Plop! [Tags: Teylarrin and the Brat Pack!]

The Brat Pack was out in force on a night like tonight. Parents were focused on the festivities now in full swing, having allowed children to dine earlier in the evening while final preparations for the Masquerade were being made.

Thus, Oryan had come to one mouth of the Weyr. He was followed by many of the other younger children, whereas some of the Pack's older members had gone to try to sneak peeks at the Masquerade event.

Oryan however, had little interest in the party, because it was all just for grown ups, so he'd encouraged the rest of them to play outside and sneak around. Of course, he'd been playing it cool with a new ball he'd acquired, practicing how best to kick it the furthest. The other kids had tried too, but Oryan had been hogging the ball all week, just to practice. Later he'd be good at it and be able to show off to everyone.

Tossing the ball onto the ground, the boy ran after it where it fell, kicking the ball ahead of him. They all chased eachother in that general direction until they came to the west side of the Weyr Bowl, bordering the lake. There, one of the other boys stole the ball from under him, and once he'd rolled it far enough out of Oryan's reach, gave it a good kick. Unfortunately for them all, the ball hurtled through the air, plopping a short distance out into the water. Every head followed after it's trajectory, taking on fearsome expressions when it landed, bobbing shallowly in place, once it resurfaced.



"Awww! What'd you kick the ball out there for?" Oryan's face shriveled into one of displeasure, and without much hesitation, reached his hands up to shove the other boy into the dirt.

"Now we can't play with it. We can't go in the lake by ourselves." At least that's what the adults always said -in their precautionary way. Not to mention, it was dark outside, but for the light of Pern's moons, and though it was enough to play outside by, the water was still dark and scary-looking.

Looking out over the water a bit helplessly, Oryan gulped nervously just thinking about swimming out there to try to retrieve the ball from where it was barely visible at the surface.

Dyseus was not at all thrilled about the latest game. He was not an athlete. He also did not appreciate the way the other boys rough housed. The youth was nothing like his cousin/brother/not twin. He was never far from Oryan though, typically making sure his brother from another mother wasn't getting himself in too deep.

When one of the boys kicked the ball into the water, he saw first hand how irritated his brother could get. Really? He was resorting to being physically violent over a ball. Weren't there more important things to be concerned about. Like the fact that they almost hit the poor young woman sitting there.

When they all seemed more concerned about how to retrieve the ball, he went and sat down, far from the water's edge. "I wouldn't go in there right now if you gave me a thousand marks." He had heard enough stories of other kids drowning at night. Morons.

Then he heard a younger girl speak up behind him. "Yeah, you'd be smart not to. Children die in that water on dark nights like this. No one knows for sure why. I say something lives in there. Something that sucks the air right out of your lungs and leaves you there floating on the surface until someone finds you in the morning, dead." Seirsha came up behind Dyseus and stood closer to the lake. Looking out over the vast rippling darkness.

"Oh. Hello!" She said to the older girl, smiling. "Why aren't you at the party? You are old enough to go..." Unlike her, not that she wanted to get all dolled up. She just wanted to sneak off with some of the pies.

Oryan found himself staring blanking at the girl he'd never seen before. Her appearance took his attention from the boy who'd kicked his ball into the lake, determining whether or not she was speaking to him, or the group as a whole -seeing as all the other Brat Pack members circled about, at about the same time.

"Uh.. Hi." It wasn't a necessarily enthusiastic hello, but the final note in his tone suggested curiosity over anything else; so at least he wasn't dismissing the girl entirely. 

He might have gone on after a moment's pause, not quite bold enough around the new girl -who also looked to be a bit older than he- to just go starting up a conversation. But apparently Seirsha had that covered for them. Of course, he knew that girls never could keep their mouths shut, so it was only expected. However, even after pretending not to hear Seirsha's story about how people floated on the water when they died, he was in fact a little grateful that she'd spoken up. He'd let her talk to the new girl and theeeennnn he'd decide if this newcomer -with an incredibly strange accent- was worth befriending, himself.

Anyway, maybe Seirsha would be a better friend for her than he would be. Girls were a little questionable.

It may have taken Seirsha a little longer than intended to understand the older girl's words. Something about not being the best fit and rich people. Well she supposed the Weyr did appear to be wealthy in comparison to small cotholds. People from those places would have no need of finery. "If you become a rider you'll have to wear nice things and go to parties too." Seirsha said but shrugged. "I don't like dresses."

Dyseus snickered at that but didn't say anything. Seirsha was like an anti-girl, most of the time. No boy was ever going to want to take her out in a dress anyway. She might as well get used to not wearing dresses now.

Ignoring the boys for the most part because they were being like the complete opposite of help, "Well that is the mystery, isn't it?" She said, gravely.

