Rainy Day Delays

[Ise]

A drizzling rain had put an end to Arvid's plans of going out and doing something gathering. The Holdless still had injured from the attack on Haven and Arvid was quickly running out of supplies. She had snagged a few things from the Weyr, a whole crate of numbweed was her biggest prize, but her herbs from the forest were almost gone. Working with those who had been hurt had kept her too busy to go out and get things, and her former go-getter had been slain in the attack. She would have to rope someone new into doing some work for her now.

Deciding that she didn't want to spend all day stuck in her own tent, the Holdless healer grabbed a gnarled staff of wood and made her way to the mess tent. The staff was covered in her trophy talismans; the stiffened wing of a bronze fire lizard, colorful feathers of rare birds, the teeth of a feline, and her most recent and most important trophy, a small bit of hide from one of the gold dragons they had killed at Haven. She had been lucky to get that much from the dragon but luck and the voices had guided her.

After getting herself a cup of klah that was barely warmer then room temperature, Arvid found a seat at an empty table and started poking over the staff. She oiled the bits of hide that where bound to the wood, tightened up the thin rope that held some of her trinkets on it and moved a few of them around. Her eyes were half closed as she worked, nodding every so often as if she were listening to a one-sided conversation. Those who knew Arvid were use to such things, she was often found talking to herself, some times in words that others could understand other times in her own jibberish. Others who weren't use to her thought always found her behavior a bit... odd.

[wolflover1458]

Things were going well. Which was amazing, considering how the camp acted; spending every day in fear of discovery and, when they tired of that, plotting. But it had changed. They had actually managed to succeed at something. They’d gotten into a Weyr and didn’t leave until their gold dragons were on more. This was exactly how they were going to make a difference. Hanging around waiting for something to happen had never gotten anything done. He’d learned that Turns ago and it was something he had not yet forgotten either. They only succeeded in ridding Pern of all the dragons that would have come from those gold ones by real action. That was exactly what everyone always needed to strive for; not to dream and wish for things, but to do what they can to actually make them happen.

Riverton almost wished he could have gone on the heist to the Weyr. He had wondered ever since they planned it if his mother and sisters were still there. Probably. But if they choose to stay there, it was for them to pay the price. He couldn’t be expected to let someone off easy just because he knew them. That was the problem with having family. Somewhere inside yourself, you still cared about them. Not that they were planning anything other than just the demise of dragonkind. People didn’t have to get seriously involved, except those sharding riders. It wouldn’t even be a problem if they weren’t around. They couldn’t be argued with about dragons; it was the sole thing in their lives they cared about. Some people were just too blind to truly see.

The rain meant staying outside for any length of time wasn't a good idea. There were people still hurt from the attack on the Weyr and they didn't need anyone else getting sick. Not quite feeling like he wanted the solitude of his own tent at the moment, Riverton instead made his way to the mess tent. The pot of klah was set out as usual, but he didn't feel like he needed it. It would be nice to just sit down and think until the rain had stopped. He glanced around the tent and noticed Arvid sitting alone. Strange as she might be, what with her "voices" and all, she was a healer, and therefore quite indispensable. The Holdless needed her around to keep them fit and fight-ready. Strange voices or not, Riverton knew that she was a fairly pleasant woman, once you could get over the constant talking to inanimate objects (and he still wasn't sure he'd gotten over that).

She had her staff out. Riverton wasn't really sure if there was some deep connection that she had with it or not, but he doubted it mattered too much. The trophies she had on it were always impressive. But enough of that. She was going to start talking to the klah soon. Arvid needed people to talk to, not trees and grass and cups. That on his mind, he headed over to the table where she was sitting quite alone. "Hello Arvid," Riverton said as he sat down across from her. "How are you today?" He could only hope she wouldn't start telling him about some conversation she'd been having with the piece of hide on her staff.

[Ise]

Arvid raised an eyebrow as Riverton took a seat and gave him a nod.
"Hello Riverton. And I'm well enough. Hoping this rain will end soon, I had things to do today. But at least its keeping those who are ill and injured inside where its dry. Some of those older boys who went on the raid are getting restless. They want to show off their new battle scars and try to impress women with them. And if one of them happens to come to you complaining about my bedside manner, I'll have you know that I only sprained his finger. He's just being a big baby about it."

Though Arvid was a healer, she had never been known for her kindness in dealing with those under her care. Far too often Holdless got careless and came to her with wounds they could have avoided. And those Holdless got an ear full from Arvid. The smart ones learned to be more careful just to avoid being under her care. But she was even harder on those she treated who then didn't follow the simple orders she gave them. She couldn't understand why it was so hard for someone to not stay in bed as she told them to. So once in a while she got a little physical with those sorts of people. She never injured them too badly at least.

