Zodiac Lesson Nine

[Rei]

Classroom:
Final Flying Leathers Inspection

Training Field:
Using Air Currents; Weather Problems and Solutions; Communication Drills; Flight in Formation Theory (On Ground)

~~~~

Sel’n was uncomfortable. Extremely so. Why had be agreed to do this again? He didn’t deserve this position. For Faranth’s sake, wasn’t it obvious that he was horrible at it? He couldn’t be responsible for these young men and woman. He just….wasn’t able to. Doubt after doubt ran across the brown rider’s mind and only a mental prod from Kaaoloth distracted him. Selminelove. You are doing it again. How may times do I have to tell you that what happened with Olanreth’s was not your fault? It was him or me and anyone else in your situation would have chosen the same. When it boils down to it, not one rider would chose another over their soul mate. Now I am going to call the weyrlings and you will have exactly five minutes to compose yourself enough to teach. Please try to relax. I know this isn’t easy but I am here with you and nothing bad will happen. I promise. Lowering his massive head Kaaoloth fixed one green whirling eye on his bonded.

Sel’n sighed and stroked along the brown’s jaw absently. “Alright. You win.” Rumbling quietly the dragon reached out to the Zodiac weyrlings. Attention Zodiac class. I am Kaaoloth of Sel’n. I regret to inform you that F’ur of Inocenth has resigned from the position of Weyrlingmaster. My bonded and I will be your new teachers. Please report to the training field for class. Any questions you have will be answered shortly. Absently the large brown curled around his bonded in a possessive manner. He had come close to losing Sel’n many times in the past but the last time was the worst. If Kaaoloth had any say in it, his bonded was never leaving his sight again.

Sel’n shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun as his first student circled to land. Swallowing his nervousness he waited for them all to arrive before speaking. “Before we get started I thought it would be prudent to answer any questions you may have. If you have one now’s the time to voice it.”

-------------

Zodiac Weyrlings

Meira of Gold Jingth
R’men of Bronze Weith
Merridan of Brown Chaoth
V’rael of Brown Taith
R’ahre of Blue Ahth
M’kai of Blue Futh
T’lor of Blue Shith
L’ka of Blue Lith
K’lir of Green Baoth
Nephele of Green Nuoth
Mina of Green Kunth
Anusha of Green Minth
Kalia of Green Huath

One post
Two posts
Three posts
Four or more posts (You are awesome )


Running Attendance

Meira of Gold Jingth ~ 9/9
R’men of Bronze Weith ~9/9
Merridan of Brown Chaoth ~8/9
V’rael of Brown Taith ~9/9
R’ahre of Blue Ahth ~9/9
M’kai of Blue Futh ~6/9
T’lor of Blue Shith ~7/9
L’ka of Blue Lith ~4/9
K’lir of Green Baoth ~8/9
Nephele of Green Nuoth ~9/9
Mina of Green Kunth ~8/9
Anusha of Green Minth ~9/9
Kalia of Green Huath ~9/9

* First # is times attended lessons, last # is the number of lessons that have been ran.
** There where a few lessons that did not get played Icly because we didn’t have a weyrling master. I counted those as played Ocly**

** You MUST attend lessons to graduate. Exceptions will only be made for those with special circumstances. If you approach me with a viable reason for your absence I will decide whether or not to excuse you. Make up work is permitted but it will be done on your time not mine. Please contact me with any questions. ~ Sel’n **

[Ruby]

Futh was still having a hard time getting off the ground. He wasn't exactly chubby, but the barrel-chested blue certainly wasn't dainty either. He was just... chunky. Big wasn't even the right word, because Futh really wasn't large for a blue, certainly not compared to any of his clutchmates. He was average, but the Blue was definitetly the widest of his clutch. The muscle was there, but you'd never know it, looking at him. Wings stretched wide, the Blue still had to run quite a distance to even start getting into the air. He could do it from a Weyr ledge, but he still dropped a good half-length first. But they had to fly to lessons today, so M'kai had mounted up, and Futh was trying to get into the air from a standstill, something they hadn't managed yet. Ever.

After a good half-dozen tries, M'kai let Futh get a running start, and they finally lumbered into the air. M'kai nervously fiddled with the leathers and held on tight, trying his best to make himself weigh nothing. The flight was acceptable, if not the steadiest, and they circled in a little early (luckily no one but Sel'n had to see them land). As the class assembled and the new Weyrlingmaster asked for questions, M'kai raised a hand and waited to be called on.

Eventually Sel'n got to him, and M'kai swallowed. Luckily he was still thin and pale, lending truth to his story. "I've... missed a few lessons. I caught the plague bad, and then a cold or something on top of it, and the Healers kept me for ages. Futh kept up in lessons when he could, but I'm sure we're behind. I'd like to make the lessons up, if possible, but I guess I need to talk to you about that?" Nice, M'kai. Very eloquent.

[Avu]

“Uuuuggnnhffff.”
