I like the chasers that have shown up so far, remarked Irua as she sat watching Violet bake. They are all floral, like me. One of the flight requirements was that the chasing dragon be a plant dragon like Irua and Violet was impressed by the ones that had shown up. They had collected an ivy, a venus fly trap, a cat-tail, a dragon's head, and a cactus.

"Which is your favorite?" asked Violet, pulling a batch of cookies out of the oven. "Me, I like the ivy. He is just so cute!"

But she has a female bond.

"Yeah, you're right." Violet's brow furrowed in thought at this reminder. A few of the other plant dragons had female riders and she really wouldn't prefer that.

Me, I like Sinclair.

"The dragon's head?" giggled Violet. "But he is so... flashy!"

Well I like him! Said Irua defensively. There is nothing wrong with flashy!

"No, I guess not. But Vinigar is really cute, isn't he?"

Saelm is cute too.

"And scary!"

And Strident is just plain scary.

"That we both can agree on!" laughed Violet. The cactus dragon had been creeping out both of them lately with his prowling about Star City. They weren't getting good vibes from that dragon and Violet was getting even worse vibes from the rider. "Just don't let him win, ok?" murmured Violet, biting into one of the cookies.

Fine... but there is something that I have to tell you.

"Hm?"

I think that the time has come.

"What?" Violet leapt out of her chair and began to hurriedly untie the flour-splotched apron. She didn't have time to prepare! It was Irua's first breeding and she wanted to look good for it!

Forget about that. The flour is part of being you and if they can't deal with that then we won't deal with them, said Irua matter-of-factly as she left the room. Violet followed, still making attempts at straightening out her hair and brushing the white powder from her clothing.

Irua headed into the flight deck while Violet gathered with the other riders, standing nervously amidst all of the expectant faces. Three riders were female while two were male. Violet had been making friends with Cassie during the time before the "flight" but she didn't know if she liked her "that way." Of the two male riders she had to say that she preferred Kid Hunter. He was sweet and she had seen him often to sample her cooking. Nicodemus was the one she was afraid of. He watched her with his dark eyes and she could barely find the courage to smile back at him. On the flight deck, Irua was sizing up her chasers.

She would be running through a system of tunnels beneath the actual open area meant for flying and that meant that the flying dragons would be at a disadvantage to the ones who naturally went about on the land. Well, the most disadvantaged would have to be Bonmer, the cat-tail dragon. He was used to being in the water and Irua highly doubted that he would be able to keep up with her. Besides, he was a bit on the lazy side anyways. Irua's mind flashed over all the different things she could to do start her breeding run but she turned up blank. So, without a word, she dashed off into a tunnel, leaving the males standing around blinking after her.

Was that the start? Asked Saelm, cocking his head and peering down the tunnel. Strident didn't bother answering but tore down the tunnel behind her, folding his wings tight so they would not slow down his movements. Vinigar was next and then Sinclair followed. Saelm managed to begin to slither after her ahead of Bonmer who slowly wound his way in.

Violet dashed through the tunnels, making turns here and there when she felt the need to. She didn't know where she was and was beginning to get quite lost when she heard the first sounds of pursuit. She took a glance behind her and squeaked in fright when she saw Strident bounding up behind her and she ran with all of her speed straight ahead.

Strident saw the dragon in front of him and knew he had one. He took another bound forward and... crashed into Sinclair who had just emerged from a side passage. Strident shrieked and swatted the other flower dragon off of himself but it was too late. He'd lost the edelweiss dragon and now she could be anywhere in the maze of tunnels. So much for working as a team, eh? He snarled at Sinclair before setting off again, prowling down tunnels and trying to sniff out her scent.

Irua was filled with relief and slowed her pace down when she saw that no one was following her. Hopefully that taught Strident a lesson and he wouldn't be quite so bold anymore. She trotted down the passage and stopped at a fork, looking both ways to try to decide which way to go. She noticed something strange as she stood there, a sort of tightening sensation around one of her feet. She looked down and leapt into the air with surprise when she saw none other than Saelm curling around one of her front paws. The venus fly trap dragon had been lying in wait for her at the intersection and had trapped her in his coils!

Or at least, that was what he thought. Irua managed to free all of her paws but one from his serpentine grasp and she ran on, dragging the venus fly trap dragon behind her until he was forced to release his grip. Saelm watched after Irua as she sped off down the passage way. He was impressed! He had expected that one to work! He slithered off down another passage, ready to think up another scheme to trap the female.

Irua dashed along after the encounter with Saelm and soon came up to another intersection. This time, instead of stopping, she chose randomly and ran down the right passageway. There she found Bonmer waiting, his long form stretched out down the hall. He reached his flippered feet up to grab her but she was too quick and leapt over him to keep on running. This was starting to get fun!

She encountered Vinigar but was able to tangle him up by running in circles around him and then she brushed by Saelm again. She was running down another hall when she saw two other passageways opening up on either side of her. In one passage stood Sinclair, lilac blooms high on his back. Down the other was Strident, his needles poised for attack. They were ganging up on her after all! Both of them lunged at her and she staggered backwards in an attempt to avoid their attack, staggered backwards into another plant dragon.

Bonmer had been slithering through the tunnels almost randomly, not going so fast that he would wear himself out. He had figured that he'd let the dragoness come to him and it seemed like his plan had finally worked. He twined himself around Irua in front of the other two dragons and they wandered off down another passage to leave the two in peace.

The other riders in the room followed the two dragon's examples and left the blushing Violet alone with Kid Hunter as the passion of their dragons started to reach them. Kid Hunter reached out and brushed some of the flour from her face. "You're a mess. Were you in the kitchen before the flight?" he asked, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips.

Violet nodded, heat still rising to her face as she allowed herself to be led off to one of the private rooms. "You'll have to let me try some after we're finished here," murmured Kid Hunter through his grin, shutting the door and allowing the emotions coming from his dragon to overcome him.

The run was over and soon Star City would have a different sort of clutch upon its sands, a clutch of flowering dragons to wait for the right candidates to appear!

Riser	Chasers	Winners
Irua Female Edelwiess Plantdragon	Bonmer Male Cattail Plantdragon Sinclair Male Dragon Head Plantdragon Strident Male Cactus Plantdragon Saelm Male Venus Fly Trap Dragon Vinigar Male Ivy Plantdragon	Bonmer Male Cattail Plantdragon

Written bySherra.