K'rel & T'bell: Liliath's Flight
The rising sun woke K'rel the following morning, which was really far too early, as far as the brownrider was concerned. He grimaced against the light and lifted a hand from T'bell's back to cover his eyes, muttering under his breath and determinedly attempting to go back to sleep.
The greenrider was still dead asleep, one arm draped over K'rels' shoulder, head and hand on his chest, and legs tangled in other legs and blankets. At some point in the night Zephyr had cuddled up to K'rels' head and was forming a sort of hat and snoring lightly in his ear.
The light was persistant and K'rel finally gave up with a grunt, letting his hand fall and shooting a quick glare up at the sky. He began to sit up, but hesitated when he realized T'bell was still asleep and fell still once more, hand lightly resettling on the greenrider's back. He cracked a smile, then glanced over towards the dragons, noting absently that Siventh was still asleep. Apparently everyone could tolerate the sun except for him.
T'bell grumbled and turned his head into the brownrider's chest at the movement, then froze. Thoughts slowly began to form, then began to be coherent. After a few moments of akward tension he managed to peek up through his bangs.
He felt T'bell shift and tense, and had a brief tense moment himself at the initial worry that the entire previous evening may not have been what the greenrider intended. However, almost immediately her relaxed and cracked a smile in greeting, lazily running his hand over the small of T'bell's back. "Morning."
"Hi." He mumbled and his his face again, his cheeks having gone red. Despite the wine hish ead was not fuzzy, and he was running over the events of the night before with a mixture of horrible embarassment and...other emotions. He cleared his throat. "Um...sleep well?"
"Mhmm." K'rel chuckled softly at the display of shyness and let his head fall back, eyes returning to the sky, though his hand continued to play lightly over the greenrider's back. "Very well. Did you?"
"Uh-huh." Now was the problem on getting up. Where were his pants. Oh, and the sand at their feet. Sandy pants. There was no non-akward way this could be done. He took a peek at Liliath and could definately see her glowing now. "So...um...leftovers for breakfast?"
"That works for me." Lifting his head slightly, he glanced over towards the little bundle that hid what was left of the food, wondering if something might have snuck under it and finished off the meal while they slept. Returning his attention to T'bell, he gave the greenrider's back a little pat. "Up?"
"Up?" He repeated, then quickly contemplated the best course of action. He stole as much of the blanket as he could and wiggled his way off the brownrider to plop on the sand with his modest bits covered as he reached for his pants. "We still have the other wine too. And the resto f the Benden."
"Up," he affirmed, chuckling, and made a grab after the blanket when T'bell stole it. However, he quickly released it and waved T'bell away, tugging another of the blankets over himself and glancing around for his own pants. "We'll save the Benden for later, s'too rich to appreciate this early. The other's that fruity one, right?"
"Yeah." The greenrider nodded as he pushed his ringlets over his shoulders and stole a glance at K'rel once more. He shook the sand from his pants and stood, pulling thm on under the cover of the blanket. "So....um..." fingers fiddled with his curls again as he watched the other. "Have any..plans?"
He located his own pants a short distance away and made a grab for them, shaking the sand off before pulling them on beneath the blanket. Climbing to his feet, he dusted them off a second time and shook his head. "Need to contact a holder in the area, don't we?" He gave a nod towards Liliath, then turned his attention to the rumpled blankets, lifting one and shaking it clean of sand. "Won't be long."
"No, it won't." He mumbled, then silently called Flute to him. The little gold fluttered out of the nearby trees and careened in for a landing beside Zephyr, looking at him expectantly. He scooped her up and spent a while rubbing her eyeridges while he gave her a message. "There's a hold close to here, about five minutes flight off the beach. I think I know a masterfisher there. Would that be fine?"
"That should be fine." Nodding, he folded up the blanket an carefully set it on the sand, leaving the last for the present and setting about searching for his shirt. "Should we eat first, or no?"
