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Training Grounds (#7854)
The marks of thousands of claws give testament to the shuffling of
the young dragons that have torn up what little grass once grew in this
corner of the bowl. Tucked in between the feeding pens to the south and
the curve of the Weyrleader's complex, the training grounds are home to
daily exercises and classes, all taking place well out of the way of the
hectic bustle of the rest of the bowl. Cut deep into the cliff face, the
large, covered openings leading into the extensive weyrling barracks rise
high over the heads of any who come near, although the height of the caldera's
spindles far above cast their own reaching shadows across the hard packed
earth.
It is an autumn midmorning. The sun creeps its way up
the eastern sky, the wind blowing it's coldness from the north. Clouds
advancing above you, cold, not threatening.
To the northeast, you see Sendakth, Hanselth, Babarth, Miravith, Orsoth,
Lainnoth, and one person.
You see Fluffernut here.
Obvious exits:
Northeast Northern Bowl
Corrals Up
Peorth ambles daintily in from the Weyrling Barracks.
R'gis strolls in an unconsciously seductive manner in from the Weyrling Barracks.
Fye strides, a light bounce in her step, in from the Weyrling Barracks.
Lainnoth waltzes loftily, regal grace coming easily to each step, in from the Weyrling Barracks.
<Local> Druseth senses that he reaches out, smoky gray mist obscuring a trail of hesistant words. Confidence grows as blood-red flows through his low, haunting tones. << We are to teach you how to do formations properly. Please have your rider ensure your straps are on properly... >> A pause, before the words continue. << My Lylia can assist if there are any problems. >>
"Hey." Lylia lounges against her large, fanged lifemate, before striding forward, slapping her coal-black riding gloves against her thigh. "Good to see you all. I hope that you've learned some of your formations in theory well enough to try them aboard your dragons?" Raising an eyebrow, she just glances at the blue and green. Hmm.... Yep, look in good shape.
R'gis blinks slightly startled as Peorth relays the browns words and automatically checks the straps clasping the green's supple hide to make sure it doesn't rub in the wrong places. He looks expectantly toward Lylia, hand resting lightly on the curved neck beside him.
Fye has arrived: so beware. The 'ling strides in from the barracks with Lainnoth, lifting a hand in greeting to Lylia, R'gis, and their lifemates. "Uh, maybe?" she replies not-all-therely to the assistant 'lingmaster with a shrug; quickly becoming busy due to a sparkle in her mind: her blue asks her to check his straps. "They look fine, dear. See how I sewed them well? Very nice."
"Hey Fye." The blueling gets a grin. Eehee. "Mount, then?" Lylia winks at the two, reaching over to instinctively grab the dark loop on her straps, swinging upwards to clamber onto Druseth's back. Sliding behind the ridges of her larger lifemate, she just gestures to the area in front of her. "We're going to start with a Standard V. It's the main formation you guys will need to know. Either of you know what the advantages of it are?"
R'gis gives Lylia a bit of a doubtful look as he looks up at Peorth before shrugging slightly. "I don't know....she said to so I guess it's okay....." he mutters to the green and clambers carefully up the straps to settle on the still petite dragon's neck. He turns his attention back to the brownrider and waits.
You manage to make your way up Druseth's dark, soft neck, settling between two neck ridges. Bumpy ride ahead.
R'gis steps upon Peorth's politely proferred forelimb and settles between her neckridges.
Fye sidles a little closer to her lifemate and awkwardly clambers her way up his azure side, settling herself 'twixt silver-brushes 'ridges. "That wasn't so hard." Once comfortable up there, she glances Lylia-wards. "You can ... cover more space easily?"
Lainnoth politely extends a periwinkle forelimb, allowing Fye to scramble up and settle snugly 'twixt two neckridges.
Lylia leans against Druseth, the dragon taking a graceful step closer so she can be better heard. "Exactly. You get a rather nice coverage of space with a Standard V. It's also useful for the wingleader, because the entire wing can see hand signals. Not to mention smaller dragons like your own won't have to have the full brunt of the winds up there." She gestures towards the pair, before giving another grin. "That's something you'll be practicing when you fly, dealing with the weather... But for now..." She points forward slightly. "Let's form a standard V. Fye, you get in wingleader position. R'gis, you'll be wingsecond to her left. I'll take the right wingman position."
