With a flutter in her stomach, Shreeah bounced on the pads of her feet and tried to calm down. This was not unheard of - she'd been on a ship before that was doing the same thing, boarding a potentially hostile pirate ship. She'd wound up almost getting her tail chopped off during that encounter, but fortunately the ships lurched at the right time and she was spared.

Shreeah could feel that the others aboard, all but one were humans, were quite stressed about this. They were young, but so was she. At only about two decades old, she had a far better idea of what experiences like this could bring, so she forced her way to the front of the boarding group.

"Sir, I might be of some assistance here, in case they are hiding. And," she glanced at the pair of nervous humans behind her, "they probably are hiding. It's what I would do, and what pirates like this had done in my experience before."

Mutterings of 'she's got experience with pirates, let her deal with them!' and 'I didn't sign on to get into fire fights with pirates!' went through the cabin, and the commander nodded curtly.

"I think you're right. You've brought your knives, I see?" He said, and she nodded.

"I'll try and keep them clean," she said. "Just watch my back and don't let anyone shoot me."

They opened the portal between the ships, and it was the queerest sensation for a Zh'mrrel to see hyperspace zooming by away from you on all sides. Where were up and down? Which way do you lean to fall on your feet?

She passed through it quickly, unnerved for a moment. Then, she and two others forced open the pirate ship's airlock. She felt the blast of pressure as the pirate ship's lock was void of any such air - it sucked through from the scouter and into the airlock. They were safe.

Shreeah almost wished she had some of that vac suit training. She loved playing in a big ship's zee-gee room, but this was a smaller scout ship, and couldn't have afforded the expensive gravity cells that those big military ships had. It wasn't the sensation of falling in all directions at once which really made Shreeah afraid. It was that 'no air' thing.

She put her mind back to work, when the other four scouts came in behind her. Her ears back, and her tail moving slowly, she sniffed at the air. There were a dozen male humans, two human females, and one... other male. Hmn.

Closest were two who made so much noise trying to hunker down behind a cargo bin that the humans with Shreeah found them before they had the chance to even get off a shot. The next three were a bit more aggressively trying to get the scouts off their ship.

They shouted insults from around a corner, and zapped at anything they thought they saw moving. That made for an entertaining few minutes standing off, but in the end, it was Shreeah's quick tumble across the floor while they were busy coming up with more insults, that took these men out. She left them breathing, ready to be taken back to the scout ship.

This went on for many minutes, almost three-quarters of an hour. Shreeah's instincts had taken over and she lay low, while the one female and a burly human male lumbered past her on their way to the shooting.

Shreeah continued into the ship, knowing that the whole group had not been caught yet.

***

Lapinus was amazed at how quickly the Cap went from arrogant bastard to arrogant worried bastard. But so long as he didn't think Lapinus was at fault, which he apparently didn't, the lagomorph was safe from his wrath.

He'd dodged the man once, but didn't get the chance to dodge when the crew held him down and had the giant of a man pummel him into submission for their initiation. He wasn't into all that - not with guys anyway.

So Lapinus found his way back to his small quarters and abruptly began packing. They would have to find him here, and he'd just surrender - it was never his idea to be on this bucket anyway.

He heard the sounds of a limited-round firefight down the halls, and Lapinus thought that was the most moronic thing that anyone could do aboard a starship in hyperspace. Why not just poke holes in your vac suit while you're at it, he thought.

He nervously paced, his heavily padded feet were used to the chill of the metal floors, and he kept his nails trimmed so they didn't make so much noise as he walked around the ship. He had enough of the guys joking about him sounding like a dog on linoleum floors. Screw them.

The ship was quieter after about an hour after they'd been boarded. In fact, Lapinus couldn't hear anyone moving around or yelling at all. They might have all been captured or killed. He wasn't sure which he'd wanted more, that the Cap be killed outright was always a fantasy come true, but if he were tried for his crimes, that might also be best. And Lapinus would be quick to explain the situation.

Then it suddenly occurred to him that he might not be believed - that every pirate would claim that it wasn't them - they'd been forced into servitude... A thick knot formed in his throat. What if he was captured and put into the same cells as them?

His pink-red eyes went wide with fear, however imagined the situation was. Then, he heard a soft sound - something set his fur on edge. All of it, white, if he'd been human he would still be as white as a sheet. Someone was coming for him!

But before he could even jump behind something to hide, the door to his cabin slid open and a blinding light came in. Silhouetted in the light was a menacing blurry dark shape with a halo of light around its head...

"I didn't sign on! I was taken from my job! They made me come and I was going to alert the authorities when we came into the hyperstream here!" He blurted out, still half-blinded by the light from the hallway.

But when his eyes cleared...

***

Shreeah now knew what had been odd about that last scent. So he was male, and he looked to be some kind of Kin. A... what? Some kind of rodent? But he was pure white, this one.

He had thick, short white fur all over him, rather like Shreeah's black coat. He didn't have any accent fur, which told her that he wasn't of her type of creature. He had pale milky colored straight long hair, as well as his fur, and it looked like he had his ears tied.

When he boldly - shakingly and at the top of his lungs - asserted his innocence, of course, Shreeah almost laughed. That was what half the rest of the idiots aboard this pirate ship had said. But...

The way he said it, and the way he stood there like... A deer in headlights, he expected to be carted away and he wasn't going to enjoy it. He also was telling the truth. Shreeah was lousy at detecting the wiles and whims of human facial expressions, so the lies and taunts of the crew had to be learned the hard way. But any Kin type like this, she could read as easily as any scent mark at home.