"I...really have no clue." He glanced up, the wide-eyes franticness lurking, then looked back to Flute and continuedf to give her the message. She took off once he'd confirmed, and he shuffled his feet on the warm sand.
"..Some wine first, at least," he decided at T'bell's nervous glances, and abandoned hunting for his shirt in favor of retrieving and opening the skin, pouring the light wine into two glasses and stepping over to offer one to T'bell.
He took a long drink, thankful for the liquid, and then a deep breath. "I’m not exactly sure about how to go about this or anything. It's never been planned before, you know? I think Lili just keeps figuring out what the most akward thing for me would be, and then jumps into it wings open." He glanced up from where he'd been staring into his cup. "I haven't run off yet."
He kept the wineskin in one hand and his own glass in the other, taking a small sip here and there. K'rel shrugged. "Don't worry on it so much. We'll talk to the holder, then come back to the beach and treat it like any other day. She's going to rise regardless of whatever else happens, so, as long as we're sure we're away from...everyone, we shouldn't worry about farther than that."
"I'd rather not take her into the air." He tossed a look at his green. "Flute should bring us an answer. It would be polite to stop in later and thank them, of course. They have a watch dragon there...but she's a green too."
He nodded and stole a glance towards the green, taking another, longer sip from his glass. "Would we have to write the message down for Flute? I don't have anything to write on. Or with."
The greenrider smiled. "I just sent her. She can communicate well enough to give a clear meaning, if it's me. They'll have to respond on paper." He fingered the rim of his glass as he went into training talk, "I had to get her repeating scales to another person first, without me playing them. Then pictures. Then words. She can do pretty well with a combination of both to get a meaning across. Zephyr is pretty clear with me, for a blue, but I think that's because he never leaves me. She must get some of it from him, and being a gold. I'm getting a few marks a week to train Imirin's for him...and the whers at the Mine hold." He nodded to the necklace he'd gifted him.
"Wow." He raised a brow, clearly impressed, and glanced around for his own fair, finally picking them out farther down the beach hunting minnows in the shallows. "I'm lucky if my lot manage to bring even written messages to the right people. But you've worked with yours much more, I'm sure. Calt's usually alright, but the other three, eh.. They're practically wild."
"I could help you with them if you want?" He smiled, "I'm sure we could work out some sort of payment plan. You know...ice cream or strutting or somesuch."
He laughed, but nodded, finishing off his glass and turning to resume the hunt for his shirt. "I'm sure we could arrange something. I'll have to practice my strutting."
"Mhm..." T'bell mumbled distractedly, watching him. After a moment he realized he was watching him, and he blushed and looked down, searching for the rest of his own clothes. "You really don't have to pay you know. You'd have ot be there is all, it's just an excuse for your company."
"You don't need an excuse for my company, T'bell." K'rel shot a glance back over his shoulder at the greenrider, offering a smile before returning to his search. He spotted the shirt half buried in the sand and quickly retrieved it, shaking off the sand. "Drop by whenever you'd like. I get bored being by myself."
"I meant an excuse to get you to drop by on me." He stuck out a tongue. "I'm forever dropping in on you." He snatched his boots from the sand and padded down to the shore to rince the sand off his feet before slipping them on.
He laughed and made to pull on his shirt, but decided against it and folded the shirt up instead, then dropped it on top of the folded blanket. "That's not my fault. Your weyr's tiny. Siventh complains."
"Then we trade. I'll give him Liliath if he gives me you." He offered as he wandered past him and snatched his own shirt. It was covered in sand as well. He wrinkled his nose and folded it up, placing it beside K'rels. "That way no one watches anything, and everyone has privacy."
He laughed once more and stepped after the greenrider, looping an arm around his waist and grinning down at him. "Privacy? Privacy for training flitts, or is your mind already wandering again, my dear green?"
His mouth dropped open and he flushed. He hadn't even realized what he'd meant. "I...bah. Wandering." He ducked his head, fingers absently going to play with the necklace. "Not my fault. I'll go back to being a proper harper by tonight."
