Come Not Between the Dragon, and His Wrath Part 1

Posted on Fri Apr 14th, 2023 @ 11:55am by Leiddem Kea (*) & Delaney O'Callaghan & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Chief Operations Trades & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Mykaia Kylo-Zahn & Beya & Richard Hale & Liha t'Ehhelih & Curtis Vaan

Mission: Mission 16: Hysperia
Location: Jousting Arena, Hysperia
Timeline: Several days after the opening festival
3427 words - 6.9 OF Standard Post Measure

"I still can't believe they made a fuss over us disturbing one nest if they're prepared to ride these things into battle."

So far, the arena had been a little on the quiet side, home to a few sword fighting exhibitions, a woodchopping demonstration and, for reasons Delaney hadn't been able to figure out, an apple-bobbing contest. The main board, which carried the weekly schedule, had promised a far livelier itinerary of events as the festival swung into gear, and the Irishwoman supposed to made sense that they gave their people a chance to recover from festivities before launching into the competitive aspects of the annual celebration, but it was still a very vast and clearly well-established venue to have sat idle for so long.

That was about due to change, the crowd already filtering in as those who coveted the best seats made preparations to wait out the initial sign-up period in anticipation of high stakes in the area cordoned off to surround the lists. Beyond the swell of onlookers, last minute touches to the tilt and counter tilts rang out with the sound of hurried carpentry that seemed mostly to consist of affixing in place fire-retardant material to hang over the barriers. First glance had amused Delaney, because the royal box that stood ready to house the Ladies Court was festooned with garlands of flowers that would immediately be rendered unremarkable the minute Beya afforded the crowd a much more pleasant view, but mostly the redhead was sulking. Visibly. Loudly.

The sling holding her left hand elevated to rest against her clavicle itched.

It was just a sprain, the kind of injury she would normally have worked through but the day's agenda was completely taken up with an expectation of dragons and apparently that required medical clearance she didn't have. A brief interlude with an unexpected slope hadn't been nearly as dire as Leiddem's worried face had feared at the time but it had thrown a spanner into her plans for giving Burnie a run for his money. Arguing hadn't made any difference, she was considered lucky to have got away with a sore wrist for a few days, and so the execution of Plan B had required immediate attention.

She turned to Curtis, looking him up and down.

"You realise you're supposed to tuck the shirt in, right?"

Her good arm snuck around Leiddem's waist, having finished her scrutiny of the Betazoid's battle guise well before they'd left their rooms. Now that it was the Risian's turn, Delaney's screwed up nose didn't offer a lot by way of a confidence boost. "I think we should have got you a belt."

"Nobody's going to be talking about my shirt or my belt in a few hours anyway. Just my spectacular fall from a great height after being roasted alive by a real dragon," Curtis retorted. "Still...there's worse ways to go..."

"Or you might not get knocked off your dragon in front of several hundred people." Delaney's usual optimism didn't quite ring true when she attempted to deploy it whilst wincing hesitantly.

“I am sure we could find you a belt.” Leiddem said seeing instantly what his girlfriend was commenting on. Something just felt off about the other man’s outfit. He was protected enough but it did not look right.

"Besides, I refuse to take fashion advice from the woman who wanted to put me in a dress less than a week ago," Curtis huffed, not ignoring the offer, but rather pointedly driving the point home that Laney wasn't always looking out for his best interests.

"Oh, this is not fashion advice, that ship has sailed and is already halfway around the globe by now." An extension of Delaney's good arm punctuated her point. "I'm just trying to preserve your dignity." There was a pause, the kind that both men had learned not to trust. "Might be important. You never know who could show up to watch." She wore innocence terribly.

"As if you even care about my dignity after-" Curtis was halfway through a cutting riposte when he clocked her words. "If you're trying to show me up, you should know that I actually invited Mykaia myself. So whatever you're thinking about, you'll be eating those words shortly.

The redhead's only response was a hand pressed to her chest and an expression of feigned disbelief. A subtle elbow to Leiddem's stomach translated as a silent 'told you so'.

