Skydancing - Violet Lilac's Flight!

[Sparrow]

Lilac wasn't going to let herself fall to far behind her big golden sister. It had been a bit since the Violet's first Flight, and now she would try it again! The Tan who caught her first had not entirely impressed the little Violet. He had caught her, it had been an exciting moment and then... well, he hadn't been a very devoted mate. Very disappointing. She wanted a male who would stay with her.

How would she figure that out? Well, Lilac had been observing the Weyrs males and hadn't been too impressed with any of them. Hopefully her Flight would help choose... and better than last time. It was very early in the morning- the stars could still be seen although it wouldn't be much longer before the sun rose. Lilac nuzzled Kora, who was asleep, and shot out into the Weyr Bowl.

As she reached the lake, Lilac gave a shrill cry, summoning the male fire-lizards to her. Bronzes, Tans, Browns.... She would accept Browns now, since the big Violet had let one catch her. She was so gigantic, she had to be an example for this smaller version! Lilac was excited. Her eyes whirled lightly with purple and she bugled again and watched for who would show.

[ShadowReine]

B'can made his way up from the lake shore, Apolloth at his side and Guess on...

No, suddenly Guess was not on his shoulder any more, but streaking off with his eyes purple and lust in his wake. "Huh. Good luck!" the tan rider called after his firelizard, then he continued to head back to the barracks.

He wasn't sure which female his brown had elected to pursue, but it didn't really matter.

Guess might only be a brown, and a young brown at that, but he would try...he had to, instinct drove him to answer the violet queen's call, and swift wings carried him towards her.

His own call came in response, an offering to her and a challenge to any other males that might show. He'd probably lose the flight to a bronze or tan, but he would try, and he would give her everything a mere brown could. She was so beautiful! And the sky belonged to her and the males belonged to her. She was the queen, and she ruled. He was nothing more than a humble servant...

[phlysolo]

There had been such a wonderful breeze this morning that Henerik had woken long before the dawn. With a basket of glows, he had taken up a perch in the Weyrbowl with Scuttle scurrying around at his feet. The harper had been doing idle tuning all the while the sky began to slowly lighten before the sun rose. Looking up, he gazed at the stars, hoping they'd give him some type of inspiration for the song he was attempting to write. But no, they helped him not in the slightest and instead he remained strumming away, half caught between the wonderful mellow sound of his guitar and Scuttle's warbling.

And then...the tune changed. Scuttle, a land loving long firelizard, had suddenly taken flight, his notes pitching up and up and up, as though calling out to something. Suddenly the flitter vanished and Henerik cocked his head to the side, surprised. What was that all about?

The stumpy, long brown mass that was Scuttle the firelizard had heard and felt the call of a rising Queen. Her musical chant was far more beautiful than anything his human could play! He chittered and chattered, warbling sweetly as he came in from /between/ hovering just over the lake.

He heard the response of a second male flitter and turned his brown head towards the sound. Another brown! Scuttle's whirling purple eyes became darker, flicking almost maroon, showing his distaste for the other, younger brown. He spanned his wings wide, showing off his 'superior' length to the other brown, hissing at him. But it was not this little squirt that had Scuttles attention. No, it was the beautiful violet who demanded that he, Scuttle of the Harper Hall!, should Chase, not this meager, immature little brown!

Flying closer now, attempting to put some distance between himself and the other brown, Scuttle crooned sweetly to the violet. By extending his wings once more over, lowering himself just over the water, he was able to take advantage of the strong sea produced by the lake and the naturally existing ground effect so that he barely had to flap his wings at all to keep him gliding

[Zen]

The girl knew when Lilac was ready to mate again because Mura was ready. Mura, the one who had always stuck by her side, the one that was just as shy as her. Zenniel was sitting with Cindellath, who was not actually sitting, but rather laying and soaking in the sun, and was stroking Cindellath's eye ridges. Cindellath rumbled contentedly, and moved to a position where the girl could scratch the eye-ridges with more intensity. Mura was looking around, hoping intensely that she would let him fly.

