Flight, Flitters, and Fire (Nia)

[4horseshowgirl4]

It was shortly before noon on this late autumn day, the air not quite ridded of its nippy morning air. L'ven was sitting in his new weyr, sorting all of his things, mostly notes from a Turn of Weyrling lessons. Faranth, had it really been only a Turn since that fateful day when he'd Impressed Valleth? It seemed so much longer; he felt that he'd been with Valleth for his whole life! Valleth, as he usually did when L'ven was doing something productive but not really necessary, was dozing, one half-open eye lazily watching His. The Bronze had taken full advantage of their spacious new weyr to sprawl his limbs, wing, and tail every which way, taking up as much of the stone dragon couch as he possibly could. Valleth was not fully grown, and this weyr was made to accomodate the largest possible Kings, but, even still, he was doing quite a good job of obliterating the dark stone from view.

L'ven was standing near his desk, tapping his fingers on its surface. It needed more drawers! He had jammed all his notes and records into the available space, but he was having a rather difficult time getting the drawers shut. He frowned. Well, he would just have to build some more drawers, if he could, but in the meantime, these would have to do. He leaned all of his weight against the open drawer, and it slowly groaned shut. L'ven was having doubts of whether he would ever manage to open it again. He pondered the problem for a moment before shrugging; if he had to take a crowbar to the desk drawer, so be it.

Sibilance, his hatchling Green firelizard, scuttled around on the floor, before stopping at L'ven's feet, hissing and demanding his attention. L'ven started slightly at the small dark shadow at his feet; he still wasn't entirely used to her being around. He was fond of the little creature, but he'd never had a pet before! He bent down to scoop the dark green figure into the palm of his hands. Sibilance rubbed her head against his thumb and crooned affectionately, before hissing again, demanding to be fed. L'ven sighed-- he still had so much to do here!-- but then his own stomach began rumbling. He and Valleth had flown for a candlemark over the ocean that morning, playing in the varied wind currents there and dodging the waves, and while Valleth might now be able to go a day or so without food, L'ven's small breakfast of klah and a bit of day-old bread didn't last him very long.

{I'm going down to the kitchens to grab lunch for Sibil and me,} L'ven said contentedly to Valleth, placing Sibilance on his shoulder. She secured her small claws in her tunic and rested there silently, cheerful now that L'ven had mentioned food. Valleth yawned, slowly getting to his feet. I suppose you'll be wanting a ride?

[/color] he said lazily. L'ven paused, remembering that he wasn't in the Weyrling Barracks anymore, just a hop and a skip away from the main part of the Weyr, and that he was now several dragonlengths above the ground in a secluded weyr. He turned to grab his straps, for he didn't have a prayer of getting on Valleth without them, and he was cautious enough that flying without them seemed stupid to him, with how little experience he had.

He clambered on, Sibilance digging her claws uncomfortably into his skin, hissing in discomfort and nervousness. "Shush!" L'ven said. "Or no food!" Sibil wasn't stupid; she'd learned what 'shush,' and the horror of 'no food,' so, rather reluctantly, she shut up. Valleth pushed off of the ledge as smoothly as he could to make the little one as comfortable as possible. He glided down to the kitchens, still a rather difficult skill for him, as his shoulder muscles had to strain to hold his bulk. The trip was absurdly short, though, so Valleth managed it. L'ven threw his right leg over the front of Valleth's neck and slid off, Sibilance grabbing his ear with her front claws for greater security. L'ven undid Valleth's straps so they were merely resting on his back and the Bronze would be able to shake them off back at the weyr.

L'ven patted him gratefully. {Go back to your nap,} he said. Nah...[/color] Valleth responded, rustling his wings and lifting his head regally. I think I will go find myself some female company.[/color] L'ven rolled his eyes, watching Valleth take off again. {No male-ridden females!} L'ven mentally shouted after Valleth, but the Bronze gave no indication that he was paying the slightest bit of attention to L'ven. L'ven groaned before trudging into the kitchen, Sibil crooning in happiness.

It was still early for lunch, so few people were there, and it was relatively quiet. L'ven got himself a bowl of herdbeast stew, eating it as fast as he could while maintaining acceptable table manners and stopping every few seconds to give the ravenous but, mercifully, sitting politely, patiently, and silently Sibilance a bit of the meat. Young flitters were just like baby dragons- hungry ALL THE TIME, which made them slightly easier to train, at least. When he was done, he pushed the bowl towards Sibilance, who eagerly jumped in and began licking the remnants of the meaty sauce from the sides of the bowl. L'ven stretched, reluctant to leave the warm fires of the kitchen and see what his dragon was up to. He liked being blissfully ignorant of Valleth's courting.

