Stormy Morning {Tiaeth's Flight}

[ryanne]

Liassa was curled up in her furs, lost to the world when Tiaeth's tossing and turning began. Both rider and dragon were restless, moving in their sleep, Liassa muttering incoherently. But Lia was the first to awaken, anxiety pulsing through her body when she felt Tiaeth. There was no doubt in her mind that her dragon was getting ready to Fly. Her color was unmistakable and, even though she'd never experienced Flight emotions before, she could feel the change in her dragon.

And she was going to Fly soon, Lia assessed as she rolled out of bed, hurrying towards her wardrobe to grab a tunic. She needed to get down to the Flight Room and she wasn't sure if she was going to make it in time. She neglected to grab breeches, only throwing on a very long tunic before rushing out the door. As she left, Tiaeth awakened, her eyes whirling furiously and her hide shining brightly.

The little green wasted no time looking around. Instead, she screeched her challenge, her scream high and piercing, before jumping stright into the air and falling off the ledge. Unfurling her wings, Tiaeth caught the wind, pushing herself into the sky. The weather was not pretty. It was obvious that a storm was upon them. The darkness of the sky did nothing to illuminate her bright hide, but she didn't care. She was beautiful and they would all follow. How could they not take to the skies after her? She was young and strong and fast and nimble. If they wanted a challenge, they would have one in her.

Liassa stumbled as the feelings hit her. She was only halfway to the Flight Room, but she kept moving, stopping herself from crying her own challenge to the weyr. She would keep herself aware enough to get to the room. She was not going to succumb to the Flight in the hallway. So almost blind with Tiaeth's emotions, she made her way towards her destination, her hand lightly trailing along the wall as if it would keep her grounded: keep her aware of where she was.

[Rowana]

Ruskeath was awake. He watched the coming storm with the eye of his rider, who knew that it meant rough seas ahead. Yet this morning the weather was far from his concerns. He was waiting for something. There! A flash of green on dark clouds. A cry of challenge. A green was rising! Ruskeath bunched his legs beneath himself and dove from his ledge. Skillfully he pulled out of the dive with a flare of wings. He rose to meat Tiaeth's challenge with a trumpet of his own. He was young and strong! Surely she would see he was worthy of her!

G'tor was startled into wakefulness by a rush of feelings not his own. Shards! Rusk is chasing! He snatched his pants, not bothering with a shirt as he darted down the halls. At least this time he was not miles away on a beach or by the river. He yanked on the pants as he ran, his mind already joining with his dragon's. He didn't even know who's green it was, but it didn't matter. In the thrill of the chase, nothing else matter. G'tor stumbled into the flight room just as all sense of reality left him. He was in the air, fighting his way through wind and storm to chase his lady.

[ravenmane]

I am will do this.
But...
No, Mine.
You Chased Rinagth already.
I did not win.
So? Winning isn't everything.
....Skye is trying to play with Joolree.

Sk'ler's head whipped around and he managed to catch the little Blue before he plummeted to the ground and killed himself. Joolree chirped worriedly at her newest friend, her eyes whirling a bright red color. "Don't encourage him to play while you're flying, Jool. He'll just kill himself." Skye was unaware of the stupidity of his actions and was happily crawling around on his pet's body. With no wings, Skye was already developing his climbing and jumping skills. He had to in order to play with his family. The way Sk'ler looked at it, Soltun was the big brother, Joolree the strange older sister, Admiral was the nonchalant cousin, and Skye... was the little brother everyone needed to look out for until he was an adult.

It is time. Triniath spoke solemnly and launched himself from his perch. Triiiiiin... Sk'ler whined quietly as he set Skye down on his bed and hurried off to the Flight Rooms. He hated Flights, hated the way he lost control of his body, and yet, the only thing he really liked about them was the nice fog one remained in if he or she rode the winner. After that... Sk'ler would rather walk on hot coals then possibly deal with a rider that hated Flights like Ciara did. Thank Faranth that Triniath had never gotten it in his head to Chase Toryth or else Sk'ler would die.

When he arrived, the Brownrider was completely under the familiar control of Flightlust, so when he caught sight of Liassa, he didn't see a young woman, but a brightly shining Green unworthy of anyone even himself. His eyes narrowed darkly at the appearance of G'tor/Ruskeath, but the Brown didn't growl or snarl. He instead began to hum one of his little tunes, and above, Triniath echoed the same song although it wasn't as clear in the stormy sky, but the same tune was playing inside his mind and a mental thread reached out and gently touched Tiaeth's mind. Did she mind his song? Was it alright to sing for her?

