Not Again ... (dragonhealer/open)

[dragon]

Dorava was having a severly hard time moving around. Part of it was her own wounded spine, and part of it was feeling the deep slashes in Aonith's back. And part of it was feeling the aches and pains coming from Valiant. The poor little thing. But she was determined, and that kept her moving.

She had left Kalierre to be tended by someone who was physically capable of taking care of her, though she hadn't gone far off. She would check on the healer regularly herself. But for now, she needed to tend to her dragon. And her mandyr. There were so many wounded after the attack, dragon and human alike, that it was mind boggling. The weyr simply didn't have that many healers! Not to mention many of the healers were either dead or wounded themselves. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

So, a good while after the attack was over, Dorava found herself slowly and painstakingly picking bits of foriegn matter out of the deep gouges on Aonith's back. And then slathering it really well with numb weed. It would need stitched up in a bad way, but she didn't have the hands on knowledge for that. Dorava understood the theory, having seen it and read about it, but never having done it, she was leery to try. But she could at least prep it for whenever the dragon healers did make it over.

Her unending months of hours spent in the infirmary watching and studying and helping out weren't for nothing. Finishing with one particularly deep gouge, she slid across green skin to the next one. Leaning over precariously, testing to see how far her back would let her move to do this, she started anew. Bits from the attacking dragon's filthy claws, and bits from the river, and bits from the forest, they all infested the gaping wounds. And occassionally Aonith would whimper softly. But the dragon laid still, wings drooping to the floor as she rested her head on her forelegs, staring blankly at the wall ahead of her.

"I'm sorry." Dorava muttered, frequently, working as quickly and as gently as she could manage. Which ... wasn't very. In pain, she moved slowly, and some of her finer motor control was wasted also, due to being in such pain.

Pulling a little peice of dead leaf out of the current gouge, she flicked it off the side. Aonith's wing was still slashed open, near her back. But that would have to wait ... she had suffered a similar injury before coming here to Selenitas, and had flown on it all the way across the ocean. This one would heal, too, and probably far better and faster. Priority was going to these muscle-rending deep gouges on her back proper. At least, that's how Dorava figured it. Ichor seeped everywhere that coagulated ichor was broken and popped off. Which had to happen often, as she removed bits of matter.

Resting in a little pan of water with his head sitting on the edge, Val was barely concious. Dorava had put him in the water, thinking that floating on water would be much nicer to his abused body than sitting on anything solid would be. She didn't even know what all was wrong with him yet. Other than having been stomped. But his skin was intact, and she took that for a good sign. She had no idea if his bones were broken or not... she hadn't fiddled with his mobility enough to find out. And she really didn't know how pliable and flexible a salamandyr's bones were, either. Were they stiff and fragile? Or soft and flexible? Or somewhere in between? She just didn't know.

"We'll get you good as new again, soon, Aoni. I promise." Dorava muttered, under her breath, blinking away a tear.

[Tashe]

Moving his hands back and forth in the air to dry them, the Brownrider used his arm to wipe away the beads of sweat that had collected. His arm was still in the make shift bandage that he had put on the night before, not having the time nor the want to ask another healer to supply him with fresh bandages. He had been able to stitch up his own arm in the time between the attack and the regrouping, knowing that it would be the only time he could do so.

He had been working on injured Dragons all night, many of them had wounds that called specifically for his hand or guidance. It was an unfortunate matter that broken bones and deep tissue injuries came hand in hand with battle. Using his pinkies, to keep most of his hand sterile, E'rro pulled his runner tail tight against his head. He was tired, but then again, every single healer and possibly every single person was just as or more tired than he. He had come away from the fighting with luck on his side, having been one of the few Healers to actually sustain a wound that was manageable. "Stop lagging, Nautic." The candidate was having a hard time keeping up with the pace he set, the young man kept slowing down.

Pausing only long enough so that the older boy could catch up, E'rro then proceeded to trudge toward the Green he had been told needed immediate attention... over half a candle mark ago. The last Dragon he had been working on was more like a worm than anything else, and the stitching took twice as long as he expected it to take. Rounding the tail of the Green, who he knew but was too tired to actually look at her, the Brownrider hid a yawn behind an arm. Shards he was tired. "I was told... Oh. Dorava. That means..." Glancing upward, E'rro finally recognized Aonith. "Go sit down, you shouldn't be up anyways." He hadn't heard about either of them getting busted up, but by the way she moved it was apparent she had been hurt too. "I'll take it from here with your permission." Looking up, he added. "Yours too."

