The Emerald Prize

Writers: Suzee, Paula, Miriah, Heather, Clancey, Devin, Avery
Date Posted: 1st March 2014

Characters: K'dall, Jeyme, L'pin, Z'ku, N'vanik, D'hol, L'cor, R'enh, N'mor, Sh'dori, X'ian, Ma'din
Description: Quinneth's maiden flight
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 2 of Turn 7

Jeyme

Jeyme shrugged, rolling her shoulders as she tilted her head from side
to side. Proddy? Was she proddy? She recalled that morning when she
had bit D'hol's head off over nothing. **Maybe a little proddy.** She
conceded as she frowned down at the mess of yarn in her lap. The
tangle of string between her knitting needles made her want to scream.

When a scream tore through the weyrcouch, Jeyme thought for a moment
that she _had_ screamed. But no, it was Quinneth tearing off the
ledge. Her sweet, normally docile green was a beast that she did not
recognize as she called brazenly to the male dragons.

**Flight weyr!** The thought sprang to her mind, she certainly didn't
want any chasers seeking her out in the weyr she shared with D'hol.
Tossing her knitting aside she left her weyr and headed for the flight
rooms that they had toured as senior Weyrlings.

Chaneth turned his head to watch the green's sudden movement. He knew
that his rider had been upset recently, and the blue decided that
flying a gorgeous green dragon would be a solid antidote to his
distress. He bugled his intentions and spread his wings to display
what a very large and impressive blue he was.

Xemroth announced his intent to chase, this time being kind enough to
drop his rider off in the Bowl. }:I will fly you well, young Quinneth.
You will see.:{

}:Quinneth rises. I will have her,:{ Loseth told his rider.

Jeyme... D'hol's weyrmate. **Well, this could get interesting,**
N'vanik thought.

There was a basso bugle as Quinneth burst out of their shared weyr.
Older and experienced, Yumath had been watching the little green
carefully over the past few days. }: Fly high, Quinneth! I will chase
and catch!:{

D'hol too had been waiting and had been staying near the flight weyrs
since early this morning. Jeyme's attitude had been growing steadily
more irritable and this morning had only proved what he had suspected.

What he did not expect however was to see a blonde haired man
approaching the flight weyr with a pronounced swagger. His teeth grit
and he took a threatening step forward, moving to block Ma'din from
approaching the flight weyr. Ma'din raised his hand with a smirk. "I
was just visiting and Aznith decided he was going to chase. I have a
right to be here...Pops."

D'hol snarled and turned on his heel, stalking towards the flight room.

R'enh arrived just in time to see a rather interesting spectacle. He
lifted a brow at the younger man. "Pops huh?" He shook his head and
walked past him after D'hol.

L'cor had arrived when he felt the pull of the flight though he didn't
know who until he got there. He nodded to Jeyme, they'd toured these
at the same time and while Imalkyth had chased a few times he'd yet to
win a flight. Looking at the thunder on the face of Wingleader D'hol
he was pretty certain he didn't want to be in the receiving end of a
thrashing later.

Kedvencth called his answer to her challenge and arrived to the
feeding pens. The young bronze strutted and showed off his shining
hide and strong wings.

N'mor just rolled his eyes at his antics. **You think that will
impress the lady?**

]: Well, how else to tell her I'm handsome, strong and worthy of her?
:{ Ked asked.

}: How about flying well? :{ Rahmuth answered him with amused tone.
The experienced brown was also joining the Flight.

Camyth's almost quivered with excitement when he arrived. "But I was
due a shift at the Infirmary!" X'ian almost wailed. His blue's
eagerness to prove himself in Flight was getting out of hand and
inconvenient.

Jeyme felt a trickle of relief when she looked up to see D'hol come
into the flight room. The smile that had been lifting at her lips,
however, quickly fell when she saw Ma'din right in step with his
father. What was _he_ doing here? The other faces she saw left her
feeling rather comfortable about her first flight. L'cor had been a
fellow Weyrling, and R'enh and N'mor had always been friendly faces.
Others were arriving but she quickly found herself preoccupied with
Quinneth's thoughts and feelings.

