All That Glitters is Gold (Gold Flight)

[Memorie]

Merda, it's time, Caliath said, sounding entirely smug and more than a little happy.

Now? I'd like to have supper first, dear, but if you say so.... The Senior Weyrwoman arose from her seat at the Great Table in the Weyrhall and began to head out, carefully taking no notice of the many bronzeriders following her. Honestly, Caliath, Merda said, a little heated under the collar, Do they really expect you to choose some of them, young as some of them are? It's practically indecent!

Hmm, yes, but perhaps stronger?

You always seem fairly satisfied after a Flight with Beodith, the rider retorted.

That's true, the Gold replied, unfussed. But we shall see, shall we not? Merda didn't deign a reply.

~~~

Once out in the Feeding Grounds, Merda stood, a group of men circling around her, like lions stalking prey. Caliath's blood began to rush hard, and it affected Merda, who took a greater command over her dragon.

Only blood, Caliath, blood only, Merda said, knowing what the reply would be.

I shall eat what I like! came the sure reply. Merda feigned anger.

You shall eat what I tell you! And that is all, you understand me! the rider told her dragon forcefully. Caliath backed down after another couple of squabbles like this, and took in only blood from four herdbeasts.

Suddenly, in a great shimmer of gold and black, Caliath took to the skies, darting around ledges and cliffs only slightly slower than she had in her youth. Merda and Caliath became one, and though the pair had been through many Flights together, it still was a rush every time there was another. The Gold flew, her wings beating tirelessly and pushing the air around her at her will. Both the rider and the dragon knew this could be the last Flight they ever had, and both were determined to make it the best. Caliath screeched, claws flexxing in the air beneathe her, and Merda stuck a seductive hip out and placed a hand on it. Neither spoke; words wasted time.

[dragonmenta]

L'kel heard the call. He smiled. Zyth was practiced now. He had taken some good advice and flown not only after Naraleth but others as well. The Wingsecond didn't really think he'd win. He couldn't remember a time when it wasn't J'ren and Merda; Beodith and Caliath, but you never really knew. Really end up weyrleader of Sodalis in a few mere candlemarks. Merda and queen's age were of no consequence...he always respected the weyrwoman but that wasn't really the point of this whole affair. It was power. Besides, as his relationship with Morelia showed, he liked older women.

Time to blood. I'll be down in a sec. The dark rider said. His dear greenrider would probably figure out where he was but he scrawled a quick note to her anyways and left it beside their bed.

L'kel made his way down to the feeding grounds and joined the men clustered around Merda. As he took his place hands on hips he locked eyes with his dragon for a moment, blood dripping from the massive bronzes mouth. They were ready; faster, stronger and smarter than they had ever been before. When he looked back at Merda she was no longer their aging weyrwoman in appearence she was something different altogether. The beauty of the joining of dragon and rider in flight was something so uncomprehinsible and wonderful. It was like a drug, it made you dizzy and it made everything clear. One thing it definatly was, was an aphrodesiac. He flexed his muscles and tensed as he felt the adreniline and rush of beasts blood surge through his veins.

He could feel every sinew in Zyth's muscles as they took of into the air, bunching up and then springing from Pern. L'kel-Mnemozyth let out a trumpet int othe sky as they took off towards their prize.

[E]

N’bun was informed of the queens movements before he even seen the rider stand. Putting down his fork, he took a last swig of the klah in his mug before following the regal woman from the Hall as Astroth fell into the wind from his high weyr.

The two were an older pair at the weyr, N’bun in his fifties and Astroth in his late thirties. While N’bun was slowly falling from his prime, he was still a dragonrider and well able to outmatch any child fresh from the weyrling barracks just as his bronze, a little small as he may be, was still able to keep up with even the senior queen in flight. Or so they both hoped. Several years still lasted beneath the brazen wings.

Forcing his will onto the bronze, he sighed remembering the resistance he use to have to fight. The bronze had flown so many times now, he barely needed the reminder. Two herd beasts fell at the fangs before the bronze leapt to the sky to give chase to the golden queen. They would give a good flight, and even if they should not be chosen, they enjoyed the stimulation it brought.

[hrsegrl245]

Viderieth was unaware of what was going on, he had gone to the feeding grounds very hungry adn after seeing Caliath blooding her kill followed suit. Z'rion had absolutely no idea what the Bronze was doign till he caught sight of teh other Bronzes and then he almost groaned in irritation. What are you thinking?
Caliath bloods her kill. It is time to fly....
Do you have any idea what you are saying? You just graduated from Weyrling and now your going to attempt to fly the Senior Queen along with every other Bronze dragon in the Weyr.
