The Dragon-Rider Bond [WEYRLINGS]

[Zen]

K’ton stood with his hands clasped behind his back, military style, straight backed and attentive. His jaw was set sternly as he surveyed the gathered Weyrlings. Oria had made him Weyrlingmaster as punishment for insubordination, taking away his wingleadership. It seemed his last class had barely just graduated and he had been looking forward to not having to deal with all the wherry-brained youngsters for a few months, and now here he was again with another class. Hmph. Above, at the height of the plateau he stood at the base of, his Bronze Sorth perched, looking down upon him and his class with disinterest. At the Weyrlingmaster’s feet was a small box with strips of dark cloth.

“All right, you lot, pay attention! I’m only going to explain this once!” he paused briefly to give them a short period of time to shut their mouths and focus on his words, “You’ll be participating in an exercise today to strengthen the dragon-rider bond. Everyone come forward and pick out a blindfold. Tie it on yourself and make sure your eyes are completely covered and you can’t see anything. I am not going to come around and check on you all like a crecheworker. If you cheat and can still see I won’t know, but you might as well go back to your cot now in that case as it completely defeats the purpose of this exercise and you’re wasting everyone’s time in doing so. Now hop to, get your blindfold.”

He waited while each Weyrling came forward to grab a piece of cloth for themselves and had them securely tied before he continued, “Now. You’re going to have you dragon instruct you on how to get to the top of the plateau and back down safely. Your dragon will be your eyes. Use them however you wish, but unless you are about to fall off the plateau your dragon is not allowed to touch you and you are not allowed to touch them.” He paused, rolling back on his heels slightly, “The first one to the top and back will have the rest of the day free and will get out of chores today. Go!” He picked up the box with the remaining blindfolds and stood out of the way to watch the proceedings. This was actually one of his favorite exercises to conduct with younger Weyrlings… it could be highly amusing.

OOC: if you’re going to participate, please make the trip up and back down take at least two posts, other than that, go nuts, I don’t care who gets down first XD

[Rhush]

Srunae wasn't exactly sure what she thought of this... exercise. Climbing up a plateau without eyes? While she trusted Danovelith intensely, she wasn't entirely sure she trusted herself to succeed at climbing.

Strong as she was, Srunae had a terrible sense of left and right, and finding footholds and hopefully handholds in the dark made her nervous. Don't worry Srunaelove. I will have your back. Her dragon was, of course, well aware of her irrational phobia of falling by now, and more than happy to keep a very close eye on her bonded for many reasons, including keeping her from tumbling off the plateau. Swallowing hard, Srunae retrieved her blindfold from the weyrlingmaster with a somewhat skiddish air, tying it on tight and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself before accepting one last comforting touch of her dragon.

What little courage Srunae had mustered was quickly lost as she started taking her first steps forward, and it took a lot of support and prodding from Danovelith to keep walking. It's alright Srunae; I have you. The gold dragonet followed slowly after her bonded up to the start of the slope, where she allowed Srunae to continue forward several beats before she started to climb after her.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear... Srunae mentally flailed as she stumbled a bit in a dip of the rocks, feeling the woosh of air as it came up the side of the sheer drop off to her side. The weyrling managed to catch herself before falling over, and Danovelith mentally nudged her back towards the wall, which, once her hands made contact with it, Srunae practically pressed herself against in a ridiculous display of terror.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear...! On the verge of a panic attack, the weyrling stood shakily against the wall, uncaring of people passing her. Srunae, Srunae it's okay. Danovelith told her, and the woman suddenly felt... relaxed. A shock, really, given how frenzied she was quickly becoming. Dano...? It's a calming effect my love. Relax... I have you. Taking a few deep breaths, and glad for her dragon's patience, Srunae moved off the wall almost entirely (she kept one hand on it for safety) and then continued slowly along, placing her feet where Danovelith told her.

You're almost there. It's just up this slope here. Watch your step on your right. Srunae narrowly avoided the second divet that Danovelith pointed out to her, holding her hands close to her chest as she just about dashed up the last few feet when Danovelith told her she could. Success! They'd made it to the top! Now for the more difficult part - going back down.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear...

