Troublesome Firelizard

[kyra]

Alexander walked the halls of the infirmary. This was the only place he hadn't thought to look for Alyzin. The firelizard flew off after biting Zyika's hand. Shaking his head he wasn't too sure what he was going to do with those two. Alyzin had popped out of hiding, nearly scaring Zyika who threw the pots at him. Ever since then the firelizard disliked his sister. Sighing he ran a hand in his hair looking around.

"Alyzin you can come out now." His voice was gentle yet rough. He wasn't mad at the firelizard anymore he was just worried for the little thing. It felt weird not having Alyzin attached to his neck. Then an idea struck him to finding the hidden firelizard, "I guess I'll have to eat all of that meat by myself." He said playfully as he began to turn around to leave head back towards the kitchen.

The sound of wings made him smile, He saw a flash of burgundy fly around him. Smiling he couldn't help but laugh, "You never say no to food do you." Alyzin landed on his shoulder and bgan to chirp happily, until the sound of footsteps made them pause.

[missing]

Pala carried a crate of fresh supplies down the hall, humming to herself as she did so. So far she liked this Weyr, most of the people she had met were friendly, and those who were not at least did not seem mean. She could get used to it here... Hopefully she wouldn't be reassigned to another location anytime soon, she would have to work hard and prove she was worth keeping. Sure she was a candidate but she didn't actually think she'd impress, she was grown now and no longer belived herself to be that lucky. But still... it was a golden oppourtinity to improve her skills in dealing with dragons that she refused to squander.

So deep was she in her thoughts that she didn't see Alexander until it was almost too late. Alyzin's chirp brought her back to Pern and she skidded to a halt, but the weight of the box threw her balance off causing her to fall rather ungracefully on her butt. With a skill born of years of practice her arms automatically lifted, keeping the crate from crashing down as well as her feet flew out from under her.

[kyra]

Alexander's cold eyes watched the girl who seemed to be lost in her thoughts. He watched as she fell and shook his head. Sure it was slightly her own fault for not paying much attention, but it would be very very rude of him to walk away and not help her. Alyzin flew off his shoulder and flew in circles around her as if inspecting her out.

"Hand them over." His voice was softer then how he usually spoke to strangers, but he really did not want to scare her right now. Since it was him that sort of scared her into falling. His eyes were a little bit warmer then they were before, but that didn't mean much. "You should pay better attention next time." He added as Alyzin returned to his shoulder chirping happily as if nothing happened. "Who are you?" He added. She defiantly wasn't from this Weyr, which made him slightly curious to why she was here.

[missing]

"Ah thanks..." she handed him the crate, it wasn't very heavy but had a strange mixture of scents coming from it, "Sorry you're right. Clumsy and distracted usally aren't a very good combo, I just wasn't expecting anyone down here except maybe Mya or Master Jocene," Pala stood dusting herself off with a frown.

Looking up she noticed Alyzin flying around her, "So it was you who chirped hm? Probably would have run right into you two if you hadn't so it's a good thing you did," She smiled at Alexander, "I'm Journeywoman Pala of the Healer Hall. I was sent here with Mya on assignment right after we both walked the tables around the same time. Somehow we both ended up being searched before we even made it off the docks though... Seems strange to me but I'm here to learn about dragons and how to treat them, it would be foolish to pass up such an opportunity. I can take that back now if you like," she nodded at the crate.

[kyra]

“I was down here playing hide and seek with Alyzin.” He said as in explaining to why he was down here. He held the box and wrinkled his nose at the smells. Alyzin who seemed to like the smells wanted to dive into the box, but Alexander shrugged his one should as a no to the little firelizard. Alyzin looked at Alexander as if debating to hop into the box or to listen to his bonded. The firelizard flickered its tongue as in annoyance and stayed where he was.

Pala…so that was the mysterious girls name. “You’re a candidate now then.” More candidates were always good, but he was hoping his sister would impress this year. But from the rumors there were very few candidates and more then enough eggs, which made him, feel better for the most part. “Just show me where you are going.” He was short like with every stranger, even if the box was light it would be even more rude of him to walk away and let her carry it herself to where she was going.

[missing]

The healer raised an eyebrow at the explaination of why he was down here, she didn't look like she bought it, "You didn't really need to explain yourself, it's an open area and you're more than welcome to come here whenever you'd like. It's not your fault I can't seem to pay attention to where I'm going."

Pala blinked a bit in suprise at the offer, but shook it off rather quickly, "Just in here," She pointed past him into one of the infirmary rooms, "I have to mix some more medicine but we were out of some of the herbs so... Well you're holding the result. I imagine it must be difficult to run an infirmary for a Weyr by yourself, Master or not Jocene can't possibly do it all and Mya and I were definitely needed. Makes me wonder what will happen if we do both impress... I doubt it will happen but if it does it will take some time before we can work here again, and probably nearly as long to secure another Healer when they've already sent two..." she frowned and bit her lip, "Maybe I should have turned him down... but... it didn't seem like the right thing to do..."

