Flight Stories

Cadaeth and Lorloth

“Will someone open a window? It’s so sharding hot in here!” Mariana complained, pulling annoyingly at her tunic. The other riders sitting at the table looked at her in surprise. “Hot? It’s not hot at all? Are you okay?” one of the other, male, greenriders asked, a concerned look flitting across his face. The young woman had been acting increasingly irritable in the past few sevendays, as her Cadaeth was getting proddy herself.

“I’m fine! It’s-” Mariana broke off suddenly, her eyes wide. “Cadaeth!” she cried, standing up abruptly and running out to her nearly ground-level weyr. She had gotten the quarters as one of the first riders at Andromeda. It had the advantage of being accessible from both outside and inside.

Mariana sprinted out to the Feeding Grounds. Cadaeth’s mind was a frenzy of chaos. The green, now shining almost blindingly in the bright sunlight, leaped among the herdbeasts with a snarl. With one lightning-quick flash of movement, the dragon snapped up one of the frightened animals and bent her head to eat.

Another voice entered Cadaeth’s mind. NO CADAETH! YOU MUSTN’T GORGE! BLOOD IT ONLY! Mariana ordered mentally, gritting her teeth. The green shrieked defiantly, fanning her wings, and her rider repeated the order. With another hiss of reproach, Cadaeth latched onto the herdbeast’s neck and drained the carcass of blood. She pounced once more, landing this time with a big wherry. Again Mariana exerted her authority and won.

Cadaeth seemed to glow more than ever, hissing her challenge to the males as she sprang aloft in the blink of an eye. In a flurry of wings, the browns and blues were in the air behind her, jostling each other for the lead.

Cadaeth paid her pursuers no heed. She reveled in her effortless flight. Those puny little males would never outfly her! Catching sight of several dragons drawing nearer, the green banked sharply up with a sudden twist of her wings. Cadaeth crowed her superiority as two blues and a brown dropped out, the rest laboring to catch up as she zoomed up again. The young green enjoyed toying with them. She allowed herself to slow a trifle, allowed the nearest brown to gain a little. Cadaeth shrilled condescendingly, swinging her tail tantalizingly in front of their noses before shooting ahead. Three browns and another two blues spiraled back down to the Weyr. Now there was just the brown left. Cadaeth felt a puzzled thought tug at her mind. There had been one last blue a moment before…

A shadow loomed above her. Before the startled green could react, a strong blue neck twined with hers, and a sea-colored tail wrapped sinuously around her own emerald one simultaneously. Cadaeth put up a token struggle, of course. She wasn’t going to submit tamely, no she wasn’t!

The blue, which she recognized as Lorloth, crooned tenderly. Cadaeth knew then that he had always been the only one worthy of her, and abandoned all restraint.

Back on the ground outside of her own weyr, Mariana blinked rapidly as her mind returned joltingly back to her body. Strong arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her close to J’lon, Lorloth’s rider. She whirled, startled, and was met by the rider’s gentle, insistent kiss. They disappeared into the weyr together, as Cadaeth and Lorloth drifted slowly back down to the earth.

Merrith and Tramoth

Megumi smiled to herself as she discreetly snuck a glance toward a bluerider who seemed to always stare at her. Merrith? she inquires, amused. Yes, Meggie? comes the expected reply from her green. Megumi grins, walking forward again, weaving her way through the Weyr mass that was mid-day meal. Do you see him? Or no, you probably can't.. is his blue looking anywhere in particular?

Her green's voice grows a smile as she replies, Yes, in fact, any male who comes to bathe in the lake near me gets a glare from Tramoth, even though he can't really do much to the browns and bronzes who outrank him and shove him off as an overgrown weyrling. I've noticed X'vad does the same thing to other riders who give you a glance, and gets the same response. Megumi grins to herself at this information and ambles forward to grab her portion of herdbeast roast. Looking at the food, she grins wider, and not being able to wait until she sits, she tears off a small piece with her fork and quickly stuffs it into her mouth as if someone might steal it from her. Megumi closes her eyes and smiles, it was undoubtedly her mother's cooking. No one used the exact amount of specific spices as her mother did, which made it ever so good. Meggie, X'vad's coming your way, you'd best swallow. interrupts the amused voice of her dragon. Megumi looks around, and even though she can't see him, knows better than to doubt her dragon, so she swallows, and continues carrying her tray to a nearby table. 

Upon sitting down at the table, she smiles and greets fellow wingriders happily. Looking down at her food to start eating, she pauses when a tap is felt on her shoulder. She turns her head and looks up to see X'vad standing next to her, "Is there a space for me?" he inquires hopefully. Megumi smiles and nods, scooting down the bench, and playfully elbowing the rider next to her to get the whole bench to move down as well. The bluerider grins and sits next to her, placing his tray on the table. 

