breathe for love tomorrow [kyrahth’s flight]

[Avu]

He supposed he should be grateful they had gotten out of Hold territory at all—knew he had been pushing the limit lingering at the Hold. And well, didn’t this just make it all better, with a stitch in his side from running and his breath burning in his throat, watching the green curl around herself, a flash of glowing wings. A’emi swallowed, tried to even his breathing, a slow exhale, a dragging inhale. It was easier, always, to control how much Kyrahth affected him if he wasn’t physically stressed at the same time, and why hadn’t he just stayed at the Hold, found some girl for the run-off and wished Kyrahth good luck? Because he was dumb and was apparently Kyrahth could have him wound tight when she wanted (or didn’t—A’emi couldn’t tell if the overspill of her emotions was deliberate or not).

The green’s eyes gleamed pale yellows in the dimming light; it was nearing sunset. Small mercies—it would at least be getting too dark to see very well soon. Kyrahth couldn’t possibly create too much of a distraction. Not that her Flights were ever long—fast and short and over, like that. A’emi wasn’t complaining. “Aren’t you going to go?” he asked, irritably, straightening and sucking in another searing breath—cold enough that it burned, odd for early spring (or A’emi thought it was early spring—he didn’t really keep track anymore when there was no point) but hey, fitting. And then, because Kyrahth did not answer immediately and there was a sharp bite of unjustified indignation still clawing up his throat, “I didn’t come out here so you could just lounge. Get it over with.”

She hissed at him, a flash of white gleaming briefly in the dimness. Your inability to plan properly is not /my/ problem, or have you a plan to ensure I do not Rise again until it conveniences you, pleases you, Your Majesty? Only from Kyrahth could the sneered rank come out so derogatory, so insulting. Just stop. You’re here, I will go when I am ready, and you are going to sit down and wait. As if you don’t owe me that for everything else you’ve ever done— A sharp flip of her tail, a spray of dirt raining against a large tree, before the green turned her head away, dismissively, head lifting to the skies.

A’emi huffed out his breath, shook his head. “What are you even expecting? Pettahth, Inocenth—they can easily decide not to Chase. What then—gonna just keep flying until you can’t anymore?” There was still a prickling unease—they were still too close to the Hold, not within easy walking distance or sight of the Selenitas dragons that had come to Gather, but still too close.

Yes, came the testy answer, Let me just decide not to Rise because of extreme circumstances. Very good, darling, what an idea. She cast him a sidelong glance through narrowed eyes. Sit down and stop babbling.

Mindlessly, A’emi let himself drop to the ground, back against a tree, and draped his arms around his knees, frowning. Opened his mouth to say something—but then Kyrahth was gone in a plume of leaves and dust, glowing wings snapping outwards to carry her above the treeline, where a dragon belonged. Kyrahth had been grounded once, following Fort’s attack on Selenitas: She had never wanted to be again. Worse that this grounding was not a physical incapability but a mental restraint. Seven months of very little flight had taken its toll—and she hated it, would not be restrained by it. Even if nobody came, if she flew alone…well, so be it, but she was not going to come down until she was good and ready to.

[Ruby]

Mine...

Futh's quiet, unobtrusive question was totally ignored by his rider, who broke into a fit of laughter at something the girl across the table had to say. He and Cr'oph had gathered up a couple of pretty assorted gather goers, and they were all sharing drinks and dinner near the food stalls. His brother was off somewhere - getting another bottle of wine, most likely, they'd already gone through two between the group of five or so - but that didn't stop M'kai from serving himself another rib before leaning across to feed a forkful of meat to one of the girls.

Mine...

Futh was more insistent this time, but M'kai ignored him again. Glasses needed to be filled, food served, dessert located. Kami, perched next to him on the bench, was snuck a small piece of cheese, something she'd discovered at the Gather. It would never replace her normal diet of Pern's baser creatures, but as a treat she enjoyed it. Mine! Futh said again, forcibly taking his rider's attention this time. Annoyed, M'kai excused himself, letting his expression go blank as he conferred with his dragon. What?

