Kala Ree

Karah was on Lillua's back in her new flight gear as once again she had outgrown her old gear. It was yet another one of the many issues of having someone bond at her age, lots and lots of outgrown clothing and kyrider gear. The little kyrider was in high spirits as she loved flight training as well as getting to spend a little extra time with Laylar and Sarasha.

"You know I swear you get heavier every time we have flight training." Lillua would tease her which would earn her the following response. "Hey I'm still growing, why else do you think I got new gear again?"

The Kryka would then get a mischievous gleam in her eyes before replying. "Well of course you are, hey maybe if you are lucky, one day you won't be such a pipsqueak."

Karah would at first pout at this, but then would get a sly smile on her on her face and expertly maneveur her fingers between Lillua's shoulders blades to reach her most ticklish spot. Naturally the spotted Kryka started twitching and squirming which made it a good thing that the pair was still firmly on the ground. Of course Karah wouldn't have done that if they were airborne, but one was liable to still have the thought when watching the two of them.

Cool wind roved across the grassy foothills, shouldering up against the crags and outcroppings of stone that speckled them. High above that, the sky was breezy and clear, and the wind touseled Alpha Sarasha's fur and gold feathers. Her tail lashed, its fan spreading open wide like her outstretched wings. Atop her back, secured safely in a harness crafted from Uwamu leather, sat Laylar.

Sarasha's sharp scarlet eyes spotted a blonde form down below, and the Kyrka canted a wing to send her into a downward spiral. Don't spook them too badly, came her rider's amused thought. The wind would have snatched words straight from his lips--they both were grateful for the bond.

Sarasha's forelegs were tucked up close to her chest as she buzzed the field below. Grass bent and shook from the force of her arrival as she approached Karah and Lillua from behind. Her flight was by no means silent, but between the wind and the distracting tickle fight, it's possible she wouldn't be noticed until her landing. She backwinged to slow her momentum and hit the ground with a thump. Laylar, well-practiced, braced himself in the stirruplike loops, but even so the landing was jarring.

After galloping a few paces, Sarasha could bring herself, finally, to a complete halt near Lillua. She let out a loud trill of greeting.

Due to the fact that both Karah and Lillua were being quite loud due to the tickling, the alpha's descent would indeed go unnoticed until they landed. Once they did however, they would quickly turn to look at her and say almost in unison. "Hi Laylar and Sarasha/Greetings Alphas Sarasha and Laylar."

Both would look happy to see the older pair, but Karah especially so. "So what are we going to do today exactly? I have been looking so forward to spending time with you both and getting extra flight practice." The little Serra considered flight practice to be her absolute favorite type of Kyrider training and was always exuberant when it came to it.

"Yeah she was practically a typhoon cleaning today, but don't worry she didn't miss anything. She made sure to double check after she finished." Lillua would add.

"Can we try eagle diving today?" Karah would gleefully ask before waiting for the answer. Eagle diving was one step below Peregrine diving as Karah hadn't yet grown old enough to handle the sheer force brought on by the max velocity dives.

(Pergraine Falcons dive the fastest of any birds with golden eagles being the 2nd fastest I believe. Hence the names for the dives, but feel free to change that. I was thinking maybe in eagle diving, the position is changed to lower terminal velocity. Your call.)

Laylar waved to the girl and her Kyrka--or perhaps it was to the Kyrka and her girl--while Sarasha's jewel flickered with silvery streaks. Watching little Karah grow over the past four years had been quite an experience, and both Alphas were fond of her. "It is good you're so enthusiastic," Laylar said, adjusting the straps of his harness. "I thought you could benefit from a little more training--just to make sure you'll be safe when you're a full-fledged Kyrider."

The Serra bit his lip at the prospect of eagle diving. Sarasha wasn't the best diver in the sanctum, likely due to her size. She hadn't even ever truly gotten the hang of peregrine dives. But Karah had to learn the technique at some point--it may as well be now. "... alright. I think you can handle it."

Rather than take off right away to search for a suitable dive spot, the Alpha began by explaining the form. "The winds will be strong when you start a dive, and you'll find yourself wanting to lean back. Resist this. Instead, lean forward and hang on to the collar like so." The Serra demonstrated, bending at the waist until his face nearly touched the fur on the back of Sarasha's neck. He grasped two loops of leather on the back of the thick collar section of the harness. "... once you reach speed, push your feet into the stirrups squarely, and don't let them go slack until the dive is over." He showed her how to do this, as well, keeping the stirrups taut by extending his legs. "Any questions so far?"

