Lesson Six: Joust That Simple (Alpha Winglets!)

[zeis]

Alphas! I hope you've had breakfast, because you have some hard work ahead of you. Report to the stables in harness! Canph's mental voice called out through the cool morning air, soundless until it touched the minds of his students. There was no sight of the red however, until the students actually reached the sprawling fenced in paddock where the horses and other animals were kept. There the two Wingletmaster's stood, K'huna astride Canph's back, and the red this time in the type of harness usually worn into battle under favorable conditions. The red-rider looked similarly ready to fight, with a glaive clutched loosely in one hand. A number of similar spears were attached securely and safely to the riding gear.

What was more curious, were the targets set up inside and outside the paddock. There were a number of them, widely spaced and variable. The dummies and targets each held some clear brightly colored 'target spot' usually in the form of a pumpkin or squash. A small few were rudimentary figures that were little more than scarecrows of hay and tattered clothes with pumpkin and squash heads and chests. Some wit had drawn comical looking angry faces on these, a fact which did not please K'huna. They weren't supposed to represent people, as it wasn't people they were really destined to fight, but Koxi. Regardless, they'd prove adequate targets to hit. Lined up in racks along the paddock fence were a number of wooden spears and glaives, of various weights and lengths all with blunted points and 'blades'.

K'huna looked over the Winglet's to make sure all of them were a save distance away, and hurled the glaive at the grass off to Canph's side. The long hafted weapon buried itself in the dirt, and remained standing, quivering slightly as the Wingletmaster clambered down from his perch. He began speaking even as he was climbing. "Starting today, we're going to start doing mounted glaive and spear training. Today, I want you to practice on your simourv, but you're going to be expert spearmen on horseback too, by the time I'm through with you."

He leapt from Canph's leg and landed nimbly, his boots crunching grit and grass beneath them. The man straightened, and yanked his resting spear from the earth. That done, he narrowed his eyes slightly to look over his students, particularly the simourv. They were seven and a half months old now,, and even if they weren't fully developed, Gray Laraph was easily over ten feet tall, and rainbow Weirph as big as most horses. They could handle this. He furrowed his brow, and continued. "This will be your first combat experience on a simourv, but you're all skilled riders now, so I expect you to be working together as partners just like you did during the riding lessons. If you trust each other, and keep in open contact you'll have better accuracy, and less of a chance of getting in eachother's way."

"Now, you'll be clumsy with these weapons at first, so watch what you're doing with them. Pick one that feels right." K'huna offered a bit dryly, as he watched the awkward clattering of students selecting their weapons. Most of which, he knew, had not used a weapon like this before in their lives. This was going to be entertaining. K'huna shook his head, and hefted the glaive. "Alright, hold the spear in whatever hand you're strongest with, and repeat after me."

He launched into a series of spear and glaive drills, showing off a variety of movement patterns, thrusts, parries, and chopping maneuvers. Then one the basics had been explained, he mounted up and instructed the Winglets to do the same. He saw his warning to be mindful of the glaives go immediately unheeded as one Winglet in particular, K'ii, accidentally cracked his green across the shoulder while climbing into position. Akaturiaph screeched and swiveled her head to snap at him irately. K'huna took a moment to scold him with an unamused looking expression before continuing. He them how to use their leading hand for power, and how to balance the weapon while still maintaining a grip on the harness if necessary. He repeated each maneuver at least once as the new Winglet's got used to handling the bulky weapons.

"Next to the bow and arrow, these are some of our most valuable weapons against Xymokoxi while riding." He leaned back from where he sat in Canph's feathers, and looked over his own glaive fondly. The weapon's haft was well worn with use, but the blade was as sharp as ever. "The beasts will be watching your simourv, not you. If you pay attention, you can strike weak points in its armor, and if your lucky, even put out one of its eyes." His yellow eyes slid from the gleaming blade to the assembled mounted spearmen, and he offered a slightly grim smile. "A strike like that can turn the tide in battle, it's important you learn accuracy and percison."

