Calith Rises

[B'kay]

Syth watched as Calith rose on the thermals, his sharp mind thinking a leap ahead, and beat his powerful wings hard. Their strength drove him forward and up, in an arrow path to cut off the luxurious green's flight!

He would have her! The fire burned behind his eyes as she glowed before him, drawing every ounce of his focus. His wings burst the air around him, nothing could stand in his way!

SYTH!!

His rider's voice intruded, interrupted, how could he! How could he interfere with his dragon, who had not participated in a flight since Artemis!?

SYTH! An image of B'kay, frantic, pouring sweat, red-faced, heart pounding in his chest, trapped in the weyr....

In the weyr.... The dark bronze faltered, Calith rose higher, distancing him, the others blurring past at blazing speed.

And then he spotted again the streak of bronze. Glowing, monsterous bronze. Tirenth! Tirenth, who with his rider had tricked B'kay into taking him far away when it had been time for the Queenflight! It was Tirenth who had deprived Syth of his last opportunity to chase!

The dragon snapped his mind shut in a deafening roar, and slashed the air around him with wings on fire with flight frenzy. The air was nothing to him, it parted without resistance, letting his massive strength through as easily as a lightbeam.

B'kay, far below, alone in his weyr, trapped and surrounded by burning fire, tore at his clothing, paced the floor, and then.....

He raced for his bathing room ... thankfully the pipes had been run, even though the back stairs were never cut ... and turned on the cold! Diving half clothed into the bath, he prayed for the icy water to put out the flames! Blast his dragon, he'd better not catch that green!

[M'kel]

Tirenth's triumphant reign in the skies was cut short by the appearance of a rival bronze. The dark one was real competition, unlike those browns. He had the experience of many Flights behind him, but hadn't Tirenth caught the Queen of Araelen Weyr? His self-doubt lasted only for an instant in the face of this true competitor, for the bronze knew that he was the best. The presence of Syth meant nothing! If anything, the elder bronze's less graceful flight through the air would merely emphasize Tirenth's youth and vigour!

Bugling a challenge, the bronze dragon made it clear that Syths' presence had not caused him to waver in the slightest. Tirenth then focused his attention back on the lithe green. He noticed as the two browns performed barrel rolls, attempting to impress Calith, and he snorted in a superior huff. Was that the best that they could do for that prize? She seemed interested in the performances, however, so Tirenth determined to give her an impressive display indeed. Noting the presence of a strong, uplifting thermal, the bronze decided to take a risk and stretched out his wings to catch it, rising above the race.

He let himself gain quite a bit of height, whirling eyes remaining locked opon Calith's form to ensure that he wouldn't miss a sudden turn and fall miserably behind. Once Tirenth was satisfied with his altitude, he suddenly tucked his wings to his sides and sped downwards, at an angle to make up for lost distance, spinning rapidly as he did so in a vertical barrel roll. He rocketed straight past Calith, then snapped open his wings sharply, tendons aching with ignored pain caused by the force, and rose back up to fly close behind her. He did not drop back very far, for he was certain that she would be turning to him any moment now, and he wanted to be close enough to catch her immediately.

[B'kay]

Syth's focus sharpened at the sight of Tirenth's spectactular move. And now the larger bronze was so close to the dazzling Calith! Far too close!

He let out a roar and, half blind with the flight and competition, raced after them, making up distance with every beat of his powerful wings.

Syth's scream blasted through B'kay like fire. His body ached, burned, the pain shot through his mind. Frantic, he leapt from the cold water and once again ran for the ledge. Was Syth injured!? The sky burned red with the blood behind the bronzerider's eyes, blurred into hazy sheets with the water that ran from his hair and burned dark staring orbs as it mingled with the sweat that rose anew from his brow. He paced, frantic, desperate to scan the skies through half-blind eyes.

"SYTH!" he cried, and his voice matched the roar of his dragon!

[Skye]

Calith was feeling the strain on her wings now and the burning in her muscles from the prolonged flight. She glanced back sharply at the roar from Syth, slightly startled and this caused her to falter in mid motion. The falter cost her momentum and she decided to tuck her wings a fraction so that she fell a bit.

She had made up her mind and was pleased with her choice and she didn't care if her rider was pleased or not, this was her choice. She rumbled in delight as she snapped her wings open to slow herself as she bumped into Syth, her tail twining with his.