"And how are you Riverton? I assume you've been keeping busy. Plotting out our next move against the dragons? Or something less grand then that?"
Arvid tugged on the string she had been tying before she held her staff up, shaking it a few times to make sure nothing came lose or fell off. Bones, claws and teeth jangled together before the woman propped the staff up against the table.
"It's a shame you couldn't join us for the raid against Haven. I was trying to get you a tooth from one of the golds but it went Between before I could. I did manage to get some other spoils though. Some shiney little babbles to bribe some of the younger children with. And shell shards that some of the silly riders kept around for sentimental reasons."

[wolflover1458]

He couldn't help but smile a little at that. Riders had such ridiculous reasons for having ridiculous things. Why would they want shell shards in the first place? They had dragons to look over, not the past to worry about. It was a silly thing to keep. After all, they weren't likely to use it as a weapon for the exact same reasoning, but shards had to be extremely sharp, at least on some edges. Riverton certainly didn't keep any foreign sharp objects in his tent, and everything sharp he did have wasn't just lying around. But there were better things to think about than dragonriders, which were one thing that he was never going to understand, no matter what he did to try. They were simply to strange in the way they thought. Having dragons in their heads must warp their thinking. Luckily, it was something that wasn't about to happen to him.

But back to other things now. Riverton still felt quite jealous that Arvid had gotten to go to Haven Weyr when she was their Healer, and he still hadn't gotten too. "I'm not really not fine," he told casually after he thought it over. After all, he wasn't really doing terribly, but didn't exactly feel wonderful either. "I didn't not want to go, of course, but it's not like there wasn't plenty to do here either." Yes, he'd been busy even without going on raids and the like. There was always something to be done, even if it was just making sure pandemonium didn't break out. Living out in the woods sounded fun until you were stuck there with a large group of people and were expected to keep all of them safe, especially from people that were trained to find you. Now that they'd just attacked Haven, he would have to be even more careful. Everyone would be on the alert. It figured that there had to be two Weyrs. That just made everything harder.

"I wish you luck with your patients," he told Arvid. The Holdless certainly could be difficult do deal with, and some of them didn't know how to act around Arvid. Anyone that knew her tried to avoid ending up under her care. There were still going to be those that didn't listen to her, and Riverton never really felt he had time for it. Listening to people complain about Arvid was never high on his list of priorities. There was too much else to do, and yet some of the Holdless still felt like complaining to him about it was going to change something. He wasn't fool to just let Arvid go, and he wasn't about to tell her to change how she worked either. Whether or not her patients liked it, Arvid was a good healer. A bit strange, perhaps, but still good.

[Ise]

"You're coming on the next raid then. It'll be good for everyone to see you fighting along side us. And, you're the leader. You can do whatever you want. I'm sure the camp can survive a single day without you."
It had been a shame that Riverton hadn't been able to go but he had had responsibilities here. Arvid had felt that she should be right there where people were getting hurt. And no one had tried to stop her, though she was the Holdless' current healer, she was no stranger to fights and few people were dumb enough to try and tell her 'no' once she had set her mind to something.

Arvid scoffed a bit at her patients.
"They'll live. I've only had to do one amputation which isn't too bad. No one else will die at least and with any luck I won't have to break someones foot to keep them in bed."
No one liked having to go to Arvid but until someone better came along to take over her healing duties, the woman wasn't too worried about being forced to leave the Holdless camp.

"So what have you been up to as of late Riverton. Anything of importance or just hoping that neither Weyr finds us while we're stuck in one place."
She leaned forward a bit, looking Riverton over more closely now. Almost studying him as her head tilted to the side slightly.
"I hope you're planning something. Those who are healthy and fit are starting to get fidgety about sitting around and waiting for someone stumble across us."

[wolflover1458]

"I'm glad you think I should go. I was beginning to worry I was the only one who thought so." For some reason, being the person behind all of the raiding suddenly made it impossible for that person to actually go out and do the raiding. Even right before things were happening, there was still planning to be done. These kind of things just couldn't succeed otherwise. Not a lot of the Holdless really seemed to realize how much planning went into those things. It wasn't like they'd just spontaneously decided to attack Haven because they were bored. The planning for that had started months ago; if it hadn't they probably wouldn't have secured their victory so flawlessly.

For some reason, it always irked him when people acted like they could just jump up to do these things and then instantly succeed. It took time and patience to get anything done, and look what they had accomplished. "I'm starting to think, but it could be months before we do anything like that again." Everyone was excited about the success they had had, but it wasn't like that could be an everyday event. It took to long to figure things out.

Of course, he was happy with how well it had worked out, regardless of the fact everyone still wanted to do something. Any Holdless that wasn't held down in bed and didn't have to stay in camp was itching to go out and do something. They were always like that, and even though it was a great asset to getting things done, it could also get a little tiresome. Not to mention that it took time to even think of what they should do next. With the Dragonshield around, it wasn't really safe to attack either Weyr. Word got around fast, and they would both be on the alert. Anything else they did was going to have to be sneakier, but if they didn't seem to be planning anything, some of the Holdless might run off to do something on their own.

