[#1] Blizzard Wing Drills

[glamourie]

His ankle was sore. The pain shot through his leg, throbbing. He didn't put any numbweed on it for the sake of being able to function for the drill. In short, he was hurting a lot more than he was willing to admit. The bronzerider was the kind of individual who had way too much pride. Ka'rys didn't like the idea of not being at the top of his game... particularly not when he was dealing with so many people liable to be at one another's throats all at once. T'rid was officially in his bad books, and he doubted that would get any better any time soon. Could he have picked a more disorganized group to throw together? Really? E'rro was a former Benden weyrling and involved in that.. Children's wing thing he didn't really understand (and didn't want to). R'non was a self-admitted former Benden spy (what kind of idiot announces that?) and Aliscia was a Benden traitor. Which was fine by him since he couldn't care less what happened to them. On the flip side, he and E'yan were both from the same weyrling class at Fort, and had been trained together. Wynmuri was someone he did not know at all. Then - to make things more confusing and awkward - there were the fresh out of weyrlinghood riders. Technically, P'tol, Z'hin and Ciara weren't that young. Ciara, however, was going to spend all of her time worrying about her child in the air, he just knew it. Aliscia probably would too, but she at least had experience. P'tol was very young. So was E'rro, come to think of it. And then - then there was R'aro. From the same weyrling class as Savitri. Z'hin was a pain in his backside, but they'd worked together before, and Ka'rys preferred him near rather than far given Kalerary's fondness of the man. Over all, an oddball group of people liable to hate one another. Some of them already did.

Somehow, he had to turn them into a working group. His mind was racing as he leaned back against Ciceroth's flank. Most wing drills would be taking place close to the Weyr, but for what he was planning, they needed a lot of open airspace. He and Ciceroth were at the coast. He sat in the sand, his foot propped up on a wooden box he'd brought with him. No between until he could wear shoes again. He hated them but between made them necessary. It was bitter cold and he did not want to freeze his toes off. 'Vi would never let him live that down. Neither would Ciceroth, actually.

Call them? he inquired with a glance up toward the bronze dragon. Ciceroth crooned down at him and leaned his head down to nudge his rider affectionately. Ka'rys gently rubbed his nose. They were alone. Blatant shows of affection were okay - particularly when he thought about what they intended to do.

Because Ka'rys was proactive. He didn't settle for just surviving. He wanted to make sure his wing lived. As a result, he had a very rough day planned for some of them. P'tol, Ciara and R'aro would have it the hardest of the group because they had no experience. Z'hin was -- well, Ka'rys did not think much of Z'hin, but as long as he and that irritating brown of his behaved, all would be well; if they didn't, Ka'rys hoped he managed to keep Ciceroth in line. The bronze did not like Jessereth at all. And as far as Ka'rys knew, neither did Rath and R'non. Which meant they had to stay far apart from one another... peachy. There was also Jarcith and her rider, Wynmuri. They were older... so they might actually be useful... but they were Selenitas-bred. He'd find out soon enough how well Selenitas did at training their riders. Then there was the other brownrider. E'rro, despite his age, did have some fighting experience and that put him a step ahead. He was also an apprentice dragonhealer, which could be exceedingly useful. No one ever said Ka'rys wasn't practical. He intended to play to the strengths of everyone there if he could. That meant getting to know them all though. Not a fun project in the least, but... to have an efficient fighting wing, they needed to all trust one another. Be as family. Fight for themselves and the rest of the wing. A team that worked together well always cared about one another at their core. It was going to be interesting trying to teach that philosophy to a group of miscreants who probably couldn't care less.

Tanith, Idith, Kindrith, Rath, Ismaroth, Llath, Toryth, Jessereth, Jarcith. Please come to the Coast; specifically the beach. Wing Drills will be beginning shortly.

Ka'rys glanced up at Ciceroth and leaned his head back. It was going to be a long day. Threadfighting was easy, but Ka'rys had no intention of limiting himself to Threadfighting. Benden had attacked in the air once before, and Ka'rys wasn't about to let his wing get caught unaware.

When they arrived, those who didn't know were going to learn to fight dragon-to-dragon combat... whether the Weyrleaders were okay with it or not. He would not watch his wing be slaughtered due to lack of experience.