Karah would clap happily when Laylar said that she could practice eagle diving. She had been looking forward to it so for long and now she was finally going to get to do it!

Both Karah and Lillua would listen intently to Laylar's explanation with the former copying his demonstration. Then when he asked for questions, both Kyrka and child each had one. However the questions were quite different from each other and each directed to a specific alpha.

To Laylar, Karah would ask. "Are there any breathing exercises you recommend before, during or after the dive?" It was a question befitting the child's nature, wanting to do anything she could to maximize her chances of success.

However her Kryka had a question born from worry directed at Sarasha. "Is there anything I can do to lessen the dive's impact for Karah? I'm worried she could get by hurt by it." This too was a question typical of the spotted Kryka. Even from an early age, Lillua had recognized that her bondmate, was younger, smaller and more fragile then the others. As a result, she was often concerned about her partner's safety even more so then the normal Kryka.

However Karah's eagerness and Lillua's caution actually struck a balance together. The conflict between the two served to keep both in check. If Karah became too eager, then Lillua was there to get her to slow down, but the reserve was also true. If the Kryka became too cautious, then the Serra was always able to get her to relax. As such the two served to temper the other and keep both traits in harmony.

Laylar heard out Karah's question with a nod. "On your first few dives, you may feel like you are winded--or worse, suffocating. But it's no different than breathing on the ground. Concentrate on each breath, making it even and deep." He inhaled through his nostrils deeply and released it from his lips in a long sigh, then repeated the process to give an example.

Sarasha, meanwhile, focused on Lillua's question. She lifted her head and gazed up into the sky. Don't change direction too swiftly--ease into and out of the dive. Her fierce scarlet gaze descended once more to meet Lillua's brighter yellow one. But you must remember ... she can get hurt by anything. So can Laylar. Or you or I, for that matter. You cannot coddle her, because when she is a full-fledged Kyrider, I will not either. Though matronly, the Alpha Kyrka was still tough on her riders, and she had to be all the tougher as they moved towards their graduation.

Laylar felt his bondmate's mind resonating. Though she wasn't speaking to him, it was nearly impossible for bondmates to keep secrets from one another. He didn't pry, however, and let her know he was ready. "Follow us," he told Karah as Sarasha began to walk, then lope, her wings opening in preparation to catch the wind. Once they were airborne, it would be next to impossible for Laylar and Karah to talk directly to one another--it would all have to be done telepathically between the two Kyrka.

Karah nodded at Laylar's words before copying his demostration. Then she would say."Thank you for the advice!"

Lillua meanwhile would start to gain altitude and would listen to what Sarasha had to tell her. However she would also defend her actions to the Alpha. "I know that hopefully she will be a full-fledged kyrider soon, but I also know that she is not like the other trainees. Even Kette, the second youngest trainee is still four years older then her. We both know that Karah is still firmly a kyrlet as well as being smaller and weaker then the rest the prospective kyriders. Is is truly coddling if I am trying to keep her current limitations in mind? After all it is her first dive so I just want to make sure I take it easy because of that. Then after a few dives she will be somewhat used to it and I won't have to worry about it so much. I know that she won't be little forever, but I just want to do what I can to make sure that she gets the chance to reach adulthood. Speaking of kyriders, I had something else I wanted to ask, but I'll wait until after the lesson." Lillua's tone during this would remain polite and respectful, but also passionate, trying to show The Alpha that she wasn't trying to hold Karah back, but was merely being appropriately cautious.

By this time, Lillua had reached the appropriate diving altitude and taking Sarasha's words to heart, would start to ease into it. Then both kryka and rider were in a eagle dive with Karah taking Laylar's breathing advice to heart. Karah had never gone so fast in her life, she could feel her eyes tearing up and it did feel harder to breathe then normal, but she managed it. Lillua to her credit would complete the entire dive without even once making any sort of movement that would indicate that she wanted to pull out early.

Soon the dive would be over and Karah could be heard consumed by gasping laughter. "That was *gasp* kinda *gasp* fun!" The child was still on an adrenaline buzz and there was obvious tears on her face brought on by the high speed. Lillua on the other hand was quite proud and joyful with her bondmate, her jewel showing this with a brilliant purple.

