Pet the Dog (open)

Yalenia hadn't really been out of the Weyr since arriving. She'd been wandering around, completing chores and getting work done. Even though she'd been doing all this she still needed the chance for some physical exercise. It was not enough to run around the Weyr doing chores. She needed to go outside. What was more, she needed to go outside during the day. Sure, she had been spending a lot of her time out at night but there was just some things that could not be completely left alone. So, here she was, running along the beach at some speed and basically working to exhaust herself.

There was a difference between running and slamming away at hot metal. Different muscles were used. So, even though she looked as though she could run about fifty kilometers she probably couldn't. An hour at the forge? No problem. But this was why she was running here and now. This was why she was here. To hopefully build up her fitness. She came to a stop and doubled over, breathing deeply to catch her breath. Rukbat was somewhat high in the sky. She'd probably be needing some sleep soon if she was to get up at night for chores. She stood up again, hearing a woman's voice. It was clearly trying to sooth something.

Yalenia cocked her head to the side and started towards the Weyrbowl. Only a short paces later she quite literally nearly ran into someone. She stopped and stepped back awkwardly aware that she wasn't the best smelling at this moment in time...
"Oh, so sorry! I didn't see you there! My, is that a puppy...?" She trailed off seeing the condition of the poor thing.
It looked horribly ill. Something was clearly wrong with it. She gasped seeing how thin it was. She was surprised it was still even alive. She guessed that the woman was not the owner. An owner who treated an animal like that probably wouldn't be holding it so carefully and lovingly.

"By Faranth..." She murmured.

{Sorry, guess you have to deal with Yalenia again XD Feel free to join any of my open ones too ^^}

Yalenia looked at the pup with concern and compassion. She'd spent some time with animals in the Hold but they had all been so well cared for. This was heart-breaking. She couldn't imagine how anyone could merely leave such a sweet thing alone in such a poor condition. She followed the woman, having been wandering back up to the Weyr Bowl anyway, and decided that she'd help if asked. The other woman seemed to have everything under control but it couldn't hurt to have an extra pair of hands regardless. She noticed that the Pup seemed somewhat wary about her walking near it. She stepped back a little so she wasn't as close to the woman and her pup.

"Well... I'm certain that someone can fix her up." Yalenia began, "She seems to have spirit and I guess that's half the battle."
She shook her head. The Pup looked almost as though she'd had half the spirit beaten out of her some time ago. It was horrible to see. She looked to be no more than a turn old, perhaps even less. What was more, she didn't seem to be a mere stray or runaway but rather a victim almost.
"I'm Yalenia..."

It seemed a little out of place but she was never one to simply speak with someone without learning their name. Names were important, people seemed to forget that at times. She needed to get to sleep... Needed to be awake later that night. She was becoming far more assimilated to the air and climate in Dalibor so she needed to get back into her nocturnal habits.

Yalenia was somewhat surprised that the woman was a Herder. It made sense though and part of her thought she might have picked up the signs had she looked just that little bit closer. She had rescued a canine... Then again, few would leave the creature if they'd found it, and there was clearly some work done on healing her if only slightly. The venom in Atenna's tone was not at all shocking. When Yalenia thought about it... She'd likely do the exact same thing. She clenched her fist for a moment in frustration.

"It's good you found her. I'm certain she knows it was you who saved her." Yalenia said quietly, "I can offer some assistance but... Well, I'm a Smith so I assume that there's not too much I can do with regards to that."
She smiled. She didn't think any of her skills as a Smith would be helpful but she was always willing to learn. She knew some things of healing... Basic techniques from when she'd helped others with burns or injuries. Being a candidate was also always rather helpful in learning varying crafts.

"I've healed a couple of burns over the year so I know some things." She held up her hands to demonstrate this fact.
That was what happened when working around fiery hot furnaces unfortunately. She had come to accept it and even become almost immune to the pain. Or so she liked to think.

Yalenia couldn't bear to see the animal as pained as it was and figured that any help she could offer would hopefully be enough for the poor dear to be all healed up. She wasn't certain whether her rough Smith hands would be as careful or deliberate as a Journeyman Herder's but she would do what she could when she could. Yalenia was certain that she could at least hold the Pup in place while Atenna worked on her leg. She guessed that the canine would probably bite but it was a small price to pay. She guessed that many others would feel the same.
"I will assist in any way I can." She replied happily.

She smiled at Atenna's comment about scars. Of course, Beasthealing would have earned the woman a number of injuries to show for her efforts. Yalenia imagined that, like her, a number of those had been earned throughout apprenticeship with only a few others gained since then. Yalenia's worst injuries had certainly occurred when she first started and been uncertain of some of the properties of the metals.

