We'll Get it Tomorrow

Writers: Eimi, Estelle
Date Posted: 5th May 2018

Characters: T'nep, R'fal
Description: R'fal helps a young Weyrling with his throwing technique
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 3 of Turn 9

T'nep swore they had been closer together the day before! Gripping
the firestone sack with determination, he looked at the older weyrling
with great intensity. He would not miss this time! Taking a deep
breath and remembering not to use his knees to give him power, T'nep
threw the bag underhand and watched it arch gracefully into the sky.
But he had miscalculated the distance yet again and it feel half a
meter from R'fal's feel. He just wanted to sink into the ground
beneath him and die in his shame. T'nep had yet to hit his target.

R'fal stepped forward and picked up the sack. He wished he could have
run out to catch it - it felt mean just to let it fall - but when he'd
done that before, one of the weyrlingstaff had asked him if he planned
to dive off his dragon mid-air to catch a wingmate's toss and he had to
admit, they had a point. Accuracy was key.

"Ready?" He gave the other weyrling an encouraging smile and threw the
sack back to him with an easy, relaxed swing of his arms and upper body.
"Nice catch! Okay, let's try again."

The young brownrider had learned to catch pretty quickly. Not only
had a few barely missed hitting him straight on the head early on, but
one had hit him hard right on the bicep. Reflexively, he bent his arm
and somehow the sack of stone had been caught between his upper and
lower arm. He was pretty proud that he had made the catch, but the
impact had left a firestone sized bruise. That was one mistake he was
not going to repeat! T'nep gave the signal that he was ready to
throw, and gave it a might heave. This time it had the distance, but
was wide left. "Sorry!"

"That's all right," R'fal called back as he jogged over to retrieve the
sack. He'd been doing that a lot this morning, and wondered if he could
do anything to help. Obviously, T'nep was younger and smaller than him,
so it was always going to be harder...but he wasn't far off in distance,
so it couldn't just be strength. Next time, he resolved, he would watch
the other weyrling rather than concentrating on his own catch.

T'nep had to reach for the firesack when it was tossed back, it was
not center to his body. When he reached, his arm extended out to
catch it, but where he thought he would catch it in the palm of his
hand, he instead caught it on the heel. "Shards," he muttered.
"Sorry!" Sometimes his body just seemed to be longer than he
remembered it being. Taking position once more. He stretched his arm
before taking aim. His muscles were sure getting sore from all this
throwing they'd been doing! He heaved the bag into the air, but it
had far more of an arc than he had intended and landed directly
between he and R'fal. "Sorry! I'll get it!"

Instead of waiting for T'nep to collect the sack, R'fal ran forward to
meet him halfway. He wasn't sure exactly what it was that was different
about the way the younger boy was making his toss, but perhaps if he was
closer, he'd be able to see...or if T'nep could see him?

"Wait - let's take a break. I've got an idea." He glanced around to
check that none of the Weyrlingmasters were watching them not throwing
the sack between them, like they'd been told. "How about if you stand
next to me, and watch me throw, then copy what I do? We can make a mark
at the right distance and try and hit it."

T'nep looked around, biting his lip for a moment. Wouldn't people
notice R'fal helping him? He didn't want to stand out as being the
only one who needed advice. But the again, how did they know he
wasn't helping R'fal... "Ok," he finally said. "But can we hurry
before anyone sees?"

"Sure, but don't worry about it. If we get told off, you can say it was
all my idea." R'fal winked and ran back to the spot where he'd just been
standing, looked around again to make sure they weren't being watched,
then drew a large cross in the sandy ground with the toe of his boot.
That done, he returned to where T'nep was waiting with the firestone sack.

"Okay, here goes." Hoping that he wouldn't miss now that he was supposed
to be demonstrating good technique, R'fal swung the bag into the air. It
overshot the mark, but only by a couple of handspans, much to his
relief. "Oops - it's easier when there's a person standing there. I'll
get it, and then it's your turn!"

"Yeah, ok," T'nep muttered as he placed his feet exactly where R'fal's
had just been. His eyes locked onto the target, imagining hitting it
directly in the middle. That was the advice of one the weyrling
staff. **Imagine the sack hitting the target. See it with your
mind.** It all sounded like nonsense at the time, but he was willing
to try anything that would make him not look a fool in front of the
older weyrling.

"Try and use your upper body more when you throw - not so much with your
arms," R'fal suggested. He remembered his uncle saying that to him when
he'd been working on the farm. "You'll get more power that way, and it
won't be so tiring. But you have to let go at the right time or it'll go
off to the side." That had happened to him a lot at first, much to the
amusement of the other farmhands. He remembered how embarrassing that
had been, and felt some sympathy for T'nep.

"Ok." T'nep concentrated on the target. **Upper body. More
power...** This time when he released it, the sack sailed far beyond
the intended target, but it did fly straight and true. "Hey! I bet if
you had been standing there you could have reached for that!"

"I think so! Let's try." They'd better get back to their places before
they got caught, anyway. R'fal ran out, grabbed the sack and sent it
sailing back to T'nep. "Right - I'm ready."

T'nep gripped the bag in his hand and imagined everything he had done
the last time. **Use your upper body, not your arms. Picture where
you want it to go...** Taking a deep breath, he extended his arm and
was just about to release when a loud voice from behind him called,
"Weyrlings, hold!" The command startled him and sent the bag sailing
far to the right again. It was all the young weyrling could do not
let out a long string of expletives.

R'fal had to bite his tongue so as not to burst out laughing - he was
sure it wasn't funny in the least for poor T'nep. Besides, it was
annoying. They'd been just about to get the hang of the drill. If
they'd only had a few minutes more!

After retrieving the firestone sack and depositing it in a pile with
the others, he ran to catch up with the young brownrider as the
weyrlings headed in for dinner. "I think we nearly had it then. We'll
get it tomorrow, for certain."

"Yeah. We'll get it tomorrow," T'nep agreed in a mutter, still
annoyed that he didn't get to prove he could do it. That is, until he
smelled dinner, at which time all was forgotten.

Last updated on the August 26th 2018

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We'll Get it Tomorrow