Dragon Rider Play

Blade sniffed. "That was one of my favorite's..." He seemed genuinely sad about that now. "And stop picking on my. I have attention problems, and this isn't an overly engaging tour so far..."

Mark merely watched quietly, letting Violet handle the situation.

"Then deal with it. The tour is to educate you. You don't want me to pick on you? Stop catching my attention." She turned and strode forward, her skirts billowing out like a cloak behind her.

Blue winced as he watched the knife tumble out of sight. No, he couldn't say he particularly liked Blade, but he understood the pain of losing a favorite item. As he watched, though, he saw the wind snag the blade and toss it into a clump of roots. Hmm... Maybe. Not now, but maybe later. He continued forward as though nothing had happened until they reached the other side.

Forgotten on the side they'd come from, Pat stood frozen at the edge of the bridge, unable to make herself step forward. High.... very high...She couldn't do this! This was insane! There was no way she could do this. Nope, no way.

Blade noticed Pat on the wrong side of the bridge and moved past Blue and Mark back to her. "Hey man, come on. The lady even said the bridge won't snap."

Mark let Blade past. He certainly didn't plan on crossing this woman. Not now, and hopefully not ever.

"I can't!" Pat gasped, her whole body trembling as she stared at the bridge, her eyes wide. She wanted to, she knew she needed to, but she couldn't do it! Her knuckles went white as she clung to the railing.

Blue Stopped on the other side and turned to watch. The lad was afraid of heights? That was going to be a bit of a trial.

Blade frowned. "Look at me, god dam it!" He said sternly. Once Pat was looking at him, Blade's tone became calmer and steadier. "Okay, keep looking at me, and take one step at a time. One step at a time, and keep looking at me. Let's start like this; what's your name? People call me Blade."

Mark watched as well curiously. A dragon rider afraid of heights? That struck him as a bit odd.

"P-P-P-Pat," she stammered, staring at him desperately as she forced her foot forward. "R-Rice." She started to look down as her foot snagged on a board.

So far so good, until the kid stumbled. Blue sighed. This was going to take a while.

Blade moved a hand quickly as Pat started to look down, flashing a shiny knife briefly to get her attention. "Nope. Keep looking at me. So, where ya from Pat Rice? Anywhere cool? How about your favorite food? Is it rice?" He was trying to keep her attention on him rather than the fact they were so high up. It was working so far... kind of.

Mark was impressed. For once, the ADHD klepto seemed to be good for something.

Pat jerked back from the knife, but the shiny worked to get her attention back to Blade. "I'm from... Pearlharb-bor. Big city. N-never liked it m-much. I've never had rice. B-Blade like knife b-b-blades? Real n-name?"

"Pearlharbor? Heard of it, but have never been there." Blade started moving again to get Pat to move. They were getting closer... "Blade like sharp pointy things, yes. It's more like an old nickname that just stuck, you know? Is Pat short for anything? Like Patrick?"

"Y-yeah, P-Patrick," she stammered. "What's-What's your real name?"

"Almost there," Blue said allowed.

Blade smiled as they stepped onto the ground. "That isn't something you get to know." He seemed pleased with himself. He got the Pat to the other side. "That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

Mark nodded, impressed. He turned to see Violet's reaction, as well as what to do next.

Pat swallowed hard as she looked around. "It was horrible. But thank you." She hugged herself, trying to get herself to stop shaking. "Thank you."

Blue stepped aside, giving Blade a tiny bow. Nicely done.

Violet's expression hadn't changed, but she said simply, "Well done, Blade." Praise was a rare thing from her, and when she said it she meant it. To Pat, she said, "Things will be difficult for you. You will have to learn to deal with heights or you'll never fly." Turning away, she started walking. "Shall we continue?"

Pat stared at the ground, her cheeks aflame with shame. Never fly. That's all she wanted, to escape the ground.

Blade grinned before swiftly going back to being bored again. He had nothing to hold his attention anymore. His gaze wandered everywhere in the area. He started tapping his leg in a fidget, not wanting to lose another knife.

Mark watched for now and followed Violet. He hoped Pat could learn to get over her fear of heights. Perhaps he could help, once her dragon was hatched.