[dragon]

Thy sky was heavy, pregnant with rain. The day promised to be an ugly one, so far as weather went. Or lovely - depending on the perspective. Considering the area around Selenitas was still suffering from the effects of the drought, a promise of rain was absulutely lovely weather.

Unless you were a brooding blue dragon that was well ... blue. Kindrith was sprawled haphazerdly on his ledge, one hind leg and one wing dangling off the edge while his head was piled up uncerimoniously atop crossed forelegs. His chin was digging into the stone, but he didn't seem to notice or care. The big, pale blue was down, one half-open eye staring up at the darkening sky. He really wouldn't care if it rained on him at all.

Inside the weyr, E'yan was for a change not doing anything at all. Parked in a chair that was tipped back on two legs, ankles crossed and propped up on his desk, E'yan was watching his dragon. The breezes that blew in off the storm were pleasant enough ... smelled wet and of mud, as well as being nicely cool. It really was a nice point in time, barring the doldrums rolling out of Kindrith. It was a nice morning to sprawl in bed on top of the covers and snooze the day away.

E'yan was considering doing just that, when the cry ripped through the moist breeze, catching both his attention and Kindrith's. The blue lifted his head and looked in that direction, pulling his hind leg and wing back up onto the ledge with him. E'yan's chair dropped back to all four feet on the floor with a bang. E'yan didn't have to ask: he knew just as well as Kindrith what that sound was, and what it meant.

"Who is it?" E'yan asked, quietly.

Tiaeth. Kindrith replied, before climbing to his feet. It's her first. He swung his head around to stare at his rider. You're not going to tie me to a tree this time, are you? You can't stop me.

E'yan shook his head, getting to his feet and straightening his shirt. "Go on, Kin. Just don't kill anyone. And don't try to, either. Behave yourself, and I won't tie you to a tree." E'yan promised.

Blowing out a heavy huff, Kindrith spun around, never breaking momentum as he went from turn to launch off the ledge. Spreading his wings wide, Kindrith took to the air after that shining green form dancing before his eyes in the stormy clouds. He filled his lungs and bellowed after her, announcing his acceptance of her challenge. At first he never noticed the two other forms rising into the sky after her. In such a dark sky, it was too easy to miss brown forms. His eyes filled with green, Kindrith simply didn't take note of the two browns, beating his wings hard and fast to catch up to his lovely.

E'yan walked out onto the weyr ledge and watched Kindrith fly away. At least he wasn't moping anymore, that was nice. But he wasn't quite sure what he prefered: moping, or the raging flood of lust pounding out of his dragon? He looked past the dragons, at the sky, and shook his head slowly.

What a time to have a flight. When there was no telling what the winds up there would do to them. They'd work thier wings off just trying to stay near each other and not get scattered thither and yon ... and yet at the same time to avoid colliding into each other. Storm winds were compeltely unpredictable.

Well ... there was nothing for it.

E'yan turned and left his weyr, making his way down to the flight rooms at a trot. Time to go see what it was Kindrith was getting him into, before he even considered letting down the wall in his mind that was keeping the majority of Kindrith's emotions at bay.

[hseru]

Wide awake, S'lain sat at the small desk in his weyr, jotting down notes about his latest batch of patients and when to check their bandages, administer more numbweed, etc. He would drop a copy off later at the infirmary for the day shift, though he was the highest trained dragonhealer at the Weyr. It would help them to keep up with the smaller hurts and what needed to be done about them. His shift had ended a handful of candlmarks earlier, but he often found that writing helped him to unwind, and some nights it took longer than others to finally calm down enough mentally to actually sleep. This was one of those nights. The cool wind blowing in from the coast held the smell of rain, and he glanced up to see Jaxith perched eagerly on the edge of their weyr, illuminated by a brief, far off flash of lightning.

Shards. He'd been so preoccupied with his work that he'd not even noticed the blue's emotions, which were steadily growing into that familiar feeling. He was so tired too.. almost ready for bed. He'd be lucky to wake again after this in time for his next shift...

She rises, Mine. Her first. I will be her first. "Go to, Jaxi. I'll see you tomorrow." He didn't need the approval of his bonded, but it made him all the more eager, and when she voiced her wild, pitched cry, he followed suit with a wild, roaring bugle of his own, voicing his addition to the flock as he swept off the ledge and down, angling up to follow the bright green streak upwards into a cloud darkened sky, using the updrafts to aid him.

S'lain slipped out of his hide jacket, leaving it in his room so it wouldn't get ripped, and paced down the hallway at a decent clip to reach the flight rooms before the real edge hit. He almost made it, slipping into Jaxith's mind moments before reaching the already occupied room. He stealthed inside, a low hum in his chest.