[kyra]

“I really was. Alyzin bit my sister’s hand and I got mad at him so he flew off.” He was telling the truth. He was playing hide and seek with his firelizard. “Alyzin must of thought I would never look here.” He said looking at the firelizard on his shoulder. He wasn’t too sure what he would do with the fact that his sister and his pal hated eachother.

Alexander walked the box into the room and set it down before looking back at Pala. “You could still be a healer if you impress. I remember hearing about riders that were healers.” He said with a slight nod, “It’s not common, but there is such a thing.” He scratched the back of his head and sighed, “It’s most likely just hard with weyrling training and everything else that goes on. But I hear some of the strongest healers have been riders.” He said trying to make her feel better even though he really wasn’t that type of guy.

[missing]

"But... doesn't hide and seek imply it's a game usually? You don't seem like the games sort... but then I guess I can't really talk in that regard," she smiled a bit, "The fact that you didn't think to look down here is probably a good thing, far too many spend too MUCH time here."

Pala stated unpacking the box, carefully lifting out cloth bags labeled with the names of different herb and setting the ones that she needed to the side, "I know I could still be a healer, but from what I've gathered a young dragon is a full time job until they are grown, and two turns is a long time to run a Weyr infirmary without any help. Honestly, based on what people have told me here I'm not sure I will impress, at least not this time. Dragons normally don't impress to those who are confused about if they even want to impress right? As far as I can tell I don't really have any character flaws that would bar me from impressing," she didn't seem to be saying this out of any sort of pride or hubris, more as if stating a scientific fact, "But a hatchling can tell certain things about a candidate, and why would they impress to someone who wasn't sure they wanted to? I am looking forward to the hatching though, I think it will answer many questions about the whole process."

Then if I don't impress they have time to send a replacement for me... just in case I do next time. It felt like jinxing it to even think such a thing but she couldn't help it.

[kyra]

He couldn’t help but smile slightly at her babbling. “Well if the hatchling is right for you, then even if you are confused or not, the hatchling will impress to you.” It didn’t really matter if the candidate was confused or not if the dragon was meant for the person then they will impress to that person no matter what. “Even though the first two turns is hard, I’m sure you can find a way.” He said with a nod.

“But if you do impress which dragon do you hope for?” He asked curious to what the girl would want. He knew his sister wanted to impress any dragon especially since she stood for many turns. He on the other hand wanted to impress a Black dragon, but he figured he would most likely impress a Blue dragon is what he figured. He had already impressed a burgundy fire lizard and he found that amazing. “I would love to impress a Black dragon, I find them interesting and strong. But I will most likely impress a Blue, which would be amazing as well. To just impress shall be great.” He said with a slight smile. He doubted he would be the type to impress a Bronze, but if he did he would be even more happier.

[missing]

"I certainly hope so, it would be nice to impress but..." she shook her head, "Anyway I've already sent on notification to the Healercraft Hall. In case we both happen to impress they shouldn't be blind-sighted by another request for healers so soon. I can't imagine an unexplained request would go over well with whomever they might send either," she laughed, "They'd probably start a rumor that Mya and I had been eaten or something."

"I honestly don't know much about the color differences yet other than their ranks... To me it's just different sizes, shapes, and shades. I guess I would be happy with any color... I hear greens are quick though, which would suit me I think. Golds usually choose good leadership qualities from what I hear and I don't think I'm calm enough to be considered a leader... I'm a good worker though, and always wanting to learn..." again she didn't sound like she was boasting, like everything else in her life Pala had broken herself down into logical bits at some point, "So I guess I could ride Grey... but again it's all just colors to me. If I were to impress, I'm sure I would think my dragon was better than any Gold out there."

She smiled at him, "Don't sell yourself short, I'm sure you're more than able to impress even a Bronze if you wanted to. Most people would have laughed and walked away when I fell. You not only took the box until I stood, but helped me take it to where it needed to go. I haven't meet too many candidates before here but I'm sure that can't be said for all of them either. Anyway, even if you do impress a blue instead of a black it doesn't mean you couldn't it just means that blue was made for you."

[kyra]

“There should be no buts about it.” He said with a shake of his head. He chuckled slightly when she said that the healers would think her and Mya had been eaten. There was really nothing around here that would threaten a life to a human except thread fall, but no thread has fallen from the sky yet at least not in quite a lot of turns.

