Kelirith and Baniar'Alkar

Size comparison Piece and Knockoff/Pawn

Pernese mutt with highly cat-like qualities, including four legs and 2 wings all with sharp large claws, wing wrist has two claws; split-ended tail; head has external ears, and long back-pointing horns; offspring are split with either faceted or pupiled eyes

Naming: AWL kar, naming convention thanks to dad's side of things since mother is basically Pernese the first name is -TH ended, if bred to another with a last name, modify it accordingly or use Alkar; Knockoff - kay bah, though directly related with splicing to Keeath'Alkar they need neither the -TH ending to their name, nor 'Alkar, unless promoted from knockoff to Pawn

Knockoff stats: all average 2 except speed which is 7. Yes, 7, out of a 1-6 scale; powers cannot use the magic of their clutch mates, but they are able to burst speed (5) and produce fire easily (3), and use one form of teleport at a 3 power level

This clutch, along with their companions in LAEJU, are shown off in the middle of the 3rd hour until Midnight, this is considered 'peak dragon availability'...

Bond: Zhuo-Ji, Multibond with Hureurith
Meeting Notes: (see also LAEJU)

They'd finally gotten everyone ready, much to his fretting distress. And the evening had started out glorious even from the moment they entered the vast undersea city! The panda seemed incredibly happy to see all the finery, and his friends knew that wasn't all he was about - but tonight, it absolutely should be. Hundreds of people, magical and mundane, churned around the place in all their glory, and he joined them with gusto. There were dancers, and he got in a good couple rounds sweeping the place with a delightfully eager (if not quite light on her feet) wolf-girl. Took in the sights during one or two of the Stage performances, had delicious snacks and drinks!

Oh what a night! But even though the clock said it was well into 'three hours until' the midnight bell, something gnawed at him even though he'd just eaten (who knew that bamboo shoots could be grilled to perfection like that?). He was decidedly hungry but quite certainly didn't need to eat. It was when a large group of very small dragonets arrived. Though they could hardly be said to be 'colorful' (like anything here, really) there were such differences between each and every one of them, they were all so stunning.

"Do you think so? I do." A voice called, from somewhere below Zhuo-Ji's ample waist. Leaning a bit to the side, he had to keep looking because ... well, something was moving around him.

I do too, another voice, but this time it was much more direct, and interestingly, inside his own mind! He'd felt bits and pieces of telepathic communication in the past, and knew there was plenty of it going on here at the Ball, but nothing had so directly connected to him in his whole life.

It was remarkably strange, wonderful, in a word, "Magnificent!" He cried, when both of these voices turned out to be from two dragonets. They finally stopped circling him, and sat beside one another for him to appraise.

And praise, thank you, the white bodied one thought, pleased with himself.

They were as different as night and day, one white with black wings, the other black with white wings - but even with those words they were also shiny and delightful and not at all 'merely' black and white. Each had horn buds, again opposing colors. They definitely had different features - one seemed more lanky and leggy with a longer tail, the other was more cat-like in posture and poise. Also they were clearly male and female, and had definitely formed their own bond before even deciding to gang up on Zhuo-Ji.

"I am Woonath'Alkar, and this is Hureurith," the black cat-like female announced.

And like you, there's more to us than just perfect looks, the white dragon added.

"I'm sure that is true," Zhuo-Ji nodded sagely. "Life is not only about appearances, though they are important in their own way."

He did get the impression that they were ready to gobble down some meat when a waiter breezed by heading toward a big table - and both dragons sniffed the air eagerly. "Let's get you fed, I can hardly eat another bite myself... not until I have a few more dances!"

"Then play it with them," said a voice, high and childlike, feminine; and he wasn't sure - had he thought it? Was he now going to be in danger of hearing voices in his head in addition to everything else? Alan tried shaking his head to clear it, but instead found even more voices there than ever.

I don't care for that man, the other voice spoke in a purring and faintly annoyed, masculine tone. Alan was pretty certain he'd lost his mind.

It did not help one bit that the woman tending bar was a raccoon, Alan wondered about his sanity; but she did reach over the bar to steady Alan's shoulder, and handed him an iced water. "Looks like you'll be needing this, clear head and all," she said.

"My head is anything but clear," Alan muttered.

"Well that is because Plaath is in it," the girly chipper sounding voice said. Finally, Alan pulled back a long drink of that ice water, it was refreshing. He turned around to see... eyes. Pink ones on a black dragon, blue ones on a white. The way those sky blue eyes blinked very slowly was rather cat like. The dragon was very cat like. Like those being paraded around the ball room. The pinker ones belonged to the bigger dragon, though they were about the same size at this stage. Neither of them came to his knee. Both were very... very shiny.

They looked like tiny opposites, save that they both had black wings.

Wait. "... Plaath?" Alan glanced between the dragons, and decided that Plaath was the pale cat-like creature. "Then... who are you?" He asked of the dark one.

Plaath encouraged him, why don't you say her name, you already know it.