[Kisha-Ra]

R’aro watched the antics of his firelizards with amusement. Telba had enticed Insi into a game of tag around the weyr, which involved a great deal of crash landing on Insi part, while the older, more dignified Jinka looked on with a disapproving look in her eye for the silly youngsters.

The high scream of a dragon didn’t concern R’aro overmuch, greens Flying was so usual that he was rarely even bothered by the emotional broadcast any more. Sounds like some green’s getting herself chased. He commented to Idith. Yes. By me.[/color] The young bronze agreed, springing from his ledge.

What? Idith, you, you never chase. R’aro struggled to form some sort of coherent objection in the face of his dragon’s new behaviour and the sudden onslaught of lust emanating from his beast. Then it’s probably time I started don’t you think. The greens from our weyrling class are starting to Rise, I should chase some of them. I will chase Tiaeth. Now be quiet, you might put me off.[/color] There seemed to be little R’aro could say to that so he muttered something about a highly improbable physical act and left his weyr. Which way were the flightrooms anyway? For a moment blind panic warred with the increasing pull of Idith’s emotions. He needed to get it right, not pass on to someone else what had been done to him. Fighting off his bond with Idith R’aro orientated himself and set off in what he really really hoped was the right direction.

Idith ignored the objections of his rider, he had restrained himself quite long enough on R’aro’s behalf but not this time! The bronze crooned to Tiaeth and twisted in the air as a particularly strong wind caught his wings. He meant to do that. Absolutely.

[ryanne]

Tiaeth didn't wait to see the dragons fly behind her. The winds were turbulent and she was going to stay in the sky for as long as her wings could hold her. That left hovering and waiting for the males to see her shining hide in the sky out of the question. She was going to Fly and they would follow. When they fell behind, she would continue to Fly. Only the one who could keep up with her would be worthy. All the rest could stay on the ground. These thoughts racing through her lust-stricken mind, she beat her wings, pulling herself higher into the sky.

The calls of her suitors were the only thing that made her realize that there were definitely dragons behind her. She didn't turn her head to look, the winds were blowing fiercely and she was not going to take a tumble through the skies for some quick dragon to twine with her before she was ready. No, she was going to keep looking forward and fly. A small melody raced through her mind, distracting her momentarily. It was a pretty tune and it wasn't something she thought she was supposed to hear. Reaching for who was singing it, she found that it was Triniath behind her.

Gently, she cooed to him, a sharp contrast to her sharp movements through the sky, turning her from her upward flight to a slight descent towards the jungle. He had to fly well to catch her, but his song was still pretty. This turn allowed her to see the rest of her suitors. Two strong browns, two nimble blues, and a young bronze. She crooned to them, flipping her tail before a strong current made her focus on flying, twisting quickly to stop from flipping in the air. Gnashing her teeth at the offending wind, she dove a bit to get out of the current then began to fly straight, fighting the crosswinds that seemed to want to toss her in every direction. Nothing caught under her wings to deter her from her path; she was too quick for that.

Liassa reached the flight room just as the first of her suitors made it. Not a moment too soon, though. She released her mind to her dragon, letting the emotions flood over her. In that moment she left the ground and was in the air, flying high above the weyr. She was Tiaeth and she was beautiful and quick and any willing to try for her would have to work. No clumsy male was going to snag her in the air. She was going to choose the best!

When the tune found her ears and the singer was identified, she all but stalked over to Sk'ler, running her fingers gently down his chest, her way of showing her appreciation. But she quickly backed up. She had not Chosen yet. None would receive her full favor just yet. They had to prove themselves in the air.

[Rowana]

Ruskeath paid no heed to the growing storm. If anything, it added to the thrill of the chase and fueled his desire to catch such a bold green. Several other dragons had joined in, but he ignored them. Only Tiaeth matter. Deep violet eyes fixed on her, a green star against a sea of grey and black. He pumped his wings hard to keep pace. He would battle any weather to reach her.

The high winds that Tiaeth danced through so easily would likely create problems for larger dragons, but not Ruskeath. His long narrow wings, unsuited for soaring, were ideal for slicing through the gale. He dove, dodged, and spun as the wind tried it's best to knock him off course. It took all his skill to stay on Tiaeth's path, but it was worth it. She was worth it! Could she see how good he was at flying? Surely she would be impressed!

G'tor growled in disappointed at Liassa's attentions on Sk'ler. Lost in his dragon's lustful yearnings, he was no longer polite or easy going. But she had not chosen, and he was content to wait. The contest was far from over.