[Hiko]

Mollin felt terrible. To say that the past few sevendays had been unkind to her would have been a very large understatement. The blue rider had caught some plaguing stomach virus in the last month that had faded into a rather annoying, chronic state of unease, acne had peppered over her face more than it ever had in puberty, and she was almost positive that someone had washed her clothes in hot water, for they sure as shells hadn't been fitting properly.
The sole comfort in her unfortunate conditions had been Daltilith. The blue had been quite the distraction over the past two months, parading about like an utter idiot in his attempts to raise his rider's spirits.
And, for the most part, it had helped.

But there was still training to attend to, and with how Mollin had been feeling, she didn't quite have the energy to attend.
But we have to go! Everyone will be there! Lie will be there! You like Lie! I like Hawey! EVERYONE WINS! It was here that the young blue did a turnabout, reminding his lifemate far too much of a canine chasing its tail. The girl shook her head, laughing through a stuffy nose.
“Fine, fiiiiine. We'll go. But if I have to toss firestone again, I'm calling it quits and just coughing on K'ton until he gives me leave.”
Good enough for me!
–

“We have to what?” Was all Mollin could utter upon K'ton's announcement of the “lesson.”

[Deleted]

C'mor, Zardilath
Sweet Faranth. Was the Weyrlingmaster trying to kill them?! They were going to climb a sharding mountain blindfolded! (Of course, it was actually a plateau, but both were large and made of rock. Details were the first thing to go when Morry got into his moods.) And the only thing keeping them from falling to their deaths were their dragons?!

No, Morry did not like the turn of events in weyrling training. And with his unfortunate reputation as the klutz of Mavros, he probably had even more reason to worry than the other weyrlings. But Morry was used to being petrified into obeying a male authority figure, so he went up and took a blindfold with only a squeak of dismay.

Of course, his thoughts were considerably louder: Oh sweet Faranth what do I do if I fall or you fall or both of us if we try to help each other and we both end up falling at least fifty dragonlengths because shard it we are going to die!

We're not going to die! Zardilath insisted, though his eyes were yellow at his rider's distress. K'ton isn't nice, but he wouldn't just stand by and watch if something happens.

At the base of the plateau, Morry stared at the blindfold, then tied it on with a sigh. If he was going to do something that had a significant chance of injury or death, then he might as well get it over with. If we get through this, remind me to write Kemris and tell him goodbye.

Why would you say goodbye AFTER we get back safely?!

In case we have to dive into the bay or camp in the forest tomorrow! He shot back, then fidgeted and took a breath. Right; all right. Time to start climbing, Morry. He pressed up against the base of the plateau, and somewhere nearby Zardilath was climbing up to get a head start. How far up, Zardilath?

Move a hand or two to your left first, THEN step up.

The area was somewhere around knee-height, and after few more uneventful steps up, Morry only twitched a bit when he slipped on a pebble. Is there a handhold somewhere?

There's a ridge just past your chest. It should be--NONONONONO GO RIGHT! RIGHT! Zardilath bugled in dismay when it turned out the ridge was slanting far too much, but Morry grabbed the edge just fast enough to avoid more than a scratched cheek.

How far right?

Errrm... Zardilath scanned the area. Just past your arm.

Half a mark later, with somewhere around six more terrified bugles from Zardilath, Morry finally made it to the top.

...And nearly had a fit on remembering he needed to climb back down.

[Deleted]

This is a stupid exercise, Melana. We have better things to do. Like fixing this Weyr. It is broken, can't they see this. Melana patted the dragon's neck in understanding,

Believe me love, I know. But we -have- to if we want to graduate. We'll fix the Weyr once we're grown, all right? The Gold snorted as they listened to the lesson. A trust lesson, was it? All right then. Melana stepped forward and grabbed a blindfold, tying it securely around her head and beneath her ponytail. Being blind panicked her a bit, but Sularenth's forceful yet meant-well presence reassured her,

You're fine. Easy.. left! No, right! Don't give me that tone of voice, Melana. Melana stopped, as she glared mentally at her dragon,

Helpful directions only, please.

