Maybe This Time [Possible M]

[DragonSong]

She felt him tense even before she turned her head to look at him. It was impossible not to, really, when someone was sitting on her back. Eyes a little wider than normal, she watched in silence as he closed his eyes and seemed to be focusing on his breathing.

Unsure what she could-- or should-- do, Azalea just looked at him for several long moments. Then, cautiously, she let out a chilly breath and craned her neck back to press her muzzle into his shoulder, as she'd seen other dragons do with their partners. It seemed to be some sort of gesture of comfort.

"Right." She pulled her head back and nodded at him firmly. "Together."

Taking a quick, sharp breath of her own, she swung her head back around and began making her way around the commander's quarters toward the main yard, trying to keep her gait as smooth as possible. 

[Paladienne]

Daxten concentrated on breathing and learning how to move his body with Azalea's movements. It really was like riding a horse when she walked. He only had to shift his hips in time with the movement of her shoulders and he was able to keep his seat. He was certain when they finally flew it would be much different, but then, he doubted that he would be riding bareback while they were in the air. As much as he had a deathwish sometimes, Daxten didn't want to become a red smear on the earth because he felt he could hold onto her while she did some crazy maneuver in the sky.

When they reached the main yard, he stiffened as the gazes of every person and dragon there turned to the newcomers. He felt as if he were being sized up and his measure taken. Some gazes spoke of seeing potential in him and Azalea; others spoke of utter disgust and failure. Some were neutral, uncertain or uncaring. Daxten fought not to stare back at those who seemed to disregard him and Azalea, but he felt a strange ember ignite in his chest in response to those who had decided he and she had already failed and weren't worth their time. Well, he was going to prove them wrong. She was going to prove them wrong.

They both were going to prove them wrong.

Daxten shifted his seat on Azalea's back and ran his hand down her neck, feeling the smooth scales against his skin. "What first, Azalea?" he asked at last, knowing he didn't have to shout for her to hear him. "You know this better than I do."

[DragonSong]

Well, he might have a point there, but just barely. Azalea had certainly been through her fair share of initial awkwardness with new partners, but she was by no means "clued in" on what exactly they would be facing in terms of their first training session. That tended to vary from partner to partner, in her experience.

But she had the distinct feeling that saying that wasn't really going to be helpful for either of them, so she cleared her throat and arched her neck, trying to look more confidant than she felt.

"It's just about midday, which means Lieutenant Ambrose is the one on duty," she murmured, and nodded toward the east end of the training yard where a cluster of three other young dragons and their partners seemed to be gather. "There? Probably?"

[Paladienne]

Daxten looked toward where Azalea had indicated and tensed upon her back once he saw the other six trainees. It took effort for him to relax, but even then, he felt nervous, as if everyone's eyes were on him and expecting him to fail. Or, worse, had already written him off as a failure. But he squared his shoulders and sat straighter upon Azalea's back, and did his best to school his face into a stoic yet determined mask.

"Yeah, there, probably."

'More than likely' more so than 'probably', Daxten decided. He had no idea what he was doing, really, and Azalea had already been through this a few times before. She might be as much of a novice as he was. But he didn't say that, nor did he mention those were his feelings. He trusted Azalea, and he trusted her judgement over his own.

"If they're learning, like we are," he said softly, "then I guess that's where we ought to be, too. We're starting from the ground up, right? So..." His shoulders lifted and fell.

He didn't see any instructor there, though, so he wondered if maybe the instructor hadn't arrived yet, or if they were to be left to their own devices. He hoped it wasn't the latter. If it was, then he'd be an incredible embarrassment, not just to himself but to Azalea as well.

[DragonSong]

"Right."

Interacting with more recruits. New recruits, likely, who'd been here half as long as she had and were already more advanced in their training. Wonderful.

With a muffled sigh, the dragoness did her best to move forward toward the group without "creeping" or otherwise embarrassing herself.

The trainees had been chatting, but as the new pair moved toward them they grew quiet, looking around curiously. Azalea did her best not to appear intimidated-- they were just curious, after all, no harm in that. She tried to keep her head high, resisting the urge to shrink away from their eyes.

