Fire-Lizard Feeding

[tina]

The little blue flit was once more chittering loudly, eyes whirling in frustration, as he rejected the food offered him. He was a dragon, after all. Dragons didn't eat this kind of meat, they ate only one kind of creature, and they hunted it themselves. He couldn't conjure up a name, probably because he'd never been told one. They killed their own prey, and devoured the meat. That's what he should be doing, not accepting what had been killed by humans and held in front of him like he'd just hatched. Of course, the only way he could convey these thoughts were through images, memories passed from fire-lizards that he didn't think of as his own kind. It had never even occurred to him that the mere fact he couldn't "speak" telepathically meant there was no way he was a dragon.

Another barrage of images hit Kagairo's mind, distinctly showing dragons hunting creatures that in actuality were too big for the fire-lizard to take on. He just didn't know this, as he was so delusional that he had actually altered his own vision; the pictures that were his own memory, and not just images recieved from others, proved this; the size of things was proportional to a dragon, not to a much smaller flit. How he'd managed to get this wrapped up in the fantasy, she'd never know. She had certainly failed. Either way, it was obvious he wanted to hunt for himself, not eat food that what he believed to be his kind didn't.

"You are not hunting for yourself. I guess we can get you different meat, but you will not be the one to have killed it. You are a fire-lizard, not a dragon. Sheesh!" The human was rather sick of dealing with the delusions of her flit, but by no means was she sorry to have Impressed him. Sighing, she resigned to searching for someone who could provide her with meat that dragons ate, again.

[etoile]

Two more flitters were about- any talk about food, and it seemed to pull Emanor to them like a magnet, with a scolding Padma close in tow. Emanor fluttered in, cooing to Kagairo sweetly. If that ungrateful blue didn't want the food, she would be more than happy to take it off his claws. Padma chirped in irritation, hovering in front of Kagairo as if to apologize for Emanor's behavior.

Sending Robika images of where she was, Padma made a noise that almost sounded like a sigh. Turning back to the flitters, she shrieked at them imperiously, telling them to shut up and quit trying to be stupid. Emanor growled back- she was starving! Before Padma could respond, however, Robika broke into the happy little group. "Girls!" she scolded, and Emanor and Padma both chirped guiltily. Padma flew over immediately, taking her rightful place on Robika's right shoulder, while Emanor looked at the food longingly before taking a perch in her hair. "I am so sorry about them!" she told Kagairo apologetically.

She had come to this hold in Search of a candidate Kmarath had told her was here- however, there was no such luck yet. It was probably another one of the green's jokes, which bothered Robika to know end. However, Kmarath broke through her thoughts, saying in a smug tone, Good. You found her.

Blinking in surprise, she looked back down at the girl. She paused, deciding not to just say it flat out. She cleared her throat, then told her, "I'm Robika, rider of green Kmarath. What's your name?" She figured introductions would probably be a good start- then she could get along with the more official business...

[tina]

Kagairo took a startled step back at the appearance of more fire-lizards, merely blinking at the conversation, though her flit was obviously agitated by it. At the appearance of the rider, she turns her attention from the creatures. The behavior wasn't unusual; hungry flits were typically after what Tyran refused to touch.

"I'm Kagairo, and the picky fire-lizard there is Tyran." At the introduction, said flit started a tirade of indignant chittering, proclaiming that he is in no way a fire-lizard, but a dragon. Of course, only the other flits would understand this, so Kagairo also got half the images of dragons in the little blue's memory.

"... And he thinks he's a dragon." She had waited through the flit's rant to make this comment, deciding the rider could use an explanation for why the blue threw a fit when she called him a fire-lizard. After all, that certainly wasn't normal flit behavior.

[etoile]

Robika smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you, Kagairo!" she replied cheerfully, watching Tyran with curious eyes. She chuckled. She had never heard of a flitter who thought he was a dragon, but she had seen her fair share of strange flitters. Emanor was a marvelous example of one, she thought in amusement. She nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, some flitters generally are strange. Emanor here, she's the fattest one I've ever seen," she told the soon-to-be candidate cheerfully. Green Emanor squeaked in indignation, while Padma chattered in what seemed to be agreement with Robika's words. She paused as Padma finally silenced herself, straightening herself up proudly. Rolling her eyes at the little queen, she focused her attention back onto Kagairo. "Tyran fancies himself a dragon, hm?" she asked, already figuring out a way to break the news to Kagairo.

Taking a deep breath to prepare herself for her usual speech, she smiled. "Well, how about the chance to show Tyran how big dragons are?" she asked casually. She grinned. "Y'see, I'm a Searchrider, and Kmarath seems to think you would be worthy of candidacy." She winked at the girl, hoping it would be a good thing for her to become a candidate- she knew many kids were dreaming of becoming a dragonrider. She just hoped fervently Kagairo was one such child.

[tina]

"Really?" Kagairo's eyes got wide at this news, while her flit was still chittering indignantly, stubbornly claiming somewhere in the rant that he was a dragon, and that they weren't any bigger than him. But of course it would seem true to one who has deluded himself into hallucinating the world into the perspective of a dragon.

