What to Do With All of You? (LESSON)

[Lark]

Ara sighed and brushed a hand through her brown hair. The mass of wavy strands were sticking to her face and neck in the almost summer heat, and the green rider was wishing she had taken this lesson to the river. Above her, Avirith was making lazy arcs in the sky, a light green blur among the expanse of blue. Alright love, call them now. Setting down the few charts she had with her, Ara bit her lip and spread one out on the rock she sat on. Little Dragons! Bring Yours and come to the training grounds! It's time for your first lesson.

It was in fact their first lesson, only three days after the hatching. In that time however the dragonets had already grown a few inches. It was time to show proper techniques for cutting up their meals and oiling their hides. Or at least that was what Ara was supposed to do. That's what the charts were here for.... As the first of the weyrling pairs started to file into the training grounds, Ara remembered her own training. It had been fun, but also hard so soon after she found out that she wasn't who she thought she was.

Shaking herself to clear her throughts, Ara scolded her acting mentally. She should be thinking about the weyrlings in front of her. The green rider eyed the three new colors, especially the one Garnet carefully. Hopefully they'd all play nice. "Alright, for those of you who don't know me....which is probably the lot of you, I'm Alyara. If you call me Alyara though...your dead." Avirith warbled at this amused with her usually conserved rider, and fluttering to the ground gracefully, the small green sent out her own thoughts.

My Own prefers to be called Ara. Welcome all, I am Avirith. I was hatched in Mvinth's last clutch, and so am not much older than all of you. Turning her swirling gaze on the more tempermental dragonets, the green crooned innocently. However, for the time being I'm bigger than all of you. Which simply means do as we tell you and everything will be fine. "Avi." Reeling her dragon in, Ara closed her eyes for a second and took a breath. "Sorry, as you've all probably figured out by now, dragons have a mind of their own. They will often talk when you don't want them to, and you can't truly control them."

Because you shouldn't try to control us...we're not one of those firelizards. Glancing around for Hers' Gold flit, Avirith crooned happily as she came to the conclusion that she must be with her Bronze winner right now. "As I was saying before I was interupted, call me Ara and we'll be good. No one's called my Alyara since my mo...foster mother." Correcting herself, Ara scolded herself mentally. "Seeing as you all moved from candidacy to weyrlinghood in your group, I doubt there is a need for introductions. So, we'll move onto the next thing."

Getting up, the green rider pulled out the first of the scrolls and had the nearest weyrling hold one side while she held the other. "This is a drawing of a young dragon such as yours." Pointing to different parts, the green rider went through the different parts anatomically of a dragon, and explained where some common "itching spots" were. It was almost ten minutes in, with the sun hot on her back and sweat trickling down her brow that Ara stopped mid-sentance.

Leaning over to Hers, Avirith crooned to her rider. Is something wrong AraMine? Shaking her head, Ara looked at the weyrlings with a slight smile. She was about their age, literaly only 17 turns herself. "Alright, look. I'm 17, maybe younger than a couple of you even. I know exactly what it's like to sit through a weyrling lesson...especially in The Island's heat. If you all don't say anything, let's go take a field trip and have some fun in the part of the Trelis River near here."

Yep, she so had just done that. Would Inali and T'rian be pleased, probably not, but then again the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader themseleves were younger. Maybe there was a different, more fun way to teach these new riders? Climbing on her green's neck, Ara told Avirith to only walk with the weyrlings. Flying would be like teasing. AraMiiiiine, I want to dance though! I said no Avi. Fine! Snorting, the green looked around at the weyrlings that were following.

It didn't take long to get to the river closest to the training grounds, and when they did, Ara slipped off of her dragon's neck and into the shallows of the cool water. "See much better! Okay, how about a little game. How many have you played the Echo game when you were little?" The green rider watched for a show of hands and went on to explain how her excercise would work. "Have you dragonets swim around a bit with you to get used to the water. Then, close your eyes and call out to each other in your minds. Try to 'catch' your dragonet by hearing them and sensing them with your mind. The point of this is to strengthen your mental bond, but the swimming will also help strengthen their muscles and wings."

Amused with her rider's game, Avirith went into the deeper section of the river in the middle and started to move in the water silently. It was like dancing but in wet stuff! Smiling at her dragon, the rider was glad that today the currents were lazy and slow. That would allow the weyrlings and their dragons to move around without getting swept away....mostly. Everynow and again a current would kick in, but not strong enough to be dangerous.

(Ooc: This is sort of like Marco Polo, with the weyrling being the one seeking out the dragonet.)

