In the Far Flung Silence (Any)
Tricia
He was staring off into the deeper waters of the lake, his mind lost
in thought. His eyes looked off into the distance, the green eyes
seeming not to see anything as he looked at nothing. Part of him was
mourning, the other part, angry. Beyond anything he'd felt before.
Savanarith was dead. Varena was in a coma. His beloved sister, in a
coma. The Healers didn't know when, or if, she'd wake up. Varena.
He thought of her sweet face, the way her hair always seemed to get in
her eyes and she'd have to brush it out. He thought of the love and
delight on her face when she'd Impressed at the last Hatching. At the
beautiful green Savanarith, the dragonet trotting along beside her,
happy, and healthy.
And then dead. Within mere sevendays. Dead and nearly taking his
Varena with her.
And they Weyr had no explanation. For this, for the other dead
dragonets, for the unHatched eggs. His beautiful sister, robbed of
her life, of her will to live, without even being old enough to really
live.
His own brown stayed quiet, letting him be in his sweet reverie, the
memories of his sister rolling through his head. He'd paint them,
eventually, but now they were still to painful. The letter he'd had
to write to his parents, their response. They hadn't been able to
visit yet, but he'd have to go get them soon.
He was still sitting there when someone's shadow cast over him...
Shai
the Weyr-lake, a sketchbook in hand in case something interesting
caught his eye. He knew the Weyrwoman would have some announcement
planned in reference to the weyrling greenrider and that it would be
riddled with Isolationist propaganda. He had little desire to hurry
back before dinner and would have skipped out entirely if not for his
position at the Head Table.
The waning afternoon breeze was hot and muggy on his brow as the
senior journeyman Healer Olethym began his return back to the Weyr and
from there the Dining Hall. He allowed small puffs of dark sand catch
flight as he had done in his youth. A voice in his mind whined in
protest which brought a faint smirk to his lips.
It was not that he specifically disliked dinnertime, his position here
at the Weyr or what he did, it was that this patient in particular,
this greenrider girl, was in a way a byproduct of the way this Weyr
was run. And he absolutely hated that people and dragons were
suffering because...
He rubbed absently at a bruise on the side of his head, the mild pain
breaking his train of thought. He sighed.
Perhaps if not for his relative freedom at Ista and through his
abilities, attention to fact, and his hope to enlighten people
(however slowly), he would have left years ago.
Olethym's reverie was broken as he approached a familiar figure. At
first he did not realize whom it was because he had a direct relation
to the Healer's thoughts. He had assumed that he had simply been
projecting his memory of a face onto someone else, but soon there was
no doubt in his mind that this man was the brother of the soon-to-be
infamous greenrider.
What was his name?
He paused as his lengthening shadow fell upon the young brownrider's
form. He too seemed to be thinking deeply, and he thought he could
guess where the other's thoughts lay. "Good evening."
Tricia Nicewicz
Val'en nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. He chided himself for his nerves, the brownrider not normally so uneasy with the world. But then, he also wasn't normally so sad or angry. No, he was an easy-going guy, who loved his drink, his dragon, and his lovers. And his family. And one of them was lost to him, possibly for forever.He looked up at the speaker, trying to place the person in his mind. Healer Olethym. He'd been one of those Healers who'd looked at Varena. He was carrying a sketchbook, and if the timing was different, Val'en would have asked to have a look. He was an artist, a painter by choice, and he always liked seeing others' works as well as sharing his own. But this suddenly didn't seem like the time, his mind didn't want to talk about such inconsequential things as art work."Healer. Good evening." He debated for a minute if he even wanted the company, and then decided suddenly, that he did. He motioned to the rock beside him, indicating that the healer could sit if he wished. "What brings you this way?" he asked, his tone certainly not cheery, but also not unfriendly.
--
Tricia aka GoldTigress
Fallsmere Weyr
http://www.freewebs.com/fallsmere/
Come and Join! Players Needed!
Member of Koude Weyr & Eastern Weyr
Shai
should stay. This was no doubt a very delicate time for the rider. A
time where little details like addressing verbally the Healer's
specific rank would be overlooked while objects of a person's grief
would be amplified in painful detail. Completely understandable and
expected. It was also a time when the truth may or may not be the
best for the bereaved. But in such cases, it would be up to the rider
to decide.
He had been invited to sit, after all. "Excuse me for disturbing
you," he said quietly as he sat down, setting his sketchbook beside
him on the rock. Looking out at the lake, he smiled sardonically.
"My reason for this excursion along the lake is simply, escapism.
Though I was just now headed vaguely to the Dining Hall for dinner."
