Here There Be Dragons

Posted on Mon Oct 14th, 2019 @ 4:15am by Civillian Ravi Azad PhD & Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Corvus & Civillian Selyna Braeden

Mission: Interlude 1
Location: Somewhere in the Universe

Were vacations always going to be like this?

They had been sent to a peaceful planet, one that had chosen to keep their agrarian lifestyle. There were hints of technology here and there- clocks, screen printed cloth, windmills. And they enjoyed hosting aliens. But, other than that, they remained peaceful and simple.

Oh, and there were dragons.

The first sight of them had frightened Ravi, but as he had glanced frantically around and noticed nobody else seemed frightened, he had stopped to watch as they slowly descended into a clearing nearby. Once they had landed, a figure alit each one and helped a couple of others down.

"They're dragonriders," said a voice behind him. He turned to see a young girl watching the dragons as well. "Dragonriders," she repeated. "They ride dragons."

"I had figured that out," he replied with a grin.

The girl giggled. "They're bringing folk to the gather," she continued. "They sometimes do that. When there's nothing else to do." She shrugged. "Are you going to gather?"

"Is that what is happening down there?" he asked, indicating the clearing where stalls were going up and a man was directing a bunch of people in setting up what looked like a dance floor.

"Yeah," said the girl. "Do you need a guide? I'm a good guide! I can show you all the good stuff! I'm not a Harper, but I still know where to find everything awesome. I promise I'm good at it!"

Ravi grinned at her. "What do you say, guys?" he asked his two companions. "Do we need a guide?"

Selyna blinked at all of it, trying to focus her mind. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't immediately place what. She hated when that happened. Being a genius meant that she had a crack mind, but today it was just... cracked. She gave up trying to figure out why this all felt... familiar and looked at Ravi and the girl. She had to smile. The girl was so excited to help them. "I think we just might at that." she answered, squatting down to be more on eye level with the girl. "And what is your name, Little Guide?" she asked with a smile.

“I’m Sharol!” replied the girl. “I’m ten turns and I’m gonna be head woman one day. What are you called?”

Selyna thought about that. The sense of familiarity shifted through the back of her mind again, but again, she couldn't figure out what it meant. So, again, she pushed it aside and smiled at Sharol. "I'm Selyna." she answered with warmth. "And this is Ravi." she introduced, indicating him with a motion of her hand. "And that is Jeremy." She indicated him as well. "You said everyone's preparing for Gather. What is that exactly?" she asked, curious but also trying to get as much information as she could to know what the proper thing to do or say might be.

“It’s great! Just you wait!” replied Sharol enthusiastically. “Everybody in the whole territory comes. Well, almost. An’ there’s food an’ music an’ wine! Course, mum doesn’t let me have wine, yet, cuz I’m so little. Maybe I’ll grow enough next turn. Anyway, come on! Have you got anything to trade? If not, don’t worry! I’ll tell ‘em you’re guests and we’ll get you some food. Oh! That looks like the Materharper! You’ll have to meet him. He’s nice!” She motioned for them to follow and skipped off towards the gather Square.

“Chatty, isn’t she?” commented Ravi with a grin as he started after her.

"She's a young girl," Jeremy said as he readjusted his cover. "Which means all she does is talk and sleep. Often at the same time I bet." He glanced over and saw the other half of this 'babysitting duty' coming up. Creighton looked very different in the green SGC uniform, other than his normal Air Force cammies.

"I don't know what you're always complaining about," Creighton said with a smile, his eyes not on his traveling companions but rather on the very large - VERY large - winged lizards in the short distance. "I mean, this seems almost too good to be true."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Let's see, on my first mission, Major threatened to shoot me, then snake headed aliens took him up on that as a challenge. My next mission I got to mentally regress back to the teenage years, all the while knowing that a few hours separated me from puberty and death. And the last mission?" Jeremy shuddered to think about that one. "So yeah, little bit upset your first time offworld is to...well...this!"

"Intel suggests this place is friendly," Creighton answered, pointedly ignoring the bait his friend was levering before him. His eyes kept fixed on the 'dragons' while he kept a good grip on his guns. But he'd seen enough kaiju movies to realize how useful the carbine in his hand might be if they decided they wanted tasty Tau'ri snacks. Though, really, Jeremy would make a much bigger snack. Creighton wondered how he could convey that idea to the dragons, some who appeared to be looking at them with a very hungry look in their swirling rainbow eyes. "Did I hear that there's some sort of gathering happening?"

"Yeah, I thought I heard that too. Hey, Rav," Jeremy said, "think there's any food at this gathering?"

