Racing With The Wind [Tryggr]

[Boom and Lockjaw]

Time and Date:: Winter. Mid-morning.
Weather:: Overcast, windy, clouds hanging low - perhaps a storm brewing?
Previous Threads?:: Yes. Delivery For A Farmgirl.


The sky was predictably overcast, as was the favored weather of the craggy island of Berk, and the weather equally as predictably bone-chilling with sharp cutting winds that had Boom's already barely well-kept and braided hair flying in a fiery disarray around and into her face. More than once she had to spit out a strand or five, but she never really tried to clear it from her face - in between the red-blond wisps of hair flying around her face there was the predictable flash of white in Boom's signature toothy grin.

She had every reason to feel electric excitement with the promise of competition hanging in the sea-salted air. The sand crunched under her riding boots as she paced, not unlike a tiger kept waiting as she arched her leather-gloved palms into the air and stretched and searched the grey skies for her promised racer and heaved a very emphatic sigh at the empty skies, rolling her shoulders and fixing Lockjaw with a pout.

"Potato princess isn't here yet." She was stating the obvious, but also subversively stating her boredom. "Think she's getting her farm supplies? Hmm? Me, too." Boom's voice was saccharine sweet, going up at least an octave as she scratched under Lockjaw's lumpy chin and received a low contented croon in response and the dull slow-tempoed swing of her massive tail.

"She's so responsible." Boom's voice fell flat. She wasn't sure whether this was an analysis she liked or didn't about Tryggr and decided not to think too hard about why she cared. She just continued busying her hands with Lockjaw's face. It never even occurred to Boom to wonder if the girl might be lost - Nadder's were tracking dragons, and she was just a mile or two out from port (and consequently her family shop) and therefore shouldn't be hard to find even with the sea breeze. She hazarded another glance skywards just to see if the fun had arrived yet.

[Deleted]

Tryggr checked the fasteners on Moonseed's saddle for the umpteenth time that day as they neared the agreed upon meeting place. She could taste the salt of the sea on her tongue and feel it on her skin. It reminded her of warmer days and stoked the fire of her spirit.

Getting away from the farm had been no easy task, but the second that she'd made it down the mountain, completely off her family's land, she felt as if some invisible ties had been cut loose from her tethered body. She was headed for a race, and to her, racing was freedom.

In a second she would be there, with Boom and Lockjaw. She could tell by the way Moonseed sniffed the air and shifted restlessly, the way he did when there was a familiar scent in the air. Tryggr took that final moment to draw herself up, suck in a breath, and cinch her waist an extra belt notch tighter. Couldn't hurt, she figured.

She jogged out to the coast. Moonseed predictably took this as permission to run ahead, flapping with pent up energy but never fully taking off. The saddle coming on meant that he was flying with his human today, something that didn't do as often during the colder seasons, and as long as that saddle was on they'd be flying together or not at all.

Where the land overlooked the sea, she saw her, her eyes on the sky.

"Hey, Boom. Hope I didn't keep you waitin'." she barked with an overly wide smile.

[Boom and Lockjaw]

When Tryggr arrived, it wasn't by sky - the crunching of the sand pulled Boom's attention away from the foreboding looking skies and on to the two inhabitants she was learning to get used to seeing around. Lockjaw had lifted her massive head, that hefty tail swinging a little faster in recognition at the girl and her playful dragon.

Her eyes set upon the other girl with intensity, an unwavering and appraising look that slowly broke into approval found in the slightest crinkle in the corner of her eye and a glimmer well-matched by her lopsided grin that lifted more on one side than the other.
"Hey, you." She purred back, pulling away from Lockjaw and hooking her thumbs into her belt loop as she sauntered forward slowly.

She stalked in front of Tryggr, giving a few more long looks and finally a long and low whistle.
"Looking good and looking ready." She gave one affirmative nod, and casted a look over to Moonseed next. She considered his flapping and obvious energy with a stifled chuckle that sounded more like a hiccup. "Too ready." She lifted a hand, bringing it forward as if to reach out to the younger dragon and brought it back to it's place on her belt loop before anything came of it.

She cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders back, correcting her posture as best she could as a sassy raise of her brows and winning smile bathed her in confidence.
"Let's go." Boom very nearly skipped back over to where Lockjaw was. The amount of practice she'd put into being a dragon rider showed with how quick she was to settle into her saddle, Lockjaw obediently shifting into a standing position and shedding quite a bit of sand from her belly as she did.

"Three miles around and back?" It would offer the craggy ocean cliffs and other obstacles to keep the race interesting. This was a genuine question, since Boom was waiting for a response as she fitted a rather plain looking helmet over her head.

[Deleted]

Following the lead of the other rider, Tryggr stilled her hyperactive dragon for just long enough to hoist herself into the saddle. Her helmet was already securely in place, looking fairly old in comparison to the newness of her armor. It had character, she thought. She could still remember how each and every scuff and dent and chip had come to be there.

Moonseed, with rider in tow, paced forward so that the pair were lined up side by side with Boom and Lockjaw. Tryggr cast her gaze over the water. She rarely went seaside at this time of year, so the sight of the ocean dark with the lack of sunshine was something strange to her. It had a foreboding look to it.

"Sounds just fine to me," she nodded. She settled forward in her saddle and, sensing the shift, Moonseed crouched down and spread his wings in eager preparation. "You better not make this too easy for me, Boom. I can only get so much time away from the farm so I don't wanna waste it."

In truth, she didn't think this would be easy at all. A person couldn't be that confident without having a trick or two up their sleeves. Mostly Tryggr just liked to see the way she rose to the challenges she gave her, all stubbornness and cocky grins.

Win or lose, this was gonna be some race.

[Boom and Lockjaw]

Boom watched with those reptilian amber eyes that were only a few shade away from the acidic yellow of most dragons and gave some guttural sound of approval matched with a single nod as Tryggr hopped on board her dragon with the sort of grace that only came from practice.

"Looks like you know what you're doing, slick." The new nickname rolled off her tongue as easily as her thumbs up cropped up. Her thumb was soon pointing back to herself, all confidence and true bravado to Tryggr's challenge... and of course, that cocksure grin that the other girl had been aiming for. "You know I'm not holding back, right?"

Oh, the part-time blacksmith's eyes were positively twinkling now.

She raised her brows in tandem with a tilt of her head, as though she actually expected an answer from the farmgirl - one she actually didn't wait for. Tryggr's affirmative was all it took for the strawberry blond to unlock herself. It was with manic abandon that she tilted her head back and whooped, and in response the massive body of Lockjaw eased into the air directly upwards with all the grace of a floating balloon.

"Let's go!" She boomed, and it wasn't a suggestion. She wrapped the reigns around her knuckles, not willing to play it fair and wait for too long - only long enough for her racing partner to launch into the sky and that was only if she was quick about it.

---

OOC - First roll goes to you, milady. This is going to be awesome.

[Deleted]

(Advantage roll: 5, obstacle roll: 6)

On the zealous blacksmith's word, Tryggr gave a sharp whistle and a tap to Moonseed's haunches. Moonseed took off like a bolt of lightening, rocketing skywards with her rider whooping and cheering at the sudden feeling of speed. She reveled in the rush, goosebumps forming on her skin from excitement and the sharp chill of the wind alike.

Moonseed was clearly equally exhilarated. He crowed and roared and sailed forward, riding the swirling currents of wind rolling in from the sea. It wasn't long at all until the rider and nadder duo were in the lead.

Feeling confident after such a strong start, Tryggr loosened her grip on the reigns and leaned forward, urging the dragon with the tilt of her frame to swoop down and skim the edge of his wing against the water's surface. The resulting spray of salty water glanced off of the racer in a sparkling damp sheen.

Moonseed shook flapped back upwards and shook off the wetness, carelessly jostling his rider, but she only laughed and encouraged him forward with another gentle kick. He responded enthusiastically.

