|
|
Post by Lynn on Nov 13, 2014 20:26:46 GMT
Eyes opened to look up at the ceiling, and a hand rose to stroke the little form curled up on her chest. At 3 months old, Isis was large, but not fully grown, and she suspected that the Diamond Queen would not be a huge creature. Taking a deep breath, she shifted, then winced at the odd, still uncertain feeling-or LACK of feeling-on her left side. They'd had to numb pretty much her entire side when the Hatchling Pearl had maimed her to follow through with her demand, and she sighed softly and closed her eyes once more. She then adjusted her position, moving to carefully sit up. This allowed Isis time to shift downwards so she was sitting in her Person's lap instead of on her chest, and Kaira then shifted backwards to lean against the wall, staring at the blanket still on her lower half. The right hand side was shifted upwards to accommodate her leg, but the other side...
The other side was flat past where her upper thigh was, and she just stared at it for a long time, recalling the rushed, though not panicked, shift to the Infirmary from the Hatching Grounds as the last hatchlings had Impressed. She'd been mostly unconscious at that point, but still awake enough to know what was going on, if through a fog. Isis had been frantic, fearful, and it had taken all of Kaira's fuzzy mind to get the Diamond to calm enough to not be in the way while the admittedly tricky surgery was performed. Wurek was a genius at his Craft though, and nothing had gone wrong that could not be handled by the Master and his Journeymen. The Apprentices had been told to stay back, but also to watch in case they should ever run into anything similar.
Now, three days later, the former Candidate and Instructor was once again a student of fate.
|
|
|
|
Post by summerrain on Nov 18, 2014 22:58:36 GMT
Three days since the Hatching. Three days since Impression. And she'd already gotten herself hurt. She had been helping out in the kitchen when she'd somehow managed to burn her arm. She had practically been forced out of the kitchen, the head cook insisting that she had to at least get the burn looked at before she was allowed to help again. It did hurt, but it wasn't bad. It hadn't even blistered. The area was a bright red, sure, but that was it.
She currently sad on the edge of one of the cots, legs dangling over the end, staring off into the distance. She hadn't seen Miss Kaira in a few days... At the Hatching, there'd been a lot of blood everywhere. Miss Kaira had been taken to this same location. But something was... Different. She couldn't see Kaira, though. In fact, Eternity was facing the other way, her back to Kaira's bed.
Suddenly, a cold gel was pressed against the burn, and she jumped as she was unexpectedly brought out of her revere.
"Ah, sorry about that," said the Apprentice Healer. "I thought you'd seen me coming."
"It's alright," she assured him. "I was just... Thinking." She looked down at the curled-up form of her tiny black Diamond Queenling and smiled softly. "Everything's different now..."
"Well, of course miss," the apprentice said with a soft laugh. "That Hatching may have been a bit chaotic, but you've got yourself a friend for life in that dragon of yours. And she's a pretty thing too, despite being as small as she is."
"I don't really care about size, though she may never get bigger than her Amethyst sister," Eternity admitted after a moment. "She's perfect just the way she is." Cvath raised her head and blinked at her human. Eternity laughed.
"Well, if you'll stay here for a few minutes while I get some bandages," the apprentice said to her, walking back to a cabinet at the other end of the room.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lynn on Nov 26, 2014 21:31:19 GMT
Kaira had seen her come in, but had not spoken to her, merely watching her. Shaking her head as she saw the burn, she sighed softly and continued stroking Isis, who chirped to her and reached up to nuzzle her neck. "I know baby, you're tired of being in here," she said quietly, and the Diamond nuzzled her again. "Until I relearn though, we really can't leave." Glancing back to Eternity as she hissed, her eyes narrowed as her protective streak reared its head, causing Isis to hiss threateningly in the Healer's general direction.
