[PRP] of rank, and of worth [ a'ye&oyath + rizdax

[houllow]

"Feeling any better, love?" A soft rumble came from the green dragon resting under the sunlight as her rider approached; one of her eyes opened to reveal a soft shade of reddish-blue.

I don't hurt as much, but if you're here to change my bandages I'll happily pass. Oyath didn't raise her head, instead only closed her eye again and shifted in how she was laying. The entire span of her neck was swathed in cloth bandages, some stained with dried blood in places, others with the sweat of the salves that had been smeared onto her hide. When A'ye didn't move away she gave a playful huff. No, go away. I'm too busy enjoying the sunshine.

Her words may have been harsh but her tone was gentle and loving. She'd mellowed while injured, while weak, and A'ye was not going to take that for granted. He knew she'd be back to her spitfire self soon enough and, while he loved every bit of that angry dragon to pieces, this calmer Oyath was a welcome (and temporary) gift. "I'm not going to change your bandages, at least not for another several candlemarks." Oyath opened an eye again, clearly suspicious. "I'm serious. I'm here to relax with you while you sun, and maybe do some paperwork. I've..added weight to pull now." A'ye didn't want to say any more on that subject, so he didn't.

The green shifted so her rider would have a bit more room, and he nestled against her in the open area. People were walking past but generally ignoring them, as the bowl was huge and he was free to do as he pleased while his dragon was recovering.

Hattaki

DUNNNNN DUN NNNN cheating on r'ose with another greenrider i see how dare you

 

[Hattaki]

This had not been Rizdax's favorite week of all time. Not only had the knot that signified his candidacy been stripped from him after a lashing he'd not likely forget for a long time, but the spirits of both himself and the other Candidates were so low that even cleaning and simply walking around they looked as if all the life had been sucked from them. People had promptly forgotten who they were, there had been times that he'd been grabbed and his purpose demanded on the spot by riders who didn't know him. Drudges from the lower caverns had taken to laughing as they passed, knowing full well that there was nothing they could say since they were lower in rank than them in general and without the knots they were less than no one. They were less than they had ever been.

It made him angry and while he had never been possessed of much self esteem in the first place, any that he'd had deflated even further until the already self deprecating teenager had simply stopped talking. All that mattered to him was working as hard as he could to prove that he could stand and Impress a dragon, to help his Weyr, and yet he was seeing a darker side of it as each day passed, with each loud snicker or well placed insult. Riz had always been fairly easy going and had never once insulted anyone, he knew full well that he was to High Reaches, he'd started as less than even a holder, he was a holder without a hold. So really there had been nothing to aspire to other than to help and help and help some more up until he had been offered candidacy, so he was resigning himself as each day passed without a knot to the fact that he would soon likely be cast out.

With nowhere to go to.

Sighing inwardly when the drudge that had been giving him his duties slammed the bucket into his chest hard enough to bruise and laughed, Rizdax gripped his mop and bowed to them before setting off, a dark look only crossing onto his face as he turned away and left. Head slowly dropping a bit as he peered at his feet, walking slower than his normal pace as those around him were just as slow if not even slower, he ruminated on what his feelings were and why he felt that way. It was the right of anyone in the Weyr to treat him badly and he'd faced so much worse in a Hold in the past with the scars to prove it, so he held no grudges and really would treat none of them with any less respect than he'd afforded them before. It wasn't as if he could help it when a rider passed and he felt a surge of respect fill his entire form or a dragon that pulled a look of awe from his face. If he could prove to master Gr'del that he had what it took, the respect and willpower to keep going and earn his knot back, then maybe he could stand just one more time. It was the closest that he'd ever been to a dragon other than the green that had saved him after all and he wanted to meet them all if he could, just that brief moment when Sahrawith had run her head against his hand had nearly melted him to the sands and made him useless. Not as if she had been his, but it was nice to have happen as a reminder of what possibilities were out there even for someone that viewed themselves as worthless now.

So lost in thought and memories, Riz didn't notice that he'd paced a different direction than the rest of the candidates that had once been with him and when he finally snapped back into himself and out of his own head he blinked in confusion. He was nowhere near where he was supposed to be headed, not even in the general vicinity of the healers ward. Rather... he recognized the place, the view that he had from where he was standing against the bowl was the same he'd had the first time he'd ever seen it, the first day he'd escaped the healers and met Shar. It was that first day that he'd heard about what a Candidate was, having never cared or thought about it being an option before, and it was the first time he knew how he wanted to pay back the Weyr.

