Wede sprinted behind Goget, hearing the scraping of the tunnel dog's hard claws upon the stone floor. "Get em!" She called, her voice raspy with exhaustion and echoing off the cold walls. She heard a distinct kind of thud, one which told her that Goget had tagged her prey. But then, a cry and yelping that spoke voulmes.

"Goget!" She shouted, and suddenly ran even faster. Around a turn, into a dark, small tunnel, Wede gasped for breath and clutched her knife. She reached her dog, and then saw the tunnel snake that Goget had followed. It was bigger than normal, perhaps it had not quite lost its footing when the dog swiped at it. It'd turned, and left a nasty cut across Goget's side.

"Damn thing," she snarled, and her knife gouged at the tunnel snake. It was cornered, having nowhere to go it hissed, and eventually died from the wounds both the dog and Wede's knife inflicted. But now, Wede cried openly. "Goget, Goget, good dog," she held the white and brown dog gingerly. Yelping, Goget stiffened and took quick, shallow breaths.

Though Goget was a fairly leggy dog, she wasn't heavy, and Wede was used to lifting heavy objects. She took the dog as carefully as she could into her arms, and walked quickly into the weyr's main corridors. Wede considered rushing into the healer's quarters, but knew that the tall dark woman who ran the place - the weyrleaders' daughter Virin - would just run her out again.

So she headed to the dragon healer, J'vana. The youngish green riding man would have to help her, he knew about animals didn't he?

Panting, ready to drop from the run back and forth in the twisting halls of the weyr, Wede approached the red-haired healer.  "Please sir, can you help me?"

He turned, and suddenly his brown eyes grew wide. "Please, put her down here, I'll get my supplies."

Wede watched as the man, intense and focused, snipped away at the ragged and bloodied dog's fur. Reaching the cut, he dabbed at it with disinfectant, making Goget whine. "Come and hold her head, she'll be all right," he said. "It's not a deep cut, but it sure is a big one. Did you kill the snake?"

"You can tell this is a tunnel snake wound?" Wede asked in awe. But then she saw the wrinkles around the young man's eyes, as he shook his head.

"No, no, you're the snake killer, though. You and these dogs of yours are well known. You didn't realize that?" J'vana asked.

Wede shook her head. "No, sir," she said.

"You don't have to call me sir all the time," J'vana muttered with a grin. He was always so cheerful. Wede, by comparison, very serious and stern. But she showed great compassion about her dogs, if not the people around her. And, J'vana thought, she did a job that most would shy away from. Tunnel snakes that were tiny got ignored by most folks. But they grew up into huge ones, if not caught and killed. Her job was quite valuable. "She'll need a few stitches," J'vana said of the canine. "But there was nothing deeper than this rib here, and no internal organs were ever in danger."

Wede sighed with relief, and even Goget seemed to relax a little. The dog was obviously attached to her mistress, as well as the reverse. "Does she need to be awake? I mean..."

"Well, if you want to help with the numbweed, it's up there, in the pot. Don't forget to put those gloves on before you use it." J'vana told her.

"I've used it before, it's good on dogs too," Wede said.

"Before you leave I'll give you some, keep it in a jar and apply it if she seems in pain." The dragon healer-turned-vet said. "She's being very good. You've trained this dog really well."

"Thank you sir," Wede said, blushing. She was hardly used to attention being on her. She more liked being alone in the tunnels hunting, than even being in a big group for dinner in the hall. "I raised her from a pup, and her mother too."

As J'vana stitched the wound in the dog's side closed, and Wede lightly dabbed the numbweed upon it while petting Goget's neck, J'vana commented, "then you've been doing this work at least as long as I've been healing dragons." He grinned. "If you had gone to the beastcraft hall, you'd be a journeyman by now."

"Aww, they wouldn't take me, I'm a girl." She muttered.

"Well, most women seem to have a touch with animals that many men don't," J'vana said. "My you're a hard one to coax out of your shell. Have you gone to your candidate classes?"

Wede blushed again, but this time in shame. "No, sir. I ... I can't read, and everyone else in the class seems to be able to."

"You can still stand, if you're not able to read. But you should learn." He finished up with the stitching, and wiped the rest of the blood clean from the dog's fur. "Tell you what. While your dog here is recovering from her wounds, which will be a good couple of weeks, you should be practicing and attending your candidate classes."

