Nako skulked sadly in the Weyr bowl, watching her feet as a healer dressed her wounds. She had recieved a nasty threadscore across her shoulderblade, but the real damage had been done to Mellanoth. The blue had a score down his neck, and his eyes whorled with distress. He needed more numbweed, and bandaging, but the healers had to douse his wounds with water to get the burned char out of his wound. Their stupid move had cost more than just their lives, but leaving formation nearly caused a catastrophe in the air. Now, to rub salt in the wound, her Wingleader had insisted she instruct the candidates on the more gruesome part of being in the Weyr.

They were already congregating around her and Mellanoth, and she grimaced as the healers rushed hands finished up her bandaging. "This.. is exactly what you should avoid during threadfall, but regardless of how careful you are, it can happen."

--

Zaela had to look away from the blue's wounds. The gaping, silvery green gash was twitching and pulsing, oozing a green ichor, and the edges of his skin charred. A healer had slathered the edges with numbweed and was now cutting away the dead tissue with a knife to promote healing. Honestly, this was a time where the demure girl once more doubted she would be able to make it in the Weyr.

((I'm gonna wait for people to post on this before writing much more. Don't know a way to smoothly transition it otherwise >_< This is after threadfall.))

Caeser chirped questioningly, tilting his head at Acacia. She was confused, and feeling a great sympathy towards the rider and her dragon. It was rather sad that these two had been caught in such a sticky situation, and worse, they had to teach the candidate's about it. Did numbweed get rid of the pain completely or was it just to take the brunt of the injury off riders and dragons minds?


Another interesting fact she'd never noted. Dragons blood, called ichor, was green. Not red like humans. She didn't know if fire-lizards bled the same way or even if watch-whers did. Perhaps it was just something that was just... One of those things that happened. Or maybe there was a reason? Caeser chirped again and Acacia winced, she hadn't been sure if she should bring the little blue with her, but he'd refused flatly to stay behind. Now he was simply curious to know what had happened to the big... Thing that looked something like him, and his bonded.

There was no way Acacia could capture what fear or exhiliration the rider must have felt, but she knew of how her mother reacted when Thread was outside the hold, much like a headless wherry. So she merely reminded him of /that/ danger, as it was as close as she could get. Her efforts were met with a startled 'cheep' and then a distressed sound as Caeser tried to hide in her hair.

***


Tracey wrinkled her nose in disgust, that... To put it amazingly simply was gross. A part of being a dragonrider, maybe, but still gross. Like Acacia, Tracey did wonder why dragons blood, or ichor was called said word, and why it was green. But, being Tracey, believed she was the only one thinking that. Shifting uncomfortably it was hard for her to sit or stand still for longer than a moment. And to Tracey, it seemed as though she'd been staring at the Threadscore for hours.

The curiousity of the flitt aloud her to look away, giving her a much needed distraction from one blue, to another.
"What's wrong with him?" She whispered, not really paying anymore attention to the lesson now. Acacia only shook her head, a motion to tell Tracey she wasn't going to talk... Either that or there was nothing wrong. Going by what Tracey knew of Acacia, she was being a snob again and only refusing to talk. Pulling a face, Tracey turned away from her, looking at the other candidates.

***

Poor dragon. That was the main thought in Crys' mind, poor dragon. Of course, she did feel some sympathy for the rider, it was just... The dragon looked so disheartened. Or dissapointed, one of the two. It wasn't like he'd meant to get Threadscored, so he shouldn't beat himself up... If that was what he was doing, Crys couldn't be sure of that. Not having the connection to him, and not being HAD, it was merely a guess.

Crys looked curiously at the wound, the silvery gash was indeed, intruiging. If painful for the one bearing it. Did the silvery hint come from the numbweed? Or Thread itself? Did it hurt now that the healers had applied numbweed? Or was it only to dull the pain? Not diminish it completely. Was it only riders that got the full benifits of completely numbing a wound? Though, personally, Crys believed it better if the pain was only dulled, then rider and dragon alike would refrain from getting scored in the first place... Ah, but there was food for thought, no matter how hard they trained, was it still possible that you could get caught in an awkward position? Unable to get yourself or your dragon out of that danger quickly enough?

Nirva felt her stomach roll as the Healer cut away the dead flesh from the wound. She grabbed her brother's hand in her left, then Marowa's hand in her left. The older girl looked at her in surprise, then smiled and tightened her grip. Marowa leaned down to her, whispering "It's really not that bad, you know. They have to do these things to ensure good healing. You dont have to be scared."

Nirva glared. "I am not scared!" she hissed. "And if its no big deal why are you all pale and sweaty?" Marowa blushed furiously, an oddity against her already paled skin. Her eyes flicked to Eonki, who met her gaze evenly, one eyebrow quirked. He glared at them both, putting one finger to his lips, and resumed watching the Healer.

