Vicious Payback

Writers: Devin, Chelle, Cymiri, Leigh M-F., Miriah
Date Posted: 4th September 2013

Characters: Bahji, E'rae, K'mai, Lokkun, Reeva, Eirlira
Description: Eirlira gives payback for perceived insults
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 4 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: K'sedel; Mentor Approved

K'mai

She had waited and watched. Every night, the little blind bitch had
traipsed down these stairs as if she owned them, carrying her little
loads of cloth and blankets. That girl had no right to have treated
her like that-like she was actually better! To make matters worse,
that girl had made her look like a fool. And if there was anything
Eirlira hated, it was to be made to look less than desirable. It was
intolerable. That fashion reject healer boy might be out of her grasp
for now, but this girl-she wasn't. She'd settle with the healer later.

Dark brown eyes narrowed as she heard the familiar footfalls, soft
and light. She checked the rope she had tied and held the other end
tightly in her hands as she crouched in the shadows. **Just a few more
steps**

Bahji hummed lightly. As soon as she dropped these off at the stores,
she'd be free to go to E'rae's weyr and she felt in the need to have
his arms around her. He'd been so giving, lately; the thought made her
expression warm and despite knowing better, the thought of him caused
a little flutter in her chest. The thought of snuggling up to his
warmth lent her reason to quicken her steps.

She heard a faint rustle and paused, head tilting to the side.
"Hello?" There was silence and no reply. Her brow furrowed and she
shrugged. Possibly a feline. Holding carefully to the wall, she began
walking towards the steps, counting carefully.

*One.twoo..three...* With a quick jerk and a vindictive smile, Eirlira
pulled the rope taut as Bahji took a step towards the stairs. There
was a startled gasp, a flurry of cloth as Bahji dropped the basket
and tried to right herself but failed. She fell, her arms flailing,
then a scream of fright and pain as her body hit the stairs and
tumbled down the stairs with sickening thuds of flesh against stone.
Eirlira dropped the rope and with a satisfied smirk, ran. She got out
of sight just in time.

Burst, had already been snuggled up and sleeping in E'rae's weyr, but
the surge of fright woke him and he gave a terrified sudden cry of
alarm, leaping up to /between/ to his pet. Burst appeared over Bahji's
crumpled form and shrieked, the young flit landing on Bahji's shoulder
and desperately nudging at the girl's cheek. Unable to wake her, he
leaped into the air to go to the one person that he knew would help.

Appearing with frantic cries over E'rae's head, his wings batted
wildly at the rider?s head, desperate to get him out of the weyr.

Not understanding what on Pern was going on, E'rae turned to Leith.

}:Little cousin-slow down. What is wrong? Where is your one?:{ the
blue tried to sort through the images and feelings Burst was sending
even as E'rae was pulling on a pair of shoes. The bluerider was heading
out of the weyr, no destination in mind, waiting for the draconics to figure
it out.

The little bronze shrieked again, eyes whirling with reds and yellows.
Sending the image of Bahji laying crumpled at the bottom of the stairs to
Leith, Burst followed E'rae. He gripped the shoulder of his tunic and pulled
with all of his might in the direction of the stairs.

That image was enough for Leith to figure it out. The dragon didn't know
which stairs, though. }:Just fly and mine will follow you:{ he told Burst.

}:She is hurt and needs our help:{ Leith told E'rae.

**Call a healer** the bluerider told the dragon even as that statement was
enough to send icy tendrils into his heart.

Without much ado, E'rae followed Burst and finally saw her. Panic seized him
but he kept moving until he was there, by her side. He didn't worry about
the rest just yet. "Bahji, do you hear me? Can you wake up?"

Burst landed by Bahji, creeling and nudging Bahji repeatedly. Covered in
scratches and with bruising that was beginning to appear on her pale skin,
Bahji didn't respond, but lay limply; blood welled from a battered and torn
cut on the side of her head and trickled from her lips. One leg lay
crookedly, the ankle already swollen.

She wasn't dead. Burst's presence confirmed that, but she was unconscious.
**Don't panic** E'rae didn't want to move her. It would be better to wait
for the healers. The bluerider sat by her, talking to her, wanting her to
wake. He touched her face. His eyes slid over everything, and then they
rested on the rope that had been dropped. Not realizing what it meant at
first, he kept staring at it. And then it clicked into place.

