Padma's Flight

[etoile]

Padma shrieked at Emanor, who turned away, harassed. The chubby green had to give up, even though she was far from pleased about it. She had stolen some jerky from a spoiled weyrbrat, so it wasn’t fair that Padma stole it. Padma hissed. Of course it was fair that she get it! She was the queen, therefore she was the one to get the best things. Robika watched this exchange curiously from where she sat in the dining hall. Padma had been an unbelievable grump lately. Emanor had finally realized that it was much easier to just give up than fight. It was no use fighting with a grumpy queen flitter, especially when you were a fat green. Robika rolled her eyes, turning back to her cup of klah. Flitters. So annoying, yet impossible to live without.

The queen dove into the jerky, tearing a chunk out. It wasn’t good! She hissed. This made the greenrider look back up, puzzled. Padma usually loved jerky, but now it wasn’t good. The queen growled. She needed something juicy, something hot… something with blood. Alarmed at the emotions burning through Padma’s system, Robika looked back up, and realization hit. Why hadn’t she realized the glow!? It was there, plain as day! And Padma’s grumpiness… It was proddiness. How could she be so stupid!? Kicking her chair back, Robika watched with avid curiosity as her gold winked between. Flitter Flights weren’t as intense as dragons, that was true, but Robika loved using this as an excuse to ‘meet’ someone. Looking casually around the hall for any girls who might show an interest, she chuckled to herself. Leave it to her to take advantage of a situation. This must be how greenriders got their stereotype.

Reappearing in the jungle, Padma screeched a challenge to the males that would dare give her Chase. Who would think themselves worthy of such a magnificent beast such as she?! Descending on a young bird, she grasped it in her claws before it even caught wind of what would happen to it. Digging her teeth into it, she tore off the bloody meat. This was what she needed! Taking more blood than the meat—instincts told her the blood was delicious—she lifted her dripping maw to the sky, bellowing out another challenge. She was ready!

Taking to the sky, she quickly made it above the trees in a near-vertical slope. Emerging above the tops, she changed the course. Spiraling around and around in wide loops, she ascended at this slower, yet more dizzying, pace. See if the males could handle this!

[C'lyn]

Cael was preening on the ledge of his person's weyr when he heard the little gold's cry. He was instantly interested, responding with his own answering call before taking off from the ledge edge in a brown blur. L'kas looked up briefly then chuckled at the whirling thoughts coming from his brown's mind,

Cael disappeared between and reappeared in the jungle, scenting for the queen now. He spotted the flash of gold and took chase, his heart pounding and lust flowing through his veins.

[B'kay]

B'kay yawned and stretched as he headed across the Bowl toward the dining hall. He had heard there was hot spiced fruit drink, a rare treat for the Weyr.... He scowled as his stomach lurched and grumbled with an odd sense of hunger that was deeper and more intense than normal. How curious. Was he coming down with something?

Suddenly there was a brown blur in front of him, wings beating his face, claws reaching for his shoulder.

B'kay ducked his head aside to avoid having his cheek scored by Griz's grasping talons. The flitter landed, then lifted again, landed, lifted, each time battering his human with his flailing wings.

"What in the Egg is wrong with you, Griz?" B'kay tried to grab the firelizard as he entered the cavern, hoping to get the little brown under control.

But Griz would have nothing of being restrained. He flashed B'kay an image of a little golden queen, glowing with readiness, tearing into her kill in the forest ... and vanished!

B'kay froze, and attempted to mask the slight sense of panic he felt as he looked around at the weyrfolk. He really didn't know anyone all that well ... a queen dragon's flight, of course, would be well worth letting down his barriers. But a flitter? He racked his brain as the sweat beaded on his brow, trying to recall whom he'd seen around the Weyr with a queen flitter on their arm.

***

The jungle was steamy and lush as Griz popped from between just in time to see the magnificent queen shoot for the skies. He followed at full speed, and screamed defiance as another male appeared ahead of him. He beat his wings harder, the sun glinting off of the thin membranes with a burnished auburn sheen. Faster, faster, he tilted and shifted with the breeze, and finally caught a strong tailwind.

He was gaining on the other brown, cutting across its flight path. Now his head was nearly level with the other's tail.

He was determined to pass him! The gold would belong to Griz!

