In sickness and health (attn: R'lyn)

[tariala]

Oridale sighed in bliss as she walked into the building that served as Southern’s infirmary for her first on-duty stretch. The atmosphere of the Weyr was quite different from that of the College. It was only to be expected, of course- these people were in the front lines of the war with the North, and the residents of the college were either scholars or common folk.

But one infirmary was much like another, and Oridale, swiveled on her heel to run an assessing eye over the equipment available, and the other healers sharing her shift. This had to be the best feeling in the world- her first real assignment as a full healer. Of course, that would probably only last until the next bad injury came in, or the war started up again. With those stolen eggs on the sands, that could be any time now.

At the direction of the healer she'd replaced, Oridale began making the rounds of the patients in the building. Most seemed to be resting comfortably, waiting for time to complete the healing process, but a few needed a closer eye kept on them for any changes in their condition.

[stolenhart]

It was time for his sevendaily massage at the infirmary. Since his leg had never properly healed he tended to get bad cramps in his bad hip and leg and only a decent rub at the hands of a healer would save his life. Castogath often asked why he didn't just cut the leg off which of course was just a joke. Still somedays, especially in the wet season, he would gladly take that step. He limped into the infirmary and stood waiting to be acknowledged.

He'd always been a tall man but time had taken it's toll on him, causing his shoulders to slump a bit almost in defeat. Still there was aura of power and authority about the man, no one doubted this was the Weyrleader. Even his enemies respected him for his honor was without question and his actions above reproach. Despite this though, he knew his time as Weyrleader was fast drawing to a close. Some young hot head, no doubt one of the thiefs, would take his place. "Hello?", he called out.

[tariala]

Oridale finished wrapping up a bluerider’s new bandage when she heard the call, helping the man settle back into bed before hurrying to answer. It didn’t do to keep a patient waiting. Not that one of the other healers present would leave someone bleeding or sick to fend for themselves, but Oridale was still fresh enough from her apprenticeship to feel obligated to hop to when summoned, by anybody.

The brunette drew up before the man, eyes automatically giving him a once over for visible injuries. They widened slightly as she caught sight of his rank, the only sign of surprise in a face maintaining a professionally pleasant smile. This was the Weyrleader? Opinion about this man was wide in varied- she’d heard everything from men who swore he could take out the North single-handed, to those who sadly shook their heads over what time did to once-good men. But all seemed to agree that he was a man of honor, and Oridale was intrigued to be meeting him.

“Good day to you, Weyrleader.” Oridale greeted him aloud, smile taking on a bit a warmth it hadn’t had while she’d been thinking. “I’m Journeyman Oridale. What can I do for you today?”

((OOC: Not sure if she should call herself journeyman or journeywoman, or if it matters here. Let me know if there's a problem, and I'll change it.))

[stolenhart]

He watched a young healer approach him, a hint of surprise his eyes. It was rare for a woman to make journeyman here in the south, rarer yet that the Weyr would rate her. He'd have thought Hold Lidal would want her services since she had to be one of the better Healers. What are you thinking about? Decent beast can't get no sleep. Her? You are thinking about her?, the dragon was now intrigued. He'd rarely gone on Search over the Turns but he did have the ability to do so.

He cleared his throat, "I come once a sevenday to have my leg massaged, keeps my leg from cramping up", he explained, thumping the butt of his cloth wrapped cane on the floor. He'd dislocated his hip so many Turns ago it had even faded from his nightmares. If it hadn't been for the cotton banner on the strap, he would have fallen to his death. Thank his egg his leg had been wrapped in it. A little pain was worth his life. "Helps me deal with the pain".

[tariala]

Oridale saw the surprise, and wondered what prompted it. Possibly just seeing a female journeyman. They weren’t exactly common, despite how much certain aspects of the craft were practiced by the women of the holds. A shame, really. It would be nice to have more female colleagues that weren’t more interested in marriage and babies. Of course, it had helped that her parents were somewhat unconventional themselves, and had encouraged her fully.

“That I can certainly do.” She told the bronzerider, waving a hand to invite him to get settled on a table. She could hardly work with that leg while he was standing up. “Unless you would prefer a male healer, in which case I could summon one of my colleagues to attend you.” She’d run into enough men who weren’t happy with a female handling certain areas, even for harmless medical reasons, that Oridale now often made the offer out of habit for more… sensitive problems. She didn’t like having to do so, and felt it undermined her status as a healer, but the patient’s health and comfort came first.