It is Kyrahth. She's not where she was, and she was so shiny... May I go find her?

That question would have struck M'kai as odd any other time; his dragon didn't need permission to go anywhere, and the note of anxiousness in his tone would have gotten the attention of any rider paying more that passing attention to their mindmate. The Bluerider, however, was supremely distracted, not to mention that he'd had just enough wine to fuzz everything slightly, making lights brighter and girls just that much prettier. Not drunk, no, but not exactly sober, either. So instead of asking why, or being at all suspicious, he said, Do whatever you want, Fuffle, just let me alone for the night, ok? I can't interrupt myself every ten seconds to talk to you.

That was all the dragon needed. He took to the air in a lumbering hop - getting off the ground had never been easy for the hefty blue - but as soon as he was there, he found a thermal and took it up, searching for the glow he knew he'd be able to find. Low sweeps over the trees proved fruitless, but - ah. Just when Futh thought he might be mistaken, there she was, exploding from the trees into the sunset. He knew he'd find her. Crooning as he had the first time he chased her, Futh kept it simple, arrowing in her direction. Fancy things could come once he got close enough.

M'kai, sipping his drink, didn't even notice. Lust? Wine. Obviously.

((From now on M'kai will be here))

[Lotty]

Sella...Sellamine...

A bad sign. The name he used when he wanted something.

Sella-blockhead-mine...

A worse sign, the combination of manipulation and frustration. It was like the dragon had something more important than the gather going on. K'sel actually had to lift his head up from the table to give this some degree of coherent attention, the man was currently in a blissful stupor. Not purely drunk on liquor, but also on the fall out of the good old munchies that went along with it. Multiply this by the fact that the man wasn't sure what sandless food was anymore, and you had someone neck deep in one of the seven deadly sins. The shameless glutton had at one point, shoved his entire face into a bubbly pie, so it was needless to say that with the addition of yet another deadly sin, he was going to wear out his heels on the way to hell.

Lust. Sharding dragonlust, but he didn't know it yet. Instead he was all alone at the table with a glazed over expression that could very well be mistaken for inebriation. Yes, my dear, we had this conversation about interrupting me when I am trying to marinate and drown in a pool of my own self loathing and drool.... Gathers had a record of not working out very well for him, his presence at this one was driven by the desire of baser pleasures: fleeting human contact, booze, and nourishment. Not to mention signs of so called culture after removing one's self from it for so long. For a while there he was starting to act like a feral child raised by wild felines.

Lady Kyrahth is rising and I think it is only appropriate to chase, having share such time with her... and.. Don't lie. Lie... I am... Don't lie. He wasn't dumb. The broken record of infinite whining about her had him rolling around too many restless nights, and if this of all things would relieve him one time of then that needless feeling, then he was fine with whatever stupid flight he was involved with. For his part, he was just going to have to start making his way out of the gather, even if that involved hiding underneath a rock. Pettahth on the other hand, well obviously he wasn't all too far away from the green to begin with, and after a moment of thought sprang up to chase after her.

[Ember]

What?

I was asking if I may Chase this green? She seems awfully lonely flying alo- oh, sorry. I do believe Futh is Chasing her now. Ioth watched, tail twitching anxiously at his lack of movement. He didn't take to being idle well. It wasn't such a bad idea, was it? He could keep the younger Burimyu blue out of trouble and the green was far enough out that it should be okay. He'd be occupied and stop driving Iskierka up the wall with his impatience, too. Besides, she never gave herself over to him so couldn't she do what she'd gone to the Gather to do? Watch over the others.

Iskierka choked back an irritable sound as she stalked around the outer edges of the Gather. The blue did have a point or two. She cared little for the Gather. She'd come to watch over the others as they wandered around. It wasn't out of any desire to protect them, not really. Having more of them around and fit for fighting meant she'd probably live just that little bit longer. No need for any of them to stupidly die during a Gather because they were being...indiscreet. Which one is it? The blue considered his memories before sheepishly saying, I can't remember? Sorry.