Back in her weyr Skye turned to step into...wait there was no rider for that bronze there. In the part of her mind that was still her own she was cursing Calith. There were only three riders in her weyr and four dragons in the sky and wouldn't it figure that Calith would pick the dragon that had no rider present in her weyr!

Skye looked around and frowned, what was she supposed to do, she was on fire and the images she was getting from still being so deeply in her green's mind weren't helping things one little bit. She glanced between the three men in her weyr again, feeling highly agitated now.

Then she smiled a bit deviously as she turned toward M'kel who was closet to her and stumbled toward him so that he would have to help steady her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him passionately......

Fade to black.

[B'kay]

Syth bugled his triumph as he wrapped himself tightly around the glorious Calith! The skies of Pern were magnificent ... and yet he felt torn in his ardor. What was that pain pulling him back ... dividing his attentions?

He blocked it, closed it out, and soaked up the attentions of the marvelous green in his embrace!


"NOOOOOO!" B'kay's throat closed off, his heart pounded as if to burst. He must ... he had to ... there was fire, there was victory!

His mind shut off as Syth's did, and he began, blindly, to descend.

The rocks of the weyr outer wall were sharp and rough, cutting into hands and bare feet, as the nearly blind bronzerider began to climb down ... down ... slowly, so slowly!

No, he must hurry, he must go faster, he must.....

Suddenly there was nothing in his hands, nothing below his feet. The air was cool, pleasantly cool, as he flew with his dragon. Flying, flying, fly....

FALLING!!!!

[Kitari]

In a Weyr, one learned quickly about the frequency of unexpected Flights, be they fire lizard or dragon. Kitari had been bathing Lefayeth when the latest green came screeching into the Feeding Grounds, and the Weyrling was quite grateful that Lefayeth had decided to eat before her bath. Although the gold was not nearly old enough to Fly, a green might be very displeased by the presence of any other female when she was demanding the attention of the males.

There was not much excitement for Weyrfolk, as the dragons rapidly took to the sky and vanished over the rim of the Bowl, so Kitari continued on as she had been. With the bath finished, the girl looped Lefayeth's harness on, as the pair had planned to practice flying around the island today. It seemed that the day's excitement was not yet over, though, for a desperate shout from above drew Kitari's gaze. She squinted around the Bowl before spotting the figure of a man standing on a Weyr ledge. Before her eyes, he moved forward and began scrambling down the cliff wall!

"Lefayeth!" Kitari cried, clambering onto her dragon's back without a moment's thought and urging the gold to the sky. Although it was a difficult take-off from the soft sand, the gold was spurred on by her rider's anxiety and powered upward. They swooped towards the wall of the Bowl, and it seemed that the pair was just in time, for the man suddenly lost his grip and tumbled downward! Kitari's breath caught as Lefayeth, eyes whirling with fear, suddenly swerved, attempting to position herself below the falling man.

They were far from Rescue Riders and quite new to flight altogether, which was made obvious when Lefayeth's wing thudded against the side of the Bowl, sending them into a spin. Somehow, luckily, the man had landed on Lefayeth's neck and slid hard into Kitari, at which point she had flung herself over him to wrap her hands tightly around the harness's leather straps and hold on for dear life. Lefayeth corrected her flight but was still listing to one side due to her wing, so she chose to crash land in the Lake rather than hit the ground hard. Water surged over her back, and Kitari released the fallen man instinctively as she was dragged underwater. Lefayeth quickly resurfaced, however, with her rider gasping for air, and her golden tail snaked around to support the man.

It was then that the pair recognized their lucky catch at the exact same moment. "Weyrlingmaster?!" Kitari gasped, eyes wide and jaw fallen open in shock. Why would the most dignified and composed dragonrider in the Weyr have attempted such a foolhardy manouveur? And where was his dragon?

Syth flies..

Without his rider? The Weyrling was even more puzzled. Suddenly, it clicked. The Flight.

[B'kay]

The realization that death was imminent and, even worse, his dragon would shortly go between forever, sobered B'kay immediately. But SHARDS what a way for a fighting rider to---

THUD!

Suddenly soft golden hide was within the grip of his grasping hands, and a human body was thrown over him, securing him to the back of a queen dragon. Who... how....?

