Author's Note: I apologize for the delay getting this chapter out. I was on vacation and then working and didn't have much time to write. Anyway, here it is. This chapter deals with sexual situations, though there's nothing explicit at all. Just consider yourselves warned. Please, please, please leave feedback. It's both useful and inspirational. With that said, enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Fly

10.10.199

You've missed a spot on my left wing, right by the tip. Get it.

"Maybe I wouldn't be missing spots if you would stop prancing around the lake and stay still for more than five minutes," Carima replied in an acidic tone as her finicky green continued to frolic in the water. Mayath had been completely impossible all week, refusing to settle down for baths yet insisting on being bathed and oiled every single day.

"She sure looks like she's having fun," a vaguely familiar voice commented.

Carima took her attention away from Mayath and saw that the voice belonged to Dr'vid, one of the Wingseconds of Red Flight, the wing she'd been drilling with for the past month.

The tall rider sent his bronze into the lake as Carima said dryly, "Oh yes, she certainly is." Then remembering her manners she added, "My duty to Brizerth, Sir." It still felt slightly odd calling a rider only a few turns older than she was "sir," but she wasn't about to forget protocol when she was still under T'rut's watchful eye. His attitude towards her had loosened somewhat, but he was still a tough old tunnelsnake even on his best days.

"Please, please don't call me 'sir' when we're not in drill. It makes me feel old," Dr'vid said and shuddered theatrically.

"All right then, Dr'vid," Carima said with a little bemusement. Most bronzeriders were rather strict about getting the respect due to their rank, but then, she hadn't met many young bronzeriders other than the ones in her own class. "Brizerth looks like he's enjoying the warm weather."

"I think they all are," Dr'vid said, "but if we don't get some rain soon this lake's going to dry right up and then they won't get baths at all."

"Faranth forbid," Carima laughed as she got back to scrubbing Mayath.

Brizerth is a fine looking bronze, Mayath commented as she curved her neck around to look at the other dragon coyly.

Excuse me? Carima spluttered silently as the green continued to watch the dark-hued bronze splash around with his rider. He was a handsome dragon, mostly dark bronze with lighter streaks down his back and heavily muscled hind legs and shoulders. Still, this was the first time Carima had ever heard Mayath show interest in male dragons in that way. Carima had been expecting it to start sometime, since T'rut had said that greens normally reached sexual maturity when they were around one turn old, but somehow the change still caught her off guard.

I said, he's a fine looking bronze. Very fine, she said with the draconic equivalent of a giggle.

Her dragon was giggling. Carima set down the scrub brush and pulled Mayath's head away from the other dragon so she could look her straight in the eyes. You're not going to rise now…are you? She was definitely not ready to deal with her dragon's first mating flight. Maybe she wouldn't ever be, but at least if she had an inkling of when it was going to occur she could try to prepare.

No, not yet, the green said calmly. But soon.

Right. Carima tried to organize her scrambled brain as she led Mayath out of the lake so she could dry off and then get oiled. No wonder she'd been so insistent about looking her best lately, not to mention her flighty behavior and unpredictable moods.

"Carima?"

Carima blinked and realized that Dr'vid had said something that she'd missed entirely. "Sorry, Mayath and I were talking. Can you repeat that?"

"Sure," the bronzerider said tolerantly. "I was just asking how you were feeling about flying in Red Flight. We're the first wing you've drilled with, right?"

"Yes," Carima answered, "and I'll admit it's been a little intimidating, but I like it. I think we're both glad to be done with most of the Weyrling drills and getting into real flying. Seems like we might actually make it to graduation now."

"Mayath's a good flyer," Dr'vid complimented. "You'd think she might not be as agile as some greens since she's so much bigger, but she's a very strong flyer. I think sheer power makes up for her being slightly slower in the air."

"Thank you," Carima said proudly, always glad to hear good things about her precious green. They were doing rather well drilling with the wings so far. They still had a month to drill with one of the lower flights and then a third month drilling with one of the upper flights, but then it would be time to graduate and enter a wing for real.

"I'll certainly lobby Z'rong to get you in our wing once you graduate," Dr'vid said, echoing her thoughts, "but they usually like to put the young riders in the lower wings, since it'll be a little less dangerous once Thread starts to fall."

"I think I'll probably appreciate being there when the time comes, but maybe you'll get to be my Wingleader one day," she teased.

"I'm only a Wingsecond now," he reminded her, "but of course I dream of having my own wing one day. We all do, I guess. Something about Impressing these bronze lumps addles our brains."

"When did you Impress?" Carima inquired, and the conversation continued as the two riders began the exhausting process of oiling their dragons.

Carima was finished well before Dr'vid since the bronze dragon was so much larger. "I'd better get going so I'm not late to the afternoon lecture," she said somewhat reluctantly. She'd enjoyed talking to Dr'vid. The bronzerider was friendly, articulate, and intelligent.

"I definitely don't want to be responsible for making you late to one of T'rut's lectures. I'll see you tomorrow morning for drill, bright and early."