Violet spoke to the group as she gestured about, "Over there is the castle. You will have access to the library where the history of dragons will be taught, as well as the dining area. The Headmaster and all other non-students live up on the second story." They came upon one long house and she said, "This is the house for trainees. You. There are ten beds total, five bunk beds though and there is a common area as well as a washroom. You must learn to live with one another because there is nowhere else for you to be while here. Get settled, then meet me in the agricultural fields behind this when you finish. I will show you the rookery, and then, yes, Blade, you will eat."

Pat glanced at Blade at the announcement that they'd be living together. Wait.... then it hit her. All of them. All together. Oh boy. Lots of boys. Her cheeks flamed and she looked away quickly. This was not going to be easy, but she'd made it this far, she wasn't turning back now! She couldn't, really.

"Yesss!" Blade said when he heard that they would eat. He went in to claim a bunk. Preferable a whole bunk. He'd sleep on the top, and his weapons could hang below.

Mark followed Blade. Well then. He just hoped he wouldn't be judged for all the scars on his still young body. However, working with dragons, sometimes wild ones, was never exactly the safest job in the world...

"I do hope none of you humans snore," Blue sighed as he followed them inside. "I have heard it is a problem your kind have." He chose the bunk closest to the window and nimbly climbed on top. This was not so bad.

Pat stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for everyone to claim a spot before she did. Where would be the best place for her?

Blade staked his claim before looking at the elf. "And let me guess, you're just insert the proper F bomb here. sleeping beauty over there? Wanna prince to wake ya up every morning?"

Mark sighed and shook his head. "I don't snore. I breath deeply, but I don't snore unless I'm sick. And Blade, be nice."

"Thank you, but I would prefer a princess, and I'm afraid you aren't quite pretty enough to be mine," Blue said without missing a beat. He put his things on his bunk and hopped down, already heading outside, but he paused at the door. "Don't touch my things." He walked out calmly.

This wasn't off to a wonderful start, that was for sure. She took the bed closest to the door, pushing her tiny bag into the corner before following Blue.

Blade acted indignified. "I am plenty pretty enough for you, elf-boy! You just can't handle my charm." He placed some weapons in new homes for now before he went out with the other two.

Mark unpacked a little before he joined everyone else where Violet specified. He smiled as is sunk in a bit more. He had been chosen! He was going to be with a dragon!

Blue headed toward the huge stone building that was the rookery. Behind the rookery was a massive field filled with small plants. This should be interesting.

Pat stood apart from the others, arms still crossed. Gardening?

Violet clapped her hands once to get everyone's attention as she handed out items. "Now, riders, alongside with you training, you must also work during your stay upon the island. Nothing is given freely here. You must work for it. In order to eat, you must first sow the seeds. These are your tools. Your survival professor will meet you here first thing every morning to show you what must be done. For now, your tools go in that shed. Understood?"

Blade took the hoe for a moment before he started to spin it around like a staff one may use for fighting. He grinned before he walked over to the shed to put it away.

Mark, by contrast, seemed to know how to more properly wield the farming tool. He followed Blade to make sure no one got hurt by the show off-y idiot.

Blue held the thing carefully. It was Dirty! Sighing, he followed the other two to put the items away. Farming. Not what he wanted, but he supposed it made sense.

Pat almost tripped over her hoe as she tried to get everything to the shed. Then, at the last minute, she did trip and fell flat on her face. "Ow!"

Mark offered Pat a hand up, being a normally kind fellow. "Not use to farming?" He asked with a smile.

Blade grinned as he looked around the shed. "Not my first choices, but these could still do damage, so I'm happy."

"Is doing damage the only thing you think of?" Blue asked blandly as he put away his tools.

Pat shook her head as she accepted the hand up only as long as needed to get up then quickly let go. "No. I'm a city gi-guy. I've never seen a garden bigger than a window box until now."

Blade grinned. "Hey, anything can be used as a weapon if you're creative enough, princess."

Mark smiled a bit. "Part of the farm raising dragons I grew up on was also a farm to grow feed for the dragons. i know a little bit about farming."