[Ophelie's Flight] Doubt that the sun doth move;

[glamourie]

It would probably hurt less if you stopped walking on it, Ciceroth so-wisely pointed out as he sprawled out next to his rider on the riverbank. He was curled amidst his rocks (for they were his, and if anyone tried to claim them he'd have words with the foolish party), a comical sight to be sure: large bronze wound amongst gray and black stones worn down by the passing of the water. His tail slithered down, the forked edge settling into the water's surface, and he rested his head against his claws. You should listen to the healers. They're only telling you what is best for you.

"Considering how well they take care of themselves, I find their advice to be lacking in reasons to listen. Hush now. I'm trying to sleep."

Ka'rys was sprawled out on Ciceroth's back. All riding gear was left in their weyr, for the sake of comfort. His back rested against one of the rocks, and his legs were sprawled out over Ciceroth's back, with his broken ankle propped upward from the slight slope of the bronze's ridges. His eyes were closed as he spoke, arms wound around his stomach. His perch on the rocks was actually rather comfortable, and he was beginning to understand why Ciceroth appreciated it so much. It was an isolated place with comforting sounds; the river paving its way through its bed, water sloshing on the shoreline with the waterfall in the distance was highly relaxing. The more he stayed still, the more his mind began to drift off. The warmth of the sun's rays was equally serene. He'd be burnt when he woke, surely, but for the moment he was perfectly at ease to lay there with Ciceroth.

Or, he was at first. However, stirrings of feeling in the back of his mind made him open one eye, and he glanced down at Ciceroth curiously. The bronze's eyelids had fallen closed, save for the third one. Relaxation; it wasn't from him. Which meant those feelings came from Ophelie and it only took him a second to realize what they were. Green flights were ridiculously easy to ignore, though, and after another moment, he leaned back and folded his arms beneath his head. Ciceroth stirred beneath him.

I am going to visit Hepaticath, the bronze explained, and Ka'rys moved his legs to accommodate the dragon's movements. Since I am keeping you awake anyway.

"Oh, yes, blame me for the fact that you want to go flirt with the queen weyrling." Ka'rys rolled his eyes and turned to prop his wounded ankle up on one of the rocks. Not quite as comfortable as Ciceroth was, but it would do. The bronze snorted at him and flared his wings before gliding off toward the weyr itself. The river wasn't that dangerous, for as long as Ciceroth would likely be gone. Ka'rys was a very light sleeper, too. He wasn't expecting anyone to manage to sneak up on him. He slouched himself downward into a properly comfortable position and tilted his head to the side to doze. He was hoping to have decent dreams - if he had any at all. Lately, sleep had been an elusive beast to him, despite his attempts to rest being more frequent. Then again, trying to sleep when his green firelizard was Rising may not have been the best course of action; she was bound to at least distract.

She was no where near her bonded. Hide sparkling prettily, Ophelie was perched where all could see her. She was usually a very shy firelizard, but when she was close to flight, some of that diminished. She knew she was lovely. When her hide took on a glow, the blue undertones that made the green seem aquatic came to life and her hide looked fluid, like a sea plant rippling in the water. Everyone deserved the chance to admire her. So when she'd gone to sleep, she did so curled up at a very public location: right in the center of one of the boats used to ferry people to-and-from the weyrfolk apartments and across the river. It was secured near the main hall, and thus anyone who came to visit would doubtlessly catch sight of the soon-to-rise green firelizard. The slight twitching of her tail was suggestive of how soon she'd awaken as well, for she was not normally a fidgety creature.

Her tail gave another slight flick, and her wings twitched. Ka'rys clenched his eyes closed tighter in an attempt to force sleep on himself, with little to no success. Liette was no where to be found.

[Requiem]

"Surely you can see why, though, can't you?" Lauranna asked around a forkful of greens. She was in an altogether better mood now that she'd left S'rei's weyr and returned to the one she shared with F'rah - even though she still spent a good deal of time with her brother. Last time they'd talked, she'd been throwing things. It was a definite improvement.

The bronzerider frowned. "Only on the most basic of levels. I understand grounding a dragonpair, or putting them on a lower altitude wing if they can't perform, but this doesn't qualify." Irritation made his voice tight. "I grounded myself because I understand that concept. Now that I've asked to be put on a wing again, he sticks me with the queens? At half-capacity, Salenth is a stronger wingmember than almost any other bronze at this weyr. Certainly stronger than Corinth. And he's not at half-capacity. I'm not."