Elegance, thy name is MineR’ahre, observed the reason for R’ahre’s undignified crash out of bed. The dark blue nose hovered over his Rider; Ahth’s eyes were whirling rapidly in what was undeniably amusement. His wasn’t supposed to be sleeping anyway; R’ahre had just experienced a sudden bout of laziness and decided he was not in the mood to get up. One hand emerged from the curled up mess of furs, dark hair, and flesh and swatted violently at the muzzle that carefully flipped him over; Ahth displayed a gentleness that most would not have attributed to him with His. Surprising though it may seem, considering you’re as close to cursing as you can get without actually doing so, the blue went on, drawling the words out in an almost perfect imitation of his Rider’s accent, I did not choose to wake you without reason. His tail coiled neatly around his haunches and he caught the end of R’ahre’s furs in his teeth before he pulled – with such force that R’ahre was literally lifted off of the floor before he crashed back down, sprawling.

The look that he sent Ahth was one of pure poison, but the blue ignored it in favor of settling back neatly on his haunches, looking quite smug. Kaaoloth called, the dragon explained pleasantly, as if he was absolutely oblivious to the irritation that he’d inspired in His.

“I hate you. Why on Pern would I care about Kaaoloth? Who is Kaaoloth?” Boo hoo. No, R’ahre didn’t actually say ‘boo hoo’, but it was a close thing. The bluerider sat upright, both hands coming up from his lap to swat at his hair instead, blinking before one hand rubbed at his eyes. His rear end, however, remained firmly planted on the ground, even though he did deign to uncurl and cross his legs into a somewhat more dignified position than just being sprawled with legs outstretched. The bluerider’s head tilted as Sylph, sleepy and disgruntled, poked her head out from his hair as well. The green Salamandyr offered Ahth a halfhearted display of her frill and hiss before she leapt off of R’ahre’s head and promptly curled up on the bed again. Warm.

Temper, Ahth observed smoothly, before his voice took on a decidedly silky touch. Kaaoloth, MyR’ahre, is our new Weyrlingmaster. Inocenth’s resigned. You should be /happy/. He is waiting for us on the training field. Come. We would not want to be late. It would be /most/ impolite. The silkiness was emphasized in the last word before Ahth coiled around himself to the weyrledge, leaving R’ahre to blink bemusedly after him. After a minute, uttering a last few grumbled curses (most creative they were, too, involving Ahth, the Weyrlingmaster, Kaaoloth, and Pern in general, as well as Faranth), he rose to his feet, and stumbled off, ever so gracefully, to get dressed. It didn’t take long, fortunately, and it was a few minutes later that, hair pulled back into a runnertail that hung down his neck and his clothes and knives all in order, R’ahre ran one hand over the last strap on Ahth’s hide and tilted his head and then swung on.

One leap carried Ahth into the air; the dark blue twirled on a wingtip in a show of grace before he flipped his wings. His serpentine body streamed through the air, effortless, before Ahth sped towards the Weyrling Training Grounds. Abruptly the speed faltered and Ahth spun into a backflip, though the reason was plain to be seen on the ground; Futh. Ahth had never made any secret of his lack of fondness for his blue brother, and the longer he could be apart from him, the better. He landed smoothly, daintily flicking his wings back, and crooned pleasantly at Kaaoloth as he let R’ahre dismount. The bluerider didn’t go far, leaning against Ahth’s leg; even as he tilted his head and raised one arm languidly to signal that he’d a question. As soon as he felt the Weyrlingmaster glance his way, he spoke, just loudly enough that he was sure the man could hear him without difficulty.

“R’ahre of Ahth. I wanted to know, when will we be going between…?”

~*~*~

MyLove, Kaaoloth calls for us. He says Inocenth’s has resigned. The gold’s smooth, pleasant tones entered her mind as Meira absentmindedly moved one of Riaren’s toys into a new spot. He is our new Weyrlingmaster. Lessons begin now. Jingth did not instantly spring to her feet in an excess of excitement. The young queen remained sprawled out on her belly, watching Meira as the weyrlingrider tilted her head to one side, examining the effect. Riaren was with his father and ‘uncle’, and she’d bathed and oiled both Jingth and Mimic already, so she was left…with nothing to do except clean the weyr. Which was redundant; it wasn’t messy to begin with. That made the job far too quick and she’d started to put up Riaren’s toys from their various points around the room, organizing them into the crib. Again, redundant; he’d just mix them all up again once he returned. But…it gave her something to do.

She was very much regretting that she’d promised Jingth she’d only work in the Infirmary during her shifts. The queen didn’t dislike the Infirmary, but neither was she fond of it and she didn’t like Hers spending all her time there. Meira’s head tilted to one side before she looked over at Jingth, who crooned at her, loving. The goldrider’s hair was already pulled back in a runnertail, though it was layered so that the shortest still brushed her neck, so loose was the runnertail. She stood, grabbing the straps, and glancing towards Mimic. The Salamandyr was fast asleep curled on her pillow – literally curled, around a ring that somebody had dropped; he’d salvaged it from the feet and spills of the Dining Hall to give to Doppelganger. He wouldn’t be waking for some time, positively gorged on his latest meal, and if he did mid-Lesson he’d just go find his brother anyway. No need to worry about him. No need to worry about Riaren either; R’wign and M’ta were perfectly capable of taking care of him.

