Green Crith's Flight

[Archer]

N'rek slid into the warm water, wincing as the strained muscles in his legs throbbed in pain. Sharding K'laon insisted on driving his wingriders hard; K'laon insisted that they needed to train often to help perform better during Threadfall. Of course, he and Crith had been grounded for a good amount of sevendays after the last Threadfall so N'rek had been out of the habit of K'laon's practices for a while.

Still, that had only made the gradual return to regular training with the wing harder. The firestone bagging N'rek had been doing during Crith's grounding hadn't been the best substitute for actually flying but at least it had kept him active. If there was one thing N'rek hated more than anything, it would have to be not doing anything. He preferred to always have something on hand to do; it had managed to take his mind off of worrying after Crith during her recuperation.

Scooping up a handful of sweetsand, N'rek scrubbed at his skin like he hadn't bathed properly in weeks and despite being clean the first time he repeated the process. Rinsing the sweetsand out of his hair, he fumbled around for his towel and stepped out of his bath, rubbing at his hair.

Peering out into the weyr, N'rek was pleased to see that Crith was still sleeping. He began to towel off slowly, wincing as his hands brushed over a bruise on his calf. And then he heard something that made him freeze in his tracks.

Crith was screeching defiantly, her screeches reverberating throughout their small weyr. N'rek quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and ran out to his angry green. Crith wasn't in the mood for talking it seemed; he hadn't got halfway across the weyr before she was taking flight, heading to the herdbeast pens.

Swearing loudly, N'rek touched her mind gently and Crith sent him a wave of anger and lust that made the greenrider sway on his feet. Crith had found her a herdbeast, breaking its neck with her teeth and its back with the force of her weight. Poised to rip a chunk out of the herdbeast's neck, she bellowed angrily as N'rek touched her mind again.

Don't you dare eat that meat; you know what will happen if you do. Blood it only!

Crith bugled, but she did as told, teeth sinking into the herdbeast's neck, blood oozing from the wounds, talons and muzzle stained red. Peering around the pens, she began the hunt for a second, wanting the best herdbeast she could find.

N'rek scowled darkly and went to gather up his clothing. He yanked on a pair of comfortable pants and went to watch from Crith's ledge.

[Zen]

Mal didn’t want to go and see what was wrong. Possibly it was one of the candidates being ganged up on by the other candidates. Those candidates should look after themselves once in a while. Besides, it was probably the girls, it was always the girls. One way or another, the female candidates wrestled out their differences every day. It was as if they still needed to show that they could Impress dragons. Mal didn’t care who Impressed what dragon as long as they left him alone when he wanted to be left alone. He was there to make sure they could line up when told and look good in front of everyone on the hatching sands. He was not there to mother them. But, of course, Serenith had a different idea for things.

Oh dear! She’s going to tear out her hair! Serenith’s worried voice said.

Mal grumbled and pulled on his boots. He had just taken a bath and was all nice and clean. A little belatedly he realized that he would have to wash Serenith later on, which would make him dirty again. After making sure everything was in its right place (Mal had been known to walk out with his shirt still undone), Mal stepped out of the Weyr. His Weyr was closest to the Candidate Barracks, because, of course, he was the Candidate Master. He looked down and saw two girls tussling. This brought a smile to his face, but only for a second. Those girls always wanted to claw each other’s throats out. He hoped one of those girls got a male dragon so that when the dragons grew up they could catch each other’s dragon. That would teach them to work together.

Aren’t you going to do something? Serenith asked. He asked that same question almost every day, and knew the answer Mal was going to give him before he even finished.

“No.” Mal said gruffly, and straightened his shirt a little more. “If you are so worried, you break them up.”

Serenith just huffed. He always had to break up the fights. That was just how Mal worked: he was the mean old Candidate Master, and Serenith was the one who always broke up the fights. In that sense, Serenith was more loved than Mal, and Mal liked it that way. Serenith jumped off the ledge, and didn’t even have to unfurl his wings. He landed in front of both girls and looked at them with gently swirling red eyes. He was angry that he had to stop them, but he wasn’t angry at them. He was angry at his rider.

Surprised, the girls jumped away from each other and raced away. They went in the opposite directions. I’m sure you liked that, Rider. Serenith growled. Now you have to do something for me. I want to be washed.

Mal shrugged his shoulders, “I was going to wash you anyway.”

During the wash, which Serenith conceded was very good, a small green bugled a challenge. Serenith looked up at Crith’s Weyr and hummed low in his throat. Mal, shielding his eyes from the sun, also looked up. Crith had spread her wings and jumped; now she was soaring over to the herdbeast pens. “Oh, so Crith’s finally come into season, has she?” Mal huffed.

