|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:11 pm
It took Cordel a good hour to figure out that something was wrong. The Healer---Dragonhealer, technically, although he had been seeing more human patients recently, due to the sudden flu outbreak---looked up suspiciously from his table. Something was very wrong. He just knew it. The man stood up slowly and looked around at the various herb bottles. Nope. They were all in place. Not a single one had been moved, except for the numbweed salve, but that was alright since someone had come in with several bruises from a fight earlier. Grumbling under his breath, the Healer continued his search for the source of this ‘wrongness’. He glanced at the table, at the record he was preparing. He had filled out the whole thing on his newest patient.
That had never happened before. Normally, when he was working on hidework, K’em would come in and bother him. It was impossible to get any work done with him around. Putting his finger to his lips, Cordel rolled the thought around in his mind for a little while longer.
It is impossible to get any work done while that man is around… He had managed to get some work done. He had been working for over a candlemark by now, so K’em certainly would have swaggered in with some new injury. If he was here.
Mental checklist time! Cordel had gotten work done and K’em had yet to wander in. Therefore, the obnoxious Brownrider, aka Cordel’s best friend, was not in fact here. Very slowly, a beautific smile spread across Cordel’s face. Oh, he knew he ought to be more worried about his friend, but, hey; he could finally get some work done! The man slowly sat back down in his chair, still smiling. The ‘office’ wasn’t much of one. Technically, it was where they kept the herbs. He liked it, because it was rather neat, although other people came and went all day. Now, if only they could get more help…
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 9:07 pm
Oh, it had been far too long since La had been in the infirmary for any decent interval. Spare time was such a strange thing to her that now that she was absolved from Candidate and Weyrling chores (having a grown dragon tended to do that to you) that she ended up helping out wherever a pair of hands were needed. She'd been doing a lot of fetching and carrying recently, but when she got the chance she had stolen down and helped roll bandages and prepare numbweed. Every pair of hands was needed, and having a good deal of experience in the craft, even if none of it was Crafthall instruction, was definitely a plus.
That was how she had found out about Cordel. The recent transfer was probably the most accessible of the dragonhealers, as far as she could tell, and this was important. Because La had studied what she could in her spare time (which was approximately nil) but formal instruction had never been accessible to her. And yet, here was a journeyman Healer who specialized in Dragons, and she was a dragonrider no longer under the constraints of Weyrlinghood. It was definitely time for something to be done.
So here she was. Isonth was napping somewhere, presumably somewhere sunny, it was unbearably hot outside, and La had decided to make a visit to a certain small room where Cordel seemed to lurk. She hoped she wasn't interrupting anything...what with the flu outbreak and everything else wrong with the Weyr, you never knew what disaster people were handling.
The room wasn't one that required you knock before entry; herb storage was herb storage, and La had gotten the go-ahead from one of the more senior healers to enter it, so she assumed knocking wouldn't be necessary. Peering into the room, she stopped awkwardly in the doorway and cleared her throat softly.
"Excuse me, Sir...am I interrupting anything?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:59 am
Oh, goodie. He had just been thinking about sending out for help and someone came. What a wonderful system! Cordel glanced at the girl before deciding that she must be an Apprentice Healer; after all, she looked vaguely familiar. True, she had technically interrupted his work, but that was alright. She wasn’t K’em, so she could get away with it. “Yes, but that’s no surprise. Healers are always busy. I’m Journeyman Cordel and you’re one of the Apprentices that wants to become a Dragonhealer.”
It wasn’t a question. It was, more or less, a statement of fact since that was the only reason Apprentices came to bother him. They thought it would be ‘fun’. And, alright, it was pretty fun. Cordel rather enjoyed the fact that he could, at any time, ground any dragon so long as he found a good reason. But it was a lot of responsibility, and he found it was best to crush any hopes and dreams that others had so he continued without really waiting for an answer to his statement.
“Right. Well, I’m not a teacher, but I can take on an Apprentice at this time. The skills you learn will be the ones you pick up. There won’t be a set lesson plan because I doubt that it would be possible to get a dragon to conveniently pick up an illness at any specific time. Most of the job requires preparing unlimited quantities of numbweed salve.” That last part was a deal-breaker for most Apprentices, who hated the seemingly endless labor of slaving under boiling numbweed. “I’ll also expect you to work the job, not the hours. There’s no time limit on dragon injuries. There’s some mythical creature known as sleep, but I know I haven’t seen it lately.”
Cheerful Cordel was cheerful today.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:26 am
Um....wow.