By the size of the gashes, the young healer guessed that it would take a while to stitch up, let alone the added time it would take to clean out the wounds. Moving slightly to get a better position, he took note of the torn wing. He had to be careful, Aonith had almost definitely already lost a lot of ichor. "Is Aonith the only one injured?" He remembered that the Greenrider had had a young Blue Salamandyr with her in the infirmary.

[dragon]

Dorava looked up at the sound of footsteps and voices. "Oh, thank Faranth." She breathed, realizing that someone had finally come to see to her mindmates. "Oh ..." she sighed, and rubbed her back for a moment, leaving streaky green marks on her shirt. "No ... Val is over there, in a bowl of water. He was stomped. It's amazing he's still alive, but he's in a bad way. Aonith was raked by a brown, I think. Something big... and I've been ... I've been trying to clean the wounds... Her wing is bad, but not as bad as the other one was when I first got here..." she tried to explain.

"I can keep working ... it won't kill me. I can keep at this, if you'll look to Val? I don't know what to do for him at all." She took a moment to point at the bowl near Aonith's nose. The dragon was keeping the bowl and water warm with her breath ... letting him get chilled was something they both thought would be bad.

I am glad to see you, dragonhealer. Aonith replied, in a tight voice that was plainly uttered under pressure to keep it steady and inflection free. Mine has been cleaning my cuts... but she can't do more than that I think. Please, I welcome your help. She shifted her snout slightly, but that was all. All other movement was kept to a minimum.

Dorava took a moment to shift her position slightly, to ease the strain leaning over was putting on her back. "We'll get you fixed up, love. You'll be flying again. You will." It sounded almost as if she were assuring herself of it more than Aonith. But the breaths she used to speak were short and quiet. And then louder: "You need me to do anything, you tell me. I can work... I can't really lift anything, but I can work."

[Tashe]

"Hmm... Nautic help Dorava clean out the cuts. No more numbweed though." To the Greenrider he added, "If the area is to numb, the sutures will make the skin pucker and the scarring will be worse." Watching the older boy pull out a tweezer like instrument from his bag, E'rro nodded slightly before moving toward Aonith's head. Despite the fact he was such a dark person at heart, the Brownrider was infinitesimally nicer to Dragons (and sometimes Whers) than any other creature. Dropping down into a squat next to the bowl containing the Mandyr, he looked up at the Green a small, reassuring smile crossing his face, his voice dropping so that only she could hear him. "I'll get you both better. It'll hurt, but you'll both recover to be fighting... rather flying fit. Just hang on through the pain."

To be fair, he had only worked on a Mandyr once before, even then it had only been a tail injury. Gently lifting the Blue from the water, E'rro used his thumb and forefinger to lightly run down Val's appendages. Dorava had been smart, letting him float rather than laying on the ground, it would have felt a lot better for the little male. It was fortunate for both patient and Healer that Val was semi-conscious, otherwise the Blue would be in a horrible amount of pain. Two broken legs, a broken tail and one of his fragile wings had been snapped in two places. E'rro was actually surprised that the little male wasn't near death, having been stomped on was a serious and possibly fatal injury. He was fortunate to have his spine unbroken. The attacker must have stepped on him in such a way that the small space between the heel and toe of the boot missed really vital systems.

Placing him gently on his knee, E'rro pulled out the material he used to make splints, though he intended to use small sticks instead of planks. Slicing through the fabrics, the Brownrider cut them to size before spreading small gobs of numbweed on the injured areas. Waiting for perhaps two minutes, he then began to work on the Mandyr, finding that he had to improvise here and there. Because the process was a delicate one, it took him a while to entirely splint up the Blue. Standing slowly so as not to disturb Val more than he absolutely needed to, E'rro paced over to Dorava. "Here. He has several breaks, and his neck is a little swollen but he will live. I'm sorry to say that his front left leg might end up twisted." He paused. "Here, hold him like this." Showing the Greenrider how to hold the Blue to lessen the pressure against his breaks, he handed him off to her. Secretly, his healer side was kicking in, and having Dorava hold Val was just a way to get her to rest.

