A Flash of Gold {Brooke's Flight}

[Sparrow]

A thorough shiver ran down Brooke’s flexible spine as she left the wet confines of the lake. Water sprinkled around her, and the Gold chirped happily at the little show. She was good at making everything look beautiful. It hardly took effort; she was so lovely herself, it wasn’t at all hard to make what was around her look nice!

And of course, there were those ugly things that were simply dimmed in her presence; those made her happy too. Brooke felt particularly lovely today. How many others did? Hers always seemed to think the Gold was just irritating. Well, Aleyi was much more so, and that silly big Blue she was always with was even worse. Brooke liked Hers enough to stay with her, but felt no particular devotion to her.

But surely there were plenty of fire-lizards out there just dreaming of having their devotion proved! As the noon-day sun dried the water still clinging to the young Gold’s shining hide, Brooke chirpled happily, and then shot gracefully into the skies. She circled once, twice over the lake, admiring her golden reflection in its waters, and then turned and faced the weyrling barracks.

An excited bugle escaped Brooke’s brilliantly gold maw as she darted towards the barracks. She knew there would be fire-lizards there, plenty of Hers’ friends had them. It being noon, and a warm day despite the clouds, there were sure to be plenty of males out and about that would see her too. Gather, gather! She bugled again, doing everything she could to attract attention.

It shouldn’t be something hard to do, plenty of males had been paying extra attention to Brooke lately. They were sure to gather quickly! Bronzes, Tans, maybe that Brown… Brooke wanted pursuers! She sensed, somewhere deep down, that it was important she got them quickly, tested them…

Past that, well, she wasn’t particularly interested just now. Anyways, before anything could be done, she needed pursuers.

Aleyi shifted uncertainly, suddenly feeling the flash of rage and lust in her mind. Brooke had never been one to tone down her emotions, and although hopefully the Gold’s Flight wouldn’t lead to anything strong enough for the girl to not be able to fight it down, but it was enough to distract her. Jerglith looked at her curiously.

At least I don’t have to worry about Golds, the Blue told his rider.

“You do anyways.” Aleyi smiled and gave the Blue’s shoulder a scratch. Jerglith rumbled.

Not when they Rise. He would put off eating for now though, and wait with His. They had a nice view of the lake from the ledge they were rested on anyways, maybe they could watch the silly Gold.

[kandykat]

Kestrel was at the lake, helping R'lyr bathe his dragon. The little bronze was busy scrubbing Easath's blue hide, stopping every now and then to berate the less capable Junior, who kept losing track of what he was supposed to be doing. Then, a series of bugles distracted the bronze. Ignoring Junior's curious chirps and R'lyr's complaints, Kestrel followed the sounds to the barracks.

He trilled at the sight of the glowing gold, his eyes sparking with violet at the edges. Kestrel crooned, circling around Brooke and then coming to hover nearby. She was a very pretty gold, and he thought he was handsome enough to be her mate.

Smoky and Bandit were playing tug-of-war with one of Shador's old socks in her weyr. Smoky was winning, and Bandit growled, pulling harder and trying to tug the sock away. Then, he heard the bugles. Abruptly, the brown let go of the sock and flew off, leaving Smoky with the prize in his mouth, a confused look on his face. Where was Bandit off to?

Bandit bugled, alerting Brooke to his arrival. He eyed the bronze and snorted. He was just as good as any bronze or tan, and he would prove it!

[Missa]

Scuttle was quite happy lounging about with Crystal, she was a good friend to have, and though they were friends, Scuttle wasn't interested for any other reason. There was another queen that he did like however, for all that she could be rather stuck up and annoying... Hm, well, maybe he'd see, she was a lovely gold, Brooke was but there were many more mild greens. Did Scuttle want a mild green though? The young blue thrived on a challenge, and making the haughty gold notice him was just the thing on a lazy day.

Crystal lifted her head and stared at him as the queen let off her challenge, her expression clearly 'you wouldn't.' Not only would their bonded kill him, but he was in no way, shape or form suited to fly a gold. Well, maybe Brooke would settle for him, but one of Crystal's standard would only settle for the best. Shaking her head as the blue chirped excitedly and chased his tail for a second before launching off, she completely ignored the confused rumble from Maiath.

