Ceissa was awakened by a gust of warm, wet air on her face, and she opened her eyes warily. Her green dragon Naith hovered over her, eyes whirling with a mixture of red and yellow. Ceissa? I-I think I'm going to rise soon. Ceissa groaned and rolled over. "You've been saying that for the last week, Naith. Let me go back to sleep."

Naith's eyes whirled a deeper red. No, ridermine. I mean I think I'm rising now! The muddled emotions she was picking up from her bond was enough to convince Ceissa of what was happening. She gasped and climbed out of bed, pulling on something decent and tying her hair back hastily as she rushed out of their weyr. "Let's get to the feeding grounds, Naith."

It was early morning, not long after sunrise. The sky was a light grayish blue as the sun began to climb higher in the sky. Naith spread her wings and took off for the pens below. She landed jarringly, hissing as she noticed the four males that were already gathered around their own kills.

The two blues, Hoflichth and Benneth, bent over their kills, paying little attention to the female they were here for. Dusk Tateth watched her with considerably more interest, and rumbled smugly to himself as he blooded yet another herdbeast.

The partial-glitz dragon, Kiroth, blinked sleepily and looked back and forth between the green dragoness and the other male chasers. He looked up, startled slightly, as the fifth and last chaser arrived, White Vaakth. He ignored his competitors, and brought down a fat buck neatly as Naith watched with approval. Ceissa hardly had to remind the green to blood her own kills; Naith wasn't as fussy as a gold. She grabbed a large herdbeast and bit it cleanly in the neck, and settled down to her task.

As Naith drank, Ceissa looked over the male riders who had gathered outside her room. Kelduen smiled at her, slightly nervously, and she smiled back at him. L'zarus and Maalus, Blue Benneth and White Vaakth's riders, respectively, stood off by themselves on opposite sides of the hall, standing quietly. The vampire rider Masshiro Sakura also stood by himself silently, apparently painfully shy.

The last rider was the gryphosi, Riki. Cheerful and more outgoing, (At least compared to all the other, quieter male riders) the feline-avian-human crossbreed leaned against the wall easily, patiently waiting for the results of the flight.

Ceissa was distracted when Naith reared suddenly, and roared. The green dragoness leapt into the air, her chasers a beat behind her. Vaakth was the first in the air, but he was quickly overcome by Tateth and Kiroth. The larger dragons had taken the lead, and were fighting to get ahead of each other. Benneth was behind the rares, and Hoflichth behind him.

Naith crowed at her suitors tauntingly and flipped in the air, plainly showing off. Tateth flapped his wings even harder, and for a moment, seemed to be taking the lead, but he was beaten back by a snap from Kiroth. Hoflichth fought gamely to keep up with the other dragons, but eventually began to fall ever further behind. With a sad croon, he dropped away, spent. Goodbye, Naith. Perhaps another time.

Or perhaps not! Naith replied gleefully.

I'll be a better mate for you, anyway. Benneth said proudly. Naith snorted back at him. As if I'd want a pompous wherry like you for a mate, anyway. She snapped.

With a mocking grin on her face, she roared a challenge to her remaining four chasers and shot straight up in the air. Her bright green hide was a sharp contrast against the gray-blue sky.

Kiroth and Tateth chose to follow her, almost move for move, while Benneth and Vaakth chose to stay below and wait for her to come back down. It turned out to be a bad idea. Benneth took the moment to seize Vaakth's tail, and the white shrieked as he came to a stop. Benneth rumbled smugly. Even if he was out of the running, at least he'd taken Vaakth out with him.

Naith was disappointed that the white had dropped out. She'd begun to actually like him, unlike Benneth. She turned her attention to the two males who remained, Kiroth and Tateth. Studying them out of the corner of her eye, she performed lazy flips in the air, and began to realize that she was quickly tiring. She would have to pick her mate soon.

Pick me! Kiroth yelled eagerly.

No, me! Tateth shouted, trying to make himself heard above the other dragon's protests.

Naith was torn; how was she supposed to pick between them? She eventually decided to just shut her eyes and fly towards them; whichever one caught her, so be it.

She shut her eyes tight and did a U-turn in the air, heading straight for the males. Caught unawares, they were unprepared. But someone wasn't. Naith felt another dragon grab hold of her, and she opened her eyes in startlement. Vaakth! She cried happily. Her white mate crooned in reply. You didn't think I'd give up on you that easily, did you?

They fell together, white entwined with green. Ceissa watched as the riders of the losing dragons left disappointedly. She reached out and took Maalus' hand before he could leave as well, and smiled at him.