Toss the sack

Writers: Suzee, Eimi
Date Posted: 4th November 2011

Characters: K'ale, T'mahl, F'tarn
Description: K'ale and F'tarn are 'blooded'
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 4, day 10 of Turn 6

K'ale

He and F'tarn finished loading up their sacks and checking straps.
K'ale tightened his belt whiled he felt breathless waiting for his
turn at the sky and his first live contact with Thread. "Ok," he
lifted his hand and signaled the Weyrling assistants where they sat
overseeing the preparations.

"Lighten up," jollied F'tarn from where he stood by Wronteth.

"Easy for you to say," he quipped back though his stomach was
bombarded by busy v'tol's.

T'mahl saw the young rider's hand in the air and walked towards the
waiting pair. "K'ale, F'tarn," he said, giving each boy a nod of
greeting. "Are you ready?"

"Aye sir," they both said in chorus and then grinned at each other.
F'tarn with confidence and K'ale just a bit more nervous.

"Good," the Weyrlingmaster Second nodded, feeling a bit of tension in
the pit of his stomach. He knew very well how dangerous the mission was
that he was about to send these boys on. And they were just that -
boys. "Right, K'ale, you'll be first. I don't want heroics from either
of you. Find your target, through the sack, once you're satisfied that
it has been delivered, move on. Don't waste time looking around and
don't wait for the next. If no one calls for stone, or if you're out, I
want you right back here, understand?"

"Yes sir," he said and scrambled up Imalkyth's side. Trying to calm
down he kept hearing **this is it.** repeated in his mind. }:Don't
worry mine, I'll keep us safe. I won't let anything touch you. I'll
watch the skies while you toss the sacks.:{

He smiled involuntarily. **Yep, I'm counting on you.** He knew without
a doubt that Imalkyth was the best brown dragon and he would prove it
to everyone today. He got the visualization for the location of the
wing and where he should arrive outside the leading edge of
Threadfall. The arrived precisely where they were supposed to be and
than heartened him a bit. Gouts of flame lit the sky from fire
breathing dragons even in the fulll light of day. The leading edge
moved closer and they were called in to resupply a blue.

This was the first time he and Imalkyth would come near the real
thing. Sure they'd drilled with the wing but this was completely
different. He could see the clumps and strings of silvery death
falling toward the waiting dragons and he almost forgot to breathe.

"Ok," he said. **Take us in.** They were suddenly in position
slightly above and behind the blue. K'ale pulled the bag of stone from
the harness and tossed it into the waiting arms of the bluerider. They
tilted suddenly and veered down and away just before the blue flamed
at a patch that had been coming directly down at them.

**Whew! Nice dodge.** He //betweened// back to his starting point in
front of the leading edge his heart still thumping in his chest. **You
heard the Weyrling Second, go home**

A few heartbeats later they were hovering over the Weyrbowl and
Imalkyth began settling to the ground near T'mahl. K'ale shaking like
a leaf.

The bronzerider was waiting. "How was it up there?" he asked as he
stood next to Imalkyth's arm, waiting for the young man to dismount. It
was obvious they had made it back safe and sound, which was always a
relief.

K'ale unbuckled and slid down Imalkyth's side just beginning to feel
the elation that followed the successful throw and escape. "Visibility
is pretty good but there are wind gusts."

"F'tarn, come here!" T'mahl called to the boy who would be going in the
next run. "Come get a report from K'ale, and take note on the
conditions. Any information you can get beforehand will only improve
your chances of success." The Second nodded to the young brown rider to
proceed and he would stand and listen to make sure adequate information
was passed along.

K'ale nodded at F'tarn, "Like I said there are some gusts blowing the
Thread around so you have to watch your back when you get above the
other rider." He didn't add that he'd had a close call himself. "You
can see a long ways off through the wing." At that point he just shook
his head and asked Ima to let Wronteth have a picture of the spot
they'd returned to after the toss.

F'tarn smiled at both K'ale and T'mahl "Ok, my turn then." He turned
and scrambled up the side of his lifemate and they leaped into the sky
to wink between to the leading edge of the Fall just like so many
other weyrlings before him. They waited there until they heard the
call for resupply. He was confident he could pull this off as well as
his friend and they located the brown who had called.

Popping into being in an almost identical maneuver F'tarn pulled the
strap and stood in his straps to toss the bag of stone. Suddenly a
green veered into his path and he pulled the bag back in "Whew," he
said when a sudden gust hit them from the other side. His throw went
wide and missed the brownrider entirely. Now he was nervous, with two
fits of bad luck at what should have been an easy task.

"I've got this," he called entirely missing the browriders warning.
Too late to move, too late to save himself or his lifemate a clump of
silvery death blew into his side scoring his right leg, up his side
and his right arm. With a scream choked off by the blackness of
//between// and unconsciousness he didn't know his lifemate returned
them to the weyrbowl in an attempt to save his young rider.

Uluruth, like so many other dragons not flying Thread that day, were
ready to catch the your pair when they blinked into the sky from
/between/. "Healers! Be ready!" T'mahl called, even as his bronze was
taking his turn at slowing the unconscious pair's fall. "K'ale, you
stay here and stand by," he commanded as he rushed to where experience
told him the dragons would finally settle them.

}:Wronteth is frightened, his will not answer:{

K'ale's fingers wrapped on of Imalkyth's straps in a death grip.
"He'll be ok," he said, as much to himself as to his lifemate. "The
healers will take care of him."

The weyrling brown lifemate called frantically to the other dragons as
they were caught and slid to the ground. Healers ran toward the pair
quickly assessing the situation. The rider was out cold and the
dragon's score injury mild in comparison. It seemed F'tarn had taken
the brunt of the Threadscore.

T'mahl rushed into action. He could do nothing for the boy. The
healers would take care of him. But he would do what he could to calm
Wronteth and keep the brown from doing anything rash, like panicking to
the point of going /between/ before it was time or lashing out at the
healers standing between himself and the boy. As long as F'tarn had a
chance, he had to keep that brown on the ground and calm. The golds
would do what they could, but the familiar authoritative presence should
help as well.

K'ale fidgeted with one of Imalkyth's straps then paced a bit and
finally couldn't stand it any more. He ran toward where the healers
were looking to his friend. What he saw made him gasp and brought
visions of his mother when Thread had almost taken _her_ life. He bit
his lips and swayed from foot to foot craning for a view. Thankfully
F'tarn was unconscious and couldn't feel anything. **He'll be ok, he
has to be ok.**

"K'ale," T'mahl called, walking back towards the healers working on the
injured boy. "U'kaiah is calling for firestone. I need you back in the
sky." In truth, another weyrling could have been asked, but the Second
knew all too well how watching someone you had bonded with suffer at the
hands of Thread to turn a man's veins to ice and make him freeze. It
had happened to him, and he still was not able to face Thread with
confidence. He couldn't allow the same to happen to K'ale. "Can you do
it, K'ale?"

K'ale gulped and his hands shook. He clasped them behind his back and
looked firmly at the Weyrlingmaster Second. "Yes sir, I can do it." He
nodded and kept his eyes off his friend. "We'll get it done." He
turned and ran to Imalkyth's side. They still had several bags of
stone strapped and ready to go. **Find Kalamath, his needs us.**

Up they went to deliver several more sacks of Firestone. This time
K'ale didn't come back after the first one.. He waited for another
call, tracking the leading edge until he had no more sacks left. He
didn't even feel the tears.

Last updated on the January 3rd 2012

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Toss the sack