Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kyala bowed slightly for the gathered group and nodded slightly with a small smile for Ulrich. "A complete accident, I assure you Ulrich, but never the less, apparently it will turn out for the good." Tyrkennen chuckled behind her and added, "Yes Ulrich, what a pity it might be to be distracted by a pretty hide and lose your own."

As Tyr spoke she surveyed the dark pair off to her left. She had noticed Drake and Shade's flashy entrance but was suprised by their utter lack of arrogance. Jogged out of her silence by Rosette she turned to the girl and growled, "Rosette, if I wait untill sunset, you will have done what I told you you should not do." In a softer voice she finished, "Remain after your orders so we can sort it out now alright?"

Stepping down from teh dias once again she addressed her own crew, the band on her arm very obvious. "I saved you for last because your instructions are the most complicated and important to keep a consistant push on the enemy. You all are now members of the Sweep Crew, the Winged Lances." She distributed the bands and patches seemingly undiscrimenatly, though Drake and Shade were given a pair whose white winged lance was outlined in gold. "We are the main force who will recieve the brunt of most of the attacks, while the Scouts and Fists do their work from above and the sides as we attack from the front. Another wing will be sweeping around from the back to push the enemy towards us, but they are of no concern of ours."

"We shall be flying in a diamond pattern that will revolve counterclockwise in mid air in a constant revolving shift. This is a strategy that is proven to confuse the rather dim beasts of the Surk and Krag and cause them to lose focus on any one of us at a time. To increase the confusion and our ability to dismantle their frontlines, whoever is at the top of the formation at the time of a close contact skirmish will break formation and attack from any which way they please. In short, a quick, distracting and damaging pain in the arse. Whoever is on the bottom is also in charge of recognizing and removing any ground threats." Kyala grinned grimly and punched one hand into the other. "Together we will crush them. I as your BattleLance will be with your crew but will also need to survey the battle and issue accomidating orders. In my absence Drake is your Captain. This formation is our base of performance, but will need to be highly adaptable." She paused again and sighed, smiling lopsidedly in a knowing way. "So, who wants their new stuff?"

"On return to your quarters you will find a mailbox with written orders. You will also find new full body armor for the Dragon's that is specially designed to be manuverable but also incredibly resistant. It is required that Dragon's wear at least front guards, top helms, all four vambraces and belly plates. There is also armor for the humans. Everyone's armor is plated with a special coating of waht our smiths have named foolsglaze. It makes the light reflect oddly and can confuse the eye. You will also recieve a set of leg guards and braces to secure you into your saddles for when advanced manuverabilty comes into play. Other than that you are each the proud owners of new iron braced lances in your own colors, a sack of bangflash smokebombs whose use is obvious, a set of quick heal medicines for use in emergencies, and also spyglasses with the Winged Lance symbol." Finally done with the list she stopped for almost a full minute. "This is one of the most risky positions if simlpy for the fact we are asking to be hit back. I belive in each of you to battle through and use every skill you have earned to your advantage. If no one has anything to say you are free to go, except for Rosette."

Even though Rosette was normally on good terms with Kyala, had been in the same hatching group, and were even, dare she admit, friends, she had to say that she was a little scary in the way she growled.

"May I ask for permission that we go to a place where we will have a moe private audience. Just, you, Chrono, ad I. I beg pardon for my paranoia, but it is only small request." Rosette said, looking down at the arm band she held. She ran her thumb across the image, there would be time fo merrymaking later.

"Please, Kyala? I ask of this not as a fellow Rider, but as a friend. You know Chrono and I, and you know that only the most important matters to us are so private."

Both dressed up in their armor now and ready to go Toreth had one thing left to do for them to be complete, he had to put on his violet underclothing. He went to his room and changed cloths and then put his armor back on. All that was left was to organize that rest of the gear. There was a set of saddle bags to go on the harness to carry items of use or need. One of the two bags looked like it had been made to carry food and liquids. "That will help in a long travel." He attached the bags to the back of the harness seat. There also seemed to be a place on the back of the harness that was made to attach a shield to. "Oh that will be great; I can leave it there and not kill my arms till I need it." With the shield in place on Chandra's back Toreth went to the mail box and grabbed his orders.

"Where are we going first my love, to Calidar's place and then Ryan's."

"That was the idea." Toreth climbed onto Chandra's back and placed the lance in its holster on the harness. At his signal Chandra rouse off the ground and they headed for Calidar's place. They weaved through tunnels and corridors til they reached the right place and landed smoothly in front of Calidar's place. "Calidar, are you home," Toreth called as he waited out side not wanting to intruded on the girl.

((Do what ever you want to do before you make it known that Toreth is there. I don't want it to look like he finished going through his stuff way faster then you and then be waiting for an hour or two. Take your time, don't rush though for me.))