Such an anger rolled over E'rae that it pushed out towards Leith. If the
dragon could have done violence, he would have. As it was, the man was
sitting there thinking to himself. **She was under my protection and someone
knowingly reached out and did her harm. Perhaps to the child-my child. In my
Weyr.** Instincts that had long ago been reserved for restdays and pleasure
trips came to the fore. He wouldn't stop until someone paid.

"Oh dear. Oh very much dear."
Reeva's words of arrival were as dry as always.
"Alright, out the way you."
Her shove at the bluerider was unceremonious but not unkind, and ended
with a little pat of comfort. Her heart sank at the sight of the
sprawled girl, but her words remained all business.
"Off. Go round up a couple of big strong men and get a stretcher. Or
get your big beastie to do it, but if you are going to stay stand
back. And if the little lizard will quiet for you, please keep it so."
Reeva's heart sunk a little as she knelt to inspect the girl.

E'rae didn't know what to do about Burst. Not really. **Can you tell him to
quiet down?**

}:Cousin, they will help her. You need to help by being still please:{ Leith
told the little creature.

The bluerider was torn. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew that
he needed help. Reeva was here-she was in good hands-a Master's hands.
His eyes went from Bahji to Reeva and back. }:Sebeth-mine needs help.
Three men. Tell yours to come:{ Leith showed the brown where they
were, then continued to worry. He had left his ledge and was now on
the ground in the Bowl. He would have carried her himself in his
forearms but he couldn't get to her and E'rae couldn't carry her-not
with the extra weight. "They're coming."

}:Leith is very upset. His rider needs help for the woman. He needs three
men.:{ Sebeth sent an image, passed along by Leith.

Bahji crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, shards." K'mai jumped up
from the table where he'd been playing dragonpoker. "Follow me. Bahji's been
hurt," he told the others.

Reeva's hands were very careful as she slid a hand to cradle the girl's
neck, fingers questing for the tell-tale signs of a break before she dared
to tip the girl's face cautiously towards her, inspecting the damage with
calm eyes, fingertips ghosting over the rapid swelling and livid wreck of
one cheekbone.

That same sense of dispassionate calm prevailed as she cataloged the rest of
the damage. Reeva had long since decided a healer who riled themselves as
much as the patient's loved ones inevitably were just about as useless to
the patient.

So there was no sign of the inner dismay she felt inside. She loved a
challenge- and this would be one- but never at the expense of another's
pain.

"Child. Can you hear me?"

Burst quieted, but curled tightly next to Bahji?s head, his metallic hide
paling. His eyes stared at E?rae as if expecting the bluerider to some how
wake Bahji from her silence. But the girl didn?t wake, she simply lay
limply.

Reeva's murmured expletive was simple yet vigorous. Bending an ear to the
girl's mouth, she at least satisfied herself she was breathing, and the
bleeding lip was less of a horror then she had feared. It was a slim joy,
given the rest, but at least it was something.

She sat back on her heels, regarding the man. Not an ideal candidate, but it
was another set of hands and she needed them. Now. "I need your help, rider.
If she will not wake, we must ensure she can still breathe. If she does wake,
she must not move- and we *must* hope she will want to." She indicated how she
wished E'rae to hold steady her head. She presumed she did not need to lecture
a dragonrider on squeamishness.

"Ignore the blood, but do *not* touch the wound. Push aside whatever other
thoughts you have, they will do her no good. I will treat the breaks while
we wait for help, and if we have luck she will feel it. If she does, she
will want to move, and she will battle disorientation. Perhaps worse given
her particular disability. Do not use more pressure than you have to, but do
not allow her to thrash. I cannot say what damage she may have and she
cannot be allowed to make it worse. Am I clear?"

Moving himself so that he was kneeling, E'rae did what he was told, watching
Bahji and willing her to wake. He felt her and his baby slipping through his
arms and all because of someone...he felt murderous again there just for a
moment, but he was trying to keep calm both for Leith's sake and for the
woman lying there. He needed to listen-to follow instructions. **Where is
K'mai?**

}:Sebeth? Is yours near?:{ Leith asked anxiously. The blue was beside
himself as was his rider, though to the world he was calm and collected.
Reeva probably couldn't have picked another rider with more iron control,
though E'rae would probably lose it later once he knew Bahji was allright.

