Test of Twins

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 25th October 2015

Characters: Devyn, D'kere, E'zar, R'axe, Z'then
Description: The twins experience their first Threadfall.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 17 of Turn 8

Devyn

R'axe

Z'then had thought that the extra sessions of flying in the middle of
weyrlinghood had broken him of his fear of flying on Juvath's back.
Certainly when they'd been flaming the ropes in the practice drills,
he'd been too busy keeping his attention on where he and Juvath was
relative to the other dragons, to know or worry about where they were
in relation to the ground. Sometimes that helped remove the fear.
Other times, he had to rely on Juvath's confidence.

But now it was time to fly against real Thread. Not flame it yet, but
to take sacks and throw them. But live Thread would be _there_.

He looked over at E'zar, lined up next to him. "How you feeling?"

E'zar glanced up at his twin brother, looking into identical dark,
brown eyes. Whereas other people might not have known Z'then was
nervous, E'zar could tell, the bond that they inevitably shared had
always made it so that they could read each other at a glance.

"Nervous, I guess." E'zar's voice gave away little emotion, typical
for him. "How are you holding up?"

"Scared," Z'then said honestly. "I think I'm going to barf on Juvath's
back if we see someone get scored." And he wouldn't even think about
getting scored himself.

"Just concentrate on yourself and don't look at anyone else. Juvath
will be aware of other dragons in the air. Pretend it's a drill. Pick
up the sack, make the throw, and move on." E'zar encouraged, unable to
resist the need he felt to protect his brother.

"A drill that could kill us," Z'then muttered darkly.

But his brother was right. They'd both get through this. Besides, if
they couldn't see the ground then it wouldn't look as real. "Maybe
since we'll be so high up it'll be easy."

E'zar smiled, "Like drills in the clouds."

A ripple of movement caught E'zar's attention, and when he looked
forward it was to see D'kere and E'naer taking their places at the
head of the Weyrlings. "Time to mount up." He said to Z'then before
giving Chenreth's straps one last tug.

"Hey - stay safe up there and don't do anything dumb," Z'then said.
Then he checked Juvath's straps just like his brother did and mounted
up. He hoped he wasn't asked to go first! Surely D'kere would send
someone else like a bronzerider.

"You too." E'zar said, just as D'kere raised his hand to bring silence
to the group.

"You'll be going up in the same trios that we use in drills. Kenirath
will give your dragons the coordinates and tell them which Wings need
their firestone refilled. Both E'naer and myself will be in the air if
you need assistance at any point. This is a test to see if you're
ready for the real Wings, but don't get so bull-headed that you don't
ask for help. We want everyone coming back from this in one piece,
that's what matters the most."

D'kere paused for a moment, letting the instructions sink in before he
spoke again, "Alright Trio One, you're up first. We'll cycle through
our groups for as long as we are needed, so don't get too comfortable
when you get back here. Reload your sacks and be ready to head back
out."

They were mounted. His sacks were full. He was ready to throw. Now all he
needed was the word to go. And now that he was mounted, Z'then hoped it
was soon. If he had to wait too long, he was going to puke.

}:We are fine. Kenirath will give us a visual. You have thrown very far in
drills.:{

Kenirath sprang aloft in the same moment that D'kere raised his hand,
signaling for the first trio to follow him into the air. The bronze
dragon passed coordinates along and waited for the Weyrlings to
confirm their mental images with their riders.

Z'then felt Juvath bunch his legs and then leap into the sky. He had a
moment to register that the ground was falling away - he was really
going to see Thread, this was actually going to happen! - before
Juvath was passing him an image. }:We go here,:{ the brown said.

Z'then looked at it. It seemed right. All high up and where Thread would be...

}:We go now?:{ the brown asked Kenirath.

}:Wait for the signal.:{ Kenirath responded to the young brown as he
waited in the air for the rest of the trio to be in the right
formation. Once he had confirmed that their coordinates were solid,
D'kere raised his hand in the air.

}:Now. Let's go.:{ The Weyrlingmaster's Second led the way into /between/.

Juvath followed Kenirath into /between/. When they came out, Z'then's
breath stopped for a second. The massed wings of Dragonsfall were an
impressive sight. He'd trained with his clutch, and he'd observed
wings drilling, but those were limited amounts of dragons at a single
time. Here were almost all of the Weyr's complement of dragons. It was
a realization of just how many dragonriders the Weyr had.

Z'then made the mistake of looking down at the land. He could see
farmland like what he'd grown up on below, spotted the shapes of cots
and barns. It made him realize how high he was, and he swallowed and
looked up. Now that he'd seen the sweep of the land below them, the
number of dragons which he'd just thought was so many didn't seem
enough to protect it all against Thread.

