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The dragon barely dragged himself there, their teleport was so long in duration, it took a lot out of both of them. Ragged and nearly frozen from their journey, the welcome sunlight and the warm ground of the Ranch's heating vents were their only goal.
Then, Zkoth discovered that there were cats all around them. Lots of spotted cats, just like his rider changed into half the time. Cheetahs. Dozens of them. The black tail of the bronze dragon thumped hard to dislodge the pair of cats who had taken up residence in its curl. Others skittered around and spat and hissed.
The nice flashback of arrival faded into a haze when Ivo watched a group of his four footed brothers and sisters gang up on his bronze dragon.
They're going to try catching you again, Zkoth.
I know that, my rider. They are foolish. Just like you.
"Hey!" Ivo blurted out, unheard through the window and distance.
The dragon took to the air, flying low over the heads of the cheetah group. They chirped in gleeful anger. One of them even latched his thick claws onto Zkoth's wing but was dislodged easily into one of the trees they flew over. This took up several hours of every day they had spent on Earth at the Ranch.
It was long enough back that Ivo managed to get his PhD in surgical anatomy -- a doctor at last... No one really noticed that he'd actually returned before he had left, and there was a six year old Ivo running around India at the same time as a 22 year old at the Ranch. Ah, the joys of time-teleporting.
It was also long enough that finally, Zkoth had gotten rather bored of things. His playmate and partner Tesimith had disappeared on to some strange dragon-hunting existance, where her offspring were busy breeding with other forms of life. And that got Zkoth thinking.
I should find a mate, Ivo. Yet you know that I will not find one here. Earth has sadly few dragons. And even though there are a couple here and there, they are not nearly as fine as those found on my home sands.
Ivo stood up, his notes about heart-suspention and how to freeze the chest cavity open for surgery falling to the floor. "Oh, you aren't even... thinking..."
I am. I am thinking that I will make this journey with or without you, my friend. I would prefer that you come with me, for there will surely be a fine woman who rides the golden beauty I will woo.
"Oh and now you're sure that you're going to fly a gold! After you've had such 'practice' with your green Tesimith? She's dangerous, but she's still a green..."
A green ridden by your cousin mind you. And they are far away. She will not come back to haunt me so soon.
Ivo made his way out to the dragon, who sat on the wide hill nearest the Ranch house. The typical gathering of spotted cheetahs lounged in his shade. "She'll kill me!"
The dragon made a noise and insisted that she, Shezumi, would not kill him. Ivo looked around at the beautiful hilly ranch. It was his home, a place that his family had owned for almost a century, built a huge research and genetic center upon, passed their secrets through...
He'd be back.
"This time I'm going to pack a thick coat," Ivo muttered to himself. "Not just my fur. It's not even enough for that cold of teleporting. Maybe we could stop somewhere warm on the way..."
They did, in fact. But the stopover did not deter Zkoth from wanting to go all the way home to Ryslen. There, he discovered that a golden queen would be rising soon... He'd barely missed the flight of a light-gold. That was hardly a matter. When Zkoth came to the Weyr again, it was with force and flare... And with at least one hitch-hiking cheetah along the way...
Zkoth flew into the sky with vigor. He recovered quickly from their long journey, easier than his rider had. His wings were larger than most Ryslen people remembered, perhaps he stretched them wider because he wanted to show off. The sheer speed that the dragon displayed had clearly been inspired by the antics of the cheetahs at the Ranch. He turned on the tiniest motion, able to switch back and forth in the air almost as well as a blue! Yet he was bigger than nearly every brown, and could easily puff himself up to look bigger than nearby bronzes.
It was making Ivo quite exhausted. He strolled through the hall of Ryslen, taking note of who was there and who had gone, mostly among the staff of the infirmary. On a whim he entered there and began writing notes to the locals about how to stitch muscle tissue and the like.
To some, it almost looked as if Ivo had calmed down a bit in the time he'd been away. And then he saw someone he thought he knew, shifted into a furry half-cat, and bowled him over in the hallway.
Above the weyr, Zkoth mentally rolled his eyes and shook off the strange rider's eager bliss at having found a new playmate.
Save it for the woman who rides that beautiful queen I mentioned...
And that would be who? I mean, I am waiting for you to set me up, aren't I? Ivo purred and finally allowed the poor steward that he had tackled to get up and flee. He started licking his paw, cleaning his spotty face.
There is a beautiful golden dragoness, young. Her name is Arosambyth. She tests her strength along the lake shore. She is not the biggest queen but she is lovely. Glowing in fact.
At that, Ivo perked up his round ears. Glowing. Hmn. And what about the competition?
Zkoth raised his head and took a long look at those dragons who had assembled themselves near the lake to watch this beautiful young gold. Looks like a number of browns. Just browns. Zkoth gave off half a grunting laugh. Ivo arrived in their temporary weyr, and plopped down on his butt. Yes, he was still a cheetah. The second cheetah, one which unwittingly came along for the ride, hesitatingly came close, and wearily looked at the shaper with envy. She could not shift, but her mind was sharper than a normal feline.
Ivo shifted into a half-human stance, grappled with the full-cheetah beside him with a grin. "And what about you, skinny-girl? Have anything to say about this?" Ivo asked the cat. She chirped at him. His ears went back.
"What do you mean you want to stay here. This isn't the ranch, you know!"
With another halting chirp, the cheetah tilted her head and glared at Zkoth.
She is wondering if you would introduce yourself to your prospective mate, my rider. She has a point. If this girl... Zkoth searched the dragon-minds for Arosambyth's rider's name, Jheytarya, is to be comfortable with anyone as her partner, it is least likely to be you.
Offended, Ivo stood straight up, human as possible, and pulled on his silken robes. He cut quite a figure, dark skin mottled with gold, and raven hair marked with brilliant blond.
"How could anyone deny that I'm the best partner?" He grumbled, and patted his thigh so that the cheetah female would follow him. "We'll show that big idiot who's right. You want to stay? You sure?" He continued grilling the cheetah, who appeared to want to remain on at the weyr, though she might be shunned by most she might also have quite a time playing or running. The long halls were perfect for such things. Ivo knew that.
They reached the weyrs near a low level, where Ivo sniffed at the air. "Seems like she's home..." Ivo said to the cheetah. He vaguely remembered the custom of clapping at the leather doorflap of the weyr, since wood was hard to come by the doors were usually such things. It made knocking quite hard.
The cheetah gave a pretty little chirp. She sounded rather like a bird, and perhaps that might entice the rider Jheytarya out of her weyr. And maybe, she might stay here... Low to the ground, the weyr would be a good place to run out and catch an easy meal!
"Ah, hello?" Ivo called, waiting for the right moment... The dragon in his brain insisted that the flight was going to happen quite soon. He didn't want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time... He did hear someone in the rooms, beyond. So what would any self-respecting cat do?
He let himself in, carefully and with the eye to observe, not to startle.
"...Hello?" He asked again, and...
