-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fire-Lizard Kentucky Derby Date: March 28, 1997 Place: Benden Weyr Lake Shore Game: PernMUSH Copyright Info: The World of Pern is copyright(c) to Anne McCaffrey l967. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is a registered copyright. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kassi's Note: This was the first event of the Benden Weyr Autumn Area Festival of March '97, and it was a great way to start things off if you ask me--Merla had a good idea when she thought this one up. Some relevant knot-chat has been left in; otherwise, all spam has been cut out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Log: You head in the direction of the shimmering lake, leaving the South Bowl area of the Weyr. K'nan heads over from the South Bowl. Gaylene heads over from the South Bowl. Trill notices the green's glance, and warbles quietly. Thorne looks over at the large Gold cousin, tilting his head to the side as he reguards her for a moment. the instructions being understood he spreads is wings and launches. Swiftly sailing across the water to the otherside. He conserves his energy for the race though, allowing the wind to do most of the work. Alluire chitters once more, then launches lightly upward, circling once overhead, a rosy golden glow overhead, before winging smoothly across the lake. Tinya wanders over to watch, finding a nice boulder to perch on. Basil churrups at the big gold, and wings over to the other side of the lake. He settles into the sand by the starting line. Nalli settles herself at the line, waiting for the next command from the big gold. Kyril launches himself from his rock, performing a few aerobatics before speeding his way over towards the appropriate side of the Lake. Kassi clicks her tongue as she sees this, shaking her head. "Show-off," she comments with a laugh. Trill chirps happily, taking to the air and heads across the lake. Emmy trills to Kimbrith, fluttering green wings taking her to the far end ot the lake. She lands, chirps smugly, then crouches, ready to take flight. Merla smiles at the people. "Okay...I'm going to have Kimbrith give the word.." (oocly, everone take a look at the rule list..that's how it's going to work)." Meli finds a convenient rock seat, lifting a hand to her brow as she peers out across the lake. T'saren takes a seat on the rock Nalli abandoned and watches the race getting ready to start. Kassima turns to K'nan and curtseys, grinning. "Shall we find a seat or two?" Without waiting for an answer, she hops up to sit on her favorite rock. Trill lands next to Emmy, chirples at her in greeting and flexes his wings. Kyril> Kimbrith projects an image of all the firelizards being ready for a moment, and then an image of them taking off, which is clearly the key to <<GO!!>> Alluire flutters into line, waiting with an occasional cocking of her head, eyes awhirl. Nalli launches herself into the air, wings beating strongly as she tries for a low, straight flight across the frozen lake. Gaylene looks about with interest and finds a seat to watch the race. Emmy launches up into the air, trumpeting a challenge to the other 'lizards. Her gossamer wings fill with air as she conveys herself across the lake. Oooh, look down there! There's a green almost as pretty as Emmy is! Trill launches himself upward, finding a wind current quickly that bears towards the other side of the lake, wings beating strongly. Alluire lifts off late, with a powerful first stroke, striving forward several handspans over the surface of the water. K'nan laughs at the curtsey, bowing just a bit to Kassi before hopping up on the rock beside her to watch. Kyril springs from his rock, spreading his wings to find a thermal--and nearly running into another fire-lizard who has the same idea. With a hiss of disdain, he swoops under the invader of his personal speed to skim closer to the lake. Hah! Beat that, lard-wings, his mocking chitter seems to say. With a powerful downstroke of his wings and a matching lifting thrust of his hindlegs, Thorne sends his Bronze body into the air, sticking close to the thermals set off by the water. Its dangerous, but it adds speed to his flight as he angles accross the distance. Basil manages to get stuck in the sand. How is a bizarre question, but he somehow manages to do it. One of his wings is buried. He frees it, and takes off, finally, managing to *SPLAT* into the water. A moment later, he emerges, and begins flying across the lake. Vidarth