Nag nag. Go on now, don't embarrass us. The rest of the trip was made without a hitch, and she let out her breath, leaning on her knees and panting somewhat. Well, the blindfold made for a good sweatband as well, luckily. Now, the fun part.

The trip back down.

Coward. It was going to be a long way down.

[Zen]

K'ton - Weyrlingmaster

K’ton simply raised an eyebrow in Mollin’s direction as she hadn’t followed suit and grabbed a blindfold yet like everyone else. K’ton didn’t particularly have a high opinion of the girl in the first place. Girls riding Blues were just unnatural to begin with, and this one seemed to have taken ill almost as soon as she’d Impressed. The girl left training early more often than not and sometimes didn’t show up at all due to being ill. K’ton was sure she wouldn’t last long in the beginning, but now…. He waved his hand at his assistants, who were stationed a bit farther away, waitching the Weyrlings ascend, for them to keep their eye on them all so he could deal with this girl.

“How nice of you to show up today! If only you’d cleaned your ears out beforehand you would have heard my instructions the first time, and the fact that I would not be repeating them!” He strode forward, a frown deepening the age lines etched into his face, until he stood before the young woman, “You don’t look to be in much better health today, haven’t you visited the infirmary yet? If you get the rest of the class catching ill…,” he eyed her critically, noting for the first time that she seemed to be gaining weight. One would logically think that a sick person would be losing weight rapidly, not gaining it. That meant one of two things, what with the girl’s symptoms. She had either contracted some strange disease that K’ton didn’t know the first thing about, or the more logical conclusion.

He grabbed the girl’s arm and pulled her away from the rest of the Weyrlings, furious at the thought and not at all shy about getting to the point, nor was he particularly quiet about it. What did he care for the girl’s privacy, he just wanted her and her dragon out of the way of Weyrlings who were actually following his directions, “Were you not told as a candidate to refrain from sex so close to a hatching? I can’t imagine you’ve had any time since Impressing or that Faranth forbid you are just stupid enough to try it AFTER bonding with a hatchling!” Under normal circumstance he might feel the slightest bit unnerved at bringing up what he would say next, but at the moment his fury kept any such feelings at bay, “When’s the last time you bled girl? Surely you’ve noticed that?” The answer to that would solidify the reason for her illness. Stupid girl, either she simply hadn’t been paying attention to her own cycle or she was trying to hide the fact that she was pregnant from him so she wouldn’t get in trouble. Either way she was a sharding idiot.

OOC: Made some assumptions about her training attendance, but I thought from your post that it would be okay. I'll change it if needed.

[Hiko]

((Was fine~))

Mollin tensed almost immediately at K'ton's grip. She tore her arm away in an irritated hiss, her own glare matching the weyrlingmaster's.
“I wasn't here long enough before the hatching to be told half of what you people expected of me. Ista encouraged candidates to enjoy themselves – how was I to know any different here? Especially with how A'zael -”
K'ton's words finally sunk in, and the blue rider gaped.

Mollin rubbed her face, angrily. “No. No, no, no, no. I refuse. My cycle's never been routine! It could just be... Faranth.” If the girl looked close to fainting, it was because she felt it. How could she have been so...
Realization struck the weyrling then; she'd already implicated their Weyrleader as part of the problem. Stupidity on top of stupidity! Daltilith creeled nervously, his head flicking from his rider to their instructor much like a child watching its parents argue.
When Mollin groaned in resignation, the blue waddled closer to his lifemate and nuzzled at her hand.

If the man was right, if she was well and truly pregnant (something that even under passing consideration made Mollin feel all the more ill), what would become her Daltilith's training?
What would become of her?
“What would you have me do, sir?”

[Rhush]

Srunae :: Gold Danovelith

Alright, time to go down... Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear... Srunae was, of course, less than interested in trying to find her way back down - especially since it seemed she and Dano had been the first ones up. Going back down now meant that clinging to the wall had a chance of her crashing into someone who was using the wall to come up. After a long few beats, in which a couple of other weyrlings found their way up, and with Danovelith's encouragement, the woman slowly started back down the curved slope, clinging to the wall. To your right a bit there. Good. Srunae gasped as she stumbled a bit over the rock to her left, keeping her arm outstretched to the wall and refusing to go any farther than that.