[Akira]

N'ck sighed as he finished unpacking all of his belongings. Rex purred contently from where he was laying on His' pillow. This one smelled funny to the bronze firelizard, and he was soon rolling around on the pillow, trying to get it to smell like him. Would you stop that Rex? It's my pillow after all. The bronze firelizard grumbled unhappily as he moved from the pillow, to the one right beside it.


N'ck rolled his eyes as his firelizard started rolling around once again. N'ckMine, we are being called for a lesson. The sixteen turn old weyrling smiled as he looked over at his white dragon. Alright Kich, let's go. Rex, you stay here and protect the pillows. The bronze firelizard thought that was a pretty good idea, and started making noises that sounded like a cross between a gurgle, and a croon.

N'ck rolled his eyes and shook his head at his firelizard's antics. He walked over to Kicheth, and knelt down to scratch the dragon's light bluish gray eye ridges. Alright Kich, let's go. The white crooned and rose from where he was lying so that he could walk beside His. N'ck smiled as he made his way from his room, and outside. It was a bright day, and since N'ck had already washed and oiled Kicheth's hide, the white was practically shining in the sunlight.

N'ck smiled and waved to the other weyrlings as he arrived at the lesson, and Kicheth crooned to his siblings. N'ck nodded his head in acknowledgement when the Weyrling Master introduced herself and her dragon, while Kicheth made himself comfortable by His' feet. N'ck smiled as he studied the picture, he already knew most of Kicheth's itchy spots, and was actually very proud of that fact.

N'ck wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he listened to Ara's words. Sweet, field trip Kich! N'ck rolled his eyes when his dragon chirped in confusion. You'll see. N'ck and Kicheth followed Ara and Avirith closely, and when the white dragon saw what Ara did, he turned to His with swirling green/blue eyes. N'ckMine, I will do that. N'ck looked at Kicheth, and then looked at the weyrling master.

Some day we will Kich. The white dragon crooned happily, knowing that he would be able to fly with His soon. N'ck smiled broadly when they finally reached the lake. N'ck shook his head when Ara asked who had played the game Echo. He had heard of it, but had never played it. N'ck led Kicheth into the water, but made sure to keep the small weyrling in the shallows. Kicheth did as His wished, and swam around in the shallow water, but it was still deep enough that the white dragon couldn't reach the bottem.

Alright Kich, let's get started. N'ck closed his eyes, and sighed happily when he felt Kicheth pull on the bond that they shared. He moved in the direction that he though he felt Kicheth. No N'ckMine, I am this way, to your left. The white dragon's words were a strange mix of love, laughter, and had an undertone of scorn to it. Alright Kich, you don't have to be so unhappy about it. He sighed, but he changed direction, and did as his dragon told him.

[kitsuneko]

R'hard, Avirith is calling all the weyrlings to the training grounds. I guess we should go too. Kaith sounded anything but happy at the prospect, but R'hard was happy to do something different than feed, wash, oil and repeat.

"Yep, I think we should. Don't want to be late for our first lesson!" he said, prodding the brown towards the exit to their room. The weyrlings they shored the barracks with had left already, and R'hard figured he and Kaith should do the same.

They weren't late, as it turned out, but they were hardly the first to arrive, either. He looked over the rest of the weyrlings who had already arrived before turning to the Weyrlingmaster and her dragon. He was surprised at just how young she was. Why, she looked as if she could be a weyrling herself! Her speech seemed pretty casual as well, probably because she and her dragon were so young. He didn't object to her suggestion that they take a trip to the river, though!

R'hard ignored Kaith's grumbling at having to do more walking as they headed to the water. R'hard was one of those who raised his hand when she asked about the game. Some nights on the road, there hadn't been much else to do with a bunch of rowdy children. You understand what to do, Kaith? he thought to the brown before he closed his eyes.

Sure, it seems simple enough, Kaith replied as he began to wade out toward the deeper water. He was large enough and strong enough that the currents gave him little trouble, and he soon proved to be a surprisingly adept swimmer. He'd even stopped complaining for the moment. This was at least interesting enough to hold the brown's attention for a bit. Is this far enough?

I can't open my eyes, Kaith. That would destroy the point of the exercise, wouldn't it? R'hard replied, amused. Nonetheless, he tried to reach out with his mind toward the brown, not at all sure what he was doing. He took a couple steps forward in the direction he thought he'd felt Kaith. Am I getting closer? he asked.

Nope, not at all. R'hard got a sense of barely-repressed laughter from the brown. I'm over here. [/color]

R'hard stopped and took a deep breath, concentrating not only on the brown's words, but the feel of him. He turned his head around, stopping somewhere to his left. How 'bout over here? The water was still quite shallow for a human, and he began walking toward where he thought Kaith was--only to bump into someone else.