As the trio discussed strategy, the steward responsible for sorting out the eager prospects from their respective entourages was hurriedly dodging in and out in an effort to catch people's attention. "Anyone else here to sign up? Please have your medical clearance handy, and your proof of experience if you're intending to enlist beyond our initiate's ranking. Beginners welcome, of course."

Kali's 'medical clearance' papers she'd forked over had mostly been gained from one of the locals earlier; which had the benefit of 1) not having to deal with divulging any technicalities of where her physiology failed to live up to breed standards; and 2) having been possible to move along by glaring at the guy issuing the papers. She briefly considered issuing 'proof of experience' in the form of offering to fight whoever tried to contradict her on that; but in the end decided to stick with starting out with the beginners: She might not exactly be a 'beginner' at 'using pointy objects', but she was one when it came to dragon jousting, and if everyone else she was fighting in the first rounds was, too; well that gave her valuable time to learn, observe, and polish technique before getting into it with anyone who actually knew well what they were doing.

Leiddem had his medical clearance but did raise an eyebrow at Kalahaeia but said nothing as he handed his own over. Neither was rejected but he could not help but notice the stubborn look on the woman’s face. “Anything you want to share?” He asked softly.

"Not really." One corner of Kali's mouth quirked up somewhat and she decided she might as well share half of her thoughts; the half of it all that wasn't about a source of often feeling like she'd never quite measure up: She'd passed the Starfleet entrance medical standards back in the day by exceeding the bare minimum overall requirements for applicants in general, not by meeting most of the norms for vulcanoids. She could see Liha a bit across the way out of the corner of her eye...Yeah, she definitely wasn't divulging the other half of her thoughts at the moment. "Was just deciding if I wanted to try and start at a higher experience level or not. Decided not to push it since I don't really have experience with dragon jousting."

"Fancy that, something you're not an expert in flying." The faint tease from Rick as he stepped through the curtain behind them was the first they heard of him arriving. "Perhaps the rest of us might actually be in with a chance after all?"

"Not entirely sure you will be good at either but it would be a good laugh all around," Leiddem said grinning at his colleague. "I am fully prepared to fall off a dragon and go home early." He had no issues with looking a fool in front of everyone, he was doing it purely as a new experience and something to do that was different.

"I won't feel badly about knocking you off then," Liha said light, joining the line. And then tipped a nod at Rick and Kali. "Or you. I've not flown a dragon before, but there's not much I can't fly and I used to joust on Fvai as a kid."

Burnie shook his head. "I'm just in it to ride a dragon, even if I go sky diving for it," he threw in quickly, hoping to pre-empt any sniping between his two Romulans friends.

"You'd do basically anything to ride a dragon, yeah." Kali grinned at Burnie.

"Who wouldn't?" Rick agreed. In the corner, Curtis started to raise his hand in response to the rhetorical question, only to quickly snap his hand back down when he noticed Delaney looking.

Leiddem grinned at Curtis and offered a sympathetic smile. He knew the man was doing this to appease his girlfriend and if the Betazoid could help he would but that was between Delaney and Curtis. “I am very much looking forward. I’ve always wanted to do ride a dragon since playing with the dragon riders of pern holodeck programs.” He admitted. It was living up to everything he had ever wanted it to be at the moment.

The deep, furrowed frown that Delaney had shot Curtis wasn't showing any signs of dissipating as she listened to her boyfriend's enthusiasm. Of course she was happy for him, he'd been buzzing about this tournament since they'd first found out about it, but it was supposed to be something they experienced together. Being sidelined because her capacity for distraction had kicked in at precisely the wrong minute was...unfair.

"Well, you'd all better take notes, that's all I can say," she eventually declared, rallying behind a familiar need to find the silver lining. "I am definitely turning this into a holo-program, I'm going to need reference material."

Leiddem wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her slightly to him. “I can record every moment of it if you want.” He had no issue being looped up with some type of camera.

"Pity you can't get some sort of a drone camera to get some angles from above, too - really get an idea of how the dragons move!" Kali seemed not just comfortable with but enthusiastic about the idea of holo-program-dragons, even if it ended up leading to recordings of her fight.