"Somehow, looking at Liliath, I doubt that." He grinned, peeking down to watch T'bell toy with the necklace, and looped his other arm behind the greenrider as well, clasping his hands behind T'bell's back. "Where did you get it? The necklace, I mean."
"Hmm?" He glanced up, then smiled. "The mining hold. They knew what I was looking for so they set it and everything when they found it. I thought it'd look good against your skin." He kissed his collarbone, then let his lips trail up his neck. "They offered a few others, some set in rings. I thought a ring would get in the way, I've never been able to wear them." He nipped his ear and trailed back down to cover the bite mark from ht night before with his lips.
Meanwhile Liliath yawned.
He smiled, automatically tilting his head slightly to the side as T'bell's kisses wandered up his neck, half lidding his eyes while he enjoyed the attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the stirring green, but only gave Siventh a mental nudge to wake him, otherwise feigning indifference. "I'm glad you picked this one. It's nice without being so much that it'll win me strange looks from everyone I meet."
"Unless you flash it about." He muttered, then a gold streak caught his eye and he leaned back, holding out an arm for Flute. She landed gracefully and stuck out her leg, a note attached to it.
Mine...Liliath's voice came urgently, and she snapped her jaws at the nearby brown as she stretched her wings. I...hunger. I will rise.
T'bells fingers fumbled with the message and he had to read it twice to get the jist of it. "We...uh. We have use of..."
Liliath chose that moment to spring into the air in a flurry of sand, half knocked purposely over the brown.
"Everyone in the weyr will know about it," he promised with a laugh, nodding politely to Flute as she reappeared. His head snapped up as Liliath spread her wings, and he gave Siventh another shove, meanwhile tightening his embrace slightly around the greenrider. 'Wake up!'
I am awake, Siventh argued as he stretched his wings, but only awoke completely when the green leapt into the air. Snorting, the brown shook off the wave of sand and sprung to the air after her, for the moment only slightly agitated and intentionally keeping a short distance behind the green. Both rider and dragon knew Liliath needed to blood first.
"What does the letter say?" K'rel asked in an attempt to keep the greenrider's nerves from acting up, even if T'bell should probably be focusing on the green and telling her where to blood. "Read it to me."
The greenrider shoved the paper into K'rels hands and stumbled back out of his hold, eyes following the green. "We...we have use of the third field." He racked his mind for an arial view of the hold and saw, half through his own eyes and half through those of his dragons, the small herd gathered there. Liliath was annoyed at the closeness of the other and it had passed to T'bell. He couldn't concentrate if K'rel was too close. Once she approached the field and T'bell recognized it for what it was she all but fell from the sky at his urging.
K'rel somewhat reluctantly released the greenrider and briefly turned his attention to the note, skimming it once before shoving it into his pocket. He took a step back towards T'bell, but paused and kept his distance, turning his attention instead to Siventh.
The brown dropped back a bit as T'bell shoved his rider away, keeping his distance but following down to the field and plucking a buck of his own. He retreated to the edge of the field to blood, rumbling low in his throat and keeping a purple eye carefully fixed on the green, wary that she may escape ahead of him.
Liliath blooded quickly and was eager to catch another. T'bell had to put all of his will on her to keep her from gorging. For a moment she stood crouched in the field, eyes whirling and set on another herdbeast. She wasn't going to listen.
At the last possible moment after he pounce she flicked her wings out and beat them down hard, rising into the air in a powerful gust of wing and in a move nothing but a green could duplicate. The herd scattered, the lucky one possibly running the fastest, as she soared up into the air.
Siventh, on the other hand, had been quite certain the green was going to go after another buck, and was left on the ground crouched over his own herdbeast some seconds after Liliath took to the air. With a bugle both of irritation for having been deceived and longing for the glowing green, he leapt to the air and with powerful wingbeats rushed after the green.
Liliath knew the brown could overtake her in a climb, so only ascended until she was in open air. She angled out and sprinted back to the beach where he rider was pulling her, one eye behind for the silly brown.
