[Insta-Weyrling Lesson] Capture The Flag

[lithle]

The lesson of the day for the older weyrling class was not an unfamiliar one, but important enough that it bore repeating. As was often the case, repetition was the key to mastery of skills. In this case, the skill was flight for the dragons and something utterly unrelated for the riders. The riders, at least, would be doing something new.

The dragons were playing capture the flag. Each had a leather harness attached to their tail. Each harness had a dangling ring, with a number of easily detached flags dyed in their assigned color. A quick tug would pull one of those long trailing flags free and they could then be delivered to that dragons assigned 'hoard' spot. The dragon with the most colors collected at the end of the game, won. Winning meant their rider could request the meal of their choice from the cooks, within reason. The dragons themselves were allowed an evening off from flight practice.

With the dragons outfitted and ready to fly, L'vey scanned the riders. "While they practice, we're going to work on your visualization skills." He patted a stack of hides which was set on the small table he'd had brougth out to the beach. "Each of you is to take one of these, and some charcoal. Today, you are artists."

Tugging aside a piece of cloth which had been covering a lump on the table, he revealed a pile of artfully arranged shells. "Your task for this lesson is to draw what you see in as much detail as possible."

Come now! Faeth called to the younger dragons. She too, had flags at her tail. You must not laze about. We must get you strong. For the good of the Weyr. Up, up, up!

With that, she launched herself into the air.

((OOC: Yes, this was a quick overview, but I didn't want to waste everyones energy on arrival posts. Everyone is present, their dragons are outfitted and prepared for a familiar lesson. You may choose whatever color you like for your flag colors. If you don't feel like picking, it will be assume to be dyed to match your dragons hide. So, Faeth's are gray-green. Play fair, of course. If, for example, your dragon grabs for Faeth's flag, I'll post their success or failure.

If, however, you post an attempt and you get no response for say, 24 hours, and get antsy, just assume failure and move on. As ever in lessons, don't worry too much about post order, or this will never go anywhere.))

[Filch]

Mine! I'm off! Take care! The bronze dragon swooped off, the flags swinging behind him. His color was purple, for reasons he didn't understand, but it was okay with him. Snorting, he swept away from the others for a moment, trying to come up with some sort of tactic. Well, aside from that, he didn't much want to move...He disliked heights greatly. Hey; you'll be fine. With a snort, Coreth nodded his head in his rider's direction, curling the tip of his tail close to him in an attempt to ward away those who would wish to steal from him.

He was sure His would approve of his rememberance of the best offense being a good defense! After all, if the others couldn't get his flags, then they might become disheartened and turn their backs so he could snag one! The runt nodded again before peering at his clutchmates, waiting for someone to get a bit too close.

H'und was having a less than grand time with the drawing..thing. Staring at the materials, a glance was given at the shells as he frowned. He wasn't particularly good, or particularly terrible at art, he supposed...It still wasn't something he had fun doing. He was, however, fairly good with detail and, as a hard line that started the contour of one of the shells was made, it was obvious that he would not be constructing some smooth, sfumato-esque piece. Nope; hard, if light, lines that held less of a soft, artistic like quality and more of that one would make in architecture.

Though, that didn't mean it held some charm like blueprints might. No, it was pretty average so far. Of course, H'und wasn't particularly good at anything, so it came as no surprise. Oh well. He would just...try. Maybe? Yes. That was what he was going to do.

...He hated art.

(Also, can you tell Filch wanted to use fancy art-words she learned?)

[S'yal]

Rikath was an eager beaver. The blue was wriggling, the stream lined creature eager to get into the air. Being a blue he had a bigger advantage over the browns (and one bronze), though he would have to watch carefully for greens and other blues. The blue shifted, turning to look uncertainly at R'vis. Would he be alright, with Rikath playing the game of tag? He didn't really trust all those big, scary people around his fragile little rider. Rikath bowed his neck and snorted, sending a glare at the other weyrlings to warn them to be kind to his rider.

As Faeth launched herself into the air, Rikath followed suit. He did not go for the older green, though- R'vis was silent whispering in the back of his mind that it would be useless. Faeth was more agile then the smaller blue, not to mention the fact she had much more experience then him. Instead, Rikath pumped his wings until he was sure he was over his 'siblings', keeping an eye on them and Faeth. Despite his seemingly focused air, he was in fact an easy target and anyone who knew Rikath would realize this.

