Hello again!
Really quick, I wanted to say thank you for all the feedback! It's always appreciated, and it seems like there are a bunch of you who are interested in this, which is pretty neat. So uh... hope you enjoy!
2. First Flight
"Hey! Wake up, lazy butt!"
Nora threw open the door to Freya's stall and placed both hands on her hips, grinning. Her dragon twitched, then put a paw over her face.
"We're flying today!"
One eye blinked open, squinting against the early morning glare streaming in through the barn's windows.
"C'mon, aren't you excited?" Freya picked her head up and nuzzled at her face. Nora grabbed the dragon's neck in a hug, hung there for a moment, then dropped to her own two feet and started bouncing in place. "Let's go!"
Freya followed her, even breaking into a loping jog once they were out of the stable. Nora giggled in delight and raced after her, stopping only to grab a passing Ruby by the arm and shout, "We're flying!"
Excitement spread like wildfire among the wind riders. Storm almost bowled Ruby over by accident coming out of the stalls, and together the two of them raced ahead of everyone else. Nimbus ran circles around a laughing Scarlet, then bumped into a wind dragon Nora didn't know. The pair of them chased each other's tails for a few seconds before bounding off in opposite directions. It was the best kind of chaos.
They passed their teams about halfway to the fields—the fields where they were going to learn to fly, right now!—and slowed down for a moment to greet them.
"Good luck!" Sage put a hand on Scarlet's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be the first ones in the air."
"Yeah we will!" Nimbus perked up his head fins and let out a triumphant crowing noise.
"I'm so jealous," Yang said, for the third time since Professor Oobleck's announcement last week. "Seriously. I might knock one of you out and take your place."
Storm flicked her tail and narrowed her eyes, as if to say, 'Try me!'
Nora snickered. "I think they'd notice that pretty quick."
"Remember to check all your tack first," Ren reminded her.
"I know!"
"I know you do, but you tend to forget things when you get excited."
Nora did remember to check her tack—and if she was maybe rushing a little bit, she definitely wasn't the only one. Then their group of wind dragons and riders crossed the rest of the distance between them and the field where they'd be learning to ride at a dead sprint. Even Freya was keeping up, sometimes pulling ahead of her rider and looking over her shoulder with her pale green eyes shining.
"This is happening!" Nora cheered when they finally made it to the field. There were ramps set up, and Professor Oobleck was leaning on the shoulder of his dragon, Gust.
"Now, now!" he called out. "I understand that you're all excited, but the sooner you all settle down, the sooner I can get the day's instructions out of the way... and the sooner we can get to the fun part!"
Their entire class went silent. Oobleck chuckled. "Yes, this is a day I'm sure you'll all remember for the rest of your lives! You will be riding your dragons—"
Nora whooped, then clamped a hand over her mouth and grinned sheepishly.
He just smiled at her. "I know you're eager to get right to it. But first... have you all checked your tack?"
Groans from among the assembled students.
"If not, do so now—I'd rather not have to catch any falling students this morning." Nobody moved. "Good. Check it one last time. Better to find loose straps on the ground than a hundred feet in the air!"
He waited while their class went over every strap and buckle. Freya's eyelids started to droop, until Nora surprised her with a kiss on the nose. Then she checked the bit and gave her dragon a thumbs-up.
"Now, there are three ramps. I'd like you to form a line at each one—and no shoving, please!"
Nora managed to snag a spot right at the front of one line. She pulled her riding goggles over her eyes and swung into the saddle. As she breathed in the smell of the leather saddle and riding chaps, combined with the scent of dragon, she felt her heart skip a beat.
"You'll take off three at a time, so that Gust and I can keep an eye on you when you first get into the air." Oobleck's eyes twinkled. "And, without further ado..." He climbed into his own saddle, and Gust leapt into the air, flapping heavily. "The three in front—as soon as you're ready!"
Even before he finished the sentence, Nora urged Freya forward. They sprinted together along the ramp. Her heart beat faster and faster as they neared the end, until she could hear the blood roaring in her ears. The ground dropped away, she felt Freya's muscles tense... and she leaped!
For a second it was like floating—two great wings rose on either side of her, spread wide but not flapping yet. Nora could hear the wind rushing over Freya's scales, whipping through her hair and beating against her cheeks until they went numb. Then the wings came down, and they were soaring, and she was pretty sure somebody had replaced all her guts with helium. She felt wonderfully light as Freya banked to the side, gliding easily in a wide arc over the other student's heads.
