RCW: Wingleaders Game

Posted on Thu Dec 5th, 2024 @ 10:46am by Gold Rider Lana & Bronze Rider I'han & Bronze Rider F'cone & Green Rider Calarya & Bronze Rider A'ren & Bronze Rider Ni’hau & Bronze Rider K'ron & Brown Rider K’yar
Edited on on Thu Dec 5th, 2024 @ 1:11pm

Mission: 3531 AL
Location: River Cove Weyr
Timeline: M 2 D 19

It had taken a sevenday but 99% of the new riders were in the Weyr and 2 falls had been fallen which meant that the Weyrleader had called the Wingleaders and their 2nds together to discuss how it had gone and how things could change or adjust if it were not working. Lana smiled at the Weyrleader as he sat there quietly looking through the hides and paper, he looked content and relaxed despite threadfall earlier in the day starting at first light. Lana just watched him for a few long minutes feeling proud of him and what they had achieved since Kalaith had last had her flight. It made the council chamber not feel like a battleground for the first time in a very long time.

"I do not believe I have ever seen you so quiet before a wingleader meeting Weyrleader?" Lana commented breaking the silence as she poured him a Klah first and then made her own from the canister that Tula had brought up for them.

A'ren studied the hides in front of him. So far things seemed to be going well and the new riders were fitting in quite nicely. Or so he thought. He would find out for sure once he talked with all the wingleaders and their seconds. He wanted to make sure there weren't any issues.

The bronze looked up at his mate. "Just studying, " he smiled, accepting the mug Lana passed him. "I really feel confident that we're all doing well," he commented. "Wouldn't you agree?" He liked being able to talk to Lana again and not having to watch every word. They worked much better together that way.

“Queen’s wing has no issue. The new wing members seem to be adjusting to the changes from weyrling to wing rider or wing rider to queens wing.” Lana confirmed smiling at him as she savoured the warmth of the klah mug.

A'ren took a sip of his klah as he made a small mark on one of the hides. "I'm glad to hear that. My wing is doing well too. I just hope the others are as well."

Anymore conversation was stopped by Kalaith issuing a challenge to whoever had landed on the ledge. Lana turned to hear a dragon crooning but not another sound was heard. *** They are here for me and the Weyrleader sweetheart.***

He glanced over when he heard Kaliath. "She okay?"

“Someone has arrived.” Lana said simply.

}:They did not ask permission. :{ Kalaith commented making Lana smile at the unfortunate wingleader who had gotten on the wrong side of Kalaith in her half-asleep state.

“Zaijianth, please tell her I was summoned to a meeting,” Ni’hau told his dragon, staying mounted for now.

}:Mine says he was summoned,:{ Zaijianth told the queen. }: He means no disrespect.:{

***Let them pass.*** Lana said firmly as she heard another bellow that was softer. The Weyrwoman repeated her order more forcefully and Kalaith backed down and folded her wings down to curl back up in the sunshine.

Finally, Ni’hau was allowed to enter. He dismounted and offered the queen a little bow, asking Zaijianth to offer their apologies to her. Then he quietly entered the meeting. “Sorry,” he told the Weyrleaders. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

Lana rose from her chair and offered a smile. "I apologise to you Ni'hau I should have warned you not to land on the ledge." She knew the other wingleaders knew that and that was her error. She needed to make sure that any new rider knew that it was better to use the stairs.

A'ren bit back a smile as he nodded a greeting to Ni’hau. "Think we've all made that mistake and felt the wrath of Kaliath," he admitted. He knew he himself had a few times. There were even times now the queen would get testy with them.

“It’s all right,” Ni’hau replied good-naturedly. “Hopefully she doesn’t hold it against me. I’d hate to be on the receiving end of a queen dragon’s wrath.”

F'cone walked in and stopped as he took in the small group. He had expected to be last but no one was there and no ones second was there yet. He did not like this as it meant he had to make small talk and he really was not in the mood for that with A'ren of all people. "That would have been the bellow I heard coming up then." The man commented as he took his usual seat willing K'yar and even Calarya to turn up soon.