Lainnoth attempts to straighten his sinuous neck whilst also trying to adjust comfort of cobalt 'ridges for lifemate, adding swift flick of trailing tail before resting large optics on Druseth and Lylia. Balancing Fye while waddling into wingleader position is in attempt to be done more gracefully, but blue manages without and still places proud expression upon aristocratic face.
From Peorth's neck, Peorth ambles into the wingsecond position, balancing R'gis fairly easily with an inherent grace. Her lifemate nods to Lylia and mentally directs the movement that seems to be entirely the dragon's idea. Rage turns to look over at the assistant weyrlingmaster and waits, no impatience shown by this pair....apart from the green's twitching tailtip.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye murmurs a quiet little something to her blue, her nearly-inaudible speech eventually falling into mindspeak. Voice starts up again, though, as she praises, "That's good, Lainnoth," to the blue, proceeding to arch her neck to take an attentive peek at Lylia from her and Lai's wingleader position, ringlets of flaxen hair wisping around her face as she waits for further instructions or information.
"See? This is the basic type of formation you'll be in... Fye, if you could wave your arms for a moment?" Lylia gives the wingleader a grin. "To show how you can see the commands. And then, if you will, raise and lower your arm in the signal for us to fly off. We're going to take a litlte walk around the training grounds. Spacing is /important/, you know." Another chipper beam, as Druseth slowly flicks his tail, giving the weyrling dragons a quiet, brooding look. He's ensure it.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis watches Fye as she moves her arms, nodding slightly in a silent comment to the green. He glances at the brown across from him and thumps the green neck before him lightly, a smile curving his lips. Refraining from any comments at this early point he devides his attention between the teacher and the 'wingleader' of their group.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye nods to Lylia and turns her head back. "Stay still for now, Lai." She's a little slow to lift her hands high up as she proceeds to, but she does, the 'ling then waving her arms above her to demonstrate the view. "And then make ... a fly off signal?" The current wingleader gives another bob of the head for the teacher, Ly, lifting one arm and lowering it.
"Good, good. Let's start our little walk, then? We're gonna take a short stroll, so you guys can get an idea of how much space to have between your dragons." Lylia points at the area between Druseth and Lainnoth. "That's about how much you need not to flame the one ahead but to have proper coverage. In conditions, you may move closer or farther, depending on orders." Druseth begins to move forward, grace and dignity in his slinking step. The rider still continues her chirruping lecture. "The bad thing is that Fye isn't able to look at us without diverting attention from Fall, so you need to be sure your wing is /good/, and your dragons have proper communication." Clomp clomp clomp, the bounciness of dragon-riding.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis follows Lylia's finger to study the amount of space and nods. He urges Peorth to keep that distance and still remain beside Druseth too, bouncing a bit when the green makes a bit of a misstep.
Archana heads from Pens to Weyrling grounds, leaving the fenced beasties behind.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Peering over her shoulder before the group's stroll starts, Fye checks on the space between her lifemate and Druseth. "I see." Once she's bespoken Lainnoth to begin walking, and she's given the blue a loving pat, the Weyrling agrees with Lylia, "That's true, I have to look over my shoulder to check on the wing for myself."
Archer blinks in from ::between::!
Archana calls to Archer, who flies over and lands on her shoulder.
Lylia lightly pats the neckridge, nodding slightly. "Exactly. Of course, this'll be different in the air. You'll have a number of other problems to worry about." Joy. Pausing for a moment, Druseth speeds up slightly, closing the distance. "Let's tighten the formation a little? See if we can keep it even still?" Clomp clomp clomp. Druseth continues his flowing pace. "Allo!" The rider gives a quick wave to Archana, smiling lightly. Druseth had better not step on anyone.
Lainnoth cranes lissome neck to eye distance before returning to previous position, neck almost perpendicular as an obedient bob of head mainly directed towards lifemate is made whilst blue makes an endeavor to keep study pace. Slow the dragon is, avoiding from going too fast with tail trailing from behind, twitching occasionally and flashing a set of different shades of blue.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye is a very curious Weyrling. That's why she inclines her head ever-so-slightly and questions, "What sort of other problems could there be?", all the while patting Lainnoth to keep him at a good speed - but by the looks of it, the blue knows to do it himself. "That's very good, Lai, not too fast for Peorth and Dru. Goo-oooo-ood." Pat-pat.
From Peorth's neck, Peorth keeps a close eye on both Druseth and Lainnoth as she paces in her assigned place. She turns one eye toward the person on the ground and is careful not to step on anyone either. Her lifemate keeps his eyes switching between Lylia and Fye as he listens more than he speaks nowadays.