---

Blizzard Wing:
Wingleader: Ka'rys of Bronze Ciceroth
Wingsecond: R'non of bronze Rath

R'aro of bronze Idith
E'rro of brown Ismaroth
Z'hin of brown Jessereth
E'yan of blue Kindrith
Aliscia of green Tanith
Ciara of green Toryth
P'tol of green Llath
Wynmuri of green Jarcith

[dragon]

Ciceroth calls for wing drills. Kindrith remarked, blandly, turning his head to look over at his rider. Who was for the most part, hitting sour notes on his gitar, or scribbling on parchment with a bit of charcoal. As a result, the man's fingers were a bit black, and it was rubbing off on the strings of the instrument.

E'yan looked up, hitting yet another sour note. "He is? Well ... we better get going, then, hadn't we?" E'yan remarked. He got to his feet, off the log he had been sitting on. Rolling up the parchment and stuffing it inside his shirt, E'yan pocketed the charcoal and then hopped astride his dragon, bareback, holding onto his gitar.

Kindrith flew them back to thier weyr, where E'yan quickly set aside the instrument and the parchment both, changed into flight gear qucikly with practiced ease. That done, he harnessed Kindrith up in another short span of time. Pulling his helmet on, he jumped astride once more, strapping down this time. Lowering his flight goggles, he slapped Kindrith's neck affectionately.

And they were off. Kindrith took two solid wing beats off the weyrledge, before vanishing between and reappearing over the beach. There, Kindrith banked into a slow circle, before starting a descent groundward again. In mere moments, the blue was landed, and walking up the sandy beach as he ruffled and closed his wings.

Kindrith walked right up beside Ciceroth, and stopped, tilting his head to one side very slightly. Kindrith and E'yan reporting for duty. He commented, to the bronze.

E'yan leaned off to one side, and looked down at where Ka'rys was sitting. "Are you gonna be able to fly, like that?" He asked.

[kysseh]

Hurry up, Mine. Bossy Hepaticath's will watch the hatchlings, and we will have exercise and fun, and that stupid bronze is there too. Rath, yes? We hate him. We hate His. Can you hurry up, please?![/color][/i]

Aliscia rolled her eyes and gave each of her offspring one last kiss, flicking Savitri a grateful smile before moving at a jog toward her restless dragon. The greenrider was dressed for drills, her wherhide riding gear all in place and her helmet tucked under her arm. It concerned her to have to leave the babes for so long, but they were asleep and would likely not miss her for several candlemarks. Besides Savitri seemed to be infatuated with the little creatures, and Aliscia trusted her to not drop either of the precious infants on their heads. Savitri could be trusted with them. The crechewomen... not so much.

But Aliscia was just picky that way.

Stop your whining, Tanny, and hold still. Her admonishment took a few moments to sink into the impatient green's brain before her dark body stopped its sinewy motions and froze, one foreleg extended to aid her rider in mounting. Aliscia shoved her helmet in place and vaulted astride the little green's neck, grateful that Tanith was quite small. Her body was nowhere near back to normal after the twins, though she was significantly better. There was no reason for her to hold back at wing drills, unless their oh-so-wonderful wingleader decided to sling them into the ocean for a swim. She could swim... quite well, in fact. Still, there was only so much abuse her still-recovering body could take in that fashion. Passing out and extreme pain were to be avoided.

Though the green wanted to bugle her triumph at leaving, Aliscia restrained that urge for Tanith, and the green took to the air with silent grumblings, using little effort to get airborne and at a decent altitude to glide toward the beach. Tanith adored the beach and romping in the waves, though Aliscia was not so keen on heading in that direction. So far from the weyr... and it seemed an odd place for wing drills. Still, Ka'rys--for all that she disliked the man--was not a stupid wingleader. She trusted him to not do anything ridiculous. If he was horrible, she could always rant to Savitri. For all that the goldrider seemed to be close to the former weyrleader, Savitri could still roll her eyes in understanding and sympathy. It amused Aliscia to no end.

