First Time Flying

Writers: Ames, Anika, Avery, Heather, Paula
Date Posted: 22nd May 2015

Characters: Ilyssia, E'naer, Z'then, Gelira, E'zar
Description: E'naer oversees first paired flights for the weyrlings.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 4 of Turn 7

Ilyssia

Ilyssia hurried through breakfast, extremely anxious for today's
lesson. V-tols seemed to be swirling in her midsection and she'd
eaten lightly. Threadfall and stormy weather earlier in the sevenday
had made it necessary to postpone this very important right of
passage, but today she would ride Gwynnyth for the first time. She
noted that she wasn't the only one to arrive early to today's lesson
and smiled at several of her classmates. "Anyone else too excited to
eat this morning?"

E'naer watched the weyrlings pour in. He was always slightly nervous
during these lessson, but not as nervous as he would be when they
/betweened/ or blooded.

Z'then had some doubts about this. To fly on a dragon and get that
high up in the air? He'd only had the ride when they'd been brought
here to compare it to. And then he'd been too caught up in the joy of
Impressing and finding the other half of himself, and too busy dealing
with the current lessons to think ahead to the next ones. Now the idea
of going adragonback and getting up there was real, and he felt shaky.

Juvath bugled. }:I can't wait! Can we go first?:{ he asked Eillispeth.

Z'then told Ilyssia, "I only had juice."

Gelira had waited a _very_ long time to reach this point. Charyoth was
more than ready for this, overshadowing the younger greens with her
size. After this their training would progress along with the junior
weyrling class. However, she knew that Charayoth was easily ready for
more.

Flying on the back of a dragon was nothing new to Gelira. She'd been
doing it from the time she was born. It had been hard to hold off
riding Charayoth since returning back to her weyrling duties, but
she'd managed. She hadn't wanted to cause trouble for herself or her
dragon among the staff.

Hand resting on Charayoth's foreleg, she stood back and waited. She
was getting to know the younger weyrlings quite well, but she still
felt out of place with them. Her own weyrling class was close to
graduating and she had a bittersweet feeling about that. She _wanted_
to graduate with them, but was glad to have Gelzan in her life. She
was feeling rather restless and edgy. She just wanted things to get a
_move_ on so she could progress in her training. The feeling that she
was _behind_ was not sitting well with her today.

}: No, Juvath, Charayoth goes first, she's waited long time for this,
:{ Eillispeth answered to the young brown.

}:Charayoth is so near to be fully mature, :{ she noted to her rider
after observing her.

**Fully mature...you mean near Rising? Well, that's to be expected,**
E'naer replied.

}:Eillispeth said we are to go first.:{ Charayoth informed her rider,
raising her head a bit as though showing off some.

Gelira was surprised by this action of Charayoth. Her green had always
seemed less likely to want to be _in_ the spotlight. Yet, today she
seemed as though she wanted _everyone_ to look at her.

**Fine by me. We're ready. Then we can get a move on with the rest of
our training,** Gelira answered.

"Gelira and Charayoth, you go ahead. Try to keep the flight short, at
the designated length I know she's been flying on her own and hunted
her own food for months now," E'naer called them.

}: You just fly here to that line drawn between those two little piles
of rocks over there, :{ Eillispeth instructed the young green.

}:Charayoth's to go first,:{ Gwynnyth complained to her rider.

**That's only fair. She has been waiting the longest. Imagine having
to wait this long to fly together. Now pay attention. We want
everything to go smoothly when it's our turn."

}:Of course it will go smoothly! Why would you think anything else?:{
Gwynnyth was somewhat indignant, but did turn her attention to
Charayoth and Gelira.

}:Okay,:{ Juvath said reluctantly to Eillispeth. He wanted to go, but
he guessed it was fair the bigger green went first.

**We'll go soon enough. Besides, you should see how she does it so you
can do better,** Z'then suggested. It seemed to be the way to motivate
his brown.

Gelira easily mounted Charayoth. Once seated they moved to the line.

}:I could easily fly this and more. I've waited so long to fly with
you on my back.:{ Charayoth stated. Gelira could sense the green was
excited and very eager.

In a matter of moments, her wings beat down and the pair were airborne.

**Beautiful! Just land over the line and all will be well,** Gelira
told the green.

Charayoth didn't answer, but instead turned to fly higher, rather than land.

**Charayoth! Down! Now!" Gelira instructed, shocked and surprised that
her green hadn't listened. This had _never_ happened before. Gelira
was overwhelmed by an intense desire to fly. High and fast and as far
as her wings would take her. Then just as quickly, the feeling passed
and Charayoth once again open to listening to her rider.

They coasted down to land. Gelira was embarrassed to see that they had
gone quite a good distance past the ending line. She wasn't sure what
had come over Chrayoth in the air, but that feeling that she _needed_
to fly was still there, hovering between them.

Chenreth sighed as he watched Charayoth. He thought letting the green
go first simply because she'd "waited a long time" was a silly reason.
Shouldn't the best go first? He looked about at the other dragonets,
including Juvath, whose rider was E'zar's twin brother- }:Clearly I am
the best. Why did we not go first?:{ His young voice was full of
consternation as he spoke to E'zar.

**Chill, Master of the Skies, you may want to catch Charayoth one day,
hm? Best to be nice to her now.** And to her rider, E'zar thought
silently as he regarded the striking figure that Gerlira made sitting
astride her dragon.

