| Characters | Kate, Oddisa, R'sner |
| Synopsis | Kate and Oddisa get to fly on their dragons for the first time. |
| Out-of-Character Date | March 26, 2020 |
Igen Weyr - South Bowl
The orange hued sandstone layers comprising the bowl walls curve gently, but ever presently in your view. Fine sand shifts underfoot, a slightly paler version of what is found upon the walls. It gives way along the eastern edge to a section of contrasting green grass where a series of cleverly engineered pipes provide water to the fenced off area of the feeding grounds, and keeps the shimmer of the shallow lake beyond from dissapearing during the dryest periods of the turn. A distinctly squared entrance farther south is the tunnel leading out to the lands beyond. Traders and tithes arrive here at regular intervals and it is not uncommon for part of the bowl to be set up with a series of tents and wagons as wares are displayed and sold. To the west, the bowl wall has been eroded by the desert winds into strange shapes. At their base are found the weyrling barracks and training fields.
Winter - Month 12 of Turn 2724
Winter at Igen offers a small respite from the otherwise oppressive heat. Even so, R'sner still keeps the lessons during the cooler times of the day. Dawn and Dusk might be closer together now that the days are shorter, but it's still his preferred teaching time. Today, however, he's waited until the sun has risen well into the sky before beginning. Visibility is key, no doubt, when weyrlings begin to fly. Even if the dragons have been practicing for some time. But precautions will be taken and, as such, in addition to ensuring adequate light and sight, he's once more calling the group out in sets of two's rather than trying to maintain order with a group of six.
The longer days have meant more people visiting Igen, cooler weather a desirable thing in the desert. As such, more people have been around for Oriapeth to converse with. Striding out into the weyrling portion of the bowl, the chestnut-gold in a sea of green is practically full-grown and coming into herself fully with a swagger and strut that puts fancy ladies to shame. Moving with finesse, head held high, and an extra shimmy through the shoulders, she arrives before Oddisa as usual. PLanting herself in front of R'sner she extends her greeting, neck arching, and muzzle extending to ruffle his hair with a friendly snort, eyes whirling quickly blue and green. Jogging up next to her, Oddisa leaps up and taps as high on Ori's shoulder as she can, landing with both arms up and staring at the golden neck above her before straightening and saluting R'sner. "Sir." It's hard to suppress her spirit; she quickly reverts into a broad cocky smile. She knows what today is.
The shorter days have meant more people visiting Igen, cooler weather a desirable thing in the desert. As such, more people have been around for Oriapeth to converse with. Striding out into the weyrling portion of the bowl, the chestnut-gold in a sea of green is practically full-grown and coming into herself fully with a swagger and strut that puts fancy ladies to shame. Moving with finesse, head held high, and an extra shimmy through the shoulders, she arrives before Oddisa as usual. PLanting herself in front of R'sner she extends her greeting, neck arching, and muzzle extending to ruffle his hair with a friendly snort, eyes whirling quickly blue and green. Jogging up next to her, Oddisa leaps up and slides down her foreleg, landing with both arms up and staring at the golden neck above her before straightening and saluting R'sner. "Sir." It's hard to suppress her spirit; she quickly reverts into a broad cocky smile. She knows what today is.
Oriapeth and Oddisa beat Kate and Xinieth to the designated meeting place whether its size or excitement of the day's lesson, but then its not terribly unusual either. They aren't far behind though, the green pair coming to stand beside the gold. Xinieth sending a puff of air towards her sister while Kate turns a salute towards the Weyrlingmaster and maybe avoids an eye roll in Oddisa's direction.
R'sner lofts an eyebrow at Oriapeth's ruffling of his hair. "Remind me to discuss 'personal space' and 'boundaries' with your rider later," comes in dry return before said rider is suddenly — literally — leaping onto the scene. A tight-lipped look and a nod come for the greeting, the weyrlingmaster suppressing a sigh before he turns to offer another nod to the arriving Kate. "I've no doubt you already know what the lesson is about. So. Send your dragons off to stretch and warm up while we discuss the terms of today's lesson." Because of course there are rules that must be followed. And assuming that Oriapeth and Xinieth do as requested, Res will turn to address the weyrlings. "Both of you have ridden dragons in flight before, but flying your own dragon is something else entirely. Even more than riding them during ground drills, flying tends to be a rather… excitable experience. As such, while I'm sure they can handle it, I want you both to keep the flights short. Don't go above the bowl rim, and keep your flight path straight — slight turns are fine but no acrobatics." That last one might be coupled with a slant of his eyes toward Oddisa. "Understood?" And then, as always. "Any questions?"