I did say to go right. Watch your left foot, don't want you to roll an ankle. Srunae rolled her eyes from beneath the blindfold, somewhat worriedly pressing back against the wall again. Honestly Srunae, I'm going to have to start calling you a rock-lizard. Srunae stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, and stepped away from the wall a touch. Progress... sort of. As they neared the midline, voices drifted to the beastcrafter, and she immediately stuck to the wall again, worried it was someone coming up the slope. Danovelith didn't warn her of any incoming traffic, however, so it seemed alright. The voices didn't get much louder either, causing Srunae to blink from behind her blindfold, hearing slightly increased in conjunction with the removed ability to see. Was that quarreling she could hear? And not the one-sided kind that meant a dragonpair. But that voice...

Was... was their weyrlingmaster fighting with one of the weyrlings? Yes he is. One of the bluepairs. Danovelith supplied, causing her bonded to pause mid-step, half-pressed against the wall. What are they fighting about? The gold seemed to puzzle over what she could hear (which, admittedly, was more than what Srunae could hear, but with the weyrlingmaster's shouting, it was hard to miss). Something about bleeding? Why would she be bleeding? Srunae stifled a smile and almost reached out to stroked Dano's headknobs. If a woman doesn't get pregnant before her cycle ends, she bleeds. You probably don't remember... Srunae suddenly felt rifling in the back of her mind, hunting for memories involving this weird thing her mindmate spoke of. Srunae helpfully pushed a memory to the fore, and Danovelith considered this. Is that why you were so much more intent on showering and changing your clothes?

Srunae chuckled. Yup. I didn't want to ruin my clothing in case the blood got on it. Danovelith made a less-than-pleased face, which Srunae couldn't see, though the feeling she got from the gold made it obvious enough. So... it's like what happens when a dragon gets proddy. Except... you bleed too. Curt, distasteful, so many things just shy of disgusted rolled through Dano's mind and into Srunae's, and the weyrling simply shrugged. You get used to it. You'll even come to remember it after several years of being bonded to me, I think. That was a bodily function that was not going anywhere any time soon, after all. Dano huffed. Go left. There you go. She neglected to tell Srunae it got a bit narrow where she was now, but given how the woman still clung to the wall, it didn't matter much.

But if the weyrlingmaster was fighting with a weyrling about her cycle... that could mean... She's egg-heavy? Oh dear.

[Deleted]

Sularenth had HMPHED to Melana, the large Gold looking distasteful of the whole charade, really. This was beneath her and Hers, could no one see that? But, if they had to do it to graduate then they'd do it better than everyone else. Sularenth stared at the ground as Melana turned about, and that was that.

Melana planted her feet uneasily, before Sularenth's voice entered in her head, demanding and firm,

Right. Just th- yes, good girl. Melana did as her dragon said, and didn't trip. Good, this would work out. And somehow, she felt more confident. Yes, she could do this - she would do this. She was a Goldrider, a candidate no more.

And we will take this world by storm. Now go left. Melana followed the directions relayed to her, the sounds of 'Right', 'Left' or 'Stop' ringing in her head. A few times she looked uncertain, but Sula's occasional 'You're fine.' spurred her on. The Goldrider was almost to the bottom. Just a bit further.

[Zen]

K’ton locked onto the word ‘A’zael’ as it slipped from the girl’s mouth and put two and two together easily enough. He knew well enough what sort of boy A’zael was, the ringleader of all the troublemakers in his weyrling class, careless, and always a flirt, even before the prohibition on sexual relations was lifted, that boy would flirt to his heart’s content, though to his credit he never gave in to his impulses for the sake of his dimglow of a bronze. Careless… clearly. Taking a candidate to bed so close to a hatching. And as sharding Weyrleader! Untried, untested, hardly more than a weyrling, and a Weyrleader… immature, impulsive, idiot!

