"That's the best I can do, Nelve," Maleena, the hold's healer, told her newest patient as she finished stitching up the deep wound in her finger. "It's to the bone, and you'll need to keep numbweed on it for the next few days to dull the pain you're gonna feel when the layer I put on wears off." The room smelled of medicines, of strange scented roots and other such remedies to cure the ill and the injured. Quetensha helped Nelve to her feet, and knew that she was still a little light-headed from the mild numbing agent she'd had to take before the wound could be inspected and operated on. Nelve shook her head a little to clear it, but that made her even dizzier. Quetensha led Nelve back to their room, and the halfing sighed. "I didn't mean to do this, Tensha. I just hadn't seen to many dragons at once, and I guess that I was still thinking about them when I was peeling those potatoes. I really messed up, didn't I??"

Quetensha shook her head. "Nope. Really messing up would have been cutting off your finger, not just cutting into it. Just stay here, and I'll bring you something to eat. Then, if you're feeling up to it, when I finish chores, we can go out to the gardens, and you can look at those large beasts from there." Nelve nodded, her stomach queasy, as Quetensha left the room. I don't care what she says.... I think I really messed up good this time. Lord Draesen will hear about it, and I know he likes me, but he can't possibly keep me here after he finds out how I almost ruined his potatoes. She laid back on her bed, and hoped that all these riders would leave soon, and the day would be over.

Nelve groaned, but Carsk would have none of it. He nudged her again with his beak, and Totred hooked onto her clothing with his back paws, the two of them trying to draw the pantherling to the gardens. She looked back at Quetensha, waiting for assistance, and instead found the young woman laughing so hard she was holding her stomach. "What's so funny??" Nelve demanded, a bit grumpy now that the numbweed was wearing off. During breaks that she had to take to keep laughing, Quetensha managed to get out, "I've never seen them so adamant for you to do something, and you so determined not to!!" Nevle sighed. How she got into these things, she'd never know. Muttering about the fardling creatures, she allowed them and Quetensha to lead her to the gardens, which surrounded the main hall's back half. It was a beautiful place to go, and she loved the smell of the gardenias that were in bloom at this time. Sighing, she walked slowly through the wonderland before her, letting the serenity of the place calm her. She had smelled the dragons long before the little group had reached the gardens, and now, as she stood gazing at a space between hedges, Nelve found herself entranced by the beauty before her. There were several greens and blues, a few browns, and one white, which she knew to be from Opal Moon. That white wasn't a search-dragon, but it was here anyhow.

Carsk chirped just then, and called attention to Nelve's viewing place. She saw a large brown dragon snort, and she back up quickly, as three of the dragons began bugling. Scared now, Nelve took off through the gardens, her lithe cat legs carrying her quickly away. She ran to the lake, which was on the other side of the hold, and collapsed, crying, knowing that she'd done something to upset those huge behemoths. It wasn't fair. After all this time here, she had forgotten that her differences set her apart from the rest of the world. It was the only explanation that she could find as to why the creatures had sounded. Hearing footsteps, she turned, and saw a woman walking towards her. Gulping when she realized that she'd seen her eating with the other dragonriders that morning as she was led to the infirmary, she hoped she wasn't in trouble.

"Jurith told me I'd find you here." Nelve jumped as the woman spoke. "Jurith??" she asked, her voice soft. The woman nodded. "Yes. My name's Killora, and Jurith is my bondmate." Nelve puzzled at that. "Bondmate??" Killora raised an eyebrow. "What's with you?? Have you been living under a rock?? Jurith is my dragon, and, because we're bonded, that's called a bondmate. She sensed you watching them about the same time that Mrinalth did. They wanted to search you, but you took off." Nelve's jaw dropped. "Search me?? Why?? I wouldn't be a good dragon rider. Look at me. I'm not even human." Killora looked at the tawny-colored legs, and the tail that had its end in Nelve's fingers. "What's the big deal?? You don't have to be human to be a dragonrider. If that dragon thinks you're worthy, then you are, and you stand for a clutch. In fact, that current clutch on the sands now isn't normal either. The sire speaks aloud, and the dam is a green blue who's temperment is something to be contested with." Nelve smiled.

Me, a dragonrider?? Maybe that would make up for... She simply looked at her legs, at the feet that didn't require shoes, the well muscled legs that seemed to have an endless supply of strength. And the tail, that make clothing interesting, for it had to be made to accomadate the fifth limb. Standing, Nelve agreed to go back with Killora, to be searched. She wondered what Tensha would think, when she heard. Perhaps she was being searched as well, and maybe she'd be able to be a rider too.

"How come they didn't search you, Tensha?? I don't know if I want to go to Tripaldi. What if everyone there thinks I'm strange??" Quetensha smiled. "Of course you're strange... so am I. And, what better way to get our kinds represented than to have us all at different Weyrs. Besides, I heard M'ron telling Killora that Tripaldi had been having some pretty strange occurences lately... you, a catpiress, twins that can communicate with each other without speaking. Who knows?? Maybe, they'll let you have a firelizard like Carsk." At the mention of his name, the blue flitted into the room, and landed on Quetensha's shoulder, snuggling into her neck. As she finished packing, Nelve thought about how much she was going to miss the shifter and her flits, and how she'd come to rely on the three of them to keep her happy. What would it be like at Tripaldi??

Nelve is a candidate for Green-Blue Ecanirith's clutch at Tripaldi Weyr