Marowa thought she might die. Never mind that she found Nirva's brother devestatingly cute, somehow he always made her feel as young as his sister. The chubby teen jerked her hand out of Nirva's and folded her arms, paying extreme care to her lessons.

Oblivious to the girls, Eonki memorized everything he could about Dragon Healing. He watched as the Healer poured water on the wound, cut away tissue, poured more water, removed large globs of spent Thread. It was not so different a process from the time the family's runner beast had scraped against a broken fence post. They had cleansed the wound, removed splinters and dirt, re-washed it, then stitched it shut. It will be different when it's your dragon and you can feel their pain in your head... A small, pessimistic voice made itself known in his mind. He gulped, swallowing a sudden pang of nausea. He remembered the way the runner had screamed before they swabbed it with numbweed. He never wanted to hear that sound again, much less inside his skull. He forced away the thoughts, trying to emotionally remove himself, and concentrated once more on the task at hand.

((Bleh, not happy with it. I need a nap.))

("devastatingly cute" Hee! )

The healer had glanced with a scrutinizing glare towards the candidates, frowning as he noted how pale many of them were. They were short of hands, and he decided to pick the least fearful of the lot. "You." He pointed a red-stained hand towards Eonki, and then to Acacia. "Lad, stick your hands into the redwort and then start slathering numbweed on that wound. All in there, and you missy, dip your hand in wort and soak these bandages in numbweed and put them on the tray." He gestured to where some metal wares were on the side, tubs of numbweed and redwort were prepared. "The redwort is to keep your hands from losing feeling from the numbweed. It's a good idea to put the stuff up to your elbows. It'll leave a stain, but it keeps your feeling in your extremeties and disenfects your hands at the same time."

Acacia jumped as the healer pointed to her, and to another boy, why would they ask candidates. Who knew nothing of dragon healing, to help? More than likely, it was part of the lessons. She listened to the instructions, repeating them in her head so she knew exactly what to do. Caeser chirped questioningly, what did his pretty girl have to go near the stuff for? Acacia couldn't explain properly, Caeser wouldn't understand, so she merely told him to watch and stay quiet.

Slowly, Acacia nodded, moving forward uncertainly. She could feel eyes on her, and a glance back confirmed they were Tracey's, she offered a tiny smile and turned back to do what she'd been asked. Redwort. Right, so she could keep feeling in her hands and thus do the job she'd been asked to do properly. He'd said up to teh elbow, so that's what she did, knowing full well it wouldn't come of easily.

After that, Acacia hurried to get out of the way and do as she'd been asked, keeping her eyes on the job as she soaked the bandages, and not the rider. Caeser, however, found the blue things bonded interesting. He was stretching out to sniff her, staying silent as Acacia had ordered. Eyes a-whirl with curiousity.

**

Tracey sighed and rolled her eyes, okay, so she didn't want to be doing... That. Why was it she always got singled out though? Could no one but her see that Acacia was a snob? That she didn't deserve to be a part of this? SO what, she had a flitt, big deal! PLenty of people had flits! Plenty of them. So why did having the sharding blue cousin to dragons give her speacial privledges?

Complaining mentally about the other girl was helping settle the sick feelign she had. But it wasn't helping the palor of her face. She was still un-nerved about the whole ordeal, and the fact the healer showed no remorse over what he was doing... Tracey shuddered and looked back to the healer.

**

Crys watched as two people were picked out with curiousity. Strange how they had been picked but, then, they hadn't been squirming or pale. And the girl had been explaining to her curious flitt, or... Crys supposed she had been. Not being Acacia, Crys couldn't know for sure. She was interested in her lessons, but now... Crys didn't know where to look. Watch Acacia prepare the bandages? Or the boy help clean out the wound? Or maybe she should just keep watching the healer, he was experience after all....

((Blwegh))

((What, you dont think Eonki is devestatingly cute? *Eonki goves Rose a long-suffering glare, and rolls his eyes <_< * LOL, I love messing with the characters I have that won't fight back with me!))

Eonki dipped his hands in the bloody-looking mess, sloshing the mixture up his arms while the other girl-- Acacia? He was fairly sure that was her name-- began with the numbweed treatment. A wry smile twisted across his face, and he knew his sister wouldn't easily let him live down red arms. Arms neatly dressed and disinfected, he cupped a handful of the oozy ((is that a word?)) salve and began dabbing it as gently as he could onto the wound. He jerked as the dragon's flesh gave an involuntary twitch, then continued with his ministrations. ((I think thats a word too...)) He glanced at the Healer, uncertain. "Sir, will you tell me if I am doing this right? I am worried that I am either not working the numbweed deep enough into the wound, or that I will hurt the dragon."