While Sibilance chirped excitedly from inside the bowl, L'ven pulled out the piece of parchment and ink pencil he always had stowed inside his tunic, and began to draw out different flight patterns for their Weyrling wings. He was Wingsecond, after all, so he should thing of such things, no? They were a low-level wing, so they would concentrate more on covering as much ground as possible than having to attack large clumps of thread, so he spaced out their large group generously, but he couldn't decide in which formation. A vee was popular, but it would be cumbersome with twenty dragons. Perhaps just three columns? Yes, that would work, but he left plenty of space from one dragon's tail to another's head, to prevent anyone from accidentally flaming their leader's tail. Oh, and wait, he had to add in rotations for the smaller colors of less stamina... very quickly, L'ven was absorbed in his work, completely oblivious to everything around him.[/right][/font]

[Nia]

It was almost after noon, and Avalle was still fast asleep, completely hidden in the many furs that covered her bed. Not even her head was visible, as she was tightly tucked under the furs, blissfully sleeping her day away. She hadn't had much sleep the night before, and luckily for her there weren't any Weyrling Lessons today and nothing for her to do with Fajra. It was just your average, boring day off that Avalle was taking full advantage of. Sort of. Not even Callistath was awake, the Gold was elegantly curled on her dragon couch, with still quite a bit of space to stretch.

The only being awake in the room was the Yellow firelizard Yulari, who appeared to be tangled in the furs. She chirped indigantly as Avalle rolled on to her side, tangling the Yellow even more in the furs. Yulari loved Hers a lot lot lot, but sometimes enough was enough. She chirped again and sent a bunch of images, colors, shapes and the like flashing through Avalle's mind, jolting the girl awake. "W-what's going on?!" she exclaimed, sitting up, her voice slurred from excessive sleep.

Callistath also awoke and stretched like a cat. I believe the little yellow one is telling us we have slept too late,

[/i] the dragon mused, not seeming angry at being woken up. It was usually Callistath that woke up before Avalle, anyway, she never slept this late. Avalle frowned at the Yellow, who had successfully managed to untangle herself and had curled up in Avalle's lap as though asking for an apology. The girl yawned and ran a few fingers through her messy hair. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I was sleeping too late," she mumbled, tossing the furs (and Yulari, who quickly betweened away and into the air before she got tangled again) off her and slouched towards the mirror. She'd pretty much fixed her posture problems, due to Callistath's insistance, but old habits were easy to fall back to when she was half asleep.

After spending a long time in the mirror attempting to fix her rather messy hair, she finally decided that "whatever, no one cares" and that she looked fine. She wasn't going anywhere important anyway, right? Just to get some food... besides, people would understand. She was up all night pouring through old Records... well, almost all night. Okay, let's go eat. I'm starving, and I think Yulari is too... and so are you, Avalle grinned at the Gold, and Yulari coiled herself around Avalle's neck.

So the brunette climbed on Callistath and the Gold took off. It took barely any time to get to the kitchens, and Avalle was tempted to give up on food and just go flyin around with Callistath, but both her hunger and her dragon and firelizard's hunger told her otherise. She climbed off and Callistath flew up right away, eager to go hunt. Enjoy! she waved an almost childish goodbye to the dragon, who gave a light laugh. You too.[/i]

There weren't many people in the kitchens, but at least Avalle hadn't been late this time. Well, she was late for breakfast, but not for lunch, so that was okay. She grabbed a few meatrolls and an extra few pieces of meat for Yulari and then went out to search for somewhere to sit. It was relatively empty, but Avalle didn't really like eating alone, it was kind of boring. She then spotted L'ven and decided to go sit with him. As she approached she noticed that he appeared to be working on something, but it was too late to stop now. "Hey, L'ven! Mind if I sit here?" she asked, glancing at the papers he was writing on. Well, more like drawing. She immediately recognized the flight patterns and felt guilty... she hadn't done any work for the Wing yet, and she probably should.[/blockquote][/size]

[4horseshowgirl4]

Sibilance hummed in happiness as she finished off the very last speck of the herdbeast stew in the bowl, and, content and with a full stomach, she curled up inside the bowl and quickly dozed off. L'ven looked up from his work to peer affectionately at the firelizard when she began to softly snore, before smiling and turning his attention back to his diagrams, which had grown very detailed in a short amount of time. A faint smile appeared on his serious face; life did not get much better than this, did it?