"Well I," she started but J'vana insistantly coughed.

"You're meant to be at those classes, and you'll understand quickly enough. You're bright, it isn't like you can't learn to read on the fly. Just because you haven't had to so far, doesn't mean you won't be required to do it later. Especially if you do Impress, you know."

"But... Why would I need that? Flying and fighting Thread is all physical work, not brain stuff." Wede snorted. "I mean, you need to read, all those labels and stuff on your supplies."

"Yet," J'vana said with a grin, "you went right for the numbweed." He held the jar up, with its scribbled label showing.

"But I didn't read it, I smelled it from here," Wede's nose wrinkled up when she got closer and put the gloves back on the tray where the jar was. "That stuff is gross when you're cooking it, it smells up the whole Weyr."

"Yeah, oh - I remember the smell the first time I ... wow..." J'vana shook his head. "I don't even smell it any more. It's so much a part of the room and my work."

"Well I don't blame your poor nose for blocking out the smell then," Wede said. "Trust me, it's gross."

"Well, it might be, but," J'vana dragged the conversation back, "you're going to be at the candidate classroom tomorrow. I'm sure you're up earlier than they are, you've got a better schedule than all the rest of em. And I know you're good for the hard work, but Wede, dragons need to know formations and tactics - you'll have to memorize numbers and letters."

"Oh," she said simply. It wasn't the end of the world, of course. She could read a little bit, but she wasn't looking forward to the classes. What if they called on her and she didn't know the answers?

Wede bowed deeply and thanked J'vana, "is there any payment I should get? I have a few marks..."

"No, no," J'vana said. "Your services probably don't get you paid well enough. I had a whole box of supplies ruined by a snake once, I appreciate the work you do. You just make sure to be at that class."

"Okay, okay," she said, and carried Goget out carefully. She headed toward her low cavern den. It wasn't in the normally habited areas, instead it was in the darker and chillier lower areas. By the ice rooms, though nowhere near the coldest parts - those were completely impossible to live in. She would have to move into the candidate barracks, soon enough.

But here, where she'd been holed up for about five years on her own, there was room for her, her dogs - there were three other than Goget, being tended by others as well as she - and her meager posessions.

Her bed was inviting, and she shared it as usual with Goget. The other dogs sniffed at her side and stiffened up, they were not happy about the smelly stuff on her fur either. "We've had a long day huh," said Wede as she drifted to sleep - in her clothes and all.

***

Wede showed up to the candidate class, and R'vfen merely grunted and nodded to acknowledge her. The grey haired man had seen her around too, and certainly had nothing bad to say about her. She'd left Goget in her weyr, with the boy who owned one of the other tunnel dogs. Wede tried her best to both keep up with the class, and not to get noticed. She continued to do so the next day, and the next...

When Wede had to announce to the weyrling master that she couldn't read, he merely shrugged and tossed his head at some of the others in the class. "Neither can they. You'll all be staying after today with the harper. He'll start you on your way with the letters. By the time the eggs are ready to hatch, I expect you to be able to spell your dragons' names."

He winked at the group, and continued with the lesson.

At two weeks, Goget was ready to start walking around more energetically than she had been before, so Wede brought her to class. R'vfen used that as a chance to teach a bit about dragon anatomy - comparing it to a canine or human's.

Wede truly started to enjoy herself once they progressed into some of the basic tactics and flight formations that would be required of the riders. She really excelled at remembering the formations, something which R'vfen actually commented upon.

"Sir you can't bring the blue in the left wing forward there, because the wingsecond's going to drop to that spot at the same time!" Wede said, after examining the groupings of x's and o's on the blackboard chart. "Unless the wingsecond starts his descent before, the same time that the greens dive. Then he'll be past there when the blues come forward to replace the browns."

R'vfen stood impassively and then blinked. "... You know, that ... happened once. Not to me." He smiled suddenly, "I remember always jumping the gun and diving with the greens. Now I guess I know why..."

He changed some of the notes he'd been keeping nearby, smirking.

Wede detected a note of resentment from some of the young men in the class. She didn't dress like the other girls. She wore cast off rider gear already - a nice denim jacket with a fur interior, and pants. At least a couple of the girls in the class also snubbed her, because she was so tomboyish. It was also likely they were jealous of her slender figure. But certainly not of the callouses on her hands, and the scars she had on her knees and fingers.

