Trouble

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 27th May 2010

Characters: J'nev
Description: J'nev breaks the rules a little...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 13 of Turn 5
Notes: Features an unnamed brownrider

}:I'm hungry,:{ Ankioth whined to his lifemate.

**I know,** J'nev replied back, his bronze's irritability bleeding over
to sour his own mood a little. **I told you to eat before we left.**

}:I know. But I was only a little hungry then.:{ And flying over field
after field of bovines during their sweep ride hadn't helped much.

**You know we have to fly back straight. We're only half way, so stop
your complaining already. Next time, eat when you're hungry.** His
lifemate wasn't looking forward to the long flight back trying to ignore
Ankioth's hunger pains and listening to the complaining.

J'nev turned to the brownrider sitting next to him. "Do you think we
can go back soon? Ankioth wants to feed and he's getting really
annoying."

"He's hungry? Well feed him," the brownrider looked at the bronzer
like he'd dropped from the sky.

Did the man really think he wasn't going to do that? "Well, I plan to
as soon as we get back."

"Why wait? Look, he's your dragon. And he's a bronze. And those stupid
herdbeasts down there will never be worth anything near what he is.
Besides, we'll get them in tithe anyway." He shrugged.

"Yes, but, that's someone's property." Whether they'd send them as
tithe or not, they weren't just allowed to pick off herdbeast. That had
made that very clear in training!

"Your dragon would do anything for you, wouldn't he?" He raised a brow.
"And besides, that man wouldn't have that property if not for us keeping
it thread free."

"Well... There do seem to be a lot of them down there..." Would one
_really_ be missed?

}:And I'm so hungry!:{ Ankioth added.

It was their duty to provide for the dragonriders who protected them...
And yet... "No. I'd get into trouble if anyone found out."

"Who is going to find out? Ankioth isn't going to tell." His brows rose
as he looked down at the herdbeast.

"Oh, and _you've_ done it and gotten away with it I suppose?" J'nev
wondered if the brownrider wasn't just all talk.

"Well not with herdbeasts, but other things aye. I never left with my
dragon _that_ hungry." He gave the bronzerider an accusatory look.

"He said he could wait," he all but growled.

}:I can wait. But I'm still hungry.:{

J'nev frowned. "You wouldn't tell? If U'kaiah found out, it would be
sweeprides for me on restdays for the rest of the Turn."

"No I'm not going to tell. What the shells are wingmates for anyway?"
Disgusted at J'nev's fear, he looked the other way.

"All right, you wait here then." Just in case, he took off his knots.
"Here, hold these for me."

Taking them, the brownrider turned them over in his hand. "Hurry,
we have to be back at the Weyr in a half candlemark." He looked up
at the light and judged the time.

"Right," J'nev said, his mind made up. His heart was already beating a
bit faster as his hands tightened on his safety strap. He could get
caught. He could get into a lot of trouble. The bronzerider would not
look the coward now! **Let's go find you something to eat.**

The bronze could feel the excitement from his rider as he lifted himself
off the ground. }:Will we hunt from that herd we passed over?:{

**Yes. But let's circle once. I want to make sure the farmer isn't too
close.**

J'nev wasn't sure which was better, to stampede the herd and make the
farmer chase them if he were about, or to pick one off from the edge and
hope the farmer just didn't see what was happening. In the end he
decided to just pick one off. **Don't fly low over them. We don't want
to scare them all crazy. Pick the one you like and carry it off to that
quiet
spot over there. You can't take your time, do you understand?**

}:I can eat fast,:{ Ankioth assured him.

The bronze circled overhead once and J'nev looked down over the field.
The herder was nowhere in sight and there was a good stand of trees that
might afford some protection from view. Ankioth looked over the group
and saw a rather fat beast towards the edge. }:That's the one I want,:{
the bronzer called and turned on a wingtip to swoop down. The herd
scattered, but the bronze had his eye on his target. He dug all four
sets of claws into the herdbeast's flesh as it let out a terrified,
painful shriek.

"Fly, Ankioth! Push hard!" J'nev shouted encouragement over the sound
of pounding hooves, running in all directions.

With mighty beats of his wings, Ankioth lifted the squirming herdbeast's
hooves off the ground. }:It's hard to hang onto!:{

Indeed the movement was making flying straight rather difficult, but the
bronze was determined to rise to the challenge. J'nev believed he could
do it, and so he would! Despite the beast's kicking and struggling,
Ankioth held fast as he flew the short distance behind the stand of
trees, barely skimming the ground with his load.

**Far enough! Drop it!** J'nev cried, turning his head to see what was
happening behind them. He could see a cloud of dust rise up behind them
where the herd had been. Shards, that had been thrilling, he thought as
his dragon dropped the injured beast to the ground, and quickly tore
its throat out with his teeth.

J'nev slid off his neck before he could really dig in and ran to try to
see if anyone might be coming. The herd, he could see, had stopped once
they reached a fence. With the danger now out of sight, they were
beginning to calm down. If he were lucky, the herder would think that
they had been spooked by a noise or a wherry, not a full-sized bronze
poaching in his field.

Turning back, he watched as his lifemate tore into the great belly.
**Shards, that's a good looking herdbeast,** J'nev thought, rather
impressed at the size and quality. **Better than we get at the Weyr,
that's for sure.**

}:It's delicious,:{ Ankioth hummed, though whether it was the quality or
the hunger that made it so appealing was hard to guess.

**Well, I guess that's what that herder gets for keeping his best out of
his tithes. We keep his fields free of Thread. You'd think he'd be
more grateful.** It almost made J'nev feel that they had been justified
in stealing it. After all, didn't the Weyr deserve the best? He and
Ankioth were just making up the balance, taking what had been owed from
the start!

When Ankioth had their fill, they returned to their waiting companions,
the bronze's muzzle still dripping with blood.

"No trouble," J'nev informed the waiting brownrider as they landed next
to the waiting pair.

Ankioth licked the blood from his lips. }:I want to do it again!:{

Last updated on the May 28th 2010

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