"You and I know that, but all T'rid knows is that you lost a weyrmate and have been holed up on your lonesome for months. It's not entirely without reason. And I don't see how arguing the point is likely to change anything, particularly stated that way. You'll just make him mad."

S'rei stood. "I don't really care. Either I don't do anything, or I do and, according to you, the result will be exactly the same. So he'll just have to deal with it if I irritate him." He deposited his tray before leaving and, by force of habit, dislodged Worm from her favorite place at his inner thigh, the small creature's endless litany of endearments changing tone with irritation. She only gave him a couple bites in retribution, however, meaning she wasn't that put out as she scurried up to peer out the top of his waistband. The little green mandyr was distinctly more energetic as of late - especially today. Perhaps she was picking up on his livening mood?

Suffering from pricked pride? Salenth sounded nothing if not amused. It has nothing to do with pride. We need our best dragons in a position to best benefit the wings. Purely logical. Oh? And you don't find it at all insulting that we're not considered the 'best'? You can't tell me it doesn't bother you. I know just what you're feeling, too, after all. Sure. It bothers me. But I'm not the one with my feathers all ruffled. You don't have feathers, Salenth. Neither do humans. S'rei didn't really know where the bronze was going with that, but the dragon had made the statement as if it were meant to end the argument.

Still a little lost as to where the conversation had just gone, the bronzerider descended to the ground and paused to survey the river. It had been awhile since he'd taken the time to simply look. A change in Worm's mind presence caught his attention, however. ...sunshineshineshinebrightsunshinegreensunshineshinehighgreensunsungreen... Frowning, S'rei glanced up, but couldn't find this bright green sun she was babbling on about. Strange creature. A tug pulled at him, not quite as strong as he was used to but strong enough. "Worm?" Was she finally going to run? He'd wondered how long it would take...the rest of the greens from her brood already had begun their mating runs.

"This really, really isn't the best timing," he hissed, trying to catch her as she wriggled between his fingers, but Worm was down his trouser leg and quivering, poised a few feet away. As if she were...looking for something. S'rei frowned at the creature, confused.

[Avu]

"I'm hoping," T'rid informed Conspiracy, "that you won't be horribly emotionally scarred, or whatever, because of Mir. He's never Chased before, you know. Doesn't he just have great timing? Brat." The brown fire lizard stared solemnly back at him, eyes whirling contentedly as he cuddled against the crook of his mindmate's arm. The bronzerider sighed as Dinner drifted across his weyr, the chick flapping her wings and giving an ocassional squawk as she pounced upon anything that looked even mildly threatening. In this case, it was a tunic. Claws tangled in the fabric, the chick went rolling across the ground and very nearly rolled directly into Stupid, who darted away with a surprised shriek and tripped over the end of the tunic. Perhaps he should have taken Raylin's advice and penned Dinner up, but the chicken had yet to soil his clothes -- she apparently preferred the Weyrledge, much to Corinth's dismay -- and, needless to say, it was highly chaotic between Dinner, Stupid, Conspiracy, and now Mir.

The blue firelizard was absent. Not noticeably so, for Mir was never really outstanding. But he was absent -- and T'rid was very much aware of what he was planning to do. Actually, he was merely surprised that Mir hadn't done it sooner. Chase. The blue flitter had never Chased a green before, and he supposed it was only a matter of time. And now that time was up. He didn't need to touch the blue flitter's mind to feel the wisps of desire that had started, and ocassionally, an image of the green fire lizard in question popped up at random in his mind. Frustrating.

To say that he had been watching her would not be entirely untrue.

Mir didn't care enough to keep up with all of the green flitter Risings around the Weyr, and he would have entirely ignored or missed Ophelie's had His not had to go to the Main Hall on some sort of business. He'd left long ago, and was presumed by the blue to be back in his weyr, or his office (Mir didn't know and didn't care to find out) -- but Mir had remained. He had just barely caught sight of Ophelie's gleaming blue-green hide and had left off drifting vaguely after T'rid to admire the shining green more. As he had been for quite some time now. The blue flitter had just hovered at the beginning, enduring T'rid's calls to hurry up, and finally, when the bronzerider, followed by Conspiracy and Stupid, had simply left in a fit of frustration (said frustration had been sadly common), Mir had dropped to light carefully on the edge of the dock.