[.K.aci]

<sup>[[ooc]I can delete this if I'm not allowed to play a wild]

He was king. It was his land he coasted above, peering down carefully just to make sure that everything was fine. Of course it was. No thing moved without his awareness, no flit around him did a thing without his acception. Of course, those wonderful Queen's enjoyed flying in and out, but they were so hard to pin down. Tucking his wings against his body, he turned down to bank, landing safetly in a tree. He settled his light bulk down, peering down below him, head c o c k e d as he watched the scene below.

A mother bird, feathers ruffled in agitation, was calling out, again and again, begging. Her high cheep got more insistant, worried, and the Brown snorted. Females. Always got so worried about their babies. The thing was probably flying around, trying out new wings. But sudden a tang hit the air, and he froze, testing the air. Blood. The mother smelt it at the same time, and let out a heartbroken cheep. Gah, stupid thing wouldn't shut up! With a growl, he leapt at the mother, who in her fear had not kept her guard up.

A quick flash of teeth, and he held her broken body in his jaws. But instead of devouring her, he set off for the thing that had killed in his land. He was king, after all!

What the creamy colored Brown had not been expecting was a Queen, her bright muzzle stained with blood, bellowing a challenge to males. He nearly dropped his snack. Settling down on a branch, he trumpeted back, ripping into his own meat, tearing into it, although whirling eyes never left her own glittering form. Of course, this meant that when she shot up, he wasn't ready, clumsily dropping off the branch in pursuit of her, leaving the mangled body behind.

But he had tasted blood, and as the two Browns popped in, he snarled, beating his wings faster as he flew up. Browns! And not even wild ones. These were tame, tainted by those ugly pink things with the bigger versions, although not better looking, of himself. Browns! They would not beat him, and with that anger and copper taste running through his veins, he quickly caught up, although unable to pass. He had Flown females before. Stupid things tired themselves out, other's fighting to follow her every move. He stayed slightly above the other two, watching her with sharp eyes. Her loops did nothing to Impress, and yet he could not help but admire the female, the way she twisted, turned...

She smelled of those ugly two-legged things. He had had experience with them, popping in at times to their lands and grabbing food from them, or perhaps swiping something. Their noises were amusing, and they perplexed him with their ugly hides. Only one color, and urg, they were all all over the same. Not even wings! Unlike him, they weren't perfect. He, he was perfect, and they all knew it. Trumpeting again, he warned them he was King. This was his Flight!</sup>

[Journye]

Journye had just finished taking a bath, trying to her best to scrub the scent of numb weed from her skin, but unfortunately it was stuck there for a bit. She walked into the dining cavern to grab a bite to eat while Lucaith dozed after his afternoon meal. Her little bronze was perched on her shoulder, but seemed to be agitated about something that she couldn't quite put her finger on from his whirling thoughts.

She shook her head and stepped into the dining hall just in time to see a gold disappear between. Reryu trilled loudly and leaped from her shoulder, disappearing as well. She was left standing there, blinking at the empty spot that her bronze had just been in. She frowned a bit furrowed her brow. Then she gasped as it came to her, Reryu's jumbled thoughts making sense now. She licked her lips slowly and glanced around, she could feel her cheeks turning red as she hugged her arms around herself. She spotted Robika and recognized her as the girl that the queen belonged to. She felt herself in a predicament as she felt Lucaith's sleep thoughts as he felt her confusion. She licked her lips again and she looked at Robika, she had noticed the other woman before, but hadn't allowed herself to look since impressing, oh what a problem!

~~

Reryu appeared from between with a shrill call. He speed after the golden star, noting the two browns and a wild bronze. He hissed at them all then called to Padma again.

[Shikai]

Myra stared down into the liquid in her mug with unfocused eyes, while a pink-toned Myra with an equally blank expression stared back at her from the spiced liquid.

It was one of the rare times when her blue Aglovth could not be seen hovering at her side, as the dragon was resting in his place beside her bunk back in the barracks. She couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable and lonely without him near, and she wondered fleetingly how she had ever lived before her Impression to the fascinating creature. Maybe I should just go to bed and rest, too. She thought absently to herself.