His! She'd be his! Mineminemine! Though small, Scuttle more than made up for that with spirit and determination for her to be his. He may not like Brooke normally, but suddenly, her shining hide drove all of that to the back of his mind, suddenly all he wanted was to twine with her. And he would, he had the advantage that none of the bronzes and browns had: Speed. No matter how fast for their colour, no brown or bronze could out speed a blue, they might be able to out last him, but he'd show Brooke what a fine mate he was before he got tired.

She. Would. Be. His.

"SCUTTLE! DON'T YOU--" Zadari made the leap for her flitt at the same time the surprisingly quick blue bolted from the ledge. Shard it all! The sharding flitt would choose to chase a queen, though his emotions were nothing to her, she'd been through dragon lust, and this was nothing. Still, it was annoying, and she glared after the blue.
"I hope she mauls you for daring to enter her flight!" She called, looking down at Crystal as the young violet stretched lazily and made a chuckling sound under her breath. Stupid blue.

"I swear, if you rise without warning. I'll get Maiath to eat you."

{Haha! Tis me! The woman with the suicidal blues!}

[friar]

Arkine had been hunting when the unmistakable bugle of a Flying queen reached him. In a flash, he had transferred himself between to emerge amid her other suitors.

And, lo and behold, guess who it was! Lovely Brooke, who had captured his attention so vividly in the Lower Caverns. He'd hunted for her then, and truth be told, he'd been thinking about bringing her something from this past kill. Fish again, but most fire lizards thrived on fish. e still hadn't figured out whether that whole fish thing was- hey, shiny gold!

Brooke was absolutely lumiscent in the sun, throwing off an extra glow that was not just from Flight-lust. Radiant, sun-kissed, beautiful. He could not tear his whirling violet eyes from her, not even long enough to size up his other competition.

They didn't matter anyways. He was Arkine! A fine, strong brown with stamina to outlast a gold flight! He would do well, here.



((I couldn't resist the Eddie reference...lol))

[Sparrow]

A Bronze showed up first and Brooke gave a slight trill of excitement. This was already off to a good start! She looked around for more. Bronzes, maybe Tans, they had to be around! But what did she see next? A Brown. He bugled to her and she snorted in reply, already deciding he could not possibly catch her. But she forgot about the intruder completely when she noticed a flash of Blue.

Now this was just wrong. Something had gone wrong with the Blues lately, it seemed. They kept chasing queens! Didn’t they realize they would never win? Brooke would most definitely not let a Blue catch her. She snarled at the little flitt, her eyes suddenly flashing an offended red. The Bronze was good, the Brown was alright, but a Blue? He could not have a part in her Flight. Brooke didn’t like Blues. The nasty big-Blue that Hers was so obsessed with was the worst of them, but she was not going to give any other ones a chance. Scuttle would have to be gotten rid of.

Where were the Bronzes? Brooke knew there were plenty; she saw them everywhere! One Bronze was not enough to make an interesting Flight, and one Blue was more than enough to ruin it. She needed some big males to cheer her. But who came next instead? That Brown who had caught a fish for her once. Had she been too nice to him? Did he really think he could catch her? She wanted Bronzes!

Well, if they weren’t going to come… she would just have to deal with this. Brooke was not going to hang around waiting. If the males didn’t show up quickly, they obviously weren’t as devoted to her as she had thought. She would get started. And what was the best way to start? Well, she had to get rid of that Blue.

After flashing Scuttle another poisonous glare, Brooke twisted around and took off as quickly as she could towards the lake. She had to get away from the barracks and all the places that dragons lived, the big-lizards had no part in her Flight. Blues were too little to keep up with a Gold flying her fastest, surely, but the other males might be able to. Well, not quite, but Brooke figured they could keep her in sight. No creature could fly as fast as Brooke when she wanted to move, in her opinion.