She stood, reaching up to grab Jingth’s straps were they hung from a hook, and then ran out to the gold; a surge of affection meeting her as the large head swung around, a low croon emerging from the dragon’s throat. As vain and as manipulative and possessive as the gold was, Meira did love her – and she could feel how much the dragon loved her, too; a quick kiss was planted on the dazzling muzzle and then she moved around to pull the straps around Jingth and buckle them tightly before she mounted, stroking the honey-colored hide gently. Jingth coiled around herself on the weyrledge once before the gold leapt into the air, wings snapping open and sending her into an upwards spiral. Away fell the ground, before the small queen twisted in the direction of the Training Fields.

Jingth was too large to really be considered fast, but she was slender and small enough for a gold that she made good time, and her landing was smooth. She swept in, low and fast, and a quick backwing had her folding her wings back prettily before she flopped, elegance deserting her, onto the ground; a polite croon was directed towards Kaaoloth as the young dragon turned her head curiously in his direction. Meira dropped to the ground, leaning against her for reassurance for a moment, pale gray-blue eyes flicking first to Kaaoloth and then to Sel’n. The invitation for questions was one she took, however, nervously taking a step forward and raising one hand tentatively. Hers was a question more personal than for the entire class, but it was still a question and she wanted to know, so...

“I – um, correct me if I’m wrong please, but – there’s no more queen’s wing, is there, so…after graduation, what are Jingth and I going to be doing…?”

[Sheari]

Innoncenth's resigned?[/i] Came Minth's questioning tone. She was mildly shocked in fact, that they had gone through so many teachers. In such a short time. Did...did Innocenth...?[/color] No love, I don't think Innocenth betweened.[/b] Anusha reassured the green with a pat on the nose. A soft rumbled escaped from Minth's chest as the pair stood at the mouth of their weyr. Akos had taken to hiding in Anusha's pocket, and was curled up there now.

"Are we ready, Minth?" The greenweyrling looked up and Minth lowered herself so that Anusha could climb the leathers. Once firmly seated between the green's shoulders, Minth kicked off and flapped her wings to gain altitude. Weith followed from his weyr. Her flight was much cleaner now, not a mess like her first glide. Her wing having healed scar-less. A few hiccups worked their way into her path now and again, but Minth turned and glided toward the Weyrling grounds without much trouble. Not many other of her class were there and the green chose a spot next to Ahth. Backwinging, Minth landed, haunches first, and stumbling on her front feet. Her tail threatened to trip her but she held it out before settling herself into a comfortable position. Straightening herself, Anusha slid off and dusted her pants as she herself landed. "Anusha of Minth," she introduced herself. Not like it was really needed.

"Yes, will we be going between?" she echoed R'ahre. Hello Ahth,[/i] Minth greeted, nodding solemnly to Jingth, knowing of the Queen's mild dislike for much of anything. Or so Minth had gathered of her sister. Futh she hadn't noticed.

~*~

Weith lazily followed after his sister. R'men had been actually eager to attened lessons. They involved flying. He was like a boy who had gotten on his first Runner and simply was too thrilled with it, thrilled with the speed, to get off. The bronzeweyrling flapped lazily once to keep himself aloft, aiming for the waterfall before anything else.

Uhm, Weith?[/i] Nothing in responce emerged forth. Weith?[/i] The silence was almost erie. "WEITH?" Oh! Was that and actuak voice! Did sound just emerge from the bronze back in an alarmed sort of way? It was too late. R'men had fail to bathe him in an orderly fashion and the bronze would not deign to arrive dirty. In but a few moments, the pair were flying dangerously close to the roaring waters as Weith accended. Mist sprinkled his hide, making it shine. Reaching the falls' zenith, the dragon pulled away and turned for the grounds. A soaked and enraged R'men on his back.

"ARE YOU CRAZY! THERE COULD HAVE BEEN FELIS IN THAT WATERFALL! YOU COULD HAVE DIED! WE COULD HAVE DIED!!"

Perhaps not enraged, more afraid. Fear washed away from the man as he felt a twinge of appology from Weith. I'm sorry Mine.[/i] the words were soft, almost feeling like no more than a sad afterthought. As the pair drew near a place to land, the bronze chose a place away from the rest of the group so he could dry his damp wings. R'men slide down his damp leathers, his pants chaffing a bit. He slicked hair out of his eyes and nodded a greeting to his classmates.

