How To Train Your Rider
 

Ginna adjusted Dísa's saddle briefly. They were getting ready to go on another long flight, and she wanted to make sure her dragon was comfortable. As soon as her hands were off the saddle, Dísa nuzzled her, nearly knocking her over.

"Dís," Ginna protested, laughing, "quit it, we have to get going."

"You two aren't ready yet?" Anneke asked with a grin, walking ahead of Racer. He grumbled a little at her and perched back on his haunches, both sets of wings folded against his body for now, blue-gray scales gleaming. He didn't need a riding harness, but he did have a harness and a few bags in case they found anything interesting to bring back home.

"We're ready, relax," Ginna said, giving her dragon one last scratch. "Come on, let's go see what there is to see out there."

Anneke grinned and climbed quickly onto Racer, and he rumbled at Disa before he took off. He knew the smaller dragon could keep up, and would probably try and race ahead.

Indeed, as soon as Ginna was on and secure, Dísa took off and darted ahead of racer. Ginna laughed, enjoying the flight already.

Anneke laughed as Racer rose to the challenge, keeping up with the smaller dragon, both sets of wings working in tandem to give him more power. She balanced easily on his neck, whooping briefly.

Dísa sped up as well, Ginna crouching low in the harness to give the dragon better maneuverability. The competition between the dragons wasn't unusual at all, and it was something Ginna enjoyed.

Anneke grinned and let Racer set the pace, crouching low to let him go as fast as he wanted. The two were used to the races, and were usually pretty well matched. Anneke just loved the wind in her hair and watching the world roll by underneath.

The race ended in a draw, since neither dragon was trying all that hard to win, and Dísa settled into an easy pace to keep flying. They were headed out to the edges of the explored territory, and that was still a ways out. Ginna settled in for the long flight, already mapping out a few stops in her head.

After a bit, Anneke ended up walking around on Racer's back, looking out in every direction and keeping her eyes open for other dragons. Sometimes they were troublesome.

"Looks like there's a storm to the south," she called over to Ginna.

Ginna carefully stood up to get a look. Dísa was much smaller than Racer, and it was easier to get blown off.

"Looks nasty," she said, looking out at the storm. "Typhoon, you think? Hurricane?"

"Either a hurricane or a really nasty thunderstorm," Anneke said. "It's not an issue yet, but we don't want to get caught in that."

"Yeah, let's try to stay clear of that," Ginna said. She nudged Dísa's shoulder. "You hear that, sweets?"

Dísa chirped a bit in reply, adjusting course slightly.

Racer had already adjusted his course and flew steadily along, keeping track of where they were. Anneke kept an eye on the storm as they continued on their way.

They did set down for the night on a small island, though. They were skirting around the storm for most of the day, and it seemed far enough away for them to be able to land for the night. Ginna didn't take Dísa's harness off, however. Just in case.

Anneke got Racer to start a fire for them and settled down in front of it. He laid down behind her, shielding her from the wind, his head next to her so she could scratch.

Ginna and Dísa also settled in like that. Dísa curled her tail around Ginna protectively, her head settling down on Ginna's other side.

"Where to in the morning?" Ginna asked Anneke. "A little further east, you think?"

"I think so," Anneke agreed. "We haven't been too much farther east of here, after all, so it should be good to go explore that direction."

"Sounds good to me," Ginna replied, settling in against Dísa. She wasn't used to long-distance flying, not really, so she was tired.

Anneke settled in as well. Long-distance flying was a little easier for her, since she didn't have to rely on a harness, but it was still tiring. She yawned briefly and settled in when Racer rumbled at her.

Ginna was already dozing off against Dísa. She leaned back against the dragon, and Dísa draped a wing over her rider in turn. The two were obviously used to sleeping that way.

Anneke and Racer settled in for the night and slept easily that way. Racer woke her early in the morning when the wind started kicking up, the storm approaching quickly now. He crooned worriedly, shifting his weight.

Dísa woke up as well, sniffing the air. The wind was kicking up quickly, getting stronger by the moment. She nudged her rider worriedly, chirping a bit. Ginna sat up, rubbing a bit of grit out of her eyes.

"Oh that's not good," she said when she realized the storm was on top of them. She hastily grabbed for her things. "Anneke, we need to get out of here!"

"Already on it!" Anneke had all of her things gathered already and hopped up on Racer's neck. "Ready when you are!" Hopefully they'd have enough time to get in front of the storm and get somewhere with more cover.

Ginna quickly got up onto Dísa's back, and the dragon spread her wings. The winds were strong, though, and Dísa was getting blown around even as she tried to gain more altitude.

"We need to try to get ahead of this thing!" Ginna called to Anneke.