From far off, Valleth softly bugled his agreement as, shortly after he had returned to their weyr and shaken off his riding straps, he saw beautiful, radiant Callistath leave her weyr with Hers on her back. Far be it from him to miss spending time with the best female of all! Well, Gneith was definitely a contender for that spot, but... he couldn't have Gneith right now, but he might have Callistath, and that made her the best at this moment. He waited with bated breath to see what she would do, but, fortunately, she dropped her human off near the kitchens and then took off again, but not towards her weyr-- perfect! Valleth bugled again loudly, meaning for her to hear him this time. He launched himself off of his ledge, pumping his wings several times to increase his speed. When he neared her side, he swept below her, gracefully barrel rolling beneath her and soaring back up to her side, rumbling with his pleasure in coming across her.

It has been too long, Callistath!

[/color] he said jovially, flying easily next to her and following her. Do you mind if I press my company on you?[/color] he asked, though he would be most disappointed if she rejected him. But, what kind of Queen would she be if she sent away the most adoring and attentive, strongest and best of her Kings and future suitors? After all, it had been he who had shown his devotion from the minute they were both born. No dragon, not even the older, more experienced Kings, and especially not that sluggish, slow-witted Detritath (Valleth's lips formed the slightest shadow of a snarl upon the thought of the Iron that was trying to weasel in on his females) could compare to that! None of them!

His angry mindset did not last long, disappearing as soon as he turned his head in the air and let his eyes wander over Callistath's gorgeous, perfectly-made form. He cheered instantly, crooning lovingly. He assumed that she was going hunting, and though he had eaten yesterday, that was no excuse not to join her. He wouldn't say no to a small bite of wherry himself...

L'ven was startled when Avalle called his name, jumping slightly. "Oh, hello Avalle!" he said, standing up as etiquette dictated. He momentarily thought to pull out a chair for her, but decided against it; while Valleth in human form would have been smooth enough to pull something like that off, L'ven didn't have the suavity to do so without seeming condescending. And, besides, he didn't look at Avalle like a girl he had to go courting. She was more of a friend than anything. Although, if Valleth caught Callistath like both of the Bronzepair hoped he would... Faranth, that was an awkward thought!

He blushed slightly, but covered it by moving aside the papers, busying his hands for a moment. When he looked up again, he found that he was able to meet Avalle's eyes without reddening, thank goodness. He was also quite grateful that Valleth was too occupied drooling over Callistath to pay the slightest bit of attention to His's thoughts. The last thing he needed right now was the Bronze's coaching. "So, how are you? And Callistath? And... Yulari, right?" he said, gesturing to the Yellow draped around her neck. "Sorry about these," he said, pushing the diagrams further aside. "I'm probably getting ahead of myself, I mean, we haven't even started wing training, but it's kind of fun to plan out." He realized he was rambling, so he shut up and gave Avalle a small, friendly smile. Sibilance woke up at the sound of his voice and saw the newcomers, flaring her small wings and hissing at them. L'ven immediately grabbed her, pulling her into his lap and out of sight, tapping her sharply on the head. "Erm, sorry about her. She's not very well trained yet."[/right][/font]

[Nia]

It really was too much for Callistath to hope for a nice, quiet hunting trip, especially not being the large, brilliantly colored Gold that she was. But at least it was Valleth who decided to fly up next to her. She liked him, and Hers liked His. Not in the way she liked O'ris, but they were friends. Callistath still wasn't quite sure how she felt about Valleth, it's not like she was going to look over his interactions with that Green he appeared to like so much. Valleth had been the one by her side since they hatched, though, so she figured that must count for something.

Indeed, it has been far too long since we shared each other's company. Of course I do not mind,

[/i] she said eloquently. She wasn't one to decline the company of another, especially not Valleth. Even with his affection towards the Green, Callistath liked him. Afterall, how many Queens got their own escort right after Hatching? Not many, and it made Callistath feel even more special. She flapped her wings once to gain a bit more air. She didn't feel the need to mention that she was flying towards the hunting grounds, as she figured it would be rather obvious in the direction she was flying. She swooped down still without commenting, and dug her claws into a herdbeast as elegant and gracefully as she could, maybe trying to show off her hunting skills a little bit. But just a little.

Avalle was rather greatful that L'ven didn't seem upset by her disturbing his work, in fact, he seemed... almost embarrassed? The brunette was vaguely aware that Callistath had met up with Valleth, but... that didn't matter, right? They were different than their dragons, even if only slightly. However, she was very glad that he didn't try to pull out a chair for her to sit in, which she was immediately afraid of the moment he stood up. They were friends, there was no need for formalities like that... and it would make her incredibly embarrassed, and Avalle hated being embarrassed more than anything. Still, L'ven's own blushing embarrassment made her turn a bit red as well, and she sat down, absentmindedly twirling the heart-shaped charm on her necklace.

