Eastern Bowl, High Reaches Weyr
��� Ringed by rough granite walls to all sides but one, this end of the huge bowl narrows from the even broader plain to the west, continuing the ever so slight downward slope toward the blue and green of the Weyrapos;s lake and surrounding foliage. More open to sun and wind than the western bowl, but less frequented when there arenapos;t weyrlings in residence, the bowlapos;s grassy tufts keep the topsoil in place and thicken into a bloodstained meadow within the feeding pens that adjoin the lake.
��� At the base of the surrounding cliffs lie entrances to several caverns, including the dragon infirmary and the weyrling barracks: the former to the northwest near where the spires begin, the latter opposite to the southwest. Both archways are large and dark enough for any dragon to pass through, but itapos;s the infirmaryapos;s that is haunted by faint smells of redwort and numbweed, as though over generations they have seeped into the very stone.A cool winter morning brings a gaggle of weyrlings out into the bowl - possibly for a bit of fresh air, or, more likely, by the mental summons of some older and wiser dragon. Eilaapos;s all bundled up against the bite of the cold, but Kelerith seems completely oblivious to it as he leaps and tumbles before her, nudging into the snow with his muzzle and every so often sending great puffs of it up with a sweep of his tail. (re)
Papos;ax follows Yyth out of the barracks, faithfully by her side. One hand rests over her skeletal flank, just between her jutting hip bones at the base of her tail. She picks her paws up high out of the snow, looking like a very regal zombie. Papos;ax just looks like he might be ill, tromping through the snow in his indistinct weyrling hand-me-downs, the hood of his coat pulled up around his head.
Older, maybe. Wiser? Well... Tausreth sits at attention today, watching the little weyrlings gather. Heapos;s free and clear of mud, and perhaps a little glossy from a recent spot-oiling. A little wuffled greeting is given to the arriving students, and one whirling eye is directed on Yyth as she makes her appearance. Capos;mryn stands on his own, for once not using his mate as a source of balance. Once heapos;s gathered a fair sized group, he rolls his shoulders, and wanders on over. "Sorry to call you out into the cold but, well, enjoy the fresh air?" Gotta smell better than the barracks, right? "Today I thought weapos;d talk a little bit about the bond you share with your mate and, more specifically, how to deal with it. Youapos;ve all had a while now to adjust to your life as dragonriders and, so, I would like each of you to please tell me what your experience has been like, being bonded. I donapos;t want to hear about chores, and bathes, and oiling. Iapos;m interested in the experience of exploring a new mind, and how they *feel* in your own head."
Eilaapos;s stocky shape draws up next to Kelerithapos;s as the young blue lolls about in the snow, rolling on to his back and tempting nearby Anairith with a wiggle of his stout body and a thump-thump of his tail. Tausreth, too, earns a high chirp, some strange bleeping sound, perhaps in greeting, and then the dragonet is intent again on play and investigation even as Eila straightens and clasps her hands in front of her. Sheapos;s not inclined to start the conversation, and instead leans out to glance about to see who else might begin and what theyapos;ve to offer.
Yyth comes to a halt in front of Tausreth and wuffs at him in greeting, lowering her haunches into the snow and tucking her tail demurely around her feet. Papos;ax comes to an abrupt halt, stumbling to stay upright. He glances over at the tiny green and frowns. "You could have warned me," he grumbles and heaves a sigh. Capos;mrynapos;s obviously going to have to call on someone, because he, too, stands in silence and looks around for who is going to start.
An eyebrow arches at the silence. "Wow," Capos;mryn tells them. "I believe this is the first group of dragonriders that Iapos;ve met who arenapos;t clamoring to talk about their dragons." It seems faintly amusing to the bronzerider, but he shrugs it off. No biggie. "Alright then, Eila. Would you please tell me what Kelerithapos;s mind feels like to you? And, please, tell me how you feel when heapos;s hungry, tired, or excited?" A glance goes to Papos;ax, and he adds, "You next, if just cause Iapos;d like to know how scary Y-" but he doesnapos;t say it, instead quickly switching to, "She, really is."