Yes, you seem to doubt my abilities...
Its not that Viderieth... I just don't think I want to fly the Senior queen as our first flight ever.....
The worse that could happen is we will learn...
The Dragon as usual was wiser and therefore Z'rion stood among the other Sodalis Bronze riders. 'Faranth don't let Viderieth fall out too quickly'

HE was thinking of the taunting that was sure t come from the other Bronzers and really didn't want to hear it, besides he didn't want to fly to fly...He was growing attached to another person, but then again who was he to withold a prize from his beloved dragon...
The confusion on the younger man's face was soon outshone with pure anguish of making a tough decision. One that he had to make in order to proceed... Viderieth wanted to fly. Then Viderieth would fly. Z'rion had to stay with him so that they could learn about flying Queens... as he was certain eh would like to do someday even if he thought that day couldn't possibly be today.

It was in that moment that Viderieth rose silently. HE was following the other Bronzes actions, learning there moves as well as the Queens. Vid, you are one sly dragon...
Anything to win a treasure... At that Z'rion gave his a mental laugh.

[lyricalblue]

((npc fun time))

Weseaneth had been touchy all day, almost jittery. As soon as he heard the Queen's challenge the bright bronze leaped. Powerfull muscles propelling him up and strong wings carrying him towards her prey. His eyes whirled brightly red, this one he must have.
Mine, it is time.

Absorbed wholely reading a scroll in his Weyr, I'slen had not even noticed his bronze's abrupt departure. He certainly noticed it now as the flood of emotions crashed over him. He stood and took enough time to quickly change his shirt before rushing out of the weyr he had shared with the bronze for many years.
You're going to try for Caliath? We aren't getting any younger you know.
He could feel the bronze's hot determination.
I will have her.
All I'slen could do was sigh and jog down the corridors a bit faster. He burst onto the scene as the brightly glowing Gold was taking off. Weseaneth was perched on an outcropping nearby, wings buzzing. As soon as Caliath was alof, so was he. Answering her trumpet with a challenge of his own. The bronze flew after her, letting her wake make his flight easier. Remembering his lessons well enough, he would bide his time and stay as close to her for as long as he could before claiming his prize.

Far below, I'slen could only watch his bronze, mind half here and half with the great beast. Lust burned through him in an all-consuming fire. But he too, like Weseaneth had been in many a flight. They knew how this game worked and he stoaked it, letting his mind soar upwards with his beloved dragon.
Fly Wes, fly with all you've got.

[fallinrayne216]

"Wait!" K'mar rushed upwards in his bed...dripping in a cold sweat. It took the bronze a moment to take in his surroundings until he realized he had been dreaming. His arm was shaking while outstretched in the air before him. Wait for what? The rider turned to the bright eyes watching him from the darkness. Talzynth was watching him intently with concern. "Oh, it was just a dream." What about? "About--about..." K'mar closed his eyes to try and recapture the dream, but it was gone from his memory. "I don't remember."

The bronze huffed. And they say dragons have poor memories. K'mar laughed and left the warmth of his bed. He needed a cold bath...that would surely wake him up and maybe remind him of what it was he had asked to wait for...or who. Hopping into the bath, he quickly washed with the sweetsand until he was finished, and then just soaked for a bit with his eyes closed and his arms hanging over the side of the bath. Mine. K'mar sighed and lazily replied, "what?"

The Queen! She rises! Hurry, mine! The bronzerider jumped and slid out of the bath while grabbing random clothes. He was still soaking wet, but he didn't have time to even try to dry off. Pulling on his boots, he raced out of his weyr and down to the Bowl in record time. Talzynth! Remember to blood, no meat! The bronze was becoming irritable as the lust of Flight began to pump through his veins. I know what to do! Don't order me around!

K'mar tried to laugh and ease the anger in the bronze, but the lust was beginning to overwhelm him as well. The other riders were crowded by the Bowl, watching Theirs with such concentration that he doubted any of them were blinking. His sapphire gaze fixated on Tal, who was blooding his third kill. The Queen is leaving! The gold was indeed leaving the Bowl, using her experience to pull away from the bronzes every second they delayed.

Forget about blooding any more herdbeasts, Tal! Go get her! Adrenaline had set his heart to a rapid beat that pumped the flow of lust to every nerve end in his body. His fingers down to his toes were tingling with the sensation of it all, and his desire to touch a woman was becoming stronger. As he felt himself drowning into the lust, he and Talzynth became one...merging together to catch Caliath as their own. The others were only there for the show, as Tal was thinking, and K'mar was so driven with lust that he agreed.