[dragon]

Kindrith's wings were snatched by a gust of wind that was also laced with icey particles of moisture. He growled at it, snapping his wings shut against his body to stop that sort of treatment. Which meant he soared like a sparrow for a moment, before starting a plummet. He sliced through the blast of air, and then spread his wings again, but not fully. He had learned that lesson already. Truely, it was one he should have already known, and should have anticipated. Only half opening his wings for each beat, and beating them faster to make up for it, Kindrith's long, lithe, pale blue form sliced through wind and pre-rain alike, zipping along as he zigged and zagged from one air stream to the next.

He was determined to catch this one. This one was his! And all the noise in the air around him ... calls, roars, croons ... and the unmistakable sound of wings in wet air ... he knew he was not alone, even though he never tore his eyes off his shining lovely.

She was hard to see, in the stormy gloom that was only getting darker. But he followed after her still, anyway, despite the misgivings his was starting to project. E'yan really wasn't sure being strapped in flightlust in the middle of a howling storm was such a good idea, and was trying to warn some sense into his dragon.

But Kindrith ignored the man, pushing onward, driven. He was going to win this one, he could feel it in his membranes!! And with that thought in mind, the blue resolutely pushed onward. No mere wind and moisture was going to keep him from performing to the best of his ability! Though he wondered if anyone had the fortitude to bust through the clouds themselves, into the clear air above. That was a dangerous thing, indeed. Storm clouds were chaotic, at best, often had ice chunks slamming around in them, and the clouds themselves started out pretty high. Getting above them was no small task, in good weather.

Realizing he had somehow been blown pretty far off course, Kindrith cut a hard left, and arrowed his wings in tight in a shallow dive that had him picking up some intense speed. In the wet air, he had to close his inner eyelids, just to be able to see, and to protect his eyes.

Back on course again, Kindrith snapped one wing open breifly, to cut another hard turn, back into the trailing wake of his emerald jewel. Crooning an apology for having been blown off course, Kindrith started beating his wings hard again, to keep up with her, and try to anticipate which way she was getting blown, so he could follow.

[Kisha-Ra]

Idith heard the calls of the other males, sensed them fighting the storm to chase, but he paid them no mind, it was the right of all to chase but she would chose only one. Idith intended to make sure he was that one.

The strong winds had a hard job moving Idith’s weight around but the young bronze soon realised they were treacherous, apt to catch his wings rather than his body and try to drive him away from his lovely Tiaeth. Well he would outwit these winds and bend them to his will! Idith half furled his wings denying the full breadth of membrane to those winds, stopping them from getting under his wings and tossing him in unwanted directions. Of course it meant he had to work harder to keep up with Tiaeth, oh she was a quick little green even in this unpredictable sky, but that was half the fun of the chase.

R’aro stumbled into the flightroom, recognising Liassa as Tiaeth’s rider he relaxed a little out of sheer relief, and in that moment he became Idith. The change flooded over him, making him stand straight, proud, pulling his shoulders back and changing his expression to one of intense concentration, focused only one the object of his desire. R’aro’s voice made a passable imitation of a dragon’s croon, oh she was beautiful, and so bold too chose now for her Flight!

[hseru]

The wild winds only grew more intense as Jaxith struggled to stay on course, following his jewel of a green upwards through the stricken sky. Tucking his long legs tight to try and provide less for the storm to catch on, the blue bugled a challenge to the sky. Let the storm try and deter him from his objective, it would only give him the grounds he needed to show her that he was the best, the most dedicated to her. He crooned next, verbalizing his want. She was so beautiful, he would win her without fail.

Spiraling upwards on a wild current of wind, his long body slipped through the air, his tail making an audible snap as he suddenly changed course when the current he rode brought him away from Tiaeth. She angled downwards, and the going became more difficult as Jaxith failed to find a steady enough stream of air to encourage his lean body into further speed. Instead, he fought the wind, his narrow wings slicing through the tossed sky. He tucked his pinions in closer to his body, skimming on wingtips as he was blown back and forth in her wake.

An especially strong downdraft nearly pushed him to into the trees of the approaching jungle, but he snapped his wings out to counteract the wind, pushing upwards against the downdraft until it eased off, only to be replaced with a gust from each side, one after the other. He tried to compensate for the wind, managing to stay on her trail. Oh, she was wild, this one. As wild and free as the storm they flew through.

S'lain circled Liassa with a predatory-like gleam in his eyes. She danced to the singer, and he growled faintly until she backed away. He would prove that he was her perfect match, not some male who sang to woo her affections. He would outmaneuver the brown, outmaneuver them all.