Leadership Roles

Writers: Ames, Miriah
Date Posted: 20th March 2019

Characters: T'nom, J'ackt
Description: T'nom learns a bit more about J'ackt's quirks in drills
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 20 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Cyradis, N'vanik

T'nom

J'ackt

**Up, over,** T'nom instructed, feeling the air blow across his cheeks
as he and Taldeth flew in formation. Tip to tip Taldeth flew with the
other riders in the wing, practicing the more complex formations they
used for Thread fighting. While T'nom and Taldeth were talented
riders, they needed the practice to adjust to the intricacies of their
new wingmates.

**Down, down, stop, ready to roll to the right?** T'nom instructed. **And, go

Zith rolled as soon as Taldeth did, as if anticipating the instruction
from his own rider. The young bronze was steady, but his eye was to
the lead, his gaze hungry. As the smaller dragons mock-flamed the
pretend thread about them, his rider kept their position steady in
their own nine, then cursed as a young rider just out of weyrlinghood
nearly collided with Zith. Zith /betweened/ quickly, then at his
re-emergence, mentally scolded the young greenrider. }: Pay attention!
:{

**Taldeth what happened?** T'nom inquired of his bronze, who quickly
relayed the details. **Tell them we will run the drill again from the
top.** With a gentle nudge T'nom and Taldeth turned, leading the team
back to a better starting point. }:Jalnath, stay a wingbeat further
away from Zith:{ Taldeth relayed to the new green and rider. }:One,
two :{ the bronze relayed to the others, counting their wingbeats as
they started. Taldeth kept a closer contact with Jalnath to guide the
green with gentle nudges to stay in formation. Right before the roll
maneuver, Taldeth instructed the green to add in the wingbeat of extra
space. }:Roll:{

Zith kept in his place, focusing again on the maneuvers as instructed,
but kept an eye out on the young weyrling. }: Better. :{ He approved
as the green kept their appropriate distance. J'ackt nodded at T'nom
as they evened out, but his face was still taut with his own
concentration as he reined Zith back yet again from trying to move
towards the leadership position. The bronze yearned to take what he
considered was his rightful place and the restraint was making the
bronze less than pleasant during drills.

T'nom and Taldeth noticed how tense Zith and his rider were. While
he'd first assumed it was the near collision, Taldeth had other ideas.

}:Zith wishes to fly up here with us.:{ The bronze told his rider.
T'nom had quickly shown his skills the leaders of the wing and been
asked to help lead their part of the wing. **I wonder why Zith and
J'ackt haven't held a leadership role before.** He made a mental note
to check in with J'ackt after drills ended.

**Direct everyone to try the split maneuver. Half go up, the other
half go down. Stay in formation.** Taldeth relayed the images to the
dragons and all waited for the signal. With fist up, then down, the
team split as though to tackle Thread that had fallen above and below.
}:Hold steady Jalnath,:{ Taldeth instructed the young green who almost
went with the wrong group.

**Steady Zith. Keep to your own nine and feck Faranth, stop trying to
badger the greens and blues. You're not in the lead, just pay
attention.**

}: I _am_ paying attention. :{ Zith replied, a bit peevishly as he
shifted positions as ordered. }: The new ones are not. I am supposed
to correct them, not let them fly out of order.:{ As a younger blue
shifted too close, he directed the smaller dragon back to his assigned
place as the wing split. Remaining in the lower nine, he remained
steady in his own position, but watched the more experienced bronzes
as they took their own places.

Overall the maneuver went well. A few of the newer riders needed to
practice the move a bit more. T'nom thought maybe he could pull them
aside and see if he could offer them some help and extra practice with
it.

**Tell them it's the last maneuver for today. Envision Thread in three
batches. We need to divide and split once again to tackle all three
spots at the same time.** T'nom had Taldeth relay a mental image of
the imaginary Thread. It was at that moment that one of the older
brown dragons bellowed as a young blue rider who had just joined the
wing /betweened/ right into him.

}:Ganith's wing is hurt,:{ Taldeth relayed to his rider. **Shaffit, he
was leading the right third,** T'nom growled in his mind. He glanced
quickly around and made a fast judgement.

