"Alright, Remus..."
Niro muttered, as he tightened the straps of Remus' reins and muzzle. He patted the drake's cheek, and Remus' gaze flicked down to Niro's face. Remus tilted his head somewhat, a deep huff escaping him. He never liked all the regalia and rules that came with races- He just wanted to fly.
"If we don't make at least 20th place here, we'll be out of the races for the rest of the season. Too damn early for that. If we fuck it up, it's back to canvassing..."
Canvassing. 'Odd jobs'. The ways he referred to blatant robbery.
Niro tugged on Remus' muzzle, partially to bug him and partially to make sure it was actually secure. "...So do your best out there, 'kay? No fucking around, or I'll kick your ass."
Remus turned his head to jam the top of it into Niro's chest in a gentle headbutt, knocking him back a few steps. Niro shoved Remus' head back, and the drake gave a hoarse sort of bark and wobbled his head, one of his indications of amusement. Niro grabbed Remus' horn, giving it a harmless shake.
"I'm serious. We need to make it at least into the semi-finals. I know you can do it, so, please..." Niro's voice trailed off, his thoughts drifting to the dwindling funds in his bank account. Remus didn't respond for a long moment, watching him. And then the drake gave another huff and pulled his horn out of Niro's grip, closing his eyes for a moment. He shook himself as though to brush Niro off, and Niro sighed, retracting his hands.
Remus' posture shifted as he partially spread his wings and lowered his chest to the ground as if to pounce. He lowered his chest further, lowering his wing closest to Niro as if inviting him into the saddle.
Niro smirked, and climbed up.
He adjusted himself in the saddle, and then thrust his palm against the saddlehorn, knowing Remus could feel it. "You better not be messing with me." He muttered, as the whistle blew from the yard calling the racers to ready up.
—
Niro could tell Remus was fired up in the moments before takeoff. The tension of his muscles, the intense determination with which he watched the sky, calculating his path once the shot fired. That wasn't unusual, Remus was fiercely competitive.
Niro saw the starter lift the pistol and leaned down in preparation for takeoff. "On your marks..."
The moment the pistol fired, Remus sprang into the air, a few powerful beats of his wings allowing him to ascend. He nimbly dodged other drakes trying to do the same, weaving and darting ahead of both their neighboring racers.
Remus climbed higher, rapidly. The air was warm- At least, compared to the recent winter chill- And Niro could taste the humidity. Spring was fickle, and the new warm air meeting the winter cold meant atmospheric instability. Dense patches of clouds spoke to this stability, and as they ascended, Niro saw the distant flicker of lightning in a rain-wrapped thunderhead.
Threat of a spring thunderstorm wasn't enough to call off the whole race. These were taken in stride as environmental challenges, requiring real skill from the rider to combat.
Niro eyed Sirrah flying ahead and below them, and apparently Remus saw them too, because he began to descend, inching closer and closer to Sirrah and Iori until he was directly overhead. Then he swung to their side, wove under them, and then lifted up again to get overhead. Niro saw Sirrah lift her head, but if she said anything, it was lost to the wind.
Then Remus pressed ahead, shifting his wings to catch a tailwind and accelerate past them.
Iori mirrored, pressing to catch up until Remus had to fall back- And then he caught another current and, eventually, cruised well past them, leaving them behind.
He could see the silhouettes of other riders ahead against the night sky, and more flashes of lightning in the thunderhead they were streaking towards.
Niro reached out, tugging on Remus' wing to angle it upwards. The thunderhead was low, and they could fly above it- Easier said than done, since it was harder to generate lift to that height, though they'd experience less drag from air resistance once they got there.
"Can you make it?" Niro called over the wind, and in response, Remus began to ascend. They clipped the edge of the thunderhead, streaking through the dense patch of moisture before breaking through above the thunderhead. It was surprisingly warm, here- Supporting their quick ascent.
A few other riders ahead of them clearly had the same idea. Remus shifted to follow the prevailing wind, directing him somewhat off-course, but they could afford that for now if it allowed them to catch up.
Skirting them diagonally, never quite getting close, Niro passed the other racers, not close enough to see who they were. Below him, lightning danced in the clouds, peals of thunder shaking his very core. Eventually, they cleared the cell.
Niro tugged Remus' right wing to get him back on course and then pulled on the forelimb, as though trying to get him to tuck his wing in. Remus picked up the suggestion and dove sideways, rapidly descending through the clouds and veering to meet the course again. Niro tugged on the reins at a decent height to stop the dive, and Niro could see they were with the majority of the other racers now.
This was where Remus tended to falter, distracted by the other drakes and trying to clear the way for himself. He could see Remus' attention shifting to the other drakes closing in, all jostling to ride a good current.
Niro leaned forward just enough to reach Remus' horn, pulling on it to align Remus' head forwards so he'd look away from the other drakes.
