Ralis and Green Friustith
Played By: Cymiri
Character Name: Ralis
Pronunciation:
Character Type: Dragonrider
Rank: Wingrider
Political Alignment: The Way things are...with overtones of Get the shards out my face.
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual
Appearance:
Ralis has the trademark complexion of a northern girl, pale skin that never seems to tan and always seems to burn. While not a stunning woman, Ralis does have her perks. Her hair is remarkable, a straight fine mass of ebony black that comes to her midback- and has been re-grown and clung to every time it’s been massacred, by weyrlinghood, by spiteful rankers or by injury. Her eyes are slightly almond shaped and are a pale grey color, framed by lavish black eyebrows and topped by thin black eyebrows.
Ralis is only 5'3, short with a slender body and breasts. She wears no jewelry, but does dress in skirts and dresses for preference. Or flight leather's. Rarely anything inbetween, just like her moods. Usually she wears gray and blue, sometime white or green. Her shoes are usually ankle boots, a soft suede black.
Early in her almost endless time as candidate at Fort, Ralis acquired a tattoo of a small but perfect gold firelizard- no more than 4 inches from wingtip to wingtip- right at the base of her spine at a midsummer gather. Later, a similar bronze was added just above it. Originally, she intended a line of all five colors trailing down from her shoulder blades, but other concerns got in the way and the design has never been finished. The pair, however, are classily executed and striking. They are also very, very sore reminders of a future that no longer exists.
Personality:
Ralis is smart. She knows what people want to hear and once upon a time there was a Ralis more than happy to tell them just that, mostly because Ralis wanted to get by as smoothly as possible. It was imperfect- personal arrogance, delight in her own cleverness and pride were difficult foes- but she preferred to keep up appearances.
These days she has a small problem... bitter over the lot handed to her, far less able to deal with it then she thinks, her tongue, her mind and her sense of, well, sense are on a disconnect. Sometimes, she isn't saying the right thing. Usually, it’s an utterly foolhardy tempting of fate and not ignorance of what that right thing is. Very occasionally, however, it stems from a much deeper attempt to reach out from a soul with no real clue how; and sadly it’s these moments that often backfire the worse. Hence her belief that such dregs of empathy remaining in her are her worst weakness. In reality, stubborn pride is.
Ralis has always been a people pleaser, and it got her by at Fort quite nicely. Especially because while her looks are used primarily as a tool she does have a hedonistic streak that relishes attention too. After the plague, though, she changed. Her experiences trapped in the kitchen brought her down to reality a little, that death strikes everyone and some things you can't manipulate or cheat to get your own way- and taught her how short life can be. Suddenly, impression didn't seem as guaranteed as before. And she still knew that the one thing she wanted in this life was a dragon. Hopefully a 'better' one than her sister, but basically... a dragon.
Deep down, she was petrified to finally have to acknowledge that that qualifier was definitely ANY dragon. Because what she believes she craves is security. And while she tries, and can use 'stubborn' as a replacement for 'tough', she isn't the world’s strongest willed person. She couldn't imagine branding herself a freak and a target by courting green. She was clueless on how to proceed. She likes comfort and luxury. She likes positive attention, especially from the rankers who hold such power. But...
Dragon.
Then fate took the question right out of her hands, giving Ralis her precious, wonderful Friustith.
It is worth noting, Ralis has never cared about all the other women on colors, greeners, etc. It is her she is worried about, not the horrible things faced by the non elite in general. If life had handed her rank, she would have gone on quite happily.
But it didn't, and the self same hatching that took away that chance handed that coveted glory to someone who's approach to life and others was so very alien to Ralis that she could not, cannot understand it. On top of that, she is still unsure of what this makes her, given her strongly held and stubborn views. Her pride can't bear the status she has had thrust upon her. Her heart simply craves someone who cares even a little tiny bit. Her soul and her personality sneer at that pathetic weakness. Ralis is, very simply, a hot mess.
She is, however, a hot mess with an unerring desire to survive, and that saves her.
She has become quieter and lots more serious. She has gotten cannier. However, she has also got more reckless and a lot meaner. Not in the air, where her performance is meticulous, but in the words she'll say and who she will say them to. In the chances she'll take and the dangers she will flirt with. Just for a taste of that power again. Or just to be proved right in the cynical conviction that no one cares- who knows which? She sure doesn't.
