Western Weyr - Weyrling Training Field
Near the tall black eastern wall of the crater is a cleared field. The earth there has been churned many times over by the landings and take offs of young dragons and only a few patches of grass cling to life in this active area. Wooden props and markers used to assist the weyrlings as they learn the precise manuvers required for the rescue and protection work that Western Weyr is famous for, litter the training field. Close to the rimwall, in the east where the sun is usually shaded is a large wooden slat barracks for the weyrlings to live in. Tropical trees and shrubs have been allowed to grow here, perfuming the air with a floral scent.
It's another day of training. Nae and Kaiath arrive on the field, with Nae looking particularly grumpy. Perhaps the strain of getting the overly energetic and squirmy green into her riding straps has just been too frustrating. Or maybe she's just sulky over the bandage that is still in place over her nose. Either way, she's not particularly thrilled to be out on the field today.
Zi'on has decided he'll check in on the weyrlings since he's got a little free time. Also he heard one of them got hurt? But hasn't heard enough to know which one. Suldith flies around overhead with the bronzer riding, and they give a nice trumpet before spiraling down to the training field itself, finding an empty spot to land. Then the bronze pads over to where the green and her rider are, with Zi'on blinking. "Nae? What happened to you?"
Rhysanna and Tavehtiath are late, such as it is, and it's very clearly the young gold who is keeping them from timeliness: she's moving very slowly, her obvious reluctance as present in her coldly white thoughts as in her dawdling walk. Her rider's expression is trending towards the murderous, at least for the first few seconds after their exit from the barracks; it's probably an unconscious change, visible in both of them, that turns grumpiness to something more restrained.
"Training accident." Nae says with further pouting in Zi'on's direction. "I know, I know, I look awful. You don't have to say it." She says defensively. Kaiath, dulled to her rider's pouting, croons and trumpets happily to greet her fellow dragons. « Hiiiiii! »
Zi'on lifts a hand to Rhysa when he sees the gold and her rider emerge. Rhysa doesn't look any more pleased than Nae does. Perhaps the weyrlings were in need of some morale boosting? Suldith greets both of the dragons. « Hello, ladies. Shall we go for a fly? » Zi'on meanwhile blinks at Nae. "Training? Self-defense training? Or did you fall or something?" He laughs a bit. "You look like you have a bandage on your nose. The rest of you looks as good as ever though."
« No, » says Tavehtiath, far too quickly for it to seem anything but an emotional reaction, though her thoughts are too stifled for the reasons to be clear. « No flying. » Nononono, you can't make her. Rhysa answers Zi'on's wave, lengthening her stride so that she can aim towards the Weyrleader and her fellow weyrling. "Hi," she says. And, "How's it feeling, Nae?" That she's rubbing her forehead with one hand is surely unrelated.
"No." Nae says with further frowning at Zi'on. "… Kaiath stopped short while landing. I hit my head on her neck." She looks to Rhysanna and musters just the tiniest of smiles. "Better, thanks. Not /great/, but better." The whole incident doesn't seem to have dulled Kaiath's enthusiasm for flight. « Flying! Flying! Yes! Let's all go flying!" She nudges Tavehtiath with her snout. « C'mon, little sis! You can do it! »
Suldith lifts his head and turns to Taveh. « No? Why not? Do your wings hurt? » Or was she mad at her rider or something? « Flying is fun! » The bronze flares his wings a few times to limber them a bit. "Hey rose petal." He says to Rhysa with a smile. There's a pout to Nae then. "Sorry, Nae. Does it hurt? Is it broken? Is your nose going to be as big as mine when it's done?" He teases a bit, chuckling.
Tavehtiath sniffs, coming to a halt a short distance from the other two dragons. She draws herself up and back, sitting primly, her wings carefully folded. « Of course I can do it, and of course my wings don't hurt. I simply choose not to. » The corners of Rhysa's mouth turn up in answer to Zi'on's greeting, but the weyrling holds back, otherwise, one hand reaching up to rest upon what she can reach of her dragon's forelimb (which is rather increasingly less). "I'm sure it'll be even better soon," she murmurs, in answer to Nae. "Back to being cute."
