Breath of Fresh Air

Noah smiled and scratched Chaital between her horns, earning a happy rumble. "Sounds good, Nel! We'll be over there before you can say dragon eggs! C'mon, Chaital!" He and Chaital bounded over across the grass. They knew exactly where the storage shed was. And they were both exceptionally excited to get back into training again.

"What do you think we're gonna practice today?" Noah asked Chaital as they settled down in the grass. "More cool flips? Some maneuvering tricks? How to dive into the water?"

----

Axle had mainly chosen the floor out of respect for Malia and her rank. If she was on the floor, it only made sense for him to join her. He listened carefully and nodded. "So about where we thought we'd be," he said slowly. "And I know you know the dragons and riders best. How are the plans coming to assign them to different tasks? I know they'll be thinly spread, but hopefully it'll only be for a little while. Just long enough to get a few replacement crystals."
 
Nel, as promised, was quick in getting to his quarters and drying himself off, hanging his wet clothes up to dry. When he was changed into new clothes again, he stuck to the many grassy paths of the Dragonry rather than anything paved, but was otherwise unbothered by leaving his wet shoes behind. He had spent most of his childhood wandering around peaceful woods barefooted, after all, even if it wasn't ideal.

When he got to where Chaital and Noah were waiting, he could almost have laughed at how they both vibrated with pure excitement, ready to get started. "Sorry for making you wait." He said instead, smiling a little as he went to open the doors to the supply shed. "Why don't you come inside and show me if you remember where the saddle is?" It would be good to know if he could send Noah in on his own, whenever he become practiced enough to allow unsupervised flying.

***************

Malia only grimaced at first, picking up a couple pieces of paper, looking at them for a moment and then swapping their places. "It is . . . not going well." She admitted with a sigh and a shake of her head. "The trouble will be in not knowing how long the trip will take, or exactly how many or how few we need to send. Now is not a very good time for making changes. Our numbers are already thin, with some sent out as escorts or extra resources for supply shipments and the like. It seems we may have two or three of officially designated riders at our disposal, and the rest we will have to supplement from here."

The Grandmaster would only be able to provide so much, with the idea in mind that scout patrols should be increased, and enough of a workforce should be withheld to assist in evacuations, should they become necessary. Even then, it would be men or women that were not getting paid, nor would their trip be officially sanctioned. They would have to choose carefully who they would send, to be sure they were both brave enough to go, and skilled enough to back it up.
 
Noah squealed and ran into the supply shed, heading straight for the saddle and lifting it carefully off the rack. "Here it is! Can I try helping put it on?" he asked hopefully. "I know Chaital will behave! Please?" he added, his eyes sparkling.

----

"Mm," Axle murmured. "Well . . . You know, I don't think I've ever had much contact with other nearby cities. But do you suppose there might be other cities with dragon riders that might consider sparing a few riders to help?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "When Noah was younger, a few of his stories mentioned Clover Village, a place where dragons and riders often trained. If it's real, I think it's quite close by - to the North, a bit, on the edge of the mountains. You could probably send just one or two riders there to seek assistance. And they wouldn't need to be experienced, only friendly and polite in asking the request."
 
Nel only smiled at Noah's enthusiasm, pleasantly amused, and gestured for him to take the saddle out. "I'll help a little," he said, "but you can do most of it." He didn't want to dampen Noah's spirit, and putting on the saddle wasn't dangerous.

When they had taken the saddle out and moved away from the storage room itself so Chaital had space, Nel showed Noah where it was best to hold it, then stepped aside to let them work. "Lift up from there," he instructed, miming the action to show Noah to put the saddle as high as he could lift it, "and let Chaital duck into it. She knows where to go, once it's there. When she's in far enough that you touch her wings, you'll want to let go, duck under, and take hold of it from behind her wing so it pulls far enough back."

***************

Malia gave her head a little shake, idly moving pieces of paper around every once in a while as she listened to him and stared at them in thought. "Not as close as I would like," she murmured, thumb running absentmindedly over her bottom lip as she thought through the puzzle of resource and time management. "It would take a couple of days each way, in ideal weather conditions, if we don't want to exhaust our messengers. A few more, probably, to see if there's anyone around that's trustworthy, and useful besides." Clover Village wasn't an official training ground, but like a Dragonry it had become a place that people and dragons had begun to gather and coexist, and the landscape was varied enough that many went there as a trip with their dragons to practice flying.
 
