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1. [DL-W] Head In The Clouds (JP)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 20:27:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-W] Head In The Clouds (JP)
Nerika, J'red, & Barsel
Morning, Day 19
/snip from Arlene's post/
Another male voice answered from behind J'red and he turned to Barsel
as
the other rider commented, "Yeah, great for the participants.... Oh,
yeah, didn't Azhy win that last mating flight?" then he met J'red's
eyes, "Reporting as ordered, Sir. Aedris said you needed to talk to
me...."
Barsel and Aedris had been the first riders to be washed out during the
maneuvers, and J'red wanted to know why, though looking at his bleary
eyes, one didn't have to hard a guess.
Nerika frowned at the interruption. She turned to face the newcomer,
and froze. If ever she'd seen a face that was worth writing a song
about, this was the one! "Um...hello," she said shyly.
/end snip/
Barsel grinned and made a flourishing bow to her. "Greetings,
m'lady," he said in rich, honeyed tones. "I wasn't looking forward to
coming over to be chewed out by old J'red here, but getting chewed out
alongside someone as lovely as yourself makes it all worthwhile!"
Nerika gulped. She'd never seen anyone so wonderful, so,
so...perfect! She'd never really gotten a look at Barsel before,
except at a distance. But now that she was up close to him, standing
in his presence, he was like no one she'd ever met before. "Um, I'm
Nerika," she said lamely. "Uh, pleased to meet you!"
"And I am pleased to meet you as well," Barsel laughed, but it was
not a mocking or teasing laugh...rather, it was a kind, gentle laugh
that somehow told her that here was someone she could understand - and
who could understand her.
"Well, I am *so* pleased that I could bring about this lovely
meeting," J'red said drily. "But let's remember that you're both here
because you're not performing up to your abilities...Nerika, if you'd
halfway tried, you could have been the top finisher for the entire
wing!! And Barsel, you could have...well, you could have at least
finished...I guess." He shook his head dismissively as he glared at
the other male rider. "What am I going to do with you two?"
"Make us patrol partners!" Nerika blurted out, then immediately
realized how strange that sounded, especially coming from someone who
only moments before had said she didn't even want to be a rider. Her
cheeks turned crimson and she turned her head away. She already knew
J'red didn't think much of her, but she didn't want Barsel to see her
in a bad light.
J'red frowned, "Well, yes, I guess... but what about Mara?" He
glanced at Nerika.
Barsel's eyes lit up at Nerika's words and then fell as he heard
J'red's questionable answer and he began to protest. "J'red you know
my patrol partner was R'han, and since you've basically banned me from
talking with him and Jael, I've been a fifth wheel on patrols..."
Nerika looked thoughtful, glancing back and forth between J'red and
Barsel. "I read about an idea someone had at another warren...using
3-or-4 dragon/rider pairs together. The dragons would fly in formation
like this." She held up a hand and spread her fingers, using a finger
from her other hand to indicate the relative positions of the dragons.
"Supposedly, it allows the dragons to better protect and support one
another, and reduces the threat of wraiths attacking from behind." She
wasn't making this up, of course, Jerram of Jasra had actually proposed
it. As far as she knew, it was still under consideration - and
probably would never get any farther. But Jerram had thought it a good
idea, and it would allow her and Mara to stay together while bringing
in Barsel and another rider. She looked at J'red, for a sign of
approval or disapproval
J'red frowned trying to picture what she was describing, and was
supplemented by Firefly, who had picked Lyraene's memory. His eyes
took on the unfocused look of one communing with his dragon.
Barsel, seeing that, took advantage of his Wingleader's momentary
lack of attention to give Nerika a thumbs up.
"You know...." J'red pondered, "That might just work."
Nerika's eyes flashed happily as she looked at Barsel. "I think it
would work wonderfully," she said. "Of course, we'd need to spend time
together. Um, I mean...to work out the positions in the formation, you
know...and stuff like that..." She looked at J'red, wanting to be sure
he'd approve it, before turning her gaze back to Barsel.
J'red frowned, "Perhaps the four of you might not be the best riders
to try out a new formation... perhaps more experienced and more ...
trustworthy riders... might be better." He watched the two with lidded
eyes to judge their reactions.
Nerika looked at Barsel and bit her lip, then turned her gaze back to
J'red. "So...you're going to approve the idea...just not with us?"
She felt her heart sink. This was a setback, but she vowed that it
wouldn't stop her! She'd find some way to spend time with Barsel!
"Well, if I used you two and your partners, I'd have to lift the
association ban against R'han and Barsel..." J'red's eyes flickered to
Barsel.
Barsel squared his shoulders and his eyes flashed with anger.
Affronted, he answered, "How much longer are you going to hold some
momentary fun against us?"
"Drunken brawl is more like it," J'red reminded him but a hint of a
smile was in his eyes. He knew they weren't the ringleader, just drunk
fools easily lead. Perhaps... he glanced at Nerika with speculation...
a new leader might be just what they needed, and perhaps people to lead
might be just what Nerika needed.
Barsel was about to sputter out something, when J'red held up his
hand, "But you are right." J'red answered. "It's been long enough and
I hope you've learned something."
Barsel's eyes lit up with expectation, though he wasn't exactly sure
why he was fighting so hard for something that sounded like it might
mean more work.
J'red hid a smile behind a cough, and then nodded. "That might be a
very good start. Let's see you two do another run."