Though she is barely aware of it, Ralis likes to be in control of some kind, if not the ultimate sort. And this dilemma has left her previous confidence shaken. You will never see it, though. She knows predators pray on such weakness- because she did too, and she still will.
For a woman who now almost seems to relish portraying herself as little but yet another debased green slut, it surprises some to learn she is an avid reader- and not merely of trashy harper tales and light ballads, but wing theory, crop patterns, healer stratagems- anything she can lay hands on. A whipsmart mind lies in there still, freed a little by the removal of the shackling confines of scheming candidate plans and a blinkered view of life. That only ever shows in the air, sadly, and just very occasionally to the few who manage to crawl close enough without her realizing.
Friu and Ralis are a Team with capital T. Both need each other desperately, despite the daily diet of snark they pass back and forward maligning each other which may fool others. She's as suspicious, as distrustful and as stubborn as her dragon, but a *lot* more decisive, and if there is a battle of will between them she tends to win. Nerves are for sissies, so when she does feel them they get treated to the stubborn streak. If she must be a freak, she isn't going to seek achievement by running around being the perfect little greenrider to bastard rankers- she's gonna prove it up in the sky; and so far so good- together they have gotten *very* good at being a fighting green pair, freaks or not. The more mild mannered may even bring themselves to trust her as their wing buddy despite her girly bits.
Her judgment in fall is every bit as good as it is bad out of it. She might have been good at tactics if they weren't ranked too low for people to notice that, but intrinsic self-service and self-centricity spoil it anyway. They rely on it a lot though, and tend to come right.
Ralis-in-the-wing is a little different from the conflicted and provocative mess she is out. In her wing she is quiet, stoney, withdrawn and very solemn. Both her hot-and-cold tendencies and her head games are toned down, not in the least because she isn't turning them on herself either at these moments. She is more likely-though not guaranteed- to keep her mouth shut and do what she is told. And do it as bloody well as she can physically wring from them both. Her will is stubborn enough day to day, in the wing its unbending when matched with her (desperate) desire to prove there's something worthwhile in them both. She is still not a natural people person though, and has little tolerance. Um... make that none. Especially for tomfoolery regarding the Serious Business (tm) of threadfall. Her co-operation's ok- just don't expect her to give a damn about you privately. She isn’t there to babysit your ass in the air.
She is still scared of being a green rider, and her reaction has been to close up even more, trying to train herself to stay solitary and be as tough as dragonhide. She is close to few, and trusts fewer- though a rightly placed comment or gesture will still melt her. Friu is the chink in Ralis armor, of course. She doesn't want her hurt and can't stand her maligned. She even struggles with her green being criticized! In her wing alone, she'll take all the personal abuse you are to give her quietly, mentally spitting on your grave. It's a point of honor not to crack. Outside of it- it depends on today's mood.
There probably was an innocent Ralis once. In the womb, maybe. But it died a sad death the first day she started trying to twist other people- and herself- to do what she wanted by willpower and smarts instead of simple action, request or motivation. That was a very long time ago.
Birth Place: Bitra Hold
Parents: Holder Darastyl and Utessa
History:
Ralis was born at Bitra Hold, raised alongside her older sister Ersula. Ralis and Ersula competed for everything as children and little changed that aspect of the two girls. Ersula was born just a year before Ralis, making Ralis the baby of the family. The girl's rivalry never diminished, but as they grew older they began to work as a team. So when a rider came to Bitra Hold from Fort, the two sisters seduced him into taking them as candidates.
P'lan showed the girls many delights, especially in pain and pleasure combined. Thin scars are evidence of that, found on their inner thighs and lower calves. However, P'lan soon transferred out of Fort Weyr, leaving the girls to try their luck at Impressing a fine gold dragon. Physical scars are negligible next to the mental ones he left. P'lan did a lot of damage to Ralis, though he probably didn't mean to. The closet romantic that sometimes cries in a corner of her soul with a kerchief and soppy journal has never been unleashed, not since P'lan started leading the little hedonist down a little path that let the power hungry control freak in her overwhelm the other totally. Sex became one big power trip- gaining it, losing it, twisting it, abusing it...not a prelude to love or affection. Believe it or not, though, she's still capable of it. She'd be surprised if you suggested that, though. And she's fighting that 'weakness' every step of the way now, with highly damaging consequences.
