Throbbing ((Hinuk & Seirsha))

[Lady Smara]

Once the little dragon had managed to tangle itself with him, the rest of the hatchling had gone in a red blur for Tschermak. He remembered the fluttering of pale blue wings; a blue hide stained red; hot sand also turned red; why even Hinuk he remembered, covered in blood. How could one small little boy hold so much blood?

The transition from that tangle of images to where he now lay in the Infirmary was gone from his mind completely and he could not help but wonder if he had blacked out when they had moved him. Now, however, he sat back against a thin pillow despite the healer threatening him with a felis drink, looking down at his right leg that throbbed. Of course he knew they had packed the wound with numbweed – but when something cut that deep… well it was the felis drink that would take it away with sleep, but again Tschermak waved it away miserably.

No, there was something else on his mind. It wasn’t the bloody hatchling, he knew the thing had gone unharmed. No… It was Hinuk. How many times had the self proclaimed leader of the Brat Pack pinned various pranks upon him? How many times had Hinuk and his group unknowingly let a prank fall on a larger brat – who later blamed Tschermak since Tschermak took the blunt of them usually anyways.

So why would Hinuk be so covered in blood? Why would Hinuk push on the wound to keep the blood inside the best he could? Surely there must have been something missing. Was Hinuk hurt too? No, that couldn’t be – he’d have been here in the Infirmary as well if that were the case.

”Boy, you’ll drink this or you’ll suffer all night because I’m not missing the feast for some brat who is too snot nosed to even lessen his own pain.” the healer threatened one last time. It didn’t surprise Tschermak really, the healer was an apprentice, unfairly charged with watching him instead of going to the feast simply because Tschermak couldn’t get out of the way of a clumsy hatchling. It wasn’t the healers fault and the healer was being punished. Well it was only fair then, that the healer wouldn’t even remember Tschermak’s name and continue to refer to him as ‘boy’.

”You can go to the feast. I won’t go anywhere. I can’t walk on it right now anyways.” Tschermak mumbled, turning his head away from the healer. The healer seemed torn for a moment as she silently stood there fuming before slamming the cup of felis juice on the side table and storming out of the Infirmary. Despite his better judgment, Tschermak could not help but hope she’d have fun at the feast tonight.

[HG]

A mix of emotions seemed to have taken hold of the young girl. She was ecstatic that T’ran had impressed and even a little glad for her idiot brother, L’sein. Figures he would impress a green, she thought smugly. Her parents were bound to be pleased though. First dragonrider in the family and he had not been killed on the sands which as always was their biggest fear. They were so concerned they had spent the last couple Turns trying to talk Seirsha out of it. The blonde girl figured they would have better luck on her sisters who were much more interested in being proper young ladies and not off having adventures or getting into trouble. They were rather frail like her brother was too. Better for them not to Stand. She however had big plans for her own life and no one would stop her from doing whatever she could to achieve them.

The downside to the Hatching had been seeing people being hurt; Most especially her newest friend, Tschermak. She and Hinuk who was still covered in blood from trying to save the other boy’s life, had made time to come and see Tschermak before getting ready for the feast. Seirsha heard most of the conversation between the Candidate and the Healer. Shaking her head when the woman walked away angry, she came close to the boy’s bed and took his hand. Softly as she could manage she said, “Hey Tschermak.” Her blue eyes showed her concern quite vividly. He had bled so much!

“You sure you don’t want to take anything for the pain?” She asked and looked up at Hinuk for support on the matter. Tschermak really should rest and recuperate. Hinuk would agree with her or at least he had better agree with her. She did not like seeing her friends in any pain especially after fighting the Holdless which looking back on things was about the time her parents had begun to really disagree with her on the riding thing. Not that she really could blame them. She was almost killed along with several other brats. Evelys came to mind then albeit only for a moment before Seirsha brushed the thought aside.

“If you do I promise to bring you something from the feast. I do know a good bubbly pie when I see one.” She grinned, like a cat that had caught a very fat tunnel snake. If he took some fellis he didn’t have to take a lot of it. Maybe half of what the Healer suggested would be good? It might dull the pain without making him sleepy. Seirsha sort of regretted telling him he should Stand when he didn’t feel ready. Maybe she should have asked him to wait to Stand with her? She could have protected him, maybe. Then again who was to say she wouldn’t impress before him and then he got injured. She wouldn’t be able to do anything then. It was a useless thought process. Tschermak needed to learn he hard way, like so many others. Dragonets were some of the clumsiest beings on Pern although Jinx might just be clumsier.

