What exactly are you doing, ridermine? Shenarinath's voice was annoyed as she turned in a circle in her hollow, one red-tinged, whirling blue-green eye peering out at Sazerta, the green's head cocked as she tried to make out what she was doing.

Sazerta made a mumbled response that couldn't be heard, just to humour her lifemate, as she stroked her paintbrush on the canvas, every so often glancing up towards Shenarinath.

The green dragon rumbled, her eyes whirling faster and getting more red-tinged. Sazerta? What are you doing?!

As there was no response, and the green became more and more frustrated as she watched Sazerta, finally Shenarinath snapped her tail around in front of her, hitting the painting canvas out of her rider's hands and skidding across the floor of their weyr.

Sazerta could only gape at her now-empty hand, and her mouth opened in protest, her eyes echoing her anger. "Shena! I was just painting some-"

The greenrider paused, covering her ears as Shenarinath bugled in the weyr, the rather loud sound reverberating around the enclosed area. Without waiting for her rider, Shenarinath trundled to their weyr's ledge, spreading her wings wide and then almost casually taking off at a glide.

Rushing to the edge to watch her lifemate, Sazerta cursed, roaming the edge as she tried to find someway down. Only being a visitor at Tripaldi she didn't have one of the lower weyrs with stairs going to the ground - the only way out was with Shenarinath, who was at the moment winging low over the feeding grounds.

One of the blueriders heading towards the feeding grounds, their lifemates eager to chase, must have noticed, and landed to give Sazerta a lift. Though angry at her lifemate for putting her in such a position, the greenrider had rather - ah - more important things to do.

Like convince her lifemate that she really didn't want to eat the herdbeast the green had just killed with a swipe of her claws.

"BLOOD! SHENA! BLOOD IT ONLY!" The scream was both mental and physical as she fought with Shenarinath - and the green was a force to be reckoned with, to be sure. However many times Sazerta had heard that you had to dominate, it wasn't helping her at all as her lifemate sank willing teeth into the herdbeast, of a mind to gorge on its still warm flesh.

As the blue she was riding landed, Sazerta didn't even thank the rider, nor register who it was, as she was already stumbling across the weyrbowl, shouting at Shenarinath.

Snarling, at length the green gave in, blooding the first beast, and then casually clawing another - until she'd blooded five, and was on her sixth. The herdbeast held lightly in her claws, her head bent over it as she pierced its flesh, was the last time any of the eager males watching expected her to launch into the air, the herdbeast still held between her claws for a moment before being dropped.

The white Nesiyath was the first to recover and launch after the green, as she jeered from in front of them, bugling her delight at already having outwitted her competitors. The largest of the chasers, the bronze Markanth, was the next, though he was quickly outdistanced by his smaller peers. Shenrinath bugled again before Sazerta's eyes, and then the greenrider collapsed, caught by a willing pair of hands behind her as she was whipped into the mind of her dragon.

White Nesiyath was still closest, but not even near catching her - though the blue Bhalth was catching the white quickly, followed not a tail-length behind by the second blue of the three in the flight, Nialith. Bhalth snapped at the white as he gained on him, snagging his tail in his teeth lightly. Nesiyath recovered quickly, but was still behind all of the other male dragons, even bronze Markanth, who was trailing the field. After a while, the dejected white gave up, spiralling to the ground to get comfort from his rider.

The three blues were still hot on her trail, and the bronze steadily flying some way behind them. She turned her head to take a glance behind her - she'd only been flying straight so far, and already one had dropped out! She was filled with an exhileration, and must have slowed down, as Bhalth, in the lead, caught up to her, bugling in triumph as he spread his wings out to slow slightly so he could get a firm grasp of her. Simultaneously, she flipped her wings out and flew backwards, upside-down, above Bhalth's head. His bugle pettered out, and was replaced by her crow of triumph as Nialith, directly behind Bhalth, had to swerve, and only just avoided colliding with the other blue. Both dragons rounded on each other; but the flight continued, and Bhalth and Nialith both alighted on the ground, their heads hanging low from their defeat.

The bronze, Markanth, made a surge ahead, overtaking the only other competitor left in the flight, blue Diraeth. He trailed her as the green performed spectacular aerial manoeuvres, little-by-little gaining on her as her stamina and strength waned. His neck slipped over her tail as he gradually gained, snaking it this way and that as she tried to shake him off. She did a loop, but he just followed, his neck gradually creeping up until his head was on her hindquarters.

And then the blue, Diraeth, making a last surge with his petering strength, cut across in front of the pair, flaring his wings up so Shenarinath was forced to halt in mid-air, flapping vaguely as she tried to spin around and fly the other way. Markanth, being bulky and heavier, couldn't stop himself and streaked straight past and over the top of the blue, who trumpetted his joy as his neck snaked across to the green, and one talon caught her back deftly and gently.

Shenarinath, satisfied that the best male had won, folded her wings and gave in to the blue's embrace.

Sazerta found herself in the arms Alch'mar when she was roughly jolted back into her own body, her eyes wide as the bluerider did what was inevitable.