The Greatest Game [Balath's Maiden Flight]

[Kisha-Ra]

K’fuzzi had long since accepted that something involved in the rather unexpected and stressful move from Selenitas to Burimyu had knocked his dragon way off her cycle, whatever that was supposed to be. To be honest the young greenrider hadn’t worried too much about that, Balath was perfectly healthy in every other way, and endlessly cheerful to boot, and he really felt the last thing Burimyu needed as a newly formed and hidden Weyr was a glowing green showing their location.

Now, however, Balath’s long overdue Flight appeared to be catching up with a vengeance. K’fuzzi had first noticed that two days ago when Balath’s normally sunny personality did a total about face and she became a complete dragon whore, sprawling over any male she encountered, flirting her tail off, and ignoring every other female. Since then he’d been examining Balath’s hide minutely for any sign of a glow at every opportunity and annoying the hell out of the striped green in the process, which had turned out to be totally unnecessary anyway since Balath had basically commanded him to bring her out to the desert for her Flight. Apparently the idea that this was appropriate behaviour had gotten into her head, and K’fuzzi was glad it had done.

All that drama left K’fuzzi at this point, looking at an increasingly restless snoozing green dragon while the sun beat down on him mercilessly. It was late afternoon but the sun didn’t seem to have noticed much, there was very little shade to be had aand K’fuzzi was willing to bet he’d end up sunburned no matter how much protective lotion he put on. Typical K’fuzzi luck, always bad. At least there was scrubby grass on the ground here; K’fuzzi did not want to think about sand.

Apparently the time for thinking about anything was over because Balath was awake, standing and stretching each limb in a sensual manner that looked quite out of place on the large green. The unusual motion made K’fuzzi wonder what she’d be like in Flight, well he’d soon find out he thought as Balath looked around, seeking other dragons.

Come on FuzziMine, don’t worry so much. Today is a wonderful day! It’s our day![/color] Balath spoke to her rider as she swept her gaze around. Come and play then! The glowing green then called to her males, shoving off from the ground and flying low, picking up speed until she could catch a strong thermal coming off the heated ground and use it to soar upwards, spiralling to show off her glowing hide just a little before she sped out over the desert again.

[Ruby]

Jagjith had developed a taste for flights, apparently. He'd never been much interested before, spurning Nuoth most recently and plenty of others before that. He'd never really understood what the big fuss was... until Jingth. The Brown would never be the kind of dragon that chased any tail that cared to take to the air, but he just had to try again. Balath was sweet and quiet, usually, and while she would never do for a long-term mate, Jagjith didn't see any reason not to chase her just this once.

T'mund, however, had not had nearly as pleasant an experience as his dragon. Honestly, he remembered little to none of the Gold's flight, and somehow, he figured that was probably ok. He had yet to run across any of the other chasers, but he could just see the mocking expressions on their faces. It hadn't been any of their first flights, after all. Only his.

Of course, that didn't make much difference when your dragon chose to abduct you.

I forbid it! T'mund shouted frantically as Jagjith soared in for a landing near the obviously glowing Balath. It would take a blind man not to notice how close she was to going up. Take me back! the young Rider demanded, glancing back over his shoulder at where they had come out of Between. I demand it! As your Rider-

Jagjith cut his rider off with an especially indelicate landing that jarred T'mund's teeth together. You know better, T'mundmine,[/i] the Brown reminded his boy, more gently than expected. It was true, too; T'mund knew better than to try to order his brown around. But....

Dismount, please,[/i] Jagjith requested, settling to the patchy grass near Balath. I have a feeling the whole experience will be far less pleasant if you are strapped to my back... for both of us.[/i] That was true too, so a red-faced T'mund slid off Jagjith's back on the far side from K'fuzzi. Balath and K'fuzzi were classmates - not that T'mund had spent any more time than necessary with his fellow Weyrlings - but that only made him more uncomfortable. Why had he ever let Jagjith chase that Gold?

