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"It would not do for us of all pairs to be late!"

Kleos was inclined to agree with her dragon, although for different reasons, and as such they arrived at little early. For her part, Kleos was buzzing with excitement; Moriath seemed much more relaxed.

"We shall do well," the crimson assured her, "I can fly well alone, adding you will be no difficulty at all; I might not have the agility of a green but I'm strong and sure, you needn't worry."

"I'm not worried," Kleos assured her partner as she saluted G'yur, a grin plastered across her face, "I'm just jittery with excitement! I'm going to fly with you, my love, for the very first time!"

"Yes," the red dragon gave an alto rumble and nudged her lifemate, "and we shall fly well." Shame the lesson had to be taught by two males, but she supposed there was no help for it.

Oh mine! There are Pioth and Moriath. Surely they will let me add them to my collection! Zabreth squealed inside of Ralae's head. The little green had over the past few months grown large though she was still one of the smaller greens. Maybe she would hit a growth spurt. And her collection of shinies and stolen goods had grown as well. Her eyes were a bright blue and she continued on. It will be so lovely to fly! I can do swirls and make pretty patterns.

"First thing is first. We need to get off the ground. And with the way you did with some of the other lessons, we are lucky they are even letting us fly." Ralae retorted.

They stayed towards the back part of the group, mainly do to Ralae's discomfort with the older, higher ranked riders. They had not spoken much to her during lessons. Only her bunk mate had stayed fairly friendly. Let's just hope we don't embarrass ourselves. She said this part quietly to Zabreth.

Filly, I don't know if I can do this. I mean, I know you can, but I don't know if I can.

Of course you can. You've ridden on my back while walking, right? Why should flight be different?

. . . one involves the open air. And falling.

Tiepet stood at the back of the group with her small green, the pair huddled close enough together that Filanth had most of her wing covering her small rider. They weren't planning on walking up to fully join everyone just yet, even though six months of spending constant time with their clutchmates had hardly made them still strangers, though Tiepet's general nature kept them apart. Filanth wasn't too keen on getting up with everyone either even though she vastly enjoyed their company, instead choosing to stay where Hers felt happiest.

Do you not trust me, Mine?

There was a sound of hurt pity in the green's voice, as though Tiepet's feelings were injuring her own quite strongly. It was likely a ruse since Filanth's emotions were as fluid as anything else, but Tiepet grabbed the bait with both hands.

I trust you, it's...just...well. I'm sorry Filly, I think we'll do okay.

Of course, Mine.

T'ron had gotten up early with Z'el and Challiath - even going so far as to do the morning meal and grooming together that morning. But he had come to lessons without his bunkmate because he'd gone to snag L'tan so they could arrive together.

With his stomach roiling with excitement, the big man made his way in; he saw Z'el with Challiath and Inaari with Hers...Tiepet with her Filly...and many of his other clutch mates were already there. Everyone looked nervous and excited and there was a low thrum of chatter going on while the dragons warbled at each other and their riders pleasantly.

"'Morning All. I'll tell you, not eating probably would have been better..."

Cavenath walked proudly beside His, having fussed and then admired T'ron in his riding leathers. The massive silver dragon's neck was arched and he had been friendly-nosing with Capeth until he'd spotted Ianath. To the Queen, he unfurled his wings a bit and called out to her in greeting; no one could doubt that the silver was overly fond of the golden Ianath - though he would never fly her.

'T'ronmine, it is very exciting, is it not? Today we will fly with Capeth and Challiath and Ianath! Yes, this is very good~ Be still, Mine. It's all very good.'

T'ron nodded to all the clutchmates he'd gotten to know over the course of their training; he was bit interested to see that Werylingmaster M'tais was not there...but he had seen the brownrider G'yur and respected him. So he was going to be very intent...especially so his sensitive dragon wouldn't get sores from the gear that would be strapped to him. Cavenath's grown was explosive and his hide very tender at times, prone to sores if he was not careful (and he was).

I do not think I will be exhausted, Capeth said. We are strong and I do not want to do silly things. Only good flying. He stretched his wings up into the air, then refolded them along his sides and sank down comfortably onto the rock so that L'tan could more easily place the riding gear.

"We show off just by being here," L'tan chuckled, and patted Capeth's shoulder before going up to sort out Capeth's gear. Though he'd fidgeted slightly throughout G'yur's speech, he'd been paying close attention. This was important. He might be practically vibrating with excitement, but that wasn't any excuse for screwing something up, particularly not when doing it right the first time would get them more time in the air.

The buckle goes there, and the strap there, Capeth instructed, sitting steady as a rock as his rider worked. Like that. It is different from looking at a picture, because it is on me. I am much bigger than a picture.

When he'd finished, L'tan patted Capeth's neck fondly. "There. Does that feel right? Comfy?"

Capeth rose, shook himself, stretched his wings. It does not pinch or itch, he reported. I think it is correct. He settled back down onto the stone to wait, folding his wings in again to wait.

...Right. Letting out a slow breath, Kleos moved to select a harness. The smallest and the largest she could discount right away, after that she had to look more carefully... This one? No, a bit too small... This one. Feeling confident about this much at least, Kleos selected her harness (large but not massive) and moved back to Moriath. Right. This was the sort of thing she was good at; seeing where things ought to go, practical problems, moving things around... She was good at this sort of thing, why did she have to feel nervous?

"Don't worry Mine," Moriath rumbled, lying down so that her bondmate could reach to place the saddle-like porting on her shoulders. "We are the best," she went on when she realized Hers was not feeling at all reassured, "just place it on and work slowly, think as you go. We are the best, and you are good at this sort of thing. You will get it right, and we shall have that extra candlemark."