Flagging Nautic over to him, the Brownrider stepped up onto the chair they had swiped from the makeshift infirmary. "You'll feel pressure, but this shouldn't hurt because of the numbweed already applied, it will only feel weird." Pulling a small cloth from his bag, E'rro began to slowly loosen the clots of ichor that were forming within the gash itself. Working his way up the first cut, he was forced to pause near the middle. "Nautic, tweezers." He took the object that was pressed into his hand. "Now Aonith, this will hurt." Ichor and flesh had began to close around a small, hard piece of plant matter. "So..." He began as he started slowly working out the invading object. "You must have been pretty annoyed when the Enemy showed up. The size of these trophies are pretty big." The whole point of talking to the Green was to try and draw her mind off of what was happening. It also would let him know whether she had gone under or was still conscious. She didn't have to respond to his comments, most dragons didn't. As long as she listened. He continued to talk, and eventually he removed the reed with a small, final tug. He was then able to continue moving up the gash.

--

Taking the silent cue from E'rro, the sandy haired boy turned to the Greenrider with a smile. He had been told to try and distract the Rider while the Healer himself tried to distract the Dragon from the pain. "How long, if you don't mind me asking, have you and your Dragon been together?"

[dragon]

Aonith watched with interest as E'rro tended to Valiant with such tender care. Partly because she really was interested in making sure E'rro took good care of the little fellow, and partly because it got her mind off what hers was doing in her back. Will he live? I hope he lives. Mine is rather attached to him. She said, to E'rro.

Valiant barely moved at all while he was being tended. Though he did wheeze a few times in protest, occasionally curling a set of toes or his frill fluttering weakly. Just enough to show that he was, after all, still alive. And not just a limp blue and white rag. Once the splinting and doctoring was over, though, he went back to being more or less still with a very small sigh type noise. No, he was not very spunky at all.

Dorava left off tending to her dragon's wounds when she was handed her mandyr. She cradled him gently, just as she was shown. "Poor little guy." She said, softly, stroking a spot of skin that was not covered in bandages. It took her a moment to realize that Nautic was talking to her.

She looked at him, and quickly had to do a mental backpedal to figure out what it was he'd asked. "How long? Oh, gosh ... I don't know ..." And in her stressed out state, she couldn't even remember how old she was to be able to calculate. "A long time. Aonith and I have been together a very long time... why?"

Aonith rolled her head to one side, and rumbled deep within her chest. Pulling sensation was a little bit mildly put when he started yanking bigger things out of her back!! Annoyed is putting it mildly. How dare they. Aonith responded, tone carefully kept neutral.

How bad is it? Mine thinks I will heal in time, but have a new set of scars. She isn't making light of it, is she? the dragon asked, of the healer.

[Tashe]

He paused briefly in his cleaning to glance sideways at Aonith, continuing to sterilize the wound with a Redwort mixture a few seconds later. "We know or an guess why Benden did this, probably better than anyone." Pulling out a towel from his bag, he placed it between his teeth, digging out a jar of numbweed soon after. He applied the numbweed to the very edges of the gash that had not already been covered in the gel, he only needed that portion of the gash numbed to be able to begin suturing. Using the towel to wipe off his fingers and the excess numbweed around the injury, E'rro tossed it over his shoulder before retrieving the thick thread and metal needle he had recently acquired through the Infirmary from the Metalcraft hall. The Brownrider had to promise to keep track of the needle and not to loose it, they were few and scarce in this time of need. "I won't lie, these are pretty bad. But Dorava is right, you'll get better in time. It will just take you a few weeks to heal, possibly a couple months if your body doesn't take to healing quickly." E'rro had already started stitching the wound up, working with practiced strokes despite how tired he felt. The wounds were to big to do a running stitch, forcing him to tie off each individual one after threading it through the hide.

