On guard!! (Tags Saeo, Raylin)

[dragon]

C'oar gave a short nod, when everything looked to be going in the right direction, finally. And then she moved ... faster than before. Which was good. And with some more determination. But still, on both counts, not enough to really live through an encounter with anything hostile.

His stick flashed upwards, and in an arc off to one side, twisting her stick off harmlessly into the dirt again. Though, he noted, she held her balance better this time ... though it helped a lot that she wasn't lunging at him. "Good." he said. "A lot better than before. Now. Again. Faster." C'oar instructed, bringing his stick back around to in front of him. "Remember ... the whole object of fighting, is to stay your own life." And sometimes, it also meant taking the life of the attacker, but he wasn't going to go into that yet ... he didn't want to turn the girls off of defense before they even got started. "Swing that stick like you mean it." He remarked. Okay, so maybe that was slightly deragatory, but there really was no nice way to say it. And he really did mean well. He was glad she was finally hanging onto the stick, though ... the blow when they'd crossed sticks had been solid, if weak.

Also, he noted, his current tecnique had been merely to slide her blows off ... and that meant when the sticks connected, it was far less jarring than it would be if he just solidly and squarely blocked them. He might have to wrap the handles in leather or something, for them, before he started that. The vibrations and shock of impact would be quite intense to someone with no calouses, he was pretty sure.

Storm crooned queitly to Vega, reassuringly, before curling up into a ball with wings, and peeping over the edge of her skirt at what was going on. Comfyness ... it was almost as good as hogging C'oar's pillow in the barracks!

Frosstyth edged closer to his two siblings, enjoying the closeness, and flopped down beside them with a grunt. Rustling his wings, Frosstyth rested his head on his front feet, watching the exchange between Saeo and C'oar. I hope yours doesn't hurt mine. he told Cherilith. All that swinging of sticks at his was starting to bother him a little bit. But his seemed to have it well in hand. Despite the two attempts to whack him, Cherilith's had as of yet failed to get anywhere near his. Which was a releif for the brown dragonet.

And then he got distracted by a leaf in front of his snout. He stared at it for a moment, and then quickly and secretly scooped it into his mouth with a quick flick of his tongue before glancing at Raylin. She hadn't seen him, surely.

[nightingale]

You think my Saeo will hurt Yours Frosstyth? Cherilith chirped, allowing the rest of the spectators to hear the skepticism in his voice as he turned a curious eye on his clutchbrother. I do not think so...she is very small after all, so even if she did strike him I do not think she would hurt him. The brown's question left him doubtful of his own opinion though, and so he pressed his Bonded for a more concrete answer. Mine? You will not hurt him, will you?

Saeo almost laughed out loud as the little blue's voice entered her mind, but settled for a wry grin as she was deflected for a second time. She had managed to stay on her feet that time, she noticed. Well, that was most definitely an improvement. No darling, I won't hurt him. She told him firmly before retuning her focus to C'oar's reminder of why she was taking these lessons at all.

Keeping herself alive was only one part of it though. Strength -being able to protect her friends and her Weyr from anything that threatened them -that was the goal. There was close to no hesitation when she attacked the third time, satisfied as she was that catching him off-guard was nearly impossible. If he wanted her to hit him, then shardit she would hit him at least once before the day was out.

Frosstyth? Cherilith queried, eying his brown clutchbrother with curious speculation as he tried to make sense of what he thought he had just glimpsed the dragonet doing. I thought I saw...did...you just...eat a leaf?

[Rei]

Raylin was concentrating on watching the sparing between Saeo and C’oar as she absentmindedly stroked the bronze flit in her lap. Her attention was so focused that she did not see the little brown suck up the leaf. Ebolath however did see, and she partially unlidded one whirling eye. Do leaves taste good clutchbrothermine? She asked lazily.

Vega gave a nervous croon in response to Storm. He did not trust such big flitters. They stole his small greens. Thoughts of Lamb caused a sadness to creep though him and so he curled into a tighter ball and tried to focus on a crawler that was building a web above in the trees. He had not seen her since the flight and he had no wish to ever see her again. She could keep that big ugly brown. He did not need her. He had his! The pale flit gave an adoring croon to his and felt her love flow through their bond. Content he stretched out on Ebolath’s warm hide and lidded his eyes.