"Oh, I can only imagine." She replied with a smile, "Gaining the trust of an animal enough to approach it would be tough enough but working on something that is causing them pain..."
She shook her head a little. She hoped to have the opportunity to work with a Wher herself but she had always wondered just how the Herders and Beasthealers managed to approach the animals and work on them. Perhaps the creatures simply realised the good intentions after a while.

Yalenia noticed the passion in the Herder's words. She wondered whether she sounded the same when speaking of Smithing, of the things she had created throughout her life. Perhaps, but her profession didn't have the joy of seeing animals healing and becoming self-sufficient once more. Yalenia wondered how her brother found being a Flockboy and, by now, a Herder himself. He'd always loved caring for animals.
"It's fine, really. I like to be of help." She replied

She was somewhat thankful that she'd have some gloves. The canine didn't look as though she could break the skin at all but it was better to be safe than sorry. She could deal with a little bit of pain but, more importantly, Yalenia didn't want to accidentally cause harm to the animal if she flinched when the canine bit her. She held no illusions as to that fact. The likelihood of being bitten was far higher than not.
"Yes, I guess that's true. I've seen plenty of people who have a slight averse reaction to Healers attempting to heal them."

She'd seen a couple of Smiths who withdrew from the Healers when they received injuries merely because they didn't want to feel more pain. She followed in Atenna's wake thinking of how she could best hold the pup without causing her unnecessary harm. She didn't want to worry it more than it was already...

Yalenia smiled at the question posed of her.
“Well I’m actually a Wher candidate. I know, I’m out at the wrong time but I came from Telgar. As you can imagine it’s rather different there to here so I chose to first become accustomed to the climate and then fall back into my sleep schedule. I was actually on my way to sleep.” She paused a moment, “I mean, when it comes down to it Telgar is vastly different to this Island…”
She shrugged a little, she’d explained the reason for being out. No problem with it. If she’d been in Telgar she would have been asleep by now. At night she had chores so didn’t have time for running… and if she was going to be working with a Wher it seemed important to keep her fitness levels at least half-decent. The only time she had for that was during the day.

“But I help out as a Smith at times.” She continued.
She figured that she would impress to a Wher eventually and would love the creature to pieces. But she had first to prove that she could care for the Weyr and show how willing she was to assist.

She had been reluctant, however, to devote all her time to the Smithy knowing that Candidates could not afford to injure themselves before a hatching and even though she had yet to show her interest in standing for the Gold, having not spoken with the Alphahandler and Weyrwoman, she knew from pervious times Standing that it was not appropriate for a candidate to partake in activities that may harm them and, in turn, cause pain to a Wheret. None of her scars caused any pain but they certainly weren’t all that pretty to look at. Whers, she figured, were also not considered the prettiest creatures in the world. Perhaps that was why she felt so close to them…

Yalenia thought for a moment about that question.
"Well, I suppose I'm here to stand for the Gold but I think I would have transferred regardless. I'd heard that Dalibor was in some need of more people in the Weyr so I decided that I'd try and offer some of my services. If I'm chosen to stand and chosen by the Gold those services will be as a Goldhandler." She replied cheerfully.

She figured that transferring to a smaller Weyr as a crafter offered more work and therefore there was more time for the skills to be honed towards their craft. She didn't think she would transfer back to Telgar. She had started to love Dalibor. Sure, it would be nice to see her family again but she felt that she would be somewhat useful in Dalibor. Telgar was rather close to the Smith Hold so it meant that it had no small supply of Smiths.

Yalenia looked back at the canine. She wondered whether Atenna had ever thought of impressing something. Well, every person on Pern just about thought about impressing to a Dragon. She didn’t think there were too many exceptions to that rule. Well, her sister had never really thought about impressing yet she had impressed to Erith.

“I suppose that if I became unable to stand I’d try to help out as a Smith. But I guess that’s a rather common occurrence.”

"I thank you. Truly." Yalenia replied gratefully, "I'm just pleased that I can offer some assistance."

She followed Atenna through to her room and looked at the Canine again as though trying to reassure it. She knew that it could not truly know what she was trying to do but she figured that the attempt was enough. Besides, if she walked around as though there was no hope then, she thought, the pup would probably think much the same. She nodded to Atenna and, noticing that Atenna had taken her shoes off did the same out of respect hoping that her feet were not too smelly from her earlier exercise. She moved off to search for the gloves shortly after. She didn't mind being nipped too much but the pup wasn't all that old. A sudden movement of her hands out of surprise may seriously harm the pup. This was something Yalenia would not risk.

She found them soon enough and pulled them on. She nodded, a little belatedly, in agreement to the statement about the candidates. When she had been a Smith and only a Smith she had dedicated much of her time to instructing the Candidates as to what they should be doing in the Forge. Some of them seemed to have a slight clue, Telgar being so close to the Smith hold and others... Well Yalenia was surprised that they had even managed to get out of the Smithy with all their fingers. No matter how many times she told them what to do some still seemed to become confused. Not to mention the apprentices she'd taught basic skills to. She could imagine trying to tell the candidates to get out of the fields with a Dragon dropping down from the heavens.