[Paladienne]

Daxten was used to being stared at. He'd been stared at during his time as a trainee, stared at during his time as an actual soldier, and stared at as a... He shivered and forced his mind away from those thoughts. He reached to run his hand down Azalea's neck, hoping it would calm her somewhat. It didn't matter what others thought of them anyway. It only mattered what they thought of themselves and each other.

"Confidence," Daxten muttered under his breath. "Confidence. Believe in yourself. Believe you can be on the same level as they and that they are your equals, not your superiors or inferiors. Show respect where it's due, and expect the same."

He patted her scales, drawing in another breath. "Besides, if they look down on you, Azalea, I'll punch them in the face, how does that sound?"

[DragonSong]

Quite despite herself, Azalea chuckled at that, breath ghosting out of her in a puff of frost.

The other trainees' attention snapped to them at that, not even pretending to be subtle about it anymore. Azalea quickly ducked her head, cursing herself mentally.

"So. You're new recruits?" one of the trainees, a young woman with short-cropped, dusty blonde hair suddenly spoke up, giving them a friendly smile from the back of her green and black dragon.

Though it was clear she was only trying to be welcoming, the words stung. New recruit. As though they both hadn't been through at least twice the training as the rest of them. The dragoness didn't say anything though, keeping her head lowered. It wasn't uncommon for dragons to not be particularly chatty, after all.

[Paladienne]

Daxten tensed under the gazes of the other recruits, but he was used to this. He was used to being stared at, being judged, being thought of as incompetent and less because of his inexperience. When it came to actually riding and training with a dragon, he was a complete novice. But when it came to fighting, to being confronted with a battle, Daxten could handle himself. Mostly.

"Yeah, that's us," he called back, giving the young woman a two-fingered salute. He looked up at Azalea. "The new recruits. As fresh as fresh can be. What about you? How long have you been here?"

Realizing that Azalea was feeling dejected, he reached forward and patted her neck, running his fingers over her scales. "Don't worry about them," he whispered, for Azalea's ears only. "You know more than they do. The trick is to show off without seeming like you're showing off. You can do this."

Returning his attention to the recruits, Daxten offered a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm Daxten, and this is Azalea. Nice to meet you."

[DragonSong]

Azalea had to stop herself from starting under Daxten's touch, unused to it. None of her previous partners her been quite so physically connected in their work with her-- perhaps because they felt it might be disrespectful, or perhaps because they simply didn't care, she never knew. It was surprising.

It was nice.

"I'm Ellia," the girl who'd spoken replied first. She patted her dragon partner's neck. "This is Blackthorne."

"Vardic," another trainee added, still looking Azalea and Daxten over calculatingly. "And this here is Liora." He nodded down to his dragon, the only other female of the group, but even still clearly a larger specimen than Azalea. The teal dragoness dipped her head to them politely, but did not speak.

To Azalea's moderate surprise, of the last pair it was the dragon who actually spoke up. "I am called Fareth," he rumbled, blinking bright silver eyes at them laconically. "My rider is Ivan."

Ivan nodded to them, silent.

"You guys are a bit late," Ellia noted with a friendly but puzzled smile. "I didn't even know we had another dragon and rider pair training with us until this morning."

Azalea kept her peace, but she glanced back over her shoulder at Dax, giving a soft rumble in her throat that was low enough it was almost impossible to hear, but he would doubtless feel the vibration through her body. She was willing to follow his lead on this, however he decided to handle the situation.

[Paladienne]

Daxten shrugged. "Yeah, well, we kind of just met this morning, too. Something about late bloomers. Nothing better than learning on the job, I guess, so here we are. I think we get along pretty well for only having known each other for a handful of hours, huh?" He gave Azalea a grin and a wink. It was as if his attitude had taken a turn for the better, but really, it was just a smoke-screen. He was good at pretending. He'd gotten good at pretending. Besides that, he might as well be friendly to the others. These were to be his new comrades. It wouldn't do to alienate them before he even really got a chance to know them. He turned his attention back to Ellia. "Besides, better late than never, right?"

He studied each of the other trainees and their dragons, getting a feel for who they were just based on the way they reacted to him and Azalea and the way they reacted to each other. They were all new, all green, all lacking experience. That was where he and Azalea would excel; she had the experience with this training from all her times before and he had the experience of combat, of following orders, of surviving. Beyond that, they would all be on the same page, on the same level, and some would be better than others. But they all would learn, and they would learn at their own pace.
"It's nice to meet you," Daxten said at last. "All of you. I guess we'll be working together from now on."