Eila presses her lips together, a moment of hesitation as she gathers her thoughts with a long look at Kelerith. "Um, sir." Eloquently, she begins, her fingers fluttering as she speaks as though in demonstration, "Heapos;s - heapos;s loud in my head, and his words arenapos;t - arenapos;t really words, sir." Sheapos;s appears to be a bit nervous about this, as though itapos;s not an entirely normal thing. "And thereapos;s noises Iapos;ve never heard before -" white static, though of course sheapos;s no proper word for that, "- kind of a... Buzzing, sir?" So then itapos;s all lifted in question with a faint quirk of the blue-rider-to-beapos;s lips. "And when heapos;s hungry, or tired, or excited it just gets - louder." And those flicking fingers lifts to encircle her head, in demonstration. "Heapos;s very insistant."
Papos;ax grimaces at Capos;mryn announces heapos;s next. Yyth huffs a warning as he starts to say her name and then relaxes back again. Papos;ax turns his head to regard Eila as she speaks, his lips curling up slowly. When she finishes, he pauses for a time before glancing down at Yyth. "She feels like all the breath being sucked out of you. Like thereapos;s no happiness left, just the blood boiling between your ears and the need to conquer everyone, to /fight/." He rubs his ear, wincing, "And she /screams/, like stuffing a stick into your ears and pushing really hard. When sheapos;s hungry, itapos;s all about .. Ripping and blood and you can taste it. Itapos;s horrible-" Yyth rumbles a disagreement, tail tip flicking. "Well, sorry, but it is. And when sheapos;s tired, itapos;s all black and dark and pools of blood. When sheapos;s excited, thereapos;s lots of screaming. Especially when sheapos;s angry. It makes my vision go all red and I feel like Iapos;m going to fall down."
The consideration with which Capos;mryn gives Eilaapos;s voiced thoughts, and then Papos;axapos;s own, is rather significant. Heapos;s straight-faced but kind looking for most of it, giving a nod of his head once in a while in that apos;active listeningapos; sort of way. Heapos;s soaking it in, making mental notes, and finally decides, "Good. Itapos;s a bit overwhelming, isnapos;t it? Not just the new experience and new life, but their minds. I canapos;t imagine, Papos;ax, that you enjoy all that blood and screaming and pain, hm? Or that you, Eila, want to hear buzzing for the rest of your days? And you wonapos;t. Today, weapos;re going to talk about techniques for separating your mind from theirs. You wonapos;t be shutting them out completely, however, for that would be dangerous. The idea here is to make sure you ignore what you donapos;t *need* to feel, and concentrate on what is important. It wonapos;t happen immediately, but it would help to create some distance between your consciousness and theirs, and allow you a little break." He claps his hands together, and grins. "So You know what they feel like in your head. What Iapos;d like you to do now is to actively think about dampening their feelings from yours. Concentrate on what you are feeling, and attempt to ignore, or lesson, your perception of what they are feeling."
Oh. Eila pales a bit for Papos;axapos;s description, and itapos;s not an expression of queasiness but rather one of unease, and even Kelerith gambols a bit further from Yyth as his lifemate inspects the green from the distance between them. Thereapos;s another high vocalization from the blue dragonet as he butts up against the girl, and almost automatically she splays her fingers against his rounded head before heapos;s off again and frisking a sharp circle about green Paelath. And then Capos;mrynapos;s speaking and sheapos;s paying strict attention even if Kelerith isnapos;t; the once-nanny returns a rueful nod for his question and then thoughtfully considers his further words, eyes half-shut. Queries, softly, "Everything? What, just his mind, or... What heapos;s feeling, too?" Fingers scratch absently at her cheek even as her blue dives into a patch of rough snow, rubbing his own jaw against it and blissfully lidding his eyes.
Papos;ax looks uncomfortable. "She says she doesnapos;t /want/ to be ignored." He shrugs, however, and explains quietly to her, "Itapos;s just an excersize, love. Iapos;m not /really/ ignoring you." Yyth eyes the smaller blue and lifts her chin, letting out an ear-piercing screech in reply to his own noise, padding away from Papos;ax with disdain. /She/ can ignore too.