"Hidth," it was a simple sound, but it came out of him like it had been on the tip of his tongue. Alan finally leaned back, tilting his head to see both the dragons and then the table with his 'friends' beyond. Deborah looked positively over the moon, Thomas with that grim pleased look, Regina just pursing her lips.

"We're hungry," the dragons said in unison, this time both with their voices.

Bond: Gaerradh Ellis, Impression
Meeting Notes: Gaerradh, Rasnala, and Lost Distance were in the rafters, what passed for them anyway, at three hours until midnight. Their performace was awe inspiring, if not as impressive as they might have done outdoors. Obviously they needed to modify their moves, but they were still equipped to perform indoors. It was much safer than falling from a greater distance, though as she swept over the audience below Gaerradh realized that the marble floor would be just as deadly as any ground or water outside if she hit it hard enough.

Twirling, leaping from one banner to another, trading places with Rasnala on thick corded rope and then flipping over Lost Distance's spinning form, they got oohs and ahhs aplenty. It felt good, it was nice, though not the performance of a lifetime they might have done outside on the surface. Shortly before the ballroom floor and airspace had been their performance stage, it had been cleared for some dragonets - and a few of those were still present around the fringes. Maybe waiting for their one, maybe just watching with the same awed eyes as the humanoids in attendance.

She'd sat there all along, golden colored eyes glittering and wide. The shiny dragonet patiently rested with her long claws the only indication that she was nervous - they tapped at the marble floor, and the tips of her split tail snaked a little with anticipation. When the dancing resumed on the big ballroom floor, with some number of fliers still up above enjoying themselves like the troup had done, that troupe finally had a break and got themselves settled at a wide table near the banquet line. Still the dragonet sat, watching, staring, until Gaerradh and her friends moved past.

"It was amazing! I wanted to be up there!" She said, and Gaerradh looked around for which of the many 'fans' had said it. But there were no more people - they were all dancing, there was... a dragon. Who eagerly fidgeted now, grey and silver, like sleet and rain-slicked pavement.

"Wait, well - you could be up there some day," Gaerradh suggested, smiling weakly. The dragonet stood and seemed almost giddy.

"I'd like to be up there with you," she said. This dragon was small, a hatchling not more than a few hours old - and of a very tiny build, if the others scattered around the area were any indication. "We could make a good team!"

Could they? Gaerradh wondered... Would this small dragon be capable of even rising into the air with a rider even when full grown?

I could! I would try - and I would do it!

The voice in her head was the dragon's, and it was extremely intense. Gaerradh wasn't quite prepared for that, along with the ... the need that was expressed along with it. But there was also the hint that the dragon wasn't in any way lying or even fooling herself: she would be strong, tough, maybe a little dragon on the shorter end, but still!

I am Silbeth'Alkar, your new partner, she introduced herself properly, forming a tight bond whether the Sahnga was ready or not. We will take to the skies! Not like under this water, indoors!

"That... is true," Gaerradh pondered as the dragonet butted up against her leg, "with space to move, I bet a small dragon wouldn't be half bad for stunts..."

Bond: Cassius, Voluntary Bond, multibond with Merseth and Cwepante
Meeting Notes: (see also GESU/ANTE)

He'd gathered his wits and got the pair of little dragons fed, fresh water awaited them at the table somehow when they drifted back to it. But now, there was a weirdly sleepy sensation making Cassius a little woozy. One of the attendant dragons chittered at him with a sing-song message, interpreted as 'it's fine we'll watch over them'. So at last when they were asleep on their newly-provided cushions, Cass decided to finally see the rest of the event properly. The balconies showed a much more impressive floor fit for dancing and events, than their side-table did, and from it he watched the aerial flitter stunts (did that one just get hit by ... whoops! well at least they recovered and the team finished without it?) and the start of one incredible space journey on that Stage, when something ... sort of pinged his mind once more.

He felt immediately that the other two dragons also had noticed, and as they roused themselves (he could spot their table with ease, sharp bird eyes don't'cha'know) but also motion on the other side of the venue caught his full attention. A new batch of dragons, actually two batches - equally impressive in numbers. Black, white, silver, grey, everything in between, and then all those little checkerboarded ones from both sets! There were tiny dragons underfoot everywhere. Some of them quite tiny, but many from the main clutches weren't so tiny that they'd be mistaken for spare flitters.

It wasn't just their presence that had caught his eye, though. One blur of motion followed another, with a dark shadowy spot lingering between points. That blur was... making its way toward the big balcony stairs. And for some reason, Cass just knew he ought to stay put, even though there were others at this edge looking down at the ball floor now to see the presentation of the dragonets themselves.

The black dragon that showed up behind him matched Cass's hair, feathers, dress suit... Beautifully. Catlike, huh, well, wouldn't Tsan be thrilled? The narrower and more pointed muzzle of this sleek black dragon nosed up toward Cass. But her ears betrayed distraction in the form of probably listening to Merseth's complaining that she should be down by the table...

"Well we should," the dragon asserted quietly, "but I like it up here. Besides, now I'm a bit tuckered out."