He was totally angry, scared, and hadn't had a decent shower in weeks by the smell of him.

And he appeared to be taken aback by her when he could finally see properly again. His quarters had been dark, he obviously didn't want it to look like he was waiting for them. But...

"So, you didn't want the option. Maybe we can work something out," Shreeah said. She held her hand out, after putting her knife into her belt and leaning against the metal doorway. "If you give a good enough confession and explanation I'm sure they'll let you off more easily."

Lapinus stared at her. Certainly she was an angel... If it had been a human he knew he'd just been shot and left for dead. They didn't care much for his kind out here, did they? The crew here always said so anyway. He didn't take her hand, but not out of mistrust, more because he was so stunned.

"I can't - I can't go back with them," he said, of the crew. "They'll kill me."

"They're barely able to lift their own limbs about now," Shreeah said with a tiny baring of teeth and flicking her ears about. Lapinus recognized these as signs of sarcasm. He reached up to his head, pausing when Shreeah tensed up and went for her knife again, but then took the leather tie out of his hair and from around his ears.

"My name is Lapinus. I'm a Kin from colony eight. And... you're not Kin are you?"

Shreeah shook her head, "nope. But I'm close enough."

Shreeah and Lapinus talked for a few minutes, and then Shreeah's belt comm buzzed for attention. "We've captured the others - we're going to want to start a sweep of the ship for contraband. What's your status, Shreeah?" Said a crackly voice.

"I'm ... checking out the cabins. I think - " she took on an amazing tone, "I've just found someone - wait, wait!" She said, a convincing tussle into the wall later she added, "it's okay - it's okay, are you all right?" Shreeah gave a very human wink.

The comm link was still open. Lapinus looked at it, and at the Zh'mrrel in a kind of astonishment. "I..." Lapinus said weakly, "I'm all right, now... Please don't hurt me - they hurt me..."

It wasn't much of a lie, either. Lapinus had sustained more than just a few bumps and bruises at the humans' hands aboard the ship.

Shreeah confirmed to her scout crew that she'd found a 'hostage' who had been hiding among the crew's quarters - she even claimed that he'd been so scared that he ran from her, but not in that criminal way - and they bought it. Lapinus for one was amazed. He'd never really been able to charm the guys on the ship - and the women weren't interested in him at all the way that human men seemed to love furry companions.

"How can I thank you," Lapinus sighed, sitting on his bunk and gazing at the dark furred woman.

"Well, you could start by telling me where to look for the weapons that were stolen, and then the rest of the loot if it's hidden well." Shreeah said, all business once again. "Don't worry. I won't let them put you in with the common criminals, pirate."

"I am not a Pirate!" Lapinus indignantly swore.

"Suuuure you aren't. Like I'm not a warrior. But it's okay. You're not the leader and we've apparently been after these creeps for a while."

She stood and indicated that he show her out, and find some of those stolen goods they'd been tracking. Shortly, the rest of the scout crew gathered to take inventory. Shreeah's job done, and the rest of the pirates in the brig under sedation until they could get back to the space port nearest their destination, she decided that Lapinus would help her look around the ship to decide what else might be available for salvage.

"It's a crap ship," he stated, "I mean, it used to be a nice one, but they've just beaten it to death like some of their old captives." There was a starkness to his tone, a desolation that said he'd been there for one too many of those incidents. "But the Cap didn't want to spend the money he'd been making on repairs, no. He just wanted to store it away somewhere."

"Where?" Shreeah asked, absently palming a shiny object. She'd hardly noticed it, until Lapinus pointed out that the keys to the kitchen larder stores weren't really going to do her a heck of a lot of good outside this ship. She shook her head, her huge mop of white furry hair tossing about. "Sorry. I do that. I mean, look at them!" She jangled the keys in front of Lapinus, but he didn't seem to see their importance.

"Anyway," Lapinus said as they cleared out a couple bins of dry goods, "yeah, the Cap has all kinds of money somewhere. Fat lot of good it'll do him and the rest. He won't tell anyone where it is."

"That's silly. Why have money and stuff when you can't share it?" Shreeah asked, and while Lapinus was busy grinning about how naive that statement seemed, he also realized something.

"... Unless the location is stored somewhere on board," he said, quietly.

Shreeah turned to look at him, his ears were tilted a bit and he looked very cute. "Why would you say that? Why wouldn't he just remember where he put it?"

"Well, look at this," Lapinus said as he took her toward the navigation controls. "This is an ancient piece of crap machine." Shreeah nodded, recognizing the signs of wear and tear if not the actual design of the machinery. She wasn't exactly up on modern features of starships so much as the places that those ships could take her. "I've asked a bunch of times if we could replace it, but the only things he let us fix up were the exteriors and the connections. Not the actual navcomp circuits."

Shreeah might have understood what he meant, if he wasn't bouncing around so much while he spoke. "And?"

"And, Shreeah, the information is probably right there, somewhere in the navcomp logs! I mean, we went all over the place, but hardly ever used a standard starship route. We didn't want to get caught, after all. So..."

"So -" Shreeah finally caught on, "so you think you could find his loot."

A furry grin began to spread on Lapinus' soft lips. "I think so, and then maybe, we could retire in style..."