"All right, sweet!" Noah burst out. He watched Nel carefully as he mimed the actions. And Noah copied them, very closely, and managed to get the saddle almost all of the way on with little assistance. "Like this?" he asked once he pulled it back.

Chaital rumbled and bobbed her head in a nod.

----

Axle raised an eyebrow. "Are there any other cities or towns nearby that might have dragon riders to spare? Places close by? I'm . . . I'm afraid my own scope of experience is fairly limited. I haven't traveled much." Then his eyes lit up, and he jumped to his feet. ". . . But Pumpkin has! Malia, take out a map. I'll be right back. If anyone knows where to find who we're looking for, it's Pumpkin."

And before she could reply, he bolted out the door, running off to go collect Pumpkin.

He returned a short while later, panting and out of breath. Pumpkin flew alongside him as he staggered into the room. "A - all right, all right. Ms. Malia, can you describe to Pumpkin exactly what you're looking for?"

Pumpkin chirped and landed on the floor, shuffling his wings. He knew how to act cute and like a baby, especially when it came time for cuddles. But he was plenty old enough to know when a situation was serious, and then his intelligence shone through.
 
Nel watched carefully to be sure Chaital's horns and wings didn't get caught on anything they shouldn't, but she was practiced enough that just coaching Noah was enough. When he'd gotten it mostly on, Nel stepped forward and tugged on it a bit to be sure it was properly placed, then gave Noah a smile.

"Good," he said with a nod, and pointed up towards Chaital's head. "Now, starting at her neck, let's get the buckles all tightened into place." Starting from the narrowest end of the saddle and moving back towards the widest would ensure the best fit. "Tight enough that you can just barely wiggle a few fingers underneath should be sturdy enough, without hurting her."

***************

Malia flinched and blinked up at Axle in surprise when he suddenly shot up to his feet, and was still a bit stunned into silence when he ran out. After a moment, she did finally shrug and get up to find a map to layout, then sat down again to go over the short list she had of the most likely candidates, waiting for his return. She could almost have laughed at the site of the serious businessman coming back, disheveled and out of breath, if he hadn't been trying so hard to help her.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, intrigued, as Pumpkin came and landed nearby. "Do you know how to read maps, little one?" Many small dragons were more intelligent than their larger counterparts, but reading maps and relating them to the things seen in person took a lot of practice. Rather than doubt them, she simply pulled the map over to lay atop her papers and pointed at Floaten. "We're here. We're looking for a city with lots of dragons, living together." A large number of dragons living alongside humans would give them the highest chance of having numerous riders around. Even those who had no official training could be useful.
 
"Got it," Noah replied. He carefully pulled each of the straps tightened and buckled, resting each one with his fingers the way Nel showed him.

Chaital chirped and held carefully still so Noah had the best chance of adjusting the straps correctly.

Finally the last buckle was in place. Noah smiled and patted the edge of the saddle, glancing up at his dragon. "How's that feel, Chaital?" he asked hopefully. He smiled when she chuffed and bobbed her head in response. It seemed like she was comfortable. He looked to Nel next, and grinned. "Can I try putting the safety line on next?"

-----

Pumpkin certainly did know how to read maps. Before Axle, he and Axle's wife had spent years traveling, and watching her study so many maps, Pumpkin had gotten pretty good at reading them himself. He gave a soft huff and ambled over to the map, sniffing at it carefully, tilting his head. A city with lots of dragons living with humans. Where was the closest one?

He turned his head back and forth to study the map. Evergrown? No, too far. Atlantica? No, mostly underwater; Malia probably wanted flying dragons and humans, not mermaids. Then he chirped and planted a claw carefully on an unmarked section of the map. The Secret Gate - they'd probably have what Malia was looking for. The question was whether they'd help.
 
Nel let Noah do the work, afterwards just walking around Chaital and giving careful tugs here and there to make sure everything was seated properly. It was good work, for a first attempt, and Nel really only had to adjust one strap to make sure it was tight enough.

"You did well," he told Noah, an easy smile on his face at Chaital's reassurances. "But you're right, we should get you suited up, too. Do you want to try putting on the harness by yourself, or do you want me to help?" He would check it for a proper fit, but he would let Noah do the work if he was better at hands-on learning.

***************

Malia was quiet and patient, letting Pumpkin wander over the map and marveling at his ability to read. It was a special dragon that came to be that intelligent, and whoever had raised him had obviously taught him a lot. "Oh?" She shifted forward onto her knees to look closer at the map, leaning her weight on one hand while she used the other to trace a path. "Hmm. I haven't been there in quite a long time. I'm not sure anyone would remember me, even if I went myself. . . But I suppose it's worth a shot. Not quite two days flying, with proper rest and quick dragons. You might be on to something, my friend." Now she just needed to do her part, and figure out who she was going to send.
 
