Arrival and Diagnosis (1/2)

Writers: Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 29th January 2021

Characters: R'ayl, Enamra, Aviday, Urlene
Description: Furayl gets a brief tour of the Weyr and sees the Healer
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 18 of Turn 10

Enamra

Aviday

Urlene

Furayl had never experienced anything in his life like the dragon
ride. The strange sensation in his stomach as the ground fell away
below them, the whooshing rush of Fusith's wingbeats, even the brief
awful nothingness of /between/, all were new and strange and thrilling
to the young boy who had never so much as ridden on runnerback.

But as soon as they emerged from the darkness over the unfamiliar
landscape of Dolphin Cove Weyr, and he saw the soaring half-circle of
cliffs pocked with hundreds of caves, and the unimaginably vast blue
expanse beyond, the gravity of his decision dawned on him. Although he
had been desperately lonely in the Crafthall, he'd always known that if
he'd wanted to, he could have walked back to his mother's cothold in a
few hours. Now he was so far away that the very air tasted different,
and below him were a multitude of people who hated his family. Somewhere
among them would be the one responsible for the deaths of his father and
brother. What had he done?

He could hardly speak above a whisper when he was taken to one of the
Weyr's staff to be recorded as a new Candidate. When the woman asked who
his parents were, he said that his father was dead and he lived at the
Weaver Hall. The girl who'd been Searched with him didn't blink at that,
and so he hoped the gossip about his family hadn't reached her.

Now, alone in the empty barracks, he looked down at the small bag on the
neatly made bed and wanted nothing so much as to crawl under the covers
and pretend he was in his own little bed back home.

In a few days, though, Master Shuvan's firelizard would come, and he'd
need to send back a letter about what he'd learned. He couldn't do that
hiding in bed. His stomach felt as though it was tied in a knot, but
Furayl gathered his courage, walked the length of the boys' side of the
barracks and stepped out into the bright sunlight.

And he nearly ran into another young woman who was taking in the
sights of the Weyr. "Oh, excuse me!" Enamra stepped back away from the
young boy, her own eyes squinting at the bright light of the sun
reflecting back on the pale sands of the weyrbowl. "I'm sorry, I
nearly bowled you right over. I didn't step on your toes or anything,
did I?"

"N...no. I'm sorry, ma'am!" Furayl might have fled back into the
barracks if his feet hadn't been rooted to the spot. As his eyes grew
accustomed to the light, he realized that she was quite young, and the
knots she wore were the same that he'd just been given. Another
Candidate? He relaxed a fraction, but his eyes were still frightened and
wary.

Enamra turned away from the bright light and looked at the younger boy.
Seeing the look in his eye, she immediately stopped and assumed that
like herself, he found the new surroundings scary and overwhelming.
"Hi. You must be new here too. It's all alot to take in, isn't it? I
just got here yesterday."

The boy nodded. He'd not even thought that there would be others like
him, brought in from Hold and Hall. The events of the morning had all
come so fast there'd not been much time to think at all. Perhaps not
everyone here would be hostile. "I was Searched today, by a green dragon
called Fusith. My name is Furayl."

Having younger siblings helped Enamra to understand some of the fright
and wariness that was on his face. And if she could be honest with
herself, she shared on some of that worry. "I'm Enamra. I was Searched
at Dolphin Hall." She offered her hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet
you, Furayl. Did they show you around? Tell you where everything was?"

Furayl hesitated, then tentatively reached out to take her hand. "They
just told me you can go for food over..." He looked over to the openings
into the cliffside, trying to remember which had been the right one.
"The lady who took my name said to follow the others and I'd soon work
it out."

Shaking her head, Enamra frowned. "When I came to Dolphin Hall, someone
had to show me around and this place is so much bigger. Have you seen
the Healers yet? Or gotten anything to eat?"

He looked up at her, now even more anxious as he shook his head. "The
Healers?" He'd not seen a healer since he'd been little, before they'd
left the Hold, and all he remembered of it has having to take an
unpleasant-tasting concoction which had made him even sicker and that it
had made his mother sad and angry all at once. What would they want with
him, here at the Weyr?

Enamra nodded. "Yes, the Healers. I went yesterday. They just make
sure you're healthy and strong enough for chores, that sort of thing.
My husband Heals dolphins at the Hall." Noting again his expression,
she paused and tilted her head to the side. He was so thin; she'd been
that thin once and just as scared. She could sympathize easily. "I
could go with you, if you want and then we could have dinner. I could
keep you company. I really don't know anywhere here either. I've met a
couple of people, but...it's hard being new at any place and I don't
mind."

Furayl hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Going to the Healers was
scary, and getting dinner even more so. He remembered how terrified he'd
been by the loud, bustling dining hall at the Weaver Hall, after he'd
been used to taking meals in the cot with only his mother and sister,
all of them often too tired to say much. This place was so big, it would
be ten times worse. Perhaps the Weyrleader would be there, or that other
bronzerider, the one who'd beaten his father. But it might not be so bad
if someone else was there too. Someone kind.

"Thank you." He started to follow her across the Weyrbowl, towards the
openings in the cliffs, thinking about what she'd said. Her husband
healed dolphins... He'd never seen a dolphin, only had a vague idea it
was some kind of big fish. "Ma'am, that blue thing..." He pointed, past
the lake, out beyond the rocky curve of the cliffs to the horizon. "Is
that the sea?"