[♥Rizu-Chan♥]

Hinuk
Weyrbrat && Brat Pack Leader

By Faranth, he really had to stop making this a habit; though then again it wasn’t as if this time he’d actually been actively looking to get into some form of trouble. Really it was all he could think to try and keep his spirits up, the young weyrbrat having quickly removed the white candidate robe off his form as soon as he’d stepped far away enough from the Queen and her recently hatched brood. Hinuk was not fond of the iron scent of blood soaking the tunic, quickly discarding it towards the arms of the first drudge that passed by before the young weyrbrat scampered off – Faranth he was glad he’d been wearing normal clothing underneath that garment.

Still, for all the good in the world of Pern, getting rid of that blood stained tunic didn’t do much for the blood that was now encrusted into his skin; courtesy of him having tried to keep Tschermak’s wound from bleeding too profusely until the Healers reached them. A faint part of him was glad to hear the boy was alive and considerably fine, the murmured gossip of a pair of healing apprentices passing by on his same route welcomed by the blond lad.

Moving through the Weyr with ease, he knew the place and all its shortcuts like the back of his hand, the youth quickly reached the chambers of his father. It was still early, much too early really until the Hatching Feast later that night, and so Hinuk was sure the man wouldn’t be arriving until a good while later – no doubt he’d be drilling his wing soon enough or perhaps spending some time with that Junior what’s her name. D’seus had seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Hinuk knew better than to become jealous of it all, D’seus and Raelwyn had spent just as much, if not more, time back then after all, but then again he hadn’t been as close to the man back then either.

He’d had a pack to run, and Thoran and Evelys, as well as to keep him occupied. Now, however, he found himself conflicted over the various emotions coursing through his mind – Thoran was now T’ran, and therefore would probably be very busy from now on with Weyrlinghood; the blond had always hoped deep down they would have both impressed together to some of Zorometh’s babies – and the constant reminder of unpleasant memories in the back of his mind, thanks to Tschermak’s blood scent still on him, wasn’t doing much to help Hinuk sort himself out.

”Shards and shells and the cracks on the First Egg...”

An exasperated and frustrated sigh bellowed from the youth as he closed the door behind him, making a beeline for the area in the rider’s room where he and Thor—T’ran kept some of their spare clothing for the scheduled timed times they stayed over in the weyr with D’seus and Zorometh. Deftly he picked the first combo of trousers and a simple shirt available to his sight, before heading off to the private bathing chambers in his father’s room. The perks of being a seasoned bronzerider, as well as past Weyrleader and now Junior Weyrleader, were nothing to scoff at – and it served all the more to subconsciously remind the lad why only a strong and mighty bronze dragon would ever be worthy of being paired with him. Anything else would simply never be able to keep up with his pace and ambitions; no doubt this was the reason why that sissy gold tinted dragonet sired by those lame Tseravith and Issarith hadn’t chosen him.

In a matter of moments Hinuk soon found himself neck deep in the warm waters, a generous amount of sweetsand already mixed in to mask the scent of the blood as he washed it away; watching the trail slowly fade into oblivion as the bath constantly circulated and brought new fresh water into itself. He never had time to relax, however, the boy making it a priority to get out and dressed as quick as he could to go check on the other weyrbrat. He would take a longer and more proper bath later in the evening when he was getting ready for the feast. Besides; he was sure Tschermak would appreciate not having the ghastly sight of Hinuk covered in blood before him just as much as the lad himself was feeling better knowing he was finally not covered in someone else’s blood.

Shrieker had been nowhere to be found after all this, the sudden quietness as he dressed finally making the blond look around for the missing green firelizard. With a shrug however he dismissed the creature from his mind; no doubt it was probably trying to harass T’ran to feed her some of the scraps left from the meat designed for his new lifemate. It was better this way, he decided, the rather feisty and loud spawn of the Red Star itself would probably not be very welcomed in the Infirmary anyways. And soon enough Hinuk found himself there, spotting a Healer as she stormed out of a room, before the faint recognizable shape of another blond weyrbrat slipped into that same area. He might hadn’t seen Seirsha in a few sevendays now; but Hinuk wasn’t about to not recognize one of his lifelong childhood friends just because of that.

Still, why was she here?

Making his way over the Brat Pack leader stood at the doorway as he listened to his third-in-command mention something about painkillers; turning in time to catch sight of him and signal from support. ”Really, you don’t want to argue with her over this. Just drink the fellis juice.” He had entered the room by now, walking over to the side table and picking up the ignored cup as he spoke before handing it over to Tschermak. ”Besides, a free bubbly pie is never a bad deal; and Seirsha does know how to pick the good ones out.” He offered a faint, albeit a bit awkward, smile back to the other lad to reassure and comfort him somewhat; before mentally reminding himself this wasn’t one of the younger Brat Pack members he was dealing with.