Tanith spied Ciceroth and his rider and made an immediate and sharp dive for the ground, pulling up at the last moment to plop herself down on the sands a ways from the bronzepair. She hopped closer and whuffed at the bronze before promptly sitting, eliciting a string of quiet profanity as her rider hopped off and approached the wingleader to make her greetings. She nodded once and then allowed her gaze to settle on the foot... and the fact that the bronzerider was seated on the ground and shorter than her. What... what had he done?

A smirk twitched up the corners of her mouth, one eyebrow quirking as her mind tried to connect possible reasons for the bronzerider's crippled state. "Aliscia and Tanith, if you'd forgotten us because of maternity leave," she began politely, though her amusement did undermine that a bit. "And... I knew she was a handful, wingleader, but... I had no idea it was that bad..." He knew who she meant, so she did not bother to name the goldrider and her usual busybody antics. Instead, the vertically-challenged woman eyed the other pair present, near-gold eyes narrowing as she surveyed both dragon and rider. Tanith was ignoring the blue with her usual poor manners, and Aliscia just gave the briefest inclination toward the bluerider. There would be time to make nice with the idiots some other time.

[Requiem]

I don't want to go. Of all the wings, that one. Z'hin hardly acknowledged the complaint; he'd been listening to similar ones for the past several days. Ever since they'd returned from the expedition south with Kalierre and Phremath, to be exact. Aren't there two other wings? Would it be so hard to get a transfer? They don't like us anyway. You'd think they'd be eager to be rid of us.

The brownrider cinched up the last of the riding straps tighter than he absolutely had to, the only outward expression of his annoyance at his dragon's constant whining. And whining it most certainly was, no matter how reasonable the brown was trying to sound. "Jessereth. You never like anyone. If it's not these, it will just be others on the other wings. Now bend down so I can finish up." Was that a bit brusque? Most definitely, given the air of sulking emanating off the brown. Z'hin and Jessereth were close as a dragonpair, but...the rider was undeniably growing sharper and sharper with Jess as the turns went on, and the brown wasn't sure he liked it much at all. HinHis used to be much more fun and understanding. Sighing, the man caught Jessereth's neck and wrapped his arm as far around the width of it as he could manage. "They're not going to take kindly to your attacking anyone who displeases you here, Jess. This isn't like the north, you know. They didn't even allow that up there, anyway. So please behave, okay?"

The brown didn't respond to that, but apparently his rider was satisfied, because Z'hin returned to preparing for the drill. They took to the air not long afterward, the brown flying steadily for the beach. He tacked into several air currents and thermals, settling expertly into the sands while hardly disturbing a grain of sand. Showing off? Z'hin didn't care to delve deeply enough to find out. Jessereth had first learned to fly without him, which perhaps was why he seemed to be something of a natural when it came to straight flight. Again, Jessereth's rider simply didn't care to investigate that any further. It didn't really matter.

A rather notable distance from the other three dragons, Jess didn't bother to greet any of the others. Only Ciceroth was even worthy of attention, and the brown wasn't about to give him that satisfaction. Z'hin slid down and shot Jessereth one last warning look. Once he was thoroughly satisfied that the brown would remain placid unless otherwise provoked, the young man made his way over toward the growing crowd of wingmembers. Ka'rys seemed to be injured. Seeing Ka'rys, of course, reminded Z'hin that he'd wanted to swing by and visit with Kalerary, maybe take her somewhere for a few hours. The brownrider made a mental note to mention that sometime before they all dispersed.

Of course he was aware of the problems Jessereth caused and his own issues with Ka'rys, but Z'hin wasn't one to dwell on problems. Not ones that he either couldn't fix or had already laid precautions against. After all, this behavior was hardly new for the brown, and Z'hin had done a fair job of keeping the dragon in check if you didn't count Flights. No way on Pern he could control Jessereth under the influence of Flightlust.

[ravenmane]

Luckily for Ka'rys, Ciara wasn't very worried about Caevaniara. She had left the little girl in the care of the Crèchewoman Ieoha, and while the Greenrider still wasn't sure she could trust the old woman, she was positive there wouldn't be any serious problems. After all, Caevie had a protective Green mandyr with a temper a mile wide guarding her and her father's Gold mandyr popping in once in awhile. If no one was safe with Chatti and Dael acting as protectors, then Ciara probably wouldn't have shown up for Wing drills. Period. As it was, she did attend, and when she and Toryth appeared above the group, the slender Green chose to land near Kindrith.