"...Right." Jaw tensed, Kleos gave a short nod to her lifemate and lifted the harness into more or less the right place. Once it was on the crimson's shoulders, she shifted it around until she was happy with its position. "Up now please lovely." As Moriath rose (carefully, so as not to disturb the harness), Kleos reached up to begin fastening all the buckles. It seemed as if there were hundreds of them, but eventually they were all done up. Frowning in concentration, Kleos slid a finger under each potion of the harness in turn to check that it was neither too tight nor too loose. "How does it feel to you? she asked Moriath once she herself was fairly confident she had it right.

"Mmm... Mostly it feels fine," the crimson said after a moment, "but the higher strap on the left side feels... I'm not sure, different to the right."

"Right," Kleos murmured aloud, moving around to study the strap in question carefully and then ducking around to compare it to the right. Ah, right; one of the buckles was a hole looser on the left. Nodding to herself, Kleos moved around again to tighten it. "Better?" she asked, stepping back from her work a little.

"Yes, much better," Moriath rumbled deep in her chest, shifting her shoulders and weaving her neck to make sure the harness still felt comfortable when she moved. "Try one notch tighter both sides right at the back," she said after a moment, "it feels to me as if the seat moves a little."

Nodding, Kleos did as she was told. "Better?"

Moriath shifted her shoulders again and stretched out her wings, being careful not to bash into anyone as she did so. "Yes. I think this is right," she said after a moment, moving her wings up and down and back and forth very slowly to make sure the motion didn't cause any buckles to pinch her skin. "Yes," she said again, "I think we have it right now. The only step left is to attach you!"

Grinning, Kleos held out her hands to her lifemate, and as Moriath dipped her head down the young rider placed her hands either side of that gorgeous crimson face and gave her beloved dragon a kiss on the nose. "Well done love, I couldn't have got it just right without you."

"Of course you couldn't have," Moriath blew a warm, affectionate breath at her rider, "we are a team. Each of us is no use without the other."

Lining up had been easy - she was always at the front of the line. She was the queenrider, the junior weyrwoman in training, the one of dubious importance. Really, there were times that Inaari might have sworn up and down that she would have been thrilled to wake up one day and find a great green Ianath in front of her. But that was a carefully guarded thought, because her beautiful girl was proud of her golden sheen and really, she wouldn't change Ianath for anything. It wasn't so difficult to be a goldrider, not really. L'tan was a solid friend, and T'ron's affections were never in question, while Inaari had been trying to get to know S'dekai for Ianath's sake. She was fond of Pioth, and one day he might have a fair chance of catching her.

Nonetheless, chocolate eyes had gone sideways to watch T'ron and Cavenath with a bit of a sigh. Everyone knew that they were an item, it wasn't really a secret, but demonstrations were never really done. Later, she'd make him hold her for awhile. Yes, that was the perfect solution! Brown waves tumbled with her strong nod, almost perfectly timed with the end of G'yur's instructions, heading off any uncomfortable questions from Ianath. The gold, while loving dearly Cavenath, would never be truly approving of her relationship with his rider. After all, he wasn't a bronzerider - what could he do for her?

Turning to the saddles, it was easy to figure out which was for them, it was the biggest by far. Cavenath, Pioth, and Capeth had gotten large, but never quite as large as the junior queen. The saddle itself was almost half as big as Inaari herself, and had taken a bit of quiet practice in the dark of the night to lift it without falling over. Most of the other girls had worked at crafts or other labor, building muscle over their lifetimes. But her mother had kept her tied to the cot, and the brunette had been forced to build her muscle over time.

Impatient, Ianath shifted from foot to foot and thumped her tail in an almost petulant motion. Hurry Inaarimine! We have to be the first done, so that he will look at us first! Then he will stand up straight, and congratulate us to say that he has never seen it done better! Ianath's tone was a bit dreamy, fantasies in her head as she dreamed dreams of golden glory. Her rider was not so entirely optimistic, but she did smile and slap the leather saddle on properly with a well-timed boost from the queen.

"I'm aiming for done properly moreso than the best saddling he's ever seen. Maybe one day, when we're famous in Pern, we can get you a great golden-stitched saddle to match your pretty hide. Then I'm sure everyone will remark on how glorious it looks." This sent the gold into another round of dreams and happy fantasies, keeping her still as the two straps came across her lower neck and the barrel part of her chest. There had been made a special lining of wool so as to not rub and irritate the dragon unless things had been done wrong. The Weyrlingmaster had taught them how to buckle, and they'd worked them before, but never on the actual dragons. It was a bit of a different beast, and Inaari struggled for a few moments with the straps. First, too loose. Then, with a fidget and a nose from Ianath; too tight.

Eventually, hauling on the saddle and finding that it would not move either way, Inaari sat her slightly fat-cushioned bottom down with a great exhalation. "How does that feel Ianath? Do you think we're good enough?" The queen flexed her wings a bit, padding first forward a few steps, then back. Her tail lashed once, and then great eyes grew almost ocean-blue with pleasure.

Inaarimine you did it! I can barely feel the straps, they are very comfortable. I like having you on my back, and soon we will fly above the weyr! For three candles! It was lovely and amazing, having someone that never doubted you, never said a bad thing about you, someone who would always love you. Brown-clad arms wrapped around the gold's neck, the rider overwhelmed with emotion. Her voice was even lightly choked, and they hadn't even been approved yet! "Ianath, you're really the best dragon on Pern!" Ianath, of course, agreed.