Shared Experience

Writers: AL, Kaysea
Date Posted: 20th September 2008

Characters: Taia, Lirit
Description: Taia tells Lirit about an accident she had and he offers his assistance.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 1 of Turn 4

Her head was still sore, but the damage to her face had been minor,
thankfully. Her eyesight, she had been promised, would return over
the next month or so, once the swelling had gone down and the grit
could be cleaned out properly. She still wore the bandages wrapped
around her head, and had to have someone guide her around to various
places, but she had developed a more acute hearing that she had
thought possible.

She had asked to be taken outside for a while and Corder had brought
Sharp over to keep her company. The canine sat peacefully at her
side. He had settled well after the training sessions she had given
him. Lirit's Scout had helped immensely as a calming influence on the
younger canine, as well as helping with his training instructions.
She sat and patted the canine's head scratching behind his ears very
softly, so that the pups head slowly nodded heavily.

"Looks like I'll have some experience in just what is needed by Gerdi,
doesn't it?" she asked the pup, referring to the aunty who had
recently become to blind to make her way safely around the lower
caverns without help. She had been training Sharp to assist her, but
hadn't expected to have first hand knowledge on what was required of a
seeing eye canine.

Whistling graced the ears of those who were nearby. Whomever was doing
it was rather good at it, keeping well in tune and even twisting the
melody with a fast rhythm. Occasionally, the whistling would stop and
humming would replace it, only to be interrupted with more whistling.

She felt the canine perk up at the sound of whistling floating across
the open space. "Easy boy!" she spoke, tugging lightly at the collar
she had placed around his neck. "Stay!" She lifted her head, and
listened. The whistling was melodic, pleasant to the ear, and she
could hear Sharp's tail thudding lightly against the ground in time
with the tune.

"Taia?" Lirit paused, Scout immediately coming to a halt behind him.
"Ah, just who I was coming to see. Are you ready for another
training session?"

"I would be...but..." had the journeyman heard of her accident?
"There's a bit of a problem from my end."

"What's wrong?" The smile faded into one of concern and he drew closer
to the beastcrafter.

"I ... I can't see at the moment. I had an accident with a runner
earlier this sevenday."

"What? How? What happened?" Lirit moved forward, stopping a bit
before he
actually reached the girl, not quite sure where she was. "Is it
permanent?"

"They tell me no." she shook her head, "but right now, I can't see a
thing."
She tried to keep her voice steady, after all, this was a permanent
thing for him. "I was kicked in the face by a runner last sevenday,
and apart from breaking my nose, I also have dust and grit thrown in
my eyes from the
force." she explained.

"Shards!" As she talked, Lirit was able to move closer and ease his
way to sit down beside her. "I'm sorry, Taia. That sounds awful.
This was last sevenday? Did they say how long until you can see
again?"

"A month, maybe more. It will come back, they assure me, but until the
swelling and brusing go down, they can't be certain exactly when. So -
care to help me around the Weyr? You're so good at it."

"Sure, I wouldn't mind, though I do have lessons to attend as well as
give." Poor Taia. Lirit was used to being blind, but he did have
memories of being able to see, however little. He also had memories of
having to adjust once he was no longer able to disguish anything - not
even light or dark.

"They way I see it, if you'll pardon the pun..." she paused, wondering
if he would see the funny side, "is, this will give me a chance to see
exactly what would be required of a sight companion." Hopefully Lirit
would agree with her and not think her patronising.

"You have a point." Lirit nodded, his face relaxing into a
smile. "First hand experience can't be beat, certainly. Do you think
Sharp has promise?"

"He isn't doing too badly, since you and Scout helped us with his
training. Though I haven't been able to work with him this last
sevenday - this is my first day out and about since the accident."

"Well, you need more practise then." Lirit pushed himself back to a
standing position. "Come on, get up. Let's walk around a bit and see
if we can get you used to moving on your own."

"What? Now?" she asked, a little worried that she would make a fool of
herself and neither of them could see to tell. Anyone in the Weyr
could be laughing at them, and neither would realise. She felt his
hand reach for hers and took it, grateful she wasn't alone.

"Now is as good a time as any." Lirit carefully pulled her up to a
standing position. "Ready to take the plunge?"

"Not really, but if I don't do it now, I guess I'll never do it." she
could feel the colour rising to her cheeks and wondered if anyone was
watching them.

"Well, the first thing to remember is to take it slow. This isn't a
race and eventually you'll get faster and more confident." Lirit
slowly guided her a few steps over. "You'll need to work on your
memorization too. You're not going to be able to get around using any
cues by sight, so that's important."

