Chap. 166 On the Beach

Chap. 166 On the beach

It was easier getting to the island than he'd expected. Raventh popped out of between within a kilometer of the island.

It looked lush, heavily vegetated inland with tangled limbs and dense shrubs. Thick groves of palm trees lined the water's edge. Much of the island was volcanic rock. Seabirds and seawherries circled over it, their cries accenting the solitude. There was a stretch of relatively open beach, about a kilometer or so long, that would do nicely.

A ridge of volcanic rock formed a wall inland of the water's edge. It was heavily vegetated. It had been formed by an outpouring of lava, flowing from somewhere inland until it hit the ocean, where it died in the seas' watery embrace. The palms started right at its base and were scattered here and there over the entire beach. At the other end of the ridge, a tall, rotund spire of rock offered a flat top, just perfect for landing. All together, the ridge created a private beach with a palisade to protect it from inland.

I'll land on that pinnacle Raventh said, everything other than the beach is heavily vegetated

That's smart. I'll send Siskin down to see if the beach is solid enough for you to land. Oh, wait. I see…it looks like a cave on the inland side. Circle around it.

Raventh obliged.

It's definitely a cave. It looks to be a steep climb up, almost vertical. I think it's too small for you to enter

Maybe. Once we land, have Siskin check it out.

This is fun, and we haven't even landed yet!

Once we do, I'd like to go fishing.

Bring me a small one?

I will.

Raventh backwinged and settled lightly atop the pinnacle. There was plenty of room for him.
K'ndar leaned over from his position on Raventh's back and visualized Siskin landing on the beach.

The blue fire lizard cheeped and plummeted to the beach.

He dug busily amongst dead palm fronds. The beach was almost covered with them.

He whickered.

He says it is solid underneath the leaves.

Would you please take me down there? I'll unharness you and you can go fishing then. Avoid the palms.

Raventh opened his wings and in a moment, landed atop the leaves.

A flock of seabirds roosting in the palms squawked and fled to sea. Smaller seabirds ran along the surfline until they were safely out of his reach.

Solid. No problem Raventh said.

K'ndar dismounted and stood, hands on hips, smelling the sea mixed with the earthy smell of dead leaves and sand.

This is nice, he thought, I'm glad we did this.

The palms were thick and large trunked, indicating great age. The beach was scattered with their leaves and coconuts, some sprouting, some still in their husks, some bobbing in the quiet surf. At his feet, amongst the leaves, seabird feathers, fish bones, seaweed, shells-the detritus of the ocean formed a thick mat. This was the strand, he hoped, remembering to always keep a mind out for Pern's complex tides. Insects buzzed above the mass and small inverterbrates crawled throughout it.

Siskin was busily hunting beneath the leaves. Small beach creatures fled from his efforts, but some weren't fast enough. He crunched happily.

It was obvious that no one had been there in a very long time, if ever. Oh, what to do first, he thought, happily.

Unharness me, so I can fish.

Sorry…

K'ndar unbuckled the dragon's harness. He could swim with it, but leather did not care for water, fresh or salt.
The brown dragon opened his wings and, catching the onshore breeze, leaped into it and headed to sea.

K'ndar walked to the edge of the water. Tiny fish fled from his shadow, darting in and out amongst the rock and bits of coral that littered the bottom. Siskin appeared and darted into the water and was soon diving after the fish. It was the first time K'ndar had ever seen how a dragon…be it a fire lizard or a full out dragon..swam.

You use your wings underwater!

Of course…how else would I swim?

I thought you'd be like me, like a dog, just moving all fours.

That's too much work. I can do it, yes, but if I want to go fast underwater, I just move like I'm flying. Watch Siskin. If I want to go slowly, I tuck my wings in. But I can also use my wings to make a big shade, and soon the fish come right to me. They like being out of the sun I think.

Okay, catch your fish. Good luck!

K'ndar wandered down the beach towards the outpoured end. The palms over his head rustled in the breeze, and he saw a coconut fall from one of them. It plunked into the water, its husk keeping it afloat. Ah. He remembered reading about how palms spread their seeds. They grew next to the water's edge, their nuts dropping into the sea where they could drift for years, until they reached a nice beach upon which to take root. In fact, here was one that had come from some other island? The husk had split and a shoot had taken root, and was about knee high.

It looked to him as if the island had originally been a volcanic cone, then had subsided or been overgrown by coral. Out to sea, he had seen a broken ring of coral partially surrounding the island. It served to absorb the strength of the surf, providing a lagoon of good size with quiet waters and rich habitat for fish. He'd read of this sort of formation in his Marine Biology of Pern, but wished, for just a few seconds, for a geologist to clarify it for him. But not B'rost, at least not right now. And Greta? Well, no.

He dug his guide book out of his backpack and began to walk the beach. I need three hands, no, four, he thought, wanting to take notes and read and study everything. Why didn't I bring a collection sack? Duh. Well, it would give him a reason to come back. Should I stay all three days here?

But he hadn't brought enough food, never mind water, unless he found a source for both. That's okay, I'll build a cairn atop the pinnacle, then I'll come back. But I should be good for at least a day and a night here.

