525,600 minutes (ellie's flight)

[glamourie]

It was a frosty winter morning. Yes, frosty, for Selenitas was experiencing what was quite possibly their first real winter ever. Snow would never fall in such a tropical climate but that did not mean that ice was unheard of, as evidenced by the sheets of it forming over the ground or on the limbs of the trees, barren from the sudden climate change. Rukbat rising over the horizon burnt away the mist from the night and much of the smaller pieces of ice, leaving water droplets glistening over the ground and the feeling of dampness in the air; it would probably rain soon. Sunrise was the hour of darkness rescinding to the night where it belonged and light returning to comfort the world. The early risers of the Weyr would be waking; the wherhandlers would be seeking their beds. It was a quiet and peaceful time of the day when one could appreciate the subtle sounds of the waterfall dumping over the canyon and of avians and wild firelizards darting to-and-fro.

It was also the perfect time to catch a glimpse of golden hide that was glowing like a second sun on the back of an average-sized (and very much asleep) brown dragon. Ellie wasn’t a large firelizard. In fact, she was smaller than her golden daughter Rose. However, perched on the middle of Checkoth’s back, it was easy to notice her in the canyon. Checkoth was curled into a tight ball on his weyrledge next to Behruth, his wings snapped at his sides, and his head resting on his clutchbrother’s haunches. Since the ledge was near the top of the canyon, Ellie’s spot right on his back made her glow act like a beacon in the early morning light – when the sun wasn’t even bright enough for it to qualify as ‘morning.’ She’d been faintly glowing for several days (and making a point to lay out where everyone could see her, even if she rarely left R’wign’s side when he was awake and had been excessively shy with male firelizards) – but nothing compared to how bright her gradient-gold hide was that morning. Even someone new to firelizard biology would be able to guess that she was going to Rise when she woke up.

Which was probably why R’wign was groaning as he lay sprawled out on his back in the furs that he and M’ta shared. One hand came up to rest over his eye and he rolled over to swat at the empty bed next to him in search of his weyrmate. His hands found empty air. Not terribly surprising, that; M’ta usually woke before him. Still irritating, though. R’wign was only happy when he had a M’ta pillow. His eye opened behind his hand and he sat up, black hair sprawling over his face. He looked messy and disheveled, as anyone would when they first woke up, and the cold blast of air against his skin made him shiver. Instinctively, he pulled the pile of blankets that made up his furs up and around himself for warmth and groaned.

“M’ta?” He didn’t even know if his weyrmate was around but the brush of minds against him told him that his firelizards and salamandyr had all hit the deck. It didn’t really surprise him, considering that he knew better than most how close Ellie was to Rising. (He frequently became very handsy when his gold was proddy – not that M’ta’d ever complained about it, thanks much.) “Are you still here?” He didn’t look around to know. If he didn’t get an answer, he’d just assume M’ta had run off somewhere. Most likely to do his morning jog. Irritating lover, his.

Mmm? R’wignmine? Checkoth’s eyes opened slowly before he crooned quietly to his mindmate, his body unwinding from around Behruth’s slightly. You are awake very early. Unbidden, he plucked the explanation from his rider’s mind and yawned, stretching his wings out to the sides as opposed to up, so as not to detract any attention from the little gold ‘lizard on his back. Are you going to go to the flight rooms? Firm no. Ellie wasn’t ever caught by salamandyrs so it wasn’t a big deal. Okay. You might want to get dressed just the same and move rooms. Just because the Elliegold doesn’t typically pick salamandyrs, does not mean that the people bonded to the little cousins will not come looking for you, and the Terihatchling is here.

A very good point. R’wign crinkled his nose and rolled out of bed, holding the blankets around himself. He blindly stumbled for the wardrobe in the dark of the weyr, yawning all the while. Too bloody early to be functional.

Ellie, apparently, disagreed. As soon as R’wign was out of the furs, she moved. Her eyes did not open immediately, but she stretched, languid and comfortable, her big golden wings spreading out around her like a beacon. Her back arched and her tail stretched out behind her before she chirped quietly and, at last, opened her eyes. Whirling shades of red-violet spread through her gaze and she sat up, perching properly on Checkoth’s back before turning her gaze toward the sky. A low, thrumming sound resounded in her throat. She twitched her tail, anxious. Her perch earned a grateful chirp as her gaze dropped around to the ledges surrounding her – and then she bugled her challenge loud enough that even the sleeping firelizards would likely hear her.

If they wanted her, they’d be waking up fast. She would not wait long for them to prepare – her wings itched to taste the sky.

[dragon]

Storm had not been to his normally demanded cozy-warm bed at all. He'd spent all night cat-napping in the top of a barren tree, melting the ice there until there was none left where his feet rested on the wood. Keeping a close eye on the little shiny dot way up there on that ledge on that big fat brown. Storm vaguely hoped that didn't mean that that big fat brown was a favorite, or if he was, he hoped he wasn't going to be joining the flight. Big fat brown was just too ... big and fat. Dragons shouldn't chase flitters. It was common sense. Right?