That meant it wasn't a green he knew well enough to remember. Ergh. It couldn't be a Selenitas green...they'd know better than to be anywhere near a Gather when their dragon was ready to Rise. Did that mean there were some other people who'd gotten out of the Weyr? Iskierka...? Ioth knew his rider liked to turn all sorts of things over in her mind but if he waited too long the green would be too far away...and look, another had joined in too. Fine. Within a moment of that the blue was up in the air, exploding out of his own cover of trees. He really hadn't been too far away from the green's starting point.

Ioth, known for being a quick blue, dashed through the air towards Kyrahth. He brushed her mind so she'd know him to be friendly. Seven months of being careful made it difficult for him to croon or trumpet or anything. Greetings, fair green. May I join you today? He'd never been rejected outright so he didn't even consider that Kyrahth might so he briefly touched the brown's mind and contacted Futh. Good luck, Futh.

((Iskierka is, obviously, at the Gather. She's likely to join someone flight-lusted and act as moth.))

[Requiem]

The dark hazel eyes narrowed coldly on the man in front of him. "Deal's a deal. Shouldn't play shells if you aren't any good at it." F'ur shouldered past the much larger protesting holder, tossing his purse of winnings idly in one hand. Now it was just a matter of convincing his resident leeches that they actually didn't want to spend their time idling at a Gather...yeah, highly likely, that one.

F'ur had more than one reason to dislike Gathers. The bluerider strode past one of those very leeches and slapped him upside the head. Maybe that would jerk him out of his puddle of disgusting. "Hey, Ella. You know where the blonde midget disappeared to? Or are you still unsure of how many fingers and toes are in your possession?" What was this obsession with getting drunk, anyway? Hangovers were about all you got out of it. On a good day.

She's in the forest. "...of course she is." Inocenth saw in colors, though no doubt part of his misappropriation of gender was F'ur's inclination to call his unwanted companions by slightly...altered names. Should bring the puddle along, too, F'urMine, the blue purred. It's been awhile since the family was all together. A cheerful Ino. You're up to something. But he really didn't care enough to ferret out what.

The man grabbed K'sel by the arm. "You've had enough. Look more like a homeless worm now than when we were in the desert."

Inocenth stretched his wings contemplatively as Kyrahth screamed into the skies. Oh, look, she was attracting other dragons. Blue and fat blue. And of course Pettath. Inocenth's head swung around slowly in the direction of His and Pettath's. He'd just bide his time for a touch, yes. Let Kyrahth wear herself out. Maybe see if anyone who could use a little...clipping...came along. The male slunk through the trees to make sure he could keep the aerial display in sight.

[Avu]

What.

Her reactions were pure instinct at the sight of a dragon that was neither Pettahth nor Inocenth and far too close for comfort: both Kyrahth’s intent and flight altered, lips pulling back into a snarl. Between her speed and the fact that Futh was already fairly close to her, she was almost upon him before recognition dawned and she whipped herself around the blue to avoid an outright collision, pulling the slash that she had already started to aim for his muzzle. Her hiss was more startled than actually venomous, but neither did Kyrahth attempt to keep the anger out of her mind-voice: What are you doing here!

Kyrahth twisted sharply, a spurt of sharp speed putting more distance between herself and Futh again. She remembered him vaguely but it had been seven month and his presence so close to her—to Pettahth and Inocenth too no doubt—was not welcome. No other dragons were; too dangerous, too close, too everything. The green stalled momentarily as soon as she’d gotten some distance, tense now, watching Futh with undisguised wariness.

Leave it, A’emi told her, head tilted back against the tree towards the slit of blue sky he could make out. Futh wasn’t a problem. Any Wasteland dragons show up, that would be due cause for Kyrahth to shred throats or whatever it was she wanted to, but Futh wasn’t a threat, not really. And Pettahth had shown up now, too, apparently, a flash of sandy brown overhead, so he supposed the brown didn’t have any qualms with Futh’s presence either. Or at least, he was not actively protesting it, because Kyrahth had yet to be bothered with a fight in midair yet. Lovely. Just go—it doesn’t matter, love. They won’t be able to chase us down later anyway.

