Chapter 4
"Weather and wind patterns of the canyons."
Tristan glared at the scratchy white writing on the large slate blackboard. When he'd come to Canyon City in anticipation of becoming a skybax rider, he'd imagined day after day of being outside spending time with skybaxes.
He'd been wrong. This was another thing to add to the list that Uncle Drake never mentioned. Yes, there were plenty of days spent outside and up at Pteros, the rookery, but there were also days dedicated to lessons that took place in the Beginner Riders' classroom. These days reminded Tristan of the school days back in Sauropolis before he had reached his teens. He'd always hated being cooped up inside and somehow the dreaded schoolroom atmosphere had followed him even to the vast and desolate canyons.
Will Denison, the instructor, stood at the front of the room with a long pointer in one hand. As he spoke, he tapped the pointer against the board when referring to certain words or small illustrations he'd drawn. The tall, middle aged man looked out of place in the small room since he was dressed in his blue and gold master rider uniform which gave the impression that he was ready for taking flight at any time. The uniform, of course, was worn during all learning sessions to remain and inspiration to the students, whether it was a flight demonstration, canyon hike, or classroom lecture.
The man's words soon blurred together in Tristan's tired mind. Winds, clouds, temperatures…rain? Not a whole lot of rain fell in the canyons and when it did, the villagers dropped everything they did and pulled the lids off of their water reservoirs and caught every drop they could. But Tristan couldn't understand why one needed to know these things in order to become a Rider. What did any of this have to do with bonding with skybaxes? Especially if someone wanted to bond with a night skybax. It seemed as if studying astronomy would be more useful then. The moon and stars…weren't there pictures in the stars? Constellations? A mighty hunter, a triceratops, a pterosaur…He rubbed his eyes, trying to concentrate.
"You have to learn what the skybaxs' world is like, what they see, what they feel, and what they are challenged by. Believe it or not, this includes the study of meteorology, and even geology, which we'll cover during another session." Like a canon, Will's strong bass voice boomed through the small room, the ammunition seeming to be aimed at Tristan. The boy jumped, then sank back into his chair, wondering guiltily if the man could tell how much he was struggling to keep his mind on the current lesson.
Will paused, a knowing smile playing at his lips before continuing with the lecture. Tristan picked up his Osteodontornis orri feather, dipped it in the inkwell, and studiously copied the notes from the black board onto the paper that had been given to him at the beginning of the class session. He knew from experience back in Sauropolis that paper did not come cheaply in the bartering business. If it had been passed around to the cadets, then he assumed that taking notes was highly important.
After a few minutes, Tristan relaxed enough to glance around the room again. Two cadets shared the same table with him and two more occupied the table to the far right of the small room. On the first day of Tristan's arrival he'd expected more fellow cadets, but quickly learned that eager skybax riders were few and far between.
Taddeo Giovanni, who was twenty-five and the oldest of the bunch, sat at the same table as Tristan. He was a wiry young man with olive hued skin and a narrow face sporting a thin dark mustache and small goatee. He absentmindedly twirled his feather pen, his eyes, dark as cocoa beans, were fixed attentively on the instructor. Tristan had lost count of how many times the young man had raised his hand, blurting out question after question. Will patiently answered each question, not seeming to mind the guy's talkativeness. It hadn't taken Tristan long to pick up that Taddeo was an easygoing, fun loving, person with a positive attitude and a tongue that could hardly be silenced. He even talked in his sleep.
Fira Lars also occupied the same table as Tristan and Taddeo. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back in a low messy bun near the nape of her neck and a curly shock of bangs covered her forehead. Her skin was pale and her cheeks looked very pink since her fair skin was prone to sun burning. She was short and slim and wore a pale pink tunic with navy leggings and light colored boots. She sat by herself, putting as much space between her and the boys as possible. With her chair scooted out from the table slightly, she sat with one leg folded beneath her and the other dangling free, swinging it back and forth from time to time. Her relaxed manner didn't fool Tristan. One glance toward her paper told him that she was paying close attention to Will's presentation. The paper was already covered in notes. She'd have to flip it over and use the back to write anything else down.
Tristan's gaze shifted to the other table where Mathias Kingsley and Jamin Allosham sat. Mathias often sat with his chair scooted back from the table, leaning back in a relaxed manner with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't appear to be overly concerned about a tidy appearance other than keeping his sandy brown hair parted and combed neatly to the side. He was strong and broad shouldered and didn't seem to be afraid of anything. He often sent sly winks over in Fira's direction, but she usually disregarded his flirtatious gestures by lifting up her chin and primly looking the other way.
