.  He shook his head in amazement.  

They circled above the forest for a while, trying to locate the best spot.  Once they landed, Dolfis slipped quickly off Kikeane.  He still admired dragons, but he'd rather have something other than air underneath him.  He gave a quick sideways glance at Ghost, Kikeane's rider.  She had quietly shaken his hand when introduced and said no more, though the look she gave him was sharp and shrewd.  He supposed he hadn't covered his shock at seeing her well enough.  She looked no more than a child. Still, he reminded himself, the warren knew its business best.  He turned to hunt down a proper mast. 

.....

It took several hoursto find just the right tree to use as a mast.  During that time Ghost had said little, but had watched much.  Dolfis definitely got the impression that she didn't miss much.  He'd also begun to think perhaps she was older than she looked.  However,  he had an axe in his hand and now was not the time to pay attention to pretty girls. 

........

They returned to the warren late - too late to do more than set the mast on the beach next to the ship.  That whole job would have to wait until tomorrow.  Dolfis swore.  He hated being this close to Cabral - it was just tempting fate.  Not to mention tempting him to go back and try and find her one more time.   He steeled himself against temptation and headed for the dining hall.

He was surprised to find the dining hall set up as some sort of courtroom.  Then he noticed the sailors under guard in one corner of the room.  He smiled and pulled up a seat.  He would gladly see those scum punished - they gave all seamen a bad name.

________________

Katrina

Kris, Barb - feel free to flesh out mast-hunting, if you like.