[Ember]

Nephele was alerted by Nuoth lifting her head and looking in the general direction of the field the weyrlings always used for training. "Lesson time, huh? I wonder what we're learning today." The girl stretched indulgently on the bed before rolling over and sitting up. Ah the wonders of a private weyr! Sure she had to share a bathroom but otherwise she had the weyr all to herself. Her mindmates seemed to enjoy it too. Nuoth had been getting too big for the weyrling barracks so the weyr meant much more space for her to spread out. Misfit liked all the nooks and crannies to stow away his crackers. Charming also liked the fact that anything reflective wasn't hidden away in a trunk.

Nuoth uncurled gracefully from her position and informed Hers of the change. We have a new Weyrlingmaster NepheleMine. A Kaaoloth of Sel'n. I suppose its the other way around for you though. Kaaoloth said Innocenth's resigned. "Oh, imagine that. Y'know, I'll kind of miss F'ur as Weyrlingmaster. He was amusing at the very least. Well let's go. Best make a good impression on Kaaoloth of Sel'n," she replied teasingly. The green dipped her head in a nod that translated roughly as touche.

Nephele pulled on her riding leathers despite the fact she doubted they'd be betweening so soon. Added warmth didn't hurt in the air, especially if they were doing a mostly aerial lesson. She glanced over at her firelizards and smiled to see them digging into the bowl of meat she'd brought them. Sure they could hunt for themselves - and they often did when they weren't able to steal Nuoth's food - but sometimes she liked to spoil them. Anyways, if they had their food they wouldn't bother her in lessons.

She patted Nuoth's leg to get a boost up once the riding straps were set. Pure laziness. She could easily climb up on her own but both of them liked the leg up anyways. Nephele settled into place and secured her straps before giving the green the signal to take off. As usual, her heart stopped for a moment as Nuoth leapt off the edge and she felt her insides rising. It was still a thrilling sensation. Nuoth didn't falter at all as she headed towards their lesson. A very good flyer, the green was.

They arrived in a timely fashion since speed was one of Nuoth's strongest points in flight. The green landed without any fuss, brushing against Kaaoloth's mind briefly in greeting. She dipped her head to any of her clutchsiblings who looked her way but otherwise she was silent. She really was more of a watcher than a talker. Nuoth folded her wings to her back and offered Hers help down again. Nephele leaned against her green once she was down. Her question had already been asked thanks to R'ahre so she simply had to wait for the answer.

[ace]

*reserved for post* Sorry I havn't been around guys! 0-0 Life is getting the better of me >.>

[archenstone]

V'rael tugged on the flight straps. He always tested them. "Do you like the new Weyr Taith?" He asked. Now they actually had room. Taith had been getting too big for a shared place. V'rael loved the new Weyr too. He had spent the day cleaning and arranging it to his standards. A few keepsakes from his days on the ocean where present. Now they sat on his dresser. A large shell, compass and a small carved ship where among the items. A picture of the Enduring Fate, his old fishing ship, was painted on a piece of sail canvas that had been salvaged. It was the only art on his wall.

With the floors scrubbed clean, the bedding fresh, and everything in order he had gone to sleep. This morning upon waking he had smiled the first real smile in a long time. He had his own place....it was just the way he wanted it and he could exercise in peace as early as he wanted with out bothering anyone. First order of business had been straightening his furs.

Yes, the room is good for my tail. Taith's words brought him out of his reverie. "Good." V'rael climbed up on to the freshly oiled Taith and they took off. Taith pumped his wings...giving them altitude. V'rael tightened his legs as Taith then began a steep decline towards the training grounds....curving his dive to cork screw a couple times before pulling out and breaking speed to land. V'rael took a breath. Feeling his empty lungs fill. Taith's enjoyment of the edge both frightened and exhilarated V'rael.

A new instructor? He had had issues with the last one. What about this guy? His eyes widened slightly at sight of Kaaoloth's missing limb. It was obvious that this duo had experience. Would it be enough to give them one teacher for the last of the training? It seemed his question was the same as everyone else's so he came up with another one. "With the war between weyrs going on will we be learning aerial combat maneuvers at some point?" He had heard some talk about it from a couple of ex Fort Riders. It sounded like a good idea to him. How could they be less prepared than the others?

[subtlemystery]

Kaaoloth's calls us to a lesson, KaliaMine. Huath didn't seem bothered by it at all, instead, just turning her head to observe Hers, who was pulling her hair back out of her face, securing it back and grabbing the riding gloves. All things considered, Kalia had gotten used to having to move when she was called, and a part of her wondered if that wasn't really what the Weyrling Lessons were partially about. Thread didn't wait for everyone to wake up, or get ready, riders just had to be ready to go, just like with Weyrling Lessons.
Did he say where, love? Noting the fact taht Huath was more than ready to leave, Kalia smiled as the green inclined her head once,
The training grounds.