flies in from above and lands in the waters of the lake. R'val slides down from Vidarth's back and lands in a crouch. Feyan picks her way to the lake shore from behind a steamy outcrop by the hot springs. Benden Weyr> Meli says, "Oh, great, Vidarth lands in the middle of the fl race :b" <judge> Nalli takes an early lead, with Emmy and Trill not far behind. Kyril and Alluire find themsleves about to collide on take off! Basil is way behind. Benden Weyr> <R'val> Vidarth plows through the firelizards, killing them all instantly :) R'val walks over from the south bowl (Vidarth wasn't here, nope) and moves to his weyrmate's side. Feyan heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Trill keeps to the thermal, beating his wings smoothly and filling his lungs to give a rude bugle to the other competitors. Vidarth lumbers in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. With a hiss and a nasty chitter, Alluire swerves away from Kyril. Dipping even lower, the tips of her outstretched wings nearly dip into the low swells of the Benden lake. Emmy trills with pleasure. But that silly green just below her is flying upside down. And is somehow managing to keep up with her. Hah! Watch this, dizzy thing, Emmy's little chirple seems to say. She pumps her wings rapidly, continuing to zoom across the serface of the lake. Nalli never stops the eager flapping of her wings, straining to reach the other side of the lake, and the possible treat her pet has for her. She attempts to maintain her lead, practically skimming over the frozen waters. <judge> Thorne is doing well, but he is somewhat off to the side. Kyril bugles with alarm as he nearly smacks into the queen. Aigh! In attempting to dodge her, he actually manages--wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles--to find a thermal, and gets swept onwards and upwards. Up, up, and away! Wingsails rippling behind him like a blue cape, he opens his mouth to trumpet his triumph--and at that moment, runs into a large swarm of bugs. One or two disappear down his throat, and his eyes whirl with disgust. Those tasted *bad*. Thorne continues to beat stong until he finds the thermal he was looking for, ah there it is. *WOOSH* he cuts across another competitor, his aragance nearly palitable as he zips accross the lake, his lake. Trea heads over from the South Bowl. Trea runs up to the gathering by the shore, stopping just short of colliding with oneof the bystanders and slowing to try and weave her way to the front, where she can actually see anything. Meli leans forward on her rock. "How're they doin'? Can anyone see?" Gaylene snickers as the blue firelizard chokes down some bugs. <Judge> Emmy manages to edge past Nalli to take the lead, for now. Nalli is only a bit behind, with Thorne and Alluire neck-and-neck behind. Kyril seems a bit delayed by being surrounded by bugs. Trill is pulling even with him, but Basil is still somewhat behind. T'saren looks over at Meli and calls to her, "Not really, all I see is some colored blurs at the moment." Asrai shakes her head, "But one just cut across the others...and I'm afraid to say who I think it was." Tinya scootches over a little on her rock, making room for R'val to join her. Basil is still having trouble with the water. He splashes with the sides of his wings, trying to get going. He finally gives up, and dives underwater. He finds it easy there to swim along for a bit, and her bursts into the air a little further up, flying much better now. R'val sits down beside his weyrmate, sliding an arm around her. He murmurs, "Who's winning?" Trill, in a daring manuver, dives toward the lake in an effort to gain speed, pulling up inches above the surface of the water. He pumps his wings faster, zooming over the rippling waters. Merla points to the little green with the minecraft banding, "That one seems to be." Thorne glances to the side, <Hey babe, come here often?