T'bell was quickly lost to the flight, working as Liliath and she as him. One of them knew the thermals over the ocean would make it easier to outlast the brown, but for any green that was only a hope.
There was not a doubt in Siventh's mind that he would catch this green, there was not the slightest possibility that should could evade him completely, especially with the lack of other pursuers. She was quick, but he had size on his side and the endurance to match, and possibly outlast, her flight. As the green leveled out, from below the brown did as well, rising at an angle to gain space lost in the few moments before his launch.
As soon as she reached the shoreline she dipped a wing and turned quickly to race parallel to it, searching for a thermal to use ot her advantage. When she caught one she used it to raise her quickly and send her at another sharp turn over the water.
Open water meant thermals for the green to use to her advantage, but Siventh likewise could use the thermals himself, and open water meant nothing to obstruct his view of the green. He trumpted a call to his Liliath, eyes whirling a bright purple as he banked and somewhat less gracefully mimiced her turn, pulling a little wider to account for his size and resuming the chase after her.
She screamed back at him and flipped to the side, catching another thermal and soaring up, up, and away from her pursuer. Her rider pulled her back towards the shore but she ignored, fighting to outfly the brown even as T'bell tried to steer her for an easier catch.
The brown countered with a bugle of what may have been a laugh as Liliath caught another thermal and shot up through the air. Again he mimiced her move, rising sharply over the thermal in pursuit and overshooting the green a touch before leveling out, slowing his wingbeats ever so slightly to enforce the strength behind them, rushing through the air after his green.
Liliath reponded with an annoyed challenge and took the oppourtunity to drop like a rock, snapping out a wing to spin her around and send up seawater as she raced back for the beach, abandoning the thermals to rely on her own speed.
T'bell soared when she turned back for the beach, he knew that if the flight lasted too long other dragons would take a hint. He fought within himself to keep Siventh from catching her, and to keep her in reach of the brown. The surf was soaking his shoes but he didn't notice as he watched his green race back. "Up." He muttered, whether to himself or in warning for the brown wasn't distinguishable.
On shore, K'rel's lips spread in a grin that was undoubtably mirrored by his dragon as Liliath dove towards the beach--the desired reaction of the brown in having flown above her. Snapping his wings to his sides, Siventh dove after her, but spread his wings suddenly to level out and follow a good couple of dragonlengths above the water, resuming his heavy wingbeats to speed after the green and await her next break for the sky.
As she reached the shore her wings twitched in anticipation of the thermal which would send her skyward once more. She knew the brown was behind her. She did not know he was above her. She she snapped her wings up and risked a glance she screeched in surprise and anger. The thermal wouldn't be enough to evade him, and with a whip of her tail she used her wings to pull her into a fast climb to outrise him, but could feel her energy waning and the burn on the muscles increasing as she fought gravity for height.
The brown, likewise, anticipated their arrival at the shoreline, predicting her burst for the air to come as she reached the thermals rising from the hot sand. In anticipation of the break, he altered his path slightly to begin a slow incline in height, but kept close enough behind the green that she couldn't spin around and head back over the ocean without giving him an easy target. As she shot up into a climb, he shot forward to meet her, talons and neck reaching to make a grab for the green...
She couldn't keep up the vertical climb with the strain it placed on her and to her annoyance and anger, found herself slowing. She concentrated on wingbeat after wingbeat, and as soon as she moved her attention from the brown the beast chose that moment to make a grab from her. She reacted in a flurry of wings but found one arm, then another caught. She screamed in defiance as he managed to wrap around her, her escape over.
She was caught, she was his, and she would not be escaping from him. The brown kepy a tight hold on the green as he twined his neck with hers, spreading his wings to carry them both for the flight over the water. He responded to her scream with a croon of sheer adoration and admiration, knowing full well that she was a silly proddy thing and would very quickly decide she loved him as much as he loved her.