"Go on ahead, Mura." The girl said dreamily. Mura, chirping his thanks, unfurled his wings and jumped into the air. He didn't know what to expect, actually. He was a well-rounded individual with traits that rivaled even the lead dragon. His only weakness was his shyness. He was too shy on a normal basis to even peek out from under His's hair. But now he was determined, if only for the Flight, to become the fire-lizard that he had always dreamed of.

Mura dropped from the ledge and flared his wings. Then, uttering a startling cry, Mura flapped his way toward the violet. Lilac was entrancing, utterly entrancing. He loved her lithe shape, the way she flapped her wings, the way she moved through the air. It almost looked like it was taking no effort at all. It looked like Lilac was swimming in the air, for all it was worth.

Mura uttered a low cry, his gleaming eyes taking on a red hue, and he chirped again, louder now. There were other fire-lizards, and more arriving. He would have quite a race. But, momentarily shirking aside his shyness, the Bronze fire-lizard waited patiently for the Flight to begin.

---

Chloee knew something was up, too. Actually, she had known before she had even looked at her two little brown flitters. Sphinx, laden with eggs, was draped over a ledge, but she looked up as Blubber and Sigma turned their heads toward the Violet. The Violet was accepting Browns! Blubber, still lax, decided belatedly to join the Flight, but Sigma jumped up at the chance.

Sigma was so delighted that Lilac was letting other colors Fly that he almost did backflips in the air. He knew His was proud of him, just like he knew His was wanting him to win. He was His's favorite. He knew he would need to show her that he could do it, that he could win. But if he didn't win, that was fine. Sphinx had caught (a yet to be decided flitter), so that was fine for him.

Blubber, on the other hand, knew he was Flying just because he needed to burn off fat. He did not even stand a chance of catching such a beautiful Queen. He needed the exercise, and knew she would quickly kick him out of the Flight. It never hurt to try, though.

Both newcomers waited patiently for the Violet to make her first move...

[Sparrow]

Well, what did he have to lose? Kora would just have to spend the morning alone with Nayarath, for Soot wasn’t going to hang around. Lilac knew him so well, surely he would have an advantage over any others who showed! The young Tan spun cheerfully as he followed the Violet into the Bowl, then over the glistening lake. Fish were in there… oh, he could do with some breakfast. But that would have to wait.

Soot became suddenly quite sure that he would be the victor when he saw that the only other males were Browns. Did they really think they could win a Violet, a queen? Lilac was picky, he knew that. She would never choose a Brown! Hadn’t the big Violet picked a Brown and not only laid only thirteen eggs, but two duds and no queen? Oh, Lilac knew better than that. Soot would have her for sure.