[Ise]

"Nonsense, everyone wants you to be there. It's hard to show off to the leader if he's not around to see how you handle yourself in battle."
A slight smirk touched Arvid's lips for a moment. It was true that some of the Holdless had hoped to show off and prove themselves to Riverton while in battle. But many just wanted to see their leader, it helped remind them of what they were fighting for. It also helped them keep order, if they knew the boss was watching they put a little more thought into their actions.

"Good, I'll need months to get enough salves and potions together. Some of those things take a while to make. But I’m sure others will be glad to hear that you’re already working on another plan.”
Arvid chewed on her lip a bit as she thought about the timing. The stronger potions took months of fermenting before they could be used. She was going to need more then one assistant if she was going to have enough stuff for another raid and the normal wounds the Holdless got. If she couldn’t get someone willing to help her, she was just going to have to force those young punks to do some work for her as a form of punishment.

“Make sure you include going on the raid yourself. You can find someone else to watch the camp, there are a few people who have the discipline for that kind of thing. And it’s important for you to go and see how people act on the raids, it’ll let you plan for them better.”

[wolflover1458]

Well, it was easy for Arvid to say that everyone wanted him there, and she was partially right, but spending all of that time in camp really made it worse when you couldn't help out with what you'd spent all the time planning. He didn't need her to tell him to take himself on the next raid to know that he planned on going. "If you want to go around telling people there is a plan for something else happening go ahead, just make sure it doesn't sound like it'll be happening in a sevenday." It could be months before all of the planning got back together again, and that was a good thing really. The best thing for the Holdless to do was to stay hidden, be forgotten about, let everyone get their guard down, and then strike. There were some that would be annoyed at how long planning out anything actually took, but Riverton knew that all of it was necessary. They could hardly do anything until their previous attack wore off; the death of the Golds would be on everyone's mind at both Weyrs.

Besides, Riverton wasn't even entirely sure what it was he was planning yet. He knew that he sort of had a plan, but his mind seemed to be keeping it from him, and he was still trying to find it. He doubted they could get away with doing the same thing at Refuge, but perhaps they didn't need to set their sights so high. Queens were the highest of the dragons, but there were others too. And if the general structure of the Weyr needed certain things to stay up, it could crumble without them. Perhaps they could set their sights far lower and still cause damage, and no one would suspect it either.

Now that was a good idea. That was what he'd been waiting to think about. Now he just had to actually figure out exactly what it was, and how to go about doing it.

[Ise]

Arvid gave a little smirk and nodded.
“Oh I’ll rope some people into helping me with that. Just having something to do and knowing that it’ll be helping our future efforts will be good for some of the Holdless. It’ll at least get them to stop worrying about the Dragon Shield finding us.”
She spat out the name of Refuge’s guardians then literally spat on the ground and muttered something under her breath as she reached out and let her fingers run over her staff of trophies. Like the rest of the Holdless, Arvid hated the Shield. Not only did they try to hunt down the Holdless like they were some scourge but they were loyal to the dragon riders without even being bonded to them.

“Tomorrow I’ll start to gather up some people and get them to help me hunt up herbs and other things we’re running out of. Even busy work right now would be better then doing nothing. I might even try training a few others in some basic first-aid. It would be nice to have someone else change bandages so I don’t have to get up at odd hours of the night to do it.”
She stroked her chin a little as she thought about it, a slight smile rising to her lips for a moment. She’d find a way to take advantage of all the nervous energy that many of the Holdless had right now. Anything that Riverton was planning was bound to involve someone getting hurt, more medicines would always be needed and having another person or two to help take care of simple tasks would be useful.

[wolflover1458]

((This took a long time >.<))

Riverton twitched involuntarily at the mention of the Dragon Shield. He, of course, shared the hate among the Holdless for them. In some ways, they were worse than the dragon riders. He would love nothing better than to find a way to get rid of the Shield once and for all. The problem was that it would be too difficult, too dangerous, and probably not worth risking. Especially not now. No, the Holdless had to grow stronger before they could hope to completely destroy the Dragon Shield. Or the Weyrs for that matter. That was why he was starting small. It wasn't like there was much of a choice. The problem with living out here in the forest was that it really limited your options. The Holdless only had the resources they could gather or steal, while the Weyrs can transport things from all over the Continent if they needed too. And yet, somehow, the Holdless were still managing to get the upper hand here.