[DragonSong]

"Yeah, seems so."

Apparently Ellia was the most talkative of the group, as none of the others really seemed inclined to comment beyond that. Azalea shifted her stance a bit, trying not to knead at the ground as her nerves started to catch up with her.

She couldn't deny that Daxten's sudden shift in attitude surprised her a little, maybe even put her on edge for a moment. His voice was even enough, but she could feel the tension he still carried in his body, and she could recognize the front for what it was. But what could she do, call him out on it? Not only did that seem rather rude, but she wasn't even sure that addressing it would be helpful.

Later. She'd think about it later.

Silence lulled among the recruits, stretching just into the territory of "awkward". Dragons and riders shifted, looking around, but before any of them could speak, a voice suddenly cracked out over the yard:

"Look sharp, cadets!"

The three other pairs snapped to attention, dragons arching their necks and pulling their wings in tight to their sides, riders clasping their hands behind their backs as they straightened their shoulders. Azalea quickly mimicked the dragons' pose and drew her front legs together, forcing her talons not to scour into the earth.

Lieutenant Ambrose strode out from the captains' quarters with one eyebrow raised dangerously, looking them over. Oh boy.

[Paladienne]

Daxten watched as Lieutenant Ambrose strode toward them. He'd never met the Lieutenant before, and so he didn't know what to expect. Judging by the faces of the other cadets and their dragons, the Lieutenant was not someone to mess with. Daxten assumed the same pose as the other humans, feeling Azalea move to do the same as the dragons had. The position felt awkward for Daxten, who was used to standing at attention in a different way, but he knew this was something he would have to get used to.

Really, though, he knew nothing would be that much different. The core training that he'd gone through before could easily be translated over to this one. The only difference would be learning to do it with Azalea, and she with him. Of course, she had more experience, considering this wasn't her first go-around, and she could easily coach him on what he needed to know. And, if anything, the two of them could practice together outside of the training ground. Daxten wasn't about to let her fail, and he wasn't about to let himself fail.

A faint part of him realized that he was going to have to eventually explain to Azalea why his face and voice said one thing and his body said another. But those memories were still too painful to bring up, and he didn't feel like he was strong enough yet to confront those horrors without devolving into some inhuman mess of... whatever it was he became. He dug his fingers into his clenched hands and focused on the pain of his nails creating crescents in his flesh and stared straight ahead.

[DragonSong]

Azalea could sense his tension, and it seemed...different from previous partners she'd had. Not just the general nervousness of a cadet meeting their superior officer, this was...something else. Something she'd sensed in him before, but had been unable to pinpoint.

And it didn't seem like she'd really have the opportunity to think about it, at least not anytime soon. Ambrose approached the trainees and strode in between them all, looking them over with a well-practiced eyes. He lingered on Azalea and Daxten for a moment, and the dragoness tried not to wilt under his gaze. She'd worked under Ambrose before, and she knew he didn't think all that highly of her-- or rather her inability to keep a partner.

"At ease."

Dragons and riders relaxed slightly, allowing the tension in their spines to curve forward a bit. The Lieutenant looked them over again. "We'll start with basic drills. In the air in ten, cadets."

Azalea huffed rearing her neck back in surprise. She wasn't wearing a saddle. Did he really expect Daxten to fly her bareback?

[Paladienne]

Daxten stared straight ahead even as his body tensed in ways he was unfamiliar with. The words spoken by Ambrose rang in his ears with a life all their own, and he felt utterly terrified and powerless. Ironically, his thoughts were identical to Azalea's: was he supposed to fly without a saddle? He'd only met her today, and they hadn't had time to go through the motions of getting a saddle that fit both of them, or anything else for that matter. They were woefully underprepared compared to the other cadets.

But Daxten knew better than to question his commanding officer. An order was an order, and it was meant to be followed, not questioned. But he wanted to ask Lieutenant Ambrose why he was starting them with flying drills when Daxten would easily fall to his death, seeing as he had no way of keeping himself on Azalea's back. Yet, he knew the answer. He should have prepared himself instead of doing whatever it was he'd been doing. And Azalea probably would be blamed as well, seeing as she wasn't prepared either. Daxten bit his tongue to keep from saying anything and risking getting both him and Azalea in trouble.

