Welcome to Gaia! ::

FLYING! The single word was broadcasted loud and clear, a jubilant shout to the mind of every human or dragon who would hear her. Today – yes today! - Serlaith and hers would take flight together. No more testing her wings while her rider watched from the ground. No more separation. Today, they would take to the air as one, the way they should have been. They had spent the better part of the previous week with Serlaith carrying Moira about, helping her rider to get accustomed to the way her dragon's weight shifted beneath her. It had taken some getting used to – Moira had the bumps and bruises of her falls to prove it – but their most recent attempts had yielded satisfactory results. Satisfactory meaning that Moira had fallen off only twice.

“Serlaith, slow down!”

BUT FLYING! The gold was practically trumpeting as she ran towards the grounds, Moira already on her back. Serlaith had grown at what felt like an exponential rate, and that nearly three quarters of her full size, she was a force to be reckoned with.

“Serlaith, you're going to run over so- OH FARANTH WE'RE GOING TO DIE.” Moira shouted as the young queen came to a sudden halt, kicking up dirt and sand and sending her rider tumbling down the length of her neck. Moira came to a halt on the flat of her back, covered in sand and staring up at an absolutely overjoyed Serlaith. The queen took advantage of the situation and let her heavy tail fall down over her rider's midsection, effectively pinning her. From beneath the shiny golden hide, Moira grinned up at O'rer. She would have brought one hand up in a salute, but it was unfortunately pinned to her side.

“Good morning, Candidatemaster!” Moira was practically beaming as she squirmed to free her arms. Instead of pushing herself up, though, she simply wrapped both arms and legs around Serlaith's tail and hugged it to her, “We're going to fly today!”

I am ready. Hurry, Mine. I am READY!

“I’m coming.” V’al, for once, was grinning. He’d gotten quite accustomed to grinning over the last several weeks as Lerath had been growing. His dragon’s annoying tendency to keep his wings flared had proven useful when he’d begun flying, as he’d had the stamina for longer sessions. By now it seemed Lerath was almost always aloft when he was not being oiled or sleeping. V’al had kept refrained from calling the eager blue back, and by now there was something to show for the dragon’s work: muscle.

V’al dashed to his anxious friend, and, throwing on the leather’s he’d been issued, leapt up to Lerath’s bent knee. The blue was more measured in gait than the queen, and loped out to O’rer’s waiting green. He flexed his wings in the warm sun, and V’al was not so removed from pride that he didn’t note the strength in Lerath’s shoulders.

They slowly ambled to a stop, and V’al eyed the queenrider spilled out on the ground. The sight seemed to remind the young man of his sobriety, and he sobered somewhat, watching Moria with a critical eye.

Lerath shook his head out with proud certainty and folded his wings in together, kneeling to let V’al down with a level step. Taking his rider’s cue, he held himself with dignity, but his eyes whirled a pleased blue-green. We will be excellent today, he announced to the present dragons, and then, more specifically to the gold, You and your Moria will as well. It will be very good. Mine does not think you will listen to O’rer though.

Serlaith had had a special place in her heart for Serinth since the day they had both hatched. Not only did they share the first three letters of their names (which were, of course, the best three letters), but the crimson also carried on an important legacy. One which meant a great deal to Serlaith, as a dragon who considered herself a future leader. Serinth wore her color with pride in a world that did not always treat the atypicals with the respect they deserved. The story of Alumanth's death was still something whispered behind closed doors, and the anger it had instilled in the dragonfolk of Trine had been far from forgotten. Serinth was the daughter of that slain crimson, and as such she carried inside of her a pride so strong that it drew Serlaith's attention like a moth to a flame. Of all the dragonets who had come into the world on the same day as she, her respect for the crimson ranked highest.

Serinth! Serlaith was back on her feet in a heartbeat, trotting over to the dragon she seemed to have adopted as a sister. Moira, resting comfortably in her Moira-sized indention in the dirt, laced her fingers behind her head, content to lay there and stare up at the sky. She glanced over and, upon finding Ofelia already on the ground, settled her gaze on V'al. Moira patted the ground next to her and grinned, “Come on, V'al.”

Nobody would ever have said that Moira was particularly responsible. Or polite. But she faced life with a seemingly endless curiosity, and approached any task with everything she had. While she might not ever make the most dignified of leaders, she had a certain charm that came with seemingly inexhaustible energy and a taste for trouble. Unfortunately, that particular charm had never seemed to work very well on the business-minded V'al.

Of course... that didn't mean she would ever stop trying.