}:Who do we throw to?:{ Juvath asked his rider and Kenirath both. His
rider was thinking too much and getting nervous. Juvath didn't feel
anything but the desire to be out there flaming Thread. And if he
couldn't flame it, he still wanted to be in the thick of the others.

D'kere picked out an experienced rider, in case Z'then made a mistake
in his throw, he didn't want to possibly throw-off a less experienced
rider in the Wing. **Tell them that they'll be tossing to R'axe and
Jayth, I've already told them so they're ready for Z'then and
Juvath.**

}:We are going to Jayth,:{ Juvath related to Z'then.

Jayth. Blue dragon. Right. Z'then swallowed and said, **Let's go!**

The pair blinked /between/ and then out into the thick of the Fall.
There was no time to be scared or to think about it. Thread was in the
air and the dragons were around them flaming it.

"Incoming!" Z'then shouted with his voice, making a hand signal at
R'axe. Juvath signaled Jayth as well.

When he got confirmation, he gave it his best throw, watching the bag
arc into the air.

Catching the sack, R'axe gave Z'then a jaunty salute before tearing
the bag open and shoving the firestone into Jayth's waiting jaws.

}:Back to the Weyr. Flight group two, stand-by.:{ Kenirath ordered as
he and D'kere expertly dodged a clump of Thread that was quickly
flamed by a passing brownrider.

E'zar exhaled a breath to steady his nerves as he hooked a sack of
firestone to his riding harness and then made sure that he was steady
in the stirrups. **All set.**

Chenreth flexed his brown wings and rose into the air with the two
others in his flight trio. They waited, hovering in the air for
Kenirath's order to /between/. When the call came the brownriding pair
eagerly jumped into the frigid voice, appearing in front of their
waiting Weyrlingmaster's Second.

**Who are we delivering to?** E'zar glanced down at the ground below
before turning his eyes to the fray above which was a grey sky packed
with hundreds of dragons in the midst of battle.

}:Devyn and green Ellyth.:{ The brown said, giving E'zar the coordinates.

**Let's do it.** He unclipped the sack and tucked it under his arm,
prepared to pass it along.

Popping /between/ E'zar and Chenreth appeared beside of Ellyth just as
a clump of Thread appeared above.

}:Watch out!:{ Ellyth bugled, ramming her shoulder into Chenreth's to
move him out of the way, and taking the brunt of the Thread impact.

**/Between/! /Between/!** E'zar hissed as he batted with his gloved
hands at the wriggle silver spores that had fallen onto his left leg.

Chenreth responded immediately, taking them /between/ and effecting
killing the Threadspore. They reappeared a dragon's length from where
they had just been. E'zar looked across to see Devyn and Ellyth
reappear as well. Devyn lifted her hand and signaled for E'zar to
throw her the sack of firestone.

**They're going to stay?!** E'zar couldn't believe the pair didn't go
back to the Weyr after getting caught up in the Thread.

}:Ellyth says they're only lightly scored, they went /between/ quickly
after we did.:{ Chenreth winged closer to the green.

E'zar fumbled with the sack for a moment, his hands trembling a bit
before he gave the bag a swift toss. He watched as Devyn snatched the
sack from the air, saluted him and then began feeding the stone to her
dragon.

}:Let's get back.:{ Chenreth urged. }:Kenirath wants us to report to
the healers when we land.:{

**How's E'zar?** Z'then demanded of Juvath, hoping his brown was
keeping an eye on his brother.

}:They go and throw.:{ Juvath was quiet as he waited. }:They have
gone...they have been touched!:{

**Ask if - **

}:They are fine,:{ Juvath sent back.

Z'then waited with held breath for the pair to reappear.

When Chenreth appeared he descended quickly toward the weyrbowl where
the healers were treating other riders who were coming in wounded from
Threadfall.

E'zar winced as he came out of his riding straps and lifted his scored
leg to climb down. Thanks to Ellyth and Chenreth's quick thinking
E'zar didn't think the score was very deep, just a light grazing
compared to what some were being treated for.

Z'then hissed as he saw his brother's body language. He wanted to
speak to him but he was worried D'kere would yell at him for getting
too distracted. Instead he reached out via Juvath.

}:My rider worries about yours. Did that hurt?:{ Juvath asked with
curiosity. He wanted to know what Thread was like, even if his rider
didn't.

}:Of course it hurt!:{ Chenreth hissed in return, his eyes whirling
with worry for his rider.

**Tell Zay it's only a flesh wound, nothing major. Just a little
numbweed and it should be fine.** E'zar said, rolling his eyes at
Chenreth's dramatic reply to Juvath.

}:We should be flaming it,:{ Juvath complained.

**Glad it's fine,** Z'then told Juvath to relay.

}:Mine says he'll catch up with yours after 'Fall is over. Good
luck.:{ Chenreth relayed to Juvath as Kenirath prepared another trio
to go.

Last updated on the October 26th 2015

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