“She says so,” called Ravi over his shoulder. “But they might run out if you two don’t get a move on.”

Creighton sighed. "Yeah, if it ever comes to his constantly empty belly or saving all of mankind, we're doomed for lack of a cheeseburger."

“C’mon!” Called Sharol excitedly. “If we hurry you can meet the dragons!” And she pointed to the sky where two large beasts- a bronze and a blue- were circling towards the nearby clearing.

“You heard her!” called a grinning Ravi to the others. “Let’s go meet the dragons!”

Selyna stood and followed after the very excited Ravi, grinning at him. He was almost like a child being taken to a new amusement park. "I'm coming, Ravi." she said, still smiling. Looking at Corvus, she said very softly in teasing, "He's very excitable, isn't he?"

"Just don't give him any math problems and we should see him settle down shortly," Jeremy joked as he jogged alongside the scientists toward the beasts, glancing over his shoulder to see Creighton jogging along behind them, shaking his head. Jeremy's grinned widened. He was betting Creighton wasn't thinking this mission was so cake now.

TAG Selyna (optional)

Sharol continued running towards the two dragons as they landed in the clearing and waved one hand in the air. "Hail riders!" she called to them as they alit their dragons.

"Sharol!" called the bronze rider. "Where have you been? You've got charges again?"

Sharol gasped and turned back to her charges. "It's Ni'hau and Zaijianth and L'kesh and Keloseth!" she announced. "I know them!" She turned back and called, "yeah! They're from off world! Can they come meet your dragons?"

"Sure!" called L'kesh, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "Bring them down!"

"Come on!" Sharol called to the group excitedly as she ran ahead.

Creighton pulled up to Jeremy and grabbed his arm, stopping the young staff sergeant short. "Is this really a good idea?" he said. He'd been eyeing the monsters as they'd come closer. Parasitic worms making people believe they were gods he could wrap his mind around. But dragons? That was something completely different.

"Well," Jeremy said, shrugging. "They haven't tried killing us yet. And I bet they could give it a really good go if they wanted to, so why not?"

"Why not?" Creighton asked, incredulous as one of the monsters turned its eye toward them, the entire thing a swirling opalesence.

Jeremy just shrugged again, resettling his pack as he looked over the creatures. Their skin was much smoother than he expected. Not a sign of scales anywhere. More like lizard skin than what he'd come to expect from stories and fairy tales.

As for Ravi, he was totally unconcerned with the dragons. If the people here trusted them enough to ride them, he felt there was little chance they would hurt anybody. And so, he jogged to catch up with Sharol, who was currently giggling at the blue dragon. "Hi," he said to the two riders, his face covered with a huge grin. "I'm Ravi."

"Ravi, well met," said the cheerful Bronze rider. "I'm Ni'hau and this," he added, turning to pat the large bronze's leg, "is Zaijianth. Say hello Zaijianth."

The bronze's head swung down to peer at Ravi. Hello, Ravi, he said telepathically.

Ravi blinked, eyes wide and turned to the others. "Guys!" he called, spinning back to stare at the dragon and then back to his friends. "They can talk!"

Sharol giggled.

"You didn't tell them?" laughed the blue rider. "Hello, Ravi. I'm L'kesh, Keloseth's rider. Yes, they talk telepathically. Usually only to their riders, but they can make exceptions. They really like visitors, so they get chatty. Especially Kelo. Right buddy?"

This time, Kelo's head swung down to peer at Ravi. I like visitors! he said. Yes, yes! Oh, we should take you for a ride! We should! Would you like that? Can I take you for a ride?

"Perhaps," said Ravi, feeling a bit giddy, "once I've gotten used to the idea of talking dragons." He turned again towards his approaching friends. "They talk!" he called again excitedly.

Selyna grinned at him, then chuckled softly. "Yes, I heard you the first time." she said with a tone of teasing chastisement. She put a hand on his shoulder gently to indicate that she was only meaning it in friendly teasing. Her eyes then shifted to take in the dragons and riders. They weren't like the dragons in most tales; they were more like...

"Oh, holy..." she muttered to herself, her eyes going wide. Suddenly that sense of familiarity had clarified. This whole place reminded her of a book she'd read. There were obviously differences too, like the dragons speaking to them and not just their riders, and like the whole acceptance of visitors. But the similarities were... fascinating. In a multiverse of infinite possibilities...

"Well met." she offered to both the riders and their dragons. "I'm Selyna" She wanted to ask if she could touch the dragons, but refrained... for now... out of respect.