That had to mean their cause was justified, and that certainly made him feel better. "Yes, you should take some people out. It will do them good." Anything was better for them than just sitting here, waiting around for an attack that might not happen for some months. It was good to keep everyone anxious, and if they could do something productive while they had nothing else to do, then so much the better. Strange as Arvid was, it was also nice to have her around. She was smart in her own way, and wonderful for finding things to make bored people do. Many of those people might not ever want to admit to being bored around her ever again, but it was still good for them to be useful. Especially since Arvid didn't have helpers to do these things for her. They could really use another healer. Arvid did a find job, but she could also do that much better with a bit of help.

[Ise]

Arvid rubbed her hands together as Riverton agreed that it was a good idea. Ohh she was going to put half of those lazy, slacking Holdless to work. And all she’d have to do to keep them in line was drop how this was helping Riverton’s efforts in planning the next raid. Sometimes it was too easy to manipulate some of the Holdless into doing what she wanted.
“I’ll see about getting a few different groups out. I’m sure there’s plenty of things people could be doing. Just need to order some of those lazy slags around a bit more. Hmm I’ll have to pick out some of the more intelligent ones to help me gather medicinal herbs. Last thing I want is to make a healing salve with poison ivy in it.”
She smirked at bit at the thought, something like that would be a good way to teach some of those young kids to pay more attention to what they were doing.

“There anything specific you need done Riverton? I’m sure I could get some of those pretty young ladies who fawn over you to tidy up your tent and wash your clothes for you. Of courses if they do that they might just try to spend the night with you.”
Arvid laughed a little as she looked him over. It always surprised her that he hadn’t found a few of the prettier girls to share his tent with. Of course he was probably too busy planning raids and trying to keep the camp organized. She almost felt bad for him.

[wolflover1458]

Riverton heaved a sigh. He was constantly annoyed by those girls; they could never seem to go away. "I don't need them hanging around. Just get them to do something for you." He didn't need them to get his clothes washed, and his tent was tidy enough as it was. They just hung around in the hopes they get in his good favor. Of course, they were nothing but annoying, but he didn't know how to make them understand them. "Make they can go make you something out of poison ivy." Most of them probably weren't smart enough to tell it apart from anything else anyways.

"There's nothing really specific that needs to be gotten done. Just so long as everyone gets healed well and no one else gets hurt doing something stupid." He smiled to himself after saying that since the last part was, quite obviously, impossible. The Holdless might be a terror when they were mobilized and disciplined, but all of them were also willing to jump off of a cliff just for something to do if they got bored enough. He was more worried about the someone who might end up giving away their location than the fool was going to jump off of a cliff. He did everything possible to keep them scared of being located, but it sometimes didn't feel like enough.

[Ise]

"If you don't want them hanging around then you need to tell them you already have some woman who strikes your fancy. Half of them want to impress you and show you how hard they're willing to work. The other half just wants in your pants. And by half of them, I mean all of them."
Riverton was an active guy that most women would. Throw in the fact that he was leader of the Holdless and he was the most eligible bachelor around. Arvid was pretty sure that most men would be enjoying the attention that all those girls gave him. Maybe Riverton was just the sort of person who liked his own gender better. It wasn't Arvid's business nor did she care what their leader did in his own free time.
"I'll see about getting a few of them out of your hair but you can't expect me to take ever girl in the camp with me. Send a couple to help with food if they start to bother you too much. Or just tell them to bug off. None of them want to get on your bad side after all."

[wolflover1458]

Arvid was right, of course. Riverton could get rid of them ridiculously easily. He mostly just felt like he shouldn't have too, that they should just leave him alone because they knew he needed to think, and not about what girl he thought was cutest. Naturally, they just weren't smart enough to be able to grasp that. Besides, most of them did just want to be on his good side. They wouldn't suspect that hanging around all the time wasn't helping. Which was a shame, of course, but there wasn't much else to do about it because he didn't plan on telling all of those girls that they were annoying him. Besides the fact it might not even help (although it probably would), it could take a while to tell all of them, and he didn't have time for that much talking.

"I doubt I have the time to tell all of them to go away. It's not to much of a problem anyways. You just get done what you need to get done and don't not think about what everyone else is doing." It was sort of his job to keep everyone from doing anything ridiculous, and if he didn't have the time or effort to do anything about it, then no one else really needed to worry about it. As long as they were hidden and safe, he had to let just be free. It wasn't really possible to contain that many people.

[Ise]

"Don't worry, I'll get things done. Though if there's any way you can plan some sort of small raid on one of the near by cotholds that'd be nice. We've run through most of the numbweed we took from the Weyr and that's the one thing I can't find or make."
Nothing that Arvid had tried came close to working as well as numbweed. Numbweed actually took time and work to make, a month of letting it cook with constant heat. With the camp moving around as much as it did it was impossible to make something like that.

"If I get enough people to help me out then it should only take a few hours to get everything I need. Another day or two to get some stuff made and replenish our supplies. Within a week we should be ready for any small raids, two or three and we could probably scrape by on bigger raids as well."