Sometimes she had to wodner where all of Huath's confidence came from, surely she herself was nothing like that? Assured, cofnident, Kalia knew she often was unsure of decisions, what to do, when to do it, the only saving grace in that was she chose to make her decision swiftly, rather tha dally on about it. If she made a mistake, then so be it. She'd deal with teh consequences, and the next time the choice presented it's self, she could choose to ignore that particular form of action. Smiling as Huath moved, Kalia noted that the green never moved swiftly. She was sure that was not because she couldn't, but because she wouldn't move any faster than was needed.

I wonder why F'ur resigned? Taking in their new teachers with a mixture of curiousity and evaluation, Kalia and Huath landed lightly, though Kalia couldn't help but wonder if he'd been told about the individual weyrlings and their progress in different areas. Dropping to the ground lightly, Kalia chose to remain silent. She would be told everything she needed to know, and unlike Miera, she didn't have the worry of a Queen's wing, or lack there of.
It doesn't matter, listen to the answer anyway. You may have to user the knowledge sometime.

[Rei]

Sel’n nodded to each weyrling as they began their questions. Kaaoloth gave greetings to all the weyrlings in the form of a soft croon. Whether they actually reached out and greeted him first didn’t matter. They now belonged to him. All of them, whether they liked him or not, where now his students. Inocenth no longer had any claim on them. Moving his head to rest it on the ground next to his, the brown snorted. Selminelove, it seems we have decent attendance but there are still some missing. Shall we wait for them? The brown’s eyes scanned the heavens but when no dragons came into view he turned his gaze back to his students.

No. If they don’t think lessons are important enough to attend they will not graduate. Clearing is throat the brownrider strode forward and began to address their questions. “M’kai. You will get a chance to make up what you missed. After class we will discuss times I’m available and you will have to try and work them into your schedule if you and Futh desire to catch up.” Turning to R’ahre the man nodded slowly. “I’m afraid we are still a few lessons away from that particular lesson. I don’t believe this class is ready for between yet. There are still a few things you all need to learn before you may between safely.” That particular question seemed to be the most common question the weyrlings had. He could understand it.

Between was one of the things he had been keen to learn as wellas a weyrling. Strange how something that dangerous was enticing. “I caution anyone against trying to between before we do in class. That particular lesson can, and sometimes does, result in death. I would hate to lose any of you because you are overeager.”

Turning from the blueweyrling Sel’n caught Meira’s question and frowned slightly. How was he to answer it without possibly offending her? Seemed there was really no way around it. Smiling at the goldweyrling he looked up at Jingth and examined her carefully before speaking. “Yes it is true that S’rei disbanded the queen wing. For good reason too. Queens are too precious to us. They continue the weyr with their offspring. We can’t risk losing them. With the war looming over our heads, the recent attacks, and disappearances it is probably just a matter of time before we are dragged into the war. We will not just be fighting thread I believe." The brownrider paused to allow that to sink in. "The queens will be next to useless in dragon battle. It would distract the other dragons if they where there, for they would all feel the need to protect the golds. I believe Jingth and you will be helping Keagan and Savitri with the more domestic attributes of the weyr. Tithes and such.” Turning back at Kaaoloth the Weyrlingmaster continued. “You also work in the infirmary if I am not mistaken? You will be allowed to continue work there as well I am sure.”

The next question caused a rumble from Kaaoloth and actually a small smile from Sel’n. “Yes. I do plan to talk to S’rei about tin cooperation fighting and defensive maneuvers into the lessons. I believe you should all learn to defend yourselves properly. You will be notified as soon as this comes about of course.” Hopefully that answered all the questions. Seeing no other ones forthcoming the brownrider closed the discussions for now.

Striding toward Kaaoloth Sel'n mounted the brown with one swift movement. Rising from the ground the large brown flared his wings wide. Please inform yours that they are to mount and follow us. We will ring the canyon once and then form a simple V formation. Larger dragons in the front smaller ones toward the back. Jingth and Weith you will flank me. Jingth to the right Weith to the left.

Flashing a picture of the desired formation into their minds the brown rose as Sel’n pumped his fist in the traditional signal to rise. Do not worry if you have trouble staying in formation. We will practice it later. Right now we will be passing communications down the line. Last dragons in formation will pass to me what signal they think was passed on. If you where right we move on. If you are wrong we will pass it again till you all get it correct. Think of it being similar to the children messenger game. Gaining altitude the brown steadied his flight. Please share my speech with your bondeds. Mine will not be able to speak above the wind. There will be a short quiz on it when we land.The reasoning behind the hand signals are simple. Your dragon should have most of it’s concentration on fighting thread. Why distract your dragon to pass a message when a simple hand signal will suffice? In most wing formations you will be close enough to pass hand signals amongst other riders.

Sel’n waited until the dragons where more or less in formation making mental notes on who needed to work on flight in general. Patting Kaaoloth’s shoulder he sent a signal to Meira and Jingth. The signal was a simple one indicating that her dragon was too close to Kaaoloth. Kaaoloth pressed lightly on the gold’s mind. Jingth please indicate to yours that she is to pass the signal to Weith and he to Taith then so on down the line until we end with Huath.

