Skipper's Joy

An old fishing trolly, with too many Turns on the sea.


The ocean was a vast wild creature, her currents numerous and her waves driven by the wind - wind the constant companion to the fishing trolly 'Skipper's Joy'. It wasn't a nice wind either. There wasn't anything to break the cold rushing off the oceanic waters, it was wretched and would bite at the inside of one's ears. Being autumn, the seas were rough, the wind howling. Lan had done his best to navigate them around the land, keeping the trolly close to land, skirting around coral reefs and sudden rocks. The first couple nights were easy for him, but the rest of the trip he was constantly at the riggings and trying to adjust for the wind. He had tried to show Jaye what to do to help out, though with her inexperience, it was mostly left up to him. Needless to say, when they were caught up in a storm, one sail ripped free of its riggings because of the fierce wind before he could tackle them down. The swells tried to steal them into the depths too far away from their mission and it was all he could do to keep them afloat and riding the waves. Some swells crashed right over the deck, other's merely rocked the boat - it was worse than a rollercoaster ride on the back of a dragon. Somewhere along the way Lan's arm was ripped open by the rigging as the storm eventually left them to recover.

Blown off course because of the storm, the trek eventually found the bend near the small Hold in which they were to sink their ship. They anchored out of sight, waiting for another storm. Two days of blissfully hot weather went by before they were lucky enough to catch a squall of a storm coming their way. Today was the day and not too soon as supplies had been running short.

Lan is rigging up the sails on the ship to catch the wind… going against all sailor knowledge by putting into the storm with sails high. It was on purpose. The clouds on the horizon looked menacing and would hopefully have enough power behind it to help them sink the trolly. He's on the main mast on the top boom, near the crows nest, with only a rope below his feet from keeping him balanced. If anything would be said about this man, is that he was a natural when it came to sailing.

Jaye was decidedly not a natural, there was no doubt about that, she'd spent much of the storm either below deck or with her head hanging over the edge of the boat. She definitely was not a good seaman, it was a wonder how she managed to stay hidden on the ship she had stowed away on before it had sunk off Ista's islands. Even before the blissfully hot weather, the woman was likely already well on her way to dehydration. This day, however, she had ventured forth from her typical position to see if she could help Ers'lan with the ship. A glance up towards the man hs her squinting her eyes against the sun. "Y'okay up there?" She calls, waving at him. "I've brought you some water out, come 'ave a drink?" Because, well, there was gonna be a job to do once they got themselves wrecked, and they didn't need to have both of them weak with dehydration.

Ers'lan looks down from securing the rigging ropes and the sail to the boom, hollaring back down, "Aye! Jus be a few more minutes!" And then he's back to tying knots and lashing rope. The sail is already filling with air from the storm growing on the horizon, the clouds coming their way and quickly. Once he's gotten it taken care of, he swings down and starts to scale the rope ladder that leads up the mast. On the deck, he looks toward the woman, "T'won be long now… Reckon we be gettin hit with tha thar storm 'n need ta crack her up against those rocks. The lighthouse keepers be seein us no doubt."

If Jaye doesn't look too thrilled by this whole wrecking the ship thing, please forgive her, but it was the only thing to do really. "R'ckon I'd better not eat anythin' 'tween now an' then." She eyes the approaching storm, then the rocks that they'll need to wreck against. She just hopes she doesn't freak out or anything, because that would be a bad thing, wouldn't it? "S'a good thing they put me with ya, otherwise I'd be rather screwed, methinks." She smirks a little. "Should be easier after this. How far you reckon the stronghold is?" Might as well get the facts down while they're waiting to meet their doom, err, the storm rather. "Ye'll keep an eye on me when it hits, aye?" Because, yeah, she won't be the most useful more than likely. She hands over the waterskin to her partner, fidgeting a bit. "Y'think it'll be as bad a storm as that last one?" She asks, peering at the clouds looming.