"Fabulous," Carima laughed and dragged Mayath away from the bronze. She was sure the two had been having a private conversation from the way the green was radiating smugness.

Do you like Brizerth's rider? Mayath asked Carima as they crossed the bowl.

"Of course,"she responded automatically. Then, realizing the deeper layers of her dragon's question, she added silently, I don't know. I guess I need to get to know him better, but he is nice. And handsome. It was hard to find anything to complain about his tall, well-muscled frame and blond hair.

Carima was distracted from her musings by the greetings she received from numerous riders as they continued across the bowl. She said hello to members of her own wing and some riders she didn't even know.

What is going on She asked Mayath as the seventh rider called out her name.

Their dragons know I will be rising soon, Mayath said, and Carima didn't know her green could sound so pleased with herself. Their riders are excited that you are a female.

It had been mostly bronze and brown riders saying hello, Carima realized. Now that her dragon was close to rising, her previous status as an unwelcome anomaly was being replaced by excitement for her appealing status as a potential partner.

"This is getting ridiculous," Carima muttered as an eighth man, a rather elderly brown rider, smirked as she walked by.

Just enjoy the attention, Mayath said as they approached the classroom. I know I am.

With that, Mayath took off for the rim of the bowl for some sunbathing and preening in front of her admirers, and Carima had no choice but to struggle through class with dozens of unsettling thoughts swirling around in her head.

10.24.199

"So then they made us go through the entire formation on the ground. It was the most ridiculous drill I've ever had to do—Carima? Are you all right?"

Carima realized she hadn't been paying attention to a word coming out of K'say's mouth in the past five minutes. "I'm sorry, K'say, I don't know what's wrong with me today," she said, picking distractedly at her meal. As usual, they'd met up for their rest-day afternoon meal, but she hadn't been able to keep her mind on the conversation at all. This was already the third time she'd drifted away. "I think Mayath may be having weird dreams or something." She'd left the green sleeping peacefully in the sun, but now it felt like Mayath was growing restless in her sleep.

"Don't worry about it," K'say said with a lot more patience than Carima would have if their positions were reversed. "We've all had those days. Maybe she just doesn't know what to do with a day off. You did say Z'rong was working you hard, right?"

"Yes—" Carima was about to reply when another wave of unsettling emotion came across the mental link she shared with Mayath. She reached out to the dragon but couldn't seem to get through to her. It was as if she was trying to wade through thick water or something. Mayath's thoughts darted and leapt in the water, but Carima was too slow to catch them. "Something's happening," she murmured, and then the chair slipped out from underneath her and she crashed to the floor as Mayath's thoughts crystallized.

Awake. Tense. Impatient. Hungry.

Lust.

The feelings crashed into Carima one after another and she was hyper-aware as the green launched from the rim of the Weyr and dove towards the feeding pens, crashing into a herdbeast and tearing into the vulnerable stomach with wicked claws.

"Carima, come on, you have to get up. Cirinth says Mayath is rising and you need to go to her. Now." His voice cracked on the last note as the first wave of feelings from the imminent flight hit him as well.

K'say grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet, and Carima momentarily leaned into the delightful contact before ripping her arm away. She wouldn't be caught that easily.

She remembered nothing of K'say shepherding her out of the dining caverns and down to the feeding pens, where Mayath had already started blooding her second kill. Her concentration was centered on her powerful, lovely green as she greedily sucked the warm liquid from the dead runner. A prodigious crowd of bronze, brown, and blue dragons had gathered around the green, waiting for her to leap off the ground and take to the sky.

Finally she'd had enough. Mayath screamed her defiance at the waiting males and then pushed off with her hind legs and streaked into the air, leaving the slower males in her dust. They would never catch her. She was invincible and unattainable. She would revel in her freedom and make the other dragons wish they had even a tenth of her speed, strength, and agility.

Twisting and turning, diving and rolling, Mayath streaked across the powder blue sky, not letting even one of her pursuers get close. Carima unconsciously mirrored her movements on the ground, getting close to one rider after another but not letting any of them touch her. They ignored all the compliments and boastings coming from dragons and riders.

Mayath/Carima was beautiful and terrible and would never be conquered.

Several of the males began to drop out of the race, unable to keep up with Mayath's exuberant acrobatics. Mayath screamed in approval as each one failed. They were not worthy of her.

Despite the adrenalin and sheer joy of flight running through her veins, even Mayath could not keep up the pace forever. She glanced back and surveyed her remaining suitors. Three bronzes, two browns, and a lone blue were all that remained in the pack.

Drigenth, Waltith, and Prith were hardly worth consideration, but the others…they had possibilities. While executing a sweeping turn, Mayath eyed brown Crasth, bronze Brizerth, and blue Cirinth. They had impressed her with their dogged determination and stamina.

The brown, Crasth, was certainly handsome, if a bit old. She was surprised he had stayed in the flight as long as he had. Was his determination worth rewarding? Mayath drew slightly closer and let one wing trail tantalizingly across his back before darting away again. Carima's fingers trailed across D'rek's arm far below.