But, used to a forge at all times of the year, Storm was rather miserable sitting there in the cold all night, waiting patiently. Ellie was there, and to her his attention was glued. If unhappily at times. He waited for her, waited patiently. But it seemed as if she was dead, she was so very still. Storm had resisted the urge to go see if she was alive after all several times during the night. Queens didn't usually fly at night. Usually. So he'd cat napped the night away, tail wrapped tightly against quivering haunches and wings closed tight to shivering sides. It was so awfully colddddd!! Queens didn't usually fly at night. But he checked just to make sure anyway, several times through the interminably long night.

Thus it was, as soon as it started to grow light, Storm was aware of it. Gaze glued to that little golden dot high above. He started to flick his wings in excitement ... today was the day, he was sure of it!! But the chill air stalled that motion almost as soon as it was thought. No sense in wasting what little warmth he possessed in silly preemptive motions. Storm wiggled impatiently, wondering when she was going to wake up.

The growing light and the growing warmth that came with it, making some of the ice melt a bit was all very very welcome to Storm, still shivering from time to time. But still he stayed put. Like an adoring little statue.

FINALLY!! She was moving!! Oh, so pretty. And definitely alive, yes yes. He could see that now, she was moving after all! More than just a bright dot, she was a moving, glistening, rippling golden explosion. Twinkle, little star! Twinkle!! Storm let out an eager cheep, even though there was no way she could hear him from his treetop perch.

Finally, he opened his wings and started beating them, warming up the chilled muscles that he was going to rely on so heavily here in a very short while. He hung onto his branch, though, not leaving it. As his wings warmed up, the energy of movement warmed the rest of him, aiding the light that came with morning. Ahhh, it was nice to not be quite as cold!

At the first sound of Ellie's challenge, Storm was off and airborne. He trumpeted his return cry as loud as he could, cutting through the chill air quickly as he ascended. It was time, he was there! He'd been waiting for her, he had! All adoration given! More than awake, he was ready!! Zipping up past the ledge she was still resting upon, big fattty brown and all, Storm cut a hard twirl in the air over the ledge, before landing on the cliff face just over the ledge. Talons scraping and scrabbling on the stone there, he hung from the cliff, eyes shining brightly with desire. He chirped for her, eager to see her off.

And hopefully that fat brown would stay behind! Both of them! Now he could see there were two of them, not just one.

[Ember]

Charming had been very aware of Ellie's upcoming Flight. That didn't stop him from getting his beauty sleep though. He was just beginning to stir when he caught the gold's call. The brown was awake so quickly even he wasn't sure what was going on. Mother brushed his mind in greeting. The bronze was always an early riser. There was also a quiet inquiry in the brush. Would the brown be chasing Ellie? Charming chirped an affirmative and flew to the mirror to quickly check his appearance. That day marked the first time the brown spent less than a minute in front of a mirror once he'd caught sight of his reflection.

Mother flew over to the bed and landed near Nephele's head. If his brown brother was going to chase then the bronze would not out of respect for the older firelizard. Ellie was a beautiful gold and she had a nice personality. Had Charming not chosen to chase her the bronze would have undoubtedly gone. As it was, he could stay behind and watch over His as usual. He wished Charming good luck. The brown tilted his head at his reflection before deciding that with Mother's luck and his own good looks he was ready.

His wasn't awake so he had to forego an outfit (that was fine, he didn't really intend to wear one anyways). Charming fluted farewell to the only other awake occupant of the ground-level weyr and rushed off to join Ellie's Flight. When he arrived he sniffed and trilled an apology. He ought to have been able to get there first. He greeted Storm pleasantly but saved his compliments for Ellie. She was positively gorgeous today! Not that she wasn't always gorgeous. They weren't empty thoughts, either. Charming's flirting was never false. He knew how to compliment others on their good points so why lie? It also didn't sit well with the brown to do so.

The difference between his flirting with Ellie and with others was that the gold was genuinely special to him. Others were nice and all but his clutchmother was important to him. On a level with His. He adored her and he intended to show her as much during the Flight. Charming would like to be graced by her choosing him but that wasn't necessarily the point. So long as Ellie understood that he was quite serious about chasing her that was fine. He'd chased twice previously and neither had meant much of anything to him, nice as the two green salamandyrs were. Skink's Run had caught him by surprise and had been nearby so he'd been caught up in that. Vex's Run had mostly been an excuse to have fun and show off his dress.

[Rei]

Amour and Baron had both woken early with theirs. Elysia preferred to be awake when Dmitri finally got home so she could see him before wing drills. As such both the browns usually woke with her to complete their morning ritual. Chirping and crooning, while rubbing against the greenrider in a display of affection that they both had repeated every single morning since they hatched, they waited patiently as she fed them both. This time however the cuddles and affectionate pats where cut short as the younger of the two browns (Amour) chattered, grabbed a piece of meat, and betweened.

Baron gave a yawn, tail tip flicking idly as he watched Amour go. Giving his bonded a final croon he to leapt from the table and blinked between. Baron reappeared above Checkoth’s ledge and banked around in a slow circle above the two large brown dragons and the glowing gold. With a soft trill he angled his wings to land on a rocky outcropping, half furling his wings to await the awakening of Elegance. Tail wrapped about his haunches Baron tilted his head to patiently wait. All the while he chattered quietly in embarrassment at his younger brother.