((Late arrivals are welcome ^^ How you chose to introduce them is up to you.))

[Avu]

Going between. Meira wasn’t looking forward to it at all. She knew how to give the coordinates to between for a wher. But it was different and even though it had been such a long time ago, the thought made her stomach turn and she knew it would be habit, to go by a heat signature instead of a clear image. Scary. But the Weyrlingmaster’s attention turned to her question and the weyrlingrider swallowed, blinking at him. Jingth flipped her tail once, pleasantly; her gaze whirled shades of green and blue. She was determinedly ignoring Weith, Meira could tell; the gold was usually exceptionally polite to everyone but Weith was the one exception and she refused to let that bother her now. Meira leaned against the dragon’s shoulder, grateful for the reprieve from any sneering comments, and nodded quietly in response to the Weyrlingmaster’s words. That was…good, she supposed; she’d never want to let Jingth fight another dragon, ever, but…

If a dragon must obey a queen, why couldn’t we just order them to surrender, or fight each other instead of us? Jingth inquired calmly of Hers. No matter, though. I would not have you fighting. A swish of her tail, idle, the gold stretching. And to be truthful, she had no desire to fight at all, nor to fly Thread; it was so silly to think she’d actually want to, was it not? Jingth was very much vain; she thought she was the best and the most beautiful (because she was, of course) and part of that was her outward appearance. The gold had absolutely no interest in being scarred and beaten up, and even less in the possibility of Hers being injured. It would not do.

As soon as the last question had been answered, Kaaoloth’s instructions were passed to Meira through Jingth and the weyrlingrider turned obediently to mount Jingth. The gold slid smoothly to her feet and fluttered her wings prettily, expectant. She was good at flying and she liked it very much, but she’d much, much rather be lounging somewhere nice on top of one her slaves. The sooner the lesson was over, the better. Kaaoloth says we are to flank him. Right side. Weith will be on our left. Tch. The last sound was one of disapproval; but it was private as Jingth flared both wings and then threw herself into the air. Slipping into a thermal, she spiraled upwards to match Kaaoloth’s altitude. Jingth was relatively small for a gold, and slender; it showed in her grace. Her mind brushed, affectionate, against Meira’s, passing along the information that Kaaoloth was giving them. Had a lot to say, did their Weyrlingmaster’s brown, but Jingth passed it all along flawlessly.

They would be perfect. The gold pulled into the formation, matching Kaaoloth’s pace; as long as the brown made no sudden swerves she’d be just fine. Watch. Did you see? The gold ‘replayed’ the image to Hers and Meira nodded. Kaaoloth says to pass it to Weith, she added, irritated by the necessity of bespeaking the bronze. Meira closed her eyes, recalling the gesture, and then mimicked it towards R’men, slightly self-conscious. She didn’t want to mess it up for the entire Weyrling class…Jingth’s reassuring croon made her stomach unknot and her free hand ran down Jingth’s neck, grateful, as the gold grudgingly bespoke Weith, her ‘voice’ extremely pleasant. Forced politeness. Kaaoloth says Yours should pass the signal down to Taith and have Taith pass it down the line.

If his Rider was half the fool he was, the signal would get nowhere.

~*~*~

Tch. Ahth’s gaze slid over the dampness on Weith’s hide and then flickered to Minth, quietly; a low croon answered her greeting to him, but he didn’t speak. Since Baoth had yet to arrive with Hers, the blue slunk to join the green, setting near her and leaving R’ahre to follow him absently, head tilted back to focus primarily on the Weyrlingmaster. The response he received made R’ahre press his lips together slightly, disapproving; he was sure he and Ahth were ready to go between. Who wasn’t…? K’lir could, probably the goldrider because she’d had a wher previously, and…his gaze traveled around the gathered Weyrlings. Well, yeah. He didn’t know many of them well enough to make judgment calls but he knew V’rael and Taith had lost all respect in Ahth’s mind since the last lesson; the brown’s petty attempt at revenge had been disgustingly lacking in subtlety – and when subtlety was what Ahth thrived on, it certainly hadn’t been at all impressive.

And…as the man’s attention moved on, R’ahre paid attention still; a slight smirk flashed across his face at the answer the goldrider received. What he meant but wasn’t saying was that golds were basically good for nothing but babies. How kind. Defensive maneuvers and cooperative fighting was nice, though. Offensive probably would be a little more useful, but that was okay; he’d seen dragons fight and he’d seen what it should look like; he could probably teach Ahth the very basics at the least. One hand brushed against the blue’s dark hide, and he clicked his tongue once before he shrugged; he already knew how to fight. Ahth had no interest in learning; he wasn’t a physically aggressive entity. They’d cope, though; surely Ahth would take delight in ‘faking’ snaps at his clutchsibling’s heads.

