I Hope You Dance (Avirith's Mating Flight)

[Night]

Ara shouldn't have been surprised when her dragon's hide started to glow more with the passing days, yet somehow the rider was. Could it already be that time? Was it really coming closer? The girl shook her head not wanting to think about it to be honest. Avirith was the same age as the other greens rising, so it was natural that their sister would soon too. She just hoped that it wouldn't be anytime soon. The days had not only brought tense feelings within the Weyr, but also rainclouds.

It was on this morning that they finally let loose. Torrents of gray rain fell from the heavens, refusing to stop or let up. Avirith watched them from her cave, her eyes swirling fast with interest. They danced so well! Down they raced, pushing off of one another until they reached a surface. There they broke off into millions of smaller copies. It was a perfect duet, flawlessly performed by each and every drop.

The green craned her neck out to let a drop or two land on her glowing hide. She wanted to go out with them and dance too! Flapping wings that itched to be stretched, the dragoness turned to the shifting form of her rider. As was usual on occasion, Ara had slept out here in Avirith's bed with her. It was an event that the two didn't hold often, but with the frightening events of the feast only a few sevendays ago it wasn't surprising.

Crooning, Avirith pranced around a little bit in the dull cave. The dark clouds cut out most of the light, but her hide was a beacon in the shadows. Stretching out her wings again the dragoness crooned louder. Hers needed to wake up now! Bolting upright, Ara looked around for what had unsettled her so much. "Avirith? Are you okay hun?" Her voice was quiet and shaky among the loud beating of the rain and growls of the thunder.

I must dance Mine! Ara breathed a sigh of relief and pet the green flit that had curled up beside her on the pillow. So the green only wanted to go flying...but shards and shells in the rain?!? Yes AraMine. I can't help it. I want to dance...I want the males to come and see if they're good enough to be my partner. The green pranced around, her small frame stretching out as she arced her back and wings. "Avi..." Ara's voice was only a whisper now. She couldn't help it, it was time, but the rider worried about the green in this storm.

I go now Mine! Warbling, the green threw herself from her ledge and into the morning sky. The rain beat down on her hide as she twirled through the air, but the dragoness revelled in the feeling. She loved the power and challenge the rain brought for her. Eyeing the feeding grounds, the dragoness dove down over them. Below wherries ran from the large creature, frightened by the lightening that lit up behind her. Do you think you're faster than me? Well, you're wrong about that little ones.

Stretching out her talons, Avirith grabbed the nearest one and set to work on it. Ara barely remembered to only tell the green to blood it, and thought the command to the green. It didn't matter so much, she wasn't a clutching green, but still the command was there. Hissing, Avirith flung the drained carcass away from her and flicked her wings free of the scarlet liquid. Looking up, the dragoness drew her body out leisurely and roared in defiance as the thunder rolled across the sky above.

She launched herself then, spiraling up as she ascended higher and higher. Turning back to Alietran, the green opened her mouth to roar again. Come boys, let's dance sweethearts! Avirith wove to and fro as she waited for the first of the chasers to show, happy to be the Queen of the skies on this morning. This would be fun! This would be fun indeed.

Back in the weyr, Ara looked out the cave's entrance at the green's fading shape. Thunder rolled across the sky again making the rider shrink back scared. Avirith's feelings coursed through her as rain belted down on her form. She refused to let the lust take her just yet though! She needed to be aware for her dragon. Certainly Avirith wasn't paying attention to herself. Looking back at her own weyr, Ara shook her head. How could she think of the other riders at a time like this?

(Ooc: Feel free to have one or more of the chasing riders pull her back into her weyr...she doesn't know it but she's on the edge of Avirith's ledge right now >.<)

[Akira]

K'lin had been working with the weyrlings, trying to keep their minds off of what had happened at the feast. He was now walking through the rider's weyrs when he heard a rumbling coming from the weyr he shared with his blue dragon, Bearith. He ran into his room and noticed that his dragon was watching something. That was when he heard a female dragon roar. OH FARANTH!!!! Avirith rises, I must fly K'lin Mine! With that, he watched his dragon leap from his ledge. K'lin turned and ran to the weyr he knew Alyara had, and wondered who else was already there.

