Wings and Fins

Writers: Jelena, Mirren
Date Posted: 8th April 2012

Characters: E'ron, Naton
Description: Naton introduces E'ron to some dolphins.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 7, day 5 of Turn 6

E'ron had had to run and get his flight straps but he was soon out in
the weyrbowl, strapping Feykenth. The pale blue dragon was standing
still for a change, mostly because E'ron had insisted that if he
didn't he'd scare Naton off and if he did that, he wouldn't get go for
a fly today!

Naton had set himself down in the weyrbowl, waiting for E'ron, and
jumped up when he spotted the rider approaching a blue dragon. "So
this is your noble blue?" he asked with a ready smile. E'ron grinned.
He didn't know how noble Feykenth was but he liked hearing it. "This
is Feykenth. Feykenth, this is Naton."

Feykenth lowered his head to give Naton a sniff. :}He smells like fish:{.

E'ron chuckled. "I have his straps on, ready to go. Do you know how to
mount up?"

"Well met, Feykenth," Naton said, taking a ridiculous little bow and
smiling up at the dragon with only a small amount of nervousness. He
was starting to grow accustomed to the beasts. If he could grow
accustomed to riding on them, was yet to be seen. "Ehm.. no." Naton
said feeling a little silly. How hard could it be, after all? "Could
you show it to me once?"

"There's nothing to it."

Feykenth offered his leg, which E'ron climbed up and swung into place.
"Just do the same and I'll get you strapped in tight."

"Alright," Naton said, chosing not to make the comment that came to
mind when E'ron spoke of strapping him in tight. He really couldn't
help his own mind sometimes, but he didn't want E'ron to think he was
making fun of the Weyr's... lifestyle. "Like this?" he asked, climbing
up the offered leg and sitting in front of the dragonrider. "That
wasn't too hard!" he called out in triumph.

E'ron grinned. "You're a natural. And don't worry, getting down is
easier! Now, so you don't get down until you're ready..." He reached
around so the strap went around Naton's waist and clicked it in on the
other side. He gave the strap a tug to show that it wouldn't come
undone until it was unlocked later. "Right. You ready?"

Though Naton felt slightly queasy at the thought of a single strap
keeping him from plumetting to a certain death, he didn't want to
sound like a total wuss, so he nodded bravely. "Let's get going!"

Trying to be gentle, Feykenth crouched down and then leaped skyward in
a bound. A beat or two of his wings and they were soaring up toward
the heights, above the rim and over the Weyr. He ocean spread out
before them on one side, inland on the other as far as could be seen.

As the blue dragon lifted off the ground, Naton felt a rush of
adrenaline coursing through him. "Wooo! This is awesome!" The
dolphineer practically squealed like a little kid.

E'ron threw back his head and laughed into the wind. It was
exhilarating! Feykenth, deciding that his passengers were having fun,
banked sharply to to the right, leaving a sheer drop between E'ron,
Naton and the sea.

"Sweet Faranth!" Naton exclaimed in exhileration, feeling his stomach
drop at the sight of so much free air between him and the ground, but
loving the feeling of it. "This is so cool! _So_ cool!"

Feykenth, given the encouragement, tucked his wings back and went into
a steep dive that left E'ron's stomach in his throat. The blue dragon
plummeted until they reached about a metre from the water. Suddenly
his wings opened again and he went into a glide, close enough to
almost touch the glittering water.

**You know I just ate, right?**

Feykenth sent a mental chuckle.

"Wooow," Naton's hands gripped tight around the strap that secured him
to the dragon as he screamed at the top of his lungs. This had to be
the most exhilarating thing he'd experienced in all his life, even if
he did feel like his lunch was fighting it's way back up again.

Luckily Feykenth was out of tricks, so he went on gliding across the
water until they got to the sand. There, he back winged and landed
neatly on the beach.

"Phew!" Naton said, his eyes still big with excitement, even if his
hands were shaking quite badly. "That was quite the experience. Can
you give my thanks to Feykenth?" The dolphineer looked down at the
sand for a moment, wondering if he could trust his legs enough to
dismount properly right now.

E'ron did. "He said you're welcome and that he likes flying people who
obviously enjoy themselves! I think he likes showing off."

Feykenth turned his great head and looked at them both, his eyes
whirling with pleasure.

"So, would there be any dolphins around here?"