Hello, Kindrith! A nice day for Wing Drills, yes? Her voice was bubbly and bright as usual, and it would quite possibly get annoying if she continued to talk about what a nice day it was. Calm down, Tory. No one is going to be disappear and never return. I know, but you haven't been able to much flying lately, and I'm excited to fly with you again. Toryth playfully nudged her rider before turning and nodding respectfully to Ciceroth and Ka'rys. Ciara and Toryth reporting for duty. Ciara simply nodded in the pair's direction and dismounted from her place on Toryth's back. She didn't move to speak to anyone, and it seemed that no one really wanted to be spoken to. So Ciara planned to wait until Ka'rys decided to start the Drills.

[Rowana]

Wynmuri and Jarcith replied quickly to Ciceroth's summons. Truth be told, the old pair knew most of the drills well enough to do them in their sleep, but Wyn knew the importance of practice. They had to be ready at a moment's notice for any threat that might come to the Weyr. Jarcith circled above the beach. Several of their wingmates had already arrived, hopefully they wouldn't have to wait for stragglers.

Jarcith landed near the other green, Tanith. Jarcith and Wynmuri reporting, the green told Ciceroth. Wynmuri stayed on her dragon's back for the moment, stretching her muscles. After the reason changes in leadership, she was actually working with many riders she had never flown with before. From the motley crew she could see assembled already, it looked like she had an interesting day ahead of her.

[Tashe]

/Ciceroth calls us to the coast./

Beautiful. When the Brownrider had heard exactly who was in his wing, he hadn't been very happy about it. In his mind, the Blizzard wing was going to be the most dysfunctional one of the lot. Benden, Fort, and Selenitas riders all wrapped up in a little bundle was not going to be a big ball of trust that a wing needed to have. He'd do his best to behave, but he wasn't about to go throwing promises around either. The other Benden Riders had defected, while he had been captured... there certainly wasn't going to be any love there at all.

Dropping his charcoal next to his wash bin, E'rro smudged the black around his eyes slightly before turning away from the polished mirror. He was tired, and he wouldn't deny that his reactions on the ground would be a little slow. He had recently got off infirmary duty, which he had extended into his rest hours because of his new branch of study. Becoming a specialist was going to be far harder and more demanding than just learning to be a Healer. The Brownrider was overworking himself, he knew it, but the slow life of Selenitas was also taking a toll on the boy. He had always been on a tough demanding schedule, but ever since Ismaroth had decided to side with the Southern Weyr, his routine had become almost stagnant in comparison.

/Quickly Ermine./

I'm going. Now where had he put his medical bag? Normally, the Brownrider wouldn't bring it with him, but ever since the poison had entered the Weyr he'd take it everywhere. Because of the bag, he had been able to save a Brownrider suffering a bad reaction from ingesting the poison. Locating his bag, which had been hiding under his cot, E'rro shouldered it before buttoning up his jacket. His riding leathers were located by Ismaroth's, but unfortunately, his Salamandyr had taken up residence in them. "Nuisance, off. Now." NONONO. MINECHEW. "Get off right now. Or I'll have Ismaroth chew 'you'." Making a grab at his Blue despite the risk of being bitten, the Brownrider snarled at the Mandyr as he leaped from the leathers and glided to the nearest chair. BADMINEBAD. CHEWYOUBAD. "Go get squished under a big shiny thing."

Buckling his leathers on quickly, the young man looped his Brown's harness over his shoulder. The leathers were Benden made, one of the few things left from his past. But Ismaroth was starting to out grow them, which would force E'rro to replace them with new ones. Working with deft hands to clip, thread and attach all the ends together, the Rider was grateful to his Brown's silence. He wasn't feeling very talkative today, if E'rro could even be talkative at all. Using Ismaroth's leg and straps to pull himself into the harness, the teenager strapped himself in before he attached his medical bag. Lets go.

