My update schedule here is a real mess...
I totally forgot to post (I had them written) the chapters for the last two week... which means I will update this story again on Monday and Wednesday, to be back on track...
Review Replies:
Steampunk Wilson: Thanks. I try to keep everyone in character as much a possible.
Bookkeeper2004: Thanks :). Good idea, can I use the name?
PrairieSkies: It's fun to write the dragons. That's true, although I personally prefer the smell of spring :).
MNC: Definitely XD.
RandomDragon2.0: It is something else, but nothing serious (well, depends on how you see it).
Chapter 10: Lunch
Thursday at noon
When Jay entered the cafeteria after this morning's training session, he immediately spotted his teammates at their usual table, engaged in a lively conversation while they were enjoying their meal. Zane and Kai were sitting next to each other on one side of the table, with Cole respectively Nya facing them, whereas Lloyd was nowhere to be seen.
Jay hurriedly grabbed his lunch – a plate with lasagna with a small side salad – and joined his friends, taking the empty seat next to the raven haired girl, rather than choosing to sit next to her brother.
His four friends greeted the auburn haired teen before they carefully enquired about his morning that Jay and his dragon had spent on the race courses designated for the middle-distance events.
"It was actually really good." Jay replied with a bright smile on his face. "Wisp is definitely getting more comfortable with the starting gates. And she was quite fast over the 1.25 miles, so we might even do the actual race, unless it clashes with one of the preferred competitions."
Following their training disaster on Tuesday, Jay had followed Dareth's advice and signed up for two additional races for Wisp to gain more practice with the starting gates. They had used their two training runs for the 2 mile race this morning and had already withdrawn from this competition just before heading here for lunch. He had saved their final training runs for the 1.25 mile race and their favourite event, the obstacle course, for tomorrow.
"These are wonderful news, my friend." Zane replied and the others, minus Kai, agreed, equally delighted and relieved. After having opened up to Nya during the orienteering event on the previous afternoon, Jay had finally told his housemates about Wisp's issues with the starting gates last night, so everyone had been very anxious to hear about their friend's progress.
"What about your training?" Jay enquired. Avoiding to make it look like he was staring at Nya (which he totally wasn't), he directed his gaze and question at the two boys on the other side of the table.
Kai just huffed and kept his eyes fixed on his – untouched – meal.
"Just ignore my brother. He's had an encounter with our special friend Skylor this morning and doesn't want to talk about it." Nya whispered to Jay.
"O-okay." He nodded.
Cole, on the other hand, was more than happy to share his and Rocky's experiences with their friends. As he had suspected, the bulky Earth Dragon had been a bit overwhelmed by the cold and bright white environment, when they had first entered the Ice Dome.
So instead of going straight to the downhill snow slope, they had started their morning training by carefully making the dragon accustomed with the soft snow - which had turned out to be an almost too successful mission.
Rocky had outright refused to do an actual training run, but had rather insisted on having some playtime in the snow. And Shard had happily joined in after his and Zane's run in the ice track. Cole passed his phone around, so his friends could enjoy the many pictures he had taken of the Earth and Ice Dragons engaged in what looked very similar to a snowball fight.
"I really need to do some proper training with Rocky this afternoon. But today was supposed to be an easier day anyway, because we have the long training run for the Iron Dragon race tomorrow." Cole explained. "But at least I don't have to worry that he will be scared when we cross the snow and ice regions. I just hope he won't be too disappointed that he won't get to play in the snow during the race."
"If you want, you and Rocky are more than welcome to visit us after the tournament." Zane invited his friend to his home located in the snow-covered Birchwood Forest, before he started to recount his morning which, to everyone's surprise, had not gone as well as expected.
Despite looking very well and happy on the pictures that Cole had just shown them, Shard had not been in great form during their training run. Zane had been so worried about his dragon's unusual behaviour and slow reactions that he had even taken him to see Dr Borg. Luckily, the vet had found the dragon to be in perfect health so hopefully they wouldn't have any more problems during training and especially their competitions.
Jay sincerely hoped that Shard would be doing better. He had noticed that Wisp and the Ice Dragon were getting on rather well. When Jay and her had landed on the green in front of the monastery after their training, the Lightning Dragon had first enthusiastically greeted all her new dragon friends but had then chosen on spending her lunch break next to Shard.
Just as it was Nya's turn to talk about her morning, a girl with pink hair with a blue streak approached their table with her tray, giving them a little shy smile. "Mind if I join you?"
It was Nya's housemate Seliel. On the previous evening, the two girls had visited the boys' cabin after dinner and award presentation for the orienteering event. The six teenagers had shared the cake that Seliel and Cole had brought from the bakery at the nearby village and she had started to open up to the other teenagers.
"Not at all. Please take a seat." Zane politely replied.
"Thank you." She sat down next to Kai.
"By the way, is Lloyd not coming?" Jay wondered.
"Nah, he texted me earlier that he won't make it for lunch. His dad needed his help with their own dragons this morning." Kai finally broke his silence.
"I have heard from Dr Borg that Dr Pixal was going to administer vaccinations to the young dragons today. Maybe they wanted Lloyd to watch and assist her." Zane suggested.
"How was your morning?" Cole enquired. Even though they would have to compete against each other in the endurance race, it was obvious that he and Seliel were getting on very well – or rather that they were 'hitting it off', as Kai had eloquently put it last night after the girls had left.
"Phantom and I only did some light training this morning, just a few laps around the estate. You know because of the long run tomorrow. But if it's okay with you I would like to join your training session this afternoon." Seliel replied, much to everyone's delight.
"What about you?" She asked, looking bluntly at the black-haired boy at the other end of the table.
Cole had already finished his main course, so he took his desert and moved to the empty chair at the head of the table next to Seliel, so he could tell her about his and Rocky's morning in the Ice Dome. They were laughing loudly, when Cole took out his phone to show her the pictures he had taken of his dragon in the snow.
Although he had hardly said a word for the past half hour, Kai obviously did not like being left out from their conversation, so he turned away from Seliel to his other neighbour and started talking to Zane.
Jay decided that this was a great opportunity to finally find out about Nya's morning.
"We are doing alright for the diving competition." The raven haired girl explained. "The water in the lake here is a bit colder than the one in Ignacia, but I think we have both gotten used to it now. The aquatic events won't start until Monday, so we can still use the lake over the weekend - only for recreational swimming, but not for training. Maybe you would like to join us." She smirked. "Probably better without your dragon, unless you want to electrocute all our opponents. Although some of them wouldn't be much of a loss..." She added in a quiet voice.
"I agree." Jay sighed. Luckily, the two boys from the Skypirates team had not been at the same race tracks as him today.
"Because of the water temperature, we only did our first training run for the underwater swimming this morning." Nya continued. "I had a few problems picking up the rings they use here, because I have trained with different sized ones at home. I need to ask Misako this afternoon if I can practise with the official tournament rings, so I'll be better prepared for the final training run tomorrow."
"I can help you by setting up the race course for you. Wisp has done quite a lot of racing this morning, so I want her to take it easy this afternoon anyway." Jay offered. "Only if you want to, of course." He quickly added.
"Sure, that would be great. Thank you so much." Nya beamed at him.
"No problem." Jay smiled back.
Yes, things were definitely looking a lot better for him and Wisp now than they had been two days ago. And it was not just about the training.