Besides, there was a time limit for them to get prepared, if they could do it in time.

He looked at Azalea. "We have ten minutes to figure something out. We need to find some rope. We don't have time to hunt for a saddle and get it on you, so rope is going to be the next best thing. I know your scales will eventually fray the rope, but for today, it should serve us well."

Daxten shifted, looking around their immediate area for something that might work. He didn't care about looking pretty. He didn't care about looking professional in this moment. He'd already learned that war was a messy affair and no one had the luxury of looking prime and pristine in the moment battle was joined. He'd already learned that war wasn't fought to win, although it was one of the ideas that drove it, but that war was fought to survive. And if Daxten was anything, it was a survivor.

"We won't fail, Azalea, not this time." Daxten said, his voice rough with emotion he was struggling to hold back. "I won't let you fail, I promised you, remember?"

[DragonSong]

The dragoness let out a slow, shuddering sigh. She tilted her head around to look at him, then nodded slowly. "Right. Okay."

Rope. Rope was a good idea.

She shifted, glancing around the courtyard. "Okay, um... Maybe by the supply shed?" She jerked her head to indicate the direction of the shed.

Internally her mind raced, trying to figure out the safest way she could go about this. Perhaps a makeshift harness for both her and Daxten? If they only tied the rope around his waist and her neck-- or one or the other-- they were liable to hurt themselves if he fell-- possibly cause a crash landing.

[Paladienne]

Daxten leaped from Azalea's back then, landing easily and lightly on his feet, as if he'd jumped from dragon-back dozens of times before. He raced to the shed, barely breathing hard as he skidded to a stop in front of it and threw open the doors. He immediately began hunting for rope, shifting through other things as fast as he dared lest he hurt himself. In his head, he was cursing, because it would be his luck that the one thing he needed wasn't here.

"Ha!" Daxten barked out a laugh as he grabbed hold of a length of thick rope, and he pulled the coiled mass out of the jumble of stuff it was buried under. He hoped it would be long enough to form a safe enough harness for him and not choke Azalea to death.

He raced back to her, aware of all the eyes on him. He didn't let them bother him. He'd made Azalea a promise and he wasn't going to fail her. When he reached her, he threw the length of rope over her neck, allowing the two ends to dangle. Under her right wing first, he drew the rope and threw it up over her back. Then he dodged around her front, under her left wing, and did the same. Then he climbed back up onto her back, careful not to fall over the other side of her and to the ground. He grabbed both pieces of the rope and pulled them until there wasn't any slack, then crossed them one over the other as he wrapped them around his waist, until the left end of the rope and the right end of the rope had switched places. Then he quickly tied each end to the rope in front of him, forming a harness that would allow him to stay in place on her back and not get caught around her neck.

"There." Daxten said, panting. He looked at her, grinning. "Can you flap your wings? Does it hurt? Is it too tight? Do you think you can fly like this?"

[DragonSong]

Azalea found herself chuckling a bit at how pleased with himself her new partner looked. She rolled her shoulders, spreading her wings wide and giving a slow, experimental flap. She nodded, then crouched down so he could climb up onto her back again.

"Works for me. You shoulder tie it around your waist and over your shoulder, yeah? I mean, I'll do my best not to let you fall, but if you do I think that'll...make it hurt less." She winced a bit and gave him a sheepish sort of look.

But they didn't have much time to worry about, because then Ambrose was bellowing out, "Five more minutes, cadets, in the air!"

[Paladienne]

"I don't think I'll have much time worrying if it's going to hurt or not," Daxten replied dryly, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners as he gave her a sardonic smile. "I think I'd be too busy screaming and then," he clapped his hands together, "splat."

But Daxten did as Azalea suggested and tied the rope around his waist, securing himself into the harness that he'd created. He knew he would be at a disadvantage as far as maneuvers and such, but so long as they were able to complete the tasks set before them without embarrassing themselves or anyone else, then Daxten considered that a win. All he wanted was to prove to Ambrose that he and Azalea could do the things they set out to do, and to prove to everyone who would be watching that he wasn't as broken as he knew he was, that he could persevere even when the odds were against him, and that he could be what he was meant to be.

