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Corey whistled quietly. "Wow. That's pretty impressive. Those things are pretty big."
He'd seen a few of them, once. They'd been farther south than normal, and he'd caught the pod swimming away. They weren't the biggest whales, but they were big enough to make him want to stay out of the waters near them. |
Ryan nodded.
"Yue is proud of herself for it," he said. "And she has a right to be. Normally it takes at least two dragons to take on a smaller whale like that." |
"I can imagine. They're not exactly small," Corey said, shaking his head a little. "Well, it sounds like we won't be lacking in entertainment up there, that's for sure."
He paused when he noticed everyone else starting to trickle out and go back to their eyries or find something else to do. He looked over at Ryan and quirked an eyebrow. "Feel up to a game of chess?" |
Ryan considered the request and shrugged.
"I'm not all that great at chess, but sure," he replied. He had nothing better to do for the evening. Faith, on the other hand, was already heading back to Lapis's eyrie to settle in for the night. She would be comfortable enough snuggled up to Lapis with a sleeping bag. |
Corey grinned and went to a common room area, setting up the chess board. "I'm not very good, and I haven't played in a while," he admitted. "But it can be kind of fun, you know?"
Xander moved into the hallway with her sleeping bag. It was much warmer than outside, especially closer to Vyren's eyrie. Over by Yue, it was colder, but oh well. She just slept pretty close to Vyren's eyrie. No big deal. Well. As long as Corey didn't trip over her in the middle of the night, or something. |
"Yeah," Ryan agreed. He sat down across from Corey and looked at the chessboard. He really wasn't good at chess, but he'd give it a shot.
Faith was already in with Lapis, half-asleep. |
The next morning, Xander got up earlier than she wanted to and headed over to check on Calypso. As soon as she was sure that her dragon was fine, she headed back to the weyr to see if Faith was ready to go yet.
Corey yawned and rolled over when Vyren tried getting him up. He'd been up late talking with Ryan and playing chess, and he did not want to move. So he groaned and pulled his arms over his head. |
Ryan was still sound asleep in Yue's eyrie. It was comfortably cool there, and he preferred that over staying inside.
Faith managed to drag herself awake, and was just finishing getting ready when Xander came in. "Morning," she greeted. |
"Morning," Xander greeted. "Did you want to get something to eat before we left? Or leave later, or something? Whenever is fine with me." She shrugged, looking breifly embarrassed as she realized she was being indecisive and kinda pushy.
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"Let's head out now," Faith said. "If we're able to get into the city, we can head to the Tea Shop and get some breakfast. If we're not able to get in, we can get breakfast when we get back." Either way, they wouldn't have to wait long for breakfast. "It's not that long of a flight to the city, but we have to walk the last half mile or so."
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Xander nodded. "Alright, that's fine with me." She glanced between Faith and Lapis. "Does she mind taking me too?" She was a bit nervous about that part. She'd never gotten that close to anyone else's dragon before.
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Lapis seemed slightly apprehensive.
I don't want Calypso to get mad at me for taking her rider, she murmured to Faith. It's okay, sweetheart, Faith reassured her. She'll talk to Calypso and make sure she doesn't get mad. Are you sure? I'm sure. Faith rubbed gently around one of Lapis's growing horns. Please? For me? Lapis considered for a moment, and then nuzzled Faith. For you, she said. Thanks, Faith replied. She looked at Xander. "It's alright, as long as you can convince Calypso not to be annoyed about you being on another dragon." |
Xander nodded. "Yeah, she's fine with it. She knows that she can't fly and that it would take a long time for the two of us to get over there. She said she'll even bring Lapis something pretty to make up for the inconvenience."
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Lapis brightened at the mention of something pretty. She liked that idea.
Faith climbed up onto Lapis's back, and then reached down for Xander. "Come on," she said. "Climb up and get comfortable." |
Xander hesitated for a moment before she took Faith's hand, pulling herself up. She blinked a few times.
"Well, this is different..." she mumbled, looking down at the ground. "And not wet. Which is good." |
"It's about to get better," Faith replied. She made sure that her glasses were secure. Once she was sure that her glasses wouldn't fly off and neither would Xander, she gave Lapis a bit of a mental nudge to tell her it was alright to take off. Lapis obliged, moving out of her eyrie and shaking out her wings before spreading them and taking off.
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Xander clamped down automatically, holding tight to Lapis before she relaxed a bit and looked down at the ground. Then she swallowed, a little shaky, and held on just in case. She did not want to fall from this height.
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Faith was relaxed as Lapis flew towards the city. She was used to flying, so she wasn't too worried about falling off. She glanced at Xander.
"Doing alright?" she asked. |
Xander nodded, still looking down. "Not used to being this high up," she said, though she was gradually relaxing. She still wasn't used to it, but it wasn't so bad anymore.
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"Well, we'll be there soon," Faith replied. She could see the city in the distance, but it was still a ways off. She grinned. "We'll get some breakfast from Queen of Tarts, they make really good pastries."
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Xander snorted. "They would have to, with a name like that." She shook her head. "Sounds kind of like The Deli back at the sea town. Had all sorts of pastries, and they'd slice the meat for a sandwich for you right there. It was actually pretty nice."
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"Queen of Tarts focuses on pastries, but they make good sandwiches, as well. And they partnered with the Tea Shop, so you can get everything right there," Faith said. She grinned. "One of those little gems that get marketing just by word of mouth." She looked ahead to the city. It was getting closer, now, but they still had a little ways before she had to make Lapis land.
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Xander nodded. "Yeah, I've been to a couple places like that before. They're interesting, to say the least. Usually a good sight better than most places."
She looked at the city with interest. It looked much like any city, except a bit bigger and cooler than she was used to. |
Finally, they got to about a mile an a half outside of the city, and Faith had Lapis land.
"We have to walk the last of this on foot," she said. "It's not that far." Lapis nuzzled her, and she petted the dragon in return. Hurry back, Lapis said. I will, Faith replied. I will eat anyone who gives you trouble. No, you won't. But I will let you go hunting when we get back home. Lapis considered that for a moment, and then nodded. Okay. |
Xander was already making her way towards the city, going slowly to give herself time to adjust to walking again. Flying was interesting, but she'd rather go swimming with Calypso.
Alright, dear one. We'll be going into the town. Xander paused to let Faith catch up with her. Alright. Be careful. I will. I'll keep in touch. |
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