Swamp trek

Writers: Eimi, Paula
Date Posted: 27th May 2009

Characters: Telemon, U'kaiah
Description: U'kaiah volunteers to take Telemon out to gather plants
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 7 of Turn 5

"U'kaiah," Telemon greeted, when he approached the bronzerider.

"Are you ready, Telemon?" It was unusual that a wingleader would
volunteer for what amounted to courrier duty, but there was no waterball
practice that day, and the bronzerider found himself with a completely
free day that he could either fill with with mopping around, watching
the sky for a gold that would not appear, drinking away his sorrows,
singing sad love songs to himself or finding a willing body to just pass
away the time with... or he could make himself useful. He had tried all
the others, and so the bronzerider figured it was time to get out and
_do_ something, if even for a couple candlemarks.

"Thank's for your help, U'kaiah. I rarely got a wingleader to take me
to these trips," Telemon said and handed him the large basket to be
attached to Kalamath's straps. "Do you know where the Reed Cove is?"

"I have a visualization point not far from it and then we can fly
straight. It shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes," the bronzerider
assured him as he secured the basket for him. He then turned to hand
the Weyrhealer a jacket.

"Thank you," Telemon murmured and pulled it on. "The area is swampy,
will that be problem for Kalamath?" he asked.

"We might have to walk a bit to get to where you want to go, but we will
get as close as possible." And of course U'kaiah would not leave the
Master Healer to wander through the swamp alone.

"Walking isn't a problem, I've done my share of it," Telemon assured
him with a small smile. "Shall we go then?"

"Yes sir," the bronzerider nodded as he gave the Healer a leg up.

~~~**~~~

The bronze's wingtips almost brushed the tops of the trees as they flew
straight towards Reed Cove. The bronze dropped them on a hill with a
clearing that overlooked the Weyrhealer's intended destination.
Luckily, it was an area well known to healers and a well trodden path
had been worn through the thick forrest and down to the marshy swamp
below. The bronzerider knew it would be a harder walk back up carring
full ladden baskets, but he was happy for the exercise and looking
forward to a day in new surroundings.

"Seems the flies have come out to meet us," U'kaiah said as he brushed a
persistant one away from his face.

"Yes, they always do. Here, try this. Spread it on your face and
hands," Telemon replied and pulled a small jar from his pocket.

He took the jar obediently, but before dipping a finger in he brought it
to his nose. "Doesn't smell so bad."

"Not to you, but to the flies it does," Telemon remarked. He removed
his jacket and hung it to the tree branch. Then he used his belt knife
to cut a tree branch into a crude staff.

"Well, I guess that makes sense since a lot of the stuff that seems to
attract flies in not the kind of thing I find appealing." The
bronzerider patiently waited as the Healer finished. One thing
dragonriders had was a good sense of balance.

"So it does," Telemon agreed and started down the path to the swamp.
"Watch out for needlethorn bushes, they grow on the hills around the
marsh," he warned.

"I hate needlethorn," U'kaiah muttered as he eyed the fauna around him.
He had forgotten that _that_ was why he hated his excusions... "At the
felines don't much like the swamp."

"No, but the tunnelsnakes love it," The healer warned. Their presenced
scared off a large flock of avians.

"Tunnelsnakes I can handle," the bronzerider assured him. After all, at
one point as a weyrbrat he had been paid a bubbley for each body he
brought the cook. Of course, she caught on after a day or two that they
kept bringing back the same body...

"Good to hear," Telemon said and spotted the plants he had been
looking for. He lowered the basked to the ground and pulling a small
spade from it, started to dug up the numb weeds. He careful selected
each plant before digging.

"So... What exactly are you looking for today?" U'kaiah was not
particularly interested in plants, but while he was out here, a little
curiosity would serve to pass the time. Knowledge never hurt anyone.

"The numb weeds," Telemon grunted. Digging the marshy
ground wasn't easy and the water filled the spade holes as soon as he
pulled it up.

They didn't look like much, especially covered in slimy mud, but U'kaiah
knew better than to be sceptical based on a plant's appearance. "Don't
you need lots of it to do anything worth the trouble?"

"Yes, but I'm just taking samples today. Check it out if they are
worth harvesting," Telemon shook the mud out and put the plant into a
basket. "Numbweeds from different areas have different properties.
Some are more potent, some milder. A friend of mine tipped me of this
place, so I thought to check it out. If they are good, we come here
with bigger crew to harvest it," he swept some sweat from his
forehead. The air over the swamp was humid and stale.

There seemed to be a lot more to the making of medicines than U'kaiah
had ever considered. "Why are you only looking for numbweed out here?
This place is covered in vegitation. Couldn't some of this other stuff
be useful?"

"Of course there are. Trust me, I'm keeping my eyes open whole the
time. Like for the mosstea," The healer assured him.

"Mosstea?" U'kaiah had been prescribed mosstea before, though he was
trying to think back to when. "Is that for Threadscores?"

"Not specially, it's just for infections and fever in general. It's not as
strong as fellis," Telemon replied.

"And it grows out here?" U'kaiah had never really considered where
their medications came from. They had always just... been there, ready
whenever he needed them. It was kind of interesting to see it from the
healer's perspective.

Telemon nodded, "It grows on rocks and tree trunks and on fallen logs."

The bronzerider's eyes scanned their surroundings, though he wouldn't
even know what he was looking for even if he saw it. "What do you do
with it when you find it?"

"Collect it," Telemon said.

U'kaiah pulled back a vine for the healer to walk under. "Yes, but how
to you take make it into something that we can use?"

"Do you want a lesson on medicine making?" Telemon asked with a smile.

The Wingleader shrugged a shoulder, not sure if the Weyrhealer was being
serious or sarcastic. "I always thought knowledge could only make you
stronger."

"You asked, so you can only blame yourself," Telemon warned and
launched into a lecture. He had always enjoyed teaching.

Last updated on the June 21st 2009

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