"Hey, watch it!" A girl's voice said, and without thinking, R'hard opened his eyes to see who it was he'd bumped into. It was a girl, Hirion he thought her name was, and she was striding with eyes still closed to a pale blue dragon floating a few feet away. The blue crooned happily as she reached him, clearly pleased that his rider had managed to find him so quickly.

"Sorry," R'hard said sheepishly, casting about for a glimpse of Kaith. He finally spotted the brown, submerged up to his head in the murky water. Well, he thought, I was headed in the right direction, if Hirion hadn't been in the way.

If that's what you want to tell yourself, Mine, Kaith replied far too smugly.

[Zero]

R’xth had been on his way back from the kitchens when the call came. R’xthMine, it would seem we are being called to the training grounds. He stopped mid-stride as the strong voice of his hatchling entered his mind. It had only been three days since the dark hatchling had chosen him and Ry was still getting used to another’s thoughts being able to enter his mind so easily. Popping the last of the meatroll in his mouth, R’xth quickened his pace down the hall till he reached the barracks and eventually his assigned room.

The young blue was sitting quite patiently beside his future Riders unkempt bed, blue eyes swirling as his bonded entered the room. “More lessons huh? Guess we can’t escape ’em…” Moving over to the washbasin he carefully removed his shirt in order to check on his injuries. Wincing slightly he peeled back the bandages and surveyed the damages. Within the past night the wounds had finally stopped bleeding and the salves the Healer had given him was helping greatly with the pain. Though he still had a long way to go on the road to recovery at least he had no permanent loss of mobility in his shoulder.

Rewrapping his shoulder and ribs with a clean set of bandages R’xth pulled on a new shirt and moved over to the doorway, turning back to look at his bonded. ’C’mon, Mideth, lets get this over with.” With a wide yawn the young dragon crossed the barracks to His and the two in turn made their way to the training grounds.

As soon as the pair stepped out into the late spring afternoon the heat was the first thing that came to mind. Today wasn’t going to be fun, especially if he and the rest of the Weyrlings had to sit outside for this lesson, and Faranth only knew how long that would take. Patience Mine. You’ve got enough patience for the both of us I think.

It didn’t take long for the pair to reach the training grounds and what was bound to be death by learning for the day. So it came as a mild surprise to see that their teacher was just around their age if not a little younger then himself. As R’xth grabbed a spot on the grass so he’d be able to see the lesson, paying attention was a different story altogether, Mideth took a moment to briefly look over the rest of his clutch mates. Whatever thoughts the dark hatchling had he chose to keep them to himself, instead glancing curiously at the odd antics of the large green as Her’s spoke to the young riders.

Just when he felt as though he were about to drift off to sleep under the warmth of the afternoon sun he shot straight up when the words “field’ and “trip” combined in one sentence. To the river we go. Maybe now we can have a little fun. R’xth had worked in the craft of fishing for a few years before he had stood before Lorakeths clutch and the water was like a second home to him. Today might not turn out so bad after all.

Eagerly he jogged ahead of the others only stopping briefly at the waters edge to kick his boots off before diving straight in. Mideth hopped along after His till he reached the waters edge and skidded to a halt, his eyes swirling a yellow/green as he scanned the dark waters for His to surface. Ry popped to surface a few seconds later with a foolish grin plastered on his face. Come take a swim, Mideth. Grinning wider he sent a small wave to splash lightly against the dark dragons side, egging him on till the young hatchling splashed in the river till he was treading water along side His.

Floating on his back, Ry closed his eyes and reached out with his thoughts to try and hone in on his companion. So tell me…hot or cold? The dark blue immediately ceased his splashing, quietly treading water as he looked on at the floating figure of his bonded. Cold…and wet really. Why?

Caught off guard by his dragons answer, R’xth sank beneath the water in his moment of shock before emerging a split second later. “Not exactly what I meant…” Rubbing the water from his eyes, Ry went back to his lazy drift, changing his direction every time he felt the draw of the mental bond the pair shared. A few minutes slipped by and he was sure he heard some shouting, some girl freaking out over getting her hair wet no doubt. Ry snickered at the thought. Mideth, am I close? In silent response the blue hatchling sent a vivid image to His’ mind through their connection, guiding him on. Sucking in a lungful of air, R’xth slipped beneath the water and stealthy carried on to where he felt his dragon was. Reaching out blindly, as his eyes were still closed, his hand closed around a long tail. Triumphantly he broke the surface, startling the dark dragonet in the process. “Found you!” Probably not the way the Weyrling master intended him to interpret the lesson but oh well, he was having fun.