[stolenhart]

"You'll do dahlin'", he told her, sitting on the edge of the table. He set the cane beside him and began to pull his boots off. With two thumps his boots hit the floor and he slid back off the table. He untucked his shirt then proceeded to remove his pants. His legs were pale white, the one leg slightly smaller than other. "You'll have to excuse me", he told her, his voice dignified as he climbed back on the table and laid down, making sure his shirt covered everything modesty dictated it did.

He wished it had been one of the male journeymen who had seen him, but he couldn't turn the girl away when she asked if he needed help. Maybe she'd get embarrassed and leave herself without making him embarassed. Aw well at the very least it had been awhile since a pretty girl had had her hands on him, even for so innocent an act as a leg massage.

[tariala]

Oridale’s smile brightened when R’lyn didn’t take her up on the offer. And that he called her dahlin’- casual endearments were kind of charming, when a man wasn’t being overly condescending. She discreetly averted her eyes while he got himself settled, looking fully up again when she was sure he was ready for her to start.

“I’m sure you know best by now what works for you and what doesn’t, so let me know if I need to change the technique I’m using at all.” Oridale informed the bronzerider, beginning a basic therapeutic massage. The goal was to work tension out of the muscles, get the leg nice and relaxed. Faranth knew the man probably had enough other tension to deal with these days, worrying about preparing for Northern retaliation.

The potential Northern incursion that was her official reason for being here. And no matter what she thought of the war, she couldn’t argue with the need to treat its victims. It was probably her unofficial reason for being here too, if she’d heard some of the masters’ remarks correctly. But no matter what they might hope, she rather doubted that exposure to Southern’s brave fighting men would convince her of the justness of the war.

“Those eggs are going to hatch soon, aren’t they? I imagine it’ll be a relief to get them safely Impressed, at least.” She commented lightly, while she worked.

[stolenhart]

He chuckled, closing his eyes. "You could take a hammer to that leg it would still feel better than it does right now", he explained. Some days, when he done alot of riding or standing it would go numb or throb, and in the rainy season it would either shot pain down the leg or seize up. It was almost not worth the trouble, still he wasn't about to give into Castogath's teasing and cut his leg off.

He could feel the muscle relaxing and that in turn relaxed his back and shoulders. Every sevenday he realized just how much tension that leg caused him and he always left the infirmary feeling much better. "Another sevenday maybe a bit more. If we can get them safely Hatched and Impressed to Southerners everything will be well. Here at Southern we can hold off Norther forces", it was only when they went North that they had problems. The younger riders, in need of action, often went North. Mostly they came back whole, sometimes they didn't come back. A waste really. "Though without their Weyrleader, they may not attack at all". It was by luck he'd had a patrol in the North when the Weyrleader died, then he'd stationed one there for several sevendays afterward to find out what would happen. That's how he knew about the Weyrwoman dying.

"Have you been Searched for the clutch?" While most candidates were assigned chores when they were brought into the Weyr, the few already in the Weyr just kept doing what they had always been doing. Candidacy was not so hard after all, or it hadn't been so hard when R'lyn had been a candidate. "There is a gold egg in case you hadn't heard". R'lyn had had to send four women North in his thirty odd turns of riding. He had not hesitated in doing so, it had been his duty to see it done. Women on fighting dragons were trouble.

[tariala]

It took Oridale a few moments to absorb the notion of herself in connection with standing for the much-talked-about clutch. Standing for the gold egg. It certainly hadn’t occurred to her before, and her hands stilled briefly in surprise. “Me? No, no one has ever spoken to me about that.” She knew she hadn’t managed to keep the disbelief out of her voice. Healing had been a good portion of her life since she’d apprenticed, and it was taking her mind a bit longer to wrap her mind around even the idea of a different sort of future.

“I’ve been fairly focused on my studies, especially since there’s been a gold egg *to* stand for.” She explained, making her hands take up their work again. “Journeyman exams take a lot of effort, attention, and time in the archives with your nose buried in hides” particularly if you were female “and if somebody Searched the College, I’m afraid I wasn’t aware of it. Nor, it being my second day, have I had the opportunity to talk with many riders here yet.”

She was silent for a while, thinking. Oridale wasn’t sure she wanted to try- if she succeeded, would her father be more happy for her, or sad for the reminder of what Impression was like? Her mother would throw a fit at the notion of her daughter putting herself in the kind of danger a goldrider would always be in, even as she beamed with pride for the Impression. Did she herself want to live every day with that potential danger hanging over her head? When she’d probably be expected to fight? Or worse, Impressing a green, or a blue? Not that she would mind a green, but everyone knew what they did to females who Impressed fighting dragons. And being abandoned to care for herself, not to mention a vulnerable hatching, chilled her blood like nothing else could.