Either Cordel had mythical mindreading powers, or he had talked to the healers from whom La had gotten his name. Or that was the sort of thing he usually heard from people who interrupted him. She kind of hoped it wasn't the last one, because she didn't want to be a pest, but if it happened, she supposed there really wasn't much she could do. Any apology she might have made for interrupting him was totally lost as Cordel went on, and La found herself staring as she was filled to the brim with complete and utter admiration.
This was the sort of man she would have wanted to apprentice under, if she had been able to apprentice. She wasn't used to instant hero-worship (it wasn't really her style), but she might just make an exception for this particular Dragonhealer.
She listened attentively to the speech and gave a short nod at the end, completely understanding of what he had told her. "I don't mind the numbweed; did a lot of it as a Candidate and before then, but, um..." and here her face grew sort of dark. "I'm not sure exactly how much time I'm going to be able to give up right at the start, what with wing drills and Isonth and all...." she bit her lip thoughtfully. Being a dragonrider was a full-time occupation. So was being a dragonhealer. But she was pretty certain she could do both if she tried.
On the plus side, she had a good handle on the anatomy already?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:52 am
Oh. A dragonrider. Cordel wasn’t exactly pleased with that, but at least she was willing. Honestly, they needed all the help they could get and training a dragonhealer before Threadfall would be nice. And a dragonrider as a dragonhealer wouldn’t be a bad thing, Cordel thought. If the dragon had the right temperament, perhaps she or he would even help keep the dragon calm. That was always a worry with injured dragons. Official procedure was to ask a Gold’s help in damping the pain, but there were so many dragons now and not very many queens in comparison.
“What are you blushing for? You’ve got no reason to be embarrassed,” he asked, a little confused. He considered himself an intelligent man, one with a keen understanding of emotions, but this was beyond him. Well, whatever. It didn’t matter right now. “You can be a dragonrider and a dragonhealer. It might be difficult, if your dragon is the jealous type… what is Isonth like? Perhaps she can even help out with the healing.”
It would be ideal, he thought, to get La’s dragon involved. That way, her training as a dragonhealer wouldn’t get in the way of her dragonrider-status. “Being a dragonhealer will keep you out of the wings, you know,” he added thoughtfully. “When Thread starts to fall, we’re going to need every dragonhealer on the ground, even the ones with dragons.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:00 pm
"I was a bit worried you had mistaken me for someone else, and I wasn't sure about you taking me on with a dragon," La admitted with a wry smile. "But as long as that's no trouble, I'd love to do it. If I hadn't Impressed Isonth at that clutch, I would have left for formal training," she added with a quick shrug. She was certain Cordel didn't need to hear her life's story, but she wanted to let him know that she had the drive, if not the technical background.
When Cordel asked what Isonth was like, La grinned. "Jealous wouldn't describe her at any moment." Except perhaps if she were proddy; La didn't know about that one quite yet. "She's...um, 'altruistic' is almost an understatement. Let me put it this way: after Impression, she refused to eat until she knew all her clutchmates were safe." That really was the easiest way to describe Isonth and how she was around other dragons. "So I don't think she'll be a problem in that respect."
But...keeping herself out of the wings wasn't exactly something she had put a lot of thought into. La wanted to be a dragonhealer, with nearly every fiber of her being, but she also wanted to do what it was that the dragonriders existed for. Staying out of the wings, possibly watching Isonth's clutchmates killed and unable to do anything until after the fact... She suppressed the slightest of shudders and gave a firm nod. Isonth would want it this way, and she was probably right in this case. They already needed every healer possible in a Weyr this crowded, and it'd be even more the case when (if?) Thread started to fall.
"I understand that," she said quietly. "And I want to help. We want to help," she corrected herself wryly. After all, the dragonriders kept Pern safe. Clearly someone needed to keep them safe, and Isonth was the right dragon. And La was pretty sure she was the right girl.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:57 pm
Well, alright… so Cordel had mistaken La for someone else (and now he realized that he didn’t even know her name, a fact that would have to come up eventually). But he wasn’t about to admit this, on the basis that Healers did not make mistakes. They only corrected them. That was what disease really was, after all, when the body made a mistake. There were, literally, thousands of mechanisms in the body to prevent diseases. A disease was what happened when one of these things went wrong. Quite amazing, really… “So you were an Apprentice before Impressing? Good. That’ll save a lot of time and energy.”