"Everything that is not important. For instance," and Capos;mryn smirks just a little, "Is it your cheek thatapos;s itching, Eila, or his? That is what you need to figure out. Separate your hunger from his, your itches from his, your mind from his. Dampen his noise, dampen his overwhelming feelings until itapos;s a vague thing in the back of your head. Itapos;s there, but in a reduced sort of way. Think of... Diluting tea with water. Right now, his mind is a very strong pot of tea, and you need to work on diluting it down until it is manageable." Papos;ax is given more consideration, a serious expression on Capos;mrynapos;s face. He takes a moment to note Yythapos;s departing. "Perhaps it would be best not to think of it as ignoring, but more as separation," he wonders. After another moment of letting them try, he asks, "So. How did you do?" And first Eila is bobbed at, and then Papos;ax.
As her attention is to drawn to apos;herapos; itching cheek, Eila starts slightly and laces her fingers together once again. She doesnapos;t precisely respond to Capos;mryn, but that small smile twitches again and then closes her eyes entirely as the group is given time to follow the bronze riderapos;s directives. "Tea," the girl mutters, once, cracking one lid to peek over at Kelerith, who was now staring quite intently at his lifemate. "Oh," itapos;s a long, drawn out sigh as Capos;mryn speaks again, and she shakes herself once all over, lifting slate eyes up towards Capos;mryn. "Itapos;s quiet. Er. Quieter. Thatapos;s - better." Pleased.
Papos;ax makes a face, turning a little bit purple in the face as he concentrates. "It helps that sheapos;s distracted.." He notes after some time. "I canapos;t taste blood anymore, at least." Itapos;s a start. Yyth is staring up at Tausreth intently, claws flexing in the snow like a happy cat.
"Good" says Capos;mryn, quietly proud as he bobs his head at both of them. "Wonderful. Now, remember, I did say that this would not be an immediate thing. Itapos;s going to take work and, it will get easier as they get older and more independent. Itapos;s important to practice whenever you can. When you wake up, and they are starving, consciously think of dampening their hunger until it is something you *know* about, but donapos;t feel yourself." For Papos;ax, he adds, "It will get easier, if you practice. I have a feeling that she is a rather dominant personality. Do what you can, without upsetting her. But something we will talk about later is her name." But he wonapos;t deal with that issue here and now. "Alright. Now, while still practicing that separation, Iapos;d like you to tell me why itapos;s important *to* separate yourself from them, besides the obvious one of being able to tone down the taste of blood, or the hum and apos;noiseapos;. What are the practical benefits of this practice?"
Eilaapos;s got an answer for that, with a faint chuckle to boot: "So we donapos;t have to taste every one of their meals just like they do." She even pulls a face in demonstration "Raw meatapos;s all well and good for /them/." But not such a delicacy, otherwise. And -- name? The girl sends a curious little frown towards Yyth, but just shakes her head and redirects her attentions towards Kelerith, whoapos;s still nosing and nudging about - nearer to Tausreth, this time - although with a quick look towards Eila every so often, as though for confirmation.
Papos;ax shrugs in response to Capos;mryn, "Itapos;s just a quirk. Sheapos;ll get over it, once she realizes she canapos;t lord over everyone." As to importance, "Because it would be really bad if they projected everything onto us constantly, or the other way around. If we get hurt, and they feel it - well, I canapos;t imagine a beserking dragon would be a good thing." He scratches the back of his neck and adds under his breath, "Sheapos;d probably like it, though."
Capos;mryn grins at Eilaapos;s answer. "Ah, there is that, yup," he agrees. "But I was thinking more a long the lines of..." and he bobs his head towards Papos;ax. "Indeed. Now, you do want to feel when they get hurt. But you donapos;t want the feeling to be so strong that it cripples you from acting. If they wrench a wing, it will hurt. A lot. But you need to know how to pull yourself away from the pain so that you can help them remain calm, and make sure it gets taken care of. A panicked dragon who winds up with a panicked rider because of it is a recipe for disaster. It is not inconceivable for the dragon to end up going Between and the rider left..." Thereapos;s a brief darkening of his expression, but itapos;s so fleeting it might have been a trick of the light. "There are also mating flights," he notes, "which you will learn more of in later lessons. Suffice it to say it would be in your best interest to be able to separate yourself from them during that time, lest you embarrass yourself." Yythapos;s name is not touched on, but thereapos;s a look for Papos;ax that clearly says Cam is yet not buying that apos;sheapos;ll get over itapos; bit. "Any questions, or anything to add?"
