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[kia]

It will be any day now, the voice told her, which made the young woman`s face change in worriment and become very pale. Normally, the thought of Flights would not bother a Rider, but for a Rider who had never been through their first Flight it was a nervous thought. Nia stared at her dragon`s hide like she had the last several sevendays and wonder what it would be like. She had seen several Flights, and seen her own father in that Flight trance whenever his Brown would chase after females. On her shoulder sat Nix, her young Fire Lizard. What would happen to him when Niki Rose? He was too young for him to feel all those feelings. Maybe she could convince Flare to take the young Blue away during the Flight. Yeah, it would have come down to that.

Nikianeth moved on her dragon couch and rumbled lightly, starting to become easily annoyed with her Mine constantly worrying about the Flight. Though, why she was becoming annoyed was possibly from getting proddy about being close to her Flight. Nia was worried about herself and not about Niki, so Niki thought. As Nia moved closer to her dragon to place a hand on her hide, Niki growled lowly at her Rider. Just leave me alone, Nikianeth said, her eyes whirling with green an oranges on the side. She was getting tied of this. She could not wait till she Rose and her Mine could stop fretting over her.

Nia stopped, looking at her dragon. "Niki, what is wrong? You usually never snap at me when I worry about you. You are usually telling me to worry about myself," the young woman replied, seriously worried about her dragon.

You are worried about yourself all the time. You never think about how I might feel about this Flight. You are selfish! the dragon snapped back.

Nia felt hurt. She frowned. "Niki, you know I care about you, too! I am worried about all of us! Can`t I be free to do that?" she asked. The remarked had seriously hurt the woman. This was her dragon, her lifemate, her partner.

The dragon picked up on the woman`s feelings and the orange in her eyes disappeared. She crooned back to her Mine, sadly. I am sorry, Mine. I did not mean to snap at you. I am just getting annoyed by this. Things are starting to move fast for us, and I am worried that we will get left behind, the dragon said apologetically.

[4horseshowgirl4]

B'nyur and Oveth were up high on the rim of the Weyrbowl, in their little garden. Oveth was perched precariously on the one narrow ledge that was free of soil and herbs, clutching a bucket in his mouth. B'nyur was treading through the clumps of herbs, picking what was ready and tying the leaves in a bundle, then tossing the bundle towards the bucket. Their first attempts at this had been disastrous, but B'nyur's aim was slowly improving, as was Oveth's ability to catch the bundles in the bucket. The Dragonhealer effortlessly tossed a bunch of redwort plants over his shoulder, but Oveth had to duck forward significantly to get them to land in his bucket with a soft 'whump.' His eyes whirled in soft triumph. He liked this game!

Before long, though, they had picked as much as they could use in the next sevenday fresh, and, with the bucket nearly full, they flew back down to the infirmary. On the way down, though, B'nyur caught a glimpse of a brilliant orange hide in one of the weyrs. {That's Armania's and Nikianeth's weyr?} B'nyur asked Oveth, naming one of the few Orangepairs at the Weyr. Oveth didn't reply. {It must be, Nikianeth was the dragon Fajra told to get out of the Weyr when Kalith went up, and that is definitely the hide of a dragon about to Rise...} B'nyur mused, remembering the day when the foolish Blue had tried to Chase the Senior Queen. {She's young, isn't she? This must be her first Flight coming up,} B'nyur continued to tell Oveth as they touched down outside of the infirmary. Will she lay eggs?

[/color] Oveth said, releasing the bucket. B'nyur picked it up, shrugging. {I don't know, Sub-Queens don't always.} We should check in on her, anyway![/color] Oveth said excitedly. He loved Hatchings, and Kalith was going to clutch, so wouldn't it be terrific if Nikianeth had a Hatching a sevenday or two later?

