Aerten News

[Chantal]

Zeth landed quietly in the herdbeast corral, crouching down to let his rider off before he began to stalk his prey. Chrisael watched him with an unusual curiosity. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought Zeth had part feline in him, from what she had overheard about the beast living in Southern. Zeth has no feline in him, it is just fun to chase them on the ground than in the air. The blue informed her, a bit of hurt in his mind's voice. Chris couldn't help but laugh at that. Just don't trip, you crazy blue. Zeth looked back, underneath his legs nonetheless, and snorted at her. This caused an even louder laugh to come out and she shooed him away to go and have his fun.

The blue shook his head, almost causing himself to trip while trying to do three things at once. He managed to put a bit of a swagger in his stalking, as a way to say he meant to do that. Chrisael knew him better than that, but she allowed him to have his fun. They hadn't exactly been around lately. They had missed a hatching, though that was okay for Chrisael. She did see the new weyrlings around from their weyr, so she knew what new dragons were hatched. The two of them had more or less begun to travel around Pern, since Zeth was now strong enough to take her for extended flights. It had been a while since they relaxed inside of Aerten. Zeth did not seem to mind too much, although he would mention it being lonely without another dragon's company to hunt or lay out in the sun.

Chris may have agreed to stay at Aerten, but with Zeth being able to fly now, it did not mean Aerten's walls could confine her forever. She had flown over Telgar, but did not stay there that long. They also attempted to fly to High Reaches, but a rather bad thunderstorm forced them to seek shelter before returning home. Right now she just wanted to stay here for a while and relax. Traveling took a lot more energy out of the both of them than they had originally thought. Zeth seemed more comfortable being back at the weyr than any other place they had traveled too. Speaking of Zeth...he hadn't really grown that much since he was clear for flying. Did flying over tax him a bit too much? She frowned as she thought of his size again. A worry that was always in her mind since she had impressed to him.

Zeth is perfectly fine to take his Chrisael wherever she may want to go. Zeth feels safer at Aerten where he can protect his Chrisael from Thread than out in the wilderness. Chris smiled, watching as muscles rippled underneath his harper blue hide as he stalked his prey. Zeth soon sprang into action, chasing and running after an injured beast. The small blue managed to take the larger beast down after leaping into the air and latching onto the tender spot on its neck, killing it quickly. Zeth purred in pleasure as he dragged his kill back to where Chrisael was standing before he began to eat it with caution. The blue was always on alert for some reason, his forked tail twitching back and forth constantly. "Feel better there Zeth?" a croon was her answer and she smiled and sat down in the grass as he ate. For reasons evading her, Chrisael felt tired all of a sudden. Maybe it was that long flight back to Aerten that had worn her out.

[Shadow]

“Oh come on guys! I don’t have wings! Or four legs for that matter…,” Trystan panted as he ran behind Shy and Viper to keep up. The fire lizard had grown considerably in the last sevenday and he had easily fallen prey as a playmate for Shy. It was good when he was trying to train them because they worked together well, but he didn’t want Viper to forget his playmate couldn’t go between like he could when he got tired and leave her somewhere.

The fire lizard shrieked in delight when he saw the form of a blue dragon feasting in the corral. He blinked between and reappeared closer to investigate. The small blue fire lizard landed on the railing of the fence near the woman also watching and cheeped, cocking his head, eyes whirling curiously as he watched the blue down his kill on the ground.

Shy barked loudly at the fire lizard a few times and poured on a burst of speed, which, for her size and the length of her legs was surprising. Trystan failed to keep up, but soon he came to a grinding halt near the fence.

“’Ey there miss,” he said to the woman, surprised somewhat to see her with a blue shoulder knot, denoting her as the rider of the blue dragon. He’d heard of such things but he’d never met a woman that rode blue…or bronze for that matter, but apparently one of those existed too. “I’m sorry if these two ruffian’s bothered you. Say, is that your dragon? Never met a girl bluerider before,” he said. “I mean no offense by that of course,” he added.

Viper stretched his wings to balance himself and crawled along the fence until he was close enough to the girl and he bobbed his head low, as if bowing to her. “Come here you little fuzzy heathen,” Trystan said as Shy hid herself behind his legs again. He twisted around, grabbing a hold of her and cradling the pup against his chest. She was getting bigger. He’d probably always be able to pick her up, but she was definitely getting heavier.

[Chantal]

Zeth looked up from his kill to spot a blue fire-lizard next to Chrisael, a soft, possessive hiss was released before he stopped himself. It looked like the cousin would not bother him as he ate. The hiss went unnoticed by Chris, although the fire-lizard did not. She blinked and looked at the fire-lizard before a bark caught her attention. She saw a small canine charging towards her and a person following the dog in the distance. Chris immediately withdrew into herself, frowning slightly. My Chrisael...be nice. Stop that, they have given you no reason for you to become defensive on them. Chris glared at Zeth, and let out a breath before turning around to notice the person that had trailed behind the dog was a man.

She gritted her teeth and nodded in a greeting. "They have not. Though Zeth may say otherwise. He is and, perhaps there is a first for everything." she shrugged, not offended by his comments in anyway. He sure did like to talk a lot. She wondered where the dog disappeared too, but soon forgot about her. The fire-lizard gained her attention again and she nodded at the blue lizard too. More fire-lizards. The dog reappeared, in the arms of the other person this time, and she almost smiled. She caught herself however, and turned back around to watch Zeth as he still feasted on his first kill. You sure are taking your time. You getting too old there crazy?

