"Damier, Caironeth, get down here this instant!" The Weyrling Master bellowed for the third time that day. His vocal cords were already raw with the force of his voice and he had a nagging suspicion that he'd be hoarse by the end of the day. Looking up at the pair of unruly weyrlings, he sighed deeply to himself and opened his mouth to seal the fate of his poor, tortured throat.

With a suddenness that made the heart lurch, small, sleek Caironeth folded his wings against his sides and dropped into a free fall. On his back, the felinoid Damier clung on with sharp claws dug into the riding saddle. A wide, toothy grin could be seen on his face, even to the distant onlookers on the ground.

"Don't worry about them." The chipper, melodic tones caused the Weyrling Master to start in surprise. He looked down at his feet and glowered at the non-chalant fralamaraz that watched the air borne pair with onyx blace eyes. A two-toned tail wagged slowly behind his furry legs, occasionally slapping the Weyrling Master's ankles. "Cair's just having some fun." Explosion looked up to the aging man with a wolfish grin. "It's not his first time, ya know."

"That's it!" The Weyrling Master shouted in exasperation. He'd had enough of disobedient weyrlings, talking, flying wolves and large cat-men. His clip board of notes hit the ground with a thud and clatter as he turned on his heels and began to stalk away. "I give up!"

Explosion looked down at the discarded notes, up at the Weyrling Master's retreating back, then over to Damier and Caironeth as the pair made a gentle, effortless landing.

"Where's he going?" Damier questioned in his deep, rumbling voice. Now nineteen years of age, his voice was taking on the distinctive baritone of his ancestors. The proud mane of hair he had been preening over for the past year tickled his chin in short, straight waves. Much of the icy white locks had been tousled and knotted in the wild ride he and his bond enjoyed. A quizzative expression filled his dark blue eyes as he watched the old Master stomp off towards his den.

"I think he just quit on us." Explosion replied, craning his neck around to peer over his shoulder.

I don't think that's a good thing. Caironeth's light, adolecent tones floated through both minds of the furries.

"Maybe..." Damier's white tipped ears swiveled back and forth in though. As if finalizing some secret code, he didn't smile until both ears perked foward in happy attentiveness. "Or maybe not. This means we have the afternoon off."

"Cool!" Explosion's pink tongue lolled over his lips as another wide grin pulled the edges of his muzzle upward. His tail beat a fast pace behind him, almost wagging his back end with his excitment.

Caironeth thought for a moment on the proferred idea. None of the three were very intent on deep thought and long, drawn out conversations. That was Letanri's expertise. They preferred the fast paced life of flying on a whim and trying new, death defying tricks. Of the three, Caironeth perhaps thought a bit more then his companions... a bit. Okay! He spoke with gusto, eyes whirling a joyous shade of violet. Let's go to the beach!

"Besides, he can't really be serious." Damier reasoned as he pulled himself up to Caironeth's small shoulders. The bronze was still small, being a weyrling, though large enough to support the Liron/Tigra man. Explosion took to the air beside them as they homed in on the inviting relaxation of the beach.

* * *

The odd trio enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon of romping and playing in the water. They laughed, wrestled and joked about the 'poor saps' still in class. That night, they fell into bed exhausted and throughly spent.

When the next morning dawned and Damier and Caironeth happily set on their way off to class, they met with an odd surprise. Like usual, the classes had started only a few minutes before their arrival. It wasn't often Damier and Cair' arrived on time. Yet unlike usual, the Weyrling Master spared them no annoyed glance or brief lecture before starting them on the day's lesson. In fact, he barely even noticed they were there.

"Good morning Damier." He spoke in dry, even tones after flicking a quick glance up at the black furred cat-man.

"Hey teach. What's the lesson plan for today?" Damier grinned charmingly. His happy-go-lucky attitude a nearly visable aura surrounding him.

The Weyrling Master looked up from his notes and raised a curious brow at the trio. "I told you yesterday, I won't teach you anymore." He nodded slightly, returning his gaze to the other students. "You may go."