While a gold would have been wonderful, she could never change the fact that she wanted to be a dragonrider. If the only way to be one was on the back of a green or a blue dragon, so be it. In the meantime, she was looking for someone to take the place of the departed P'lan. Hopefully, a bronzerider this time around. She managed it briefly with H'pos, though her impression sunk that boat fast. Her refusal to believe anyone with rank would be kind just because sunk it even faster. Ridiculous as it seems given their early rivalry, Ersula and Ralis lost track of each other in the events leading up to the plague. Since then, she has not dared seek out her sister- preferring to believe that she did indeed run cowardly away from the Weyr in shame at not impressing after so long a time then know for certain if she was one of the dead.
Impressing green Friustith at the Ghost Walker hatching added an interesting rock to her path. And while she still has no qualms with rough sex anytime, pain is suddenly not something she actively courts as much- too afraid of the pain that she fears is going to find her anyway. Til she hits one of her *dark* moods...then she'll run herself right into it just to prove the world is a horrible place.
Devorah, now she has come to prominence as Fort's Weyrwoman, doesn't help Ralis' issues much either, even though the woman does it by simply existing. Because deep down, she is *everything* Ralis has always wished she was and knows she never could have been. Confident, strong, attractive, dangerous, powerful....and, of course, a rider who *doesn't* have to apologize for what her dragon is.
Ralis developed something between a friendship and an on/off relationship with candidate Amrod, seeing in him another person who got royally shafted by life by coming to Fort Weyr while still holding dreams. The fact he was and is as avid a reader as she helps. Amrod impressed a brown to become A'mor, however, and that makes him minor rank. Thankfully it wasn't bronze (Ralis' new allergy) or there'd have been real trouble. As it is, she's torn between the sane, sensible part of her that wants to admit nothing's really changed and they are both who they've always been, vs the tangled myriad of problems created by her twisted and damaged view of power. She'd also been tutoring T'chim in his reading, and retains an friendly affection for the man she would never admit. Thanks to a ridiculous case of loss of emotional control (why can't she do it? why can't she be as hard as she wants?) she also had a drinking relationship with M'gri and Ardany.
She'd call none of them friends if anyone asked, though. Ralis doesn't *have* friends, remember.
~~Dragon~~
Dragon Name: Friustith
Color: Green
Age: 5
Appearance:
The green of her hide is a watery green, and her body is lean and small, though she will grow to a flyable length and strength.
Personality:
Friustith wants a new life. She will always drive her rider to a new life, and once she's there she'll want another one. Nothing is ever enough for her, because Friustith wants and wants and wants, but she doesn't know what she needs.
Friu is grimly determined when faced with a task, something that is rather amplified by having the rider she does. They may both be tiny, but fierce, unyielding force of stubborn will alone has taken them through terrible falls, buffeting winds and pretty much anything else without surrender. This makes her a pretty effective fighter for a dinky green, but occasionally *too* stubborn to accept the odds properly and they take risks. She is a little self-centric, both a good and bad thing in fall; and they tend to be hyper aware since both dragon and rider are suspicious. The flip side it that they don't trust fast, particularly help offered or intentions that seem kind, not always useful in the midst of fall! Wingmates and thread alike get the hairy eyeball before they decide to believe.
Weyr of Origin: Fort
Abilities and weaknesses:
They'll play in a team because that’s kinda what a wingrider does, but neither are team players by nature. They best serve in positions where they can be given an order and left to do their duty. She's picking up a mild ability to snark from Ralis, though said rider usually keeps it controlled. Friu left alone can waffle indecisively for eternity, but with Ralis driving it gets tuned down to manageable. Friu takes great exception to her flights, and she can get snippy to male wingmates in the days before rising. On a normal day, she never know what she wants or needs- in fall, she knows exactly....kill it all. It wears off soon after, alas. She is impatient too.
Friu's stamina is not good. She will fly 'til she drops but that isn't going to take too long. She is thin and lithe and therefore fast and incredibly maneuverable though. They like to be posted high in fall, purely 'cos it tends to be lonely up there and the pair of them are loners, but it's not something they make a point of. She's a neat little flier with a couple of quick and sudden backwinging tricks up her sleeve- tricks that avoid thread nicely but wingmates should watch out too- but tricksy flying will wear her out even more quickly. Flame-wise, little and economical sums it up. She doesn't have much, but makes what's there work on pain of sulks.
