Mine

Writers: Devin, Francesca, Halyonix, Shawna, Sia, Suzee
Date Posted: 16th February 2025

Characters: Cyradis, N'vanik, Z'ku, R'kede, Y'dran, C'bricht
Description: Panitath rises to mate.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 25 of Turn 12

Cyradis

N'vanik

Z'ku

R'kede

Cyradis felt it for several days and she'd been watching Panitath
slowly begin to glow. It was obvious the bronzes were arrayed on the
heights just waiting for her to trigger the flight.

She paced in her Weyr looking out to the ledge until the restless
sleep seemed to fade toward the afternoon. Then suddenly the lull was
over and Panitath awoke with a roar, a challenge, and a hunger that
almost overwhelmed her.

She ran down the steps outside her weyr, skirts flying, toward the
beast pens. "Blood Only," she screamed both out loud and in her mind.

**Blood only!**

The raging gold snarled in defiance, sneering both at the puny woman
who sought to limit her and the puny males who thought they could
catch her.

Cyradis ended up against the fence panting with the effort and holding
on as she forced her lifemate to blood her kill.

Loseth licked blood from his jaws and left the feeding pens, staying
out of his mate's way. He bullied another bronze out of the way and
took an advantageous spot on the heights, eyes whirling with lust as
he watched the huge golden Queen. N'vanik had been on edge, attuned to
his dragon's instincts, and he hurried out to the Bowl as soon as
Panitath woke. Even if Loseth had caught her many times now, something
could always go wrong. She could make a different choice.

}:Mine!:{ Loseth snarled at the other bronzes, at his rider.

That snarl was answered by a low, humored chuckle from Seriaeth. }: So
you think, :{ the newcomer bronze remarked. His wings were ready to
make that first downward snap the moment Panitath took off. Down in
the Bowl, his rider Y'dran came to join the gathering throng of the
other bronzeriders, whistling merrily to himself.

N'tan was fussing with his plants when Panitath awoke with a roar, but
it was Bastiath's answering snarl that made him accidentally break the
branch off the plant he was handling. "You idiot," he said with a
resigned dismay as the brown roared again and headed for the feeding
pens. It took a particularly fast or clever brown to catch a gold, let
alone a senior gold, and Bastiath was neither. With a sigh, he set
down his clippers and headed for the ladder that connected his weyr to
the next one down.

He didn't rush towards the flight weyrs, half his attention on his
brown, who had the audacity to snarl back at Loseth, ready to pull him
back if he actually tried to fight one of the bronzes. **Easy. If you
start a fight you'll never even get off the ground.** That seemed to
work, at least, and the brown turned his focus to what was important-
the gold, not her chasers.

R'kede was getting ready for a swim when he felt the wave of lust from
Osherith that could only mean a mating flight. The brown hadn't won a
flight in some time, which had been frustrating for both of them.
However, R'kede's interest faded away as soon as he understood that
this was not a green flight, or even a junior gold flight.

}:I can catch her!:{ the large brown declared, having positioned
himself on the heights but some distance from Loseth.

R'kede didn't respond, knowing he wouldn't be able to dissuade his
dragon. He arrived where the bronze and brownriders were gathering,
nodding and smiling to some of the other riders.

Tarqeqth roared an answer, eager to fly and chase and especially to
shove the browns clear out of the air for even thinking of attempting
to chase what was rightfully _theirs_. C'bricht himself rolled his
eyes, though at least the focus on the browns might lessen the sting
of likely losing to Loseth _again_.

Cyradis watched Panitath carefully until suddenly with a challenging
roar she launched herself out over the waters that crashed against the
rocky shores near the Weyrbowl. Powerful thrusts of her great wings
swept downwards as she avoided her chasers with practiced ease.

Cyradis felt arms around her carrying her slight form toward the place
where bronze and brown riders gathered around her. She was no longer
just herself she was her lifemate and her wings carried her up above
the clouds into the bright and glorious sun.

With a roar and a sweep of his huge wings, Loseth was after her. He
knew his mate well, and he knew these skies -- the thermals and
downdrafts, the tempestuous currents over the sea. The bronze snarled
at overeager youngsters and faster browns when they passed him, but he
knew he must reserve his energy. Panitath would lead them on a long,
high chase.

N'vanik surrendered himself to the Flight, lending his strength and
determination to Loseth, his mind lifting up and away, free on
powerful dragon wings.

Xemroth found himself in a cluster of chasers, narrowly avoiding
collision with a brown. A brown! How dare they think themselves worthy
of a gold, let alone the Senior Queen!

Osherith snarled as he needed to adjust quickly to avoid Xemroth,
which brought his wings in contact with another bronze for a moment.
Luckily, they barely brushed each other and, while he lost some height
and speed, he knew he had plenty of time to recover.

Seriaeth hung back, letting the other dragons exhaust themselves
first. A longer flight meant a larger clutch and he intended to let
Panitath take her time. He kept a wary eye on Loseth though, looking
for opportunities to disrupt the leading bronze's path.

Panithath knew her area well and needed to scrape off some over eager
browns. She would not have a brown as her mate! She snarled at the
closest one and dove for a cliff on the edge of the sea but swerved a
moment before into an updraft and went high aloft again. She didn't
even check to see if the brown had been caught in the downdraft.

Bastiath had been caught by the trick, pulling out of his dive a
moment too late and plummeting towards the ocean just long enough to
put him thoroughly out of the chase. With a frustrated growl, the
brown whirled to head back to the Weyr.

Osherith had been struggling to gain on the larger bronzes and
Panitath's latest maneuver left him hopelessly behind. He went into
the water to cool off, while his rider left the crowd surrounding the
Weyrwoman in search of a willing partner.

Tarqeqth knew better than to chase Panitath anywhere he couldn't pull
back from, and so he hung back and caught the updraft after her, sure
to jostle Loseth a bit as he did. He may have won before, and _often_,
but he was not going to make it easy for him.

As she reached the top of the sky, Pern spread before her, Panithath
looked at the remaining chasers and found more than one bronze worthy
but her choice was at the head of the pack as he always was. His voice
both commanding and beguiling. She warbled her acceptance and
backwinged as he reached her.

Loseth twined necks and tails with his beautiful golden mate, bugling
in triumph. }:Mine!:{ His huge wings spread wide, catching the wind
and assuring them a long, long fall.

N'vanik lifted his small Weyrwoman and claimed her lips. "Mine," he
murmured between hungry kisses as he carried her toward the mating
cot.

Last updated on the February 21st 2025

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Mine