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 Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:46 am
In the blackness of midnight of some forgotten cove Moriath’s brilliant red hide looked dull grey. She still looked beautiful. Somehow Kleos couldn’t seem to smile about that tonight. They hadn’t come out here to star gaze or anything pleasant like that after all, their purpose here was deadly serious. She didn’t know what troubled her bondmate, but she could guess. Huge now (though still growing slowly) Moriath was almost an adult, and for crimsons that meant one thing above all else.
Deciding.
A fork in the road, a twist in their lives. Whatever her dragon decided could not be undone, and it was her dragon’s choice, not hers. A selfish part of her wished it were, or at least that she could in good conscience influence her partner. She would not be some plaything for males, and useful only when one chased and caught her beloved. Even then only maybe. Choosing to breed was a rocky road indeed, but Moriath had so often said to her what fine eggs she knew she would lay that she feared her partner’s mind was made up. The only thing that kept her from despair was recalling that Moriath had also often stated that she would make a fine wingleader, if only the males would open their eyes and see her potential...
One way or another, she would know the course ahead soon. Trying to push down a feeling of dread, Kleos chewed on a nail and gazed out to sea.
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:47 am
She knew that Hers was not happy. Though her lifemate was trying to keep it from her it was rather obvious from the tension in her body, and the ragged state of her nails. Ice and Moss could feel it too, and the flitts were dealing with it in the only way they knew, i.e. bringing pretty shells and stones to their mistress. There was already a small pile of interestingly shaped and coloured objects on a nearby rock, and the blue and green had gone off yet again after more.
“I don’t see why you try to feign calm, Mine,” she said eventually. “You can block me off from your feelings, but I can still see you pacing and biting your nails so really there’s no point... I am sorry that this is worrying you, but this is the burden of being crimson; we must make choices about our lives where all other dragons have it laid out for them. By virtue of being better than others, we must also endure more.” That was just the way it was... She wished she could do both. Whichever path she took, the other would be deprived of her... and she of it come to that.
“Why can we not clutch and flame?” the powerful dragon wondered aloud. “Why must it be one or the other?”
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:48 am
“Because... Because.” Kleos sighed and shrugged, dropping her mental walls and turning to her partner. “We cannot have it all, love, it must be one or the other... and the choice is yours.” Her stomach clenched and her hands itched to curl into fists as she imaged the life of a Breeder. Nothing but a... a thing to be flown by some male. Worthy of praise only when a man dragged her into bed and... and she didn’t want to think of it.
“The choice is yours,” she repeated quietly, “I have been trying to keep my feelings from you to avoid influencing you but... but I suppose that it foolish. I cannot lie to you, lovely, I cannot pretend that I could be happy with the life of a breeder. I could not stand it.” There. She had said it. She felt guilty for essentially telling her dragon which way she should go, but she could hardly pretend that she didn’t mind either way.
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:50 am
...Well. Now she found herself wanting that life, because she knew she couldn’t have it. She couldn’t force her rider into a life she would hate... She would have had large, lovely clutches. her great size and endurance would have made certain of that. She would have had many crimson daughters, many greens too, and during her life no doubt she of all dragons would have produced a white or two as well... She could not have it. She could not make Kleos miserable.
“Well,” Moriath said eventually, her tones heavy and grave, “I suppose that’s that then. I’ll chew firestone, we shall be fighters.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:51 am
She could feel her lifemate’s regret, but her own heart lifted all the same. She knew Moriath would be happy with the choice in the end, she knew it! A grin spread itself across her face, and Kleos rushed over to embrace her beloved dragon.
“Thank you,” she murmured into that powerful crimson neck, “you will not regret this. We shall be great, my love, we shall touch the stars and kiss the wind, and we shall not rely on males to give us worth. We shall surpass them. We shall surpass them all.” Right now, with the burden of worry she had carried for so long torn away, she felt that nothing was impossible for them. They could be searchriders, wingleaders, anything they desired; it was all within their reach. Nobody in all of Pern, nobody who lived, had lived, or would live, could bring them down.
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:52 am
She still had regrets, reservations, she would always wonder what might have been... but she would not regret it. She could feel her lifemate’s dreams for them, and they were great dreams indeed. Unfettered. Unlimited. It would have been a fine thing to lay eggs, but Hers was right; it would be better to fly side by side by males and then best them than to be flown by males and beholden to them for worth. This was right for them. Maybe breeding was the right choice for other crimsons, but for them it was not, now she thought about it, it never could have been.
“Come then, Mine,” Moriath shifted so that her bondmate could climb onto her back, “let us return to the Weyr and get some sleep. After all, we want to be bright and alert for lessons tomorrow!” As her partner scrambled up into position and secured herself, Moriath raised her head and bugled a challenge to the night before flinging herself into the air. The choice was made, it had been so simple in the end. They would fight.
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