Kelerithapos;s arrowing back to Eila once again, the area well and properly investigated, and though the girl is trying very intently to keep her attention fixed on Capos;mryn, the blueapos;s shouldering into her knees isnapos;t helping. Oof. But she shakes her head anyway - or nods it, at the appropriate time, and finally lifts her shoulders in a light shrug. Except - "Should we be doing this... All the time, sir? Trying to remember to keep everything, ah, dampened?"
Papos;ax continues to eye Capos;mryn with wariness. "Yes, it would be most unfortunate to embarass oneself," he agrees dryly. Yyth fans her wings, perhaps a little proud of herself, turning away from the giant bronze to nudge the snow with her muzzle.
Kelerith is eyed, but Capos;mryn just grins. "Yes, well..." he pauses, considering his answer. "I want you to practice whenever you can. Now, I doubt youapos;ll be able to do this all the time, because as you just learned, it takes a bit of work in the beginning. When youapos;re doing it unconsciously, when youapos;re able to dampen their feelings without really thinking about it, then you can relax a bit. Itapos;s alright to let them into your mind completely. The important part is to be able to, on a whim, shut them out. Does that make sense? For example," and a hand reaches back to his dragon, who meets him with his bronze muzzle. "If Iapos;m relaxing at the lake, and Tausreth is flying, Iapos;ll let the feel of his joy, and the wind, overwhelm me. But the minute my attention is needed elsewhere, I can pull away, and ignore him for something else. Right now, while you are learning, I want you to do it whenever you can." A little hmm, and his other hand lifts to rub at his chin thoughtfully. "Donapos;t really want to get into mating flights right now, but suffice it to say that it would definitely be in your best interest," to Papos;ax, "To be able to tune out that blood and guts bit. Something tells me sheapos;s going to be a very... Enthusiastic green."
Kelerith eyes Capos;mryn right back, an almost suspicious expression on the blueapos;s little features, before heapos;s bounding away again, leaving Eila once stumbling forward to regain her balance. "Whenever we can. Okay." The girl seems almost eager for the suggestion, and she digs one finger into her ear as though sheapos;s trying to disrupt some high, ringing noise with a faintly disapproving look towards the small blue. "Practise makes perfect."
Papos;ax whispers with a sort of ugly dread, "You have absolutely no idea, sir, no idea." Clearing his throat, he looks down at Yyth, "Er, yes, love, we will have blood soon." He glances at Capos;mryn and asks, "Is that it?"
A nod of his head. "That it does," Cam agrees with Eila. Another wide grin, and he waves his hands dismissively. "Yes, thatapos;s all for now. Iapos;ll be checking on your progress randomly from now on, and if you have any questions or whatever, donapos;t hesitate to ask." A little look is directed back at Kelerith but that, much like Yythapos;s name, is not touched on in this meeting. "Rest of the day is yours... Well, aside from tending to your dragons," and thereapos;s a knowing sort of smirk on his face. Tausreth, job of being attentive done, turns his head towards the feeding grounds and flares his nostrils.
Papos;ax huffs a sigh of relief but turns a little green as Yyth eagerly follows Tausrethapos;s gaze. "Not yet, my love." He chuckles wanly and says, "Thereapos;s meat in the barracks for you. Yes, I know itapos;s not alive. I know it doesnapos;t squirm. Iapos;m sorry. I could shake it for you, will that do?" Yyth, seemingly satisfied with this compromise, hauls herself to her feet and proceeds towards the barracks. Papos;ax says over his shoulder, "Youapos;d think sheapos;d fill out a little, the way sheapos;s constantly eating."
Class dismissed, and Kelerithapos;s delighted to set off for the barracks, glancing once or twice over his shoulder, cheeping, as though making sure Eila was following? And following she was, at a more sedate pace, after a salute and her murmured thanks for Capos;mryn.
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