Name: Nyia
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Height: 5'3"
Build: Lithe
Skin Tone: Dark Brown
Eyes: Medium Blue
Hair Color: Black
Hair Length: Past her Shoulders
Occupation: Healer
Origin: Weyrbred
Siblings: None
Parents: Unknown
Pets: 1 blue firelizard
Nyia gripped the man's arm firmly as he writhed about on the cot. Even though she was young and had a rather small frame, her hands were remarkably strong, and he calmed a bit under her touch. "Rider," she said in as soothing a voice as she could, "you must calm yourself. Your dragon will be just fine. Okina is very skilled and will take care of him, but the more anxious and stressed you are, the harder it makes it for her to treat him properly," she said picking up a cup of hot liquid. "Now, drink this. It will help you to calm down," she said holding the cup to the man's lips.
The rider gave her a questioning look as he sniffed the contents of the cup, but Nyia gave him her most reassuring smile. He quickly downed the contents, and moments later felt himself relaxing as sleep began to overtake him. Within half a candlemark he was soundly asleep.
With his rider finally asleep, the blue dragon finally settled down as well. "Good job, Nyia," an other woman in the room praised her. "I was beginning to think I would never get the chance to look at this wing. I don't think it's too bad, but with all that thrashing about I was worried he would make it worse."
"I'm glad I could help, Okina," Nyia replied sincerely. She enjoyed being useful, especially to the woman that had practically raised her. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"If you don't think you'll be too frightened, it would be a great help to me if you could help me keep Orkath here calm. Just talk to him and rub his eye ridges if you can reach them. He'll like that," Okina answered even as she began to examine the blue's wing which had been scored during Threadfall that day.
Nyia slowly approached the dragon's head. "Orkath? Is that your name," she asked the beautiful blue in a quiet soothing tone. Its eyes were still whirling in pain, but she approached anyway.
Okina watched with a bemused smile on her face. This was the first time she'd brought Nyia along with her to treat a dragon, but she wasn't bothered or nervous at all. Even some of the adult healers were still skittish when it came to dealing with a hurt dragon since a thrashing dragon could easily knock an unsuspecting healer across the room. She shook her head. Nyia wasn't like most though. She didn't seem to be daunted by anything.
Since the dragon's head was currently resting on the floor of the weyr, Nyia thought she would be able to reach his eye ridges, but as she got nearer to him, she realized that she wouldn't be able to do so comfortably. So, she settled for rubbing his nose instead. "Orkath, you're such a beautiful creature, and I'm sure your rider tells you that all the time, right? Don't worry about your rider at all. He's just asleep, and we'll have you all fixed up really soon, too, okay? I know your wing hurts, but in a few moments it'll be all better," she said quietly to the dragon as she continued to stroke his nose.
Nyia continued to talk to the dragon as Okina continued to work on his wing. It seemed to calm him at least somewhat since Orkath's eyes weren't whirling quite so quickly. She supposed, if nothing else, that she provided the dragon something to focus on besides the pain in his wing. Luckily, Okina was a fast worker, and true to her words, Okina finished within a few moments.
"There, I'm all finished," Okina declared as she began to pack away her things. "Luckily it wasn't anything too bad, though I'm afraid you will have a nasty scar, Orkath," she told the blue as she patted his head. "Now go on to sleep. Your rider won't be awake for another couple of candlemarks, so you should rest as well. Let's go, Nyia. They need sleep now more than anything else," she declared heading for the door.
Nyia was about to respond but stopped herself as a blue flit appeared above her and settled itself on her shoulder. "Oh, there you are," she said reaching up and stroking the blue flit's head. He had vanished earlier when she had entered the sickroom since the injured dragon had made him nervous. "Don't worry. It's okay now," she assured him.
Okina turned to the younger woman as they made their way down to the Lower Caverns for some much needed refreshments. "You did really well, Nyia. I was surprised that you were able to calm down Orkath so easily. You didn't even seem nervous," she added with a chuckle.
"I just thought of him as a bigger version of Emyl here," Nyia replied with a shrug, which caused Emyl to cry in irritation at almost being dislodged. "Sorry," she said to the firelizard as she reached up to rub his eye ridges.
Okina smiled to herself. That was exactly what she had been hoping for when she gave Nyia the firelizard egg half a turn before. It seemed her plan to have the young woman trained as a dragon healer was coming along nicely. "Well, in most things, you're exactly right. A firelizard's anatomy and a dragon's are very similar in fact. However, I don't think Orkath or most other dragons would appreciate being compared to their smaller counterparts."
Nyia nodded as she processed this new information. So even though dragons and firelizards differed greatly in size, they weren't as different on the inside as they seemed on the outside. As she continued to ponder this, she began to pepper Okina with different questions as they entered the Lower Caverns.
