Fear Weyrling Lesson Ten

[Ember]

Lesson Ten:
Classroom: Terrain Recognition Test and Special Training
Training Field: Emergency Fall Procedures Drills; Begin Formation Flying; Chain & Toss in the Air

-- In an effort to make weyrling lessons more interesting I've decided to skip some parts but please be aware that they did occur. Bolded parts are what we're doing, or going to be doing --

Attendance:
Bronzeweyrling Cr'oph of Mavenath (Excused)
Brownweyrling R'ven of Trilaranth
Blueweyrling Dy'shi of Chakraith
Blueweyrling L'nu of Paglieth
Blueweyrling J'naes of Barientoth *
Blueweyrling J'ash of Craivaruth
Blueweyrling K'lin of Picarth *
Greenweyrling Casta of Posilanth *
Greenweyrling Dyudahlii of Nemmalorith *
Greenweyrling Erilena of Feyrianth
Greenweyrling C'erc of Harmonyth
Greenweyrling Kiana of Tuelzanth *
Greenweyrling X'rx of Eveyth

Post count key: 1, 2, 3, 4+

*Inactive

----

Ioth led a three dragon team in the air. They were working on formation flying and that had the blue quite pleased. Plenty of flying and teaching and flying. Ground based lessons were so boring! He had Feyrianth and Picarth flying with him. He'd stressed when they first started their formation flying the need to be able to maintain a position. If they didn't the consequences could be disastrous. His gave a command and he relayed it to the weyrling dragons.

Please have Yours attach the lengthened straps and undo their usual ones. We're going to be doing emergency falls while we practice formation flying, he told them. His' idea. Emergency fall practice can be done at the same time as formation flying, especially since the latter made the former go smoother in a lot of cases. The straps that had been mentioned were to ensure that, should a dragon miss the catch, the rider wouldn't die. Do not be alarmed when Yours is no longer on your back. They are perfectly safe. Iskierka and I shall demonstrate.

We will? His rider questioned coldly. She hadn't said anything like that. My apologies, Mine. May we do a demonstration? She snorted and switched straps. Heads up, Picarth. Mine needs rescuing. There was a hint of playfulness in the tone directed towards the class that he hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble for. Iskierka was more preoccupied with what she was about to do to care much at all. As Ioth instructed Picarth, and the rest of the class, on how to properly catch another's rider she waited for an appropriate signal.

Once it was given Iskierka let herself fall off Ioth's neck and a few moments later she was safely landed on Picarth. She clipped herself in with the usual straps and unclipped the long ones. Ioth remained hovering over the younger blue until the straps were released. That's how it is done. Thank you Picarth. Once you have tried it please land and recollect Yours and let your partner have a turn. He swooped under Picarth at Iskierka's mental command and with the skill of turns of experience she completely unclipped herself from any harness and leapt onto his back. Teachers' privledge: no need to land. Ioth's attention shifted back to the whole class. As it did he felt something was a little off. It was normal to be a little on edge for emergency fall practice, right?

----

Dy'shi gulped after the demonstration. He had little fear of heights while he was strapped in firmly but to actually leap off of a dragon's back...Chakraith's calm helped him overcome his worry and he got her to contact Eveyth. If there was any other dragon he trusted, it was his friend's dragon. He wouldn't really have minded Feyrianth but another from his own mini-formation would be better, wouldn't it? Eveythclutchsister. Would you be willing to be partners?

[Requiem]

Will you stop flying like you want to be rid of me already? the greenweyrling protested testily, gloved hand clutching at the straps as she peeled off sharply from her mini-formation, rolling abruptly back in the direction they'd come and dropping fifty feet in an instant, wings snapping out in a stall that made his stomach drop without him and the teenager briefly curse his birth as a male. Merely trying to get a good look so I don't make a mistake and drag you through a waterfall, X'rxgrumpyMine, she returned sweetly. Don't start that again. Oh. Right. X'rxcheerfulbubblydelightfultobearoundMine. Growling something meaningless enough that even Eveyth couldn't pluck it from his mind, he watched Iskierka plummet with a glower. Having enough trouble firmly strapped in...

Eveyth brushed Chakraith's mind with a cheerful affirmative, indicating that Hers would go first. X'rx looked down skeptically at the blue. You're attached, she commented teasingly. Jump or I'll just dislodge you...three...two... The small young man slipped off feet first, but his timing wasn't - great. Chakraith, fortunately, corrected for him, and he swung into her neck, scrabbling for the straps and threading his arm through them along the side of her neck, just behind Dy'shi's foot. Eveyth nudged at him impatiently. Get on, get on. She wanted to catch. "Sorry," he mumbled, reaching up and around to catch onto Dy'shi's belt to help, swinging his leg up with a rather lithe movement for all that his fall had been awkward. He slid forward into Dy during the next wingbeat. X'rx unstrapped the long strap, ducking aside with a hiss and grabbing onto Dy for stability as Eveyth peeled away, the straps nearly catching him as they whipped past.

Ev!

