It's just a little pinch

[morgan]

((xP title fail))

Aniqa sat in a chair in the corner of the infirmary, where she had taken to being when she didn’t have chores. She liked the smells of the herbs, which, contrary to popular belief, covered up the smell of blood pretty well. Sometimes she even got to help with something.

Lately, she was learning more about Dragonhealing. The big creatures were very pretty, and most didn’t complain half as much as their riders. She didn’t really work with animals before then, but after a while, it was hard to think of the dragons as “animals” or “humans.” They were really a happy medium in between the two.

That day, she had put what she imagined were a score of bandages on Weyrbrats who decided that they wished to roll down a small but rocky slope. Ani did what she could, but then some children without injuries insisted that they needed bandages, too. She just hoped that the bandages wouldn’t turn up decorating a flitt or something.

[glamourie]

"Don't worry, lovely, we'll find out what's wrong - we will," Juliya whispered to the brown firelizard on her shoulder. Shine looked exceptionally distressed, writhing against her neck with his eyes whirling quick shades between red, yellow and orange. In her hands was Rain, her blue firelizard, who had gone rigid, eyes blank and still, all one solid grayish hue that sent chills up Juliya's spine. He'd been foaming at the mouth of late, and it scared her. She was determined to find the Dragonhealer and see if she knew any of what was wrong. Initially, Juliya had tried to take care of Rain herself; he was her responsibility, not anyone else's. But after trying to feed him by cutting things up into tiny, mushed up pieces, and shoving water down the firelizard's throat, she was willing, albeit begrudgingly, to admit that there was something more wrong with her beloved firelizard than she could ever handle on her own. So she was going to find Kalierre - find and beg her for help.

That desire led the young woman to the Infirmary, her brown firelizard still creeling and squirming against her neck. Rain lay in her hands, unmoving, but still breathing - thankfully. Her eyes were misted, half with tears, but Juliya ignored it; she was getting better at hiding most of her feelings, even if on the inside she was so worried she was on the verge of being ill. Even Eriannath's continuous comfort hadn't dissuaded the terror that she'd felt when she picked up Rain and discovered he was like holding a stone. Her beautiful firelizard, so stiff -- it could not be a good sign. Not with all the illness spreading firelizard to firelizard.

Try to remain optimistic, JuliyaMine, your little pet will be okay.

She still wasn't comforted, but... maybe Kali could help. Juliya bit her tongue and stepped into the Infirmary before calling out, with a voice far stronger than she felt, "Kalierre? Dragonhealer? Are you in?" She was probably going to be scolded for wasting the Dragonhealer's time, but what could she do? Firelizards were very close biologically to dragons; if anyone was likely to know what was wrong and be able to help, it would be her, right? Right. She comforted herself with that notion as much as she could.

I believe it is not the Dragonhealer's shift, Juliyamine.
You may be right. I would hate to disturb Phremath though...

A figure in the infirmary caught her attention, and Juliya glanced at Shine on her shoulder. "We'll ask someone here," she whispered, the words meant to soothe, and the little brown chirped quietly to her. She nodded, and then stalked up to the young girl, her hands still gingerly wrapped around the stiff, silent blue firelizard. "Excuse me, but... are you a Healer?" She didn't see any knots on the girl's shoulder but that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't one...

[morgan]

“Am I a healer?” Aniqa turned to the woman behind her. She had one fire lizard on her shoulder and another in her arm, and they both looked very uncomfortable. “Yes, I am,” she said, wishing that she had the material to make a new shoulder knot. She had left hers at the Hall.

She got up and looked more closely at the firelizards, all professional Healer now. “These guys look pretty sick. Unless its you that needs healing?” she ventured.

[glamourie]

"No, no... I'm fine," Juliya explained softly. When she was injured, she just bullied Rawign into helping her. She'd adopted him in her own way. The sulky, somewhat-annoying healer made for an interesting conversationalist when she could pry anything out of him. She liked talking to him because he was prone to accidentally spilling more information than he needed. If she was hurt she'd have used it as an excuse to bother him, unless it was severe, in which case she would've probably come to the infirmary. Juliya wasn't unintelligent. She had no problems admitting when she actually needed help for herself. The problem was, she knew how most people at Selenitas felt about firelizards, and she wasn't eager to ask anyone for help, but...

