Taking To The Skies

Writers: Suzee, Paula, Miriah, Heather, Devin, Avery
Date Posted: 15th August 2016

Characters: A'kades, K'ale, U'das, Y'gel, K'dee, D'ren, Lanniya, K'lvin
Description: Anaeryth rises for the first time.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 7, day 21 of Turn 8

K'ale

Y'gel

Lanniya

Lanniya stared at the class of weyrlings as they jotted down the
notes. Teaching wasn't really so bad, it kept her occupied, but it
wasn't easy and today all she wanted to do was tell them to shut up
and just leave her alone. She'd been in a poor mood all day,
compounded by the fact that Anaeryth had woken up extremely grouchy
and of all things, hissy. Perhaps, she figured, the grounding was
getting to her dragon as much as it was getting to her!

She glanced at A'kades, who she was assisting for this class, ready to
ask Volaith if he would mind distracting A'kades for about fifteen
minutes when she was hit by an overwhelming wave of lust that seemed
to come out of nowhere. She gasped, grabbing her lower stomach and
half bending. She felt the eyes of the weyrlings on her, but offered
no explanation as Anaeryth gave an ear splitting bugle just outside in
the Weyrbowl. Lanniya's stomach clenched as a sudden uproar of bronze
and brown dragon voices echoed the cry of intent. "Anaeryth..." Her
eyes flew to A'kades, and without a word, she sprinted out of the
room. It was happening! Had her wings healed enough? She was cleared
by the Dragonhealers for flight again, but...

Her feet pounded on the stone, getting a little scraped on the
bottoms, but she barely noticed. She was too locked with Anaeryth,
feeling her dive at a stoop to snatch a bawling herdbeast in her
talons. She had to push her way past some on lookers and past bronzes
who were already assembling around the gold. The moment she got in
sight of Anaeryth, she was struck by the glow about her hide and was
nearly disastrously distracted by it and the sound of draconic voices
raised in excitement. She had to viciously cut them off before they
overwhelmed her.

Anaeryth bent her head, talons curved to disembowel the beast and feed
when Lanniya finally remembered what she had to do. **Blood,
Anaeryth! Only blood! Don't eat!" She faced down her gold, a slim
figure dwarfed by the now defiantly hissing Anaeryth. Lanniya's brow
furrowed, her heart pounding madly as she stared into the whirling
eyes. **Blood! Take the blood only!** It was a silent battle,
Anaeryth's head weaving from side to side as she gave vocal complaint,
her tail lashing out to sweep the area behind her clear. She bent her
head again, intent on the the herdbeast's tender stomach and Lanniya
screwed her face up, determination tensing her muscles. Anaeryth
snapped her teeth, her will fighting with her riders, but finally
bending to it. With a growl of complaint, her jaws locked up the
throat of the beast.

Lanniya wanted to sigh with relief as Anaeryth drained the beast, but
kept on the pressure, refusing to relinquish control. Anaeryth
discarded the beast and snatched another, clamping down with sudden
relish; the sudden bloodlust rocked Lanniya back, making her stumble
just a moment. She was caught by someone's hands, but didn't pay
attention to who it was; she shrugged and batted them away as the bond
with Anaeryth completely overtook her and nothing else mattered.

Anaeryth chose another beast, draining it and then tossing her head
back to give an ear shattering, challenging roar. She leaped into the
air. She would fly far from the Weyr, into the sky and into her
freedom.

Y'gel's head came up along with every other bronzerider in the Weyr.
"Too soon," he muttered and pulled off his apron to hand it to an
assistant. Then he ran toward the pens in time to get control of
Aughashyth.

"Oh Faranth," he swore. Her wing wasn't really healed quite enough for
the demands of a full blown Flight. Let alone her maiden flight. As
inexperienced as she was she might make a mistake that would cause
even more damage to her already stressed wing. He ran up to where the
others were gathering to watch the gold carefully and throw an
encouraging look at her rider.

**Young.** was the first thought K'lvin had as he left his office,
which was then immediately followed by, **Wait... she's not that far
apart in age from Bahji.** He shook his head a little as he descended
stairs. Bahji was more mature, though, he assured himself.

A'kades noticed Lanniya get suddenly distant, and was about to call
her name before she suddenly twitched, called her dragon's name, and
ran out the door.

**Volaith! Has she hurt herself?** he asked, fearing disaster.

}:Anaeryth is rising. Now.:{ The bronze's tone was short and A'kades
could feel that he was going for the feeding pens.

"Meloria, can you take the class? Keep the weyrlings calm," he ordered

the other weyrlingstaff assistant.
He started jogging out to the pens to join the crowd. Found himself
groaning as the flightlust from his bronze washed over him. Shards!
This was a flight he most certainly _did not_ want to win. He didn't
want to hurt the young goldrider - she was more like a daughter than a
possible lover - but his bronze saw a potential mate instead.

}:I will chase you, Anaeryth! We shall fly far,:{ Volaith promised
her, heedless.

The lust that hit D'ren made it clear that a gold was Rising. }:It is
Anaeryth. I want her.:{ Menanth was already at the feeding pens.

**Oh, no!** The thought of waking up next to Lanniya made his stomach
quiver. He didn't think of her like that at all. Maybe he could take
Menanth away.

}:I will chase!:{ The bronze roared his defiance. D'ren might have
been able to pull him away from a green, but not a gold.

He glanced around at the other bronzeriders. Most of them were older,
more experienced. **We probably won't win.** But then again, Menanth
had caught Vilarth. **Oh, no.*

"What?" The gold's call was unmistakable, and so was Vatonth's
response to it. The bronze headed out to the feeding pens, leading his
rider to limp behind him. As K'dee made it there, he could see the
knot of riders gathering around the Weyr's youngest goldrider. **Go
easy on her,** he told the bronze, even as he took down his own kill.