Enamra's eyes followed his finger to the ocean, then looked back at
him, surprised. For someone who'd always lived near the sea, the
concept of a person not knowing or having seen it, was startling.
"Yes. I guess you've never seen it? I try to swim in it every day.
It's wonderful, but you shouldn't go into it if you don't know how to
swim. I'll take you, if you want. Maybe there'll be some dolphins out
there. The Hall isn't that far away and sometimes they come this
close. And you don't have to call me ma'am." She looked down at him,
her expression kind. "Just Enamra. I don't feel much like a ma'am and
right now, I'm just like you, really."

He was a lot like her young siblings, she decided as they walked to
the Infirmary, they were scared just like he was when they came to the
Hall. Helping someone, especially someone who was so nervous like
she'd been, felt good and lessened her own worries.

"Hey there!" A bright chipper voice called out. Aviday hurried
forward, sounding out of breath. "I thought I'd missed you!" She waved
towards the pair. "Are you two of the new Candidates?" At Enamra's
nod, Aviday exhaled with relief. "I'm so sorry! I was supposed to meet
you at the barracks and I got caught up with Kobeth. Hi! I'm Aviday.
I'm supposed to be taking you places and stuff."

Furayl was so taken aback by the energy of the new arrival that he all
but hid behind Enamra. Another dragonrider! Kobeth must be her dragon,
and a green, by the color in her knots. And taking them places...what
kind of places? The squirmy nervous feeling in his belly returned.

It was only when she stopped moving that he realized she wasn't much
taller than he was. He tried to remember the polite way to address a
rider, and bowed his head. "T-thank you, Greenrider."

Aviday laughed at the formality and shook her head. "Just Aviday.
Which new one are you? We're getting so many these days with eggs on
the Sands and all."

"I'm Enamra." The young woman introduced herself with a hesitant
smile, surprised by the gregariousness of the greenrider. "I'm from
Dolphin Hall. This," she gestured to the young boy half-behind her,
"is Furayl. He just got here today."

"OH! Right! I heard about you. You're the Hallmaster's wife, right?
Wow, that's a huge thing, especially if you Impress right?" Aviday
turned immediately to look at Furayl. "Hi, Furayl! Nice to meet ya.
You're gonna love it here. It's really exciting. Now..." She waved
them both over. "Now, I'm technically kinda weyrling staff because I'm
only fifteen and can't fly in the fighting wings yet, so I'm gonna be
around a lot. If you have any questions or anything, you can just ask
me and you don't have to worry about being all formal with me, okay?"
She began to point. "That over there, that's the dining hall. And over
there..." she pointed, "That's the infirmary and dragon infirmary.
That big door there..." She moved her finger, "That's the entrance to
the lower caverns. That's where you're gonna do some of your chores,
but really, when you start out, it's a lot of lessons and stuff. Since
you're not from the Weyr, you'll really have to pay attention to
those, okay? You'll have those in the classes at the barracks. The
first couple of sevendays are the hardest because you're getting used
to everything."

Furayl's head was spinning as he tried to keep track of all this
information. A dozen new fears gathered to join the vague terrors of
this strange, bewildering place. Would they call on him in the classes,
like the journeymen had back at the Hall, and sneer and call him a dunce
when he couldn't answer? What if he couldn't keep up with the chores, or
worse, if his vision swam and blurred and he fell like he had back on
the farm, when he'd tried to help in the field? There was no mother here
to help him. No Grevan to carry him back to the cothold, and promise to
work twice as hard so he wouldn't have to.

No Grevan any more, ever. The Weyr had swallowed him up. Furayl felt his
throat tighten with grief and terror, and he wished he'd never come
here. But he also remembered how brave his brother had been. He had to
be brave, too.

Maybe if he asked questions, he'd know how to answer in the classes, and
better still, he'd have something to tell Master Shuvan. So, cautiously,
he raised his hand. "Greenrider... What do we have to learn? Is the
class about dragons?"

"Sure. Lots of classes about dragons. But also about living at the
Weyr and how it'll work for you. And you'll be able to craft too later
on if you have one." She looked at Enamra. "I'm not sure about what
you'll do about crafting though. I guess that'll have to be worked out
with your husband or something." She turned back to Furayl and tilted
her head. "Hey...you look a little pale. Are you feeling okay?"

"I was going to take him to the infirmary." Enamra spoke up, her head
whirling a bit as well. "Just for a check up."

Aviday nodded. "Okay. Why don't you go ahead and do that, then come
back when you're done and I'll sit down with both of you, okay?" She
pointed at the infirmary door. "It's that way."

Enamra offered her hand to Furayl. "Come on. I'll sit with you, okay?"

Furayl hesitated, then took her hand and followed her in towards the
cave entrance that Aviday had pointed out as leading to the infirmary.
He knew he couldn't trust anyone here, but Enamra seemed kind and,
although she wasn't much older than him, reminded him a bit of his
mother, as much as anyone had since he'd left home. At least she was
from a Hall. She might not hate his family as much as the dragonrider
would, if she knew.

As they passed out of the sunlit Weyrbowl and into the caverns, though,
his courage began to fail him. This was where his brother had been
imprisoned in the dark, and with every step he wondered if he'd remember
the way out, if he had to run.

Last updated on the February 19th 2021

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Arrival and Diagnosis (1/2)