Cream Nalilath and Cream Vedrajedanth
Written by Drakiera
"I have no interest in any of them.", Moriaya's feathers fluffed in irritation. She looked over the gathered males with a sneer and turned her gilded gaze to her bond.
Mm., was all her preening cream could be bothered to answer with. It was mid-morning at Draco's Inferno and all Nalilath was concerned with was the way the sunlight glittered on her hide. She'd insisted Moriaya oil her -- not once, but twice! -- that morning, just to be sure the light caught her properly. Never had the cream been so self-absorbed and her gryphosi bond was growing quite tired of the cream's antics.
"Well? What? Are you actually going to allow one of them to capture you?", the gryphosi snapped, her wings managing a slight twitch. Though her wings went dead some time ago, she'd managed to get some movement back, though it pained her. The pain, however, was diluted by her anger. She continued her tirade after snapping her gaze to the males.
"There's no variety here! None! And that one there? His rider is smitten by some other female.", her gilded gaze snapped to brown Fielcamaradath. "Him? He's all poetic talk." Brown Logarth was indicated with an ebon talon. "And those two seem more interested in chasing any piece of tail that wiggles in front of them!" Moriaya tilted her beak in the direction of bronze Kadezath and blue Eskarth.
And what of him?, Nalilath mused, her rainbow gaze -- now a more distinct purple, Mori' noticed with a sense of unease -- swinging toward a native-born cream. What of Vedrajedanth?
Moriaya snorted. "Does anything need to be said about that? He talks too much as it is."
I appreciate your input ... but you really can't see past their flaws, can you?
The gryphosi raised her voice in a shrill shriek as Nalilath swept skyward, angling toward the feeding area. Moriaya's wings ached dully with the memories of flight and the gryphosi female jogged to her temporary ground quarters. There, the male's riders had gathered, chattering amongst themselves. This was more or less familiar to some of them; Fiel's rider stood more to himself, Vid'domi seated opposite him. Two were already familiar with one another, leaving J'val to listen quietly. While Moriaya struggled to rid herself of the troublesome humans, she heard her bond's bugling and her talons clenched. "Fine. Let's get this over with, you bothersome beast.", she snapped to no one in particular and shut her eyes.
Nalilath occupied herself with crushing a herdbeast in her talons, milking it dry of its precious blood. She needed no rider to tell her to do so, no more than she needed a rider to tell her what else she needed to do. Spattered with gore, the cream looked up to view her suitors, her eyes whirling a lustful amethyst.
Each was in various stages of blooding and, as a result, not quite ready when the glowing female launched into the air. As both Kadezath and Eskarth whipped into the sky, Fielcamaradath struggled to leap skyward with a herdbeast still clamped in his jaws. As the inexperienced chaser struggled to drop the creature, Logarth was already in the air and Vedrajedanth was not far behind.
Nalilath was not one for fancy words in flight and, it being her first flight, she was more worried with keeping ahead and making the boys earn their chance. An aerial acrobat, she twisted ever skyward, snapping her tail behind to keep the air clear.
Logarth was not easily deterred and he swept around the bronze and blue with a grace that almost seemed casual. For a shining moment, he was wingtip to wingtip with Nalilath until she banked sharply, leaving him to scrabble for air again. Fiel' struggled in the wake of the other dragons, straining his wings to the utmost just to catch up; his poor start and his inexperience, combined with his increased strain, pressured the brown to finally drop out. Vedra' pushed himself as hard as he could; he was no more experienced than Fiel', but his greater desire urged him on much further. He was fortunate to snare a bit of a thermal, launching him higher and placing him near the front of the remaining suitors.
Without a signal of any sort, the female dropped, her wings clapping to her sides as she plummeted; although the sudden move was enough to shake the lesser experienced males, the others positioned themselves higher to anticipate her eventual climb. Vedra' plummeted after and, after some melodic bugling, Logarth dropped slightly to fall within a middle range. Tired from the exertion of dealing with the energetic female, Eskarth bowed out of the flight, winging back to the feeding pens.
Tired as she was, Nalilath slowly began to regain her altitude; Vedra' clung near her tail-spade, unable to try and release. Logarth maintained his height, though he continued to entice her with his poetic commentary. High above, however, Kadezath was planning another tactic; he waited a moment longer, then plunged down, aiming to snatch the glowing cream from above.
She moved upward quickly, twisting herself to a slight angle that Kadezath hadn't counted on; Logarth, catching the move, sped forward, his passions driving him more than any careful thought. Bronze and brown collided as Kadezath's downward spiral and Logarth's forward lunge finally met. Both dragons were stunned, but managed to find their wings to fly away without crashing to the ground; both would be sore in the afternoon, but they were still alive and uninjured.
Nalilath strove for the skies, certain that she couldn't be caught by the lone chaser. Renewed strength filled her and she pushed upward, leaving the memory of the others far, far behind. But she hadn't counted on Vedrajedanth's persistence and found the cream flying alongside her, his wingtip touching hers. She tumbled happily into him, necks and tails twining as they glided off into the late afternoon.
"I guess we're not going to leave any time soon.", Vid'domi murmured, although he didn't sound terribly disappointed. He looked to her with only brief hesitation before getting up from his chair.
Moriaya fixed him with her searing gaze as she moved toward him. "I suppose not.", the corners of her beak twisted in what might have been an uncharacteristically wicked smile. "Not now, anyway ..."