K’ton nearly growled when next he spoke, “Get your arse to the infirmary to confirm this… your… condition…. Return to your cot after, and wait for me there. You and I are going to visit that boy and have a long chat about this idiocy.” Whether Mollin would follow ‘that boy’ as meaning A’zael, K’ton didn’t particularly care. He certainly didn’t deserve to be addressed properly at the moment, not after this revelation. No, he was nothing more than a boy to K’ton anyway, but especially now. “Get going! I have a lesson to run!” With that he turned his back on the girl and her blue to see just how far the Weyrlings were progressing on this newest little mission. Shard it all, he hadn’t even been able to enjoy any of their mishaps due to A’zael’s newest blunder. Weyrleader… bah! He wasn’t even a weyrling anymore and he was still causing K’ton problems.

[Deleted]

C'mor, Zardilath
So, Morry was now stuck at the top with Zardilath very, very, VERY far down. Not that he'd taken off his blindfold or anything. No, the new bluerider was just coming to the logical conclusion that he was about eight hundred dragonlengths up on a cliff, on orders of the weyrlingmaster--

Plateau, Zardilath told him, tail swishing anxiously. And you called it a mountain before. Is something wrong?

I just don't like CLIMBING! Morry shot back, more out of nerves than annoyance. At least when we start learning to fly, I won't be blindfolded and I'll be very securely strapped onto you! But to live long enough for that, Morry had to climb back down, and so he started taking his blue's advice.

Unfortunately, he was close enough to the ground just in time to hear K'ton start chewing out another bluerider--the girl one--for arriving late again. What was her name? The one thing Morry was grateful for was that even with his stutter, clumsiness, and utter lack of social grace, at least he didn't get sick more than usual. It seemed like every other sevenday, that girl was either late or out of class entirely...

He asked if she was bleeding. Did she get hurt today, too? Zardilath asked.

Oh, sweet Faranth. A sick girl who got the "are you bleeding" question? He'd spent far too much time hearing his father ask OTHER girls that to not know what it meant. And now he was torn between going the rest of the way down, or staying wherever he was until the no-doubt-furious Weyrlingmaster stopped yelling.

Please come back down. You're on a very small ledge!

Well, that solved his dilemma. After about a quarter-mark more of flinching and stumbling his way through Zardilath's directions, Morry finally felt his feet reach solid ground and ripped his blindfold off in gratitude. Which resulted in Morry recoiling as the light overwhelmed his vision, and bumping painfully against an unfortunately placed outcropping.

Trust Morry to hit his head AFTER climbing up and down a plateau.

[madb]

Lie gulped. Blindfold themselves… and then scale up a cliff? She couldn’t do it, no, she simply couldn’t.

Hawey nudged her forward, as gently has possible. Do not worry, Liesolmine. I would never let anything, anything hurt you. Besides! It looks like fun! The green, grown so fast and yet still the smallest of her clutch, was never not excited about something or other, or so she’d learned. It was one of the things Liesol typically loved about her partner. Today, however… no, there was no reason to be irritated. Just because she was frightened, didn’t mean she could take it out on the loveliest creature to enter her life.

She had to be brave. She had to prove herself to be dragonrider material. Prove herself worthy of Hawey!

Lie set a determined gaze on the blindfold, and then put it on – her whole vision went black, and she took a deep breath. Reaching out, she began moving forward until her fingertips hit something solid. Hawey chuckled. I do not think you are supposed to scale me, she said, very fondly.

Oops.

The green nudged her in the proper direction. Keep walking that way. Faster, Lie! We are behind all the rest. Her excitement at the exercise – fearless as always – bled through her thoughts, a direct contrast to her rider’s.

Liesol tried her best, but she was too worried about tripping on her way over and smashing face-first on the ground to really speed up. Eventually, she did make it. Just as Hawey said, all she had to do was go straight. Trying to picture the cliff as she had last seen it, the girl reached up. Her fingers dug into a little jut between two rocks. She breathed out, trying to steady herself.

Now, up!

Oh no I simply mustn’t, Liesol protested, going shock-still now that the reality of the situation hit her. No, no I’m sorry Hawey – I’m not brave enough –

Relax! You will do fine, I know. You are very brave, and very strong, and if you fall I will be right behind to catch you. I promise. The little green managed to sound sweet and supportive, and fierce at the same time.