Ers'lan considers the woman who he is to venture into this with, "Reckon ya should eat somethin… iffin we aren't ta be seen fer a few days, ye may go hungry…" There are slim chances they won't be seen, but still. He's sweeping by the woman after taking a drink, handing it back to her, and moving toward the helm. "Reckon ya be knowin how ta swim?" Yeah, he should've asked that a long time ago, too late now. He was lifting the anchor from the front of the bow, two feet on either side to weigh it in. Grunting through the effort, the man starts to crank and winch up the rest of it. It -was- heavy after all. "Good day or two hard ride…" he mentions about the stronghold, finally getting the anchor secured. He's already heading to the mizzen mast, to secure it's rigging as he answers, "Aye. Jus dun get too far from me when we abandon ship. Currents be strong 'n can send us apart very quickly… especially in storms like whar be coming at us now…" And as if to answer in an ominous promise, a loud thunder clap echos toward them. "Worse-" Lan's answer does not hide the fact that the storm will be brutal, "Reckon ye best mentally prepare yerself fer it. Tis comin in with a fury."

Jaye supposes she could try to eat something, but as the boat lurches, her stomach doesn't seem too sure it wants anything in it. She takes the waterskin once he's done drinking, even taking a sip herself. "Aye, I'm a decent swimmer, s'just th'rockin' an' such m'body doesna seem t'like." As the anchor is lifted, she shifts a bit nervously. "Whatcha needin' me t'do?" She wants to help, really she does. Securing the waterskin where she can hopefully grab it once the ship starts going down seems a good idea, a body can go without food for awhile, but without water, yeah, it's not pleasant. The comment about the stronghold gets a nod. "I dunna plan on gettin' too far 'way once we go down." she confirms with another nod. "Worse?" The thunderclap gives her a bit of a start, did she forget to mention lightning and thunder quite unnerved her? Oops! At least through the last storm she could spend most of her time hiding, or, well, too busy evacuating her stomach contents to pay too much heed to the thunder and lightning. Well, she was in too deep now, and she definitely better get herself mentally, and possibly physically, prepared. So she concentrates on breathing and calm thoughts, yeah, not very easy when that ominous thunder is creeping up on them.

Ers'lan lifts his head upward to take stock of how the sails are catching in the strong winds, cranking on the helm to turn the bow so she's in the slipwinds. It will seem as if they are trying to beat the storm and get to the small hold by those who would view them coming in. Unfortunately for them, or maybe fortunately, the storm is already throwing up heavy swells that will slow them considerably. "Hold on…!" is all that Lan supplies to Jaye as she asks if she can do anything, for the man has no choice but to take her directly into the waves, so the swells don't catch her on the portside and roll her. The consequences of such is that the ship starts to ride high in the bow as it crests a wave and then roll down over it, only to splash through the crest of another wave, sending spray and mist over the deck. Here they go. Into the storm!! The wind starts lashing at the sails as Lan fights to keep it steady, hard to do with the sails fighting the wind. The rain starts shortly, in light sprinkles at first, growing to hard splattering droplets the longer they remain out on the water. Lightning and thunder flash overhead, crashing in around them as the storm now rolls quickly overhead. It was fast moving! It could be a minor typhoon by the speed of it. Dangerous! Water starts to pound into them more and more, every minute, the white caps are reaching onto the deck. They may -not- have to TRY and sink her after all…

Jaye is relaly trying not to look green with the motions of the waves. Hold on, yeah, no problem there. She makes her way to grab onto anything handy, The spray and mist of the increasing waves has her hair sticking against whatever the wind blows it against, mostly around her face and neck. The addition of the rain just adds more to the mix, and Jaye closes her eyes a moment as the chill rain splashes over her. Here they go, indeed, she might wonder what she had gotten into but she knew it was too late now. Lightning and thunder has her grip tightening, trying not to be tossed too much for the moment. "S'a biggun!" She calls as the waves grow and hit against the craft. "Watch out!" She hollars as one particularly huge seeming white cap sloshes over the deck and she tries not to lose her footing.