***

Shreeah gave an excuse to her fellow scouts: "Well one of us should help keep this ship on course, right?" She had gone in to give her report debrief, and then decided that she wanted to bring what little she owned into the ship with her. She always did that, anyway, when she conquered an enemy no matter how paltry, she'd somehow manage to work herself into either their accomodations or bringing some of theirs along with her own stuff. This time, she wanted to spread out a bit, and her quarters were shared with some human wreck who thought her scratching was so sexy.

They allowed Lapinus and she to remain aboard the captured ship while the scouter and it were still connected in hyperspace. Lapinus pointed out that he was a qualified pilot, and would be able to help drop the ship down to planetfall - they couldn't possibly do that all from the scouter anyway. Besides, he explained to her superior when they did finally meet, the ship was so old and broken down if they nudged it the wrong way it'd be lost in hyperspace the same way they'd come to be in the crowded star line anyway.

While the crew of the scouter ship congratulated itself and looked up what the bounties on these pirates would add up to, Shreeah and Lapinus were busy glancing through all the star logs. To Shreeah they made little sense, but she could help in one way. She brought up logs for the trips that Lapinus knew were high hauls. Then, he had time to look through each of them to locate the same coordinates.

And shortly, they found them. One site in common on sixteen runs - no where near anything else, nothing special but it certainly wasn't the Cap's doddering grandmama that they were visiting when the crew were confined to quarters on those planetfall trips. He was obviously loading down the coffers of his own private place, with the loot that the whole group should have shared.

"Isn't it still stealing?" Shreeah asked, earnestly. "I mean, from what I was told, even though no one has found it, it's still stolen goods. But if they can't claim it back, and we take it, aren't we stealing from him?"

Lapinus tried to iron out just why it wasn't - but was having a hard time explaining it because Shreeah would ask strange questions at odd times. She seemed to have very little idea of actual property laws - she did know what was hers, but that was given to her by her friends or had been earned or bought for her missions.

"This is different," Lapinus said, simply, and Shreeah felt it okay to leave it at that. She was tired, sleep would be welcome after such a long day!

Lapinus watched her, as she snoozed. She'd be awake for planetfall, that was hours away. For now, he contented himself by looking through the Cap's private quarters for any sign of where this loot might be located. He'd never been off the ship while they were pirating goods from other ships - and he'd only been allowed to leave the place while in the presence of at least one other crew member. They were still always afraid that this weak link, their navigator - the getaway driver essentially - would bolt from them and turn them in.

They'd think that anyway, but at least Lapinus knew he'd be far away from them soon enough.

***

"What'd I miss?" Shreeah asked when she woke. She'd slept soundly, after all that excitement she felt she deserved it. And besides, she felt comfortable near Lapinus. He made her feel all... tingly nice. She liked his smell, and was convinced that she'd like him even more when they got the chance to bathe properly and groom a bit. She thought maybe he would like being groomed by her.

She had no idea that he spent at least half the time watching her sleep, thinking exactly the same thing.

"I think I know where to look," Lapinus said, "it can't be too far from the landing spot." He patted his vest pocket - Lapinus wore a bit more clothing than Shreeah did at any given time, but it was still mainly function over style. The vest had a dozen pockets and in each one he'd stored separate coordinates where he thought might be good places to hide out.

"We're ready to disengage the hyperspace phase link," said a voice on the intercom, startling both of them. "So are you up to guiding in manually?"

"Of course I am," Lapinus said. "Just give me an idea of when we're unlocked."

They conversed like that for a while, but something was gnawing at Shreeah's mind. Finally, just before they were to start their hypershift out of light speed, she said, "how are we going to find another ship to use to get to this loot of his?"

Lapinus' hand hovered over the "phase" controls. They blinked for attention, and he wanted to hit them on impulse. But...

"We... I won't be needed for testifying, I've already given all my testimony to the law comp." He said, almost to himself. "So... I don't have a job, and now I'll have a record following me that says I'm a pirate."

Shreeah licked her fuzzy lips.

"So I guess there's no ship like the present one, huh?" Lapinus said, and Shreeah nodded once.

He didn't press the phase out button after all. Instead, he fed another coordinate into the comp and flicked on the communicator. "Sarge!" He yelled, "this stupid ship's doing a light-speed shimmy! I can't take her out of hyperdrive without endangering you! You're way too close and your ship is still phased to our frequency!"

There was a minute pause on the other line, and then the sargeant in charge of their op came back quickly. "Then disengage when it's safe, we don't want to lose you and our ship too. Has this happened before?"

"Constantly," Lapinus said honestly. "It's a total waste of time trying to get this ship to do what I want it to. I'll have to spin it around to make it go forward anyway. You guys get down there in one piece with the pirates - you've got records of the stuff they stole."

"Confirmed, we're dropping from light-speed now - good luck, Shreeah, Lapinus." The connection cut, and they saw a brief half-bright light through the fore observation bridge. That was the last they were to see of the scout ship...

While the ship was still a bit hard to control, especially on entering hyperspace, it did just fine in normal space. When they came out of light speed over a dull tan colored world, Lapinus nodded. "This is the place. It's got to be. I remember this dirtball."

"Oh - we won't want to get your lovely fur all messy," Shreeah said, with a grin. She wasn't halfway kidding, either. For some reason she wanted to see his fur gleaming...

"Well I think I can handle it if we're going to be able to pick up as much hard cash and goods as I think is stored here..." Lapinus said, almost oblivious to her lusty gaze.

"So we'll have to go looking for it, anyway," Shreeah said. "Are there any locals that might give us problems?" She tapped her belt knives, "please say there will be?"