[dragon]

Yours might ... by accident. I don't know. Maybe ... just worry? I worry.[/i] Frosstyth replied, to Cherilith's query. Maybe not hurt bad ...? Yours isn't very big, no, compared to mine. C'oarmine is big big. He gave a very small nod to emphasize with, before looking back over at where C'oar and Saeo were.

C'oar nodded approval when Saeo gave more effort this time around. But she was leaving huge gaping holes in her motions. Again, he blocked the blow - this time a straight block rather than slicking her off to the side. The sticks jarred with the impact, vibrating all the way through. And when she broke contact again, he poked her in the shin with his stick. Gently, though. "Offence is a good thing to have. In fact, the best defence is a strong offence. However ... defense is critical, too. You don't want to have huge holes in your defence. We'll cover all that in time, but for now, I just wanted to point that out. Today ... practice hanging onto that thing while you use it, and not falling over. Now. Again." He said. As soon as she got good at swinging at a stationary target, he would start moving. "Let me know when you get tired." He said.

Frosstyth went really still when Cherilith asked him about the leaf. He chewed for a moment. It didn't taste like much ... this was good for him, why?? Ummm...? You're seeing things. You didn't see anything. Frosstyth said, finally, with growing conviction. He turned his head to look at Cherilith, with what he hoped was a clear expression. Nope ... not guilty. Not him!

Storm warbled happily, sitting taller into Raylin's pettings, and turned his head to look up at Vega again. Little blue was being awfullly aloof.

[nightingale]

Caught off guard as she was by the sudden pain that a solidly blocked strike sent shooting up her arm, Saeo had no chance to stifle a yelp as it jumped from her throat. She fell back a step, growling with obvious displeasure at C'oar's willingness to have her learn though unpleasant surprises. If looks could kill, the one she offered his stick when he poked her in the shin would have set it on fire.

"Cover it in time my left foot!"

She scowled, shifting her own stick to her left hand just long enough to shake the last of the painful vibrations from her right.

"I'm not about to learn to do something the wrong way and then re-learn how to do it the right way later. If my defense is lousy, show me how to fix it now before it becomes a habit."

Cherilith in the mean time, was far from convinced of his brother's innocence. However, he decided against pressing him further. It was odd though, to think that he had eaten a leaf...dragons were not supposed to eat leaves, were they? What did leaves taste like anyway? Perhaps they tasted quite nice and he was missing out on something...Absently, his gaze shifted to the leafy branches above him. Maybe he would have to try some one day and find out.

[Rei]

Raylin leaned back against Ebolath and contented herself with watching C’oar and Saeo practice. All in all at this stage it was very boring and although she tried to pay attention she found her eyes wandering to other things. Such as, the crawler in the limbs above and her sleepy flitter. A nap sounded great actually. Lucky creatures slept whenever the fancy struck them.

Ebolath was falling asleep. She hadn’t even bothered to wait for her brother’s explanation. Why did it matter? She couldn’t see herself eating a leaf when red meat was so tasty. The warm air and her bonded’s close proximity was enough to lull her into a blissfully contented state. The only thing that would have made the day more perfect was her new mandyr friend’s presence. He was probably busy with something else. She must find a present for him soon. Something he could enjoy. That was her last thought before comforting darkness washed over her mind.

[dragon]

She wanted all of it at once? That was a tall order ... a really tall one. Considering C'oar really didn't have a background in teaching this sort of thing, and she had no background whatsoever in any kind of thing. Oh, well, whatever. "Are you aware, that if I threw everything at you at once, before you got a good foundation in, you'd be so confused and turned around you wouldn't know which way was up? Not to mention you wouldn't learn a sharding thing." C'oar mentioned. "You'd accumulate a lot more bruises, too. Let's just take things one step at a time, okay? I will teach you everything I know." He assured her. "At a pace you appear to be capable of handling."