As he had already determined, it would be up to Val'en to decide what
he needed to hear, so the Healer remained in a comfortable silence
next to the brownrider.
On Jul 29, 9:49 pm, "Tricia Nicewicz" <thegoldtigr...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> On 7/29/07, Shai <neis...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Val'en nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. He chided himself for his
> nerves, the brownrider not normally so uneasy with the world. But then, he
> also wasn't normally so sad or angry. No, he was an easy-going guy, who
> loved his drink, his dragon, and his lovers. And his family. And one of
> them was lost to him, possibly for forever.
>
> He looked up at the speaker, trying to place the person in his mind. Healer
> Olethym. He'd been one of those Healers who'd looked at Varena. He was
> carrying a sketchbook, and if the timing was different, Val'en would have
> asked to have a look. He was an artist, a painter by choice, and he always
> liked seeing others' works as well as sharing his own. But this suddenly
> didn't seem like the time, his mind didn't want to talk about such
> inconsequential things as art work.
>
> "Healer. Good evening." He debated for a minute if he even wanted the
> company, and then decided suddenly, that he did. He motioned to the rock
> beside him, indicating that the healer could sit if he wished. "What brings
> you this way?" he asked, his tone certainly not cheery, but also not
> unfriendly.
>
> --
> Tricia aka GoldTigress
> Fallsmere Weyrhttp://www.freewebs.com/fallsmere/
> Come and Join! Players Needed!
>
> Member of Koude Weyr & Eastern Weyr-
Tricia Nicewicz
Olethym regarded him for a moment, considering whether or not he
should stay. This was no doubt a very delicate time for the rider. A
time where little details like addressing verbally the Healer's
specific rank would be overlooked while objects of a person's grief
would be amplified in painful detail. Completely understandable and
expected. It was also a time when the truth may or may not be the
best for the bereaved. But in such cases, it would be up to the rider
to decide.
He had been invited to sit, after all. "Excuse me for disturbing
you," he said quietly as he sat down, setting his sketchbook beside
him on the rock. Looking out at the lake, he smiled sardonically.
"My reason for this excursion along the lake is simply, escapism.
Though I was just now headed vaguely to the Dining Hall for dinner."
As he had already determined, it would be up to Val'en to decide what
he needed to hear, so the Healer remained in a comfortable silence
next to the brownrider.
Shai
Mistaking the apology, perhaps for his dark mood, the healer
shrugged. He would have been a bit surprised if the rider had been
ravenous on a day like this, but forgetting to eat (or simply not
being hungry) was perfectly normal. But he had to wonder at the
stiffening of the man beside him. Though it must be very difficult
for him now, things would only get worse as word about his sister
spread and people began the inevitable rumors...
Olethym looked down at his half-forgotten sketchbook for a moment
before picking it up. "Yes, occasionally..." A more accurate reply
would have been, whenever he could. "It's part of my job, and a
hobby." He opened the book and flipped past several wherhide pages
full of plants, including a meticulous study of numbweed. One page
was covered by a series of sketches modeled by Avarin, focusing on the
muscle structures of the face. "My good friend, the Harper..." With
a little smirk, he thought back on that day and the Harper's constant
complaining for holding each facial expression for so long. Then his
smile softened as he came upon a girl standing with her dragonette.
She looked so young; it was hard to believe that was from fifteen
turns ago. "And his sister..." He tilted the sketchbook toward
Val'en. "I drew this a few days after she bonded to her Green."
He finally closed the sketchbook and looked out over the lake. The
sun had passed beneath the rim of the Weyr bowl, and the silhouettes
of stretching dragon wings and tossing saurian heads on its Heights
made beautiful contrast against the pastel sky. With this reminder of
the time, he suddenly did not have much time but so much he wanted to
say. "I don't know what the Weyr's officially going to say about your
sister and her dragon, but the healing staff is not going to be a
party to lies." He turned back to Val'en. "You're her family. We
will tell you as much as we can; what we have not told you is what we
can not be certain of. That too we will tell you in time, but only
when we are sure."
Rising to his feet and dusting himself off, Olethym said, "I should be
getting back to the Weyr now," he wrinkled his nose briefly, "duties
to the Head Table and all. A certain... Harper... told someone of
power that I'm not only a Journeyman but a Senior Journeyman. There's
a subtle difference but it's made my life very complicated. Feel free
to come by any of the healers' offices at any time if you need to
talk."
( Tag Val'en )
On Aug 22, 10:42 pm, "Tricia Nicewicz" <thegoldtigr...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Fallsmere Weyrhttp://www.freewebs.com/fallsmere/