Nerika nodded. She turned to Barsel as she began to walk toward her
dragon. "Come on, Barsel! If we want this to work, we have to
practice!" She moved with a determination in her step that no one in
the wing could remember having seen before as she strode over to where
Lyraene waited. Without another word she mounted up, then waited,
looking down at J'red and Barsel.
Barsel gaped. Another run of the course really wasn't what he'd had
in mind. In fact, he'd just been thinking about a nice bottle of
wine... Well, perhaps a bottle of wine with Nerika in celebration
might not be a bad idea.
J'red cocked an eyebrow, "So? Are you going?"
Barsel shrugged. He couldn't let a girl show him up. So he followed
Nerika's lead and mounted Ophar. "Ready, Sir!"
J'red nodded and had Firefly give the two dragons their orders.
Lyraene couldn't quite believe the change in her rider's attitude all
of a sudden. Her willingness to show up on time for the training this
morning - however unwilling and unenthusiastic she might have been -
had been improvement. But nothing like this! Suddenly, and for the
first time, Nerika was interacting with her as Lyraene would have
expected a rider to. And it seemed to make all the difference!
Lyraene felt far more like putting on a good show now that she knew it
pleased her rider, and she coursed through the difficult maneuvers with
hardly a flaw. She looked around to see if any other dragons were
close by, or if she was well out in the lead. Nerika, meanwhile, had
her full attention on the course ahead of them.
There would be plenty of time to look at Barsel later!
Ophar, saw the look the cinnamon colored female gave him as he and
his rider teleported in after her, once more lagging behind and almost
missing the next set of instructions. But then, Ophar normally didn't
care. Flying should be fun, not all of these tedious and pointless
maneuverings. His rider, who normally agreed, surprised him by
expressing his displeasure.
<Come on you laggard! Can't let a girl show us up!> Barsel grumped.
J'red, on the ground, watched with surprise that the two really did
seem to be motivating each other.
Nerika decided to try something new - something which, when she told
Lyraene, the cinnamon dragon balked at initially. Still, this was the
first time that Nerika had ever done more than go through the motions
of being a dragonrider, and Lyraene decided that anything that would
encourage her couldn't be all bad. At Nerika's signal, she pulled up
abruptly, reversing course and turning at the same time. The maneuver
put them exactly in the position Nerika envisioned, and she found
herself hanging in an inverted position right above Barsel. "Hello
there!" she called down to him. Lyraene hit an air pocket and dropped
just a bit, bringing Nerika's upside-down face even with Barsel's.
J'red's eyes boggled as he saw the maneuver Lyraene did.
[Firefly! Did you tell her to do that??]
Firefly was just as amazed, [*No rider, they came up with that one on
their own. Brilliant move!*]
Ophar, however, was startled beyond reason when his rider let out a
cry and a mind shout at the same moment. His reaction was as
unexpected as Lyraene's move had been. He tried to fly away from
whatever danger his rider perceived and rose up into the air, ramming
right into Lyraene from below.
Nerika saw the danger immediately, telling Lyraene to rise - which
took a moment's thought on the dragon's part, since she was upside
down. She managed to pull away just as Ophar was rising, not enough to
avoid him entirely, but at least enough that it could keep the two
riders from being squashed between the bulk of the dragons. With a
startled shriek, Nerika found her arms going around Barsel as they were
bumped together by their dragons' momentum.
Barsel responded instinctively... woman's arms around you, face to
face... well, it wasn't the first time he'd kissed a girl upside
down... and so he did what only came naturally to him. His arms
encircled her as well, and he planted a kiss on her.
Nerika found herself returning the kiss, something she'd heard about
and sung about countless times, but never actually done before. It was
as though a fire swept through her in that instant, making her want
more than anything else to put it down in a song. She didn't want the
moment to end, however, and clutched him tighter to her.
Lyraene, however, had other ideas. <Sorry, this is too dangerous,>
she told her rider, and began to pull slowly away from Ophar. Nerika
cried out in dismay and tried to hold onto Barsel.
Barsel cried out in pain... and tried to push Nerika away, though her
arms were locked around him. Ophar was telling him the same thing.
There was no room for a good wingbeat and they were going to crash if
they stayed like that any longer. "Are you crazy, girl? You want to
kill us?"
His words snapped her out of it. "Oh...sorry," she said, red faced,
as she released him. As soon as the two were disengaged, Lyraene
flipped herself back upright again. <Humans do such strange things
sometimes,> Lyraene sighed to Ophar. Nerika took a moment to catch her
breath, hardly able to believe what she'd just done. *Um, I suppose
we'd better finish the course,* she told Lyraene. The dragon nodded,
and surged forward again.
J'red had Firefly give them one last coordinate and then come in to
land. He strode over to Nerika with a huge grin on his face, "That!
Was! Impressive!" Each word exploded out of him and he reached a hand
up to help her down. "I knew you had it in you! Now... tell me more
about your formation idea!" He put an arm around Nerika and began to
lead her away. He glanced over his shoulder, "Coming Barsel?"
Barsel approached slowly and hung behind, feeling bewildered by the
sudden turn of events. He followed as J'red escorted them to his
office.
(Again, to be continued!)
Submitted by:
John
(Nerika & Lyraene)
and
Arlene
(Barsel & Ophar)
(J'red & Firefly)
Whiteriver Warren
Summary
Morning, Day 19:
Nerika, smitten with Barsel, proposes to J'red a new experimental
four-dragon fighting formation that she hopes will allow her to spend
time training with him. J'red tentatively agrees, and the two
dragon-rider pairs return to their practice where Nerika tries out an
unusual maneuver. Finishing, the go to J'red's office to discuss
Nerika's idea.
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