Kyrahth didn’t really answer, but the grudging acceptance that was extended to Futh—and then to Ioth, at his appearance and his ever-so-polite request—was answer enough. In Ioth’s direction, her teeth flashed, a definite warning: She didn’t trust him at all. And then she twisted in mid-air, flared her wings to dip just above the treeline, skimming low across the treetops as fast as she could go. Leave them behind if she could, but she had more sense than to go too high where she might be spotted by any other dragons. A little too late, apparently, given Futh and Ioth’s presences, but…well, that didn’t matter anymore, according to A’emi, except that it did.

The green spun in a sharp whiplash motion, curling closer to Pettahth, head tipped towards him in a physical gesture of privacy, If they do anything… The half-request, half-command went unfinished, but the intention was surely clear enough. Kyrahth was never really out of it during her Flights; just because she had to mate at some point didn’t mean she would happily hoard every male, especially if their presence might mean the difference between life and death later.

There was a difference between the allure of danger and true peril. They were probably on the edge already now.

The grass and dirt were slightly damp under his fingers, smudging mud onto his hands as he squinted at the strip of sky, focused on keeping himself not involved with Kyrahth as possible. At least one of them had to keep a clear mind, just in case, didn’t they? He dropped his gaze after a moment, snapping off a stalk of grass and carefully peeling it apart, a mindless, easy distraction.

[Ruby]

What was he doing here? The attack didn't startle Futh - why worry about him, after all, even he knew he was no threat - but the Green's words did. Pulling left as she whipped around, he executed a wide flip, changing directions to keep her in sight as quickly as he could. Futh had been working on his aerials recently, but he would never be an agile dragon. ... Chasing you? Should I not be here? I saw you far off when Mine found Yours, and... well. I just liked knowing where you were. Then you were gone so I came to look and...[/i] the Blue trailed off, his plaintive explanation hanging in the air between them. What did she think he was here for? He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her; maybe he was forgetting something important?

Well, she was afraid of him, clear enough, but in Flightlust Futh wasn't about to just drop out. He kept his distance, offering reassuring little brushes to Kyrahth. Ioth and Pettath were greeted, and Ioth even got an enthusiastic And you![/i] as the younger blue banked around the older. Innoceth he hadn't noticed, although he should have. No, it was Kyrahth that had all of his attention, of course, the poor Burimyu dragon struggling to figure out what, if anything, he had done wrong, and how to make it better. Although he couldn't remember the details of the last time he'd seen Kyr, he knew (backed up by M'kai's excellent memory) that she had always been difficult and flighty, although this seemed somewhat different. He would figure it out, he supposed. For now, she was getting away.

He stayed low, lower than she was, hanging back behind Pettath after she had curled around him so delicately. He banked high on turns, conserving energy, but kept other tricks to a minimum - first because Kyrahth was quite a bit faster than he, and it was taking all his strength to keep up already; second because he didn't wish to startle or worry her with a sudden move. Not to mention that flying so low so late in the evening was dangerous enough to occupy any dragon, especially one as... stalwart as Futh. Just avoiding tall trees was taking up quite a bit of his attention.

[Lotty]

Buh... that sudden contact was uncalled for, but to be expected. This was F'ur after all, physicality seemed to come with the territory, and since K'sel defied the laws of nature and of equal and opposite reactions, he instead slid a wry little expression the blue rider's way, "Eight fingers, ten toes, two thumbs..." the reply was lethargic but not at all outside of his usual cadence, "that is if you want to get picky about it..." as for A'emi, well he couldn't be too sure. K'sel wasn't a baby sitter, maybe a ghost hunter, but never a sitter, "Could be running around the hold stark ravin' mad for all I know," and he rolled his shoulders, half in a shrug and half to loosen the other man's grip on him; he could follow along just fine thank you, he wasn't half as wasted as he was miserable, and this wasn't nearly the worst he had ever been.

