Month 5: Dragon Ages 9-10 months
Your Dragons:
Your life is now more about drills and less about your dragons. You're both beginning to be seen more as adults and prospective riders, and are expected to act like it. Your dragon's ability to concentrate has improved now, though they're still young enough to make mistakes. Their opinions are much stronger, and they may begin to test you, and other dragons and riders, in earnest. Having attained more than half of their full growth, the young dragons now generally have ample musculature and wing control to not just fly, but fly well. From now on, drills for the dragons will be taken in the air. Your lifemates are forbidden from flying unsupervised, but they have the run of the Weyr during their free time with only the limitation on unattended flight restricting them.
Another milestone is marked by the absence of the meat tubs in the barracks - even the smallest of the young dragons can now hunt, and most will hunt when they are hungry (about once daily) without need for supervision. As they become more emotionally mature, the young dragons need no longer be shielded from mating flights, though being far from sexual maturity, their interest is liable to be limited to admiration of the older dragons’ aerobatic efforts.
By the end of their ninth month, all of the dragons will have had a chance to carry their riders into the sky. Firestone toss remains a major part of the strength training program; midmonth the task will shift to dragonback in preparation for next month’s work throwing bags of ‘stone from dragon to dragon midair. As your dragons are by now probably straining the limits of their first set of straps, you’ll begin a second set to use in manned flight next month. If you make them big enough, this will be the last set of straps you’ll need until you wear them out.
By the middle of the tenth month most of the weyrlings will be experienced with manned flight and pairs begin to serve elevator duty in the bowl. However, unlike in past classes, no private weyrs have been assigned nor has any mention of them been made by the Weyrlingmaster.
Sample Schedule
6:00 AM - Wake up, barracks inspection, run circuits around the bowl
7:30 AM - Cleanup
8:00 AM - Breakfast
8:30 AM - Classroom lessons
10:30 AM - Strength/agility training
12:30 PM - Lunch
1:00 PM - General lessons
3:00 PM - Group exercises
6:00 PM - Dinner
6:30 PM - Optional classes/training, time to work on second set of straps. This time is not free time, however, and things will be found for any Weyrling with nothing to do.
10:00 PM - Lights-out