"That's my boy!" she cheered as he sped onward. Even the wind itself seemed to be cheering them on, offering no resistance against the nadder's powerful wings.

[Boom and Lockjaw]

(Speed/Advantage: 2, Obstacle: 5)

Well, there she went - off like a cork off a particularly jostled keg.

Tryggr blitzed by Boom up towards the grey, both she and her dragon coming alive like a bolt of lightning. Boom blinked in the aftermath, lightly adjusting her tight-fitting helmet as the pair started off with a flourish, banking close to the water in a beautiful display. It seemed that the girl that Boom thought of as the Potato Princess had some promise, and felt a surge of excitement and that all-consuming need to win settle like a rock in her stomach, burning just a little at the back of her throat in a visceral tug of command.

She was still waiting to start, and favoured an impatient glance down at her gronckle who was visibly slack-jawed.

"C'mon, tubbybutt - this isn't your first time around. Get." Her voice rose on the last word, harsh but not reaching nearly the volume or violence she was capable of. When her beast still hovered numbly, Boom swore and jostled the reigns roughly. This seemed enough to jostle Lockjaw back into herself, shaking off the daze and setting a look of determination into those reptilian yellow eyes.

"I said get!" Boom gave the lumpy creature's sides a kick, and with a groan the heavy-tailed monster began her trajectory over towards Moonseed - there was some catching up to do, but Boom didn't seem to be offset by more than a scowl and square of her shoulders. "Keep straight, got that?" She hissed into her gronckle's ear.

She'd catch up, damn it.

[Deleted]

(Advantage: 2, Obstacle: 6)

With the wind at her back and a sizeable distance between her and her competitor, Tryggr inadvertently let the fickle sky lull her into a false sense of security. She was leaning into the breeze, giving Moonseed a little slack so they could both enjoy the flight, when out of nowhere a stiff gust of icy wind blew in and slammed both dragon and rider backwards a few paces.

Tryggr squinted against the sting of it and when she opened her eyes again she found that they had been driven off course into an errant patch of thick fog. If she strained, she could see where the fog began to clear and could easily make her way back on track, but Moonseed's eyes weren't nearly as sharp as his other senses, all but useless with the strong sent of sea drowning out all others and the roar of churning waves. Despite his rider's insistent tugs on his reigns, he simply refused to fly blind, struggling and clucking unhappily.

"Okay, okay," the racer said to the nadder. "We can take it slow until we get our bearings again. We've still got the lead after all." Hopefully. She couldn't really tell with all the fog. Served her right, she supposed, for getting cocky so soon in the race.

[Boom and Lockjaw]

(Advantage: 6, Obstacle: 4)

As the fog curled up, there was no douby that visibility was going to be limited - a disadvantage that still had Boom's face warping into a sneer. It was an obstacle, sure, but it was one that worked in her favor as the cool air blew over her apple-like cheeks she gave an impish little giggle as she squirmed in her seat like a child being given the promise of a new toy as she leaned in closer to her dragon's body to improve aerodynamics what little she could.

"You know what to do." She half-whispered and half-purred into her dragon's ear who gave a low rumbling sound in response. Lockjaw didn't seem off-put by the loss in visibility, both rider and dragon content enough in the cool mist to close their eyes and drift through the condensation with what seemed to be utter carelessness without concequence.

Boom's eyes opened with a start, and she pressed her legs a little deeper into Lockjaw's sides. "Get!" With a bellowing roar, the pudgy beast raced forward with greater speed - enough speed to turn Boom's giddy giggles into an outright cackle of assumed victory.
"Can't catch us now, suckers!" She hollered into the wind, giving a whoop as she spiraled closer to the water and cut directly up again.

With all the jagged cliff-faces jutting out of the ocean that'd create a nice advantage for Boom in the sense that she knew the shoreline better than her brunette-haired potato princess did and could thus maneuver herself without concern and had no moral dilemma using this to her advantage.