Starship Cherry Cream

Sharronn and Captain Ian head to RYSLEN weyr for their Flurry!

A while after everyone settled down and got their paperwork together, and started packing for their trips to the weyrs, cathairs and nooks they'd found, Sharronn nudged Ian.

"We're getting dragons," she reminded him with a broad grin."

"I remember," he sighed. "At Ryslen. I mean, it looks like a nice place, I'm still a little hesitant to start getting all excited. Dragons..." He shook his head.

"Don't start about them not being real, again," Sharronn said. "They are. Quite real. Just like every other creature we've ever encountered. Fairies, sprites, unicorns, all those things are just as real as you or me. Can you imagine what people on Earth would think about Woodstock? Or Ambrosia?"

Ian thought about that and had to admit, she had a point. A four-armed colorshifting woman was pretty odd. And Ambrosia, while she was certainly beautiful, she was furry - and that just didn't happen on Earth. So he had to slowly get used to the fact that there were dragons, and they were heading off to find one.

"Oh, we need to ask Chris about that special thing he wanted to tell us about." Sharronn bolted out of their quarters and dragged him back, after locating the quiet writer in the hallway. He'd been on his way in anyway.

"Ah, that," Chris said. He turned to a page on his clipboard which showed some rules and regs for the worlds they were headed to. "Well, when you get to Ryslen, you have to make sure to visit one of the little stall cubbies in their gather area."

"Why?" Sharronn bounced again. Chris watched her jiggle for a second, then realized that Ian was watching him do that, and stopped.

"Because you need to have some flitters." He showed them the pictures of little shoulder-type dragons, small ones which -

"Augh, no one said anything about that!" Ian cried. "I've got enough trouble with the rest of the crew in my hair!"

"Your hair would look perfect with a little flitter under it, dear," Sharronn purred, turning on her womanly charms again. It was like something she could do on command. Of course.

Chris stated, "well, just be sure to do that. Woodstock can supply everyone with the right currencies for the worlds, so don't worry about that. But just make sure you've signed up properly, and you have your right flits on. I don't know why that's such a big deal with this flurry thing, but it is." Chris shrugged, and then bowed out.

Sharronn was giddy. Now not only was she going to try for a dragon, but a flitter? Or more? That was just wonderful!

***

It took a while to get everyone loaded out to their right places. Woodstock and the twins guided Caledrus off to the locales until there was only Ian and Sharronn, and Lisa and Troy left.

"We're going to head to Pelar first, but don't expect the clutch to hatch right when you get there, all right?" Woodstock warned. "I've been told their big colorful flight has left a lot of eggs on the sands, but they're very slow to grow."

Lisa nodded, and Troy seemed a bit more sedate now that he wasn't trying to show off to lots of other people than Lisa.

They dropped off the pair at Pelar, and then swung the ship back into Improbability drive and through space/time until it reached Ryslen's locale. It was a Nexus site, so lots of other ships had passed through the area - whether the inhabitants of the planet below knew it or not.

"Well here it is, kids," Woodstock said, smiling widely. "Just be sure to buzz me when you're ready to come back." She flipped them a little electronic Thumb, a device which would contact all hitch-hiker friendly ships in the area. "Since Caledrus is an Improbability drive ship, we'll be able to get there right away when you call. We're always in the area..."

She drove the ship down into the atmosphere, but rested it halfway so it appeared to the ground dwellers as a bright, lit up star. The onboard teleportation device did the rest.

Ian and Sharronn gulped and grabbed their bags, they'd been warned that it was a mid-winter hatching, so they had their warm furries on, and packed for all other weather, knowing they'd be there for a while.

When they dropped into the snowy hillside, there were lots of people around already. Sales stalls and wares hawkers were all over, but more importantly there were dozens if not hundreds of colorful little flitters moving through the air.

Six of them landed on Ian, right off. He was a tall, elegant target, after all. He glared out from their multi-colored wings, and ground his jaw back and forth. Though he wanted to be seen as the typical easy-going guy... This was almost too much. His thick winter gear gave his shoulders and arms some protection from the animals' little claws, but they had also started fighting over his head, which was mussing his perfect hair.

"You said they'd look perfect," he grumbled, as Sharronn laughed silently, "You said they'd be just fine. Look at me. I'm covered in ... wings!"

"Your hair is all wing-ey already honey," Sharronn said, "just go with it. I wonder if any of them will come to me like that, or if I have to dig through your bags and find your hair gel. I think that's what they like."

"You're... kidding," Ian said, unhappily. "I'll have to get rid of that stuff then..."

The flitters on his head chirped angrily at that thought. They liked him. For more than just the way his hair smelled. Admittedly, not much more, but certainly because he was warm, and could provide a nice resting spot.

One of the flitters seemed to notice how Sharronn was pouting because all the attention was going to her partner. So the rainbow-colored flit disentangled herself from Ian's hair, and landed deftly onto Sharronn's shoulder. There, she became very defensive and wouldn't let any other flits near.

"Well, you're quite the little pest aren't you?" Sharronn said, lovingly scratching the little flit's chin.

She looked at Ian, and decided that he could remain as miserable as he wanted to be, so she wouldn't try chasing away any of the remaining five flits.

When they got to the stands, Ian muttered, "Chris said we'd need to buy one. Hah. I'm not spending money on more of these things..." As someone tried to shove an egg at them, he held both hands up and shook his head. "Nuh uh," he said, "not me."

"But they like you!" Said the flitter dealer, who had a number of them already flying about and pestering him.

"They like you better," Ian said.

"Let's head up to the weyr," Sharronn said, and Ian agreed, if it would get the flits to stop clawing at his ears and scratching his neck up...