[/font][/size]

[shinska]

Aela listened intently to the lesson. It was a fun first lesson! The girl looked at her Talath who nodded and slowly stepped into the water. Aela wanted to join in the fun and so she stepped into the water hesitantly. Then panic set in.

Aelamine![/color] Talath cried out in fear.

No! Let me do this on my own Talath. I need to get over my fear of swimming in water. With a deep breath the girl shoved the panic to one side and continued forward. The water soon got deeper and deeper.

Kaith can you help me keep an eye on Mine? She is afraid of swimming and I do not want her to panic.[/color] Talath called out to her Brown Clutchbrother.

Soon the water was up to Aela's chest and she stopped. "Alright lets do this." Another deep breath escaped her. Aela closed her eyes and called out to Talath. Alright go.

Talath hesitated at first and then swam a little further out than Aela and said something. She watched Aela try and pin point her location and then head in her direction. Talath moved and went another way and repeated her last word. The Obsidian found that she was enjoying this game, but she would keep a close eye on Hers for awhile.

[Lark]

Things were doing well. There had been that one incident when Yazhith went under, but the green was soon back up, Avirith hovering over her as well until the larger green was certain that she would be fine. You are alright little one, don't worry. I would never let anything happen to you, neither would Mine, or Yours.[/i] Nuzzling the little green gently, Avirith swam a bit away again and made it to the shore. She was done with this swimming, she wanted to fly! Fanning out her dark wings and arching her back, she lifted them above her before bringing them down again hard. She was soon in the air, and Ara sighed and shook her head. Oh well, that's a dragon for you, especially her green Avi.

N'kron was having no trouble finding his brown. The dragon liked this game since only his clutchmates could see him, but even they were too focused on Theirs. That meant that he was left out of the spot light and to just swim around and have fun. Calling out to His again, Ildardeth slid back under the water, his hide an orange brown and darker chocolate marked blur under the shifting water. It was so nice here. Surfacing his head silently, the brown decided to have fun with his rider.

Calling out again to N'kron, Ildardeth brought his body as quietly as possible out of the water and onto a low hanging tree branch. Just as the Fangtooths that his marks took after would do, he waited patiently until the boy passed under the branch. With a happy roar, the brown flung himself down onto the body. "Hey, not fair! So, not fair Ildardeth!" Sputtering as he came back up, N'kron batted his brown away and tried not to laugh. It had been a cool move after all.

[Akira]

Kicheth crooned happily when His finally reached him. I think we did pretty good Kich. He scratched the white dragon on his eye ridges as he spoke. N'ckMine, I am hungry. The white dragon swam back to the shore with His as he spoke. N'ck gave the weyrling an exasperated look when he heard that Kicheth was hungry once again. You really are a bottemless pit! N'ck shook his head at his dragon, then started looking around for Ara.

N'ck jumped a little when he heard a dragon between, or rather, apear from between. It was a blue and his rider, and apparently they knew Ara and Avirith. Though, N'ck figured that all the riders at Trelis would know them. Kicheth pushed His towards Ara, effectively pulling him from his thoughts. Alright, alright. He rolled his eyes, and walked over to the weyrling master. She had started talking before he could ask about feeding his weyrling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K'lin held on tightly as Bearith took them both between to the lake where he head heard that Alyara had taken the weyrlings. Bearith buggled a greeting to all of the weyrlings and Avirith as they landed. K'lin jumped off of his blue dragon and looked at everyone with amuzement lighting up his face. Well, this is one way to train them Ara. His voice was light and teasing as he spoke to the weyrling master. Greetings Avirith and weyrlings! He blue's sweet voice rang out in the minds of those that were here.

((Sorry this isn't very good.))

[Zirin]

Bit cartwheeled through the air, reveling in the wind beneath her green wings and listening to the sounds of the weyrbowl. She pulled her wings in close and dove towards the ground before releasing her wings and rising on a thermal. Oh how fun it all was. If only the shiny one would join her! She sent Kayath and Hers a mental image of the sky and clouds, once again asking the three-day-old Topaz to fly with her. Kayath ruffled her wings, wishing she could indeed touch the sky.