Kyala looked at Rosette with a look of honest friendship. "Of course Rostte, I understand, I am just a little wrapped up in this BattleLance buisness. I did not mean to growl at you so fiercly, but it is rather annoying. However, I may have a soloution." She was indeed friends with most of her hatch-group, having only been removed from the normal training a year ago to prepare for her station as BattleLance. "Just wait for a moment so I can be sure no one has any questions or anything and then we can retire to the conference room just over there." She motioned twords a large arch leading off to seperate breifing rooms.

In no real hurry she climbed to the dias again to survey the nearly empty tiers and wiated to see if anyone needed anything from her, before she could leave to prepare as well. She had not really slept the night before and was more prepared than anyone really, but now she was beginning to feel a little nervous. "You are a goose Kyala, this fear in you is so uncharacteristic." The big silver Dragon curled the end of his long tail around her waist and squeezed lightly. "We can tear apart every foe that crosses our path. At least I can, you can just hit them with that stick of yours." Kyala leaned against the weight of his tail with a small smile. "Of course we can, and I bet you a nickle my stick can work just as well as a few teeth. But thats only if you don't tear me apart first." Snorting a little smoke in her face Tyrkennen batted her gently with one wingtip and smiled in his Dragon way. Kyala revised her statement. "Your very many teeth!"

A small boy came running across the floor with a young dragon, a violently lavender-blue color, in tow and skidded to a stop at the base of the dias. Panting, he held out a small scroll and gave a lopsided smile and a clumsy salute with wide eyes. The young dragon fluttered her wings and nodded to Tyr, who replied in kind. "I love the younglings," Tyr told his Rider quietly who replied, "They are cute aren't they?"

With a salute back to the boy she asked him his name as she took the scroll. "I be Dorun, Miss BattleLance. And this here is Serri." The young Dragon aquired a cross look and retorted, "I could have told them my own name Dorun." The boy made a pained face and assured her he was sorry and a moment later the two were all smiles and right as rain. The young were soo innocent. The boy also wore a small armband which told whoever wanted to know his hatch group and Kyala was pleased to see that the lad would be part of her Wing someday.

"Very good Dorun, and Serri. Is this all you have for me?" The two nodded and she sent them scampering back off to their training. The younglings were often given tasks like message running to keep them out from underfoot and get them familiar with the other Riders and the mountain range. The scroll was sealed with the emblem of an open hand in which rested a lance and a dragon. It was the seal of the Elders. It read, "BattleLance Kyala Ter'kel and Tyrkennen Argetlam. Your orders are well taken and your troops well prepared. This being the case you are to command your Wing to the front-lines of the Krag invasion. Prepare for a long run mission. The supplies commision is yours to request all needs. ---The Elders."

The paper crumpled in her shaking fist. This was not the mission she had just prepared her Wing for. They were originally set to run a one week rush against the Surk rear guard. The Krag were a whole new animal and the frontlines were sometimes killer cold conditions. "I hate the cold," Tyrkennen had unfurled his wings in agitation and arched his neck. Kyala shook her head. "The frontlines aren't that far north and it is not fall yet so it should not be too bad, but this is not right. You should NEVER change a mission the day you go out. I don't even know the conditions of the route north." Growling in frustration she struggled to take this all in stride and remain in controll. "Tyrkennen, you go and warn the others of the change in plans immediatly. Everyone needs to go to the storage cells and get gear for a long trip and stuff for the northern conditions. I'll go collect the new maps and requisition two other non-combat Riders. Rosette come with me."

Tyrkennen took off to tell Ryan and the Scouts, staying only long enough in his agitatted state to tell them exactly what Kyala had said, as Kyala informed Drake, who was in charge of informing the rest of the Winged Lances. This done she hurried to that archway and burst into the nearest map room and began to shuffle through the masses of paper furiously, tossing aside what she did not need. Tyrkennen was on his way back but Kyala sent him out to rally the non-combatants and get them to the storage sheds to prepare.

((I apologize for the lack of postage, especially to you Chalice... I had some last minute summer work to deal with ;__; sorry about the horribly long post...)

After Fieryn had left, Cain began the pain staking process of bringing in his new gear, his mailbox still untouched. As carefree as he was, the rider had a pyschotic organizing quirk that wouldn't allow him to bring anything into his room without having a place for it. He wasn't particularily messy, insisting that the cluttered atmosphere was too "stuffy", but in reality he just didn't want to admit that he was both a boy and a good cleaner. As he carefully brought in each new piece of equipment, he was certain to store it in it's proper drawer, box, or space in his room. All armor and clothing for Cain went in a large oak wardrobe, armor stored behind large doors that took up 3/4 of the piece of furniture, while all else was contained below in 4 neat drawers. His lance and other fighting equipment was kept on the balcony in a rack, right next to the oversized shelves for Veraldimir's armor, and the short-term supplies cabinet. Shoes were left by the door, naturally, and most miscellaneous items were stored in bins under Cain's bed, save for a few books or other interesting items, such as the heart shaped box he had recieved from Feiryn. Cain had a pretty uninteresting room. Beyond the basic set of furniture and washroom, it was pretty bare. But Cain didn't mind. It was at least clean.