Bearith bugled his greeting to Avirith when he joined in her chase. His light blue wings beat the air as he flew after the green queen. Fly hard and fast my Green Queen! Your Bearith will follow you to the ends of Pern! His sweet voice sang out to the mind of the green dragon he now chased. There was no way this blue was going to give up without a fight, well, you get the point. K'lin slid to a stop just outside of Ara's room's he gasped in shock when he saw that she was on the edge of Avirith's ledge. GET BACK! His voice rang out as he charged over to her, and pulled her back into the weyr. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if she had fallen from the ledge.

[Night]

Ara vaguely noticed as a pair of hands wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her back. Fighting the rider briefly, Ara looked down and made a little cry. She had been on the sharding EDGE! Shaking now, the rider pushed herself out of K'lin's embrace. She didn't want to be caught yet! She wanted to be free. Backing up, this time at least toward her weyr, Ara hissed slightly as Avirith did.

Of course Avirith hissed because Hers had been stupid. Shaking her head, the green was once again caught up in the flight, Ara this time along with her. She swirled around as she heard Bearith's calls. Well! This boy knows who he's talking to. The dragoness called back flattered that he thought her a Queen though she had chewed firestone from weyrlinghood. Dropping suddenly, the dragoness cried out again. Follow my boys! Try-outs have just begun. Show me what you got.

[Zara]

The pale blue was sitting on his ledge when the Green left her weyr. He didn't say a word to K'rec as he flew down to the feeding grounds as she went after her pray, waiting patiently, his eyes whirling tones of red and purple. He was waiting very quietly.

K'rec woke suddenly, the very moment he felt his dragon's lust and intensity. He was going to Chase. K'rec rubbed the sleep from his eyes, willing them to focus as he pulled on his shirt and walked quickly to Alyara's weyr. He arrived after K'lin. He moved so that she could see him, but did not approach her. Instead, his blue eyes settled an intense and focused gaze on her. He swallowed. This wasn't the first flight Orivith had participated in. And it probably wouldn't be the last.

Orivith watched. When she leaped into the air, he watched for a moment. Beautiful. Very beautiful. He threw himself into the air after her. I will dance, lovely Queen. His tone was calm and sweet as his large blue wings bore him up into the air after her.

He bugled, accepting her challenge. He would pass. He beat his wings a little bit harder, though he wasn't about to quiet himself out before the end. No. He had to last to the end. That would be important. She didn't need the music, but he wished to give her something to dance to, so he sang. Cascading notes, wordless, but tender all the same. He watched her, attempting to match his notes to her movement. He would not attempt to control her. He was her servant. She was his Queen. She had control. She had his heart. And he was determined to let her know that in some way. He moved his wings, his tail, all of him gracefully, attempting to win the right to dance with her. He followed her, his heart pulled along as if on an invisible string.

K'rec found himself humming a soft tune of his own, which slowly came to his voice and, yet, it was wordless. His mind was with his dragon. It was not here on the ground.

Orivith-K'rec turned over in the sky, making a slight loop, before leveling out and following her flat out again. He followed her lead again, beating his wings. Attempting to allow his wing beats to create a pleasing beat with hers, even as thunder started to roll. To dance in the rain. What beauty. She was a beauty. A beauty who could only be more beautiful.

[Night]

Avirith crooned as yet another blue chased after her. He was larger than her first suiter, though size didn't mean anything in a dance. It was how you presented yourself, and this male was doing quite fine. Purring practically as she climbed back into the sky, the green looked over one dark wing. Lightning flashed behind the males, illuminating their figures for her inspection. She seemed to be one with the storm and her rider now.

As the blue started to sing and follow her, she did a corkscrew underneath the males so that they could get a good view of her. It wasn't an easy thing to accomplish, but the dragoness ended up flying upside down, gliding along the thermals created by the storm. Beneath her the forest rolled on and on, breaking only for some hills and meadows. It was wonderful! Magical! Dropping her wings the green continued, skimming the tops of the trees. She would stay low for now, after all climbing too far meant she was almost done. In truth, she was anything but! You're doing so well my chasers. Who will be my champion though?