Maybe some more Bronzes would show up a little late…

“Brooke’s not very happy,” Aleyi observed, leaning against Jerglith and watching the Flight with more interest.

Maybe we should save the little Blue before something happens to it, Jerglith said nervously. He could easily picture Brooke sending the other males to chase him away, or just taking him out herself. The Gold was not above hurting someone she didn’t want around, he and Aleyi both had experience. One chasing sort of frightened him.

“Brooke’d never forgive you for that.” That boy who had picked out the egg that hatched Brooke for Aleyi couldn’t have known that the crazy little Gold was inside… but she would still make him pay someday. “The little guy must be crazy, but at least he’s got guts anyways.” Maybe he’d get his senses back before too long though. Hopefully.

I think the queens were happier when everyone kept to their own size range. Jerglith sighed softly and lay his head on the ground. Maybe all these new colors confused some of the dragons.

[Jenth]

Kitz popped out from between, having just run an errand for his mistress. Ever so often he would be asked to deliver a message to her original ‘fair’, since the green Ain and blue Cion couldn’t be completely trusted. Many times they had lost the message, incompetent dim glows… Shows you never send a silly airhead to do a bronze’s job.

As soon as he left the chill of between he felt it rush over him like a shiver. In his absence A gold had risen to mate and was already leading her suitors, he was late! He had risen in chase for a barred not too long ago, but the little beauty seemed to prefer the company of browns. Still, it had been a shameful blow to his pride and he wasn’t prepared to let it happen again! This time the stakes were higher, the prize was a precious gold.

Not wishing to waste more time he dove into place, having just missed Brooke and had to twist awkwardly to avoid collision with the males. Shards, well since that plan failed he would just have to catch her the old fashion way; through strength, speed and fancy flying! Easily his wings matched the streaking gold’s speed, hoping she would forgive his prolonged arrival.

[Missa]

Scuttle could see she wasn't pleased, though why she'd be upset was beyond him. He'd bothered to try, and half the bronzes in the weyr hadn't. Surely that gave him some amount of credit? It was a shame she couldn't see past the colour of his hide, Scuttle knew he was just as good as any bronze, he was just a little on the small side for it.

Her glare only got a happy chirp - when His glared, she still loved him - and Scuttle only worked harder to keep up with her. Tricks, he could do tricks. Speed, yeah maybe. But last against the bronzes? That wasn't likely, so it was up to Scuttle to prove himself before he got tired. That wouldn't be too hard, Brooke wasn't happy now, but she would be. After all... Scuttle was just too good to pass up! Or he thought so anyway.

He was going to have to work very hard to keep up with her though, and Scuttle was already tiring from the effort of trying to keep up with the pretty queen. He wanted to win, and he was sure that he could, if she'd only stop flying so fast and actually looked at how hard he tried for her.

[friar]

She was taking them over the lake, that was interesting. He'd just left the lake, from hunting, really. Maybe eating just before a flight wasn't a good idea. He'd lose his way between before he would admit that, though!

He adjusted his wings to slice through the treacherous winds better. He didn't trust the air lately, what with the summer storms. The thicker air was nice, though, very buoyant. He kept pace with little strain, the fancy tricks not having started yet.

Beautiful Brooke was going to lose her unwanted suitor before the fun began.

[kandykat]

Kestrel launched himself after Brooke with a delighted bugle. This was the life--a gorgeous female, a beautiful day, a fast chase! Kestrel was usually so good and obedient, helping his owner out, but today he was going to let loose. He copied Brooke's twist and followed her towards the lake.

He beat his wings hard, his entire being pulsing with determination and freedom. He wanted to impress Brooke, so he performed a barrel roll, trilling to catch her attention. When another bronze joined in, he growled, warning the competition to watch out.

Bandit squeaked in surprise when Brooke zoomed off. He had to take a second to react before flying after her. This wasn't as easy as chasing his brother in a game of tag! He felt too uncertain of himself for any tricks, so he just flew steadily, keep his eye on Brooke.