Finally Okina had to stop her. "Okay, Nyia! That's enough for now," she said with a laugh, but she meant it. "Let me get some food in me, so that I can think straight before you start firing questions at me again," she finished as she took a seat.
Nyia stopped herself from asking any more questions as she sat across from her adopted mother. Okina waved a server over, and soon the two each had a plate of hot food in front of them. Nyia finished quickly, which was easy since Emyl helped her eat her dinner, but she refrained from asking any more questions while Okina continued to eat more slowly.
As she waited, she looked around the room and spotted a familiar friend that didn't look so good. "Okina, I'll be right back," she excused herself from the table to go check on her friend while Emyl flew off to find a nice spot to nap now that he was full.
Nyia quickly made her way across the room to where a slightly older young man was sitting with his head on the table in front of him. She quietly sat down next to him. "Hey, Ryntai," she greeted with a smile even though he wouldn't see it. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
Ryntai let out a long sigh as he glanced up at the younger girl. "Oh, it's you Nyia. I'm fine. It's just that my life is over," he said with another sigh.
Nyia blinked a couple of times. What did he mean? He was obviously still alive, and he didn't look gravely ill or anything like that. "What do you mean your life is over," she asked mildly confused.
"The sweets here," he answered motioning to a plate next to him that only contained a few crumbs, "aren't the same anymore since my favorite baker left."
"The sweets," Nyia repeated with raised eyebrows. He was upset over sweets? Then again, this was Ryntai she was talking about, and he was known for his insatiable sweet tooth. "I'm sure they'll be better in a couple of days. The new bakers just have to get used to their new jobs is all, and it couldn't have been that bad. I mean you ate all of it after all."
Ryntai shook his head. "I only ate it out of desperation. I hadn't had anything sweet all day," he responded dramatically. "I thought, like you, that after a little while the new bakers would adjust, but it seems that I was wrong. No one will ever make cakes as light and spongy as hers, and her bubbly pies simply can't be beat. I'm heartbroken," he finished glancing up at her with his sad puppy dog face.
Nyia thought for a moment about what they might do to fix the situation. "Is there any way you could get the recipes from her so that the bakers here have them? Then they could make the same sweets that you love, though I do feel it necessary to mention that eating so many sweets is not healthy," she said wagging a finger at him.
"I've never ever gotten sick off of sweets, and even with as many as I eat, just look at how skinny I am," Ryntai replied looking down at his thin figure. "I'd disappear if I gave up sweets! As far as the recipes go," he continued as his face fell again, "they already have the ones she was willing to share, and they've used them. But...," he let the sentence go with a shake of his head.
Nyia remained silent for a few moments as she thought through the situation. "Hmm...well, do you know where she went? Maybe you could go visit her," the younger girl suggested with pursed lips. That seemed like a logical answer to the problem.
Ryntai blinked at her for a moment before grinning. "That's a great idea! But, how am I supposed to get to Sedona Weyr," he asked as his face fell once more.
"She went to Sedona," Nyia asked with a grin of her own. "That should be easy enough to take care of. Okina and I are going there tomorrow to visit with their healer. We're running a bit low on supplies, and since they're close by and have extra, they're letting us borrow some. You can just come with us," she offered with a smile.
"Really? I can," Ryntai asked as his eyes went wide. "Are you sure," he asked again. He wanted to make sure it really was okay before he got his hopes up.
"Hmmm...I have to ask Okina first, but I don't think she'll mind," Nyia replied after a moment. "Just wait here," she said as she got up and went back to her table.
"Were you able to cheer up your friend," Okina asked as Nyia joined her once more. She'd been watching the exchange from her vantage point across the room.
"I think so, but I have a question to ask you. Would it be okay if he comes with us to Sedona Weyr tomorrow," Nyia asked, her face hopeful. She didn't want to let Ryntai down after all.
"I don't see why that would be a problem," Okina answered after thinking about it for a few moments. "Why does he want to go though?"
Nyia quickly explained the situation. "So, he wants to go visit his friend," she finished glancing in Ryntai's direction.
"I see," Okina replied with a smile. Nyia was always trying to help people, whether it was a physical illness or an illness of the heart didn't seem to matter to her at all. "Well, I guess you better go tell him to pack up then. We'll be leaving early tomorrow," the older woman stated as she downed the last bit of her klah.
Nyia quickly relayed the message to her friend, and he almost suffocated her in a hug to thank her. Then the two began discussing the different things they could possibly do once they reached Sedona Weyr. Nyia had to admit that it seemed much more like an adventure full of endless possibilites now than just another errand to run.
