Hocayi - Male, age 17

Often called upon to settle disputes, and seen as a good sympathetic listener, Hocayi still loves to play with sharp swords and sabres. His slightly curved war-sword is his favorite, and though it is quite short, he knows that it is good for hunting as well as sparring. He has no fear of using it upon an enemy - but he does truly wish to know that it is the last option, before gutting a Human or alien with it.

As a telepath and empath, Hocayi is very strong. He tempers this ability though, with a kind of touch-sense. Similar to a psychometrist's ability to sense the history of an object by touching it (and he has a bit of that as well), his touch-sense allows him to actually read the history or condition of a person - Kin, Human or otherwise. With this, he is able to barter very well, and though Temih is usually called upon to grade the items that are traded for, Hocayi is usually able to put the right item in the right hands afterwards.

Hocayi felt it before anyone said anything. Omaciyu also, with his strong empathy, detected the wave of dread go through the Tribe.

"Are you sure?" Hocayi said, hoarse. Irole nodded, pained.

Ivo moved to the front of the cavern, where his keen blue eyes caught sight of the bright ship on the horizon.

"It's still in orbit, though. Very far off."

"It was still in orbit when they dropped us off," Hala hissed. "Years ago. They might have dumped their cargo on the southern mountains, and maybe-"

"They aren't leaving," Hita said, his young voice quiet but serous. All this time, with all the commotion, he had hardly peeped a word. But now, his eyes betrayed his fear.

Temih approached him, and he went to her side. As she viewed Omaciyu, so Hita often viewed Temih, as a parental figure.

"Well then," Ivo said. They saw the wings of his dragon move into a flight-worthy arc, and then the great beast took to the air with ease. He landed on the bare ground outside the main cavern, only five large flaps brought him more than a mile distant from his resting place.

"It isn't just here," Omaciyu said. "They must have done a drop - but they aren't leaving. There is something," he held his furry fingers to his head, "other tribes are worried. I don't know what exactly they dropped."

"It's time to get a move on, then," Ivo said. His eyes darted around to each of the Kin, "I can summon other dragons and riders, to bring you to a safe place - and we can come back here when everything is done."

"But it'll be gone!" Hocayi blurted out. "It won't be safe here any more!"

Others grumbled their agreement.

"No - no," Ivo said, "remember what I said, the dragons can travel through great distances in space, and time. We can return here, right here," he waved his hands, "maybe an hour from now, five minutes, a day. It doesn't matter. We can be precise. Zkoth's better at it than some, but I can find people who would be able to guide you right back where and when you need to be. And we don't really have the luxury of thinking about it."

At that, Hocayi darted away - as did many others, into their private dens. Ihfosa seemed to have to travel farthest, but came back hardly out of breath. Hocayi went to his low darkened den, and cast about for his clothing, his weapons, and the supplies he used to clean his sword. He needed very little else - the rest of the tribe also did these things.

Shortly, the whole place was bristling with weapon-bearing Kin. But their eyes did not shine as they would have if they were headed into battle. They were merely bugging out. And that fact galled all of them.

"We're so used to running," Hocayi said, running his claws through young Hita's shoulder fur to calm him, "but now we're running to some place, and we'll be back. They won't even know what hit them."

Hita gulped and nodded. He had a big axe, it seemed almost too large for the young Kin to carry - but he did so with ease. Hocayi gazed around at the others. Bold Ihnala, annoying Iryudyo, stately Dijo. They each showed off their fear in different ways, but Hocayi could tell they were all very afraid indeed.

Which fear was worse, though? The fear of the unknown which they suddenly faced? Or the one which they knew would approach and probably blast them out of the plateau. Hocayi beamed a message to Omaciyu.

Tell them to be calm. We're going to make war, after we find our mounts.

A good idea, Omaciyu told him, and the group was bathed in a warm, friendly confidence. Shortly, there was calm again. Ivo could tell that this was their cue. Zkoth had looked up into the sky, lept up directly, and vanished.

When he came back, it was to a thunder of wings. Everyone rushed to the edge of the cavern opening, where the wind from a dozen or more big dragons blew at their fur. The dragons were small and huge, emerald and mud, long and burly. Every possible feature on them was new to the Tribe, but Ivo knew them all by heart. The tribe would have to learn the differences too.

"Just pick your stuff up and find a rider to help you up," Ivo suggested. He turned to Temih, who hung back just a moment before rushing by him and heading toward Zkoth. Of course.

From the back of a brilliantly silver colored and smooth-necked dragon came a call, "nice one, Ivo - I see you grabbed the girl all to yourself!" But the woman on this dragon's back laughed loudly - and then dropped to the ground with a grace that any Kin would appreciate. She ... was black and white, and had fur, ears, tail, hair. She could pass for Kin, of some kind.

"What - where are you from?" Hocayi asked, and the woman came to him while the others were paired off with a dragon and rider.

"I'm Aliza. Here - you, I think you'll sit well behind me, hold on tight." Aliza called to Utori. His eyes brightened as the woman did so, and especially when she told him, "you know, the place I bonded Sasazik trains with lances like yours. You'll fit right in."

A number of others passed by, and Hocayi finally saw a strange vision of a female. She almost looked like a dragon, herself. With a long neck, but a fine silken mane of gold hair, she introduced herself as Alhann, and her sturdy, barrel-chested green dragoness as Nilayith.

"Come with me, and when I tell you to, just do exactly as I say. We'll be out in no time, and back on the ground soon enough."

"I'm not afraid," Hocayi lied, "really I'm not."

The musical laugher that Alhann let off relaxed the Kin a bit.

It wasn't helping that several of the dozen or so riders were in fact Humans. But it wasn't many, and they were so well-organized and curt with their commands that it seemed they had done a drill like this before.

When Hocayi was settled behind the odd rider, her tail wrapping around his waist and securing him in as though he had a seat belt on, they took to the air.

With a wrenching, and a huge lurch of his stomach, Hocayi clung on for dear life - but he knew full well, that even though this dragon and all the others had never even seen Planet Twenty or their kind before, they would never let harm come to them.