Aurora Borealis

[Rappu]

{desc=Minanth's 2nd Flight!}Calmera's bed was wonderfully warm against the winter cold. Her snores echoed in the otherwise quiet weyr, and she burrowed deep under her sheepskin blankets.

Minanth was wide awake. Her hide glowed softly - it had been glowing for the last sevendays - and she wanted to jump out of it, to fly high against the chilly skies, to catch all the stars in the sky. She was prettier than all of them, shiny and wonderful, strong like the sun.

Cal! I feel so pretty.

She nudged the sleeping rider with her muzzle, first lightly and then hard enough to shake the whole bed. Calmera's face scrunched up and she looked at Minanth with bleary eyes. A wave of excitement and warmth passed over her, and she blinked slowly.

Shells, Minanth, you can't be serious.

The dragon harrumphed and looked outside. It was a starry night, and the sky was unmarred by cloud.

I will look so wonderful out there. Everyone will come and look at me!

She shook herself and walked to the opening to the weyr. For a brief moment she enjoyed to coldness against her hot hide, then she spread her wings and took to the sky. She didn't care about blooding a herdbeast this time; and the animals were inside their barns, protected against the freezing cold in any case.

Minanth careened upwards, over the Weyr, as high as she could before calling the others.

Look outside! Tonight, I'm your new light in the sky! Bask in my light if you dare!

Calmera groaned, smoothed her hair with one hand and sank back underneath her blankets. She was tired, but before the flight was over, she wouldn't sleep. By that point her bed would hopefully be properly warm again.

[Kiran]

I am going to Chase again, Mine.

The warning came swiftly, too swiftly for Kelsira do anything but moan tiredly in confusion. What? What was happening? A-

Wings whooshed a rush of cold air into her weyr, chilling her to the bone. Or would have, if Kelsira hadn't been warmed to the bone with the rush that Flight gave her. The bluerider had to admit, it was an effective deterrent to the winter misery. Instead of shaking she felt like she was burning up, feverish with desire. Who is Rising?

An Orange. Calmera. She shines against the sky.
Don't get poetic on me. Also, I hate you right now.
Poetry is a good balance to silence and to bluntness, both of which you have too much of, Mine.
Just Fly, loverboy.

Caught off-guard by the rush of desire and the face that it was night (what dimglow dragon flew at night, anyway?!) Kelsira stumbled tiredly down the stairs towards the weyr that she needed to be in. At least by the end of this she would have a bedpartner, and that would drive away the rest of the night's chill. Shards, could she see her breath?! Ugh. She would have a serious talk with her blue after this.

In the meanwhile, Divith was making a swift pursuit of the orange. You are the sun that brightens the night! I wish to bask in your warmth tonight. Short and to the point, Divith made his appeal to the orange that danced among the stars.

[RhiaBlack]

Baihujinth craned his head up at the skies overhead. The big Iron had been restricted from chasing ever since the near-fiasco a few nights prior. Where he nearly dropped Z'dyn in the Bowl and went to chase Couineth.

She was not my mother, Z'dynMine. I should be allowed to chase her. This is disgraceful conduct, especially from you.
Yer just mad 'cause I wouldn' let you.
You are not espoused.
No, mebbe not, but I've got a weyrmate. One y'set me up with t'begin with. Should be more shardin' respectful'n that.

Bai tilted his massive gray head to look towards His. Z'dyn could feel his Iron's near-constant need, and it pulled at his mind with all the ferocity of a beast on a carcass. Shredded his resolve and his self-control.

'Til y'promise me yer gonna drop me't Nara's, yer not chasin' anythin'.
It is my duty to this Weyr to chase its females, Z'dynMine. With you or without you. You are hindering what is natural for me, and it is not fair. What is so wrong with doing what I am supposed to do? With dropping you at Minanth's weyr?
Because Calmera isn't Nara.