Mostly, he just didn’t want to spend several hours trying to teach some newbie how to properly boil numbweed. As a general principle, he disliked teaching anyway. At least it sounded like Isonth had the right temperament to be of use. “Good. Sounds like she’s just what we need. Technically, we’re supposed to call a Gold down to help dampen the pain of dragons, but they’re always so busy.” And it sounded like the Green----she was most certainly a Green----wouldn’t be jealous of her rider (really, he ought to figure out her name eventually) looking after other dragons.
“Good. Well, I guess that does it. Your first duties won’t be very interesting. Mostly we just see Flight injuries or perhaps a Weyrling who overdid it with the firestone or the food.” Actually, in cases of constipation, Cordel preferred to just tell the Weyrlings what to do and then oversee it. By the time the Weyrlings were done, they never made the mistake of overfeeding their dragon again. “I’ll expect to see you at the ground weyrs in the mor…” he paused and then shook his head. “As soon as your rider drills are over. And after you’ve had a bath. And something to eat.”
But, really, the eating part was more of an afterthought.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:24 pm
La would be totally embarrassed when she realized that she hadn't given Cordel her name, or at least if she realized that he didn't know it already. But at the moment, her mind was alight with the possibilities that would come of taking up lessons in dragonhealing and she admittedly wasn't paying all that much attention to little details. She didn't bother to correct the fact that she was never TECHNICALLY an apprentice; she figured she knew most of the practical things so it wouldn't be a problem to begin with.
She nodded, listening to Cordel explain the use of Queens in dragonhealing and trying her best to file away everything he said for later. She wasn't going to muck about with this, since she probably wasn't supposed to have the opportunity anyway. Even the list of duties didn't bother her much; it wasn't as if there were any more exciting injuries to work on, and even if there were, she wouldn't have wanted the circumstances under which they came. Light work meant healthy dragons, and that was a good thing.
"That's all right. Work is work," she said, nodding and rubbing the back of her head. Cordel's little correction earned a slight smile from the girl, and she nodded. "I'll be there as soon as I can be." The idea of keeping Cordel waiting wasn't a pleasant one (oh, yes. La was in absolute love with Cordel's authority) and she certainly wouldn't dally if she was being given the chance to learn something she had desperately wanted.
"Thank you so much for this, Sir. I won't disappoint you," she said, giving a short bow. For an awkward moment, she stood, considering what to do next, and then clasped her hands behind her back.
"Um...while I'm here, I do have an actual question for you. How long do flitt eggs usualy take to hatch? Because I have one I'm a bit concerned about..." she grimaced slightly. She was fairly certain the egg wasn't dead, but at the same time, it was taking longer than she had initially thought it would.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:43 pm
Hm. Well, she seemed like a good enough girl. And Cordel wasn’t about to say ‘no’ to the first person who didn’t start whining about, ‘but I really have to do this first and then this and whinewhinewhine’. He didn’t have the patience for that, especially early in the morning. Or probably late afternoon, since that was the time that he suspected wing drills would be done. Of course, a dragonrider as an Apprentice would require some extra time off to look after her dragon. Or perhaps he could simply use Isonth as an exercise. Despite his earlier vows to never actually teach just lessons----he preferred to learn on the job and figured everyone else would too---the man was still planning out some. Just in case there was a slow day, of course.
“I hope you don’t.” He was about to get back to work, but apparently his new Apprentice had something else to say. A firelizard egg? Now that caught his attention… firelizards were an absolute delight to work with, at least as long as someone kept an eye on the little rascals.
“Normally a few sevendays. Why? How long have you had the firelizard egg?” Oh dear… he hoped it wasn’t a dead egg. Those were always so pathetic. “Well, why don’t you go get it? It’s possible that the sand just isn’t being kept heated enough. And I’ll show you how to candle the egg so we can see if it’s alive or not.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:07 pm
"All right. I'm, ah...out a ways, so I might be a bit..." she said thoughtfully. "I'll be as quick as I can, though," she added, glancing up at Cordel and deciding that this was the one man she did not, under any circumstance, ever want to disappoint. Giving an abbreviated bow, she turned and strode briskly out of the stockroom, only breaking into a run when she was certain none of the Healers would see and chastise her for it.
The weyr she and Isonth shared was on the very fringes, as far from everything as it could possibly be, but La halved her usual travel time, skidding into her room and waking Isonth briefly.
What are you doing, Lanamine?
"Bringing Egg to a dragonhealer, love."
You spoke to him, then? Are we to learn?
"In time, yes."
Tell him I say hello, Mine.