}:Charayoth, you must listen to and obey your rider, :{ Eillispeth
scolded her. }: Even when you know you can do more than the current
lesson demands. :{

"Next is Gwynnyth. Try _not_ to take example out of Charayoth.
Remember that she's three months older and can do things the younger
ones can't yet," E'naer called.

Ilyssia settled herself on Gwynnyth, noting how very right it felt.
**Listen to E'naer, only to the line,** she told her dragon, knowing
that Gwynnyth would want to prove that she could do what the older
dragon she admired so much could do.

Without responding Gwynnyth jumped into the air her wings working to
easily carrying the pair aloft. The feeling was amazing! In her
ecstasy, Ilyssia almost missed giving the command. **High enough down
to the line now.** Ilyssia insisted, though she had to admit some
reluctance.

}:I could fly with you all day,:{ Gwynnyth answered, though she obeyed
and soon alighted at the designated area.

**I know, soon, dear one, we will travel the skies together to our
hearts content.**

}: Beautifully done, Gwynnyth :{ Eillispeth complimented. Her rider
was feeling paternal towards the young greenrider and the emotion was
picked up by Eillie.

E'naer called out few more pairs before: "E'zar and Chenreth, you're next!"

}:It should be us,:{ Juvath grumbled. }:Maybe we could go now...:{

**No!** Z'then thought sharply at his dragon. That was a terrible idea.

}:But I'm better than Chenreth,:{

**And I'm happy for my brother,** Z'then thought. He tried to push
down his sensation of jealousy and concentrated on being proud. His
brother was going to do great.

}: Juvath, you _must_ learn patience. Which is why you go last, :{
Eillispeth said with stern tone after brief exchange with her rider.
They both agreed that Juvath needed to learn to wait his turn.

Chenreth and his rider were unaware of the conversation that was
taking place between Eillispeth and Juvath as E'zar settled himself
eagerly into his freshly oiled riding straps. Even if they didnt' fly
well E'zar had desperately wanted to ensure that he and Chenreth were
the best _looking_ pair on the field.

"Let's go." He thumped Chenreth's flank as he often saw riders do
before they left for Threadfall and then hooked his feet in his
stirrups and pushed back into his seat to prepare for Chenreth's take
off.

The brown did not disappoint, with a hop and and a downward sweep of
his wings, Chenreth was airborn and sailed smoothly across the
practice area to the landing zone.

**Great job!** E'zar whooped and clapped Chenreth's neck.

}: Well done, Chenreth, :{ Eillispeth complimented.

When Chenreth relayed Eillispeth's words E'zar snorted to himself.
**Well done? WELL DONE? That's all they have to say? We were shaffin'
perfect up there! I guess if we rode a green too we might get a little
more attention.** He thought hotly as he dismounted from his brown to
comfortably watch the rest of the Weyrlings in flight. E'zar was
particularly interested to see how his twin, Z'then, and his brown
Juvath performed.

"Good job!" Z'then cheered at his brother. He was proud of E'zar.

Juvath was sulking from Eillispeth's rebuke, but he responded to his
rider's sharp prodding. }:You looked good,:{ he told Chenreth.

Ilyssia smiled at Z'then's support of his brother, though she noted
E'zar didn't look particularly happy and she had to wonder why.
Chenreth's flight had looked perfect to her. She hoped Z'then and
Juvath would do as well.

}: Juvath, now it's your turn,:{ Eillispeth told him at the same time
when E'naer called out the last pair's name out loud. He was curious
to see how this twin performed. You didn't get to train twins often,
in fact this was first time for him.

Z'then scrambled up the straps like he'd practiced and seated himself
on the brown. The brownrider could feel the
impatience-excitement-desire burning in his dragon, who had no fear of
what was to come. He wasn't so sanguine about the matter. He'd perched
on Juvath before, but never when actually about to fly. Suddenly it
felt a little too high and he felt a surge of worry.

Juvath trembled slightly under him as he coiled his muscles. And then
he sprang aloft, heaving himself into the air. Z'then lurched back
against the ridge and winced in pain. He hadn't expected it to be so
jerky!

The brown's confidence never flagged as he flapped to gain the height.
}:Look at how high we are going! This feels so right.:{

Right wans't what Z'then wanted to call it. The weyrbowl seemed to be
falling away far too fast. **We have to go to the line,** he thought
shakily, looking for the marker. It seemed so far away!

}:The line.:{ Juvath sounded reluctant.

**Come on, you want to make a better landing than Charayoth or
Chenreth don't you?** Z'then thought, thinking of how much he wanted
to be down right now.

The spur to his pride captured the brown's attention. }:Right!:{
Juvath started descending to the line. He descended as quickly as he'd
rose, and landed with a thump that rattled Z'then's teeth. The brown's
hind feet were on the line, but his front pairs were on the other side
of it.

"How'd we do?" Z'then asked E'naer, hoping for an answer of 'good enough'.

}:Will we get to go again after this?:{ Juvath asked Eillispeth.

}: Not bad for a first flight. Your rider looks bit shaken, try for
smoother landing next time, :{ Eillispeth replied with a bit of an
advice.

"Okay, that was everyone. We'll take a half a candlemark's break, then
analyze your first flights before continuing the practising. Go and
grap a cup of klah," E'naer declared with loud voice. "If your dragons
are suffering of any kind of discomfort or tiredness, please report it
to the Staff immediately, thank you."

Last updated on the May 29th 2015

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First Time Flying