Z'dyn slid his arms behind his head, as comfortable as he could get himself outside of the obvious arousal. Thankfully the thick furs masked much of his body from view, so it saved him a bit of pride. Baihujinth growled, the resonant sound echoing within their weyr. Z'dyn would not be moved.

So Bai decided to move him.

The Iron grabbed the top fur, large as it was, and pulled it off the bed. Flipping it over awkwardly, his tail coiled around Z'dyn's leg and he yanked, pulling His smoothly off his warm leather mattress and rolling him - much to Z'dyn's voiced protest - in the limits of the pilfered furs. Catching the edges in his teeth, he hoisted the bundle up from the floor, and dragged a loudly howling His from the ledge of their weyr.

Dropped unceremoniously on Calmera's ledge, Z'dyn's swears were adamant, venomous, and nearly shouted as Baihujinth winged away to take up the pursuit on Minanth. Z'dyn awkwardly pulled himself up to his feet, shivering as he wrapped the fur a bit more properly around himself. He sat down inside it, shoulders hunched, and very clearly Not Amused.

His teeth would have chattered, if they weren't grit so hard the squeak briefly registered. Bai's focus had long since settled on the Orange against the skies overhead.

I am sorry, MineOwn. It is for the good of the Weyr. I must.

Z'dyn's silence was a wall. Nothing got in, nothing got out. Cold blue eyes settled on the form beneath the furs, and he lingered where he sat. There was another, here. A woman, no less. He wasn't sure what Calmera's preferances were, but either way he made no indication to move towards her. He remained where he was - sitting on the edge of her ledge, by the wall, huddled in his fur and cursing every thread of fate that had put him in this situation. He should have let Bai run Coiuneth. He should have. He could have walked to Nara's weyr, couldn't he? He could have...he....

Z'dyn's anger was raw. He felt betrayed. He felt abandoned, and the longer he was here, the more disparaging it seemed. He prayed that more than just himself and this other woman would chase Minanth.

Huddling beneath his fur, he tried to warm himself up, as Bai gave chase to the beautiful Orange before him. Tried to ride the thermals to give himself an edge on energy. The Blue was smaller than him, quicker, could turn faster, but Baihujinth wasn't unsuccessful for a reason. He had stamina, he had strength. His eyes set on the forms before him. His body told him he had to win, his mind was furious because he had to. He had to win. He had to prove his point. If there would be a clutch, he wanted to sire it. He wanted that, he needed that. It was his by right, and there had been no eggs sired by him since they had left Fort. It was time.

Z'dyn turned his back on the outside world, and curled into his furs against the wall. If Baihujinth won, he would know. Otherwise, he was just ready for it to be over.

[Azhdarchid]

He was deeply unimaginative.

Sometimes his dreams were just memories.

But since the Hatching, for Turns now, they had all been sweet. Tonight it was Calmera and Ro'ark's hands. Not every Flight had gilded itself across the furrows of his mind like that one. Calmera was a friend, in dreams her portrait sometimes blurred with Aylina's. Her hair flowed from red to blond to the orange of Minanth like fire without a burn. And Ro'ark: despite his relaxed brow, the bluerider's teeth clenched behind his lips. The dream turned crystalline as it drifted off a perfect recollection: now Halventh had won the game. Now Halventh fell-

Wide awake. Too fast for his own eyes, which panned across his blurry ceiling, then blinked hard to focus in the dark. His lips wrote off the name of the blue demon, who had already departed his ledge.

L'xon sat up, ice taking the place of the furs over his chest, and then he remembered. Sometime between the dream and now, Newtollen had stopped by and ruined everything. And now Newt was dead. He had never told the boy about the sometimes powerful experiences etched into him by Dragonflight. After all, Newt was "the boy" for a reason. Lex could not see him as grown without a dragon at his side, like the rest. A wher was a concept he would have to grow into, but there wasn't time anymore.

