There is 1 message in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-D] Post-Flight Blues...and Crimsons...
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 20:46:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-D] Post-Flight Blues...and Crimsons...
T'rell
Late evening, day 108
/snip from Tree's post/
T'rell! It's bad enough that you didn't win, but...but... to..to....but
to wake up with..." Pandora let out a sigh, her eyes dropping to the
floor. Pandora's cheeks flamed in embarrassment, her natural
insecurities taking over. Her voice cracked under the strain she felt
No, she wouldn't give into it and slowly raised her head. "To wake up
next to..to..OLAF of all people!"
/end snip/
T'rell sighed as he watched Pandora glaring at him. "Well, what do you
want me to say?" he demanded. "Do you think I like the idea of losing
a mating flight to that big oaf..I mean, Big Olaf?? Unfortunately,
Byorn is a pretty smart dragon did didn't need any...guidance...from
his rider, unlike Flerrion..."
A loud snort from outside on the ledge told him that Flerrion had not
*entirely* missed out on what he'd been about to say.
"If Flerrion had tried hard enough...if you'd pushed him enough..."
Panda said miserably.
"He did try and I did push him," said T'rell, his face starting to
redden. "But Byorn did some oddball maneuver that I'd never seen
before, or Flerrion either. I asked him, in fact, and he said he'd
learned it doing a mating flight in a...well, a barnyard. I have no
idea what he means, but in any case what I'm trying to say is
that...well, in mating flights, these things happen."
"Does this mean you don't love..." Panda began, then stopped herself.
T'rell spun and faced her squarely. "If you're about to ask if it
means I don't love you, then NO, it does not. If it means that
Almantha would have probably been won by a dragon other than
Flerrion...well, probably. I'm sorry, but that can also make a very
big difference in a mating flight. I get the impression that the Brat
is somewhat taken with Byorn...maybe she's been telling you something
along those lines?"
He stood up and started pacing back and forth around the kitchen.
"You're not the only one who feels like this shouldn't have happened,
but your queen doesn't seem to feel that way, and that probably tells
you what *her* feelings were during the mating flight. But what really
bothered me is that someone else got to be with you during a mating
flight instead of me...and THAT is what bothers me, not the jeers I'm
sure to get from the whole wing over this."
Panda stared morosely at the table.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, out on the ledge
Flerrion looked up as the blue dragon alighted on the far side of the
ledge, next to Almantha.
[Hello, my beauty!] said Byorn. [I brought you a fresh buck!] He laid
it carefully down in front of her. [I know you could have done it for
yourself, but I just wanted to do something to show you how special you
are!]
Almantha automatically preened, arching her neck regally and cocking
her head to regard the blue dragon, then accepted the gift and began
munching as Byorn settled down and drew a wing across her. [You are
really are a superb flyer!]
[Well, you were pretty good yourself, blue boy!] Almantha told him as
she continued to eat. [Not just anybody could win ME!] She glanced
pointedly over in Flerrion's direction. She had 'really' flown, and
flown well like the others, something that had eluded the young queen
before. Maybe there was more to this mating flight stuff then she
realized. . She loved to torment the gentle giant whenever it was
feasibly possible...why, she didn't know, other then it gave her a
purpose that could not be ignored. Snuggling closer to Byorn her
coppery lips peeled back in a huge, fangy grin as Almantha eyed the
crimson male mischievously.
Flerrion just snorted in response and made an effort to ignore them.
* * * * *
"The fact that Flerrion didn't win has nothing to do with whether I
love you or not!" T'rell said. "If it did, he'd win her a hundred
mating flights straight, and no other dragon would ever get within a
country mile. But that's the sort of things that happen at a warren,
any warren, any time there's a mating flight. That's why riders don't
often form permanent partnerships, just as their dragons don't."
"I...see," Panda said, looking and sounding more gloomy than ever.
"Except," said T'rell, "in cases where two riders care for one another
so much that they can overlook what happens in mating flights, and just
see those situations for what they are..things that have no relation to
human love and attachments. Cases where riders feel so much for one
another that they want to be together...always."
He caught her gaze and waited for her to respond.
Pandora sighed burying her head in her hands. How many times had she
held her breath when a female flew. How many times had she waited and
hoped that Flerrion wouldn't win, and the relief when T'rell had come
to her and not some other woman. Her luck had held so far, until today
and the one time she desperately needed Flerrion too win, he had
failed. But it really wasn't his fault. T'rell was right, but it
certainly didn't make her feel any better. She'd been with a man that
she didn't want to be with at least not in that capacity and now she
would have to face him. It made her ill just to think about it. She
could never be what the sisters had trained her to be and she couldn't
do it now. She had seen this happen to so many others since coming to
the warrens and a part of her could comprehend and even accept it, but
the other part of her felt horribly cheap. Yet he said that he loved
her and that's all that mattered. "I don't want to lose you!" She
whispered peering at him through
her fingers.
T'rell gave her a roguish grin and held out his arms, "Well then come
get me woman!"
* * * * *
Flerrion snorted as he watched Almantha and Byorn cuddling gleefully
nearby. He figured that Almantha, at least, was partially doing it to
show off for him.
[Well, I *could* have won the flight, I'm sure,] he said. [As it was,
I'm afraid I'd pretty well worn myself down yesterday.]
[Oh?] Almantha asked sarcastically.
[I was being heroic,] he said quite seriously, then remembered that he
wasn't supposed to talk about what they'd been doing down in the
caves...especially to Almantha! [Um, I was...heroically...cuddling
with FOUR females at once!] This was at least partly true...he'd had a
tight hold on Zanne as he lowered her down the hole to grab the humans
Roxie and Alden...and at the same time, he'd had S'laze pulling on his
tail while Chamelle and Ishtar grabbed onto whatever they could to keep
him from being pulled in. Well, it *could* have been cuddling, under
other circumstances.
Byorn grunted his disbelief, and Almantha openly jeered. [You're just
making that up!] she snorted. [You lost because you weren't worthy of
a *great* queen like myself!]
[I am NOT making it up!] Flerrion asserted. [In fact...]
[In fact WHAT?] Almantha asked impatiently.
[In fact...one of the females I was with yesterday is...going to be
here...to....cuddle.] he said, trying to make things up as he went
along.
[Oh?] Almantha asked, not believing a word. [Who?]
[Who?] Flerrion repeated.
[That's what *I* asked *you!,* dummy!] Almantha snorted.
[Um....well...that one!] said Flerrion, inclining his head skyward as
watching a dragon's approach. Even though he was even worse at math
than most dragons - for whom numbers weren't a strong point to begin
with - he knew that the odds of a dragon appearing out of the sky...one
that happened to be female...and one that would back up his story...was
pretty slim.
(Tag to anyone whose dragon would like to appear out of the night and
cuddle with a genuine hero! ;)
NRPG: Many thanks to Tree for her help with Panda and Almantha!
Submitted by:
John
T'rell & Flerrion
Olaf & Byorn
Daere Warren
Summary:
Late evening, day 108 - T'rell tries to explain to Pandora that
Flerrion's failure to win the mating flight do not reflect on T'rell's
affection for her. Meanwhile, Byorn arrives outside on the ledge and
begins to cuddle with Almantha, while an irritated Flerrion looks on.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
To Join World Weavers, visit: http://www.worldweavers.net/
Only members of WorldWeavers Worlds should post to this list. To post
messages to this group, send email to WeaversFiction@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