Quinneth was flattered by the presence of the bronze dragons in her
flight- she certainly had not expected such attention. Lifting her
wings, the sleek, pastel green dragon sprang aloft, her smaller than
average size allowing her to be quick and graceful. Exhilaration
flooded through Quinneth as she rose, amazement filling her at how
light and fast she felt. Flying had never felt like this before! She
felt as if she had a vast amount of energy and the entire sky was
_hers_! This new found freedom made the green forget all about being
flattered by bronze dragons as she cavorted through the sky.

Xemroth shot into the sky, trying to get ahead of the other bronzes.
He'd learned it was foolish to try racing the blues, but he was still
overly eager.

Spreading his huge wings, Loseth took off after the young green. Over
the last few days, he had noticed how lovely she was and now he wanted
to claim her. She was fast and agile, and unlike some she seemed to
have no interest in teasing the males. Loseth rumbled to himself,
admiring how she flitted through the sky. Yes, this one would be quite
a prize.

Tallandrath had decided he liked chasing greens, much to K'dall's
dismay. The young brownrider had no idea what to do with the
incredible surging, all-consuming lust that washed over him when Tall
chased greens. So far the brown had not won, he was so young yet,
despite his skills and being squarely in the middle of browns for size.

What if he _did_ win... Faranth!!

So when his brown soared gracefully into the air after Quinneth, the
young brownrider groaned and found himself in a very large circle of
men and overhearing that it was a maiden green on her first Flight.
Oh...great.. just what he needed!

But soon, as usual, nothing mattered but the prize and Tall was hard
after this one, following just after the blues that were closest and
dodging a bronze or two.

Camyth was fast, the young blue was up in the air in a heart beat, his
nose almost touching Xemroth's tail tip.

Rahmuth roared his challenge and took the air.

Ked didn't hesitate to lauch to the air after her.

Chaneth leapt to the sky. Rather than lunging for the heights
immediately, he paralleled the green's direction lower in the sky.
That would keep him out of the pack of males which was getting in each
other's way at takeoff, and then he could rise up and be surprising.

Yumath was not as quick and agile as the blues or the browns, but
familiarity with the little green and knowing how she flew had its
benefits. He had a personal stake in this as well; he could feel
D'hol's desire to catch his weyrmate, to keep her for his own and the
desire not to share...especially with a few of the men and dragons
present. He beat his wings faster, his glowing eyes following the
little green's every movement and trying to predict where she would go
next.

A strange brown swung past him, his own gaze intense on Quinneth.
Yumath knew with a sudden certainty that this brown should not be
allowed any where near his Quinneth. His rider demanded it.

On the ground, Ma'din shouldered his way into the semi-circle,
directly into D'hol's view. His blue eyes were filled with smug lust
and his lips lifted into a smirk.

As L'cor was shouldered aside by a brown rider. He bumped into R'enh
and only mildly recognized the rude behavior of the rider. Mnoranth on
the other hand wasn't quite so plegmatic about it. And with a roar
snapped at the offending brown just missing his wingtip. Then he
whipped higher in the pack of chasers and kept an eye on the brown
even as he chased the fleet green.

Jeyme briefly noticed how close all of the men were getting to her,
the tension in the circle palpable. She found that she had lost
control of her body in this strange feeling of separation. Her mind
was so wholly with Quinneth that whenever the green moved closer to a
dragon, she found herself moving closer to that corresponding rider.
It was so strange. In her mind she knew that she wanted D'hol to win,
but in the part of her that was Quinneth, she wanted the most clever,
cunning male to catch her, no matter who he might belong to.