Likewise, on the beach, K'rel had closed the distance between himself and the greenrider and, with Liliath's capture, drawn T'bell tightly to him, meeting him in a fiery kiss and guiding him towards the one remaining blanket.
The greenrider was still dead asleep, one arm draped over K'rels' shoulder, head and hand on his chest, and legs tangled in other legs and blankets. At some point in the night Zephyr had cuddled up to K'rels' head and was forming a sort of hat and snoring lightly in his ear.
The light was persistant and K'rel finally gave up with a grunt, letting his hand fall and shooting a quick glare up at the sky. He began to sit up, but hesitated when he realized T'bell was still asleep and fell still once more, hand lightly resettling on the greenrider's back. He cracked a smile, then glanced over towards the dragons, noting absently that Siventh was still asleep. Apparently everyone could tolerate the sun except for him.
T'bell grumbled and turned his head into the brownrider's chest at the movement, then froze. Thoughts slowly began to form, then began to be coherent. After a few moments of akward tension he managed to peek up through his bangs.
He felt T'bell shift and tense, and had a brief tense moment himself at the initial worry that the entire previous evening may not have been what the greenrider intended. However, almost immediately her relaxed and cracked a smile in greeting, lazily running his hand over the small of T'bell's back. "Morning."
"Hi." He mumbled and his his face again, his cheeks having gone red. Despite the wine hish ead was not fuzzy, and he was running over the events of the night before with a mixture of horrible embarassment and...other emotions. He cleared his throat. "Um...sleep well?"
"Mhmm." K'rel chuckled softly at the display of shyness and let his head fall back, eyes returning to the sky, though his hand continued to play lightly over the greenrider's back. "Very well. Did you?"
"Uh-huh." Now was the problem on getting up. Where were his pants. Oh, and the sand at their feet. Sandy pants. There was no non-akward way this could be done. He took a peek at Liliath and could definately see her glowing now. "So...um...leftovers for breakfast?"
"That works for me." Lifting his head slightly, he glanced over towards the little bundle that hid what was left of the food, wondering if something might have snuck under it and finished off the meal while they slept. Returning his attention to T'bell, he gave the greenrider's back a little pat. "Up?"
"Up?" He repeated, then quickly contemplated the best course of action. He stole as much of the blanket as he could and wiggled his way off the brownrider to plop on the sand with his modest bits covered as he reached for his pants. "We still have the other wine too. And the resto f the Benden."
"Up," he affirmed, chuckling, and made a grab after the blanket when T'bell stole it. However, he quickly released it and waved T'bell away, tugging another of the blankets over himself and glancing around for his own pants. "We'll save the Benden for later, s'too rich to appreciate this early. The other's that fruity one, right?"
"Yeah." The greenrider nodded as he pushed his ringlets over his shoulders and stole a glance at K'rel once more. He shook the sand from his pants and stood, pulling thm on under the cover of the blanket. "So....um..." fingers fiddled with his curls again as he watched the other. "Have any..plans?"
He located his own pants a short distance away and made a grab for them, shaking the sand off before pulling them on beneath the blanket. Climbing to his feet, he dusted them off a second time and shook his head. "Need to contact a holder in the area, don't we?" He gave a nod towards Liliath, then turned his attention to the rumpled blankets, lifting one and shaking it clean of sand. "Won't be long."
"No, it won't." He mumbled, then silently called Flute to him. The little gold fluttered out of the nearby trees and careened in for a landing beside Zephyr, looking at him expectantly. He scooped her up and spent a while rubbing her eyeridges while he gave her a message. "There's a hold close to here, about five minutes flight off the beach. I think I know a masterfisher there. Would that be fine?"
"That should be fine." Nodding, he folded up the blanket an carefully set it on the sand, leaving the last for the present and setting about searching for his shirt. "Should we eat first, or no?"
"I...really have no clue." He glanced up, the wide-eyes franticness lurking, then looked back to Flute and continuedf to give her the message. She took off once he'd confirmed, and he shuffled his feet on the warm sand.
