Follow You Down (Gweneveth's Flight)

[Ember]

Sfelyth huffed softly though not in annoyance. Apparently whatever spat was going on between the riders down below was leaking through. Just as Ae'on was invisible to all but the green and, perhaps, the aloof bronze, so it was in the air between the dragons. A pity, really, because playing with the other males did so well to show off each other. The bronze abruptly dipped into his space and Sfelyth managed to turn his surprised movement into a smooth descent into the trees. He had to admit, the bronze was somewhat interesting.

He noticed a little ruefully that he was the first one out of the trees. Oh well, to his own benefit. He began a gradual climb, opening up his view of the tops of the trees to better react to Gweneveth's eventual appearance from them. Not to mention the benefit of gaining altitude - if he was feeling the beginning of soreness in his wings than Gweneveth had to have been feeling it too. He watched the other males pop out of the trees one by one with faint amusement at his vantage point. It looked...a little silly, to him. The males anyway.

Gweneveth was nothing but sublime beauty when she exited the trees in a shower of leaves. Sfelyth increased the angle of his ascent and was briefly rising with the green before she passed him by. While usually a wordy blue during flight, Sfelyth let his only acknowledgement of her words be an affectionate brush of his mind. There was a dogged determination in the way Sfelyth pursued the green now, a finality to his rise that didn't outright expect to win but definitely believed he had a damn good chance.

Ae'on had no problem with the way the flight was going, from a Sfelyth-induced view point. The other males were ignoring him rather well, too wrapped up in each other - and wasn't that just all wrong but also all to his benefit - while the green laid her affections where they were deserving. As he noted when the only idea she didn't outright reject was his own. The green had an innocent sort of quality to her but was quite obviously willing to participate in less than innocent acts with her males.

His metaphorical feathers were mildly ruffled when she approached the silent bronze for his opinion though. Bronzes rubbed even the Healer-human part of him wrong because of the sheer ego the majority of them had. Ae'on took a quiet, stabilizing breath before glancing at the other blues out of curiosity. What would they do, now that it was the end? He felt no overwhelming desire to force Vellani's choice because Sfelyth was having fun playing the green's game rather than trying to best her. Would their dragons, with everything now on the line, have the same honour? So far they had seemed to be abiding by her rules.

[Aftershock]

Venideth returned Gweneveth's pulse of affection towards him, still staying on her tail, whipping between branches and collecting a few more scratches on his face from whipping branches until finally his clutchsister burst from the canopy, Venideth right on her tail. The blue took note of the albino chaser nearby, and heard the crash of the bronze beneath, but paid them no more attention than that... not only was Gweneveth his focus, but so were the trees, and a moment's loss of concentration could be disastrous.

Following Gweneveth as she flew up and up, Venideth mentally smiled to himself as he saw the signs that she was tiring... lucky for him, Lilu's constant training and exercise kept him in top condition, and other than the soreness from the branch strikes on his face, he was perfectly fine, and could continue this for a while yet. "Take as long as you like, my beautiful clutchsister. No matter what, I will be right her behind you, ready to catch you when your wings grow too tired to carry you any further," he sent, waves of genuine affection for his favored greensister flowing like waves from his mind to wash over Gweneveth as she flew directly above him as she rose higher and higher into the sunlit skies.

As Vellani spoke of her doubt of her own dancing prowess, Lilu responded, "Dance is part skill, part passion. My skill might be greater, but your passion is what guides us all, and together our skill and passion would make for a dance for the ages." However, she did not pursue the thought farther, instead saying, "But it is your game, of course, and your choice." She smiled a bit to herself as Er'ani was denied as well, then saw Vellani move over to the latecomer in the corner... a bronzerider, by his knots. She kept her face carefully neutral as Vellani spoke to the quiet man, unknowingly sharing the thoughts of her other chasers in regards to worrying that he would end up stealing the Flight out from all of them with his "quiet, mysterious bronzer" maneuver.

[Lotty]

Even had Kierjaarth known that Lketh was using his shadow he wouldn't have minded. The bronze hardly considered himself threatened by any of the other competitors, even if he was participating in a game that wasn't normally geared towards bronzes. He surely could make up for size with the experience differential... as much as he would hate to bring it up in a flight full of dragons a fraction of his age. His bronze hide afforded him much in the way of arrogance, but ultimately he was one to prove his worth as opposed to just talk about it. The words he offered almost always buttered up the green and not himself.

