[Statistics] [Candidate] [Hatchling] [Adult] [Frenzy]

Treyeth was all grown up, overnight - or so it seemed. Her rider, once a small and innocent boy named Haalas, had done some growing of his own.

Are you going to visit Terrinoth's rider today? Trey asked as H'las rose from his bed on a beautiful Restday in Dragon Soul Weyr.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth at the thought of his lover. "Maybe."

Treyeth chuckled. Maybe? Don't you want to see him any more? she asked sarcastically. I must tell Terrinoth, if that is so.

"No!" H'las cried with a laugh. "Don't be evil! You know I want to see him again." He grinned saucily. "I always want more of that man."

He had only come fully into his sexuality towards the end of weyrlinghood. Although he could still look at women and find them attractive, his eyes - among other things - always wandered towards men. And his tastes were many and varied. 'Typical greenrider', he had been called for his sexual habits.

He had met K'larn before he had even considered other men sexually, and they had become friends. It was he who had brought H'las into fruition. And it had been good. They had been together for just over a turn now - though they both played with whomever they chose (K'larn liked his share of women as well as men) - and neither had been happier.

One thing, however, spoiled the young greenrider's bliss. Treyeth had not yet risen to mate, and it worried him. She had said on a number of occasions that the time was not right yet, but he couldn't understand why not. Terrinoth would certainly chase his hardest, but if the blue did not catch her, then she would mate another - it was not so difficult to follow. But still the green insisted that the time had not yet come.

"When?" he had asked just a few days earlier. K'larn's Terrinoth had caught another green and it had reminded him of the missing element in his own life. "When will it be time?"

Treyeth seemed to consider this seriously. There's a place, called the Kshau Protectorate.

H'las' brow furrowed. "Is that a Weyr? I've never heard of it."

The dragon shook her head. Not a Weyr. A place. A wonderful place where they accept all sorts of dragons - and other creatures, too. From hundreds of different worlds and backgrounds.

"What has this got to do with you rising?" H'las asked, taking all this with a liberal sprinkling of salt.

Treyeth looked directly at her rider with calmly swirling blue eyes. That is where I will rise. Before her rider could comment, the green continued, There is a Frenzy.

"A what?" H'las was more than a little confused now. What was all this? Where did it come from all of a sudden?

A Frenzy, Treyeth repeated. A Flight Frenzy, where all sorts of dragons participate in a single flight and many clutches are lain on the same Sands. There have been past Frenzies. All have had a specific requirement of the dragons - this one is a Cross-Gender flight. Only dragons with riders of the opposite gender may apply. H'las, I wish to go there for my flight.

The young man was taken aback. "I don't understand."

You don't have to. Please, just trust me. I need to do this, H'las.

"What about Terrinoth?"

Treyeth paused. I have spoken to him of this already, and he had opted not to join the flight. He says he loves me too much to give in to the confusion that would surely arise in such a flight. He will wait until next time.

H'las looked at the floor and took a deep breath. He truly didn't understand. But then, he'd never been able to understand women. After a long moment, he nodded, and looked back up at his beloved. "Alright, Trey. We will go to this Protectorate, and you will have your flight. I just hope it lives up to what you want it to be."

Treyeth smiled. It will. Thank you, H'las. I love you.

"I love you too," the young man said with a smile.