Oriapeth snorts again, this time it's met with the closing of inner eyelids following by opening quickly, her best impression of an eye roll. Oddisa is busy stroking down the forelimb and elbow of her mount, fingers carefully inspecting the hide while nodding along to show she's listening. As the direction to stretch is given, there's a moment between girl and queen where they seem to want to cling to one another, Oddisa placing her cheek against the dragon's side and exhaling a few whispered words before patting firmly "Get at it." Sauntering towards a space of her own, she moves to crowd Xinieth on her way over. «OH, what a day! Is yours ready?» Finding a spot, the gold stretches out, extending wings and neck with a warble of contentment. Being given a side-eye, Odi wrinkles her nose and glances up at the sky, her? Nooo. "Understood, sir." A respectful, quick nod and a turn to Kate with a tiny jump in the air. "Don't fall!" Such great advice.
Xinieth doesn't need to be told twice and she's slinking off warm up with those stretches they're so used to by now. « She says no, but she is. » the green replies to the gold as she finds her own space for stretching. Kate nods now and again as she listens, sending a glance towards Oddisa right along with R'sner. Hey, some things just can't be helped. "Understood," she replies, the confirmation followed by a shake of her head for questions. "You either," tossed towards her fellow weyrling with just a hint of teasing to her tone.
A glance is spared for the dragons, if just to confirm they are doing as told. Warming up cannot be overstated, given they're still growing dragons. But with instructions given and confirmation received, R'sner doesn't waste any more time. "Good," he declares, ignoring that bit about falling. "Go on then. No reason you can't both fly at the same time. Just stay out of each other's way." Observe all those fun safety rules that have no doubt been spoken of ad nauseam by now. "Be mindful of sore muscles; don't let the thrill of flying get the better of you. You're still responsible for your dragon's health and safety." Because he just can't not say it. But otherwise? FLY MY PRETTIES, FLYYYYYYYY.
"I'm guessin' a fall from a dragon migh' suck a bit more than from a runner." Oddisa states the absolutely total obvious with not a hint of sarcasm, though her lips turn up partially before an attempt at stern seriousness is back. Nope, the smile creeps back in, and she's overly excited. Oriapeth stretches fully out, large wings taking up a fair amount of space, and Odi turns and exhales a breath, besotted as any rider can be with her dragon. Standing back and allowing the stretching to continue for several more minutes, she finally jogs over towards her mount. No words are spoken though there's a pause from the tiny blonde pixie problem child, Oriapeth flattening herself towards the ground and offering a limb to allow mounting. Even with that help, there's always a jump needed from forelimb to catch the straps and scramble up. Getting on her dragon might never be an elegant affair, but it gets done, and she's quickly strapping herself in and pulling on the leather to check it's got her. Oriapeth reaches out towards Xinieth, «Well, no time like the present.» Traipsing forward, she takes several steps and launches herself into the air. Pern was never going to be ready for these two, but here they come.
"Yes, sir," Kate replies to that reminder of being mindful even as she moves off towards Xinieth. She could comment back to Oddisa, there's even a look that she might but she doesn't say anything. Way to state the obvious, Oddisa, even if it was sarcastic. The blonde gives a quick second check of straps, climbing up to buckle herself in. The green giving time for that, long enough to confirm her rider is secure but not giving her a chance to second guess the lesson before following her sister the launch from ground to air.
That's probably why dragonriders literally strap themselves to their dragons. The comment gets no response from R'sner either. Just a wave of his hand to send the two on their way, before he steps back to lean against Toith. A silent comment from the green. A dry little quirk of the mouth from the man. And the pair both tip their heads back to keep an eye on the flying weyrlings.