Indeed the large rogue wave strikes the little old fishing trolly with such force that she pitches angrily to her stern, the railing nearly touching the water there at. Ers'lan doesn't lose footing whatsoever. He remains firm behind the helm and sounds as if he's laughing! He is. He's chasing down his fears, laughing in the face of it. The last time he encountered a storm as strong as this, he lost his livelihood and most of his friends he grew to know, one of the few shipmates to live after the wreck. Another swell caps over the ship, the wood protesting now as Lan steers them to ride the waves, the sails stretching and flapping madly above them. "Get ready ta swim lassy!" he calls back, since he knows how much a ship like this could take, especially as the winds started to scream at them, sending all sorts of spray and water at them.

Jaye is a dragonrider and a dragonhealer, not a seacrafter, and it shows in the fact that she's fighting to keep her feet on the deck by now, afterall, a dragonhealer needed a steady hand, not a steady foot. Her partner's laughing gets a glance from her, she'd been through this before also, only hers was in quite a different situation and she didn't know any of the crewmates. But she remembers hitting the water, and then, nothing for a long time after that. She gives a squeak as the ship turns nearly sideways against the waves. The woman manages, somehow, to grab the pack she had stowed her bone blades and throwing knives, along with an extra waterskin, she manages, somehow to get the pack on her back while holding herself to her current anchor. She's ready to swim, maybe not as ready as she would like, but she was ready as she'd ever be. The scream of the wind tears through her ears like a banshee's screech, filling her head with nothing but that sound and the thunder booming overhead.

Ers'lan starts to put the ship in a bad position, where the waves start to batter the hull and promise to flip her. The rocks are suddenly -there-… He has only enough time to hollar back at her to 'HOLD TIGHT' as one errant wave sends the ship crashing into one of the greasy looking barnicle covered rocks thrusting out of the ocean. In an instant the chaos builds as the wooden planks of the ship crack and splinter as she hits hard, leaving a HUGE welt in her belly. It shocks the little fishing trolly so much so that the main mast gives away, the pressure from the wind also helping to splinter it in half and send the upper booms falling toward them. "Whar out!!" he cries, getting over to Jaye in time to leap at her, pushing her down on the deck as the mast and riggings collid to the deck - the boom penetrating the spot where Jaye had just been standing. The waves push them off the rocks and in no time she's listing, taking on water rapidly. He's struggling to get to his feet now with the waves battering the deck, swaying the listing ship side to side. Her bow already looked to be plunging lower into the water, each wave grabbing to haul her under. Lifting Jaye up by the arm, he all but shoves her toward the back of the ship, "Get ready ta make a jump… T'will be cold…" and violent. They had to make sure they weren't thrown up against the rocks via waves either!

So much going on all of a sudden, and Jaye isn't quite sure what to watch. She does, somehow, manage to hear the call to hold tight, and so she tightens her grip until her poor knuckles are white with the strain. The jerk caused by the strike to the rock tries to toss the woman, though with her holding as tight as she is she manages not to follow the ship onto the rocks. A glance upwards at her partner's call and she nearly freezes, staring as the mast cracks and plunges towards her. She might've been struck by it if it hadn't been for the saving grab of the other rider. wow, she coulda been.. a Jaye-kebob! She tries to shake herself, willing her arms and legs to move finally, to get over that moment of frozen fear as she feels her arm being grabbed and herself being hauled upwards. She staggers to the back of the ship, ready to leap for her life at the man's word. Cold, she can handle, it can't be any worse than between, right? Except for the fact that she doesn't have all the extra layers to help protect her from this cold. And violent? Well, as long as she can manage not to get caught on the rocks, she's not loking forward to losing her memory agan afterall, she should be alright, if likely battered and bruised.

