Betweening

[Spirithawk]

Christae and Kaith stood waiting in the Weyrling Courtyard for their charges to arrive. They would be teaching the Weyrlings how to go /between/ today. Christae was nervous. True, there had been few mishaps during past clutches, but there was always a chance that these young people and their dragons could disappear into the cold blackness of /between/ and never return.

Today, Christae would tell Sh'iron that Nike and Ruanth had been flying without his approval. She flinched when she thought of his anger. He would probably be furious with her for not telling him. He had been livid when he found out what they had done to Malenie but this was worse. This concerned the safety of a dragon and a Master Healer rider.

Christae had sent for all of the Wingleaders and Wingseconds as well. She wanted to make sure that all of the W'lings were as safe as they could be. The young riders had passed their firestone tossing lessons with flying colors and few injures. They were all working hard to be ready for the Weyr's first Weyr Games. The date was fast approaching and the weyr was in a flurry of activity. These games were not just about riders' performances. The weyr's ground crews would be tested as well.

Christae absently undid her bun and tightened the runner-tail her hair was in. She tied it back.

Quit fidgeting. They will be fine.

"I am just worried." She shifted on her feet and reached down to tug her riding breeches straighter.

[nike]

Sh'iron smiled as he walked up to Christae. His jacket was open, and his helmet was in his hand.
Myranenth glided down and landed next to his mate.
The Weyrleader smiled at his Weyrwoman. "Hello. Ready for today?" He asked as he slapped his gloves against his thigh.
It was a great day.

He was still worried about Nike. The White rider still couldn't fly Ruanth, and if she didn't he knew she would try by herself.
Shaking his head, he turned tot he gold rider at his side.
"I'm worried about Nike. She still hasn't flown yet, and you know that she will try on her own. Have any ideas?"
Of course he had his own, but right now he wasn't going to share them with her.

----------------

At that very moment, Nike walked out of the Barracks with Ruanth at her side. She had heard what Sh'iron had said and shot a worried look to Christae. Anyone who looked closely would see that the white's riding straps were losser than they had been a few sevendays ago and NIke's riding gear was also worn in. Swallowing, she turned to her dragon.
You ready?
Yes. We have flown before, and we can fly again and go /between./

[Spirithawk]

Kaith nuzzled her mate. Our children will fly /between/ today. She told the bronze proudly.

Christae tried to smile, but couldn't, especially when he mentioned Nike. "Shi'ron, about that." She saw Nike and gulped. Ruanth was far to well-muscled to just be doing ground drills. The White's wing joints were knotted with muscle and Nike's gear was obviously well-used. Chrisate and Kaith had been coaching the pair in flying every night for the past few sevendays.

Chrisate knew that her face showed the strain of late nights. It was a bitter-sweet blessing that Sh'iron was so busy that he hadn't noticed that Christae was gone every night at around midnight.

"Sh'iron, I have been coaching Nike and Ruanth in flight every night for the past few sevendays. They would have wound up hurting themselves because Nike is too stubborn to listen. Kaith and I thought they were ready and we made sure that they were safe. They will be going /between/ with the other W'lings and will resume lessons with the others. They are more than ready." She lifted her head high, ready to face his anger.

[Dragon]

G'han and Gerenanth landed near the weyrleaders. G'han hopped off his bronze and patted his dragon tenderly. "I can just see it now. I am going to have to bathe you again", he gave a sigh. The dragon was getting worse at making a mess of himself.

You will not! I am not going to get messy! Gerenanth took some initial resentment to this.

~You have been getting to be a messy dragon and your eating habits were messy to begin with~, he replied to his dragon. He walked over to the weyrleaders. "How are the weyrleaders doing this fine day", he asked them in a cheery tone.


K'dan walked out with his blue, Hydrath. They walked up to Nike and her white. "Hello Nike. Are you excited about today?", he asked her. Hydrath stretched himself out and poked his chest out in pride infront of Ruanth. ~You big show off~, he said to his dragon. I will take big as a compliment. ~If it were true then you could~, he said back. The blue gave a huff and said nothing more.

[Tenma]

Miya walked outside. Her head was held up high and her dark brown hair was glossy due to tireless efforts. Her helmet tucked between her left hand and the left side of her waist. She was dressed in riding clothes and had on a heavy jacket for going between.