B'nyur smiled, leading Oveth into the infirmary. It did not take long to sort out the herbs into their separate containers. It was early enough in the season that he did not yet have an excess to dry and store. {It's pretty quiet today. I agree, poor Armania's probably going to feel a little nervous about possibly being a clutchmother for the first time, and it'd probably reassure both of them if we promise them that she's healthy enough for what's to come,} B'nyur said after a while, putting the last bundle of basil away and grabbing some basic Healer tools. B'nyur rumbled happily, backing back out of the infirmary. B'nyur easily swung aboard the little Blue, and the pair was off. Oveth made the short flight up to the Orangepair's weyr quickly enough.

The Orange was inside on her couch instead of out on her ledge, a fact for which Oveth was secretly grateful. He didn't want to have to fight for landing space with a proddy Orange. If she was even a tenth as moody as Kalith had been, Oveth would need to tread carefully around her! Oveth touched down on the smallest, farthest corner of the ledge, trying to be polite. B'nyur gave the Blue a quick pat before swinging off, having to clutch to one of the straps to avoid stepping off of the ledge. {Oveth, dear, I think you need to give me some room to get inside,} he said good-naturedly, and Oveth obediently moved over a few feet. B'nyur knocked on the outside wall of the weyr before stepping into view, smiling wholeheartedly.

"Good day, Armania!" he greeted jovially, trying to be as open and friendly as he could even though he had never met the Orangerider before. "Sorry for barging in like this, I'm B'nyur, and I'm one of the Dragonhealers here. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind me giving Nikianeth a little physical, since she's about ready to Rise," he used one hand to gesture to her bright hide, which made it obvious to anyone, "and might be clutching, since she's a sub-Queen. This is her first Flight, right?" He said this all from just outside their weyr, on the ledge, not about to walk in without a welcome. He wasn't carrying much with him, just a comically large stethoscope and a handful of glows. Hello...[/color] Oveth began. {Nikianeth,} B'nyur quickly supplied, knowing Oveth and his faulty memory all too well. Nikianeth! You and Yours are well, I hope?[/color] Oveth said sweetly, settling down onto his haunches on the corner of her ledge.[/right][/font]

[kia]

Nikianeth turned her head as Oveth and B`nyur entered the weyr through the ledge. The sub-Queen was still feeling proddy, but for the Blue that had never meant any harm to her since she had been here, she would try to be as polite as she could with him. She moved a little closer to her dragon couch, making room for the small Blue in her weyr. Hopefully they would not be long. But, then again, they were here to see her. Yes, the marvelous specimen that was an Orange. She was better than that Renegade Queen that thought she was the greatest Orange to ever exist. Well, she would prove that Orange wrong. She would Fly harder, higher, and better that Alizadehth ever did. Her eyes began to whirl quicker in shades of green, happy with these thoughts. But, she turned her head back to the Blue that had spoken to her. She almost growled. She deserved respect! But Nia`s look made her hold back her temper on the poor Blue. Hello, Oveth. We are doing quite well, she replied. I hope you and yours are very well. You should have Yours tell my Mine that everything is ok.

Nia looked at Niki before before she looked at B`nyur. She gave him a small smile before moving away from Niki and toward him. "Hello, B`nyur. Yes, I know who you are. I was at your Copper`s Clutch Hatching. That is where I Impressed Nix," she said, pointing to the small Blue on her shoulder. The Blue looked up and chirped at him before falling back to sleep. Nia knew that she making small chat and conversation. B`nyur had a reason for being here and she made way for the man to look at Niki. Be nice! she warned the Orange. Nia watched B`nyur as the man went to look at Niki. "Do you think she will be able clutch? Sometimes it can be a luck of the draw for an Orange, even a Red, and even rare a Yellow, Gray, or White to clutch. Do you think..." and she blushed lightly and lowered her voice a little, "...the Flight will be ok? I mean, yes, this is her first time Rising. So, this is my first time being in a Flight myself. And, to be honest with you, Dragonhealer, I am very nervous about this. Is... that okay to be nervous?" she asked the man, trusting him for some reason. It could be that Blues very rarely chased Oranges and Nia was asking the man of a dragon that would probably not chase.