His eyes were whirling rapidly, and Mir promptly took to mimicking stonework: He barely moved save for that violet-tinged whirling...watching. True, he hadn't shown any interest whatsoever in Ophelie until this very minute, but she was so lovely in the sun, with those undertones to her hide, and it fascinated the fire lizard -- absolutely fascinated him. He could stare at her for hours...(given, he could stare at a wall for hours, too, if he had nothing else to do, but Ophelie didn't know that.)

[Kisha-Ra]

If there was ever such a thing a salamandyr being sneaky it was Imp, the bronze darted from behind a stone, to the cover of a broad leafed weed, behind the foot of a passing drudge for a few steps. He moved with such silence and caution that those who were familier with the friendly little bronze might well wonder what Imp was up to, for he avoided patches of sunlight that might reflect from his hide and didn’t pause to greet those humans and other creatures that he knew.

No indeed, Imp was a ‘mandyr with a mission and being caught was not in the plan.

Ironically the person Imp was most hiding from hadn’t even noticed the ‘mandyr was missing yet. Darya sat in a corner of the dining hall with her food listening to the conversation around her with half an ear; there were plenty of complaints about the lack of wine and spirits from tithes, other complaints about the wing assignments. Not much worth listening to there…

Imp sprinted out in the open and climbed along the mooring rope of Opheile’s boat. once perched on the side of the small vessel Imp looked around quickly. No she hadn’t caught him, Darya wouldn’t try to keep him from his pretty little green. Now, if she would just wake and fly for him…

[Rei]

Vega winged over the river chasing flying bugs and the occasional fish. The pale blue squawked and back winged as a flash of green caught his eye. He hovered over the boat for a moment and then came to rest on one of the wooden posts on the pier. It was that green from the caravan the beautiful one. It was obvious by her intense glow and restless sleep that she would rise upon waking. Well he certainly intended to chase the glowing beauty.

The blue hummed low in his throat as he watched her. A flash of bronze caught Vega’s eye and he took note of the little bronze frilly from Lamb’s flight. The frilly planned on chasing the beauty? No matter he was a frilly and Ophelie was a flit she wouldn’t choose such a lesser creature. No surely she was more sophisticated than that. The little blue ignored the frilly and turned his attention back to the object of his desires.

“Vega? Darn where is he now?” Ebolath lifted her head from the river and looked down at hers. I do not know. He was here just a second ago helping you sand me. I think he must be chasing fish again. “Ah no matter as long as he doesn’t get into and trouble it’s ok.” Raylin said before grabbing another handful of sand and applying it to Ebolath’s hide. The green was going through yet another growth spurt and needed to be bathed and oiled often. The weyrling appreciated the little blues help. Without him it took longer. She was glad she hadn’t impressed anything larger than a green. The girl couldn’t imagine the time it took to wash a dragon like Hepaticath.

[glamourie]

Her wings fluttered slightly in her sleep. Ophelie's tail gave a violent twitch, clear indication of her beginning to wake, and slowly the multiple lids of her eyes slid open - one at a time, as though in thought. Her eyes whirled and she slowly rose upward, her wings spreading around her. Light caught off her hide, the vague sea-like color glowing prominently enough that anyone nearby could see her. She looked around appraisingly, but she did not make a single sound. Her gaze fell on the blue watching her with his whirling violet eyes. Her wings folded down coquettishly and she trilled to him, baiting; wasn't she lovely to behold? She stretched out languidly, showing off her dull glowing form. Vanity was not a trait the firelizard often displayed, but there was nothing short of it in the way that she flared her wings and twisted her tail. The little green wanted to be admired. She wanted him to admire her.

Ah, but he wasn't the only one! Her gaze turned toward a glitter of shine unmistakably bronze and she trilled lightly to Imp; she remembered him, he had protected her from the mean ugly bronze. He was an okay salamandyr. She flipped her tail daringly at him and lightly bounced to the side of her little boat, away from the male; more space for her. Her wings flared, the sky calling to her, the urge to go higher and faster becoming nearly overwhelming. She did not notice the second blue watching her - or she might have flirted with him as well. Her eyes were on the skies. Ophelie gave a loud call completely uncharacteristic of her (she was rarely noisy) and then launched herself up. Her movements were a quick spiral, carrying her into the air as little more than a glittering blur of blue-toned green. Upward higher and higher, her natural instincts were beginning to take over and she wanted to be moving, flying, to feel the wind beneath her wings and see the ground disappear from her view.