Beside her the large dragon, though not necessarily large gold, walked proudly. Reinath had her head up high to make herself seem taller and her chest puffed out to make herself seem larger. The gold’s hide was shining and shimmering off the bright sun, also due to hard work. Clean riding straps were placed around the gold’s hide and ready for flight.

The two stood off a bit away from the other weyrlings but close enough to easily hear and see what was going on. Today they were going in between and nothing would stop them, not even Christae.

[Miki]

[shadow=red,left,300]Mine, can you hurry with the straps?[/shadow]Shush.
Kia finished buckeling the straps and backed away. "Dashing," she said, smirking. Kylath gave a bit of a groan as Kia walked away. She grabbed the helmet from her bed and held it with one arm and the side of her body. "Are we ready?" Kylath gave a bit of a disgrunted snort and then took a quick dash through the sky before landing a little away from the barracks. Kia rolled her eyes. "Show-off."

--

Aureth waited patiently for his Mine to finish in his barracks. Aureth, you're all set, right?[glow=blue,2,300]Yes, Mine.[/glow]Good.
D'ran slipped on his riding jacket and held his helmet in his hand. He walked out to see Kylath a bit ahead and Kia walking up. "Wait up," he called.

--

Kia walked calmly up to her pile of hide. She wasn't glaring but looking like she didn't care when she heard someone call her. She turned around to see a blue dragon and a rider beside him. She recognized it as Aureth. She waited for them to catch up and the two chit-chated until they reached everyone else.

Kia and D'ran continued to talk, though. Akki wasn't there for Kia to talk with and D'ran simply felt like continuing the conversation. They both gave a quick bow to the Weyrleaders before continuing. Aureth sat patiently by his rider and reluctantly spoke every so often. Kylath, on the other hand, was not afraid to put in her two bits and often interrupted Kia.

[Spirithawk]

Christae looked absently when G'han greeted them. "As well as could be expected Wingleader G'han. If you will excuse me, the Weyrleader and I have matters to discuss." She was polite, but it was obvious that her thoughts were elsewhere.

The Weyrwoman nodded a greeting to each Weyrling as they arrived with their dragons, mentally checking them off the list. They were missing a few, but it was still early yet. Christae still waited to face Sh'iron's displeasure. She would argue until he accepted the fact that Nike and Ruanth would be going between today with the other W'lings.

[nike]

At first, Sh'iron was a little to stunned to speak.
Then he looked over at Ruanth and Nike, noting the difference that had come over them. Then he turned back to Christae.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, his face, trying to show no emotion, but his anger was slipping out.
Did you know about this?
No, I did not. If I did, I would have told you. Myranenth replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NIke turned to K'dan and smiled.
"Yes, very," She said, then turned back to Sh'iron to see what he was going to say.

((Short, but I have nothing good up there right now.))

[Spirithawk]

Christae took a deep breath, steeling herself. She could hear his anger. "I thought that Nike and Ruanth were ready. You disagreed. I knew that they would hurt themselves. They were too stubborn to listen to orders. I felt that they deserved a chance to fly just as everyone else did."

"I stand by my decision. I will not make excuses. I knew that you would try to stop them and I could not let that happen. Consequently I had to take action." Her head was held proudly. She would not back down. She would hear what he had to say and act with diplomacy.

You have grown my chosen. I am proud.

~Thank you love.~ Kaith sent her loving thoughts.

[Spirithawk]

((come on guys...one more class before you graduate....please respond to this so I can ship it to the archives and get the last lesson over with. I can't have Kaith's flight unless you W'lings graduate and make no mistake, those who missed too many lessons will be penalized and will still be Sr. W'lings when the new dragon pairs come in))

[nike]

Sh'iron raised an eyebrow at Christae.
"I can't say that you did the wrong thing, but I can say that you should have told me what you were doing by staying out so late, and coming in late. Oh, you thought I was asleep, but I wasn't. You didn't have to say it was Nike you were working with. It could of been someone else, or something else. That is all I wished of you," He said then turned around to Nike. "I will deal with you later, and if I see Ruanth faltering, I might call you two down and you will not learn to go /between/ now, but later."

"Alright, we will wait a few moments more for your peers to get out here. If they do not come, then they will miss out on learning how to go /between/ and then stay as Sr. Weyrlings while you all will be full riders," Sh'iron said to all the Weyrlings.
A nod to the riders who had come to help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nike nodded at Sh'iron's words. She knew she was in trouble, and if Ruanth wasn't that smooth, they would be called down to wait. They might not learn how to go /between/ today!
Don't worry. I will not falter. I will stay true, and we will learn how to go /between/ today.
Nike leaned against her dragon, smelling in the musty smell that all dragons have.
I know. She said simply.

