Who

R'zel, Ev'rett, Alyna, Do'rn

What

Ocelot is giving a Search and Rescue demo to the weyrlings.

When

It is midmorning of the fourth day of the twelfth month of the sixteenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Training Grounds, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 04 May 2019 04:00

 

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"You did ok as a victim."


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Training Grounds

A broad and sheltered swoop of bowl lies bare for the talons and tread of countless weyrlings that-will-be, encased by stone scoured and scarred by those-that-were. Dirt lies as neatly as dirt can lie, swept and raked daily, at the mouth of the caverns that must indubitably be the weyrling barracks. Devoid of decoration, the place stands strangely absent of pressence when empty, the everpresent wind of Southern giving strange acoustics to those under the shelter of the towering bowl-wall.

It is the fourth day of Summer and 99 degrees. It is a bright, sunny day.


With 92 weyrlings, the weyrlingstaff are glad of any help they can get in terms of guest lecturers, demonstrations, and the like. This morning, while most of the wing are doing PT this morning under the tender care of Wingsecond Keitrill, a team from Ocelot have been giving a demonstration of search and rescue. The talky bit is over, equipment has been shown and looked at, and now comes the finale: a live demo. R'zel and Verokanth, Alyna and Haquith, and a couple of other pairs are in the air, climbing slowly. Beneath each of them is a rope, with a simple harness attached - just a broad strap that can go around someone and under their arms. And in each harness, dangling at least twenty feet in the air and rising, is a weyrling. Volunteers all? Possibly!

Life sucks and then you die. "Why did I volunteer for this," Ev'rett could be heard muttering to himself, if literally anyone was around to hear him in his damn harness dangling twenty damn feet over the damn bowl underneath the damn bulk of a damn dragon with a damn rider that hates his damn face. (Or at least dislikes it. Hi Alyna!)

Demo'ing Search and rescue definitely beats PT and Alyna is glad she got chosen for the former rather than the latter. Haquith continues to rise up in the air steadily as her rider leans over to carefully watch the bronzerider dangling from her harness, a private smirk on her lips. She remembers the attitude she had gotten from the weyrling that one time on the beach, but she's the perfect image of professionalism as she silently urges Haquith to keep her wingbeats steady and rise in time with the rest. With the buzz of a swarm of gossamer wings, the chartreuse green reaches out to Ishevhaeth, « As long as he doesn't move around or squirm, don't worry, I got him. » It was meant to be reassuring to the dangling weyrling's lifemate, but Haquith has never been one for much tact.

Curled on the ground, eyes cast upward, Kazuth watches his bond as Do'rn dangles in a harness under Verokanth, « Yes, » comes out of warm mists scented heavily with jasmine and ginger, « I can see how this would be effective in getting a body to safety, » ever the pragmatic Do'rn simply sighs in his harness. Gee. Thanks. Though that is kept to himself, Maybe you would care for this? It's a question that is privately asked as he looks down at the bronze curled on the ground. Eagerness, and excitement has slowly given way to calm restraint.

« … and then we fly them to safety. Not that they are unsafe right now! Do not be alarmed! We have never dropped anybody! But we put them down somewhere safe. Ocelot has saved many lives like this, on land or over the water. » Verokanth is giving his own little lecture to the dragon halves of the weyrling pairs. « And do keep calm, Magisyth! Your rider is only laughing. Does she scream like that often? » The girl in question, dangling underneath an Ocelot blue, is practically splitting her sides, she's so amused. But all good things come to an end, and R'zel gives the hand-signal that will send all four dragons into a slow descent - watch that neat formation flying there! It should end as their passengers are gently lowered back onto the ground, It's to be hoped that the four weyrlings remember their instructions to get out of their harnesses quickly while the dragons hover above.

Ishevhaeth has undergone subtle and not-so-subtle changes in the past few months of his development: there's still the angel-puppy, of course, but it's now that overgrown stage of existence when maturity seems inevitable. He sits back on his haunches, watching with a great deal of keen-eyed gaze. « He will be still as stone, » says the bronze with the multiverse in every scintillant celestial pulse of his words, and yet a kind of face-value naivete regardless. His dusty-dark tail lashes once, restless, his whirling eyes focused entirely on Ev'rett. The once-Harper yawns and re-distributes his grip on the harness but seems callus to the goings-on around him. Definitely not screaming with laughter like the girl two dragons over. When he's finally lowered to the ground, quick fingers make quick work of the harness, and he strolls back over toward his lifemate with half his focus cocked up above to make sure Haquith isn't about to squish him 'accidentally'.