Amour you see had other plans. The smaller male reappeared directly in front one of the big brown and angled his head upwards to try and catch a glimpse of gold hide. Sitting on his haunches the younger of the two browns waited patiently with a fresh piece of meat in his mouth from his breakfast. Perhaps his beauty was hungry? She would need much nourishment to make pretty babies. He could provide for her see? He would be a good sire. Or so he not so privately thought. Wings flared outwards as Elegance finally woke Amour trilled sweetly to her dropping his offering and dancing backwards with a silly flitter grin on his face. Morning beautiful. Breakfast in bed? With a final nudge at his offering the small lighter colored brown took wing angling upwards and hovering briefly as he gave a return bugle to hers. Ready he was and at her oh so lovely command.

Baron have a snort at his brother’s antics before trilling in return to Elegance and leaping from the outcropping to announce his presence as well. Winging towards his adopted brother the two of them brushed minds and swirled around each other in perfect synchronization. Performing a figure eight for the golden beauty below. Amour chirped brightly before breaking off and hovering a few flitter lengths apart from Baron. Enough antics now they where to be rivals. After all only one of them could impress Elegance enough to win. Both brown’s turned violet eyes to the glowing form of the gold, muscles tensing as they waited in anticipation for her beginning ascent into the sky.

[Lotty]

Hmmmmmm. Well this was a much, much, much better prospect than the salamandyrs he had been chasing and taunting. There might even be some kind of effort put into this venture should he take the invitation of the glowing hide. Alas these kinds of things took careful consideration. He couldn't just go blasting into a race such as this with guns blazing and a devil may care attitude. The bronze firelizard took great care in finessing his audience like no other, and that meant a certain degree of preparation was required. He was a showman every bit as much as he was an illusionist after all, and he simply didn't want to disappoint, especially not the beautiful Elliegold.

It would be unfair to say that K'sel was oblivious, he simply didn't care. Golds. Bah. He didn't care for the little ones and especially not for their big counterparts - hence his usual avoidance of even uttering the name Faranth - and if his firelizard felt it necessary to go chasing pipe dreams like R'wign's gold, well then the brownrider was more than willing to let the critter knock himself out. It wasn't like he lost anything in the deal and he personally had nothing invested in the whole affair, so when the bronze leapt down from the wardrobe and onto his shoulder for his blessings, the man did not even do so much as look up from the journal he had his nose stuck in or pause in his sips of klah. It was like old hat, like an old married couple, the same old tricks, and the same old conversation, "Go get 'em kid." It was a matter of fact statement. I don't imagine your attitude helping in any of our romantic pursuits. I don't imagine it hurting anybody but me.. Well at least show a little bit more encouragement for the little cousin.

By now Mojo had sprung from his bonded's shoulder and hung like a dark shadow over the man, scolding him and insisting on proper well wishes in line with what Pettahth had suggested. Dark eyes finally lifted up from his handwriting and gave the creature an almost too curious look as he set down his mug. The porcelain clanked against the wood table with an audible bitterness to match the rider's typical caustic tone. Do it... He cleared his throat, "I mean it. Go for the gold literally..." the bronze was clearly smug for a perceived win all until, "And if you fail you will dishonor this entire weyr and we won't want you back. Bye!"

He immediately returned to his business despite scoldings from his dragon, K'sel! You child...you weyrling! All went ignored so that he could address Eyesore and Fracas who were lounging in their respective corners of the adobe without complaint, "I swear we are the only sane ones around this place."

Mojo was unphased however. Gold to chase! K'sel's warmth wasn't needed. Appreciated? Yes. Needed? Hardly. He winked between with a small flourish, almost flipping into the void rather than just drifting, and when he re-emerged the acrobatics seamlessly continued with his wings flared out for extra pizzazz. Ta-da! He trilled victoriously and swung around the scene briefly as if working a stage, but he didn't have an audience to thrill so much as just Elegance. It was a private show for one you see. The other firelizards hardly meant a thing, which he demonstrated quite clearly as he mocked Amour and Baron's figure eights and then put on his best show of imitating Eyesore's friend Charming. The bronze came to rest and groomed himself with great pomp and dramatics. If only he had a spoon or mirror for added effect!

[Ruby]

Carenath was at his wit's end. He had selected no less than three Queens for His this week. All of them were beautiful enough, two out of three had thought T'mund was adorable and thought they could teach him something new (Carenath was extremely curious to know what anyone could teach His - T'mund was certainly the smartest human ever), and one had even successfully brought the Weyrling back to her room... Where T'mund had picked up a book, and started reading. He had not stopped until she had fallen asleep, half clothed. T'mund hadn't even noticed.

Fed up, Carenath slumped across his bonded's wrist, snake-like body curling around T'mund's arm as the Weyrling continued to read. The blonde, slumped behind him on the bed, started to snore. Several hours later, T'mund's nose drifted downwards, brushing the pages of the book. He jerked awake and tried again... only to fall asleep moments later, drooling slightly on the page. Carenath had snuggled in to his elbow long ago, head on the edge of the book, the end of his tail flipping gently into the night.

...