"No one knows when it arrived or how it got here. I heard one story which says the creature is like a mutant wher, living under water, luring people in so that it can kill them and suck out the good parts of them through their nose."

Dyseus paled and gulped. Really? Was she serious? Oh Faranth, something was in that LAKE!!! He was never going in there again. EVER. Not at night anyway.

"It makes sense, since the bodies are lighter, they then float to the top of the lake. The creature doesn't like daylight, so the lake during the day its safe, but at night, all bets are off. It might be watching us now from the bottom of the lake."

Oryan found it hard to understand the new girl, who now went back to sitting as she had been, but the more she spoke, the more of a curiosity she became to him. He became distracted though, as Siersha went on about her story.

An old rotted Wher in the bottom of the Lake? Unlikely.

Well... mostly unlikely. Though Siersha was older than him, and she was probably knew more than him, so it might be true.

Looking back out over the dark waters, Oryan considered his options. He just wanted his ball back. And someone had to get it. Obviously Siersha and his brother/cousin were too afraid to do it, and the new girl wasn't making any offers to help -not to mention it was his ball anyway...


Stepping forward, the boy thought he'd just go in the water to get it, himself...So, taking off his shoes, Oryan began traipsing right into the lake.

Watching in dismay as Oryan walked closer to the edge, he couldn't find the voice to tell his brother to come out of the water. He paled visibly and was only too glad that someone had warned Oryan not to go in there. Even if he didn't quite understand what the girl was saying, he knew what she meant regardless. Not all language was limited to vocabulary.

"The ball moved!!!!" He said, fear clear in his voice.

Seirsha was also watching the scene unfold. "Oryan, listen to reason..."

Watching the Candidate try to pull Oryan back. "She is right, you might as well wait for someone who is bigger, stronger, more capable..." Yea, she was totally egging him on by her words rather than dissuading.

"Besides your brother might die if you go in there." Payback was a bitch, he should get used to it. Seirsha winked at Dyseus, who glowered in response.

At first a little unsure of quite what to do, himself, Oryan froze in his tracks, standing now about waist deep in the water. 

Of all their pleas, Seirsha's stood out to him the most, and the new girl's he could hardly understand, and at a time like this, could hardly focus on her speech enough to make out everything she was saying. Though, he did also hear 'it'll eat ya', amoungst all the clamor of their raised voices.

Still motionless for a moment longer, the boy thought that if he backed down now, they'd all come away from this thinking that he was just a wimp. It would be to his deep disgrace. Then again, if something did happen... if that monster really did try to eat him... they'd all be in a lot of trouble later. 

Thinking about some of the adults he knew -one strong rider in particular, who'd become his idol- the boy thought how to be just as strong as that image he held in his mind. Dragonriders weren't afraid of anything. And Oryan was bound and determined to be a dragonrider one day! But just as he was about to steel his nerve in order to make another move for the ball, that expression of bravery there upon his face, the unseen force beneath the water nudged the ball again. 

The ball rolled along the surface of the water, edging closer to him. 

And then again it moved, only this time, there was seen the movement of something else beside it.

Fear rising to unimaginable heights, Oryan's first instinct was to turn and dart away from it! Which he did. The boy flailed with his arms, making his way as quickly as he could from the scary blackness that harboured such a frightening thing.

Not looking behind him, Oryan tripped to his hands and knees, crawling the rest of the way, to be beside his brother/ cousin. It wasn't until he'd neared the others that he turned himself around to sit on his rump in the grass, looking back over the water, wondering if he was being pursued. 

When the ball stopped moving again, he managed a breathless, "That was close! Did you see it? What was it? It almost got me!"



[sorry i can't help but laugh at the brother/ cousin relationship between Oryan and Dyseus. it's more hick than Tey Tey is  ]

Teylarrin could not believe the boy was actually going to go after the ball.  Sure, kids loved toys but some times it was just not worth the risk.  Times like these.  She would not have gone in there.  Nevermind the fact that she did not know how deep the pool was and that she would probably drown because she could not swim.  She would not go in there because there was a vile creature hiding innocuously beneath the waves.  She understood what it was like to be one of the poor kids but she had never gotten to the point where she was willing to throw her life away for a ball.  Come on, now!  That was ludicrous.

  When the ball moved Tey-Tey went rigid.  Everyone knew that Lake Whers could not see you if you were still.  They could not see you if you were still, right?  That was what her Uncle Papi had always said.  Maybe.  It was hard to understand him without his teeth in.

  Teylarrin remained silent and stiff until Oryan land it land to the shore.  Then she scrambled over on hands and knees.  "Wud'er ya doin'?" she exclaimed in a whisper that was not at all quiet.  "Th' Leg Wher dun near gots ya!"




((There.  Fixed that for you.  Tey-Tey is the hickiest of them all! (^_~)  ))

Dyseus almost ran after his sibling/cousin but he decided the better of that idea. Safe outside the water just in case something happened. If the creature got Oryan would a stupid ball be enough to justify his death. Sometimes the other boy's actions boggled his mind.

