Chap. 13 School Daze

Chap. 13  School Daze

Right between my wings  Raventh said.

K'ndar reached between the fast growing wings and searched around til the dragonet's eyes began whirling. He scratched…and scratched…and scratched.

If I'm not careful I'm going to take the meat right off!

Will it stop itching? he asked.

I don't know, but I bet I'll be able to see your ribs  K'ndar said.

What are 'ribs'? Raventh asked.

Rather than explain a concept he wasn't so sure he knew well enough to describe, instead, K'ndar ran his hand alongside Raventh's side.

THESE are your ribs. Bones. Inside you. Will you EVER stop asking questions? No, don't answer that. It's fine. I love that you are so curious

Whoops.

 Why?

Lizard, you should have been named Whyeth

 I am RAVENTH! the brown trumpeted in silence. He crouched back and flapped his wings, sending up a fine cloud of dust.

You are going to be such a flyer, my love. Look at those beautiful wings. So perfect

The greens say it's because I'm 'handsome'

 No we don't. We think you're conceited a green said, only half awake,  but K'ndar didn't hear it.

Raventh deflated a little.

What happened?

Never mind. Here comes Andarth

Now remember, it's time for you to be quiet, because it's class time. So lay down and get some sleep, like everyone else is doing.

But I am not sleepy. I want you to scratch me. I want to go swimming.

Not now. After class.

B'rant held a long withy pointer. Andarth, his bronze, was behind him, the morning sun's rays setting him aglow.

The weyrlings and their dragonets were arranged in a large semicircle around them.

I'm going to be big like Andarth,  he boasted.

Maybe, but for now you are small. Let's be quiet so I can learn about you, K'ndar said.

Andarth had one wing dropped low. B'rant pointed at the base of it. "Now you'll notice that muscles of the wings only go as far as the wing claw. Those muscles control the aspect of the wing while in flight. As you can see, they're a bit like your arm, suited for manipulation and fine movements, whereas, the thighs-yours AND your dragons-are big and bulky," he said, pointing.  "Bulky muscles are for power and propulsion.

After the wing claw, the wings are composed of three tissues: tendons, which connect muscle to to bone; ligaments, connecting bone to bone, and the leathery tissue of the wing itself."

Raising his own arms as if they were wings, he moved them back and forth in a rowing motion. His students copied his movements, feeling their shoulder blades move.

 "All of the power of the wing comes from the shoulder joint; the shoulder muscles, called the trapezius and the rhomboids, and to a very small extent, the pectoral muscles. Because there's no meat, so to speak, to carry ichor, the wings are far more liable to injury, and are harder to heal than the rest of the body."

K'ndar put his hand in between Raventh's wings, feeling the girdle of muscles between the base of the joints.

Scratch there, the brown said. K'ndar began to, but his mind was focused on what the Weyrlingmaster was saying, and within a few moments, he stopped.

B'rant pointed at one girl who had her hand up.

"What about the wing claws?" she asked.

"They are 'vestigial' from the word 'vestige', meaning an atrophied relict of earlier development.  They're still quite strong, enabling a dragon to pull things with them. For instance, a dragon will use them to capture fish, just as fire lizards do. Please, Andarth, extend your wing claw."

The bronze obligingly did so, bringing the claw level with B'rant's head.

B'rant reached up and manipulated the claw, gently. "The claw itself is made of 'keratin'. It's the same material as your fingernails or your hair."

Half the class looked at their fingernails. K'ndar's hand was still between Raventh's wings.

Scratch there. Scratch, Raventh insisted.

I'll never remember all this K'ndar despaired.

Then let's go swimming  Raventh  suggested.

I have to pay attention, lizard. Just be patient, we'll go swimming in a little while. But be quiet for now.

 But I want to go NOW.

PLEASE, Raventh, I have to listen.

But I want to swim!

Raventh! Be quiet. No more talking. You will be able to swim in a little while, came Andarth's authoritative voice.

Raventh shook his head in annoyance.

B'rant glanced quickly at K'ndar, then continued.  

"Do I have any runner riders or herders in the class?"  knowing full well he had many.

K'ndar was the fastest in raising his hand.

"K'ndar, you know horses. From the knee and the hock down to the hoof, how much of a horse's leg is muscle?

"Why, none, sir. It's all just bone and sinew, covered by skin. There's a little meat right at the hoof, but otherwise, it's just blood veins and…tendons and ligaments!"  The intuitive leap flashed in his mind.

B'rant smiled, pleased. This class was quick.

"Correct! The wing is the same."

Andarth, knowing full well what the next part of the seminar was, unfurled a wing. It spread out over the class like a giant canopy. The shade it provided was most welcome.

"Once past the wing claw, anatomically, the wing is much like your hand, except that the 'fingers', so to speak, are vastly different in lengths and proportions," B'rant continued, pointing up beneath the wing, tracing the bones of the wing in the air.

The weyrlings looked at their hands again with correlations dawning in their minds. This was comparative anatomy, had they but known the name.

Why, a dragon wasn't much different from a runner, K'ndar thought, except for the wings, the talons, plates of boron rather than bones of calcium, a ribcage that was a cage rather than separate bones, two stomachs, the ability to chew firestone…oh, there WERE more differences. Still, it was easier to understand, given the comparisons.

Is it time to go swimming? Raventh whispered.

I HEARD THAT, Andarth boomed, making K'ndar and B'rant reflexively clap their hands to their ears simultaneously.

"Let me guess, " said one of the girls, "Chatterbox Raventh".

K'ndar nodded, rolling his eyes.  Raventh, pouting, lay down in sullen silence, trying to make himself smaller under Andarth's stern eye.

"I tell you what, if he's anything like raising a human baby, I doubt very much I'll ever have them."

B'rant laughed. Glancing up at the sun, he asked, "Are there any questions?"

There were several, and the class progressed until the weyrlings were satisfied.

"I have your task assignments up on the board in the classroom," he said, "you'll report to your various assignments after your noon meal. Class dismissed."  Andarth furled his wing, exposing the class once again to the sunshine.

K'ndar figured he could go without lunch to finally take Raventh swimming.

Okay, pest. Let's go swimming, he said.

 But Raventh was sound asleep.