Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Fiona playfully swatted her father as he encouraged her that Sam might have thought more about flying than he was letting on. Sam would have told her if he enjoyed it. If he was keeping secrets from her, then she would get them out of him sooner or later. That was how their relationship worked and it worked beautifully for the both of them.

 

[KieranSoares]

Owen could only chuckle at the both of them before he turned his attention to other conversations.

After the meal, Sam walked with Fiona on her way out of the village. He would pick up Roman and take him on the ride to the other town, as Sam had been taking Kennah exclusively lately. He wanted to give her a chance for one-on-one time with Elin now that the little drake was getting a bit more manageable.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You'll be back soon, right?" She asked as they paused where they would split off. "I have an uneasy feeling about leaving you since last night."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam turned to her as she paused, leaning lightly on Roman's side. "I've got this beast with me. I'll be fine. Probably be back before yer done. If no' then, I promise before midnight. Depends if I catch an old friend passin' through town again from Malmo."

He stepped forward to kiss her. "It was just a dream, Fiona. An' Sweden's a peaceful land. I'll be fine."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll wait up for you no matter what." Fiona promised, leaning into Sam's kiss as he promised that what she had seen was nothing but just a dream. "Just come back to be safely, Sam. That's all that I'm asking for."

 

[KieranSoares]

"An' you make sure I 'ave someone to come back to, Dragon Rider," Sam teased gently, hugging her close. He worried for her, despite knowing Invah would protect her as long as they both drew breath.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona nuzzled against Sam's throat, sighing as his warm scent comforted the fears that she might have had. She was far more fox than any of them realized and she knew that her fox was terrified after the things that she had been in that dream. She wouldn't lose Sam, not to a simple ride to another village. She wouldn't lose him until they were both old and grey with a few kits of their own surrounding them both.

"And don't go riding any dragons without me around. I don't know if I trust you on your own just yet." She murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she looked at him with a small smile.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll be sure not t'terrify th'hell out o' myself without you there t'laugh at me," Sam promised with a little chuckle, resting his forehead against hers. "I love you, Fiona. I'll see you tonight." With one final kiss, he climbed up into Roman's saddle and they were off, gradually picking up speed through the foothills and headed east.

 

[heartofcourage]

She watched until he was completely out of sight, Roman's bright scales showing him far further than she would have thought. Then, she turned to continue on the way to Dmitri's camp. She knew that after a day off, it would be a brutal wake up.

 

[KieranSoares]

Gaiann was already at the camp, but there was no sign of Invah or Dmitri until Invah came up from the mountains to the west with him. She was running through some sort of exercise with him, and Rory was sitting just behind him on the huge saddle. Dmitri himself was not a master Rider like Rory, he was more a master caretaker, but he was still very capable and seemed completely comfortable with the difficult maneuvers Invah was going through. Even when she barrel-rolled and dove, he was unflinching.

Before Fiona reached the camp, a loud whistle sounded from Rory and Gaiann immediately took off to meet them. It was clearly for Fiona's benefit when Gaiann carefully put himself in position above Invah, both locking into a glide when he got close, and Gaiann helped both riders into his own saddle, picking them up until they could grab the handles on the saddle and pull themselves up. Then Invah dove out from under Gaiann and he pulled up, both coming to land near the camp once more without an issue.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You expect me to do that today?" Fiona asked as both dragons with the riders landed near where she was pulling on her gear. "I'm not sure if I'm able to transfer like that."

 

[KieranSoares]

"This is basic training, my friend," Rory told her with a bright smile. "I'll run it with you a couple times before you go alone. And then we'll try a reverse transfer, where you drop down instead of climb."

Invah sighed, still not terribly thrilled with the whole idea, but she trusted herself and Gaiann enough to catch their fledgling if she fell. It was almost like teaching an actual fledgling to fly in some ways, both parents flying with the young one ready to catch them should they fail.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Where's your mate?" Fiona asked as she looked towards Dmitri. "I didn't see her when I arrived. I was going to ask her how she convinced you to let me have the day off yesterday."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Xenia does as she pleases. I believe she's off to Malmo to collect materials for your gear, but who knows." Dmitri shrugged as he checked a few straps on Invah's saddle.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Admit it. You miss her." Fiona said with a grin as Rory chuckled to himself. "You can act tough, Dmitri, but you're just like every other man I've ever known. Soft to the core when it comes to your mate."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Whether I miss her or not, she's​ independent and comes and goes as she pleases and allows me the same. It works well that way." Dmitri wasn't a very emotional man, his main expressions settling on calm neutrals and sharp awareness when he was working. Even so, the mention of Xenia always got his attention.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll just have to tease you more about it in the future then." Fiona said with a smirk as he commented that their love was of give and take.

