Curiosity.

Ellaeris saw the Scarlet dragon rise from the hunting grounds, pursued by a cobalt, blue and bronze. He wondered where the latter two dragons were from--interlopers from Eastern? The thought left a bad taste in his mouth. But he couldn't stop watching, even as the dragons turned to colored dots in the sky, too far away to see.

He felt strange, butterflies in his stomach as he stared up at them. He was blushing, too, his face growing hot. As excited as he was to Impress a dragon, this was one thing he wasn't looking forward to.

But if that was true, why couldn't he look away.

Sitting at the base of a tree, he opened his sketchbook and started to draw the Flight as he saw it, outlining the Scarlet dragon in red ink.

I hope for your sake Hesriath didn't stampede the herd. E'ret said, pulling off his gloves as he walked onto the hunting grounds.

Itzelbith hung in the air above, oblivious to the calls of Hesriath and the males chasing her. A quartz dragon had no such urges and thus, his rider was mostly shielded from the heat of the mating flight. E'ret put it out of his mind mostly and in any event, the exile had placed his attention firmly outside sexual interest. Itzelbith whistled as he hovered on a thermal wind and then banked sharply west.

Its no matter, E'ret. There is a small flock of wherry just to the south. If I am lucky, I can get the fat one.

The quartz dragon rippled opal bright in the sunlight, washing from ice milk white to pale lavender and periwinkle blue. He circled far from where the young candidate was sitting but nothing could mask the loud crunch as Itzelbith landed, claws spread and darkening with blood.

E'ret! I got the fat one!

Good for you, lad. E'ret said, suddenly clapping his hands.

Even as he fed, the other wherries milled quietly. It was weird how animals seemed to just become calm in the quartz dragon's presence but E'ret never questioned it. It was just one of the many powers that quartz dragons sported and put Itzelbith in a place above a male green equivalent.

As the Scarlet and her followers disappeared into the clouds, Ellaeris saw another dragon coming for the feeding grounds. A Quartz, with shimmery white hide. The Quartz seemed remarkably calm and unaffected by the Flight--then he remembered that they didn't chase. The dragon was far enough away that he could watch unnoticed.

Then he heard the crunch and his stomach churned. He quickly looked away as blood spread under the dragon's paws. The only good thing was that was definitely enough to get rid of the restless feeling he got from watching the Flight.

He looked up again when the rider started clapping, a look of disbelief on his face. "How do you get used to that?" he asked, standing up and wandering closer, his sketchbook forgotten for the moment. Looking around, he noticed that the beasts didn't seem disturbed either, very strange.

E'ret turned and looked with a vague bemused expression upon his face. He gave the young boy a wry smile and turned to look back at his Quartz who shimmered like a blood stained opal in the daylight.

"My family is Beastcraft. Slaughtering animals has never been difficult or bothersome to me. He, he is doing what is natural to all big predators. He is feeding and it is little different than slaughter a herdbeast for steaks. " E'ret said, crossing his arms and a fondness played over his handsome face as he watched his lifemate.