But Wede never let those things get to her. She instead concentrated on learning her letters and keeping Goget exersized. Finally, shortly before the hatching, Wede presented the dragonhealer J'vana with a small folded piece of paper. She was blushing, but smiling.

The healer opened it, and saw a slightly messy but firmly written, "Thank you for what you did. Goget is better now. When I am a rider I will bring you something nice to pay you back."

J'vana chuckled, "I told you I didn't need any payment," but she was already gone down the hall to the hatching...

Wede could hardly believe her eyes. The hatching had already begun - almost. Tossing her white robe on, Wede approached the other candidates and stood nervously among them. She wasn't sure she wanted to remain beside the girls, they were all so fixated on the gold eggs! And... two of those girls were really strange, not human or at least they really didn't look it.

But Wede didn't want to keep her mind on them. Instead, she focused on the eggs which were shaking fiercely. The first of the clutch, a big brown, impressed the cute hockey player Waynesleron, so that set the tone. An annoying pair of blues fought their way to the feeding dishes with their new riders, then a silent and dangerous green impressed her choice.  A silly blue tumbled down before a guy that Wede wasn't even sure had been in the Weyr much more than a day, he was lucky he got there in time at all!

Only a couple eggs were left, all shaking and people were placing bets on them.

The egg had indeed hatched with a gold - but what a gold! It was obvious that Daekith's heritage shifted the genes a bit, because this gold had white wing sails! It seemed though that she was not going to move away from her mother's warm side just yet, so the brown stood and moved among the remaining candidates. With a snorting noise, he sat beside Wede. The local tunnel-snake hunter looked surprised.

To her and her alone, he said, I like you. You are strong, inside and out. And you have a good heart. I will like Goget, won't I? Will we be able to hunt together?

"Thanks Takatwarth," Wede said upon hearing what her newly impressed dragonet had to say. "I guess we will make a good team, as long as you're small enough to fit into the tunnels..." She said with a grin broadening on her normally stern face.

Wede and Takatwarth attended and did very well in their weyrling classes. Wede didn't need to worry about a gold or green flight, at least not on the 'girly' end. So she didn't bother attending the classes for the female-dragon riders. It would take some kind of bizarre situation to pair her up with perhaps a male greenrider, and even then maybe... if he would have a girl like her.

Do not put yourself down, you are a good person and fun to be around! Takatwarth bespoke.

"Well good person maybe," Wede grumbled. But I've only been around you all your life, other folks would argue."

Let them say what they want! I know the real you! The dragon puffed up and attracted the attention of a few riders, so Wede had to wave them off and try calming him down again.

By the time Takatwarth was just under two turns old, they'd set up in a lower and small sized weyr. Goget and her companions were in the warmer part, while the dragon remained in his expansive and windy area that overlooked the icy fields. The inner corridor led to all places, at least Wede knew them inside and out. Takatwarth was much too large now to fit into those halls.

Goget had continued her work, and one day they ran into a candidate, a girl named Julija, who was petrified of dogs. Well, Wede wanted to work that out with her somehow - dogs weren't the problem! Their trainers were! But she had to go stand on another Weyr's sands, and Wede would try and get ahold of her later.

What if she brings home a nice green? Asked Takatwarth innocently.

He was a small to mid-sized brown, long and sturdy but not as big as any wing-leader's dragon. Wede and he were almost good enough to be wingthirds, but for some reason the weyrleader as well as the wing leaders had decided not to put her in that position. While at first she was somewhat angry about it, she learned that her job as a canine trainer and snake hunter was exactly as important as any wing-third.

They had asked her to continue training, both dragons and canines, while thread didn't fall. When it did, she and her lithe brown were expert in the air! So far with one solid Fall behind them, they hadn't been scored even once. It was almost as if Takatwarth could wind around the dangerous Thread, and reach it with flames that others might miss. Wede reveled in this, because she could all but smell the stuff in the air too!

But when Takatwarth started looking at the greens for his ... energies... Wede had to remind him that she was a girl, and not interested really, in finding a partner!

"Well what if she does? She's got friends already, I bet you they'll pair up for sure. There are other greens, and maybe you could fly one with a boy rider?"

You want him to be flight addled so you can take advantage of him, don't you?

"Well the thought had never crossed my mind!"