But it wasn't over the river she moved as she ascended. No, she had one of the land-flitters with her, and she would not drown her shiny by mistake. No turning over the river. He could not fly over the so-cool water, not with such little wings... and she was curious about him, at least for the moment. So, instead of darting off in that direction, Ophelie zoomed upward... toward the main hall. Her tiny body darted in and around the stair railing as if it were an obstacle course designed just for her, and she did not once look back at her three lovelies; if they wanted to catch her, they'd have to keep up. Just because she was nice, didn't mean she'd settle for anyone but the best. It didn't occur to her, though, that leading her trail of chasers inside may not have been the wisest course of action. Firelizards didn't often think with sense and logic, after all, and especially not when driven by flightlust.

[Requiem]

Worm's quivering grew more pronounced. She shifted, her frill twitching as if she wanted to instinctively flare it, though she didn't; Worm hated her frill and went into fits whenever she displayed without thinking. Perhaps for the first time since her hatching she'd fallen completely silent. She stared at Ophelie in open wonder. Such a lovely, beautiful green! Preening for her. For her. Of course the other silly male things weren't receiving this attention. Of course not! Bronzes should stick to chasing bronzes, blues to blues and greens to greens! She made a small whining sound in her throat and stood stock-still, just riveted by the flitter's power. So, so beautiful!

In rather humorous imitation of his 'mandyr, S'rei also had frozen, though for an entirely different reason. Salenth. This is... The bronze dragon was a bit surprised himself. They knew, of course, that some greens favored greens, but it just hadn't occurred to them that Worm might be one of those. There was only one other, wasn't there? I think so. We can't let her, Sal. That's a firelizard. Even the dragon was a bit worried. He didn't understand the concept of flying someone against their will very well, but he knew that was bad. And if he'd thought that His might be proof against a 'mandyr's lust after over two decades with Salenth, the strength of Worm's desire reflected through His was enough to prove that false.

S'rei had taken a step toward Worm, but at that moment Ophelie took to wing with a loud call, and the salamandyr darted forward, not at all wanting to be left behind. The man staggered and ended up leaning against the tree, a light sheen of sweat breaking out on his skin. He gritted his teeth against the flood of impulses, the most pressing one being to find Ophelie before she could get away! Only the Ophelie in his mind didn't look that much like a firelizard...

Worm took after her glowing lovely without holding an ounce of energy back. Restraint, thy name is not Worm. The 'mandyr took the stairs at a breakneck pace, scurrying up to the top of the railing to run above and behind the green, still uncharacteristically silent. Sneaky? Of course not, but she didn't have wings or a pretty frill to get Ophelie's attention, so she'd have to do it the hard way...by working harder than anyone else to catch her green!

[Avu]

Mir was momentarily distracted. The blur of shiny bronze that had taken up residence on the side of the very same boat in which Ophelie lay. The blue flitter stared at him for a second, the rapid swirls of lust turning into surprise before he shrugged it off and returned his gaze to Ophelie herself, where his gaze quickly reacquired that hopeful purple swirl among the blue and green. However, he was distracted yet again as another blue fire lizard landed on the dock. Too close to him, what if she overlooked him when she woke?! Mir gave a slight squeak of protest, hopping sideways and then promptly loosing himself in the fascinating study of the blue-green hues in Ophelie's hide. So...pretty...! His eyes whirled even more rapidly as her tail twitched noticeably.

Would she wake soon? -- oh, yes, she would. His eyes widened and whirled even faster as Ophelie caught sight of him (!) and trilled at him, stretching. Mir edged closer, warbling a reply, fluttering his wings hopefully before he crooned sweetly to her, still fascinated by the undertones in her hide and the glow of her. He'd seen other greens before they Rose, obviously, but they didn't have the shimmery quality that Ophelie had -- the quality that had Mir utterly and totally entranced. As she turned her attention on the bronze, Mir shifted a little, fluting in something that sounded slightly like distress: What if she forgot about him? He wasn't really a fire lizard...but he was still bronze and that...what if...the blue hopped agitatedly on the dock as Ophelie baited Imp as well, though he was mildly relieved when the green didn't seem to notice Vega.