Pronunciation:
Character Type: Dragonrider
Rank: Wingrider
Political Alignment: The Way things are...with overtones of Get the shards out my face.
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual
Appearance:
Ralis has the trademark complexion of a northern girl, pale skin that never seems to tan and always seems to burn. While not a stunning woman, Ralis does have her perks. Her hair is remarkable, a straight fine mass of ebony black that comes to her midback- and has been re-grown and clung to every time it’s been massacred, by weyrlinghood, by spiteful rankers or by injury. Her eyes are slightly almond shaped and are a pale grey color, framed by lavish black eyebrows and topped by thin black eyebrows.
Ralis is only 5'3, short with a slender body and breasts. She wears no jewelry, but does dress in skirts and dresses for preference. Or flight leather's. Rarely anything inbetween, just like her moods. Usually she wears gray and blue, sometime white or green. Her shoes are usually ankle boots, a soft suede black.
Early in her almost endless time as candidate at Fort, Ralis acquired a tattoo of a small but perfect gold firelizard- no more than 4 inches from wingtip to wingtip- right at the base of her spine at a midsummer gather. Later, a similar bronze was added just above it. Originally, she intended a line of all five colors trailing down from her shoulder blades, but other concerns got in the way and the design has never been finished. The pair, however, are classily executed and striking. They are also very, very sore reminders of a future that no longer exists.
Personality:
Ralis is smart. She knows what people want to hear and once upon a time there was a Ralis more than happy to tell them just that, mostly because Ralis wanted to get by as smoothly as possible. It was imperfect- personal arrogance, delight in her own cleverness and pride were difficult foes- but she preferred to keep up appearances.
These days she has a small problem... bitter over the lot handed to her, far less able to deal with it then she thinks, her tongue, her mind and her sense of, well, sense are on a disconnect. Sometimes, she isn't saying the right thing. Usually, it’s an utterly foolhardy tempting of fate and not ignorance of what that right thing is. Very occasionally, however, it stems from a much deeper attempt to reach out from a soul with no real clue how; and sadly it’s these moments that often backfire the worse. Hence her belief that such dregs of empathy remaining in her are her worst weakness. In reality, stubborn pride is.
Ralis has always been a people pleaser, and it got her by at Fort quite nicely. Especially because while her looks are used primarily as a tool she does have a hedonistic streak that relishes attention too. After the plague, though, she changed. Her experiences trapped in the kitchen brought her down to reality a little, that death strikes everyone and some things you can't manipulate or cheat to get your own way- and taught her how short life can be. Suddenly, impression didn't seem as guaranteed as before. And she still knew that the one thing she wanted in this life was a dragon. Hopefully a 'better' one than her sister, but basically... a dragon.
Deep down, she was petrified to finally have to acknowledge that that qualifier was definitely ANY dragon. Because what she believes she craves is security. And while she tries, and can use 'stubborn' as a replacement for 'tough', she isn't the world’s strongest willed person. She couldn't imagine branding herself a freak and a target by courting green. She was clueless on how to proceed. She likes comfort and luxury. She likes positive attention, especially from the rankers who hold such power. But...
Dragon.
Then fate took the question right out of her hands, giving Ralis her precious, wonderful Friustith.
It is worth noting, Ralis has never cared about all the other women on colors, greeners, etc. It is her she is worried about, not the horrible things faced by the non elite in general. If life had handed her rank, she would have gone on quite happily.
But it didn't, and the self same hatching that took away that chance handed that coveted glory to someone who's approach to life and others was so very alien to Ralis that she could not, cannot understand it. On top of that, she is still unsure of what this makes her, given her strongly held and stubborn views. Her pride can't bear the status she has had thrust upon her. Her heart simply craves someone who cares even a little tiny bit. Her soul and her personality sneer at that pathetic weakness. Ralis is, very simply, a hot mess.
She is, however, a hot mess with an unerring desire to survive, and that saves her.
She has become quieter and lots more serious. She has gotten cannier. However, she has also got more reckless and a lot meaner. Not in the air, where her performance is meticulous, but in the words she'll say and who she will say them to. In the chances she'll take and the dangers she will flirt with. Just for a taste of that power again. Or just to be proved right in the cynical conviction that no one cares- who knows which? She sure doesn't.