"You'll be grounded the whole time, and you'll have to be very careful about how you move. You will also have to be wary of where you go, because with an injury this big, you have a high chance of getting an infection." At least when working with Dragons, the length of the stitches that needed to be put in was large enough to work with using his fingers, which made threading and tying them off faster. He was up to the middle of the gash by the time he resumed speaking. "At the very least, now you'll get to flaunt the scars for males."

---

"No reason really Greenrider, I have a large curiosity." He gave the woman a smile before continuing. "Although I must confess, I am partial to Whers myself. I don't think I'm brave enough to be a Dragonrider." Turning so he could glance back at the Green, Nautic tried to think of something else he could converse with the woman. "I've been meaning to ask a Rider something, I hope you can help me." A pause. "I'm interested in the connections between Humans and the species of animals that can form a telekinetic bond between each other, Dragons and Whers you name it. I was wondering... how deeply, from your own experiences, are you and your Dragon connected? I know that Dragonpartners can speak and feel over their bond, but does it go farther than than? Like, sharing your senses of sight?" There, not only would a burning question he had would begin to form, it was a question that required quite a bit of thought... possibly.

[dragon]

Aonith wriggled in place, though she did try to hold still ... as still as she could. That feels funny. What are you doing now? she asked as he stitched up the first gash. I don't know why they attacked ... but do they need reason? It seems to me, as many times as they have attacked and been rebuked, that they do it just to upset us and thin everyone's ranks. She commented, resisting the urge to wriggle again under that weird prodding, pulling sensation in her back as the thread ran through her hide.

I am glad that I will heal... but I spend so much time ground bound that I fear I will forget how to fly. I can't show off my scars if I can't fly so they can see! She pointed out. It seemed she was going to be spending a lot more time on the ground again. At least this time around her legs were already used to the work out of getting around everywhere on foot.

Dorava smiled slightly at Nautic. "Curiosity is always good. Can't learn if you don't ask, I think. And ... there is nothing at all wrong with being partial to whers. Whers need bondeds, too, and Faranth forbid the day ever come that we don't have whers. They do the same job as dragons, just at night... that's just as honorable in my opinion. More so, that they do it without all the fame." She nodded slightly, and then thought for a moment, considering his question.

"I would say Aonith and I are close. We've been through a lot together. But, I also have to say that we don't have the closest connection out there. There are some riders who are a lot closer to thier dragons than Aoni and I. We do share feelings, emotions, thoughts. Those who have closer connections can't really block those from each other. They each are always in connection. Those close, but not so much, like me and Aoni ... we can, with effort, block each other out. And Faranth knows, in times like this, that's mighty handy. Between her, and Val, and my own woes ... I'd rather imagine I'd be unconscious otherwise. And then there are those riders who aren't very close at all to thier dragons, though those are just as rare as the really close ones. They have to work to share all but the most potent of emotions. And, in case you're curious ... 'mandyrs are just like dragons, when it comes to connections." She gestured very very slightly with her mandyr-filled hands. "Between a close rider and dragon, it is possible to share sight. But difficult ... and sometimes disorienting. Most times, the dragon or rider has to see, remember, and then share the memory." Dorava said, hoping she was helping him understand, and not just confusing the shells out of the lad.

[Tashe]

"Thats the reason. Because they could attack, they did. Benden is, or was, obsessed with power." He was almost to the top of the gash. "I'm stitching, but if you keep moving, I'll stitch the wrong part." Tying of the last stitch, E'rro left a small gap at the very top, one of the techniques they applied that would help prevent infection. Moving to the next gash, the Brownrider pinned the metal needle into the strap of his bag so that he could repeat the cleaning process. "By the time you have scars, you will be able to fly."

--

He listened quietly to Dorava as she spoke, concentrating on what the Dragonrider had to say intently. Although it might not look it, the Whercandidate was highly interested in certain area's of study, so much so that he stayed up when he should be asleep. It was a vicious cycle of getting up early to work in the Creche and going to bed late after having studied until he fell asleep over borrowed scrolls. "So there are varying levels of 'closeness' between Riders and their Dragons. Interesting. Yet of course there would be because the Dragons and Riders themselves are different from the get-go." The last part was said mainly to himself. "The bond between a Salamandyr and a Human is similar to the Dragon/Rider bond... Do you get used to having someone so close to you? I still find it hard to become accustomed to Absinthe's, that's my Green 'Mandyr- voice in my head."