[Sparrow]

Better, better... another Bronze had showed up. Late, but Brooke would excuse him- somewhat- for that. She wanted more Bronzes here. But the Blue was still chasing! Was he insane? Brooke wanted him gone. The little flitt was just aggravating, chirping happily when she glowered at him and chasing her in the first place.... It was very tempting to say 'whoever gets rid of the Blue wins', but she didn't want to make the Flight that easy.

Whoever got rid of the Blue got bonus points then. If it was her... then she got to feel extra proud of herself. Good enough. Brooke twisted abruptly, charging straight through the males and passing very close- but much too fast to chance getting grabbed- to the Blue. Hopefully her larger size and speed would do something to make it harder for him. And whatever happened... they were going in another direction.

So far, the Browns weren't impressing her. They didn't fly fast enough, but at least they were still going. Brooke still wasn't sure how much she liked having Browns chase her at all, but she would live with it. There were Bronzes present anyways, and that made everything better. She only wished there were more. Kestrel she liked already- he had growled at the other Bronze when he comed late and Brooke could have fun with someone a bit more aggressive.

But the Flight wasn't over yet, even if all this flying fast was starting to tire Brooke more quickly than she would have liked. She had no plans to end anything until the Blue was gone. For now, the high-speed chase would just have to continue.

[mediumblue]She's not very creative.[/color] Jerglith rumbled slightly at his observation, watching Brooke turn around and just fly the other way. Sure, for a flitter she flew fast, but it wasn't very interesting to watch.

I doubt she cares much. In Brooke's opinion, everything she did was the greatest thing to ever happen on Pern, Aleyi didn't think the Gold was too worried about Bronzes downgrading her flight pattern. They wouldn't dare, not during a Flight. "There's a Blue there anyways, she just wants him gone."

Good thing she can't get rid of me. Jerglith lay his head on Aleyi's lap, although it didn't fit there as well anymore.

"Nah, I'd get rid of her first." Aleyi laughed and scratched her dragon's eyeridges absently. Life was going to be torture once Brooke actually started that whole process of clutching.

[Jenth]

Kitz hissed in return at Kestrel, not willing to take that sort of cheek from a fellow bronze and certainly not at a time like this. Sure, he might deserve it from Brooke for being late, but not one of his opponents. But he didn’t allow himself to dwell on the subject, again it wasn’t the time or place. With his male hormones running thick in his veins the only thing that fixed in his mind for more then a moment was the sleek gold image of their lustful beauty and how he wished to win her. How he would win her.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he had left that silly blue far behind, this bronze would have been ripe for a fit. That meddling Scuttle was proving himself only to be a nuisance, first in Spunky’s and now in Brooke’s flight that he had absolutely no place in. He was going to be a failure for the rest of his life if the blue didn’t learn his place and the quicker the better. Every time the blue got close to him his tail or talon was quick to swipe at the smaller male, not caring if he hit or hurt Scuttle. Alls fair in love and war and the blue was out of line.

[Sparrow]

((Um... yeah. Skipping ahead...))

Brooke watched the males, was happy to see the Blue disappear, and decided it was time she gave her tired wings a rest. She had rather liked most of the males, even though a couple were Browns. They had done a good job of proving themselves. But only one really stood out to her.

Yes, she had quite liked his aggressiveness and willingness to show off even after arriving late and giving himself a bad chance at catching a Gold perfect as Brooke. He surely realized that about her too, to have been trying so hard to win her. Some males seemed to chase just because she was another female, but that was wrong. ((*is happily making up the missing part of the Flight*))

And so Brooke twisted and around and nuzzled Kitz, giving the remaining males a snide glance, just so they knew that they were really missing out. Maybe next time she would get a better turnout, but for now... it didn't really matter.

((xP))

[Jenth]

Kitz bugled his victory proudly, having beaten the odds and outflown his opponents. He had a funny feeling that Brooke would bring up his tardiness later, but they had just come to the best part of the flight. Well, at least for the winner.

His head carressed her neck as he gently entwined with his queen. He eyed off the other males, but he had already won. Now they shouldn't snort at him because he was a little smaller then most bronzes, the lovely Brooke was his.