He was distracted by his rider. He did not like leaving R'vis alone, especially when R'vis was expected to do something. He hovered in the air, wings beating to keep him aloft. He shook his head, snorting. He needed to focus- R'vis would be rewarded if he did well. Rikath circled lazily over the group, wishing he could tuck his tail close to himself and still be able to fly. Stupid need to have a tail.

But, he would still enjoy himself. He was a blue, made to fly swiftly and be agile. This was a flying game, and he was sure he would do well! Rikath spotted Coreth, and decided that he would try and sneak up on the bronze. Diving down, he tried to grab the cloth in his jaws and duck away, hopefully before Coreth could return the favor.

~

R'vis did not like the idea of being an artist. The younger weyrling stared at the weyrling master with obvious horror, his mouth agape. The shivering weyrling looked down at his hands ruefully, watching as they twitched and jerked. Yeah, this wasn't going to go well. He approached the table with a sigh anyway, looking as if he'd just been told his entire family had died. R'vis could not stop his constant tremors.

He actually managed to get a pretty good base to his drawing of shells... until a random jerk from his hand left his paper covered in black. R'vis scowled, glaring at the paper.

I'm not good at this.

I'm sure you can do it, Vissy. Keep trying!

R'vis muttered something about optimistic blue dragons before trying yet again to draw the shells. Yet again, his hand jerked and ruined the drawing. R'vis was very, very close to cursing.

~

Trusith was not as excited as Rikath. In fact, the poor brown looked as if he was being sent to his death the entire time he was being harnessed. Yari rubbed his neck, whispering words of encouragement to her dragon. The brown merely warbled sadly, especially when Yari moved away from him to take part in her half of the lesson. He stared after her with large, mournful eyes, clearly wondering what he had done wrong to deserve such a horrible lesson. He was so caught up in misery over the fact he was about to be thoroughly embarrassed that he completely missed Faeth telling them to fly.

A yelp from Trusith signified that he was finally taking flight. He wobbled uncertainly for a moment, before pumping his wings to carry him up. Oh, he really didn't want to do this. He cast another sad thought Yari's way, but this time she merely laughed at him. She was trying to assure him he would do fine, he knew, but Trusith just KNEW that he would do horribly! He would humiliate Yari, and then she'd be mad at him!

Trusith was very distracted, and made only a feeble attempt to grab at Rikath's flag. He failed as the blue surged past, having not even noticed Trusith's half hearted attempt. Trusith was really no good at flying- he was one of the larger browns weight wise, and he was much slower then his clutchmates. He could already tell that this lesson would end in disaster for him. Maybe... as Coreth slow too? He knew Coreth was a bronze- but Coreth wasn't big. Maybe he'd go after another brown...

~

Yari sighed at her dragons worries, shooting L'vey a glare for upsetting her Trusith. "Is this lesson really fair to the browns?" She remarked as she passed, a look of distaste on her fair features. Then she saw the shells. Her face when blank, and she gave L'vey a look that could only be described as 'Really? You're really making me draw?'. Yari was not feeling this.

She sighed and sat down to make a rough sketch, turning to glance at the boys she was near. Honestly, was she the only girl? She knew there was another female senior weyrling, but she was starting to doubt it. Yari was, like H'und, neither particularly good or bad at drawing. But her drawings were lighter then his, at the least.

[Spiffy]

Kitath adjusted her pale green flag, trying to work out how she could make it not flap about as much. Short of tying it into a knot, which was beyond the dexterity of her hands, she could think of nothing and settled for making the harness more comfortable. She'd claimed this particular flag as hers the first time they'd played this game, the shade of which matched with the markings on her legs and wings. The rest of the class had long since learned not to use 'her' flag, for fear of a severe tongue lashing. Some had learned that quickly. Others had learned the hard way.

Here we go again, Kitath muttered to her rider as Faeth gave the order for 'up!' Kitath launching into the air slightly behind the older green and the keener members of their class. I don't understand why you make such a big issue about it, Kitath. If i could I'd be up there myself in a flash! Sh'lon replied to his dragon. The two hadn't been flying together for long, but already Sh'lon was loving it. Kitath too was welcoming the company of her rider whist in the air. Mine, if you'd played this game as often as I have, you'd be getting a little bored with it too. Kitath replied, powering upwards. She glanced around at the others. Coreth was staying low, it seemed. Rikath was still flying straight up, probably trying to get above the others. Not before I do, the green thought, powering herself up after the bigger blue, making sure to stay behind him and out of his main line of sight.

