Unfortunately for Violet, she hadn't been able to attend the first lesson of her course. For the first time in quite a long while, she'd been ill. Fortunately, she'd spoken to the Professor, and had gotten the previous lesson's assignment. With a quick word to the Professor, explaining her reason for not attending, she had been assigned her dragon (a Romanian Longhorn), and caught up with all the work missed during the lesson.

Now, she'd received the letter, detailing the plans for this lesson. She made sure to set an alarm, to get up early. Throwing on some comfortable jeans (Violet never wore shorts), and a t-shirt, and joggers. Good enough for the lesson. Grabbing her dragon egg, she made her way down to the Dragon stables. She hadn't expected anyone else, besides the Professor, to be there. And she was right.  She was the first student to arrive. It was right on eight forty, so she was five minutes early. With a slight nod to Professor Ellingston, in acknowledgement, she waited for others to arrive.

They were going out, and Conner couldn't be more excited. If theory was his week spot, trekking was where he could shine. He had woken up at six in the morning to make sure his commute wouldn't lag and would factor in every possible problem that could occur. So at eight-thirty he was running on campus, hoping to get there before he could be left behind. He already felt he was walking on a tight rope and he wasn't about to disappoint the professor.

For example his clothing, he chose warm pants, thick enough to keep him warm in the winter weather, but comfortable enough that he could move around in it. And for the top, a regular t-shirt seemed like enough, along with a jumper that he could remove if he got hot, though he doubted it. Lastly his comfy trainers were enough to feel ready for the lesson. Walking quickly he saw that he was the second student there and grinned relieved to arrive on time.

He briefly noted that there was a girl there, and he'd never seen her before. Still, he sent a smile her way hoping that maybe they could become friends.

Alana had been quiet ill and had to miss class. Well, that was what she told the professor. In reality, she had been highly hung over and had been throwing up all night. So, yes, she felt like shit, and was sick, but not the kind of sick he thought. She smiled when she received her egg, the Common Welsh Green. Ha! like her last name! She had promised not to miss anymore classes, so that had to mean that she couldn't drink anymore. Or... a little less than she had the night before. Because she was still gonna drink. Nobody could stop her from having a good time.

But like she promised, she made it to class at 8:45 sharp, and the professor was already there. She smiled and said, "Hello Professor. Lets do this!" She looked down in embarrassment. Why was she so embarrassing. She facepalmed, and hoped the day would get better.

Taking the long way around to class, Rhian couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the Quidditch pitch. It wasn't far from the stables, and she'd been up early enough to make a little stop. Walking onto the field, silent in this early morning stillness, a large grin spread across her face. The last time she was here, she'd met the Professor. She hadn't known then, who he was.

Her hand rubbed over the egg bound against her front by soft cloth. "Maybe we can fly together here one day. Think you'd like it." They'd been told to take care of the little things until they could fly. But, she could hope to be able to fly with it at least once before they took it away.

It was closing in on time for class. Moving towards the stables, she picked up the pace a bit. With worn sneakers, and a baggy pair of jeans, she wasn't really interested in looking good for class. With a long t-shirt, she'd warn a thick coat over it, just in case. The weather was chilly now, and if things got physically taxing, she could always take off layers. Besides, she was always a tad colder than normal people.

Seeing another girl a bit ahead of her, Rhian couldn't remember seeing her in class before. Whether she was new or not didn't really matter. Wrapping her arms around her egg, an instinctive move, she saw the small group of people now gathered.

"Morning, Professor," she greeted the man. Again, Conner was the only one she knew amongst the students. Moving to stand by him, she was curious what they would be doing today.

Tess was not a morning person, and she hated it more than anything. She loved sleeping in, cuddling deep into her bed and roll out in the afternoon for classes. But she knew that this wasn't just any class, if Codey was teaching it. Getting ready, she slid a pair of tight pants that retained heat, some trainers and a warm jumper to keep her protected from the wind.

She was a bit nervous about trekking, not a nature person well...but nature. Yet slipping a beanie on her hair to avoid having to brush it, and was out of the flat. Grumbling slightly, she hugged herself as she apparated successfully onto the fields. Smiling sleepily at Codey she shuffled over to Rhian seeing her there and sighed she had arrived on time.

Smiling over at Tess, Rhian was happy to see her in the small group. She'd just been told a few days ago that the girl had decided to join her major. This was their first lesson together, for Dragon-training, and she was honestly looking forward to what it would entail.

The professor started them off with a bit of a lecture. Well, it would be, if the people it was meant for were actually here. Not that Rhian could say much, since she'd been late to Potions on the first lesson. But getting to know the professors at the academy...well, she really didn't want to be late again.