Instead, she took off with a loud cry that startled Mir: the blue fire lizard uttered a surprised whistle that was broken off halfway as he launched himself up, wings straining to keep himself as close as he could to Ophelie. Was it so wrong that he wanted to see her pretty blue-green hide? Why did she have to go so fast? The blue crooned as he pressed higher in Ophelie's wake, looking like little more than a dolphin in the wake of a ship. Wouldn't she slow down just a little? Being a blur meant he couldn't see her! Which only made Mir fly faster still, his wings pushing him rapidly forward after Ophelie.

Wait -- wait! Where was she going?! The Main Hall? It was so crowded there...fun. (It could never be said that Mir quite cared that people would mind having a flitter flight indoors. Nope.) The stair railing required quick navigation, and Mir followed as well as he could, albeit rather more slowly. He was larger than Ophelie was, if only by a little, and it horrified him to see that the little blue-green glowy was so far away. With an anxious croon, the blue shot after her again, just barely managing to not scrape his wingtip on the railing as he pulled out of the maneuver in pursuit of the green, and only then caught sight of another green. Flaring his wings in bewilderment, the blue whiplashed around an unfortunate Drudge, squeaking in his surprise as he turned his head to stare for a second at Worm. What was...she doing?

But she wasn't shiny and blue-tinged like Ophelie was, and therefore not as fascinating, even if she was a Salamandyr, and Mir's attention turned quickly back to Ophelie -- in time to nearly collide with some other unfortunate soul. Squeaking in alarm as he whirled around that someone, he finally relocated Ophelie and started in pursuit again. But there was always that bewilderment. What was a green doing, Chasing?!

In his weyr, T'rid observed dryly to Conspiracy, "Mir's hopeless." And the brown chirped in quiet, content agreement.

[Kisha-Ra]

Imp’s tail twitched impatiently a couple of times. She was stirring, wings fluttering delicately. Beautiful, oh how beautiful. There now, she was waking. Imp stretched out his neck, leaning forward to admire Opheile further, his eyes gradually sliding from violet to a deeper purple. The green posed and preened, and Imp crooned his admiration, though the flirting wasn’t meant for him but for the wingy blue who watched her.

Oh she noticed him! Imp puffed up his small, long body as best he could and flared out his frill proudly for her to admire, wasn’t he fine? Oh yes he was, but no nearly so fine as Ophelie! As she danced away from him the salamandyr hopped along the edge of the boat and unfurled his wings in readiness. And not a moment too soon it seemed as she took wing with a cry of challenge. A challenge that Imp gladly accepted, throwing himself into the air and the chase, and casting aside concealment. No need to hide from his humanpet now!

Darya reeled back with the sudden force of Imp’s desire, her eyes glazing over as she fought the sudden flushing of heat in her body. In spite of her new predicament Darya almost admired Imp, the sneaky little bugger, he’d blocked her out just so he could find some flitter to chase? Amazing.

When she was almost sure her legs would hold her, or hold her as well as they were going to be able to at the moment, the bluerider left her table and picked her way across the dining hall, regretting picking a seat so far from the door now. Shaking her head to clear the vision of a lovely green firelizard from her mind Darya made her way downstairs with one thought in her mind, to get away from here. But ever more dominant became the need to chase and catch Opheile, she wouldn’t be able to fight it for much longer…

Up? Where? Imp looked around for his pretty little green and found her heading for the main hall. Imp dropped and ran after her, he’d run while he could and save his wings for when he caught her (it never occurred to Ipm that he might not catch her). He bounded up the steps, after his green with all the energy he had. He never even noticed when the obstacle in his path was Darya’s boot.

[Rei]

Vega watched as Ophelie awoke. He crooned appreciatively to her as she shifted but she did not seem to notice him. He was far from put out however how could he be? He was small and easily overlooked. That just meant he would have to try harder to gain her attention. As she lifted off he winged after her his sapphire wing membranes reflecting the light into dancing blue speckles upon the ground.

The pale blue flitter shifted when she shifted and followed diligently to the main hall. As she zoomed around the railing he eyed it for a moment and then zipped through it after her. He had to power his wings a bit more than usual and snorted as he found it taxing. How to remedy the problem? Suddenly an idea came to him one born from his flight after Lamb in the jungle. He grabbed at the railing with his talons. Using his momentum he swung himself from one pole to the next. Gliding a bit in between poles. Much better.

As she entered the dinning hall he was hot on her tail so to speak. The pale blue flit coasted from person to person staying perched only long enough to fling himself into the air and glide to the next victim. He ignored any squeals of surprise and even dodged a few swats aimed in his direction but his pretty was worth it. Oh very much so! Vega had to save his strength for the rough flying of that he was certain.

