Going aloft didn't bother Faith anymore, either. In fact, she enjoyed the times when she was able to go flying with Lapis. It was clear that the affectionate dragonet enjoyed it, as well. Faith made sure her glasses weren't going anywhere, and made sure she was comfortable on Lapis's back as they went.

It didn't take them long to get back to the weyr, and then they took care of the dragonets. Then more lessons, although the older riders were more terse than usual and less patient.

Finally, after two more weeks of training, the weyrleader gathered up all the riders.

"Alright, everyone. We're doing an exchange program with the Ocean weyr. Good faith thing. Any volunteers?"

Faith was a little surprised that there was an exchange program with a weyr so far away. Still, she was curious, though.

"Wait, what does the exchange entail?" she asked. She wanted to get a few more details before she decided to volunteer or not. She could tell Lapis was curious, as well, and was trying to listen in through her bond with Faith.

"It's a show of good faith between weyrs," the weyrleader said. "You'll be living there for a few weeks, I think. So that way we can get to know each other better and be more tolerant. All the weyrs are doing it. I think we're planning on doing a continuous exchange program." She shrugged. "You'll be treated the same there are you are here, just with different people and different dragons. Could be fun."

Corey stayed quiet. He had to think about it for a minute. Vyren liked water, so he didn't mind going.

Faith considered that for a moment.

'What do you think?' she asked Lapis.

'It sounds interesting,' the dragonet replied. 'I want to see the ocean.' It sounded like an unrelated thought, but Faith new better by now.

'Alright,' she replied. She raised her hand. "We'll go," she volunteered.

"Us too," Corey volunteered. Hey, might as well. How bad could it be?

A couple of older riders volunteered too. So they were given two days to gather up what they'd need before they would be shipped off to the ocean weyr.

Faith didn't have all that much to pack. Mainly just clothes and personal supplies, which didn't take up more than one bag. She went out to meet up with the other riders the morning they were going to be sent off. She lingered closer to Lapis than anyone else, though. Not that the dragonet minded, of course.

Corey got up on Vyren a little bit later, and they all started for the ocean weyr.

It took them almost a whole day to get there, and they let the dragons stop and rest a few times. By the time they got there, it was about dinner time, and some of the riders were out to greet them.

"Good to see you all," the weyrleader said. "Welcome to the ocean weyr. We actually have some eggs that should be hatching shortly, so you're welcome to attend the hatching.

Faith glanced at the others. She was willing to follow along with whatever they did, and she was fairly sure Lapis wanted some time to rest and relax, first. After that, she was very sure that she'd have a hard time keeping her dragon from the edge of the ocean. They'd seen it from the air, and Lapis seemed desperate to see it up close.

They were invited to go look around, and Corey and Vyren headed down to the waterfront. Vyren lumbered into the water, starting to splash Corey, who ducked the now-warm water with a grumble.

Lapis immediately started to head down to the shore, as well. Faith had to jog to keep up with her as she practically bounced down to the edge of the water. She made sure to stay a relatively safe distance away as Lapis started splashing, though. She'd seen Corey getting splashed, and felt the distinct desire to stay dry.

Lapis would have none of that.

In a matter of moments, Faith and Lapis were splashing one another, although the dragonet had a distinct advantage. Still, they were having fun.

Corey shook his head and managed to stay dry, although he had to retreat a ways. Vyren gave him up, instead going to go splash the other two with warm water. Hey, at least the water he threw around was warm, instead of the slightly above icy that the ocean water actually was.

Faith snuck out of the splash war once Vyren joined in. She wasn't completely soaked, and she wanted to stay as close to dry as she could. She was glad Lapis was having fun, though.

"Lapis, come on," she called after a few minutes. "We need to get you dried off and settled in."

Corey shook his head and managed to get Vyren out of the water too, glancing around. He could see a place for the dragons, not the same as the eyries in the mountain weyr, but they worked. He started to head for them and blinked when someone ran through his field of vision.

Xander ran past them, not looking at them or greeting them. She looked kinda surly, and a couple boys ran after her, only glancing at the dragonriders before continuing after her. But she'd vanished somewhere, and they stopped and trudged back inside.

Faith blinked when she saw the person run past them. She didn't know if such a thing was normal around here, so she wasn't sure whether or not to really question it.

"That was interesting," she commented to Corey anyways as they walked towards the pseudo-eyries.

"No kidding," Corey muttered. Then he shrugged. He'd seen things like that often enough at the cities, so he didn't even think about it a second time.

"So, shall we go check out the 'eyries'?"

Faith nodded.

"Let's go see," she agreed. She wanted to see what they considered to be eyries in the ocean weyr. It was already very different from the mountain weyr, and she kind of wanted to keep exploring.

Corey detoured just outside to read a notice aloud. "These are visitor's eyries. The eyries for the ocean dragons are actually under the cliff face, and most dragons don't enjoy getting to them, so we've stationed you up here. If you'd like to tour the eyries below, you are welcome to."

He shrugged and looked back at Faith. "Sound interesting to do later on, once we've got these two settled in?"

"Sounds alright to me," Faith said. Having the ocean dragon eyries under the cliff face was absolutely fascinating, although it made sense. Mountain dragons nested in eyries in the mountain face, so it made sense for ocean dragons to nest in ocean caves in the cliffs. Faith went with Lapis as they chose an eyrie for her. Finally, Lapis found an unoccupied one that she liked and settled in. Now that she'd gotten to play in the water, she was starting to realize that she was exhausted from the flight.

Corey found an eyrie for Vyren as well, settling him in there before heading out again. He yawned briefly, looking over at Faith.

"Well, I think dinner is supposed to be served soon, and then I declare naptime."

Faith nodded, fighting off a yawn as well.

"I think I like that idea," she replied. She glanced at Lapis. "She's got the right idea... She's already out." She looked back at Corey. "It's a lot more humid around here than it is up in the mountains... I don't think I'm going to be staying with Lapis in the eyrie while we're here."

"I'm definitely not sleeping with Vyren," Corey grumbled. "He's a fricken' heater. Him plus humidity is very uncomfortable." He shook his head.

"Come on, I can smell food." His stomach rumbled a little at that. It had been a very long day.

"For being practically on fire as it is, I'm surprised he likes playing in the water," Faith commented. "It seems kind of ironic." She paused when she also smelled something good. "Ooh, I smell it too. Come on, let's see what it is." She grinned. "Probably a lot more fish than we're used to."

"Oh, I'm sure." Corey chuckled as he headed for their mess hall. "As far as I know, he likes water because he can heat it up and because I look like a 'drowned furry animal' when he gets me soaked."

Faith couldn't help but snicker.

"I'm sure I would look like a drowned rat too," she said. "It's not just you." She walked with him into the dining hall, and glanced around to see if she could find a seat. "Lapis just likes the water because it's fun to splash around. She's never seen so much water at once before."