Swallowing against the lump that had formed in his head, taking a deep breath as if he could cause the rush of feelings to dissipate, Riz's face went blank and his eyes half lidded. This wasn't the place that he needed to see when he'd failed his master, when he'd been stripped of his ranking. When he'd failed his siblings memories. No, he turned on his heel and was about to take back off for his duties when he saw a green dragon and her rider basking in the sunlight, bandages covering so much of her neck that the threadscore scar on his own back throbbed looking at her. The most recent fight against thread had been hard won and so many dragons had come back wounded and clinging to life in some cases. But her bandages were showing bleed-through... Walking up slowly, his eyebrows pulled together in concern and the dark look gone from his face as if it had never existed, Riz got as close as he could before he stopped to give them all the space he could.

"Does your dragon need her bandages changed? I have to head towards the healers as it is so I can get a fresh batch for her." Rizdax held out the bucket of clean water as if to show that he could do just that, for there was a green dragon that was wounded and it filled him with a deep desire to help her and her rider.

houllow

Only a little bit. ;D

 

[houllow]

While the neither member of the dragon/rider pair disliked company, they always were a bit at a loss whenever it was offered up to them. They enjoyed being on their own, mostly because of Oyath's temperament and A'ye's soft-spoken nature that caused general isolation, so to have someone actually approach was....odd. Not unwelcome, as thought before, just odd.

In this case the newcomer was a Candidate, or someone who should have been were he wearing the knots at all. A'ye would have been surprised had he not run into Tassiel prior and learned about it. A Candidate is coming over. Don't be mean now, love, he's likely just here to talk to someone who is friendly enough. His green huffed, and the rider laughed gently as he patted at her side. Seriously, be nice. He's had a hard time as of late. An eyeroll was his reply, and A'ye went back to chuckling again. Oyath.

Oyath raised her head up to watch his approach more, a thin mental hiss escaping as she moved muscles that were just finally relaxing beneath the heat of the sun. Her eyes whirled red at the sudden interruption, and they pulled darker as she listened to his words about changing her bandages. Were he there only mere ticks of a candlemark earlier he'd have clearly heard her saying she wanted no such thing....except for the fact the green was the sort to never speak to anyone outside of her own. . . . . . . . A heavy puff of air escaped as she breathed down on the young man, either in an attempt to intimidate him (yes) or simply try and catch her breath from the movement. She still hurt so very much, and A'ye could feel the pain almost as sharply. ........ouch.

A'ye, to his credit, took a far more diplomatic approach to the situation and offered the young man a smile to offset his dragon's ruby eyes. "Actually, you've come at a really good time to help me." He wasn't sure of the young man's name, but he did know that always helping someone out made a person feel better. "She's small, for certain, but it'll go much faster if two people work together." The greenrider was avoiding specifically stating they'd be changing her bandages, but Oyath knew and pulled herself back as much as she could. She'd said no, she even thought no, and now she was moving in a manner of no. A'ye didn't bite it. "Ignore her grumping, she's just sore and I think some fresh bandages will cheer her up."

I am going to ruin your bed. Oyath started to move like she was going to stand up and leave, but A'ye's hand on her torso made her stop. She could feel his concern for the candidate through the bond they shared, and there was really no need for her to have such an attitude this early in the day. With eyes still red she settled back down, lowering her neck so both her rider and this stranger could clearly torture her further.

"Go ahead and grab some bandages, if you don't mind? I'll get this old ones off, and when you get back we can put some salve on her together."