Fine then, suit yourself, Sh'lon thought back as he turned his attention to L'vey's instructions. "Aww brill! I like drawing," Sh'lon said when L'vey revealed their task for the day. Then his smile faded as he saw what they were supposed to be drawing. Shells? How boring. He peered closer. Oh shells indeed, detail? He couldn't do detail. He hadn't done shells before. He'd drawn runners, herdbeasts, wherries and dragons, simple sketches which could be likened to a terran cartoon. Nothing like what was expected now.

Still, he thought as he picked up charcoal stick and hide, no-one else seems all too keen on this either. Shrugging, he began to rough out the shape of the shells in the pile, frowning as he realised that they were hardly in proportion with each other, let alone with what they should be.

But that was hardly of concern to Kitath as she levelled out a couple of dragonlength's above and behind Rikath, hoping that she hadn't been seen. She waited a few more seconds just to make sure, then dipped her wings in as she curved down toward him and... Rikath dropped like a stone. She slowed, snorting in disappointment, then noticed that Rikath was not actually avoiding her, but going after Coreth. Confidence restored, she resumed her plummet toward the blue, several seconds behind him but gaining, slashing at the purple flag on his tail only a few seconds after he'd made a grab for Coreth's and curving away again.

[tuathade]

This was going to be fun! Maeth sat quite perfectly still as Rodana made the last few adjustments on the leather harness, but her eyes whirled eagerly with anticipation. Any lesson that involved a chance to play with her clutchsiblings was a good lesson, at least in the little green's eyes. True, her rounded build wasn't exactly ideal for speed and aerial acrobatics. She was on the slower end, at least by green standards, which would put her at a bit of a disadvantage... But Maeth wasn't the sort of dragon to fuss over something as silly as winning and losing at a game of capture the flag. The important part was whether or not you had fun playing.

As soon as Faeth called out go, Maeth was off into the air, mossy green flags streaming from her long tail and making it look even longer. She'd be an easy enough target for any dragon who decided to pursue her, but that thought didn't even cross her mind. Or maybe she wanted one of them to come after her flags. Hard to tell, with Maeth.

And oh, what was this? Her brown brother looking so gloomy! Poor dear. The half-hearted way Trusith went after Rikath's flag did not escape her attention, and she drew briefly alongside the brown in the air, crooning encouragement to him. Cheer up, big boy! Come on, catch me if you can! Then she dropped back, making a quick snatch for one of Trusith's flags even as she pulled away.

Rodana was not quite so thrilled with the lesson as her dragon was. Like the rest of the weyrlings, drawing was not her strong suit. She was a dragonrider, not an artist - and drawing shells, with all their uneven edges and curves, was hard. Puzzling over the charcoal and hide, she managed to block out the general shapes of the shells well enough. But her perspective was sadly off, and her attempts at shading frankly laughable. She didn't let it get her down, though. L'vey wasn't unreasonable. Points for effort, and all that.

[lithle]

Faeth had taken advantage of her lead to get high and she circled above the Weyrlings, watching for those who might be putting less than their full effort into the game. Trusith did seem to be holding back more than she'd like, but when it became clear Maeth was trying to draw him out, she kept her criticism in check.

As yet, she felt no need to dodge or evade. They seemed to prefer to hunt each other, and she could understand that. They had only a few months of flight under their wings while she'd been flying for as long as she could remember. She was larger than they, even though she was a small green, but she was quick in the air and agile. She circled, watching. If any failed to meet her standards, she'd be scolding soon enough.

"The game favors the smaller dragons," L'vey said, his tone as level as ever despite Yari's glare. "The lesson, however, benefits all. Your Trusith needs to develop his agility just as much as any of the other weyrlings. He will have the advantage in other games. That is the way of things."

He began walking about, looking over shoulders as the Weyrlings struggled to recreate the shells. "Draw as large as possible," he advised, handing R'vis a new sheet of hide. "And there's plenty of hide if you feel the need to begin again."

"Can anyone tell me why I'm having you draw shells?"