Fear Weyrling Lesson Ten

[Ruby]

Futh nodded (not that Mavenath could see, but still), sending an affirmative in his Twin's direction. Dismount, M'kaiMineLove. I am chasing in Mavenath's stead, and I am already behind. M'kia rolled his eyes, trying sarcasm as a way to keep away from the flightlust. Maybe if he simply disconnected, he could keep his brain in his own head, this time. I don't think it works that way, Fuffle. Plus I really don't want to catch X'rx. Mavenath might want you to go after Eveyth, but I'm pretty sure Cr'oph would consider it poaching. That got a hint of a wry smile, and M'kai latched on to the mental image of Cr'oph raging over the little Greenrider. Not likely, but still funny.

Futh was not pleased. For the first time M'kai could remember, anger slid across the bond, Futh's eyes mingling violet and red. Luckily, the remains of the Weyrling class were fairly far away, and probably weren't going to notice what happened next. Dismount, or I will be forced to take drastic measures, Futh demanded, his mindvoice threatening. M'kai didn't feel even a moment of fear; instead, he smacked Futh on the backside, trying to get the blue to pay attention to him, not the shining green quickly disappearing into the clouds. I will not!

Then I will have to throw you. Please try not to hurt yourself, M'kaiMineLove. M'kai was still trying to work out what this meant when Futh started bucking wildly. He quickly went flying, his short fighting straps snatching him out of the air before he hit the ground. Dangling by the waist along Futh's side, M'kai had to work hard not to panic. Futh would never hurt him, never ever, all M'kai had to do was get loose. He reached up for the clips, freeing one, then getting a solid plant on Futh's side as he released the other, launching himself out and away from the raging Blue. He landed and rolled, straightening as Futh took off, but he knew it was already too late.

Futh knew it, too. Three dragons peeled away, obviously dismissed, and Futh had just taken to the air. He trumpeted just before she made her choice, needing her to know that he had tried. I should have been here, he whispered to her, not wishing to distract from her choice. You are beautiful, Eveyth. With that, Futh returned to the ground, collected his disgruntled but largely undamaged rider, and turned back towards the Weyr.

[Rei]

Sel’n stayed put as X’rx moved away, sensing the stiffness but not realizing the cause until he felt the flash of pure anger and annoyance from his brown. The emotions coming from Kaaoloth disturbed him. More than he would like to admit. Angry and annoyed the brown had been in flights before but never quite to this extent. It was with supreme effort that he prevented the older dragon from snapping at Eveyth’s tail in retaliation. It was shocking to the Weyrlingmaster than his normally mild mannered dragon was seeking to engage in such violence. Even more shocking that Kaaoloth resisted the control. The man knew their bond had been deteriorating over the past turn or so but he had no clue the extent of the gap between them until that moment. The inner emotional turmoil of rider driving a wedge between the communication.

Up in the air Kaaoloth simply snarled at Eveyth. His lips pealing back over fangs as he easily avoided her attempted strike to his snout. Just as he contemplated a return strike however his threw up a mental stop. Snarling the brown twisted midair before peeling away from the flight. He no longer cared about who she picked. Whoever she did chose would be as blind as she herself was. No even yet a turn and thought she knew it all did she. Spoke as if she where an adult but really she was just an immature child. This was why he hardly chased the sweet greens. They did not understand. Well let her view her world as she desired. He did not care. Plummeting towards the ground his scarlet gaze fixed itself on the river. He dropped just enough speed for it not to hurt as he plunged into the waters in the futile hope that his anger would be cooled by the waters. Talons lodged themselves in the murky bed of the river anchoring him against the current.

The exit of Kaaoloth from the flight was like a snap against his brain, the shift from lust to anger immediate. As such when Iskierka was shoved upon him Sel’n shoved back roughly. It was the only display of anger he showed before clamping down on the emotions flooding in from his other half and severing the connection to the brown in order to gain some semblance of normalcy. There might still be damage control to perform. He couldn't let Kaaoloth's emotions get in the way.

First and foremost in his mind was keeping Harmonyth form being scared. She was to young to experience such even if Eveyth’s was not. The response from his brown was immediate, the tone that touched upon Harmonyth’s mind was like ice. Get your rider out of here and away like the other’s. If you have to pick him up and forcefully remove him do so. Now. Sel’n merely gave an unreadable look in the direction of his dragon, his hand running through his hair in a gesture of unease.

[mierce]

Iorath noted each dismissal, simultaneously feeling increasingly confident that he had flown well enough to prove himself worth of further consideration while putting more effort into the chase lest the spritely Eveyth think him arrogant for not maintaining his performance. He was sure of himself and his abilities yes, but that was no excuse to start slacking off even if all signs pointed to the lovely green favoring him. Down to himself and Trilaranth, Iorath followed Eveyth higher into the sky, pumping his wings to match her pace. Purple swirls danced in his eyes, the desire running deeper with each passing breath; it was so intense, His would certainly be wholly consumed by now.