[Memorie]

Merda-Caliath flew in the clear blue evening sky, wings sweeping in the air powerfully. Wherries tooks flight from their roosts in the trees at the sound of dragon trumpeting, and the Golden pair could see them in the distance. The time had long passed, over forty-five turns, when Merda had had to fight for control of the Flight. Of course, Caliath put up an admirable rebellion, but the two had come to a mutual enjoyment of Flight. The trust ran as high as a flooded river between the pair. Take your time, Caliath. If this is the last, let's go out with a bang, Merda told the dragon, giggling like a Hold-girl.

Dipping her head underneath her wing to peek at her followers, she found many bronzes and was very flattered to find the most graduated Weyrling following her too. Merda, however, shared only a bit of her dragon's mirth at the sight. She whipped around to look at the boy, Z'rion, and cackled. "One day, you may learn to control your dragon's lust," she teased, chuckling maliciously. It hadn't been long since Merda had felt this good, a mere seven months. The clutch sizes were increasing dramatically with each Caliath laid, and Merda hoped for a good 40- numbered haul. It meant, of course, that the Red Star wsa growing dangerously closer, but for the here-and-now, Merda was well-pleased.

The Queen took a twist around the spires at the top of the mountainous Weyr, favoring none yet. Caliath planned to heed Merda's advice and make this flight a good, exercising, long one. Her weyrmate might want a certain person, but Caliath would not limit herself to one bronze, not when there were so many who might be better for her and the clutch.

[hrsegrl245]

Casually Z'rion laughed at her statement... he was always loud, even if unintentionally. "My lady, I doubt that my dragon needs his lust controlled. We both know what we are doing. Besides its all about the thrill of the chase." With that he gave one of his more charming grins and let the others stare at him as if he did not belong.

Young they were, every other pair had more experience but there were also some less worthy than Videreith, who was in top condition and at avery young point in his life. He had as much strength and endurance as the others, what it would come down to was merely the skill one must learn in flights. At least he would become more adept at flying.

Z'rion was a large man and towered over many of the others, he may be young but he was not innocent i the ways things worked. He was young and strong, even if teh queen thought herself above him, his Bronze was just as good if not better than the others. Keeping to himself, avoiding the glances of the other men he made himself mentally focus on Viderieth. It wouldn't be long before he would be consumed by thoughts of flight alone. Somehow in the midst of all this, he wished Kaminari was there instead of Merda. He would never lose a flight like that....

[lyricalblue]

Weseaneth spread his great bronzed wings, and soared upwards. He was strong, more than strong enough for this flight. The falling sun glinted off a body that was still sleek with muscle and health; it cast a red glow on his light almost brassy hide. He answered the Queens challenge with his own, she would not escape him this time. Oh no, his wings sweapt the air beneath and away from him as he followed in her wake. Let this flight be long and let the chase be monumental, Caliath would be his. The aging bronze ceased his challenges after that, let the youngsters crow thier glory to the skies, he was a wily beast and knew how flights worked, he knew how Caliath worked.

Far below I'slen let his mind float somewhere inbetween his dragon's flight and the ground. Making a note of who stood where and what their expressions were. At Z'rion's boast he had the sudden urge to pat the young man on the man and wish him the best. A slow smile spread across his face, he really couldn't do that. Oh no, he wished the best for Weseaneth and himself. The old bronzerider took a place to the right behind Merda, he'd vowed long ago to protect her and nothing changed that now.

Steady on Wes, steady on.
I know, this time we will not loose.
There was a finality in the bronze's tone that surprised his rider. I'slen turned grey eyes up to see the fading forms of the dragons. It seemed the bronze wanted this more than even he did.

[dragonmenta]

Mnemozyth angled upwards, feeling with pleasure, the wind whip beneath his wing and the rippling of his bronze muscles as he soared throguhout the sky. Ha! He was a bronze with no equal, he felt at that moment more powerful than anything else in Pern. He took a wider loop around the spire, slowing slightly, but caught a wind current and settled right back into his previous position. He darted from stream to stream in the blue like a young weyrling green, thrilling in the flight. He was born for two things, to char thread and to fly a Queen.

The tall, dark Wingsecond thrilled at the feel of his tingling skin as he became one with his magnificant bronze. Wouldn't it be funny if tomorrow he led bloodchar instead of seconding in it. His lip curled slightly at the thought, the idea made his mind race even faster. It was like a drug, too many herbs in his drink, as he turned his multi-faceted eyes to the Pernese sky. Things became blurry and yet clear at the same time. They only needed to see one thing, the Queen, their Queen, her golden hide looking as vibrant as that of a fresh rising Jr. and glinting in the sun.