"I don't know. Cap never mentioned any, but that doesn't mean the place is deserted or uninhabited. I see you've got your gear, anyway."

Shreeah grinned. "Of course I do. I always do."

"Now..." Lapinus said, "come on you stupid bucket of bolts... Just fly long enough to get us here and back to civilized space."

"Loaded with loot," Shreeah added. "Cuz we're pirates!" She laughed histerically when Lapinus muttered that he wasn't a pirate and this was different.

It turned out not so different after all.

The Cap's private stores were pretty easy to find, the world wasn't completely desolate but it had only a population of pollen farmers - not the most interesting of people considering their habit of smoking an awful lot of that pollen before selling it.

And the Cap's private stores were huge. Jam packed with stuff from almost thirty years worth of 'collecting'. He kept lots of things that neither Shreeah nor Lapinus could explain. Works of art, semi-precious stones, and lots of money were the easiest to get rid of and explain anyway - but it was the half assed bunch of robotic parts, wild pornography from a dozen worlds, stuffed taxidermed animals from exotic museums (meant to go into storage, Lapinus remembered those weird things). Who wanted that stuff?

The Cap was obviously kind of strange.

The pair sat back in the lounge of the Cap's hideaway, and reveled in suddenly being filthy rich. They could maybe go underground and live off these riches, or they could...

"Buy a new ship?" Lapinus said. "Why not? I mean, we can't stay here forever, he'll still come back. And he'll know it's me who stole all his stuff."

"He's a pirate. He should expect it." Shreeah said. "Some human told me there was no honor among thieves. Are we thieves or not?"

"... Pirates aren't the same."

"Then pirates have honor?" She said. Lapinus could tell that this wasn't leading into a real discussion, it was just her being a cat. He swatted at her tail, and they fooled around a bit before calling it a night.

***

If the ship could get them anywhere, it would have to be the nearest port. Lapinus hoped to destroy the thing before anyone could use it, and claim it all as a loss - booty and all. The insurance on the items they had stolen on the last run would certainly cover any of the owner's losses. They never worried about that kind of thing as pirates.

What Shreeah suggested, however, was before they brought the ship and its loot - loaded down to sell - they ought to disguise it as something else. She was after all a practicioner of They Who Cross, which she explained to Lapinus in terms that he might understand.

"We do not obey all the rules all the time," she said. "Why do you think I didn't mind leaving those stiff-shirts behind? They were so boring..."

So they painted up the old ship until it looked somewhat newer, Lapinus had seen a couple spare parts among the collection of loot that the Cap had, so he stuck those on in the hopes that they wouldn't fall off during reentry or take off. Any hint at this ship being useful for more than one more run was fantasy - it was ready to drop when they were captured. So they could get away with all of this, still know where the hide out was, and maybe move the rest of the loot off that planet and onto their own hide out - all with a new ship that would be easily bought by just a small portion of the actual hard cash that Cap had.

The pair of almost-Kin arrived at a mixed starport, where they weren't given a sidelong glance by either the humans nor the Kin. Shreeah liked this place, it was bustling and seemed fun and full of energy. It also had good fresh water which she'd missed greatly while they were at Cap's hideout. That place barely had running water at all, and without it she just couldn't get Lapinus' fur clean.

They opened up shop directly from the ship itself, and sold off half their cargo within a couple days. It didn't take long to get their hands on the ship of Lapinus' dreams. It was sleek and wide, it had a huge central z-g zone, this ship was larger than three of the scouter ships that Shreeah had been on while capturing the pirates!

The z-g zone was big enough to house almost anything - including the rest of the crap that the Cap had stored. The locals of the pollen-smoking type had no idea whose ship it was, that came and went over the next few days, but when it was gone the last time, they all attributed the sightings to pollen dreams.

***

"Where to next, love?" Lapinus said, leaning back in the big leather covered chair. Shreeah sighed, and shrugged.

"I think it was fun looking for things. I like hunting. Let's find a place with good hunting."

"I'm not so hot on hunting," Lapinus said, "but I do like looking..." He pounced on her, and they tussled about. He thought it was too bad they wouldn't be able to have a nice big family of rabbit-kitty kin - unless...

Something blipped on their onboard detection system, and Shreeah hoped dearly that it was more pirates.

But it was strange, and Lapinus shook his head. "What in the world?" He said, "this isn't right. Something just materialized in the z-g chamber. Something large, but not big enough to fill it. No one has those as coordinates, I wonder what it could be."

"Well let me go look!" Shreeah said, "please!?"

"I'm not going to stop you, but I'll be with you. Come on." Lapinus took a stunner from the sidearm chamber just outside of their private quarters. They made their way down to the big z-g chamber in the center of the ship. There was a big transparent steel area where the stars could be seen - and at this hyperspeed they were not even streaks, they were like drips running down the rounded roof in all manner of colors.

It was so hard for Shreeah to fight her instinct when she saw the creature in the chamber - it had big wings and flapped forward, not doing much other than spining in circles. It's a z-g chamber, after all. Not much in the way of propulsion unless you get a good grip on something else and pushes. Presuming that it was not going to just push away from you in the first place and leave you spinning.

"That's... That's a dragon," Lapinus said, holding on to Shreeah's arm. Her knife would hardly do any damage to it, certainly. It was big, but it could rest on the floor of the big chamber with lots and lots of room to spare.

"But what is it?" Shreeah said. "I don't know what that is!"