The instructions were passed along, simple and short. Mount. We’re flying. V formation. Large dragons forward, smaller back. Not a very stable formation, is it? Signal will be passed down the line. Get it right or we’ll repeat it. Quiz upon landing. Be ready. Hand signals are important, use them. He flared his wings as soon as R’ahre was strapped in and then threw himself into the air, rapidly ascending. There was nothing to indicate showing off save for the smooth, undeniable serpentine grace with which the blue moved; he’d seen Taith’s corkscrew and the sneering condescension he felt was palpable to R’ahre, who simply tightened his legs to accommodate Ahth’s speed as he leveled off and flipped his tail idly, dropping back to allow that ridiculous brown to go ahead of him. After that…he was the largest, was he not? Falling in place behind Weith, across from Taith, to complete the V formation, Ahth glided.

Be ready. I’m sure Taith’s is /most/ competent with this ‘hand signals’ idea… The faint sarcastic emphasis on ‘most’ was the only indication of Ahth’s words being anything short of a compliment. R’ahre smirked slightly in response, tilting his head to look over at V’rael. As soon as he received the signal in question, he twisted to pass it along to M’kai, even as Ahth bespoke the other blue in a flat voice that could have been taken either as rude or polite – not that he cared. Pass it along. Don’t mess it up. Because he was just that encouraging.

[kat]

T'lor might have been on the recovery, and well enough to get out of bed, but he wasn't totally healed from his bout with firehead. He was still more tired than he ought to have been. So it took Shith some doing to get his bonded up and out of bed, and into their gear to go to attend Weyrling lessons. The blue nudged his affectionately, and then, when this did not work, proceeded to slobber on his face.

"Ah, shardit, Shith! I'm up, I'm UP." The blueweyrling rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a resounding 'thud!'. He glared halfheartedly at the blue, who was wagging his tail in that unusual way he had, and bounding around the room.

Mine, we have a new weyrlingmaster! Inocenth has resigned, and we must make a good impression, yes? The bubbly blue was eager to get going and meet whomever the new weyrlingmaster was. T'lor was more concerned with what had happened to F'ur and Inocenth. "Inocenth is all right, ah hope?" he drawled, pulling his shirt over his head, his trousers already on and--they fell down unceremoniously, and he yanked them back up and did them up.

I think so, mine. I think we would know if Inocenth betweened. The young dragon gave a visible shudder, but it was there and gone as quickly as it had come. He raced over to the ledge and allowed T'lor to mount, hardly waiting until the young man was settled in before diving off the ledge. Shith was a natural born flier. He was clumsy on the ground still, for whatever reason, and yet in the air? Poetry in motion.

They arrived just after Jingth, and Shith had to be restrained from bounding over and annoying the gold--again. He had never gotten over his fondness for the bright golden dragon, and it was embarrassing at times to deal with. Shith allowed himself to be reprimanded, and they listened to what the their new weyrlingmaster had to say. However, T'lor had meant to speak to F'ur about making up the missed lessons since he'd been too ill to attend. He'd have to speak to S'eln now, he supposed. So, getting Shith to bespeak the brownrider, he relayed his inquiry.

Excuse me, Weyrlingmaster? Mine wishes to inform you that he has been ill with firehead, and wishes to know if he may make up the missed lessons? The blue was not shy, that was for certain. In fact, he was anything but. Still, he had to await a reply because T'lor mounted them after they got their instructions, and they rose into the air, awaiting whatever the signal would be. Shith's memory was all right, but not phenominal. T'lor, however, would remember. T'lorhis always remembered!

[Ruby]

M'kai nodded at Sel'n's answer, face still grim. It was much better than being told that he would not be able to continue lessons, but much worse. He was still not totally healthy, and he already barely had time in the day to bathe and oil Futh (a daily procedure, at least), do his chores, attend lessons if they were happening, and take care of everything else a Weyrling needed to do in a day. Adding extra lessons on top of that wouldn't be easy, especially if they were one on one lessons, which in M'kai's experience always required more work. Still, at least he wasn't cursed to Weyrlinghood forever. And... he'd get to know Sel'n better?

Part of his grim look was for this lesson, too, once he got the plan from Futh. The Blue didn't mind his difficulty with takeoffs- there wasn't an embarassable bone in the Blue's body, it seemed- but M'kai was embarassed. He was so used to being good at almost anything, being the top of his class (if only by being the one who'd done it most often), that being not good at something was VERY uncomfortable. Futh was simply determined to get it right, no matter how long it took. He knew he'd make it eventually. Unfortunately, he had to do it now, and that was that.

M'kai checked his straps and mounted up, scowling more by the second. It didn't help that the first few dragons to get in the air had perfect takeoffs, smoothly assuming their places in the wing. Being as large as he was, Futh would be following Taith on Jingath's side of the V, opposite Ahth. Wonderful. If there was any dragon that could show up Futh at anything, it was Ahth. Steeling himself, M'kai gave Futh the gently pressure with his heels that indicated that the Blue should take off. There was a short pause.

