Underwater

Writers: Heather
Date Posted: 23rd September 2019

Characters: R'axe, T'kev
Description: R'axe's first time chasing again since losing his eyesight goes terribly wrong.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 18 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: K'yne, Jadirah

R'axe

T'kev

The call of the green dragon rising was not unusual, R'axe had heard those for nearly all of his life, and they were so commonplace that he rarely even noticed them at all any more. Except for today. Today's was different because it was the first time he could feel his dragon's interest as the green began blooding her kills. It was different because this was the first time R'axe was not able to see whose dragon was rising, or even where to go.

Mentally he still had an image in his brain of where the flight rooms were in relation to where his new ground level weyr was, but navigating and orienting himself in the permanent darkness was a different story.

**Please don't, Jayth.** R'axe said, for the first time in his life bidding his dragon not to chase. Before the incident that claimed his eyes, R'axe had thoroughly enjoyed a good mating flight, regardless of whether Jayth won or not, because he usually found a nice flightmoth afterwards.

}:I am going to chase,:{ Jayth insisted. There was nothing physically wrong with his rider, he could not see, but he was healthy and capable.

**Jayth!** R'axe mentally barked but it was no use, his dragon was already in that zone where it was impossible to reason with him. **Should I try to get to the flight rooms?** He wondered, fear immediately creeping into his belly. **What if I get lost on the way? What if... What if they laugh at me?** That was the deepest, darkest, ugliest fear that R'axe had, of being a bumbling blind man that others pitied or laughed about.

**"You can do anything a sighted person can do."** That was what T'kev was always saying whenever R'axe complained about being unable to do something.

Taking a deep exhale, he gathered his courage and pushed up from the couch in his weyr. If he could at least make it to the flight rooms, that would be a huge accomplishment, and that would at least prove to himself that he _could_ still do simple things.

"Okay, here goes," R'axe muttered under his breath as he took cautious steps out of his weyr. T'kev had forced him to count the steps in and out of his weyr so many times that R'axe was at least able to navigate in and around his weyr without running into things.

Using the mental image that he had of the Weyr, R'axe struck off in the direction that he felt was right. He tried to use his ears to guide him, but the sound of the dragons bellows and shrill screams reverberated off of the cliffs of Dragonsfall, making it difficult to tell the true location of the noise.

Feeling that he was close to the opening of the cavern that led to the flight rooms, R'axe crept along, running his fingers along the stone wall beside him to help guide his footsteps. As he got further into the cavern he began to sense that something was wrong. He could hear the sound of water. As the tunnel leading into the cavern broadened out there was nothing left for his fingers to hold.

**Well shardit,** he cursed, knowing that he was in the wrong place. **The bathing pools?** He guessed, picturing the way the bathing pools looked in his mind. He knew the way out if he could just find it with his fingers.

Making a turn, R'axe struck off to the left in the direction he knew led to the exit in the communal bathing pools chamber. Only the further he walked left, the more unsure he became of where he was going. The smell of the cavern was suddenly one that he recognized. This wasn't the smell of the bathing pools, it was -

The bluerider's foot took the next step but there was no solid ground to meet it, instead he pitched headlong toward the ground, shock slicing through his body as water engulfed him.

**The Winter Lake!** His mind screamed in conclusion. R'axe had been able to swim since he was a boy but in the darkness he did not know which way was up toward the surface. **Jayth!** He called in panic struggling to find the surface. The water filled his ears and made it impossible to hear which was the correct way to go.

}:Mine!:{ Jayth broke out of the chase, his rider's panic and imminent danger slicing through the mating lust broadcasted by the rising green. }:Jeminath, mine needs help in the Winter Lake.:{ The blue said as he drove toward the entrance.

As Jayth flew into the Winter Lake he made for the water, his rapidly whirling eyes picking up on the movement of a familiar form- T'kev, sprinting toward the lake and diving in. }:I'm here!:{ Jayth said as he landed.

T'kev's pulse was hammering so loudly in his ears that he could not hear a thing as he hooked an arm around R'axe's neck and began swimming the other man toward the surface. Panic had made his brain eerily calm and quiet, the typical reaction of a healer who was focused on saving his patient. **He's not moving, he's probably taken in a good amount of water.** He mentally assessed as he drug the other bluerider onto the shore.

