Inter-Disciplinary Studies

Writers: Aaron, Avery
Date Posted: 10th November 2017

Characters: K'don, K'ran
Description: Kedon's lessons from the beastcrafters comes in handy for impressing K'ran
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 13 of Turn 9

K'don

K'ran

K'ran had been happy to accept L'pin's request to take in a Candidate
for the day and let them shadow him. He'd brought breakfast into his
office and propped the door open so that when his Candidate arrived
he'd be ready. Until then, he was looking at hidework and trying to
figure out what might be interesting.

Kedon arrived promptly after finishing his own breakfast as fast as he
could, not wanting to keep anyone waiting, especially a wingleader. He
knocked on the door frame and said,

"Good morning, sir – it's Kedon." He ran his fingers through his hair
again to make sure it had not become embarrassingly unruly in the sea
breeze outside.

"Good morning Candidate. I'm Wingleader K'ran of Rogueth, but I'm sure
L'pin told you that. Please, come in, sit down. Did you eat?" K'ran
asked curiously.

"Yes, sir. I mean, yes, sir, L'pin told me. And. Also, yes, sir, I
ate. I hope that's all right?" Kedon hoped he had not chosen poorly.
Of course, growing boy that he was, he could easily eat again. He
realized he was still standing and quickly sat down.

"I wasn't told if you'd get food first or not so I asked for more food
than normal. So please, if you'd like to have some," K'ran offered. He
had frycakes, eggs, and bacon, plus klah and some toast. Not the
healthiest breakfast, but he'd been starving.

K'ran's breakfast was much more appealing than the quick bowl of
porridge and bread roll Kedon had. Eggs! Bacon! He was almost glad now
that he had eaten first, as he was sure he could easily have eaten
enough for the two of them put together.

"Thank you, sir," he said eagerly, helping himself to what he thought
was a fair portion for a Candidate having breakfast with a wingleader.

"I hope you don't mind if I ask you some questions before I drag you
into work," K'ran said. "I'm still learning who people are around the
weyr. The note I got says you're K'deren's son, so between your father
and the Weyrwoman, you probably know a lot about what I do already,
right?"

"I don't mind, sir," said Kedon, mouth still half full. He finished
chewing and said, "I know it's not fair for me to think I know stuff
just because I see my parents. I know about how much they work and
things like that, but I couldn't do any of it myself yet. I'm here to
learn," he said, offering K'ran a smile.

"That's a surprisingly astute observation. I know some Candidates who
thought they knew everything about riding a dragon after three
months," he said.

"Three months! My teachers with the beasthealers remind us all the
time that it takes Turns and Turns and Turns to learn what they know
about beasts. Dragons have to be even more hard to learn than that,
right?" said Kedon. He and his peers got regular reminders about what
they were qualified to handle, lest they try to get in over their
heads and cause more harm than good. If he did not have his time with
the beasthealers so far, he might have thought he knew a bit more
about dragons than he did.

"Some people think all you need to know is how to wash and oil them
and how to feed them. It's not that easy, as you'll find out in
weyrlinghood. Although unlike your beasts, a dragon can directly tell
you what's wrong with them and express their complaints. Sometimes
it's not the best thing," he said with a laugh.
Kedon smiled and laughed along, feeling rather happy that K'ran
already felt comfortable joking with him.

"I think Donneth likes me," said Kedon, "but he doesn't talk to me."
He did his best not to take offense at it. Almost all dragons never
spoke to anyone else but their riders. "I'm pretty good at washing and
oiling," he went on, "but if that was all that mattered, Dad and
Cyradis wouldn't be at work so late all the time!"

"They probably have all the boring hidework that make most sensible
people not want to ride metallic dragons, and that's why they're out
until unreasonable candlemarks," K'ran said.

"My agenda for today includes wing drills, going over the casualty
reports and checking on the Infirmary, watching the weyrlings, and
reading over sweep reports. I don't know how long L'pin has assigned
you to me for, or if you ave craft duties today, but hopefully you'll
find at least some of this interesting."

"I like to help," said Kedon, feeling a renewed twinge of curiosity
that had been growing into something more. K'ran's mention of riding
metallic dragons called his attention back to the fact that he might
not even have a chance to Impress a bronze or any dragon at all
because of his sexuality – or lack thereof.

It was not anything he wanted to fret over again, but the context of
his assignment to K'ran sparked a feeling of something almost like
injustice in him. What if he was good at hidework? What if he liked
it? And then what if he ended up riding green?

Greenriders can be part of the wingleadership, too, he thought to
himself, and that thought helped put this hackles back down.

"Even if it's just fetching klah for you, I'm really excited about
doing whatever I can." His apprentice work was never glamorous, but it
was necessary, and he liked doing useful work. "As far as I know, I'm
supposed to stick with you for the whole day."

"I'm fine with that, it means you'll get to see a bigger variety of
tasks. I would warn you that some are sad. Some Wingleaders take their
Infirmary casualty report via the hides and don't go verify, but if I
have time I go down and see my people in person. The injuries can be
gruesome, but you're a beasthealer apprentice. I assume that means a
strong stomach?" K'ran asked.

Kedon felt a surge of compassion for those who were injured, as he
often did when his thoughts turned to them. He took a deep breath to
squash down the threat of tears and nodded. He had great respect for
K'ran for taking that responsibility.

"I've seen enough blood and guts and filth to know I can keep my
breakfast down," said Kedon. "I'm not gonna shy away from it. Did you
know, I'm going to be a dragonhealer once I Impress?" he asked. He
would certainly see gruesome injuries then, too.

"That's a good ambition. They're always going to be needed in numbers
as long as we have Threadfall. In that case, you might enjoy the visit
to the human and dragon Infirmaries part. How about we do that now?
Wing drills aren't for another two candlemarks and sweep reports won't
be back till the evening."

Kedon scarfed the rest of the breakfast he had doled out for himself
and then stood to follow K'ran, wiping his mouth with his arm.

"Yes, sir!" he said dutifully, once he had swallowed enough to be
understood when he said it.

Last updated on the December 10th 2017

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Inter-Disciplinary Studies