Her eyes dropped to the blue in her hands. It was hard not to burst into hysterical tears, and that thought shamed her. She was a former Fort rider and she'd seen things that would make most of the riders at Selenitas balk. She hadn't cried. Yet her little firelizard was so badly sick, and she was misty-eyed and on the verge of tears. Part of her felt sick with herself for letting her emotions so rule her, but Juliya blocked that thought out. It was always harder to watch something small happen, than to watch the war. Everyone expected deaths to come from dragon-to-dragon combat; no one expected their darling little pet, constant companion, to grow so badly ill, and... well, she'd seen a lot of sick firelizards. Rawign had lost two during the Gather. Two. Two blues, not unlike the sweetheart curled up in her hands, so rigid, so stiff --

Juliya flicked her gaze toward the brown on her shoulder and shook her head slowly. "Shine is fine. It's Rain. I impressed them at the same clutch and -- well, Rain looks like he's contracted the same thing that several other firelizards have." Her voice didn't break. Kudos to her. "He's been refusing to eat. I've managed to poke some food into him and some water, but he won't eat, and he's been foaming at the mouth like this." She kept herself cool and calm outwardly. She was considerably older than the young healer and yes, while she was very upset over Rain, it was her job to set an example as an experienced rider. She could mope and be depressed on her own time. She owed it to the girl to keep her composure and act like the adult that she was, even if she did fear she was losing one of her most darling friends. Part of the problem was that Shine was so terrified, though. She felt his emotions worse than she did other people's. It came with the territory of being able to communicate with all dragons; her connection to her firelizards was a lot more intense than some might imagine.

"He's stiff - so stiff. Shine's frightened for him. I tried to take care of him; I was hoping to catch the Dragonhealer and see if she had any idea of what the problem is. Since Firelizards are so close to dragons in nature, it seems likely that she might have a guess. I don't suppose you could help until Kalierre is available...?"

[morgan]

“Could I help?” Aniqa repeated, her eyes brightening. She closely examined the blue. “I can help as much as I’m able. I’m only an apprentice Healer, but I’ll do my best.” She took another look at the blue, but was distracted by the brown.

“There is a bit of a problem. The blue may be scaring the brown, but the brown probably isn’t helping his condition. Your dilemma is this: if the brown is this distressed, it probably won’t be sent away easily, and the blue, however unresponsive to you he may be, he probably wants you to be with him.”

She thought hard about the blue’s condition. She had seen the symptoms on canines around the Hold. They started foaming at the mouth after being bitten by a wild animal. “He hasn’t been in any fights lately, has he?”

[glamourie]

Well, yes, Juliya had no doubt that Shine's distress was causing Rain considerable amount of anguish, but what was she to do? She wasn't leaving Rain alone; that would upset him horribly. And she wouldn't send Shine away when he so badly needed her comfort. That, Juliya was simply unwilling to do. What option did she have left? Emotional support was what she owed her firelizards, both of them. She wasn't sure what the young healer would have had her do. She couldn't tell Shine to go off alone, and she wouldn't leave her so-sick love by himself, and she honestly couldn't be in two places at once. The thought made her sick to her stomach and her innards tied into knots. She felt herself pale, and it must've been visible, the color draining from her face completely. Creamy-white and unpleasant.

"No fights, shards no. He's a lover. He and Shine both are," she explained with a courteous nod to indicate the brown on her shoulder. "They don't fight at all. Honestly, I fear he may be coming down with the same illness that has taken several of the other firelizards. I've seen many blues and greens go down. I thought - I thought if I kept him separate I could help. That's why Shine's on my shoulder and not my hands near him where he wants to be." She frowned. Truthfully, Shine and Rain were nearly inseparable. It was hard for her to admit even to herself that she might be about to lose one of them, even though in her heart she wondered if it would be kinder. Rain seemed to be suffering so much.