Still, as Weyrwoman, she’d have a power and authority over the Weyr that she would never have in her craft, no matter how much good she did. Women were not masters, full stop. “Goldriding strikes me as a somewhat dangerous proposition, when I have a secure and prosperous future ahead of me as a healer.” She told R’lyn finally. “And I’ve never been one to choose blindly. Could you enlighten me as to what makes you think I might be suited for such a thing?” Her words spoke of doubt, but her tone invited the Weyrleader to try and convince her. If it was one thing Oridale had never been able to refuse, it was new knowledge.

[stolenhart]

"One of those sort?", he asked, wiggling his fingers at her. R'lyn had never been the hidebound type, even when he had the time. As a young man reading about someone else didn't strike him to the heart and as he got older he just didn't have the time. Not to mention he wasn't a good reader to begin with, some words confused him. With no candidates on the Sands he had given the Candidatemaster the chore of rewriting the records but he supposed someone else would be doing that now. "No harm done, the Healer hall needs a few females if nothing more than to give healing riders someone pretty to stare at while they recover", he winked at her than glanced over a fellow journeyman who was no in the least bit pretty.

"Well for starters Castogath happens to be interested in you. I 'spect we could get Regryth outside to properly Search one day if you want or I could just exert a bit of my power and claim Castogath Searched you himself. He'd like to have a hand in the new goldrider, I would to for that matter", he mused to himself, running a hand down his scruffy cheek. "You are a healer, or at least healer trained, it seems alot of Weyrwoman tend towards that profession. I couldn't tell you though, I don't have access to the Northern records", which were vast. Centuries of history and worth were catacombed in Northern's vast Weyr and Holds but Southern could not get their hands on them. "Either way what would hurt to have Regryth look at you? You could tell your grandbabies you stood for a gold egg once"

[tariala]

Oridale blushed at the compliment. She didn’t usually think of her looks much, but who didn’t like being told they were pretty? “I’m sure that was their plan all along.” She agreed with dry solemnity, stifling a laugh when the Weyrleader glanced over the unfortunate journeyman.

She felt a pang of longing for access to those lost records, but made herself concentrate on the Weyrleader’s other words. R’lyn’s comment about ‘having a hand in the new goldrider’ raised minor guards- Oridale didn’t blame him for wanting to make sure the new goldrider served the Weyr right, was trained correctly. But he’d better not count on having too much influence on the goldrider- anyone strong enough to Impress gold would probably be resentful of too much influence on her. She knew she would.

If she chose to Stand. If she Impressed. A lot of ifs.

She’d likely be on the Sands come hatching day, anyway, where the queen could still find her. Some healers would need to be, to attend to the inevitable injuries, and she had as good a chance as any to draw the duty- particularly if the Weyrleader made a specific request to that effect. And would it be so bad to try, or even be chosen? A story to tell her grandbabies, indeed.

She exhaled on a sigh, came to a decision. “Far be it for me to deny Southern’s queen what she may need. I would prefer that Regryth do a proper Search, no offense intended to your Castogath. With the kind of candidates a queen egg will bring, I think the last thing I want is to attract unnecessary attention to myself by having the Weyrleader as a Searcher.” Oridale was under no delusions that competition for the gold egg would be cutthroat- perhaps literally. And maybe the Searchers, pressured to give the hatchling as many choices as possible, wouldn’t be as careful as they should be at bringing in more ethical personalities. No, better to be one of the crowd and underestimated until the prize was within her grasp. And the protections that came along with it. “Though, I can still include the charming Weyrleader and his clever bronze in the story, if you wish.” She winked at him, finishing the message, and told him she was done.

[stolenhart]

"Of course it was. It inspires young men to have pretty women looking after them, though some seem to think it entitles them to staying in bed longer", he laughed, winking at her. The rare times the Weyr had a female Healers, it was always the same. The injured riders would complain for attention and try to stay in bed when they were around. It usually took a depressed dragon or other method to pry a rider away from the healers.

He nodded in understanding. "Not a problem. I'll have Castogath send Regryth around either today or tomorrow and I'tel can officially get you Searched. You can stay here until the Hatching and Impression", he told her, "That way you'll be a bit safer". Over the next few days a girl or two might come up missing. It had been known to happen before, the records said so, maybe this Hatching would go off without a hitch. R'lyn sincerely hoped so. "It's your story", he laughed sitting back up.

A few minutes later he was dressed, complete with cane and boots and ready to be about his business. "Thank you again. I much preferred your hands over his", he tilted his head towards a male healer, "But then what old man wouldn't".