Of course, love. Wrapping a cloth around the small pot of sand and lifting it from the hearth, she made certain the egg was well-nestled into it, gave Isonth a quick but affectionate one-armed hug, and started on her way back to the infirmary at a pace only slightly less brisk than the one she had set on the trip out. While she wasn't particularly satisfied with the amount of time it took (much longer than she would have preferred in this case), she was slightly breathless when she returned to Cordel's office with the egg.
"I'm sorry that took so long," she said, pausing and taking a few deep, slow breaths. "This is Egg," she added, setting the pot down on the table, careful to avoid putting it too close to any of Cordel's herbs or slates. "I won it at the recent Gather...but it's been long enough that I thought it ought to be showing some signs of hatching..." She trailed off, shrugging sheepishly as she realized she was babbling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:55 pm
“Then run,” was Cordel’s only comment to how long it would take for La to get there and back. Somehow, he didn’t think that the distance would really matter. At least, he hoped it wouldn’t. He could wait. While La skittered off, Cordel set up the ‘surgery’ table, which turned out to be… well… his table. But with the super fancy addition of a few strong glows, some redwort to prevent any infections, and some shiny metal tools that were practically iconic of a Healer. Just in case something was needed. He carefully washed his hands and disinfected everything, taking the flit egg nearly as seriously as a dragon.
So, a Gather egg, huh? From what Cordel had heard on the vine----and from his work with the recent flu cases, which had been traced back to the Gather---that had been several weeks ago. Surely it was time for the egg to start hatching. “It should be about ready to hatch. Sometimes you get a few that hatch slower than others. Sometimes an immature mother will not take care of her eggs properly and that will slow them down a bit. Let’s see how Egg is doing.”
Egg, huh? Good name. Very simple and easy to remember. “Ok. Egg candling is something you’ll have to learn, so pay close attention.” Not really needed; it was her egg after all, so the girl would be interested in the process. “You pick up a glow and hold it nearby the egg. That illuminates it. Ah. See? See that dark red bit over there and the veins going out of it? That’s your little firelizard. That means the egg is fertile. … Of course, he or she is also moving around, which is also a good sign. If the egg was bad, you’d just see a large red spot without any of those gossamer-like veins around it. If it was infertile, you wouldn’t see anything.” Actually, the firelizard was fully formed; if one looked carefully enough, they could juuuust make out his little head and feet. The wings were tougher.
But that was odd. Judging by the movements and the growth, the firelizard should have been hatching a while ago. Perhaps hours. That was more than a little concerning. Cordel put the egg down carefully and considered the options. “Go wash your hands and disinfect them with redwort. Egg should have hatched by now so we’re just going to encourage him a little bit. It’s possible that the shell is too tough for him, or perhaps the membrane inside.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:18 pm
La hung back for a moment while Cordel candled the egg, but she quickly moved in to peer at the contents. This was something they should show Candidates, she decided. It was fascinating, and she wished she had been able to watch the development from the beginning. Cordel's explanation earned nods from her, and as she peered at the indicated spots, she realized she could actually see the shape of the flitt inside...
When Cordel put Egg down, she looked up at him, taking in his expression with her own growing concern. When he told her to wash her hands, she blinked, gave a sharp nod, and did as she was told. "How much are we going to encourage him?" she asked quietly. Technically, Weyr philosophy was that if the egg didn't hatch, the Hatchling wouldn't have been strong enough, but that went against the very core of La's being, and Isonth, riding quietly in the back of her head, sent up a flare of such intense distress that La physically winced.
Don't worry, Isonth, don't worry.
Shaking the excess water from her hands and disinfecting them quietly, she went to stand beside Cordel, looking thoughtfully at the metal instruments and wondering what it took to crack open an egg. She imagined a fair job could be done with just a belt knife in a pinch, though that would be indecorous, as well as unsafe...
"What do you want me to do?" she asked. At least it sounded better than 'Now what?'
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:14 pm
Yes. Weyr policy was that an unhatched egg simply wasn’t strong enough to survive and so shouldn’t be allowed into the world at all. It was crueler, they decided, to let the poor thing struggle for a few piteous hours and then die, especially after it had Impressed someone. But firelizards were different. Besides, the firelizard inside the egg looked perfectly formed, every bit of it. The imperfection was not the flit, but the shell or membrane.