Serenith turned to Mal, I want to try for her. You know that we’ve had nothing to do. This could spice things up.

Mal looked thoughtful for a second, though Serenith already knew what he was going to say. “Alright, fine. Go on, then. I’ll just make my lonely way up to Crith’s Weyr to await the end result.”

With a happy bugle, the wet Serenith took off for the herdbeast pens. He had eaten two days before, and so was not hungry now. All he needed to do was wait for Crith to be finished, and then the Flight would be on. Mal, on the other hand, looked at the long flight of stairs that he had to climb and groaned. Why hadn’t he suggested that Serenith take him up to Crith’s Weyr? “Well, best start walkin’. Hope no other fights break out while Serenith and I are gone.”

[Nick]

C'it looked out of his weyr and groaned. Crith was Flying, he knew it...she was heading for the Feeding Grounds without N'rek.

"Roluth, Crith is Flying. You should go Chase if you want." C'it smiled over at the Blue. They had been in quite a few Flights recently, and he knew that the Blue was a little depressed.

Yes, I think I will Chase Mine. Get to N'rek's weyr![/i][/color]

C'it smacked Roluth's shoulder as the dragon fell from the weyr and took off toward the Feeding Grounds. "To N'rek's then." C'it smiled and began the walk to the other man's weyr.



Roluth found Crith blooding at the Feeding Grounds and set to doing the same. No use in counting himself out before it started! He caught a rather large herdbeast and blooded it before hopping to another and keeping one eye on the glowing Green as he did so.

He wasn't paying much attention to the Bronze that was already here, he wanted to win and there would be no distractions this time! Crith was all he saw. He bugled to her out of his bloodied muzzle as he continued to suck his second kill dry of blood.

This Flight would be different!

[kandykat]

R'lyr knew Crith was due to rise soon. N'rek had mentioned it to him at the Gather, and the green was just due for a rising after all this time. When he heard the screeches of a rising green, he started to ask Easath if it was Crith, and the emotions he felt in his dragon's mind were answer enough. Go get her, Easath, R'lyr told his dragon as he stood. Kestrel perched on his shoulder, alert, while Junior circled around, confused about what was happening. R'lyr waved the pair away, finding his way to N'rek's weyr with only his cane. He knew the path well enough by now.

Easath bugled his challenge to the other males, circling above the feeding grounds and diving on one of the herdbeasts. He sucked it dry, gaining energy for the Flight ahead. He knew his victory was by no means certain, but he wasn't about to allow Crith to slip out of his grasp easily. A snarl ripped from his throat as he took in his competition so far. Roluth was no surprise. The blue showed up to every Flight. Serenith, however, was unexpected. What did the bronze want with his green?

R'lyr stepped onto the ledge beside N'rek, standing close to the green rider and glaring as he heard the other riders approach. Part of it was his dragon's possessiveness rubbing off on him, but he truly found the idea of someone else winning the Flight distasteful. He knew Easath would do his best, but with a bronze in the Flight, he was worried.

[Archer]

Crith surveyed the gather males with distaste, eyes a vibrant red shot through with pinpricks of dark violet. She snarled at Roluth, remembering his performance from the last Flight. He flew many Flights, this Crith knew. She also knew he didn't win many and she distinctly remembered how he had tried to flatter her mid-Flight. She was not in the mood for flattery and settled for attacking another smaller herdbeast, contenting herself with the ripping of sinew and the sharp, staccato cracks of bones to further express her distaste.

Contrary to popular belief, Crith was actually rather rational for a green. She knew that flattery was just mindless, lust-induced words; the males just wanted to claim her, wrap around her and make her theirs for however long they (or she) chose.

Dropping the drained carcass, Crith sprang, powerful wing muscles pumping hard to propel her up and away from the ground. She went at a leisurely pace at first, gathering altitude and speed as she went. Higher and higher she went before dropping into a break-neck dive, pulling out of it half-way through it to pan out into a plain straight path, waiting to get a feel of how her males would perform.

-----

N'rek did notice when the riders began to file in, turning his head to scrutinize them individually as they came in. The first was a bronzerider, the current Candidatemaster if he remembered correctly. The bronzerider's name eluded him for the moment but it would probably come along later. N'rek figured Crith would be pleased to have a bronze in her Flight, but then he was distracted as C'it slid through the door.

He didn't know what to make of C'it, to be honest. They hadn't been particularly close during weyrlinghood, at best casual friends who would acknowledge each other in passing. N'rek did know that Roluth hadn't won any of the Flights he had participated in and that made him a bit suspicious. Did C'it's blue really want to be in the Flight? Or was he lazy in the chase?