When he saw something move, he screamed. "ORYAN!" He ran to the edge of the water, still too nervous to actually go in. Then he went back up to higher ground out of fear, till his brother came up to him. "YOU MORON!" He made to punch his brother in the arm, whether it hit its target or not was beside the point. "Why did you think that would be a good idea? You could have died!"

Seirsha hearing all the concern in both Teylarrin's voice and Dyseus. Oh and the oaf had to go and scream. Moron, look who was calling who a moron. "Dyseus, shut up." He sounded like a right old mother hen the way he clucked around and got all tore up over nothing.

"If you are loud you'll attract it. Really." Boys were such big babies. She would have to do this herself.

"Almost got caught by the lake wher. You know I'm a faster swimmer. I should have gone in the first time." She said, walking toward the edge. "I'll get the ball for you." Shaking her head and muttering under her breath about how there was no way there was a real lake wher. It was just a story. She liked stories and constantly felt compelled to tell them, even if there was a hint of truth behind this one, there was no way it was still alive in there with all the dragons that came through.

She waded in quickly and began to swim towards the ball.

So scared was he, that Oryan hardly felt his brother/cousin's punch, when the fist landed. Instead, his wide eyes were focused out over the water where the ball was still at.

It wasn't long though, until a defiant gaze settled on Dyseus. "I can swim well enough!" The boy didn't like his brother/cousin asserting that he wasn't perfectly capable of getting the ball if he really wanted to -if there wasn't a deadly creature in the lake. And hey... for all it was worth, HE had been the one to wade out there to try and get the ball in the first place.

Looking back to Siersha then, he wondered at her sudden bravery, and if perhaps his own first attempt, had been enough to inspire her to prove she was just better than them, because she was older.

Anyway, he huffed silently to himself, getting back to his feet, feeling the chill of the night air on him, now that he was soaking wet.

Knowing anything that he said would never be enough to stop Siersha, as stubborn as she was -as stubborn as any of the rest of them- Oryan looked to Tylarrin and jerked his head in Siersha's direction. "Well, aren't you gonna try to stop her, too?" If the monster could'a got him, it could get Siersha, as well.

Dyseus didn’t care if he was ignored, so long as Oryan was safe. “Don’t encourage…” But he didn’t say it soon enough because although his brother meant to say she wasn’t any better of a swimmer than he was, it was really just a chance for the girl to prove she was. At eleven she really wasn’t THAT much older than them but girls did seem to age faster in some ways.

“Let her die. The Lake wher will be preoccupied and won’t care what happens to us.” He suggested but it seemed the strange newcomer had other ideas. He watched in shock as the tiny, scrawny young teen lifted the taller girl onto her shoulder and ran off, making a very annoying high pitched sound. “Make her stop…” He meant the noise, not necessarily the saving of Seirsha.

Seirsha gasped when she felt the other girl grab her, causing her to breath in water. Her throat and lungs contricted and she felt herself desperately trying to intake air while at the same time expel the water in her lungs. The fact that the smaller girl had slung her over her shoulder was crazy enough that she didn’t really have a lot of time to respond. Coughing the water up took away more time from planning her escape from the screaming banshee’s arms. It seemed she was stuck there. Though she sort of wondered just how hard it would be to get the other girl to let go.

Then she went running around with the much taller weyrbrat on her shoulder. UGH! What in the name of little green dragons was she doing! “LET GO!” She said trying to wriggle her way off of the teenafer’s shoulder. Her voice came out raspy. “Put me down…”

Nothing seemed to be getting through, do to the sound coming out of Teylarrin’s mouth. “Or at the very least SHUT UP!” No doubt the other girl would get tired sooner or later. Preferably sooner! “STOP IT!!!!” Mumbling, “I’m going to go deaf if she keeps this up.” Where were the boys?! They should be helping to stop the crazy candidate.


((OOC: Marc...just for future reference that would be considered power playing since you did not give the other rper a chance for their character's reaction. Next time maybe just tweak it to say "Teylarrin went to snatch Seirsha from the water..." And then give the other person a chance to reply. If you ever want to power play like that, its not a problem per-say but just ask the other rper if they are okay with it. Thanks ))

Even though he was still more distracted by his fear of the lake creature, he couldn't help but stare back at his brother/cousin in shock as he seemed to have no concern as to whether or not Siersha made it out alive.

"Are you crazy? Then we'll have a Siersha monster haunting the lake instead of a rotted Wher. Which would you rather have? You know if we let her die, she'll come back!" They had to stop her!