"Just shoved my weight's worth in bubbly pies down my throat, its the kind of thing to kill a man's buzz....well that and a flight," really he was just caught at a bad time, right in the midst of an attempt at a nap between rounds one and two of the day. He was banking that everyone would have left him alone, since you know, normally people didn't bother with long haired travellin' men, even if they were a little lacking in weight. Kyrahth's little jaunt was interrupting that it seemed. Ah well... Shaking his head of the residual fuzzies - despite the fact that creeping in through the corners of his vision was a violet sort of presence - he seemed to pull himself up on an invisible string and pressed on forward with his plans... away from the holders... get away from the sharding holders, the whole lot of them if he could manage it. He was a mixed bag when dragonlust came into play, this much he did know; part control, part stoicism, but with the currents of primordial ooze ever running in his veins.

Thanks Petta... by the way...

It was the closest thing that the brown typically got to a good luck wish, as the sandy dragon swung and looped his body along what could literally be called the jungle gym. The thin spindly branches, still fresh and yielding were no more of a nuisance than the pricks and bites of gnats and flies as he popped up above the canopy for the pleasure of courting the green mistress and fighting it out for sky space against the blues Ioth and Futh....Futh. No, the dragon's name was not with the brown no, but the image of the violet rumped dragon had not been lost in the short time between this flight and the last and with it came the sourest tastes on his tongue. Pettahth was not vindictive, he was not the innately hateful type, but he was dogged and striven, and it was before chartreuse hide had even passed by his eye or her voice brushed against his mind that he knew what it was that he had to do.

I do not expect much to come of them Lady Kyrahth... I had seen our big-boned friend here act with such civility at other greens flights... it was such a short time ago... I take heed to your words regardless. It was the simple truth, and it was said with so casually, especially in light of the tight spiral the dragon pulled; a quick motion to spin him to the right of the other two chasers.

[Ember]

Ioth was subtley amused by the green's display of teeth. He didn't know her, not properly at least, but he could tell she was young in comparison to himself. If he really wanted to he was fairly confident he could out-fly her. The blue practiced flying for fun and he had the benefit of twenty turns experience. Still, he had no desire to force the green's hand, for the moment. He was a polite enough dragon. Whatever his original personality was had changed significantly over time.

The silent warning from Iskierka not to do anything stupid only reinforced the fact that he shouldn't do anything bold with the green. They may be far out but unnecessary attention was just that - unnecessary. The blue dropped back to Futh while the green was occupied with Pettahth. Perhaps it was to show off or simply because he liked the other blue well enough, but he twisted around his fellow Burimyu dragon, humming lowly. Shall they show the green that they had not dulled since leaving Selenitas?

Ioth moved ahead to dance near Pettahth, though he kept considerably more distance between himself and the brown. That and he made sure he was able to attack in return at any moment should the brown decide to try it. Without a word to his fellow chaser he moved away again, headed closer to Kyrahth. Perhaps her friend would join him, scary blue that he was? Either way, Ioth stopped himself from getting too close the the green, deftly avoiding the tree tops while also staying as close to them as possible.

[Avu]

Kyrahth didn’t respond to the spill of words that came from Futh, but they did make her relax, if only a little. He wouldn’t make any trouble; not on purpose, in any case. She’d just have to make sure he was careful—although how to ensure that Futh wouldn’t slip up and mention that she and Pettahth existed, Kyrahth didn’t quite know yet. She’d come to that later—now was the time for flying, even if she could still feel the bright worry at Ioth and Futh being there at all humming down her spine. Pettahth’s words helped cool her down too. Of course, she knew Futh was perfectly fine during Flights. It was just nice to have a second opinion, and anyway, she didn’t really know anymore; seven months could change everything.