"..Some wine first, at least," he decided at T'bell's nervous glances, and abandoned hunting for his shirt in favor of retrieving and opening the skin, pouring the light wine into two glasses and stepping over to offer one to T'bell.
He took a long drink, thankful for the liquid, and then a deep breath. "I’m not exactly sure about how to go about this or anything. It's never been planned before, you know? I think Lili just keeps figuring out what the most akward thing for me would be, and then jumps into it wings open." He glanced up from where he'd been staring into his cup. "I haven't run off yet."
He kept the wineskin in one hand and his own glass in the other, taking a small sip here and there. K'rel shrugged. "Don't worry on it so much. We'll talk to the holder, then come back to the beach and treat it like any other day. She's going to rise regardless of whatever else happens, so, as long as we're sure we're away from...everyone, we shouldn't worry about farther than that."
"I'd rather not take her into the air." He tossed a look at his green. "Flute should bring us an answer. It would be polite to stop in later and thank them, of course. They have a watch dragon there...but she's a green too."
He nodded and stole a glance towards the green, taking another, longer sip from his glass. "Would we have to write the message down for Flute? I don't have anything to write on. Or with."
The greenrider smiled. "I just sent her. She can communicate well enough to give a clear meaning, if it's me. They'll have to respond on paper." He fingered the rim of his glass as he went into training talk, "I had to get her repeating scales to another person first, without me playing them. Then pictures. Then words. She can do pretty well with a combination of both to get a meaning across. Zephyr is pretty clear with me, for a blue, but I think that's because he never leaves me. She must get some of it from him, and being a gold. I'm getting a few marks a week to train Imirin's for him...and the whers at the Mine hold." He nodded to the necklace he'd gifted him.
"Wow." He raised a brow, clearly impressed, and glanced around for his own fair, finally picking them out farther down the beach hunting minnows in the shallows. "I'm lucky if my lot manage to bring even written messages to the right people. But you've worked with yours much more, I'm sure. Calt's usually alright, but the other three, eh.. They're practically wild."
"I could help you with them if you want?" He smiled, "I'm sure we could work out some sort of payment plan. You know...ice cream or strutting or somesuch."
He laughed, but nodded, finishing off his glass and turning to resume the hunt for his shirt. "I'm sure we could arrange something. I'll have to practice my strutting."
"Mhm..." T'bell mumbled distractedly, watching him. After a moment he realized he was watching him, and he blushed and looked down, searching for the rest of his own clothes. "You really don't have to pay you know. You'd have ot be there is all, it's just an excuse for your company."
"You don't need an excuse for my company, T'bell." K'rel shot a glance back over his shoulder at the greenrider, offering a smile before returning to his search. He spotted the shirt half buried in the sand and quickly retrieved it, shaking off the sand. "Drop by whenever you'd like. I get bored being by myself."
"I meant an excuse to get you to drop by on me." He stuck out a tongue. "I'm forever dropping in on you." He snatched his boots from the sand and padded down to the shore to rince the sand off his feet before slipping them on.
He laughed and made to pull on his shirt, but decided against it and folded the shirt up instead, then dropped it on top of the folded blanket. "That's not my fault. Your weyr's tiny. Siventh complains."
"Then we trade. I'll give him Liliath if he gives me you." He offered as he wandered past him and snatched his own shirt. It was covered in sand as well. He wrinkled his nose and folded it up, placing it beside K'rels. "That way no one watches anything, and everyone has privacy."
He laughed once more and stepped after the greenrider, looping an arm around his waist and grinning down at him. "Privacy? Privacy for training flitts, or is your mind already wandering again, my dear green?"
His mouth dropped open and he flushed. He hadn't even realized what he'd meant. "I...bah. Wandering." He ducked his head, fingers absently going to play with the necklace. "Not my fault. I'll go back to being a proper harper by tonight."
"Somehow, looking at Liliath, I doubt that." He grinned, peeking down to watch T'bell toy with the necklace, and looped his other arm behind the greenrider as well, clasping his hands behind T'bell's back. "Where did you get it? The necklace, I mean."