A trill of happiness and then a croon to ensure his love of Lilac flew (musically, or so the little Tan imagined) from Soot’s mouth as he spun again to show off his agility. Of course Lilac knew he was a good flyer, they were together all the time, but Soot would be extra sure to impress the queen today. Today was special because now he wasn’t just playing; he was flying for a mate. And this was a Flight he would most definitely win.

~~~

What was this? What was this? Three males, and only a pitiful pair of Browns and Soot? Soot?! What was he doing here? She would never let him be her mate! Lilac didn’t like Soot one bit. He hadn’t appreciated her mothering at all when the egg first hatched, and now he was just plain irritating. But two Browns? She had thought they would be okay… but now they were all that showed up? She didn’t want only Browns (Soot didn’t count, of course) chasing her! Lilac wanted Tans and Bronzes. She knew there were plenty of them; she wouldn’t even mind those that had hatched from her first clutch joined the pursuit, she just wanted more than Browns!

Relief flooded the little Violet when she finally noticed a Bronze approaching. Ah, that was better, much better. She chirped happily, hardly put out by the appearance of two more Browns because of her happiness at another color. There was no more need to worry, a Bronze was here to give all the Browns some competition. How many were there now? Four? And six suitors altogether(supposing she counted Soot as a suitor, at least)? This was looking much better. Lilac bugled, more out of excitement now, and shot back towards the more solid part of the Bowl.

All those Browns would be put to the test chasing her; Lilac wouldn’t make her Flight easy just to give them a better chance. Soot had none, of course, but the rest… she would see. There were two Browns now that looked a little odd, one young one, and one that already had a better chance even though Lilac didn’t know him well. The Bronze she would wait to consider, seeing as there were no others for her to judge him against and it was unfair just to say he was amazing for the start. He hadn’t appeared first anyways. The Browns had beaten him, and Soot. ((Just because Sparrow wanted Lilac to be able to freak out about him before noticing the Bronze… sorries if that bugs you Zen, or anyone… xP)) But despite that, this Flight was starting out much better, or so she figured, than her last one had.

[ShadowReine]

Guess admired the lovely, lovely violet, even as more competition showed up. Competition! He was the best brown on Pern, and he would prove it. He would beat out any bronze or...that was a tan. A tan. Newfangled...

Inexperienced, though, he spent so much time admiring her that he dropped back, now at the rear of the pack, straining his young wings to try and catch up again. He was not exactly immature, but this might well be his first flight, and it showed.

Oh yes, it showed, he was using far more energy than he needed to, following her moves rather than anticipating them...and drifting back again. He squawked in frustration.

[phlysolo]

With his wings unfurled against the wing like sails, Scuttle remained steadily aloft, his eyes whirling every faster in agitation at the presence of more newcommers. No, he hadn't expected this flight to win such a magnificent mate to be easy, but that didn't stop him from realizing the threats that this bronze and tan had proposed with their arrival. The brown's tail whisked violently, an outlet for his annoyance and he made a pointed show of not acknowledging either challengers.

Instead, drawing his wings close to him for a moment, dove sharply towards the water, trilling in a series of high pitched scales hoping that his sudden display of daring and vocal melody would attract the violet's attention onto himself. Quite suddenly, Scuttle's wings burst open, catching on a cool sea breeze. He was vaulted forward after Lilac, using the natural elements in his favor to gain some of the distance between the enchanting violet and himself.

Affectionately, and appreciatively watching her rump from behind, Scuttle crooned out to her, dipping his wings to and fro, rolling slightly from left to right, wanting to show her what kind of agility and speed a brown offered against brute strength of bronzes and the slightly smaller tans. She shouldn't want such a large, heavy, bulking mass flying for her when brown Scuttle could dip and dodge just as quickly as any blue and still be strong! Scuttle knew that he must outfly those ungainly bronzes if he really wanted to show the beautiful Lilac how amazing he was.