Anaeryth didn't want any of the posturing bronzes near her; as she
rode a thermal higher, she sought the freedom of the skies, away from
the small humans below and the confining Weyr. At that moment, she was
the only queen in the sky and the only dragon that mattered. Those
bronzes would never be able to keep up with her! Let them chase her!
She would outlast all of them! Steadily she climbed higher,
determined to get far ahead of any potential males that had already
bugled their own intentions.

Lanniya barely noticed the faces of some of the riders as they guided
her into the flight area. And even though she blindly walked with
them, she batted at their hands; so in tune with Anaeryth, she
objected to what she perceived as an unwelcome advance. They weren't
to touch her yet! They hadn't earned it!

Zackariath was late joining the chase but he was joining. Nothing his
rider could say or do to persuade him otherwise. The old bronze bugled
his own challenge.

** Oh, shards, she is so young** U'das groaned mentally before he lost
himself to the Flight lust. He could only hope that Anaeryth would
choose someone younger. Not his battered old bronze.

Y'gel helped get the young rider into the privacy of the flight rooms
before he lost himself to the flight as well.

Aughashyth flung himself toward the clouds in pursuit of the glowing
prize. His own wing injury of the past made him confident he knew how
she was going to play this chase out and he settled in for the long
flight in hopes that this time he held the key.

Volaith threw himself into the sky and flew into the clouds, seeking
height. Anaeryth was going to fly out and far away, but he would pace
her steady and sure. He would have her as his!

Leaping upwards from his perch, Xmrenth eagerly joined in the chase,
jostling for position with the other males who wished to have the
lovely Anaeryth.

K'ale hadn't gotten to Riverbluff as quickly as he wanted but Imalkyth
touched down long enough for him to leap free before he too went in
hot pursuit of their mutual desire.

For a while, Anaeryth ignored the chasing bronzes and browns, exulting
in the freedom of the thermal drafts that she played among. She dipped
into clouds, hiding herself, then came bursting out, hide damp from
the moisture. She played amid the puffy masses, then looked over her
shoulder to flick a taunting tongue at her chasers. With an almost
fiendish glee, she flew into a thick carpet of clouds, disappearing
only to quickly turn and dart in the opposite direction, watching to
see if her suitors were able to keep up with her antics. Her
previously injured wing began to ache just a bit, but she ignored it
in favor of the enjoyment of the moment.

Menanth twisted to follow the gold, almost colliding with an older
bronze. Thankfully there were no agile blues to compete with so
Menanth didn't fall behind the other males. With strong wingbeats, he
drew closer to Anaeryth, desire burning hot within him. }:Choose me. I
will make you feel good and we will have many strong hatchlings.:{

Aughashyth had chased gold as many times as they'd risen near him and
this time he thought he might have a chance. He had lived with an
injured wing for most of his life and learned to perform with it.
He'd seen a bit of her leaning on her stronger wing before she buried
herself in the cloudbank. So he dove in after her and turned where he
thought she would and caught the tiniest glimpse of what he thought
was gold before it disappeared.

Vatonth was a slower bronze, but he had some hint from following Aughashyth.
Dropping down, he too believed he'd seen the young gold, or had he
Xmrenth flew wisely, careful not to entangle himself in the pack of
males that sought after the young queen. This cautious method allowed
him the space to bank sharply, and change direction with Anaeryth,
staying within reach should the opportunity to snatch her up arise.

Volaith shifted to try to block two eager browns. This queen deserved
the best! He wanted her. He'd tasted gold before, and knew what he
desired.

Thadath was more bold, darting between another bronze and a brown to
go into the cloud bank. }:Choose me, choose me,:{ he promised,
heedless of the fact she was his clutchmate, feeling only need.

Anaeryth was flagging and it was becoming obvious that her wing was
giving her fits. She'd enjoyed the freedom while it had lasted, but
she was aching in more than one way. She looked back at her chasers; a
few had dropped out, but they obviously weren't worthy of her anyway.
She saw Imalkyth and considered him for a moment. She had great
affection for the brown, but today, she wanted more than he. There
were bronzes in their prime who desired her and they drew her
attention far more than any brown. Menanth? Perhaps. She liked him as
well. Xmrenth she didn't know well, but he was a fine looking bronze.
Volaith...well, perhaps, but she was still a bit annoyed with him.
Zachariath? He was very experienced.

She swung her great wings again and felt the burn of muscles pushed
too far. She struggled to get more altitude, and was able, but not as
much as she may have liked. She strained and barreled right into the
talons of a dragon that had managed to anticipate what she was trying
to do. Before Anaeryth could think to voice a complaint, she
capitulated to Aughashyth grip.

Aughasyth knew she was tiring and had positioned himself on the side
of her injured wing thinking that at some point she'd turn in that
direction and he could make his play and it worked. The moment she
rolled he reached out and a moment later entangled her with his tail
and neck extending his own wings to control their fall as he roared
his victory.

Below Y'gel retained enough of himself to try to be gentle but the big
Dragonhealer scooped up Lanniya and strode toward privacy.

U'das was hardly surprised when Zack turned back home disappointed.
Neither of them was getting any younger. While the bronze was making
his way back to his weyrledge, U'das picked a flight moth to entertain
himself.

Menanth's frustration burned in him, but D'ren sighed with relief as
he turned away from Lanniya. Eager arms reached for him and D'ren
surrendered to a woman's embrace.

Last updated on the August 29th 2016

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Taking To The Skies