Laughing, one of the other older Journeymen slapped the pepper-haired senior apprentice on the shoulder. "Go ahead, cut it open and tell us what it was eating!"
The other apprentices laughed, but then Indera got a gleam in his eye. He grasped the slick intestine and slung it into a sort of lasso. He slipped it around the Journeyman's ankle when he was flirting with a pretty young drudge...
Actually, he looks VERY much like Indera should...
"Such a nothing," Indera said, with half a grin and the other half of his mouth bandaged over the huge bruise that the Journeyman had given him after that little incident in the hall. "I'm never called on to do anything, Master, and it isn't because I know nothing, it's because I don't make noises like the others. I try to do my work."
"And your work does NOT inlcude roping senior students and tripping them with wher guts!"
Indera bit his lip. It was just a joke, yet... Indera stood and bowed. "I am sorry, and I have already apologized to Journeyman Malka. But I suppose that if I can't be of use here... I will have to go elsewhere..."
Before the Master could respond, Indera stood and left the room.
***
Indera wasn't serious about leaving his craft, but he had had enough of the Hall. It just wasn't right for him, and he knew he could be a better Healer than those other apprentices.
He headed home, at least, he headed back to Mama Tani's cothold. When he finally got there, two sevendays of hard travel later (across half a world of ocean and overland another three days), he discovered that his younger half-brother Aeremet had Impressed his own dragon and was living in a weyr!
The Cothold was far from empty when Indera came home. Mama Tani had several visitors, and one of them...
"Master Healer?" Indera said, hesitantly. Kalkin turned, his piercing blue eyes looked over the young apprentice. "I just... left the Healer's Hall... And I was --"
"YOU WHAT?" Tani shrieked, "Your mother couldn't approve of that!"
"Well... she didn't..." Indera hemmed and hawed...
Kalkin chuckled. "Indera, isn't it?" He turned to Raanatani, "you do know that I left the Hall as well, but I was already a Journeyman..."
"That's the point!" Indera said, "I know I could be a Journeyman, sir. You ... wouldn't possibly be willing to... you know...?"
"Take you in as an apprentice?" Kalkin said, blinking. Raanatani recognized the crinkling lines around the older man's eyes, knowing that he'd be stringing poor Indera along as long as he could. It worked. For nearly a candlemark, Kalkin made up lies about how his work schedule -- and then his work with Sixth his dragon -- kept him far too busy. Indera finally looked like he was going to cry, or run away, but then Kalkin simply said, "of course I'll take you on. It's about time I had a promising student like yourself. Come along... Alabaster awaits."
***
Only one turn later, upon Indera's 19th turn day, Kalkin sent off a lengthy scroll to Healer Hall, detailing Indera's fine work. Without the pomp and annoyance that usually happened in the Hall, Kalkin offered the Journeyman's knot to Indera himself, with a smile.
"Now, you need to tell me where you're going to journey to, Indera... If there was anything you were going to study in specific." Kalkin tapped the long pen against the desk.
"I know enough about herbs and salves to keep burns tended, and I ... think I want to do that work you do, with the fine stitching. I've seen threadscore heal under your hand and not even leave a scar."
"That takes practice, son," Kalkin said, smiling. "And a steady had, you've got one of those. Now," he dug around and located a box which had two spools of that selfsame fine thread for sutures.
***
"There's a search rider!" One of the Alabaster weyrbrats cried. Just before Indera was about to embark on his trip 'away' from his master, a search rider from a new weyr arrived.
A handsome blue dragon dropped into the beautiful courtyard. A buzz of many voices carried through the weyrhold. Who would be searched? There were many potential candidates here, but while most of them were scurring around getting to the courtyard, Indera was there already.
Sh'cril looked at the Journeyman healer, and his dragon gave off a bit of a cough, and Sh'cril pulled the man aside.
"It's you, there might be more folks, but I've got to get back to Tarizal weyr, at least before the eggs start hatching! So get up there!"
One of the drudges who had been helping Indera move his bags and supplies onto a burden beast's back, was directed to put them instead upon the wide, blue dragon instead!
"That'll teach you. I hope you've got sandals for the hatching, then," Indera said, smirking while he applied a solution to the blisters.
"And what about you?"
"I've got my own shoes, thanks," Indera grinned. Mama Tani wouldn't have let him onto the beach without them, with the sharp stones and hot sand.
It was a good thing, too. Because shortly after then, the eggs began to hatch! He followed some of the younger candidates onto the sands, smoothing down his white robe.
But he didn't even need to bother. The pomp of the hatching was amazing, surrounding the young healer, but he remained calm. His attention was on the eggs, like most of the other candidates.
The first egg began to break open, and revealed a big bronze! How lucky, how very amazing for the first egg of the first hatching at Tarizal to be a bronze! Indera gulped. Something was tingling in him. All over, he felt warm and not just because of the sands.
I am Vareth, my friend Ind'ra, and yes I am lucky to have been first. Now, may I eat?
"Of course we can get you something to eat now, Vareth!" Indera -- Ind'ra, said. The dragon creeled his pleasure.
Go view their exploits!