Ignoring the other males completely, he trilled out to his queen again, extending his wings and straightening out his tail as he flew, attempting to make himself as flat and fast as possible to gain air speed. He was so happy that His took such good care of his hide! Why, he was certainly glossy in the pre-dawn light! And his silky smooth hide would make him faster! Giving his wings two good pumps in the air, Scuttle flew farther, chittering in amusment as he passed the other brown who appeared to be struggling. Puny little guy! He should know that he can't do a man's job!

[Zen]

Mura was watching silently. He did not croon. He did not know if she wanted him to croon or not. He did not know what she wanted, and would not do so until she told him. He was easily keeping up with the wonderful Violet. If he would have continued to fly, he totally would have caught her. But he allowed her room. He allowed the brilliant Violet room.

He was flustered when she ignored him. He, a Bronze, ignored. He was not used to it, that was not regular. He chirped. But then her anger flashed away into relief when she noticed him. That was better. That was much better. She might not be his, at least not yet, but she at least noticed him. She deserved better than the Tan and the Browns. Yes, she did. That was why he was here. She was going to be a fun Violet to chase. He readily followed.

Sigma followed at a leisurely pace. He was not even about to start off strong, he knew he would surely lose early if he exerted pressure. He was going to be slow to start, he knew, but he would conserve his energy. He would win this Violet!

Blubber, of course, didn't care. He flew strong and hard. He was just in this for the exercise. And Chloee knew that, too. He just frowned, knowing she would pick him off first. He didn't care. Of course. He was already feeling tired. He needed to get out more often.

[Sparrow]

Soot worried about the Bronze when he noticed him show up. That was competition. Lilac wouldn’t consider all the Browns, but a Bronze? He would have to be careful. This wouldn’t be the easy win he had expected. Still, it was only one male that he needed to worry about. He couldn’t be too hard to beat, right?

As it appeared, the Bronze wasn’t doing much anyways. Soot crooned softly to Lilac, focusing her attention on the queen again. Hopefully she hadn’t noticed his slight distraction from her. The Violet queen was all he wanted, and the other suitors would have no chance! He would make sure of it.

Obviously, the young Tan hadn’t noticed how distraught his appearance had made Lilac. This was the first Flight he had participated in, and the exact moods of the queen were not on his mind. The only thing he thought about was the queen herself, and winning her. He had to get her attention, make her see he was the best, and catch her. Soot looped, ready to use energy because he was sure he would have more than all the Browns, and thinking he needed to show off more than the Bronze, who apparently hadn’t done it at all yet.

Lilac watched the Browns out of the corner of her eye, but was more focused on the Bronze that had decided to appear. He wasn’t doing much, which was disappointing, but they would see. Being a Bronze wasn’t enough to make him win, but, in Lilac’s mind, it gave him a good headstart the more she thought about it.

Where should she take the Flight? Lilac only considered that briefly before suddenly twisting backwards, making use of the agility that came to an animal small as a fire-lizard, and shot upwards, also arcing backwards over the males. She rolled as she flew over them so that her belly would face the ground again, and shot off in another direction. How quickly would they follow? There was one Brown she thought had no chance of even attempting the trick, but the rest of them might. And the Bronze. She wanted to see what he could do.

Now heading in another direction, Lilac had a moment to consider more tricks. She was not very experienced in Flights; perhaps the Greens were lucky in that area, they had many more than she did. They weren’t queens either, and had the freedom to practice whenever they wanted. Lilac always felt like she had to keep up a very aloof air around males, not flirt like her sisters did. She was a queen, not a Green.

Perhaps… Lilac chirped thoughtfully and glanced backwards at the males again. Continuing straight forward, she left the lake far behind and made her way towards the feeding pens. She could have fun there, bothering the herdbeasts and observing what the males could do with them. None of the silly bovines would expect to find a fair of fire-lizards after them, especially this early in the morning. What fun this would be!

[ShadowReine]