And right now the only relevance Newt retained was that he was the reason L'xon could not look Calmera in the eye tonight.

Shhh, came the dragon's voice, warm despite his present lust. You can do whatever you want. L'xon wondered at this civilized chatter in Flight, then grasped the purpose: his own distress had separated Halventh from the Chase, and the dragon was experienced enough now to sort the matter. Halventh suffered the reputation of a randy wherry, but he never Flew alone. What would people make of that, if they ever figured it out?

And L'xon did not want to stop now. He just... He looked out into the night, pulling the furs back up to his shoulders. Calmera, he thought as he laid down on his back, and a tinge of the name and the regret moved into Halventh too, and from him to Minanth. Then the weight of control swung back to the blue's favor, and he accelerated after the queen. L'xon would not let him after the golds any longer, but Minanth he could curl his talons for.

Her first choice was up, and Halventh had little to offer against the broad sweeps of Baihujinth there. He rose on unsteady flutters, eyes tracking momentarily after Divith in a green wink. Furthest behind, he had some trouble even getting around the iron, becoming caught in the whirlwinds off those shiny wingflaps. But he kept on the dogged straight, unwilling to exercise a wide bank around the obstacle, because Baihujinth had already aligned under Minanth, and Halventh wanted nothing but to follow her lead too. He pressed a full-body blush much like her own across his hide, a subtle competition to outcolor the flying rock and outshine his fellow blue.

[Kila]

Winter, 6th Turn, 11th Pass

Yusriyath heard her call from where he lay restlessly on his
stone bed. The Purple rose and bounded to the lip of his ledge to behold
Mininath glowing as she winged through the sky. The stars, her paltry
backdrop, paled in comparison. He looked on and basked as she comanded,
admiration and adoration welling up in him. Oh
YaMine, he sighed, See why sleep has eluded
me? He was always restless when there was a female about to
rise. Y'nis answered with a snore, tangled in his furs, his sleep
undisrupted. Yusriyath trumpeted, starting him from his bed. "Huh?
Wha? Whrr?" his Rider asked blearily. He rubbed his eyes and saw
dragons rising into the night air, all in pursuit of a glowing beauty of
an Orange. Oh. Pretty. Why must they always rise at night though, Yu?
Spring cannot some fast enough. He sighed, but he was resigned.
Y'nis did not begrudge Yusriyath any of his chases. He was allowed time
to pull on a pair of pants before Yusriyath grabbed him and transported
him to the weyr of the Orange and her bonded. No time for a
jacket? Y'nis huffed, forced fully awake by the cold bite of the
night air. YaMine, I must be fast, Yusriyath said
in a pained apology. There will be plenty of time for
jackets letter- Minanth cannot wait!

True enough, Y'nis thought as Yusriyath shot off in joyous
pursuit. He looked at Calmera in her warm bed and Z'dyn in his furs and
seriously considered cuddling up with one of them immediately. It was
not good form to touch any other Riders involved in a flight before the
dragoness made her choice however, so he resigned himself to shivering
for a while longer. It was at least warmer in Calmera's weyr than
outside. He glimpsed Kelsira as well- the girl whose Blue had won the
last flight Yu had chased in and who he had played with in the snow not
long ago. Would it be wrong to bring a patron of law and justice into
my bed if the Iron is to win? he mused. They had been enemies on the
battlefield, but an outlaw's bed was a cold one- as was a Renegade's.
But there was a certain draw to danger. Y'nis puffed up his skinny chest
and glanced from Kelsira to Z'dyn to Calmera. Surely they could see it.