Once Karah managed to calm down a bit, she would then ask the appropriate question. "How did I do?"

(I don't know what color being proud would be, so I decided to go with purple for joy instead. xD)

Laylar watched Karah as she mimicked his actions, nodding along as she did. Sarasha deemed this moment the wrong time to keep talking, and so didn't respond to Lillua as they climbed ever higher into the sky. Wind screamed past the alpha's face, whipping her feathers and fur into chaos. Her scarlet eyes closed in a long, slow blink, momentarily just relishing the feeling of the open skies. It wasn't often she had a spare moment to do so.

Once Lillua reached her peak and began to angle downwards, Sarasha followed suit. It didn't matter how many times they had dived--it always made Laylar's stomach plummet and his heart leap up into his throat. He clung to the leather straps that kept him squarely in position, squinting as he watched Karah as best he could. Sarasha was his eyes in the sky, able to tolerate the winds far better than her bondmate.

Sarasha's broad gold-feathered wings opened up at the bottom of the dive, evening out their rapid descent. Laylar kept his stance easily until the end, when he felt his body lurch slightly in an attempt to continue its downward trajectory. They weren't the most skilled divers. Sarasha landed heavily in the grasses near Lillua and walked the rest of the way over, though both she and her bondmate waited for the girl's elation to wash over her before saying anything.

"You did well," Laylar said, "but it's something that requires much practice before you can put it to any use. Give it another go."

Lillua would choose to drop her private conversation with Sarasha as she didn't want to risk pushing the issue. So instead, she would choose to groom her wings while waiting for Karah to calm down from her first successful dive.

After a couple of minutes, Karah would finally calm down and smile at the two Alphas. "I understand Laylar, I'll practice as many times as you want." Then petting Lillua she would say out loud. "We get to do it again Lillua."

The Kryka in turn would stop grooming her wings and take to the air once more. Then she would once again work to gain the altitude needed for their second dive.

(Short sorry.)

"Don't push yourselves too hard," Laylar called as Lillua took off, holding a hand up to his face to shield it from the blast of wind. Sarasha began to lope soon after, leaping into the air with a heavy downstroke of her wings. The followed the younger gold's ascent into the sky, evening out at the right altitude. This time, Sarasha led the dive, so that Lillua might learn from her subtle movements.

Don't teach her any bad habits, thought Laylar, grinning. Sarasha had a tendency to angle her face to the left when she dove.

I am doing everything strictly by the book, Sarasha replied indignantly. And, true to her word, her beak was pointing straight as she tipped forward and began to plummet. This time, Laylar allowed himself to enjoy the sensation. He felt like a trainee again, before the burden of his duty had settled like a stone mantle over his shoulders. As he laughed, the wind stole away the sound, and it took him a moment to compose himself. At the bottom of the dive, Sarasha's wings flared open to terminate her descent. Her path evened out so that she hit the ground sprinting, slowed, and finally came to a halt.

Karah would reply to Laylar's words of restraint with a laugh before saying. "We won't!" Of course whether the elder Serra would be able to hear her was up for debate. However once Lillua reached the proper altitude, she would dutifully wait for Sarasha so that the Alphas could lead this dive.

Then once Sarasha caught up and led the dive, Lillua would do her best to mimic every subtle movement her mother made. Naturally the younger kryka still made mistakes, but this dive was still a bit better then her first one all the same. Then near the end, she would start to level out and would manage to make a decent landing.

Once again Karah would be laughing happily, but this time her face was a little paler then it normally was as she had minor motion sickness. As a result, it seemed that she had hit her diving limit for the day. It was understandable as not only had they been her first dives, she was also unusually young to be undergoing such training. However practice and time would improve her body's limit.

Yet while the diving had to come to an end, the trainee still had plenty of energy to burn so perhaps some other training would be good for her.

Laylar looked up to watch the end of Lillua's descent. Though he had spent most of his life around Kyrka, it was still unnerving to watch one plummeting towards him at top speed. Very long ago, before Salla and Sern had forged the first bond, Kyrka had preyed upon Serra in times of desperation. Even now, ferals would come out of the mountains if no other prey could be found, though this hadn't occured in many years. The brief leap of Laylar's heart served to remind him that he was still an animal, ultimately no different than Sarasha or even a common Nuru.