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

There had been times in his short life where Rizdax had been afraid, when terrible things in his past had pulled that particular emotion out of him, this of course was not one of them. No dragon could be terrible in his head, sure some of them outside of the Weyr might have been violent and didn't care about helping people, but he'd never once met a dragon that was cruel since he'd come to High Reaches and there wasn't a single one of his instincts that were throwing up red flags of danger for him to run away or back off. Her red eyes were surely a bad sign but he felt the threadscore scar on his back twinge when he looked at her bandages and figured that might have something to do with it, he really wouldn't want anyone coming to bother him when he was still hurting and trying to relax.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, I see it on your face, but threadscoring wounds are a little different than other wounds and if you're bleeding through them like that it could cause damage. They're burns that cut sort of, so they clot up different and can rip open really easily if you let all that blood dry, you'll just rip the scabs off and feel worse. But some new bandages and numbweed would let you relax even better in the sun at least, right?" Riz offered, never taking his own gold eyes from her red as he spoke, utterly unafraid or worried about being attacked in any way. Even if she chose to lash out it wasn't like it mattered, dragons were much more important to Pern so they could do what they liked to a stupid candidate like himself! "I don't want to see a dragon that fought for us all to be in such pain."

Turning his attention to the dragon's rider he let the beginnings of a smile pull the corner of his mouth upward a bit from the otherwise neutral expression he'd taken as soon as he'd prompted the dragon to loom over him with his presence. It didn't seem to be just concern for his dragon that had the rider speaking so gently, either it was that he was just this way in general or he was trying to make up for his dragon's mood and the way shed tried to intimidate him but he would accept it all the same. It meant that he could help a dragon after all and the fact that she was a green... it felt like he could take one step forward in paying back the still mysterious one that had saved him.

Bowing slowly and respectfully before the dragon's rider, just as he would have a gold dragon, Riz straightened up and nodded, "Just give me a few moments, the healers aren't far from here so I can be there quickly and back just as soon if you need help removing them. Personally I've had experience removing bandages from threadscoring, so I'll go fast." Carefully setting down the bucket of water he'd been given and laying the mop beside it he bowed once more before turning and taking off at a jogging pace towards the healers.

Maybe this was a fools errand, though he was helping a rider and his dragon so surely it couldn't be, but the healers may or may not have accepted him turning on his heel to do something other than he'd been assigned for the day. When he skidded in they simply rolled their eyes at his explanation and waved him out with a handful of bandages, more than enough for a dragon of any size by what he could tell and a decent sized pot of numbweed. One even smiled at him, which at least left him feeling slightly better on top of the honor of helping a dragon. A green dragon! Some part of him wanted to float as he hurried back to the pair where they had been relaxing, but he couldn't allow himself the opportunity to feel so good when he'd done so badly, right? He'd failed to do the right thing at the hatching and lost his knot and now here he was, still getting the chance to help a dragon, it felt wrong but he really was glad it wasn't just a dream.

Taking a deep breath as he arrived back near them, Riz bowed upon arrival once more and looked about for a good place to lay down the bandages so they didn't get dirty. Eyebrows pulling together as he realized there weren't any places that weren't dirt, the redhead simply shrugged a bit and pulled his shirt from over his head, dropping it down on the ground to place the clean bandages on without a thought at all to how dusty it would get or the sunburn he would suffer for not having it on to hide his pale scarred skin. Really only concern for how the bandages would come off the poor green's neck was in his head, so he offered up the pot of numbweed to her rider carefully and a thought dawned on him.

"My name's Rizdax by the way, it's an honor to help and to meet you both. Sorry for the bother, really." he let a small smile actually cross his face again as he said it, his nerves fizzing a bit because he really did feel honored and was afraid he'd mess up.

houllow

 

[houllow]

Why are you humoring him? Oyath had watched the candidate depart, her red eyes whirling as she sent her thoughts to her beloved. You are entirely too soft on all these children in the Weyr. You should toughen up, go ahead and hit one of them now and again and show them who is boss. Her words were downright ridiculous, and A'ye tried not to laugh loudly as he approached her waiting neck. I'm serious, you let people walk all over you entirely too much. This is why you don't have any friends.

"You are why I don't have any friends." A'ye was exceptionally gentle as he pulled a blade from his boot and cut away at the bandages. He'd apologize later for destroying some and offer to repay for it but - it was a set he'd bought himself and he could always use the scraps for something around his weyr. Cutting them also made it easier to remove the pieces, and Oyath hissed when some new hide pulled along with the cloth. "Sorry love, but they did need changed. These are bloody and full of sweat, and I want you to heal cleanly and properly."