"What can we do to wake her up?" he asked softly, continuing to speak,
hoping she would hear his voice-a familiar sound-and push toward it.

K'mai arrived with two other men following him. He stopped short when he saw
Bahji. "Oh shards. What happened?"

There was a soft whimper of pain suddenly from Bahji and her hand twitched.
Burst creeled and nudged at the prone cheek before beginning to pace back
and forth beside the girl. The little bronze stopped and stared at Bahji?s
abdomen, then keened softly.

That made E'rae feel a little better. She was making noise. Good. "Master,
if we can get her to the infirmary now, are you ready?" E'rae took the
stretcher from one of the others and laid it down, looking at them. He found
K'mai's eyes and silently let him know they'd talk later. For now he had to
get her to safety. He didn't even want to think about what that keen meant.

Reeva winced, but her lips remained sealed. She was not and would never be
an idle talker, least of all not when it could do the most damage.

Anyone who'd ever looked at the petite little healer with her fluffily
uncontrollable hair and soft voice and wondered if the reputation for savage
determination was unwarranted would have found their answer in watching the
loading of that stretcher. If there had been anything to laugh about in
it, it would have been amusing. But it saw the inert girl as safely loaded
as they could hope, and into the light and space- and hope- of the infirmary.
Reeva's attention was riveted on her patient and the grim task at hand with
no room for anything else save a curt though cool demand for 'her
apprentice, a healer or the sharded scrubber girls if everyone else was
napping'.

Which may have made it surprising when, after a curt and distracted
dismissal she shot a hand out to grab K'mai's sleeve.

"Take him away from here. For pity's sake."

K'mai gripped E'rae's arm and tugged him away from the cot where poor Bahji
lay. "Come on. Let the healers do their work."

He didn't want to leave her. She was blind and used to darkness so she only
heard things. He wanted her to hear him. She shouldn't be all alone.
"If she wakes, you'll tell me?" He looked Reeva in the eye.

Burst clung to Bahji, refusing to be budged from her or the cot. His
talons dug into the cot and he hunkered against her, whirling eyes
flicking from person to person as though fearful he'd be ordered to
leave her side. He suddenly jerked as Bahji's head attempted to move.
There was a peep from the bronze as there was a louder moan.

Pain. She hurt everywhere. Her whole body ached and she didn't know
where she was. She couldn't help a sob of confusion and pain as she
tried to move.

Lokkun and a journeyman had been told to disinfect a work area, bring
in clean linens and smocks, and prepare the tools for surgery, just in
case. It could have been nothing, but the slim blond had been given an
order, and he was following it. Everything would be ready when the
healers got back, and perfect if he could help it.

He still couldn't help but hope it was a false alarm, though.

"I will call you as soon as you are needed, Rider."
Her attention spun back to her patient, and apparently just in time.
"For the sake of little gold dragon's hold her *still* Lokkun."

Oh no. Oh, _no_. Lokkun knew this patient. What had happened?! Even as
he silently freaked out, he followed orders again and placed his hands
on Bahji's shoulders, pressing down gently. "Please don't move," he
found himself saying, leaning in far enough to whisper to the poor
woman. "You need to keep still so my Master can examine you."

Disoriented and in pain, Bahji struggled in panic before the
additional pain of abdominal cramping finally sent her back into the
realm of blissful unconsciousness. She slumped back with a whimper,
her body going slack.

The tone with which Reeva next spoke, to soothe Bahji's disorientation,
was softer and gentler. She kept it up as they did the best they could
for the stricken girl and her lost pregnancy.

Reeva hated these cases, but she did her best.

E'rae had seen her wake. So she was breathing and alive and sort of
conscious. That was good. And then the healers came in and he
was pushed out. Sighing, he stood there for a few moments, a little
lost. And then the bluerider let a little bit of what was going on
through his fog. The anger came back and he pulled K'mai out into the
waiting area. "You listen-I've got to go tell the Weyrleader something. If she
wakes..needs me..anything, you tell me okay?" If he waited, the person
might get away!

K'mai could only nod.

Last updated on the September 14th 2013

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Vicious Payback