First Trips /Between/

Writers: Amy, Francesca, Paula
Date Posted: 15th July 2009

Characters: E'naer, Kamalia, V'leal, Isele
Description: E'naer takes Kamalia and her trio thru their first jump /between/.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 13 of Turn 5
Notes: Mentor approved

With no weyrlingmaster at the moment, it fell to E'naer and the
´Second to supervise the first jumps /between/. E'naer could feel the
stress of such responsibility, when he and Eillispeth took the
position in the air above the weyr plateau.

Kamalia checked the her riding straps one more time then put on her
helmet. As she placed a hand against Alaudath's side she saw her
hands were shaking.

}:We will be fine:{ Alaudath said, turning to brush her nose against
her rider's shoulder. }:We fly together well and have had no problems
with our visualizations.:{

Kamalia nodded, desperately keeping her emotions in check so her
lifemate would not sense everything. She had been so carefree when
discussing this day with her brother. Now, she was terrified. These
could be the final moments of her life. She could disappear /between/
and never return.

Isele grabbed Kamalia's free hand and squeezed. "We'll make it," she
said confidently, putting her own helmet on. She was the daughter of
dragonriders and had the advantage of having gone /between/ many
times. She knew exactly what to expect.

Kamalia just nodded, giving a tight smile. Both greenriders mounted
their dragons, awaiting instructions from the Weyrlingmaster Third.

** Tell them to take a triangular position behind you and half
dragonlengths lower than your flight altitude,** E'naer told
Eillispeth, who relayed the order to the young dragonets. They both
turned their heads to watch how the get off the ground and into the
air.

If Kamalia was worried about jumping /between/, she had nothing on
V'leal, the blue Weyrling was still not sure he liked the whole height
thing, nevermind 'the next step' as it were. }:You trust me though,
don't you:{ Osvoreuth commented plaintatively, he unlike V'leal, was
eager... he was bored of what they'd learnt already... he wanted to
get to the 'fun stuff'.

** Just... behave ** scared as he was, V'leal knew he couldn't let
Osvoreuth get ahead of himself, ** lets just get into position and
wait **. The instruction was met with a rumble of impatience, but
Osvoreuth went with it, launching skyward to move into position and
then holding it there. He wanted to go -now-, but he didn't want to
get lost /between/ anymore than V'leal.

**Let's go.** Alaudath easily took off and Kamalia could not help but
smile at the feeling of flying. Even after sevendays of it, it was
exhilarating. She hoped it would always feel like this.

}:We are in place:{ Alaudath told her.

Isele and Eloreth moved into position next to her friend, the
greenrider keeping her attention on the Weyrlingmaster Third above and
ahead of them.

Eillispeth turned around, so she was facing the trio. They were close
enought so E'naer could yell at them. "You'll go one at the time.
Osvoreuth first, then Alaudath and Eloreth is last. You make a short
hop in /between/, from this end of the plateau to the other side.
Eillispeth will be in contact with your dragon whole time. Please,
don't forget to have your dragon's send the visualization to
Eillispeth to be checked, before you give the permission to jump
/between/. Remember to held the image in your mind during the whole
jump."

"Why had they had to be first? It was enough to set V'leal's heart
fluttering as he heard E'near make the announcement, his hands hadn't
been shaking before - unlike the first few flights they'd taken - but
as it became obvious to V'leal it was really the time he'd been
dreading, they started to quiver on the riding straps.

}:We have to do it sometime:{ A reasonable statement although it
didn't reassure V'leal much. }:Waiting will only give you more time to
worry:{ Osvoreuth was used to his rider's nerves, he didn't always
know what to say though, in this instance he'd apparently found
something that worked, as V'leal nodded without answering, picturing
the other end of the plateau firmly in his mind - a little higher then
perhaps needed, but V'leal remembered the story about the weyrlings in
the rock all to well.

Passing the visualisation to Eillispeth, and getting the all clear,
they went - V'leal unconciously holding his breath the whole trip,
panic creeping in only to disappear in a wave of relief the second
they arrived at the other edge of the plateau. It was done.

E'naer realized he had been holding his breath too only when he let it
out in one deep sigh when Osvoreuth reappeared.

Kamalia was relieved she did not need to go first, and elated when
V'leal blinked in and out of /between/ without mishaps. Now it was
her turn.

}:We are ready:{ Alaudath said calmly.

The weyrling took a deep breath and let it out. She created the
visualization, including as much detail as she could, then had it
checked by E'naer and Ellispeth.

}:It is good. We may go.:{ Excitement tinged the green's voice.

**All right.** Another deep breath and she gave the order for
Alaudath to go /between/. Darkness. Cold. Kamalia held on
desperately to the visualization, too afraid to count the seconds. If
they didn't make it, it wouldn't matter if she counted or not. Then,
they were out, exactly where they were supposed to me. Kamalia
grinned. **We did it!.**

Isele held in a whoop of delight as her friend made it. She had been
more concerned for Kamalia than herself. Understanding /between/ was
more difficult for the holdbred. Isele had no fear of it. She had
been practicing visualizations with her parents even before she had
Impressed. However, it did not hurt to be careful. She held this
visualization in her mind for several seconds before sharing it with
Eloreth and then the Weyrlingmaster Third.

**Let's go.** /Between/ was the same as always, but this time it felt
different. This time, she and Eloreth controlled exactly where they
went. She counted to eight and they came back out into the sunlight
on the other side of the plateau. They were really dragonriders now.

Eillispeth joined them in a flash. "Congratulations! You are now
officially senior weyrlings! Now, the next practice is a bit longer
jump..."

Last updated on the July 26th 2009

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First Trips /Between/