((And plus, we need to get that new Candidate Searched by Nike, and her sudden disapperance /between./))

[Tenma]

Mine! I am becoming impatient. At this rate, thread will fall before we learn to go between. Reinath snorted angrily.

~True~ Miya agreed. "Can we start now? The other Weyrlings obviously don't want to graduate. I don't want to wait any longer.~ Miya explained, her eyes narrowing with frusteration.

[nike]

Sh'iron glanced at Miya.
"Miya, we are only going to wait a few more moments. And impatientness is one of the worst traits that a Junior Weyrwoman can take up," He said, her tone and face expressionless. "If you keep up like this, I may have to hold back your lessons /between/ and you will watch the other Weyrlings learning to go /between./" He said, then turned back to the entrance to the Barrakcs.

[Tenma]

"Okay, Okay." Miya replied with an exasperated sigh. ~No way the white and Nike will become riders before us.~ Miya grumbled to Reinath.

[Spirithawk]

Christae took the rebuke with grace. "Would you honestly have believed me if I said it was another rider?" She asked simply. "If it were any other rider I could have tutored them in broad daylight. There wasn't a good enough excuse to take me out of our weyr at that time of the night, especially with an infant asleep in the crib."

Christae's mouth twitched when she heard Sh'iron's ultimatum for the younger goldrider. She was glad that the unruly girl would listen to him at least though it did rankle a bit because she was the one training Miya. In a way, Christae was glad that the girl would only be a Jr. WW becuase she was a bit too stiff and haughty to be a good Sr. WW.

((We have K'dan, Miya, Kia, D'ran. and Nike here...I think the other W'lings are now in the relms of NPCdom))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mneith landed far enough away from the group so that he didn't throw dust on them. Rhia dismounted, her strong frame bulky with warm clothing. She would be shadowing Nike and Ruanth today. Christae had asked the discreet brownrider to follow the Whiterider pair.

She walked up to the group and smiled. She bowed to the Weyrleaders and then went to stand on the outside of the group. She had been working on Weyrling Lessons. She would be the new WLM to the new dragonets once Kaith rose and clutched.

[nike]

Sh'iron sighed and shook his head. Right now, he wasn't ready to fight with Christae. Not now.
Turning back to the Weyrlings, he waited. How long was this going to take.
How many more do we have to wait for? He asked Myranenth.
We have a few more. If they do not come, we should start without them.
Alright, five more minuites.

[Spirithawk]

After the specified five minutes had passed, Christae raised her hands for silence. "Weyrlings. You will be learning how to fly between today. You and your dragon will pair off with the wingsecond or wingleader on the list. They will be giving you your coordinates until you are ready to take them from your Weyrleaders or Wingleaders."

She walked to Kaith and put her helmet on her head. "Make certain that your jackets are buckled. Your safety strap is to be fastened at all times. We don't want you to pass through between only to fall off of your dragon. Mount up and launch. You will be with your assigned mentor in a V-formation."

Nike and Kia - Wingsecond Rhia
D'ran and K'dan - Wingleader G'han
Miya - Weyrleaders

"The Wingseconds and Wingleaders have already been paired up with their fellows. You are to follow their instructions explicitly."

[Tenma]

Miya fastened on her helmet and closed her jacket. SHe checked all of Reinath's straps. ONce satisfied she walked over to Christae. Then she got onto Reinath's back. She checked all of her riding straps. "Ready." She said proudly.

[Miki]

Kia waved good bye to the Blue rider and wandered over towards her Betweening teacher. Kylath nodded as a good-bye. She stomped over to her bonded and lowered her head. [shadow=red,left,300]I do hope we start soon.[/shadow]Be patient.
The Copper snorted and lifted her head up high, turning it away from Kia. "Oh, relax," she said. Kylath only gave another snort and kept away.

--

D'ran too founded his respected place beside G'han. Aureth sat happily by him, his head lowered a little but not enought to reach his bonded's head. Despite his being a Blue, he still towered over his rider- by a lot.

[curth]

((I guess I'll still be a Sr.Weyrling, that's fine. I'll perfer that, but should I attend the lesson?))