That didn’t mean she still wasn’t wary, though. Kyrahth pulled away from Pettahth without further comment, a slow, careful brush of her wing glancing across his flank in mute thanks—Kyrahth never really did well verbalizing things like that anyway—before she dipped lower, skimming the treetops, too wary to go higher in case of being spotted.

Flash of blue in the undergrowth and trees; Kyrahth flipped herself over, corkscrewing upwards, to dip her wing in a rapid circle around Inocenth. Did not call to him, but the slight flick of her gaze acknowledged his presence anyway; noted. If anything happened. It was worth knowing. It was mainly Ioth that her on edge now, in any case; she didn’t know him, and didn’t trust him in any sense of the word. Kyrahth dipped ever-lower, her speed picking up as she went, a lightning-fast straight line across the treetops, uncaring if she left them behind for a moment or two—she didn’t plan on going very far. Couldn’t, really.

She allowed herself a moment’s reprieve to slow, glance flashing over her shoulder briefly, dipping her head as if tired. And maybe she was; seven months was too long to go without regular Wing Drills and exercise and even if she knew everything in theory, she missed the practice. Kyrahth waited another heartbeat before she flared out her wings, dropping behind the males to snap at Ioth, the gesture designed to close on a wingtip if he did not avoid it—not enough to cripple him or even genuinely hurt him very much at all; just throw him off course a little, drag him down, if it caught at all. Kyrahth snapped herself backwards again, twisting away from the males immediately. Didn’t intend to lag and end her Flight so early.

And who do you answer to? The question was for Ioth only, her ‘voice’ sharp with accusation, wariness masked in anger. Hated not knowing—absolutely couldn’t stand it. Futh; she didn’t know who he answered to now either, but it was Ioth she was the more troubled over.

[Requiem]

Inocenth was notably not nearly so keen on getting himself involved in this Flight. Can't blame a green for Rising, of course, but she'd be noticed. Had been, clearly, despite her attempts to keep out of the open sky and generally out of sight as the tell-tale glow came upon her. Still and all, it had been a long time since he'd Chased...Inocenth felt the pull, even if it wasn't terribly demanding.

Not keen at all about joining with the other males there. Wrong males. Pettath was the only 'friend' that should have been on Kyrahth's tail. They didn't seem to be offering up any sort of animosity toward Kyrahth, but then...most males didn't during Flights. It wouldn't keep them from maintaining their silence later, now would it? As Kyrahth circled above him Inocenth's tailtip twitched uneasily. Hm. There was...another option.

The invading blues didn't have to be alive to tell anyone of their presence.

Inocenth dismissed Futh as an easy target and instead focused on Ioth. It was pure luck that Kyrahth chose to focus on the same male. Distractions were lovely. As she snapped for his wingtip, Inocenth cleared the trees with a snap of branches and explosion of leaves, claws extending in an attempt to disembowel the blue. That should keep any stories from being told.

F'ur released K'sel with a barely-concealed sneer. Fine. If he wanted to smash his nose back into his face in an example of the usual drunken lack of grace, F'ur didn't really care. (Maybe a little, in that a buffer against A'emi was nice, but not enough to insist.) "Flight." No Flightlust from Inocenth. Odd, he knew the blue was interested, but there was definitely some masking going on there...ah. Foreign dragons. Just lovely.

'Hopefully you won't get sick, but with your luck Pettath will win her and you'll puke all over yourself and A'emi. Actually, that would be quite entertaining." Then, because F'ur was ever-impatient, he caught up K'sel's arm again to hurry him along. "Has no one ever told you that you're heinously slow bloated on food and wine?"

[Lotty]

The brief touch of her wing against his hide was certainly enough, and it didn't force his attention away for any undue amount of time like any greater contact would have. The brown needed to split his attention multiple ways this time, for he knew His was with Inocenth's somewhere...even if the presence was a weak generality as opposed to a locked in position. With this knowledge it only followed that Inocenth himself was somewhere around lurking about. But Pettahth didn't have to ponder a second longer about it when the dark blue made himself know, popping up like a jack in the box to target the dancing Ioth who just moments before had frolicked about right under his snout. Seemed that all the bases were covered, they all had jobs to do and this left himself still with Futh.