}:Mine has asked yours to lead the right third,:{ Taldeth relayed the
message to Zith.

Zith eagerly took the lead position, directing the errant blue back to
the weyr to get checked for his own injuries. Readily relaying
instructions to split to greet the incoming imaginary thread, he slid
into the role without a moment's hesitation.

His rider, on the other hand, was far less pleased. The moment the
order was given and Zith moved into place, J'ackt's head whipped
around in T'nom's direction. Because his eyes couldn't be seen behind
his goggles and his expression was far too distant to make out,
J'ackt's instant emergence of temper wasn't immediately apparent. Even
his bronzes assurance that he was perfectly fine and pleased at the
order didn't abate his growing anger. Instead, J'ackt gritted his teeth
and with a sharp, furious gesture to those who now followed him, he
gave the order to split and follow the thread.

}:I believe Zith's rider is not pleased,:{ Taldeth remarked to T'nom
as they finished the maneuver. **I will speak with him after drills,**
T'nom had known that J'ackt was holding back for some reason, but in
the end, he'd had little choice. The rest of the right third was blues
and greens with little experience. T'nom might have been given some
leadership in the wing, but much of the group were young,
inexperienced riders.

At his call, their portion of the wing began their descent. He knew he
would have to speak to J'ackt. He also had a few others to attend to,
but first he needed to find out why J'ackt held back and why he was
angry about it today.

As Zith landed, J'ackt slid off of his side before the dragon had
fully settled. Unlike many who led the nines and sixes, he didn't
debrief, praise or even chide those that Zith had led for the short
period as might have been expected. Instead, he yanked off his helmet,
threw it to the ground and began the process of unbuckling the straps
with quick jerks of his hands.

}: We did well. :{ Zith reminded him, proud of his accomplishment, but
patient with his rider's buzzing emotions.

**I will not be responsible for a bunch of fecking wet behind the ears
inexperienced...** J'ackt yanked a strap off and tossed it to the
ground.

Once everyone was back on the ground, T'nom slid from Taldeth's back.
He moved to speak a few words with a young blue and green rider.
Promising them, he'd show them the correct move again during some
individual practice.

Then he made his way over to J'ackt. He saw the helmet on the ground,
but decided to ignore it for the moment. Taldeth had warned him that
J'ackt did not seem happy, but T'nom was pleased with his fellow
bronzerider. "J'ackt, thanks for stepping in when I needed you today.
You and Zith flew the team well."

"Don't fecking do that again." J'ackt snarled, not facing him. "I've
told N'vanik and I bloody well told Cyradis too. I'm not going to be
responsible for anybody but me and Zith. I'm not a Faranth-fecked
leader and nothing is going to force me into it." He tugged the straps
off, throwing them over his shoulders. "I told them before I Stood for
a bloody clutch and after I Impressed. I take care of me and I take
care of him. That's it. Everyone else is N'vanik's problem, not mine."

T'nom held up his hands. He knew when _not_ to push. Instead, he took
a different tactic, hoping not to alienate someone he'd come to like
and respect since returning to the Weyr. He had questions, sure, but
those would wait for another time. "Whoa. Hey look. I'm sorry if I put
you in a tight spot. _I_ needed the help. Those new weyrlings in the
wing were falling apart and I lost Ganith. _I_ needed someone I could
trust flying with me."

"You didn't need the help. They bloody well listen to you." Most of
the newer, younger members of the wing were intimidated by him, not
T'nom. He knew he made them nervous and hadn't tried to ease their
worries. His jaw tightened as he finally turned to face T'nom. "Fine.
But don't expect me to do that again. Next time, the bloody weyrlings
are on their own."

T'nom made a mental note to check in with the wingleaders and
weyrleader to see if they had more insight to help him when working
with J'ackt in Flight and drills. He _knew_ the other rider had great
potential, but for now, he would let matters rest.

"I have a few other riders to check in on so we _don't_ have more
problems again. Perhaps later we can have a cup of klah together,"
T'nom said, knowing J'ackt needed some space for the time being.

Last updated on the March 23rd 2019

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