Hungry Awakings (P'resh)

[E]

Amoare rolled over, pulling the blanket over her head as she did so, as she moaned against the morning light. Just a few more minutes Periheth...

But I'm hungry now!
Can't you be hungry in five more minutes?
I'll have died of starvation in five more minutes.
I think your over exaggerating...
Fine. I'll go feed myself.

At that the queen stood, literally throwing her rider who had been using the weyrling as a pillow during the night and wasted no time in making for the entrance of the weyrling barracks. Exclaiming loudly, Amoare sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

But you've never hunted before...
So? The bronzes of our class have taken down their first kills.
Yes, but...
Then it can?t be that hard.
Oh I've got to see this... she said standing up and stretching.
What you don't think I can do it? the queen replied back, a tinge of hurt in her mindvoice.

Oh I know you can do it, I just think it will be very comical to watch. Amoare sent as she hurried out the door after the queen, pulling some shorts on as she went. Finding the queen already running to jump into the air, the young girl cursed under her breath as she ran in attempts to keep up with the large form of the gold as the two made their way to the feeding grounds.

[Memorie]

Kaunth had taken down his last kill. It was his fourth, a bit much for his usual appetite. He'd take a long nap after this. "Kaunth, slow down, before you eat the Weyr out of beast and home."

I'm hungry. Leave me alone, the bronze replied. P'resh shook his head. The dragon was getting more and more lippy with him. I'll do as I please, I say. And here comes our Weyrling gold.

"Which one?" P'resh asked, knowing that there were now two.

Ours.

"Amoare and Periheth?"

I said Ours. That would imply Amoare and Periheth, wouldn't it?

P'resh ignored the jibe, refusing to empower the bronze. "And I just bet you fancy Periheth for your own, huh?" P'resh prodded. He knew the dragon knew how he felt about Amoare.

Not at all. I'll just flame any other dragon that catches her first flight, Kaunth replied jovially, in the voice that was so like P'resh's. He didn't notice.

"So that's how it is? Isn't she a little young to be worrying about that now?"

Not at all. She is a gold, you know.

"Oh yes, I know." P'resh stood to let Amoare see him. He hadn't been quite sure how to continue their relationship now that she had Periheth. Did she want him to still be close? Or keep his distance? How could he find out? "Ugh."

Turning to where she approached, he waved and shouted. "Amoare! Periheth coming out for a hunt?"

[E]

Amoare found herself nearly on top of the feeding grounds before she realized the bronze form was Kaunth taking down a kill. A small sparkle entered her eyes as she slowed her step and looked around for P'resh. She had barely seen the man after the hatching and she seemed to always be washing Periheth or oiling her hide or attempting to find a little bit of sleep. At the sound of his voice, she could only smile broadly.

"She couldn?t wait." Amoare answered back as she turned her eyes back onto the gold who was already trying to land clumsily upon one of the panicking wherries. A laugh broke from her lips and she quickly covered it again as the gold repremained her.

Don't laugh! This is tricky!
Just don?t forget to kill it love...
I'd like to see you try this.

[Memorie]

Kaunth snorted at the gold weyrling's first try. You need to calm down. Stop floundering like a fish out of water, he told her. This hunt would be successful for her, if he had to chase the wherry bucks into Periheth's arms.

"Kaunth offering her a bit of advice," P'resh told Amoare, smiling. "You should have seen him his first time through," he whispered confidentially.

Shut up before I eat you for dessert.

"So, how is she doing?" P'resh asked Amoare, smiling. "She looks a might bigger than her hatching day, and what a beautiful color she has too." He came closer to the girl, and put his arm around her. "And how are you?"

[E]

I do not look like a fish out of water. Periheth replyed back sharply as she finally gave up and simply fell on the foul. Now on top of it she paused to think before rolling to one side and attempting to catch it in her claws rather than beneath her golden belly. Feathers flew everywhere, but the wherrie managed to escape with about three of them still in its now very ragged tail.

