The Tracker and her Apprentice (with Vera)

Sting was flopped down outside a small dark cave. Shadows danced about within it eerily, but the spooky appearance was no way to describe Sting. She looked dark and mysterious, but inside this dragoness' chest was a heart as big as the moon.
Sting was waiting for someone. She had requested Vera to be her apprentice, and she instructed the little NightWing to come to this cave so they can finally meet. She was happy to finally have an apprentice, but she was nervous. What if they didn't like her? What if she was a horrible mentor? She was about to find out.

Vera alighted down onto the cold ground, before a black cave. And there, a dragoness sat. The entire area gave off an extremely creepy appearance. "What's up? I mean.. um.." Vera said, their eyes narrowed in confusion. They weren't too sure how they were to greet their new teacher.

Sting purred warmly, and she flicked her tail over Vera's ear in a friendly greeting.
"My name is Sting," she said, looking back into the cave. "I have a gift for you, Vera." She went on, looking back at the trainee. "Come." She beckoned with her long slender tail to tell her to follow.

Vera nodded and followed, rubbing their ear where the dragoness had flicked it. They entered the dark confines of the cave, slightly confused. What was about to happen? A gift DID sound nice, though.

Sting walked into the darkest recesses of the gloomy cave, and she turned around. "Wait here," she instructed. She walked deeper into the cave, and out she dragged a dark ebony chest.
"Open it," Sting urged her apprentice. Inside Vera would find a pair of steel armor that fit her perfectly. She knew Trackers never fought, but they did when they had to, and this was for protection: armor.

Vera did as instructed. Suddenly, the mentor came out of the darkness with an even darker wooden chest. It was old yet still in perfect shape. They nodded as she told them to open it and cracked open the chest, tilting their head in confusion as a set of bright armour was within the box. "Erm?"

"You may need that," Sting explained. "There are hostile dragons out there, and if you are to be attacked, that will protect you. I wouldn't want you getting hurt, Vera."
She smiled warmly at her trainee, and she cleared her throat nervously before saying,
"So... you ready to train?"

Vera nodded and removed the armour from the box, their paws dropping it to the ground gently as they could hold it no longer. It was quite heavy to them, as they had not done much for fourteen years of their life. They were fifteen, now, however, and were required to train.

"Yes... Is.. being a tracker dangerous?" They asked, their head tilted in worry and their eyeridges knitted tightly together.

Sting shook her head.
"No, not normally," she began. "but take note that there are some very hostile and superstitious dragons, and sometimes a Tracker would need to fight if they need to. But no, the life of a Tracker is for hunting for the Tribe. It's not dangerous at all until you meet a nasty dragon."

Vera nodded their head, looking back up at her new mentor with a raised eyeridge. "So, erm, you're just going to teach me how to hunt and such?" They said. They were beginning to feel more comfortable with their new career choice. They, hopefully, wouldn't run into a "nasty" dragon. But, either way, they were excited to begin their training after fifteen years.

Sting nodded.
"Yes, but if you would like to learn more things such as aerial techniques, feel free to ask. You're my apprentice, after all!' She smiled a vibrant grin to Vera.

Vera nodded their head. They had expected the training to be much more violent, and their mentor to not be too nice either. They looked up at their mentor, Sting, and uttered a question that they hoped was not too urgent or forceful. Despite the fact that they were usually full of sass and casual, this made them quite nervous. "So, erm, can we start training? I guess? What do we do first?" They asked, awkwardly tripping on their words.

Sting, again, couldn't help but grin.
"Yes, of course," she replied, not noticing or seeming it rushed at all. "What would you like to work on first? Flying techniques, hunting, or tracking? It's your choice. I can teach you anything, if you have something else in mind."

Vera tilted their head and thought it over. If I choose tracking, I can then work on hunting. But I need to be able to fly to track. And I can't hunt without flying. They thought to themselves. The black dragon looked back up to Sting.
"Flying. Yeah, because then I can do everything else afterwards, because they all have to do with flying. Don't they?" They said, suddenly getting an extreme amount more comfortable.

Sting nodded approvingly. She was impressed by her student's reasoning.
"Yes, that's right," she responded, waving her tail behind her. "You seem to be learning fast." She stepped to Vera's side, looked down to them, and said, "Well, first feel the wind. What do you detect about it..?"

Vera raised their head and stood perfectly still for a moment, hoping they were doing this correctly. They felt the powerful, yet not too much, wind blowing along their body. They turn back to Sting and tilt their head. "It's.. kind of harsh? And it's blowing that way? Right?" They ask and point their paw over behind the two dragons. They were still relatively nervous, though they would retain their sass & usual attraction to all soon.

Sting nodded.
"Right. So how do you think you should begin flight in harsh breezes such as this?"

Vera looked around and tilted their head, thinking.
"I don't know. Are you supposed to run? Is that how it works?" They asked curiously.

Sting shook her head.
"First, turn around in the direction of the breeze. Then, open your wings. Do you know how to fly yet?"

(Stupid question, but I forgot :p)

Vera did so, opening their wings and nodding. They then shook their head. "Kind of. I stumble sometimes." The grey dragon said, looking at their mentor.

Sting spoke, "Alright. Well, you must begin with a huge beat of your wings."
Sting demonstrated, opening up her leathery silver-flecked wings and flapped forward with a humongous beat. She soared a few feet, but veered back.

Vera watched their mentor. They then followed suit, stretching out their grey bat-like wings and beating them as heavily as possible. They luckily had not put on the armor, so it would be difficult for them to be weighed down. "Like.. this?" Vera asked, attempting to beat their wings repeatedly in order to remain steady.

Sting looked on, impressed. She smiled in approval.
"Exactly! You can practice hovering right now, but as you gain your strength in that, I can teach you how to gain altitude and speed."

Vera looked at Sting, their wings still beating at their sides. The wind shoved them back, making them tire. They fought it back, and remained flying. They assumed that this was the hovering that their mentor was speaking of. They stayed in the air, closing their eyes for a moment or so occasionally as the wind began to pain the bright blue optics. They flicked their tail and tilted their head at their mentor. They were extremely tempted to flirt now, now that they had gotten a hang of this. But no, this dragoness, Sting, was their mentor, and that was not something that they thought their mentor would tolerate. Besides, there were plenty off other attractive dragons, such as Saphira, the SeaWing healer they had met only days before. They suddenly came to, having drifted off in their thoughts while flying. They nodded.

"Is this hovering? Am I doing this right?" Vera asked. They realized they had asked many questions and facepawed lightly. They were making themselves sound stupid! Or at least, they thought so.

Sting nodded, and realized that her student was getting tired and was in pain.
"Yes, I'm greatly impressed by your progress. You can land now."