"It's not food -" someone shouted, and they both noticed with a bristling of their collective black and white fur, that a person had been on the dragon all this time. He dropped from its neck, and pushed away from the dragon. He drifted toward the pair of furry folk. "And I'm not used to this, freefall, isn't it?"

"Well, free falling implies falling," Lapinus said.

"How did you get in our ship?" Shreeah asked.

"I - we teleported," said the human, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get in here, but it just drifted right past us in the Nexus."

The pair of bunny and kitty looked at one another with a strange glance. "And, that is?" Lapinus said.

"Well, if you take the distance of teleporting, and measure it?" The man said, "That distance can only be properly determined in the Nexus. It's not space, it's not time."

"Hyperspace," Shreeah said, nodding.

"That's where we picked you up," Lapinus said. "Not used to hitch hikers, after all..."

"Really?" Said the man. He laughed. "Some of my friends would have to give you a better education then. But they've got their own dragons anyway."

"How do you get one?" Shreeah asked, and noticed that the dragon had conquered its directionless spin, and was now working on trying to face them. It did, and its eyes tilted into static colors. "They're pretty keen!"

"They are at that," said the man. "Can you give me a hand? I'd kind of like to be on the ground again, I'm getting kind of dizzy."

Shreeah and Lapinus turned the zero grav cells in the huge chamber to a different setting, first guiding the rider into their little ledge overlooking the main portion of the chamber, and then giving the whole place a standard gravity well. The dragon seemed relieved to be on the 'ground' again.

The rider's name was Voren, and his big brown dragon was called Ummidvarth. The dragon was sleek, with strong claws and lines that Shreeah swore were just right for hunting. She spent more time standing and looking at the dragon, than she did with Lapinus and Voren.

"I think this is the right time to tell you that both of you would be good candidates for dragons yourselves," Voren said. "That's what we do, we search out new riders."

"But... We just got this ship!" Lapinus said.

"And we just teleported into it, without hurting ourselves. And let me tell you, Ummidvarth isn't a small dragon - he's rather large. So if he's comfortable here, I'm sure that you'd even be able to bring your ship and conserve your dragons' energies for... whatever it is that you'd be doing."

"Hunting for things!" Shreeah laughed loudly, "hunting for my bunny!"

Lapinus rolled his red-pink eyes. He noticed that while Voren and he shared almost the same skin and hair color, Voren wasn't an albino, he had these eerie grey eyes. They were actually pretty cool.

"Looking for things," Lapinus said, after a moment, "maybe even searching. I mean, wasn't there some kind of old earth myth about eggs and rabbits?"

"Eastra, the spring goddes brought life into the world after winter," Voren said. "I've heard of it." He eyeballed the pair, "I'd never have thought that you would be in on that, but whatever floats your boat. I've seen some strange habits on people, believe me."

"So you think we could get dragons, but ... where? Do you know the coordinates?" Lapinus asked. The big brown rose a bit, and lifted Shreeah off the ground as he did so, because she was hanging onto his neck at the time.

I think you should see the stars I would bring you to. Will that do for your coordinates? The dragon spoke into Lapinus' head. Shreeah was still a little giggly for him to really reward with this gift.

"... Yes, yes it would," Lapinus said, and Shreeah looked at him oddly.

"What would?" She asked, "what! Tell me!"

"My dragon decided to tell him directly where to go," Voren said, "you can smack him if you didn't hear him as well."

I do not take lightly to strangers smacking me, rider-mine... Ummidvarth announced, to everyone. So he avoided the smacking, but he then thought hard about the location of two places that he thought would be good for the pair.

"But... two ... I suppose." Lapinus said. "Now, I can see these coordinates, they match I think. What's this place called?" He matched a series of stars on a grid, and several locations popped up. One of them was Cy Dragonstake's world of Dracania. The other, a place listed as Lantessama Isle, had a special clutch that Lapinus groaned at.

"It's an Easter clutch - I have to wonder how in the world that's going to turn out?" He said.

"It'll be great. I bet you have to go hunting for the eggs!" Shreeah said.

"Well what if I don't find them? I'm not all stalky-huntery like you are." Lapinus said.

"I'm sure it'll be like a regular clutch," Voren said, but they both ignored him.

"I'll teach you," Shreeah said, snuggling up to him. Her snugglebunny was getting rather embarrassed. Shreeah's hormones were starting to get a bit hot. "I can find an egg anywhere. Specially if I know how it smells first..."

"Well I think you'd be best off at Cy Dragonstake," Voren said, and almost regretted interrupting her. Her emerald eyes swung onto him and glared. But, she relaxed and sighed.

"Well why, what's so special about them?" She said, crossing her arms and wondering if Voren had anything fun or shiny on him that she could somehow acquire.

"There are some special parents with a small clutch of eggs," Voren announced, "so there is a good chance that all the offspring will be intriguing in some way. They often happen that way."

"You are special," Lapinus said, smiling.

"I am," Shreeah replied, with confidence and a grin.

"Then since I've got the ship under control, I should take you there first - then what?" Lapinus said.

"Well," Voren said, "I would say either bring the ship with you, or wait until she bonds if she does. At that point, you could head to Lantessama."

"But you said it's important to be there when the eggs hatch," Shreeah said, plopping down onto Lapinus' lap. "So wouldn't he miss the hatching, maybe? If I have to wait?"

Voren nodded, "there's that. You can't teleport a ship through time the same way that dragons can go through the Nexus. Hyperspace doesn't work that way I guess."