[glamourie]

They were chaaaasing her! Ophelie trilled back approvingly to her chasers as she darted up and into the main hall. A glowing spectacle, she was, and they would all admire her before the day was out! She intended to attract as much attention as she could. Yet, in comparison to many firelizards, Ophelie was startlingly quiet; only the vivid glow of her hide indicated that she was in the middle of a Flight and only the most observant of watchers would realize what they were viewing. She was fabulous! Gorgeous! She was the queen of the skies, for the moment at least, and though she was not as high as any of the dragons, she knew that all eyes had to be on her. She alone had blue tones to her hide, after all; she was the most gorgeous firelizard on all of Pern!

The little green gave a sudden and quick loop in the air, flying in loop-de-loops through the main hall as fast as her little wings would carry her. She darted high over the tables where individuals were eating, like a green streaks of light, before turning abruptly on her tail. With a playful chirrup, she zoomed underneath one of the tables. They'd have to sneak if they wanted to catch her! Wasn't she clever, with her obstacle course that the sillies had made for her? Her eyes whirling rapidly, she gave a quick glance down behind her only to find --

... ?

A green salamandyr was chasing her? Silly, silly, didn't it realize it was a green? Maybe the squirmy things had male greens! The thought amused her and the little firelizard twittered approvingly to Worm in acknowledgment; she'd missed that pretty chaser, oh yes she had, but no longer! And her chasers were all so inventive! Vega's daring made her chirp in delight and she followed his example to some degree. Spying an individual passing by, Ophelie zoomed from under the table as fast as she could and promptly flew between the girl's knees, to a squeal of surprise and horror. The green did not appear to notice, instead ascending up toward the ceiling in loops; evidently she had no intentions of leaning the main hall, and if any of them wanted to catch her, they'd have to keep up with her aerial display. She was graceful, she knew, and so very quick. Only the best were deserving of her!

[Avu]

Fly. Fly. Flying. He was flying for her, did she see?! Mir's wings fluttered through the air, supporting his frame as he shot low and fast through the crowd. Most of the people drew back to clear the way for the Flight, which was fortunate. The blue cheeped in shrill surprise as one Weyrbrat ended up directly in his way: With a squawk, the blue threw himself to one side and half-landed on one of the tables, running along the food-covered surface before, unfurling his wings and accidentally tangling his wingtip briefly in a woman's hair, he threw himself back into flight again, oblivious to the distressed squeal from said woman as her hair received an undignified tug courtesy of Mir's enthusiasm in launch. The blue flitter rapidly gained altitude. No. It was bad, it was, to be so low down. The silly human had made him loose ground on the lovely green shiny ahead of him who was Flying! Bad, bad, bad. He wanted to catch up, not fall behind!

Faster and faster he streaked through the air, eyes widening in his effort as Mir pushed himself forward, forward, ever forward. And abruptly, Ophelie had turned on her tail and was gone. Gone?! He caught sight of her, under the table, and his wings abruptly shot forward to catch himself -- so quickly that he flipped, tail over head, before he righted himself and dropped skim the underside of the table after the shiny blue-green. People's legs were in his way and Mir dared to lash his tail in the limited space, hitting someone's knee in a reproving gesture. Why did they want to keep him from the shiny Ophelie?! The blue firelizard finally pulled out from under the table, looping hopefully to make up for it. He didn't want to pull out so soon but if he didn't, he would hit his wings on someone and that would hurt and stop him from coming after his shiny, and that would be bad!

Apology was promptly forgotten as his eyes widened in alarm as Ophelie streaked between a girl's legs. What if she'd been hurt? Kicked or something?! The blue cried out, concerned, but there was no need for it: Of course she was too clever to be caught by a silly human who was clearly oblivious to the beauty of the shiny who had just passed by. She was even squealing, as if horrified by what had just happened. She should be delighted. She should be honored. Hmf, silly human. Mir shot directly by her head, one wing grazing the girl's left cheek by mistake: The drag slowed him down and turned him in a half-circle, and Mir had to drop one wing sharply to right himself again before he resumed his course in Ophelie's wake, glancing nervously at the competition.