The scrape of cane on stone was a familiar sound and N'rek felt more than saw R'lyr at his side. He turned, arms sliding around the bluerider's waist, mouth pressing relentlessly to R'lyr's. Pulling back, he panted, "It may not be Easath; I don't think she wants any of them."

The greenrider disentangled himself and went to the bronzerider, dismayed to see that he was as tall (if not taller) than R'lyr. That didn't stop him from kissing the Candidatemaster hard, tongue pushing into his mouth. Breaking away to breathe, N'rek shuddered as another wave of lust was directed his way and he writhed shamelessly against the bronzerider, hand shooting out to catch R'lyr's wrist and drag the unsuspecting bluerider closer so that R'lyr's chest rested against his back.

[Zen]

The Bronze could see that Crith didn’t really like him. No, scratch that, she didn’t really like any of the dragons chasing her today. If she didn’t like those dragons, then she really didn’t have to Fly. Serenith wondered why female dragons chose to Fly anyway if they were just going to be disappointed in who their chasers were. He didn’t like seeing any dragon mad, or sad, or any emotion other than happy. He even strove to improve their mood, if at all possible. He didn’t want to be like his Rider, always lame and un-understanding. Where Serenith was caring and always trying to cheer people up, Mal was gruff and to the point, most often making people more self-conscious.

And so, when Crith surveyed him, and the other chasers, two blues, with a disregarding, but wholly distasteful, look, he knew he had to do something. His hide was just itching to do something. But he couldn’t: this was Crith’s flight. He knew that if he overflew her, which he knew he mustn’t, or if he flew higher than her, he would instantly be dropped out of the Flight, he wouldn’t be able to talk to himself for days. He would be upset that he hadn’t helped Crith in her time of need; not like her Flight was a good time to help her. And Mal would probably joke about him, which would make matters worse, even if the Bronze knew Mal was doing just that: joking.

Serenith watched her as she crunched on the herdbeast, and wondered why her Rider wasn’t caring. Or was she just making a show, showing the three chasers that she didn’t approve of something that they were going to do? Serenith looked at the two blues, and instantly knew he was the oldest. Easeth was the closest to his age of nine Turns, and Roluth was right around Crith’s age range. But Crith seemed to dislike Roluth. Serenith knew Roluth was over-the-top in some ways, especially in Flights. But Serenith had never experienced this first-hand, so he could not know. Instead, Mal had trained Roluth’s Rider, C’it, and knew how C’it was. If Roluth was anything like C’it, Serenith knew why Crith didn’t like him. Easeth he didn’t know so much about, but he did know one thing: he was easily the largest dragon Flying Crith. This made him self-conscious, if only for a second.

Then the Bronze realized that Crith was giving them an unspoken warning. She was telling the chasers that she wasn’t going to stand for anything they were going to do today. If she meant flirting, or flying too fast, or not following her exact order of things, Serenith didn’t know. He told himself that he would follow her today, if only that would make her happy. If she was no happier by the end of the Flight, then Serenith would know that he had done something wrong and then he would try to improve himself for the next Flight he took part in. Truth was, Serenith rarely, if ever, took part in Flights. He was always so busy helping Mal with the unruly candidates, and so he never really had time to enjoy what other members of his kind liked to do. So, this might as well be the last Flight he would Fly in for several months.

Suddenly the much-smaller Green leapt into the air, leaving one blood-less carcass and one carcass that looked nothing like what the animal had been. Without further ado, Serenith also launched himself into the air. He studied her movements, and noticed that, while sleek and dancer-like, Crith was still agitated. He could see by the tenseness in her wings that she expected things of the males that chased her. But, for all her tenseness, she was taking things by stride. Once she was sure all the males were following her, or maybe she wasn’t sure, she dipped into a dive. Then she pulled out of the dive to be almost exactly parallel to how she had been flying above.

Sticking to his promise to himself that he would never stray above the Green, or fly past the Green, Serenith dutifully pulled in his wings and dove. His dive was almost exactly a ninety degree angle. His wings were pulled so close to his body that there was nothing in the way of the dragon dropping exactly like a rock. Suddenly, with a flare of his Bronze wings, he stopped losing altitude. He was comfortably below the Green, and also comfortably behind. While he flared his wings, he also beat them, and continued to keep his steady pace behind her. She was a Green, he knew with a pang, and she could just as easily choose the Blues over him because she knew that he was a Bronze. He had to impress her without overdoing it. Without her speaking before him, he dared not speak. She had made clear that something was irritating her, and he, learned in all his draconic Turns, knew that it was best for the females to speak first.

