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The boy gulped at the large brown head and nearly jumped when he heard the dragonriders' comment. "O-oh...he does?" He cautiously lifted a hand to Tallith's eyeridges and rubbed them experimentally.
The girl, for it was a she and not a he, nodded her head quickly, glancing in awe at the dragon before scuttling off to the next rider.


The boy let out a quiet 'yipe' at the poke, stumbling a bit out of shock before recovering himself and facing Tarlith. "Th-thank you?" He stuttered, raising a hand experimentally in case it was to be bitten off. When no jaws closed around it he tentatively skritched the blue's eyeridge. "You're w-welcome then."
He turned his head suddenly, hearing his name called from the group with the herd, and reluctantly withdrew his hand. "I have to help, or Da will have my hide." He gave a greatful smile to the bluerider and scuttled off, ready to tell stories about how he'd touched the dragon.

Liliath rose her snout up to the gold flitt when Flute made her return to her large cousin. Lazily blinking her eyes, she returned her look to T'bell as Flute took perch on one of her neckridges. Moth is ready. She spoke lazily, regarding him closely.

T'bell himself was bent over the skin, scraping the last bits of...innards...from the underside of the skin. Zephyr kept reaching his head down and snatching bits. "Tallith, Tarlith, and Zarith left then, hm?" He tilted his shoulder ot prevent Zephyr from taking much more of the remains and 'tsk'd him. "The rest's for Flute, if she comes off her green throne."

She enjoys my company. Liliath said smugly, eliciting a chirp from the gold.

"You, my lovely green, think she is a pretty accessory and minion."

What is 'accessory' and 'minion'? The green asked curiously.

"Er...jewelery and...sort of a cross between a companion and a tool." T'bell smiled and beckoned Flute down for her feast. The flitt responded gracefully, decending to eat her share of what was left.

I suppose so then, yes. Privately she remained confused as to the terms, but Flute was effective in keeping tabs on her rider's doings, and she was intelligent enough to know that a gold was important in terms of firelizards. I wish for a nap.

T'bell chuckled and rolled up his skin when Flute had finished her meal. "You can nap when we return to the weyr, love. I'll need one too, I think."

With the flickering light's warmth still reflecting clumsily upon her face, Farin rose to the balls of her feet, her pale brown eyes coldly looking across the darkened expanse to see what was about.
Moth, who sat reclined by the trees yawned, arching the corners of her large wings to a pivot, and then sliding them back down against her barreled frame. She let a small echo drum about in her throat for a moment, watching Farin take a few steps about, holding the clumsy lantern in front of her face.
The field is crowded. It may be better if you stay where you are. Moth cautioned, curling the corner of her tail against the dusted bark.
'I'm only interested in seeing how everyone is coming along.' Farin added, lowering her lantern to her hip.
I believe they are coming along fine. You should wrap up the feline skin however, as the others do.
Farin nodded, and turned, kneeling down before the stretched out skin, and sliding her fingers she carefully rolled it up in a quick cocoon. In the lantern light it seemed to glow with a kind of iridescent sheen; a sheen which no doubt must have been the reason Moth had easily targeted the creature.
A careful thought fluttered through Farin's mind. Why was it that dragons were so brightly colored? Was the ability to teleport and leap from the sky all they needed to survive, back before humans altered their genetic code? And what made Queen dragons, who stood out the most brightly, the highest ranked when their color would have made them much more easier spotted?
As her thoughts dwelled on fire lizards momentarily, a small bronze popped out of the chilly air of between, and into the fading night of the field. The bronze lazily drifted downwards, before giving a soft warble, and collided against Farin's form.
Farin pushed aside her ponderings. "Ah-hah. So, you finally showed up."
Fleckin looked upwards, his tattered blue ribbon dangling from his neck. He gave an apologetic bleak, and curled his tail around her wrist.
He has overcome his caution of flying at night, that is good.
Farin smiled, and rose her arm. The larger flitt crawled onto her shoulder blade, and flicked his tongue precariously.
"Hm." Farin uttered, glancing about the shifting lantern lights.