Noah was already halfway into the harness when Nel asked if he wanted help with it. "Oh! Uh - can I try to put it on first, and then you can correct me if something's off?" he offered. After being shown just one time before, he already had a far easier time putting the harness on by himself. He finished the last strap a few moments later and pulled on the sides. ". . . It feels loose. Did I miss something?"

********

Pumpkin chirred happily and rubbed against Malia's arm to try and get her to pet him. Then he scampered over to Axle and clambered into his lap, putting his paws up on the man's chest and squeaking.

Axle laughed and ruffled his horns. "You did wonderfully, Pumpkin. Thank you for coming to help." He stroked the dragon's back with his other hand, glancing up at Malia. "Is there anything else we can help with?" he asked.
 
Nel only smiled and nodded, letting Noah do as he would and standing back to wait. When he was done, Nel did a little circle around him to check on it and gave a couple little tugs to be sure everything was seated properly. He did pause and make sure the back of the harness was adjusted to Noah's torso length, and then tightened the chest strap a bit. "Just needs to be buckled a bit tighter. Otherwise you've got it on right. Test the leg straps this way," he stepped back to demonstrate, placing his hand flat against his thigh and then forming a first, "slide your hand through it flat against your leg, make a fist, and see if you can get it back out by applying gentle pressure on your way back up. If it slips through, your straps aren't tight enough. If it sticks, then you're all right."

****************

Malia laughed softly at Pumpkin's sudden change in attitude, giving him a few strokes before he ran off in way of thanks. "Unless you can hand me a roster of our fastest dragons," she said with an amused smile, "which also happen to have riders willing and able to make the trip, I think you've helped plenty. Thank you. It's somewhere to start, at least. I won't burden you with more."

She wore her responsibility well, most days, but at times having a long list of big decisions left up to her could be exhausting. The Gate was a good place to starting looking for help, and in the meantime she would keep looking over the schedules and riders to see just how many of their own they could free up, and how much pay they could offer, while not neglecting the many day-to-day necessities around the Dragonry, and preparing emergency plans for evacuation. She was sure she was going to be very busy for the next few weeks.
 
"Got it," Noah replied, and he nodded and tried the test on himself once the harness was securely on. Then his eyes lit up. "Oh! Want to see the trick Chaital and I have been working on? Chaital, give me a walking start!"

Chaital rumbled happily and rose to her feet, setting off at a pace Noah could keep up with.

Then Noah ran after her, launched himself upwards, and caught his boots on Chaital's shoulder before sliding smoothly into the saddle. "Cool, right? I can get up on her even while she's moving!"

-----

Axle clicked his tongue. Too bad Noah hadn't had enough training to pass his exam already, or he knew the boy would have gladly volunteered wherever he was needed. "I can't help with that, unfortunately. But it's no burden to help. If there's anything you need, just tell me. Besides, I need to stay out of Grandpa Jenkins' hair until he gets his nap in," he added with a chuckle.
 
Nel made a curious face when Noah had something to share, and watched as he made an admittedly difficult mount up onto Chaital's back. For their comparative heights it was rather impressive, and Nel gave him a big smile and a little round of applause.

"Well done!" He praised, following after at a slow walk. "You've been practicing a lot, I see. Why don't we try something a little difficult today, then? We can drag out a padded mat, for safety, and have Chaital try to throw you off. It will help simulate what it might be like to hit sudden wind currents in the air." Or being struck by another dragon in flight, on accident or not. He wouldn't have Chaital try very hard, especially not at first, knowing she wouldn't want to hurt Noah, but it would be good practice.

**************

Malia couldn't help laughing at the mention of Mr. Jenkins, light and amused. "You wouldn't dare," she agreed with a little shake of her head, a smile on her face. "You'd never live to tell the tale." She knew the older man could be cantankerous, some days, just like his old, stubborn dragon, but she thought of him fondly. He had been a resident of the area longer than she had, after all, and an experienced point of view was always welcome.

"Hmmm, I suppose, if you must keep busy." She conceded after a moment, getting up and walking to her desk to retrieve a few sheets of paper from it before coming back and sitting down next to him rather than inside her circle of papers so he could see. "You're a businessman. These are our average weekly expenses, anything from staff wages, to livestock, to other supplemental dragon feed - I need to make these numbers work with the budget we have, and figure out how much I can offer to our helpers." She wouldn't ask him for more money. The donations he had given already were more than enough, she just needed to carefully make sense of it all so they didn't overspend down the road.
 