In her weyr, Ara was vaguely aware of the riders around her. All she knew was the sound of rain and thunder, the feeling of Avirith's wings beating threw the wind. The rider did a little dance of her own, slipping between the two men and letting a hand brush there and a hip touch there. This was fun, oh what fun. What did she ever have to fear before? As she heard the newest rider start to humm, Ara made a sound of delight and changed her pace to match his. Oh what fun!

[Zara]

Orivith looked down at her as she flew upside down beneath them, crooning to her still, his voice rising and falling, attempting to match her every wingbeat. Please my beauty, my Queen, let me fly after thee. Up to the stars, up through the sky, to the very depths of eternity I will fly, just for thee, just for thee, I will follow, my heart shall sing, my storm, by beauty, Queen of my skies, take this all, I please you dance, and dance with vigor. He wound his song on, returning it to a wordlessness again.

He followed her, mimicking her movements with his song and with his own, answering each and adding a few flourishes of his own. This dance would wind on. This dance would pulsate in the hearts of those who flew in it. She was the dancer, the beauty, the star of the show. And she did not have a co-star yet. she couldn't. She was too perfect, too beautiful, too amazing. She deserved the best adn the try-outs had only just started. The actual show hadn't even started.

K'rec kept singing, his eyes only for Ara. Each touch she gave sent pulses of electricity through his body. His song remained consistent, though, even as he started to dance with her, not overtly attempting to touch her, though he couldn't say that he didn't' touch her at all.

Orivith followed her low over the tree tops, though he stayed a little bit above her, his eyes on her the entire time. She was the beauty. He only had eyes for her. Only a heart for her.

[Akira]

K'lin didn't fight it when Ara fought against his grip on her. He wasn't going to force her to do anything she didn't want to, but he wasn't going to let her fall off of her dragon's ledge either. He raised his eye brows at her when she hissed at him. He rolled his eyes, and backed away from her, he figured she was more dragon than herself at this moment. Bearith slowed slightly when he heard Avirith his, wondering if she was displeased with him. Though, his thoughts changed when he heard her voice, and he crooned to her. He bugled when she dropped. You're Bearith will win you my Queen! He roared, even as he used his words to speak to the green dragoness.

Bearith started his own song as he followed Avirith. His voice, the noise of his wings beating against the air, and the noise his tail made as it gracefully moved behind him, all adding to the graceful, gentle, beauty of his song. She needed something to dance to, and someone to dance with. He was bound and determined to make that someone him, and that song his. He growled low, and deep in his chest, a very primal sound, when he noticed the other blue following Avirith. That was the only warning the other male would have. If he decided to get too close to Bearith, he wasn't going to hesitate to beat the other challenger out of the sky.

K'lin started humming, and whistling along with the song that Bearith used, he even growled at K'rec when Bearith growled at the other man's dragon. Bearith followed Avirith in her dance, and when he heard her purr at the other male he became very competitive. Bearith hadn't even noticed the rain, or the thunder, but when the lightning lit up the sky behind him, he finally realized it was storming. He crooned and started to spin, and weave through the rain, using the storm to accentuate his song. Your Bearith will be champion my Queen! His voice only helped the song he was singing as he danced through the sky.

K'lin felt as though he was on fire when he felt Ara's touch. He wanted her to continue to dance around, and touch him as she did so. The feeling she sent through his every nerve was like a drug, and he was already addicted. He wanted more, and would do anything to get it. He started his own dance, one to match that of his dragon. No one could say that he never touched her in his dance, but he made sure to give her the space that she wanted. If she wanted to be closer to him, then she could be, he wasn't going to stop her, though, he did keep his distance from the other rider.

[Night]

As both males began to sing their songs for her Avirith trilled back and wove between them. Her wingtips probably tailing lightly against their sides as she looped back in front. She was a green blur it seemed among the rain, and not because it came down in sheets. The wherry blood coursing in her veins made her faster and more agile than ever before and she revelled in that sensation. Warbling encouragement to the two blues she leveled out again before diving toward the ocean and spiraling above it.