Though she is barely aware of it, Ralis likes to be in control of some kind, if not the ultimate sort. And this dilemma has left her previous confidence shaken. You will never see it, though. She knows predators pray on such weakness- because she did too, and she still will.
For a woman who now almost seems to relish portraying herself as little but yet another debased green slut, it surprises some to learn she is an avid reader- and not merely of trashy harper tales and light ballads, but wing theory, crop patterns, healer stratagems- anything she can lay hands on. A whipsmart mind lies in there still, freed a little by the removal of the shackling confines of scheming candidate plans and a blinkered view of life. That only ever shows in the air, sadly, and just very occasionally to the few who manage to crawl close enough without her realizing.
Friu and Ralis are a Team with capital T. Both need each other desperately, despite the daily diet of snark they pass back and forward maligning each other which may fool others. She's as suspicious, as distrustful and as stubborn as her dragon, but a *lot* more decisive, and if there is a battle of will between them she tends to win. Nerves are for sissies, so when she does feel them they get treated to the stubborn streak. If she must be a freak, she isn't going to seek achievement by running around being the perfect little greenrider to bastard rankers- she's gonna prove it up in the sky; and so far so good- together they have gotten *very* good at being a fighting green pair, freaks or not. The more mild mannered may even bring themselves to trust her as their wing buddy despite her girly bits.
Her judgment in fall is every bit as good as it is bad out of it. She might have been good at tactics if they weren't ranked too low for people to notice that, but intrinsic self-service and self-centricity spoil it anyway. They rely on it a lot though, and tend to come right.
Ralis-in-the-wing is a little different from the conflicted and provocative mess she is out. In her wing she is quiet, stoney, withdrawn and very solemn. Both her hot-and-cold tendencies and her head games are toned down, not in the least because she isn't turning them on herself either at these moments. She is more likely-though not guaranteed- to keep her mouth shut and do what she is told. And do it as bloody well as she can physically wring from them both. Her will is stubborn enough day to day, in the wing its unbending when matched with her (desperate) desire to prove there's something worthwhile in them both. She is still not a natural people person though, and has little tolerance. Um... make that none. Especially for tomfoolery regarding the Serious Business (tm) of threadfall. Her co-operation's ok- just don't expect her to give a damn about you privately. She isn’t there to babysit your ass in the air.
She is still scared of being a green rider, and her reaction has been to close up even more, trying to train herself to stay solitary and be as tough as dragonhide. She is close to few, and trusts fewer- though a rightly placed comment or gesture will still melt her. Friu is the chink in Ralis armor, of course. She doesn't want her hurt and can't stand her maligned. She even struggles with her green being criticized! In her wing alone, she'll take all the personal abuse you are to give her quietly, mentally spitting on your grave. It's a point of honor not to crack. Outside of it- it depends on today's mood.
There probably was an innocent Ralis once. In the womb, maybe. But it died a sad death the first day she started trying to twist other people- and herself- to do what she wanted by willpower and smarts instead of simple action, request or motivation. That was a very long time ago.
Birth Place: Bitra Hold
Parents: Holder Darastyl and Utessa
History:
Ralis was born at Bitra Hold, raised alongside her older sister Ersula. Ralis and Ersula competed for everything as children and little changed that aspect of the two girls. Ersula was born just a year before Ralis, making Ralis the baby of the family. The girl's rivalry never diminished, but as they grew older they began to work as a team. So when a rider came to Bitra Hold from Fort, the two sisters seduced him into taking them as candidates.
P'lan showed the girls many delights, especially in pain and pleasure combined. Thin scars are evidence of that, found on their inner thighs and lower calves. However, P'lan soon transferred out of Fort Weyr, leaving the girls to try their luck at Impressing a fine gold dragon. Physical scars are negligible next to the mental ones he left. P'lan did a lot of damage to Ralis, though he probably didn't mean to. The closet romantic that sometimes cries in a corner of her soul with a kerchief and soppy journal has never been unleashed, not since P'lan started leading the little hedonist down a little path that let the power hungry control freak in her overwhelm the other totally. Sex became one big power trip- gaining it, losing it, twisting it, abusing it...not a prelude to love or affection. Believe it or not, though, she's still capable of it. She'd be surprised if you suggested that, though. And she's fighting that 'weakness' every step of the way now, with highly damaging consequences.
