Ain't Good At Everything

Writers: Avery, Paula
Date Posted: 19th January 2018

Characters: Dessa, Kapera
Description: Kapera helps Dessa on her weak moment.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 13 of Turn 9

Kapera

Visiting injured riders were part of goldriders duties, which was why
female candidates were sent to tag along the weyrwomen on their
infirmary rounds When Dessa's turn came, she learned something new of
herself. She wasn't bothered by scars or bandages or even missing
limbs. It was the fresh injuries and blood that made her feel faint.
Being told to get out by the healers had been humiliating. So now she
sat outside the infirmary entrance, head between her knees, tears
burning behind her lids.

Kapera walked over to Dessa. The candidate was hunched over, looking
absolutely miserable. She didn't want to put a hand on the girl if it
wasn't wanted, so she instead hovered nearby. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Weyrwoman's second Kapera!" Dessa hastily scrabled to her feet and
discreetly wiped the corners of her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Kapera asked. Dessa really didn't look good.

"I'm..." Dessa hesitated. But she was honest, as much as it pained to
admit a weakness or a failing. "...not. I failed in there. I just
didn't have the stomach for it."

"The Infirmary can be gruesome," Kapera agreed. She could have left it
there but instead she shared a story from her history, something she
was doing more lately.

"After we were done with weyrlinghood, they asked me to apprentice to
the dragonhealers. Because a gold's will is the strongest and that's
useful for the craft. But when I went to the first lessons, I just
couldn't deal with the ichor and messes. I let my Weyrwoman call me
indolent."

"Did you ever get used to it?" Dessa asked. "I don't think I'm cut out
to be healer of anything."

"I can manage it better now, but I don't like it. To be honest, I try
to avoid the fresh injured as much as I can. They make you do some
human and dragon first aid in weyrlinghood but you don't see much like
this."

"Oh, great," Dessa sighed. "I fainted when I cut my finger during
instrument making class," she moaned. "How can I be any help to
anybody if I'm like that?" She had seen and heard about how goldriders
assisted injuried dragons.

"If it makes you feel any better, there are days when I still feel
like that," Kapera said.

Checking in on Jevila and Gulbeth earlier in the month had been one of
those days. Both rider and dragon had suffered grievous injuries.
There'd been blood and mess and she hadn't liked it, but it had been
part of her duty to look in on it, especially to hand out discipline.

"Not eveyr goldrider has to do every task, and the good news is that
some of the help we provide is actually managed by our dragons, and
not ourselves. An injured dragon can go /between/ if they can't feel
their rider or if they panic too much. Your gold can apply a mental
pressure to soothe them and keep them steady. This is something where
you don't have to physically be close to the dragon or seeing the
injury, you're just directing what your dragon is focusing on," she
explained.

Dessa nodded. "Of course, I could Impress a green, so I wouldn't have
that problem."

"That's true. Then you'd only have to help if you wanted to craft."
Kapera agreed.

"Did you make it through the whole session in there or were you
supposed to go back?"

"I already have craft and one is enough. No, I'm not needed back in,"
Dessa replied.

Dessa looked a little bit better but Kapera still felt a twinge of
concern. "When is your next class or task?"

"Just regular candidate classes, theoretical stuff," Dessa replied.

"In a few candlemarks, or soon?" the goldrider asked, thinking she
could keep Dessa company for a bit if the candidate wanted.

"In a half candlemark," Dessa replied after checking the time from the
sun. That meant getting herself back together soon.

"Want me to walk over with you?" the goldrider asked her. Dessa looked
steadier now, but she might appreciate having someone else's company
on the way over.

"It's not nessesary," Dessa replied.

"In that case, I'll let you go on your way. " So Kapera shouldn't keep
bothering her. But she offered one more piece of advice. "Don't think
that struggling with this makes you a bad candidate. Not everyone is
going to be good at all tasks, and so far the Weyrlingmaster team
speaks well of you," she said.

"Thank you, M'am. It's very kind of you," Dessa replied. She was going
to remember that advice.

With that, Kapera took her leave, wondering privately what the gold
hatchling would think of Dessa. Of the candidates she'd met so far,
this one seemed promising.

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Ain't Good At Everything