The chatter and happy laughter is heard from each table, the noise in the massive room pleasant as the dragonriders all rested, enjoying their meal. Megumi looks up to see the fire-lizards all flitting around the room, diving down to beg food from their owners and from other gullible people. Megumi chuckles as she sees her bronze flit, Galahad wreaking havoc by using his finely shaped head to attract attention from the young women dragonriders at a nearby table. Megumi shouts above the noise, "Galahad! Get your bronze hide over here, mister!" Megumi giggles as Galahad chirps sadly, leaving behind the morsel of food that was being offered, and flits over to Megumi's right shoulder, wrapping his tail possessively around her neck. Megumi looks at X'vad to see him grinning at the bronze flit, then she looks up at him as well. Galahad was fanning his wings, and setting up for his high pitched trill of possession, that he always sounded out when there were other fire-lizards nearby. Megumi quickly takes a piece of her meat and holds it up to her flit; if he was chewing, he couldn't blast anyone's ear by trilling. 

X'vad leans in and whispers, "Nice save," pointing with a finger up and the happy bronze who was now chewing peacefully. Megumi grinned, and went back to eating her food, sometimes having to loosen up her bronze's tail when he tightened his grip on her neck.

The midday meal over, Megumi ambles outside, her bronze still attached to her shoulder, enjoying the wind that blew her face and hair, giving the strands of auburn hair fluttering life. Her green slept, but peaceful sleep wasn't how it could be described. Megumi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she trotted forward to come to her dragon's head, where the green lay on the ground by the Weyr lake. 

"Merrith? Dear heart, what's wrong?" Megumi questions only above a whisper to her dragon. A rumble replies as the dragon's eyes snap open. Megumi, at seeing the red in her dragon's eyes, backs up quickly. She knew that Merrith wouldn't ever hurt her, but she wanted to stay out of the way so Merrith didn't hurt herself in trying not to hurt her rider. Merrith rose onto her hind legs and with a hopping spring, she lifts into the air, only to tackle the ground a couple dragon lengths away. Megumi, horrified, starts to move to where her dragon is, but stops seeing she hadn't tackled the ground, but a young herdbeast buck who was laying down. The buck squeals it's last before the green snaps his neck with a shake of her head. Megumi screams mentally when she sees her green go to eat the beast, Don't dare eat the buck, Merr! You can't eat it! Blood it! Go on! Blood it only! 

Merrith hisses in anger and goes to eat the beast again, but gets the same reprimand, and not wanting to fight her rider's will, she bloods the beast greedily. Several more mental battles of will ensue as Merrith bloods five more beasts. 

Rising again on her hind legs, the green surveys her suitors, who are finishing up with their own blooding. Several blues and browns, and a couple of the smaller bronzes, have lined up, eyeing her with tints of violet in their eyes. Merrith roars her defiance and superiority to the skies, arrogantly taking a pose fit for a queen. With a snort she kicks the ground and flaps unfurled wings, shooting into the sky with speed only a green has. She turns her head just enough to watch the males come right up behind her, and angling her small body expertly to the wind, she turns on a dime, not losing any speed in the turn. She shoots over their heads now, knowing they can't catch her because they aren't turned properly, and crows their stupidity to any who can hear.

After several sharp turns, several males drop out of flying, knowing she wouldn't let them catch her. Several blues and a couple bronzes who get fed up with the turning are the ones to go; after all, the bronzes bulk kept him from turning as quickly, and the blues had as much stamina as greens did. 

With her suitors leaving, Merrith seems to get more strength, and speeds forward, flapping wings who don't want to move as fast as they had in the beginning of the flight. It wouldn't be a long flight, after all, greens had no stamina compared to golds, but she did have excellent turning capability, and used it whenever she though she needed it.

She darts backward, flipping head over tail to fly backwards, over their heads again. Merrith chortles to herself, thinking they were all much too stupid to try and catch her, she was just leading them on a nice chase that none would ever win! But her arrogant thoughts are fouled as she's slammed into by a blue her own size, knocking her out of the path she was taking. With her surprise at the sudden impact, she had no time at all to think of how to get away, which was just what the blue needed.

Wrapping his neck with hers, and holding her tight, he let her struggle; she'd waste her energy that way. And struggle she did, screaming insults and curses at him for daring to capture her in her moments of glory. The blue ignored her, his only reaction was to hold her tighter. At last Merrith's lust overcomes her anger for being captured, and she gives in. The blue, Tramoth warbles as he winds his tail with hers, just as they fall. Spreading his wings wide, he checks their fall, and carries her back into the sky for them to finish the mating flight.

Back on the ground, X'vad had been standing near Megumi, and when Tramoth had first grabbed Merrith, so did X'vad to Megumi. When Tramoth had finally caught Merrith due to her giving in to his embrace, so did the riders echo their dragon's actions.

As Merrith and Tramoth finished their flight, excited talk went around. She was one of the greens that had been allowed to not chew firestone, and for her rider to use a flame thrower. Everyone knew that now that there would be a clutch, and Searching was the thing to do!

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