"Hmm?" He glanced up, then smiled. "The mining hold. They knew what I was looking for so they set it and everything when they found it. I thought it'd look good against your skin." He kissed his collarbone, then let his lips trail up his neck. "They offered a few others, some set in rings. I thought a ring would get in the way, I've never been able to wear them." He nipped his ear and trailed back down to cover the bite mark from ht night before with his lips.
Meanwhile Liliath yawned.
He smiled, automatically tilting his head slightly to the side as T'bell's kisses wandered up his neck, half lidding his eyes while he enjoyed the attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the stirring green, but only gave Siventh a mental nudge to wake him, otherwise feigning indifference. "I'm glad you picked this one. It's nice without being so much that it'll win me strange looks from everyone I meet."
"Unless you flash it about." He muttered, then a gold streak caught his eye and he leaned back, holding out an arm for Flute. She landed gracefully and stuck out her leg, a note attached to it.
Mine...Liliath's voice came urgently, and she snapped her jaws at the nearby brown as she stretched her wings. I...hunger. I will rise.
T'bells fingers fumbled with the message and he had to read it twice to get the jist of it. "We...uh. We have use of..."
Liliath chose that moment to spring into the air in a flurry of sand, half knocked purposely over the brown.
"Everyone in the weyr will know about it," he promised with a laugh, nodding politely to Flute as she reappeared. His head snapped up as Liliath spread her wings, and he gave Siventh another shove, meanwhile tightening his embrace slightly around the greenrider. 'Wake up!'
I am awake, Siventh argued as he stretched his wings, but only awoke completely when the green leapt into the air. Snorting, the brown shook off the wave of sand and sprung to the air after her, for the moment only slightly agitated and intentionally keeping a short distance behind the green. Both rider and dragon knew Liliath needed to blood first.
"What does the letter say?" K'rel asked in an attempt to keep the greenrider's nerves from acting up, even if T'bell should probably be focusing on the green and telling her where to blood. "Read it to me."
The greenrider shoved the paper into K'rels hands and stumbled back out of his hold, eyes following the green. "We...we have use of the third field." He racked his mind for an arial view of the hold and saw, half through his own eyes and half through those of his dragons, the small herd gathered there. Liliath was annoyed at the closeness of the other and it had passed to T'bell. He couldn't concentrate if K'rel was too close. Once she approached the field and T'bell recognized it for what it was she all but fell from the sky at his urging.
K'rel somewhat reluctantly released the greenrider and briefly turned his attention to the note, skimming it once before shoving it into his pocket. He took a step back towards T'bell, but paused and kept his distance, turning his attention instead to Siventh.
The brown dropped back a bit as T'bell shoved his rider away, keeping his distance but following down to the field and plucking a buck of his own. He retreated to the edge of the field to blood, rumbling low in his throat and keeping a purple eye carefully fixed on the green, wary that she may escape ahead of him.
Liliath blooded quickly and was eager to catch another. T'bell had to put all of his will on her to keep her from gorging. For a moment she stood crouched in the field, eyes whirling and set on another herdbeast. She wasn't going to listen.
At the last possible moment after he pounce she flicked her wings out and beat them down hard, rising into the air in a powerful gust of wing and in a move nothing but a green could duplicate. The herd scattered, the lucky one possibly running the fastest, as she soared up into the air.
Siventh, on the other hand, had been quite certain the green was going to go after another buck, and was left on the ground crouched over his own herdbeast some seconds after Liliath took to the air. With a bugle both of irritation for having been deceived and longing for the glowing green, he leapt to the air and with powerful wingbeats rushed after the green.
Liliath knew the brown could overtake her in a climb, so only ascended until she was in open air. She angled out and sprinted back to the beach where he rider was pulling her, one eye behind for the silly brown.
T'bell was quickly lost to the flight, working as Liliath and she as him. One of them knew the thermals over the ocean would make it easier to outlast the brown, but for any green that was only a hope.