Then again, Tschermak had always been so quiet and... well, demure like really. It was hard for Hinuk to not treat him as one of the younger members of his group; though he’d argue to anyone he was certain even the youngest member of his pack had more backbone in them than this lad did. Really, everything about Tscher just begged for the whole of Pern to pick on him; the fact he had always been so easy to pin the blame on for the Brat Pack’s pranks back in earlier turns just proved this. ’Way to go Hinuk, you’re here to make sure he’s alive and alright – not mentally pick the kid apart.’ If anything thinking back to those earlier turns actually make the usually confident weyrbrat feel rather guilty. Perhaps his father’s teachings (as well as his and Zorometh’s scolding) the past turn to him and Tho—T’ran were actually having an effect on the growing and once quite unruly lad.

”So... feeling alright?”

[Loner]

He was lying there, his young face constricted by that too-familiar expression, the one he always seemed to be wearing.

She'd cut her hair and kept the sides over her ears braided down and generally bathed more often so her skin looked a few shades brighter, she'd changed her dressage and took up a broom... more or less... and the transformation had swept her right under the noses of all those snooty Shield, and nary a Rider thought to glance twice in her direction. Nobody was suspicious of the abrupt bonus to their drudge population, fully grown, fully formed, a little over the hill (and popped right out of the ground like a Dwarf from Earthen mythology.)

She'd grown weary of his tongue-slipping, three-syllable name, though, and now she had a pet name for him, a softened short off the end of the whole. She hoped he didn't mind - Amnixiel wasn't that used to speaking Weyr-proper names - but he hadn't said anything to her about it directly.

Other children had gathered around him, probably ersatz friends that only qualified for the term on good days, or days when it suited them to be civil. Poor little boy didn't actually have real friends, folk who would stick their neck out so his would not get chopped, folk who would lie to spare him a grisly fate... folk who would care when he was abused.

Maybe being mauled by a newborn dragon was something akin to minor celebrity status around these parts, but Amnixiel hadn't heard that yet. It was a guess.

She hung back at first, wary of needing to interact with more than just Tschermak, wary of how children heedlessly repeat what they hear without recognizing consequences of unnecessarily related news. But she'd been powerless to go to him when it happened, and hadn't been able to get up this close until now, and she ached to gather him up and hug him and make it all go away.

The adoption of the youth had been somewhat haphazard, but it stood; Amnixiel had slunk into a life of Werybodyhood on the sly because the boy refused to walk away when there might be a dragon's life in his hands, and because she couldn't keep him safe and nurtured while out in the wilds, pretending to be a Holdless and actively avoiding her old clan and family.

Anyway, there really was something to be said about the lack of bugs in her bedding when she got back to it each night... right?

Finally, she leaned the broom against the doorway's inner edge, cast it a look that suggested she might regret this later, and went towards the gathered children anyway. Tall, thin, somewhat bony and knobby in areas where the cushy Weyr life hadn't filled her out yet, Amnixiel looked like a woman of about half again her true age, but didn't look quite as wizened as a typical Holdless might anymore.

She could possibly pass as Tschermak's grandmother, if she'd had her own kids quite young and so had they, to produce their respective assumed age groups. Slipping around the girl and past the boy, Amnixiel ran a hand over Tschermak's forehead, brushing back some of his hair, then withdrew her hand after, casting him a silent, supportive look.

She was entirely unsure of what that draught contained, and wasn't about to tell him to drink it!

[Lady Smara]

In turning his head away from the healer, Tschermak had spotted two Weyrbrats standing in the doorway. Well, one Weyrbrat as the other (like Tschermak) had recently become a candidate. It was Hinuk and Seirsha. Who would have thought? Two members of the Weyr’s ‘Brat Pack’, there to see little ol’ Tschermak. And two of the leaders at that! Tschermak was not sure if he should have been happy, or laugh at the irony.

His eyes flicked away from them only briefly as he saw the healer storm out of the room from the corner of his eye. Looking back toward the two as they came forward, he was surprised as Seirsha took his hand, was that a look of concern in her eyes? How many pranks had these two orchestrated that had, in the end, fallen upon Tschermak’s shoulders to take the blame?