"We can get you something to eat, on the way back down, then," Cass replied, picking up the small hatchling. She might be little now, and would probably not be as big as Merseth as an adult, but wow those claws she sported already were superb. He went down the opposite stairwell from the table, since this one was much closer to the dragon meat service area, and this dragon gobbled down quite a lot more than he expected.

Well, he should have expected it, what with Tsanthryl's bottomless gullet. Cats be do.

But finally with her hunger sated, and the ballroom floor going back to mostly-dancing, Cass brought this ... this third dragon to the table, where she sat proudly beside the rainbow-white and the inky checkered one. She seemed to be waiting, and moments after Cassius put his own rear back onto his chair, Merseth bespoke again.

Now that Temth'Alkar is finally here, we are all yours. I am sure you'll find us all things to do when we get to ... wherever it is we'll be going. You seemed just the right one for us all. And we don't mind sharing.

Bond: Constance, Impressed
Meeting Notes: It was three hours until midnight, and Constance wondered what state everyone would be in by then. A lot of the grownups at the event (that is: pretty much everyone but the orphan group) were drinking and dancing, gambling in the little casino and making fools of themselves on the karaoke stage there. All in all, the spirits were high - sometimes really high, sometimes actual spirits. There were a few people grumpy or lurking around the edges of the venue, and there were some stern glares coming from one or another at dragons or people in specific. It was a messy wash of emotions, but at least it wasn't an angry crowd, or a lusty, raunchy dance party, or even a frightening mob rush. Constance liked it, but was still glad that there were rooms or at least balcony spots that were a little isolated from the rest. It gave her time to clear her head.

Something kept nagging at her. It was obvious that Voivode definitely wanted to see his group of subjects and guards come away from this event with dragons, and that pulled her gut into a knot. What if it wasn't the right time? She was getting the distinct feeling that those dragons were... much more permanent than she considered to be proper for someone in her position. She'd more or less thought of them as 'mounts', trained for battle or duties. These down there? They were so much more than that.

A wave of doubt pushed through her. What if... what if she wasn't good enough for a dragon? Or - wait, where had that thought even come from? Voivode had chosen her with the others, there were certainly more than just their group among his subjects that could have been brought - strong and tough guardsmen, wily mages, hunters and scouts. She was... what?

She was what? Hungry, maybe. She was hungry, that was it, she needed to get some food in her and that would help settle her mind. Her ears were back, all on their own they'd seemingly decided that something was amiss and perhaps it was her one 'tell', anyone who knew her could see she was antsy.

Definitely hungry. Slipping back down to the buffet table, she selected a small salad but then piled the rest of the plate with cuts of meat and fish. Perhaps uncharacteristically much meat. Sure, they were canine-morphs, but she and her brother (where had he gone off to at the start of the night? he returned smelling a little weird and holding his arm a bit gingerly) ate normal foods like normal people. They didn't scarf down buckets of raw meat.

It sure sounded good.

What was wrong with her?

If you do not want me to be around, I... don't know what I will do. I do need you. Not someone else. I am hungry. I am worried you will refuse me and we do not do well without our One.

Where had that voice come from - oh, oh no, what was happening?

The knot in her stomach did not go away with half a mouth full of roast beef; her heart began to race. It was not the very first time she'd panicked, but it was not the right time now, to show it.

You see - that is why I want you - you are confident and aware and... and brave, you are my One. The voice was absolutely desparate now. She abruptly jumped from the table and ran, any direction - anywhere. But that haunting, almost shameful sense was following her still. She ran into the kitchen, having rushed past surprised looking dancers and dining groups.

She smacked directly into a wall of meat. Not ... not meat meat - rather a man who was quite tall and broad, handsome human features and a startled look on his turquoise eyes. He ground his stubbled jaw a bit, and then seemed to glance, unfocused, at something that no one else could see. Then, Wilson Carver put his hand gently but firmly on Constance's shoulder, and guided her to a door nearby. The door hadn't been there a moment before. He didn't say a word, was she in trouble here too?

The room beyond the pale wood colored door turned out to be somewhat of a private place with blond wood framing tall windows, though not nearly as big as the ballroom's. Two smaller windows looked somehow back into the dance floor beyond, but three more, those nearer what looked like a small dining room, opened on to... a snowy landscape at night? How? This place was deeply under the sea, wasn't it? This room had pleasant white leather furnishings and a stone hearth that was artistic and warm. It smelled of chicken soup here.

Wilson handed her a wooden bowl and spoon, with that same soup, and held her attention very firmly when he said, "you cannot run from it." She sniffled and stuffed the soup into her face like it was the first food she'd had all night - and it was far from that. "Plus," his voice was deep, but now had turned from stern to soft, "why would you want to?"

Through teary blurred eyes, she looked at his own, which seemed to glow a little, he was looking to her right. The seat was large, a comfortable couch in front of a glass table and that nice warm fire. She noticed her tail was curled under her leg, how completely appropriate, how totally scared she was. She didn't want to pry her eyes off of his face, but finally, she did.