Once the perceived threat had been verified as not a threat at all, however, the Diamond Queen calmed down, and Kaira shifted slightly, drawing the attention of Aura's Healer friend Joana, who'd been caring for Kaira as well. She came over and offered the woman her hand with a slightly raised blonde/brown brow, and Kaira smiled faintly and took it, the Healer's silent indication she was to stand and work on her new lesson. Pulling off the blanket resolutely, she reached for the cane they'd fashioned for her out of steel and fire-tempered wood and carefully pressed on it, pushing herself up slowly. Taking a deep breath, she then glanced down at the empty space where her left leg should have been, before looking to the spot on the floor. It was only ten feet away, but to Kaira, it looked like a LONG way...
|
|
|
|
Post by summerrain on Nov 26, 2014 23:46:10 GMT
A soft hissing came from somewhere in the back of the room, and Eternity turned around, finally spying Kaira. She pushed herself from the cot and made her way over, Cvath following, claws clacking on the floor. She saw that one of Kaira's legs was missing, but she didn't mention it.
"Miss Kaira, I was worried about you," she said with a smile. "I'm glad you're alright. Oh, Cvath wanted to say hello too." The tiny black Diamond looked up at the woman and blinked once. "It's alright Cvath, she's a friend," Eternity assured her.
Hello, I am Cvath, she said to Kaira. It's nice to finally meet you. You are in a lot of the images my Eternity shows me when we have free time.
"Ah, yeah, Cvath knows everything," Eternity clarified. "But I don't want to get her too confused, so I try not to show her too much of Earth..." She laughed softly. "And she gets along well with Siren. But Lucy won't come near her for some reason..." She shook her head. "Well, at least you're okay. We were all scared for you."
|
|
|
|
Post by Lynn on Nov 27, 2014 6:20:56 GMT
The former instructor turned her head as she heard claws on the floor, and she smiled reassuringly to the tiny dragoness, who rumor said was an oddly hued Diamond Queen. When Eternity glanced unknowingly towards where her leg had been, she tensed, prepared to defend her choice to have it removed, only to not have to. Relaxing, she listened to the girl quietly, then blinked as an unfamiliar voice entered her mind for the first time since the Hatching. She still heard the adults, but the Weyrlings, to her understanding, were further away, so their minds were fainter.
"It's a pleasure, Cvath," she said with a smile. "I'm glad you and Eternity found one another." And she was too. She'd been sorely worried for the girl, especially after Sirieth's life had been stolen by Demonth. That had hit Eternity hard, and even only semi-conscious she'd been able to tell. Now she knew who the tiny voice she'd heard calling Eternity belonged to. Theoretically she already had, but she'd been drifting at that point.
"Eh, I'll live. Just have to relearn a few things I've known how to do for decades," she said wryly, and Joana, still nearby, chuckled softly.
|
|
|
|
Post by summerrain on Nov 27, 2014 6:45:47 GMT
Cvath's upper lip curled back in an attempt at a smile, causing Eternity to laugh. She sobered up after a moment. "Cvath was eggtwinned with the Diamond that... That killed the Black Pearl Queen," she explained after a moment. "Some of the Dragonhealers are starting to think that she'll never be as big as a normal Diamond, but I really don't care. Its just one more thing that makes her special." She lost her train of thought when, with a small pop, Siren appeared above her and circled her head once before landing on her shoulder.
"Oh, but the one I'm worried about is Quinith, the other Pearl that Aura Impressed," Eternity admitted. "She's terrified of her siblings, but the larger dragons don't seem to bother her quite so much. I'm honestly surprised that Cvath isn't as affected, having been twinned with that brutal Diamond after all..."
I am alright, I have you, and you make me feel safe, Cvath assured her. And besides, the older dragons would not stand by while something happened.
"That may be true dearie, but you know as well as I that none of them can fit down in these corridors," Eternity reminded Cvath. She turned back to Kaira.
