Cav was slightly surprised at the turnout for her dragon's flight; eight males, all either bronze or brown, had arrived in the past few days, with the intention of chasing Ploath. After meeting all the riders, she was relieved to discover that not all of them intended to be around for the flight itself; several were in committed relationships, and one was female, dropping the men she had to deal with to five. She had no problem with the way mating flights tended to affect the dragonriders; she just wasn't too thrilled with the idea of being pawed over by eight different guys she didn't know!

Looking over the list of males, she commented, "Five bronze and three brown; well, two brown and the brown-black, anyway. What do you think? Any one in particular strike your fancy?" There was a note of laughter in her voice - what gold this close to rising would ever declare a preference!

The gold's eyes whirled orange. Ha! Those males will never catch me. They may think they are strong and fast, but I am stronger, and faster. My fancy matters not, only the best is good enough for me, and even he will have to catch me first. Ploath snorted to emphasize her point.

"Ah, well, if that's so, then we have to wait and see," Cav said, smiling, as, when the dragons had mentioned "the best", a flash of a specific dragon had blazed across her mind. Only the flight would tell! Cav yawned, and realized the time. Not knowing exactly when the gold may begin her flight, she knew she should get some rest; mating flights could be exhausting on both the dragon and the rider, and she wanted to be as fresh as possible. "Good night, Ploath."

Cav woke near midnight, hungry, so she slipped out of her chamber and headed for the kitchen. As she passed one of the carved windows, she saw a flash of lightning. She listened for accompanying thunder, and was rewarded a moment later with a deep rumble. "Good," she murmured. "We've been overdue for rain." She continued on, as she realized her hunger was growing. Then she stopped, realizing that although the hunger was still growing, it wasn't hers; it was bleeding over from her rousing dragon.

Muttering a curse, she turned and bolted back to her room, but Ploath had already vacated her couch. The woman ran to the ledge overlooking the feeding grounds, where the ravenous gold was just choosing her first kill.

"Blood it," Cav called, more mentally than out loud, as there was little chance of the dragon heeding a vocal call from this distance, especially over the roll of thunder that split the night. She could see the males, bronze and brown, in a loose semi-circle around the feeding ground, and knew without looking that several of their riders were already in her room.

Ploath shook her head then dove on the unfortunate herdbeast, snapping it's spine on impact. Unlike many golds, on this night, she had no desire to fill her belly with meatm and did not fight her rider's call. Draining the first carcass, she went back twice morem the males watching eagerly, then moved to take a fourth. Instead of grabbing the beast, however, she shoved off the ground beside it and burst into the air, catching the males offguard.

It took only a few seconds for them to react, but it was long enough to open a signuficant gap between the gold and her chasers. They recovered quickly and launched themselves into the sky. Brown-black Chranith was first, though Zuenoth and Vonmarth were close behind him. Boeryth, Bolteth, and Penlth were just a touch slower, and Ardrynith and Onilaath were the last into the air. None were discouraged, however; after all, the flight had just begun! Soon, none of the males had a significant lead; they hadn't really gained any ground on the queen either.

Ploath glanced back to check the males' progress - she didn't want them to get too close too quickly, but a chase was no fun if no one ever got off the ground! Despite their distance, she was not satisfied, and as Chranith began, just a tiny bit, to pull in front of the others, the gold began a shallow dive. As soon as the males began to follow, she snapped back and flew straight up. You males think to catch me? Ha!

As the males turned and began to climb, they also started to enact their own strategies for catching the queen, splitting up as they gained altitude. But the storm was not making things easy for them, and as Chranith began his turn, Ardrynith, who had turned more quickly and gained a bit more altitude, faltered as lightning flashed past his wing. Jerking away from the danger, he lost a bit of altitude, and narrowly avoided a full body collision with the brown-black. He did not, however, miss his wings, tangling his own with the rival male's.

As the two sorted out their wings and headed back, the chase continued high above the ground. Zuenoth and Penlth were in the lead, though Bolteth, somewhat surprisingly, was right on their tails. Boeryth was trying a different tactic, rising at a sloping ascent in the direction Ploath had last been seen.

The gold kept to her climb until she could go no higher; in fact, she was now above the storm. She leveled off, and flew through the clear, thin air and watched the flashing storm clouds below for any sign of approaching chasers. Back in the clouds, Onilaath took a course similar to Boeryth's, but angled a bit more to the west. Vonmarth followed the leaders, heading up, but in a spiral.

When Zuenoth and Penlth broke through the clouds, they could see Ploath flying almost lazily in the distance. Both began pumping their wings harder, determined to close the gap.

Ploath, pleased that the males were finally beginning to catch up, sped up again, and thought of her next move. She glanced back, just in time to see Bolteth and Vonmarth clear the clouds. Bolteth emerged a short ways behind the leaders, but Vonmarth shot out directly in front of the leading pair. Crashing into Zuenoth, who barely missed clipping Penlth's wings, Vonmarth dropped back into the storm, followed by Zuenoth, who, having had the wind knocked from his lungs, was unable to continue his pace. Penlth had slowed in the confusion, and Bolteth took the opportunity to shoot past him. The brown could feel the beginnings of fatigue, but not enough to slow him down yet.

Content that none had been injured in the fumble, Ploath turned her attention back to her flight path, and only narrowly avoided being trapped in Onilaath's embrace, as the bronze finally breached the clouds nearly beside her. She shrieked defiantly and abruptly changed direction, only to find the final male, Boeryth, emerging from the storm to that direction. Changing her turn into a spiralling dive, she dropped into the clouds once more, followed closely by the pair of bronzes. The gold sped through the clouds, dodging from time to time, trying to throw off the pair.

Bolteth and Penlth, seeing the trio drop into the clouds, took their own dives. Penlth, hoping to beat the gold at her own game, dropped straight through, plunging down below the clouds. Peering through the torrents, he realized his mistake; when the gold had dropped, it had been a shallow dive. She was still far above, and he was too spent to climb back, and have a chance once he arrived. Disappointed, he headed back to the weyr.

Bolteth, on the other hand, took an angled path down into the clouds, and peering through gaps in the clouds, could make out where the chase was going. The remaining bronzes were still very close to the gold, and she was trying hard to avoid them. The brown flew towards them, ignoring the growing fatigue in his wings. He wasn't out yet, as the trio was heading towards him rather than away.

Ploath lashed her tail in annoyance as she flew. These two were not letting up! In the back of her mind, she knew there were two more chasers out there still, but she was preoccupied with the two on her tail. She could feel her wings beginning to tire, and briefly pondered giving in. Never! She yelled at herself. These pathetic ones will earn me or not have me at all! She turned once more and began to climb through a gap in the clouds, and suddenly found herself caught from above! A brown tail twined with gold and Bolteth hissed at the approaching bronzes, clutching "his" gold more firmly. Ploath struggled, testing the brown's hold, then relaxed and crooned her acceptance, as the remaining chasers left her to the winner.

Back in the weyr, Cav locked the door on the other riders and pulled the winner's rider to her bed. "Come now, storms are more enjoyable with company, Pterfi. Let's enjoy the rest of the night, together."

Cav smiled as her dragon made one final comment. Oh, yes, storms can be very enjoyable!