--

Coming out of the Between over the beach, the Brownpair chose an open space to touch down. Landing so that the sand that would be kicked up from Ismaroth's wing beats wouldn't disturb the others, E'rro waited till the Brown drew up as close as they felt comfortable before unstrapping himself. He hated sand. He hated landing in sand. It was something he had to get used to down here in the South, with the Weyr being so close to the Coast and all. At least there was no chance of the annoying particles to get into his boots as he walked across it.

Since Ismaroth chose to land no where near the Ex- Fort and Benden Dragons, E'rro was forced to walk alone to a position closer to Ka'rys. Saluting, more out of an unbreakable habit than actual respect, the Brownrider spaced himself out not wanting to be in close proximity to the others. Another habit that was hard to shake. "E'rro of Ismaroth reporting." He didn't bother acknowledging the others, he knew they were there and vise versa. It probably didn't help his position, that he and Ismaroth were the youngest there...

[Kisha-Ra]

Idith raised his head, going from a snoozing sunbathing dragon to a bronze ready for action in a moment. Ciceroth has called us to the coast for wing drills.[/color] He reported, standing and shaking like a giant canine. Bring my things out, hurry up.[/color]

R’aro laughed and shook his head, anyone would think drills were something exciting to judge by Idith’s behaviour. Still he trotted out to the ledge with his arms full of riding gear. ‘Keep yourself still then, overgrown firelizard.’ R’aro joked knowing Idith wouldn’t be offended by a mild insult, and it did keep the bronze still, or at least change him over to helpful movements, while R’aro buckled him into his fighting straps and checked them over.

Are you done yet?[/color] Idith wanted top know as R’aro checked over his own gear, put it on and checked all the fastenings. ‘Look Idith, I don’t want to be called out in our first real drill. Stop acting like a hatchling, will you?’ R’aro scowled at his dragon. Idith butted his rider with his muzzle apologetically. Yes, I am too impatient.[/color] the bronze admitted ruefully. Will you be alright?[/color] Idith asked more seriously as R’aro settled on his neck. Fine Idith. Really R’aro answered firmly. Idith snorted as if to say he didn’t believe that for a moment and took off for the coast.

Idith landed a considerate distance from the growing knot of riders so he wouldn’t shower them in sand and waited for R’aro to get down before he wandered away to find a comfortable place to wait. No wallowing in the sand. R’aro’s warning followed the dragon. ‘R’aro and Idith reporting sir.’ R’aro called as he approached Ka’rys, noting the wingleader’s injury as he did. Drills with an injured and no doubt grumpy wingleader. What fun…

[neeuqtar]

Wing drills, Rath growled. R'non snorted. We're Wingseconds again. Don't complain, he warned the bronze, striding over as he pulled on his riding jacket, snagging his riding goggles and pulling his shoulder-length dark waves back into a runner-tail all at the same time. Rath crouched, offering his foreleg for R'non to vault up. I'm not complaining, Rath replied, a note of an eager whine in his voice as R'non buckled himself down and Rath stalked to the edge of his weyrledge. I'm excited. R'non whooped as Rath took a bounding step and launched off of the ledge, massive bronze wings sending him up into the sky in a whirlwind of leaves and dirt.

The bronze dragon whipped along the canyon before catching a tailwind and soaring up above the Weyrcliffs to land with massive backwinging, to the side of Ciceroth. The large bronze glanced across the gathering dragons. Weak. They were weak. We are not going to kill our own wing, R'non warned. Rath snarled and houghed, digging his talons into the soil of the cliff, but he did not protest. There was a reason why Rath had flown with the murderous Wing at Benden: he liked to kill. But he was controllable, and R'non was used to controlling his bronze. But they were both eager to be back in practice...

---

Practice practice practice flying with the boys~ Llath cooed, prancing in place while P'tol finished checking her flight gear. He shrugged on his flight gear and vaulted atop Llath, who didn't even wait for her rider to tie his straps before leaping out of her weyr and into the sky. P'tol was used to it, strapping himself in while hanging on with his knees. Llath trilled in delight, winging her way over to the gathering of the Blizzard wing. Oh looklook! We don't have to wait! Yay! she cried, completely overjoyed at being the last dragon there. P'tol flushed, saluting Ka'rys and R'non, while Llath landed delicately, prancing in her eagerness to be off and practicing. She liked practice, oh yes she did!