It - he - had followed them, apparently, into this ... house? Where even was this? And the dragonet was now sitting beside her, barely - barely visible against the white leather. So shiny, it was almost like wet paint, or bright crystal.

Wilson said, quietly, "it's a lot to take in, isn't it? People have been impressing or bonding or wandering around with a pack of dragons all night, but when it's yours, it's ... something else." He nodded toward the kitchen, where a dark and broad dragon face with blood-red markings peered out, blinked once, and vanished again.

You don't need to be afraid of losing independence, because of me, the white dragonet bespoke again, there was less desperation in it than before, though. Maybe it was the chicken soup. Or maybe, it was her.

Constance put the bowl down (well, she tried putting it down and Wilson took it from mid air before it dropped on the plush white carpet below) and stared at her lap, and then her right hand found its way to the dragon's paw. This wouldn't be a big dragon, but wow those claws sure were sharp already, and Wilson probably would wince at them poking through his sofa's cushion.

(She didn't notice the claw marks already there, from a variety of small paws...)

"I... feel better now," Constance said, exhaling slowly. "Maybe it was the party, there was so much going on and it-"

"It overwhelmed your senses, I know, trust me. My family is... rather strongly empathic." Wilson's smirk said volumes.

She turned to the dragonet, who was absolutely breathtakingly pretty. "We ... don't have to mention this to him, right?" She hoped he understood she meant her Lord. "We... we're okay. I'm okay. I'm so, so sorry."

The dragonet nuzzled against her, happy, but - still hungry, my One. I am Deemth'Alkar, I will do my best for you.

They did eventually make their way back to the party, where she proudly showed off this dragon - and realized that one of his clutch siblings and one of their knockoff-breeds had found partners here among her group... Including... Voivode himself?!

Bond: Feersia, Voluntsary Multibond with Kleisepath (see LAEJU)
Meeting Notes: It was the middle of the party, three hours until midnight, and Feersia was still on edge. This place was just packed with too many people for their senses to handle, so they'd spent a lot of time lurking in the long, dimmer hallways between the casino and the ballroom, or winding their way up the stairs to the balconies. They didn't give off their fear-inducing power too often, and they'd considered shifting into something more bipedal but that would have taken so much energy it wouldn't be worthwhile. So they rested, watching, waiting, snacking on the fresh cut meats that had been reserved more for the dragons than guests. Who was going to stop them? They'd been mistaken for a dragon more than once.

They had donned a black cloak and white draped shirt, to fit in more with the theme, and at least that meant they didn't have to waste energy attempting to shift into a grey tone of skin. There was more than enough black and white out there, Feersia wondered if their eyes were deceiving them since there was so little actual color here.

Their eyes were definitely not deceiving them when two dragons, both small but one considerably smaller than the other even as a hatchling, bumbled over to the hallway where Feersia was curled up people-watching. Both of them had speckly markings, and shiny bits, they were quite attractive actually!

"It's nice to know you like us!" One of them, the darker and smaller of them spoke. Those words were echoed in the mind of that lighter one.

We would like to return where you go, if you would have us? That mind called out, I am Kleisepath, this is Squenth.

Feersia couldn't help but notice that their minds both bore straight into their own, latching on and ... resting there rather comfortably. Feersia nodded simply once, and welcomed the pair. It felt strange, with not one but two intelligent minds nested up with their own, but then the naga noticed something else - the intensity and annoyance factor of the party seemed to have diminished strongly.

Feersia sent their own thought, to both: you are hungry, I know where the meat is! You will enjoy this meal, as I do.

If she'd known they were going to be able to go offworld to hunt, she would have prepared better! But no, no - the fun to be had here was obvious from the start. That start included "messing with Mystic" of course. The mage was so furious, so absolutely deliciously angry, that she almost started a fight right then and there at the entrance to the Ball venue. How completely predictable.

But the Death Court had an invitation, and had chosen to come in style, graced with dark cloths and silks, onyx and opal garnishes. Though the dragons were colorful their adornments were in keeping with the theme. Perhaps a chess game here and there might entertain his people, perhaps a distraction of abstract war games might do for some. Hexeth considered them more seriously now, it was all smacking them in the face at this party!

She was honestly a little surprised that Naxi'im hadn't smacked Mystic in the face, but he was dead serious when he brushed off her accusations and they bantered... Before Baeris got there, anyway. The Death Court would have so much to talk about after this...

For the moment however, she went her way through the big portal after her King and their young companion, and marveled at the mass of dragons assembled. And Hexeth was ... let's be fair, slightly relieved that Takith wasn't present. There would be too much temptation for that dragoness - queen or no - to cause trouble.

They weren't here for trouble. They were here for the potential, and it walked around them every once in a while for the entire duration of the event. She had a slightly different view on the private chambers for the hatchlings, than her King did: a little privacy was very nice, indeed, a bit of preparation time for the hatchlings. They were still led out by their parents, mostly, and still searched high and low, but they were far from helpless mewling babies when they did so.