When Aznith came closer Quinneth cooed with delight at the handsome
young brown. He certainly was clever and so strong. On the ground
Jeyme felt herself skirting dangerously close to Ma'din. And then just
as quickly she stepped back as Quinneth dove, bringing her closer to
R'enh and L'cor. Quinneth found Mnoranth to be incredibly interesting.
She had never seen the bronze much because he was normally preoccupied
with Chioneth, but today all of his attention was on _her_. She liked
that!

Coyly dipping away from the bronze, Quinneth once again spun upwards,
delighting in the feel of the sky and air beneath her. There were so
many good choices, but how to choose? Quinneth let that worry fade to
the back of her mind as she simply enjoyed the feeling of the wind
beneath her wings.

Xemroth nearly got tangled with an older blue and started falling
behind. His rider let out a growl of frustration.

The quarreling dragons gave Loseth an opening to swoop past them,
edging closer to Quinneth. Greens in their first Flight were hard to
predict, and he watched her carefully, staying close but not too
close. He needed a bit of time for his larger body to follow the
smaller dragon's twists and turns.

Tonuth pulled out of the tangle and tried to wing after the glowing
green. Somehow he could feel her tiring and he wanted to be close when
she did. He was inexperienced, but so was she. He had a chance.

Ma'din's brown Aznith pulled ahead, flipping his tail like a whip in
defiance towards the bronze who had snapped at him. The tip of his
tail missed by a scant inch but he twisted away, his point made, and
kept his eye on the tiring green. He wanted her. His rider wanted her
and she was close.

Yumath struggled in the mass of dragons, jostling against wings until
he too pulled away, wings straining to catch up to the shining bodies
ahead. He crooned to her, a deep rumbling call and pressed closer to
the leaders. Below, his rider pressed closer, taking a step towards
his weyrmate.

Quinneth heard Yumath's call and felt it strike a chord within her.
Yumath had been a nice companion for her ever since her rider had
become entangled with D'hol. The bronze was always so smart and
patient as he explained things to the docile green. Peering back over
her shoulder, Quinneth knew that she wanted Yumath to fly her,
especially this first time.

As she began to tilt her wings so that she could bank and turn around,
she felt a neck slide along her own and she warbled in surprise as she
was pulled into the strong embrace of another bronze wingspan.

}:I'll fly you well.,:{ Loseth assured the green as they fell together.

N'vanik pulled Jeyme away from D'hol, wrapping the young woman in a
tight embrace much like his dragon had done to hers. It didn't matter
whose weyrmate she was, right now she belonged to him.

Yumath groaned in defeat and swung away to dive towards the cool water
of the lake to cool off. It had been close, but tangling with the
other dragons, especially the brown had given Loseth enough of a lead
to catch Quinneth before he could.

D'hol stumbled away in defeat, grimacing as he refused to look at the
outcome. He had known that he had a fair chance of losing this flight,
greens were always harder to catch for a bronze, but he didn't want to
actually see the outcome. **Shaffing N'vanik...** He walked out of the
room heading towards the small group of women that had gathered.

"Well...looks like your pretty little piece went for the younger and
stronger, Pops. Damn, but that must burn your ass." D'hol went still
and then slowly turned. Ma'din his arms already around a woman,
sneered at him from only a few feet away.

D'hol said nothing, but walked towards the man and without a word,
drew back and punched the younger brownrider squarely in the jaw. That
blow was all it took. Ma'din fell down to the ground unconscious as
D'hol calmly wrapped his arm around the woman he had been with. He
looked down at the prone rider and nudged him with the toe of his
boot. "Enjoy your flight."

Tonuth banked away hunger unsatisfed. But he would try again and again until he finally won. L'cor stumbled but was caught by willing arms and led away.

Mnoranth turned to follow the strange brown. R'enh turned away as well and couldn't help the small satisfaction as D'hol decked the interloper. He didn't miss the resemblance but that was a fleeting thought as hands pulled him toward a flight room to take care of his need.

Last updated on the May 26th 2014

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The Emerald Prize