That… didn’t exactly make her feel better. But Hawey was trying, and Liesol couldn’t stop the lesson now. She was quite sure the Weyrlingmaster wouldn’t be happy with her if she gave up before moving an inch up the cliff. Besides, if she couldn’t handle this, how could she possibly handle flying on Hawey’s back between?

Slowly, with Hawey’s constant, loving prodding, Liesol made her way up the cliff – inch by precious inch. It was embarrassing to take minutes feeling out each individual rock and testing her weight four, five, even six times before she trusted it to hold her weight. She bet all the other candidates were having no problems. What if they were making their way down already? Lie cringed, imagining someone’s boot stepping on her fingers. Oh, they wouldn’t mean it… the other weyrlings were quite nice—well, most of them—but by accident…

No one will! I will protect you!

Oh, Hawey. For some reason this made Liesol tear up, if only a little. She sniffed and shook her head. No, she must go on. She could do it, Hawey believed in her!

Finally, finally, Liesol made her way up. Almost choking in relief, she pressed herself against the solid, flat surface atop. It was so nice. She loved flat surfaces. Oh, she had never appreciated them before, but she could lie here for the rest of her life, if she could. Liesol patted the flat surface. Good, sweet thing.

Must we go down? she thought.

If you do not wish to, I think you have proven yourself already! Rest. I will make sure no-one bothers you. The little green sounded almost ferocious. Well, that would not do. Liesol sighed. She could not let Hawey fight off all her problems – back down they would go.

… eventually. As soon as she gained her courage back.

I think one of the blue’s riders has fallen on his head. Hawey said, with an air of mild curiosity.

… maybe in a few hours.

[Deleted]

T'yer .:. Muldiseth

T'yer stood with arms crossed, holding a solid stance beside Muldiseth, the deep brown dragon currently lying a few paces behind him, stretched out like he owned the place. He listened with dark, seemingly disinterested eyes as the Weyrlingmaster gave his instructions.

Climb the plateau? Glad it's you and not me. Muldiseth's maw split into a yawn, and T'yer rolled his eyes. In silence, he stepped forward and uncrossed his arms, reaching into the box to grab one of the strips of cloth. Alright, lazy bones. Time to get up and go. If you let me fall-- I won't let you fall. As long as you listen. Muldiseth rose and huffed at T'yer's hair. The corner of T'yer's mouth twitched up in a ghost of a smile as he looked up at his.

T'yer tied the blindfold around his eyes and stood still for a moment, letting his senses adjust to the darkness. Muldiseth gave him a mental push forward, and he obeyed, walking calmly to the base of the plateau. When his hands brushed the rocky face, he inhaled deeply. The exhale shook slightly; he was nervous, and a tad scared, but T'yer was too hardened to let it show on the outside.

He sent a silent query across the mental connection to Muldiseth, who remained silent for a moment. Two steps right.. Left handhold just above your head, right at arms length. Foothold at your knees. Taking another deep breath, T'yer placed his faith in his lifemate and reached up. He found the left handhold easily, stretching for the right. Once both hands were secure, he slowly stepped up, searching for the ledge with the toe of his boot.

Right foothold at knee level, a hands-breadth right.. Left handhold up and to the right slightly.. T'yer moved his foot first, placing his weight onto that one small spot, before reaching his left hand up.

It was a slow climb, Muldiseth taking his time to seek out the best hand and footholds. His instructions were clear; though young, Muldiseth was intelligent, which only encouraged T'yer to place complete faith in him. Still, T'yer managed to make it to the top before some of the others.

At the top, T'yer stood up and stretched his arms over his head, arching his back. He lowered his arms, rolled his head from left to right, and turned around. Ready for the ride down? T'yer could feel Muldiseth's rumbling chuckle through their bond. You work too much. Rest a moment. T'yer prodded Muldiseth, wanting to get this over with, but the dragon was dead set on making T'yer wait, and once Muldi set his mind on something, there was no swaying him.

With a sigh, T'yer dropped to his rear, sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the plateau. Fine. Just don't make me wait too long, or there won't be any time left over for you to sun yourself.