Wait until you glow. Wait a turn, then you'll be ready. Wait until the end of the lesson. Wait. Wait. Wait. I'd like to wait for Mavenath, but you're completely unbearable like this. If we're going to be catching... A playful flip of her tail, and Eveyth plummeted for the falls like a stone, her short tail slamming against the water as she streaked downward. Let them catch me. I'm tired of waiting. The green barely pulled up in time to avoid smashing against the rocks at the base of the falls, most of her body dipping below the surface as her wings strained and she pointed her nose skyward to level out horizontal. A downsweep of her wings, and she burst back up, her pale color gleaming like a star in daylight, the richer membrane of large wings catching the light of the suns almost as if they had their own glow. No. They did.

X'rx's fingers gripped Dy'shi's arms hard, shoulders rounding until he was bent almost over the bluerider. "I...get us down. Please," he managed, though he didn't know if Dy would be able to hear him. Eveyth streamed upward, bursting through the faint cloud cover above with a joyous cry. Good afternoon, Selenitas! Catch me if you can!

[Rei]

Erilena felt the nervousness coming form her green in every wing stoke. It had nothing to do with the formation. Nothing to do with the fall procedure and everything to do with her clutch sister. Why she was nervous about Eveyth the four winged green couldn’t exactly explain but she was. All her brothers where acting strange as well and Feyrianth did not like it. She was steadfastly avoiding all the males as if she expected them to snap at her. On the ground she had been jumpy not even offering so much as a croon to any of them. Certainly unusual.

Banking to her left Erilena was just starting to consider who to ask to be her partner when Eveyth’s call rang out. Feyrianth gave an unsure keen in response and folded her wings to drop in a free fall. Out of the skies, had to get out of the skies. Snapping her four wings open she totally stalled them and landed lightly on the ground. With a soft brush she touched the minds of her sisters at the bidding of hers. My clutchsisters we must leave. Eveyth is rising. Lenamine says sticking around would be dangerous for us.

The green swiveled around to look at her bonded where she sat clutching the riding straps and trying to even her breathing. It wasn’t the fall that had scared Erilena. It was the flight happening above her head. Trilaranth would chase. She knew this and part of her was irrationally angry about having to share R’ven with anyone. Even in flightlust. Well there was no stopping it and no changing it. Curling one of her hands hard enough for her nails to bite into her palms she concentrated on soothing Feyrianth. The four winged green backed up and gave a few hops away from the training field. She would wait for her sisters before leaving completely so they could all leave together. Safer that way.


~~~

Kaaoloth had been lounging by the barracks watching the older class. His tail tip flicked back and forth as he watched them. One in particular held almost his full attention. Eveyth. He could sense that she was going to rise soon. The anticipation began to build within his body but he quelled it so as not to alert his. If his knew he would most likely prevent the pursuit and Kaaoloth wanted to chase. It had been awhile since he has last caught. He wanted to. Needed to. Small flecks of purple started whirling in his gaze as he watched the aerial display. Soon yes. Slowly he rose to his feet and sank his talons into the loamy soil to stop the desire to leap into the sky. Wait for it. Wait for it…There her rider was off and she was zipping away.

His answer to her call came in the form of a deep bellow. Muscles bunching he sprang into the air, his large wings quickly propelling him upwards towards Eveyth. Whipping his body around he made for the clouds bursting through behind and to her left. Good afternoon indeed my beautiful Eveyth. The older dragon responded his whirling violet eyes swirling in briefly amused shades. Lovely little thing she was. Beautiful.

Sel’n cursed form his desk as he felt Kaaoloth enter the flight. Who? A brief flicker of Kaaoloth’s vision was all he allowed himself to try and keep a handle on his brown. Eveyth? One of the senior class. But they shouldn’t be rising for at least another month or two. Early riser. Not totally uncommon but…but all the same he blamed Darya. Staggering out of his office and out into the sunshine he ignored the chaos in the skies above. Instead he concentrated on keeping enough of a distance from Kaaoloth to keep himself from unintentionally jumping anyone. X’rx. Where was X’rx? First things first. Find him. Find him and hope to Faranth this didn’t end up scaring anyone.

~~~

From the ledge of the infirmary Mavenath gave a unhappy bellow. Rearing up onto hind legs on the infirmary ledge he snapped his jaws together in a display of frustration and then sank to all fours. He was upset he would miss her debut into the skies. Angry as well. She was his favorite and he felt like he should be there to show her. Unhappy he snorted and then briefly brushed her mind in apology. I am sorry my darling Evey. I truly would have liked to pursue you through the skies. Damn the Jiggles. How he hated that fat little mandyr.

[rii]

The entire week had been.. unusual ..to say the least. If he had been an analytical sort, R'ven would have noticed that it occurred around lesson time. The tall brownrider found his eyes stealing to the side to catch a glimpse of X'rx. What really made R'ven feel off kilter was the desire to be close to the green weyrling – maybe even brush him with a touch. R'ven shook the thoughts from his head. Yes, he would acknowledge that X'rx was one of those men that he'd describe as being pretty (with no level of insult intended). But he wasn't interested – or at least he repeatedly assured himself he wasn't interested in another male. He had Erilena, who he quite fond of, and he had never looked at another male before. It didn't make any sense, he hardly even saw X'rx these days and the ex-drudge was his friend. R'ven just didn't like guys that way.. ..did he?