Magic, the power here was so strong it kept young Pernese dragons from dying without their bond in those first hours of life. Good. At least the hosts of this event had that going for them: they knew that dragons should be allowed to live and thrive in their own time and their own direction.

And it also seemed that time was weird here. It felt like days, lounging on soft piles of hide and down, eating fresh meat from those hunts beyond the world, watching mock battles of strong dragons and amazing power displays! The night stretched into its last hour before midnight, before she even realized it. That it was created and hosted by humans, that did still bother her - and definitely their King. But some of them seemed to at least understand that it was a time of change.

We have changed a little, a small mental voice came to the Queen. I am sure that my clutch mates will be shocked that I want to be with a dragon and not a human-person. I don't know any human-person. I don't care to.

Hexeth gazed around, realizing that almost all the clutches of dragons had been moved out of their hatching dens, and there were several now sitting nearby. The one who had bravely spoken to her was short-legged, broad, and had those incredibly improbable checkerboard wingsails common to the genetically-engineered dragonets. But it was clearly a Pernese-type, which made their choice even more profound.

Beside it, another with those bold marked wings sat, tail curled around their long and muscular legs. We come together, with you, it bespoke, we need to remain together, but we will come with you. The taller and more slender dragonet nuzzled their bond, and a third joined in.

This one was not marked as an engineered project, and was bigger than both by a long shot. Though... that said, the granite-speckled dragonet was much smaller than most other breeds here outright. He was truly beautiful, though, elegant, he looked like a statue, freshly rained upon. And, he seemed quite conscious of Hexeth's opinion on him.

"Why thank you," he said, verbally speaking though with a high child-like voice for a dragon. "I am quite happy to come with you all, my family always likes being around a lot of folk. I'm pleased to be your family if you'll have me."

They introduced themselves, finally. The smallest, lowest-to-the-ground was Hiegesu, their longer and slender partner Jodrasa, and the cat-like one called himself Cebth'Alkar. They were each so different, but all united in their desire to remain with the Death Court, or at least, to not be going over to the human-sided venue and pick among those foul two-leggers for their companionship.

The Blooded Gold queen rolled her head around and leaned down toward the trio. They could easily scramble to her shoulders, hatchlings were so small... even smaller for two of the three. But they were hungry! And Hexeth would provide them with their first proper meal - and likely, many more to come.

Bond: Negerd Midgee, Impression, Multibond
Meeting Notes: The chief medical officer of the Refugium had quite a bit to say about how many different species were represented - both on their station, and here at the Ball. While she wanted to hang out with a number of the other medical professionals - Baeris and Melissa and whoever else clumped up around them - she did manage to successfully distract herself to move through the venue. It was smaller than the Refugium by quite a bit obviously, but it felt like it was vast. Her bond Reatuath also conveyed some of that: the draconic portion of the venue was 'still indoors' but it was bigger than most of their 'cavern space' decks.

After being chided by Amah about it, she tried to think of this more as a vacation, more of a spontaneous and fun venture, but still... Midgee was hardly the sort to be easily able to put aside thoughts of medical situations or research.

And of course she got to exercise a little of that medical work when one of the ballroom acts went a little wrong. She wasn't in the nearest area to them just at that moment, but Negerd made sure that the performers whose dragons had not been injured were doing okay - was this a plot? Was there some danger? No, turned out it was just a tiny new and inexperienced dragon... With terrible timing.

Agreed, they could have been more patient, but then we all wanted to come out and see everything. Here we are, by the way. The mental voice was strong and sure, and Negerd felt a Reatuath suddenly perk up.

Who's this? Oh wonderful! Come to the dragon side, I want to meet you!

You've seen us, I needed to introduce myself to our bond, the dragonet explained, more to the other dragon lurking in Negerd's mind. Sleek and shiny, she looked positively polished under all the lights. Mutely, the physician followed this small catlike dragon through one of the archways, one which the dragonet had been eager to pass. Back into the 'dragon side' of the venue suddenly Negerd felt very small. Dragons here came in all sizes and shapes, beautifully colored, but almost all of them had a black or white sash, lace over their horns, or some other decoration to fit with the theme of the ball itself.

Reatuath gently slid up to them; this new dragon would be barely the size of her head! But Midgee did make note that she had dark horn buds in a similar style to her existing, Alskyran, dragon - a feature which was a bit odd considering she was also very ... catlike.

How many different kinds of dragons are there, though? I see that one has paws, and another one has thumbs, and that one has feathers... they're all so varied!

"We will definitely make a good team," Negerd said, assessing the dragonet's inquisitive and confident nature. "Now, you'll have to share your quarters, if that's all right."

I don't want to cause a bother.

We won't need to move because of you, the multicolored dragoness asserted. Their quarters would be just fine for a little dragonet!