Well, it was far too late, now. T'mund attempted to huddle behind his dragon for as long as possible for privacy and, more practically, shade, but soon the afternoon sun found it's target (if K'fuzzi was going to burn, T'mund was going to burn a hundred times worse) as Jagjith sprung up after Balath, leaving his rider behind in a cloud of dirt. As T'mund coughed and tried to find somewhere new to hide, Jagjith spiraled upwards, not waiting for the benefit of a thermal. Twisting after the racing green, Jagjith asked, What do we play? The word sounded strange in his mind-voice - it wasn't one he used often, but Jingth had seemed to like it when he spoke to her, no matter what he said. Perhaps Balath would, as well.

[Rei]

She picked wrong. I was better. Bigger, stronger, smarter. Cr’oph actually laughed from his position sitting on a rock not far from where Mavenath was actually pacing. What is so funny. The large bronze snapped suddenly head whipping around to regard his bonded narrowly. “You. I’ve never seen you so…whiney. It’s amusing.” Whiney? Hardly. I’m just lamenting her stupidity. She would have had a much larger clutch, stronger offspring, had she not picked that brown. Numbers are not something we have a lot of and she picks an inferior one. Silly female. Tail lashing across the scrub grass the large male snorted and turned back to eye Balath. Still sleeping. The bronzer chuckled.

His bronze was just as arrogant, if not more so, than some bronzes. But he rarely ever showed it. Always projecting perfect outward calm and complete acceptance of every dragon regardless of color or structure. In fact Mavenath for some reason valued the mutated ones above all else. Strangely. Cr’oph never understood that one, and it was one area in which he and the bronze wildly differed. Regardless, to see the dragon so off kilter from the gold flight was as amusing as it was odd. Maybe this green flight would serve well to pull him out of his weird mood? That was the sole reason Cr’oph convinced the large male to go. Even knowing that K’fuzzi was male. Shudder. Still it might be worth it if it fixed the bronze’s current…anger issues. Worth a try anyway. He was supposed to be the complainer not Mavenath.

Further talk and baiting on the subject of Jingth and her choice was pushed aside as Balath awoke and started stretching. Without another word Mavenath turned his sole attention to the female, wings mantling as he prepared to pursue. All thoughts of the gold were abruptly pushed from his mind at the other female's brilliant glow. This one he would win. Her choice and other chasers be damned. As the vibrantly marked green shot off into the desert air Mavenath violently lunged skyward showering his rider with dirt as he surged after her. Tag then my beauty and you are it. Jagjith was given the barest of glances, only enough to mark the brown’s position before the bronze turned his attention back to Balath. This one was his. And in the desert with so much wonderful warm air to play with, and such a large wing area, he could say that with absolute confidence.

Watching Mavenath as he disappeared after the rising green Cr’oph grumbled as he tried to use his fingers to untangle his, now quite toughly messed up, hair. Damn dragon. Almost without realizing it his eyes tracked to K’fuzzi. Shards and fucking shells. Slowly and defiantly taking his time, the bronzer began to approach the greenrider. What he did for mental sanity. Stupid bronze.

[Kisha-Ra]

For a short while Balath just gloried in her own flight, enjoying the freedom of the near empty landscape, so much easier to fly in than trees! The green entertained herself by sideslipping from one thermal to another, then another, and yet another, playing a game of leapfrog with the columns of heated air. Soon enough though she heard the sound of wings behind her and rolled midair that she might see who followed her. She need not have bothered though, both Jagjith and Mavenath spoke to her, and she touched their minds softly with approval, how very nice of them to come and play with her.

Can you not see Jagjith brothermine?[/color] the green inquired, looking back over her shoulder this time and deliberately slowing to let the pair of males catch up. We are playing chase! But Mavenath is wrong; I’m not it you two are![/color] With that statement Balath slammed on the brakes for long enough to tag both of the larger dragons with her tail tip before she dropped like a stone away from them. Why’re you waiting slow ones?[/color] The green snapped open her wings close enough to the ground to raise a cloud of sand and debris before she veered sharply off to the left and taunted her pursuers happily. What fun!