...T'mundMine? The little one has left, Jagjith pushed gently into his bonded's mind. T'mund jerked awake, glanced over his shoulder at the highly unsatisfied Weyrfolk girl still asleep on the bed behind him, then sent his mind out, looking for Carenath. The miniature Bronze was out near the Weyr cliffs, and... augh. That was a new feeling, and suddenly the blonde looked much more interesting. Almost like a book, or an ancient record of some sort. With a shiver, T'mund retracted his mind and closed the door silently, headed back to the Weyrling barracks. He'd keep from thinking of Carenath until the Bronze was back in his presence.

Carenath himself had re-appeared just above the ledge where Elegance rested. The two Browns were ignored, as were the other fire lizards - Elegance was the only one who had his attention. Legless, Carenath still settled gracefully, his serpentine body curling down on to the cold stone with ribbon-like ease. He might be small, devoid of limbs, and not the most beautiful color ever, but the little creature shone in the early-morning light, the brighter swirls on his hide glinting. He broadcasted love and adoration at Ellie, lifting the center of his body to inch closer. He was ready, whenever she chose to take to the air. He was waiting. His might be hopeless with females, but Carenath figured it was finally HIS turn to try and catch a Queen.

[glamourie]

Rather than launch into the air immediately, Ellie remained at her perch on Checkoth’s back. It gave her a good view of the first to arrive – bronze Storm who had chased her last time, that much she remembered vividly. He was a sweet one, was Storm, and she crooned compliments. The last time she took to the sky, she’d been in mourning; that she remembered vividly as well, for the loss of Hero had been quite difficult on her. But time had passed, and so had her grief. She would be more impressive this time. An apologetic flute escaped her, followed by pleased chittering – compliments no doubt. She was glad that he was there, she was, she was. But it was rare that Ellie was not glad for the presence of nice flitters. His landing made her eyes whirl happy shades amidst the violet – excited, excited. And she likely would’ve continued to fuss over Storm, had the second of her chasers not arrived and stolen her attention.

But it was Charming, and Charming had a very strong gift for stealing Ellie’s attention – as he always had from the moment that he hatched. Turning her head toward the brown, she crooned encouragingly to him while bowing her head in an almost modest gesture, as if the compliments had embarrassed her (in a good way). She twittered pleasantly and flicked her tail at him, baiting; no pretty outfits today? How strange! But she approved just the same. Of course she approved. He was there, and looking ever-so-handsome. Her flute told him as much before she turned around completely to address the next pair to arrive – both firelizards who were almost completely new to her, though every bit as welcome. She didn’t know very much about either of them, but her fondness for browns (see: her perch) was close to legendary and Ellie did not in any way want to run them off. Both Baron and Amour received pleasant flutes from her, though Amour got an added chirp of encouragement for his antics. How cute, how cute~ But she wasn’t hungry, no no. If she ate now, she would not be able to fly long enough, didn’t he understand? She’d be bad in flight, yes, so no food. Not yet.

Another bronze! She remembered this one, too. Mojo was one of her babies from the last clutch (that she was convinced was Charming’s, actually). Fluting to him, the gold firelizard cocked her head to the side... and then looked from him to the browns, and then back again in confusion. What was he doing? Ellie chattered quietly, but did not wait for an explanation from Mojo as to the purpose of his answers, for her perch was moving and she couldn’t quite figure out why. Turning her head, she squeaked at Checkoth – what was the Checkothbrown doing?

Answer: He was examining Amour. The brown dragon lifted one claw to lightly push the brown firelizard (using the outside of it to avoid harming him). Didn’t he know that golds didn’t eat before flights, lest the meat weigh them down? You brought me a snack, little chaser? How sweet, he teased, amusement dancing through his eyes. His two tails animated, flicking back and forth behind him in a blatant expression of his amusement. Bit small for my tastes though. Can’t you carry anything bigger? Silly. Yeah. Checkoth was definitely amused.

Quietly nudging her biggest brownpet to be quiet, Ellie turned to the latest Chaser to arrive and fluted a greeting. Another bronze that she was unfamiliar with but that was okay, that was just fine, he was a pretty bronze, after all. But why didn’t he have legs? That was odd, odd, odd. She chirrupped, not commenting on it for that would’ve been rude, but part of her was anxious. She’d never seen a firelizard missing limbs before and it made her feel sorry for him immediately. That pity never reached her mannerisms, for it would’ve been an insult... though, in a way, what she thought was worse, for her immediate belief was that a bronze with no legs could not properly sire babies, and Ellie would accept nothing but the strongest as her mate. She was the best, wasn’t she?

“Oh, stop antagonizing her fans,” R’wign called as he finished getting dressed, layering enough clothes on to be alarming. He liked the cold better than the heat but his tolerance for it was significantly lower, since he wasn’t accustomed. Result: Three different shirts, a coat, and two pairs of socks. And he was still cold. “Find out from Behruth where M’ta is, he needs to watch Teri, would you?” Checkoth rumbled in response, and R’wign snorted. “No, you can’t. You don’t have opposable thumbs. This is a major shortcoming in dealing with babies.”

Speciesist, the brown replied to his rider, but there was no venom in his voice. He knew it wasn’t personal.