And with that, he renewed the lesson - though differently. This time, he tried to make like she knew what she was doing. Meaning he would block her strikes, or strip them off to the side, and then return one onto her. He pulled all his punches, as it were, not interested in bruising and breaking her to a powdery pulp. C'oar moved slowly, in his own estimation, giving her plenty of time to see, and react, and possibly block. As he worked with her, he occassionally called a halt to explain something else to her, point a few things out posture, balance, and motion wise. Inside that lesson also included a method for putting the most force her frame was capable of exerting into a blow. That ... he had her try with a different stick and on a bush's trunk.

Even at Saeo's size, that kind of thing could break the sticks he'd smoothed off as well as who ever received that blow. Not a good idea to drop into a learner's grasp and have them go at someone else. He showed her how to flex her elbows, bend her spine, and drop one knee to bring everything she had down in that blow. It was a movement that took very little effort, and had a great amout of effect ... but it did sometimes leave a body open to attack from elsewhere.

The time passed ... slowly at times, and quickly at others. And C'oar called a stop just as soon as Saeo seemed to be flagging. She was liable to be quite sore, come morning. Which ... probably meant a whole new load of whining and complaining. But oh well. It was part of the package! There was plenty of numbweed about, anyway.

Frosstyth hummed for a moment, thinking, before he puzzled out what to say to Ebolath, completely unaware that she had gone to sleep. Well ... It's kinda complicated. Mine and I were outside the feeding grounds, and I heard a notmine telling someone else not to eat too much out there. Cause they'd get fat, and that would hurt thier flying ability. Or something. I thought that was interesting. And then yesterday mine was getting something to eat from the kitchens, and they wouldn't let me inside, too. So I stay outside. And while I sat there, I heard a couple of the drudges talking. One of them was complaining about how she was getting fat. Which made me remember what the notmine said about that making it bad to fly. And the other drudge said something about eating plenty of leafy greens would stem that problem. I really don't want to get fat! I want to fly like none has before ... I want to make mine proud. So ... Frosstyth nosed around in the dead leaves in front of him. Plenty of leafy greens. Doesn't taste like much, though.

Storm peeped, obviously convinced that his brown mindmate's logic was completely whacked. And then he went back to nuzzling Raylin's hand, not wanting her to drift off into a nap ... she was petting him! He didn't want her to stop cause she'd nodded off!

((( Feel free to zoom however far forward ya'll want to!)))

[nightingale]

~skips ahead a few hours~

Saeo spent much of that afternoon flinching, stumbling and collecting bruises -but she progressed. In fact, she imagined that she had been very close to actually hitting C’oar until an unexpected run in with a the jutting root of a tree left her with a savagely twisted ankle. The injury wasn’t bad -it wasn’t even a sprain really- but the fact that she had obtained it directly after the boy’s suggestion that she take a break effectively ended the day’s lesson. She’d handed her stick over to Raylin and trudged sullenly off to sit with the dragons.

The girl sighed, snuggling against Frosstyth’s warm brown hide and trying to convince herself that she wasn’t as tired as was. She wasn’t in the habit of using the sturdy little brown as a throw pillow, but her attempts at sitting with first Cherilith, then Ebolath had drawn nothing but complaints and screaming from Freckle, who simply would not sit next to a greenpest or her humanpet’s vile bluepest. He had seemed rather good natured about it, considering that she’d been trying to hit his rider with a stick for the better part of two hours.

Watching the setting sun play across the river’s surface was almost hypnotic as the colours slowly deepened into shades of orange and pink, and it took all her strength or will to keep from nodding off right there. Somewhere over her shoulder, the sound of clashing wood had paused momentarily as Raylin was offered some small bit of advice that she couldn’t quite make out. Distantly, she mourned the fact that they didn’t have a picnic with them. It would have been nice to stay out a little longer, perhaps catch some glowbugs when the sun went down. It just seemed that the say was ending far too soon

[Rei]

Raylin was tired and above all sore. It was much harder when you were the one fighting. She tired hard to follow all C’oar’s advice but the weyrling felt as if she was getting no where. Frankly it was discouraging. Mine you have been improving. Ebolath said with a yawn. I have seen it. Do not fret so.

Raylin turned to smile at her bonded and felt C’oar rap her shin with his stick. “Shells! C’oar I was talking to Ebolath could you put this thing on hold for one sharding minute!” She practically yelled at the boy more frustrated with herself than him, but hey he was an outlet. The dark haired girl raised her stick ready for round two. All in all she was doing ok. Not stellar but maybe at least passable?