The dangling continues until Alyna sees that hand signal and relays it to her green. Perfectly in time with her fellow wingmates, Haquith lowers the bronzeling once more to the ground, hoving long enough for him to get out of the harness and move off before she finds a clear spot to land. With a lash of her tail, she sets down with her ample hind quarters first for a near perfect landing, she would never squish anyone. After thumping her neck, Alyna frees herself from the straps and then sees to untying the rope that was dangling below them, before hoping to the ground to finish the task. With the heat already substantial, she strips off her riding jacket, leaving her in a simple sleeveless undershirt. She tosses a look over at Ev'rett with chin upturned a little critically, "You did ok as a victim."

Do'rn makes quick work of getting himself out of the harness. With a half duck (even though it isn't needed) Do'rn moves quickly out of the way. Primarily by moving to Kazuth's side, « You did well. Which is expected, » such a confidence in his rider's ability. There seems so much to be learned here, and yet there are other wings to ponder as well and Do'rn isn't one to rush into major decisions. « You did rush into such a thing, » the smug tone in Kazuth's mindvoice is nothing short of arrogant.

R'zel is smiling as Verokanth lands and he dismounts. Verokanth tells the other Ocelots, « Mine says, that was neatly done. » R'zel turns to the class. "So, that's a flavour of Search and Rescue. If any of you think you might be interested in that sort of work, mention it to the Weyrlingmasters at some point." He adds the necessary caveat. "You don't get to choose which wing you go to, but it's always useful to know who's interested. Ocelot flies on the upper level, as you know, so we need dragons with a good level of stamina, and that comes in handy for Search and Rescue, too. Often when we do this sort of thing, it's blowing a gale, or something! Anyway, time's up. Dismissed!" He turns back to Verokanth and coils up the rope and harness. Then he nods to Alyna. "Nice job."

Ev'rett widens his eyes in exaggeration at Alyna's words, one hand against his lifemate's lowered face. Ish is about Haquith's size in his current growth, except his proportions aren't nearly as, ah, voluptuous. Speaking of — can't fault the weyrling for dropping his eyes for brief consideration of that sleeveless undershirt. "I'll strive to live up better to your expectations next time, Wingsecond," he replies, lifting his hand in a token salute. « But you will not have another time, » Ishevhaeth breaks in, his worldstone whirling puzzledly, « We will not be victims to be pulled out of precarious places. » He is very certain of this, with no ego or smugness to be fact, rather matter-of-fact instead. Ev leans towards Do'rn as an aside: "Good job, buddy." For sitting still. It's a life skill that only a Harper could appreciate. He issues a salute to R'zel that seems less mocking than the one he sent to Alyna (what can he say, he's definitely a nowtimer), and turns more fully to his lifemate, as if engaging in some kind of mental discussion.

Do'rn salutes Alyna and R'zel before turning to look at Ev'rett, "Practice. Lots of practice," he says blandly. How many times had he stood perfectly still as a child so his sister could have a body to measure clothing on? He'd lost count, except that it taught him to keep perectly still.

With a wry snort and a roll of her eyes at Ev'rett's response even though she catches the way his eyes drop to her torso, Alyna continues to carefully coil the rope and harness into a neat package, "It was a compliment, weyrling." The greenrider almost regrets mentioning that as she sees the much neater salute thrown towards R'zel and her eyes take another trip upwards with a shake of her head as she ties off the bundle and tosses it with the rest of the Search and Rescue equipment they've brought along for their demonstration. Tucking her thumbs into her belt, she turns a bright smile to R'zel with a bob of her head, "Thanks."

R'zel returns the weyrlings' salutes, then strips off his jacket - he's been wearing only one layer of the multi-layered garment that's standard at Southern - and tucks it into a handy spot on Verokanth's straps. "So," he says, smiling at the nearest weyrlings. "How's it going? Are you all flying with your dragons now?" Then, curiously, he asks Do'rn, "And why did you practice staying still?"

"My sister loved sewing, and I got to be her dummy," Do'rn answers simply, "You learn to stand still, or risk being a pin cushion," said with a wry tone, and smile, "Sadly, fever took her before she could truly apprentice with the Weavers," and the bronzling truly sounds agrieved by this, "Still, it taught me to be patient," so there's that at least.

