A Change of Direction

Writers: Emma, Kaysea
Date Posted: 9th April 2008

Characters: Thanja, Corli
Description: Corli comes to the Hallmaster for guidance
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 9, day 22 of Turn 4

The apprentice knocked lightly on the Hallmasters door, partly fro nerves and partly because to knock harder would have opened the skin of his knuckles once more, and he knew the pain would be unbearable.

"Come in," called out Thanja.

"You wanted to see me, Hallmaster Thanja?" Corli asked, popping his head around the doorway. It was a silly statement, he knew why he had been called in, and what was about to happen, and it was all so formal, too.
But needs must, and he couldn't keep apprenticing in the speciality he was in now, his body had rejected the craft he had chosen. He stepped into the room proper, and closed the door behind him, waiting for the Hallmasters permission to take a seat.

"Sit down Corli." The boy looked so terrified by all this, but he needn't. Sometimes it happened, and before the Halls were put together quite often the apprentices would have been sent home if no accommodation could be reached about which direction their studies should take. At least here and now there were options, such as transferring to the Harper Hall, or another craft entirely if that was not acceptable. And with the Weyr next door, there was quite a choice to look at.

"Yes'm Ma'am." his eyes took in the room first, and the woman second, He had known Thanja for most of his formative turns, his family and hers becoming friends after her appointment to the Hall, his father had been one of her few supporters, but he too had been Northern bred and used to women in the Printer craft. He held his bandaged hands before him on his lap, palms up they hurt less than palms down.

"What did the Healers say about your hands?" she started with.

"To stay away from the inks for now, at least." he said quietly, and not a little resentfully. "How'm I s'pose to stay in the craft if'n I can't do what interests me the most?" he asked, his eyes wide as he looked to the ceiling to stem the heat behind his eyes.

"I do understand, you have your heart set on typesetting don't you?" she said gently. "You do know that there are other specialities within printing that may be of interest, and are just as, if not more important than that."

"I still want to and don't see that I couldn't do it still if the healers would only find a way for my hands to be protected from the ink
- maybe redwort - and maybe some numbweed to stop the pain if it gets any worse." he suggested hopefully.

"That might be the case," she said. "But the Healers don't know for how long that would work, or if it could make your hands worse. I'd like you to think about a couple of other options. Firstly there is proofreading. It might sound as though it isn't as glamoroues, but it is important to make sure that what we print is correct. There is also Binding, after all, pages from a book need to be put together carefully, safely and attractively."

"I suppose..." he almost agreed, but still - all he'd ever wanted to do was typesetting, he loved knowing he was creating something that future generations would read and learn from. "I dunno, Tha- Hallma- ma'am. I
- I just enjoyed learning the setting, and now because of my stupid allergy." He felt the warmth building behind his eyes again. "I feel so useless."

"You are not useless. You must always remember that," this happened to some people unfortunately. "If you want to, I can arrange for you to talk to the proofreaders and binders so you can learn about what they do. That should help you make your decision."

"I guess I could." he nodded slowly, considering the change his craft was taking. "May be - in a few turns, I could try again?" he asked.

"Possibly, we'll get you checked by the healers at regular intervals."

"Thank you Tha-, Ma'am." he smiled half heartedly, "I guess for now I could look into the other options - if I can try every now and then to work with the dyes, again." He nodded a little more firmly, this time.
The small spark of hope not entirely faded from his path.

"Only with the approval of the Healers, and I'll want to know what you try and when." She gave him the look she'd used on her own children, the one that said 'don't even think of ignoring that.' "Yes, ma'am." he nodded with an abashed smile. "I will." Being here with Thanja was more like being under his own mothers watchful eye, nothing was missed; he felt as if he couldn't get away with anything here - just like home.

"Good, I'll speak to your instructors, and we'll see if we can get you shifted into some classes that deal with proofreading and binding as I said, and you can see how they go."

"Thank you." he nodded gratefully, pleased that his way was a little more clearer now than when he walked through her door earlier. "Is there anything else?" he asked.

"Not at the moment Corli, but if there is anything, you know where my office is."

With a nod he stood, "Thanks again, Ma'am. I'll do my best, promise."

Last updated on the April 9th 2008

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A Change of Direction