"No," Lapinus said, intrigued by this notion of time travel as well as space? "But I think we could work around it. If I drop you off, you'll be all right without me for a bit, won't you?" Lapinus asked Shreeah who nuzzled him.

"I will, but I'll miss you. And you'll miss me."

Of that there was no doubt.

So the pair of Kin and Not Quite Kin went first to Cy Dragonstake, announced by Voren and Ummidvarth as friendly. Shreeah waved frantically as they took off again, but then she was fascinated by the sands, the dragons, and the hunting nearby.

Lapinus and Voren went off to Lantessama and since everyone assumed he was there for the Easter egg clutch (because of course, he was a bunny - where else would he be going?) Lapinus was brought directly to the special sands there, and signed up.

Now - they wait!

Lapinus wandered about and saw that he wasn't the only bunny-flavored humanoid at Lantessama isle. And very shortly, the eggs at this odd little hatching were said to be ready! But...

Where were they? Lucas frantically waved everyone down and then told them to go searching for the eggs!

So it would be an Easter Egg hunt...

Lapinus shuffled off, wondering where he ought to start looking. The others had spread out towards the edges of the isle, so he decided to head inland. The three peaks were shadowing portions of the center, but he could make out a nice wide glen. This was a great locale, for a hideout.

Not that it wasn't already in use of course...

He heard something with his sensitive ears. It was a kind of scritch-scritching, the kind you'd get when something was trying to get out of an egg. But by the time he'd spotted where the egg was, it was already broken into bits, and Lapinus was wary. What had happened to the hatchling?

That was solved momentarily when he was ambushed- he hated being ambushed- by a yellow flash of dragonbunny.

Its long tail was wrapped around his eyes, and he heard a voice in his ears as well as his mind.

"Guess who!" It said.

"... Hunt?" Lapinus said, because that was what the mind-voice was saying.

"YAY!" The yellow bunny dragon exclaimed, and parted his tail off Lapinus' head. It then began eating a bit of grass nearby.

"You know, there is food reserved for us," Lapinus pointed out.

"There is? They didn't tell me! Where is it?" Hunt asked, all eager. Who "they" were was a mystery that Lapinus didn't really want to follow up on.

"Follow me," he said, instead.

***

Meanwhile, at CyDragonstake...

Shreeah paced around, knowing that something was up. There was a strange sound in the air, that her sensitive ears picked up. Shortly, she heard a knock at her quarters door.

"The hatching is starting! Come along!" Someone said. The knight left for the other candidates rooms, and Shreeah made her way down to the sands. Seven candidates, she wasn't sure about the eggs. The queen on the sands was a white, very pretty, and the sire... wow.

All of the eggs were rather small in size, apparently, but Shreeah wouldn't know - she was merely told that by people who presumably knew better. One of those eggs began to wobble and then shattered. A fine reddish orange silvery dragonet hatched, and found her bond.

Because she was intent on the whole event, Shreeah's senses lit up when the next egg hatched. The first bond had barely gotten away from the sands, and most people missed it. But not her. Purple in color, but shiny like the sire of the clutch, this beauty walked up and down near the candidates. She almost snorted at the dragon that stood as a candidate (imagine that!) and certainly didn't want any of the humans. At last, she reached Shreeah.

My name is Emzril, and I can't wait to see that bunny and his bunny dragon! I do like fur you know. She spoke quickly, mentally, and Shreeah took in a breath. This was not like any Kin speaking, not a trick - this was her bond talking. Shortly after she realized this, the glitz purple added, I want food now!

"Come on then, let's go to the kitchens." Shreeah had spent a while there, checking out what sorts of things they ate. Typical humans. They cooked everything and ruined it. But not so for Emzril and she this time. There were buckets and plates full of fresh juicy meat!

"You'll like Lapinus, then," Shreeah said, "and you be sure to eat as messy as you can, so you get him all mussed up - his white fur is so fun to lick clean..."

***

Back at Lantessama, a short amount of time had gone by when everyone knew the bunny dragons were as grown as they were going to get. Hardly a day went by that Lapinus didn't have to go out hunting for Hunt, who loved to hide in spots that only he could wheedle into and then zip away when caught.

His speed was fantastic, that was certain. Now, what else could that bunnydragon do? He grew just large enough to ride, actually. Lapinus couldn't move as quickly as the bunny dragon, and neither could Hunt with him on his back, but the bunnydragon didn't complain.

Not much, anyway.

"You're really big. I hope you're not going to eat too much food and get fat," Hunt would say quite frequently.

"I'm not fat, I'm fluffy. And you'll want to reserve comments like those when you meet Shreeah, because she'll probably eat you for lunch if you do." Lapinus commented. He grinned. The bunny dragon was a bit on the gullible side until he actually ran into factual material. So until Lapinus and Shreeah were in the same place and time together, he'd never know.

He wondered how she'd paired up, if she had. But he was certain that because they were both being silent and hardly sending any information back and forth, they were both busy with their dragons. The dragons grew, and soon, Lapinus thought it was time to check out of Lantessama.

"And we'll meet this girl of yours? Is she pretty? Is she fast?" Hunt asked.

"She's beautiful, and dangerous. I've been telling you." Lapinus said. Laughing, they entered his big ship, and Hunt snuggled down into a specially made compartment. While the halls in the ship were just barely big enough for him to squeeze through, there were spots which might catch his skin and damage it, so they decided that he'd only exit and enter through the hold hatches.

Lapinus bid the Laeders of Lantessama farewell and thanks, and guided the ship into the sky.