The green grumbled and kept herself properly still, not wanting to risk more injury or endure more pain than she needed to. Thankfully the weird candidate returned quickly and was in possession of some numbweed. If the dragon were any sort to show gratefulness she would have, but Oyath was not and so all Rizdax received for his trouble was a snort and sharp, red eyes. Have him hurry and put the numbweed on me. The spots where you pulled are burning and I ache. Her voice was soft despite the clear demand, and A'ye could feel the pain she had just as strongly as if it were his own. It hurt so badly to see his dragon in this state, when it was likely all his fault. Unless you were the one doing the flying, it was not your fault. Now hurry....please.

A'ye turned to look at the young man and he held his hand out for the jar of numbweed, clearly intending to put it on his dragon without the use of gloves. Sure he'd lose feelings in his fingertips for a while, but that was what happened when you do things spur of the moment. He didn't mind at all and the sooner he could give Oyath come relief the better. "It's nice to meet you, Rizdax. My name is A'ye, and this lovely shade of green grump is Oyath. I really appreciate the help." He did, and he knew Oyath did too at some base level. "I don't suppose you happened to bring any salve with you? If not....I think I'll run back to my weyr and get some." It wasn't that far from where he was, and he'd be able to get there on foot.....so... "Actually, I'm going to go and get some gloves as well. Would you mind staying here with Oyath, to make sure she doesn't do something silly?"

The green snorted, offended. I'm not going to be doing much of any - let me finish before you get moving. A'ye didn't really wait for her to properly talk considering she'd be inside his head, and the rider was off even before he could get a reply from the candidate. . . . . . With her rider now gone, the dragon turned her focus to the young man. Her eyes burned a deeper, angrier red, as though with A'ye gone there was no reason to be polite. She hurt and he was a stranger.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

With a bow, deeper than he'd have given most any other than a green rider despite the heirarchy of color that he knew was present in the Weyr, Rizdax offered A'ye a smile and another nod. "Don't worry, I don't think I could stop Oyath from doing something 'silly' if she wanted to, but I'll watch all the same." he offered.

Glancing back up at the green who was all but looming over him with her eyes just the deepest shade of red he'd ever seen in his life. It was even a few shades darker than his own hair! All that Riz could do was offer her a smile and try to remember back to something, anything from his past that might help him in a situation like this, but couldn't draw up a single thought. While Oyath's rider might have been relaxed and friendly enough she certainly wasn't in the mood for it and the short candidate wasn't about to take offense in that.

"I'm really sorry to impose, I can tell that you don't want them off, or want to be bothered. Pain makes tempers shorter and every time you move threadscores rip open, since it's more of a burn than a cut. Maybe if we can get them replaced quickly you can go back to sunning yourself and even sleep? I know I liked the sun when I wasn't feeling good." Riz wouldn't mention that the sun wasn't super fond of him in return though, as it had turned him into a peeling mess the last time he'd been in it, some of him was even still peeling in places.

It was his experience that most dragon's didn't talk to anyone other than their rider, or at least he'd never come across one that had save for the brief little spurts of what Sahrawith had spoken to him. The mint that had spread through his mouth was still something that he remembered fondly and while he wasn't about to smile in front of the dark green with her clear pain and anger, he allowed himself to feel a bit better thinking about her and her rider for a moment. With a deep breath he pulled himself up to his completely unimpressive full height, less than an inch taller than what he'd been standing at when relaxed, and bowed to Oyath even deeper than he had to her rider.

"We have to get the sweat and blood off of your neck so that the numbweed can get to everything, can do it's job properly." Why was he speaking so properly? Was it because she was mad? "You don't have to say anything, but if you'd let me I have some experiences with wounds and cleaning them up. I know I'm not your rider but I can help you if you'll let me."

Looking at her wounds, at the open and raw nature of them as they were trying to heal and scab up again despite all the ick that was around them, Rizdax could remember his own open threadscoring wound as if it still were. Really all it did was pull from time to time now at least, but the healers had taken such great care of it and he was certain that no dragonhealer would be thrilled to see this little green end up with scars that might prevent her from going Between or living her life completely. Even the thought of it turned his own stomach, for every dragon deserved the opportunity to have a great life and do everything that they could. Wasn't that part of the joy of going Between and appearing in places to explore? Maybe just to fight thread in most cases but there was a lot of Pern and a cracked hide thanks to threadscore....

houllow

Sorry for short lovely, he's trying to hold back. XD

 

[houllow]

....shards, this one talked a lot. Like, a lot of talking, and despite Oyath's attempts to tune him out and listen only to A'ye's thoughts, his voice echoed and she caught nearly every word. His comments on her temper were much the same as everyone else - always saying that she had an attitude and was angry. Even A'ye mentioned it now and then, but his was usually in good nature and love. Others? Never so much, and the green snorted. When the boy continued to chatter on about the sun and sunning she snorted again, though it wasn't with the anger she'd had before.