“I’m not sure yet. Judging by the development, he should have hatched some time ago, possibly half a day. Egg is still alright in there----you could see him breathing, if you looked carefully enough-----but it is getting a bit risky. If necessary, we might have to break open the shell very, very car…” ah! Looked like he had spoken too soon. Even as he spoke, the egg moved slightly, chipping off a bit of shell. Cordel relaxed, but only slightly. Something wasn’t right still, and the dragonhealer watched the egg carefully.
Unfortunately, after that single chip, nothing much happened. Still, Cordel could hear a faint noise, a firelizard baby squalling. “Just listen. Do you hear that?” he looked over at La and nodded when he saw that she could indeed hear the tiny noise. “That means that he’s at least got some air in his lungs. A good sign. I think the biggest problem with him is the low humidity. That could cause the membrane to dry out. The shell on this egg seems a little thinner than normal---I’m guessing the mother was older than most or perhaps she just didn’t get enough calcium in her diet. Hmm… somewhere over there, there’s a needle. What you want to do is gently break off pieces of the shell around the piping. That’s the opening there.”
‘You’ he said. While it was tempting to do it himself, La was the one who was learning here. That and it was her firelizard. “Be careful not to puncture the inner membrane yet; if there’s any ichor, stop and I’ll take over.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:23 am
La nodded at Cordel's explanation, regarding Egg in concerned silence. When the egg cracked, she leaned forward to peer at it. The soft keen she heard on her own, without Cordel's prompting, and it went straight to her heart. It went straight to Isonth's, too, and she set up a mental litany of reasons La had to fix this now. Dampening it slightly so she could concentrate better (a noisy dragon in your head was not a good idea for concentration), she tuned back into Cordel.
"This isn't common, is it?" she asked. "I've never heard of an egg coming to term and not hatching on its own, at least," she murmured. She was already searching for the needle to hand to Cordel when she realized that he wanted her to do it. Her eyes widened. "Me?" she asked, not frightened, just...surprised. She hadn't expected this right away. Casting a doubtful look at the needle, she nodded and bit her lip as she leaned in over the egg.
Holding Egg firmly with her right hand, she leaned in and chipped the slightest piece of shell away, avoiding the membrane studiously. After a moment, she chipped off another tiny piece, still chewing on her lip and half-consciously listening to Isonth asking what was going on. "How much of this...will I have to do? Will he be able to take over?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:47 pm
“You did say you want to be a dragonhealer, right?” And then Cordel gave La a perfect textbook example of The Look. It didn’t say anything, really, beyond, ‘and you meant it, didn’t you?’. There were probably classes about The Look back at Healer’s Hall, since it seemed that so many healers had it down in some form or another. “Dragonhealers don’t just tend dragons. We look after firelizards and whers as well. And their humans, if it comes down to it.”
“It doesn’t happen with dragon eggs. If they don’t hatch without help, then it’s likely there’s a problem with the hatchling. With firelizard eggs it can vary. Look at how thin this shell is,” he commented, picking up the piece of shell that La had just chipped off. “That’s much thinner than it should be. It doesn’t happen with dragon eggs because we can carefully monitor the queen’s diet. Hopefully he’ll be able to take over but, if he can’t, I’ll see what I can do.”
He watched carefully as La went about her work, perfectly prepared to jump in if he saw so much as a drop of ichor. But the girl had steady hands, even when working with one of her own firelizards. That was a good sign. No point in having a dragonhealer who freaked out when things got too personal. He sidled to the door and had a quiet word with one of the Apprentice Healers who was quietly watching. The words were, ‘go get some raw meat, will you? Cut very, very thinly…’ then he went back to La to make sure she hadn’t harmed anything. “Wait.”
The firelizard was moving around again, trying to break free of his prison. His cries were more… watery, though, with a hint of a cough. A brown----or possibly bronze---nose pressed against the membrane where La had broken the shell. The little creature then switched to his claws, trying to break out. But, somehow, he couldn’t quite make it. Cordel gently touched the membrane and nodded. It was mostly dried out, making it too tough for a baby to break through. “Feel the membrane. Do you notice how dry it is? That makes it much thicker.”
Picking up a pair of scissors, Cordel began the long and slow process of carefully cutting the little ‘lizard free. As he worked in silence, the Apprentice came in with the bowl of meat and left it quietly on the desk before going back to watch. Eventually, there was a long low cry from the firelizard, much stronger than before as his lungs took in air for the first time. Whirling eyes focused on Cordel, then on La, blinking blearily.
Cordel put the firelizard on the table and gently pushed La closer. “Well. Go on. He’s hungry. Only the smallest pieces, mind.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