With the dragons out of the picture K’fuzzi glanced around, wondering who might have brought their dragon out this far, or have been brought out this far, to chase Balath. T’mund, a classmate of his, red faced and uncomfortable, and Cr’oph, who K’fuzzi knew little more about than his name, also looking uncomfortable. The greenrider probably would have been irritated to see only two turn up for his dragon (she was a beautiful and adorable creature was she not?) and to see both their riders looking at him like he was going to do something awful to them but Balath had completely abandoned her bad mood and was now delighting in this wonderful new game she was leading the two larger dragons in.

Feeling playful, and slightly mischievous to boot, K’fuzzi dropped a broad wink at T’mund before he approached the red haired bronzerider. ‘So reluctant bronzer? What? Afraid of a little green?’ K’fuzzi’s whole stance was playfully questioning, though his taunt was deliberately calculated to be irritating, he couldn’t help himself on either count. ‘Such a mess your handsome bronze seems to have made of your hair too.’ The greenrider commented absently reaching up to pluck some bit of debris out of the other man’s hair. ‘A gift, sweet bronzeling.’ He proclaimed, offering up the bit of dirt between finger and thumb with a flourish before his attention wandered back to T’mund and caused the greenrider to take a few steps toward the younger male. What fun indeed!

[Ruby]

Stretching his wings wide, Jagjith took a moment to appreciate the feeling of wind over sails. It wasn't long after his class learned to fly in the first place that they had relocated to Burimyu, where the ability to fly freely had been severely hampered. The brown wasn't a hedonist, nor was he especially playful, but some of Balath's brightness seemed to be rubbing off on him. Executing a quick roll just for the pleasure of it, he skated sideways on a cross-wind before answering his sister. Chase, of course. In that case...[/i]

With a surge of his wings, he reached out for Balath as she swept away, missing the tip of her tail by inches. Ah well, he'd tried. Peeling away, he fell at a more reasonable rate than the Green's. What went down had to come back up, after all, in flight anyway. While Balath might be large for her color, Jagjith was larger still, and he would have no chance that close to the ground. He did dip farther than he would have dared were he Mavenath's size, but the dust that exploded beneath Balath's wings was mostly absent as Jagjith turned his fall to a climb. He might be more agile than his bronze competition, but Balath was so much faster than both of them, he hardly had any spare time for tricks. Cutting corners, the Brown tried to make up ground, reaching out to brush Mavenath's mind. If one of us comes from one side and one from the other, it will limit her options. We would simply need to coordinate who went where,[/i] he said, keeping his strategies from Balath. The whole plan was a gamble, but Jagjith was supremely confident in his ability to out-fly the Bronze. Whether that was true or not didn't matter - Jagjith being Jagjith, he knew he could. End of story.

Below, T'mund caught K'fuzzi looking at him and surrendered his mind to Jagjith without a second thought. Last time, he'd tried to hold on, and the Brown had simply taken control, leaving T'mund with very little memory of the event. What he did know was that he'd come back to consciousness tangled with an unidentifiable male and no memory of what had happened - he'd detangled and run before he knew who it was. Now, though, he realized he didn't want to know. His first real kiss had been with a man, apparently, and it looked like his second one was going that way too. Did that make him a man-lover?? That didn't even bear thinking about. He momentarily wished for Meira, then surrendered fully to his dragon, straightening up as the red faded from his cheeks. He actually raised an eyebrow at K'fuzziBalath, mud brown eyes considering his classmate. The ball was in her court, of course, but all of a sudden T'mundJagjith wasn't worried about it. She'd come to him. She had to.

[Rei]

Watching Balath as she played in her thermals Mavenath took note of her movements. Her turning radius. Anything that might help him in his quest to capture her. As she flipped over on her back he gave her a toothy grin. The expression playful as her mind caressed his approvingly. The large bronze wondered how long that approval would last when she realized that he was not planning on playing by her rules. Hmm. Stretching his wings to their fullest he powered after the glowing female. What the young maiden in front of him didn’t realize is that quick as Balath was in the desert with so much warm air they where pretty much on an even playing field. With more wing area the warm air served Mavenath better than it did her. She had nowhere to run either. No trees to hide behind. He could easily match her speed, even if only ever here, if he so chose. Not her agility by any means but he hardly needed that if he made a good grab. Poor pretty.