Yusriyath left His and his shenanigans far behind as he flew after
Minanth into the starry sky. Three others had already arrayed themselves
around her, but Yusriyath picked a place off to her side where she could
see him. The best had come last. He trilled to announce his presence and
sang sweet, wordless praises of her beauty. His hide was made to admire,
bright and colorful as it was, but it paled in comparison to hers
tonight. How dashing they looked side by side! He threw out his wing to
peek at their colors together and rolled in the air with pleasure. She
was beautiful and bright. Let me bask in your
light, he crooned, displaying his fancy wingwork to try to
impress her. He was lithe and quick, but Minanth had not blooded a beast
so it would not be speed that won this flight. But what? Perhaps his
personality would win her over. Everyone else was so dull and serious-
Yusriyath flirted and flattered, trilled and giggled. Flights were
serious things, but they could enjoyable too! He and Y'nis could warm
both her heart and her bed if she so chose.

[Rappu]

[OOC: Omg you guys. I had to leave this to chance.]

Muscles straining, Minanth climbed higher and slid over Dalibor, over her suitors, sleepy weyrs and patrolling whers. The cold air made flying hard, and puffs of white steam rose from her nostrils and open mouth at every breath, every wingbeat. She huffed, not wanting to end the chase just yet.

Divith's flattery earned him a favorable, green-eyed look. Oh Divith! You know how to speak to a lady! She circled over him, humming, then suddenly turned and rose even higher against the starry sky. I hope you know how to fly high, too! The emotion she sent over to him was like a draconic blown kiss.

Calmera threw an arm over her head, blushing at her dragon's antics, but eventually she became vaguely aware that there were other riders in her weyr. In her cold weyr, outside her chilly sheets. She yawned and poked four fingers from underneath the blanket and beckoned the suitors closer.
"You're all going to freeze to death over there, and I'm freezing over here. Climb in. Or don't, but it's not going to get any warmer over there."

Minanth flew by Baihujinth, but the Iron didn't utter a word. He was a strong one, certainly, but so silent. She blew a playful, warm breath on his back and giggled, taking a sudden turn around to meet struggling Halventh. The blue had chased her before and she liked him, and she knew that Calmera was fond of his rider, but as Baihujinth, the little dragon was quiet. She craved praise and applause which made her warm and shiny. She gave Halventh a gentle huff as she soared over him.

A fourth dragon joined the chase with a trill, and he was an entirely different creature. Such a handsome hide! And he sang to her, without words but Minanth understood his melodies nonetheless. Minanth bugled and trilled at his clever flight and flirtations, responding in kind.
Yusriyath, those are wonderful songs. Sing to me tonight. Sing to me about me and you shining in the sky.
She grabbed the small purple easily, tired wings guiding the entangled pair into a soft fall.

Calmera's bed was no longer cold, and she found she didn't care that Y'nis had been one of the Renegades. Not with Minanth's joy thrumming in her and the songs of his purple dragon in her ears.

[OOC: Feel free to throw the suitors in. Calmera is chill about flights.]

[Kiran]

Divith was pleased that the orange was flatted by his words. I will fly as high as My Lady wishes me to! The blue had three others on his heels but gave as strong a push with his wings as he could, spiraling upwards towards the orange. But Minanth had other plans in mind, going past him to address her other suitors. Divith didn't mind - after all, whether she chose him or not, the Balance of the Weyr would be kept tonight. The blue waited, watching, flying to see what would happen next as the blown kiss made his wings tremble with the need to pump harder, to catch up to the playful tease that she presented him with.

Kelsira shivered with anticipation, which was tempered by the chill. She could see that Y'nis had joined the group and the purplerider had puffed out his chest with a certain amount of pride. It brought her out of the haze enough to giggle and cast him a smile rife with invitation. It was a look that was foreign to her except when the emotions of Flight were upon her. But she liked Y'nis, he was fun and playful, and Renegade or not he didn't seem to mind her either. If they lost, would he be bothered if she invited him back to her weyr? Wouldn't be able to find a drudge, and he doesn't seem that picky... Hadn't Divith been encouraging her to 'strengthen her bonds with others' anyway? Kelsira had to admit, there was a certain attraction since she already knew him.