---

Running his fingers down the length of the second gash, E'rro smeared a small amount of numbweed on it, again just enough to numb the area which needed to be sewn. There had been a good amount of foliage stuck to the dried portions of ichor in the second wound, but on the other hand upon inspection, the gash itself wasn't as deep as the first one had been. Unpinning his needle after having wiped his hands free of numbweed, the Brownrider lifted it toward Rukbat, using it's light to illuminate the eye of the needle so he could thread it. He was running on fumes. After he fixed up Aonith, he'd have to take a break... Or curl up somewhere like a newborn feline and take a nap. Anything he could get would be considered a blessing. "Okay, its going to feel weird again." Poking the needle through the numbed skin, E'rro began the tedious work of stitching the second gash .

[dragon]

Oh. Aonith said simply, trying really really hard to not move at all anymore. But it felt so weird! She could feel the raw lightning of his fingers trailing along the edges of her wounds first, and then it dimmed. Numbweed, she knew that, just from the feel of it. And then after that all that came were the really funny feeling strange pulling sensations. Which ... tickled. It was a bad word for the sensation, but it was the closest one that Aonith could think of to describe it as.

"The bond between salamandyr ... at least wise mine, anyway. I can't speak for another one, of course..." Dorava started. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "Anyway, as far as I know, the bond between salamandyr and human is exactly the same as between dragon and rider. The only difference being no so much skin to wash and oil, and you can't ride them ... instead they ride you." She laughed, and winked at the lad. "And ... well ... so far as I have been able to determine, it reaches in all aspects, as well. I feel Val's pain exactly as potently as I do Aonith's. I also feel his emotions exactly the same. So I would say they were very similar indeed, when it comes to the bond." She told him, before glancing over at where E'rro was stitching busily. Dorava was quite glad to have him working on Aonith ... someone who could actually do something for her. Shards, but she needed to accelerate her learning ... and wouldn't it just figure that right after Kalierre had agreed to teach her, this mess had to happen? And now Kali seemed to be in a coma. No one knew for sure.

I look forward to the day I can fly. And after that, I will be by far more careful about dodging other dragons' claws. But then ... I said that last time this happened to me, didn't I? This is pathetic. You'd think I'd learn eventually... Aonith remarked, her tone low and demure. She remembered that moment, yes. She did. It had been a rather stressful event in the life of hers and herself. And here they were again, all over again.

No, they weren't! This time, she had adequate help, help that knew what they were doing, who quite possibly cared enough to do the job right! This was not that, all over again. It was different. And she'd be healed a lot sooner, too.

Right?

[Tashe]

"There." Finishing off the last of the stitches, the Brownrider wiped the sweat from his brow by using the crook of his arm. He pinned the needle back onto his strap, freeing up his hand to retrieve a small bottle of Redwort solution. Unscrewing the cap, he dipped the cleanest corner of the towel (that had been up to this point on his shoulder) into the jar, soaking it before pulling it out. Gently scrubbing the skin around Aonith's wounds and avoiding the gashes themselves, he cleaned the excess blood that had dried there. If he hadn't, the Ichor that had solidified would have become itchy, and the Green might have been tempted to itch at it. That of course was a very bad idea.

"You learn what you need to in time." He should know, his multitude of scars weren't all just from training, especially the one running diagonally across his face. It had took him a while to realize what exactly he had to do to survive at Bended, but the process had been harrying and painful. Leaping off of his chair, E'rro winced as he hit the ground, the jolt making a wave of pain emanate from his wound. Pulling his chair back, the young Dragonhealer turned back to the Green. "Lean carefully toward me and extend your wing. You can lay how ever feels comfortable, just be conscious of your gashes." Calculating where Aonith's wing would fall, E'rro moved his chair so that it would be close to where the tear was.

---

"Cool~... Thats really interesting." Turning to glance at E'rro, Nautic noticed how much more needed to be done. "Look! It seems as though she's almost patched up. He works fast, despite the fact he's ready to drop like a fly. He worked through the entire night. I can't believe he's still going." His attention shifted back onto Dorava. "Where were you guys defending? It looks as if you were on the frontlines." He hadn't heard the full extent of the attack yet, but he was hopeful that the damage wasn't as bad as he thought it was.

