Some Helpful Advice

Writers: Eimi, Francesca
Date Posted: 19th January 2008

Characters: Renner, Chalzie
Description: Renner gives Chalzie some advice on how to improve her endurance.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 8, day 4 of Turn 4

Chalzie couldn't stop herself from grinning as she held on to the dorsal fin and was pulled through the water. After three months of living at the Dolphin Hall, it was easy to see how dolphineers never tired of their job. From time to time she even felt sorry for her friends at the Weyr who were either dragonriders, candidates, or too young to Stand.
Although swimming and working with dolphins was nothing like Impressing, it had its definite perks. And this moment was one of them. "Weeeeeeeee!" she yelled happily underwater, bubbles of air rushing up her cheeks and past her eyelashes to the surface.

Eventually, she ran out of oxygen, sooner than most of the other apprentices, and she regretfully let go of the fin and came up for air.
Fess, the young male dolphin who had given her a ride, came to her side but she declined his offer to support her, choosing instead to tread water. Her endurance had improved immensely over the past sevendays, but she know there was a lot of room for improvement.

A quick look around her showed only one person nearby, a man wading in slightly shallower water with two dolphins nearby. When he turned his head, Chalzie saw that it was Renner, a Journeyman she had never met.
She didn't particularly want to strike up a conversation with him, as she had heard stories of him going crazy and spending time at the Mindhealer Hall. However, they had made eye contact, and she couldn't just ignore him. Giving a little sigh, she called out, "Hello Journeyman."

Renner was rather surprised at the greeting. "Good morning!" **She must be new here,** he thought, reaching out to rub the melon of the dolphin pressed up against his side he waved back.

Well, he seemed normal enough. "I'm Chalzie, junior apprentice. You're Renner, right? I've seen you around, but you don't teach any classes, do you?" She immediately regretted asking the question, but it was too late. Hopefully she hadn't struck some sort of nerve. **Who knows what could set him off,** she thought to herself, then shoved the thought away, as it hadn't been a particularly nice one.

Well, not new enough not to have heard of him, it seemed. "Not recently, no." No doubt she knew why, but Renner was getting used to be infamous for being a bad egg. "Not all journeymen are here to teach."

Chalzie nodded and quickly responded, "Of course!" There was an uncomfortable silence for several moments and she tried frantically to think of something else to say. "Umm...do you have a specialty?" she finally asked, not being able to come up with anything else.

"Rescue and Salvage." Not that he'd been allowed to do either in a rather long time.

"I haven't had the chance yet to do salvage, but I am learning the basics of rescue with Journeyman Supaka." She gave a small frown, thinking of how the little endurance she had was reduced even more when she needed to support another person's weight as well. Then, the thought came to her.
**He's a Journeyman. Maybe he can help, even if he has some problems.**

"Even though you aren't a teacher, would you have any advice on techniques to improve my endurance? I mean, besides swimming in circles all day. All the other apprentices have been here longer than I have, and I haven't caught up to them yet."

"Well, what seems to be the problem?" Renner suspected it could be just a general need for conditioning, which was pretty common among new apprentices. "Do you find yourself out of breath first? Or do your muscles get tired first?"

"I get out of breath first. I have been working on it but, definitely breath."

"Then I would recommend running." Cardiac training would be best done outside the water. The last thing you would want would be to push yourself. Even at the Dolphin Hall, it was possible to drown. "There are some good running courses around the Hall if you know where to look."

Chalzie sighed. "Oh. Running does make sense." **I don't like it though** she added to herself.

"Rowing is another alternative if you would prefer." Renner had always found the rhythm therapeutic.

"That sounds like more fun," Chalzie replied with a smile. "Especially if one of the other apprentices came with me."

The dolphins had been having their own conversations while the two dolphineers talked and Fess was becoming bored just supporting Chalzie.
The girl laughed as he moved a bit impatiently. "Looks like we've been still long enough. I need to swim a bit more before heading over to the kitchens for the evening meal. Tonight I'll see if I can draft anyone to be my running and/or rowing partner. I'll give you an update on my improvement next time we see each other."

Renner nodded. It was kind of nice to feel useful again. "I can be found here usually in the mornings and on the docks in the daytime."

"Great. Thank you for the advice, Journeyman." With a smile and wave, Chalzie set back out towards deeper water, Fess beside her.

Last updated on the January 20th 2008

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Some Helpful Advice