Queenriding, take two (Kaegan and Paryal)

[Administrator]

Shmee, out of lack of anything better to do, had decided to try and redo these queenriding lessons. After the first one... Shmee fought back the wave of emotion that threatened to overcome her. As this was an actual lesson now rather than an arrangement of time, they needed a place more professional than Paryal's room. She didn't want to be near that place, anyway- too many awful memories. Finding herself too tired to stand for too long, Shmee climbed onto the top of the desk in the front room, casually sitting on it as she gazed blearily about the room. It was empty, but she was going to have Aslath call out to Millieth and Aezanth. Kaegan especially needed these lessons. Millieth would Fly soon, she knew, so she better start having the Flight drills, and teach her how to use a flamethrower... The queen was about big enough to fight Thread, wasn't she?

But Paryal... Shmee's heart hardened. After the weyrling queenrider had treated her in such a way both before and during Shmee's miscarriage, Shmee had a plan in mind. She had not told S'rei of this- she hadn't spoken with him as much as she used to, and was keeping to her own thoughts more. He would probably have told her off for planning this, but Shmee wanted Paryal to understand that she had no right to speak to a Senior Weyrwoman in such a way. Oh no, this girl had no rank yet. Was Paryal so confident in her abilities to fly solo? Well, Shmee would test this.

She was going to abandon Paryal, and make this girl figure everything out herself. She would hide the queenriding scrolls from the library, perhaps letting Kaegan use them. But there would be nobody else Paryal could turn to. Flamethrowers would be a mystery, and she wouldn't teach Paryal to use them. Maybe she'd burn herself. Ultimately, however, she wanted Aezanth to gorge at her first Flight. That would teach her how to be alone. And Aslath could up the commands on Aezanth to prevent her from acting too commanding. Paryal said she wouldn't stop Aezanth from doing this, but Aslath sure as hell could. Oh yes. Shmee had this all planned out.

"Aslath, call to Aezanth and Millieth, please. Tell them to tell their riders to report here right now," Shmee said softly. Her voice wasn't strong yet from lack of regular speech, but it would get stronger, just as her body would. Kaegan seemed to polite to mention anything out loud, but Shmee didn't want to deal with Paryal. She was going to make it so that girl would come crawling to her to teach her about queenriding. No, no bronzes at all woud come out of Aezanth's first clutch. And with Aslath giving Aezanth commands all the time, it would make the chains on these two even harder.

Though normally tame, Shmee was letting her rage turn on Paryal, with a justified reason. Think Paryal could treat her senior like scum? Think again.

[Tashe]

It had been a quiet morning, one that had been filled with brushing up on some of the things she had learned from the Weyrling lessons at Benden. From the early morning, Kaegan had been practicing battle drills that she had been taught, while taking a break between each of the different single dragon formations. And it was within that rest period that the young weyrwoman read up on the history of Pern and the names and dates of important thread battles and the people in them. The information hadn't ever left her mind, for studying was all she could do at Benden to stop herself from going insane, it had just receded and the more she reread the more she remembered. When Aslath's message came through to the mind of Millieth, who then relayed it to Kaegan, the pair had been preforming an aerial dive dodging imagined pieces of thread... or even oncoming dragons.

/Mine. Aslath says to come to the Weyrling barracks right away... apparently you are to be having a Queenriding lesson./

Not replying until they had leveled out and Millieth had corrected her course so that they now drifted toward the barracks, the crimson haired rider slumped forward in her saddle.
/Alright tell them I am coming and should be there shortly.../

Weyrling lessons hadn't been one of the best parts of her life at Benden, but at least they weren't the worst. Swallowing a small seed of worry that had grown from the pit of her stomach, Kaegan continued to stare at the back of her dragon's bobbing head. Although she knew all to well that Selenitas was nothing like Benden, and the Queenrider classes would not be like the ones she had began to take, the idea of taking them again made her uneasy.

/Do not worry Kaeganmine. Aslath's mine is far nicer than that son of a demented shard C'leon.../

Sighing quietly to herself in agreement with Millieth's words, Kaegan braced her thighs against the leather of her saddle in preparation for the landing. Raising her butt out of the seat only slightly and leaning forward, the Queenrider absorbed the shock through her bent arms. When the pair had finally stopped moving, Kaegan slid out of her straps and onto Millieth's tail before letting herself be lowered to the ground. /I'll be back my Queen. Just uh... hang around close unless we need you alright?/

Giving the golden dragon a small wave, the Senior weyrling made her way into the barracks with a strange gait to her step. Luckily, Milli had included the room in which she was to report to in the transfer of information, or she probably would have never found the lesson room. Taking a few moments to hesitate before the door, Kaegan took in a large breath and let it out before swinging the door open. Quickly trotting through the frame and closing the door behind her, the young weyrwoman bowed to her Senior before skittishly taking a seat in one of the desks near the front.
"Oh um... Hello Weyrwoman Shmee... I hope that uh... I'm not late."

