The Winds of Change (Tag: ALL)

[Spiffy]

The mud was indeed very slippery, and it tok Shea and Luna a good while to get to the stables, even with Dusk'd help leading then through the worst parts. A couple of times they waded through ankle deep mud, and more frequently than Shea was comfortable with they slipped an nearly lost R'fel. It was just as well that there were two of them carrying him, for if it were Shea alone then R'fel would surely have fallen.

But they arrived in good time, though not as quickly as he would have liked. Looking around for Aydrian, Shea felt his chest tighten in worry when he did not see him. maybe he hadn't got the note, maybe Dawn hadn't got it to him! No, he told himself as he set R'fel down against one of the walls, it's a long way down here from the infirmary, and he would have to pack his bag and stuff. But that didn't stop him fretting.

Not wanting to stand around waiting for Aydrian to arrive, Shea went next door to the other pat of the stables, where his apprentice was milling around, looking slightly confused. He seemed relieved that the Weyrhearder had finally reappeared, then confused again when he realised that Shea was covered from head to foot in mud. Before he could ay anything about that though, Shea spoke up:

"Darius, could you run up to the Weyr proper and find J'thir for me? Tell him I need him here urgently," he said, running his hand though his mud-caked hair. "You'd better see if you can find V'lor and - as well," he added, remembering at the last minute that there were now only two bronzeriders in the Weyr, not three. He cut Darius off as he began to protest. "I don't care, just go get them, someone'll be able to tell you where they are. And if you see a healer on their way over tell them to get their asses a move on!" he concluded as the apprentice rushed out the stable door.

Reentering the room with the others in it, he was surprised to see that Luna was gone, but he heard rustling coming from the tack room, which reassured him that she hadn't simply disappeared off of the face of Pern. He paced for a few seconds, before looking up at another sound from outside. Finally! He rushed out the door to greet the Masterhealer, and was hustled back in with all possible speed.

He stod behind Aydrian as he examined R'fel, amazed at how the Healer could approach the situation directly and with an aura or unfailing calm. Healers always amazed him. Quite often, when confronted with a tricky situation Shea's mind impulsively shrunk to the size of a sand grain, not the best condition to deal with a disaster. It seemed that his shock at recognising R'fel, and his later shock at recognising Dusk, had reversed the process somewhat, but now he felt out of his depth. Sure, he was taught how to heal a wide variety of animals as part of his Craft training, but that still didn't help him when confronted with a fellow human, and a friend at that.

A movement behind him made him jump, flinching as a blanket was placed around his shoulders. He looked around quickly to see that Luna had returned, flashing her a grateful smile as he realised what she was doing. He pulled it tighter around his shoulders, only realising as he began to warm up just how cold he had been. The adrenaline rush had probably kept him unaware of the chill from the mud.

He was startled out of this reverie by an outburst from Aydrian. "He's waking, help me get him down. I need him level." Trying not to rush too much, Shea leaned forward to help Aydrian get R'fel level, laying him flat on the ground, his expression obviously one of pain. He saw Aydrian reach out to put R'fel's raised head back onto the ground, but he let it flop back himself without any assistance. The WeyrHealer had already managed to remove R'fel's shirt and so Shea got a good view of the damage the poor rider had undergone: a large gash ran down much of his right side, while bis left arm was a mess. It was probably just as well that R'fel had been out for the whole time he and Luna had been carrying him, for if not the pain from his arm would have been doubtlessly excruciating.

Shea blinked quite excessively, fighting back tears for his friend as Aydrian bustled about with cleaning the wounds with redwort. But then R'fel met his eye, and the motes of panic in them faded somewhat. It was small comfort, but it was a start at least. He tried to smile back encouragingly as R'fel struggled to speak. "Dusk? Where's Dusk?" But before Shea could form any sort of response such as Dusk is safe, don't worry, Luna got there first.

"Don't worry. Dusk is here and safe." Well, better than the goldfish impression he'd just performed. But as his brain finally pulled itself around, he realised that he didn't actually know where Dusk had gone. At all. He glanced inquiringly back at Luna, thinking that she probably knew where Dusk was, as she'd sounded so sure when she'd spoken. Bt apparently she wasn't; she was turning circles, obviously looking for the... thing. He was relieved when she finally seemed to find her, covering Dusk with one of the blankets she'd brought through. Part of his mind registered that it was probably a good thing that Aydrian could no longer see Dusk, even if he looked for her.

"Is Dusk his wher?" Aydrian asked suddenly, and though it was said quietly and calmly he left no question that it was an important question none the less.