I was sunning myself. If this "Sahrawith" had a voice like mint, then Oyath's voice felt like sudden cold. The sort a person would feel when walking into the tunnels on a hot day, a sudden choke in the throat as the body tried to adjust to the change in temperature. How anyone could get used to such a tone was a strange thing, but clearly her rider loved her voice and didn't mind. he green lowered her head and neck down, to the level of the candidate.

Her eyes still rolled red as she watched him, though she made no further movements. A'ye was coming back shortly, she could feel his reassurance, but the ache from her wounds was getting to be unbearable. With another snort at the candidate, this one strong enough to ruffle his hair and clothing, she spoke again. You. Start cleaning the blood off. It was a command, not a request, and her eyes whirled with pain and rage as she looked him over.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

A voice breezed into his head, one that felt cold and hot all at the same time, dry like the moisture had been sucked from his throat all at once and was left with the rattling of sticks on a windy day of Telgar's winter. It caused Rizdax to swallow against the percieved dryness, only to find that it wasn't dry at all and he let a smile cross over his face that he was careful to hide by moving an arm across his features to reach up to her neck. Each dragon that had spoken to him had such a characteristic voice, something that he wasn't expecting, not that he'd ever known what to expect with dragons other than to be impressed with them. Only two had spoken to him and both of them had been green dragons, it was enough to make his useless heart want to melt and it certainly brought down the armor that he put up to block out anyone else.

They were dragons after all. They were special.

Gently he used the cloth in his hand to clean the area where most of the blood had pooled against her green neck, the ichor staining the cloth quickly as the dried scabs began to peel back and away so that clean skin was exposed below. Riz's hands were gentle and moved slowly but methodically, dunking the cloths down in the water once more to clean them before washing again, discarding ones that were too stained by ichor or too clouded to be of much use anymore with cleaning. He had managed to make quite a dent in the crusted ichor and ooze when he felt a breeze ruffle his hair.

Gold eyes glanced into eyes red with rage and anger and it took him a moment to take a deep breath and remind himself that even if she was angry it likely wasn't at him. Or didn't originate with him, as he'd only just stopped to try and help her rather than give her these wounds. Maybe he was scrubbing too hard? Even gentler than before, as if he were twisting two coils of wire together, Rizdax ran a cloth down the smoothness of her neck to wipe off the newly weeping ichor that was forming from the wounds. Threadscoring was terrible since it was both a burn and a cut and a gouge all at once and the designs on her neck were awful and raw and he was afraid that this beautiful green would scar because of something that he did. So Riz made certain to get the wounds just as clean as he could while he waited on her rider to return with the salve.

But she was oozing ichor again!

Riz couldn't help the panic that settled into his stomach as he wiped the last of the dried crust away and started to wipe to keep up with it. Dragons couldn't have their wounds get in too bad of shape or they'd never be able to go Between again without searing pain, that much he had learned in his remedial classes. Oyath was a beautiful green, even more so with those red red eyes. "I'm sorry." He hissed gently as he worked to keep up with the seeping ichor in desperation.

houllow

 

[houllow]

It had taken A'ye less time than he'd thought (and hoped) to locate what he needed, and the rider was hurrying back to prevent his dragon from figuratively eating someone alive. Oyath was unsettling at her best, downright cruel at her worst, and when she was in pain? He really hoped that his green hadn't chased off the willing helper, and even though she was talking with him it was hard to get a proper picture of just how she was handling the candidate. A'ye liked to believe she was an amazing judge of character, seeing as she'd protected him for so many turns against those who didn't have his best interests at heart, but sometimes....she just judged entirely too hard.

Picking up his pace, out of nerves and worry, A'ye made his way back towards the pair with hope in his heart that his dragon didn't have poor Rizdax pinned beneath her claws or something else of that manner. While she'd never go out of her way to hurt him he wouldn't put it past her to move towards intimidation. So upon his return he was quite honestly surprised to see his dragon allowing the young man to clean her, and his expression showed as much.