Now up in the air, it only got worse. Stop breaking formation. Trilaranth merely rumbled in response. He steered his course back into his assigned spot before again, breaking away to have a better view of Eveyth. R'ven smacked the back of the large brown's neck with a glove hand. In response Trilaranth pumped his wings to break completely away from his partner and jostle his rider with a touch of irritation – but between their close bond came his amusement. Do you think you can emergency fall all the way to the ground. Tril.. Maybe Feyrianth will be so kind to catch you, because it will be ever so much of a hassle to stop now.

R'ven's hazel eyes turned to Eveyth's glowing hide. A flutter grew inside his chest as he watched her dive. So skilled, so beautiful. Trilaranth rumbled with the thoughts that echoed inside his rider. And such a bother he had to land first. The brown tucked his wings, plummeting into a controlled dive. He flared his wings at the end, letting their wide span stall his speed – at least enough to avoid harming himself. Trilaranth enjoyed landing on the ground with an impressive thunder. R'ven dismounted, and before he could even began to untie the strap Trilaranth's head swung around and bit clean through the leather.

"Oh. Thanks." The smith comment dryly while eying the severed end. He shook his head and worked to untie himself while his brown leaped back into the sky with a powerful down-sweep of wings. Along with the leather cord off came his gloves.. then his jacket.. then his boots. The bond between rider and dragon too close and strong for the hold-born smith to realize he wasn't acting on his own accord.

Wasn't it such a shame, Trilaranth smugly thought to himself as he worked to rise after his green sister, that Mavenath would be unable to join them. Not that the brown ever thought his bronze brother could keep up with their nimble sister. It would have amused him to watch Mavenath try (Trilaranth was self-assured he wouldn't make a fool of himself. He knew his limits). Still, he knew Mavenath favored Eveyth – Trilaranth would just have to take up that place while the bronze was out of play, wouldn't he?

On the ground, R'ven lips spread in a grin.

[Shiny]

J'ash froze in the middle of attaching himself to the long harness as the atmosphere suddenly seemed... different. Craivaruth watched Eveyth Rise with a look that couldn't possibly get more bored. It seems our clutchsister is Rising, J'ashmine.[/i]

Slowly lowering the buckles back down, J'ash watched the glowing Green dance with the clouds above before sighing. "Man, this lesson sounded cool, too!" Grumbling like he was Craivaruth, he fumbled to undo the rest of the harness and slid off of his dragon's shoulders. Craivaruth watched J'ash with amused but guarded yellow eyes. Look at it this way. At least you won't be overcome by flightlust.[/i]

J'ash shot a look over his shoulder at the blue-green dragon. "You say that like it's a good thing," he heaved a dramatic sigh. "I'm never going to get laid." Hand resting on Craivaruth's side, the blond man watched chaos begin. It was interesting, sure, having never seen a Flight happen before, but he felt a little left out. Not that he was blaming Craivaruth, or anything. The females were leaving, and the males were getting revved up. "Well, I guess we better get out of here if we don't want to get caught in the mayhem."

J'ash patted Craivaruth on the side before turning to leave. The Blue took a few bounding steps forward and pumped his abnormally long wings, taking to the air. If the lesson is to happen elsewhere, I'll have my people call your people,[/i] stated an amused Craivaruth as he disappeared into the distance to do some small, brief hunting. Aha. Ha. ha. Very funny.

[mierce]

Cer’c

One would think that falling from one’s dragon into someone else’s would be enough of a reason for Cer’c to want to pay attention to lesson--you know, to make sure that he didn’t end up getting seriously hurt. Confidence, however, overflowed from the greenweyrling like a river during a flash flood. Flying was his thing. Maybe luckily for him and for Harmonyth, Eveyth decided that lessons would be the perfect time to rise. Harmonyth watched her clutchsister while Cer’c obliviously fiddled with his straps, only half listening to Iskierka’s instructions. We should stay grounded, she said privately to Cer’c. Eveyth is taking to the skies.

What? We need to wait our turn? Cer’c squinted up into the sky at the green in question and a few other male dragons. But other dragons are up there, too.

She is rising. Feyrianth’s says it would be dangerous for us.

Cer’c frowned, scratching his head. He sort of remembered hearing someone talk about flights during lessons, but what exactly was the big deal he could not recall. Curiously, he glanced around at his fellow classmates, noting that R’ven appeared to be… stripping?

Huh…

~*~*~

Evrgarde

From his sunny rock by the river bathing pools, Iorath lifted his head and peered over the edge of his fanned wings. He rumbled, rising to his feet and shaking out his wings, which, incidentally meant that the shadow of his wings also moved. Evrgarde frowned as the hot sun beat down on her, looking up from her pool at her dragon’s silhouette against the bright sky. Iorath had not said anything, but she could sense the inkling of desire beginning to build up within him. “You cradle-robber.”

Iorath glanced back at His, his eyes swirling blue-violet. I assure you, she is of consenting age.