She wasn't very keen on the idea of handing over her egg. While she'd allowed Tess to watching over it when she had shifts at the pub, Rhian didn't really trust anyone else. But if Professor Ellingston was saying they had to leave them, she was going to grin and bare it. Placing the egg in the designated area, she scribbled her name on a piece of parchement, claiming it. Even if things got a bit mixed up, she'd know her egg anywhere. In the time she'd had it, she'd taken note of the slight differences in color patterns on the scales. The journal she was keeping on it had many sketches and paragraphs on this alone.

Codey started in on explainations, then. Oh. Definitely not what she was expecting. Sure, the letter had mentioned they were going off campus, but she hadn't expected it would be somewhere warm. After the initial description of what they'd be doing, and the instruction to take hold of the plank, Rhian felt her heart race. Would they see dragons? What other obstacles would they be facing? As much as she loved the idea of working with those amazing creatures, the thrill of adventure wasn't something she would pass up either.

As they all clasped on to the Portkey, she looked across the small group, at Conner. A soft smile crept up her face, along with a twinkle in her eye, before they were all spinning away to another place.

With a solid thud, she landed hard on the dirt. It was spongier than the earth they'd just left. Soft and warm under her hands. Immediately, she felt a sweat break out. Merlin, it was hot. Looking down at her attire, she instantly regretted it. As the small group moved to get themselves up and situated, Rhian tore off her jacket. Pulling out her wand, she shrunk it easy enough, so it could fit in her pocket. It had been too bulky to wrap around her waist. For the pants there was nothing to do.

She looked around then, taking the moment to tie up her hair. Like Codey'd said, there really wasn't much of a bath through the brush of the forest. Rhian could make out patches of earth here and there, but it was mostly covered in moss and other plantlife.

Through the trees, though, she caught sight of the red ribbons that they were being directed to. The first year was not much of a leader, never had been. She wouldn't really label herself a follower, either. Mostly, she just made her own way. So, she was tempted to wait for someone else to take the first steps down the trail. After a bit, when no one seemed to want to go first, she took a deep breath and moved forward, a small smile to Codey.

Pulling out her wand, she wasn't quite sure if they were meant to use them. Yes, the professor had walked this trail many times, but she wasn't sure what they would be meeting along the way. Animals, plants, any other form of strange thing. Clenching her jaw with determination, she made her way through the jungle, leading them on.

The way was a bit slower than she'd like, as there seemed to be all manner of trunks risen out of the ground. Rhian almost tripped a couple times, but the trees were close enough that she could reach out to them. Rips in her jeans, and a few cuts here and there, Rhian was really hoping for that river soon.

Tess Holmes would never admit she had gotten attached to her egg, but as she was forced to leave it behind, she was hesitant. Her poor little egg was pampered in her home, and she clung to it softly frowning at the man that would take care of it. It felt as if she was a kid again and she was asked to leave the toy behind. Kissing it softly she placed it on the designated area and gave the man a firm look before following the group.

Nature was not her friend. In fact, one of the things that Tess hated more than insects, was nature, the place that they inhabited. The idea of a hike, was already painful enough; last time she had truly exercised had been the day that Slytherin had won the Quidditch game, over seven months. Still, she was proud of herself for not huffing as she marched up the trail, behind Rhian. To be quite honest, Rhian was more of a leader than Tess. Tess fell in line in almost every aspect of her life. At home, she took the role of female, and would pour drinks to her father, help her mother sow, and plan family dinners with their business partners. It was the freedom of university that allowed her to try and get dirty.

She was growing hot after their half-hour trek up. She removed her hat, and threw it in her satchel, allowing her wavy hair to feel the breeze that was coming their way. At the end of the road, it seemed that they'd reached the river. Sliding through people trying to get to the front, she placed her hand on Rhian's shoulder and told her she could take this part of the trek.

Taking a deep breath she bit back a whine, as she slipped her feet in. She dug them in deep through the rocks in hopes of not falling over. She was going to try to be as graceful as possible. As her shoes began to soak in the water she winced and instead just began to dive in. Fuck it. The water was cold, well anything was cold in January. Walking through the water she winced as it began to rise around her, up to her abdomen, and right below her chest. Sliding through, she bobbed a bit as the currents ran through. Not enough to make her fall over, but enough for her to wobble. Turning back she made signals, as she stepped in areas, digging her foot in so people wouldn't fall in. Swimming was a better option, despite how small it was, and she began to simply glide through the water, taking advantage of her swimming skills.

Pulling herself up, she winced. 'I need to work on upper body strength' she mourned. Sitting on the grass she waited for the rest of the group to catch up, as she was trying to calm down her breathing and get back on track. She hated nature. It was as easy as that.