Evrgarde accepted X’rx’s hand, her eyes half-lidded as she brought the knuckles to her lips and waited for the green to make his decision. She watched Eveyth’s pull Trilaranth’s close for a kiss. A brief thought flickered through her mind, wondering why the brown looked familiar, but just as quickly the thought disappeared, replaced with a wave of triumph that Eveyth has chosen her. She bowed respectfully to the brown, acknowledging him for the first time during the flight--this blue was nothing if not dignified in both wins and losses--then followed X’rx lead to the Harmonyth’s dazed human.

In the skies, Iorath crooned in delight at Eveyth’s choice--his lovely Eveyth. He twirled a full rotation to get into position, then flared his wings to buffer the air before carefully clamping his talons over the green’s hind legs (this was but her maiden flight after all, no need to be anything but a gentle lover). With a deep throaty rumble, he curled his body over the smaller green’s and took them higher into the clouds before finally coiling his tailed around hers.

Cer’c made a sharp intake of air when X’rx knelt in front of him, recoiling back ever so slightly. The boy reflexively closed his eyes against X’rx’s lips, the gentle words coming forth from the greenweyrling’s mouth only adding to his somewhat frazzled mind. “I… I…” He swallowed loudly, his eyes darting between the two riders. Share? What would they be sharing? And sisters? He wanted to say yes, but the image of another greenrider--a female one--swirled about in his thoughts, forbidding the words from daring to escape. It did not help that an equal quantities of confusion, fear, and despair was brimming over from his own dragon, mixing with his unbidden arousal to create some sort of volatile emotion. “I uhm…” Why was it so hard to think straight?!

Evrgarde reached forward to touch Cer’c’s shoulder, eliciting a strangled gasp from the boy. “I would not mind two sisters at all,” she said soothingly, cupping her palm over his cheek and meeting his large grey eyes. The bluerider turned to Eveyth’s. “But it seems that your sister is not yet ready. We should not pressure her.”

Cer’c shivered, then took a deep breath and forced his voice to hold steady as he spoke, “I’m fine,” he said. “Sh--er, he didn’t hurt me. Please, go ahead… uh… Eveyth.” Before he had could stop himself he had leaned forward to plant a nervous kiss on X’rx’s cheek. If he weren’t already so confused, the action alone would have sent alarm bells ringing up a frenzy in his head; as it were, it seemed the most logical course of action to send the rather affectionate X’rx (or would it be Eveyth?) on his/her way.

Kaaoloth’s message came loud and clear to Harmonyth, the words cutting through her shock like a razor. In the midst of people acting strangely and doing bizarre things, specific instructions on what to do felt like a blessing for the green even if the tone itself was cold as the deepest of winters. Without knowing whether the humans had finished exchanging their strange words, she curled her front claws around Her’s slender form and took to flight, flying low over the trees in a somewhat haphazard pattern.

[Ember]

Now see, this was why Iskierka hated Flights and helping other people. Flights turned everyone else into bumbling, unreasoning idiots and people she helped were never grateful for it. Why bother helping others at all? Oh right, helping the weyrlings meant not being hated too much. That meant things would be better for her. It probably still wasn't worth it. She had been trying to get Cer'c out of the way of a marauding greenweyrling in Flightlust and what did she get in return? A pissy blue dragon and no thanks at all for sparing Cer'c's green anymore worry.

Ioth had peeled away from the Flight after the rejection, anger seeping through the bond with his rider. Why was he to be blamed for her actions? It wasn't fair, to him or to Iskierka. She had been trying to help even if it was for selfish reasons. The blue was still silently annoyed with her though. He was a big dragon now. He wasn't sure why His felt the need to baby him and why she couldn't just let it all go. He'd met nothing but nice people since they'd been sent to Selenitas Weyr. His was too guarded for her own good.

Instead of complaining to His, Ioth sulkily flew to his ledge and flopped on it, tail dangling over the edge and twitching. Always moving, the blue was. He had never understood the purpose of being completely still. It was boring and he usually had too much energy to do absolutely nothing. The blue knew his limits though. His wings were tired and he'd need to rest up a bit before he could do much of naything for a little bit. He laid his head down on the ledge and began the almost unbearable wait until he could work off his annoyance.

The emotion often felt by herself but very rarely passed through the bond confused Iskierka just enough to let her guard down. She was shoved into Sel'n and then shoved backwards. By the second push she had regained her senses and didn't stumble more than a couple steps. She fixed the brownrider with a neutral look but he didn't seem to be paying attention. There were still a couple unoccupied weyrlings and she watched to see if they'd shake off their lust or if she and Sel'n had actually been there for a reason.