Nora leaned sideways and saw that Ruby and Storm had taken off too. She almost stood up in the saddle, then thought better of it and waved with both arms instead.
Scarlet and Nimbus were more towards the back of the line. She didn't recognize the other boy that had just taken off with her and Ruby, but he hadn't managed to stay in the air. He and his dragon were walking back around to the end of the line, both looking put out.
"You're amazing," Nora told Freya, scratching the scales at the base of her neck. "You know that?"
Freya hummed contentedly. She also started losing altitude. "Um..."
They landed gently on the grass, and Freya promptly sat down and rested her head on her paws. Nora dismounted and scratched her under the chin. "Yeah, I know you're tired. But we can go again in a little bit, right?"
Her dragon gave her a long, slow blink, then nodded.
"Yes!" Nora kissed her nose again. "To the ramp!"
Freya yawned, then got up and padded after her. Nora didn't mind the line—today was already the best day ever!
"Almost time, sweetie!"
Nimbus' tail thrashed in the grass behind him. He saw two of Scarlet, drifting slightly out of focus. His excitement was making his vision blurry, so he ran a quick lap around his rider to calm himself.
This was it! Finally, after all the lessons with Gust and weight training and preparation, he could show Scarlet what it was like up in the sky! His tail sped up, and he had to trap it between his front paws to keep it still.
He felt like he'd been waiting forever, mostly because he'd been ready to carry his rider's weight for almost two weeks. Gust said their riders had lots to learn before they could fly, too. It seemed to Nimbus like all they really had to do was not fall off, but he supposed if all the older dragons told him there was more to it, they were probably right.
The dragon in front of him took off running down the ramp. Nimbus let out an excited roar, and his tail escaped his paws and started wagging again. Scarlet laughed and patted the side of his neck. "Time to mount up."
"Arr!" Nimbus licked his face, and his partner beamed at him. Then he clambered up into the saddle. It felt completely different from the weights—those were just bags of sand tied to his back. Scarlet moved, and he kept petting his neck, and he was sure that if he waited any longer to take off he'd just explode!
"Next!"
With a triumphant bugle, Nimbus took off down the ramp. For a second he got so excited he forgot to close his misbehaving eye. Then he tilted his head and tore across the last few meters, launching himself and his rider into the air. Air rushed over his wings and head fins—all the little sensations of flying he'd gotten used to suddenly felt new as Scarlet gasped, then started laughing with pure joy.
Nimbus banked left and dove, sweeping over the trees on the northern edge of the field. Scarlet whooped and cheered. He rose higher, spotted Storm, and chased after her. They raced each other in circles around the field, their riders cheering them on, until Gust and Oobleck called the lesson to an end.
Reluctantly, he landed between Storm and Freya and let Scarlet dismount. His red hair was sticking out in all directions, and when he pushed his goggles up onto his forehead they left little pink rings around his eyes. He flapped his hands, squeaked a few times, then threw both arms around Nimbus' neck. He purred, nuzzling his rider's head.
Who would have thought that flying could get even better?
This was definitely Jaune's new favorite place to be.
Twiggy was at his back, curled up with her snout under his left arm. Pyrrha pressed against his right side, leaning her head on his shoulder, while Titan lay on his back with his head at her feet. In front of them Beacon's campus dropped away into the Emerald forest, and the sun was going down in a riot of reds and golds.
"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Pyrrha murmured. Her shoulder was very, very warm. Jaune nodded until he was a little worried he might hurt his neck.
"Gud," Twiggy agreed, and started to purr. Jaune felt the vibration of it all through his chest. His heartbeat slowed, and his eyes drifted halfway shut. He'd happily go to sleep right now and stay this way forever.
Titan's ears flicked, and he picked his head up from where it had been resting on his forepaws. Then he made a strange noise, almost like a horse puffing out a breath.
"Uh... you okay Titan?"
Pyrrha giggled. "He's fine. Professor Port says Pepper used to do the same thing. Apparently he's trying to make a 'P' sound."
"Oh!" Jaune grinned as Titan made the noise again, then let out a frustrated huff.
"I suppose I don't have the most dragon-friendly name."