[dragon]

Aonith rumbled, low and quiet. And moved as requested. Slowly and carefully, she rolled toward the healer. Her motions were slow and deliberate ... partly from being stiff, and partly from the wounds, but also because she was wary of ripping out her new stitches. Moving her legs along the floor to new positions to support her, her body rolled to the side as her wings lifted and moved outward. Slowly, they unfurled. And sticky, tacky, popping sounds could be heard as they did so, dried ichor breaking loose and free as the folds of membrane opened up. The gashes in it were revealed fully, finally, as her movement came to a pause. Holding still once more, she twisted her head around to look at E'rro.

Is that good, or do you need some more shifting? She inquired, desiring to be helpful so that he could do a good job of mending her. So she could fly again. Or so that he could have an easy time of it, and not fall and hurt himself ... or her for that matter.

Dorava took a moment to look see how things were progressing, and was happy to see that E'rro was making remarkable progress with Aonith's wounds. She smiled slightly, and then winced as the movement made her spine flare up again. Inhaling slowly, she tried to keep her vision as the spike passed. "I imagine the healers are going to be quite busy for a long time coming. I wish I could help, but I'm afraid I would do more harm than good." Dorava muttered. She knew quite well that if she couldn't hold Val and not irritate her own injury, there was no way she could man handle other people around and do the intense work required to heal them all. "E'rro is a good man - you'll learn a lot following him around." She told Nautic.

"Ah ... well ... I started out trying to get to the infirmary, but I never made it that far. And Aonith did finally get there, looking to meet up with me. But ... since I never made it..." She resisted the urge to shrug ... it might aggrevate her spine. "I met up with Kalierre on the bank opposite the infirmary, and there were were intercepted by attackers. With help from two blueriders, we managed to get away from them. But not before Kali and I took a beating... Aonith, the poor gal ... helped out at the infirmary and earned herself an attack from a larger dragon in the process. But I'm proud of her ... she sure knows how to be of use."

Considering the young nature of Nautic, she didn't want to go into too much detail ... he was already seeing quite enough in helping the healers out. The last thing he needed was nightmares spawned of tales of the atrocities that the attacking Benden people had committed. It was horrifying, and did not need shared.

[Tashe]

"Thats fine." He had over judged and was forced to hop down from his chair, moving it, E'rro repositioned himself so that he could get at the tears. They weren't terrible, but they weren't just scratches either, they would definitely be uncomfortable when healing. "With these injuries, I'm surprised you aren't writhing in pain. You must have a high tolerance..." Digging out his numbweed, the Brownrider applied it generously to the first tear. Unlike stitching hide, stitching the membranes of wings was a far more delicate and invasive procedure. E'rro had to make sure that the ends matched up so that the sails came together in more or less the same position from where they had grown. Plus it was a great deal more painful for the dragon, the membranes were by far one of the most sensitive spots on a dragon. Threading his needle, he made a choice. Running stitches were harder to do, and it took a lot more attention and time... but they were more likely to pull the wing together, leaving less of a knotty scar. Taking them out would be a less painful as well, since the membrane wouldn't have a knot to grow over.

Tyeing off the thread at it's eye, E'rro gently poked it through before repeating his motion on the other side, creating a loop and tying it, and drawing the other end of the thread through it. He had given himself a good amount of excess thread... pausing as he took a breath, the young Dragonhealer bit the inside of his lip before relaxing. Because of a certain section of his specialty, he had taken the time to learn how to execute a running stitch. It was just he had only done it twice before and not for such a long length of hide/wing. He was confident enough. Pulling gently at the tips of the sliced pieces so that they lined up, he began sewing at the top of the first gash. It would take a while, since he needed to think about the placement between each entry point.

---

"It sounds like you both had a hard time." At least they did something, unlike him... who hid himself and a few of the children he had been watching at the time because their mother's were working the nightshift. "Say. If you and Aonith are awake and in, or around the infirmary later on, I'll bring you some flowers. I intend on making a flower run after I've gone gathering with the others in my work group." He was tired, sure, but he wanted to make up for not having done anything during the attack itself... plus, his Candidatemaster had assigned them chores that pertained to the rebuilding, in his case it was gathering. Which reminded him randomly that he still needed to find out which Dragonrider would be willing to pair up with him.