She was snapped into a higher level of alertness by the shrieking of a fire lizard. Myra started, her head snapping up to allow her eyes to see the two flits, a green and a gold, fighting over some scrap of meat or other near a young woman. What was her name? Myra knew her face, having seen her about the weyr, and could visualize the green dragon she was bonded to. But she never had been great with names. Something with a K…Kamar…no, Kmar…relth? Kmarath? Ah yes. Kmarath, and Rob…or was it Rib…

Myra absently repeated the mental process over again until she decided with a fair amount of certainty that it was Robika, of green Kmarath. Lyra, who had been perched on Myra’s shoulder with about as much energy and enthusiasm as the girl had, snorted contemptuously at the scene across the room. Golds were just terrible. They thought they were so perfect and wonderful, with their flashy hides, and entitled to whatever they wanted. And they usually got it too! She turned up her emerald green snout haughtily, and shifted her body to face away from the other fire lizards. Myra smiled softly at the antics of her little green, and stroked her head affectionately. The excitement over, she began to slip back into her thought-world.

However, it was not to be. A brown flash appeared in thin air as Pan burst in from between, zoomed toward Myra, and crashed into the table. In the process of crash-landing on the hard surface, the brown also collided with the mug, his velocity knocking it easily from Myra’s relaxed grip. Thankfully, the hot liquid avoided Myra for the most part, but spilled all over her area of the table, and the brown fire lizard somehow managed to coat himself in the substance as well. He squawked in surprise as the hot, sticky fruit juice ensnared him, jumping around uncomfortably and shaking his limbs and wings in an attempt to rid himself of the unpleasant heat. While it stubbornly clung to him, the juice cooled, and he stopped fidgeting. Pan craned his head around on his brown neck to sniff his shoulder curiously, for he was aware that he now smelled quite sweet and spicy. Sort of like fruit! He gave his shoulder a lick, and chirped to find his tongue met with the very sweet spiciness he wanted! Pan sent himself tumbling across the table as he attempted to lunge for his own shoulder to take a bite, but found himself to be as unsuccessful as a canine chasing its tail.

Myra flicked the droplets of juice from her arm, unsure whether to laugh or shake her head. Compromising, she did both. She had expected that Pan’s uneven wing lengths would even out over time, giving the flit the same normal, graceful flight the other flits were capable of. His wings had evened out…sort of. The right remained noticeably shorter than the left, and the brown compromised for it by flying in wild, erratic movements, bringing an insect to mind.

Lyra, who had launched herself away from Myra when the saw the inevitable collision that would occur, now descended again, scolding Pan loudly for getting the sticky substance on her and disrupting the peace. Despite being the larger lizard, Pan instantly withdrew, backing away meekly from his clutchsister in the face of her harsh shrieks. Myra, however, had finished wiping the juice off the table while they chattered, looking amusingly similar to a mother scolding a young child. She picked up Lyra mid-screech, much to the green’s indignation, and wiped the flecks of juice off of her. Realizing what Myra was doing, Lyra went from creeling to crooning thankfully. Pan, however, was not interested in being cleaned. He rather liked this new smell! It was almost like, Myra thought, he was wearing some strange perfume. Pan darted around, evading her seeking hands, and sat on the girl’s shoulder.

From this vantage point, he sat up, looking for the first time at his surroundings. He cocked his head to the side, peering with a strange curiosity at the gold fire lizard across the room. “What is it, Pan?” Myra inquired, noting this. She followed his gaze to the gold. Her blue eyes scrutinized the creature. She certainly was stunning, so vibrantly gold and beautiful…

Myra’s eyes widened as she realized that the gold was, perhaps, a little too golden, with hide that shown a little too brightly. Oh dear.

And then the little queen did just as Myra feared, and vanished. And, as Myra had feared he would, Pan launched himself into the air after her and winked between, leaving nothing of him behind but the smell of the spiced juice.

------

Pan burst into the air above the jungle, but it was not trees that first met his eyes. Rather, he took in a most lovely view of the clouds drifting across sky. He chirped happily, but then realized that the trees appeared to be above him, not below him, as they should be. How strange! Even stranger was the sudden realization that he was falling! Pan squawked and bawled loudly as he fell, flailing his wings in an attempt to get himself right side up. Finally, he flipped himself over, and looked around him for the queen. His entrance was unorthodox, sure, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t catch up! He spotted her just ahead of him, and chirped in delight as he made to chase after her, but happened to spare a glance behind him.

