A New Apprentice

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 13th January 2016

Characters: Z'then, W'ser
Description: Z'then asks W'ser about apprenticing.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 24 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Saibra

W'ser

Z'then remembered that he'd planned to talk to W'ser. So later in the
month, when he'd finished a sweepride and a report, and had some free time,
he went to visit the dragonhealers' infirmary. The whole way there, he
rehearsed everything he wanted to talk about in his mind. He'd taken the
basic course in candidacy, and then he'd volunteered to help out with
bandages and the other simple stuff that they let people who weren't formal
apprentices do. Most recently he'd had the classes on it in weyrling
training with everyone else. This qualified him, right?

By the time he entered the infirmary, he had his head up and a smile on his
face. He couldn't look nervous if he wanted to apprentice, right?

"Can I help you?" a young girl asked. She had impossibly curly blonde hair
that was tamed back and tied into place at the base of her neck. No more
than fifteen or sixteen, the girl wore a set of apprentice knots on her
shoulder.

"Hi there," Z'then said to her. She was younger than him and had her knots
- he wondered if she was a rider too young for the wings, or someone who'd
apprenticed and was waiting on her lifemate. "Is Master W'ser around?"

Vaella nodded her head. "Yes, he's in his office. Right through there." She
pointed down the hallway.

"Thanks!" he said. Maybe he could chat with her after, depending on how
this conversation went.

He walked down the hall, found the door, and knocked on it, waiting to be
let in.

"Come in." W'ser called as he sat with three large books spread on his
desk, each filled with notes and diagrams.

"Good afternoon, my duty to you and Branth," Z'then said, slipping into the
office. "Don't worry, Juvath's doing fine," he added.

W'ser motioned for Z'then to sit, recognizing him as one of the Weyrlings
that had recently joined the fighting Wings. "What can I do for you then,
Z'then?"

He sat and immediately pressed his palms to the side of his pants, so he
didn't fidget visibly. "I was hoping to talk to you about apprenticing to
the dragonhealers. I did really well in my candidate lessons and it's
probably in a file somewhere that I kept volunteering to work in here
during candidacy."

That grabbed W'ser's attention and he closed each of the books and stacked
them to the side so he had room to clasp his hands on top of his desk.
"What makes you want to be a dragon healer?"

"I always wanted to do that," Z'then answered. "Even before I Impressed. I
like to make things better, and to start something and see it through.
Helping an injured dragon until they can go back to the Wings is just like
that. I know it's long and hard and dirty work. Sometimes you don't save
them. But you do your best and you try hard, and you're helping your
fellows. It's a high service."

"Well, we would be happy to have you, of course, there can never be too
many dragonhealers available." W'ser sat up in his chair a little higher as
he began to explain how things would work. "I'll speak with your Wingleader
and rather than sweep or transportation duties you'll start attending
dragonhealing classes and working in the infirmary. You will still be
responsible for attending Wing drills and flying Threadfall. You need more
experience in the air before we can begin pulling you from Fall to help out
on the ground. Fortunately for you your Wingleader also has dragonhealing
experience so she understands how this will work."

Z'then nodded along as he listened. Not doing sweeps sounded good,
especially when classes sounded more interesting than just looking for
problems.

"And you don't think she'll mind having another dragonhealer in her wing?"
After all, W'ser surely worked with her a lot.

"Saibra highly values dragonhealers, it won't be a problem. Even when you
gain more experience and begin helping during Falls, you'll still fly for
the first wave, or second, and help out on the ground during the other part
of Fall, depending on casualties." The Weyrdragonhealer explained.

"That makes sense. And I assume I start with beginner classes. Having
waiting till after I Impressed, do you think it will hold me back?"

W'ser shook his head. "It shouldn't hold you back too much.
Apprentices can only go so far anyway before they're required to
Impress or they cannot continue. Luckily you've already got that part
taken care of," he smiled.

"That's why I was too afraid to start before. I don't know what
dragonhealer apprentices do if they age out." Not that he had to
worry. "So are classes small group and topic based?"

"Classes tend to be small grouped. We use a linear curriculum so you
will start with the first classes, with others who have recently
decided to join and then progress forward. All classes must be taken
unless you have had suitable classes before that would count."

Z'then nodded. "Got it."

"Any other questions?" W'ser asked.

"Will it be mostly theory classes and practice on healthy dragons? I
assume you don't want apprentices working on the badly injured ones."
Z'then wanted to make sure he had the background and stomach before it
before he faced that.

"Theory classes first, then you will partner and shadow a journeyman
and assist them. You will not practice healing on a dragon by yourself
until you walk the tables as a journeyman."

"Yessir, I understand," the brownrider replied.

W'ser smiled, "Welcome to the dragonhealers."

Last updated on the January 20th 2016

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A New Apprentice