“Can’t you keep it in your pants for…” her thoughts wandered off to the senior weyrling class, recalling that most of the greenriders were still in their mid-teens. “…one with an older rider?”

Iorath flicked his tail at her. Ah, but I haven’t any pants, EvrLove. And just like that, he took to the skies to meet Eveyth, spiraling through the air in playful loops. Why, hello there, he crooned pleasantly, making a leisurely circle around her, just barely avoiding knocking into Kaaoloth. His eyes were still blue-violet, as he made effort to keep his emotions in check for His’ benefit--at least for now. It wouldn’t do for His to grab the first girl to cross her path should she not make it to the training grounds in time.

Meanwhile, Evrgarde had begrudgingly climbed out of the pool and was working on drying and dressing. She didn’t care much for other people in general, but she was a touch more tolerable of weyrlings and would not want to disappoint should Iorath manage to catch that green. She gathered up her towel and frowned. Wait, when did she even care for weyrlings?

[Ember]

That explained his agitation, Ioth thought as he watched Eveyth. It wasn't simply nervousness for his students but the desire to chase. Eveyth was rising and even he couldn't resist if the green rose practically under his nose. He brushed the minds of the weyrling dragons - Eveyth excepted, of course - and ordered the females away. He would have no injuries on his watch. The males were left to leave or chase as they saw fit. He just cautioned them not to lose their heads.

Without an order from His, Ioth landed in the training field where Chakraith, the current bearer of Eveyth's, was headed. He beat the blue there and urged his off. Iskierka snorted and tried to reign him in. She understood his need to chase every now and then but giving her orders? No, she didn't like that. Ioth wasn't willing to be tied down though. He was already too far gone to be able to pull back. The bluerider unclipped herself and half slid, half jumped off of Ioth's back. She turned a neutral gaze upwards. Eveyth had just thrown a wrench into her lesson. Tsk.

The blue was up and chasing almost as soon as His was off. Though he hadn't extended the courtesy to His, he did ask the green her permission as others began to arrive. Fair skies, Eveyth. May I join you today? He noticed Kaaoloth and another blue join him, along with Trilaranth. The only one he actually saw as a threat was Iorath. The other blue was on Ciceroth's wing as well. He was dismissed in favour of the green, as were the other two males.

Iskierka watched the dragons idly, feeling the pull but not giving in to it. She recognized Kaaoloth and her eyes flicked downwards to search for Sel'n. Iskierka didn't actually care about the weyrlings but she figured jumping any of them would be a bad thing, despite the circumstances. Four chasers meant both of them could run damage control...assuming Sel'n could keep himself separate enough from his dragon to be useful. She caught sight of him but was distracted by R'ven stripping. Hmm. Well, that was interesting. Iskierka looked towards X'rx and silently cursed her predecessor. She'd been informed about the incident between the previous assistant weyrlingmaster and X'rx and could only blame Eveyth's premature rising on the woman.

----

As Chakraith compensated for the poor timing of X'rx, Dy'shi scooted as far forward as possible. He liked X'rx and all but he didn't want to be flattened if it could be avoided. The boy watched what he could of X'rx's progress to the place just behind him, a little concerned for his friend. When the other boy managed to settle in place he breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully those long straps were strong. He was very glad for them, for X'rx's sake as much as his own.

When Eveyth pulled away from Chakraith a puzzled frown crossed Dy's face. What was she doing? Then he noticed the glow and blinked. He'd been in the weyr long enough to know what the glowing meant but he wasn't sure why she was glowing just then. The earliest was supposed to be a turn, wasn't it? Hands closing painfully around his arms alerted him to the fact that something was up with X'rx. The wind and Chakraith's even wingbeats drowned out most of what the greenweyrling said but the boy understood that something wasn't right.

He directed Chakraith to land and she headed downwards. The blueweyrling tracked Ioth's progress down to the field as he deposited his rider to chase Eveyth. Chakraith? I am fine. I do not feel the need to chase, the blue responded to the unasked question. One mystery solved: Chakraith was not interested in chasing greens. Did that mean she wouldn't rise either? Time would tell. The blue landed easily on the ground and Dy attempted to look over his shoulder at his friend. "X'rx?"

((As the lesson portion of this thread is over, feel free to have non-chasers exit the thread. Or cause trouble. Up to you. Please wait for Req's posts now instead of mine.))

[dragon]

L'nu checked his straps, then checked them again. It felt weird, not being lashed down securely. But what was there for it? Those long straps were a worry ... especially since Paglieth sported extra talons to be catching them on, too. He gathered them up in his lap, and fidgeted. Finally, he blew a sigh. He was worried, out of kilter, there was no doubt about that. But it was one of those things, wasn't it? Swallow the fear, move forward anyway. Beat it down, beat it back, and get the job done. Nervousness was normal, wasn't it?

It didn't help that Paglieth was nervous, too. Tension was in the air, only adding to the problems the dragon was having wrapping his mind around the lesson. He liked his. He didn't want to risk anything happening to L'nu. Not anything! And dropping him - deliberately or otherwise - and then trusting someone else to catch him ...? This did not sound like a good plan to him, regardless of the necessities of the situation.