Herdbeasts? Guess was ignoring them, although as the fair swooped over, some of them started, moving away. He was not keeping up well with the violet, and hissed as one of them managed to move between him and her.

He found new energy at that, even as his wings burned with the effort. Maybe he needed to practice on something easier...a barred, say. But he was not giving up, he was not dropping out until she chose. He had stubborn determination going for him. It was a shame he had little more...his inexperience was seriously telling now.

As was his frustration as she seemed to be pulling further and further away, becoming unreachable. Poor little guy just lacked the maturity and stamina for this.

[phlysolo]

Scuttle chirruped at the violet, knowing that her attention was most likely focused on that insufferable bronze flit! How he couldn't stand that, that....female stealing, arrogant bronze. Spreading his unusually long wings wide, he allowed the gusty winds over the lake propel him farther forward, but he didn't merely want to rely upon the lake to help him fly. Instead, he flapped his wings, rising up and up and up until he was above the rest of the fair. Luckily he had climbed! Just as he stabilized his flight path, Lilac maneuvered so quickly and so precisely that he would have been caught off guard had he been directly behind her as e had been before. She would have probably careened into him and knocked them both senseless.

Well, that wasn't something difficult to accomplish. Turning steeply on his left wing, the brown drew his right wing closer to his body, further steepening his turn. To keep himself from slipping into the maneuver, he rolled sharply, curling his tail in the opposite direction to keep him from losing control of the turn. Ah, there now! That was brown agility for her! No bronze could have turned so quickly and changed directions to follow after the violet flit once more.

His rapid turning speed continued onwards, allowing him to pass up the other brown firelizard once more. As Scuttle passed him, he hissed, vaguely surprised that the weeny little brown could have followed Lilac so easily. Scuttle turned his head back to face in front of him and screeched in surprise. He was heading straight for a herdbeast! Chittering with rage, he swooped under the beast's belly and barrel rolled quickly upwards and dodging a second one. All around him the bovines were 'mooooooowwwwing' their anger at Scuttle's antics and assorted noises.

But Scuttle wasn't interested in them, he was focused completely once more on the violet queen! His anger at nearly being befouled by a herdbeast dissolved into renewed desire to Fly Lilac. His wings pumped harder, having to make up for the fact that over the pasture, there was far less wind available at the altitude they were flying. Scuttle knew he would have to conserve his energy, or at least attempt to. Here in this realm, a bronze firelizard would have the upper hand with his superior endurance. Scuttle was cunning and clever, and excellently maneuverable in the air. Still, he could not show weakness in front of the beautiful queen! No, til his last wing beat until he caught her, Scuttle would fly at his absolute best.

Trumpeting his vigor, the brown once more attempted to close more distance between himself and the illustrious Lilac.

[Sparrow]

Soot wasn’t very surprised when he realized Lilac was flying towards the herdbeasts. They came and played among them often when the big Gold came hunting, he could excel at this. He swooped beneath a round bovine, rolling as he came up, chattering to get his queen’s attention at his trick.

The Browns seemed to be having trouble with the animals, that was good too. Soot didn’t see the Bronze, maybe he had gotten kicked and dropped out? That would be nice too, the Tan figured if the Bronze was gone, he wouldn’t have any competition. One of the Browns even looked like it was falling behind.

Soot was starting to feel a little tired, but wasn’t going to let it show. He was young, but he could easily outlast the other competitors. Lilac was gaming, she would surely be going for a bit longer, and at least the younger of the Browns surely couldn’t make it! He had this Flight in the bag.

Had she lost the Bronze? Pity. Lilac had been hoping to see more from him, not have him disappear. Now it was up to the Browns to fight for her. And was the younger one falling behind? Hmm. Soot seemed to have plenty of energy, but Lilac made a point of ignoring him.

Two Brown suitors was not what she had wanted at her Flight. This was no good at all. Which one could she choose? One was older, more experienced, but sort of funny looking. She didn’t want that look being passed on to her offspring. The other was younger and already looked almost ready to drop out of the Flight. This was no choice at all.