Marowa watched with her jaw slack. It hadn't occured to her that they would actually be expected to work with the dragon on their first day, and she was surprised Eonki took to the task with such... Indifference? Strength? She was never able to tell very easily with him. Sometimes she had a hard time distinguishing whether he was a bit slower that most, or just more deeply commited to a thought. She glanced down, and choked off a cry of surprise. Somehow Nirva had managed to weasel her hand back inside Marowa's, and the twelve year-old ((I dont know where i am supposed to put the stupid hyphen...)) had her fingers locked in a death grip. Her knuckles were white, and Marowa could feel her joints creak. Nirva's eyes were narrowed in concentration: She seemed to be trying to aid her brother through sheer force of will. Marowa jostled her arm, and the look fell from the girl's face to be replaced with one of mild irritation. "What?" she whispered. Marowa tried to give her a comforting smile. It felt odd on her face. "Don't worry about your brother, he's goind to do just fine." Nirva gave her a look af sheer incredulty ((okay, I KNOW that one isnt right)) and rolled her eyes. "Duh!" She went back to watching her brother, and Marowa went back to feeling awkward.

((I promise to edit the ever-living out of this when the caffeine kicks in... Or after a nap, whichever.))

Ah, so now they had candidates working on her wounds! Nako grimaced terribly and avoided eye contact with the whole lot of them. Of course, to speak out against this would mean a worse tongue lashing than she already knew she was going to get. She allowed enough time for the administrations to be completed before shifting out of the girl's reach. "That's good." She was quick to finish the wrapping to hold the gauzes in place herself before looking towards Mellanoth, watching the lad like a hawk as she stood to walk over to her dragons side to offer her encouragement.

The sigh that the blue beast gave as the numbweed was put on his wounds was a sure sign that it was working, and that the lad was putting it on with some efficiency, but the healer still looked up from a tangle of gauze and wrappings he was working to set up to answer his question. "No, you're doing it right, just slather it on anything you can see in the wound." The healer was cut off by Nako though, who smiled a bit and gave her dragon a pat on the snout before remarking. "He says he is beginning to feel much better, and that you have gentle hands." Inspecting the wound, her features twisted into a most aggreived one, biting her lip slightly before looking to her dragon questioningly. "He says it is plenty enough. You can step back now"

And he very much would as the healer stepped forward, inspecting it himself and nodding. "Yes, very good. I can patch it up now and he's sure not to feel a thing for sure. You sure you don't want to go into dragon -healing- instead of dragon riding?" The insensitive humor almost elicited a retort from Nako, but she smartly closed her mouth. Besides, these healers had to be somewhat detached to do their job.

"Now everyone, now that the dragon is sufficiently cleaned, disenfected and numbed, this is when we can apply dressing to it. We will not be stitching it closed since this sort of gash should be allowed to drain and heal a while before we stitch it. With luck, he'll heal fast enough not to require stitching, but we'll see." The healer made short work of applying the dressing, making it look quite easy, though in truth it took turns of dressing dragon wounds to do so in such a flawless manner. "And there you go everyone, a patched up dragon ready to go into recovery."

Eonki couldn't hide his relief, doubled as it was from the Healer's praise and the completion of his task. He was glad that he hadn't done any damage to the dragon, and to be honest he felt good about what he had done. He toyed with the Healer's comment in his mind... Perhaps if dragon riding proved beyond his grasp dragon healing would be an option.

Nirva noted Nako's anxiety with regard to the Candidates and snorted. She could well understand the Rider's fears: If it were her dragon, there wouldn't be a Candidate allowed within ten dragonlengths of it! She felt foolish about the thought even as it was forming, as of course there would be times when she would have to depend on others in the Weyr for the safety and health of her dragon. Still... It was a situation she knew would send her into a tizzy.

Nervously, Acacia backed up from her assigned chore. The other boy had stopped, did that mean she had to as well? Caeser chirped softly, tilting his head at the red stains on the girls arms. Acacia smiled at him, before paying attention to the way he dressed the wound. The dragon made no sound, no indication that he was in the slightest bit of pain. Was it different for his rider? Was he asking for comfort from her alone?

"So... He'll be completely okay?" She hadn't even realised she'd asked, and the concern in her tone stratled her. Blushing, Acacia looked at her feet for long moments, she really had to learn to control this urge that kept popping up. The one that made her ask questions when she wasn't spoken too. Caeser cirped again, wondering why she was embarrassed. How could you explain that to a flitt? Acacia frowned and just petted him, assuring him she was fine.

***

Ah, there she went again, not waiting to be invited to speak. Blurting out thoughts no one wanted to hear. Of course, she had been wondering the same thing, as much as Tracey knew it was unfair to dislike the other girl so much. In fact, Tracey didn't even know why she didn't like her, usually she gave everyone a chance... Not Acacia. For some reason, she felt inclined to harp on about her misfortunes, her faults.

Her eyes travelled over the blue, he seemed fine enough, apart from the gash in his flesh. ..