Oriapeth and Oddisa both experience momentary weightlessness, Odi from the sudden thrust upward followed by the lack of downward pressure. Holding tightly to the straps, she squeals with joy, possibly audible below before she's inching her arms up over her head and staring down below. Each flap brings them up and then down, the pair deeply connected and alone in the world as the wind rushes past her face. This, this is what Ori had promised her long before she ever broke shell. And here they are, living out that dream together. Overwhelmed with emotion, Ori flys straight and listens to every direction while broadcasting «We've not even had any fun at all yet darling, wait until you see my tricks.» But outside of her hubris, she's well behaved as her rider looks around and enjoys the view. Gliding around, she's already moving towards the ground, even if they're both loath to do so.
Kate is not so overtly exhilarated by the experience as Oddisa. There's no squeal of delight, not attempt to let go of the straps, but she does relax a bit into it after the initial take off as Xinieth carry them higher, though keeping to the prescribed limits. « I'm sure you have plenty of tricks, Oriapeth. We'll see them soon enough. »
« N' tricks today, » agrees Toith, just in case anyone had any ideas. Even if Oriapeth seems inclined to behave, and Xinieth rather calm. Never hurts to reinforce the rules, right? « Soon 'nough there'll be flips 'n' dips 'n' cannon balls… » Okay, well. At least she's not encouraging it today. « Th' las' one's wi'out y'r rider, tho, » she adds after a pointed prod from R'sner.
«Cannon balls? Oddisa had a dream like that.» Oriapeth sharing way too much about Odi's secret wild fun life that she's planning on having out of weyrlinghood earns a playful smack as Oriapeth circles and begins to descend to the ground. The landing is a bit rocky, the queen attempting to change how she lands to accommodate Odi's comfort ends up coming up a tad fast and jolting forward. After a moment of self inspection, there's a quick salute to R'sner, Oriapeth broadcasting «Meant to do that, got to keep her on her toes.» Oddisa seems content to stay where she's at, leaning back and stretching out with a starry-eyed grin towards the sky.
« Not today, » Xinieth agrees to those terms already put in place, but « Tomorrow? » Because that's not today and she's been ready to try at least one of those mentioned tricks for far too long already. Toith is the one who brought it up! The short flight comes to an end as the green glides towards the ground, her landings have continued to improve since her first attempt and this one is relatively smooth considering she's still young.
« Maybe t'mor'w, » agrees Toith readily enough. At least for the riderless cannonballs. Those can definitely be done, now that Xinieth's been flying a while. But for now, there's a snort as R'sner shoves away to close the distance once again. And even if he's not smiling, at least he's not scowling? "How's everything feel?" he wonders. "Have fun?"
Still loath to unhook and slide down, as R'sner heads towards them she sighs and makes a quick descent as gravity works its magic. Landing down with an oof, she straightens and runs a hand beneath the straps, searching for rub marks. "She's good sir, think I coulda ridden her to Telgar an' back she's so fresh." Stepping up on an offered forelimb to reach higher up around the neck and shoulder. Oriapeth croons towards Xinieth, sending a wave of golden dust toward her sister «Soon we can go anywhere anywhere at all» The whole idea has her tapping front toes in excitement.
"I don't know about Telgar and back," Kate replies, commenting to Oddisa's remark as she unhooks and slides down to put her feet back on the ground. "But yes," she answers though she might not say the word fun, smile that touches her lips might well say it for her. « Anywhere, » Xinieth is just as ready for that as any of them. So many places to explore! But for now, Toith best be ready for cannoballs tomorrow.
"Good," declares R'sner, who will leave cross-country flying to another day. "Couple rules. For the first few flights with your dragons, I want a weyrlingmaster present. Once we've determined you're comfortable — and responsible — with flying, you'll be free to fly on your own. We'll discuss where you can fly too at that time." Dun dun dun? Though given the grim line of R'sner's mouth and Toith's exuberant crow behind him, it's probably more like the weyrlings are about to get a big boost of freedom. But. That is for another day! For now? "You're dismissed."
