Fair Maids and Mighty Dragonriders

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 25th March 2019

Characters: K'mai, L'keri
Description: K'mai and L'keri go for a run, but end up trying some other forms of exercise...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 3 of Turn 9

K'mai

L'keri

L'keri shivered in the freezing morning air, and wondered what had come
over him to get up at this unearthly hour and go for a run, of all
things. He had never enjoyed running; it brought back grim memories of
slogging around the weyr bowl at River Bluff with his fellow weyrlings
and being shouted at by the Weyrlingmaster if he slowed down to catch
his breath and admire his female classmates from behind as they passed.
Of course, back in those days, he'd been young and energetic...

The brownrider shook his head. He was still young! And it wasn't as if
he sat at a desk all day like a hold steward. He could run if he wanted
to. Summoning all his determination, he started to jog along the
well-worn track that led around the weyrlake.

"L'keri!" K'mai called when he spotted the brownrider. "Getting a
little early morning exercise?" It was earlier than K'mai usually
rose, but he'd been awakened by a nightmare and decided to make the
best of it.

"Yes! Got to stay fit for the fighting Wings." L'keri was glad for the
company. He could already feel his legs starting to ache, and there was
still a long way to go around the circuit. Puffs of breath misted before
his face, mirroring the dull grey clouds above. It must be the cold - or
the altitude, he thought. Surely running back on the beaches of River
Bluff hadn't been as hard as this. He made a face. "And I couldn't miss
this lovely morning weather."

"Yes, lovely." K'mai rolled his eyes. The Dragonsfall climate
certainly took some getting used to. "Would you like some company?"

"That'd be wonderful. Take my mind off the fact that I'm out here and
not tucked up in bed like any sensible person would be." L'keri fell
into step beside the bluerider. "Speaking of which, what brings you out
this fine morning?"

K'mai shrugged. "Bit of trouble sleeping. If I get my exercise in now,
that means more time for relaxing later."

"You know, it is possible to relax now _and_ later," L'keri suggested.
The path ahead seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. He might
have given up and gone back to his nice, warm weyr if he'd been alone,
but for now the desire not to look pathetic in front of a wingmate was
enough to keep him going.

"Well, yeah. But that eventually catches up with you." K'mai had
learned that the hard way when he and Sebeth had been 'scored.

L'keri grimaced, feeling his breath getting shorter. "I think it's not
only caught up with me, it's overtaken me and is sprinting for the
finish line. Do you really do this regularly?"

"Running? Sometimes. Running on a freezing early morning, no." K'mai
wondered if he'd ever get used to the weather here. "So you've, uh,
been a bit lax in your exercising?"

"According to the Weyrhealer," the brownrider grumbled. "He told me I
have to do more exercise and drink less. It doesn't seem to have
occurred to him that I might expire from boredom instead."

K'mai laughed. "Well if you do, I promise to lie and say you died
heroically fighting Thread."

"I feel like I'm about to die heroically on this running track." He
glanced over at his friend, who didn't seem to be having any trouble
with the pace. "How do you...keep going?"

That made K'mai laugh harder. "Practice my good brownrider."

L'keri groaned. "I was afraid you might say that." He couldn't help it -
he was slowing down. His legs felt as heavy as firestone sacks.

"You need me to carry you?" K'mai slowed his own pace.

Somehow, he found the strength to glower at the bluerider. "I
should...say yes...just to see you try."

"Are you saying you want to get picked up by a bluerider?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying," L'keri managed between gasps for
breath. He abandoned dignity altogether and fluttered his eyelashes.
"Oh, please...carry me back to the Weyr...you big, strapping bluerider."

K'mai eyed him for a moment and then decided to go for it. He got his
arms around L'keri's waist, bent his knees, and heaved.

The brownrider burst into peals of helpless mirth as his feet left the
ground by a few inches, alternately giggling and trying to get his
breath back. He didn't think this was entirely what the healers had in
mind when they recommended exercise, but it was much more fun than
running. "My hero!"

K'mai just managed to get L'keri over his shoulder, straining with
effort. "You're a bit big for a damsel in distress." K'mai turned and
made a few slow steps toward the Weyr. "If someone sees us this will
all be worth it."

L'keri managed to crane his neck to see how far they were from the Weyr.
They'd actually managed to get most of the way around the track, so it
wasn't as far as he'd thought, but still... "You'll never make it."

"Once I get too tired, _you_ can carry _me_." K'mai laughed, a little
out of breath.

"Only if I get to see your damsel act first." The sun was coming up now,
and the Weyr was beginning to stir. L'keri saw another rider heading
towards the running track and giving them a decidedly odd look. He gave
the man his best cheery smile. "Morning!"

"Look I bagged a brownrider!" K'mai called.

"He swept me off my feet." L'keri did the eyelash-flutter again.

K'mai wheezed out another laugh. "I wish I could carry you. . . all
the way. . . up to my weyr. The rumors. . .would be fantastic."

"I think they're going to be entertaining enough as it is," L'keri said,
spotting a pair of drudges who were pointing and giggling. He waved at
them and shifted his position. "Ow. Did you know, you have really bony
shoulders?"

"I could make a comment about you being heavy, but I can appreciate a
man with some meat on him." K'mai slapped L'keri's bottom for
emphasis. The bluerider's steps kept getting slower.

"Hey! The maidens in the harper romances don't have to put up with
that sort of treatment," L'keri grumbled. "What kind of hero are you?"

"The naughty kind!"

"Oh, I see. You're from one of _those_ harper romances."

K'mai felt like he'd been carrying the brownrider for a long time and
yet the Weyr entrance was still several dragonlengths ahead. As fun as
this was, K'mai needed a break. He set L'keri down and tried to catch
his breath. "Okay, your turn." K'mai put a hand to his head. "Let me
swoon in your arms, oh mighty dragonrider."

The mighty dragonrider glanced towards the Weyr, judging the distance.
It didn't seem that far. "Fear not, fair maid...I mean, fair
bluerider. I'll save you!" He put one arm around K'mai's back and the
other behind his knees, took a deep breath, tensed his muscles and
lifted him with a groan of effort.

He staggered a short distance towards the Weyr before his arms gave out
and he had to stop. "Um...how about a piggy-back?"

"Deal!" K'mai eagerly hopped up and wrapped his arms and legs around
L'keri. "We should make a game of how far you can carry me. It'll help
you get back in shape."

L'keri straightened with an 'oof' and began to plod towards the Weyr.
The entrance was not far off now, and it was definitely easier carrying
the bluerider on his back than in his arms. "I bet I could carry you
into the Weyr and do a circuit of the Dining Cavern."

"I like the way you think." The day had improved dramatically.

Last updated on the April 4th 2019

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Fair Maids and Mighty Dragonriders