“I am sure for other rounds we can get it set up.” Lieddem spoke up. He would make whatever she needed happen if that was what she wanted.

"I'll be filming what I can, if we can muster a second camera for you to wear, first-person perspective might help," Delaney wrinkled her nose at Leiddem. "Then again, how steady is the footage going to be when you're hurtling towards someone whose entire purpose is to send you flying off your mount."

Several moments later, after the steward had disappeared whilst muttering over his list of registrations, a fanfare broke out that promptly interrupted all conversations. Heads turned in unison as the rustle of a satin curtain soon lead to a parting up in the royal box that revealed the resplendent couple and a handful of similarly impressively-dressed females selected for the task of presiding over final judgements. Delaney raised her eyebrows as her features slowly melted into a pleased grin. "Well, she certainly looks like she's having fun." If the redhead was honest, she'd never seen the Orion quite so animated.

Beaming a smile, Beya waved to the crowd below with one hand, the other wrapped lightly around Tomas' arm. The pomp and fancy (if ridiculously modest) dress was fun, at least for the day, and she was enjoying it. "Welcome!" she called out. "I hear this event is dragon jousting. Are we ready to see who's best at keeping a dragon between their legs?"

“We can try,” Leiddem yelled barely being heard over the cheering and giggling.

Kali giggled softly under her breath for a moment, too; that remark and implied innuendo was exactly the sort of thing she'd have expected from an Orion; fairly tame really, in fact.

Eventually, the frivolity was interrupted by a far more important-looking steward, who ingratiated himself into the royal couple's circle to impose the first official duty; the roster. Had any of the competitors, particularly those from a certain ship's crew, realised that the arbitrarily-chosen Queen and her consort would have the final say over who challenged who, there would undoubtedly have been some late scratchings. As it was, Delaney had to stand on Curtis' foot to keep him from trying to disappear.

Leiddem raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend before smiling at the younger man. “I am here so you are here.” He advised leaning over to adjust one of his straps more and to listen to Beya.

If it wasn't for the use of old weaponry he probably wouldn't even be here. Trades scouted the crowd quietly growling to himself about the number of people on this planet and at this event. He didn't know what he was actually looking for. Despite his general anxiety about large groups of people, and fears about who might be in the crowds, dragon riding wasn't something he could pass up seeing. Dressed in his traditional cloak and mask Trades tried to scan the competitor's equipment as they lined up for the first match. Perhaps, if nothing else, there was something he replicate for his catalogue of custom weapons he made in his spare time.

"How do we know who goes first?" Rick asked, trying to make conversation.

"Haven't the faintest..." Trades replied looking away from the gathering spectacle, "I'm only here for the lances."

"They are cool, yeah." Kali grinned at Trades. "Can't wait to use one."

Trades started to say something and then paused, one hand going inside his coat. "You... You wouldn't happen to be able to scan them for me?" His hand pulled out a small scientific scanner. He kept his hand in sight but lowered; some of the locals had complained about his open use of modern technology. "With the enough data I could replicate them."

Kali’s hand went nonchalantly into her own pockets, fingering a hidden scanner of her own, but it vibrated quickly, clearing the item she was being offered as either what it seemed, or not something it seemed a threat at any rate (a paranoia she tended to mostly extend only to unfamiliar electronics); and she shrugged her shoulders and eyebrows amicably and held out her hand for Trade’s scanner. “Sure. As long as it can do it passively and I won’t have to be fiddling with it during the action.”

Nollel rushed over to the group. “I am not late am I?” She demanded undoing her jacket against the slightly hotter weather and from her running from her duties. She did not want to miss a second of this.

"Nah. No one's even gotten on a dragon yet, let alone knocked off one." Kali assured.

"You haven't missed a thing," Burnie said, pulling her into a quick hug and the flashing a joking grin. "I wouldn't off a dragon without you here to see it. Promise."

“Well you seemed to have all the armour on.” The woman said as she was tugged close. “Good. This is one to see and record to send to your parents.” She teased giving him a quick kiss as the steward announced that the competitors should come down properly as there name was called.