Her sudden stop didn’t catch Mavenath completely off guard although he did wonder for a moment why she was slowing. He had expected her to try a trick like this. He accepted her tag with good grace allowing even Jagjith his attempt at a snag. Close but no catch. With a rumbling laugh he fell after Balath. The large bronze didn’t drop to her level. Pointless and she would have to come back up anyway to complete the flight. Instead he leveled off well above both other dragons and powered after the green rather quickly. Making up distance as he slipped expertly from one warm air current to the next, the male used them and his massive wings to power himself after the green at a speed that was astonishing for a bronze.

The brown’s brush to Mavenath’s mind was surprising and he sparred his competition a glance. A gamble then. Hmm. Interesting…. Slipping into another thermal the bronze briefly considered before responding. Indeed. You take the right then and I’ll take the left. Stretching out his massive wings he shot after Balath using the winds to his advantage. You should use the currents more my brother. With bigger wing area in a hot place such as this you have the advantage not her. Learn to use it. There was something to be said for using your own power to pursue yes. But with a quick thing such as Balath every advantage was necessary of you wanted to win.

The female may have the upper hand in maneuverability but in a desert it was more than easy to keep up with her speed. Jagjith just had to learn to fly better. It was ironically a green that had taught Mavenath his use of thermals and crosswinds. As a weyrling he learned well cavorting with Eveyth. Silly completive sister that she was she had taught him more than most dragons simply though play. With no hesitation the large bronze pulled up close to Balath and suddenly sought to veer into her path from the left, feinting a grab for her. If they pushed her enough she would make a mistake surely. But he had to watch his competition as well. Helpful though the brown appeared they where both fighting for the same prize after all. Ironically however at this point the bronze didn’t care much to fight over Balath. Instead he was having more fun plotting against her. Chase she had wanted. It looked like chase she would get.

Cr’oph watched K’fuzzi approach with a sigh. Here he went. What he did for Mavenath. Really that bronze should kiss his ass. Obviously the large male was quite caught up in his flight or he would have had some kind of smart comment to make to that. Instead the red head’s brain was uncomfortably silent. There was only a tad bit of dragon lust coursing through his veins that was easy enough to ignore. The queen flight had taken a lot for him to remain semi conscious of himself. This? This was easy and he was used to it. Thus the greenrider’s teases where taken with a snort. However he didn’t pull back when the boy started messing with his hair. Cr’oph had already resigned himself to the flight after all.

“How generous greenling. Maybe it is you that should be afraid.” The words spoken lowly felt sooooo wrong. Damn he would so need a bath after this. But if he didn’t play the part at least partially Mavey would have close to no chance maybe. Depending. Why was that a bad thing again? The bronzer would be lying if he didn’t feel relived when K’fuzzi left him to approach T’mund. A quick check in with the flight had him grinning though. Oh poor greenie. Idly Cr’oph wondered if she knew what his bronze and the other kid's brown were cooking up.

At the very least it would be interesting to see how it all played out.

[Kisha-Ra]

Balath rumbled playfully as Jagjith missed catching her tail. Too slow brothermine.[/color] She taunted, pleased that she had escaped, and that her low flight had temporarily vexed both her males. Blissfully unaware that the brown and bronze were conspiring against her Balath moved herself into a new thermal to assist her rise from the desert floor, who would take such a wonderful game seriously after all?