It doesn't take long for the ship to start to dive under the water, wounded as she was. Lan looks back now that he's got Jaye over toward the stern to see another wave crash over the bow and keep it there. "Time ta go…" unless they wanted to be caught up in the riggings or the suction of the ship going down. "Togethar…" he offers, taking her hand if she'll let him. To the sound of thunder crashing above them and the roar of another sail ripping free, tugging the ship back toward the rocks, he nods, "One… two…" trying to prompt her to climb the railing with him -"Three…!" he bellows, not giving her a choice in the matter as he pulls her over with him. His hands do let her go in mid-air before they plunge into the waters. It rushes into his nose into his mouth and tries to disorient him, the salt water. He remembers this all too well and kicks hard for the surface. When his head bob's up above the water, he gasps for a breath, looking back to see the ship listing toward them. He swears loudly and they'd have to swim hard to avoid being hit by her rudder. His eyes anxiously swivel to watch for Jaye to resurface…

Jaye had anaged to scamper to the back of the ship, thanks to the hand tugging her along. It was unusual for the woman to feel such trepidation, but as she stood there looking off into the water while the ship was being swallowed up behind her, she had nearly panicked. But then her training comes to her and she's fighting back that trepidation. Thankful for the offered support of the man's hand, she nods, silently counting with him. One.. two.. Up onto the railing she skitters. Three! And when she feels that yank on her arm as they abandon ship, she lets out a string of curses that might even make a sailor blush. But what's done is done, she releases the man's hand, trying to brace herself for splashing into the sea. All the bracing in the world doesn't quite have her prepared and as that cold salty water hits, she's instantly pushed into confusion. Which way is up? Where's her partner? Think, Jaye, calm down.. She tries to control her emotions and feelings of panic, finally managing to figure out which end is up. And so that's when she kicks towards the surface, coming up spluttering and coughing. But it's air! She can breath. Well, she can breathe when the waves aren't trying to knock her back beneath the ocean's surface anyway. Her back is to the ship, but she knows they have to swim or risk being struck by the ship, so she kicks, aiming to push herself far enough away from the shipwreck to hopefully be safe.

As Ers'lan spots Jaye, he seems relieved and starts to swim after her. The shock of the cold and the fight they'll have to make with the currents are already making him wonder if they should've waited another day. But what was done was done. The fishing ship was going down and there was no way to keep her afloat. Debris is already spreading as she hits the rock again, which breaks her back and sends her into a deeper plunge. He hopes for faranth's sake that Jaye doesn't look back because he can feel the ominous press of the ship coming for them, the suction of her bowels wanting to take vengence for him not going down with the ship as a captain might! Sure he wasn't it's original captain but he had sailed her. Arms stroking across the waves, he catches up to Jaye, "Swim… to the bay…" It was a long ways off from where they were now, but at least someone would be there. They just had to fight the rip tides… but there should be a tide that pushed them inward… So instead of swimming straight at it, he was starting to swim as if he were to go across it, "This way!" he calls out to Jaye, avoiding the rocks and the reefs nearby was particularly hard!

Jaye really was a strong swimmer, or she should be, she'd swam many times back at Ista after she had found herself there. But Ista's water was warm and inviting, and this water was cold and wild. Unfortunately for her, she does glance back, feeling that odd sensation of impending doom flooding over her. "Oh.. shit!" And, well, the woman seems to find her second wind, turning away from the dying ship, pushing at her limits. She felt only one thing at the moment, and that one thing was that she knew she had to get away. Rip tides tugging and pulling at her wouldn't help her struggle. But she presses through it, squinting to try and see where her partner had gone, feeling at least a smidge of relief as he catches up to her. Swim to the bay, what do you think she's trying to do? As her partner swims to avoid those rip tides, she follows, bobbing and weaving. The cold was making her muscles ache worse than they already had. She could feel the reefs grabbing at her clothes, at her skin, trying to gain hold and let the waves swallow her up. The pack that she had managed thus far to keep on her shoulders was caught. And when she tugged, the straps gave way. "Shit! Damnit!" She has to sto swimming, tugging at the pack. But realizing she won't be able to save it, she grabs what she can from it. Her bone blades and one single small throwing knife are all she can manage to save. The waterskin and whatever rations she had grabbed were now swallowed by the waves as she has to abandon the pack to keep herelf afloat. Again she's headed towards her partner, trying hard not to lose the weapons she had managed to save.

