Blackstone Weyr -- T'ver and Nukath

T'ver strutted about the weyr like she owned the place. Of course, it was only fair, since she did. She and Nukath had flown from Gallimim into the Blackstone weyr again, and no one was in the slightest surprised that she did so on the back of a large, healthy brown!

She waved down several of the local weyrlings, and they helped get her gear stowed. Any chance they could get to view the beautiful dragons in the weyr, they jumped at it!

"Can we bathe him?" One of them asked, and T'ver nodded. She'd had so much work thrown at her while the dragon was growing up that she knew she was going to like being here at the weyr -- she would be able to pawn off some of those duties on the younger weyr brats!

You do not love me any more! You will not wash me again? called out Nukath's distressed mind, when the three weyrlings began the task of finding buckets for their sand.

"Of course I love you you silly beast!" T'ver said, laughing. "These younglings will have their own dragons to love some day too but I want to get a little sleep before showing you off. I know they'll do a good job washing you."

You always liked to do it before...

"Don't mope! You weren't as big as you are now back then! At Gallimim I wasn't sure when you were going to stop growing! It will take me and the weyrbrats to keep you as clean as you want to be, Nukath!"

"I can't believe you talked me into this," T'ver said, slurred, to Shard.

"I can't believe you fell for it!" He said, laughing. They sloshed their way back to their dragons, who waited patiently by the lakeside.

They'd been on a three-hold drink crawl party, along with several other riders. They'd already lost one to a hold a ways back, and it looked like they were about to lose another. The green rider staggered over to the bushes and began upchucking into them.

"Such a waste of good wine," W'ick said, "some people can't hold it down!"

"Not and go between and come back alive," Petra said, angrily wiping her lips. "I'm going home. You people are crazy." She moved back to Foreth, her green, who haughtily looked at the others. "Mother, I'm sure that you'll get over this, but if you don't I expect to give father some nice flowers at your funeral..."

Alexis laughed hard, and belched. The men in the party laughed heartily, and they got onto their dragons again.

"Where to, o glorious leader?" N'ate asked, as he mounted up on bronze Tikith.

Shard leaned on blue Jeremoth and shrugged. "Dunno... South."

"South! There's some good ales in the south!" called out L'tan. Bronze Bornilith trumpeted as they took to the air.

They went between, without any trouble navigating. That at least N'ate and Shard were very good at. Either of them seemed able to find their way around Pern with ease. And with whatever level of alcohol in their blood...

"We're here," Shard announced, "Seasparkul!"

It was daylight here, and that fact drove K'eet and his wife Alexis into screaming drunken annoyance. "You said we'd keep going until dawn!" K'eet yelled from brown Ashmarth. "It's past noon here! You wherry headed dimglow!" He very nearly fell off his dragon he was yelling so hard. Alexis laughed again, and mixed another belch with it.

"I'm done," she announced, "I can't do this any more... I'm so confused..." She giggled, and bespoke Reetoth her green to ask the locals if they could be offered some kind of rest area and perhaps a pot of klah.

It was only moments later when a green dragon in full glorious luster soared overhead. She was headed to the wherry pens, and it looked like she was about to gorge herself on the kill she made, when a man came running up through the group's area.

"Don't you dare eat that!" He yelled, making W'ick and R'iel wince. "Just blood it you silly girl! You'll never out fly them if you eat it!"

Less than half sober, the group finally turned to see the green blooding her second kill. It was right about then that the fully-aware and very bored group of male dragons left raised their heads in curiosity.

There is a very fine female to fly, Jeremoth bespoke broadly.

She is healthy, but I am bigger and faster! Nukath's mind clearly sent.

"Don't even think about it!" W'ick yelled at Rowinth. He looked to R'iel and saw him battling with his own Blue about flying in this state.

"Don't you think one of us should stop them?" Asked N'ate, to his fellow bronze rider L'tan. L'tan rolled his eyes. His bald and tattooed head glistened in the daylight.

"Why? They're both right, you know. Nukath should fly, he's getting into his what, second turn? That's old enough. And besides, if that is the green's rider, he'd better worry if Nukath doesn't fly her!" He tossed his head at the man, who was still obviously fighting with the green to gain control of her long enough to start the flight properly.

He looked up and saw the big brown take to the air, then looked at his green. Then, he scanned the crowd for the rider of that brown. The big brown woman who looked with the big broad smile across her lips was the one which came to his eyes first. Then, he saw the tall tanned man watching the smaller blue who pursued his dragon.

"That's a Talor dragon," someone said, perhaps one of the other riders who had gathered below to watch the flight. "But who are these others?"

Shard finally snapped out of his daze, and looked at the green rider. "I am Shard, leader of the Protectorate. You," he straightened up like a moronic drunk peacock, "might have heard of me."

N'ate smacked him on the shoulder, and said, "that's his blue Jeremoth, from what used to be Seascape Weyr. And the brown is Nukath of Gallimim, ridden by T'ver here." He indicated the dark skinned woman. "We're... just here for a short stint."

"You smell of wine," someone else pointed out.

"We certainly do," R'iel said, finally having gotten blue Wyith under the idea that he had no business flying this green, no matter how glossy her hide was. "Excellent wines from Ablan and ... I forget where else."

"Well... I'm K'mon, and that is my Kamolonth up there. So you be careful!" The young excitable rider exclaimed. "This is her first flight!"

T'ver sauntered up to the young man, and draped her arm over his shoulder. "You, my boy, are in for a long, strange ride..." She laughed loudly, and then shoved at Shard. "Stay away from him, blue rider, the green's Nukath's!"

"Says you," Shard muttered, "Jeremoth's beat out browns before..."

N'ate clamped his hand onto T'ver's strong shoulder before she said something totally stupid about that clutch being the one which disappeared somewhere when Seascape vanished. She narrowed her eyes and growled, much like her brown Nukath did above. The flurry of local dragons and their foreign ones dashed overhead, and the Flight was on!

***
They obviously didn't win that flight. But they're participating in a flight at Seiryuu!