What could she do? Lilac ducked out of the way of a herdbeast, only noticing it just in time. They were frightening the silly beasts, but now she had somewhat lost interest in the game. Lilac needed to make a decision, and had no idea how to. It was a conundrum. Soot, of course, was there, but she didn’t want the Tan.

Lilac arced away from the herdbeasts, now flying higher in the sky. She would give her pursuers one last chance for a trick, then end the Flight before anyone else had to drop out (hopefully at least, she wasn’t too sure about the younger Brown). Lilac chattered her orders without looking back, hopefully they would reach the males and they would do something. She didn’t really care what, just something exciting.

[ShadowReine]

Guess knew he had one chance. One chance to be chosen. One chance to win. The disappearance of the bronze gave him a renewed hope. One other brown, one tan, and she had to take one of them, she had to let one of them claim her. His mind did not think past that, the idea of eggs and offspring was below the instinct level.

All he wanted was to twine his tail with the violet's, his instinct telling him that was what he must do. Thus? Thus his move was one born of desperation. If this didn't work, then he would have to drop out, let the others have her. He threw all of his remaining energy into a burst of speed, his wings burning, the muscles in his chest were on fire, his lunges labored. But he found enough heart and strength to catch back up, and then to half-furl his wings into a corkscrew, a barrel roll past the violet. Look at me, it said. He was young, he was strong, and all he needed was practice at this. Once it was over, he snapped his wings back out, and tried to look nonchalant. Undoubtedly, the violet knew he was at the end of his strength...

[phlysolo]

It happened too fast! Much too fast for Scuttle to realize! He had just barely swooped over one herdbeast just to be forced under a second one to keep from slamming into it. He had squawked with rage and had pumped his long wings to finally get up and away from them. Almost too late, too, it seemed as a bull had reared up in fury and had nearly bashed the long brown flit down to the ground with his hooves. But Scuttle was lucky and had evaded the would be fatal blow in the nick of time. The firelizard had gained enough altitude to see, to his horror and outrage, that Guess, his competitor, had swooped off after Lilac! He was close enough to Catch! But what luck! He had over shot! Or perhaps that was his plan! After his showing off, he probably would slow down so that she could twin her neck with his...

Chattering defiantly, Scuttle realized what he had to do. Oh, it was not something he'd done since he was bounds smaller than he was now! It was the first trick he'd done when he'd finally decided to take to the air, but it was dangerous and if he over shot or undershot the beautiful Lilac, he'd have no energy to even attempt to continue the Flight! Oh, decisions, decisions. If he didn't try it, then he would lose anyways! The two were far, far higher than he was! His tail flickered unhappily and Scuttle pulled his limbs closer to his body, setting himself up for what he must do.

Suddenly, his wings snapped open and, for the first time during the whole Flight, he was flapping his wings at their hardest in long, powerful strokes. But he wasn't aiming for Lilac at all, but no, somewhere just past her flight path and straight up into the air! He knew instinctively that only -his- brown wings could have afforded him the ability to perform this maneuver. Certainly a bronze could, they being bigger than Scuttle, but any smaller firelizard with any shorter wing span would have had trouble achieving Scuttle's altitude in the span of time he was.

He was still climbing straight vertical, well above both Lilac and Guess and still going! But it was getting hard, for every two wing beats he was only getting a fraction of the height he gained just moments ago. It was almost time...His wings, and his muscles, were practically screaming with protest and Scuttle could thank his lucky star that they hadn't snapped under the strain of the air pressure, for his wings were angled dangerously downward compared to the straight climb of his body. Still, though, he rose and rose until...suddenly he couldn't any more! He knew that any more beats of his wings would pull muscle and knew that his time had finally come.