"It may be hard work, but we know you can do it Miss Kaira! After all, you're the one who helped all of us kids out of the crash," she said with a smile. "We all believe in you!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Lynn on Nov 27, 2014 6:54:40 GMT
Kaira nodded slightly and considered that for a long moment. "You know. I keep wondering if he confused her for an Onyx King. All the records I read said that Diamond Kings are jealous of their black brothers, and will kill them if they happen to Hatch too close together and nothing is done fast enough..." She remembered then a very faint strand of memory, of that little voice speaking to Eternity just before she'd blacked out, and she looked down at the grayish Queen. "You tried to tell him," she said gently. "I wish he had listened to your wisdom." She frowned then, thinking of Aura and her little Pearl. "I think she just needs time. Seeing your sister, who you care deeply for, murdered before your eyes by one of those you are supposed to trust most is a very traumatic event. That it happened so CLOSE to her, could have BEEN her, probably is the core of her terror. If Sirieth had not dragged Demonth into darkness, she would likely have been the next target, assuming killing Sirieth wasn't enough to calm him..."
She shook her head, sending long red hair-currently free-flying in all directions. "I feel sorry for him, honestly. His only real problem was confusion. If he and Cvath had Hatched just a few minutes later, I feel Sirieth would have been Impressed and off the Sands, thus countering his confused rage. She looked ready to choose her rider after all..."
|
|
|
|
Post by summerrain on Nov 27, 2014 19:38:34 GMT
"Actually, I'm thinking that he might've turned on Cvath next if Sirieth hadn't dragged him with her," Eternity said, kneeling down on the ground and wrapping her arms around Cvath's small head. "If only because she's a different color. Grey is pretty close to black, after all." She knew Cvath had the same thought, it was still hanging around in her head at Impression." She sighed and shook her head. "Even if they'd Hatched later, I feel like Demonth would've still gone after Cvath, even if Sirieth had been Impressed already." She stood again.
"I thought I told you to stay put..." muttered the apprentice healer, reappearing with a rolled bandage in his hand.
"Sorry," Eternity said with a sheepish smile. "I was worried about my friend, I'm glad she's okay."
"We all are," he admitted, wrapping the bandage around Eternity's arm. "There you go. All bandaged up. You're going to have to come back for the next two days to get the bandages changed, and we'll see how it's doing then."
"Thank you," she replied, smiling. He nodded and returned to the office. Eternity turned back to Kaira. "I was helping out in the kitchen when I bumped into something and burned my arm," she explained. "A silly mistake, really, but it's not that bad. It didn't even blister."
|
|
|
|
Post by Lynn on Nov 28, 2014 22:05:36 GMT
"I'm not so sure. She may be gray toned, but there's no mistaking her for an Onyx," Kaira countered gently. "And her size alone would have made her a non target, that and being behind him still, therefore hidden from his sight." She glanced up as the Healer came out and smiled faintly when he chided the Weyrling, then looked towards the x on the floor once more with a sigh. When Eternity spoke to her again, she glanced to her, and shrugged slightly. "All of us have our moments, even if we don't like them," she pointed out mildly. "Some of us have worse moments than others," she added, glancing down slightly, then back up.
"Kaira," Joana said chidingly, even as she looked to Eternity apologetically. "We need to get her exercises done before her strength wanes," she explained to the girl. "You're more than welcome to watch if you wish."
|
|
|
|
Post by summerrain on Nov 28, 2014 22:15:20 GMT
"Good point," Eternity agreed. "It doesn't matter, she's mine and I'd protect her no matter what." She smiled down at Cvath, then Joana spoke.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I actually have other chores to get back to," she said after a moment. "The Weyrwoman was supposed to show me and Aura around the study, and what being Weyrwoman actually entails. It's going to take a while to get used to being a Queenrider," she admitted. "Honestly, I thought it'd be you, miss Kaira." Siren nipped at Eternity's ear. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll stop back by the kitchen and grab you some food," she said with a laugh. "Well, miss Kaira, miss Joana, goodbye!" She turned and walked out the door.
"I hope Miss Kaira gets better soon," she muttered.
I'm sure she will Eternity. She's a strong woman.
"Thanks Cvath. Now, we've got to go meet up with the Weyrwoman. C'mon, we don't want to be late!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Lynn on Nov 30, 2014 8:15:21 GMT
Joana and Kaira both bid the lass farewell, then Kaira took a deep breath and began the slow, laborious process of reaching that little x on the floor. So Eternity had thought she would be a Queenrider? she thought, somehow amused by this thought. Why would the girl have felt that way? She could only imagine...
|
|