Zeth is not crazy nor is he too old. He is simply enjoy the meal. We've been traveling for sevendays upon sevendays Chrisael, Zeth only wants to relax and eat a meal without having to fly afterwards. Zeth returned to eatting his kill before tossing the bare carcus aside and began to hunt another one. This time he launched himself into the air to survey the herdbeast and pick out his next kill. Chris watched Zeth once again, standing up to lean against the fence, feeling better on her feet than on the ground.

[Shadow]

“Well, he is a beautiful one,” he complimented, “Much like his rider. He made a good choice. And pardon my lack of manners, my name is Trystan. I’m here to stand for one of the overgrown crawlers myself,” he gave her a warm smile. “This--,” Shy flicked her tongue against his chin and dropped her jaw in a puppy-grin, “Slobbering ball of fluff…is Shy. Takes her awhile to get warmed up to people. And that debonair creature,” he nodded to his fire lizard on the fence, “Is Viper.”

The fire lizard chirped in greeting and crawled closer to her, cautiously sniffing at the air. He cocked his head for a moment as if thinking deeply about something, then he rose up on his haunches and spread his wings for balance. He held out one tiny blue foreclaw.

Trystan snickered softly, that gesture was unmistakably a handshake. Viper seemed to pick up on everything he saw, “Apparently he doesn’t realize that wings and a tail make him a different species. He’s thought he was human from the moment he came out of his shell.” He hoped the bluerider would at least play along. Viper tended to get disappointed when ignored…as if he berated himself for doing something socially wrong.

[Chantal]

Chris shrugged the compliment about herself away, frowning at it more than anything. She wasn't about to socialize with a womanizer, if he was one. That was the last thing she needed right now. But my Chrisael is a beautiful person. He is only being nice to you, be nice back. Chris mentally snorted at her gorging dragon and then ignored him. Why should she open up to a stranger? Zeth was weird. You just finishing eating. I swear you are too little to be a blue. The dragon flashed her a grin at the long standing jibe. "Any harper would be envious of his hide color, I am sure. Its a perfect harper blue." she replied after a moment of silence. She nodded her head in a greeting, watching the pup run her tongue along the man's chin.

Too much cuddling for her, though the little dog was slightly adorable. I can be adorable. And then Zeth puffed his chest out, the slight hint of jealousy in his tone. This caused Chrisael to laugh quietly, rolling her eyes at him. "You're just a nuisance at times, shorty." she spoke out-loud to Zeth, her dragon close enough to hear her just fine. She didn't bother to show she was acknowledging Zeth, if they were puzzled then hopefully they wouldn't ask any questions. "That is Zeth over there, and I am Chrisael." she paused and then added as an afterthought, "Or Chris. Take your pick." she shrugged, the nickname having stuck to her for such a long time she didn't bother trying to get rid of it anymore.

Chris watched the blue fire-lizard with an interest and held back a smile. She took his small outstretched claw into her palm, careful not to squish it. She hadn't been this close to a fire-lizard in a long time. She took a moment to examine the miniature dragon's claw and then compared it to Zeth's. They were about the same, though the toes on a fire-lizards' were less than a dragons'. "He has a good sense of balance, although I would have to say he is silly that he thinks he's a human. If it will amuse him though, I will play along." Chris shrugged and Zeth huffed as his Chrisael's attention was on that fire-lizard and not him, like he was used to. You jealous dragon. What about being nice?

I am nice. Zeth does not thinking getting a cousin would be good though. That one is wanting too much attention. Then Zeth left it at that, going back to finishing off his kill. This left Chrisael almost in a fit of giggles. To see her crafty and charming dragon jealous was rather funny. There is always a first for everything, she supposed, but she never thought Zeth would be the type to get jealous over a bonded fire-lizard. Sure. Keep telling yourself that. One more and that is it. I will not have a dragon who has gorged himself so much that he cannot move to his ledge at least.

[Shadow]

Trystan smiled and nodded, “Those harpers…they did choose a nice shade of the color,” he said. Shy looked at Chrisael and blinked as she frowned. The pup cocked her head to one side curiously as she commented to her dragon in the corral. As if she thought the woman was talking about her being a short nuisance, she whined and buried her nose in the crook of Trystan’s arm. “Oh please Shy…she wasn’t talking about you,” the boy rolled his eyes. At least, he hoped she wasn’t. She hadn’t made any indication of who she was speaking to, but Trystan saw no reason she’d have said it to any of them. But he’d been wrong before.

He smiled when she actually reached out to shake little Viper’s hand. The fire lizard trilled ecstatically, eyes whirling green-blue in his happiness. When she released him, he dropped back to all fours and wrapped his tail around the beam beneath him, folding his wings against his spine. “Yes, silly is something he does best. He’s just a big show-off is all. I think he wants to impress the ladies if you ask me. Some of them see his antics and swoon all over the place, it’s pathetic,” Trystan scoffed. Viper turned and chirped loudly at him, as if protesting his judgment.

“Well, I’m sure your stunning Zeth is about through, so I won’t keep you, but I will admit I’ve never been this close save for the Search dragon,” he smiled, eyeing the blue downing his kills. “It was nice to meet you Chrisael,” he said, using her full name, just to see how it worked with him. It was pretty, he had to admit. Shy squirmed suddenly in his arms and he leaned over quickly and released her before he dropped her. She stood and looked up at the bluerider as if trying to decide whether or not she wanted to go closer. A few steps forward and she decided she wasn’t quite brave enough. She turned around and retreated back behind Trystan’s legs and poked her head out between his ankles.

“Heh…sometimes I wonder if a dragon is such a good idea when I’ve got these two characters to look after,” he smirked.


((Sorry for the fail...I got bad news right in the middle of writing this T_T))