Mikala and Pyrotath's record
Busy Healer / Waiting Candidate Walking past the weyr, I heard a soft wimper of a canine. Curious, I entered. Inside, I found a girl plucking needlethorn spines from his front right leg. "Now, Flax, hold still. I have to get these spines out of your paw, or you'll never stop hurting."
Oblivious to my presence, she succeeds in removing the offending needlethorn. Quickly rubbing the wound with redwort to prevent infection, she follows with a thick coating of numbweed salve to ease the pain, and a strong bandadge. As she was busy with the hurt animal, I took a look around. To one side of the room were jars and jars of herbs used by healers. A small cot is near them. Draped over the cot is a curtain that just needs to be hung to separate sleeping quarters from the rest of the room. I gathered she had only recently taken up residence here. The girl herself was young, only about 16 turns. She had very pretty blue eyes, and shoulder-length black hair. Her teeth were crooked, but the rest of her made up for that. Her dress was simple, but flattering, and her new wherhide boots nicely complimented her appearance. When she finished with the canine, and looked up, she was surprised to see me there. "By the way you took care of that animal, you must know something about the healercraft?" I asked. "How could you tell?" she laughed. "Flax came with me to see if the needlethorn was dormant and ready to harvest. Evidently, it was not totally dormant and Flax got about a dozen of those toxic spines in his paw. Not to worry though. He'll be back turning the spits in the lower caverns in no time." Quickly I introduced myself as Kirina, the record keeper. She then gave me her name, Mikala. "I was apprenticed to the healer hall, but evidently, they think I have a chance at Impressing a dragon!" Mikala revealed. "Well," you can't help but point out, "If you treat a dragon the way you treated that canine, you'll have them lining up to Impress YOU instead of the other way around."
Hatching of Pyrotath It seemed to take forever for the eggs to all hatch and the little dragons to be Impressed. At the same time, it was over in a blur. Now, one of the last five remaining candidates, Mikala was anxious. Would she be picked, or left standing as the others led their life-time friends out of the dome? Brushing back a stray black strand of her shoulder-length hair, Mikala watched as the final eggs shattered to reveal the last of the hatchlings. One of them, a deep, midnight blue quickly surveyed the waiting five. Then, determined he rushed past two of the candidates to stand at the feet of the healer girl. Stunned, and full of joy, she took the young, damp creature into her arms. "His name is Pyrotath!" "You will be my rider. We will take care of each other," the little blue told her, "Is there anything to eat around here?" Leading him towards the exit of the grounds, Mikala was beaming, as any other newly Impressed rider would.
Pyrotath at his hatching
The Young Dragon Mikala gently finished dressing the wound on the young dragonet. As a healer, she had become very valuable to the weyr. Now, as a new dragonrider as well, her time was short. With a few last instructions to the dragonet's rider, she slipped away to her own weyr. Pyrotath should be waking up soon. Entering her weyr, the young blue eyed, black-haired girl found her blue dragon slowly rousing from sleep. "There, now. We'll find something for you to eat," Mikala told the hungry dragon. "Please do. I'm starving! And I'm beginning to itch too."
Leading her midnight blue dragon from the weyr they shared, Mikala, quickly found the meat layed out for them. Slicing the large slabs into bite size pieces, she barely kept up as Pyrotath ate quickly. Once or twice, Mikala thought she saw the young canine, Flax, that had kept to her side before she had Impressed. Now that she had Pyrotath, he wouldn't come near her. It was a shame, he was a fine animal and had been a good friend. "You would choose the canine over me?" a hurt voice stopped her thoughts cold. "Oh, no! Never, Pyrotath! You are my best and life-time friend. You will always come first." As she consolled Pyrotath, Mikala's busy mind wandered again to the herbs in the store room. The new shipment should arrive soon.
In Need of a Bath At the entrance of what you suspect to be Mikala and Pyrotath's weyr, I heard a young woman speaking. "Pyrotath, come, let's get you bathed and oiled...... Yes, I know your hungy. We'll get you something to eat after.......No, you haven't had a proper washing in days. Bathing is first."
The last of her words were spoken as she and a young dark blue dragon emerged from the cavern. Seeing me, she said, "Oh, hello! I didn't know we had a visitor." Then, the rich tenor of the dragon's voice surprized me as he said, "Anything to put off the bathing. Mikala scrubs forever!" "You are Mikala," I questioned. "Yes. And this is Pyrotath. He loves to swim, but hates it when I try to scrub him down - complains that I'm too picky. At least he enjoys being oiled." "Oil stops the itching." Again I was surprized to hear the dragons comments. "I guess," Mikala continues unaware that I heard Pyrotath, "the clean fit comes from being a healer. Or perhaps, I just want Pyrotath to look his best?" "Well, I better not keep you from your bath," I said directly to the blue, and then to Mikala, "or your scrubbing!" In awe, I watched the graceful blue and his rider glide down to the lake as I went my way.
Flax is from Naronis Weyr
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