It was going to be a long swim… It was that or well, the other option was not good. Lan had strength and stamina on his side and the endurance to go on. They couldn't even be certain if they could swim all the way in shore. It was miles yet. Fighting the waves took a lot of energy. He did at one point stop to look back, realizing that Jaye wasn't there with him. Water splashes in his face as he bobs up and down on the waves, trying to locate her, spitting out water that gets in his mouth. Then he spots her, struggling. He treads water the best he can, but the currents are pushing him regardless that he's not swimming. He starts to get further away from her than he wanted. They should've used a rope to lash themselves together! The currents are strong and if a person stayed still too long that person would be swept out to sea. So it was all he could do to wait to see her follow until he's back at it, with the wind lashing at them. The last he seen of the ship she had gone under, with her debris spreading out all over the place.

Jaye should've left the pack when it had first gotten snagged, but she felt the surge pushing her to save the supplies. Failing that, when she does let go, she manages to press her blades into the pockets that were still attached to her crgo pants. Her legs likely scratched from the reef where she had fought to save the supplies, but soon she was pushing onwards, intent on joining her partner. For a moment, as the waves batter her, she loses track of the man. "Jax!" She had called, only to have the words ripped away by the wind's fould shrieks. The woman was tiring herself more than necessary, turning this way and that in the water, fighting to stay afloat while she treded water, trying to find her partner. She was starting to feel that dread overtake her again. No, she couldn't give in to it, she had to keep going, she had a weyr counting on her, not to mention her weyrmate and daughter. And so she manages to gather strength and starts to swim again towards where she hopes the man is. Being separated and possibly lost at sea wasn't on the plan, what had happened that had messed her up so bad. It was that fear, those memories flooding back, it had to be. Wait! There's a bobbing over there. "Jax?" Well, at least she had remembered the name her partner was supposed to go by. Pushing herself, her breathing growing heavy with the strain, she paddles towards him. She was tiring, and tiring fast, she could tell, but she was intent on not showing any weakness in the face of this expedition.

Ers'lan isn't sure what happened to the woman and why she was struggling so much. He was finding it difficult to keep himself going in the right direction, but he still had enough stamina to get to safety. Had the woman not trained as hard? Didn't she know what to expect? He pauses again in his swimming, trying to figure out where she was. With the rain pelting him and the winds sending spray into his face, he has trouble making out where she is until a wave pushes him high enough to bob. Then he sees her. Something in his gut tells him that she's having trouble. The chances for him to swim back to her are slim as he'll be struggling against the currents, but he tries. He plunges his arms into the water, making long breast strokes toward her, kicking as hard as he could manage. With the combination of them swimming toward eachother, by luck they happen to close the distance. He treads water again to see where he is and the fact that she's right close has him swim the rest of the gap toward her, so that he can reach out toward the tiring woman. "'ere… rest!" he all but has to scream above the sound of the water and the storm above. He'll pull her onto his chest and float backwards, life-saving move for the both of them - that is, if she let's him.

Jaye should have trained, and she likely did, but the combination of her dehydration and the fear that continued to grip at her had slowed her, had weakened her. She would be ashamed of herself later, no doubt, but right now it was all she could do to keep going. The raging storm above, the lightning and thunder, the wind, and the constant smashing of the waves over her, it had all drained her more than she had believed it would have. Damnit, why was she failing at this, she had been trained in search and rescue, though her main strengths were with the policing part of her wing, she wouldn't deny that. Weapons and rowdy folk she was good with, the ocean trying to drown her she wasn't. She finds herself now reaching for her partner, "I.. d'nno if I kin go on.." She breathes, the words a bit laboured. She was bleeding, no doubt, from the cuts that she had recieved from the reefs and rocks, but she shouldn't be bleeding enough for her to tire this much. When she's pulled up onto the man's chest, there's little fighting against it from the smaller woman.

