The pair of winter-loving dragons had hung out together for a long time, in and around the Healing Den. And though they were far from bored (as there was always something going on, arrivals and departures, messages to be run from one world to another, and of course flights and hatchings to be monitored) it seemed that Gembira and Shalesanri were ready to do something more with their relationship.

"Kilandia," Gembira said, "it's having sign ups. Do you ... you know, want to?"

"I'd love to!" Shalesanri tittered. She inherited her mother's penchant for hyperactivity, of course. And an inability to sit still unless completely unconscious...

***

"It's absolutely beautiful here," Shalesanri exclaimed, over the wind. She had been quite close to Gembira while he took them to their destination, but when they emerged in the fresh, crisp air over Kilandaia's Lodge, she swooped away from him and took everything in. The tall peaks, covered with snow; a crystal clear lake nearby, always good to have one of those. There were other dragons in the skies, but for whatever reason they remained distant.

Gembira's ears pressed down, keeping the wind from disturbing them too much. He hovered in the air where they'd come in, briefly, and then dove down as though through water, toward the lake itself. Down there, he reasoned, would be a good place to find some fish or game before they were to--

"Where are you going!?" Shalesanri asked, having swished through the sky as quickly as a dragon could. She drifted a little, her practice with flight was still, even now, a bit inexact. Gembira's was sure, steady, he bobbed gently when he was not in motion, but she could hardly come to a full stop. Her colorful form drifted up and down a little and Gembira opened and closed his mouth to reply. But Shalesanri was quicker than that. "I thought we were here to ... you know, you know?"

Gembira's open-close routine went on for another moment, and then he nodded, "I thought we could get some--"

"Good! Then... well, I mean... I'm ready, you know, ready?" She waggled her hind parts, lost front end control, and managed to save that move by darting under Gembira. She pretended she'd meant to do that. She butted her nose against his heel, "well? What are you waiting for?"

Gembira let his tail droop down, twined around her gently. "What if I don't have to wait?" He jibed. She noticed his muscular tail around her body and "yeeped", leaping backwards and away from him.

The chase was, apparently, on!

Shalesanri slithered through the air now with a purpose. Getting away - but not too far away - her only goal. They'd pretended to chase one another before, in the Den and around its occasional resting places on planets. But this was new, this was fresh to both of them. Gembira was older than Shalesanri but only by a little, and they were sized reasonably close to one another as well. But it was their attitudes which were pleasantly mixed. Gembira took the challenge of following his colorful mate with a smile and joy in his heart. They had been friends for ages, now it was time to seal the deal.

Shalesanri was consumed with a new feeling, she'd come into heat at last - something which for whatever reason within the Den, hadn't happened. But now she felt her blood sing, she wanted to fly. It might have been distantly on her mind that she deserved suitors - plural - but that was way back in her genetic history (all of one generation) and she'd been altered to change all that. Without the wings of a Pernese dragon, and with a new kind of magic, she was liberated from the old stodgy attitude of 'must have this, must do that'.

It might have been nice if Gemby had brought her a fish or two, though.

Gembira watched the bright snow-danced dragoness twist through the air. She was still getting her bearings, looking at the Lodge below as a way point. Gembira did so too, but more subtly - as a 'hopper' he was able to know just where he was needed, without fear. So he leisurely followed her path, roundabout like, because her path often crossed itself several directions heading up. Farther and farther up, she went, looping around and twisting her tail around herself, and generally giggling up a fit.

Gembira knew that to join with her would be joy itself. He didn't have the same old instincts as she, ones to ignore for her - he didn't quite realize how enamored she would be. So it was with wide eyes that he noted her coming straight for him, dodging just at the last moment. He felt her tail whip by, and he caught a whiff of her scent. His feelers went out, "oh - ho, that's ... different," he said, and felt a new urge to follow her more earnestly.

So now the chase was truly on. Shalesanri knew that she wanted 'the best' mate, but who could that be other than her precious Gembira? But she wasn't going to just let him have her, he had to win her, and wheee! This was fun!

She dodged again downward, and then shot back up like a float in water. Gembira missed his first opportunity because she just couldn't sit still - she zigged and he zagged.

She felt his tail tip dancing below her belly, and went backwards rapidly. She backed into a cloud formation, one which was apparently becoming more solid by the moment with the two snow-shapers dancing around it. Blindly, she careened backwards and up, arching her back and looping downward again, catching a glimpse of her blue colored mate.

He entered the cloud as she left it, but it was her endless giggling that alerted him to her vacancy. But instead of rocketing out of the dim cloud, he formed it more solidly around him, and went invisible.

Now, Shalesanri could tell he'd used his snow magic, but not that he went off and changed his color. She turned her head left and right, up and down, unconsciously drifting here and there while doing so. "Hey, where'd you go?" She said, and suddenly realized that was a stupid thing to do, she was supposed to be trying to get away, not coax him closer! The cloud began to snow.

The allure of freshly falling snow proved too much for the dragoness, and she moved under it, as though bathing in a fresh stream. The snowflakes didn't catch on her - though they would always look as though they were! Gembira admired her from the cloud, she was dazzling. In fact the last bit of her altered Pernese genetics showed up when she began to literally glow, like a rainbow delicately lit by the setting sun.

And the sun was indeed setting - it would be chilly up here, but neither of them cared. Gembira shook himself free of the cloud, but it still dotted the sky with new snowflakes. He was invisible, almost - a kind of storm cloud grey - but his horns were still yellow-gold, and that tipped off Shalesanri in the corner of her eye. Movement - must flee!

She sped off, leaving a trail of snow behind her now. Her own skill with manipulating snow was good, enough to carry it with her as she flew. So Gembira weaved in and out of the trail, catching snow on his mane and even one or two pieces of ice on his muzzle horns.

He went back to being blue, there was no doubt that she'd seen him. They moved faster and faster, but now Gembira sensed she was tiring - her flight magic was working about the same way that any normal winged creature's would, eventually she had to slow down and rest.

That gave him the opportunity of sliding up beside her, nuzzling her neck with his own. They came face to face, and Shalesanri giggled madly, "your nose!" She laughed. It was because there was a pile of snow still collected on his muzzle!

The long bodied dragons entwined together, and Gembira chuckled, "I'll just have to warm myself up then." Up in the sky they remained, mostly kept aloft by Gembira's power, since Shalesanri's had all but expired. Shalesanri noticed that they were heading toward the ground, and clutched onto her mate.

"What are you--" She said, and then they hit the huge mounds of fresh powder near the Lodge. They impacted and dug a furrow from the speed they traveled, but no harm came to them. There were no jutting rocks, nothing else in their path- just yards of loosely packed snow, in which they finished their rituals. They nuzzled, both of them now covered in powder.

"Looks like you need to warm up now too," Gembira chided her, and they rolled about a little more...

Shalesanri

Female

Ryslen Flurry 2003

Eastern Rainbow Green

Parentage: Rainbow White Hyperith & Light Blue Lorccanth (Ryslen)

Size: around 29 feet long, about 7' at shoulder (mostly)

Abilities: Wingless Flight, Snow Control, Inspire Dancing

** Please note: Ryslen Flurry markings *do not* inherit!! Some other pattern might, but snowy stuffs is the realm of Ryslen.