"This should be good..." Kali rolled her eyes to Rick as the steward was working his way through calling out the list: Nine times out of ten humans pronouncing her full name for the first time found new and creative ways to mangle it; it had driven her ape back in her teens and twenties and thirties; but she'd developed a resignation to such in more recent years that she might as well find some amusement in it instead.

As the steward got to Kalahaeia’s name the steward glanced at Beya and sighed. It sounded resoundingly like he was not at all used to what he was about to say. Harvest Queen Beya has instructed me on how to properly pronounce the next candidate’s name… Kalahaeia.” It was about 95% correct and he smiled relieved that it was over with as he moved on to the next name.

"Not bad, actually," Kali muttered towards their group, left eyebrow pulling up for a moment in surprise as the list-reading moved on; her next words seemingly a random jump out of left field. "They should, like, agree to name a dragon after the winner, or something."

"I would mount the winning lance with a plaque," Trades said absently to no one in particular. "then named the next season's model after the winner." He paused for effect lost in his own design fantasy, "Dragon Jousting Lance Mark thirteen, the Kalahaeia."

“Shall we get started then?” Leiddem wondered to everyone as the names were finished being called out and other participants started to leave the area to get ready for the first round and the pairings that had been drawn.

"Sure. To the victor go the spoils." Kali grinned, despite the fact that it was unlikely perhaps that any of their inexperienced group would come out ahead of the locals in the mix.

With all of the names entered into the list, all eyes turned to the Festival Queen to decide the pairings. Beya had considered this moment in greater depth than anyone watching her grinning happily in viewing stand might imagine. Mismade matches were a sure recipe for resentment and trouble. Worse, with so many of her crew here, and Kali and Liha very likely to at least place well, there'd be suspicions and probably some outright accusations of favoritism. Fortunately, Beya had grown up in a casino.

"This is a contest of skill, but Lady Luck must have her due!" she announced in her best stage voice, and lifted a clear box filled with shiny balls. She shook it, gyrating as if dancing to a big maraca. "Each of these is inscribed with a name and when I pour these into this out, two by two, we will have our pairings. Mr. Fancy Man," she said to the steward, who somehow managed not to roll his eyes at the address, "You will write each pair on the board."

Moving with the show-womanship of a dabo girl, she then proceeded to dramatically shake two balls into a bowl to be retrieved and inscribed. Finally, the board was raised for all to see.

Burnie pointed and clapped Leiddem on the shoulder. "Look, we're matched!" He grinned broadly. "Did they say if it was just lances or can we use fire?"

“Not sure.” Leiddem was not sure which one he preferred when he knew a Burnie and the chaos that could come with either.

"No turning my boyfriend into toast," Delaney warned Burnie, an exaggerated furrow of her brow hardly all that intimidating. Her expression cleared and she added as an afterthought, "It's probably at least a 50/50 chance that he'll manage that himself without help."

Further down, Kali's name appeared beside Richard's and just below that...Liha and Curtis.

Liha puffed. "Oh for Elements' sake!" She looked at Kali. "Want to trade?"

Kali considered for a moment: A match against the Risian was likely to be an easy score, saving energy for any further matches against more skilled opponents, and in that sense might be a smart trade to make actually. But it also wasn't likely to be very much fun or much of a challenge; and for that matter was also probably going to make the kid more scared of her than he already was, whereas from what she'd observed, she wasn't sure Curtis could get more scared of Liha than he already was.

"No, I think I'll keep my set." Kali declined politely, considering in her head what little she'd had the chance to observe of Rick's moves, when they'd thrown darts together...Though, on the flipside, the former covert agent was undoubtedly considering exactly the same at the moment about her.

Leiddem glanced at Curtis and tried to offer some comfort. “Well, at least you’ll be able to put this behind you quicker.” He said brightly trying to offer something.

Delaney was staring at her friend's face, bracing herself to attempt to stop him if Curtis took it into his head to flee. "Remember who's watching," she muttered, a nodding gesture over his shoulder pinpointing the wandering confusion of a familiar Risian who seemed unsure of where she was meant to be.

Course everyone was going to be watching they always were. It was impossible to escape in this type of forum but time would tell who came out of it the victor.