They went back through hyperspace to Cy, where a beautful - and fully grown - glitz purple and white dragoness waited with equally dark black furry Shreeah.

"She's beautiful," whispered Hunt. But he wasn't talking about Shreeah.

He is kind of cute, for a little yellow bunny, Emzril commented privately to Shreeah. He's a bit talkative too, isn't he?

"He is, but you get used to that," Shreeah said, laughing.

They headed back to their planet - the Kin and humans there would be so thrilled to see two dragons living there! They might even become an attraction. Or, bounty hunters... Or, maybe they'd do teleporting tricks - Emzril seemed happy to hold on to Hunt and teleport the whole lot of them away to places...

In all, a happy ending.

Is that it?

That wasn't so bad, and in fact, both Lapinus and Shreeah decided that it might be worth their while to check the place out. They came at a time when the Dragons there had been prosperous - but just after a bit of an invasion bid by the local Xeno population. Water and land rights, such an argument was common on planets who had not fully been recognized by the Human or Kin councils.

It was like the Kin council wanted to deny it existed at all, due to the unusual nature of those Kin placed upon it. The Humans referred to it only as a penal colony where the criminal types could either live or die and they didn't have to care about them either way.

But they were quite wrong about the place in either case. The Kin who had been dumped there thrived after a while. And, more importantly, they had friends in extremely high places. Zekirans, legendary immortal humanoids from a long-dead galaxy millions of light-years distant - they lived, and they too thrived on Planet Twenty.

What they'd come in for, though, thrilled the pair of dragons. Well, more Emzril than Hunt - for the place where they chose to land and talk was filled with Cheetah Kin.

"This ... well, this group is giving me the willies," Lapinus said. "And I don't have my gun."

"You haven't had a gun on you for years," Shreeah giggled. "Why not go back to Lantessama? I think I want to spend a little time here. If you don't mind?"

"I don't mind if you don't, but," Lapinus looked around at the tall spotted tribe, who seemed predominantly male, "if you can't be good? Be careful?"

"How sweet," Shreeah said, and kissed Lapinus on the nose. The lagomorph and his lop eared yellow dragon went back to their ship, and bid their 'girlfriends' a temporary farewell.

***

Shreeah determined that this big frenzy flight at the Plateau would be best off with her in it. She wasn't sure about letting any of the Zekiran males near her, even though they were uniformly handsome and had unusual colors about them, but she was more in the mood for a Kin partner if anything. And there were tons to choose from. She'd have to be careful, but not for the same reason that Lapinus thought. **note that she did not actually have any offspring in the event, her dragon does**

***

Lapinus and Hunt did go back to Lantessama, and there was a surprise waiting for them there. He recognized at least one or two of the people who he had befriended while there, after bonding Hunt!

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Please! I want to join! It sounds like fun!" Hunt bounced up and down.

"Of course it does," Lapinus nodded, "and sure, let's get you signed in. I wonder if our old quarters are available, that'd be a blast huh?"

It would be a blast... Hunt was one of the fastest bunnydragons out there - of course he was one of the only bunny dragons out there. He might find himself a nice female or even two! And what about Lapinus?

Well he would probably be pretty popular among the ladies too...

.

Hunt did participate in the Run!

Azumai x Hunt
Divine and Purple Siamese White Bunny G einas h (f)
Kuryo and Yellow Siamese White Bunny H uza u (m)
Green Siamese Black Bunny M ann a (f) going to Enzan Shi

Poofy x Hunt
Muffin God and Strawberry- Chocolate Scone (f)
Kilmajo and Brown Siamese Beige Bunny F la n (m)

Delsie x Hunt
Gangstath taking 3-headed Pink Frosting Harth'ial (f)
Eamon and 3-headed Green- Grey - Blue Vil'Pein (m)
2-headed Poison Wayvell (m) going to Dragon Willow

"Hun, do you think you'd like to see some... gems?"

Lapinus' ears physically perked up at that. "Gems you say," he rumbled half out of sleep. He cracked one red eye open, and sought out Shreeah's blurry black and white form in the doorway. Since the light was behind her, he didn't quite see her broad grin. He knew it was there, though. They'd been together long enough that each anticipated the other's mood or expression with ease. For instance, Shreeah knew that on the sound of 'something like treasure' her rabbit-like partner's ears would do exactly what they did - unfolding from the sides of his head, and springing upwards like radar dishes.

"Well I mean - they're dragons," she added, "full disclosure."

While the briefest dip in those ears told her he was thinking about it, he sat up and scratched the fur on his shoulder while pondering. "Huh, well is there... also treasure?"

"I'm sure we could find out?" She purred, rubbing up against him and getting all that black fur all over his white fur. Of course, it worked the other way too: it was a wonder they weren't just speckled salt and pepper. They had decided to return permanently to Planet Twenty, mostly because the dragons wanted to be able to keep track of each other there. With a decently high powered bunch of psionics from both the Kin population and Zekirans to help them establish their hutch or... den or whatever they were calling their home, a beautiful sprawling estate grew from their ship's landing area.

Using the natural resources, the tan and red stones from the hills nearby, and the thick redwood trees (they only needed two such trees, because... well, plant shapers liked to do things with living matter, rather than cutting them down!), plus glass made by several clever Kin near the Zekiran's establishments, their home became a pleasant place to retire. Or plan heists. Or come back to roost after narrowly escaping being arrested for heists.