He had no desire to maim Futh, that was horribly out of character at least in terms of a flight, but his cohort might and so the draconic game of good cop, bad cop began. With his quick little frame he was able to wheel around there in the sky to cut in close at the husky blue's side and with subtle motions moved to head him off and corral his attentions around to the mess with the other two blues. The warning there was clear, if you weren't careful, if even so much as the desire to talk about this flight came to be, then you too would be directly in the line of fire. It was a threat punctuated with the draw of a talon along hide; a tickle really as a rear foot grazed in passing before the brown left the other dragon once again to his own devices. Pettahth did learn a few things after all from hanging out with Kyrahth and Inocenth day in and day out.

"Never told..." words grew increasingly shorter despite having tons to actually say. A dry half amused smile could be granted for the imagery of him heaving up purple vomit on himself, though A'emi was replaced with F'ur... it was the bluerider was actually within projectile range at the moment. The faint sort of grin gave way however. This time, when the arm linked again with his he took it, though it burned too warm against his skin... through the fabric really, and he sucked some air in through his teeth with a slight hiss. His blood had begun boiling hot and contact varied between scalding and sensuous as the dragons swung up and down through the canopy. That aside, he picked up his feet, speeding up with a stronger gait, "Better?" He stutter stepped for a moment to bump the side of his boney little hips into a check against his companion's jokingly.

[Ruby]

Futh had no particular loyalty to Ioth. He liked the mottled blue well enough, they had flown against each other in the past, and Futh had always found him to be quite the gentleman. Inoceth was a different story, although Futh had only ever seen him chase. Still, the darkest blue was holding back, staying below the tree line. Futh assumed he'd be monitoring, rather than participating in, Kyrahth's flight (He didn't really understand how Inocenth could resist, but that was ok. He was over it).

Apparently this was not the case. While the Green came close to Ioth, taking a snap at the other blue before twisting away, Futh made a wide circle, not worrying too much about being in Pettahth's personal space. The brown didn't scare him - although to be honest the Blue rarely paid attention to things like fear - so Futh sent a playful little growl in Pettahth's direction when the Brown moved to close the space between them, turning Futh to look at... oh. Well that was no good.

Again, Futh had no special connection to Ioth, except he knew they were both Burimyu, and Pettahth, Kyrahth, and Inocenth were very clearly not Selenitas dragons. Plus M'kaiHis had said something about... wandering? Weyrless? Whatever, somehow they were different, and Futh had never had any reservations about sticking his neck out for a friend, or the closest he had to a friend, here. Pettahth might have thought he was warning the Flight's youngest Blue, but Futh took it as help, a tip-off, not a threat. Oh, see, his fellow Blue was in trouble, didn't he want to help?

Of course he did. As much as Futh failed at agility in the air, he was still a big, solid dragon, and he knew now exactly what sort of advantages that gave him. He wasn't high enough up to really bring his weight to bear, but he was higher up than Inocenth and Ioth - less agile, more worried about a tree snagging a wingsail. It would have to be enough. With a mighty flap of his wings, Futh slingshotted towards the grappling blues. Ideally, he would connect with Inocenth, knocking him away from Ioth's unprotected underbelly; less ideally, he would hit Ioth, moving him out of Inocenth's reach; and at the very least, he would plow in between them, separating them with his body. None of the choices were especially good, and all of them could be considered fairly stupid, but... well. The truth of that remained to be seen.

[Ember]

The blue beneath the trees didn't exactly go unnoticed by Ioth. He just didn't consider him threat enough to pay special attention too. Besides, the fair lady was demanding more attention by speeding away. Because speeding after a green so close to the tree tops was not as easy a feat as some thought, Ioth angled upwards and away from the tops of the trees some before using his own considerable speed to keep the distance from growing too much. He'd let her have some space if she liked but he had no intention of being left behind.