[glamourie]

E'yan earned a courteous nod of acknowledgment.. but also weariness. He and Ka'rys had been weyrlings together, which meant there was a good chance E'yan knew who he really was. He could ruin everything if he ever told anyone, and Ka'rys hated the idea of his fate being in another's hands. E'yan was dangerous to him. With one word, he could undo Ka'rys's whole life. That word was 'sister'. It only took one to get people asking questions, but those paranoid thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of his mind. He settled for leaning back against Ciceroth wordlessly. There was no point in dwelling on worries when he had so much to get done... and besides, there were other arrivals soon after the bluerider that were, in their own way, just as dangerous to him.

Aliscia was... a problem. Whether she realized it or not, she was a very big problem. She and Savitri talked about everything, and the greenrider was a Benden rider. Ka'rys didn't trust her at all, and probably was justified in that. His lack of trust in her led him to be very nervous about what sort of ideas the greenrider was feeding to the youngest Weyrwoman at Selenitas - and not just where he was concerned. Savitri had enough bad influences in her life with him. He hoped that Aliscia was slightly more positive a rolemodel, but given Tanith's demeanor, he was betting she wasn't. In fact, he was betting that Aliscia (whether she did it intentionally or not) caused a lot of problems for Savitri with her relationships with others. He was positive he did, at least. Her words did not improve his opinion much, but he suspected he was being more fatalistic than usual due to being in pain. He chose not to reply to her words, except with a cool look; there were people around. He was not going to get into his personal life in front of his wing. That was none of their business.

Everyone seemed to have arrived, in the time it took for him to reconcile how to (not) deal with Aliscia. The formal responses most of his wing offered made him quirk an eyebrow. He was almost grateful for Z'hin -- the brownrider, at least, said nothing at all, thus not earning any ire from Ka'rys. He turned to E'yan to answer his question (in front of everyone intentionally).

"Last time I checked, my ankle and Ciceroth's flying don't really require one another's cooperation. I'll be fine, so long as I don't go between... and we're not covering that today anyway." He did, slightly, appreciate the concern. He'd have liked it better if he hadn't been questioned in front of the wing, but eh. He wasn't going to bicker about it. No point in kicking a gift horse in the teeth... metaphorically speaking. Besides, he was in a foul enough mood without fighting.

Turning to the group, Ka'rys made a vague gesture. "I realize that T'rid seems to think shoving a motley crew of people who otherwise would like nothing more than to forget each other exists is a cute way of organizing a wing, but whether you lot like each other - or me - or not, we're stuck together, at least for the time being. That being said, I'd ask that you all come closer so I don't have to raise my voice to communicate with you; I'd rather talk face-to-face than through our dragons. We as a group have to learn to get along. I find that's easier done by cutting out the middle man... or woman." He cast a glance at Tanith as he spoke, then shrugged. "We've got a lot to discuss today, but first I'd like to know how much fighting experience you all have. Minus Wingsecond R'non. Who is old as dirt and probably doesn't want to go into exactly how old that actually is." Yes, he was picking on R'non. He couldn't resist and wasn't trying to anyway. He was trying to.. sort of... lighten the mood.

[kysseh]

Something about the look that Ka'rys was giving her put Aliscia's back up. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing, having no real inclination to start an argument. Arguing with bronzeriders was unwise, at best, and even if she would have liked to pick at the bronzerider for having obviously garnered the attentions of one of the weyrwomen, she would rather not get a knife to anywhere vital. Or... anywhere, for that matter. Bother. She wanted leverage for teasing Savitri later.

A sudden burst of dislike and dismay radiated from Tanith, and Aliscia turned to eye her green, barely restraining a snort of laughter as the green edged away from her peer that landed nearby. Tanith was not fond of other greens, as a general rule, and the fact that this one had landed so close to her did not sit well. The snappish little female had reluctantly agreed to behave herself, but when Aliscia queried, Tanith silently argued that avoiding the other greens was not against the rules. Bouncing, cheeriness, and general glee was horribly offensive to Tanith. This was not to say that the green was not happy; she just preferred to not inflict such annoying enthusiasm on herself. It was so humiliating.

