A Troublesome Incident

Writers: Avery, Chelle
Date Posted: 29th November 2014

Characters: D'lorn, Riveenata
Description: Riveenata's first flight is marred by Savith's misbehavior.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 9, day 5 of Turn 7

Riveenata stood at attention, relishing the fit of her new flying
gear. Savith waited in the riding straps that they had been
painstakingly laboring over for the last few sevendays. Today she
would finally take her first ride on Savith and they would become a
true pair.

She listened attentively as D'lorn began to give the last-minute
instructions about how far to fly the first time. She was ready for
him to inspect them and to go. An unusual amount of impatience ran
through her and she shifted, waiting for him to finally call her name.

The straps had already been inspected prior to their use. Now, the
greenrider had to make sure the weyrlings had put them on properly.
Loose straps would mean a fall to their death. One by one they got their
turn. Pulling in front of Savith, he walked around the green, tugging and
pulling. When he was satisfied, he gave the signal for Riveenata to mount
like the others.

She mounted up on his sign and waited for the signal.

}:I hope we're first. We'll be great!:{ Savith's natural confidence was
reassuring to Riven.

She stroked her hand along the green's side, marveling at how natural it
felt to be here, adragonback. A Turn ago she would only have ridden on her
parents' dragons, a simple passenger. Now she was Impressed to her own
dragon, and ready to take her first flight.

This was the first step. After this, they would have to learn to fly and
then how to /between/. Threadfighting tactics and then Blooding. D'lorn frowned,
wondering which of them would survive. **Stop worrying and focus on the task
at hand. You can't save all of them**

A few of the pairs had their turn and they did fine. His eyes looked
at the young greenrider and nodded. "Allright, Riveenata. Keep it
close to ground and not too long. We don't want to strain her wings on
the first time."

So far most of the others had done well. She'd been watching them with
her heart in her throat, worrying that something would happen and one
of them would be injured. This wasn't the most dangerous time of
weyrlinghood, but it was the beginning of the risky part.

She shifted on Savith's back, wondering if the small green could truly
carry her in this flight.

}:You are light. Your weight will not be an issue.:{

Of course Savith felt no fear about their upcoming flight. She never
felt fear about anything. Riven knew that the rider was supposed to be
the moderating influence on the pair, but right now she needed that
confidence.

"Yessir," she replied crisply when D'lorn told them it was their turn.

Savith bunched her limbs and rocked back and forth, one last test for
her rider's weight. And then she sprung from the ground, just like
she'd been practicing over the last sevendays. Her bounce was high
enough to clear it and then she swept her wings down to gain height
with a dizzying rapidness.

}:We will go far.:{

Riveenata sucked in a breath at the speed of Savith's ascent. The
wingbeats of the green beneath her were steady and smooth as they
cupped air and pushed upwards. The wind was in her hair and a laugh
broke from her lips as they climbed. They were flying, together! She
exulted in the rush of it.

She'd seen the Weyr from above-ground before, but it looked different
on the back of her own dragon. And then it hit her - they were far
higher then they should be, D'lorn had said a low and short flight and
here Savith was, climbing for the sky. Fortunately they hadn't gone
out of the bowl yet.

**Down,** she ordered, with a sharp push of will.

Savirth grumbled, but stopped flapping and let herself glide down back
towards the ground. She snapped out her wings as they approached the
ground and braked, landing with a light touch on the ground exactly
where they were supposed to.

}:Nothing hurts,:{ the green replied before Riven could ask. }:And we
looked good.:{

Riven slid off the green and looked at D'lorn. "I know, sir. I let her
go too high."

His face was not a happy one. Out of all of them, he hadn't expected this
of her. As a healer she should have understood what could have happened.
"No more flights today for you both. I want you to go back to the barracks
and clean. My office better be shining by the time I get back from this
lesson." He'd let her mind roll it over before they discussed just what she had done.

"Yessir," she said quietly. She didn't dare to protest. She hurried away,
a flush on her face of embarrassment. It felt like the rest of the
weyrling class was staring at her.

}:Our flight was good.:{ Savith objected. }:Why are we in trouble?:{

**Just...be quiet,** she thought irritably as she all but ran back to the
weyrling barracks. At least it would be easier to clean now that the class
had moved out...