[4horseshowgirl4]

Oh, she had a baby firelizard! B'nyur smiled at her and the little Blue. "Well, congratulations!" he said sincerely. It was a good thing that young firelizards weren't like young dragons and wouldn't go between if Theirs had intimate contact, although the emotions of a Flight were far more overwhelming than your everyday lust. "Shanza's a good momma," he said affectionately about the Copper. He still regretted not being able to take care of her most recent clutch like he had before, but she had done a fine job raising the eggs on her own, and he would make it up to her next time.

He smiled again before stepping past Armania to get to Nikianeth. Like any sensible person would before approaching a proddy female, he gave the Orange a small bow before getting too close. Nikianeth was an Orange, not a volatile Red, and surely she couldn't be as aggressive as Kalith, but this was Armania's first time having to control this, and B'nyur rather liked all of his fingers intact. He paused before approaching her shoulder.

"It's hard to say," B'nyur said simply, giving Armania a cursory glance before turning back to Nikianeth and beginning his little inspection. First, he inspected the whole of her hide looking for any cracks or dry spots. The thin, dry air that high in the sky could be brutal on skin that wasn't perfectly well-oiled, and combine that with the high speeds and heavy exertion, and you had a recipe for trouble if your dragon wasn't well cared-for. However, he spotted no such problem on Nikianeth, not that he often did! Dragonriders usually weren't lazy people and were all too happy to tend to their dragon's every need; typically, only the youngest Weyrlings had difficulty getting the oil on their dragons enough to keep up with their incredible growth.

"She might clutch, she might not. I honestly couldn't tell you if sub-Queens feel the same need to produce more dragons that Queens do when the Interval is drawing to a close, like it is now, but if they do, she should clutch," he continued amiably, putting the earbuds of the stethoscope in his ears and bending down to listen to Nikianeth's hearts and lungs. After a long moment, he straightened and turned back to Armania. "She seems as healthy as you could want, and the only thing that might go against her is her inexperience. It might depend on how the Flight goes and who she chooses as her mate, too, of course, but I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be able to!"

B'nyur then looked at her talons, mostly to make sure that none of them were broken or missing. That in itself wouldn't harm her in Flight, but it wouldn't do for her to get an infection a day or two before she Rose! "Of course, that'll probably mean you'll have to share the Sands with Kalith, and I don't envy you for that!" B'nyur said, winking at her. The Dragonhealer next turned to Nikianeth's wings, feeling her muscles and tendons, searching for any small imperfections that had remained hidden until now but might cause trouble when she strained herself in Flight. It wasn't like he expected to find anything, as countless dragonesses before her had Flown without the smallest hitch, but since she had a chance to clutch, it was probably a good idea just to give her a thorough check. Moreover, it would help to assuage the nervousness Armania had to be feeling.

Armania's next question surprised him a little bit, but he couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Of course it's okay to be nervous! I'd be surprised if you weren't! You think I wasn't?" he said empathetically. "Although I may not be the best person to ask what a Flight's really like, since Oveth's never Caught anyone after all of these years," he said, grinning a little and trying to put a humorous twist on things. "Just remember that no one will judge you for the Flight aftermath, alright?" he finished kindly, before turning back to Nikianeth to finish up the physical and check on her eyes and nose.

"Well, I think I'm done here. She's in perfect health, of course. You both will be fine, I promise. Every Dragonrider has to go through this at some point. It's scary at first, yes, but the feeling of being so one with your dragon can be enjoyable. Good luck to both of you! I'm always around if you need anything. Just have Nikianeth contact Oveth," he said, offering a hand for Armania to shake before greeting Oveth with a firm pat, swinging on, and taking off. Goodbye, Niki! You will make all of the males swoon for you!

[/color] Oveth chirped cheerfully before making a clumsy dive and heading back towards the infirmary.[/right][/font]