Instead, Tanith's attention seemed riveted now on the snarly new bronze, and Aliscia grimaced mildly upon recognizing R'non and Rath. Splendid. Tanith, though looking obviously not fond of the bronze, was behaving and not making an aggressive move. Her rider had meant it when she promised that she wouldn't start anything with the other former Benden riders, particularly R'non and that violent bronze of his. She was not about to like him, though, and Tanith echoed that sentiment with a snort of her own. Males....

When their wingleader requested they approach, Aliscia obeyed without question, keeping sure to stay away from the idiot former Benden bronzerider. Not getting near him, oh no. She was not about to give him any chance to pull something funny. A quick glance around the circle told her that far more of these riders were formerly of Benden than she would have liked. All had fled like she had, most likely. Minus R'non, of course. R'non was- no, no. She wasn't going to make herself angry, and Ka'rys was trying to put out the idea of wing harmony. Hmph. She doubted it was possible, but then again, she was unlikely to start fights. Aliscia preferred to finish them. Let the others try picking at her first.

The wingleader's obvious teasing of the old bronzerider had Aliscia's scarred face contorting into a smirk, and she almost let a snicker slip, just to be cruel. Tanith's sulking was all that kept her in check. She had to set a good example, after all. "Ten Turns... give or take a few months. Enough time to pick up some marks of war," was her brief, tense response to the question, and she lifted a hand to gesture at the scarred half of her face. "Out of practice a bit now, but it comes back quickly." Too quickly, she often thought a bit grimly. She would have loved nothing better than a peaceful life without the necessary violence, but... well, she could scarcely deny the delight she took in destroying a particularly hateful enemy. She wondered if the wingleader sought some other information. If so, too bad. He would have to ask.

[dragon]

Kindrith started slightly, not having been expecting any attention from any source at all, much less positive attention from a ... very lovely ... green!! The blue was smitten almost instantly, and warbled a welcome to her promptly, reaching over with his snout. A most excellent day, indeed, my lovely Toryth. he replied, sincerely. Oh! So exciting!

It took a kick in the neck from E'yan to get Kindrith's head back attached to the rest of his body, and out of the clouds. "Careful, Kin." E'yan warned, under his breath. The last thing he needed was for Kindrith to go giving his heart to another green, only to get it smashed ... again. Not to mention it hurt more than just his dragon; E'yan felt it just as acutely.

Sliding down off Kindrith's neck, E'yan strode over to where Ka'rys was, as requested, and stood at attention there, amongst the other riders with little to no regard on whom he was standing next to. They were now his wing, they would either become a unit tighter than family, and perform well, or they would not, and they would all die. Regardless of whether it was thread, or dragons they were fighting.

E'yan nodded, merely, at Ka'rys' curt response to the well being of his ankle. It was a tad on the unneccesary side, but the bluerider couldn't blame Ka'rys for being a tad snappish, under that kind of obvious discomfort. No between today ... E'yan's eyes narrowed almost imperceptably, as he imediately guessed what was coming. Ohh ... today was going to be interesting indeed.

When the question of fighting experience came up, the idea was concreted in. Yep - today was going to be most interesting. E'yan knew what was coming. Not thread drills, no. "Enough." Was his own reply, to the question. And it was true.

E'yan and Kindrith had enough experience to still be alive, kicking, and more or less unscarred. That, and Kindrith's uncannily quick betweens had kept the pair intact over the turns of warring Weyrs.

While E'yan was off his back - litterally and figuratively - Kindrith went right back to being smitten, looking at Toryth again. Pretty, pretty green! When he had awakened this morning, he had not at all imagined what a marvelously lovely day today was going to be! Some wing action, and Toryth!

[Tashe]

/I do not like this Wing./ Live with it.

Casting a glance at R'non as he landed, E'rro edged a little more to his right, putting even more distance between him and the other Benden Riders. He and the Bronzerider had both been part of the Dominance attack, but the older man defected soon after learning what C'leon had intended to do, or so it seemed in the heat of the moment. Resisting the urge to shake his head in attempts to free his mind from the memories, E'rro refocused his attention back onto Ka'rys.

