[6.5.2707] You Mean It? (attn: search rider)

[sorra]

"Thank you," Calyssa said as Tesni gave her a helping hand. The girl looked at the rings and straps and nodded. She started to fasten them as she waited for her brother.

Once Sertex was sure Calyssa was settled and Tesni had given him the okay he tried to follow Tesni's lead. Mounting a dragon was definitely harder then mounting a runner. Although he did his best to try not to hurt Kaitoth and mount at the same time.

[Kit]

Tesni watched Sertex climb the straps and when he was close enough, she helped to straddle the blue, putting him in between his sister and herself. To him also she pointed out the rings and carbiners and once she was sure both of the new Candidates were firmly attached to her dragon, she clipped herself on.

"Okay, is everyone ready to go?" she asked.

I am ready to fly! Kaitoth said, excited that his rider would allow him to show off his acrobatic skill.

[sorra]

Sertex got comfortable and quickly attached his straps to the rings like Tesni showed them. The last thing he wanted to do was fall off the dragon or anything.

Calyssa grinned back at her brother. "I'm ready," she said cheerily.

"Me too," Sertex answered.

The twins couldn't wait to get up in the air. It would be so much fun. And then they would get to see the Weyr too. There was going to be so many new things.

[Kit]

"All right, Kaitoth, lets go!" Tesni exclaimed, thumping her blue on the shoulder with affection. He crouched and extended his wings, the sail membranes nearly transparent in the bright sunlight. The blue gave a few experimental flaps, raising a little dust, and then with a neck-cracking lurch, he was off the ground. Being a smallish blue and carrying three, it took a little while for them to gain altitude, but eventually they were high in the air, but not so high that it was hard to breathe. They were no longer above the hold.

What shall I show them, Mine?

How about a simple Twisted Pastry? That was the name of a common acrobatic maneuver.

All right Kaitoth's mindvoice was colored with excitement.

"Hold on!" Tesni shouted back to her charges, gripping the neck strap of her dragon's harness. Kaioth flapped hearder, gaining as much speed as he could, then went into a steep dive, wings angled backwards like a wherry stooping on prey. The air rushed by them, seeming to suck the air right out of Tesni's lungs. Then, at what seemed like the last second, but it reality was at a fairly safe altitude, Kaitoth swooped out of the dive, rising almost as quickly as he had descended. On the way up, he twisted his agile body in a double barrel roll that ended with the rider's upside down for a moment. Tesni whooped with joy, and the blue completed the loop so that they were flying straight and level again. She waited a few moments for everyone to catch their breaths.

"Well, how was that?"

[sorra]

Calyssa and Sertex were both bubbling with excitement as Kaitoth prepared to take off. They looked below them as the blue gained altitude. Neither had ever been so high, but for some reason neither really felt scared either.

They quickly held on when Tesni told them too, not sure what was going to happen. The twins gasped as Kaitoth went into his dive. Sertex actually laughed out loud as the blue finished his maneuver. Calyssa wasn't quite as exuberant as her brother, but she had a big smile on her face.

"Shards!" Sertex exclaimed. "That was amazing. I didn't know dragons could do that."

"Me neither," Calyssa piped up. "That was fun!"

[Kit]

Tesni laughed. "A big dragon can't do much more than that, but a to a little blue like Kaitoth, that's just a start. But no more for us today. Time to go to the weyr. This is the real scary part. But between only takes as long as three coughs. Get ready."

After taking a deep breath of her own, she gave the signal to Kaitoth and they blinked out of sight. Cold nothingness eveloped them, but Tesni, at least, felt her link to Kaitoth and was comforted. But as quickly as they had left, they now appeared high above the weyr bowl, the humid air coming like a slap after the cold of between.

The blue dragon began a lazy spiral into the Bowl. "Here we are. Your new home."

[sorra]

"You mean they're even more agile then that?" Sertex asked in awe. He hadn't been around the dragons enough to know what they were really capable of, but just what he had seen was amazing. He couldn't wait to get to the Weyr.

"Three breaths?" Calyssa repeated before holding her breath.

Sertex wrapped his arms around his sister in hopeful comfort. She gave him a grateful smile before they disappeared. They were both a bit pale when Kaitoth reappeared over the Weyr, but their fear was quickly forgotten as they saw the Weyr for the first time.

"It's so big!" Calyssa said in awe.

"And we get to live here," Sertex smiled.

[Kit]

Tesni smiled at their happy chatter as Kaitoth backwinged for a landing. The Bowl was full of activity at this time of day. The bluerider unclipped herself and slid down her dragon's side with the ease of long practice.

"We'll just head over to the Candidate Barracks. Arktos should be in his office and we can get you all checked in."

[sorra]

The twins looked around them at their new home as Tesni slid down. They were both grinning and couldn't wait to explore a bit. Sertex patted Kaitoth's shoulder. "Thank you kindly for the ride, Kaitoth," he told the blue.

"Will he help us learn how to be riders?" Calyssa asked curiously. She wasn't exactly sure who Arktos was, but she was looking forward to meeting him.