"Yes, we are useful at times but I guess getting us to actually do exactly the right thing can be something of a pain." She replied with a laugh.
She accepted as much knowing that most of the time any help she offered in the Infirmary early on in candidature had been somewhat counter productive. She had gotten better since then.

Yalenia placed her hands on the canine keeping her held in place but not so firmly that it would do her harm. The caution and care was difficult for her to accomplish having the rough hands of a Smith. Still the canine didn't seem too pained by being held and Yalenia was careful not to go anywhere near the Pup's injured leg. The pup started to whimper and squirm as soon as Atenna began working on her. Yalenia held a little firmer but not enough to cause the pup any harm just to make her somewhat easier for Atenna to work on.

It took up a lot of her concentration to ensure she was doing the correct thing and she was very much acting like any candidate thrown into assisting in a job they barely knew. Atenna continued speaking and Yalenia was pleased they weren't talking about anything that would require a lot of thought.
"Ah yes. I enjoy doing pretty much anything. It's just to varying degrees. I can't say that I precisely enjoy mucking out stables but I certainly don't get upset about it." She replied, cheerily.

It was true, she always tried to look for the things she enjoyed but she wasn't the type of person to become grumpy over being assigned to her duty. She might not make the choice to muck out the stables but she was also rather happy to search for something fun in the chores.

Yalenia felt for the poor canine as she began whimpering from being both held down and having her leg worked on. She could somewhat tell that Atenna was feeling rather strongly for the canine but she worked as though she also knew that there was no other option. She could not simply leave the pup to fend for itself and nor could she leave the leg in the hopes that it would be fine. Yalenia watched the careful work of the Herder, how she spoke soothingly to the pup.

As the pup started wriggling and biting it took all her self-control to keep her hands holding the animal when all her instincts told her to let go and stop causing her any harm. She almost missed the statement about the canine having no cuts. She nodded. That was a great thing, truly. At least it meant that the problems could probably be fixed relatively easily. By not Atenna had begun working on the less visible wounds of the pup. Thankfully, Yalenia had been concentrating enough that despite having almost missed the warning she had been able to keep control over the pup.

"Well, any work I'm assigned to, I'll search for the fun in it." Yalenia responded, "I suppose it's a good thing she has no open wounds, it should make it a little better to treat, right?"
She would not say easier because there was nothing simple about this but she figured that the lack of any open wounds would mean less chance of illness or infection.

Yalenia frowned at the comment about the fishermen. Who in the world would just sit there and watch a poor animal run around in pain? She would have understood if they had already been in their boat and out at sea but she somehow thought that extremely unlikely. If they were close enough to watch the pup then surely they were close enough to assist her. She supposed there were just some people who didn't think too deeply about anything. Some people were just rather clueless about anything even remotely removed from their own lives.

She was pleased that she had been of some assistance to Atenna and the canine. It was gratifying to hear that the pup wasn't as badly injured as they had initially thought. At least she wouldn't need any stitching for Yalenia was afraid that the flailing of the pup in that situation would be even more heart breaking if possible. Even if they did get numbweed on her she would still whine at being held down...

"So... They just watched her...?" Yalenia asked frowning, "At least she's not too badly hurt but... Still... If you like I can go and find some numbweed for you. It's not too far to the infirmary from here is it?"
She had been in the Weyr a short while but she thought she knew her way around well enough to make it to the infirmary and back with some numbweed. There might have been even more around somewhere else.

Yalenia nodded a little. No she didn't think they would have sat there and laughed but certainly sat there and at least seen her wandering about. In some ways she could understand what might have been going through their minds. The canine could have had some diseases. Still... It wasn't too tough to wrap one's hands in something. The pup didn't look as though she could break skin much less cause actual injury to anyone. She'd felt only the slightest pressure from the pup with the gloves on so she couldn't really imagine too much pain being caused from her bites.
"No I don't think that either but I would think that, after a while, someone would have thought to do something..." She clarified.

"Oh... I would definitely come but I should really be getting some sleep... I mean, I have to get up later for chores." She replied sincerely regretfully.
She'd remain until Atenna saw fit to move the canine but she had done all she could and would probably be getting in the way with any other work Atenna wanted to do on the pup.

She smiled at the herder and the pup truly pleased that she had offered some of her help to the pair. She wondered whether she should help out a little more. But, Atenna was the Herder and Yalenia knew only a few things about beasthealing, things her brother had spoken about. They were basic but not enough to be of further use...
"You'll have to tell me how she's going sometime..." She smiled, "Have you thought of a name? I mean, You seem to have a connection to her"