"...well." His tone held a bit of excitement, and A'ye had to bite his lip to prevent a smile from creeping. It was fruitless of course, Oyath could feel his mental state after all, but he didn't want to do anything that might interrupt the delicate dance unfolding before him. "Glad to see you're getting a head start." The green rumbled with annoyance, but made no moves to get away from the candidate or to look to her rider. She still ached and wanted to be cleaned before they properly tended to her.

A'ye didn't blame her, and he stepped over with the supplies. "Just follow her instructions, and I'll handle the salve. Sound fair?"

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

So absorbed in wiping away all the oozing ichor was he that he didn't even notice that the rider had returned until he jumped a bit from his voice. Turning to glance over his shoulder, hands never stopping in what they were doing, Rizdax looked at him on his arrival, there was a slight desperation in his eyes. No matter what he did the ichor wasn't stopping, at least it wasn't coming very fast but he wasn't thrilled no matter what the circumstances. "I don't remember exactly, since they had me drugged early in mine, but do threadscores always bleed this badly even now?" No matter how he worded it he kept working, gently and carefully so that he wouldn't hurt her any further than she clearly had been until this point.

"Don't worry about that much though, she's been telling me what to do, even if just a bit grumpily. I just don't want her to be in anymore pain." Riz offered, wiping a strip so that the little green's rider could have at least a mostly clean strip where he could start to apply salve before turning back to where he was. Closer to her head the worst of the crust was almost gone so he focused on that for the moment, trusting that A'ye would be able to clean off that area to apply the salve and bandages. "I'm sorry I didn't bring that first, but I've never really had to do this before. I just couldn't walk by and see a dragon bleeding ichor through bandages and..."

He felt like the worst for causing the beautiful little green such pain and irritating her so but all he could do was continue on with what he was working on.

There really was no use in feeling terrible or worthless, that wouldn't help Oyath feel any better, self loathing. Besides, he knew that he was good at one thing at least in life and that was work, this was just like another form of work, the work that healers would do. Surely if he tried hard enough he could manage, but being gentle was important to.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"Dragons aren't like humans so I can't really say. Also she's not even bleeding that much, I think perhaps you're just panicking a little?" A'ye touched the smooth hide of his dragon, feeling her rumble beneath his fingertips. "Right now is about the amount you'd bleed when someone changes your bandages, that's all." His words were soft and calm, meant to help and perhaps alleviate the nerves of this young man who looked like he could break at any moment. Just why was he so nervous and desperate anyway? Oyath's wounds were on the mend as it was and the amount of blood was paltry. "Also stop apologizing."

Seriously. Oyath took the moment to add her opinion, agreeing entirely with A'ye that this teen was entirely too skittish and she had no remote idea why he was acting that way. Sure her attitude had been rough and injured anything could cause problems, but to be so.....whatever he was? It was weird. You're fine, just follow Mine and his lead. I won't begrudge you anything if you take a moment to breathe. For the briefest of moments her eyes whirled a soft and gentle blue, flecked with purple. A wave of comfort washed from the dragon though it was gone almost as instantly as it happened.

A'ye gave a faint chuckle at his beloved's attempt at being kind, and though he felt her prickle at his gentle tease he knew she was feeling awkward. Comfort towards anyone other than A'ye was unheard of for the green, considering how she treated most others. "Plus, you know - it wasn't like your plans for today consisted of helping me tend to my dragon. I actually wasn't even going to bother until later so I should be thanking you for prompting me to do this."

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Though his movements became a bit more hesitant at being berated for worrying, Riz bit the inside of his cheek until he bled because he'd nearly apologized for apologizing so much. It was second nature of course and after the tongue lashing he'd received alongside his fellow candidates and the act of having had his knot removed with the possibility of never having it returned, it made the younger man's heart hammer in his chest to think that he'd just insulted a rider and his green because he was nervous. Candidates shouldn't be nervous in the presence of dragons, even an injured one of course, but Rizdax chalked it up to all the other nerves that were starting to fray within him and this was just something so very new to him. Helping a threadscored dragon. Hopefully when the time came that he met his own dragon and they were inevitably hurt, because there was very little way around that, he wouldn't be such an absolute fool and worry himself to death over them.