 

[KieranSoares]

"And I'll just put you through more rigorous training," Dmitri countered calmly. To some he didn't seem to have any sense of humor. But Fiona had known him long enough to see it was just a very dry, sarcastic and cynical humor under the surface.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You'd do that whether I tease you or not." Fiona said, buckling her cloak to her armor and stepping towards Invah.

"Morning, Invah." She said with a smile, hugging the dragon as she was lifted up towards her neck. "Have you been enjoying your time with your daughter?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Absolutely," Invah nodded. "She's exploring today while we work. But she might come to watch at some point. She's always wanted to learn to work with a Rider properly." She let Fiona climb into the saddle, and Rory climbed up with ease behind her.

"We'll see how you do transferring a few times. It's mostly the dragons doing the work. If it looks good, we might do the reverse transfer today for fun," Rory said with a smile, pulling on his gloves and securing his aerodynamic leather helm. "You'll be doing air shows for Inverness in no time."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You might have an angry dragon on your hands if anything happens to me, Rory." Fiona commented as bad worked to get herself secured into the saddle before they took off.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Oh, I know. Which is why if anyone's going to fall, it's going to be me. I ran through this at least ten times with Invah. Even if she doesn't like it, she knows exactly what's going to happen and she'll know if we deviate at all." Rory remained in high spirits no matter what, and Invah and Gaiann soon took to the sky side-by-side. They climbed hundreds of feet before Gaiann drifted above Invah.

"Once they lock their wings," Rory called over the wind, "unlock the safety hitch and stand up. Make sure you lean hard into the wind, turbulence could still get you even if Invah makes up for it. Gaiann will pick you up by the waist until you can reach his saddle. From there, you have to climb and put the hitch back on his saddle. I'll be right behind you."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona nodded that she had heard and waited for the moment that the dragons were in position. She undid the safety hitch and waited for a moment to gather her nerve. Then, she stood. She leaned hard against the wind, struggling to keep her footing in the saddle. When she finally got situated, she felt Gaiann snag her, pulling her up towards him. When she saw the saddle, she grabbed the rigging and pulled herself into position. She never once thought about the height that they were at or the fact that she might die. She had a task that she was going to complete, no matter what.

 

[KieranSoares]

Rory watched Fiona closely, calling out corrections for where to step and making sure to use the low-set handles that were similar to those on Roman's saddle for leaning low. Once she was safely in the second saddle, Rory followed smoothly as if he'd been born for it.

"Alright, Invah!" Rory called. "Drop away and we'll do it again!"

Invah dove out from under Gaiann and he banked, locking into another glide. They ran through the switch several more times and each time, Rory only had to lightly correct Fiona on nit-picky things. But she had the basic switch just fine. And once he was sure she could do it without help, Rory let her try a switch alone. He would remain on Gaiann's back and then show her the reverse switch up close.

While simpler in that he didn't have to climb, it was far more dangerous as Invah and Gaiann had to get far closer and if one was knocked out of their glide in battle or by weather, it could jar them both and throw off an unhitched Rider.

"If you have to make this switch in bad conditions," Rory called to Fiona, "you can drop a rope to the other dragon and hitch yourself to it for a safety line!" Invah carefully positioned herself under Gaiann, so close that Fiona could touch him if she stretched. Above her, Rory unhitched himself and threw one leg over to sit side-saddle. The moment Invah was in the right position so he'd land on the side of her saddle closest to him, he dropped and for a split second, he was completely free of any safeties. His boots hit the saddle in front of Fiona and he grabbed the edge instantly in a crouch, hitching his safety before he actually took time to settle into the saddle.

"Think you can do that?" Rory asked over his shoulder. "I warn you now- you're gonna fall at least a few times. This is a switch you only do high up. I might even have you try a drop with Invah a few times so I can teach you how to slow yourself down and not panic."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I suppose there's only one way to really know." Fiona commented as she watched Gaiann move into position. "If I fall, I know that they'll both catch me."