K'yar groaned as he jogged up the steps. Somehow he had lost track of time.and figured for sure he would be late. When he bumped into K'ron on the steps though he knew at least he wouldn't be the last. The two walked in together and smiled at the group.

"Sorry we're late," K'ron apologized for both of fhem.

“As am I.” Calarya called carrying a large storage container from behind before V’ros and C’dan came in. The bronze rider took the contained with a frown at the green rider who just glared back as the man set it on the table. The weyrlingmaster pair took their seats at the table and looked around unsure. There seemed to be a few gaps with all the movements.

“Thank you Calarya,” Lana said gently knowing the woman would know exactly what she meant instead of sending one of the bronze riders.

“Nobody’s late,” offered Ni’hau. “At least I don’t think so. I’m just an overachiever and arrived early.”

A'ren smiled as the riders began to show up. "No everyone is right on time," he assured them. The Weyrleader watched everyone begin to find seats and get comfortable.

Once the last few Wingleaders and Seconds came in filling out the room to near bursting Lana picked up the box that was on the table and tipped it upside down spreading bundles of paper all over the table. The Weyrwoman grinned at A'ren as he must have had second thoughts on the request he had made for her to put every single rider's name on pieces of paper to rearrange the wings. "The Weyrleader asked me to write down every single rider on pieces of paper." She explained as Calarya picked up a bundle that had green rider with 10 turns experience on and another said blue rider less than 2 years out of weyrlinghood.

Ni’hau picked up a couple of the packets that had tumbled towards him and began passing them back. “That’s a lot of paper,” he commented almost idly.

A'ren raised a brow at his mate. When he had made that request that was not what he had been thinking. Shards that was a lot of paper.

K'ron took another of the packets. "And what was the plan for all the names?" He asked curiously as K'yar had grabbed another packet.

Lana stared back and him and grinned as the riders looked among themselves daunted with the names and what to do with them. *** Dear heart pass on to Zarminath and his rider how the head woman approaches chores with candidates.*** Lana requested of her golden queen who was finally calming down from her grumbling. Lana reached out for several of the packets that already were bundled up from the current wing rotations.

}: Mine would like to pass on the memory of the head woman's approach to picking jobs for candidates.:{ Kalaith grumbled at the message Lana was making her pass on to her own mate. Lana was pretty proud of the solution she had found to how to get the riders into wings - the wingleaders would pick blindly and evenly.

Zarminath lifted his head as Kaliath passed on the message. The bronze snorted. }:Mine, Kaliath says to think about how the headwoman picks jobs.:{

A'ren raised a brow as he listened to his bronze's message. "That is an interesting way to do it," he agreed, looking at Lana.

K'ron and K'yar looked up. "What way?" K'ron asked.

“To do what?” Ni’hau asked at the same time.

“Pick your new wing members.” Lana answered. Lana started to unpacked one of the packs and turned them over on the table. “No one gets more than the other. You all get your pick and best of all no one can accuse of favouritism because you wing leaders are picking.” Lana said grinning as she stepped back and indicated to them all to start.

"Definitely no favoritism," A'ren agreed. Lana had certainly come up with an interesting idea. It would be interesting to see just how the wings were made up now.

"Well that's a new way," K'ron agreed, looking at the piles she had put together.

“I mean,” said Ni’hau, glancing at a few of the pages, “they could accuse us of favoritism, but I suppose that’s better than accusing the weyrleaders. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, wingleaders having favoritism might be a good thing. Because then we’d get along well with our wings. What do you think?” he asked I’han, his Wingsecond. “I barely know anybody, so I’d appreciate some advice.”

“I believe our dear Weyrwoman means for this to be blind. No one gets favour.” I’han said thoughtfully as he watched the last few pieces get turned over so no one could see the names.

“I’han gets it.” Lana said smiling at the bronze rider. “You get your current wing members but you blind pick your new ones.”

“Oh, I see,” said Ni’hau slowly, a sort of pleased comprehension covering his features. “Do we at least get to know the colors of the dragons? We could use some blues.”

Calarya grinned as she caught up. “This is why you have separated by experience as well as colour Weyrwoman.” She approved smiling at A’ren, happy to see that the pair were back to being a strong leadership pair.

