A Wing Conflict (1/2)

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 19th January 2019

Characters: K'ran, T'kala, Jeyme, Selyna, S'grul, T'ket, D'valis, B'lami, P'turin
Description: There's a dispute in Rapids Wing after a wing practice.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 5 of Turn 9

K'ran

Jeyme

T'ket was livid as Bosrath landed briskly on the training field. The
brownrider's shoulder was on fire and a numb, tingling sensation ran
the length of his left arm. As a green landed nearby, T'ket ripped off
his helmet, leaped from his dragon's neckridge, and stormed across the
field.

"What is your problem?! Didn't they teach you how to fly while you
were at River Bluff?" Blood pounded in his ears.

}:T'ket,:{ Bosrath warned, but his eyes were whirling in mirrored agitation.

"Excuse me?" Selyna asked. The short, dark-skinned greenrider crossed
her arms and scowled at him, her brow furrowing under her helmet.

Jalath hunched low to the ground and swung her head around to keep an
eye on her rider.

"Can't you hear any better than you can throw firestone?" T'ket
barked, cheeks red. "You're always making mistakes and today one of
your mistakes landed on _me_ and I'm sick of it!"

T'kala stepped in between them, "Come on, T'ket, let's just take it
easy. Everybody drops a bag every now and then."

T'ket's eyebrows shot up into his sandy blonde hair, "No, she drops
bags every practice AND every fall! Besides, what would you know? You
had the same pathetic training at River Bluff that she did!"

"If Bosrath's hide wasn't brown I'd say you were just proddy right
now, T'ket." T'kala said lightly, but with an edge to his tone as he
eyed the brownrider.

"I was throwing it to D'valis and he didn't catch it!" Selyna snapped.
"It's not like I flung a bag on you at *purpose*. Though suddenly, she
strongly considered the idea of flinging something at T'ket. Her
fingers twitched.

D'valis seemed to materialize just over T'ket's shoulder, "I didn't
catch it because your throw was short!"

"Oh please, D'valis," T'kala rolled his eyes, "my grandmother could
have made that catch."

B'lami was one of T'ket's clutchmates and always jumped to his
friend's defense. "Speaking of proddy, maybe her throw is terrible
because of that. Guess River Bluff Weyrlingmasters don't teach their
riders how to focus through distractions." And he gestured at Jalath
with a snort.

Jalath lifted her head off the ground, eyes whorling orange-red in
agitation, and flared her wings in response to her rider's agitation.
Selyna's hands curled into fists and she visibly snarled at B'lami and
T'ket.

Jeyme's brow was furrowed as she pulled off her helmet and gloves and
approached the group, "What's going on here?"

Shardit! Selyna wished that it was the Wingleader who'd come over
first - someone who was familiar, and trusted. Not someone from
Dolphin Cove, who'd automatically side with the others.

B'lami said, in the superior tone of someone who enjoyed tattling,
"Selyna hit T'ket with a firestone bag."

"It was an accident!" she said.

The brownrider snorted again. "It's not the first time a badly-trained
River Bluff rider missed throws in this drill."

Attracted by the growing knot of riders and the sound of raised
voices, S'grul joined in to defend his clutchmate, "Well, that's
because the Dolphin Cove riders aren't paying attention to where they
are in formations half the time and they can't catch."

"I can't believe he's blaming _me_ for D'valis being in the wrong
spot," Selyna said to Jeyme.

"Whoa, whoa," Jeyme held up a hand. "Let's just take a step back,
everyone. We've had a long practice and we're all tired."

"What would she know? I've owned underpants longer than she's been
riding," someone snickered

"Excuse me?" Jeyme's head snapped around, looking for the offender.

The older greenrider P'turin was studiously looking elsewhere.

"What do you mean, take a step back? Am I supposed to just let them
keep insulting me?" Selyna demanded.

Jeyme's nose wrinkled, "I told _everyone_ to take a step back."
**Where's K'ran?** she asked Quinneth.

}:I've told Rogueth.:{ The green replied.

}:My rider is on his way,:{ Rogueth assured Quinneth. An older
bluerider had been struggling and K'ran had been having a talk with
him, but the Wingleader told the bluerider he'd see him in the evening
after Rogueth's update that the discussion was getting bad.

"Yeah, listen to the Wingthird, Bluff girl," B'lami jeered.

Fed up by his repeated taunting, Selyna stepped forward and shoved
him. Jalath flared her wings again and hissed at Tazrith. Outraged by
the treatment of his rider, the brown snarled back.

That was the point at which Rogueth dropped down between the two
dragons and bellowed, loudly.

T'ket had the front of T'kala's shirt clenched in his hand, with his
right arm reared back, hand curled into a fist. When K'ran landed he
froze, eyes darting between T'kala's wide eyes and the Wingleader's
face. Slowly he lowered his arm and released the bluerider's shirt.

Jeyme was standing by Selyna with a hand on her shoulder. She couldn't
remember having ever seen a Wing fight like this before, not when
she'd been in the Queen's Wing, or when she'd lived at Far Island
Weyr.

Selyna was visibly tensed under Jeyme's hand, trembling with
suppressing herself.

K'ran looked at the group of troublemakers. He took a moment to make
note of all of them: Selyna, S'grul, T'kala, D'valis, B'lami, T'ket.
Too many to comfortably shove in his office, but they all needed to be
spoken with. First, together, then individually. Fortunately, there
were meeting rooms for the wings close to the offices, and they could
take over one of them at first.

"All of you involved in this incident, follow us to the wing meeting
rooms so we can speak about this," he ordered. "The rest of the wing
is dismissed, go clean up."

Then he watched to make sure the problem riders were in fact going to
follow him and Jeyme.

Jeyme couldn't believe it, all she had wanted to do was get out of
practice, wash up, and spend some time wit Dheymin and Ayeme. Now they
were going to have to sort out this petty Dolphin Cove vs River Bluff
feud that had been simmering.

T'kala had that drop in the pit of his stomach, the one you got when
the Weyrleader wanted to see you. He hadn't done anything wrong, he
felt sure, other than try to keep the peace.

K'ran let them stew in silence along the walk while he coordinated
with Jeyme via their dragons. He had Rogueth pass along, }:Quinneth,
my rider is going to ask yours to say what she knows about the
incident first and see how much the troublemakers object.:{

When they got to the room, K'ran gestured at all of the riders to sit
down, while he stood at the front and stared at all of them for a long
moment. Some stared straight ahead and blankly. Other fidgeted in
their seats. He let the tension build for a moment before speaking.

"I know everyone in my Wing is smarter than to be publicly fighting in
the Weyrbowl, but it certainly looked to me as though this grouping of
our Wing was about to devolve into a brawl," he said, dryly. A couple
of the listeners flinched.

"I gathered from dragon chatter that there was a squabble over a
firestone sack, that our Wingthird was attempting to defuse the
problem, and some of you ignored her. Foolish, as now you have to deal
with both of us. Wingthird, would you tell me what our wingmates were
doing?"

Last updated on the January 21st 2019

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A Wing Conflict (1/2)