It's the least you can do. We get all the hard work. Canph mused publicly, fanning his wings behind him with a mock indignant little chirp. His rider grinned and swung the glaive out and used the long weapon to point at the provided makeshift targets. "Try out what you just learned on those. First at a trot, then try a charge. Aim for the weak points. Keep your strikes tight and under control."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Watch what you're doing. Akaturiaph demanded, stalking irritably toward one of the furthest targets on the training ground. She hadn't been in that foul of a mood when she had arrived with her rider, but the boy accidentally hitting her with the wooden weapon had darkened her mood. All the same, she enjoyed the feeling of his weight on her shoulders, and the idea of carrying him so close. It made protecting him and keeping an eye on him a lot easier. She was pleased that he enjoyed their time spent riding together too. That was as it should be, in her mind.

Sorry, Aka. K'ii thought apologetically, though he couldn't keep the small smile that tugged at his lips at bay. He urged her both with thoughts and cues from his body further toward the scarecrow, and she complied without hesitation. Their minds were close after all, it was easy to see his goals and match them with her own as scant seconds passed. Even if she wasn't looking forward to the idea of working so closely with her siblings and their riders, she felt a sense of pride and superiority at the looming future. K'ii may be a little clumsy now, but she would whip him into shape. And they would surely be the most capable green pair of the Alpha class, if not the eyrie.

This bright future became a little more dim when K'ii took an inexpert practice swipe at the dummy as they trotted by and succeeded only in knocking off the tattered hat that someone had set on it's pumpkin head. No damage to their intended target at all. They needed a lot of work. Damnit.

[Kat]

While Ri’ley had never gotten beyond being decent enough at horseback riding, in the month since he had started riding Dionyph, he had found that he was quite skilled at the activity. He practiced almost obsessively, so that he could move with the grace of the older riders while on simourv-back, and the time he had when he was not working at the infirmary and when he was not in class, was spent riding Dionyph. A large part of Ri’ley’s motivation, beyond his usual desire to excel, was fear, the fear that if he did not become proficient, he would fall off of Dionyph, as I’dou had fallen off of Laraph, and Ri’ley was determined to reduce his own risk as much as possible. The memories of the night of I’dou’s accident were emblazoned in his own mind, a staunch reminder of the pain the girl had suffered, and more frightening to Ri’ley then his own pain, the realization that any injury to him reflected in the psyche of his simourv partner. Ri’ley never wanted to place Dionyph in a position where the black was in pair. Ri’ley loved Dionyph more than he had ever loved anything in his life. Even with the practice, Ri’ley was not the best rider in the group of winglets. The winglets who entered the situation knowing to ride horseback had a constant and great advantage, and because of his awkwardly large and ill proportioned form, Ri’ley’s center of gravity was fragile and difficult to maintain, but he was not a bad rider, now, and he was proficient enough to look as graceful as he could manage on top of Dionyph’s sleek back. He was, at least, a much better simourv rider than a horse rider.

And in many ways, riding Dionyph was easier than riding a horse. While horses were smaller than the black giant, they were uncontrollable. Ri’ley and Dionyph were intimately connected. They knew what the other wanted to do and what the other was doing, and they acted accordingly in all situations. They moved together, because they were so in synch with each other that each movement was together, complete, instead of reactionary, like the movements of a horse and rider. Ri’ley was excited to show off his improvement, and today had already been a successful day, as Dionyph had fed himself, slaughtering two goats from the pen to eat. Ri’ley had ground up Chydyn nuts for the mash, checking the nuts casually for signs of any intestinal worms, and Dionyph now was well-fed and happy. The pair sauntered over to the group of other winglets, and both of them were ready to show off for the rest of the class. Ri’ley wanted everyone to see his improvement, especially since his first few attempts were less than ideal. When K’huna explained what they were going to have to do, however, Ri’ley paled, and his feelings changed enough that Dionyph cast Ri’ley a worried look from his large, pale eyes and nudged Ri’ley with comfort in his mind.