~Hours Later~

Raylin flopped down next to Ebolath and the dozing Saeo. Ignoring the insults Freckle was sure to throw her way. “I’m beat. What do you guys say we quit for the day and go get some dinner?” The weyrling queried wearily. She was sure to be sore in the morning. It was almost comforting really. For the first time since coming to the weyr, she felt as if she was actually doing something with a purpose in mind. She would have to thank Saeo one day for volunteering her.

Ebolath agreed happily. Yes lets all go eat. You are hungry are you not clutchbrothermines? Raylin almost laughed. “Better watch it boys Ebolath can probably out eat both of you.” The green gave a snort and nudged her bonded, an embarrassed feeling filtering through the bond. Sorry love. The dark haired girl apologized with a scratch to the dragon’s eye ridges. Ebolath gave a rumbling purr. Forget about it. Can we eat now?

[dragon]

C'oar dropped his stick's point down into the dirt, and leaned on it as he looked over at the girls. Though he didn't show it in the slightest, he was feeling it from the workout, too. Having worked through both of them in one go with no rest ... it was almost as if he had been sparring with someone who knew what they were doing for a candlemark or two. But he didn't show it. Outwardly, he looked as casual and nonplussed as he usually did.

Raylin's outburst and Saeo's complaining never really bothered him. He was quite used to it, by this point in thier friendship. Though ... he guessed that if the girls were half as sore as they were claiming to be, then he'd done a good job with the first lesson. Next time ... they would do better. Partly in an effort to get fewer whacks, and partly in having gained some muscle tone from this particular excersize.

"Day after tomorrow, we do it again." C'oar told them. They'd need tomorrow to rest, he knew that. Straightening, he plucked the stick from the ground, and walked over to sit down on Frosstyth's other side, and lean on the brown.

I am a pillow! the brown marveled, though he really didn't mind either C'oar or Saeo leaning on him. He was just feeling silly. And ready to do something, now that he'd spent the past several hours watching the humanmine's do stuff.

Storm hopped over onto C'oar, and peeped, before climbing up to the lad's shoulder and perching there.

"Dinner sounds like a plan. Do you want me to fetch something, or do you two feel up to walking that far?" C'oar asked, making the offer.

I am hungry! Frosstyth said, excidedly, making C'oar laugh ... a rather unusual sound indeed. C'oar didn't tend to laugh very often at all. "You're always hungry, Frosst." He remarked, earning himself a pleading look from his dragon.

[nightingale]

Saeo groaned plaintively, torn between two equally fervent desires. One was to stay and watch the sunset. The other was to get rid of the gnawing hunger in her stomach that was no doubt only half Cherilith's.

“That a grand idea.”

She sighed humorlessly, sitting up so she could give her hair a little bit of a fluff. She would defiantly need to cut it back if she was going to be doing this sort of thing on a regular basis. All day it had been whipping her in the face and now it was itching her terribly.

“Why don’t you just nip into the kitchens and drag us back a couple of herdbeasts then?” Mine? Cherilith warbled, his expression clearly awestruck as he turned toward her. Is Frosstyth’s really THAT strong? The girl couldn't quite stiffle a snort of amusement as she glanced over her shoulder at the little blue. “No darling, I was just being silly. We’ll go back to the Weyr to eat.” Cherilith seemed truly disappointed by this news, and his head drooped. And here he had just started imagning a lovely story about it too...

“In any case, I have to take my boat back, so I shant be walking anywhere.”

The girl sighed, awkwardly rolling over onto her stomach so she could stand without putting any weight on her injured foot. Freckled hissed irritably, as this movement placed her that much closer to the two legged greenpest, but soon refocused her attention on keeping herself balanced as she girl swayed.

And then came this strange sound that made Saeo wonder if perhaps someone had snuck up on them. But no...that was...that was C'oar...and he was laughing?

"Well for the love of little green dragons!"

She exclaimed, a grin slowly creeping across her face.

"What kind of a sound is that for a great lump like you to be making?"