But what about Cirinth? Mayath flew next to the blue for a stretch, admiring his sparkling color and the length of his fine tail that had so entertained her as a young dragonet. In the link she shared with her rider, Mayath could feel the affection Carima felt for the blue's rider and wondered if he was the right choice.

Choose me, Little One, Cirinth called desperately. He was beginning to tire but he was determined to claim the pair he and K'say felt so strongly about.

Mayath listened to his words, but there was one last dragon to consider.

She dipped away from Cirinth and brushed up next to Brizerth. The handsome bronze was starting to struggle as much as Cirinth, his great wings laboring. But he had put in an admirable performance, considering a bronze as large as he was should have been easily outmaneuvered by the smaller colors.

Mayath would have to make her choice.

Despite the emotional tug she felt for Cirinth, Brizerth's sparkling color and strong form won the day. Crooning now she positioned herself in front of Brizerth so that all he needed to do was reach out and claim her. The bronze bellowed in triumph as his claws sank into her shoulders and they fell into ecstasy.

Down below, Dr'vid virtually yanked Carima into his arms. Somehow Carima was in two places at once, falling with Mayath and desperately kissing Dr'vid. The two riders stumbled into an empty weyr and gave themselves over to the aftermath of the flight.

Carima woke to her stomach rumbling loudly and a warm body lying next to hers.

"Is that your stomach or mine?" Dr'vid stretched and sat up in the bed, looking down at her. He seemed enormous from that vantage point, and Carima was treated to an uninhibited view of his bare chest and torso. The feminine side of her was thrilled at the man that had ended up in her bed, though a part of her cringed. In the back of her mind, she had been expecting a thin, pale figure with dark hair rather than the bronzerider Dr'vid.

"Mine, I think," she said tentatively. She really wasn't sure how to proceed from here. All her teenage liaisons had been awkward, brief affairs and in no way prepared her for the intense physical and emotional event she'd just experienced. "I never got to finish my lunch before—well, everything."

Dr'vid smiled and reached out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I know first flights can be kind of overwhelming. I hope we didn't disappoint," he said with a bit of a smug grin.

"You know very will it wasn't a disappointment," Carima said, reaching out in turn to poke him in the chest. His grin just widened.

"Brizerth and Mayath seem to be happy," he said, and Carima reached out through the mental link. Mayath and her new mate were curled up together on Dr'vid's weyr ledge. The green was sleeping, but even through the haze Carima could tell that the green was immensely pleased.

"She made a good choice," Carima said, ignoring that insistent little twinge that said someone else should have been there.

Dr'vid stretched again and a bit of a frown crossed his handsome features. "I wish I could stay, maybe go and get some food with you, but I was supposed to be in a meeting with Z'rong ages ago. He'll give me a little time since he'll know about the flight, but he won't wait forever. Will you be all right?"

"Sure," Carima said, lying only a little. "I'll probably go and get some dinner and then finish oiling my riding straps. That was supposed to be the plan for the evening. We've got early drill tomorrow, so I'll probably get to sleep soon."

"Good. Well, I'll see you then. Maybe we can take a meal together sometime." Carima nodded and waited as he quickly dressed. As he was leaving the weyr he turned around and grinned again. "By the way, Carima, have I mentioned how glad I am that Mayath chose you to be her partner?"

Carima just laughed and felt somewhat better. Once she'd pieced together her own set of clothes she made a beeline for the dining caverns. Her stomach was rumbling louder with every step, but when she arrived her appetite suddenly disappeared.

K'say was sitting in the corner, several empty glasses scattered around him, and he did not look happy.

Never one to avoid a confrontation, Carima walked over and sat down in front of the bleary eyed bluerider. "Hi," she said, not quite sure how to begin.

"Shouldn't you be with your bronzerider?" K'say spat out, glaring through red-rimmed eyes.

"He's not my bronzerider," Carima said in annoyance. She knew K'say was drunk and probably didn't know what he was saying, but she really wasn't in the mood for his theatrics. "Just because Brizerth caught Mayath it doesn't mean we're…together, or anything. You know what flights are like."

"I know that we shoulda won," he replied, slurring the words together. "Cirinth tried, he did, she jus' didn't want him." He looked up, and Carima could see heartbreak in his eyes. "You didn't want either of us."

"That is not true!" Carima said, acutely aware that many pairs of eyes were now fixed on them.

"Makes sense, doesn't it? Only girl that rides a green, c'n have anyone she wants. All girls want th'bronzers. See those shiny hides and drop the rest of us like that." He snapped his fingers on the last word and took another gulp of wine. Not Benden white but strong, sour wine from Tillek.

"You need to sober up and think about what you're saying," Carima shouted, not caring who was listening. "If I'd had my way Mayath would have chosen Cirinth, but I can't help that. That's what I came over to tell you, but maybe now I'm glad she chose Brizerth. At least Dr'vid has manners and knows how to treat a woman."

With that Carima turned on her heal and stalked out of the dining caverns. She was extremely grateful that the tears didn't start to fall until after she was safely in her weyr.