He smirked as she admitted to not knowing the differences of color. “Yes, not matter what dragon you impress they are your whole world. Your companion for life almost.” He scratched the back of his head as Alyzin chirped in his ear sending a picture of food into his mind. Alexander put his hand in his pocket and pulled out some scrap foods he kept in case of the firelizard becoming hungry. Besides right now would not be a good time to bug Zyika for some food.

He smiled he didn’t mean to make it sound like he was complaining of which color he would get. He would truly be happy with any color. He had to admit it was entertaining to watch her talk. Leaning against the wall he tilted his head, “So if you’re so confused, why did you say yes in the first place.”

[missing]

"No, I guess there really aren't. Some things just catch you off guard though you know?" She was used to being caught of guard, just usually not by a blue dragon in her face asking if she was too scared to become a candidate. She still wasn't sure she would have been invited to become one had the Weyr not been so pressed for candidates. And if she impressed... well maybe if there were more candidates the same dragon wouldn't even look at her.

She watched as he fed Alyzin, "How did you come by him? That boy... Midnael, he has a green but he says greens too stupid to realize how cold it can get clutch at his hold all the time so it's not uncommon to find greens and blues there. Your burgundy must have come from a gold's clutch though right?"

"Oh well Navith challenged Mya and I and then the candidate master said the dragonettes would kill themselves if there weren't enough proper candidates..." she scowled, "Only found out after that a dragon would impress someone in the stands if the person they wanted was there, so my status doesn't really make too big of a difference in if the young dragons go between or not. Ultimately I convinced myself that it was the right thing to do, and probably wouldn't get a better chance to study dragons than this. I suppose I was right about that anyway."

She was still a bit angry at the candidate master whenever she thought about that cheap trick, he had to have known that saying so would play on her and Mya's Healercraft instincts. Most of the time she put it out of her mind and got along with him about as well as the other candidates did, but by bringing it up now her face showed the anger she had felt when she discovered that little omission.

[kyra]

Alex smiled slightly at her caught off guard comment. He had to agree if anyone challenged him on anything he would most likely accept the challenge with a smart ass attitude. “We’re just very pressed for candidates. Which is shocking considering how many turns my sister has stood.”

His eyes flickered towards her as she asked him about Alyzin. “I guess I was just lucky to be there at the right time.” He sighed and nodded, “Greens may be able to clutch, but they won’t remember if they do. It’s lucky if a few eggs may survive. Alyzin here did of course come from a Gold clutch.” His mind began to wander to the past as if it happened yesterday. “There was many eggs, and I had just missed almost all of them. I could of impressed a Gold, but she disappeared so quick.” He laughed before coming back into the present. Some days he wished he had been more prepared, but he hadn’t known the clutch was there.

He sighed softly and shook her head, “It is true. They always like to have more candidates then how many eggs to make sure the hatchlings have enough to pick from. We never know how many eggs will be duds.” He didn’t want to imagine what it would be like with barely any candidates at all.

[missing]

"Well her dragon probably hasn't hatched yet then, she wouldn't have been searched if there wasn't something about her right?" she vaguely realized in the back of her mind that she was arguing her own theory that they wouldn't have taken HER if they hadn't been so pressed for candidates. But then Zykia had been a candidate for... "How many times has she stood on the sands?"

She watched with a smile as he seemed to go off somewhere else in his head, a few at the Healercraft Hall had impressed firelizards, but by the time she was of a high enough rank to even be considered for an egg she had been shipped off (literally) to the Weyr. She wouldn't trade this assignment for anything but she had to admit firelizards could be useful. Midnael had allowed her to send her message to the Healercraft Hall using Finiky and to get a response almost right away had been wonderful.

"Oh I hope none of them are duds... they all felt warm to me but, well with that buried one it could have been because it was buried. Midnael seemed rather attached to that one, he won't hear anything spoken of it possibly being a dud. Odd thing is that when I asked him if he wanted to impress that one he mumbled something about the egg getting 'noticed' or something... " she frowned, "Still people whisper, I think more people think that it is a dud than not."

[kyra]

“Five turns.” He responded softly. She had stood in the sands for five turns leaving depressed because she hadn’t impressed. “This will be my first turn.” He added with a shake of his head. He was two turns older then his sister and still couldn’t figure out why she was searched before him, yet never impressed. His sister was strong, and a tad bit shy before she opens up.

“Perhaps it could be a white one for all we know.” Alexander shrugged. He hadn’t been attached really to any of them, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t impress. “There could be duds…it is common now to have at least one or two.” Thinking back to the egg touching he was happy his sister gathered up enough courage to touch the queen’s eggs. He knew she had a lot of doubts, but he didn’t know how to comfort her.


“Do you regret accepting the offer?” He asked meaning about the challenge that was brought upon her. He wondered if she would impress and if so, what would it be. It was odd to think that there are two healers now, but they both had turned candidates.