"Alright, I think we're ready." L'nu answered, hanging onto the loose bits of strap to make sure they didn't dangle. Paglieth grumbled to himself, and launched himself into the sky, carrying L'nu along with him. L'nu found it was quite a trick, staying aboard without the shorter straps to secure him. It was a skill he was going to have to work on, apparently. But once up, he fed the long straps downward, to make sure they wouldn't tangle on Paglieth's ridges once it was time for him to dive off. Whenever that was.

Paglieth never made it to his position in the formation, distracted by the chaos that was slowly building, all more or less attention centered around Eveyth. This only served to distract him further, turning slightly in the air to drift closer as X'rx bailed off and landed somewhat successfully on Chakraith. It was something of a relief to see that it could actually be done without any harm to the rider. But ... that glowing form further up in the air sure was an attention-getter.

L'nu remarked on something, but it was snatched away by the wind as Paglieth suddenly cut hard upward, chasing after Eveyth. L'nu squeaked at the motion, and grabbed at his straps trying to stop his tumble backward. Only ... the straps were longer, too long to stop the fall. "AAAAEEEEEIIIIII!!!!" He squalled, fit to actually be heard as he tumbled and bumped his way all the way down Paglieth's ridged back. Finally he came to a halt, yanked to a rather uncomfortable stop by the long straps. "UGH!" He grabbed at his belt, hoping that it would hold as he stared at the ground that was now rushing up rather alarmingly fast.

Paglieth's eyes swirled solid purple, having forgotten entirely about L'nu being along for the ride, diving straight into a pursuit trajectory hot on Eveyth's tail. Well ... not as close as he would have liked, but he liked to fancy he was doing better than anyone else at the moment. It never occurred to him that this was because the others had actually bothered to leave their riders behind before chasing. Wings flickering and twitching at appropriate moments, Paglieth shot through the air with precision, before fully opening his wings and shooting upward again away from the ground. Through the whole maneuver, L'nu hollered at the top of his lungs, air rushing past him so fast he couldn't even hear his own voice as he trailed along behind those beating blue wings. Under normal circumstances, as closely bonded as he was to his dragon, L'nu would have been entirely engrossed in the situation. Probably even twirling around madly on the ground. However ... this was the most farthest thing from normal that he could think of. Especially right now. Right now, he was just hoping he survived this in one piece! Doubtless he'd be hoarse before the flight was over!... if he ever managed to let go of the straps afterward, too.

I can!! Paglieth answered, added a trumpeting bugle to reinforce the acceptance of her challenge. Whether he could or not remained to be seen, but he was certainly going to try!! ... with a screaming boy dragging along behind him in the air, too.

[Requiem]

She turned in place, dipping a wing through the misty cloud and flicking it toward Kaaoloth playfully. Twisting further, she flung another burst of cloud toward Iorath in greeting. Such strong males come to play with me, she crooned happily, coiling back at Paglieth's sudden appearance with his screaming...adornment. Eveyth twisted in a visual shimmer of amusement. My brother, you flatter. But I should not wish you to lose Yours in my Flight, which I do not think the strap can withstand. I promise not to fly so far you cannot catch up, she added, gentle laughter rippling behind her words as she carressed his mind. Adorable clutchbrother she had, but perhaps not the most logical. Hm. She'd take it as a compliment.

Eveyth brushed Mavenath's mind, regret and forgiveness intermingling. Despite her apparent calm, she really couldn't wait any longer. The green felt positively ready to explode with the need...to Fly! She barely even had the patience to stall long enough to wait for those depositing riders below. Come to test me, IothTeacher? she questioned playfully, flapping swift in a tight circle around him before looping more slowly over her brown brother, her tail dragging briefly along his underbelly. Hurry, Pagliethbrother! Come. Let us dance! Then, as if gravity had been snapped off with those words, Eveyth dropped directly through the center of her gathered males, a bright falling star.

And dance she did. Playing, clearly, more than attempting to put the males through their paces. Not fair to start evaluating before Paglieth rejoined them, and Eveyth was nothing if not fair; she couldn't remain still, though. The long, abrupt dive was categorized by a tight corkscrew, wings flaring open and closed at random intervals to adjust her speed, before she whipped her short tail one direction, her neck the other, arching her back and flapping with all her might, managing a stall. Another moment of hovering to see her males dancing with her before she rolled into a cross stream. Eveyth let it zip her along a short distance, then rolled out of it again. Pagggliieetth hurry it upppp. She wasn't going to stall much longer.

X'rx trembled slightly, forcing himself to loosen his grip on Dy. All too relieved to be on the ground. The desire to slip off Chakraith and fly...was almost more than he could handle. Even knowing how terrible an idea that was. The greenweyrling snugged Dy'shi briefly, lips brushing in a not-completely-innocent way across the young teen's cheek. "Thanks, Dy. You're a doll." He leapt...flopped off Chakraith, only then realizing that the shorter strap he'd clipped onto wasn't going to let him down. Tsking, X'rx flailed for the clip for a moment, flopping down onto the ground when his fingers finally found it. Kneeling, he tore off the hot helmet, tugging at a glove with his teeth while using the other hand to push himself up in a catlike movement.