Blue firelizard, bronze Salamandyr, and that green Salamandyr that had so confused him. She didn't want a Salamandyr, did she? They were strange...and obnoxious...and they Chased dragons. She had to choose a firelizard, right? He would be so, so unhappy if she chose one that didn't deserve her, he would be...!

[Requiem]

Worm leapt from the railing and skittered across the ground, just a little disappointed that her leap had been short. She darted beneath a raised foot and nearly skidded into a chair leg. Either one of the other chasers or Ophelie must have startled one of the big fleshy thingies, because a crash of earthenware suddenly was raining around her. Worm let out a hiss and tried to evade the warm wetness showering all around. A few drops managed to speckle her hindquarters, and she leapt in a little fit of rage, twisting about to growl and snap at the broken mug. BADBADBAD! It was trying to keep her from her lovely!

Oh no! Her lovely! Worm flashed chaotic images at Ophelie of cuddling and twiny snakes and sticking one's head in the sand, as a form of apology...though whether that would mean anything at all to the firelizard was somewhat doubtful. Worm's happiness at the lovely's acknowledgment came in a burst of merry sunshine yellow. She redoubled her efforts, flinging herself up the table leg and hopping from brace to brace beneath the table.

The green 'mandyr twisted her body, small little wings flaring, but her glide was kind of off and she ran into the creature, skittering up her leg, her belly and chest and leaping from the poor girl's shoulder. Worm landed with a hissing growl in someone's plate, splattering food particles everywhere. Any other time she might have shown them just how displeased she truly was, but the lovely was still flying overhead, and Worm refused to be left behind! The salamandyr launched herself into another leap.

S'rei wasn't sure where he was going, exactly, but one moment he was leaning against the tree, and the next he was chest-deep in the Selenitas River, fighting a current that sought to sweep him off his feet. He naturally began to swim. All he knew was he needed...he needed...something...

[Rei]

Hearing Ophelie’s chirp of delight buoyed Vega’s spirits and he dove himself harder. Pumping his wings hard he jetted after the green flitting under skirts and buzzing ears. He landed on the shoulder of a particularly tall individual and dove off of him into a long glide. Vega pumped his wings and whipped around the legs of another woman before ascending to Ophelie’s level. The blue followed her loops diligently trilling sweetly to her. The burning was beginning to start in his wings but he ignored it. He would not could not give in.

What fun! She was oh so clever. This flight was more a game with a perfect prize at the end. Vega did not mind working so hard for such a lovely green. Ophelie was clever, pretty, and fun what more did one want in a mate? The pale flit did a particularly small loop and shot out of it flaring his wings to their fullest to glide a bit. Besides giving his wings a rest the maneuver displayed his startling sapphire wing membranes. Vega looped about the ceiling beams and kept an eye on the pretty green careful not to venture to close to her. He didn’t want to push her into choosing early oh no.

[Kisha-Ra]

Imp whistled and trilled his admiration for Opheile, yes the salamandyr defiantly admired the tricks of flight he couldn’t perform. However such speed in the air and clever aerial accomplishments were not for one such as he so much as he admired Opheilie’s stunts Imp was forced to follow in other ways.

Rather than taking to the air in his usual leaps and glides the bronze climbed swiftly up a table leg and ran along the tabletop, weaving and dancing around cups, plates, cutlery and human hands as if they were all laid out for him to show his agility, frill flared out to fully display the swirling of bronze tones and long ‘mandyr tail streaming out like a banner. He hissed furiously at those few who tried to swat or grab at him as he ran, how dare they try and keep him out of the chase.

Oh she was fast too! Imp leapt from his table not even bothering to glide down, and bounded under the table after Opheile. That trick might fool those silly blue flitters but it would take more than darting under the table to hoodwink her wonderful Imp and all these legs and feet were no obstacle to him! Oh but up she went again, and there was only one way he could see to get the height he needed to go after her.

Before the unfortunate girl could get away Imp ran up her leg, being less careful in his haste than he usually would, climbed her torso, and leapt onto her head, than sprang off again into the air. There were no thermals and breezes for a clever bronze to ride in here though, no way to extend his air time beyond the usual measure of a glide…

Darya moved jerkily along the riverbank, intending to dunk herself to try and get back some little control of her body, and then maybe she could lock herself in somewhere until Imp lost. However the sight of S’rei further down the river enraged her beyond reason or control. That silly little green Worm wasn’t going to have her pretty one! She was going to get there first! The bluerider’s boots kicked up clods of dirt as she took off with a challenging bellow.