}:Why isn't he awake? R'axe!:{ Jayth bellowed, shifting anxiously on his hind legs as he craned his head over T'kev to watch as the healer laid Raxe's limp form on the ground.

T'kev was barely aware of the blue dragon behind him. R'axe's lips were a light blue and for a moment, T'kev froze with fear. What if he couldn't do it? Why hadn't he already shown R'axe how to use a cane to guide himself? This was all his fault because he had been so focused on his own problems with his drinking..... **Shut up,** he told himself with a growl. **Do what you've been trained.**

Tilting R'axe's head back, T'kev put his lips to the bluerider's and puffed in five rescue breaths. He lived a Turn in a second as he waited to hear some sort of indicator that R'axe's body was going to expel the water it had taken in.

Just as T'kev was lacing his fingers to give compressions, a gurgling cough escaped the blind man's lips. "R'axe!" He rolled the bluerider onto his side as another gush of water came pouring out, following by wheezing coughs. Relief washed over T'kev as he gave the other man firm claps on the back to help him get out the water that he had swallowed.

}:Out of the way,:{ Jayth said nudging on T'kev with his snout. T'kev moved just enough so that the blue dragon could blow warm breaths over his rider's face. }:R'axe.:{

**Jayth,** R'axe's chest felt heavy as he continued to gulp for air. He raised his leadened arms and wrapped them around his dragon's head, as much as he could.

T'kev waved off some of the other riders that had rushed over to lend assistance, and as he did so, he realized how severely his hands were trembling as the residual adrenaline continued to fade from his body. **Damn, I need a drink,** he thought, telling himself that as soon as he got back to his weyr he was going to have a drink from that bottle hidden under his bed.

"Come on, R'axe, let's get you back to your weyr." T'kev said.

R'axe turned his head in the direction of the other bluerider's voice. "T'kev?"

"Yes, it's me," T'kev replied.

R'axe's lips flattened into a thin line, his jaw tensed, clearly angry. T'kev was not sure what to make of that reaction. Hadn't he just saved the man's life?

--

"Nice and dry," T'kev said as he helped tuck a freshly clothed R'axe into bed. The other man had not spoken a single word on the way back to his weyr or when T'kev had helped him dry off and change. He was not sure what to make of it because R'axe had never been the type to be completely silent, even when he was unhappy about something T'kev had noticed that the other man would simply voice his displeasure. Maybe he was in shock?

"R'axe," T'kev said, unable to leave without saying something. "It was a simple mistake."

"Simple mistake?" R'axe ground out between clenched teeth. "I couldn't even make it to the flight rooms. I nearly drowned in the Winter Lake, for feck's sake."

"I know, R'axe, I-"

"You told me I could do anything a sighted person could do." He threw the words at T'kev like a barb.

"R'axe you can, you just have to-"

"Get out." R'axe said, face stony.

"Come on, R'axe, I-"

"Get. Out."

T'kev took an automatic step backwards. "I'm sorry," he said gruffly before turning and escaping the man's weyr.

The bluerider's steps took him quickly down the corridor, up a set of stairs, and through the door to his weyr. **Who was I kidding? Why did I ever let them bully me into returning to the healercraft? I tried to tell them I was washed up, that I didn't know what I was doing anymore.** T'kev thought as he dropped to his knees and fetched the bottle out from beneath his bed.

**Stupid K'yne, stupid Jadirah. They can find someone else to take care of R'axe.** T'kev screwed the top off of the bottle and took the first generous gulp without hesitation. As the liquor slid down his throat and into his belly he sighed and gripped the glass tightly in his hand. **Shards, that feels good.**

}:Rider, you know what the Wingsecond said, if you-:{ Jeminath began but he was quickly cut off.

**Leave it alone, Jem. I'm not the person they think I am. _This_ is who I am.** T'kev threw himself down into his favorite chair, as he had done so many evenings in the past Turn and a half, and set about draining the rest of the bottle.

Last updated on the September 23rd 2019

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