Lost on the Road

It was too much. The heat. The glare. The pain in her right side from so much walking. The weight of Noaja in her arms. He had fallen asleep, thankfully. At least she was being spared his soft sobs.

Two nights ago it had seemed to the best idea: to run from her abusive husband with her son. But once the adrenaline wore off she realized she was lost, with no supplies for herself or her six turn old son, and no plan. Using the stars as a guide she had managed to find a path, and was fairly certain she was on the right track to the next Hold.

She didn't entertain thoughts on how far it was to said Hold.

Intent on her thoughts, she didn't see the rock ahead and tripped. She kept herself upright, though Noaja whimpered in his sleep. She held the boy tighter and let herself sink to the ground, too tired to keep moving.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Noaja. She had run to save them, but it seemed that act would lead to the end of them. She closed her eyes and let her tears fall silently.

Alannah yawned as Fiammath made a wide turn high above White Lightning's territory.  Sweeps had never been her favorite thing, though there were at least new landmarks to learn here near the canyon.  She occasionally spotted felines and other creatures that weren't found at Eastern, too, so that was something.

It wasn't always enough to keep her interested and paying attention, but it was something.

Fiammath, however, was ever-vigilant.  The scarlet always took her job seriously, and pestered her rider if she started to lose focus.  Or pulled some quick maneuver to wake Allie up, like suddenly taking a short dive.  

"Hey!"

We are on sweeps, not a leisurely ride.

"Ugh, as if I could forget, Fia.  Sweeps are so boring."  Yawning again in the thin air, Alannah scanned below them, positive she wasn't going to find anything worth their attention.

They are not meant to be exciting.  Our job is to protect Pern from Thread, and other dangers.

Like what, thieves and smugglers?  I'm pretty sure we just joined up with them, instead.  Not that it was entirely a bad thing, she supposed.  They were people who needed to make a living, too, after all-- and she _was_ an exiled dragonrider.  Why not just take it one step further?

Fiammath had nothing really to say in response to that.  Instead, she flapped her wings hard to regain the altitude she'd deliberately lost, then let her flight pattern smooth out once more.

Several moments later, Alannah's mind was once again starting to wander.  She tilted her head back to stretch her neck a best she could with her helmet on, then looked back down and angled her head from side to side, debating just removing the offending part of her leathers.  It wouldn't be a good idea, of course, but that wouldn't necessarily stop her.  

Resisting the urge was difficult, but she made to by tapping her fingers on Fiammath's neck and eyeing one of the clouds far ahead of them, trying to decide if it looked like a hand or not.

Someone needs our help.

Blinking, Allie looked down at Fiammath's head in surprise.  "What?"

The scarlet was already starting to bank so she could spiral down to the ground.  Someone on the road, traveling alone.

Where?

To our right, the path between the trees.

It wasn't exactly the most descriptive explanation, given there was a long line of-- "Oh!  There!"

It was hard to tell from this height, but Allie wondered how her dragon could tell the figure was in need of help, versus simply resting.

They tripped and fell.

Because you think I need help every time I trip and fall?

Fiammath, of course, didn't answer that.

Alannah grumbled something under her breath, but let it go.  She kept her eye on the solitary figure below them as they circled, watching for signs that no help was necessary.  Not that the interruption wasn't welcome, anyway.

She has a young child with her.

The scarletrider's lips turned down at that.  So what was she doing traveling the road alone, then?  She didn't appear to have too many provisions, if any, and surely the cotholds were few and far between in this area?

Fiammath touched down not far from the woman on the ground, putting enough distance between them that her rider wouldn't have to walk much to get to her, and the woman would hopefully not be spooked if she was afraid of dragons.

"Hello, there!" Allie called as she slid down the scarlet's forearm.  "Are you all right?"

It took almost all of Antonia's strength to raise her head and look at the woman approaching her. I must be hallucinating, she thought to herself. A red dragon... in the middle of nowhere. Appearing to save her life.

This had to be the end.

"I...," she began, her voice cracking from dryness. Her black curls were a mess of knots around her face, and her dusky complexion was turning red from the exposure. If that wasn't enough, her clothing was coated in the mud she had fallen in the night before.

She opened her mouth to try and speak again, but only a bare squeak came out. Helplessly, she looked at the woman, hoping that she was indeed real. Noaja stirred in her arms and whimpered, opening his eyes. "Momma?" he said softly, a sniffle accompanying the question.

Having taken a few steps closer, Alannah could see that the young woman was indeed not all right.  "Oh, no.  Here," she murmured, rushing forward to help, only to think some water might be useful and turning away again towards Fiammath.  

"I'm not leaving!" she called over her shoulder.  Hopefully the woman and her child wouldn't panic and think she was, now that she was here to help them.

Clambering up Fiammath's leg to get to her scarlet's saddle bags, Allie rummaged around inside the closest one until she found a full skin of water, then dropped back down to the ground.

"Here, I have water," she told the woman on the ground, once again hurrying forward, as if Antonia was going to be gone if she didn't get to her fast enough.  And maybe the thought that she could be, in a sense, gone, if the scarlet rider wasn't fast enough, spurred Allie on.  "Here, here…  Are either of you hurt?"