Her real dread, selfish as it was, was that if she lost Rain, she might lose Shine too. She wasn't sure she could bear the idea of losing both of her pretties. Her eyes fell closed and she exhaled sharply. "I'm sorry, apprentice healer, but I can't send Shine away. He's so frightened right now, and he needs to be with me, where he can be calm. I know it might make Rain more upset to see him frightened," and indeed, the little blue gave a violent shudder, "but I think it would make Shine more upset to send him off, and I know I can't be in two places, one for them both. Is there anything you can do?" Rain gave another shudder and squirmed in her hands before trilling softly; somehow, Juliya felt sure it was meant to be a comforting sound. Unfortunately, it was anything but, though she tried smiling reassuringly at the firelizard... and hoped she looked at least a little sincere.

[morgan]

“...anything I can do?” Obviously these flits loved her, and both needed her. She thought hard about it. The woman needed to support both her fire lizards, but for right now, they were upsetting each other. She cast about the room for inspiration, and her eyes fell on something green and purple. She recognized it as the shoulder-knot of a dragonrider. The only thing that could have been better at the moment, she thought, was it the dragon was a blue.

She looked back into the face of the dragonrider, and noticed that it had taken on the pallor of cream that went bad. In fact, she looked like she was about to be sick. “Before I say anything, though, sit down, please.” She gestured at the chair she had just vacated and picked up a glass of klah from across the table, which she offered her. She also sat, out of respect more than a need to. “Now, if your dragon could calm both of them down, that would be ideal, but if she could just settle Shine down, he could still be on your shoulder as you hold Rain.”

No fights… that ruled out the canine disease… If only blues and greens were susceptible to it, then Shine might be all right with being close to rain, but she refrained from saying this, in case she was wrong and put her other fire lizard in danger. “It was a good thought, to be sure,” she said reassuringly. “Some creatures, and humans as well, are born with diseases that mayor may not strike them in their lifetime. It may have just happened that this particular one occurred in only blue and green fire lizards, and no other color.” Whoops. She said it. It was too late to take it back, but it may be of some comfort to the poor woman.

[glamourie]

Her dragon...? What could Eriannath do that she couldn't? Juliya was tempted to ask, but then it dawned on her that it wasn't exactly common knowledge that she could communicate with all dragons and sense some of their feelings on a level more intense than most dragonriders could. Her firelizards - and even some other people's! - were startlingly good about listening to her; often, things listened better to Juliya than they did her green, though that was because she commanded respect, while Eriannath often had a very playful and sweet disposition. Not that Juliya was unpleasant, just that she was a lot more firm in personality. Of the two of them, Juliya was the more stern. Eriannath was more likely to roll around and try to befriend someone. Hard to believe such a friendly dragon came from Fort of all places, but then, since she'd come to Selenitas, she noticed most of Fort's dragons that had migrated south had developed a sweet disposition. Bronze Ciceroth certainly did, and she'd seen others that had, too - or rather, heard them. The Benden dragons seemed more... well, more inclined to cling to the darker memories. It was a fascinating trait.

Juliya frowned thoughtfully, but nodded. She knew Eriannath couldn't calm the firelizards, but it gave her an idea, and she tentatively took it. Ciceroth --

The momentary surprise she received was enough to know she'd been heard. It wasn't the first time she'd tried speaking to the bronze, but he pointedly refused to respond to her. As far as she knew he'd never told his rider that she could do it, either - a fact which made her grateful. She distrusted Ka'rys almost as much as she did S'rei. Would you mind trying to calm my firelizards down, please? Rain is very sick and Shine is frightened. she asked, and bit her tongue. He'd know who she was.

Little Shine, come bask in the sun with me. I promise you will not be harmed. Though she heard the suggestion, Juliya knew it was not directed at her. Still, it was successful, as Shine chirruped and nudged her jaw before disappearing. He'd have been a fool to not want to bask on the great big bronze heat-absorber. As soon as he was gone, Juliya looked back up at Aniqa and frowned slightly. "There have been browns that come down with it, too. Lauranna's brown Gonen seemed to. K'lir's brown Troublemaker. It seems more common in the ... the smaller ones," she explained, looking at Rain as he shuddered. "It reminds me of some kind of - of plague. Or flu. Severe flu symptoms. He won't eat, he's so tense... I've never seen it exactly in humans like this but I recall in the north when the flu got bad, it was the young ones who were susceptible, the young and the weaker. And they often tensed like this. Do - what should I do?"