“You know the rules Kayath, my sweet,” J’dol droned, not even lifting his head from his pillow, wishing he didn’t have to get out of bed. I know, I know. But won’t I be positively marvelous once we get to fly? Oh J’dolMiiiine it’s not fair that we have to wait! She stomped her foot in aggravation. She believed she was large enough to fly already, and she was already growing bored with sitting in the barracks, though she did like eating and getting oiled. However, she did wish that there had been someone in her room. She didn’t particularly want to share her room (she deserved the have a room all to herself, after all) but she was somewhat envious of the other weyrlings’ rooms. She huffed and laid her head on J’dol’s back, which was unclothed as normal, as she listened to the call from the weyrlingmaster. Oh mine! It is finally time to leave this room and get the attention we so rightfully should have! It is time for a lesson! The topaz was already heading out of the room, intent on being the first there.

“Now hold on there, princess.” He began, “A real lady would be fashionably late if she wanted attention.” In truth, he had heard enough about the first lesson during his turns as a candidate. He had watched the first few weyrling lessons before, and from what he had seen he already knew the basics. His firelizard, though miniscule in comparison, had shown him that. He wiped a cloth over Kayath’s hide quickly, making sure she did not have any dirty spots before they made their way to the lesson, though he made sure Bit stayed behind. They were late, of course, though not horribly so; they were in time to hear Alyara’s – Ara’s - introduction. Kayath crooned happily as they arrived, but there was little time for her to attract attention, as the weyrlingmaster’s green had done her own introductions and the instructions for the day had been explained.

J’dolMiiiiine! Kayath spoke to her rider, more to stay awake than anything else, I am sooo bored and everyone is paying attention to the green instead of me! You already can oil all of my itches, so why must we listen? The topaz’s tail twitched in boredom and she tried poking one of the nearest weyrlings, though everyone seemed intent on the lesson. She instead looked back up to the sky, where Bit, along with a few other flits, was circling lazily on the light breeze. When she looked back down, everyone was leaving.

’If you paid attention, Kayath, you’d have heard we are going to the lake.’ He motioned for her to follow as they made the trek to the nearby river. J’dol had to admit the water looked incredibly inviting and he had to stop himself from ignoring the instructions and simply jumping in. So you have to find me? That is simple enough. I hope you do not embarrass me Mine The topaz strutted into the water, head held high as J’dol and the other new riders closed their eyes. Well, J’dol closed his eyes, but only after giving Ara a good look-over. It was a shame they had rules, he would not have minded hitting on her.

As the largest dragon there, aside from the weyrlingmasters, Kayath was able to wade out rather far. Well, the water is lovely, and it makes my hide glisten, so I do not mind if you take your time. Mentally rolling his eyes, J’dol strode into the water, understanding now why Kayath wanted to stay in the lake; it was refreshing. Once he had reached a decent depth, half-heartedly guided by his dear dragon, he flipped onto his back and leisurely floated one the whim of the current. J’dolMine, if you wish to reach me eventually, as I hope you do, you will need to float a tad more to your left. She dipped her head under the water before sending him an image of his location as seen through her eyes. It took him a couple of attempts to right his course, but before long he was reaching her side. He heard a splash, following by a quick mental notice to stand in the water, which he followed with a bit of confusion. A sudden soft pressure from below caused him to open his eyes and thrash. An orange body appeared beneath him, floating just enough for Jaks to feel the topaz’s young form underneath him.

“Kayath what are you doing!?” He hissed, trying to avoid attention for once. You are my rider, it is only befitting that you ride me. She answered haughtily, then intercepted his next question. I will not get hurt. The water is carrying you more than I am. Besiiiides, won’t everyone look this way when they see how wonderful we look? She sent out a happy bugle.

---

Mine. Mine! MINE! Peniath whined, fanning out her wings to catch more of the sun’s rays as she lounged lazily in the bowl, happy to be out of the barracks. She had been sleeping since her meal earlier that morning. U’wa, on the other hand, had spent the time with his nose buried in a letter from his sister, slowly writing out a response to her on the back of the skin. He missed her dearly, even though it had only been a few days since they had stood on the sands together. Another call from Peniath finally drew his attention to the green. It wasn’t that he was ignoring her, of course, he simply had a tendency of becoming completely absorbed in things.

“S-sorry Peniath…” He stammered, lifting his eyes from his writing. “W-what is it…?” The green grumbled in annoyance at being ignored, but responded regardless. Didn’t you hear U’waMine? We have a lesson! Oooooh I want to be there really, really fast. I want to meet our teacher! Isn’t this exciting?! She took hold of the boy’s shirt in her teeth and began dragging him along.