The striped green rose majestically like a green comet in reverse and spun wing over wing, partly for her own entertainment, and partly just to show off that she could. However She was forced to break off and veer away from Mavenath with a startled hiss. How did the bronze get there? Of course he wasn’t faster than her, no one was! Though she thought it would be better to drop away from the bronze again (it had worked last time hadn’t it?) but some instinct made her put all her effort into an ascent, skipping swiftly from one rising air current to the next, sometimes changing direction for no apparent reason but always heading up. Watch Mavenath catch up now! It was only after she put all that effort into escaping the bronze that Balath noticed she’d completely lost track of Jagjith. Where was he, tricky brown?

K’fuzzi smiled and shook his head at the bronzerider as he turned away. ‘Oh no, sweet bronzeling, we’re not afraid of you.’ He retorted, unconsciously revealing that he still thought of himself and Balath as two separate creatures, ones that were becoming closer, true, but not a seamless whole yet. T’mund on the other hand seemed to become completely melded with his brown even as K’fuzzi stepped toward him, losing that nervous air that K’fuzzi had rather liked for some reason. Still the greenrider padded gracefully across the space between them, dark eyes fixed on the young brownrider and containing a predatory gleam.

However there was hardly any point in taunting T’mund with words, he was already too lost in Jagjith to appreciate subtle wordplay, and Balath demanded that K’fuzzi move, it was a game of chase after all, and he couldn’t just let Jagjith catch him. K’fuzzi wandered around the brownrider, just out of reach, considering, before he darted close, brushed a hand over T’mund’s jaw lightly, and darted away again all in the same motion. Turning to look at Cr’oph K’fuzzi pouted (it looked rather silly) and sighed, couldn’t his dragons move a little closer together?

[Ruby]

Too slow indeed, although Jagjith hadn't actually been trying to grab her. From what he'd gathered, that was poor form, although the Brown didn't quite understand why. Was the point not to prove who was the fastest and strongest? Was that not the one that caught the Green first? Ah well, no matter. Jagjith performed a slow loop away from Balath, curling into a thermal to raise himself back to her level. He might not be as talented with the wind currents as Mavenath, but that was to be expected given how limited his actual experience flying over land like this was. He simply sent approval back at the bronze - he appreciated the tip, no more. He would fly as he chose, but the idea of working with currents when he could was filed away for further consideration.

Anyway, he had more pressing things to worry about. Mavenath wanted him to take the right; excellent. And logical, of course, since Jagjith was already somewhat to the right side of Balath. He waited for the bronze to make his move, then swooped up in concert, approaching Balath from the right - and below just slightly, enough that she wouldn't be able to see him unless she turned her head to look. That part Mavenath wouldn't be expecting, but the maneuver worked beautifully, driving Balath heavenward. From there, it was a simple matter of converting his diagonal movement to a vertical one, something Mavenath might have more trouble with, as his original attack seemed to have been at less of an angle. Of course, the Bronze had experience on his side, so Jagjith had to take advantage of what he could. Navigating a thermal, he did what he could with it, stretching his wings to catch up to Balath... and more importantly, to beat Mavenath there.

T'mundJagjith's nerves came back as K'fuzziBalath approached, although their source was very different, now. Instead of being worried about the catch, T'mundJagjith was now worried about... lack of experience. Yep. A becoming pink tinge bloomed once again in his cheeks when the Brown found he didn't know what to do or say, especially compared to the elegant Bronze. How could he stand a chance, without knowledge of air currents and wooing? Ah, but it seemed something he'd done won him a touch, just a brush along the jaw but it was enough to pull T'mundJagjith forward a step, reaching out a hand to try to capture (and keep) his green. No luck, of course, so he took another step forward, closing the distance between himself and the green. She looked unhappy, so T'mundJagjith asked, "Why?"

[Rei]

Mavenath merely grinned as Balath hissed and veered away only to power upwards. Ah and that’s exactly what he wanted her to do. As the green skipped from one air current to the next the bronze merely stretched his wings to their fullest and slipped into a thermal. Using the warm air, and his own muscles, to hasten his rise he powered straight upwards. Not wasting time in changing direction and slipping into others so the larger dragon didn’t lose any speed like the younger green did. Finally the large male powered past Balath as she slowed and then adjusted his position to hers. Above her now Mavenath crooned pleasantly down at the green and steadied his wings to prepare himself for her next move. Jagjith was rapidly drawing alongside her as well. As the bronze saw it the 'chased' only had a few options.