A heartbeat passed, and then another. It seemed that these were her chasers, her males, and she counted herself lucky for each and every one of them – even the odd one that wasn’t fully formed. Ellie spread her wings and offered a flirtatious chirp – not loud by any means – for all of the males to hear before she flung herself from Checkoth’s back. Her wings caught her in the air and the wind carried her to the side and right over the ledge, dropping down the line of weyrs at a steep angle toward the river below. She intended to fly hard and make them work for the chance to be near her, make them earn her affections, and that meant a lot of tests. Just because she liked them all instantly did not mean she’d settle for anything but the best. She was Ellie after all... and in her mind, she was the only real queen firelizard at Selenitas.

Spiraling downward quickly, the gold did not look back. The first test was to see how much they trusted her, and she was being deliberately sneaky. For all appearances, it looked as if she’d spiraled into a nose dive toward the river, complete with her wings partially pulling in (but not completely) to speed up the descent. She used her tail to guide her fall, twisting her in quick loop-de-loops that made her gradient hide seem to be even more brilliant in the early morning hour. The cold air did not in any way slow her down. As she came close enough to scent the river, she flared her wings and pulled out of the fall. It wasn’t as graceful as a green nor anywhere near as close, but it was definitely more than a more bulky flit could pull off. They’d have to be careful to avoid becoming water-splatters. And yes, she’d picked the river for the deliberate fact that if they were unable to pull out, the water would break their fall and they wouldn’t be hurt. Ellie was a lot of things, but vicious was simply not one of them. Ever.

[dragon]

My, there were a lot of fellows showing up. All with their own crazy antics that caused a flurry that was a bit dizzying if one tried to watch it all at once. Storm blinked a few times, and then focused on Ellie again. Best way to not get stirred up by the swirling and flying of the lot of them. Appearing out of nowhere like that. Each got a chirp of greeting from him, but that was all ... his attentions were for Ellie, after all, not them!! All except ... that wormy thing. Storm was a friendly flitter ... except when it came to mandyrs. All because of one little brown mandyr having bit his. His lip wrinkled up at the sight of the legless flitter, but that was as far as it went ... not even a snarl or growl from him. Storm wasn't sure what that thing was, but in as much as it didn't look like a flit, it didn't look like a mandyr either. Even that attention, however, was the breifest of partial seconds, Storm's attention back on Ellie.

She had been so happy to see him, too, and that had made him feel so very good. So good indeed!! He had tried hard for her, and she had noticed!! It made him feel all aglow, almost like how she really was glowing. Maybe this time she would give him a chance, instead of dismissing him? Storm could hope!!!

Just as soon as she took flight, Storm leapt off of the wall over the ledge opening, and spread his own wings for a quick flick that took him out beyond the farthest reach of the ledge. There, he tucked them in and followed in Ellie's wake. It was soooo tempting to just follow and spend all his time admiring her every curve, form, and glow. So pretty. So lovely, so Elegant. However, it was not something he could devote all of his attention to. No, not with them headed down as they were. Storm didn't bother to look and see what the other lads were doing, focused on Ellie and where he was flying. He didn't follow too closely to her, also using his tail to do most of the steering with his wings just lifted from his body to keep from going too fast. It would be bad form to plow into her tail after all!!

He was ready when she pulled up ... mostly because he rather hoped she would. He could see past her where the water level was, after all. Storm pulled into the turn a hair of a second before he reached the place where she had, taking the smidgen of extra space to execute the turn gracefully. He could be quite acrobatic in the air, yes! But ... this early in the morning with little in the way of true warm-up ... he would rather give the water an extra inch than plow into it for an unexpected wing cramp.

As he flew he heated up further, until he reached a proper body temperature, burning energy as he went, wings spread wide as he zoomed along over the water, following Ellie's example. He would follow anywhere she went! He would, and he would show her just how devoted he was, what a good pick he could be for her affections!

He needed to find a present for her somewhere along the way, though. Something nice. It was how he'd won Queens before ... always with a present. He didn't have a present at the moment, but that was alright. He never started the flight with a shiny. He always picked it up along the way. Hmmmm. But!! First, foremost, pay attention to Ellie. Pay her all she was due. If something jumped out at him as a good gift (as it always did), he would make the loop to get it for her. It would show up when the time was right, he was confident.

Storm let rip with a long drawn out call as he sped through the turn and zoomed over the water, sounding as if he was really enjoying the flight, nevermind why. Or encouraging her onward, one never could tell. Tucking his wings in close to his sides after giving just enough flick to lift him just a bit, he twirled into a spin that lasted a mere instant, before opening his wings again and beating them hard, flying along upright again. Weee!

[Ember]

The brown fluted pleasantly at Ellie's modesty. Genuine or not, Charming thought it was cute. He crooned regretfully as she noticed his lack of an outfit. Yes, His was not as quick in the mornings as he could be. Still, he was quite handsome without his clothes, no? He nodded at her approval and watched her turn to another two browns. Charming had no problem sharing attention when needed. As much as he liked others admiring him or laughing because of him he was smart enough to know when it was appropriate to demand attention. He was there for Ellie and she was the one who ought to have the attention, not him.

Charming was nothing if not pleasant to the other chasers who arrived for Ellie's Flight. It wasn't any good being unfriendly towards others. When Mojo arrived and began to mimic him, Charming chittered with amusement. His son was so amusing. He didn't attempt to scold the bronze for his behaviour. As he was part of Ellie's Flight the scolding rights belonged to the gold and not him. Not to mention Charming didn't feel it did any real harm. He liked to copy others sometimes too...though that was normally to amuse them and not mock them. Oh well.