Siskin flew to his shoulder, sated.

"That didn't take long, little one," he said, skritching the fire lizards head.

Siskin purred.

He'd walked the entire accessible length of beach and returned to the spot where he'd grounded Raventh's harness.

Raventh flew in and landed. He dropped a large fish.

Here's your noon meal!

Thank you. It's a big fish. Did you eat?

Of course. I think I'll go up to the pinnacle. The sun feels good. I might even take a nap, if Siskin comes with me.

It does. Don't you want to sleep on the beach?

SOMEONE has to keep watch

Oh. He felt embarrassed.

Raventh spread his wings and leaped skyward. Siskin joined him. The two settled atop the pinnacle. They both spread their wings to catch even more of the sun's rays. It looked so sweet, he thought…big dragon, little dragon, like brothers.

He wondered, am I missing something? He'd never worried about being alone when he would ride out on the steppe. The big carnivores-the whers and the big cats, didn't come near the family cothold on the edge of the steppe. Now he knew why-the habitat wasn't to their liking and there was plenty of game out in the wilderness. And his horse would always tell him if a predator was nearby.

But he'd not thought that to be the case on an island.

But …well, humans could be just as predatory as any lion or tiger, and far less trustworthy. There were no humans here, though. Save for one. Him.

Hunger pinged his stomach. Hello, K'ndar, remember me?

He stuffed his book and notebook into his backpack, and started on gutting and cleaning the fish.
From nowhere, a cloud of insects appeared, pestering him, buzzing in his ears and eyes. He found himself using one hand to work and one hand to chase them away. He took the entrails a long ways from him, hoping it would draw them away. All it did was give the flies two sources of food.

He heard a shrill screech overhead. Several seabirds and a seawherry had suddenly appeared, as if they knew what he was and what he had. He tossed the entrails away from him and as one, they dived on them, squabbling.

He walked back to his impromptu kitchen. The seabirds, having gobbled up the guts in seconds, landed and waddled after him. The seawherry landed, too, but merely watched from a safe distance.

The birds were very bold. He was almost stepping on them.

Siskin saw it from his perch and with a screech, attacked.

The seabirds fled, but the seawherry, a bit larger than Siskin, was unafraid. Siskin hissed at it, but it merely retreated, just a little. Siskin puffed up to make himself look big and dangerous. The wherry leaped into the air and circled. Satisfied, Siskin flew back up to the pinnacle to watch from between Raventh's front feet. The seawherry landed again, this time keeping a wary eye on the fire lizard above him.

K'ndar found a relatively fresh palm frond and laid the fish on it. I'll wrap it up in this, once the fire's going nicely, before it goes off in this heat.

There was plenty of dead palm leaves on the beach. Most of the vegetative detritus was wet or damp. Some of it fell apart in his hands. He gathered a pile of what seemed to be completely dry leaves and a few hunks of dried husk. Once he had a good sized pile of it, he looked around for tinder. Ah, wet or dry, the coconut husks had hair. He shaved off a large pile of the hair atop the leaves. I'll let this stuff burn down to coals, he thought, then roast this nice fish. Shouldn't take too long. Wish I'd brought some spices with me, but fresh fish is always good.

He looked judiciously at his pile of firewood, then squatting, struck a spark onto the tinder.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH

He fell back, astonished at the explosion of flame. His face felt burnt. Coughing, he wondered if he'd been hurt. He sat up and rubbed his forehead. His fingers came back sooty.

WHAT HAPPENED? Raventh cried.

I…well, I tried to light a fire. Guess what, I think I burned my eyebrows off.

Eye…brows?

The hairy things above my eyes.

I always wondered what they were. They're hair? Not skin?

Not skin. Hair.

You humans are so strange

Shaff, that stuff burns FAST, he thought, glad that no one had seen his denouement. He picked himself up and examined the 'fire'.

The hunks of cocoanut husk had burnt so fast they were already going out.

As he watched, the flames dwindled and died.

I KNOW how to make a fire, he said, I've done it countless times.

He looked at a piece of palm trunk. It wasn't wood, he realized, it looked fibrous and spongy, like wet grass.
The flames had gone out. If he hadn't seen it, he would have doubted anything caught fire at all.

Shaff it…

He gathered more tinder and this time, was very careful to back off when he sparked it. Why worry, he thought, I don't have eyebrows anymore.

Again, the hair burnt with a sudden violence and tried to go out. He blew on it, and blew-and blew-and blew until finally one of the palm leaves sullenly took light. Within a few minutes, all the leaves were 'burning'. But not with a useful flame. The leaves put out an enormous amount of smudge and smoke. Coughing, he stepped upwind of it, thinking mournfully that he wasn't going to be able to cook the fish on it.

Wood. I need some wood, he thought. There was some driftwood on the beach, but he had learned long ago that driftwood was usually wet and seldom burned well. But there might be some in the trees on the ridge behind him.

He returned, empty handed, to where the palm leaves were still pouring out clouds of smoke. He was relieved to see the insects had disappeared.

So had the seawherry. With his fish.