Nae plants both her hands on her hips in order to properly glare at Zi'on. Though with the bandage it still looks fairly ridiculous. "It will /not/." She insists, defensive. "It will be /fine/." She sounds like she's trying to convince herself a bit. She nods in agreement with Rhysanna. "That's right." Kaiath continues trying to chipperly encourage her sibling. « But it's so much fun! C'mon! I bet you can be the BEST FLYER in our group! » More nudging.
Suldith pads around the gold curiously, looking at her wings and her limbs. He's checking her for signs of strain, but it's unlikely he'll be able to find anything. « Why do you choose not to? All dragons fly. » The bronze nudges against Taveh's neck, then pads over to Kaiath and gives her a neck rub as well. Zi'on tries a different tactic then. "Is she having an off day? Or did something happen where she doesn't want to fly?" He asks Rhysa. The bronzer grins to Nae then. "Well be twins, Nae!" He teases a bit more, then chuckles. "I'm just kidding. You'll be fine after I'm sure."
Rhysanna was largely ignoring her dragon's mood, despite that hand that's still pressing flat upon hide, but when she's asked directly, she's left with not much choice: she makes a face. "She panicked after Nae's accident and refused to land," she explains. "And now she doesn't want to fly at all. But she will." If that's said through gritted teeth, well, it seems to be at least partially aimed at her dragon. « I don't, » is Taveh's answer. The nudges she receives leave her unmoved. « You should go without me. Go. Have fun. »
Nae just keeps glaring at Zi'on. "I'd better. Or else I'm going to go back and do something to that horrible jerk healer who was on infirmary duty." Grump grump grump. Still, she manages a sympathetic look for Rhysanna. Kaiath is much better at staying positive. « No, little sis! It won't be as fun without you! You can do it! C'mon! Up, up, and away! »
Zi'on needs to know what's going on. He can always find out through back channels, but it's better to get the information first hand. Especially when it concerns the little queen. "Ah. A little stage fright, I guess. Suldith can help her land." He laughs. "He's got experience helping gold's down. Greens, too." « It's going to be tough to eat if you can't fly to hunt… » Zi'on laughs to Nae. "Jerk healer, hm? What did he do? Or not do? I don't think they can do much for a broken nose."
« I'm not hungry, » insists Tavehtiath, the liar. Well, she's probably not actually hungry now, but she will be. « You can have fun without me. I'm not interested. » Rhysanna makes a face, albeit not a serious one, for that reference to golds and greens, but her gaze has already slid up towards her dragon. "She's just being stubborn. I just— need to get her up there." As distracted as she is with her own problems, she nonetheless has a sympathetic smile for Nae all over again. "Break his nose for him," she suggests, not seriously.
Nae gives Zi'on a little smirk. "I think Taveh may be a little young for Suldith's usual technique for… assisting golds and greens with their flying." She's back to frowning at discussion of the 'jerk healer'. "He was just… rude! And he didn't seem to want me to have a friend with in the examination room. He needs to work on his bedside manner." Kaiath makes a sad little whuffling sound « But… but… we have to go together! Please, little sis? It's not as fun being by yourself! »
« Eventually you will be hungry. Or will you make Kaiath hunt for you? » If she even tried that, Suldith would come around and steal her kill just to get her into the air out of sheer anger. « Perhaps I should take your rider for a ride. She looks like she wants one. » Zi'on chuckles. "Eh, the technique is the same, whether it's for that or not, Nae." The bronzer raises a brow to Nae. "Why did you have a friend in there with you?" Zi'on sighs and pinches his nose. "Well, I would love to stay and chat ladies, but we are being summoned. Good luck getting a flight in." Zi'on nods to the two riders and their dragons, and then Suldith backwings up into the air and heads over to the hatching grounds.