Before he could complete the mental questions, cold lake water was splashing over them, and he came up coughing and quite doused ... in every way.

His dragon still flew above, and he could clearly feel that the fire had been satisfyingly quenched for Syth, as he looked up into the face of one of his weyrling queenriders.

"Kitari?" he croaked, and felt the heat rush to his face, for the rider and her dragon must have easily surmised his situation.

He coughed and sheepishly patted the golden tail that supported him. Well, to it, then -- no sense avoiding the issues.

"Syth hasn't chased in so long, you see, and the green rose while I was ... preoccupied. I was trapped in my weyr, and.... " He couldn't finish, so just coughed again and shrugged.

He stroked the dragon again, allowing his affection and thanks to flow through his touch. "I thank you, Goldrider Kitari and brave Lefayeth," he said quietly, unable to meet the young woman's eyes. "But for you, Syth would have died...." The lump in his throat was even harder to swallow than the lakewater he'd ingested a moment before.

[Kitari]

The Sr. Weyrling had still not moved from her frozen state, for it was quite a revelation to digest. Luckily, Lefayeth was not so strongly impacted, for she had the presence of mind to begin swimming slowly towards shore, as well as maintain her tail's loose grip on the man they had just saved. Kitari, however, was still unable to decide how to act in such a position. This entire situation had quite the effect of shattering her innocence, as she came to realize that the Weyrlingmaster she looked up to and admired was as vulnerable to natural urges as everyone else. And yet, to throw himself from a weyr ledge...was that a natural occurrence?

As he croaked out her name, Kitari still did not move, the confusion and uncertainty as plain on her face as his embarrassment. A sudden fear gripped her; had his Syth won the Flight, and was she the only other human around? It was her turn now, as the goldrider's face flushed deeply at the very thought, and she suddenly found herself glancing around the Lake, wondering if she ought to swim away. Perhaps Lefayeth could hold him underwater for a while, Kitari thought as panic began to set in, that might cool him off.

These irrational musings were interrupted by a thoroughly non-aggressive response from B'kay, as the Weyrlingmaster simply stroked the golden tail that gripped him in a grateful manner. As he explained the circumstances that had led to his fall, Kitari's anxiety began to recede. That all made sense, and the bronzerider seemed to be free from his connection now. Perhaps the fear of imminent death had frightened all lust out of him. That would be very convenient, indeed!

As the Weyrlingmaster lowered his gaze and thanked her and Lefayeth in hushed tones, Kitari's anxiety was replaced by a feeling of awkwardness. She had never expected one in a position of authority to be thanking her for anything. Also, Lefayeth and she had reacted out of instinct...they would have tried it for anyone. B'kay seemed very broken up by the thought of Syth's potential death, though, and Kitari felt a wave of sympathy for the bronzerider. "I'm just glad that we made it in time," she murmured back, eyes also dropping to Lefayeth's golden hide.

Kitari... Lefayeth intruded hesitantly, unsure if she should be interrupting yet. It was then that her rider finally became aware of the dull throb of pain through their bond, and she clutched at her right arm instinctively.

"Oh, Lefayeth!" Kitari cried, prying herself free from the soggy riding straps to slide down into the shallow, shoreline water beside her dragon. Her nervousness around B'kay was forgotten as she waded, hip deep, towards the rider, and her eyes sought the golden wing extending out for inspection. To her relief, it appeared that most of the damage was simply scraped hide at the joint of the wing rather than the wingsails, but the small droplets of ichor still made her feel faint. "I'm so sorry, my heart."

Don't be so dramatic, Kitarmine, Lefayeth chided, although her eyes were whirling rather quickly and were tinged orange. This was a lot of excitement for one day. It's just a scratch...right? Kitari looked to her Weyrlingmaster, seeking reassurance.

"She'll be all right, won't she? It's not permanently damaged?" Even Kitari realized, on some level, that the injury was not nearly so grave, but the adrenalin still racing through her veins served to amplify her worry. She stroked the golden membranes anxiously, unsure what to do.

((Maybe we should move this to a thread at the Lake?))

[B'kay]

Jun 11, 2008 16:09:08 GMT -5 Kitari said:

((Maybe we should move this to a thread at the Lake?))

Done :-)