> Thankfully he's not distracted for too long, thinking it a good idea to show off for the gold. what better way then to leave all these loosers in the dust, err water mist. then she will know that he's as good as he thinks he is. Trea manages t'squeeze her way to th'front, panting "Did I miss anythin'? What's happenin'?" R'val nods to Merla and smiles his thanks, "Yeah, she does seem to be." Emmy doesn't seem too terribly aware of other 'lizards flying. Well, except for that remarkably talented green one flying upside down. She continues to watch her competitor and angles upward slightly, finding an air pocket that is, thankfully, bugless. She gives a little, smug, chirp and then looks back down at the lake. Drat! That green's still there! Nalli aims her lithe little green body like an arrow across the lake, gliding along the air currents above the ice like a smoothly skipped stone as she races the others. She's oblivious to them, since she flies along beneath them all, intent on her goal. Tinya shrugs. "Hard to say for now. There's a couple of little greens that have been trading off." Alluire zooms along, arrow straight, she just wants to get this done so she can go back to relaxing on Meli's shoulder. Mindless now of the others, it's just wing beat after wing beat, closer and closer to a nice rest and possibly some food. Kyril swats at the various bugs, for a brief moment more intent with squishing them all than getting ahead--that is, until he sees himself falling behind. Ooops. Diving below the cloud of vtol-wings, he plummets at a diagonal to the point of nearly being in the water, and stays at that level as he beats his little wings as fast as they can carry him. Much safer down here--that is, until a fish takes him for a bug and dives at him. The yellowfin misses, but Ky gets the message: he heads towards a middle ground. Not too high, not too low. Now, if he can just get past those waving tails in front of him, he's got it made! Or so he likes to think.... Jaessa oohs at Trill's manuver. "If he gets hurt just for this, he'll regret it," she says with a grin. Trea cranes her head this way and that. "Where are they? I can't see!" She leans out a bit to look down the lake, precariously balanced as she tries to catch sight of the racers. <Judge> As Thorne and Emmy are distracted, both lose a bit of ground, allowing Nalli to reclaim the lead--but Alluire's not far behind, and Kyril and Trill are both on her tail. Basil is coming closer, but isn't quite even with the others yet. Nalli continues on her unerring path towards her pet and the finish line, never slowing the beating of her wings as she streaks towards the shore. Her eyes whirl faster as she suddenly becomes aware of the other firelizards, but she never pauses to voice a challenge to them, saving her breath for when she finishes. Gaylene's gaze shifts to the young Smithcraft apprentice who looks like she might take a tumble into the lake. But, with a shrug Gaylene just minds her own business. Trill, seeing the queen in front of him, decides to put forth a LITTLE more effort, seeing as how she's so good-looking. He pumps his wings faster, straining hard as he attempts to put on more speed. Thorne decides that from this view, that gold wasn't as pretty as she frst seemed. In a redoubled effort Thorne searches out and finds a thermal to race along, keeping low to the water for speed, he goes too fast for the fin things below the surface to catch more then a glimpse of his , well he thinks, glorious hide as he sails overhead. Alluire continues on a moment longer, smooth and straight, but then one wingtip does catch a sudden swell of water, and she falters, nearly crashing into the lake. With a frantic extra few beats, she struggles to return to her path and avoid the other flyers. Basil realises he has to do something desperate, so beats his wings as hard as he can, and manages to come somewhere near Kyril and Trill. He's got to try something, so he snaps at Trill's tail. Emmy gives a little snort at that silly upside-down green, and decides that she, well, she doesn't need to worry about a showoff like that. Emmy is pretty darn fast on her own. She swerves slightly to her left, little tail swinging, and fluttering her wings rapidly to try to otdistance that now unseen competitor. Samantha heads over from the South Bowl. Jaessa jumps to her feet, glaring out at the lake. "Hey, who's lizard is that?? Wiren heads over from the South Bowl. Kyril isn't about to let himself be beat by anyone without a fight. Not even by a queen, and especially not by a green! Isn't he blue, and *Kyril*, and thus better by definition? He screams at a fire-lizard in front of him, startling the poor creature enough that he veers off-course and allows Kyril to shoot past him. The blue spares no energy for much triumph, but seems just a *tad* smug nonetheless. <Judge> As the 'lizards approach the finish line, Alluire manages to zip just in front. Basil misses Trill's tail, and in the attempt he loses his balance and plummets into the lake. Nalli is very close behind Alluire, with Emmy pulling up right