The dragon he was perched on began to move and Charming peered at him curiously. Had the gold managed to convince the dragon to help her see who was the most worthy of her? Hmm, nope. Just playing with one of the other chasers. It could have been interesting with the big creature making things more difficult but Charming was sure Ellie could do that well enough on her own. The arrival of a third bronze had him tilting his head to one side curiously. A legless firelizard? That could only mean he would be better at flying as compensation, wouldn't it? Interesting, interesting!

For all he seemed to be paying a great deal of attention to the other chasers, Charming was off Checkoth's back only a short moment after Ellie was. He was quite good at multi-tasking. Paying attention to many flitters at once wasn't so hard. The brown flung himself into a dive as well, breaking into a spin to assist him. He wasn't aiming for quite the same spot Ellie was but he didn't deviate too greatly from her path. It wasn't yet the time for tricks. He saw the river get closer and waited for the right moment to pull out of his dive. Being brown in a gold flight had a couple advantages. Being able to perform more nimble movements than the gold and bronzes was one of them.

Charming used his spin to help him out of the dive and he neatly leveled out above the river rather than crashing into it. He quickly made up for any lost ground but didn't get too close to Ellie just yet. Another advantage was his speed. Unfortunately it came at the cost of his ability to last as long so Charming made himself conserve his energy for later on. Again, he doubted Ellie would make the flight easy.

[Requiem]

Behruth had yet to awaken. The brown was well-used to an abundance of pets, so their movements were unlikely to disturb him. Neither was Checkoth's. Even M'ta's wakefulness didn't often awaken the smallish brown without a deliberate mental nudge; when the man was peaceful, it actually helped Behruth sleep better. Sneak, too, was with M'ta. He'd taken to flying along when the brownrider went for his morning runs, and also coming with M'ta to most things if it didn't involve the wing. Perhaps trying to fill a turns-old gap left behind. That and he didn't care to insult Ellie, who he really did like...she just wasn't one of the interesting ones. He didn't chase firelizards. There was no pull. Easier to explain why he didn't chase her if he simply wasn't there, and she'd be going up soon.

That left only PMS. The blue was asleep as well, though, and hadn't noticed Vex's disappearance. He lay curled on their shelf, frill half open and trembling slightly in the throes of some dream or other. Not a bad dream; he was crooning.

So M'ta finished his pre-dawn run in peace, picking up the towel from the stump that doubled as his workshop and running it over his dampened chest, his arms, his face, the back of his neck. Before the sweat could cool enough to make him cold in this weather. He slipped on the shirt he'd brought along, a lightweight cotton, and left it unlaced at the neck. His eyes roamed over the quiet frostland. A few creatures were stirring, yes, but not many. He preferred this to the hustle bustle of late morning and early afternoon. Sneak coiled around his bicep with a croon, snuggling into the warmth of His. The brownrider absently stroked the fire-hued firelizard. "See any?" The disappointment that washed over their bond was answer enough; Sneak had long-since stopped trying to hide his fascination with the mandyrs from His. "There'll be plenty out later."

A quickly dropping flash of gold caught M'ta's eye, then, and he watched as others dropped soon after. From their weyrledge. The brownrider's keen eyes picked out the individual shapes and Checkoth moving on the ledge. Behruth was still asleep. "Hm." Sneak chirped, tail winding tighter. If Ellie was Rising, there might be mandyrs. They should go see. "That's a reason not to go. Don't want to be caught up in that." R'wign would be, but...eh. No salamandyr was going to catch Ellie. She flew in such a way that it really was rather impossible for them, even if she hadn't hated the breed on general principle. Sneak urged him again, whining softly. Please please please? M'ta squinted down at the flit. "You're rather hopeless, aren't you? Fine. Fine. He'd whine at me for not showing up, anyway."

Nevermind that if mandyrs were involved it made sense to keep your distance. Not so much because M'ta worried about how they'd react to him singularly. R'wign tended to latch during Ellie's Flights, though, and the mandyr-possessed's reaction to that wasn't likely to be wonderful. He'd rather not have to protect himself from babbling idiots.

Oh well. If it happened, it happened. He hadn't seen any mandyrs, though the likelihood that even his eyes could pick out something that small from this distance was practically nil. M'ta came into their weyr to the sight of R'wign apparently preparing for a major blizzard. "Well, you could ask him. Where are you going, anyway? Up into the mountains?" He wrinkled his nose good-naturedly. "Enough clothing to suffocate in." (Nevermind that M'ta was accustomed to the Bitran climate of blizzards, ice, and subzero temperatures eight months out of the turn.)

[Rei]

Amour chattered at Checkoth, quite shamelessly, also quite amused. It /had/ been a gift for the gold but he was welcome to it. Baron zipped underneath his brother and steadied his wings into a glide, chirping up at the younger firelizard who fluted pleasantly again to Checkoth before dipping down to glide beside his brother. Meeting up midair both of the browns kept a close eye on the glimmering beauty that was Elegance. The rest of the chasers where noted only for their positions. The brothers in this agreed. The other males where simply unimportant. Her flirtatious chirp got a return trill from each brown, Amour’s being more musical in it’s delivery. The time was now. Both brown’s chirped their good lucks to each other before dropping simultaneously.