Getting along wasn't going to happen, but an uneasy truce would be a lot more likely to forge. He didn't exactly want to get any closer, but since it was the wingleader, E'rro stepped forward. Itching the side of his nose with his thumb as Ka'rys continued, the Brownrider tilted his head forward, a small frown setting up occupancy on his face. Fighting Experience? Were they really going to be practicing that? He didn't need to look around to know that a good many of the Riders here knew how to fight at least a little, he himself included. Crossing his arms as a Bluerider and Aliscia responded to the Wingleader, E'rro let his frown settle back into a neutral state. Looking up from the sand blankly, the Brownrider took his own turn in answering. "Full tactical training, and experience in battle."

He kept it short, sweet, and precise. Like the others. No need to go into detail or be misunderstood for trying to show off. Moving his gaze back onto the little grains of minerals under his boots, E'rro clenched his fists. He hated sand...

[Requiem]

The bronzerider's abrupt response to - E'yan's? - query was typical Ka'rys, and Z'hin almost smiled at that. The wingleader managed to sound like he had a stick shoved a foot up his butt most of the time. Must work for him, because he didn't seem inclined to bother to change his behavior. Frankly, it was almost refreshing given the touchy-feely nature of Selenitas in comparison to the north. Strange how the differences in the south could seem like a good thing one moment and a terrible handicap the next.

At mention of this 'motley crew' Z'hin actually took the time to guage the others. Jessereth had definite opinions about dragons but, for the most part, they were just varying depths of hate, and that could easily be ignored after awhile. The brownrider wasn't too pleased that the two dragons Jessereth was most likely to attack, however, happened to be leading this wing. Rath and Ciceroth both stirred up the brown's anger to nearly unmanageable levels. Tanith. That one he knew, if only by reputation. A few of the others rung bells, but, since Jess wasn't really sociable, Z'hin hadn't met most of the riders, either. Not that he cared. Unlike his dragon, the man was usually good at getting along with who he needed to - no matter what he thought of them privately.

Although, he'd have to say that P'tol and Ciara kind of seemed a bit like the odd men out, even if he and Jessereth had been part of their weyrling class. Everyone else looked like they could take care of themselves in a pinch, and didn't seem quite so...young. Following the others' lead, he didn't bother with details. And, anyway, he'd been questioned thoroughly enough by Ka'rys months ago. "Eight months," the brownrider responded shortly. Not much compared to the turns some of the others had put in, but they'd done well enough for being thrown into a fighting wing as an extra set of wings, completely wet behind the ears. They were alive.

There were so many young riders here, he thought dismally. R'aro, Er'ro, Ciara, P'tol. He himself, although he and Er'ro might fall under a slightly different category than the other three, given they weren't completely green. That was what, half the wing right there? Were there really so few older, more experienced riders, or was T'rid just operating with his head in the clouds? Like usual. No matter. Ka'rys and Ciceroth definitely had the experience to make up for the handicaps...and as long as he could keep Jessereth from declaring war on them, the brown would do well enough. Probably better than well, truthfully. If nothing else, the idea of taking out other dragons seemed to fit naturally with Jessereth's temprament.

The brown was still blatantly ignoring the rest of the wing; he'd curled up and was staring off back toward the Weyr, a wave of impatience sweeping over Z'hin through their bond. He resisted rolling his eyes in response.

[Rowana]

"We've got a lot to discuss today, but first I'd like to know how much fighting experience you all have.

Wynmuri grumbled slightly to herself at having to dismount when she would just have to get back on in a minute or two, but she did as she as asked. Landing heavily on the sand, she marched over to stand with the other riders. She knew most of them by sight, but had rarely flown with them. Fighting? Wyn could easily guess what had suddenly brought this up. She had to admit, most Northern youngsters knew more about fighting than she did, but she was no softy either.

"I know a little," she said with a grim expression. "Staff, daggers, and sling. Mostly fightin' off wild felines." They had sometimes come to attack the herds back home and she had stayed in practice over the years, mostly as a way to stay fit. It wasn't much, she knew, and she was certainly out of any real practice. But she wasn't afraid of drawing blood or even killing if she had to. Killing a man couldn't be much harder than killing a feline.