Archana sits down on the ground and watches in total aww at the fantastic sight that are the dragons. Then recovering from her trance, turns her amazed expression into a shy smile, "Wowwee...", she whispers, just audible enough for a few people to hear.
Lylia rests lightly against her dragon, leaning. La la la. "Okay, let's see.... Let's try something else. R'gis, wanna wing your dragon forward, slightly?" She gives a little gesture, pointing for him to move out beside Fye. "This'll look much more impressive in a full wing, really. Well," she quickly turns to the question, "there's the vertical aspect to worry about . Spacing /and/ altitude. Weather conditions, the tiredness of your wing, Thread, injuries, firestone, wind, and all that without looking." Joy. Archana gets another mischevious glance. "Come to watch the little ones wander in formations?" Well, Lai and Peorth /are/ little. Sorta.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis nods and bespeaks Peorth to move forward, lining up with her blue clutchmate. "Careful, dearest.....There, that's good." he murmurs to the green. He turns to look back at Lylia, watching for more instructions even as he checks the distance between them.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye glances down at Archana, offering a too-bright beam to her, hazel eyes widening slightly at the ... gap between herself and the ground. "'Lo, down there!" she still manages to chime in greeting to the girl; but the Weyrling's still high up. She notes to the not-so-little-to-her Lainnoth and herself in a quieter tone, "We're pretty high up, huh?" Attention flicks back to Lylia, and she nods quickly. "Uh huh, I see."
Archana grins, "You could say that...". She strokes her little bronze fire-lizard Archer for comfort, wondering if that was the right thing to say.
Lylia gives an inaudible mumble, and Druseth stops, resting lightly on his brown-dripped haunches. "Okay, let's try an Inverted V? R'gis, you're wingleader, Fye, you're wingsecond. I'll take right wingrider." The vampiric brown immediately moves to a location indicated by Lylia, waiting. "Anyone know the obvious advantage to this one?"
From Peorth's neck, R'gis gulps and nods as the drops behind the other two dragons. "The....the wingleader can see what the wing is doing?" he asks, raising his voice just enough to be heard.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, "Advantages?" Fye thinks aloud to herself as Lainnoth lumbers gracefully to the correct position as Wingsecond, silver'd azure hide agleam. "Well, yeah, he can see everything from back there," a thumb jabs towards R'gis. But she can bet there's a lot of disadvantages to go along with that.
Archana smiles and wiggles her fingers at Fye. She starts to sways from side to side excitedly. Her speed increases as she rocks... then, relizing what she's doing, comes to an abrupt hult, almost sending her little bronze hurtling off her shoulder.
Lylia nods lightly. "Precisely. You can watch all your riders, and the fall. The bad thing is, hand signals don't work, so you have to rely on your dragon to communicate messages. Also, having the smaller dragons up front makes them tire quicker." Giving a slightly nod, she just peers back at R'gis. "If you could have Peorth tell Druseth and Lainnoth to take off? We'll take another short walk." Eeehee. Archana gets another grin. "And careful where you step."
Archana 's face turns into a light shade of red, "opps...", she speaks in a whisper...
From Peorth's neck, R'gis nods to Lylia and bespeaks the little green
who lifts her head to peer at the other two.
<< Lai....Dru....Take off please? >> Her lifemate
just sighs and mutters, "You're supposed to tell them, dear.....You're
the leader after all." After a moment a red flush crawls up his face
as he obviously receives an earful from the little green, princess in in
after all.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye gives Archana a little smile - "Wouldn't want to get squished, right?" - patting the lump of blue below her as he begins to obediently stroll slowly upon the green's request. "That's good, Lainnoth," his lifemate praises; as usual. "And do be careful where you step ..."
Druseth begins to wander forward as well, keeping his pace even with Lainnoths, always keeping an eye on the young, shiny blue. "Now," Lylia chirps, the brown below her picking up the pace. "Let's spread the formation, put an extra quarter-dragonlength between us." Really, all these things look good with more dragons.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis keeps Peorth where she is and watches as the other two widen the distance. "How do you keep Thread from getting past?" he asks as he can't see how riding in a widened formation would keep the skies clear.