Noah beamed and nodded eagerly, staying well in the saddle even though he hadn't hooked up the harness yet. "That sounds great! Should I connect the harness for that, or just use the tow line like a regular rider would? Or maybe neither? Might be a good idea to learn how to recover from a fall, while I'm at it," he pointed out.

Chaital flapped her wings and chuffed. The ideas on both accounts sounded good, especially if there were going to be safety precautions in place and there was no real danger.

-----

Mr. Harn laughed, too, knowing Mr. Jenkins could be a formidable foe if awoken from his slumber - though admittedly, he had yet to see him cross with any of the group. "You're right, I wouldn't."

He took the papers carefully and looked them over closely. "Ah, budgeting. I can already tell this is going to be tricky. Have you got a spare parchment and quill I can borrow? I like to make some notes while I think." He set to work immediately afterwards, his brow furrowed, and he carefully wrote out a few different formulas and equations as he studied the expenses. "Hmm . . ."
 
Nel shook his head, pleased and amused by Noah's eagerness. "We can try a few times with one of the lines attached, if you'd like, but it's good to practice without them. That way you'll be familiar with how your body will roll off the saddle if you lose your grip, and will be better equipped to recover." He stepped up to Chaital's shoulder, giving her a friendly pat and then reaching a hand up to Noah to help him down. "But I can't get the mat out on my own, so I'll need your help."

****************

Malia only nodded and gave him her own, letting him take care of the writing for now. "We make a lot of our own medicines from herbs grown here," she said, letting him have the papers to look over each expense with dates and descriptions. "But no matter how much we do in-house, the care and keeping of dragons is no cheap affair."

She herself didn't take a very large salary, just what she needed to keep herself fed and clothed. She was more concerned about keeping her staff well paid and taken care of, and giving each dragon the care they needed. Before the Harn's had come around, the Dragonry had relied heavily on the charity of others, and donations of services from people like Nel, and Jasper. Without the former she would have been doing most of the hands-on care checks for the dragons herself, and without the latter none of their injured dragons would ever have sturdy, well maintained prosthetics. And they were only two.
 
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"Sweet! Neither it is," Noah said happily. He took Nel's hand and hopped off Chaital with hardly any hesitation. Then he wandered after him to help with the mat. "I can't wait. Bet it's gonna be similar to flying! Except, you know, not actually."

Chaital licked each person's hair in turn as they passed her, and then she followed them so she could oversee the taking out of the mat and check its quality for herself. If it was comfy enough, maybe she'd pretend to steal it for a few minutes to play.

------

"Certainly not. They're large creatures, and need and deserve the best," Mr. Harn agreed. He made a few more calculations and handed her back the parchment. "Well . . . based on the current budget, such as it is, this is what I've worked out. There's a bit left over to offer whoever's taking the ride to the Secret Gate. Not much, but it's something," he told her gently. "So I suppose depending on who you're sending, the question is whether they'd accept it. I would hope the current state of affairs would lend any rider towards saying yes."
 
"Similar, yes," Nel agreed, leading Noah into the storage building again and stepping carefully for his lack of footwear. Everything well organized and cleaned though, so there was no real danger. "Flying can't always be smooth, so it's best to practice it being bumpy."

The mat was not extremely heavy but was large, a good four feet tall while folded, and when they got it outside and folded it out there was plenty of room for Chaital to stand in the middle and have space for Noah to fall on it in any direction. "With the grass underneath, this should keep you from getting anything other than a bruise or two, but it won't do anything for your own limbs, so try to be careful. We won't have Chaital try to knock you off very hard, especially not at first."

************

When she had the papers back Malia looked them over carefully for a moment, thinking and trying to decide just how thinly they could spread their resources. "Thank you. It will have to do," she said after she'd determined that his plan was probably the best they could manage, and gave a little sigh as she got to her feet to put them away. For a moment she only stood and looked at the papers on her floor, then decided she could clean it later and reached across her desk to grab a light jacket from the back of her chair. "I think I need to spend some time out of this office. I'm going to do a round about the property, if you'd like to join me." She had no problems trusting the people she delegated tasks too, but sometimes she just needed to see things for herself. Looking only at numbers all day would drive her crazy.
 
Noah nodded and set his side of the mat down, giving it a few firm pats. "Got it. Hang on, let me see how much cushion this has." He launched himself onto it, and then laughed when he slapped against it and sank into the cushiony filling. ". . . Very cushioned. Nice."