[dragon]

Aonith held her head up high, to keep it out of E'rro's way, and so that she could watch as he worked. She never uttered a sound about it, in any way shape or form. The only expression she had was in the uncontrolled colors of her eyes. Yes, she could feel it. She could also feel the pain of hers, and the pain through Dorava, of Val. And after awhile, enough pains built up until it just didn't register anymore. That and she did have a fairly high tolerance - or she would never have gotten them all the way across the ocean on bum wings. But on the same token, she didn't trust herself to talk while being sewn up, either. Because it would have colored her tone a lot - whether spoken sound or thought words.

She fidgited a little bit, but it was small movements, and never her wing. A tail twitch, a curled foot, flaring of nostrils, things of that nature. But she held the wing steady for E'rro to work on, though it took a great amount of effort to do so.

Dorava nodded, slightly, and stroked Val's spine lightly with a fingertip. "War never is easy. I hope that it never becomes easy. If it does ... we are all in for ruin, as a world." She fell silent for a moment, and then looked at him again as he started talking about flowers.

"There are things blooming still?" She asked, amazed. Dorava didn't bother to ask how he could possibly have time or energy to go flower picking. "Em ... that's sweet of you." She said, with a small smile. Not completely dim, she was aware that a splash of color, of life, could make all the difference in the world to someone who was stuck in one spot due to injuries. Things of that nature did have thier place.

[Tashe]

He was sweating by the end of the first gash, thankful that the ends had remained lined up through the entire process. Tying off the end like he had done at the beginning, the Apprentice Dragonhealer left it so that the knots were inaccessible to the skin that was going to grow and scab over the tear. E'rro jumped off of the back of his chair, the exhaustion he was supposed to feel hours ago finally kicking in. His body had realized he was working to hard, even for it's normal standards, and was slowly trying to compensate for the lack of sleep and energy. It was a bad combination, tiredness and stitching, possibly forcing him to revert back to the one by one technique he had used before. Fortunately he had chosen to do the larger of the two gashes first, leaving only the smaller one left to do. Leaping back onto the chair, the Brownrider began his process all over again, once more he felt thankful. This time it was for the silence they had lapsed into. If it weren't for that, his concentration might have shattered to the point of not getting it back. He had to push on for Aonith's sake, since the other Dragonhealer that hadn't been injured was far to busy (as was he) to take on the Green in addition to his own.

--

"You know... I once told this young Bluerider that war was a part of life." He nodded. "Destruction always comes before creation, in both plants and animals. Take flowers and plants for example. If they're burned down by fire, little mosses and lichens are the first to come back. And then when they give enough food in the soil, flowers and small bushes come back. Finally the trees start coming back after that."

Twirling the piece of rag he had somehow acquired Nautic bobbed his head. "There are still flowers around, but I have to go into the forest to look for them. There are these shady glades in there. You can find a lot when you're out gathering food and supplies."

( x3 Would you like to end soon? E'rro has pretty much finished with Aonith's wounds.)

[dragon]

You are tired. Aonith observed. Are you going to rest when you finish there? I think you need it. She mentioned, gently. Even though she struggled to hold still for that last seam. Not enough numbweed had been applied for that to be comfortable at all, but she did not mention it ... he was almost done. And she didn't want him passing out on her wing. He needed to go sit, and catch a few wings where it was safe to do so. The last thing he needed was his own needle in his eye.

"These days, war is a part of life. It didn't used to be that way." Dorava commented. "But, you do have a point. Before anything new of concequence can really be built, the old has to be torn down, completely. The fastest way to rebuild, is to utterly destroy first. Unfortunately, as bad as things are, we're no where near the utter destruction yet. Faranth, I hope I never see that day. I do not know how Pern would rebuild after that. Would there even be any dragons left to do it with?" Realizing that she was rambling, and doing so aloud, she shut up for a moment, before smiling hesitantly at Nautic.

"I thought the blooming season was overwith ... shows what I know." She answered.

(anytime you like <3)