“I have indeed.” The weyrwoman smiled at the other woman relieved that the woman was supporting the idea. “You start with bronze riders and we work down to weyrlings.”

K'ron smiled. "Very clever, Weyrwoman." This would interesting. And he had a feeling it would let them get to know all the riders better.

"Very good idea, Weyrwoman," A'ren agreed, now knowing what Kaliath had been trying to get Zarminath to understand. It was a very clever idea.

"Cannot take all the credit. That belongs to our headwoman." Lana assured indicating that they should start getting to pick their new wing riders otherwise they would be there all day. Lana sat back in her chair and watched the group start to pick riders.

“I’ll take as many blues as are left,” Ni’hau put in, choosing two browns blindly from the stack. “But I want at least three.”

F'cone inclined his head at the new wingleader. "When we get there you can some of mine. I have several bronzes to make up the numbers right now." F'cone picked 2 names of brown riders he had not met yet but the next drill would be interesting. He passed them back to K'yar before he indicated to A'ren that it was his turn. Lana smiled as she watched the men almost playing a card game. The small woman glanced up to see Calarya narrow her eyes and smile as she realised that the woman was very much making the men play a game to get along whether they liked it or not. It seemed to the Wingsecond that the Weyrwoman was learning from her previous mistakes and making sure the Wingleaders got along.

K'ron considered what he needed in his wing as A'ren nodded his head in thanks to F'cone. The Weyrleader chose two greens and a brown to start with before passing it to K'ron. A'ren glanced at Calarya, wondering if she approved.

K'ron ended up picking bronze, brown, and blue. He needed to really get a better mix in his wing, and he still needed to find that wing second.

Calarya made a face. "You are picking A'ren, not me. I will make whatever work." She commented taking the names as she watched as the piles got smaller and smaller as the group worked together. F'cone glanced around, he had to admit that this had been a lot better approach to picking the new wing riders than normal. He nodded to Lana appreciating how easy she had made it for them as it was the luck of the draw other than him picking a few to give to Ni’hau.

Ni’hau hadn’t even looked at who was in his wing thus far- let the whole thing be a surprise, he figured. He accepted the sheets F’cone passed to him and added them to his pile. “This is actually kinda fun,” he laughed as someone passed along some green riders. “It’s like Turn’s End when all the presents get passed out and you get to see what everyone got.”

Several other of the wing leaders agreed with the new man's thoughts. "It has been many Turns since we have had a shift like this." F'cone commented. "I do not believe we have had this many new riders in one go since before you became the Weyrwoman." F'cone commented glancing at Lana.

"Times are changing Wingleader," Lana commented sweetly but the tone did not quite reach her eyes.

A'ren rolled his eyes but grinned at Calarya. He should have known he would get that kind of answer. And he had to agree. This was sort of fun and he was curious to see how all the riders worked together.

K'yar gathered F'cone's picks. This would be interesting. "I'm excited to get some new riders in the wings," he commented.

Lana looked at the last few names on the table and divided them between the remaining bronze riders happy to see that the wings no longer had 11 or so riders anymore.

“Got to admit it might take me time to remember all the names,” I’han commented with a gentle smile. It had been a lot simpler than what he had thought was going to happen. “But that was simpler than I imagined.” He really had expected to be there for candlemarks going over each individual name.

“Now we get to see who we got,” Ni’hau said excitedly, rubbing his hands together. “Do we take turns or just all go at once?”

Lana glanced at A'ren and indicated it was his game now. "Could just take your wing seconds away and start organising but that is up to the Weyrleader. I just made the game to help." Lana said in a sweet tone as she picked up the pack of pregnant or injured riders that were assigned to her.

A'ren smiled a bit. It seemed like everyone was curious now as to who would be joining their wings. He considered his options. It would be interesting to see who each had in their wings yet they also needed time with their wing seconds. "Meet with your wing seconds and discuss your new riders."

F'cone nodded glancing back at K'yar passing the final few riders to him to look after until they got out of there and got a proper chance to look through things. Calarya grinned at K'yar and held up her matching pile as she I'han but he quickly shoved them inside his jacket pocket before he lost any. Lana grinned a little proud of herself despite the confusion it had caused.