He tossed his head, an amused smile twitching across his lips. That hadn't been very graceful, had it? Bet none of his beautiful males commented, though. A shame, really. He would have agreed and laughed with them, just as long as they still chased. X'rx peeled the glove off, the material still dangling from his teeth. It occurred to him that he should probably go to the Flight room or something. But why? Two were already here, and more were coming. He could tell. Besides, he didn't want to lose track of where he was trying to get there and end up bothering anyone.

[Shiny]

J'ash didn't get too far when he heard a faint scream from behind. He should have ignored it, having learned how Flights can be, but it sounded vaguely familiar. Gray eyes focused on... what appeared to be a human dangling from some thin straps to his dragon. A blue dragon. ...Paglieth? L'nu?!

Craivaruth, get back here. NOW! We have an emergency!

J'ash was already sprinting in their direction. A moment later, Craivaruth was back, just as determined - and worried - as J'ash about their friends. J'ash grabbed onto the side of Craivaruth's saddle, who had slowed mid-air somewhat - it was almost pure luck J'ash was able to so cleanly and quickly pull himself onto Craivaruth's back - and the duo were arching up from the ground in no time. It's amazing what you can do under pressure.

Blonde hair flying wildly in the wind, J'ash leaned close to his dragon's body, as if to reduce air resistance, like a Terran equestrian. They were approaching the dangling weyrling quickly. So much adrenaline was pumping through him, he completely forgot to harness himself up when he jumped on Craivaruth. J'ash didn't realize how much danger he was in - he didn't realize that his death was looking him right in the face. Hopefully he wouldn't realize it, or he might just slip out of pure fear.

His vocal cords actually hurt with how loud he was shouting. He hoped the wind wouldn't completely devour his words. "L'NU!! GRAB ON!" It was actually almost exactly like the training they were supposed to do.

PAGLIETH! Stay still so we may help your Rider![/b][/i] Craivaruth tried to get as close as possible to his clutchbrother while J'ash reached out as far as possible for L'nu, leaning precariously without a harness.

[Rei]

Feyrianth shuffled awkwardly on the ground, talons churning the ground between her feet. So pretty was her sister. She would never be able to fly like that. A soft regretful croon was given before her attention was taken by L’nu and Paglieth. Her wings flared wide in alarm and she bunched to leap into the air to perhaps help when Erilena pulled hard on her mental reins. One word left the woman’s lips. “No.” More softly she brushed the green’s mind in wordless apology. Craivaruth and his have them love. If you get into the air you might offend Eveyth. I don’t want her claws raking your back anymore than you likely do.