Jamin and Mathias had been best buddies since they'd met at Treetown during youth camp prior to arriving at Canyon City for training. They shared the same interest in becoming skybax riders, but had completely different personalities. Jamin was quiet, well mannered, and usually maintained a very tidy appearance. His skin was dark brown and he bore a head full of soft, jet black curls. He'd come from the desert region of Dinotopia and was accustomed to wearing sandals, light hued robes, and a headscarf to keep cool under the hot sun. However, due to a different climate, he'd ditched the desert garb and adopted the simple tunic and pants and hiking boots more suitable for climbing around the windy canyons.
Neither one of the boys noticed Tristan looking their way. Both of them were watching their instructor. Tristan sighed. It appeared that he was the only one bored with studying clouds, wind patterns, and rain accumulation counts. It was days like these that brought on bouts of homesickness. After last night's wild events, Tristan had hoped that the homesickness would've disappeared by now, but he felt the all too familiar tight feeling in his chest coming on as he found himself wishing he could tell his sisters about last night's excitement.
As he fought to keep his attention focused on what his instructor was teaching, a question kept pushing to the front of his mind. He wanted to ask about the skybax he'd seen last night, but couldn't figure out how to incorporate it into the current topic. Also, it would be tricky to bring it up without giving any hints about his moonlight excursion beyond the city boundaries.
"Your skybax companion knows more about the wind than you do." Will said, "You'll learn to trust his or her judgment, but it's important for you to learn how to read it too. For instance, one day you could be flying on a route through the Forbidden Mountains and your skybax companion wants to keep to a lower elevation. Maybe you don't know how to read the wind well enough and you urge your skybax to fly higher. The skybax might agree because he or she wants to please you, but you could be putting both of you in danger. As you circle around a mountain cliff wall and make a sharp turn, an unexpected burst of strong head wind from the other side could send you both careening out of control."
Taddeo raised his hand. "I've heard that can happen right here in the canyons too."
"Yes." Will replied, "On exceptionally windy days you'll notice the skybaxes keeping to the lower pockets of the canyons."
Tristan's mind drifted again to last night. It had been moderately windy and the skybax had flown high. Maybe the skybax had a daring personality. Flying high in moderate windy conditions as well as flying at night. Finally, Tristan couldn't stand it any longer. He had to know. He had to take the risk. He raised his hand.
A pleased look crossed Will's face. He was glad to see his bored student finally showing some interest.
"So what about windy conditions at night?" Tristan said, trying to speak in a casual tone so as not to raise any suspicion. "How would a skybax handle the wind then?"
Will sent his student an amused smile. "Well, first of all, skybaxes don't typically fly at night." He said.
Tristan heard a snicker coming from Fira's direction. He swallowed hard, resisting the urge to send a glare in the girl's direction.
"However," Will went on, "It's not entirely unknown for them to do so. On rare occasions a skybax has been sighted in the skies after dark. This is usually an indication of an upset skybax, driven to fly at a dangerous time. As for handling the wind then, it would be harder, yes, because the skybax's focus would be more on trying to see clearly than trying to feel changes in the wind. The skybax would have to remember to listen very closely to the tones in the wind."
Tristan resisted the urge to grumble. More than once now the instructor had brought up this subject of listening to the wind. He talked about tones, high tones, low tones, whispers, and that it all meant something important, but Will never revealed the meaning to the cadets. He always said that it was an individual journey for each cadet to learn to interpret the voices of the wind. Tristan felt like he hadn't even begun that journey. Wind was just wind. Strong or soft. That's all there was to it. There would be time later to mull over that subject. There were more pressing questions in his mind right now.
"Have you and Cirrus ever flown at night?" Taddeo piped up.
"A couple times, yes, but it was only under pressing circumstances." Will frowned slightly as if remembering something unpleasant. "I wouldn't recommend it."
Tristan glanced sideways and noticed Mathias sending him an 'I bet I know why you asked' look. Tristan shook his head ever so slightly to warn the boy to not bring up last night's excursion. Mathias rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the instructor.
Tristan tried hard to pay attention for the rest of the lesson. There was a whole lot more said about the wind, but he couldn't find anything that exactly spelled out how to understand the voices of the wind. And nothing more was brought up about skybaxes flying at night. For fear that Mathias would say something, he kept his questions to himself for the rest of the session.