She did the office and was still in the process of fixing up the barracks
when the lesson was over. She knew when it was because Savith kept giving
her updates, which she appreciated. Even if dealing with her green's
confusion was hard on her nerves.

D'lorn took his time walking back. After speaking with Riveenata, he would
then make sure Savith understood, but his idea was to let the rider teach
the dragon. If that failed, Villith would step in. The greenrider put on his
best teacher face and walked inside. He headed immediately for his office, inspecting the
work and waiting for her to arrive when she was done.

When she finished sweeping up, she shuffled to his office, still looking
at her feet. The urge to cry in humiliation had passed, followed by guilt
and resignation. She wouldn't meet his eyes as she reported in. "Here for
discipline, sir."

"Weyrling Riveenata, can you explain to me what happened and why?"
D'lorn went behind his desk and stood, rather than sitting. He didn't invite
her to sit either.

She knew what happened - she'd let her green's exuberance flood her.
They'd gone too high, in direct contradiction of what he'd said. At least
their glide down had been smooth, and they had landed on the approved
spot. But she was probably going to be on latrine duty for a sevenday
after this.

"I got caught up in how good it felt to finally be flying real proper and
it took me a moment to realize she had gotten so high that quickly. Savith
is quick. Once I realized, I pushed her to glide down like you said. She
didn't fight me and we landed." She didn't wanting to sound like she was
trying to justify what they did. She just wanted to report it accurately.

"So basically you were sleeping on the job and lost control of your green
for just long enough that you disobeyed my direct order. Is that about the size
of it?" His tone was deceptively mild. D'lorn didn't have to be loud or
menacing like some of the bronzeriders on staff to get his point across. He had a way
of putting things.

And there was the urge to cry again, but she deserved it. She'd messed up
in one of the most important moments of weyrlinghood. "Yes," she said, her
voice almost inaudible.

Outside, Savith shifted as her rider's distress hit her. }:It's not fair.
I jumped us high.:{

**It is fair. I'm the rider.**

"Yessir," she repeated a little louder.

"When we are fighting Thread, we cannot afford mistakes. A wing has to fight
with precision. A mistake means injury, a life lost, a dragon lost. You are
her rider. You are there to lead her." His voice still hadn't calmed yet
and it was clear he would finish his piece before he did. "She could have easily been
hurt which would have thrown you back into training. Your Wingleader up
there will demand absolute obedience to any order he gives. And you will
need to focus and be able to commit to it."

"It seems you need to work on ignoring distractions and controlling your
dragonet. So from now on until this is fixed you are to rise every morning
early to work on that. You will command her movements around the drill grounds
until she follows every single order to the letter. And believe me,
someone will be watching to make sure you're there."
His eyes scanned hers, waiting for the inevitable questions.

"Should I use the drill ground at the sixth or the seventh candlemark?"
Both fell under the definition of early and if everyone else was bathing
themselves and their dragons it would be free.

And on that note... If he wanted her to practice basic drill orders, what
would happen to their work with the others in their trio? "Will we still
be allowed to fly tomorrow with the others, or not till she follows orders?"

"You are grounded for the next sevenday. You can work with your trio but I
don't want you flying until you can prove you can control her. You will work
from the ground as they fly. At the end of the sevenday, I'll inspect the pair
of you and if you meet my standards, you can go back to full duty again. And
you are to keep my parade ground clear." That meant any of the dragon dung
there was to be removed by her since the juniors couldn't /between/ yet and
sometimes didn't manage to get to the latrines during drills.

She nodded solemnly. It was a fair punishment if she was objective about
it. She had messed up and she deserved it. Oh, but to not be able to fly
with her class - well, that desire had got her in this mess.

The fact that everyone would know of her shame was awful, but she lifted
her chin and nodded at him. "I understand. Will she still be doing
exercises for her wings and short flights?"

"Aye. She can fly, but without you mounted. And you had better make sure she
restrains herself to what she should do. Teach her control." D'lorn hoped
the message was received loud and clear and would prevent further dangerous
situations.

Last updated on the December 9th 2014

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A Troublesome Incident