The weyrling’s eyes fell automatically back to R’ven and Erilena bit her lip before mentally directing Feyrianth away. Couldn’t watch. Didn’t want to. The infirmary would do. Somewhere where she could immerse herself in something difficult and forget about everything for awhile. A good long while. Giving an unsure croon Feyrianth hopped away a decent distance before leaping into the air and winging low for the infirmary. The green’s mind brushed lovingly against her bonded’s in an attempt to soothe her fear and upset. Her’s did not like flights. Not at all. Perhaps Feyrianth could find a way not to rise. She did not want to if it upset hers this much.

~~~

Kaaoloth crooned as the moisture from the cloud brushed over him. Opening his maw in a draconic grin he back winged midair to disperse more cloud cover before dipping down beneath the clouds and Eveyth. Swiveling his head he watched as more chasers arrived. None of them where offered more than a brief glance. Rivals they all where. Not worth his notice or acknowledgement. He paid only enough attention to them to note their positions to prevent accidents. Other than that his attention was all for the glimmering afternoon star that was Eveyth.

Paglieth was given slightly more attention when he arrived however. A feeling of vast disapproval was brushed onto the blue. Who sought to chase with their’s still upon their back? It was simply stupidity. Snapping his wings shut the brown plummeted as he waited for Eveyth to get on with the flight. Seemed as if she wanted to wait for the stupid blue. That was her right of course but Kaaoloth was fast growing impatient.

At the last second the large brown flung his wings open to all but stop his decent and then climbed again. Catching an updraft he rode it to a decent enough height before slow rolling out of it and displaying his scared hide for evaluation. Experienced was Kaaoloth. Not one shred of him held any doubt in his skill or ability to keep up with the quick young green. He just wished she would begin already. His body ached with the strength of his need for her. Leveling out the brown turned in lazy circles, head tilted to keep and eye on the green below him as she preformed her stunts. Silly young one. If she kept that up she would tire quickly. Green’s where not known for their endurance after all. No, Eveyth was built for quick spurts of raw speed and aerial stunts. A soft croon was given in acknowledgement of her beauty as he awaited her continuation of the flight.

Sel’n got to the training field in quick enough fashion. Feyrianth’s leave was noted with a brief nod of approval. At least one of the riders had enough sense to take her beast away. A mild glare was given Cer’c the thought behind it clear. Get Harmonyth out of here. Then unbidden his eyes fell to X’rx and he strengthened the mental barrier between him and his lusty brown. Damage control. The young ones would quickly lose their heads more than likely. This was a new experience for them all. Something that they hadn’t even discussed in lessons yet. Something they shouldn’t have had to discuss yet.

Sharding Darya. She really had messed up this time. The weyrlingmaster’s eyes fell onto Iskierka and he drew closer to her. Arriving with a brief nod of greeting, he spoke in a monotone. “I suppose we need to play damage control? How much of a grip does Ioth have?” Whichever dragon’s rider didn’t catch would have to be monitored to make sure no one underage got jumped. Now he just had to hope that his brown didn’t catch so he could play ground control effectively.

Sel’n shifted slightly to keep one eye on X’rx. Had to at least play the part of interested chaser a little he supposed. Not enough to blur the lines between him and Kaaoloth but enough to keep the greenrider calm. Hopefully his classmates could fill the attention quota enough without him having to interact to much. Turns of practice in resistance came in handy at times like these. Especially in the North where losing yourself in a flight could end in death.

[rii]

Trilaranth's rumbled as Eveyth passed beneath him. His tail flipped downward to lightly tap against hers in play before she could zip off – falling this time. The brown tucked his wings, half-twisting to dive after her course. He pulled out of the move in a smooth arch, tilting on his side to skim past Eveyth's stall and making sharp turn (for a brown his size, anyway) around her. All the while a deep hum rumbled in his chest – content he was with the feeling singing in his blood. Fly, beautiful Eveyth, fly.

Peeling aside in a barrel roll, Trilaranth doubled back and took stock of the other chasers. Two older blues, a brown, and... Paglieth. Teeth glinted in the sunlight as Trilaranth watched the antics of his clutchbrother. He had never been too fond of his prattling brother.. of who he had to share a room with during their younger months. A dark hiss of a thought was shot privately to the blue, I suppose it is only right, that your constant folly has finally mounted to the moment where you will end up dashing your rider against the cliffs. Trilaranth's claws flexed in the air, and his wing arches twitched to almost turn him around to deal with Paglieth. Land, Paglieth. Or I will sever that cord and let your rider experience a free fall on his own and not tethered to you.

R'ven's face was lifted to the sky, a slight snarl curling on his lips before he let his gaze lower back down to the training field. Having shed his riding gear, he stood only in his shirt and pants – the stiff leather gear hindered his movements and he was already at a disadvantage when it came to Eveyth's tight curls and loops. His lids lowered into a pleased expression as he saw that X'rx was finally on the ground. R'ven, barefoot and in no hurry, strolled over the short grass toward the green weyrling.

There was a definite, if dark, turn of a smile on his lips as he neared his sister. The events around them be damned. R'ven could care less about the new arrivals and those that were quickly vacating the area. None of them mattered in this moment – it was Eveyth's moments. Her time to shine, and she would not disappoint any of them. Hazel eyes on the ex-drudge, R'ven moved past the younger man in a mimicry of his dragon turning around Eveyth's hovering glow. He'd do his best to dance with her, even if his own movements would be a contrast to hers.

[dragon]

Reality came crashing back in like a wave of ice water across the lusty blue's mind. Eveyth lost some of her sparkling allure - though by no means all of it. The hollering behind his haunches where L'nu was dangling like a strung up fish behind beating wings came crashing into his senses. Eveyth telling him she'd wait for him, and death threats from his clutchbrother ... it was all too much. Paglieth stuffed his wings out as far as they would go, dropping into a smooth glide as he took stock of the situation. How had it gotten this way? The lack of crazy stunts calmed L'nu down, no longer screaming his head off anymore. Which was good.

Paglieth saw Craivaruth coming up from below, and rumbled gratefully. I will hold steady. He assured his clutchbrother, taking one more beat of his wings and waiting. It was sickening, to know he'd almost ended the life of his own rider ... and his own life in the process. All for a shiny girl dragon. He'd never felt that way before, however, and certainly had not expected it! Certainly something to keep in mind for later on!