She cast a sideway glance toward Raylin, just to make sure that the event really was as strange as she perceived it to be. C'oar never laughed. Shards, he barely even smiled -he was the boring one afterall. What was the word coming to?

[Rei]

Raylin was also rising as C’oar’s laugh sounded in the clearing. The green weyrling smiled. “Well what do you know C’oar actually can laugh. Here I was thinking he was in a perpetual state of calmness.” Ebolath rose after her bonded and gave a shake dislodging the pale flit who gave a scolding squawk before landing on Raylin’s shoulder. We eat now yes? The small green gave a nudge to Cherilith, the prospect of a coming meal spurring her into action. Race you clutchbrothermines! Last one there is a… She paused searching for the right word. Loser? The green supplied hesitantly and then spun around to tear down the forest path.

Raylin shook her head and grinned at Saeo. “Told you food gets her moving better than any incentive I can come up with.” The girl stretched and groaned. “I’m going to be sore tomorrow.” She swung her arms and looked at her two friends, a rare playful look crossing her features. “Last one to the boat has to row the whole way back.” She sprinted after the retreating hatchlings ignoring the protest her muscles had started to raise.

[dragon]

C'oar shook his head. Girls were so strange. Of course he could laugh. How silly and absurd a notion. But he was left blinking in the dust as Frosstyth lurched to his feet and went pounding down the path after Ebolath. He coughed, and then stepped out of the dust cloud. "So much for that." He commented, before looking at the girls.

If they still had the energy to race to the boats ... he plainly hadn't worked them hard enough, he decided. Next time ... well ... maybe he wouldn't be that cruel to them... Anyway. He was more than willing to row them across the dwindling river. It was almost narrow enough to pole vault, these days. With a short pole. And as such, he was in no hurry as he followed his dragon down the path and toward a prospective meal.

He, too, had worked up an appetite. "You two act like I've never laughed in my life." He commented, in passing, as Storm fluttered over and landed on his shoulder... backwards. Sitting there facing back, he peeped at everyone still back there.

[nightingale]

The blueweyrling grabbed onto a low hanging branch for balance as stretched her back, murmuring a small ‘ow’ as it gave a few sharp cracks. Her muscles felt as if they’d shrunk, forcing her to stretch them out painfully every time she wanted to move. Thank goodness they didn’t have any chores tomorrow. She and Raylin could spend a few extra hours in bed, and woe betide whomever told them otherwise.

Cherilith was better than willing to chase after his clutch sister as she made for the coast after having spent an afternoon alternately napping and watching clouds. Of course, dreamer that he was the little blue was in no way opposed to having spent half of the day in such a way -he’d managed to come up with what he thought to be a rather thrilling about a trio of vigilante swordsmen from watching the three weyrlingriders practice- but when dinner and the cool river water chose to draw him away from his lethargic musings, he was willing to go cheerfully. Freckle squawked angrily as the three dragonets charged out of sight, completely unwilling to be labeled the ‘loser’ of the group by a greenpest like Ebolath. She threw herself gracelessly from Saeo’s shoulder, half tumbling and half staggering as she scurried along the jungle floor after them.

Saeo was far less inclined toward the idea of racing, and yawned her refusal as Raylin started off toward the river.

“You’re a proper beast Raylin!”

She growled to the fading sound of the girl’s footsteps, all too aware of how appealing a prey item she would seem to a passing jungle feline if she went hobbling after her room mate. Collecting ‘her’ stick from where it lay among the scattered remains of what had been a flower chain several hours ago, the girl glared ruefully down at the wizened brown petals, knowing full well that by the time she got around to making another the gesture would leave the realm of the thoughtful and tiptoe into an area reserved for stalkers and desperate old men.

“Oh I’m sure you have laughed at some point before now, but I’m quite certain that I’ve never been around to witness it.”

She sighed, resolving to distract herself from her disappointment in the usual way -by harassing C’oar.

“Perhaps you could try doing it more often? You might frighten fewer small children.”

Using the occasional vine or tree truck to help herself balance, the girl started after Raylin at as brisk a pace as her mistreated body would allow. For the most part, it was just fast enough to put her in front of C’oar and ensure she wouldn’t end up at the riverbank dead last -tired as she was, she wasn’t about to give up on a challenge once it had been presented to her.