For a moment, Damier didn't move. He simple stood and stared as the Weyrling Master and his bond focussed their attention on the other weyrlings. They barked out commands that were quickly followed and corrected errors wherever needed. Damier stood on the sidelines, watching the people behave while he had often taken off on his own.

"Whatever." Damier shrugged, turned and mounted Caironeth's neck ridges. "We're good enough anyway." He smiled as an idea hit him. "He probably knows that we're the best. That's why we don't need training anymore."

Yeah... Caironeth replied, not fully convinced. Still, he shrugged and forgot the slightly disheartening conversation. Wanna go to the beach again?

"Sure!" Explosion leapt into the air beside the medium-sized bronze like an over energetic dog. His bouncy eagerness and ensuing flight towards the water brought a laugh to Damier's throat. Letanri would've killed him for fooling around all the time like this.

Thought of his sister brought the brief conversation with the Weyrling Master back to mind. She was probably studying hard and gleaning every bit of possible information from her lessons. If she was so studious, was he really as good as he thought he was? Damier scoffed and brushed the thought from his mind like an annoying gnat. He was Damier, inheriantly perfect.

Caironeth splashed into the water and errupted a happy bellow from deep in his throat. Both of his furry companions dropped into the shallows beside him, laughing and playing like young children. Together they spent hours enjoying the cool, relaxing water then drying off on the warm sand of the beach. Eventually, the excitment of being on their own began to wear off.

Caironeth rubbed an itchy shoulder against the soft sand bottom of the lake. His gaze swept lazily over the shore, passing a sunning Damier and Explosion and settling finally on his discarged saddle. The leather was worn and marked with ground in patches of dirt in places. The straps lay in tangles along the ground, abandoned in the sand as soon as they had reached the lake. Dark spots of water still dripped from the edge that had dragged briefly in the waves.

You need to wash my saddle soon. It's getting pretty dirty. He spoke to his bond, waking him from his shallow cat nap. Damier yawned, displaying sharp, white canines as he rolled onto his side to inspect the saddle himself.

"Yeah... first we need supplies though."

"First you need to learn how to." Explosion yawned, flexing his forepaws into a more comfortable lounge beneath the shade of a tree.

"I never did learn how to clean a saddle..." Damier mused.

And I still don't know how to go between or time jumps. Rider and dragon exchanged a glance as the list of things they didn't know grew.

"I don't know star charts."

Or world locations.

"I know how to apply that paste." Damier returned weakly. It wasn't much of a claim considering what they had missed in lessons.

Caironeth lowered his head to his forepaws, letting the cool water of the shallows lap at his chin. He was a born fighter, like all Vella dragons, but he had yet to master the flame. He was well cared for and quite strong for a weyrling, as well as agile in the air. Still, there were too many things he just hadn't bothered to learn yet... and until he did, he'd be stuck here. Maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to goof off all the time.

"Yeah..." Damier was silent for a moment. He had pushed himself up on his hands and sat staring over at the general location of the practicing weyrlings. "Think we should go back?"

Think he'll take us back? Cair' fixed his rider with a curious, golden gaze. The slope of his brows and slight twitch of his lip gave him a meek look that didn't belong on a dragon as proud as himself.

"It's worth a try." Damier rose to his feet and walked determinedly over to Caironeth's side as the weryling bronze pulled himself out of the water. Explosion lifted his head from his forepaws and watched his friends preparing to leave.

"Wait up!" The fralamaraz called suddenly, bounding down the lake shore to leap into Damier's arms. He smiled weakly up at the cat-man. "I'll behave, I promise."

Dragon, Liron/Tigra and fralamaraz all headed towards the weyrling class with apologetic words and meek stances. Their self-made out-of-class lesson had taught them more about learning then anything the Weyrling Master could have said. Fun was good, but in small doses. They still had too much in life to learn to spend their time fooling around.

As Damier and Caironeth fell into line with the other weyrlings, the Weyrling Master smiled to himself. His little bout of genius had done wonders to set the rebellious teen on the right path. And it just so happened that they were studying tack care that day.

Read Damier's hatchling story.
Read Damier's story.
Damier impressed Caironeth from: Vella Crean
Damier bonded Explosion from: Marbethil Valley