After a long while, Cain was finally able to put the last article in it's respective spot, Rising from his knees by the bed, he stretched proudly. "Ver, do you think I stored everything correctly?" he implored the dragon. "I don't want anything to be unaccesible, especially when we have to go on missions like the ones today, and I don't think-"

Veraldimir snorted unpleasantly, stretching out on the balcony lazily."Twigs, do me a large favor and don't talk to me about anything involving your girly cleaning habits. Its embarassing enough that my partner is a complete clown..."

"I'm not a clown." Cain replied shortly, digging his hands in his pockets and pulling out Veraldimir's patch. Scooting over to his bedside table, he opened a skinny drawer and pulled out a small sewing kit. Popping the lid open, Cain searched for a spool of black thread. "and I don't clean," he added absently, picking out a dark green spool and quickly putting it back. "I organize. There's a difference. Clean people hate messes.... and love to... well, clean. I hate cleaning..."

"Yeah. Tell that to the guys."

Cain gave Veraldimir a hopeless look, black thread finally in his hand. Quickly grabbing a needle, he approached the dragon "I think I will. After that, I'll remind them who sewed up all the holes so the seamstresses wouldn't kill them for ruining their new clothes."

"sewing is not something you should be proud of as a guy. Heck, you're 19 now, technically a man. And even in my little experience with your kind, I know that sewing isn't the type of thing that men do."

Shrugging, Cain began to slowly stitch the patch on the dragon's saddle, careful to do the best job he could. He was actually pretty good with a needle and thread, to the astonishment of his teachers. Cain didn't have the patience for the simplest of spell learning, and yet he could waste hours sewing... provided there was something that needed to be mended. It was more of a learned trait than an actual pasttime. Inside, he knew Veraldimir was completely right. Sewing was not something for guys. And Cain did his very best to not let anyone know that he could even pass a thread through the eye of a needle.

Finished with one side of the patch, Cain decided to switch topics. "Hey, Ver?"

"yeah, pansy boy?"

"Have you ever thought about how strange the Riders are? As a group, I mean... no one seems quite the same as the next person."

Veraldimir shifted slightly, wings flexing. "I noticed. But why are you suprised? Having different people is a good thing...."

"Well yeah, I didn't mean that it was a bad thing..."

Swiveling his head to look back at his rider, Veraldimir gave Cain a thoughtful look. "Think about it. It is true that when you fight battles, that you want a uniform company that can attack as one and will obey orders. But they could've magicked and trained a sack of potatoes to march and fight if that was all the Elders wanted."

"Potatoes? Isn't that a little odd as an example?" Cain questioned, looking up from his work breifly to glance quizzicly at his partner. Veraldimir frowned.

"Don't interrupt me! I'm on a roll here... pretend like they can walk and fight..."

Cain immediately went back to his sewing, with only one side left, mumbling a quiet. "Will do. Continue rolling..." Veraldimir smiled, pleased with the undivided attention.

"Ah, where was I? Oh! The Elders. You see, they could've had a perfectly good army with vegetables. But that's all they are. Vegetables. Sure they can fight, but when the day is done, that's all. They can't make judgements, they don't have feelings, and they certainly can't tell the difference between right and wrong. They're only vegetables. Which is where all of you come in. By being so outlandishly different, you all bring in different perspectives and motives, and in implementing those views, you reach a higher sort of justice way beyond what one person alone could accomplish. Does that ring true?"

Cain tied off the thread and released the patch, where it now lay embedded in the dragon's saddle, shiny and new. Looking up to Veraldimir thoughtfully, Cain nodded slightly in agreement. "Yeah... that does make a lot of sense... even with the vegetables... I didn't know you were capable of such higher thinking, Ver."

Ver shrugged, his attention on his new patch. "You're always too busy getting put down by me to hear my views... maybe if you weren't such a loser, I could waste more time on being philisophical rather than teasing you."

Cain grimaced. "It would be a welcome change," he offered weakly, all the taunting by Veraldimir over the years coming back to him.

Just then, Tyrkennen flew onto the balcony, informing them of a change of plans. A very unpleasant change of plans. Of course, Cain hadn't really known the details of the original plan to begin with, so as far as he was concerned, Tyrkennen's plan was the first and only plan to begin with. After the dragon had left to speak with Fieryn and Curizon, Cain sighed, slumping against the balcony railing.