L'nu squeaked something, already half hoarse, when he saw his friend coming up for him. "J'ash!" He called, reaching out. He didn't know how long these falling tethers were going to hold - he hoped long enough. Just as soon as Craivaruth was close enough, he reached out for J'ash, catching ahold of his friend's arm and reeling himself in. "Oh, thank Faranth!" he rasped, settling astride the other blue behind J'ash. There, he fought with his straps before grumbling. "Oh, shardit." Pulling out his eating dagger, he slashed at the tethers until they finally released him.

Grabbing a hold of J'ash, assuming that the other lad was strapped on, L'nu breathed a sigh of releif. He wasn't in danger of dying anymore! Above them, Paglieth peeled away with a crooned apology to his and those who came for L'nu. Grateful beyond words. But those green wings, enticing him, calling to him to hurry ... he couldn't resist. Shining and sparkling like only she could do, Paglieth tore off after Eveyth with all haste.

Problem rectified, I am commmmminggggg~! He told her, urging her to move on even as he closed fast. She would fly, he would chase! He would adore her, and love every stroke of her wings, every twist of her lovely tail. Crooning adoration untold for the lovely, thoughtful, loving, caring, considerate green who waited for him, Paglieth found himself utterly smitten. Twitching his wings, he twisted into a diving roll executed with excellent aerial control before coming out of it to set off after her again. He would honor her with every ounce of strength he possessed!

Behind him, L'nu just clung to J'ash. Partly in relief to feeling safe again, to being rescued ... and partly because now that he wasn't scared out of his wits anymore, Paglieth's amorous aura was rubbing off on him - and J'ash just happened to be the one there to hug on. "Thanks."

[Shiny]

J'ash ground his teeth when L'nu grabbed onto his arm, pulling him onto Craivaruth with all of his might. Why did he feel so unstable, though? He fixed his available hand onto Craivaruth's hide as well as he could, trying to balance out this weird feeling of falling.

Once L'nu was safely ("safely") on Craivaruth's back, the younger male sliced off the long harness straps that had so dangerously tethered him to Paglieth. He felt L'nu practically seal himself onto his backside in thanks. He figured that Paglieth's emotions were rubbing off on his friend, so he would be quite amorous, but J'ash smiled anyway. Hugs were always nice, no matter who they were from, or for what reason.

He felt himself sliding backward with the extra attachment on his back. It was then that he looked down and realized that he had been riding Craivaruth without any sort of restraint. Panic hit him like a slap in the face, the blood in his veins turned into ice, his eyes shifted to look at the ground far, far below, heart busting out a super-fast beat, a dizzying feeling overcoming him, oh Faranth, how had he forgotten the straps, the straps?!

Craivaruth's flying suddenly became a little shaky, the realization and fear striking the Blue at the same time. "Woah!" exclaimed J'ash, planting his hands hard onto any surface that might provide enough friction to stop them from sliding clear off the dragon below them.

Although he wanted to shriek, he tried to keep his calm. If he panicked, Paranoid L'nu was sure to jump out of his skin, possibly dragging both of them down. Holding on for dear life (lives, actually, since L'nu didn't have any tethers either), J'ash carefully glanced over his shoulder. "I don't have any restraints on! Don't make any sudden moves!" J'ash was trying to calm down so that Craivaruth would follow suit, effectively stopping the turbulence (theoretically).

I don't want to risk landing until you get tethered,[/i] exclaimed Craivaruth in an alarmed voice, trying to stay as still as possible in one spot. This was proving difficult with the high-sky winds buffeting everyone about. J'ash's hands were practically a part of Craivaruth - they were not going to be removed from his hide until they were on solid ground. "I need you to help tether me to Craivaruth," J'ash shouted over his shoulder. He was thankful he had already put on the body part of the harness before the Flight. All L'nu had to do was find some kind of strip dangling near them and clip him on. "I can't let go, or we'll fall. Please hurry!"

[Ruby]

Futh's head snapped sideways, pulling him and his rider into a tighter circle than M'kai had asked for, and in the wrong direction. They were out practicing moves from their weekly Aerials class, but this was not one of them. Not for the first time today, M'kai was glad he'd checked his straps before they left this morning - he slammed sideways, held on the Blue's back only by the grace of the well-oiled leather. With an audible and mental shout, he slapped the Blue's shoulder to get his attention. Hey! What're you trying to do, unseat me? he demanded, adding another HEY! when he didn't get an immediate response.

Suddenly terrified for the first time ever on Futh's back, M'kai shrunk low, holding very tight to the straps. He felt funny... the way he did before a flight. Like he was quickly losing control; a much more terrifying feeling when you were on the back of a beast the size of a plane. Yes, flight.... Futh mused, heading at breakneck speed for a cluster of jewel-bright specks up ahead. A green speck and many of the male colors, very obviously the beginning of a flight.

M'kai sat straight, giving Futh the mental and physical command to stop. He did not, and M'kai forced his way past Futh's instinct to get at his brain. Who is it? M'kai asked, half-dreading the answer. Futh seemed to have no discretion as far as greens were concerned (although he'd been much less interested in anyone but Kyrahth since he caught her), but M'kai did care. He cared a lot. And he would NOT risk another A'emi, even if he couldn't quite bring himself to hate the greenrider. There was always that lingering affection that he couldn't shake. Disconcerting, to be sure.

Evey. DragonTwin's Evey, but Mavenath is grounded. I will not chase if he will be angry, but I would not want to feel cheated, and you are nearly as good as the Twin. Well, better, from my point of view, but nearly as good from Evey's. M'kai had blanched, of course. That was X'rx, and there was no way M'kai was touching that. Nothing against X'rx, but... the greenrider was Cr'oph's problem, not M'kai's. Not another A'emi, that was for sure, but potentially even worse. You'd better ask Mave AND Evey, M'kai cautioned, unconciously bracing himself as Futh gathered himself to land on the fringes of the so disrupted Weyrling class.

Without a second thought, Futh called out to Mavenath across the Weyr, punctuating his mindvoice with an audible call. Mavenath, I will chase Eveyth in your place, if you wish. I now have a mate, (cue mental sigh over Kyrahth), But I will chase if you wish to be represented. We are DragonTwins, and if our Riders are interchangable, it makes sense that we are too. I can still subdue Mine. That last bit was private, for the Bronze's ears only. It was up to Mavenath, now, and Futh would be pleased either way.