Crackerjack II

Chpt. 20: Another First Day

Kristen awoke to rigorous banging on her door and Scorch's annoyed growls. She scrambled down the ladder before the dragon got too irritated and decided to spit flames. Amelia and Ernold grinned excitedly when she opened the door.

"Good morning! We thought we'd escort you to your first day with the group!"

Kristen rubbed her eyes. These two were way too chipper for this early in the morning.

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to get ready." Amelia poked her head over Kristen's shoulder. "Looks like your dragon's just as slow as you are."

Scorch glared and rolled over.

"Come on, we'll be the last ones there!"

Kristen trotted back inside to get her things. "Is everyone as crazy as you guys, then?"

Ernold leaned against the door frame while Amelia wandered in to peruse the bookshelf. "Eh. Most of the time we don't start this early, but it's the first training day after initiation, so we're pretty excited."

"Does Scorch need t' come?"

As the dragon was sending along his sharp feelings about such an early-morning trip, Ernold shook his head. "Normally, he would, but I don't think any of the dragons will want to get up. They're usually creatures of the late afternoon."

Amelia grabbed Kristen's arm. "Come on, come on! We're gonna miss everything!"

Kristen barely managed to shut the doors behind her before Amelia dragged her out with Ernold on their heels. When the training area that Kristen had yearned for loomed in her vision, a smile spread across her face.

"We're trainin' here?"

Ernold laughed. "Right? Finally!"

"And what about you?"

Amelia shrugged. "I'll be in another facility when we train, but the group comes together for activities."

"What're we doin' today?"

Ernold raised his hands with his shoulders. "Who knows? But I bet it's something about the long-distance connection." His eyes widened. "Maybe we'll start hearing them!"

"I'm so sure!" Kristen laughed and shoved him. "Like we could jump all the way t' that!"

"I don't wanna be late, so I'll see you guys later."

Ernold and Kristen waved as Amelia bounced off.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. "Come on. We don't want to be late, either."

Kristen wished she could have slowed down to take in the notion that she was finally here to train with her dragon. Well, eventually. But even now, things looked different. She wasn't watching from the outside. She wasn't sneaking in for a peek. She was here to train!

"Welcome, early birds!"

Ernold's eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"No." Spencer grinned. "You two are the last ones. But welcome, anyway."

Kristen followed Ernold to the stands but kept her eyes on the teacher.

"Now that we're all here, let's talk about what we're going to be doing."

Everyone leaned forward excitedly.

"To put it simply, we're going to be strengthening your bonds with your rides. The goal is to get your rides to trust you enough to further the bond. Now, since none of us could convince our rides to get up, today we'll be dealing with absentee communication."