She was playing with them for sure, testing their limits by coming tantalizingly close then pulling away. On a normal day her manuevers wouldn't be so quick, but with the harsh storm winds to take her, Avirith slipped throught the males time and time again. She didn't even try to guess where the wind currents would take her next, she just allowed them to do as they wished. Looking over her wing, the green crooned to her chasers. Both songs were beautiful, Orivith's being pleasing and gentle while Bearith's was tribal and instinctive. Both resonated inside her body and she answered with a song of her own, wordless and only made by croons and the beating of her wings.

Diving down suddenly the green passed close by the males, probably too close to be honest. She snapped out her wings to catch her balance, not sure if that movement had cost her the rest of her flight or not. So far no male had twined his wings and tail with hers, but she could never be sure. Warbling, the female continued on....even if it was mere feet. Down in the weyr Ara was equally pleased by the two riders. They sung to her as their dragons did to Avirith, and both danced alongside her form. She wanted to be closer though! Flightlust boiling in her blood, Ara wove a hand around K'lin's chest before moving to K'rec and doing something similar but with her leg.

She twirled away from both then, settling herself against a wooden chest to keep her balance. Shaking her head, the rider focused a bit harder, but it wasn't easy. Flashes of wings and hide, water and lightning sped in front of her sight. Her vision was mixing with Avirith's and it was becoming harder to tell where she was in her weyr. Tripping slightly against one of the riders as she came too close, the rider gave a little cry. This was less than perfect! So much for gracefull beauty!

[Akira]

Bearith did his best to match Avirith move-for-move, and was suprised at how well he did. She was a beautiful green blue in his eyes, and he did his best to keep up. Though, his energy was leaving him, he had forgotten to eat before flying, so he didn't have the extra umph that a wherry would have given him. He could tell that she was playing with them, and he loved it. He called out to her with his own song, hoping that the wordless turn would please her enough to choose him, but one never knew what a female would do after all. He roared when he saw her coming close. He reached out for her with his claws, tail, and his entire being. He hoped that he would catch her, and that this flight would be over and done with, and that he would be the winner.

K'lin continued to dance, even though his entire body seemed to be on fire, especially his chest where Ara had wrapped her arm around him. He didn't even pause when she stopped dancing with him. Instead he continued to dance closer to the woman who was now somewhere between her own body, and that of her dragon's. He was beyond his own body, and was completely one with his dragon. He wasn't sure when that had happened, and neather was Bearith, but they were now joined in a way they had never experianced before. He jolted out of the trance that he was in when he heard Ara cry out. He reached for her, just as his dragon reached out for Avirith. Though, their intents far differant. K'lin only wanted to make sure that Ara was alright, and Bearith wanted to end the flight a winner.

[Zara]

No dragon would intimidate him. Bearith didn't matter. His rider didn't. Only Avirith mattered to K'rec-Orivith. Only Avirith and what she chose would matter. What she did. He crooned, his song rising and falling, following her dance, not attempting to bend her to his will. She had to choose. She had to be free. He would only take the lead when it was given to him. She was beautiful and free. His Queen. My Queen, My Queen, beauty of Pern, Queen of skies, of storms of the light. I promise you to follow through, through storm, and rain, and sun and sky. Follow you til my heart fails, no longer beats, until wings fall from body, I will follow and dance and dance for you. My Queen. I beg you, give your Orivith a chance to prove, to prove his love for you. He sang again, his words winding on as he spun in a spiral briefly, answering her movements again and again with his own, adding a few steps here and there in an attempt to impress her.

K'rec continued his song, dancing with the woman, though he did not try to become to close to her. It was she who had the terms of this dance. She who would choose who to dance with. She would be the one to choose. He felt his mind pulled up with his dragon, wings over wings, rain, wind, the thickness of the air. He was addicted to this now. He was in love with her. In love with this. He continued to sing, but did not attempt to come closer.