Obviously this was not exactly the time for talking now was it? His mental breath was saved to focus on emerging from the treetrops and spinning out to the open air. His neck twisted ever so slightly to watch the green whisk away at the sky with her wings and drive herself ever up. Hmmmm... what to do, what to do about this? Flying above the forest did not offer much of anything in the way of thermals to catch, but then maybe it wouldn't be necessary to follow her so closely. After all if she goes up then she surely must come back down right? He kept this mind as he played the game quite conservatively, cutting through the air in the narrow paths that Venideth and Sfelyth were already blazing for him.... but not a blast of energy was used... no he needed fresh wings for whatever final act the green had for them.

Mi'rah knew he was approached only because of the silence that seemed to be cast about the flight room. Glancing out he noted the intense looks being pressed upon his skin, but he wasn't about to let his eyes settle upon them in exchange. His eyes were wooed towards the blonde before him, and he couldn't help but ignore all else to give considerable thought to the whisper tickling against his ears. He practically jumped out of his skin at the sensation; his every nerve ending seemed piqued by the lust running through his bronze. After all of these turns it was still a side-effect that he hadn't learned to turn off... even if he had wanted to.

Biting his lip for a moment he leaned over and returned her own touch with a rather chaste one of his own, his hand lightly bracing the side of the green's arm as he moved to whisper back to her. A tiny glint of mischief played upon the blues of his irises and the answer to her question rolled out without the hesitation and reserve that the man's lilting voice so often contained. Possessed wholly by the bronze's influence he answered, "I think.... I think you should challenge us all to a game of truth or dare...." The testing look he gave her with the smirk of his lips suggested the emphasis on dare.

Slipping his hand down back to his side he added slightly louder, "But it is your call, no?"

[Rei]

Lketh was waiting for the green to explode from the canopy and when she did he powered after her with what remained of his strength. It had taken a bit out of him to perform as he had for her. Being blue sized his stamina was not as great as a bronze or brown. No blue’s stamina not matter how much they worked would ever be as great as one of the larger male colors. Lketh was no pushover true and he had been training for turns both in combat and threadfall but the twists and antics he preformed still made his wings burn pleasantly as he rose after the green with as much speed and power as he could muster.

The other chasers by this point were mostly forgotten beside to mark relative locations. Venideth was still a little too crowding for the albino’s liking but Gwen seemed okay with it. Because of that Lketh didn’t move to react on her behalf. Instead he powered up alongside Sfelyth and the other blues and gave his all in a final surge towards the heavens.

Er’ani chuckled playfully at Vellani as she danced away from him. Well at least he had given it a shot even if his suggestion hadn’t won. Watching her progress with dark eyes he grinned when she approached Mi’rah. Suppose everyone needed to get their time in. A part of him was a bit jealous that the bronzerider was getting attention at all. However it was only right that she paid attention to all her chasers. Er’ani took a quick glace at the other chasers then taking stock of how gone to their dragons they were. Hmmm. He was broken out of his examination when Mi’rah spoke and though Er’ani didn’t hear the first murmured words he caught the second ones though and tilted his head. Her call indeed.

He could tell though his link with Lketh that the flight was quickly reaching it’s conclusion, soon enough Vellani would make her choice and there would be no choice but to accept it. At least he wouldn‘t need a moth should he lose. Lketh had never effected him strongly enough to need one. The young man rolled his shoulders as the burn in Lketh’s wings started to make it’s way across the bond to him and flashed another smile at Vell.

[Zephyr]

Up and up and up the elegant green rose, her glow trailing behind her like a comet. For the first time, she was slightly upset that she hadn't rose at night. Wouldn't she be especially pretty in the night sky? Not that she was a particularly vain creature. She could just appreciate pretty things occasionally. Like her chasers. Each was gorgeous in their own right. Venideth was her brother, loyal and steadfast. She knew she would always be able to count on him. Sfelyth was such a smooth talker, and he was charming at well! Lketh was wonderful and she was honored that he decided to chase her. She could tell where her rider's thoughts sway, but she had to make this choice for herself, not for Vellani, as much as she loved her girl. She'd make sure she wasn't hurt. And Keirjaarth...he was brave, diving down into those branches like he had, especially with his size.

Yes. All of her chasers were wonderful, but she knew she could only choose one. Well, theoretically she could probably choose more than one, but she only wanted one, and she would choose soon. Already, the burn in her wings was getting to the point where it was unbearable.

But she had one more trick up her sleeve.