"Oh...okay." she could feel her hands clinging more and more tightly to
his arm. She had grown used to being led around the Weyr the last
couple of days, but now it really was a case of the blind leading the
blind, even if one of them had a better sense of direction than the
other.

"It's all right. You're not going to fall off a cliff, I promise."
Lirit reassured her, amusement tickling his voice. "Now, the first
thing you need to do is let go."

"Do I have to?" she asked, his amusement beginning to rub off on her.
She relaxed her grip a little on his arm, but was still reluctant to
let go completely. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this..."

"The first step is always the scariest." Lirit patted her hand, then
carefully peeled her fingers from their grip. "Come on, you'll be
fine."

She tentatively let go of his arm, taking a step at the same time. Her
hands and arms stretched out before her, just like they used to when
she was a child playing blind-mans-bluff. Only this time she wasn't
able to take off the blindfold when she had caught someone. She
stumbled, and almost toppled over but managed to right herself, and
then felt a presence around her knees. A short whimper and she could
feel Sharp nuzzling at her hand.

"Don't move just yet." Lirit reached out his hand to steady her,
missing once, then finding her again. "What I want you to do is cross
one arm over your stomach. This will kind of act like a buffer of
sorts. Use your other arm to reach out, but you don't have to extend
it all the way, just a little ways from your body. When you walk,
shuffle, don't pick up your feet."

A mental image appeared in her mind of the way he had described her
attempting to walk, and she had to stifle a giggle. "But you don't
walk like that... You walk normally." she replied.

"And you will too." Lirit explained, "But this will just get you used
to moving around without being able to see." You'll have your buffer
and your arm will be your feeler. We can also get you a stick. A
stick can be very useful. I use one."

"A stick? No I don't think I need a stick." she shook her head, but
followed his instructions, buffering her stomach with one arm while
holding the other out straight ahead. She could feel the canine down
by her side and was surprised to see he hadn't left her to run off and
play.

"How does that feel?" Lirit listened for her movements, for the
shoveling of her feet and kept up easily with her slow pace. "Don't
try to go too fast, you need to get used to it first."

"I'm doing alright, I think." she replied, a little more confidently
than she had felt earlier. "And I think Sharp is walking with
me....or is it Scout?" she reached down with her hand and touched the
canine beside her, "No, it's Sharp!" her amazement couldn't be hidden.
"Lirit, was Scout always as protective of you?" she wondered if the
canine sensed the vulnerability in her and was reaction to it, where
they all as intuitive, she wondered?

"Yes, pretty much." Lirit continued to move beside the beastcrafter,
though the pace was painfully slow. "He's a good dog. Doesn't go too
far, usually obeys me. Usually."

"Well... I think Sharp has sensed I need him, he's sticking pretty
close to me at the moment." the canine nudged her slightly at the
sound of his name. "I think I'm getting the hang of th-" she stumbled,
both hands flying out in front of her, but she was able to right
herself again, "Spoke too soon." she said with a slightly nervous
laugh.

"Ah, but you didn't fall!" Lirit laughed, then moved forward as if he
could steady her. "Take it easy. I think you're getting overly
confident and therefore getting sloppy. One step at a time."

Over the next candlemark she slowly improved, with Lirit's help she
felt more confident that she could make her way around her own weyr,
if not the Weyr at large - but that would come. She had found Lirit's
company to be a comfort and amusing. "Would you like to join me for
dinner?" she asked later, as they sat resting.

"Well now, I don't know." Lirit rubbed his chin as he pretended to
ponder the question. "I might have some other poor, beautiful
beastcrafter get temporarily blinded and then she would need my help
too. I'd hate to be unavailable."

"Oh you!" she lightly pushed him aside, "Anyone would think I'd done
this on purpose to lure you in."

"You mean you didn't?" Mock shock crept into Lirit's voice, "I thought
for certain you did it just for me."

"Hmmm... May be it was the other way around..." she mused, "You're sure
you didn't send that runner in to get at me?" she asked, lightly.

"Of course I did." Lirit's tone took on a hint of mock seriousness.
"That's exactly what I did. It went all as planned, too."

"Hmm....thought so." she nodded, "So," she said again, more brightly
this time, "you'll meet me for dinner?"

"Maybe." The harper teased lightly. Of course, he would indeed meet
her for dinner. Taia was pleasant company indeed - and, of course,
he'd get to teach her how to eat without being able to see. That could
certainly prove interesting.

"Okay, I'll accept the maybe."

Last updated on the September 20th 2008

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