Felinruad - male Moire Protectorate Dragon

Irole stood motionless for a moment, near the sands. The intense psionic communication from the mother of the nest had been gearing up over the last few hours, and he'd come to investigate. He hoped there wasn't something wrong.

Of course, how wrong could an expectant mother be? Her eggs were hatching! There wasn't anything wrong with that, except that no one was there!

After the general call went up, everyone started filing into the spire. It was a lovely procession - of mostly human and demi-human inhabitants, visitors and the rare non-human bonder.

Irole felt most at home by the half-Lyron, but didn't feel very comfortable after getting to know him a little. That was all the tall humanoid would give away.

When all was settled, everyone had noticed the shaking eggs. One broke upen, and a marbled white male went to find his bond. Another pair of eggs broke, one upon the other, and a silver-streaked female bonded while her gigantic red brother decided that he would have to wait for his bond.

Irole was faintly disappointed. That big dragon would have been stunning. But, he thought, it was not to be.

Another trio of eggs shattered, showing off a tiny white, a blue-white, and reddish one. Two of them paired off, while the middle one chose to remain bondless. A pair of shells cracked open, charred red choosing to wait for a bond later, and his sister in pink and red stripes bonded to the elf female present.

Yet more eggs hatched. A grey pale female bonded to none, introduced herself to her mother and was joined by her sister in rose-darks.

But then the third of their group unrolled his long graceful wings, let his white-tipped tail drop onto the sand. He was not a large dragon, not like the huge red from before, but his coloration certainly was great - and his attitude said volumes.

He turned his head toward Irole. Well, aren't you going to come say hello, Irole? I am your new bond, you know. His mental voice purred with pleasure and a bit of excitement, though his lounging position on the sands hardly gave that excitement away.

Irole grinned, he could play this game too. He strolled over, tilted his head, and asked, "Who whom do I owe this pleasure?"

Felinruad, greatest of the great, of course. His tail smacked the sands again, then twitched above it. Irole's was doing the same thing.

They were going to have a great time together...

***

Later on, much later after the other eggs of the nest had hatched in private (since Irole was the last candidate on the sands) the whole of Moire was left wondering what had hit them.

It was Felinruad, bellowing his triumph.

He's caught something big, Irole thought. He rushed out to see, and yes it was true. Felin had crushed the back of an enormous fish - he'd been diving since he was able to fly. Odd, that he would choose this though his rider was a fire shaper.

That fish would feed dozens, IF Felinruad would allow anyone to get near it! He had his fill - Irole helped himself, because frankly fish was delicious and a treat for the savannah-living cheetah-kin.

"Some day, you'll dive with me on your back, won't you."

You do not like that thought? You are ... afraid of the water?

"No, not really, I just ... well, hardly any of us know how to swim. We don't have much body fat you know, and we sink like stones."

That would be a terrible shame. Felinruad commented. They lay basking on the shore, while the others dragged the huge fish into the kitchens for butchering.

Eventually, Felinruad and Irole would head home to the plateau.