Are you sure, M'kaiMineLove? Futh asked. I could wait until they are all in the air, and then they will not see us, he added, sounding just slightly sad. M'kai patted him on the shoulder and sent him a general feeling of love before digging his heels in again. They might as well get this over with.

Futh extended his wings and crouched as low as he could, and M'kai tried again to become a feather. Futh gave two good flaps before launching himself on a downstroke, trying desperately to get enough altitude to compensate for the upswing before he could push down again. As usual, he sank too fast, almost landing back on his haunches before completing the second downstroke... but no! Where he'd usually settle back to the ground and have to try again, this time he shot up another few feet, angling his wings so that he would move diagonally instead of straight up. Slowly but surely he climbed foot after foot, until he eventually caught the same thermal some of the others had used and slid into place behind the Brown. M'kai was laughing wildly, but surely no one else could hear it over the wind.

Turning his attention to Ahth to his left, M'kai squinted. It was easy for the higher-ranked dragons, they were so much closer together! But he had always had good eyes, and he could see R'ahre's hand just fine. Shoving his hand towards T'lor on Shith, he passed the signal along. T'lor had been sick too, although not with the plague, so M'kai tried to make it as clear as he could- certainly the bluerider would need nearly as much outside classwork as he did.

Futh labored on, nodding at Ahth and trying his best to keep up as the signal went on down the line. Do not worry, it was correct, he offered Ahth, not even a tiny hint of self-satisfaction there. He just wanted to do it right, and he honestly didn't want Ahth to worry. Maybe Ahth would like him better? M'kai snorted and glanced back at Nephele and Nuoth, just behind them. Hopefully they'd keep it going and get it right. Futh was flying like a rock now, as he always did when he got comfy in the air, but still. M'kai wanted this over quickly.

[Sheari]

As his hide slowly dried, Weith payed close attention. The usually chipper dragon was in a now completely serious, sort of melancholy mood. The harsh words from His had really woken him up to the reality of hidden dangers. What if the waterfall had been poisoned just as they had flown close to it? The bronze shuddered at the thought. He masked it as best he could as it being a breeze under his wing but there wasn't really much of a breeze. He sniffed. With the "rider's up" command, R'men climbed into his mildly dry leathers with his mildly dry pants. He shivered as Weith rose into the air, his jacket being damp on he outside.

Thank you, Jingth.[/i] No tone, no real emotion. Just a calm three words and then a severance of contact. Nothing to say Weith had said anything but the memory of it.

R'men held on as he watched the hand signal from Meira flash to him. He noted it and passed it on to those behind him. Weith flapped his wings to flank Kaaoloth better, as he touched the mind of Taith. Jingth says you should tell Yours to pass on the hand-signal Mine sent to him.[/i] With his job done, Weith withdrew from the mind of the brown and began to glide.

Melancholy mood and all.

~*~

[/color]

Anusha swiftly swung herself onto the back of Minth and strapped herself in. As a greenpair, they would be in the back of the V. Slowly, they gained altitude, hanging back in the formation. They had chosen the back, behind Nuoth hopefully, so they would not mess up anyone else, should Minth falter. Anusha didn't dare think about what might happen if the green would up in front of someone. Minth, on the other hand, felt rather confident in the air.

It was the taking off and landing part that she feared.

You are fine, AnuMine. I am fine. Please do not be tense.[/i]

The green flapped and rose above the other airborne dragons before sinking back down. Anusha slowly relaxed and let the wind of flying breathe on her face. It was mostly silent, but maybe for the ever so soft whistle. Akos, flared his wings, clinging to the collar of the His' jacket. He hadn't ever been this high! Oh no! It felt so good! He flashed everyone around an image of him as big as they were, flying with them. He lavished extra love on the colours of His' greenthingMinth, and Sylph's bluething. Some highlights were given to Weith, but not enough to make him stand out in the image.

Akos could fly too, see?!

[archenstone]

As soon as V'rael was in place Taith had jumped into the air. He beat his wings. Feeling a warm pillar of air pushing upwards he used it to further send him towards Kaaoloth. Taith liked the brown, whether it was because Kaaoloth was different or because he hadn't yelled at Taith yet was hard to tell. Still. Taith hadn't pulled any pranks yet. He watched as first Kaaoloth's then Jingth's then Weith's passed hand signals down the line. You do know that if we are ever in combat or even when we fight thread I'm not going to keep still enough for you to wave your hands about.[/orange].

V'rael could sense Taith was bored with the way lessons where going. Taith, I thought the same thing when I first joined on my Father's ship. However it was hand signals that ended up saving the most men from getting hurled overboard. We may never need them...but its good to know them. Besides....just how many people here know how to work together? Its good practice. V'rael watched carefully as R'men signaled.

That's it, lets send it to Ahth and R'ahre. V'rael raised his arm, mimicking the signal he received. Have your's pass the signal on. Taith was ready to play with what he felt where more important things....like fancy flying. He managed to keep from doing anything rash so far yet his tail flicked with withheld energy waiting to burst.