Hearing the sweet request for him to take some of the juice by Seirsha, he knew that it had been concern in her eyes, especially when she looked to the other boy for support in getting him to drink it. Hinuk backed her up perfectly and without hesitation – they really did work well together. The thought in itself let a soft sigh from his lips as his chest fell a little more. They worked so well together – Why were they here? Tschermak would never fit in. He never did.

“S’not so bad…” he mumbled to Seirsha, his hand shaking a little in hers as he tried to hold it perfectly still. He wasn’t sure if he should squeeze it in return, or if that would show weakness. Right now, he wasn’t really sure about anything. He had wanted to stand with Seirsha, even had made her the promise to if he was still a candidate when she stood – but after tonight… He was scared, though he didn’t really want to show it. He knew the older candidates whispered that he wasn’t ready after the last egg touching – now they would just be more confident in that assessment. And maybe he wasn’t ready. It was so hard to know.

Hearing Hinuk’s last question even as a cold, slender hand brushed some hair from his eyes and back behind his ear. Glancing up, he found himself looking at the holdless woman he had run into during the attack. He had been unsure about what to do about her, who he should tell or if he should even tell anyone. Had it been a fatherless weyrbrat’s place to tattle upon the woman if it meant the safety of the Weyr? He had a strong code against tattling – which is why so much had easily been pinned upon him as he grew – but he had a strong sense of duty to the Weyr as well.

Probably the only reason he hadn’t taken the woman up on the idea of leaving the Weyr. He was still not sure why that idea had a hint of temptation to it… it was dangerous outside the stone walls of the Bowl and yet… she had been so willing to accept him. Willing enough, it seemed, to stay.

In the end he had told nobody – being as she was never cruel or harmful to him, how could she be harmful to the Weyr when it was full of much stronger men and women? And from it he had gained something akin to a friend, if someone so much older and different could be considered a friend. Seeing her smile down at him reassuringly, and feeling Seirsha’s hand holding his own, however, his voice caught.

Maybe… Maybe he did have a few friends. A few people who cared enough to remember his name, even if Amnixiel shortened it. He didn’t mind that she made the attempt. Even Hinuk, asking if he was alright… the boy had held the blood in and gotten himself covered in it… perhaps even he cared what happened to the smaller boy who silently took the blame.

In the end it was too much and Tschermak closed his eyes, a few silent tears escaping to slide down his cheeks. “I’m alright, Hinuk. Sorry I bled on ya.” He said, lifting his free hand to wipe away the tears as his other one finally squeezed a little on Seirsha’s. “I’ll take some Juice, but not all of it, it always turns my stomach…” he said, giving in to the small, concerned crowd around him.

Taking the cup gingerly from Seirsha as she offered it to him again, he took two good swallows before putting it down and dabbing at his leaking eyes again. “Ya’ll shouldn’t miss the feast. It’s yer friend out there who’s impressed. T’ran.”

[HG]

She didn’t believe that answer for a second. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you to wait to stand with me.” Seirsha grinned, “I’d have distracted the dragonet so you wouldn’t have been hurt.” Oh no, that wasn’t hubris at all. Before they could convince Tschermak to drink the fellis someone else had come to stand behind the boy.

The blonde girl looked up at the woman who seemed to be a motherly figure in tschermak’s life though she could not recall seeing her much before. Seirsha made no attempt at conversation with the woman but kept in mind she was there. Better she didn’t talk about smuggling things out of the kitchens when grown-ups were around. Hinuk’s support, the woman’s silence and her own vigilance seemed to work on the boy.

Why was he crying? She wondered if there was more pain than he was willing to admit. They weren’t tears of pain though were they? She asked herself as she made sure to examine his face more closely. The girl felt him squeeze her hand in return finally. Tschermak was not the only person in the world she cared about but he was the only one in the infirmary injured. He deserved some kindness and sympathy from her.

“Thank you Tschermak.” She said as he drank some of the fellis. She hoped that would at least dull some of the pain he was in. Whatever he was sad about, she was not going to bring up. Or maybe he was happy? She couldn’t tell at that moment. “I’ll stop by later with a bubbly pie.” Headwoman Emera would probably hand it to her herself when she heard it was meant Tschermak.

“Next time will be better.” She promised as if she knew how the next Hatching would go. Seirsha had no such knowledge but she wanted to make certain the boy did not give up because of one injury. She believed a dragon was just what he needed and deserved because he was her friend now and because T’ran and Hinuk would need someone to watch their backs in Weyrling Training. Seirsha wouldn’t be there to do it, she thought bitterly. One more Turn and she could Stand too.