From:
Andre Oliveira <oliveand@bellsouth.net> Date: Thu Aug 22, 2002 12:51
am Subject: [DL-T] The fool and the fool who follows the fool
Day 5
Pre-dawn
Dragon clinic
<Snip from John's post>
"I do need to go and check on other hatchlings," said Dalmar. "As far as
I know, none was seriously hurt, but some of them might need some burn
salve. I knew your dragon could shock anyone who touched those nodes on
his chin, but did you know he could emit lightning bolts from them too?
That's something you *definitely* need to tell Eth'n about! Could be a
very effective weapon - if he can learn to control it."
<End Snip>
Soucivi closed his eyes as he felt the swelled flesh on Dargen's head.
Dalmar was right of coarse, he'd need to tell Eth'n about Dargen's
little skill as soon as he had the chance. Although, personally, he
couldn't really see it as much of a weapon. It was hard to think how a
good blast of fire would be able to be topped by a little lighting bolt.
He sighed and scratched Dargen's eyebrows. It was the first time he had
actually thought about combat with his dragon and honestly, he didn't
really like it.
"Do you think Dargen will be ok?" he said opening his eyes after a few
moments of silence.
Dalmar nodded and said, "I'm sure that he'll be back to his old self in
a day or two. His wing may be sore for a little while, but that's
normal. He's really lucky he didn't do..."
"That's not what I mean though." Soucivi interrupted, "I mean do you
think he'll be ok up here?" he said pointing to his own head.
"Well, the head wound isn't really bad, he shouldn't..."
Soucivi shook his head again, stopping the healer again, "That's not
what I mean either."
Noticing that the healer was looking slightly perplexed, Soucivi looked
to the floor as he scratched his chin, thinking of what he wanted to say.
"Uh... ok, when I woke up in the cave earlier today, I felt really
weird...disorientated. I kept thinking that I felt someone else in my
head other than Dargen and uh... " he shook his head quickly and
continued, "Never mind, that's not important. The thing is, when
Dargen... well, when Dargen snapped, for lack of a better word..."
He stopped again and sighed. "I wasn't sure if what I was feeling from
Dargen's end was what was really happening or if I was just dreaming
things up. But now that I know that... well I wasn't imagining things. I
don't know how to react to it. Is this making any sense to you?"
Dalmar shook his head and said, "Sorry."
"Look, I just want to know if Dargen is ok in the head. Was it normal
for him to act like he did?"
"Oh..." Dalmar said as he nodded in comprehension, "You're worried if
the way he acted was something that maybe suggests that he's mentally
unsound."
"Yes, that's what I meant."
Smiling at the young trainee Dalmar said, "Ok, ask yourself how do you
think you would have reacted if it was Dargen that was in trouble?"
Slightly baffled by the question, Soucivi's brow furrowed and he said,
"I'd try to help him of coarse."
"Well that's exactly what Dargen was trying to do. You just have to
remember that for most general purposes, Dargen is still a baby. You're
a major part of his world right now, so naturally Dargen would react in
some form or another."
Dalmar smiled and placed his hand on Soucivi's shoulder, "Talk to him
when he wakes up. Explain to him that if you ever get into trouble again
he should think things through first and that you wouldn't want to see
him hurt again."
Soucivi nodded and looked to the floor, still not completely convinced.
"Well your dragon for right now is ok. I recommend you go worry about
your own head right now." Dalmar said pointing to the large scab on
Soucivi's forehead.
******
Later
After the tremors
Outside the Med Center
Soucivi sat in the same spot he had earlier, waiting for Dargen,
thinking how amazing it was that young beast had still not woken up,
even with the very earth shaking. He groaned and reached for a small
bottle in his pocket. It was a clear green glass bottle with a cork on
top. Inside, he could make out a collection of small pellet-like pills.
The people he had talked to in the med center earlier had given it to
him and told him to take one of them every two hours or if he had any
sudden headaches. Supposedly the bump on his head hadn't caused any
major damage that the healers could see. They had stitched him up before
the tremors had begun and now he was just waiting around till Dargen
decided to come out of his slumber.
He twisted open the bottle and popped a pill in his mouth, swallowing it
dry. Pouting and sticking out his tongue, he suddenly wished he had
something to drink. It was some nasty medicine.
"Bleh..." he said smacking his lips in a frown.
Sighing, he watched as the rest of the warren moved about, more excited
than usual due to certain current events. He had overheard a few people
inside the Med Center discussing the wounded due to the tremors.