Though his family had once been respected, even holding high office in Matmata, some generations ago the Fey crept into his line. Through his grandmother who posed as a courtesan but wound up murdering clients, this Taint had lingered. Exiled shortly after his birth, the family has had a variety of homes, but remained in none of them longer than a few years at a time. Baishin would love to settle down... but the Fey influence in him is very strong indeed, and he has made a profession out of the dark skills he has flowing through him.

One evening he was relaxing at a seedy club with a reputation for high-class 'hidden' visitors, and among the performers was an incredibly talented dancer. Black furred, a jackal or similar canine Wyldkin, doing a sabre dance with veils and blades in equal number. Captivated, she took note of him staring at her from behind the candles on his table, big eyes unblinking and the same color as the flames.

Her name was Sivoney and he was... for the first time, emotionally invested. He needed to find out more about her. And when he did... it was with the first pure emotion he'd ever truly felt: astonishment. Because she was a dragon rider. And not the local dragons, no. Oh no, goodness not them. Those beastly things. No, her dragon was very different from them in so many ways. Considerably smaller at her adult size, that was certain. More than that though, able to do things that even the great wise dragons here on Dragondeep could: teleport. From this world to another, or even more than one other world.

Baishin's education served him well enough to know that 'worlds' were what was reached through the Portals and Gates here on Dragondeep. So this dragon Odoruth could move through dimensions like those portals? Fascinating. But Sivoney was also quite intriguing herself. She'd been through different... incarnations? Lives? Perhaps just a hidden shapeshifter? Because she claimed she'd been 'furless' and been on worlds that were incredibly varied before reaching this one.

She had an 'in' to a thing, an event, and she wanted him to come with her to it. She'd be performing, and there would be dragons there. Many of them. So he'd be... doing what exactly? He wasn't sure. But when they got there this thing was amazing. Dazzling.

So filled with people, who didn't know him. Who didn't understand what 'fey taint' could even be. Plenty of them who were ... shall we say, less than up and up anyway? In one of the few parts of the venue where you could see the 'dragon side' of things, he stared long and hard at some of those he could glimpse. There truly were a staggering array of 'different' types of these things... People. Creatures. Dragon was such a blanket term.

Am I a blanket? I don't think I look like a blanket.

Baishin looked around suddenly, distracted from watching the Stage show and all the flying flitters or whatever they were. Something had entered his space - no, not space, his mind?

Yes! It is me, just me. Lerrth'Alkar, yours. You are the right one for me. But... am I a blanket though?

From his table near one wall, shared - grudgingly - with a couple other single people whenever they felt like resting from their energetic dancing nearby, Baishin slowly rose to his feet. One of the dancers almost got up with him, thinking he was about to head to the ball floor. But no, she chuckled to herself and sat back down. This grey cat was about to meet a blindingly white cat-like dragonet...

His eyes were as large as they'd ever been, wide with surprise. "You are Lerrth'Alkar," he pronounced it flawlessly the first time. The dragonet nodded. Baishin knelt, this little hatchling was quite small, and would never be a big dragon if the parents, now framing the entry to the dragon-side, were any indication.

"As for your question," Baishin said with a purr and a smile, "only a blanket of snow, I think."

Bond: Ks'uiy Zhiag, Voluntary Multibond with Spinteyth
Meeting Notes: This was a decent party, Ks'uiy felt pretty comfortable among all the similarly colored dragons and guests in shades common to his own body. He'd been asked to help with the stage productions - he could produce sparkling lights and make reflective surfaces dazzle, and he'd done just that a little earlier. Now it was three hours until midnight, he'd been given currencies to play with in reward... it was time to gamble!

He was neck-deep in a complex card game that a Zekiran had taught him earlier, when an extremely skinny girl whipped around behind him, scattering his cards and ... oh, heh, she had been going for his pouch? That might have been amusing to watch as she discovered it was all these weird localized vouchers in use here... She apologized, sped off in a bit of a daze, while the others at the table reset their own hands to politely back up a turn. No one wanted him to lose just because some thief almost pickpocketed him. Ks'uiy got on with the betting!

He'd been doing this for a while before he realized that he needed to get some food into him. With his lower arms he pulled in his winnings (pretty much all of those coin bits on the table, it looked like a couple others there were relieved he was going his way now), with his upper pair he waved at one of the dapper little dragons for help in getting all this exchanged.

That dragon (was it a dragonet? hatchling? new clone? it couldn't possibly have been a full grown dragon) chipperly led him over to the booth at the entrance to the casino, and then tilted its long head. It continued to lead him around, the buffet table was vast and packed with good food! He heard it creeling and assumed that it was going back to its work station in the casino. He was wrong.

Instead, the little dragon pushed into the dance hall, vanishing quickly among the tail coats and dresses and other dragons. Ks'uiy chuckled, found a plate, a big mug for a drink, and started in on that lovely looking food. Right before he was able to sit at one of the smaller tables by the exotic windows to the deep sea, that little tuxedo-marked dragon reappeared and gave a chittering, incomprehensible speech before rushing away again.