While a gold would have been wonderful, she could never change the fact that she wanted to be a dragonrider. If the only way to be one was on the back of a green or a blue dragon, so be it. In the meantime, she was looking for someone to take the place of the departed P'lan. Hopefully, a bronzerider this time around. She managed it briefly with H'pos, though her impression sunk that boat fast. Her refusal to believe anyone with rank would be kind just because sunk it even faster. Ridiculous as it seems given their early rivalry, Ersula and Ralis lost track of each other in the events leading up to the plague. Since then, she has not dared seek out her sister- preferring to believe that she did indeed run cowardly away from the Weyr in shame at not impressing after so long a time then know for certain if she was one of the dead.
Impressing green Friustith at the Ghost Walker hatching added an interesting rock to her path. And while she still has no qualms with rough sex anytime, pain is suddenly not something she actively courts as much- too afraid of the pain that she fears is going to find her anyway. Til she hits one of her *dark* moods...then she'll run herself right into it just to prove the world is a horrible place.
Devorah, now she has come to prominence as Fort's Weyrwoman, doesn't help Ralis' issues much either, even though the woman does it by simply existing. Because deep down, she is *everything* Ralis has always wished she was and knows she never could have been. Confident, strong, attractive, dangerous, powerful....and, of course, a rider who *doesn't* have to apologize for what her dragon is.
Ralis developed something between a friendship and an on/off relationship with candidate Amrod, seeing in him another person who got royally shafted by life by coming to Fort Weyr while still holding dreams. The fact he was and is as avid a reader as she helps. Amrod impressed a brown to become A'mor, however, and that makes him minor rank. Thankfully it wasn't bronze (Ralis' new allergy) or there'd have been real trouble. As it is, she's torn between the sane, sensible part of her that wants to admit nothing's really changed and they are both who they've always been, vs the tangled myriad of problems created by her twisted and damaged view of power. She'd also been tutoring T'chim in his reading, and retains an friendly affection for the man she would never admit. Thanks to a ridiculous case of loss of emotional control (why can't she do it? why can't she be as hard as she wants?) she also had a drinking relationship with M'gri and Ardany.
She'd call none of them friends if anyone asked, though. Ralis doesn't *have* friends, remember.
~~Dragon~~
Dragon Name: Friustith
Color: Green
Age: 5
Appearance:
The green of her hide is a watery green, and her body is lean and small, though she will grow to a flyable length and strength.
Personality:
Friustith wants a new life. She will always drive her rider to a new life, and once she's there she'll want another one. Nothing is ever enough for her, because Friustith wants and wants and wants, but she doesn't know what she needs.
Friu is grimly determined when faced with a task, something that is rather amplified by having the rider she does. They may both be tiny, but fierce, unyielding force of stubborn will alone has taken them through terrible falls, buffeting winds and pretty much anything else without surrender. This makes her a pretty effective fighter for a dinky green, but occasionally *too* stubborn to accept the odds properly and they take risks. She is a little self-centric, both a good and bad thing in fall; and they tend to be hyper aware since both dragon and rider are suspicious. The flip side it that they don't trust fast, particularly help offered or intentions that seem kind, not always useful in the midst of fall! Wingmates and thread alike get the hairy eyeball before they decide to believe.
Weyr of Origin: Fort
Abilities and weaknesses:
They'll play in a team because that’s kinda what a wingrider does, but neither are team players by nature. They best serve in positions where they can be given an order and left to do their duty. She's picking up a mild ability to snark from Ralis, though said rider usually keeps it controlled. Friu left alone can waffle indecisively for eternity, but with Ralis driving it gets tuned down to manageable. Friu takes great exception to her flights, and she can get snippy to male wingmates in the days before rising. On a normal day, she never know what she wants or needs- in fall, she knows exactly....kill it all. It wears off soon after, alas. She is impatient too.
Friu's stamina is not good. She will fly 'til she drops but that isn't going to take too long. She is thin and lithe and therefore fast and incredibly maneuverable though. They like to be posted high in fall, purely 'cos it tends to be lonely up there and the pair of them are loners, but it's not something they make a point of. She's a neat little flier with a couple of quick and sudden backwinging tricks up her sleeve- tricks that avoid thread nicely but wingmates should watch out too- but tricksy flying will wear her out even more quickly. Flame-wise, little and economical sums it up. She doesn't have much, but makes what's there work on pain of sulks.