Orivith matched her move for move, dancing with her to the best of his ability. He was determined. He had give his heart away to the dancing beauty and he was confident in his ability to fly, to match her movements, to impress her. He sang louder, stronger, faster. His long wings beat harder. He had to catch her. He had to be the one that she chose. He wanted to catch her. He wanted to prove to her that he was the only one worthy of her love. He had to. Her attention, her love, her heart were worth more than any treasure. They were beyond the value of Rukbat itself. Of flame.

K'rec felt his body burning, especially where she had touched him. He gently reached out to touch her arm, but he did not attempt to grab her. No he would not take the choice from her. Not now, not ever. The flight would end when she had chosen. The flight would end... But who would be the victor. He hoped that it would be Orivith and himself.

Orivith crooned again. She had come back towards them. It was such a risk. She was a blur. He flared his wings, letting them catch him and turned on the air to follow her, crooning still. He beat his long wings hard in order to gain speed. He crooned again, his song and his wings beating the air to create a song, a pattern, a beat, but he did not wish to restrain her to it, and, yet, it was hard to do. It was something he hoped to impress her with. To show his love for her. To show he loved her enough that he loved her enough to give her freedom. To let her choose. She was his love, his Queen, the beauty of Pern and of all the skies. he would chase her until the end. He would chase her until he could chase no more or until she chose.

[Night]

Both males were doing exceptionally well, and Avirith found it hard to choose between them. Their songs sang in her very being and the green went back and forth singing back her own tune as she danced to it. Who to choose, who to choose. Both seemed so perfect, but only one could win. The rain was easing up by now, the worst of it moving past them toward the sea again. Ahead was clear skies of Alietran. Crooning, the green watched as both males made the next set of appeals toward her.

It was then that Bearith tried to reach out to her and grab her form in his. Shaking her head, the green warbled unhappily. I'm sorry sweet one, but it is not you. Folding in her wings the dragoness dropped toward Orivith. Champion, oh champion of mine. You have danced above the earth endlessly. Now on the horizon, yours is the only form I see. Love me, love me. Catch me as I fall. Hear me, hear me. I give you my call. Out loud in the growing light. This dance is ending before our sight. Champion, oh champion of mine. Sweet Orivith catch me, your goddess devine!

Flaring out her wings as her tail and neck wrapped around Orivith's the pale dragoness crooned affectionately. He was the strength she needed, the sweet comfort she wanted. He and His had left it completely up to her and Hers. Nuzzling his neck, Avirith stretched out her wings beneath his ready to fly home.

In her weyr, Ara smiled as K'lin reached out to touch her. However she knew as well as her dragon that this wasn't their chosen mate. Reeling away from the rider, Ara wrapped herself around K'rec and hugged him tightly. Singing lightly along with his tune, Ara pulled him into a slow dance. Merely weaving their bodies back and forth as they held each other. Or at least this was her intent. The man could very well cut any of the sweetness out and get to the point for all she knew and cared. She had made her choice though, and that was what mattered. "My champion." It was sung by not only Ara, but Avirith as well.

[Zara]

Orivith crooned his song to her, wrapping himself around her as she dropped towards him. My goddess, my goddess divine, you are all I see, all I see, beauty beyond horizon, sky, and Rukbat, you're champion will love you, love you with all my being. I hear you. I will always hear you, hear your call in the growing light. A dance may end, but befitting it is, for my goddess divine. Oh my sweet Queen, I will catch you and ne'er let you fall.[/i] The words he sang to her with an incredible sweetness. He crooned to her as they flew together, spreading his wings wide to support the two of them. He crooned tenderly to her. My love... My Queen... my divine...

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, still singing to her, softly. He danced with her, enjoying the slow dance. She deserved the sweetness of this moment. After a moment, he slowly tilted her chin up and kissed her. "My Queen, divine." He sang it and so did his dragon, in answer to her own words again.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and gently danced with her still. Then... stopped, kissing her again, his hands holding her face gently. Somehow, he almost wondered, how he and Orivith were so lucky to be chosen by such a beauty. Such an amazing dancer and beauty...