The words from the orangerider rolled over her and Kelsira turned her head towards Calmera. It was a long, cold walk back to her weyr if she lost - the ironrider didn't look like he would be terribly accommodating. The bluerider was inclined to cut her losses now instead of bothering with winning or losing. With a glance over at Y'nis she made her way towards the bed, eager to warm up with the orangerider and whomever else decided to join in.

Divith gave a soft sigh, merely a hint of disappointment in the choice. Yet he had won before and would again, so in the scheme of things it mattered little. The marbled blue began a slow glide back to the weyr, the cold air a good cure for the heat that had been running through his veins, feeling the echoes of Kelsira's pleasure that eased his own aches.

[Kila]

Calmera's invitation into her bed meant that Y'nis had won
already, regardless of the outcome of the flight. He wasted no time in
hurrying him over but Kelsira beat him to it, crawling in with the
OrangeRider eagerly. Y'nis quirked an eyebrow and grinned. The BlueRider
was a fast draw. And now he was climbing into bed with two lovely
ladies! "Don't mind if I do," he said, sliding under the furs and
wiggling between them. The instant warmth was a relief against his bare,
freezing skin. All at once he felt a surge of happiness that was only
half his own. It could only mean one thing. You got her, Yu, he
said proudly to his Purple. His lifemate was occupied however, so he
turned his attention to his bedmates. They would all be warm and happy
that night.

Yusriyath was overjoyed with Minanth's response to his advances.
I will sing to you all the night long, he
promised. She came to him and they tangled themselves together in a
passionate embrace. We can sing together and be
together, he said as they fell, hanging on to his lovely queen
tightly. When the ground was close he would spread his wings and take
her far away, but until then he enjoyed the feel of their bodies and the
thrill of the fall.

[RhiaBlack]

Z'dyn's skin screamed in pleasure as Minanth blew her breath across his Iron's back; but when the offer came to share Calmera's bed, he had no part of it.

Baihujinth's disappointment at losing to a Purple, of all things, waged a silent war that tore at his insides. He was better than a Purple, this couldn't be true. Clearly she could see that? No. He hadn't been good enough. Was it something he said? Something he hadn't said? Oh, well. There were others he could fly soon enough, and hadn't His said variety was the spice of life? His massive wings folded in against him, and he banked to one side to ride the thermals back towards Calmera's Weyr.

Where by the time the festivities had long since engaged, Z'dyn's back was the only thing the Iron saw, headed down the outer ledge, bare feet seeking the alcove where he would follow the stairs to his weyr.

::Mine...::
No answer. Only the shivering steps of a Kingrider who had never felt so absolutely betrayed. Baihujinth crooned softly, but Z'dyn kept walking.
::Z'dynMine...MineOwnLoveMost...::[/b]

The big Iron's wings flattened, and he extended his neck outwards, tail curling around him as he watched his bonded vanish into the corridor, ascending the stairs. Every inquiry into Z'dyn's thoughts was met with overwhelming silence. Coldness that reached into the very core of the Iron's heart, and he kreeled pitifully.

Shut up, and get inside before you sharding freeze to death.

Baihujinth winged up to their weyr, landing on the ledge long before Z'dyn made it all the way up to their home. The sound of the door slamming hard enough on the hinges to nearly see it shatter from them. He didn't look at his Iron, teeth chattering as he walked stiffly to his bed, and crawled beneath his other furs.

::Z'dy-::
When I want to speak to you, you will be spoken to. Otherwise, there had better be nothing but silence in this weyr.

The snap was hard, enough to make the Iron flinch for a second time, as the glow was extinguished within the smaller ledge-alcove where Z'dyn made his bed. Kee blinked between, and appeared on Bai's forepaw, Z'dyn's wooden Mark between her paws. Curling his head around, he snaked his tail towards Z'dyn's bed.

Don't even think about it.

He curled the tail around himself instead, and Kee crooned softly at her Iron Brother, nuzzling into his jaw.