Not long after though, Oryan stood, a little dumbfounded, when the new girl (Tey) pulled Siersha from the water, trying to keep her from certain doom.
Of course, when Teylarrin tried dashing away from the lake with the other girl in tow, he could only look back to his brother/ cousin in curiosity; wondering what they they should do. After all, his ball was still in the lake, and now part of their party was headed in the other direction.

With a frustrated growl, the brat pack boy seemed to have forgotten his fear about the lake monster, at least for the time, because he turned his back to the water then, to chase after the girls. "Hey! Wait! We have to get my ball back!"





[BTW, idea. a Rider should happen nearby.. or his dragon having warned him about some ruckus by the lake, and come and get the ball for them. Maybe someone the Brat Pack idolizes, or someone Siersha has a little girl crush on. haha. That way they can oogle over the sheeeeeer BRAVERY! lol "whhhooooaa, dragonriders are SO KEWL!"]

    Teylarrin paid no mind to whatever it was that her cargo was uttering.  It was not as if she could make out Seirsha was saying anyway.  She was far too occupied by her own panic and the sound-canceling effects of her squealing. Teylarrin paid equal attention to the lagging masquerade-goers who were just now on their way to the party.  She ran passed them as if they were not in the passage at all.

   She squeed all of the way back to the Candidate Barracks.  She dashed passed the first row of bunks and beyond the second row before curving in amidst the third.  She dumped Seirsha unceremoniously on to the floor, which really had less to do with dropping her than it did with the fact that Teylarrin dove under one of the beds before she bothered to put the other girl down.

   Tey-Tey reached out from under the bed, snagged the blanket and yanked it down to conceal them in darkness.  Only then did she stopped squeeing.





((No way.  The Lake Wher should totally eat the ball.  o_o  ))

Dyseus watched in amused silence mixed with his fear. Ugh, girls were so stupid and annoying. Why had she been making so much noise??? He looked at his not-twin and shrugged. Whatever Oryan thought was best would be fine, he wasn't particularly okay with saving anyone from the Lake Wher.

"Where did she take her?" He asked quietly.

Seirsha was not at all amused. Ear plugs needed to be invented so that she could be free from this banshee's call. Did she not realize she would make things worse by being loud? Sighing she waited till Teylarrin let her down.

"Calm down. It is only a legend, there might not be a Wher in the Lake. I was telling you the story. Some stories are true and some aren't. I'm not sure if that one is or isn't but I didn't see a Lake Wher..." And she had every intention of going back out.

"Do you want me to go get someone to stay here with you?" She could tell the girl was afraid of the Lake Wher, just as Dyseus seemed to be.

Oryan was soon frowning in the direction of his brother the the other couple of boys who'd ventured out with them.

"Well fine. We can wait until it gets light out and come back tomorrow to get it. If the Lake Wher hasn't eaten the ball by then... " The last few words came out in a grumble, disappointed that they wouldn't get to play with the ball anymore tonight. But, for now, there was nothing they could do about it. And in any case, the ball seemed to be floating further and further from the shore.

"Come on, let's go back inside. We probably can't even get to it now." 

Kicking a foot into the dirt, Oryan grumped about the whole situation inwardly as he started walking back toward the Weyr.

"Well we can't stay in here all night. At least I can't. I have to go home. I'm not supposed to be here. This is the Candidate Barracks." She added, not thinking it necessary to point out that she was too young to be there overnight. Her mom was going to kill her!

"The Lake Wher won't leave the Lake and I have to go home." She huffed when she felt the other girl's hands clinging to her forearm. It was totally unnecessary.

"Okay, I'll wait till one of the Candidates comes back but they won't be much help. They'll be drunk." Or they could be making out and stuff. Gross.

Dyseus followed Oryan. Yeah the ball would still be there tomorrow. No use even thinking about retrieving the darned thing. He didn't really care where they went from here, but he was getting out of there.

After walking for a bit, as they got closer to the Weyr, Oryan wondered aloud, "I wonder where Seirsha ran off to? You think she and that other girl are hidng?"


Oryan led his brother/cousin and the other boys with them on a search for the two. "Where do you think we should look first? I don't see them." The boy's eyes gazed about, but didn't see or hear any immediate signs of where they may have gone to.

Dyseus huffed. He did not want to go looking for girls. Especially not Seirsha because she kind of deserved being lugged off by the strange Candidate. Candidate huh. How many places would a new Candidate know to go?

"Maybe the barracks?"

Seirsha was not thrilled either. "You don't understand. I can't be in here all night or I might as well get eaten by the Lake Wher. My parents will kill me!" And that may or may not be an exaggeration. Well at the very least it would feel like they were going to kill her when they took away all her free time.

She was also not too excited about sharing a blanket with Teylarrin but if it would make the other girl feel safer she would do it for now.

"Okay so the blanket will save us?" How did Teylarrin survive in the world she wondered. While the logic was mostly sound it was the reasoning behind the logic that was a little strange.