Straightening his body out so that he was a pointed brown sword in the sky, Scuttle...fell. But it wasn't some random tumble after all that effort! No, it was perfectly controlled and, if one watched the little lizard closely, it was plain to see that he was flying backwards. His wings were still angled so that they were in the same position that they had been while he was in his daring climb and were helping him keep his straight up, backwards decent in control, as was his strong tail.

And Scuttle let himself fall, allowing his exhausted wings only a brief moments rest. His neck cocked backwards as well and suddenly his whole decent changed. Now he was tumbling backwards-and the rest of his body was following! The firelizard bellied over, his forepaws, legs, wings, and tail following him as he turned from a easy decent to a sharp nose dive. And he had timed it right! Lilac had just passed him up! All he would have to do was...

He fell faster and faster, angling so that his dive would, hopefully, put him directly behind and slightly above Lilac! Scuttle was now a fiery brown arrow, aimed to conquer his violet queen! His speed could be his undoing just as easily as it would help him be the victor. He may catch up with Lilac and be in an even better position than weakening Guess was, but it could also make him grossly overshoot! And he would have no energy to both slow his speed down tremendously and then catch up with her again for his loss of momentum.

With that in mind, he pitched his tail up almost violently and spanned his wings out, slowing him up just a bit. Closer, closer! He was almost there! His wings were aching now and were almost unable to sustain him in flight for very much longer. If he was to Catch Lilac, he would need to be quick, for he would be flying for the both of them! Allowing his wings to droop so that they were barely even flying at all, Scuttle's tail gave him all the steering he needed to edge up right behind Lilac so that his nose nearly touched the tips of her tail.

OOC: The move Scuttle just performed is called Kvochur's Bell Tailslide and is a variation of the Bell Tailslide maneuver that was performed by fighters in close combat with stealth fighters. Being as the fighters couldn't get a lock on their target because of their stealth capabilities, the Bell Tailslide allowed them to pitch up, decent backwards and, if need be, change directions by using a roll on the longitudinal axis after their boogie. In Kvochur's version, the fighter pitches upwards, as in the Bell Tailslide, and then continues the reverse pitch after the aircraft has begun it's 'tailside' so that rolls backwards, following its tail.

An example of this is shown here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUKCORsueLg

Wikipedia does a much better job explaining this than I did. x3 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_tailslide

[Sparrow]

The older Brown’s trick surprised Soot, he wouldn’t have expected something like that from a Brown. But he was flying much too close to her; Soot knew that the Violet didn’t like having other flitt’s touch her, she would only touch them. He had plenty of experience with that.

The younger Brown looked much too tired to have much of a chance. Soot was tired, but knew he had more energy than that fire-lizard, and probably more than the older Brown too. He could win this Flight. But he needed a trick that Lilac wouldn’t expect of him. This was where knowing the Violet was a disadvantage- she knew most of Soot’s antics. His eyes whirled as he thought. They were flying plenty high above the herdbeasts now, although Lilac seemed to have no destination in mind.

Soot didn’t have the energy left to pull off something as big as the older Brown had done, and doubted he could figure the trick out anyways. What had he been doing when he was falling? The little Tan had been confused. He could do more than the younger Brown though, and prove that he was a good choice. He had been performing throughout the Flight anyways, rather than nearly getting killed by herdbeasts as the other competitors had.

He dove abruptly, then used the momentum gained from that to shoot forward and roll as he got closer to Lilac. As he was directly beneath her, but some distance below, he shot upwards. Almost a crash course, maybe he could just grab her now, but he wanted to have the Violet choose him, not just catch the queen himself. As he got closer, the Tan tossed his tail and folded his wings, twisting his course into an aerial somersault that put him just beneath and just in front of Lilac. He crooned softly to her and then let himself drift back a little, putting himself even with her hindquarters. He wouldn’t push ahead of the queen, but if she gave any signal of choosing him, he would go to her, not make her fall backwards. He would win this Flight and have the lovely Violet queen.