Archana rubs the back of her sore neck. That's what you get for looking up in the sky for so long. Her lips curl into a slight grin as she adresses her question to Lylia, "Can the Dragons chew... what's-it-called, Oh yeah!! Firestone yet?". It suddenly occures to Archana that she might be disturbing the training, so she bows down her head and tries to keep her talkative mouth shut.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye leans lower from her precarious position on her lifemate and mumbles something to the blue - Lainnoth tries to keep his attention away from those older eyes on him, and listens to his rider, edging a quarter dragonlength away from his current position. "Keep the pace steady, Lai, stay with the rest ... that's good. Very good."
Lylia likes a chane to talk, and questions offer that. "Nope, they've got some months left before they chew firestone. They learn it after making senior weyrling." Another grin as the troupe wanders across the bowl in formation, before the assistant weyrlingmaster answers R'gis's question. "Well, same was as normal. Might have to dart forward just slightly, but the space isn't /that/ big. It is enough to extend the range slightly, though, which is good when there's a lot of riders injured. Also good in light falls. Denser falls, though, you'll likely have to tighten a formation."
Lyri walks in from the Weyrling Barracks.
Niamhyth nearly dances in from the Weyrling Barracks.
Lyri clambers up Niamhyth's neck and settles in between two neckridges.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye nods at the information received, giving Lainnoth the same, gentle patting to keep him at the right speed. "Hear that?" she queries of the dragon below her, lips quirking into a slight smile. "It's important." Not like he'll remember, though.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis aaahs softly and nods, storing that information in his memory. He watches and waits for more instructions from the brownrider, eyes gradually trailing to sky, bowl or other people. A nod goes to Lyri and her lifemate as they join the formation.
Archana has the sudden tendency to fall asleep, but Archer picks at her ear in warning," Your'e right...I guess, to tired to tell. Don't worry, I won't fall asleep here.". She picks herself up and dusts herself off, waves a drowsy goodbye to the dragonriders and stumbles away.
Archana heads west towards the Northern curve of the bowl.
"Lyri!" Lylia lets out a call over to the greenrider, gesturing to the inverted V formation. "Get in formation. You're in front of Wingsecond Fye." She points to the position. "You're late. Just missed Standard V though, and some winging. This is a formation that relies on dragon communication, while standard V is the most-used one, where hand-signals and dragon communication work well. Got it?" A quick summary, really.
From Atop Niamhyth's mint splashed 'ridges Lyri has been here all the time, really.. just don't notice her wet hair or anything. Niamhyth gives a soft croon but is quickly silenced by the weyrling.. but too late, she's caught; why does Lylia have to have such good eyesight, anyway?. A nod is given and she pipes in a "Got it" before settling her dragon into place; trying not to screw up again.
"Okaaaay...." Lylia grins slightly, Druseth one more slinking to a stop, glancing back at the weyrlings. "Next up, row formation. Lyri, you'll be wingleader, and I'll take wingsecond. R'gis, you'll be to our right, and Fye, you're wingrider on the left." Druseth gets into gear, sliding forward, edging to Niamhyth's left.
From Peorth's neck, Peorth moves to Druseth's right, sidling and slipping into the space carefully at her lifemates mental directions. R'gis looks over to Lylia, glancing to the other weyrlings to see where they are going to be placed and then waits for instructions once more.
From Atop Niamhyth's mint splashed 'ridges Lyri blinks for a moment; if she'd known this she'd probably have stayed in the baths. Niamhyth is nudged forward into the indicated position and she waits, looking around as the other weyrlings are given their spots. The green really couldn't be more pleased at being out there in front, now everyone will get a good look at her lovely tail and wings, both of which she settles into their 'best' position.
Lainnoth edges away from his previous position, heading to the left of the group as he's told by lifemate-Fye. Serpentine tail sways once, slowly, and settles behind him, giving the occasional twitch to show off its variegating silvery-blue shade. "Right here, Lai, that's good."
"Lyri, if you'll give us the signal to 'fly'?" Or walk, in this case. Lylia gives the greenrider a grin, Druseth's gaze more focused on stretching his neck and peering down the horizontal line, making sure none are too far forward or too far back.