“H-h-hold on….” He tripped, dropping his letter in the process and causing Fari to dive down from wherever she had been hiding. She let loose a shrill squawk, berating the dragon for being so mean to Hers. “Fari… she’s okay…” He mumbled as he motioned her to land on his shoulder. Knowing what U’wa needed to do, Peniath released her grip, though she was still antsy to get moving. After rolling up the skin, U’wa tied it to the Forest’s outstretched leg and quietly ushered the avian off, knowing Fari would find his sister without a problem. “O…Ok, we can go now…” He shuffled quickly beside the little green, catching up with the other weyrlings before the lesson started. Peniath was more than happy to follow Yazhith’s example and introduce herself. Hello Avirith and AraHers! I am Peniath, and U’waMine is the shy one hiding behind me! Please with herself, Peniath nudged U’wa back in line with the other weyrlings to listen to the lesson. Unlike many of the other weyrlings, he rather enjoyed the lesson, absorbing the information as Ara gave it. He was likely the only weyrling who was sad to hear the lesson was, essentially over in order to go to the river.

Arriving at the river, Peniath was ecstatic about the game and hurried into the water, though she had to turn around and dragon U’wa in a moment later. By the time he had waded out to his waist, Peniath by his side encouraging him, others had already begun the game; some had even finished. Miiiiine. Hurry up! Everyone else is almost donne… I want to play too. If you loved me you would closer your eyes and let me hide! The green squirmed out of U’wa’s hold, leaving the boy to stand pathetically in the shallow water.

“B-but Peniath…” He whimpered, “I don’t.. know how… how to swim….” Peniath cocked her head in confusion, not sure why her riding was having such difficulty. She moved back beside him to offer support and looked around at the pairs that had found each other already. She sent her mind out to them and also both master’s dragons, Mine cannot swim! What do I doooo? U’wa hid his face in his hands, embarrassed and worried that he would be punished for not being able to do the task.

[Lark]

Ara looked up as a large blue shape flew past and then landed. Bearith is here Mine. The green trilled happily as she waded over to the dragon. I see that Avi. Thanks for the tip. Shaking her head to keep from laughing, Ara walked over to where K'lin was. "Hey there. I thougt they could use a lesson other than the boring stuff. Besides it was hot out." Smiling, the green rider leaned against her dragon as she moved to nuzzle Bearith's side in greeting. Hello Bearith. The water is so nice and cool we thought the little ones would enjoy it. "Not to mention we're helping to test the bond strengths that they have. Some are better than others."

The rider looked out to watch the various dragonets and weyrlings. They had all mostly been able to find each other, though some did take longer than others. Casting a concerned glance at Yazhith and Kitcheth, the Weyrlingmaster bit her lip. Make sure they stay in the shallows alright Avirith. The green crooned in response and sent the message to the two dragonets. Oh and Mine there is someone needing assitance over there. The dragoness pointed with one outstretched wing to where one weyrling and his green were having trouble.

Walking over before K'lin could say anything in response to her dragon's movements and thoughts, Ara stopped by the weyrling and his dragonet. "Hey, having some trouble?" It looked as if the boy couldn't swim by his fearful glances toward the water and his dragonet's impatience. "How about you do the same thing on land? Or perhaps you could wait until I get the next thing going? That one's going to be on land." Looking up, Ara asked Avirith to get the dragonets' attention. Alright everyone, time for the next part of the lesson. Listen to Mine now!

Ara waved at the weyrling pairs and then gestured to K'lin and Bearith. "This is K'lin and his blue dragon Bearith. They're the assistants." Trying very hard not to laugh at the idea that someone who outranked her and outaged her was below her, Ara continued. "So the next thing we will be doing is a bit of a race. Have the dragons come to this strip of land beside the water and line up. We'll have the larger dragonets like Kayath, Talath, Etuth and Emiath go first. Then it's Ildardeth, Kaith, Mideth and Ferrth. Then Eyildayth, Miasuloeth and Chiparath. Then it's Peniath and Mapiyath followed by Yazhith and Kitcheth. This is simply by size so that Yazhith for instace isn't racing against Kayath who is....well much larger than she is."

"The races will be from this starting line, to the tree way over there," Ara pointed to an extra large tree that was very obvious, "then back here. The rider will stay at the starting line and help to guide their dragonet to there and back. The farther away they get, the more difficult it will become for them to hear you since the bond is new. Oh, another thing, it's the dragonets' turn to close their eyes so this is more of a trust excercise than an actual race. Running too fast without giving them good direction may make them step on a stone or fall. So be careful, outstretched wings do help balance by the way."

(Ooc: You can post in any order you want, the grouping was just to make sense and give you an idea of who your baby is up against. You can have anything happen to them in this, at the end I'll draw random numbers from a hat to see who wins.)