Whatever that was, because Daxten still wasn't sure of that himself. He knew what he had dreamed of being, what he'd intended to become, but he didn't know exactly what he was to become now. But he was determined to keep his promise to Azalea, no matter how difficult life became for him.

"Well," Daxten said, after he'd tested the ropes holding him to Azalea's back, "looks like we're set." He reached forward and placed his hand against he neck. "Shall we get into the air?"

[DragonSong]

The dragoness nodded sharply, amethyst eyes sparkling with a sudden burst of determination. "Ready," she muttered, watching as their fellow cadets took to the air, two already circling above them. "Hold on tight."

She crouched down, bunching her wings in close to her side, then sprang upward and snapped them open, scooping the air back and beneath her body to propel herself forward and up.

Takeoff from a standstill was not usually the most graceful of prospects, as dragons are hardly small creatures and getting all that bulk off the ground in one burst could be more than a little ungainly. However, where Azalea lagged behind most dragons in terms of sheer size and muscle, she more than made up for it in the agility and grace that her more whip-like frame afforded her. there was hardly a jerk as she got airborne, and she leveled out easily, spiraling up to match the height of the other cadets.

"Alright, start your drills. Three, two, one, begin!"

The dragons all banked at subtle direction from their riders. Luckily, Azalea knew the patterns of the drills and could fly them without cues, though she whispered back to Daxten as they flew: "A gentle tap just under my wing joint is the cue for me to bank in that direction."

She continued to murmur the proper cues back to her rider as they wove through the drills. While with dragons capable of speech it may seem redundant to have non-verbal communication, she'd been told time and again that dragons and riders should always be able to speak to each other with touch alone. Not only would it strengthen their bond, but if they were ever in a situation where sound was dangerous it might save their lives.

Of course, Daxten had never been given the basic training of a prospective dragonrider, so she did her best to relay the cues to him as she performed the set maneuvers through the air.

[Paladienne]

Daxten leaned low over Azalea's neck as she launched from a dead standstill toward the sky. He gripped tightly to both her and his rope harness, feeling his stomach drop down to his feet as gravity suddenly fought to keep him grounded, even as he defied it, courtesy of the dragon he was riding. He was surprised his internal organs didn't just come erupting out of his body, honestly. The dragon he'd ridden when they'd been rescued had been a mite bit bigger than Azalea, so he hadn't felt the pressure as much. Perhaps it depended upon the dragon? Or perhaps it depended upon the dragon's size. He didn't know and he didn't feel comfortable asking because he didn't want to upset Azalea.

The gusts from her wings buffeted him, but he found that he didn't lean from side to side with each flap of her wings. It was like the simultaneous motion created a pocket of space between her shoulders, allowing him to remain mostly still and only get eddies of the air she displaced with each stroke of her wings. He could feel the muscles of her wing-shoulders working, and it was the most fascinating experience Daxten could say he'd ever had. He focused on her left wing and then her right, watching how her scales flexed with each movement.

As soon as they were leveled off, Daxten sat upright and felt the wind hit him full in the face. He closed his eyes tight and leaned low again, finally able to open his eyes and breathe. He'd never had this problem before, but then, he also had never flown like this before, either. It was quite a bit to get used to, especially so quickly.

When the order came to begin the drills, Daxten paid focused attention to what Azalea called back to him. He breathed out and repeated what she said, reaching out to tap under her left wing, saying, "A tap under the wing joint, and you go that direction."

He continued to repeat her orders and the gestures that went with them, hoping he was performing them right. He didn't want to mess up and give her the wrong order, but he had always been a quick learner, and the more he did something the more ingrained it became in his mind. He hoped that Azalea was a patient sort - so far, she'd seemed to be - because he hadn't had the same training everyone else had had. Even her.

Daxten raised his eyes from Azalea's back to their fellow cadets, watching how synchronous they were with their dragons. That kind of seamlessness had come from months of training, if not years. But he wasn't the only one making mistakes in the drills. Sometimes the other dragons would turn left when their rider signaled to go right, or sometimes the rider would signal left when they meant right, and two pairs would very nearly collide with each other.

At the very least, Daxten thought, he hadn't yet run Azalea into anyone else during their maneuvers.