After waiting patiently for Tyran to once more quiet down, she continues. "I could Impress? I've always wanted to be a dragon rider!" Well. This was mostly true. Depends on if 'always' can start after her mom informed her that her dream of being a dragon wasn't realistic.

A dragon rider! I can really be one! She had managed to keep that to herself, surprisingly. Usually it was hard for her to stay quiet when excited, but she was managing now, possibly because her flit had started up again, making quite a racket, and she didn't need to understand the creature to guess what he was trying to convey. "I get it. You think you're a dragon." Shaking her head, she looks back at the dragon rider, still barely believing she was being Searched.

[etoile]

Robika laughed. "Always?" she asked with amusement. She knew that the riders haven't been around for long, so she assumed that Kagairo meant that since the dragons had arrived. It was not an important detail, though- she grinned. "So I take it that's a yes?" she asked without needing an answer to it. Padma, in the meantime, had taken to screeching commands back to the blue to just shut up. She was a queen, and he was her little underling, so he must obey her. She hissed a warning.

Robika touched minds with Kmarath, who was sunning somewhere. You ready to go when I call you down? she asked. Hearing an affirmation from the green, she looked back down at Kagairo. "All right- so you wanna gather your things and meet me back here?" she asked with a smile. "Assuming your parents say you may, of course. I can't imagine why they wouldn't though." She chuckled the last bit, knowing it was joke. She knew many parents were protesting having their children Searched. Stupid people.

[tina]

"Okay! And they'll be fine with it." She turned around to get stuff together, with her fire-lizard offended that he was being scolded by a flit, even if she was gold, and not even remembering any more why they originally came out here. The food had been temporarily forgotten in indignation.

"Mom, dad! A dragon rider's here on Search! She says I can be a candidate!" Simply calling out seemed like enough for now; she didn't see reason for further explanation at the moment. Her main interest was getting stuff together, to the point where, past clothes and Tyran's oil, she didn't even pay attention to what she threw together, she just gathered stuff quickly and hurried back to the door, pausing only long enough for a conversation with her parents about it.

She'd been right. They didn't mind her going to the Weyr to try to Impress. Her parents had been glad to hear dragon riders had returned, not to mention they were relieved to know for sure Kagairo was over the dream to be a dragon; after all, a dragon can't ride a dragon. After talking to her parents about it, she was going back out the door, with Tyran behind her, his memory of the meal back, and his chittering switched to complaints that they'd been side-tracked from feeding him, with the addition of plenty of images sent to the human's mind of the creatures dragons ate as a reminder.

[etoile]

Robika smiled as the girl darted off. She felt good knowing that she was making someone's dream hopefully come true- she wasn't sure how good Kmarath was at Searching yet, but she'd like to think everyone she'd Searched would be a dragonrider, but she wasn't dim enough to count on it. However, just knowing that she had brought hope to someone, telling them that they were made from the stuff riders were made of, it made her happy. Kmarath rumbled agreement.

Yes, you had rider stuff, Kmarath told her rider kindly. Robika chuckled.

"I know, love- that's how I got you," she replied cheerfully. She smiled just remembering that fact- knowing that Kmarath had found her worthy amongst so many other more attractive candidates. It was so surreal, and she was eager to bring that kind of happiness to others.

She waited patiently for the girl to return, standing there lazily. Emanor was now asleep in Robika's blonde hair, but Padma was ever on the alert. Spying the girl approaching, she immediately signaled for Kmarath to come down. The green found her way over to them, settling beside them. She looked at Kagairo curiously, and Robika drew herself up. "You ready?"

[tina]

Kagairo nods, watching the dragon. So large. "Yeah. I'm ready." She glances at Tyran to see if he's still in a bad mood. But no, he was focused on the green. Why not? It was the first dragon he'd seen, though it probably didn't change his delusions. Evidently not, as the blue was currently attempting to communicate with the larger creature.

"Would you just be quiet and calm down for once?" This just resulted in a transmitted feeling of indignation from flit to owner, though he grudgingly quieted down, allowing some peace.

[etoile]

Kmarath huffed in amusement at Tyran. She felt some strange, fuzzy images coming from the blue, no different than any time Padma or Emanor ever tried talking to her. The green shuffled around to look at the candidate she had Searched, watching her with her large eyes. Yes, this is her, Kmarath affirmed unnecessarily. Robika chuckled. Little cousin, you can be quiet, you know, the green told Tyran. Padma scolded him in addition to Kmarath's words. What an idiotic little creature he was!

"All right," Robika said, taking Kagairo's stuff and tying it onto Kmarath. "I'll get on first, then I can give you a hand. You been flying yet?" she asked with a grin as she mounted with apparent ease. Reaching a hand down, she instructed, "Take my hand, then step onto her foreleg. Then just push yourself up here- I can help with that." Making room behind her for Kagairo to sit, she smiled reassuringly.. "Don't worry- if you Impress, this will eventually become second nature." Kmarath rumbled in agreement.