Then Kyrahth was falling back to snap at him. The action coaxed a faintly amused colour to flash through his eyes as he twisted away from the obvious danger to face the surprise attack from below. The attacking blue was considerably less amusing and forced Ioth into his fighting mode, the lustful purple fading into an angry red. Too bad snapping branches made so much noise or he really could have been disembowled there. Still, it was all he could do to turn his twist away from Kyrath into a roll aimed to take the first attempt at his belly on his side. It was dangerously close to his wings but he'd had little choice.

The other blue was now very much a threat, and he'd been trained to destroy threats, pretty greens and their flights be damned. Ioth was higher up than Innocenth so he bore the pain to try and return the favour and hopefully drive the other into the trees. It put his belly in range again but - oh a Futh. A Futh that had been much too close for safety. The blue was staggered back by the light brush and accompanying air and he growled again. I'd get away from there if you don't want to crash into the trees, he advised, circling back towards his comrade to make sure Innocenth didn't kill him.

Ioth directed a dark, sharp-toned answer towards Kyrahth. I answer to one who had no need to harm you. You might want to call off your poorly trained wher before Mine is forced to change her mind though. I'm not eager to spill ichor today. Then the green went largely ignored again, the blue only monitoring her location relative to his in case she decided to join her little watch canine of a blue in removing him and Futh.

[Avu]

Oh, hello then, Inocenth.

Kyrahth tipped her head back away from the scene, deliberately sweeping her wings outwards to pick up speed before she whipped herself around again. It would be another matter entirely if she liked Ioth alive and intact. She might even be angry. As it was…she didn’t particularly care. If anything, she approved, understood the necessity of ensuring they held their tongues, Futh and Ioth. A hiss grated in her throat at Ioth’s evasion, his non-answer, eyes rapidly losing the purple of Flight in favor of bright yellows. It was Futh’s attempt at—what, protection, she supposed—that snapped her into forward motion.

Trusted that Inocenth could hold off Ioth, if there was a necessity at all, but Kyrahth didn’t expect there to be; she was faster than Ioth, had the—admittedly temporary—advantage of altitude due to the angle at which she’d pulled around. The green automatically brushed against Inocenth’s mind, but it was Futh that she dove for, the green’s foreclaws curving just above the joints of his wings, a grasp that would undeniably be painful. Her momentum and gravity was intended to take them away from Ioth, but it wasn’t really necessary in any case: Kyrahth shoved Futh away from her in the next instant, back towards the Gather or wherever else it was he’d come from.

Get out.

Not the kindest dismissal Kyrahth had ever spared a moment for, but certainly it left very little room for misinterpretation. And it might just be saving Futh’s life; Kyrahth wasn’t sure whether or not Inocenth planned to kill all of them or just Ioth, but she didn’t want Futh dead. Just didn’t want him there, either. As for the other three…her gaze turned to Inocenth again, jaws gaping into an almost-smile, teeth bared. Permission, or as close as it got. Ioth was all his—however he wanted to take that. She was sure he could take care of Ioth and not die in the process. She would offer him a last distraction, a brief hiss to Ioth, Perhaps you should have considered that detail before chose to Chase when you have no place to.

Hypocritical? A little, considering she hadn’t immediately driven him away, but in all fairness, the longer Ioth remained here, the longer it was till he could spill.

It was to Pettahth that she dipped her head—as much as she wanted to do something, be it just keep flying until her wings gave out or even just taking out her temper on Ioth, there was really no point, not when she’d eliminated her Chasers (it didn’t occur to Kyrahth to consider Inocenth as being a Chaser, really—he hadn’t, so he wasn’t)—she might as well end it now. Before anyone else saw, or came, or heard. She didn’t reach out for him, or do more than touch his mind, her head lifting in near-defiance. He wanted her, he would come to her, the end.




((SO. I think I may have godmod'd practically everyone--or at least made assumptions--all over this post, but I really wanted to end the Flight. If anyone has any huge huge problems, lemme know.))