"That's enough," he said to Karah as she and Lillua came up alongside them. This was additional training for the trainer, added on top of the regular lessons with the rest of the clutch, so he didn't want to push her too hard. "How are you feeling? We still have some light left to work on something else ... sparring, perhaps." Karah was much younger and smaller than the other trainees, after all, and especially needed one on one attention in combat skills.

Karah would make a small aww of disappointment when Laylar said that the diving had come to an end, but didn't argue about it. Instead she would ask him. "What kind of sparring? Hand to hand or do we need to go back so I can get my spear and bola?"

Karah's current spear was a practice one meant for newly bonded twelve year olds as the spears that everyone else had were still too big and unwieldy for her. Instead of heaving a metal tip, her's had a blunter wooden one to make it suitable to practice with. However she was soon supposed to get a real spear that had been custom made to accommodate her small stature. They already had the pole already to go, they were just waiting for the metal tip which had to be special ordered. It was yet one more thing in a long list of gear that had to be made especially for the littlest trainee over the years.

Meanwhile Lillua would ask Sarasha. "Alpha Sarasha will I be sparring with you as well?"

Laylar chuckled and undid the straps keeping him in place on Sarasha's back. "Hand to hand," he said. "Just a bit, while the light is still with us." He swung out of the stirrups and landed in the thick golden grass, which came up to his knees. It would be tricky footing, especially for Karah. For half a second he was about to go help the girl out of her own harness, like he had to do when she was younger, but a mental press from Sarasha kept him in place. He let her climb down by herself, and waited for her with his arms crossed. "Do you remember Swaying Grass?" he asked. He remained motionless, waiting to see if she could do it without assistance.

Sarasha, meanwhile, went to lay down in the grass nearby, letting the low sun beat on her russet pelt. That action in and of itself was a response to Lillua, but to be clear, she mentally answered the younger gold. No. You must learn to trust your instincts--that will be all the fighting training you need. For some Kyrka, it was difficult to let the 'animal' side take over; they feared that loss of control. It came easily to Sarasha.

(Serran martial arts (which I should really name haha) is similar to capoeira. So there's an emphasis on constant movement, decisive action, kicks, and evasion instead of blocks. Tails may be used to wrap around wrists or ankles for slight destabilization, but aren't strong enough to do, say, a proper leg sweep.)

Karah nodded at Laylar and said. "Ok hand to hand it is!" She would then start to work on getting herself free from the harness and nodding at Laylar when he asked her about the grasses. She would eventually manage to get out of the harness, but it did take her significantly longer then it had for the alpha.

The trainee would then walk her way to Laylar in the grass that was waist high for her. Clearly he was going to have to go little easier on her then he normally did because she would at even more of a disadvantage then normal. However no matter how disadvantaged she was, Karah never complained and instead simply gave it all. Despite her age and size, the child did show some promise as a fighter. She learned extremely quickly and seemed to possess a instinct for fighting as well as an animalistic ferocity. It was almost fitting considering her slightly more feral appearance then the average Serra. However despite her inborn talent, she was still being seriously held back by her age and size. Yet it was enough to make one wonder what kind of fighter she would be once she grew up.

Lillua meanwhile would nod and then copy Sarasha's lead by sunbathing in the grass. With Sarasha and Laylar right there, she could relax her guard a bit more then she normally did. After all, she knew that the two alphas would fight savagely to keep her little bondmate safe. It was also a expression of trust reserved for the alphas as she would never be as at ease for any other kyrider.

(I figured I wound let you start the training so I could learn from your example. Don't want to make myself look stupid after all. xD Also I wanted to make it clear that Lillua is not expecting the Alphas to protect Karah for her, just that she is willing to relax a bit more then she normally would.)

Laylar waited patiently for Karah to extricate herself from the harness and dismount. His tail swayed back and forth, the tufted tip getting touseled to and fro by the wind. As she approached, he dropped into a low stance wherein he was constantly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. This was the stance called Swaying Grass, the basic form from which all other forms were built. He waited for her to follow suit, and made sure she was doing it correctly, before proceeding. He drew a deep breath and began the usual warmup drills, beginning with a series of elbow jabs timed with the flow of Swaying Grass, followed by three spinning kicks. When he landed, he fell still, and waited for her to mimic him.

Sarasha, meanwhile, was content to relax with Lillua. She began to preen the younger Kyrka's feathers and fur, but didn't speak.