He crawled back out and then climbed up onto Chaital's shoulders. "All right, Chaital! Go ahead!"

Chaital's eyes sparkled. But just to be sure, she paused and glanced at Nel first to make sure it was okay.

-----

Mr. Harn nodded and smiled, standing and scooping Pumpkin into his arms. "Very kind of you to invite me. I'd like that," he said quietly. "Fresh air on a day like this can do wonders." He followed her out of the door and walked alongside her.

After a few minutes of quiet in the sun, he added, "You know, out here in the Dragonry, the air is actually a good deal cleaner than it is in Upper Floaten," he said, attempting to make conversation.
 
Nel laughed softly at the way Noah threw himself down with no hesitation, holding his hands up a bit as if to stop him. "It should help, but please be careful. You could still wind yourself if you hit too hard." He'd seen it happen before, to even the most hardy riders, but those were usually the ones that were actually overconfident, not just eager.

"All right," he said when Noah was settled, stepping off the mat himself to be out of the way, "make sure your handholds are firm. Let's start off easy, okay, Chaital? Rock left and right first, then forward and back, not too hard. Let him get used to moving with you." Once Noah knew how to move his body to keep up with how Chaital's weight shifted, they could shake harder and really test his grip.

*************

Malia only smiled and gestured for him to follow her out, giving Pumpkin a little pet on her way past. She led the way down paved paths once they were outside, but quickly detoured out into less tamed lands, angling farther away from Upper Floaten and out to where dragons roamed the fields.

"Is it?" She asked idly, as she had only been to Upper Floaten a handful of times, and not in a while. "Your landscape is metal, I suppose. We try to let as much of the local flora grow here as we can. It helps clear up the air drifting out from under the city, and down from above." That and the amount of airflow out in the open pastures helped a great deal. One hardly even needed to wear masks outdoors, unless they were too close to the city.
 
"I'll be careful!" Nosh promised before climbing back up onto Chaital. "I just figured I should know what the landing pad felt like. You have to brace differently for landing on different surfaces." And he spoke from experience, from multiple adventures involving jumping off of, onto, or into things.

Chaital nodded and began swaying back and forth, a bit faster than normal since Noah was already used to moving with her. Noah adapted quickly and swayed side to side, barely having to adjust his grip; he kept most of his weight in his hips. The same held true when Chaital began moving back and forth instead.

Noah beamed and nodded. "Good so far!"

-------

Mr. Harn clicked his tongue and nodded. "That's the other thing. I do really appreciate how much nature is allowed to show through down here. Frankly, it's enough to want to make me move," he added, chuckling lightly as he was mostly joking.

Mostly.
 
Nel watched carefully, circling a bit to follow both Chaital's motions and Noah's. He kept his grip well for small jerks and waves, and his practice showed in the way he shifted his weight to counteract her motions. "Very good," Nel praised with a little nod and a smile when he was in front of them again. "You've been spending a lot of time together, I see. Let's try something harder. Chaital, would you mind coming closer to this edge of the mat and trying a hard stop? Slowly at first."

In the air, breaking hard meant she would have to snap her wings out for as much vertical surface area as possible to catch the air and slow down quickly. It would mean her body would end up more vertical than horizontal, most times, and he wanted to see how Noah would adapt to having to hold his weight up rather than simply sitting in place with gravity doing the work.

***************

Malia made a thoughtful sound, raising an eyebrow but holding back any snappish responses, as she knew many that lived in Lower Floaten might give. "It isn't all sunshine and rainbows," she said instead, with a bit of amusement in her voice, "though I suppose it isn't up there, either. The storms are only different, not less intense."

She gave him a gentle push to guide him off on a different path, spotting Koatl's wings stretching in the air over a small hill and wanting to check in to be sure there were no problems with her missing paw. It had been healed long enough that there should be no chance of problems, but like in many things she had always thought it was best to keep an eye on things rather than be surprise.

"Do you resent her," she asked as they walked, calm and neutral, not expecting a response to go in either direction but prodding gently at his motivations, "for bringing your son down here? It can be hard, having your only child move away." Not that they were particularly far, but Upper and Lower Floaten were like two completely different worlds. "As much as we do our best to work safely, with dragons there are always dangers." Most were benevolent, but accidents happened. She couldn't lie to him and say that there was no danger at all in becoming a rider, if properly trained. The example was clear in how Chaital had lost her first rider: even experienced riders made mistakes.
 
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