"Cold?" He whimpered childishly, curling his knees to his chest. "I can't do the cold. We can't do the cold. We're too skinny for that." He held up a bony finger and pointed to Veraldimir. "You haven't an ounce of fat on you to keep you warm, and..." he observed his pointed finger with disgust. "I can't say that I have any either."

Veraldimir sighed, not particularily pleased about the cold either. "We'll be fine. You just have to dress warmly."

"And you?"

"Oh, well I'm doomed to freeze. If I have extra blankets, it'll just slow me down, and I don't think they've developed a parka for a dragon yet. " Noticing his partner's terrified expression at this, Veraldimir added quickly, "But don't worry. If we do our speeding-really-fast routine I'll work up enough energy that I'll be kept warm. Afterall, the more active you are, the warmer you get. We just can't slow down."

Cain groaned in protest, slowly getting his feet once more and walking to his partner. " I guess this whole Rider thing was never supposed to be easy. Still, the cold is a bit...cold."

Veraldimir rolled his eyes, nudging Cain in the ribs playfully. "Did I mention that they're are certain exceptions to the vegetable-army theory?"

Cain looked to Veraldimir with interest, scratching the dragon behind his ears."No, but do tell."

"Well, you see.... some people are impervious to the rule. You know, they just kind of float around being a burden... I've heard that this exclusively applies to lanky farm boys who hate the cold....."

Cain's eyes doubled in size, and he pushed the dragon away. "Don't say that!!" He voiced roughly. As simple as it was, Cain was rather embarassed about his uneventful past. With all the interesting people around, he felt almost ashamed to be just some crazy boy from an insignificant farm. He had no grudges, no curses, no hateful pasts, no horrible parents who mistreated him. He was a perfectly average teenage boy. And Veraldimir was well aware that Cain hated it.

"Well... we should go get those original orders from the mailbox, just so people don't think thata certain Rider is forgetful."

"Oh yeah!" Cain hastily ran back into the room, and out the door, coming back equally fast with the papers. His eyes scanned them briefly before looking up. Veraldimir stared at him, a smile tugging at his expression.

"What?" Cain asked. "I didn't forget about Fieryn.. I just want to give her time to recieve the message from Tyrkennen before we barge over there."

The dragon still stared, the amusement now in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Now Cain was getting worried.

"Farm boy." Veraldimir cackled triumphantly. Cain threw the papers at him, which did little to stop the dragon's laughter from entering his head.

'as long as he doesn't tell Fieryn, Cain reasoned to himself, choosing to ignore the still rampant laughter. 'I can suffer through this... for a little while...'

Veraldimir was now on his stomach chortling, rolling to and fro. Cain put his hand to his forehead. Being a farmboy really wasn't that funny... was it?

Rosette took a deep breath to try and calm her anxious heart. She looked behind her, her beaming smile masking her inner emotions.

"We have an audience with her!" She said, trying to sound a little excited. "Chrono, come down here and bring the book. Ryuuko, hope you're comfortable, you don't mind staying here for a bit?"

"I think I'll be quite alright. There's a nice bit of sun gleaming in my direction, and it'd be a shame not to bask fo a moment."Ryuuko said, shutting his eyes contently.

"Do you hear that dear, we are welcome."

"I see love, let us go in." Toreth walked in through the entrance of Calidar's home with Chandra right on her heels. He walked across the room to were Calidar was standing. Bowing with ease in his armor, he said with a smile, "my lady, how is your unpacking going." Chandra also bowed with ease in her dragon armor when she reached Tanneth's side.

"Glad to be a partner of yours, fellow Fists of Heaven."

Both rouse from their bows at the same time. "Is there anything I can help you with Calidar."

Calidar watched Toreth and Chandra's bow in surprise. No one had ever bowed to her before.

"It is right for them to bow," Tanneth said privately. "It is a form of courtesy. We have the same task, so it is good to be courteous to each other. A brawl would complicate things."

"My unpacking is fine," Calidar said sweetly. "I've just finished. I was about to take Tanneth to fly for a bit. She needs to hunt, too. It's been nearly a week since her last meal. Plus, I want to see how she flies with her new armor on. It's specially made, so she won't be slowed down or encumbered."

Calildar gestured to the armor laying back in the pile.

"I also am glad to be parntered with you, Chandra, as well as Torokal," Tanneth said. "It will be nice to fly with such talented dragons."

"Is that how you think of them, love?" Calidar silently asked slyly. "Do you have feelings for Torokal?"

"I merely said that they are talented," Tanneth replied. "That is all. My heart does not belong to Torokal, as yours does not belong to Ryan."

Calidar heard the faint teasing note in Tanneth's voice, but decided to ignore it. She didn't love anyone at the moment...she thought she didn't, anyway.

"Do you think we'll be called to fight soon?" she asked Toreth.