"YER going ta drown us both!" he hisses at her when she starts to struggle and fight his hold, managing to grab her in a way that she won't be a threat to him even if she does squirm. He wasn't going to drown for nothing. They had a mission to do and this was planned, this wasn't a surprise as his first wreck was. But he's not swimming now so much as holding her and letting them float. He didn't have enough energy to take her in as well as himself so it was all they could do but let the storm rage on around them. The fishing trolly was gone, save for the debris kicked up on the rock and the rest floating around - nothing near in reach yet.

Jaye knew this was part of the plan too, but what she didn't know was that the fear of her first shipwreck, the head wound and the near-death of her would kick up so much fear. "m'sorry." She manages out, rather embarrassedly. Now what were they going to do, she wasn't sure she could swim much longer, and the longer they floated the farther out to sea they would be washed. Their only hope now was for someone to find them, though that likely wouldn't happen until the storm had calmed down considerably, no sailor in their right mind would go out in this storm, would they? Maybe the whole shipwreck thing was a bad idea? And, well, Jaye felt like the energy had been sapped from her. If she hadn't been trying to clear her thoughts, she might've told him to continue on without her, and to let K'drozen and Kaylen know that she loved them. But that wasn't the right kind of thinking and she knew it. So now all she can do is float there with her partner, waiting until she got another surge of energy.

For how long they float there, suffering the cold wind and the lashing rain and waves, Lan didn't know. Every once and a while he would swim them both a bit more, but it didn't seem to matter. He was losing his own strength now because of the cold. At least the storm died down and didn't last days on end, otherwise they surely would've ended up on some remote island or worse… Being adrift again wasn't something he ever wanted to experience again, but he knew people were depending on them back home and he fought the ache in his cramping muscles to slosh them closer… When it had seemed they were likely going to have to call their lifemates to save them, a familar clang of a bell belonging to a ship caught his ear… The ship was an oyster ship, nearly as big as the fisher they had been on. They likely saw the debris… Then their sweet light from a lantern was pouring down on them and Ers'lan heaved a sign of a relief as he waved toward them. "'Ere we go …" But but then, if he was flagging with weakness, he had no doubt the woman was likely near passing out.. It had been a long storm… He could hear the fellas on the ship calling out orders, he could see them swinging ropes, ready to toss out at them. Their salvation was at hand.

However long or short the time was that they floated there, Jaye hadn't been too responsive. Likely she was trying to calm the brown that now rustled restling upon Xanadu's hatching sands, trying to calm him and keep him from the urge to fly out and rescue her. That's what she didn't need, her overprotective brown appearing and ruining it all. Every once in awhile she'd utter out a word or two, usually either the word no or something unitelligible. Apparently the brown finally relaxes because she comes back to the here and now, coughing, she knew she had ingested the water, but she was certain she didn't ingest enough to make her sick and thus ruin the raid on the stronghold that they needed to get around to. It's the clang of the bell that calls her mind back to the sea, and the fact that every muscle in her body ached and screamed with its displeasure. The bell, though, the bell meant a ship, and as it nears, she tosses a glance around, breathing a sigh of relief as the lantern shown down. "Please, help us.." She called weakly to the people aboard the ship, slipping into the role of exhausted shipwreck survivor, which may or may not be an act completely. She was exhausted, no doubt she was fluttering right there on the verge of passing out. The oyster ship had come none too soon, that's for sure, the both of them battered, bruised and exhausted.

'The World of Pern(tm)' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern(r)' are copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) l967, 2000. This is a recorded online session, by permission of the author but generated on PernWorld MUSH for the benefit of people unable to attend.