!------------------------!

Mal didn’t know why Serenith had wanted to chase this Green when he hadn’t wanted to chase Nayarath. Maybe it was because Serenith had known that Nayarath would have only chosen Alduth, and had already chosen to not be miserable after the Flight. The sad thing was, even if he hadn’t Flown, Mal still found Serenith down in the dumps the next day. Mal, never knowing how to comfort people, much less his own dragon, said nothing. Serenith got over it, but Mal knew that his Bronze would want to show himself that he could still catch a dragon. ’Don’t overdo it, boy.’ Mal thought to his dragon. Ever since Serenith had Impressed Mal, he had never gotten over calling the Bronze ‘boy.’

Even as his mind-connection grew stronger, and lust cavorted over the telepathic link that Serenith and Mal shared, Mal could tell there were other chasers arriving. Having just caught his breath after climbing all those stairs, Mal realized that these two newcomers had asked their dragons to drop them off. Of course. He watched as Crith’s Rider, N’rek, clung to R’lyr. Mal didn’t really want to know what N’rek was doing, and he had a feeling that he would soon find out, because N’rek, done with R’lyr, moved for him. Not usually the one to comply to these kinds of ‘requests,’ Mal found himself kissing N’rek back. In his mind he thought, ’Oh Klah and holey cheese. Make it stop.’ But his body, wracked with lust from Serenith (even if Serenith was trying not to send those waves his Rider’s way), just welcomed the tongue in his mouth. Mal thought he was going to be sick, but another wave washed over him, and he was powerless to stop it.

’When we’re done with this, I am so washing out my mouth a hundred times.’ Mal thought, but didn’t (coulnd’t), voice his words aloud. If Serenith heard him, the Bronze didn’t reply. Why should he? Mal was doing this all for Serenith, and Mal hoped that Serenith, if he didn’t catch, at least wasn’t the first one Crith disregarded.

[kandykat]

Easath mantled his wings as Crith ravaged another herdbeast, ready at any moment for her to take off. When she dropped the beast and launched herself away, Easath was right behind her, although he rose a heartbeat after the bronze. He watched the larger male closely, expecting him to try and catch Crith to early, but he seemed to be controlling himself.

The blue beat his wings steadily, matching Crith's pace and resisting the urge to use his speed to his advantage this early in the Flight. Knowing that the green would probably want some fancy tricks to impress her, he flew in a zigzag pattern, showing off his agility.

When she dove, he followed her gracefully, then moved upwards in a spiral, once again trying to impress her with his maneuvers. He began to fly a little faster once she evened out.

R'lyr let out a low hiss of surprise and pleasure as N'rek pulled him into a kiss, the emotions just as quickly fading to annoyance when the green rider broke away. With his senses too blurred by dragonlust, he was oblivious to the fact that N'rek went on to Mal when he moved away.

He let the cane clatter to the floor as N'rek pulled him close, putting his hands around the green rider's waist possessively. In the middle of a Flight, it was difficult to believe N'rek's words, although he had been trying to prepare himself for a loss.

[Nick]

Roluth could feel Crith's seething. It seemed to be targeted toward him for some reason that he couldn't fathom. Still, he crooned to her despite her seeming distaste for him and jumped on a third, smaller herdbeast to blood it.

As the Green shot into the sky quickly, Roluth didn't hesitate to follow nearly as quickly as some of the others. He would give her room, perhaps that would make her appreciate him more. He wouldn't crowd her like some of the other obsessive males.

The climbed higher and higher before Crith dove down quickly. Roluth saw it perhaps before any of the others did and followed on an angle. He dove down, not stopping when she stopped her dive. Instead, Roluth dove down farther and pulled out quickly.

He corkscrewed up, back towards the glowing Green before zig-zagging slightly and leveling off to fly behind Crith. He didn't take his lavender eyes off the Green as they flew. He wanted to win badly this time. He was worth something! He should have won Amirinth's Flight instead of that lazy Brown! He would redeem himself and win this Flight, win Crith!

C'it stood away from the others, not too much into the flight-lust yet to want to express himself as much as the others seemed to be doing. Since Roluth had been in so many Flights lately, C'it wasn't affected as badly as he used to be.

He still reeled a little, the lust building. He could see Crith through Roluth's eyes, his own clouded slightly with the dragon-lust. C'it wasn't very partial to men...though he did wonder why Serenith's rider had come here.

If the Bronze won, the rider would be in the baths for the next day entirely if C'it knew anything of a typical Bronzer.