While very close to each other there was still a bit of friendly rivalry going on between the two. Baron was built more like a traditional brown. Muscular and bulky while Amour was built instead quite like a blue, muscular in his own right but streamlined and more adept at aerial displays. Breaking away from each other Amour put a bit more speed into his descent while Baron preformed more of a controlled fall. As Amour neared the river however though he intentionally put on a burst of speed and leveled out above the surface of the water. Extending his back talons the brown intentionally dragged them in the water sending up twin sprays of water and slowing him enough that no other part of his body touched the surface of the river. The little trick put him behind the pack but he wasn’t worried. He had enough speed that the little side trip was well worth it. Trilling in a song he himself made up he spiraled upwards again towards Elegance. Having fun was Amour. Could she tell?

Witnessing his younger brother’s trick Baron gave a snort. Silly brother was going to burn himself out quickly if he kept that up. Baron in turn pulled out of the dive before Elegance and set his wings after her as she continued on her way. Working his larger wings he made sure to keep close to the gold without being to close. Behind and above it gave the flitter a good view of the rest of the pack. Baron had participated in enough flights, both mandyr and green flit, to have some idea of what he was capable of. Slow and steady was more his style with a few daredevil tricks thrown in to impress. Still it was a bit early for tricks. Those could be pulled out later when there was more time to impress. Violet eyes hinged on his brother who trailed slightly behind winging fast to make up for time lost in his first trick. Only a moment was spared however before Baron’s undivided attention returned to the glowing gold.

[Lotty]

Whyyyyy was it that the flight was starting already? Mojo was just beginning so have so much fun with all of his imitations! Sure, Ellie seemed a little perplexed by it all, but if only there was a moment more then he swore he could have explained it all and tossed in a few more good mockeries along the way. It was a bit of a stretch but he thought that maybe he could mirror the big brown dragon couch that was moving underneath the gold. Right as he was about to do that though he noticed the weird looking bronze...now that was something to mimic...but how to even begin? He examined Carenath rather closely. Yes, yes, he'd have to tuck in his legs and pretend they weren't there. Then he'd be a flying wormy thingy. Not that he would get the chance to test this all out since the gold had obviously decided that things were under way.

With all of that feline grace of his he leapt into the air quite easily, muscles rippling softly underneath the near black hide of his. It seemed to first stunt actually did allow him to test out his wormy thing impression, and he pinned in his limbs as to make himself streamlined as possible as the flock of males fell down after the gold. He kept behind pretty far regardless however as he tried to pick out a strategy. All those other firelizards...they seemed to be playing it all so conservatively, which simply wasn't Mojo's style. How could he be expected to do anything in moderation? To get a gold's attention you needed to be different, and he would much rather garner negative attention than none at all. So with this in mine he gave the fall a few good sound effects... loudly whistling the whole way down so that one could almost expect to hear a crash.

But there was none. Mojo had plenty of time yet to make mistakes, but now was not it. Before he could collide with the water, his wings, much like all the others, fanned out and saved him from certain doom. They were quite large, even for his size, and they caught the air so easily that making the turn was nothing but a breeze and he was able to make a leisurely transition into the race again, flapping a few times to quicken his pace and set him on time with the browns. Not far behind was he, and if he had anything to do with it such a large gap between him and the other males wouldn't be left open again.

[Ruby]

Carenath chirped right back at Elegance, unconcerned about her scrutiny (or lack thereof). While His and the other occupants of the Weyr had made it clear that a fire lizard without legs was an anomaly at best, it didn't bother Carenath - and it never had. He might not have legs, but with a little creative tail and tooth manipulation, he could do anything his limbed brethren could. As far as Carenath was concerned, he was 100% normal.

T'mund, however, disagreed. With a general mental warning that Carenath needed to watch himself, the Weyrling turned over in his furs, trying not to wake E'iah. Oh, how he longed for the day when he wouldn't have a roommate anymore. He was worried about how the other Chasers would react to the odd bronze, though most of them seemed to have disregarded Carenath so far. All T'mund wanted to do was sleep, of course, but with Carenath's excitement leaking in to his mind, he figured he might as well keep an eye on the Bronze's wellbeing while he was being kept awake. Plus, the tiny idiot needed all the help he could get.

Oblivious to His' concerns, Carenath reared up on the point where his thin, streamlined 'body' met his quickly tapering 'tail', using his extended wings for balance. They were all there, wasn't Ellie ready to go? Wait - yes! There she went! Twirling his tail into a coil, Carenath used his whole body as a spring, somersaulting off the ledge and allowing himself to fall wrapped into a circle, nose to tail. Halfway to the river he flared his wings, sun catching the golden membranes in a dazzling flash, then angled his sails so he swirled into an unbelievably fast corkscrew.

Being legless and a fair amount smaller even than Amour, the next smallest chaser, had its advantages. Carenath was not afraid to use them.

Catching up to Ellie wasn't a problem, not for a creature as light and wide-winged as the ribbon-like Bronze. With a backwards loop around the trailing Mojo and a figure-eight between the near-twins Amour and Baron, he tumbled after Ellie, sticking close to her tail without overtaking her. He trilled gently to let her know he was nearby, but there was no way Carenath would be Catching before Ellie had made a choice. It was her flight, and he was fully prepared to respect her decision. He just wanted to make sure she knew he was a viable choice.

