A/N: By the way, this is building on Anne McCaffery's series. I don't own these characters in any way; though, admittedly, some of them are of my own fashioning.
Quira sucked in air as they burst out of between and let out a loud, long scream. F'nor ducked his head in surprise. Shells, he thought, I didn't expect her to react that way. She was buffeted by the obligatory blast of frigid air and abruptly silenced her scream. She was shivering in the warm afternoon air, wincing as the bandages pulled. Canth glided towards Benden Weyr, bugling triumphantly to the watch dragon.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Quira said embarrassed. She kicked herself for not holding that scream in, but she really had no idea how cold and…abandoned? Bare? Empty? None of those words did justice to describing between.
"It's ok, you're not the first, nor the last. We'll find you a foster home for the next few days until Impression. You'll most likely stay there unless you Impress. If that happens, you'll move with your dragon into those weyrs nearest the ground," here F'nor indicated the series of about sixty small caves hollowed out near the ground of the Weyr.
Quira grinned. She'd started to warm up and, even if she didn't Impress, she was free: free to stand up straight, to speak her mind, free of beatings! Her spirits soared at the thought of a bath and warm bed. Canth rumbled a dragon laugh as he glided down to the floor of the Weyr; backwinging to land solidly on the ground. Quira felt her heart settle reluctantly back into her chest. Her head was pounding uncomfortably but she chalked it up to excitement. That one short flight was more than enough to hook her on the adrenaline rush of flying. Between would take some work though…
F'nor slipped off Canth and reached up a hand to help Quira. She swung her leg over Canth's neck ridge, slid to his forearm and then leapt to the ground. Suddenly light-headed, she grabbed wildly for F'nor as her legs wobbled once and collapsed. Maybe she needed to get used to excitement; this was way more than she'd ever had in her life, other than the time another drudge had let an entire wherry carcass catch fire on a spit. That was exciting, rushing around with buckets of water and seeing the flames lick high up in the sky, dancing with a life of their own. Quira had oddly identified with the free-spirited flames that others were trying to drown into submission. She wouldn't quickly forget the pitiless cook, ordering her everywhere or the glowers from her father when rare occasion permitted a chance encounter.
F'nor easily caught her mid-fall and swung her up into his arms. The child weighed nothing! Such a brute of a man, F'nor seethed and strode purposefully towards the kitchens. Manora would be better suited and equipped to foster the girl and get her some warm food. F'nor glanced down at the pale face of the girl, her eyes dark pools against the stark white of her thin face. Yes, food was definitely in order.
"Manora," F'nor called as he strode into the kitchen, setting Quira down gently in a chair.
Quira weakly put her head down on her forearms, willing her head to stop spinning. She heard light footsteps and glanced up. A tall woman, whom F'nor resembled slightly now that they were standing together, approached the table and cast a worried look down at her. Quira's head pounded heavily and she put it back on her arms.
"F'nor, who is this?" Manora asked, putting a slender hand on Quira's arm and checking her forehead. The coolness of her hands was especially nice to Quira.
"This is Quira; Canth Searched her at Ruatha Hold," F'nor replied, stepping out of the way so his blood-mother could more efficiently check on the girl. His Weyrmate, Brekke, hurried into the kitchens just then, glancing around til her gaze fell on F'nor.
"Canth called me," she said, absently kissing his cheek, "he said to bring my medicines." Glancing at Manora's crouched figure, she registered an additional, wasted figure. Her Healer training kicked in as she knelt with Manora and began examining Quira.
"Can you hear me?" Brekke asked gently, probing the girl's stomach, and looking into her eyes, "what is your name?"
"Quira," the thin voice whispered.
"Quira, I'm Brekke. I need you to tell me what hurts; how do you feel?"
"Tired, I can't see well…"
"You can't see well?"
"Everything is moving… and my head hurts."
Brekke glanced at Manora, "She's burning up with fever…" Brekke noticed a white fabric poking out from under Quira's borrowed tunic. Lady Sharra had given it to her to cover her rags until proper clothes were made for her and to help anchor the bandages in place. As Brekke gently tugged the white fabric, Quira cried out in pain as the bandage pulled painfully against the cuts from the whip.
Brekke all but ripped off the tunic, revealing the mass of bandages covering Quira's back.
"F'nor!" Brekke cried out, "You didn't go between with her like this! Did you?"
F'nor burned under her blazing scrutiny; Brekke was fiercely protective of injured patients. Truthfully, he'd forgotten all about her injuries. He hadn't actually seen the cuts, but he had seen blood on the back of her ragged tunic… not much defense against the crazed Brand. He remembered now that the Master Healer had been summoned back at Ruatha, but he'd been more inclined to get the girl out of there than bother about a little blood. It seems he'd been mistaken.
Brekke groaned at his forgetfulness, not usually characteristic of F'nor, the responsible Wing- Second, and began laying out the herbs and bandages she would need.
The bandages were still fresh, so Brekke didn't attempt to change them, though she did lift them briefly to assess the damage. At the sight of three long, deep slashes covering her shoulder and upper arm as well as numerous other cuts and scratches, she frowned deeper. For good measure, she slathered more numbweed on the whole expanse.
Manora had gone to the pot on the hearth and ladled out some leftover klah from breakfast this morning. She placed this in front of Quira and bid her raise her head and try to drink.
Quira glazed blearily at the mug in front of her… such a pretty deep red color. Must be the clay it was made from. As she weakly took it in her hands, the stimulating warmth cleared her head and she drank gratefully. There was an odd aftertaste, but Quira was too tired and achy to notice.
"We'll keep her in the Infirmary until the Hatching," Brekke was saying. Manora nodded and F'nor was looking worriedly at her.
"What is she misses the Hatching?" he asked, looking up again.
Quira noticed an odd floating sensation. She reached out to push her right arm back to the table, but her left arm wouldn't respond. She was blissfully unaware as F'nor lifted her into his arms again and followed Brekke to the Infirmary.
He placed the unconscious Quira onto a spare bed in a sheltered corner. He kicked himself over and over for his lack of judgment in flying between with an injured girl. He should've seen her wounds firsthand before they left. It was still morning when the left Ruatha; they could easily have flown straight and been back within a few hours. Canth was healthy and strong and the flight would have been good exercise for him.
"I'll stay with her for a bit; we should probably have someone stay with her til this fever breaks. I had Manora lace that klah with the experiemental fever reducer Master Oldive found in the Records," Brekke said, tucking the sleeping fur close around Quira.
F'nor was stunned. "You used an experimental drug on a Candidate?" he asked, "Isn't that just a bit risky?"
Brekke sighed. "Better to try it before she Impresses a dragon," she said, wringing out a cool damp cloth to place on Quira's head.
"Better to use it on a less important person," F'nor grumbled. He honestly wasn't too concerned; Brekke had an undeniable knack for Healing, so if she was willing to try an experimental drug period, it shouldn't be dangerous. He just hoped Quira would be well enough to participate in the Hatching; that day was far too soon for her to take ill in his opinion. Shells, he should be fair – she didn't ask for that beating. He left Brekke to her tending, knowing he probably wouldn't notice her come to bed later that night.