"Wonder what that was about," the Zeddian muttered, and tried to take a bite of the salmon... But it was gone. In its place, there was a shiny silvery-grey snout. Connected to a very shiny silvery grey dragon. Though catlike in most respects, it certainly pulled a good 'puppy dog eyebrow twist' at him. "I... guess you can have that fish, I got more..."

"You had more," a strange, high voice proclaimed on his other side. The third chair at this intimate table was now filled with a very bold white-winged silver dragon. Who had the last of the ham slice he'd been about to eat, gulped it back, and tilted her head in a very similar fashion to the other one opposite.

Wait, how did he know that was a she?

Because you are our bond, the catlike one announced. His voice was very silky, when he added, "can I have some more?"

They have buckets of the stuff over there, the slightly larger female told him. But I like plates! Ooh can I have that one? The smaller bowl that Ks'uiy had taken with 'Swedish Meatballs' in it lifted off the table, tilted, spilled onto his salad, and one of the balls rolled into the dragonet's open mouth.

"I would like to introduce Spinteyth, and I am Duteth'Alkar," the catlike one said, using his double-thumbed wing wrist to snag another piece of sushi.

"You were taking too long, we didn't get any food yet." Spinteyth said, around another gobbling of meatball mixed with lettuce. At this rate, Ks'uiy would never get to eat!

Bond: Otohori, Voluntary Bond
Meeting Notes: That one time he had been on an Esports team might have prepared him for the crowds at shows, but it wasn't really like that here. Not even like a smaller show, this Checkerboard Ball was very different than showing up on a stage and performing, and then maybe a small meet-and-greet. Oto didn't shy away from things like big crowds, and didn't mind the loudness of an event. He might be known as the nerd, but that was because he didn't just dance and perform - he liked the technical aspects just as much as the physical ones.

And frankly the technical aspects of this event were mind-blowing. Literally, baffling to him. He wandered through the Casino and the smaller stages, as well as right up to that big Stage ... and its highly improbable framing windows that did not look out into the depths of the ocean and instead showed wild landscapes or space.

It was while he was gazing at one of those weird alien lands - a place that he looked up in the pamphlet for the event and it said it was 'Xen' - that he was joined by another presence that seemed to have as much interest in watching the floating islands as he did. A faint rustling of leathery wings alerted him to the dragonet's presence, and when Oto looked down he saw a very small, very slick looking grey and black dragon. His hide, if you could call something that shiny 'hide', caught the lights from inside the ballroom, but he was also cast in the weirdly violet-orange light coming from the big window. His wings were mottled in a kind of night-time static. Head held proudly, and with great interest in whatever those yellow eyes saw, Oto was taken by surprise when the dragon spoke.

"I like that place, I wonder if you could perform there?"

"... I... you know what, I would have to ask about that." Oto glanced back to the strange land, saw some flying creatures that absolutely dwarfed even the bigger dragons here. "It might need to be ... maybe, inside... somewhere protected."

"But inside, the sound wouldn't be as grand, would it," the dragon pointed out. Oto got the distinct impression that the dragon was right - it was one thing to have a bunch of speakers and sound-dampening in place to get a good sound out of a theater, but another entirely to be able to just crank up the tracks and dance with the echoes.

"Oooh, dancing with the echoes," the dragon stood and stretched like a cat, "that might make a terrific song."

At some point, between that stretch and the impromptu routine that Love♥Letter performed with the other idol-styled bands, Oto learned the name of this little dragon, Wivith'Alkar, and would have to get used to the dragon's mental energy being inside his mind. It wasn't unlike having a team-chat going, really, and the extra senses could be felt as if it was a second camera view on screen. He liked it!

Oto would bring up the possibility of performing on those other worlds, once they met up with his cousin and they could talk shop...

Bond: Rasnala Trewen, Multibond
Meeting Notes: It was clear that the dragon had been waiting, sitting beside others that watched in rapt attention as the stunt team swung or dove overhead. As another group of hatchlings came out, a fair few of them scattered to their new friends and bonds, but one of them strayed closer to this dark dragonet and plopped down beside them. The more speckled grey with white shiny wings was possibly going to be the same mass as the darker checkerboard-winged one, but was clearly a very different shape.

"What'cha waiting for?" The grey one asked. The black dragonet gave a sigh, forefeet nervously shifting around on the marble floor.

My bond, the strong one, with the feathers, she is so high, and I can't fly yet. I would join her if I could.

The sleeker and more modestly marked grey tilted his head at them, "are you sure you can't fly yet? I mean. Your wings are gonna be big." And it was true, those heavily marked wings already said volumes about the potential of this hatchling. And it appeared that the dragon barely realized it. When it looked like the long winged one was about to try actually ramping up and flying, however, the grey intervened.

"You might want to still wait?" He winced as the long wings flapped and cleared out a few of the other onlookers a couple meters.

Why?! You just said--

"I think they have a pattern they want to finish, don't want to break their concentration."

I wouldn't want to see her fall! The dragonet suddenly realized. They plopped their butt back down on the marble floor, though their wings were still up in a prepared posture. I am Hunante, I already know my one's name. It is Rasnala.