She could veer to the side to avoid them all, keep powering upwards and into his range so he could attempt a catch, or veer off to avoid them both. Now it came to her decision didn’t it? Whether they had forced her into it was not an issue. Balath still had an escape should she choose it. His brown competitor might not force a catch... But Mavenath himself had absolutely no qualms about it. At all. He should have tried to force Jingth’s hand after all. And since he hadn’t she had chosen brown. This time he was going to take what he wanted if he could. Muscles tensed as the seconds ticked away and he waited for the female to make her move. Whatever it may be.

Cr’oph smiled as K’fuzzi spoke. Not afraid of them eh? Well really she didn’t have anything to fear from Mavenath but a forced catch. The bronze wasn’t a violent male. Just an arrogant one. And K’fuzzi had nothing really to fear from Cr’oph either. So the greenpair was right to have no fear. The flight would end how it would end and if Mavenath was not the victor Cr’oph would quietly take his leave. In fact the bronzer would prefer his dragon lose. The bronze seemed in a better mood for the flight regardless of the outcome, and that was the entire goal. The reason for Cr’oph not fighting when the dragon had professed a desire to chase Balath. Despite the obvious gender of the green’s rider.

The redhead watched the interaction between T’mund and K’fuzzi with only mild interest. Was he the only one who had near complete control? Obviously. Tch. Well he might as well play the game anyway. Cr’oph knew he could lose himself in Mavenath if it came to his bronze winning. He was also confident in his ability to escape if the brown ended up being the victor. With a slightly playful narrowing of his eyes the bronzer started a slow stalk for K’fuzzi. “Playing your game doll.” Wow it felt weird calling another man doll. “Are you going to run from me?”

[Kisha-Ra]

For long moments of ascending Balath just soared with no thought for her males, taken up with the joy of playing her little game of current skipping, glorying in flight and the feel of the air on her heated, glowing, hide. That was until she realised she’d lost one of her chasers. Jagjith was nowhere to be seen, though she could still sense him around. Slipping sideways into a new airstream the green allowed it to carry her upward as she craned her neck around looking for Jagjith. Ah there he was below her, tricksy brother, well he’d better not be hoping to catch her yet! She still felt like she could fly forever! What? How did Mavenath get there?!

K’fuzzi gave T’mund an amused look, not really understanding what the young brownrider was questioning he didn’t know. ‘Whyever not my dear brown?’ he questioned right back, noting a faint touch of colour to the boy’s cheeks. Very cute. Ah now his bronze was coming over, that was so much better. K’fuzzi was taken up enough by his dragon to want both his chasers in sight. ‘Of course you play our game sweet bronze. Everyone plays our game.’ K’fuzzi graced the bronzerider with a smile, a smile that turned to a startled look as Balath reacted to the close proximity of her chasers. ‘Not yet!’ The young man suddenly bounded away from his chasers speeding away over the scrubby grass.

In the air Balath hissed softly in displeasure at finding her two males so close, she couldn’t see any safe move to make but she had to make one. Waiting around here all day with the bronze above her and the brown below was just not possible, besides something demanded that she keep flying. The green twisted her body around in the tightest u turn she could manage and tried to reverse course out this mess, however it didn’t work, during the turn she lost enough height that she practically crashed into Jagjith and twisted away from the brown, leaving her upside down and under the brown for a moment, and in that moment, Balath saw nothing wrong with starting a new game with her clutchmate. Come brothermine, play with me some more.[/color]

Though K’fuzzi had fled just moments before Balath’s mind rose up to consume him completely in the moment of her choice, and since it was a choice, of a sort, it sent K’fuzzi turning on his heel and rushing back to join his abandoned chasers. ‘Goodbye, sweet bronze, come play again sometime.’ With that parting shot K’fuzzi turned to T’mund. ‘Come, my dear, we shall play together.’