behind her. Trill, Kyril and Thorne are jostling behind them. Gaylene waves a greeting to Samantha. Samantha walks up with another apprentice. Samantha spots Gaylene through the crowd and waves her way to the other apprentice. "Heya." Trill decides his wings aren't working quite well enough, so begins to lash his tail, attempting to propel himself that extra little bit needed. Trea blinks, catching sight of the race at last! "Oh!" she exclaims, quickly losing herself in the race. Kyril folds his wings and ducks underneath the fire-lizards close to him, keeping something of an eye out for fish below. He beats his wings with all of his energy now, effort and determination both apparent in his flight. Nalli eagerly skims the ice as she nears the shore, her wingstrokes never faltering as she flies towards her goal. Her green body is almost a blur as she tries to outdistance her competitors and catch up to the queen in front, flying faster than she's ever flown, except when she rises to mate. In fact, she's almost as single-minded about this as she would be then. Surprised to find herself at the front, her goal in sight, Alluire pours out what energy she has left into her strokes. That shoulder's not far now. Emmy gives a fierce little bugle as she suddenly notices that yes, there are other 'lizards flying out ther with her. She sees the larger gold ahead of her. But snorts. Larger means bigger, and heavier. Emmy, however, is small, compact, and light. She redoubles her efforts to continue on, toward the rapidly approcaching finish line. Thorne gives a few strong beat of his larger wings propelling him forward over the water, his eyes whirling faster as he sees the end in sight. There is no veering now, only a straight arrow shot at the finishline. Unerringly he continues to surge forward. Gaylene walks over to Samantha, "Hi, how is everything going?" Samantha smiles. "Fine, I just arrived. Haveing fun?" Jaessa waves to Samantha and Gaylene, keeping one eye on her little brown. Wiren heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Gaylene nods, "I just got here myself actually. Just in time to watch the firelizard race. Ooo, looks like they're almost here." She smiles to Jaessa and puts out her hand, "Hi, I'm Gaylene." Jaessa grins and takes the offered hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "Hi. I'm Jaessa. Kassima leans forward on her rock, coming about this close to falling off of it in her eagerness to see. "Looks like one of those greens, maybe...?" she hazards. "Or--is that Alluire, Meli?" Meli peers forward, brow furrowed. "Could be.. hard t'tell, they're all so bunched t'gether." Trea picks one of the little greens to root for, and shouts "Gogogogo!", a grin on her face. Jaessa squints at the lake and leans forward, "C'mon... Rock heads over from the South Bowl. Jaessa forgets her dignity and begins to jump up and down. "C'mon Trill.. T'saren begins pulling a small piece of meat from his pocket for Nalli, since he can see her now, winging her way across the ice, flying lower than any other 'lizard. Samantha grins at Gaylene. "How long have you been here?" <Judge> Kyril ducks underneath the wings of all the others, coming out in the lead. Just as he is about to get to the other side of the lake, a shallow-water fish jumps up in front of him. Nalli, flying true, passes Alluire, who, while keeping a constant pace, is not as fast as the smaller 'lizards. Thorne is right beside Allure, but he too, cannot keep up with the smaller green. Just as Nalli is about to cross the finish line, Emmy her heart pouring into this, zips past Nalli to get there almost at the same time. Basil flits over to his pet, who is scowling at him. "Basil..you know better than that." she turns to say to him, after watching the other lizards cross the line. Rock chuckles as he watchs the events. Meli rises from her seat, hands clapping together as the 'lizards arrive. "Good race!" R'val claps his hands enthusiatically. Merla keeps her eye on the little green that is Nalli, "That one!" she says, pointing at the weyrling banded lizard. trill flutterwings unevenly to Jaessa, giving her big sad puppy eyes, his little chirp obviously meaning that he tried his best. Trea cheers happily as the little green she was rooting for almost-wins. Thorne comes across the finishline, his manor one of never waning aragance. He /let/ the girls win, that's right, its his story and he's sticking to it. T'saren turns her wingbeats into an upward glide, landing neatly on