[Kit]

"Yes, Arktos is the Candidate Master. He was a brownrider, but his dragon died of Cloudlung some years ago. He is somewhat grim, but kind and fair. I think you'll get along fine." At the gesture of his rider, Kaitoth crouched low to let the Candidates dismount more easily. "Now, just unclip the flying straps from the caribiner and you can climb down. Its probably not safe for you to slide down until you get used to it."

As it turned out, Arktos was not in his office after all, but had just finished eating an early dinner so he could sleep before Arkysk awoke. Seeing Kaitoth bearing three, he knew that new Candidates had arrived and he strolled up to the dragon just as Tesni was giving dismounting instructions.

"I see you and Kaitoth have been successful as always," he said in his slightly gravelly voice.

Tesni had been intent on her charges and hadn't noticed his approach, she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Ah! Shards Arktos, you're quieter than a tunnel snake!" She shook herself to recover. "But yes, these are Sertex and Calyssa, apprentice beastcrafters from Crooked River. They're twins."

"Two for one special huh?," he said, ignoring her jibe, He gazed up at the two as they dismounted. "Well, we need them. Tell Kaitoth good work for me."

[sorra]

"His dragon died?" Calyssa asked quietly. She hadn't really thought about the dragons catching cloudlung. A few tears escaped her eyes. Sertex squeezed his sister's shoulder to comfort her.

Sertex looked at their straps and did what Tesni instructed. He looked up quickly when he heard a voice he didn't recognize. He figured the man walking toward them had to be the Candidate Master. He finished with his straps and carefully dismounted then turned to help his sister.

Calyssa was already scrambling down behind him. The two stood beside each other. "Good day, Candidate Master," Sertex said with a bow. "It is an honor to meet you."

[Kit]

"Politeness will do you well here young man, but there's no need to bow to me. I am Arktos, as I'm sure you know, and from now on, until you Impress, you and your sister are my respinsibilty. I expect you to obey my orders but I don't stand on formality." He shrugged, as if indicating that he could happily wish all formality between. "It makes me feel old, and I have only thirty Turns." He smiled suddenly, but it was quickly replaced by a stern look and he fingered often the metal object strung around his neck.

Tesni, meanwhile, had unclipoed the children's bags, and handed them over with a reassuring smile. Arktos nodded to her. "Thank you, Tesni, Kaitoth. I'll take it from here, but I'll want a full report later." He turned back to the boy and girl.

"If you'll just follow me, we'll get you both checked in." He said this phrase in a way that showed he had said it hundreds of times before, then he turned and walked towards the Barracks at a pace surprisingly slow for such a tall man, but normal for a child.

[sorra]

Sertex grinned a little. "Yes, sir," he said, not being about to keep a smile off his face. Although he kept looking around as well. Everything was new to him and he couldn't help looking around a bit.

Calyssa smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Arktos," she said cheerily.

The twins looked over at Tesni as she got their bags down. They both scooped up their own bags, glad at least one thing would be familiar to them.

"Thank you, Tesni, Kaitoth," Sertex said.

"Yes, thank you," Calyssa chimed in.

The two then headed after Arktos. They didn't want to get lost in the Weyr and have no idea where they were going. Which could happen easily.

[Kit]

Tesni waved after them and turned back to Kaitoth. "By the Ancients, I'm starving..."

Meanwhile, Arktos quickly led them to the Candidate Barracks. "Here you are, home, sweet home," he said with an odd grin. "But, we'll look around later, first we must adjourn to my office." He led them down the corridor to a large room at the end. It had a lock, but the door was slightly ajar, Once he opened it, it revealed a room with many shuttered windows, only one of which was open. A desk and several chairs were in one corner and the other was taken up with a comfortable looking couch strewn with blankets and what looked like dragon couch. But what lay asleep in it was no dragon. The enormous black wher Arkysk lifted his ugly head, blinked at his bondmate and immediately fell back into a doze, dislodging the bronze firelizard that had been asleep on his back.

Forge flew around the heads of the Candidates a few times before settling on the shoulder of his pet and receiving an absentminded scratch on the chin. Arktos sat behind the desk and motioned for the Candidates to sit in the chairs in front. "All right, well, that," he pointed to the wher, "is Arkysk, and this" he indicated the firelizard, "is Forge. You might see them wandering around the Barracks. They watch the place when I am away or asleep. And you are Sertex and Calyssa, apprentice beastcrafters from Crooked River Hold, am I correct?"

[sorra]

Sertex and Calyssa followed Arktos. They both looked around the barracks quickly, glad that Arktos said they could see things better later. Calyssa followed her brother into the office, but they both gasped in surprise when they saw Arkysk. They had never seen a wher before and they weren't really sure what he was.

"He doesn't mind us being here?" Sertex asked as Calyssa stayed behind him. Neither wanted to make the black mad, but they did settle once Arkysk fell back asleep.

Calyssa smiled when Forge appeared. She had always liked flitters.

"Yes, sir," Sertex answered Arktos.