"They like their eye ridges scratched," Ni'hau said with a wink, seemingly reading her mind. Actually, he had simply seen that look in many eyes through the years and knew exactly what it meant.

Selyna smiled, stepping closer to the dragon. Reaching up, she scratched gently along the eye ridges as indicated. "Like this?" she asked to be sure she was doing it correctly.

Mmmm, yes, rumbled Zaijianth happily.

Ravi reached up to scratch the blue dragon's eye ridges and laughed giddily when Keloseth leaned into his hand. "They're fantastic!" he exclaimed.

"Course they are!" replied Sharol. "They're dragons! Hey, guys!" she called to the others lagging behind. "You're missin' all the fun!"

Selyna shifted her attention to the dragon's other eye ridge. Couldn't have him feeling all lopsided, now could they. The texture was fascinating, but she was no biologist, so she just enjoyed the experience. "It's odd..." she muttered, mostly to herself but knowing that Zaijianth would hear. "At your size and power, I'd expectyour telepathy to be... well... deafening, but it isn't. It's almost... gentle."

"C'mon!" Jeremy said, grabbing Creighton by the arm. "We're being shown up by the geek squad!" Despite the being shot at, nearly losing his foot to an infection from another world, and other wounds and battles, he'd never lost his love for the idea of exploring unknown, alien worlds. So far the worst that's happened to them was getting sand blasted as the wings of the huge beast beat to a downdraft as they landed. And then there was the opportunity to ride one! "If we don't hurry then well, they'll get to have all the fun!"

"Okay, okay," Creighton said, still eying the large beasts warily. It was his first trip off world, he was only here as a temp replacement (though he wouldn't mind being reassigned permanently) and it was still knew to him. He read the after action reports, he'd been one of the few to actually visit Jeremy in the hospital while he fought to resist the infection that nearly claimed his foot. He knew about the other trips as well. He thought he was prepared but then...dragons. He was staring at mythology come to life. Actual dragons. Maybe not firebreathing dragons because that would just be...well...impossible really. I mean...

"C'mon!" Jeremy said, tugging harder and dragging Creighton out of his reverie and forward. Toward the bronze dragon since the blue was getting plenty of attention. Plus...it was bigger. He wasn't sure how much the blue could carry, but the bronze was practically the size of a house. "Uhm..." he stopped with several yards between him and the wedge shaped head. But, how did one properly address a dragon? What was the honorific? "Uhm...Mister Dragon, is it okay to come over closer?" he asked, glancing briefly over his shoulder as Creighton came up. Jeremy forgot he was carrying weapons and a heavy pack of medical equipment and supplies. He forgot he was a staff sergeant in the Unites States Air Force, assigned to Project New Dawn. He forgot, entirely, just about everything other than he was talking to a dragon!! His first thought was he couldn't wait to share this with Donut and his parents but...that nagging, irredeemably responsible part of him recalled that all this was more than top secret classified.

"Mister dragon?" Creighton murmered under his breath as he shook his head. How did one even tell the gender of a large, flying dinosaur?

The great bronze head swung carefully away from Ravi and towards the newcomer. Hello, the voice- which sounded eerily like his rider's- said inside Jeremy's head. I am Zaijianth, he added stoically.

"But don't call him Zaji," piped up Sharol. "He hates it. He gets all sullen. An' then you have to offer him a wherry hunt or something." She shrugged and patted the large dragon's leg.

His cheerful rider laughed at the small girl's antics. "I can't even get away with it," he added. "I'm Ni'hau, by the way. And that's L'kesh and Keloseth."

"Hi!" added L'kesh, even more cheerful than his companion.

"Hello," Jeremy said, his smile widening as he stared up at the great beasts. "I'm Staff Sergeant Jeremy Corvus and this is Staff Sergeant Creighton Arcadia. We're with the U.S. Air Force, assigned to New Dawn and the gate program. This is absolutely amazing!" He glanced over to Arcadia who was also looking at the two dragons, but he was eyeing them more cautiously than Jeremy felt needed. Again, if they were going to attack them, or take other hostile action, they would have done so by now. They wouldn't be introducing themselves.

"Hello," Creighton finally said, keeping his hands loose on his rifle. He continued to look over the creatures, noting their smooth hides and the mottled coloring to them. He expected some variation in coloring, but not the way they were various shades creating what appeared to be a slick, soft hide. Everything he ever knew about dragons was always scales and sharp teeth, talons and the superheated flame breath. Despite all that, however, he found himself taking a step closer to them, watching how the colors swirled in their eyes.

