A Bloody Blooding Indeed

Writers: Leigh M-F., Paula
Date Posted: 9th September 2016

Characters: Taren, A'kua
Description: The Blooding is too literal in this case.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 8 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Ilyssia and Gwynnyth, Firelloa (ONPC), Lissath, Jessmyr, Ninaine

He had been scared. So had those closest to him. After all, this was their first Threadfall, and they were going into it unprotected. Ilyssia had come to A'kua before she went up, embracing and kissing him, whispering her love. He had done the same for her, and when Firelloa also stopped by, she insisted he wear a warm sweater, and he humored her.

Once A'kua and Zeiranth got into the air, the fear didn't go away, but the two of them became too focused to feel it. There was only throwing the sacks, teleporting, and Zeiranth's mind meshed with his as their drive and the intensity of their concentration drew their consciousnesses closer together. But their luck ran out halfway through the Fall during a delivery to a bluepair in a mid-altitude wing. The firestone sack had barely left A'kua's hand when Zeiranth yelped }:Above us!:{

A'kua looked, and sure enough, a Thread was falling right at him while the blue was still being stoked for flame. There were no other dragons who could sear the Thread, and dodging would leave another pair unprotected. With no choice and no time to make it even if there was one, A'kua simultaneously thought of the Weyr and threw up his arms. **GO!** he thought, and the very instant the Thread smacked into him, Zeiranth took them between.

For three horrible breaths, A'kua wasn't sure if they had made it. Then they reappeared over the Weyr, Zeiranth descending, and when he felt the wind and sunshine, the weyrling was jolted to realize they were, unbelievably, still alive. A near-hysterical laugh of relief exploded from him as he started shaking like a bush in a hurricane, and he lowered his arms-

The laughter was cut off by a choke. His arms- His ARMS- The sleeves of his jacket and sweater were _gone_, the cuffs and backs of his gloves shredded, and spirals snaked all around his forearms and the backs of his hands, oozing half-congealed blood. A mere heartbeat later to go between, and he would have lost his ARMS-

"Oh," A'kua breathed, and the shaking intensified as shock began to set in. Right when Zeiranth touched down, he slumped forward in a dead faint.

}:A'kua!:{ the young bronze yelped, head craning around for a look. }:A'kua! A'kua, wake up!:{ Panicked, Zeiranth yelled on a wider band for the first time in his life. }:SOMEONE HELP!:{

Aes appeared first, popping out of /between/. The bronze flit did his best to assure the much bigger dragon that help was coming.

Taren and his team ran in. Not knowing how bad he was hurt or where, the healer stopped to take assesment. Slumped rider, panicing young dragon. He wondered if he would let them treat his riders. Some dragons needed gold to calm them down before they allowed anybody to touch their rider.

"Will you allow us to get to your rider, young bronze?" Taren asked politely, not knowing this pairs names yet. "I need to climb up to your back to get him down."

There was a horrible pause as the panic fought the desire to have his rider helped, and then Zeiranth whimpered, slowly lowering himself until his stomach touched the ground. }:It- It's his arms,:[ he said to Taren, willing to speak with another human now that it was an emergency. }:He won't wake up, but- but he's here.:{

"He's unconsious," Taren explained, after recovering from the jolt of having dragon adress him directly. That didn't happen often.
He nimbly leaped up to Zeiranth's back and used sharp knife to cut him off from the straps. There was no time to fiddle around with the clasps. "Both arms Scored," he informed his team after quick look over. He lowered the limp body down and his team put him on stretchers. An apprentice douced the injured arms with water and then removed what was left of clothes and the flight jacket.
Taren jumped down and started the treatment, First redworth, both to disinfect and to protect the healthy skin around the scorings. Then he took more thorough inspection of the injuries. No live Thread and the water had washed off the dead strands. Then he applied the numbweed and let the journeyman bandage it. He checked rest of A'kua to see if there were any other Scorings they intially didn't spot.

Thankfully, the weyrling wasn't hurt but for the scored arms. Zeiranth tried to stay as close as possible without actually getting in the way, mentally calling to A'kua over and over. It finally worked; the redhead groaned, eyes rolling behind the lids, which gradually opened. He swallowed hard, stare unfocused, but he didn't thrash about or have a fit.

}:A'kua! You're awake!;{ Zeiranth cried in relief and joy. }:It's okay, these people are taking care of you. Everything is going to be fine.:{

The healer didn't miss the signs of him returning to consiousness. "Welcome back, A'kua," he greeted.
He signalled his journeymen, "get fellis." Those arms were going to _hurt_ when the numbweed wore out.

The redhead swallowed hard and had to force words through the fog of confusion. "I feel sick," he whispered, and started trying to turn on his side.

"Bucket!" Taren called and the apprentice jumped to action. Taren helped A'kua to turn to his side. That way he wouldn't choke on his own voimit.

In short order, A'kua purged his stomach until nothing but froth remained, and he collapsed onto his back again. "Think 'm gonna pass out," he mumbled.

}:Nononono don't!:{ Zeiranth pleaded.}:At least stay awake until- until-:{ Until what? He didn't know how human healing worked. He looked pleadingly at Taren, eyes whirling.

Taren patted his shoulder confortingly. "Try to stay with us so we can see you aren't going into a shock," he said.

}:I could call- no, I can't call Gwynnyth. Not yet.:{ Ilyssia and Gwynnyth would be getting much-needed rest after their shift. }:I can call Firelloa-:{

"No," A'kua moaned. "Don' let her see me l-like this."

}:Okay, okay, but both of them will be called as soon as possible,:{ Zeiranth promised.

It turned out shock truly had set in, so the treatment plan changed slightly. But in the end, A'kua was stabilized, a more natural rest eventually taking over. Zeiranth stayed with him mentally the entire time, forgetting he would need someone to take off his straps and give him a bath and oiling. It could all wait now that he knew his rider would be all right.

Once the rider was stable, Taren had his staff to move him to the infirmary. Then he moved on to other patients. At some point a candidate appared to take care of Zeiranth.

With the worst handled and his own health managed, Zeiranth could at last make the appropriate calls. }:Gwynnyth? Mother? A'kua was scored. He's asleep now, but he'll need your riders when he wakes up. Could one of them also tell Firelloa, Jessmyr, and Ninaine? He'll need them, too.:{ He settled down on the ground near one of the entrances that would lead to the infirmary, and waited, keeping vigil.

Last updated on the September 28th 2016

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A Bloody Blooding Indeed