[Zirin]

Kayath crooned as Jaks scratched her eye ridges from where he sat, half-floating, on her neck. He was completely oblivious to what the rest of the class was doing, intent on making his little princess happy. He slipped off her back as she suddenly jumped forward without any warning. He resurfaced, chocking slightly on the water as he tried to figure out what happened. Oh! Sorry mine, Avirith has called us back for the next part. Hurry uuuuup, I don’t wanna be the last pair there! Quickly swimming over to his partner, he grabbed onto her tail with a mental yelp of GO GO GO! Chortling gleefully, Kayath used her long legs to quickly speed back to land, dragging J’dol until the water was almost shallow enough to hurt him. He let go of her tail and stood up, chuckling as he followed her to where Ara and the bluerider were. J’dol listened to the introduction Ara gave about the assistant while Kayath eyed the blue fondly. An adult… a cute one at that, maybe he would pay attention to her. Oy Princess, stop gawking unless you want to be left behind. The weyrling called as he made his way over to where the race would start. Kayath walked over curiously, requiring a quick recap of what was expected since she had been distracted during the actual explanation. She ruffled her wings happily as she was used as part of the example, not caring that it was only because she was the largest dragonet there.

Lining up with the dragonets she was competing with, she decided Talath was her real competition, and only because they shared the same markings. She would beat her fellow subqueen and prove to everyone that she, Kayath, was the most wonderful thing to grace the planet. Her hope sunk then as Ara informed them about the eyes closed bit. J’dol. She said rather sternly, If I trip, hit a tree, or disgrace myself in any way, I will not be happy. So don’t screw up ok? The young man rolled his eyes, almost wanting to have her hit something just to annoy her, though the thought alone caused the orange-coloured dragon to grumble unhappily in his direction. Already annoyed by the lack of seriousness from her partner, she stretched her wings out lightly, not caring if they hit the dragonet beside her, and closed her eyes. At the mark she began a quick, though somewhat wavy, jog towards the finish line.

Keep going Kay, now right. Oh, left now. No, my left! Fine, you’re right. You’re falling behind, hurry up. J’dol made sure to keep a running commentary going for his dragonet, wanting her to know that he did actually care about this. He tried to send her a visualization of what he could see, though from the audible snort he could tell it had not been very clear. Well, at least she wasn’t able to tell from the image how ridiculous the dragonets looked racing blindly across the ground. It was worth a shot. Oh! Emiath just passed you. Talath too. Hard left, you’re going around the tree now. Don’t worry just move. You’re way too far left now, head back right. Too far! Etuth is almost winning now. Stop jogging and start running if you want to win! Kayath rumbled nervously but did as she was told, as soon she was neck and neck with the rest of her group. Not a moment too soon either; the finish line was just a few feet away! It would be a photo finish!

---

Oooooh this was not good at all. Soooo embarrassing!! U’wa thought as he saw Weyrlingmaster Ara coming over. Was she going to yell at him? Tell him how pathetic he was, how he was a waste of flesh and blood. That he should be fed to a dragon?! He looked away from her, shaking as she came closer, preparing himself for the sting of her words or hand. Yet, all she did was give him an alternative. He looked warily, but she had already turned to call in the weyrlings for the next part of the lesson. Peniath trotted over and flopped herself down next to his, nuzzling into his leg as she told him that she wouldn’t be mad unless they failed at the second part too. She wanted to do well, after all. U’wa was glad that they were done with that water business and moving onto something more land-based.. if only because he was comfortable on land.

He watched nervously as the larger dragons raced, some doing extremely well, and some doing rather poorly. Oooooooooh! U’waMiiine looked at them go! I want to run that fast! Can I? You won’t let me hit anything will you? I really want to win! The green hopped excitedly from one foot to the other as the current racers, Eylidayth, Miasuloeth, and Chiparath, looped around the tree and headed back. It’s almost our tuuuuurn! I’m so excited Mine, let’s do well! I want to do well! You do too, don’t you? Because you love me, right? U’wa nodded furiously, not wanting to upset Peniath more than he already had, though the movement made him a little dizzy. Peniath trilled enthusiastically as the dragonets crossed the finish line, congratulating the winner as she moved to the starting point. Then the race began. U’wa watched as Peniath tripped over her own feet right at the beginning! She squawked, flailing her wings as she tried to stop herself from crashing face first into the ground. She finally balanced, but the other dragonet had gained some distance on them. Closing her eyes again she started forward again, though she kept her wings out for balance.