"Oh, thank you, wingsecond." Ev'rett's return grin to Alyna is more wolfish than asshole - for once. The bronzerider - he's ACTUALLY a bronzerider, though as of this point still ground-bound - leans back on his heels and shoots Do'rn a quizzical glance before 'ahhh' sounds. To R'zel: "Not yet. We're scheduled for the group tomorrow," he gestures at Ish to explain the 'we'. "His left wing was developing quicker than his right so we had to return to the basics for a seven." Damn lopsided dragons.

Wolfish smile or not, Alyna narrows her eyes slightly in Ev'rett direction as if considering something briefly before she turns her attention to R'zel and his questions. She's listening intently even as Haquith lowers her head to bump the woman's shoulder with her nose, prompting some scritches along the green's chin. Do'rn sad tale rugs a bit at her heart as she offers a simple, "I'm sorry, that's rough." Not the most empathetic person out there, that's a lot coming from Alyna. Then to Ev'rett, she offers a brief look of sympathy, "They all grow differently and do things in their own time. It's best not to rush this part of it all, you'll be able to do it all soon enough."

R'zel tells Do'rn, "I'm sorry to hear that." There's a moment's awkward silence, as there does't seem to be any more to say, then he nods to Ev'rett. "Oh, yes, it's important to keep him balanced - someone in my class had that problem. He soon got over it, though. I expect your…" There's a brief pause as Verokanth supplies the name. "Ishevhaeth will be the same." He grins. "I bet he's looking forward to it, though."

Ishevhaeth lowers his head to butt into the conversation between the dragonriders, leveraging one very seriously-whirling eye at R'zel. "He says," muffled-Ev'rett from behind the giant ass baby bronze head, "He is very serious about his rehabilitation and appreciates all of the dragonhealer's attentions." Serious!phase Ishevhaeth is pretty hilarious in his own way. "He promises not to rush into anything." That's for Alyna in particular. As Do'rn is called away, Ev waves casually at his clutchmate.
The housekeeper arrives to cart Do'rn off to bed.

Haquith's first set of lids droop significantly at the scritching Alyna is treating her to along her jaw, reaching out ot waft some of her signature floral scent along with the buzz of her mind towards the oh-so-serious young bronze Ishevhaeth, « Easy now, you can't be serious all the time. Where's the fun in that? » For her part, Alyna combs her fingers through sun-bleached hair to get the windswept look under control. "I remember a few from my class that had to be held back at various stages, but I couldn't tell you why, it was a long time ago." Sixteen turns in fact.
"Oh, but you won't be for long. Plenty of time to catch up." R'zel nods to Alyna. "We had a few held back through actual injuries - one didn't graduate with us, if I remember rightly." He smiles at the bronze pair. "Sounds like he's a responsible sort, too - that always makes things easier." He glances at Ev'rett's face, perhaps assessing his age, as he asks, "So what did you do before you Impressed?"
I don't understand that.

« What isn't fun about it? » Ishevhaeth asks Haquith, his intense mindvoice puzzled. Galaxies explode around him in thought, and he recedes back into the vastness of his own space. "Hopefully we won't experience any of that," Ev'rett says, pushing aside his lifemate's nose carefully. To R'zel, he returns the look, saying in reply: "Harper journeyman."
R'zel looks interested at Ev'rett's reply. "Oh, we must compare notes sometime! I never made it to journeyman - got posted to Southern Barrier as a Senior App and got Searched within a sevenday of getting there." He chuckles. "Probably just as well! Anyway, I should be getting back: I've got reports waiting for me." He nods to his wingsecond. "Alyna, let's you, me and Keit meet up later on and talk about the next rescue exercise. Clear skies, both of you." He turns back to Verokanth, and the bronze is soon flying the short distance back to the Lower Bowl.

« Ummm…everything? » Clearly Haquith's definition of fun is a lot different from Ishevhaeth's. Alyna already knows the answer to R'zel's question for Ev'rett and, to her credit, she holds her tongue on a sarcastic retort based on their previous meeting. "Yeah, having a responsible dragon sounds nice," the greenrider teases her green instead, which earns her a bump to the back of her head with a snort. When R'zel takes his leave, she offers a smart salute, "Sounds good, Sir," then looking at the other Ocelots who helped with the demo and gesturing at the gear that needs to be returned to where it belongs. A sidelong glance is given in Ev'rett's direction before she offers a friendly enough, "Clear Skies, weyrling," before turning to help the others gather the gear and head off to ther rest of the day's duties.

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