The clothing of the riders was odd as well, as if flying on the beasts involved incredibly frigid temperatures. He was sweating under his gear and uniform, but they appeared as if they were headed out to arctic climes. "Are you friendly?" he asked, even realizing just how stupid it sounded to his own ears.

Of course I am, replied Zaijianth, sounding almost offended.

"Relax, Zaijianth," laughed Ni'hau. "He's just asking. They're not from here."

Zaijianth grumbled low in his throat, but said nothing else.

"Don't mind him," said Ni'hau. "He'll get over it."

"Do you want to go for a ride?" asked L'kesh, bouncing up and down in pent up excitement. "We can probably get you all in one trip, between the two of us."

"Oh yes! Me! Right here, me!" Jeremy said, actually raising his hand as he spoke and looked around, eyes bright and eager.

"I'm not sure-" Arcadia started but silenced when Jeremy shoved his shoulder and nodded, a great smile splitting his wondrous face.

Selyna grinned, having been completely engrossed with scratching Zaijianth's eye ridges; he did appear to be enjoying it, after all. "I would love it!" she enthused. Yes, she was a bit of a lab rat, but she still tried never to shy away from new experiences that might enhance her life or give joy. "What do you need us to do?"

"Well, watch me mount, and then I'll help you get settled," replied Ni'hau. Zaijianth helpfully bent one front knee and Ni'hau lept skillfully to it and used the momentum to propell himself onto the dragon's back. "Okay, how about two with me and the others with L'kesh and Keloseth? Come on, it's easy enough. Just don't be tempted to go slowly; that's the easiest way to fall. You, jump up!" he said to Ravi.

"Okay," said Ravi, both excited and nervous. "Just here?" he asked, gesturing vaguely to the dragon's bent front leg. Ni'hau nodded and after taking a deep breath, he jumped onto the dragon's leg and attempted to imitate Ni'hau as he propelled himself towards the dragon's back. He slipped at the last second, but Ni'hau's arm caught him and pulled him up. "Well, that wasn't so bad!" he exclaimed as Ni'hau clapped him on the back. "Come on, it's easy!" he told them.

L'kesh lept to Keloseth's back and motioned for Jeremy to join him. "Hop on up!" he said cheerfully. "If pregnant ladies holder can do it, anybody can!"

Selyna watched Ni'hau, carefully noticing each step, each place he landed and how. Her mind cataloged them and calculated the equations of the movements easily enough, but reproducing them was not as easy. Still, she set herself and leaped up onto Zaijianth's bent leg in her best imitation of what Ni'hau had done, then launched herself from there toward the dragon's back. Her calculations were slightly off, and she would have landed badly if it had not been for the dragon's rider's quick reflexes. Just like Ravi before her, she was caught by Ni'hau and pulled up onto Zaijianth's back. She could feel the adrenaline pumping, her heart pounding, and it was exhilarating! She grinned first at the rider. "Thank you!" Then her eyes moved to Ravi. "This is going to be amazing!" she whispered to the other scientist.

"Come on, guys!" L'kesh called to the final two people. "You're not gonna let a girl show you up, are you?"

"My mother taught me that competition with another based solely on gender is wrong," Jeremy said, with a grin. Nevertheless he was slinging his rifle over his shoulder and securing it to his pack, easy enough to reach if needed but also out of the way for times it wasn't, like now. He looked over and saw Creighton was doing the same, although with a bit more reluctance. "C'mon!" he said, taking a look at the bended leg. If Ravi could do this, then it shouldn't be a problem at all for a highly trained, in fantastic shape, athletic person such as himself.

Which it wasn't. It was the feel of being on the back of the dragon that got him though. His legs were splayed much wider than if he'd been on a horse, but overall the feeling was about the same. Warm flesh beneath him, with the steady and perceptible feel of the rise and fall of breathing. There was the knots of wings where they joined flesh and bony protusions which helped form natural saddles, but it was all so familiar with the times he rode horses.

Creighton was up and seated behind him. Jeremy looked over his shoulder, his grin plastered to his face. Creighton still looked less thrilled with the idea. But he settled himself, gripping the straps designed to keep riders from falling off as the dragon banked, turned and swooped as part of its flight. "Is this really a good idea?" he muttered, low enough that it wasn't meant to be heard. Jeremy heard it anyway and just gave a thumbs up.

"It's fine," declared L'kesh as he helped his fares strap themselves in. "I do it every day!"

Meanwhile, Ni'hau was helping his two with their own straps. "All right," he said as soon as they were safely attached to the dragon. "Ready, everyone?"