Uhh.. ummm…. There’s a.. a roc- S-sorry…” He stumbled over the words even in his mind as he watched Peniath stumble over the rock he had been mentioning. Ur… go a little.. more right… please… Th-There’s the tree… sorry… almost around it.. She began making her way back now that the tree had been dealt with, though her rider’s direction were, if anything, pathetic. Miiiiine! If you loved me you would show me what you see instead! She practically begged, her toes were sore from stubbing them on almost every obstacle in her path. Realizing it was a good idea, he closed his eyes and tried to recreate what he had seen with his eyes open. That’s it! Do it again! I can see through you! I want to see more! Realizing he had discovered something he was good at, he tried sending an image again, though this time with his eyes open.

Suddenly Peniath was able to pick up her speed, though it was hard to tell if she’d beat the other green she was racing. There was still enough distance to make a difference though, and the more U’wa attempted the imaging, the faster and better Peniath’s blind movements were, though she stumbled occasionally as she tried to understand the direction she needed to move in order to match the mirror image that she got from U’wa.

[kitsuneko]

Oooh! A race! Ferrth said in excitement at about the same time Kaith groaned, A race? How dreary.

The pale blue ignored his larger sibling, though, waiting a bit impatiently for his turn to race. He'd be up against Kaith, the afore-mentioned lazy brown, as well as the other brown and another blue. He turned to Hirion imperiously. You'd better not steer me wrong, Hirion, alright?

"Don't worry, Ferrth," the girl replied as the race started. The blue scrunched his eyes shut as the other weyrlings did the same, and the race began. Ferrth took off with wings outstretched for balance, making his strides seem more like leaps and glides. It didn't help him go any faster than the others, though, and Kaith was particularly fast for such a lazy dragon. As far as the brown was concerned, the sooner the race was over, the sooner he could rest, so he was going all out.

Watch out, Ferrth! Kaith is coming up your left. Head right a bit! Hirion told him.

Beside her, R'hard was guiding Kaith around the tree and back to him already. By the end of the race, Ferrth was exhausted and not too happy by the fact that a big and burly brown dragon had managed to outrun him. "I'm sorry, my dear," Hirion told him, stroking his eyeridge.

The blue snorted. Just wait until we start flying.

[Lark]

Zora smiled as she watched everyone start their races. She had chosen to stay out of the water bit since she was terrified of it, but this wasn't so bad. It was far away from the river...or so she told herself. The weyrling smiled and shook her head as Yazhith moved around in fast, tight circles. Mine, Mine, Mine! I'm going to run, run, run faster than annyone here Mine! Look at that leaf there Zoranille! You see it, seeeee it! I'm gonna catch it; ready?!?!? One....twOTHREE! The green hopped upward into the air a bit even before the third second really hit. Grabbing the leaf neatly in her mouth, Yazhith wagged her tail like a pleased canine. Seeeeeee Mine? I told you your Yazhith would get it.

Puffing up with happiness at this, the green rolled on the ground, making her hide dusty with the forest's dirt. This is fun...wheeeeeeeeeeeee! "Yazhi, come on sweetheart. We're almost up." REALLY!?! Oh Mine! I am going to run, and be the best, and oooooh look at how pretty Emiath looks while running. Widening her eyes Zora looked down at the green dragonet. "He tried to sharding kill you Yazhith!" The dragoness blinked up at Hers confused. Buuuuut Miiiiiiiine! It's fun! Shaking her head the weyrling sighed and pinched her nose between her thumb and first finger.

OUR TURN! Jumping into line Yazhith trilled happily and spread out her wings, shaking her tail back and forth. She looked ridiculous with her but wagging along with it and her tongue partially sticking out as she closed her eyes. TELL MEEEEE MINE! I'll race fast, yep, yep, yep! Jumping forward as they were told to go the green raced around the edge of the forest. Wait no, not that way! This way hun. NO! Zoranilled sighed as Yazhith tripped on a root and tumbled over. Running up to her the weyrling rubbed the sore leg. Owie, Owie, Owie! That wasn't fun Mine!!!!! I wanted fun. It wasn't any fun. Why not, it looked like fun! Trying to explain it to the green, Zoranille closed her eyes exasperated.

---

N'kron and Ildardeth had much better luck. The two had found the trick to this game easily, seeing that if the weyrling gave a concise picture the dragonet was able to move. The brown sped through his competition, but still the skittish male shied away from the leaders. He didn't want to get too close after all, not to mention that he always like shadows better than the light. He felt too exposed here. Soon the brown was so pee-occupied with the thoughts in his head that the images were being fuzzed. He couldn't tell anymore what N'kron was sending, but it was over anyway. They didn't know if they'd made it fast enough, the others were so close to Ildardeth, N'kron couldn't tell.