Before Serlaith could say much more, Lerath was speaking to her, and the gold stretched out her wings as though to confirm the blue's suspicion, We will listen if what he says is what we want. It was the roundabout equivalent of a 'hell no'. See, Abigail? Those diplomacy lessons were starting to pay off!

Don't you want to stretch those lovely blue wings with a bit more... Serlaith glanced left. Serlaith glanced right. Serlaith thought herself to be quite sneaky, ...freedom?

"Best day to be flying," Moira replied to N'ymi, lifting her hand in a brief wave before letting it flop back into the dirt. She might have said more, were Ofelia's lack of motion not cause for alarm. So instead of continuing with pleasantries, Moira pushed herself up and dusted herself off. A few steps brought her to Ofelia's side, where she peered down at the crimsonrider with an arched brow.

"V'al," she began, looking at him with the most serious face she could muster, "we need a stick to poke her and see if she's dead."

S'kor had heard from Scarath about the upcoming manned flight. Having time, he prepared carefully for it.

Now he was strolling confidently towards the grounds where the flight would take place. A large bronze head hovered over his shoulder as his dragon followed. It was a moment he'd been looking forward to, and so had Scarath. Do lets be sure we greet O'rer.

That was fully his intention as S'kor strode into the group; he started to head towards the older green rider. When he spotted another rider, the crimson's he though, laying on the ground he had to help her. Jerking his head towards O'rer in a signal to his dragon before changing directions to the fallen rider. He offered his hand. "Are you alright? Need a hand up?" Hopefully she wasn't seriously hurt or O'rer might not let her fly.

Scarath kept on his original heading towards O'rer. He stopped a polite distance away and rumbled a greeting. 'Hello Hitath. Is you and Your's doing well today? Mine will be over shortly, after he helps Serinth's to her feet'

N'ymi missed Ofelia going down but Daroth prodded her with his snout. Turning around, she saw the crimson rider on the ground and groaned. With all the others hovering, she was tempted to just leave the girl alone.

And so she did.

The one called S'kor now had O'rer involved and the more hands meant more could get messed up. Instead, she climbed up on Daroth's offered leg to get out of the way. The girl couldn't be out too bad if her dragon wasn't panicking. Prolly just a good knock to the skull. Idly, she stroking Daroth as he spoke to the others.

Don't move her! She could be hurt inside. Shake her too much and you could addle her brain. Right, Nasuymi? Daroth looked at her for reassurance.

Sighing, she nodded. "Tha's wot teh healers a'wayz sed."

Well, I don't think they'll let us fly as we might like. And they can't catch both of us...

Moira watched as both V'al and S'kor worked on helping Ofelia up. However, the knowledge that flooded into her mind as Serlaith explained her plans to Lerath easily distracted her, and she was rising to her feet and heading towards her dragon when Serinth's eye's went just as red as the rest of her, focused on the boys helping Ofelia to her feet. Moira froze in her steps, catching Serlaith's sudden sense of danger.

Mine, help Ophelia. Serinth, calm down. Serlaith placed herself squarely between Serinth and the boys, gently pressing the top of her head against the crimson's side. It was an act of affection rarely shown to anyone other than her rider. Serinth would never hurt a human. Shards, she couldn't imagine Serinth wanting to hurt anybody. But a dragon running to the aid of their rider could easily injure any man too slow to move out of her way. They only want to help. Moira will help instead.

“Ofie Oaf,” Moira said, turning back towards the girl. She frowned at the sight, previously unaware of the severity. She thought Ophelia might have been overacting, perhaps joking. However, by the way she groaned as they tried to move her, it seemed to be a more serious situation. “We need to get her to a healer."

. . .fine.

Serinth's tone was cold, so unlike the bubbly and loud Crimson, and the color dropped from her eyes the moment Ofelia reached up and touched the back of her own head. She'd responded well to being slapped and threatened to stay on the ground, and soon she was trying to make some noise.

"Naah, skool, sjool."

There was some weird mumbling from the direction of the Crimsonrider as more attempts to pull her to her feet were had, and eventually the red-head opened her eyes and peered out at the group around her. One eye opened only a slight bit, as though to take a quick peek, and shortly after the second opened and she blinked. A wince of pain covered her face as she staggered onto her own legs, her body swaying to keep balanced.

"Ya...yer....needin...er. Serinth ya suck, ya wherry. An' who's touchin' me? Lemme go, I need ta get ta the lessons. Shardin' wherry teeth mah head hurts."

It looks like she's fine. Get them off and away from her.