Training 2: 8028, 9694, 10777: Chapter 1

Biorhythm

Background

 

The sun hung low, kissing the horizon as the three trainees made their way out of the barracks. Lametta, true to her biorhythm, had napped away the rest of the day, and as the sky slowly darkened with the promise of night, the silken hawk was starting to feel more alert and ready for the coming training. Above her the sky was a riot of orange and pink, tinting the training grounds in its warm highlights and cool shadows. Behind her came Lafayette, a twilight headed sandy gryph, his mass dwarfing her own slight body. Bringing up the rear was the harpia Xochipilli, his black and white plumage ornamented with the flower garlands he was fond of wearing. Lametta pondered her new companions. Lafayette had come across as arrogant and insolent at orientation, but she had a feeling Xochipilli might be someone she could be friends with. Time would tell. 

 

The three youngsters could see their training tutors waiting for them at the near edge of the center arena. The frilled snow corva Rapscallion stood tapping his talons impatiently, occasionally pecking at the grass in an effort to dispel excess energy. Lametta instinctively liked the corva, and not just because he had defended her earlier. There was a sense of barely contained electricity about him, accentuated by the frill of his feathers. He was always in motion, like tranquility was death. His temper ran hot and swift, like a flash of lightning, but over and forgotten just as quickly.

 

In stark contrast, Oboe, the albino ketucari in human skin, leaned languidly against the low wooden wall marking the boundary of the arena. Whereas Rapscallion was kinetic movement, Oboe was stillness. Lametta got a sense of infinite patience with the pale boy; never a wasted movement, ice blue eyes seeing right through you. If Rapscallion was electricity, Oboe was water… steady and indomitable… and able to drown you before you realized you were in too deep to swim. 

 

Beside them stood Marvolo, clipboard in wing in cheery attention. The horned harpia was more white than black, with a flash of emerald at the base of his tail and a crown of feathers adorning his head. The guidance counselor exuded warmth and encouragement, an island of comfort in the grueling sea of the training that was to come. 

 

“Come on, come on, no time to waste!” Rapscallion snapped impatiently. “Move your tail feathers, before we lose the last of the light.” 

 

Lametta, Lafayette and Xochipilli hustled over to where the elders were waiting and lined up in the same order they had at orientation. Marvolo stepped forward. 

 

“All right children, role call! Please say here when I call your name. Lafayette!”

 

The gryph rolled his eyes. “There’s three of us… is this really necessary?”

 

Marvolo tapped his clipboard, frowning disapprovingly. “It says right here… first order of the day: role call. When I call your name, please respond with ‘here’... Lafayette.”

 

The gryph narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “Here” he clipped in a sneer.

 

“Lametta!”

 

“Here...” she called out uncertainly with a wary look at the gryph.

 

“Xochipilli!”

 

“Here!” he echoed. The harpia caught Lametta’s eye and the two shared a look. Lafayette was definitely going to be trouble. 

 

“Perfect!” Marvolo beamed. “Now that we’ve all been accounted for, let’s go over our training exercise for the day. We’re going to work on building your confidence in your own abilities, and to do that we need you to be just as comfortable on the ground as you are in the air. Therefore, we’ll be running laps today!”

 

Lametta, excited to finally get the training started, deflated. Running? She glanced back at her long silky tail feathers already dragging on the ground. This was going to be a challenge… The arena was hard-packed dirt marked by a white washed wooden wall. The yard around it was mostly grass dotted with a few trees, with the rest of the training equipment ringing the perimeter. But for the first time, Lametta noticed a thin dirt path running through the grass, and the crimson hawk had a feeling that this was to be their track.

 

Oboe continued “This path marks a five mile loop around the grounds. Xochipilli and Lafayette, you’re with Rapscallion. Lametta, you’re with me.”

 

Rapscallion hopped to the two larger stryx. “Hope you’re ready boys… we’re going to be running five laps, and there will be NO stragglers, you here? I’m a quarter your size Lafayette, and less than half of yours Xochipilli, so there’s absolutely no reason you two can’t keep up with me.”

 

Turning to the hawk, Oboe said “We’ll be doing five laps as well Lametta, but because you’re so much smaller than these two, it’ll be hard for you to keep up with them. If you fall behind, I’ll be staying with you to keep you on pace.”

 

“Oboe..” Lametta spoke up nervously, “I’m going to try my best, but my tail feathers are going to create a lot of drag… They’re too long to keep up off the ground…”

 

“I think I can help with that,” Xochipilli chimed in, “if you’re interested, that is..” he finished a little shyly.

 

“Oh, if you have an idea, I’m all ears!” Lametta replied gratefully.

 

Glancing at her for permission, with Lametta’s nod, Xochipilli began braiding the hawk’s tail feathers. He pulled off one of his flower garlands, securing the braid to the base of her dragon tail before continuing the braid and securing it as he went. Soon the red hawk’s feathers were tied comfortably down the length of her dragon tail in a thick braid. She flicked its weight off the ground and took a few running steps testing the garland’s hold.

 

“This is perfect, thank you!” she gushed in gratitude. 

 

Xochipilli let out a puff of smoke in embarrassed pleasure. “Well… sure… no problem.”

 

Lafayette rolled his eyes and drawled sarcastically, “If you two are done preening each other, can we get this started already?”

 

Xochipilli blushed and Lametta bristled. “So eager to get your butt handed to you, slowpoke?” she snapped back at the gryph. 

 

The larger stryx snorted. “Not a chance princess. Your puny legs have no chance.” 

 

The three youngsters began their run and much to Lametta’s dismay, the longer pace of the two larger stryx soon had her trailing far behind. She could hear Rapscallion just out of sight peppering them with demands to keep their speed up and lift their legs. Beside her, Oboe loped effortlessly in long ground-eating strides, easily keeping up despite his smaller size. 

 

“I hate that that big jerk is going to be right…” she gasped between breaths, her lungs already burning from the exertion. 

 

“Running isn’t always about speed,” he replied sagely, “the boys’ size gives them an advantage over short distances, but because you’re smaller, you can run for longer. Let’s see how far ahead they are in a few laps…”

 

Sure enough, by the last lap, Lametta could see the larger stryx ahead of her… and she was gaining ground with each step. Rapscallion was having to push them on in earnest now, although the fuzzy stryx himself showed no signs of being tired. Lametta forced herself to lengthen her stride and as she came up behind them, she put on a burst of speed. She could hear their gasping surprised exclamations behind her, but couldn’t make out what they actually said through the roar of blood in her ears. Everything narrowed to the thunder of her heart and the excruciating burn of her lungs. She passed Marvolo who marked her win with a wave of his clipboard and promptly collapsed into a panting, heaving, feather-covered pile of jello. She felt the twin thumps of her fellow students beside her as the boys dropped down beside her in exhaustion. She was going to give Lafayette SO much crap… once she could breathe without throwing up...

 

1318 Words

 

Tier 2 - Confidence

You must learn to walk before you can run, and a Stryx must learn how to run before they can fly. Young dragons are often rather clumsy, and must learn how to center themselves. As well, learning to walk and run steadily will prepare them for hunting on land, and chasing down prey. Draw your Stryx jogging or running, following after its rider or another Stryx.