"It can only be expected that he's tired from the hunt. You were a magnificent pair." The boy nodded respectfully to Zarith. The blue's attitude set him a bit on edge, but he knew dragons never attacked humans. Besides, he was the oldest, and flinching away would get him no end of teasing. "If I become a dragonrider some day I hope I'm in your wing."
He gave a quick bow and hurried off to help with regaining some order in the herdbeasts, leaving the bluerider and her dragon behind.

They are taking too long. Liliath rumbled unhappily.

"They're probably just skinning...you said Moth was ready to go, right?" T'bell patted her shoulder and slipped the rolled skin onto her back, securing it witgh riding straps. "Maybe ask them again? Be polite, love."

Liliath rumbled her annoyance quietly and shifted her weight as T'bell climbed up and went about firmly securing the roll of fur before sending a message to the other dragons. We wish to leave. Is only Moth ready? So it was tinged with a bit of annoyance. She was rather tired, having flown as she did, and wanted a nice nap to digest her meal.

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

Liliath rumbled in response to the confirmation of the other dragons, shifting her weight. They are ready, finally. She gave her neck a bit of a stretch and folded her wings, sending privately to Moth, Greens are the fastest. With a hint of satisfaction. She respected the other green, she had done a fine job with the feline, and she was finished quickly.

T'bell patted her neck ridges and shifted his weight, checking his riding gear. "Tell them to rise in the same formation as we left. Once we're in the air I...I suppose I'll give the signal to go between."

The green turned her head to look at him and blinked a slowly swirling blue eye. You will make wingleader. She teased before relaying his message to the others.

"I'm just copying." He gave a nervous laugh, "We've been in enough flights to know what they're like." And then there was the typical head-snapping when Liliath took to the air. Flute gave a trill, following them up as the green circled for the others to get into formation. With a coo from the little gold flitt and a private ommunication between her and Liliath, Flute blinked out. Zephyr, however, was still playing the blue scarf.

Farin stretched, feeling a small tension point knotted in her neck. She shifted attempting to work it out, and with a wobbling stance, rose. The dragons seemed to be shifting with the interest in leaving, and the sound of the deep throated rumblings had finally pulled the woman out of lethargy.
Moth rose as well, stretching out her wings once to give herself another stretch, before angling her head towards the others. She was pleased to see they would be going soon, and in response to Liliath's comment, a low tremor past across her throat in a dragon's form of laughter, and her eyes idly swirled with the notion.
Still a bit exhausted, Farin missed the brief communication between the two greens, not picking it up from Moth. The green lowered her head, staring affectionately forwards at the woman.
We will go home now, Love. And then you may sleep well.
"Oh, hush." Farin mumbled, rubbing her dragon's snout gently. In response she got a deep snort and a push, as Moth eagered her companion to ready herself back for a brief flight and trip between. The green adjusted her position, extending the end of her arm to help Farin upwards. The woman wobbled for a moment, and the sudden urge for balance snapped back awareness. She grabbed the end of the leather saddle, and pulled herself firmly onto the green's back, extending her hand outward to lightly rub the corner of Moth's angular neck.
Moth rumbled gently, and pulled herself backwards a bit, just barely lifting her forearms off of the earth.
We'll go back in the position we came in. Moth dipped her head, waiting until she felt her rider deemed appropriate to join the others in the sky.
"Let's go then." Farin nodded, her face shifting to the side to look once back into the tree line. Undoubtedly there were more felines hiding somewhere about the brush. But it was good to know that the population had been hacked a bit down. But in the dark, she could see nothing but the pale glows of the herder children, some watching the dragons and a few others tending to the nervous beasts.
With that, Moth pushed upwards, flapping her wings once to pull herself above the tree line, and angled herself as to carefully use the gentle wind currents and moderate flapping to join the others, quickly falling behind in the position designated.

All are ready. Liliath relayed with a snort of satisfaction.

"Well then," T'bell mumbled as he lifted his arm to make the signal. His next words were stoped by a yawn and he shook his head. "Between we go."

And with that he dropped his arm, taking the wing back to the southern rim of Rias Weyr.

The End