"I would like that too, if I were a dragon," Naton said with a
chuckle. He liked showing off anyway, but he had to admit none of his
tricks would ever be as exciting as Feykenth's! Slowly making his way
off the dragon's back, the dolphineer did breathe a small sigh of
relief as he touched ground. "Does Feykenth like to swim? Usually the
dolphins are pretty quick to the scene when a dragon enters the
water."

"Almost as much as he likes to fly," E'ron replied, sliding off and
pulling the flight straps off his Feykenth's back. He tossed them
aside and clapped his blue on the neck. "All right big guy, go and
draw some dolphins our way!"

Feykenth wasn't sure about dolphins but he did love to swim, some
waddled into the water and started snuffling at the waves.

And just as Naton had predicted, almost as soon as Feykenth had
entered the waters, the cheerful clicking of approaching dolphins
could be heard. Naton grinned in amusement and motioned to the
waterline. "Want to go in and meet them?" he asked.

Now it was the dragonrider's turn to be nervous. He looked out across
the water, toward the approaching fins. "I...don't know. They don't
bite people, right?"

"Just as much as a dragon would," Naton replied with a grin. "They're
a playful bunch, but their first concern is our safety. no matter
what."

E'ron looked skeptical. "Dragons do bite herdbeasts." he pointed out.
"How about you go in first and I'll come in later. It _is_ a bit
cold..." He was glad his wing mates couldn't see him now, they'd have
a good laugh at him for making excuses not to go near the dolphins!

"And dolphins bite fish, not humans!" Naton replied as he lifted his
shirt over his head, kicked off his sandals and left them on a rock.
"Come on, I just went on the most insane dragonride ever and now *you*
are scared of a few little dolphins?" Naton's tone of voice was
teasing, but in a friendly way. "I thought dragonriders were supposed
to be such tough cookies?"

If there was anything that would get E'ron going is was the suggestion
that he might be a wuss. "We are!" he said firmly and followed suit,
stripping down to his underclothes and wading into the water. Shards,
it was cold!

Naton chuckled as his little plan worked and he followed the
dragonrider in to the water, soon pushing his way across the gentle
waves to meet with the enthusiastic dolphins. "Ton!" a male dolphin
squeed as he came up face to face with the dolphineer. Naton waved to
E'ron to come in closer. "Capey, this is E'ron, E'ron, I would like
you to meet Capey."

E'ron took a step back. "Um... Hello," he said politely, while keeping
his arms up out if the water. He didn't much like being afraid but it
wasn't every day that he met a new creature like this. He really had
no idea what to expect.

"'lo 'Ron," the dolphin greeted the dragonrider cheerfully. "Who's
blue friend?" Naton reached out a hand to scratch the dolphins chin as
a second young male popped up. "Easy, Bit," the dolphineer warned the
overeager dolphin. "E'ron hasn't swum with dolphins yet." "It talked."
E'ron stared. He'd heard they did but he hasn't really believed it. It
was very strange!

"They do," Naton grinned. It was the one big advantage dolphins had
over dragons, in his opinion. Dragons only talked to their riders,
dolphins could communicate with everyone. "Who's blue friend?" Bit
chimed in eagerly.

"Blue friend?" E'ron repeated. "Oh, you mean Feykenth?" he looked
sideways at Naton, questioningly.

"Fey!" the first dolphin called out eagerly as he sped towards the
blue dragon. Bit remained at their side, though. "Grab fin!" Naton
motioned at the dragonrider encouragingly.

E'ron looked at the fin dubiously and took a step back. "I don't think
so!" he said back. "It might not like it." and _he_ might not like it!

"Come on, you'll love it. And Bit loves racing people around. Don't
you, Bit?" the young male dolphin clicked in agreement. "Bit swim with
' Ron. Grab fin!"

"How about you go first and I'll watch?" E'ron suggested.

Feykenth found the friendly fish to be most amusing. They swam around
him and ticked his undersides. He put his nose under the water and
splashed the dolphins with it.

"Sounds like a deal," Naton laughed, grabbing hold of Bit's fin and
encouraging the dolphin to swim ahead. Within moments the dolphineer
was off and the two did a quick lap around the blue dragon.

It did look like fun. E'ron found himself grinning as he watched. He
flew on a fighting dragon, how bad can hanging off a dolphin be?

"Alright then, why don't I go with Capey and you with Bit and we'll
race a lap around Feykenth?" Naton suggested with a grin, before
calling the other young dolphin to his side.

"Al right," E'ron was still nervous but he grabbed onto the dolphin's
fin. "Weeeeeeeee!"

Last updated on the April 11th 2012

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Wings and Fins