"Uh, no," Shea managed, fixing R'fel with a look that hopefully said 'don't say anything'. "No, Dusk is..." he cleared his throat. "... Dusk is his flitter. Firelizard. He's fine," he added, thinking that if Aydrian did catch sight of Dusk he may at least think that she was a blue flitt. He kept his 'quiet' gaze on R'fel, silently raising a finger t his lips to reinforce the look, grateful that he was standing behind Aydrian, who was busy rummaging in his bag for what Shea presumed was a numbweed pot.

Well, at least someone knew where to find the stuff.




(ooc: whoa, where did all that come from?)

[Dragon Song]

The redwort stung bitterly, but it was a good stinging. It was cleanliness, and the first step on the road to recovery. It also reminded him that he alive, though at the moment that didn't seem like the best thing that could be happening to him at the moment. His life had seemingly just hit a bit of a rut.

Of course the sight of familiar people was a comfort, and a blessing. Shea was one of his good friends, and most riders knew Aydrian for some reason or another. Unfortunately it occurred to R'fel that he was perhaps about to get to know the infirmary and healers a fair bit better and he wished he didn't have to. That sharding fogged valley! It wasn't Shea that answered him though, instead a voice he most certainly didn't recognise. Head shifted slightly and his eyes flicked to try and focus on Luna, though most of what he saw was a figure wrapped in a runner blanket. But whoever she, for the voice was definitely female, was, she had confirmed Dusk was alright. Though the fact that she was looking around was worrying.

At that point, Dusk brushed against his mind and sweet relief flooded through him. She was alright! Of course, he'd wanted to believe that girl, but in a sense paranoia had kicked in. His mind was still slightly foggy, but having Dusk there was helping. Her clear thoughts were helping to defog his own, and whilst she didn't say anything he could feel the waves of worry, reassurance and love radiating off her. And, if he wasn't mistaken, a touch of hatred. Who did she have to hate?

Not that he could think a little clearer he actually paid some attention to what was going on. He caught mention of Dusk's name, Aydrian asking who she was. He was slowly forming a response in his mind when Shea beat him to it. Firelizard? He still wasn't up to speed, but then he caught the look, about the same time Dusk sent warning thoughts. Metaphorical cogs whirring in his mind he came to the conclusion that Dusk was out of sight, which was why he couldn't see her and why she wasn't beside him, so that she didn't startle Aydrian. He didn't have a problem with her, but he realised now that other people might do. Especially if they had been at the Valley. He'd just nod if he was asked. He could do that much. As an afterthought though, he realised that Shea had called Dusk he. That probably wouldn't go down well with the little purplish creature.

Dusk herself was in a battle with herself. It was so hard to not bound over to R'fel and make sure he was alright, desperately hard not to vocalise her joy that he was alright! What if this person was dangerous? A threat? She should be protecting him, because sure as anything that Shea character wasn't going to be any use! But she mustn't move. Not a muscle, she must not be seen! That could lead to an even worse situation, with R'fel not getting the help he needed! So caught up in this battle she didn't instantly reach out to Hers when he woke up fully.

The moment she heard him ask, she reached for his mind and clung to it, steeling herself against whimpering and running to him. She could be there for him from there, and could comfort him from there as well. So intent was her concentration on her rider that she missed Luna's approach, and was snapped into reality by the blanket being flung over her. Startled, she snapped instinctively at Luna, eyes flaring red as she hissed and backed up with her teeth bared. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be being silent, and that Luna had at least helped her get R'fel back here. Slowly she relaxed, but remaining with her rump firmly against the wall, gaze flicking anxiously to where R'fel was in case she'd bee rumbled. If she had she could just flick between should she need to. She let her head droop slightly as Luna rubbed her down, grateful that the mud was being removed but grumpy that someone else was caring for her. Most of all though, she was upset that she couldn't be beside R'fel and with the shivering, mud covering and the low slung head she looked the utter picture of dejection as she kept her rapidly whirling eyes on her Rider.

[Jester]

As Luna rubbed Dusk down she listened carefully to what was going on behind her. She had gone back to thinking on how Shea had been so afraid of Dusk. Something about her had just set them off. Luna wasn't sure what it was exactly, but she was determined to find out. Luna paused for a moment when She heard Shea tell the healer that dusk was R'fel's blue firelizard. It was then that she was certain something was going on.

Luna began rubbing along Dusk's back and then on to her legs. She was glad she had calmed down. She had been lucky not to have jerked back when Dusk had snapped. She didn't want the healer's eyes to stray over to them. As dusk slouched down Luna let out a soft sigh. Luna leaned closer to whisper. "Don't worry. As soon as the healer is done you'll be back my his side. Just wait a little longer." Luna couldn't stand seeing Dusk so sad. She hoped the healer would hurry so she could go back to R'fel. She worked harder on rubbing off more mud and warming Dusk as she willed the healer to work faster.