Apparently a few cave-ins had occurred and people had not been able to
evacuate in time.
Soucivi scratched his chest as a yawn threatened to escape his lips.
Sure it was awful that people were hurt, that the very earth, which it
stood on, was suddenly threatening the warren, but strangely enough,
Soucivi was experiencing a strong sense of apathy. Nothing bad had
personally happened to him because of the tremors, so why should he care?
He chuckled a bit as he thought about it. In one hand he knew he should
worry and that he was just experiencing a sort of emotional block he
himself had probably composed so he wouldn't, but in the other the
current state of not caring was a nice little escape.
Then again...
Looking at the bottle he still held in his hand, he wondered if it was
actually the medicine that had made him suddenly so mellow.
He shrugged as he leaned back on the cool wall of the Med Center.
Feeling drowsy all of the sudden, Soucivi began to wonder if he should
go back to the hatchling barracks and take a nap, when he felt the
inklings of something in the back of his mind.
< Soucivi...>
Immediately opening his eyes, Soucivi stood up and ran inside the dragon
clinic. Within seconds he was standing besides the young dragon, his
hand on the scaly neck.
<* Dargen? Are you ok? *>
Dargen's violet eyes gazed up at his rider and the young draconian face
twisted into a wide grin.
< I'm hungry. >
Soucivi smiled and hugged his dragon.
******
Noon
The Green
Soucivi had been anxious when he brought Dargen back to the barracks.
After a long talk with his dragon, Soucivi finally understood what that
crazy girl had been so upset about. Even after hearing it from Dalmar,
it had not really sunk in that Dargen had actually shocked his
clutchmates until he had heard it from the dragon himself.
Afraid that other trainees would be just as upset, Soucivi had prepared
himself for the worst scenario, but to his surprise, most trainees and
dragons were eager to forget the incident ever happened. Naturally a few
young dragons still hissed at Dargen when he tried to apologize, but
there was little he could do about them. Shortly after feeding Dargen
his fill and making sure he was sleeping soundly, it had been announced
that Eth'n had cancelled training for the day, although no real reason
was given. It was probably because of the tremors, Soucivi assumed.
Now, as he walked northwards, instrument in hand and with the rest of
the day to do as he pleased, he was starting to feel really good about
himself. There just was something good about a day to do absolutely
nothing, especially after such a hectic morning.
Finding himself a secluded rock to sit on next to the river that cut
through the green, he dipped his feet in the cool water and began to
play. Thinking that he was totally alone, he was taken completely by
surprise when someone tapped him on the shoulder. His instrument jumped
into the air and trying to catch it, he would have fallen into the water
if it hadn't been for someone grabbing his shirt and pulling him back.
Sighing in relief, he was about turn around to thank whoever had saved
him, when a familiar voice cut his thoughts.
"You and I need to talk. Now!"
Gulping loudly, Soucivi turned around to see none other than crazy girl
herself.
"Uh... hi, uh..." he stated stupidly.
"Foxglove," she quickly answered for him, "and you're Soucivi. Now that
we have the introductions out of the way I've still to hear an apology
from you." She said as she folded her arms and tapped her feet.
Soucivi sighed again and nodded, at least she wasn't getting violent again.
"I'm sorry Dargen got out of hand and zapped your hatchling, he didn't
mean any harm by it. We've only just realized he can shoot lightning
bolts and he still hasn't learned how to control them," he said.
"And?"
"And I apologize if you're dragon got hurt. I truly hope she's feeling
better. I mean it when I say he really didn't mean to hurt anybody."
"And?"
"And uh..." he mumbled as he tried to think of what else Dargen had done.
"The sitting!" Foxglove spat, "On my chest!"
"Oh! And I'm really... sorry... about..." he trailed off as he spotted
someone behind Foxglove's angry stare.
"Yes. You're really sorry about what?"
"Hey!" Soucivi yelled suddenly, "Hey! Don't go in there!"
Walking around Foxglove, he began running to the very same hill he had
been dug out from a few hours ago where some kid was actually starting
to climb inside. Yelling repetitively as he ran, he saw the boy casually
jump inside the cave and disappear.
Reaching the mouth of the cave a few minutes later Soucivi stared inside
the cave as he picked up the faint echoes of footsteps. Groaning, he
began lowering himself inside when Foxglove arrived, glaring at him.
"I still want my apology"
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry for anything else you can think up all right? Now if
you don't mind" he said sliding inside the cave, "I've got to find that
kid before he gets lost in there."