Trinity Winging High {Open to Trinity Wing}, Trinity Wing training thread

[Kestalì]

((First official training jaunt of Trinity Wing!

Alright! I said to expect to work hard and learn cool tricks, and that is exactly what we will be doing here. I'm no physics expert, but I've given this particular maneuver a good think-over and I believe it is very much possible. It started as one thing, but through consideration and talking with my dad (who, though also not an expert, is several decades wiser, has a great store of random bits of info and a great capacity for logical thinking), this is what the final form is. If you want a full explanation on my reasoning behind how/why this would work, ask; I won't bite, and I'll explain as best I can. Also if you have suggestions on how to modify it to work even better, or a solid reasoning why it or a component isn't feasible, please do speak up, either OOC or through your character IC ^ ^

And now, let the training commence!))


K'vyn lead his Wing away from the Weyr, out over the open ocean and high into the sky, higher than most usually ventured. As the air grew thinner, the Brownrider kept a careful eye on his men, relying on Alamanth to alert him when the dragons were having trouble. This was among the very first new training exercise he'd established upon inheriting Trinity. Height was often power, he felt; it increased safety when training due to more time to catch someone, gave them room to maneuver freely, and removed all distractions. He'd also noticed that the more time he spent up here, the easier it became to breath, and that just couldn't be a bad thing - especially when one was bonded to and rode a large flying creature.

When he judged breathing to be becoming slightly laborious for most, he called a halt.

~Hover,~ Al instructed the dragons without his rider's prompting. It was one of the tricks he and Kas had worked out months ago; it proved to be a very difficult for Browns and bigger Blues, but His insisted they all keep trying, and though the larger dragons would probably always have issues with it he kept them at it. He'd only introduced it about a sevenday ago, after all, and after the first day they'd straight-trained it (leading to many aching wings and long soaks and oilings) he'd integrated it into their regular routine, and nowadays had them practice hovering while he explained the day's plans, though they were of course allowed to take a break and circle for a short time if needed.

"Alright," he called, pitching his voice above the constant wind of their current altitude. Al repeated his rider's words mentally to those too far to hear easily. "We're going to try something new today. Everyone partner up in threes." Once everyone was divided (pretty much just splitting the Wing in half), he continued. "This is going to be tricky. Sometimes you'll have cause to separate from your dragon, most likely because you'd just be in the way in a fight but in other cases as well. In such a case, just jumping off probably won't be enough. So we're going to practice having your dragons throw you, instead, and in different directions. Your partners will act in stages: One will break your fall, and then the other will actually catch you. If the catcher is a small dragon, they'll then drop you back to the first pair, who will come up underneath them."

He paused, studying his Wing while gathering his thoughts. After a few moments, he beckoned to Rosaryn and Nalunath and his Wingsecond. "Ros, M'del and I and our dragons will show you a few times, and then I'll be on call to help - and to catch anyone who misses their mark, so you don't have to worry about directing an anxious dragon. Both Rosaryn and Wingsecond M'del have experience with this maneuver, as you will see, so don't forget seek them for help as well." The Brownrider nodded to his sister and Second, unstrapping himself from Alamanth's harness while the Brown provided running commentary to the Wing's dragons on what was happening and why (the details supplied by K'vyn himself and Nalunath, naturally).

"Watch carefully," the Wingleader ordered, and then half-slid, half-climbed down his dragon's back, moving carefully but swiftly while the Brown broke his attempts at hovering and began a wide circle. The spinal ridges became foot- and handholds, the rider careful to keep his harness and belt equipment from catching the hide beneath him. Once the spines ended, he straddled the tail and let himself slide towards the tip.

The tail, unsupported this far out from the body, bowed under the man's weight. Just before it would buckle and droop away completely, in one mentally coordinated movement K'vyn grabbed hold with his hands and somersaulted, and at the same time Alamanth gave one great wingbeat and whipped his tail to the side, throwing his rider in the direction M'del and Isith waited.

If the Brownpair performed as had been practiced, Isith would raise his tail and then drop it just as K'vyn - who'd twisted midair to face them in an upright posture with arms and legs spread in the classic air-breaking pose of freefall - passed by, keeping the tail limp so it would move with the impact and aiming it to connect with the human's stomach. This was so K'vyn - who would tense his abdominal muscles, obviously - wouldn't hit too hard, while still significantly slowing him down.

Rosaryn would momentarily be in a position for White Nalunath to then catch him in her forepaws. As it would happen in a real battle, they'd moved only when Alamanth 'warned' them of the impending maneuver, and were racing into place. In this case, because Luna - and other small dragons - wouldn't be able to carry both her Rider and K'vyn at the same time, she would then drop him again to the Wingsecond, who would, if they followed the drill correctly, have already swooped down to hover briefly just below the petite White, and be ready to catch the Wingleader either in his own forepaws or directly on his back.

If anyone missed him, Alamanth would calmly dive after him and K'vyn would simply freefall until he was caught.

When he'd originally had this idea, he'd immediately called Ros and especially Nalunath over to discuss it, shooting off question after question at the unusually intelligent dragoness until they'd agreed on the most feasible and safest way to go about it. Then he'd summoned M'del, and after explaining what they were doing immediately took the other two Riders and began the test-runs. There had been many tweaks and mistakes over the past sevenday and a half, and he'd collected a multitude of bruises; he'd not allowed the others to be caught until he was sure they had it right, not wanting to risk anyone else being injured - possibly severely - if something went wrong. Luckily nothing had. They'd also practiced what to do if a dragon missed their mark, so their Bonded wouldn't panic.

Even how his body still protested the battering it'd endured every day between then and now, but the past couple days they'd run the maneuver smoothly and without a hitch, each dragon and rider taking a turn in every role with the pairs sharing notes and tips on what to do in each part. Now, K'vyn had the utmost faith in both his Wingsecond and his heart's sister that this time would be no different, despite their no-doubt rapt audience.

This, this was what made being Wingleader worthwhile. Every new trick he taught Trinity might be one more life saved in the next battle. That one fact made every welt and weal and aching rib worth it.

If he could save just one life, he'd done his job.

Because his was a job that could make or break lives.

[Meesh]

(Posts here from your new Wingsecond! M'del of Brown Isith! ^^)

M'del sat silently on his dragon's back as the two listened to the lecture they had heard K'vyn practicing for the past sevenday. The lecture had improved considerably since it's first attempt, and the man hid a smile of approval.

At the wingleader's 'warning', M'del gave a nod to Isith, who immediately folded in his huge brown wings, diving in to catch up with the freefalling Wingleader. M'del thought with an amused chuckle of practices when the two had overshot their wingleader, not being able to stop until they were too far away to be of any use. M'del also remembered with a chuckle the times he and Isith had practiced the fall themselves. A maneuver that was quickly abandoned when they realized the small white was much to small to catch the large Brownrider. If he ever attempted the move in battle, it would be another brown, or perhaps a blue breaking his fall.

But not wasn't the time to reminisce. Now was the time for saving their wingleader from becoming a pancake. Isith dived so he was level with K'vyn, swinging his tail so it lay directly below the falling rider then immediately letting it go limp. M'del and Isith barely paused to let K'vyn let go of the tail and continue falling towards the White before they were diving again, ready to catch the rider once more.

(Shrimpy post, so sorry It'll get better, I promise!)