"Ready!" cried Ravi excitedly.

Selyna's smile faltered for a second. "Um... don't we need cold-weather gear?" she asked, noting the dress of the riders as well as what she remembered of that thing this place reminded her of.

“Nah,” replied Ni’hau. “We won’t tske you very high. And we never go between on a joy ride. Especially when it’s your first.”

Selyna did have the common decency to look sheepish. "Right, that makes sense. Sorry." The grin returned then. "I'm ready whenever you guys are!"

"All right, then!" cried Ni'hau excitedly. "Here we go!" And with that, Zaijianth's giant wings unfurled and he lept into the air, wings beating labouriously. At first, it seemed he wouldn't make it into the air, but then the ground was retreating from them and Keloseth was beating behind them.

Ravi whooped as the flew through the air. He couldn't not resist looking down and he actually leaned out fearlessly to get a good look at how high they were. "Look at that!" he cried as he spotted some people- probably children- waving at them. "Hallo!" he called, waving one arm wildly at them.

"If that fool falls off, I'm not patching him up," Creighton stated as he gripped the reigns tight and squeezed his knees into the dragon's hide as they began to lift off. He didn't even like riding horses, why the hell was he up on a dragon!?

Selyna was having the time of her life! She wasn't nearly as vocal about it as Ravi was, but she was having just as much fun. She had an idiotic grin plastered on her face and a firm grip on the harness that kept her on the dragon's back. "This is amazing!"

"When I was a kid," Jeremy said into the wind caused by the flying beast, "I always dreamed of flying on Falcor the luck dragon from Fantasia!" Suddenly, he thrust his hand into the air and yelled "YEAH!!!!!" For these moments aloft, he could forget everything but being that small boy, watching the ending of "The Neverending Story" and dream of what it would be like to ride a dragon. Now, because of some good choices he made in life, he got to have that adventure finally!

The two riders flew them around the territory for a few minutes and then brought them safely back to the clearing where they found Sharol still waiting for them. She jumped up excitedly as they began dismounting. "I can smell the bubbly pies!" she called. "Hurry while they're still hot!"

"Pies?" Jeremy said, still on a ecstasy high from the ride. Though he was disappointed that it was too short. But he was always down for food and 'bubbly pies' sounded very interesting.

Selyna didn't want to get down, but she disembarked as requested, then gave the dragon's eye ridges another scratch, this one in gratitude for the flight. "Thank you for carrying us." she said very softly to him before looking to the girl and Jeremy. "Bubbly pies?" she asked. "What are those?"

"Don't you remember, Doctor," Jeremy said as he stood next to the dragon he rode, not wanting the experience to be really over. "I think of them like those fruit pies you buy at the stores, y'know, like Hostess used to make before they went bankrupt? Only fresh, hot and dribbling in fresh berries."

Selyna thought about that then nodded. "I loved those pies. Likely too much." She laughed softly. This was all so... wonderful!

TAGS

Something seemed wrong though and, looking around, he discovered what it was. "Arcadia," Jeremy called up to the security officer still on the back of the dragon. "It's okay, you can just slide right off." Jeremy was worried, did Creighton have a fear of heights or was there some other problem?

"Yeah, I know," Creighton said, looking down. "I just..." He shrugged. "I just don't want to yet. It's..." he looked up, a bittersweet smile on his face as he looked at his teammate and friend. "...magical." Yes, he knew he didn't want to do this at first, that it was scary and he was resisting the idea. But as they flew through the air, feeling the smooth, warm skin beneath him. It struck him, as they were coming in for a landing though, that this was an experience he'd love to share with his family, but that wasn't possible, not for a long time now.

"Copy that," Jeremy said, turning back to his teammates on the ground. "But we gotta go, there's food!"

Selyna looked up at Arcadia and smiled warmly. She couldn't blame him really. She'd felt the same, not wanting to get down, to let the experience truly end. She walked closer and looked up at him. "I completely understand," she told him as softly as she could while still being heard by him. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She, of course, didn't know him well enough to know the bit about his family, and she couldn't read minds so didn't hear that either. But there was something wistful about him as he spoke just then. And that she could completely empathize with.

Ravi slid down from the dragon's back and turned back to Ni'hau and L'kesh. "Thank you," he said. "I believe my colleagues and I all enjoyed that very much.

"Don't mention it," replied Ni'hau with a wide grin. "You'd better go catch up with Sharol; she may be small, but she's quick."

Ravi gave the riders a wave and then hurried after the small girl and his friends. He didn't know what bubbly pies were, but anything with the word 'pie' in it had to be good.