<Local> Druseth senses that he rumbles, a low quake of violet haze dancing across a razor's edge. The cloak of night wraps itself around his words, but a simple respect underlies them. << You do well in formation. Peorth, your remain well in the line and adapt well to manuvers. Lainnoth, your steps are sharp and you are quick to respond. And you appear to be doing well in picking up in the midst, Niamhyth. A sharpness and quick response will improve over time though. >> The low tenor is almost amused. << And you will be doing this quite often. >>
From Atop Niamhyth's mint splashed 'ridges Lyri nods and, as soon as all are settled into place, signals that they should all 'take off'. Niamhyth begins to move with a look of assurance that the others will do the same, though her rider looks comfortable with the fact; of course, it may have something to do with the fact that her backside is pushed back against one of those lovely minty neckridges.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis shakes his head slightly as Peorth fairly preens under the browns compliments and pats her neckridge to get her to refocus on the job at hand. The little green moves out in a steady pace with the others in the line, keeping up easily since they aren't going any faster than the one with the shortest limbs.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, "Start walking, now, Lainnoth," directs Fye to her lifemate, her brown gaze picking up the signal from Lyri. "Good pace, dear. And yes, of course. You are pretty good at this."
Druseth moves forward, already into the easy walk he's picked up. The dragon's whirling cerulean gaze still darts about, but Lylia just chirps some more. "This formation's used when there are smaller numbers of dragons, but isn't used much now since it's not strategically as useful as the V formations. Let's spread this out a bit?" She glances side to side, Druseth already shifting his position.
From Peorth's neck, Peorth automatically shifts as soon as her lifemate registers the other dragon's change of position, forgetting for the order to shift in her eagerness to do this all right. One would never know she finds these repetitive drills boring.
Niamhyth spaces herself a bit away from the other dragons beside her and merely looks at the older brown with a 'who me?' expression in those coyly whirling eyes. Her rider simply shakes her head, as if taking this as some indication of later behavior. She does mutter something about ice water and hiding in weyrs but nothing all that audible.
Lainnoth languidly swooshes his blue tail as he spreads out a little from the rest of the dragons at the left end of the formation, still keeping a steady pace. "Here's fine," chirps his rider, Fye, mellifluously, causing the dragon to stop his sideway-movement.
Druseth just gives a low rumble, eyeing Niamhyth with that dark, brooding stare. But the brown obediantely comes to a halt, and Lylia peers over at the others. "One last formation, the line formation. I'll be wingleader, Lyri is wingsecond, then Fye, then R'gis. Okay?" Another bright grin. "And I'm going to do something stupid to keep an eye on you all. Something I don't expect to see y'all do ever in a formation unless told, which you won't be." With that, Lylia neatly turns around, crossing her arms as she rides backwards. Druseth just sits, amused.
From Atop Niamhyth's mint splashed 'ridges Lyri slaps a hand across her mouth and takes up position as wing second, trying very hard to keep her reaction under control. The green, on the other hand, gives a low rumble of amusement as she moves into place and recieves a stern look from her rider.
From Peorth's neck, R'gis chuckles softly at Lylia's change of position and maneuvers Peorth into her proper position on the outside of Fye. The little green turns whirling blue eyes on the older brown and rumbles a question to her lifemate who shrugs. "I suppose it could be dangerous, love...." he murmurs.
Perched 'tween a pair of royal blue neckridges on Lainnoth, Fye gives sparkly dragon 'neath her a light nudge with her hand, and at that, the blue shuffles into new position proper. His rider simply eyes Lylia with curiosity, and blinks a couple times. A-hem. "Who would ride backwards, anyway?" Lainnoth rumbles lightly to Fye, questioning, but keeps to the formation. "Oh, nothing, just something I'm not s'posed to do, Lai."
Lylia would ride backwards. But she's known to be foolish, and Druseth knows more than her anyway. Raising her arm, the rider pumps it in the signal to fly... The brown takes off, a quick pace. Let the weyrlings follow.
Lainnoth tromps forward in order to keep up with Druseth, his whirling-blue gaze slowly drifting to the others - keep up, and keep together. "Remember, not /too/ fast, Lai," Fye warns, patting at blue hide below.
Niamhyth takes off at a pace that keeps her in position with the older brown but not without a bit of effort on her part. For Lyri's part, she's being jostled just a bit, and may end up walking comically for quite a while until she gets used to this; dragons are not at all like runners.
Druseth once more comes to a stop, this time slipping and turning about to glance at those behind him. Grumbling, Lylia just squeaks and turns back to facing forward, arms still crossed over her chest. "Looks like we're done here. You all did quite good." Proud weyrlingmaster. Beam.
Lainnoth arches his neck proudly for him and his rider - Fye responds to this with a little giggle, yet again giving sparkly lifemate an affectionate pat. "We're allowed to go, then, Lylia?"
"Of course." Lylia gives a little wrist-flick, a little wave, really.
"I gotta go and finish more of D'renn's work." Dragon and rider tromp
off.