Remus shook his head to throw off Niro's hand, causing his flight to wobble precariously. Still leaning mostly out of the saddle, Niro used his foot to press on Remus' wing, guiding him back on course- But that meant flying into the thick of the other riders.
Niro adjusted the pressure he was applying to push downwards. Remus tucked in his wing to dive sideways again, streaking under- But ahead of the other racers. Down here, though, there was no tailwind.
But they'd cleared the majority of the others, and Niro glanced back to check before tugging upwards on Remus' wing, giving him clearance to ascend again. Remus heeded him, shifting back on-course and into the warm air current they'd been riding.
The markers for the end of the race were just ahead, and there was another cluster of riders here. Niro adjusted in the saddle to press himself low against Remus' back, the shift in posture urging Remus forward.
Remus' attention shifted to the other drakes again, particularly as one rider shook a fist at Niro- Apparently cursing him, though her actual words were lost to the wind- And then her drake swung to the side as though to crash into Remus.
Remus growled, pulling back sharply and then lunging towards the drake, his claws extended. Niro pulled hard on the reins and then threw himself forward over the saddle horn, the one strap securing him to the saddle snapping taut. He jammed his palm against Remus' eye and head, and Remus swooped just above the other pair of rider and drake, claws flailing just shy of the drake's back. Annoyed at being thwarted, Remus turned his head back to snap his jaws dangerously close to Niro's hand- His muzzle cage preventing any contact from being made.
"The finish line is right there! Stay focused, you asshole!" Niro snapped, jerking on Remus' horn to force his vision ahead again and pointing past his face at the finish line markers- Partially, blocking Remus' view of the other pair. The other rider jeered and swore, most of her mockery lost to the wind.
The group of them crossed the finish line together, jostling for first- At least, first of their little cluster. The other drakes split off, taking their own ways to the post-race rendezvous point. Remus veered to chase the drake and rider who'd yelled at them.
"Stop following me!" She called over her shoulder.
"We're going to the same place!" Niro yelled back, pushing himself to fall back into the saddle and at the same time, jerking the reins hard enough to pull Remus' head back. "Remus! Leave her alone!"
Remus jerked his head forward again, snapping the reins out of Niro's hands, and ignored all further commands- Eking closer and closer to the other rider until she landed at the rendezvous point. Remus swooped over her head, lashing out at her drake with his long talons, and then landed haphazardly some ten yards in front of them.
While Remus got his feet under him, Niro fumbled with his lifeline and jumped out of the saddle despite not being very close to the ground whatsoever.
He stumbled as he landed hard, and jogged towards the other rider pair- Echo and Chamber, he thought. Fortunately he didn't see any wounds on Chamber, though Echo was also fumbling to get out of the saddle and Chamber snarled at him as he approached.
Echo slid out of the saddle, snarling. "Control your stupid fucking drake!"
"You were asking for it by trying to ram me!" Niro snapped back, not daring to pull back his scarf or goggles- Not without any makeup on under it.
"I was not trying to ram you!" Echo stepped forward to get in Niro's face, and Niro mirrored the movement. "That fucking split-nose is a liability already, and—"
"Hey, hey! Cool off!" Johans suddenly inserted himself between the two of them, pushing them apart. "No harm, no foul, come on. Back off."
Niro huffed and stepped back, muttering curses under his breath. He heard Johans giving Echo some consolations behind him as he returned to Remus, who was now wriggling and rolling on the pavement in an effort to weasel his way out of his gear.
"Hey, fuckface, keep your shit on. I'm not hauling all that to the stable." Niro punched Remus' shoulder and Remus stopped, belly-up, and huffed loudly.
"Yeah, yeah." Niro plunked himself on the ground next to him with a heavy sigh, and Remus flipped over to sulk with his head on the pavement.
He tugged off his goggles as Johans approached. "Yeah, I know, we need to work on Remus' temper." Niro called to him tiredly as he tugged off his goggles, and Johans waved it off.
"You're fine. I was going to congratulate you, that was some good flying out there." Johans stopped, standing over Niro as he planted his hands on his hips and looked over at Remus. "The cameras caught that little spat with Echo, she did incite it. So you shouldn't be penalized much, if at all. Keep your goggles on, the press should be coming up soon here."
"Press?" Niro looked around as though expecting swarms of reporters, pulling his goggles back on, and Johans looked back, folding his arms.
"You didn't realize? Your group was the first to cross the finish line. They're still reviewing the footage, but you had to have placed pretty well."
"You're shitting me. Where was Noblesse? Normally he's at the front."
"Quarry couldn't make it over that thunderhead, and they had to go through. Slowed him down quite a bit."
Niro adjusted his goggles and scarf, looking past Johans at a gaggle of reporters clustering around another rider pair- Probably the likely first-place winner. "There's trouble." He said, getting to his feet. "Thanks for the heads-up, Johans."
"No problem. It's good to see you back out there, Niro."