« You will not, » insists Tavehtiath, adjusting her wings in an agitated kind of way, even if Suldith is already taking himself away. « We don't have to go together, Kaiath. You can fly perfectly well without me. Honestly. » Her tone is clipped; she's still bothered. Rhysa's frown intensifies, but not so much that she can't turn her attention back towards Zi'on as he leaves, and heave a sigh, afterwards.
Nae tries not to look relieved about Zi's abrupt exit meaning that she doesn't have to answer his question. "Bye, Zi." Is all she offers by way of gooodbye. She looks back to Rhysanna, an eyebrow arched questioningly. Kaiath, meanwhile, isn't giving up. « It's not about that! It's about having fun and doing things together! »
"You didn't answer his question," says Rhysanna, turning her gaze back on Nae; whatever she's sighing about, she's not answering that for the moment, either. "Keeping secrets are we? Does that mean I shouldn't mention her to him, either?" Nae's not off the hook after all, then! « I don't want to fly with you, » says Tavehtiath, the cold closing in on her; insulating her.
Nae crosses her arms over her chest and looks sideways at Rhysanna, frowning a little. "… Well, you know." She says with a shrug. "… You know I wouldn't break any rules. I haven't and I won't. But… I know how people think of me sometimes, and I don't want to give anybody the wrong idea. I don't need a lecture, yeah?" Kaiath looks incredibly crestfallen at that declaration from Tavehtiath, her head sinking. « But… but… little sis… » Another sad whuffle.
That frown, and the answer that goes with it, is enough to set a little pink into Rhysanna's features. "Oh," she says. "If he had given you a hard time, I'd've been annoyed with him. Because… I know you haven't, and wouldn't. And there's nothing wrong with wanting a friend with you. Besides, he and I have had dates during weyrlinghood, and that's surely worse." Her hand drops from her dragon, right as the queen stiffens her spine. « I am a queen. I do not play, » says Tavehtiath, with only the faintest wobble in her tone to suggest that this bothers her.
Nae smiles a little ruefully, arms still crossed. "… Zi's a good guy. But he's only human. He wouldn't be the first authority figure to create a different set of rules for himself than for others. But it's not even that, really. I just… worry he'd make assumptions." Her smile grows just a little more. "… Thank you for trusting me, Rhysa. You're a good friend." Kaiath sinks, lying upon the field and looking at Tavehtiath with big sad eyes. « Everyone needs to play sometimes. »
The breath Rhysanna sucks in may well have as much to do with her dragon as with Nae, though it's the latter who is presently getting the most of her attention. "Right," she says, as she exhales. "Assumptions. I take the point. I won't say anything. Of course I trust you, Nae. You're my best friend. Reputations suck." Tavehtiath does not look at Kaiath; she looks anywhere but, really. « I don't. »
Nae smiles a little more at Rhysanna. "Eh. Truth be told, I've done a fair bit to deserve mine. And were circumstances different, I'd be doing exactly what they suspect. But… these rules are here for a reason, yeah? So just for now, I can behave." Kaiath sort of crawls around, low to the ground, moving over to try to stay in Tavehtiath's sight. « Yes you do, little sis. Play is important! »
The corners of Rhysanna's mouth turn up again at Nae's answer, though there's still something rueful about her expression. "Right," she agrees. "There for a reason. All of th— Tavehtiath." Perhaps she's only just realized the way her dragon is attempting to freeze away the mental link between herself and Kaiath, as if the other dragon doesn't exist at all. "You'd better excuse us," she says, darkly. "She's being horrible. I'm so sorry."
Nae gives Rhysanna a sympathetic smile. She casts a quick look at her pouting lifemate, then leans in Rhysanna's direction to whisper. "Sorry about that. Kaiath's learned to 'play it up' a bit. She's trying to help, honestly." She smiles worriedly. "Hope you're back out here soon."