"Me neither. At least, not really. Usually they just shorten it to—"
"Awn!"
"...Yeah, that."
Pyrrha smiled at him. "I think it's sweet."
"Way better than my sisters' nicknames for me, that's for sure."
She laughed again, half-muffled behind her hand. Then she rubbed Titan's head, right between his horns. "You could do that too, you know."
"Pppbbt!"
Jaune and Pyrrha both lost it at that. By the time they managed to stop laughing, Titan had put a paw over his head.
"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said, still smiling. "But you don't need to be embarrassed. It isn't your fault that some sounds are more difficult for you to say... or that my name happens to start with one of them."
Titan lifted the paw enough to blink at her a few times. Then, hesitantly, "Rruh."
Pyrrha's eyes lit up, and she opened her mouth to congratulate Titan—but he wasn't done.
"Eeh... Earr-rah!"
"Oh my—Titan! That was wonderful!"
Titan preened, lifting his head up and letting his eyes drift shut as she scratched his chin. Under Jaune's arm, Twiggy started purring again. The whole scene was backlit by the setting sun, the last of its rays catching in Pyrrha's hair, and he wanted to capture this moment more than anything else in the world. Not a photograph, but a little glass ball he could hold in his hands and look into, and feel the warmth and the vibration of his dragon's purr, and hear the laughter and Titan proudly repeating, "Earr-rah! Earr-rah!"
Or—and this was a much better idea—he should just ask Pyrrha about coming out here more often. All the time, if possible.
"Hey," he said, bumping her shoulder with his own. "I was just thinking—"
His scroll started to buzz.
"Whoops." He fumbled with it for a second, turned off the ringer. "Sorry. I was just wonder if maybe we could—"
More buzzing. Pyrrha, this time. She frowned, checked the screen. "It's Ruby."
Jaune's went off again. He pulled it out—Weiss—and answered. "Hey, what's—"
"Jaune! Is Blake with you?"
"What? Why would she be with us?"
"I don't know!" He winced, held the scroll a little further from his ear. "I just—have you seen her at all?"
"Wait, she's missing?!"
"She was here just a minute ago! We turned around and—just get over here and help us look! And call Sage and Scarlet."
"But—" She hung up.
Beside him, Pyrrha was staring blankly at her own scroll. Their eyes met. Both of them scrambled to their feet and tore off across campus, with their confused dragons loping along behind them. And all the while the sun continued to set, staining the sky the deep purple of a bruise.
Out behind the earth stables, Sky Lark finished hauling another bale of hay off the towering pile. He dragged it away, either not hearing or choosing to ignore the slight rustle as two pale yellow eyes slid further into the shadows behind the mountain of hay.
Once he was gone, Pit let out a quiet croon and tried to curl himself into an even smaller ball. He stuck his head under one tightly furled wing, nuzzling at Blake's side. She clung to his nose, and he could feel her heartbeat. He was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to go that fast.
"Lake," he murmured, and her breath hitched. "Lake... safe."
"I know." He couldn't see her face to know if she was smiling—it was too dark under his wing—but her heart wasn't hammering quite so hard. Pit started to purr, wanting to surround her with the low, comforting noise.
"Safe," he repeated.
He still wasn't sure why they were here—they had run away from the others, so there must be a reason. Blake had seen something, or heard something, that he hadn't. But wouldn't she tell their friends?
"I'm sorry." Her voice vibrated in time with his purr as she scratched behind his ears. "I didn't mean to scare you. We're safe."
Pit stopped purring long enough to let out a questioning hum.
"I'm okay. Nothing's wrong. I just... needed a minute alone."
He lifted his wing, just enough to let some light in so that she could definitely see his expression.
"...I know. You're right. I'll go back soon."
Somewhere in the distance, a voice shouted, "Blake!"
She cringed, then shot him a pleading look. Pit narrowed his eyes.
The voice called again, and this time Pit recognized Weiss. Seconds later, he heard Ruby as well. He nudged Blake with one forepaw. She pressed a finger over her lips. He huffed, frustrated.
"What was that?"
Oops. Blake shot him a betrayed look. Pit pinned his ears back against his skull and hung his head in apology.
Slowly, he lifted his head up above the hay bales. Specter was only a few feet away, and stared at him like he'd just popped out of the ground.