[paryal]

Aslath's rider wishes for you to join her where we take our lessons. Aezanth woke Paryal with her speaking tone, though at least the golden dragon was consider enough to 'speak' fairly softly. It was still loud enough to disturb Paryal though, who groaned loudly and tried to roll over from her stomach to her back. Lancing pain quickly got rid of /that/ particular idea. The pain also served to get the Weyrling up, though she persisted in grumbling loudly enough to cause a few Healers to scurry into her room and ask her if everything was okay. Paryal pushed them away with mild assurances, though she was quite annoyed. Did Shmee not realize she wasn't supposed to be moving about that much yet?

I doubt Aslath's rider cares. Rumbling in annoyance that someone would dare ask her rider to get up before she was better, Aezanth never the less kept most of her complaints to herself, only expressing them to Paryal. I'll keep Fairamay with you, and take Misrah. If something goes wrong, Misrah will tell Fairamay, and she'll tell you. The green fire lizard seemed to have a much easier time conveying her message to Aezanth. Misrah mainly spoke to Paryal, huddling by her shoulders and not at all eager to socialize with others of his species. He was a funny little lad, that was sure. You think there will be trouble? Alarmed, Aezanth wanted to go with her rider, but was in no shape to leave herself. No. Go back to sleep love.

Sending all her love to Aezanth, Paryal stood up slowly, stiffly stretching her leg. It would have to be dragged, but she was used to that peculiar gait by now. As long as she was careful not to open her wounds again, it should be fine. Slow, but at least not unduly painful. It would have to do for now.

The Healers didn't seem to relish Paryal leaving much. One accompanied her out, holding her arm as if she was a complete invalid. "I'm not a cripple!" Irritability, the Queenrider snapped at the poor man, who backed up a pace or two before taking her arm again. Seeing the wisdom, Paryal relented with a sigh, though she made it very clear that she was NOT happy about this at all. "You'll have to row the boat too." The Healer only nodded. With Paryal's injured back, trying to control the boat in the sometimes turbulent water would be even more difficult and potentially dangerous than walking on her own.

Finally they reached the Weyrling Barracks. "I don't want to be walked inside." Tilting her head up proudly for any errant Weyrlings to see, Paryal tried to march upward and into the rooms, but soon failed at that. It hurt too much to bend her leg that way, and taking the risk of injury simply wasn't worth that. Instead, she dragged herself slowly into the room, finally entering to see Shmee and Kaegan. Well, it looked like this was official Queenrider business then. A lesson, maybe? It had taken long enough to get to this moment in time. Bowing shortly to the Weyrwoman and nodding her head to Kaegan, Paryal gratefully took a seat, easing her leg out in front of her. It may not have been proper, but pain overwhelmed that. "I'm sorry I was late. I am not at my full strength."

Indeed, Paryal was still very, very skinny, her hair hanging lank and her skin positively sallow. She didn't have the look of a healthy young woman, though she was clearly getting back to the point. It would just take time, and if moments like this happened, it could all be aggravated back to the start. Paryal didn't want another fever again, but she wasn't going to disobey when there was the chance she could learn something useful. During her stay in the infirmary, Paryal had perused some scrolls. A few had had a bit about Queenriding that was useful, but it wouldn't beat the practical information.

[Administrator]

Shmee blinked dully at Kaegan. "You don't need to bow," she told the girl shortly. "I don't know what kind of things Arga made you do, but I do not require bowing." She didn't deserve it. She hardly deserved to live, so who was she to merit a bow from someone? Not realizing she was wallowing in despair, she crossed her legs slowly, looking distantly at the far wall. Now all they needed was for Paryal to show up, then she could get cracking. Not that it would matter- she simply needed to tell Paryal that she wasn't allowed to attend lessons, then train Kaegan. She didn't know how brainwashed the girl had become, but Shmee would fix that up. Millieth was nearing sexual maturity, wasn't she? Shmee's face turned grim. Another Flight on their hands. She highly doubted C'leon would try coming to this one. After all, there was no Weyrleadership at stake. Still, she would assign guards outside the Flight room, just in case. If C'leon didn't arrive, she was sure they could be of relief to the Flightmoths.

Paryal was the next to arrive, after several silent moments with Kaegan. Shmee had heard about the feline attack, she would show no mercy to that stupid girl. Her heart didn't warm in the slightest when the girl did show up, looking quite dreadful. This girl didn't respect her superiors, and would gain no cooing. "You don't have to bow," she told the girl in an icier tone than she had used with Kaegan. It was tempting to simply not tell her to not bow, but it wasn't as though making her bow was going to do anything but aggravate the mutual dislike.

She still stared coldly at the girl as she put on the show of being the pitiful damsel in distress. "Not up to full strength?" she asked, her tone dulcet with a hint of venom. "Neither am I, you know, yet I managed to initiate this lesson with no complaints." Giving her one last hard look, she shifted her attention to both her and Kaegan. "Before I get started with this lesson, I need to make sure that both of you understand that you need to learn respect." Letting those words sink in, she paused, hoping Paryal would get those words into her head.