"I'm great, and Callistath and Yulari are doing good as well. No, it's okay, really. It's really cool that you're getting started on that! I'm sure it's really fun, you should definitely show me what you've done so far!" she said with a laugh. L'ven was really easy to talk to, even with the slight (well, on Callistath's part) flirting their dragons were doing. Yulari untwined herself around Avalle and crawled down the girl's arm to get a better look at Sibilance when the flitter began to hiss. "Aww, but fiesty firelizards are adorable! What's her name?" Avalle asked, curious. She remembered watching the Green hatch and Impress to L'ven, as it had been Lira's clutch, but she'd been talking with O'ris at the time and hadn't caught the name.[/blockquote][/size]

[4horseshowgirl4]

Valleth crooned happily, but said nothing more, flying silently after her. All the practice flies L'ven had pushed him through were quite apparent now; other than the vague remnants of his youthful awkwardness in the air (he was still learning how to use the air currents to his advantage and things of that nature), he was becoming fairly graceful in the air, obviously powerful and strong if not quite managing to achieve Callistath's natural elegance yet. He was not flying his best, either, as he was too distracted by the beauty next to him. Faranth, had she always been this gorgeous? Of course she had, it had just been a while since he'd had the great privilege of being so close to her, to see her in motion. Unlike Callistath, he was having no problems deciphering his feelings for her. She and Gneith were equal in his eyes: he'd been fond of the Gold since the beginning, and she was a Queen; there was no denying that fact. But L'ven liked Gneith's for some reason, which meant that he actually allowed Valleth to flirt with Gneith.

Anyways, he didn't have to choose now. He wouldn't even get to choose; they would. He was just keeping his options open for now! He thought he was quite clever, actually; no other dragon was competing with him now, like they would later, he was just slipping his number in early. They reached the hunting grounds, but Valleth saw no signs of a wild wherry. He hovered far above the herdbeasts while Callistath dived in, snatching one easily. That was good!

[/color] he rumbled, openly impressed. The herdbeasts knew what an approaching dragon meant, and it wasn't always easy for the larger dragons such as themselves to follow their hasty, panicked movements, but Callistath had done it perfectly. Valleth swooped down gently, flying a few laps around the herd before lunging in. He wanted a perfect dive; how embarrassing would it be to miss!

He nearly did as his target turned at the last moment, but Valleth managed to sink his talons into its rump, dragging it back towards him and killing it quickly. However, he wasn't very hungry, certainly not enough for a whole herdbeast. He was thinking of taking it back to the Weyr with him, perhaps to give to the new Weyrlings. He didn't think he would be able to fly very well with an adult herdbeast dragging him down, but he'd already shown Callistath he could fly, and he could show off his strength and kindness this way. He settled down on his haunches, herdbeast lying by his side, politely waiting for Callistath to eat.

L'ven was glad when Avalle blushed slightly as well. It seemed that she was not immune to their dragons' flirting, as well. He was sure that Valleth would be simply ecstatic if he was interested in Avalle instead of Lynx, but he wasn't, and he was fairly sure she wasn't either. He wasn't going to say anything about their odd situation, but it calmed him slightly. It was also nice to be able to blame his social awkwardness on Valleth for once, instead of it being his own fault.

L'ven placed Sibilance back on the table, who hissed quietly as Yulari approached, almost as a greeting. "That's good," he said simply, smiling when she laughed and asked to see what he had done so far. He was about to explain everything to her, but then she asked about Sibilance, and since that was going to be a far shorter question to answer, he decided to put that first. "Yeah, easy for you to say! Yulari's always perfectly behaved!" he said with a laugh. "Her name's Sibilance, you know, because she hisses all the time." Sibilance heard her name and looked curiously at him before stepping forward to inspect Yulari.

He pulled forward the most complete diagram, a maze of lines and badly-drawn dragon forms, covered with x's and scribbles. "Erm," he said, trying to read his own handwriting, before tilting the paper so Avalle could see it. "Well, it's just a three-column formation. There's Altith," he said, pointing at the dragon form at the front, positioned between the center and rightmost column, "and Valleth," gesturing to the slightly larger dragon next to Altith, at the head, between the center and leftmost columns. "Callistath's there, behind everyone, so she can make sure everyone stays in line, and she can't flame, so she won't accidentally burn anyone, not that she would or anything!" he added quickly. "And the three columns are everyone else, I haven't really decided where each individual dragon should go. I think Detritath, Mesreath, and Doppelith are going to make the center line, though, since it'll be easier for the littler colors to switch out if they're on the outside lines... what d'you think?" he said, looking up at her. She'd probably been studying politics and had a far better idea of who would work well with whom, maybe she could help, not that this would actually be their flight formation or anything.[/right][/font]