There was not a doubt in Siventh's mind that he would catch this green, there was not the slightest possibility that should could evade him completely, especially with the lack of other pursuers. She was quick, but he had size on his side and the endurance to match, and possibly outlast, her flight. As the green leveled out, from below the brown did as well, rising at an angle to gain space lost in the few moments before his launch.
As soon as she reached the shoreline she dipped a wing and turned quickly to race parallel to it, searching for a thermal to use ot her advantage. When she caught one she used it to raise her quickly and send her at another sharp turn over the water.
Open water meant thermals for the green to use to her advantage, but Siventh likewise could use the thermals himself, and open water meant nothing to obstruct his view of the green. He trumpted a call to his Liliath, eyes whirling a bright purple as he banked and somewhat less gracefully mimiced her turn, pulling a little wider to account for his size and resuming the chase after her.
She screamed back at him and flipped to the side, catching another thermal and soaring up, up, and away from her pursuer. Her rider pulled her back towards the shore but she ignored, fighting to outfly the brown even as T'bell tried to steer her for an easier catch.
The brown countered with a bugle of what may have been a laugh as Liliath caught another thermal and shot up through the air. Again he mimiced her move, rising sharply over the thermal in pursuit and overshooting the green a touch before leveling out, slowing his wingbeats ever so slightly to enforce the strength behind them, rushing through the air after his green.
Liliath reponded with an annoyed challenge and took the oppourtunity to drop like a rock, snapping out a wing to spin her around and send up seawater as she raced back for the beach, abandoning the thermals to rely on her own speed.
T'bell soared when she turned back for the beach, he knew that if the flight lasted too long other dragons would take a hint. He fought within himself to keep Siventh from catching her, and to keep her in reach of the brown. The surf was soaking his shoes but he didn't notice as he watched his green race back. "Up." He muttered, whether to himself or in warning for the brown wasn't distinguishable.
On shore, K'rel's lips spread in a grin that was undoubtably mirrored by his dragon as Liliath dove towards the beach--the desired reaction of the brown in having flown above her. Snapping his wings to his sides, Siventh dove after her, but spread his wings suddenly to level out and follow a good couple of dragonlengths above the water, resuming his heavy wingbeats to speed after the green and await her next break for the sky.
As she reached the shore her wings twitched in anticipation of the thermal which would send her skyward once more. She knew the brown was behind her. She did not know he was above her. She she snapped her wings up and risked a glance she screeched in surprise and anger. The thermal wouldn't be enough to evade him, and with a whip of her tail she used her wings to pull her into a fast climb to outrise him, but could feel her energy waning and the burn on the muscles increasing as she fought gravity for height.
The brown, likewise, anticipated their arrival at the shoreline, predicting her burst for the air to come as she reached the thermals rising from the hot sand. In anticipation of the break, he altered his path slightly to begin a slow incline in height, but kept close enough behind the green that she couldn't spin around and head back over the ocean without giving him an easy target. As she shot up into a climb, he shot forward to meet her, talons and neck reaching to make a grab for the green...
She couldn't keep up the vertical climb with the strain it placed on her and to her annoyance and anger, found herself slowing. She concentrated on wingbeat after wingbeat, and as soon as she moved her attention from the brown the beast chose that moment to make a grab from her. She reacted in a flurry of wings but found one arm, then another caught. She screamed in defiance as he managed to wrap around her, her escape over.
She was caught, she was his, and she would not be escaping from him. The brown kepy a tight hold on the green as he twined his neck with hers, spreading his wings to carry them both for the flight over the water. He responded to her scream with a croon of sheer adoration and admiration, knowing full well that she was a silly proddy thing and would very quickly decide she loved him as much as he loved her.
Likewise, on the beach, K'rel had closed the distance between himself and the greenrider and, with Liliath's capture, drawn T'bell tightly to him, meeting him in a fiery kiss and guiding him towards the one remaining blanket.