The pair said nothing to each other. Their was no point. They knew what they had to do and how to do it. Thy didn't want it to be Beodith again, they knew they could do better for the Weyrwoman and for her Weyr. L'kel crossed his arms firmly over his nearly black chest, let the flight play out, when the catch was done, all would see who was best.

[fallinrayne216]

Go, Tal, go. K'mar urged the bronze on, although Talzynth needed no encouragement for this Flight. His wings were fully outstretched their entire distance as they swooped down and up in great motions. He carefully aligned himself just above the others rather than clumped together with them. His golden-bronze hide stretched over his hard-earned muscles as they sustained stamina far greater than the first Flight they had attempted.

They were just barely gripping the intensity of the Flight and not quite realizing this was indeed a Weyrleadership flight. But there hadn't been time to question it and there still wasn't the time to worry about the meaning. K'mar thrust aside all negative thoughts or emotions that had threatened to build up inside and outcasted them to another time and another place. He needed his focus to be entirely on catching Caliath, which they fully intended on doing.

Talzynth's eyes swirled a deep purple as the lust completely consumed the pair. They were lost to its clutches, and no logical thinking outside of the Flight was possible now. The pair were fighting with every breath they took to win this Flight, and to leave the other dragons in the dust. She would see...she would see their magnifiscence and welcome them after her last Flight. They would help her to make it great, but at its climax, it would be they that wrapped their serpentine-like neck around hers as the last dragon fell.

Any commotion or sound on the ground was lost to K'mar's ears as he was completely enraptured by the skies. His sapphire eyes were glued to the Flight as his hands rested almost peacefully by his sides. His outside appearance did not give way to the battle that raged inside of conflicting emotions and desires to catch the brilliant Gold. No one could see the chaos inside that he had let consume him rather than battle it out and risk the failure of distraction. No, they came here to catch her. They would not leave without her.

[Dizzy]

J'ren watched the woman's face... the joy dance across it... the look on his showed ownership. Dragonlust had yet to be all consuming, he had time to take in who the upstarts where that thought they could oust him as Weyrleader... those that thought they were good enough for Merda and Calliath. He pulled Beodith back, making him conserve. Knowing Calliath this would be a long flight... the smokeless weyrlings following her had best remember that. "Merda, darling. It looks like you have a new pet. I didn't know you liked them so young." The Weyrleader stepped closer to the woman whose body he knew so well, in and out of flight. It was hard to restrain himself, even after so many turns of Flight and Dragonlust. His voice was husky as he moved close enough to whisper, "Lady Rider... you know I'll please you."

Beodith, wingtip to wingtip with a brown, turned his head and hissed out his displeasure before cutting the other dragon off. Finding a thermal he allowed it to carry him upward where he could look down on many of the other pursuers and his Queen.

[E]

Astroth followed slightly behind the younger bronzes, but he was by no means left behind. While the fact that Astroth was nearly the same size as the young bronze who flew against him made N’bun second guess at the sizes of these youngsters, Astroth knew his experience would pay off.

Seeing the queen peak behind her, the lusty bronze crooned out to her as he dipped below one of the larger bronzes to get ahead of him. As the larger bronzes slowed to make the sharp turn around the peak of the mountain, Astroth put his smaller size to an advantage, actually beating his strong wings to speed up around the corner. He would have his prize!

[Memorie]

Merda-Caliath snorted. "And if we do, J'ren? The young ones are probably better than your old bones at pleasing me," she replied viciously. They were not anywhere near tired yet, and still contemptuous at all those following the Queen. A bronze crooned to her, and just to make Beodith whistle with jealousy, Merda-Caliath purred back before pulling their head out from under their wing. They backwinged, pulling themselves higher into the sky, higher into the light, for this was a fairly often-used trick to diminish the unworthy. The sun beat down on their eyes, so Merda-Caliath lowered two sets of lids and continued flying.

Merda was led back to her Weyr, despite there being much left to the flight. She giggled, laughed, and even snickered all the way, playing jokes on her followers, carressing one's ear, running her hand down the jawline of another. Beodith would not catch them so easily this time.

[Dizzy]

J'ren let out a growl at the contentious woman's teasing. "These bone's might be old, woman... but those young babes will be sore pressed to fill where I have been."

Following close behind the Weyrwoman, J'ren allowed his hand to travel down the small of her back... his touch a light caress. If she could tease so could he.

Hearing the gold's croon, Beodith let out another hiss... his rage showing in red and orange eyes. His eyes narrowed as he watched the smaller bronze maneuver his way into a better position. Beodith watched Calliath speed up and past them, it took little effort or time for his enormous wings to allow him to follow in pursuit, following her into the bright southern sun.