With no warning, Gweneveth folded her tired wings into her sides and let herself fall. This was a risk, she knew, not being able to open her wings again when she got close to the ground, but it was a risk she had to take. She angled away from her chasers as she dove. She. Was. Not. Ready to choose yet, thanks.

Gwen fell, her body gaining speed as she neared the ground, but she kept her attention split. She was half paying attention to her chasers and half to the ground as she fell, angling for a large gap in the canopy.

Let's see what they had in them.

She didn't tell Lilu that she secretly liked dancing. When she was alone. In her weyr. The girl was so hopelessly clumsy that when she danced, she fell...often. There was enough of Vellani left to know she didn't want to make that mistake here. What good would it do her to fall and embarrass herself in front of all her suitors.

She smiled up at Mi'rah. "I like that idea." She said lowly, but she took a step back and lifted her head. Gwen was tiring, she could tell. And rapidly. "I don't think we have enough time." She said in a husky voice, flashing Mi'rah a grin before she backpedaled, to the middle of the room.

Still, there had to be something she could do before Gwen chose. The lust had taken her over almost completely, and she gave each of her chasers a look. Everyone was still in this. She knew Gweneveth hadn't chosen yet. Wait...there it was. She had opened her mouth, but closed it loudly with a clicking sound, her feet carrying her towards one person in particular...

...Gwen gave herself a little time to get her tired wings open before she hit the ground. Her chasers had done well. It hadn't been a great idea to fall to the ground so late in her flight, but she made sure she had enough energy to ascend once more. The green would never reach the height that she had before, but she wasn't a gold. She knew she didn't need that much height. She just forced herself high enough so that she could clearly see the one she wanted, and she brushed his mind affectionately.

Catch me, stupid! She crooned playfully into Sfelyth's mind, folding her wings in once more, but this time angling towards the blue. She wished that there were more of her. Each of the chasers had performed admirably, but there was something about Sfelyth, maybe his determination. He hadn't been too confident or arrogant and she could tell how Vellani felt about his. If he was ready...or even if he wasn't, Gweneveth would crash into his form, hoping he'd have the foresight to catch her before they both went plummeting.

Vellani collided into Ae'on. She really liked where they'd been headed before, and she told him as much, catching his lips in a forceful kiss as she forgot everyone else present. It wasn't who Vellani had wanted, but in that moment, it didn't matter to her. She was completely taken over by Gwen, and hey, this wasn't the worst possible situation Gwen could have gotten her into.

[Ember]

To say the green's move was unexpected was an understatement. Sfelyth let himself stall in surprise when she fell - and not in the collapse of strength way but in an entirely deliberate dive. The stall made it easy to twist into a dive and he followed her tail almost exactly. It could not have been easy for her for the blue could tell that she was tired. His own strength was still only partially depleted. He even had a few more choice tricks if he wanted to waste the energy. To burn all that energy meant that he couldn't carry the green should she choose him though. Still, he shot through the canopy at a reckless speed, snapping his wings open once he was clear of the upper branches. He kicked off the too-close ground (a bit of a whoops moment, that) and burst out of the trees once again. One final show.

She was rising again and Sfelyth almost regretted his stunt. Now his wings actually burned some, having danced around under shadows of others and doing little tricks here and there. He pushed his considerable endurance though and rose quickly after the green. He knew she would not make it much farther and the least he could do for a green that provided so much amusement without him having to make it was to be there if she wanted him. He wasn't really surprised when she brushed his mind with affection and bespoke him. I am a fool for you, he acknowledged in warm, playful tones.

She folded her wings and he flared his wide in order to enter yet another stall and catch her as she came at him. She crashed right into him and he curled around her with a pleased and amused rumble. His strong but admittedly tiring wings would slow their decent for as long as possible. And, hey, Ae'on couldn't complain to him about catching a green with a male rider the next day. Double bonus.

Ae'on noted that no one was making a diffinitive move towards the green. No one trying to assert that they were good enough to just take such a pleasantly amusing green. Considering the more game-like rather than competition-like nature of the flight, Ae'on was glad. He hung back too, letting the bronze have his moment of glory despite his dislike. It paid off in the end. Gweneveth made her choice and Ae'on locked gazes with Vellani as it happened, a faint smile on his face.

His smile made its way into the kiss briefly and he brought his arms up around Vellani, pulling her in tight to his body. She wouldn't be scared off by such a display now. With the embrace, the smile melted away and was replaced with a flightlust induced energy. Ae'on walked her backwards to the bed, so caught up in Sfelyth that he didn't even have the slightest hesitation.