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"There's no way." Of course there is. "It's not going to work." Yes it will. Think positively! "'Gor!" Tenma snapped in exasperation. He sent his bond a dry glare, then walked the few steps over to stand beside red-gold Vestiso. Though only thirty feet from head to tail, she dwarfed the drasis man by nearly four times. Tenma stood, his arms open in an act of pleading, and stared up at his small, white bond. "Look at her, and look at me. She's a small dragon." I thought you said size didn't matter. The vulture-like white smirked draconically. At the same time, his gaze did gauge the difference between the two dragon-kin. Head tilted quizically to the side, he looked from the sedately bewildered female, to his humanoid partner. Though Ingoriteth refused to budge an inch, it wasn't difficult to see Tenma's point. The white drasis, while taller then most humans, could be aptly termed to be the size of Cortheus' phallic area. "It does when the fe- woman..." Tenma stumbled over the words, unsure which he was supposed to use. Dragon males called their counter-parts 'females', but the human half of his heritage put up a good argument for 'woman'. "Whatever... is more then twice my size." "Tenma does present a good point." The knightly dragon Cortheus rumbled from his seat beside his red-gold mate. He crouched on the ground instead of sitting as both Ingoriteth and Vestiso were doing. Draconic ways of doing things were still new to him, though he had spent the better part of a century in the Warren already. The sixty foot red turned his helmet-clad head down to peer at Tenma with a critical eye. Torch light flared over the smooth curves of metal that surrounded most of body. His sword, never far from hand, rested in its sheath on his back, nestled safely between his folded wings. There might be six foot dragons there. Ingoriteth argued back. His serpentine neck arched up, presenting the red Ancient with an eerie view down his narrow skull, where in rested two points of gleaming blue light. Though not always meaning to, Ingoriteth, or 'Gor as he was called by his rider, was an intimidating figure. What he lacked in size, for he was an average, Old World white, he made up for in snide remarks and sharp looks. Speaking of 'good points', Vestiso chimed in sweetly. Her shoulder pressed into Cortheus' arm while a wide, blue eyed gaze sought her partner's inticingly. when are you going to shed that armor, dear heart? I've already taken off mine, and you won't be able to wear it in the flight anyway. "But... I'm a knight." Cortheus pouted in his weak defence, a note of hurt tinging his usually powerful baritone. It was a losing battle to begin with, but Cortheus would hold on for as long as possible. His knightly armor, sword and magic were all part of how he defined himself. That and Vestiso. The sword and armor would be locked safely away in their den before they left. "Anyway," Tenma spoke into the pause, dragging the conversation (and subsequently, the eyes) back to him. "I can't go to this flight, no matter how many ways you try to justify it, 'Gor. I'm only half-dragon, not even. I'm a drasis. There's no way I'll be able to fit in at a flight for dragons." Ingoriteth sighed gustily, his long neck drooping so that the tip of his beak brushed against the ground. He wanted desperately to go to the Summer of Flames Frenzy being held at the Ring of Fire. He and his rider had been in very few flights since 'Gor had come of age. For all his taunting, 'Gor had been mindful of his rider's self-awareness. Tenma, for some unknown reason (the entire population of Tris'Hath being against drasis, maybe?), felt trapped by his half-dragon form. He only used it in the Warren, shifting to his human form outside of it. Part of it was guilt for his previous life, and part of it was for his own well-being. Even the mighty Aaron Audil had once tried to kill him. Yet between the guarded secrets and the duties of dragon and rider, Ingoriteth had never managed to get himself into a flight. Now he had a chance. Cortheus and Vestiso were already going, it was only fair that he drag Tenma along as well. A sly grin crept creepily over the white dragon's face. He was pulling out his trump. Alright then. I guess we won't go. The slender white shrugged his muscular shoulders, feigning interest in a conversation with Cortheus. He caught his bond's approving nod out of the corner of his eye, and barely supressed a chortle. Cortheus, you'll tell me who'll catch Churana, right? "Wait, Churana?" Tenma snapped, stopping Cortheus' deep nod short. He looked curiously towards his bond, as if not fully trusting him. So you remember Churana! Ingoriteth rounded on Tenma, a predator's gleam in his blue eyes. "Well, I don't really remember her. I saw her from a dist-" Tenma has a cruuuuuush... "I do not!" Do tooooo! Dooooo toooooooo! Ingoriteth sang gleefully, his head weaving back and forth in time to his off-key song. Tenma and Churana, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I- "STOP THAT!" Tenma shouted in irritation. His wings resettled themselves against his back while his tail flicked from side to side with all the emotion of a pissed off feline. Curling a fist with his pointer finger stabbing towards the small, gloating, white male, Tenma forced himself to control his voice. "I do not have a crush. I've never even met her. And how do you know she's going to this flight?" Interested all of a sudden, are we? Ingoriteth taunted in a sing-song voice. In the back of his mind, he could hear the supressed laughter of Vestiso. Bonded to a stately knight as she was, Vestiso had never been one to pass up the chance for a good laugh. Even Cortheus was forced to hide his amusment in a loud cough as white rider and white dragon faced off. Tenma ran his tongue over his teeth in deep thought, feeling each dip and sharp edge. He would have chewed on his lip, but a childhood experience quickly set him against that habit. His eyes, blue as the pure heart of an iceburg, remained fixedly on his bond. In 'Gor's eyes, he could see himself, tiny scrunches appearing across the bridge of his nose as he set himself to difficult deliberations. On the one hand, he didn't even know Churana, and his human blood screamed for proper manners of court. On the other hand, drasis hadn't been halflings in over a thousand years. They had managed to develop their own ways of mating, some of them very similar to the dragon flights he had heard so much about. The only difference was that the female had already chosen her mate, and the chase was simply for fun. Everything personal was done out of the sight of prying eyes. He blamed his squimish stomach on the fact that he hadn't been raised in a clan. "If I go..." Tenma began carefully, letting out a slow breath as if exhaling all sense. "I want to be able to do things my way. And if I get any, any, grief from you, we're outta there. Got it?" Loud and clear. Let's go! The white male replied eagerly. He dipped a shoulder down to his rider, though the six foot eleven drasis didn't need it. We'll be right behind you. Vestiso called to Ingoriteth as the white on white pair began to move down the long twist of New Warren tunnels. Ingoriteth gave a short nod, striding away with the grace and swiftness of a snake. Vestiso, then turning a gaze on her bond, smiled sweetly. Cortheus, your armor. "I know." The giant, red male sighed dejectedly. Stooping in the low ceilinged corridor, he dropped to all fours and trailed his bond back to their shared den. The only thing he could think about, while stripping out of his protective layers of metal, was how naked he felt without them. 
Participants
They are flying at: The Ring of Fire's Summer of Flame Frenzy
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