T'saren's upraised arm and snatching the meat meat from his fingers to shred and gulp it down. Tas strokes his green and beams as the weyrwoman announces that Nalli is the winner. Merla mutters to Kassima, "Should... other... a... as well, for being... close..I really... to well." Kassima stifles a laugh as Ky, startled by the fish, squawks and grabs at it. The fish is even more surprised to be dragged in fire-lizard talons over to Kassi, Ky screeching bloody mayhem. "Starting the 'Fry a bit early, Ky? Go ahead and put it in a bucket--" She points to several which are scattered around the Lake, then shifts on her rock to nod to Merla. "I think so, aye. They're both deserving." Alluire crosses the line late, just as she started, and heads straight for Meli's shoulder. Must be some food around somewhere. Emmy gives a happy little trumpet as she crosses the finish line, so close to the others. And nowhere near that awful upside down green creature. She looks at all of the applauding people and zooms toward one that looks vaguely familiar. She lands next to Kassima and chirps. Snack please. Meli gives Alluire a smile as the gold lands on her daintily. Asrai whistles softly, Thorne launches from his perch coming to land heavily on her shoulder. Jaessa comforts Trill, skritching his eye-ridges. "You did really well, hun. Really you did. Jaessa smiles as Trill flies over and lands on her shoulder. Asrai smiles over at the others, reaching up to scritch the undaunted Bronze on her shoulder. Nalli walks her way up Tas' arm after having her treat and rubs her head along his jaw, looking very pleased with herself. T'saren smiles as Nalli flies over and lands on his shoulder. Emmy notices where Kyril is going with that fish and follows him. Oooh, lots of fish. Snacksnacksnack. She finds a bit and flits over to an unoccupied rock, feasting away. Trill regains his composure, giving forth a loud chirple, obviously saying that he could have beat the greens in a REAL flight. He settles back onto Jaessa's shoulder looking smug. Benden Weyr> Meli says, "This is going well!" Kassima smiles at the green, and digs in her single belt-pouch. Surprise, surprise; she has food in it. She fishes out half of a cookie and a spiderclaw both, offering the former to Emmy and the latter to Kyril. "'Tis a good race you ran, little lass." As Emmy flies away, she shrugs and eats the cookie herself with a chuckle. Benden Weyr> Kassima grins and thinks that was a great idea, Merlath. :) T'saren calls congrats to the other firelizards and their pets, scritching Nalli as she takes some well-deserved relaxation on his shoulder. Merla heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Benden Weyr> Asrai nodnods :) Benden Weyr> Merla says, "T'saren and Lily, i fyou could pick up your prizes from the prize tent in the south bowl ASAP, that would be great :)." Emmy turns back and sees the cookie. /Those/ she gets from her sillypet. But not always fresh, juicy fish like this. Yum, yum! Jaessa heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Emmy darts in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Benden Weyr> T'saren grins and will do. :) T'saren heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Meli chuckles, rising from her rock and brushing off her skirt. "Well, now, wha's next?" she asks. Samantha heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Trea, all smiles, waits for the spectators to spread out a little before making an attempt to get through them. Kassima grins at Meli. "Dancing contest, eventually," she replies. "Until then, want to take a peek around the tents?" R'val glances at Meli, and around her, and then grins at Tinya, "Well. Where shall we head to, dear?" Meli cocks her head to the side, reminiscent of Alluire's actions, and nods. "Sounds good t'me. Wish T'lar were back." Asrai watches after Tas as he just walks away from her side. With a little shrug she heads back towards the tents. Asrai heads in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake. Tinya says "I'm going to run upstairs for a bit, and then I was thinking of checking out the rest of the craft tents. Shall I meet you there?" Kassima laughs. "Good t'you, mayhaps--m'self, I can't dance. Just ask Mart about that sometime! Anyway, I think I'd like to see about buying a thing or two; you wouldn't believe the marks I've won from V'dan...." She slips off her rock, heading towards the Bowls even as she speaks. You head in the direction of the South bowl, leaving the shimmering lake.