Though he knew that he likely would, it was who he was.

Something coursed through his body, something weird that he'd never encountered before and Riz froze in place and glanced up at the changed eyes of the green dragon he was cleaning and he dropped his head and just continued to clean in silence. Oyath was right, he would follow A'ye's instructions and simply clean as best as he could until her bandages were changed, maybe then he could go and help the healers and... and...

"I don't deserve any thanks for bothering you two... I should just be at the Healers but it's not easy to watch someone else suffer when you know what.... what it feels like to have Thread eat you alive." Riz stopped for a second and just leaned where he was before taking a deep breath and wiping the last bit that he could manage away. "If you salve I'll bandage." he said quietly, reaching over to grab at where the bandages were.

houllow

 

[houllow]

Oyath softly turned her mind towards A'ye as the young boy talked, the green's eyes flickering with different colors. This one is good, but there's something missing. Like a chunk or what not. Her description was rather vague and A'ye mentally shrugged.

If you're trying to say he's a good kid then I'm inclined to agree. At least that much the rider understood, and the green thrummed her pleasure. It was a nice change considering how she'd been mentally hissing at the treatment. I wonder why his self-confidence is so low though. That part got an actual audible snort from the dragon, and the rider tried to soothe it all over between himself and Riz in hopes to not worry the boy. "That sounds wonderful. I'll go ahead and start applying - feel free to pull tightly, but make sure you can somewhat slide a finger in. If you wrap too tightly you could injure her more."

Yours is garbage too. Oyath kept her neck down as A'ye applied the salve, all the while hissing but also accepting the cooling and healing properties of what was being put on. Not as bad as his of course, but then again you have me to help you. Perhaps it was best that his dragon kept most of her thoughts to herself, or between the two of them. Oyath had a reputation for being a harsh green in both word and action, and this poor candidate didn't need that stress.

Hattaki

GASP IT'S NOT A GHOST TAG

 

[Hattaki]

Instructions, guidance, were easy to follow at least and something that Rizdax could wrap his head around as he started to wrap bandages around as well. His fingers had always been nimble and skilled thanks to years of working with little bits of metal and gems and stones, so this would be nothing at all to do. While he tried to avoid removing any of the salve or touching anywhere with too much force, the redhead wrapped carefully and quickly, one finger always just pressed lightly so he could see that the bandage wasn't squeezing.

At least it seemed that this was doing something, she had relaxed just a bit maybe? But that was likely because the salve was working it's way in, the salve that he hadn't necessarily thought to get even though he knew full well that numbweed salve was excellent.

Foolish and stupid. There were plenty that would agree with him about that though, so it wasn't as if it were a shock to him that he were so worthless at noticing things. Someday he wouldn't live up to his father's standards of his being nothing but a failure and actually rise above them, but for the time being Riz could only focus on the task at hand. Even as his shoulders slumped just a bit with his own inner thoughts.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"I think we're just about done here." The pair had worked in silence, or at least A'ye hadn't spoken much, as they finished up the last of the bandaging. Truely having help had made the task go much easier, as had Oyath's tolerance of the candidate. Normally she'd snap once or twice at the healers, grumbling beneath her breath, but at the very least she'd made no moves to show that same level of aggression. The red remained in her eyes, as it would always, but she wasn't really angry. "I can't thank you enough for the help."

Oyath rumbled some sort of sentiment which A'ye took to be her gratitude as well. "You feeling better, love?"

A bit. I didn't want the bandages changed to begin with but this works. The green dragon raised her head and neck up a bit, careful not to knock over her rider and the helper. Closing her eyes, she exhaled softly before turning to look down at Rizdax. The red had been replaced with a strange purple/green mix, likely the kindest expression Oyath could manage. A warm puff of air was washed over the young man as she exhaled. Thank you. You followed instructions well and you didn't hurt me. Her massive head was lowered until it came level with that of Rizdax, and the dragon winked. What do you have to say for yourself?

It was nice to see his dragon thanking someone, but A'ye always knew that Oyath was the type to show her gratitude to anyone who'd helped her. Despite her bluster she did have basic manners.

Hattaki

i know this tag is super, super old and i'm super sorry! if you'd like to continue or drop this RP please let me know!