His chirp turned into a squawk of alarm as he realized that there were other brown fire lizards headed right for him! Just his luck that he had landed right in their path! He cried out and flapped frantically in an effort to catch up to the queen and not be crashed into, but he could not get up the needed speed that quickly. The question was, could the other fire lizards manage to slow down enough to avoid him? Pan certainly hoped so.

[B'kay]

Griz's fierce scream turned into a panicked shriek. There was another brown firelizard ... and it had appeared directly in his path!

He raised a golden brown wing and banked into a barrel roll, barely missing the newcomer. He turned to shout insults over his shoulder, and ran headlong into a tangle of high-grown branches.

The little brown fell several yards, twigs breaking around him, before he managed to grasp onto some leaves and halt his descent. Climbing through the tangled mass, he reached open air again, and lifted off.

The chase was now far ahead of him, and he realized that a bronze had joined the flight!

Griz launched into the air, pumping his wings as hard as they would go, ignoring the many scratches that were beginning to bead ichor on his face, neck and chest.

After this flight was over he would find out who that clumsy brown was give him a piece of his little frustrated mind!

He was angry! He was furious! He was ... he was ... he was....

He was LAST!

An ear-splitting shrill cry left his throat as Griz pumped his wings harder, seeking out a thermal that would carry him upward and forward, desperate to catch up to the others and win that little queen!

***

B'kay, his emotions threatening to leave his control, gave up the thought of mulled fruit juice and continued to seek out the owner of the gold in flight. Others were looking at a particular young woman, and from the look on her face, he guessed she might be a good bet. He felt slightly relieved ... and tried to remember if he'd seen a gold attached to any of the men in the Weyr. He tried to remember this girl's name, to place her with a dragon.

A bored, totally uninterested, voice touched his mind. Kmarath. Green. And Syth rolled back over to sleep.

"Thanks a lot," he muttered under his breath, and gave his dozing dragon a mental poke, as he veered toward the woman, fighting the urge to run the other way.

[Journye]

Reryu gave a shrill cry of alarm as a Brown suddenly appeared directly in front of him and the other two in chase. He hissed and folded his wings, diving down low enough that he just barely passed under the stupid brown. He snarled over his shoulder and snapped his wings open just in time to keep from colliding with a tree trunk.

He heard another angry out burst and noticed one of the Brown's that he had been behind was now in a tangle. He snorted a brief cough of laughter before giving his full attention back to the Golden star a head. After this flight he would find the fool Brown that had been stupid enough to appear right in front of a chase!

~~~

Journye noticed an older rider heading toward the Green rider. She was guessing that he had a fire lizard in the middle of the flight as well. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying her best to calm the emotions welling up inside, but it was hard and she could feel Lucaith getting restless in his slumber. She shook her head once and opened her eyes, seeing that the older rider was infact her weyrling master! She groaned and bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. Sharding flitter!

[C'lyn]

Cael hissed in shock as the Brown appeared before them, the sharding idiot! He twisted to the side and cried in shocked pain as he felt a wing tip smack against the Brown, he hadn't been fast enough. He spun around to his at Pan. He beat his wings, thankful that the grazing hit hadn't done any damage to him and well if that fool had been hurt too bad! It was his own fault.

He quickly turned his attention back to the Queen, noting that a bronze had arrived and was ahead of him! He hissed and called curses back at Pan and was glad to see on of the other brown's was falling behind. He beat his wings quickly, pouring on as much speed as he could.

~~

L'kas stretched as he made his way down to the dining hall where Seath had informed him that the little flits person was. He whistled to himself as he sauntered in, looking at all gathered. He arched an eyebrow at Journye was nearly standing in the door way, then shrugged. He spotted Robika, remembering meeting her once.

[.K.aci]

He was king, and he was surrounded by jesters. Screeching out anger and obsenities to the fool Brown that had blinked infront of him, managing to barrel right into him! Detangling himself qucikly, and beating the stupid creature over the head with his wings several times, he was back up and off, the light flashing of his milk chocolate hide. But he was in second, and for now settled behind the first Brown, using his draft. Best let the not-winners tire themselves out for when the royality flew through.