But they also were known for distributing the wealth they 'found' along the way. They only ever deal with cold cash - metal trades, and not credit. Credit was useless on Planet Twenty, but refined metals, ores, gems, and semi-precious stones absolutely were of use. Of course, so were guns, ammunition, power cells, and the like - all of which the pair used to get in good with the locals. Hunters and defenders alike, whoever needed their personal shields recharged, or had an old pump-action shotgun that no one knew how to reload... They would go to this disparate pair for help. Since Human authorities didn't dare come down to the planet's surface any longer, and Kin tended to leave them be out of superstition, this arrangement meant that they were all but untouchable.

The fact that both Shreeah and Lapinus were generous and apt to show off their goods in a way that meant others might get the chance to use or trade for them, was a bonus on this sparsely populated and super weird planet. They would sometimes bring others along; mostly the children or grandchildren of those who had been dumped there decades before. No one would know who those people were, they were just yet another deer kin, or some warthog with stars in their eyes.

But they were well trained, those deer and hogs, the horses and the cheetahs. And they had those hidden skills, too - psionics that could tell a friendly person from one with an agenda. Powers that could reach through solid matter and flip a switch, or disable an alarm without ever leaving the safety of their shuttle? Heck yes. That was how they made a lot more than merely 'a comfortable pad' of finances. The pair were smart about it though. They would hardly be seen in one spot for long, outside of Planet Twenty, and had plentiful ways of making sure that their ship wasn't tracked.

These days, though, they both found that the goods their local friends were trading were more than enough to enjoy as they were. Their dragons were not restless, they liked this grassy, light woodland that the couple had settled. Particularly Hunt, he really liked being able to speed around the trees and ponds, it was quite a bit like his homeworld! And he'd heard that they were thinking about returning for a time? Splendid!

"We've got more than enough room even just in the ship, for dragons, and even for things for them to eat..." Shreeah said. "But we'll want to bring whatever comes of this, if anything, back down here. Dragons belong in an atmosphere."

They heard Emzril's cheerful agreement as she chittered from the rooftop perch they'd made. From that perch, they or the dragons could just look around, survey the territory. Off to the north was the Zekiran's haunt, a peak and bay, and then down along the rest of the landscape were villages of Kin of many sorts. There were dragons occasionally visible, some of them had paired up with those Kin or one or two of the Zekirans after their own arrival. This would be a good place for more of them.

It would be a good place to raise a family, if.

"You know..." Lapinus said as they watched the sunset, "when we get back, we might... y'know. Ask about it." She didn't need to be told what 'it' he meant.

"Those Zekirans have machinery and powers," she replied, quietly. "To make the best of both of us? You think?"

His velvety nose twitched and he smiled widely. "For you, only the best."

Off they went, then, in search of more treasure, the draconic kind!

Another of Wain's eggs was rocking heavily and as growing lines appeared on it's surface and connected, a loud crack announced that the shell had finally had enough. The hatchling inside hopped out of the remains of it's prior home and curious ly looked about. It's eyes darted left and right as it tried to take in everything at once. Eager ly it smelled the air, listened to the sounds and took in the colours and the feeling of the sand. It instantly fell in love with the world and wanted to see more. Which is why it would not come as a surprise that it headed to Lapinus , the white bunny space navigator who'd already travelled quite a bit.
"Let me join you on your travels, I'm certain we'll get along. And I can probably help with the maintenance of your ship"

Another of Derastell's eggs hatched, maybe the hatchling did not want to be pushed and had decided action was of the essence. As the gem dragonet's tail pushed through the shell, the little creature inside shimmied out and hopped up, some shards still lodged on it's head and wings. Shaking itself like a dog, the dragonet crooned with pleasure and innocent ly gawked at the waiting candidates, taking it's sweet time to decide . Finally it slithered across the sands, apparently skipping as it lifted it's tail and wings in an odd fashion, but clearly en joy ing the feel of the sand, the sun and the wind. The hatchling made it's way toward Shreeah and asked:
"Why would you ever run out of money?" cocking it's head it grinned, "You can just make some."

Finally the tired snake dragonet had recovered enough to launch into the air. It flew straight and sure , without a doubt choosing to bond to Lapinus , the white bunny kin. Friendly and outgoing it landed on the space navigator and gestured, barely being able to contain himself.
"I know that took too long, but I'll train hard to become stronger. And then we can travel the stars together." it said excitedly. 

The hatching was reaching the end, only a handful of eggs were left and the sun was well on it's way across the sky. The light had turned more mellow than bright and this suited the next hatchling to pierce through it's shell. Quietly it had been waiting for just the right time to make an appearance. Patience was after all a virtue it felt was worth the effort. During the hatching it had quietly chipped at it's shell, meticulous ly making indentations, and now with one final tap, the shell folded away around it. Pleased with the aesthetic effect, the dragonet chirped to draw attention, rose up from the sands and flew to Shreeah . The winged snake ruffled her black and white fur and took it's place next to the other hatchling, quickly nuzzling their snouts as they got to know each other.
"I'll join to keep you safe... and stylish ." the hatchling spoke before settling back to enjoy what remained of the event. 

Clutch 2 Sapphire Tanith and Gold Wain
Lapinus and Copper Havarha (f) (sponsored) *2

Clutch 3: Mica Verralite
Lapinus and Lapis Lazuli Volkher (m) *1

Clutch 4: Water-Opal Derastall
Shreeah and Kunzite Gemma (f) *1

Clutch 5: Jade Gartass
Shreeah and Bronze Gheld (m) (sponsored) *2