"Pit!" he roared, his tail lashing happily back and forth. Storm trumpeted a greeting.
"Blake! Are you there?" Weiss made to start dismantling the haypile. Pit nudged her away with his nose—he'd feel bad making Sky or one of the other stable hands fix it—and picked Blake up by the back of her shirt.
"Pit, wait! I can climb out myself!"
He snorted, then deposited her directly between the two humans.
"What happened?" Weiss demanded, glancing around like she was expecting an attacker to jump out at any second. "Is he here?"
Blake winced. "No. I'm sorry, I just... sort of... panicked."
Pit huffed and bumped her back with his nose.
"It won't happen again?" she tried.
"Um..." Ruby scratched the back of her head. "So... is someone else here, or...?"
Blake shot him a pleading look. Pit prodded her again, prompting her to keep going.
"No," she admitted. "I just—I don't know, it was stupid but I just needed a second to breathe."
Both humans were silent for a moment. Ruby because she looked like she was still trying to figure out what that was supposed to mean. Weiss... Pit moved his head further away and folded his ears flat against his head.
Sure enough, "You what?!"
Pit cringed and put a paw over his ears—just folding them back had not been enough. Even Specter took a startled step back.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking—"
"I find it very difficult to believe you were thinking at all! What if we hadn't found you so soon? Were you just going to keep—keep skulking around until—" Weiss was turning an alarming shade of red, and seemed to be having trouble speaking. Storm whined and hid her head behind Ruby.
Blake hung her head. "I was just going to stay there a few minutes."
"It's been a few minutes, Blake! Twelve, to be precise! And I know that because I kept checking the time and trying to figure out whether or not there was still a chance we'd find you alive!"
She seemed to deflate, tucking her elbows against her sides and folding her arms over her stomach. "You scared me. Us." Specter let out a few high-pitched whistles and nudged her shoulder.
"Weiss..."
"Come on." She whirled around and marched off towards Beacon's main buildings. "We need to call off the rest of the search party."
Blake followed, looking dejected. Pit purred some more and bumped her with his head. That had been scary—for someone so small, Weiss could be very loud. But, he thought, at least it was over, right?
Not once in his short life had he been more wrong.
Several minutes passed. There was a lot more yelling, this time from Professor Goodwitch, who was almost as loud and terrifying as Weiss had been. Then they were crammed into Dragonmaster Ozpin's office, along with Weiss, Ruby, Yang, and Professor Goodwitch. Pit curled his tail around his forepaws, his ears flat and his head low in submission.
"Well," Ozpin said, after a long moment. "This has been quite the scare. What happened?"
Blake swallowed. She reached a hand back, pressing it against Pit's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said, "but... I can't do this. It's too much."
Ozpin frowned, leaning forward at his desk. "How so?"
"It's just... having people around me, all the time. Being under guard twenty-four seven. I keep jumping at shadows, I can't sleep."
"You should have mentioned your concerns to one of your professors," Goodwitch snapped.
"I know. I'm sorry."
Ozpin heaved a sigh. "I'm sure staying constantly on your guard is taxing, but until the danger has passed, I'm afraid it's necessary."
"It's not just that." Blake shifted from foot to foot. "Being around people all the time on top of that is too much. I need time alone. Or, not alone—" she said hurriedly, seeing Weiss' eyes narrow, "—but with Pit. Maybe in his stall? There'd be dragons all around me, I'd be safe."
Dragonmaster Ozpin nodded slowly. "Yes. I believe we could arrange that."
Blake perked up. "You mean—"
He laughed. "Miss Belladonna, these arrangements are for your own safety. You have every right to change them if they are making you uncomfortable. With that said—If you wish to spend some time alone with your dragon, that is perfectly fine, but you'd save us all a few grey hairs if you were to warn us first."
"Right." She glanced at Weiss' expression and cringed. "I'm sorry."
Pit left the office in much higher spirits than when he'd entered. Until today he hadn't gotten to spend any time alone with Blake since she'd left with the others to go to that dance club. He remembered when they'd all first moved out of their partners' dorms, and how they had all wanted to bring their partners with them into their new stalls. He would actually get to do it, if only for a little while at a time.
His tail wagged excitedly all the way back to his stall, and even in his sleep it went on twitching back and forth. He rolled over on his bed of sweet-smelling hay—warm, content. Safe.