"Respect. Both of you, as immature queenriders, are still technically weyrlings, and will remain as such until your dragons' first Flight. Only then will you merit any sort of respect. You will keep your weyrling knots even after your dragons' clutchmates have matured." Those words were to Paryal, and it wasn't special treatment-- this wasn't the punishment. "However, I do encourage getting to know the men of this Weyr in intimate terms around the time the other weyrlings are allowed," she added with a nod. She did not add that being a virgin would be a nuisance during a Flight-- this was something she would tell Kaegan. Paryal could just learn that herself.

Her dull eyes flickered between the two, looking for any hints of a question or perhaps even rebellion. It would probably be Paryal she would have trouble with, but then again, it wouldn't happen for long. "Now let me remind you, as weyrlings, even if you do have a queen, you are among the lowest ranked in the Weyr. Not only should a weyrling queen learn to listen to the senior queen, but also must learn to listen to everyone else above her. Salenth, Styth, and Lenorath in particular. Having a weyrling queen means nothing in classes. Having a weyrling queen does not mean you can disrespect those who are much higher in rank." Turning her head slowly to Paryal, she kept a stony expression. "Even if you don't like them, you still need to show respect. Even the smallest greenrider is much higher than you are. You don't like it? Well, you just have to deal. As it was already displayed that one of you seems to have open problems about my being a Weyrwoman, and let out an unrestrained insult, I find it equally fair in punishing her."

She scowled, looking down at Paryal. "You told me that you had to find things out with Aezanth all on your own, did you not? You didn't even consider the fact that I may have wanted to wait to teach you when there were weyrling lessons that were irrelevant to you?" she asked mildly. "Though I agree that I should have at least spoken to you on occasion, the rudeness you displayed toward me even when I was weakened should be punished. Therefore, I am letting you show me just how capable you are of teaching Aezanth yourself as you claimed you have done before. Which, of course, you have failed in that already. Teach her to her elders, not just Aslath. Then you can proceed to teach her everything else- on your own." These words were delivered sharply, in an executioner's strike. "I will not help you with anything. You will have to learn about Flights yourself, about flamethrowers, about everything you need to know, by yourself. Neither Kaegan and I will help you. I will not so much as acknowledge your presence. You are nothing, and will remain nothing until you prove that you can show respect. I am not one to pull rank often, but you will always be beneath me. Get used to it. You're free to go."

She waved a hand in dismissal, not sympathetic at all in making her move again. Shmee would have to make sure Kaegan understood that she was not to help Paryal. She wanted this girl to come crawling to her and beg for help, because until then, Paryal would not know a thing about queenriding. She would remove all the scrolls on queenriding, remove the instructions for use of a flamethrower... Oh no. Shmee would be merciless.

[Tashe]

Looking up from her desk with a hint of surprise on her face, Kaegan quickly nodded before returning her attention back to the grains of the wood. "Yes Weyrwoman Shmee." Quietly tracing the curves and swirls of the dark stripes, the Weyrling goldrider only glanced up at Paryal as she entered the room. Neither of the Selenitas born Queenriders looked completely healthy, which felt odd for Kaegan since she was the one who usually looked the weakest.

/How is it fairing Mine?/ 'Well I believe... although Shmee doesn't look as if she likes Paryal all that well.' /Well if you need anything tell me./ 'Alright?'

Blinking as she looked up from her parchment that she had produced earlier, the crimson haired teen picked up on the words 'need to learn respect.' Blushing slightly to herself as she realized that not hearing Shmee's beginning statements had indeed been disrespectful, Kaegan began to transcribe the weyrwoman's words onto the scroll in note form. It wasn't that she would need these particular words for the future, it was just another habit she had picked up from her stay at Benden. Trying to ignore the resent toward any suggestion of intimacy, she wrote down shortened versions of what Shmee said on that topic too. Although as the Weyrwoman began to re-delve into the subject of respect, Kaegan listened a little more intensely to what she was saying.

It was obvious that both she and Millieth had to listen to what higher ranking officials told them, but it was news to her that here at selenitas, they also had to listen to everyone higher up than themselves. Shrugging off rumble of displeasure from her Queen, Kaegan leaned forward slightly, pen at the ready. Quietly scratching down names and other important points, the older Weyrling paused in her writing as Shmee began to speak directly to Paryal. Sitting back into her chair, Kaegan began to only half listen to the punishment that was being doled out. /So. Here I have to listen to Greens and Blues until I fly... interesting./ 'Yeah. I guess we really have a lot to learn Weyrwomanship wise. Since Benden has twisted everything about being a goldrider.' /That is true Kaeganmine... that is true./

"...everything you need to know, by yourself. Neither Kaegan and I will help you..."

Wincing slightly as she was brought into the punishment equation, the young woman resumed to fully attend the lesson. Glancing between the Senior Weyrwoman and her companion Weyrling as Shmee dismissed her, Kaegan stifled a groan as she realized that she'd be alone in the lessons. Not that she feared Shmee, it was just that she seemed to be a little intimidating.