Ri’ley had already proven that he struggled with weapons. He found them awkward and too large, and he did not want to have to handle the difficulty. His balance was precarious even when he was not holding anything, and asking the man to hold the lance while riding Dionyph—why, it seemed impossible. All of Ri’ley’s confidence paled away, and he became sad and listless. Dionyph shook his head, and then he pressed his beak into Ri’ley’s back. The man was being terribly overdramatic. Intently, Ri’ley wanted K’huna perform the tasks. He did not want to miss a second of the instruction. The world was much too dangerous to not pay attention, as was this task. Ri’ley grabbed a glaive. He held it awkwardly at first, trying to discern its balance, its weight. Then, Dionyph, without a word, bent down, crouched, and Ri’ley grabbed, with one hand on the glaive, the straps on Dionyph’s back. He hoisted himself into the position on Dionyph’s shoulders that was now familiar, and then he grabbed the glaive in the way K’huna had shown. It was heavy and difficult. Ri’ley snorted, and then he sighed, and Dionyh lifted himself a bit, unseating Ri’ley, who had to grab on to avoid tumbling out of his seat. Dionyph was ready, and even though Ri’ley was not, the pair would perform and prosper. The simourv knew that.

[Bre]

But it could be so simple . . .

M'rion and Romaph were not early. As the green grew, it only got more difficult to wrestle her into her harness as she shifted and pranced from foot to foot. They were only just in time to slip in with the last stragglers and listen to K'huna's short lecture. Neither of them had enjoyed a good breakfast either. M'rion had gobbled some cold mush and Romaph had snapped up her food, but it hardly felt like breakfast to either of them. It was beginning to feel like a listless, monotonous day to them when K'huna announced what they were covering. M'rion perked up and Romaph followed her lead. The young greenrider had never learned to handle a glaive, though she'd done a bit with a spear. However, she was eager to learn and she stepped forward without hesitation. Riding Romaph was hard. Handling a weapon was easy by comparison.

With a deep breath of preparation, M'rion hefted a glaive, only to drop it back into the pile after only a second. She selected a spear and then dropped that as well. Finally, she tried another glaive and the weight balanced in her hands in a way that she could control, muscles picking up and memorizing how she needed to hold it to be able to shift it at its balance points. She turned and backed up a few steps, preparing to follow K'huna. She moved slowly at first, but she soon gained confidence. Romaph watched quietly, fascinated with the movements of the winglets and especially those of K'huna. She liked the way that the spears thrust through the air and the glaives swung in blurs when their handler moved swift enough. By the time M'rion mounted Romaph to run through the exercises again, she was moving swiftly, focused and sharp.

Dismissed, Romaph turned to the targets and M'rion straightened up, no thoughts to K'huna's mention of bows, focused purely on the weight of the glaive balanced between her hands. She no longer felt out of place on her simourv's back, though she was still occasionally unseated, and a beautiful, graceful weapon just settled the knowledge of what she was becoming into the last corners of her mind. She was future rider! Hear her roar! With a trill of joy and adrenaline, Romaph trotted towards one of the targets at full speed, slipping effortlessly around it. M'rion didn't find it as easy to balance, but her grip on the glaive adjusted easily and she lashed out at the target as they passed. The long blade of the weapon lodged itself in wood. Though it was no where close to the center, it was a start. M'rion grinned as Romaph pranced with glee.

The pair swung back around and M'rion yanked the glaive out of the target, muscles flexing. When Romaph wasn't moving, she shifted her balance with ease, deftly removing the weapon from wood. Her eyes glanced about her peers, grinning despite her limited success. She'd get better. Messenger to warrior, it would happen. A year and a half would be enough. "Ri'ley, you gotta balance the weapon too. Just like yourself. Can't just sit there holding it and looking pretty;" she called to the blackrider, flipping her own weapon with ease to demonstrate her point. Then Romaph went trotting off again and she had to focus on not being thrown off by the jolting movement. They made another pass at the target and she slammed the blade into wood again with a clean slice. A second try improved her accuracy and control a bit.

. . . you were thinking.