~~~

Lilac watched the Browns perform and even figured she could spare a thought for Soot, just to see what he did. What he did was almost crash into her, and she didn’t like that much, even though he had gotten out of it in quite a stylish way. The older Brown was flying too close. She had quite liked his performance, but she had to pick up her speed a little to avoid her tail bumping against his nose. The younger Brown looked about ready to just fall out of the sky.

And they were all trying so hard for her. Lilac liked that thought quite a bit. The older Brown surely had experience, perhaps he had even caught a fire-lizard before, but they could have only been Greens. No Gold would accept a mate with that odd of a build, even if he was very good at making use of his wingspan. Lilac judged appearances a lot, as any good queen should. She wanted her young to be perfect.

Lilac took her time making known her decision, flying out just a little further, holding onto the exciting tension and the enjoyment of having her three suitors attention fully on her. Soot would not be her mate, he was more of an irritating little brother than a potential father. Some other fire-lizard could have him with her good wishes, but he would not ever get her.

The older Brown was strong, apparently smart, and, of course, older, more experienced. He was a pretty shade of Brown too, and she would trust a more mature flitt as a mate more… but he had nearly crashed into quite a few herdbeasts, nearly been killed, as far as she could tell, by an angry bull, and still looked funny. It seemed, even though he was very good at flying and obviously showed agility and quick reactions, he wasn’t particularly observant. She wanted a mate who would help her watch her eggs. Her last mate had not done that at all. He was a Tan… that was another point off for Soot.

Getting back to the older Brown though, she decided he just wouldn’t work.

That left only one. The younger Brown. He was too young to even think about not helping her when she clutched, Lilac was very sure. He would stay by her side like the big Violet’s Brown mate did (although hopefully in a less possessive way). Even though he was only a Brown, and very tired to boot, Lilac decided he would be a perfect match.

Crooning softly, Lilac drifted to the younger Brown– she would have to figure out what he was called now- and nuzzled his throat before entwining her neck and tail with his. Being a Violet and he a Brown, she was quite a bit bigger than him, but he would be able to support them both. Lilac felt very sure about who she had picked in every way and as she pressed against him, the good feeling only felt more so. This had been a much better Flight than she expected.

[ShadowReine]

It was amazing how the violet's choice imbued new strength, strength to support both of them. Or perhaps it was simply the consummation of lust itself. Guess -would- watch the eggs, he would do whatever his queen asked, whatever she desired. Yet, for now, the only thing that mattered was the two of them and his unexpected victory. Perhaps...it would only be the first of many.

For now, one was enough, and instinct buoyed him up, carried the two of them, staying entwined with her as long as he could...and that was instinct too. The drive to produce as many healthy eggs as possible was within both of them.

And back by the lake, with Apolloth, B'can glanced up for a moment, but a firelizard's desire and claiming was only a flicker to one bonded to a dragon. Except that, for whatever reason, what drifted into his mind's eye for a moment was Brylorea's face...even though Lilac was not hers...that was where all of his thoughts went nonetheless.

OOC: Aww. I think B'can's in love!

[phlysolo]

OoC: x3! How cute! Heh, I wish Franny would have gotten up the first Lesson for the current Weyrlings up. I wanted to do a fuzzy time jump lol.

IC:

And, his moment of triumph had finally-! Been given to the young, pitiful little brown! Scuttle roared with outrage that died down in a sad, pained croon. He had flown many a Flight in his time, but had never sired a Clutch in his life. This new chance in this new home was thrown away. His energy spent, his will to fly receding, the long brown with the stumpy legs glided disapointedly down, down, down....

Lucky for him, the Weyrbowl was within his glide range and he settled down, depressed, on the ground which he prefered. He could have easily flicked /between/ to His's barracks, but, he didn't want to see that song-happy human right now! What he should be seeing was Lilac beneath him! A piteous croon rose up out of him and he buried his little head under his wings just as a pair of comforting hands picked up him. He squawked indignantly, wondering who it was who disturbed his sulking.

"Hello, my dear Scuttle. You seem all worn out," Henerik remarked cheerfully, his eyes twinkling with unsaid understanding. He had seen the briefest of flashes from Scuttle as the flitter flew and had known what was going on as soon as the brown's desire had reached its climax. The flit gazed up at his Impressed with such a baleful expression that it was all the harper journeyman could do to keep from laughing out loud.

For all the Turns he'd been Impressed to Scuttle, for all the Flights the flit had won and lost, this was the weakest feeling of...lizard lust? Henerik had ever felt. Strange....Perhaps it was because he was in the presence of so many of the brown's larger cousins. Well, either way, he needed to cheer up this little brown in his arms. Scuttle indeed was curled sadly in Henerik's arms, trembling, and chittering his unhappiness. Poor guy.

OoC: Whoops, I keep forgetting that this is BEFORE the Hatching. Lol, Henerik was H'rik quite a few times in there...