[glamourie]

Flying close to the water left Ellie’s wings nearly beating against the waves. She propelled herself forward in a tumble, dancing through the air before ascending at an angle in quick loop-de-loops clearly meant to show off her agility. Firelizard queens were agile enough, yes – nothing compared to greens but definitely nothing to scoff at and she took her time flying circles as she ascended rapidly. Her speed did not pick up – not immediately – but she wasn’t moving slow either. The smaller dragons would probably have no trouble keeping up with her as she made her way up the canyon walls, moving with the current of the river. She did not turn back to look at her Chasers immediately but intuition told her that they were still following, still able to keep up with her ridiculously fast pace and the spiral toward the top of the canyon above. To confirm her suspicions, she crooned backward, but did not stop to wait for a response. Hopefully none of them got hurt, but if they did, no doubt the Checkothbrown would’ve seen their fall and called to someone to help them. He was a good dragon, her chosen’s was. R’wignHers attracted the bests. She could hear enough noises (was that whistling? How odd) to indicate though that most were still in the race. Yay.

When she did dare to look back, Ellie found a bronze entirely too close to her for her liking. It was the legless one, too. Rather than scold or dismiss him as some queens might’ve, Ellie gave a challenging chirp and then angled herself to the side to torpedo up – out of the canyon – and onto a burst of wind that caught on her golden wings and flung her perilously higher. The gust of wind put more distance between her and the more streamlined bronze and she twisted, letting it carry her forward with her natural speed increasing; the wind meant she didn’t have to extend energy to keep aloft, a fact she approved of, for there were many tests to be had up here above the canyons of the Weyr, where dragons flew so free. She could outfly any of them, and she was determined to prove it.

If the first test had been the river, then the second would simply be keeping up. She soared on the winds, letting it guide her above the trees, her wings barely beating – but she continually ascended, moving upward higher and higher, than any firelizard’s flight ought to have gone. And she did not even slightly consider slowing down. Some creatures might have been concerned at the speed and height: not Ellie. The colder air and the storm clouds did nothing to dampen her spirits. As she rose into the air and twisted toward the clouds, she thought that she could melt the frost from the sky – and maybe her glow meant that she could. It remained to be seen – but she was definitely curious to see whether or not her chasers would be bold enough to follow her into the cold morning clouds.

The brown dragon tilted his head and watched the firelizards take off in amusement. His head swiveled down to watch each and every one of them descend after the Elliegold and a low croon escaped his throat. Once he was sure that all pulled out of the dive successfully, he turned back and laid his head on Behruth’s back again, content to go back to sleep. It wasn’t like any of them needed him anymore. He’d just been the Elliegold’s perch after all.

R’wign’s gaze shot up to M’ta as he finished pulling on the last shirt and he indicated Teri. “Close. I’m going to go hide in case a salamandyr gets it in its head that it has a chance with Ellie and I don’t want to be around here if that comes up. And when the flight is over I intend to whine at you for letting me freeze. My M’ta blanket ditched me heartlessly. Have you seen my boots? My toes are cold.” And they were. R’wign was just not ever going to get used to cold weather, no matter how often he got teased. He felt like he was dying of frost or something.

[dragon]

That whistling noise really was grating on the ears. Storm didn't even have to glance around to know who it was coming from either. That silly looking not-flizard. What in the world did the worm think he was doing? And then the twerp dared to cut in so close to Ellie's tail. Insults!! Storm was working on what to do about that, as it was his firm opinion that no one should ever insult a Queen, much less one as absolutely marvelous as Ellie!!

However, before he could think of anything to do that wouldn't in turn tick Ellie herself off (at him), Ellie answered the situation herself with a chirp and simply taking off like a holiday rocket. Storm warbled, and turned on the speed himself, his long, strong tail being a very effective and efficient rudder to steer him through every bend and curve up the canyon walls, leaving his wings to do nothing but powerfully throw him up through the air. He threw his wings open wide as he felt that self same gust hit his own body once he crested the ridge. Twirling back and sideways, he reoriented so that he was upright again, his tail doing all of the steering once again, balancing out and steadying the insane speed that was being put on.

Ellie was going fast, so Storm would go fast!! Bullhockey to the idea of conserving energy by going slower... conserving energy wouldn't get a lad anywhere if he fell out of sight of the lady he was trying to impress!! Of course, he cut the curves a little short where he could, not being foolish enough to expend more energy than he absolutely had to. But slow, he would not be! He would show her he was made of the stuff she was looking for! Oh baby!

He saved his breath, though, not attempting to make himself sound like a strangled bird by trying to call to her through the speed, wind, and the air it took to power this insane speed. He could croon and warble to her endlessly when she could actually hear him, after all. Storm never once noticed how high they were getting, though. Mostly because he never looked back. His attention was focused upward, all his energy poured into following that beautiful golden form leading the way into the picturesque sky. My, but did she shine, and stand out, against those clouds! My my, pretty pretty! Clever girl knew just how to flatter her every while. She definitely had it, and Storm approved of any flaunting she could come up with!