Blast you! Get back here!

Amoare laughed again and leaned into the bronze riders hardened body as she found an arm around her shoulders.

Your laughing at me...
I'm sorry, but it is a joyful laughter. I promise.

"Periheth is doing wonderfully; a little silly at times,"
I am not.
"but still doing good."

Hearing his remark about the color of her hide, Amoare blushed, her eyes never leaving the young queen before her. It really was a beautiful color. Never before had Amoare seen a queen quite that shade, so bright and cheerful that she could be mistaken for the sunlight itself.

"I've been doing good. Very, very busy... but good." She finally answered the question about herself with a slight sigh as she leaned a little closer to the man only an inch or two taller than herself. She would easily be one of the tallest Jr. weyrwomen. "And you? How are you? How has Kaunth been faring?"

[Memorie]

He hugged the girl closer to him. So, she had wanted him to stay close. Good. He wanted to stay close.

Well, you ought not belly flop on them. You'll crush the bones into the meat, Kaunth told the gold, clearly plaintive at such a waste of good wherry meat. Fly up behind them, don't let them see you until the last possible moment.

"He's as he always is--rude and upstartish. That's how I know he's healthy." P'resh smiled fondly at the dragon. "And I...I have missed you."

[E]

I did not crush the meat you overgrown flit.

Amoare's mouth dropped at the gold's retort back to the bronze. Certainly she could only hear one side of the conversation, but it didn?t seem to be going so well... Kaunth had always been nice to her...

Periheth. Love. Be nice...
Be nice? He thin-
No he doesn't.
Are you sure?
Yes.

The gold seemed to shrink down slightly as if she had been scolded before looking back to the bronze. A mumbled apology followed before she turned her gaze back to the wherries ahead of her.

How do I get behind them then? They already know I'm here... they won't let me out of their sight...

[Memorie]

Kaunth wisely kept his mouth shut at her sharp retort. Privately, he thought that she was very lucky she was still a weyrling. When she apologized, he shook his wedge head briskly. It's fine, Gold. Okay, come back here to the ledge. He flicked his tail to indicate where she should sit. He wasn't really hungry anymore, but this was for demonstrative purposes. He sat for a long moment, waiting for the herd of wherries to calm again. Like this.

The dragon rose quietly into the air, more quietly than he would have had he actually been hunting to eat. He backwinged to the rear of the herd. A few of the bucks spotted him, and called loudly to the hens and other bucks, but by the time the herd started to run, he had dived, caught a wherry neck in his arms, broke the next, and carried it back to Periheth. Do you want this one, to tide you off until you catch your own? he asked, subtly trying to assure her that she would.

[E]

Amoare watched as the gold lept to the ledge above the wherrie pen and the bronze continued to pounce upon one of the large birds. Her jaw dropping, she took a step closer to the pens for a better look. She couldn't believe her eyes.

Periheth... are you letting Kaunth catch your meal? she asked completely surprised. It was the last thing she had expected from her gold.

Don't be silly, Amoare. I'm letting him show me. There is no way I'd let someone, besides you, hunt for me. The queen answered back bluntly as she watched completely entrapped in what the bronze was doing.

Finding him back to her, she shook her own wedge head, a habit she had picked up from her rider. I'll catch my own or I won?t eat. she said determinedly. If there was one thing this gold was good for, it was being stubborn.

Leaping off the ledge, she flew more awkwardly than Kaunth had, but nearly mimicking every move he had just done. Missing her first time, she pumped her young wings hard to rise in altitude and allow the wherries to calm a little before she tried again. She roared in frustration as she missed a second time, but pumped her wings once again.

Don't even think about saying anything. she said as she dove in a third time, a little faster than she had the first two. This time, she had been successful and managed to kill the bird neatly in her claws. Letting out a bugle of pride, she waisted no time in biting into the meat. Amoare clapped in excitement.