"I'm Spaanth'Alkar, do you think I could come with you?"

To meet my bond? Of course! Oh, and she will too, the dragonet looked over to another of Spaanth's brood, all but opposite in her light and dark values.

"It's good to have family with you," Spaanth pinged his clutch sister who looked up curiously from the other side of the ballroom floor, and knew that she too was absolutely entranced by the performance above, waiting. There was a third, more patient, who had arrived just before the Alkar brood, with their eyes upon the other member of that crew. Oh the trouble they were all going to get into once they grew up!

It didn't take too long for that performance to end, the crew gathering their long ropes and trapeeze equipment. Obviously eager, Hunante definitely wanted to find their place at Rasnala's side, Spaanth followed suit, and looked for the other - ah there they were. This would be quite the group!

"And... and who are ... you?" Rasnala said, still breathing deeply from her performance efforts. The dragon had all but bowled her over when she was attempting to shake hands with a more humanoid onlooker.

Hunante announced themself with a strong and proud flapping, and then Spaanth nudged his way under those big wings. "And I am Spaanth'Alkar, I would love to see what my friend here does... and keep track of you all, if that's okay."

Rasnala looked around, quite surprised at not one but two dragons. She only felt the adoring gaze of the dark one in her mind, but on its fringes, yes - there it was, almost a web woven between several dragons and now the stunt team. "I don't think I have any choice but to vote you in," she replied.

Bond: Albion, Voluntary Multibond with Knuurth'Alkar and whoever else they collect
Meeting Notes: (other pages+)
There were so many people, dragons, dragons that were also people, and creatures that defied even his knowledge here. But it was with interest toward some of those scurrying young hatchlings that Albion looked. The sleeker ones that had been there the whole time were attentive and useful, but now that a good number of other breeds were out on the floor it was clear that every one of them would have their proper job and place.

But they were milling about, just like the throng of party goers. Several of them would congregate around groups, and the part ways with their special 'one', with nuzzling and sometimes chittering dragon hatchling speech. It was quite endearing.

"Are we endearing?" A voice asked.

Another replied, "I think so, I think you're endearing. I'm not sure what that means though."

"Then how can you know I am? Be sure first!"

The voices had moved around, and Albion looked down - had to twist a bit because there were two dragons now weaving around his legs. Careful of both each other and his own feet, the dragonets made for quite the dramatic pair. One very dark and shiny, the other a lot lighter and with wings covered with checkerboard patterns. They eventually noticed that they were now being watched, and both of them came to halts, each before his knees - and hardly even approaching half their height when they sat.

"I know we're small," the dark one said, "but we can be of use, can't we?"

"I know I can be," the checkerboarded one replied.

Neither had turned their gaze from him. He felt a little strange, he felt those eyes even when he closed his own.

That is because we will be yours from now until forever, the dark one sent a thought.

We will also love to see who else will be part of our family, the checked one thought. Their minds were very distinct but also very intimate.

Their hunger, the newness of everything, their enjoyment of having found him, all those things crashed into Albion's mind. So this was what it was like, to be 'bonded'? But they also weren't wrong: he could feel how eager they were to spot others, perhaps bring home new friends. They caught his imagination, an image of a helpful flock of dragonets to move goods or spot prey, no matter their size.

I like that idea, I am Knuurth'Alkar. And this is Tsaplaeju, and we are hungry, yes...

Bond: Multibond with Raptor Queens and all their group
Meeting Notes: There were so many people, and dragons, and dragon people... Everything all at once, and that was exactly as the trio of raptor queens liked it. They weren't entirely clear on this whole 'telling time' thing, but the clock said it was 'three hours to midnight' when more dragons than ever were filling the ballroom's floor. The music hadn't stopped, the dancing hadn't stopped, but it had condensed over to the area with the floor orchestra. That left plenty of room, for such tiny-tiny dragons! Frou realized that the parents weren't even as tall as she was! Their offspring - and their little knockoffs - were adorable.

Two of them came to this group of raptors, but only one of them bore her own color scheme and not the checkerboard pattern. It was clear she needed help, even if they'd been hatched a while ago and were now dry and had had a snack to tide them over, the clutch, as well as the knockoffs, needed to be attached to someone more responsible. Well, more responsible than a hatchling dragon. Not ... responsible.

And 'not responsible' was what the Raptors were all about. So they welcomed this quiet but sensibly smart effervescent looking dragoness and her tinier companion into the fold. Her powers with life sense would come in so handy.

Bond: Irin Krismyar, Impressed
Meeting Notes: at 3 hours until midnight, it was an almost endless parade of varied - and tiny - dragonets that came from their hatching nooks. What they lacked in size, they absolutely made up for in sheer volume, how many eggs did these little things even produce?! There were white with black, black with white, silvery and graphite dragons. There were a few that were tall and lean, and then... these glossy, sleek, catlike dragonets that prowled with more grace than most.

They seemed slightly intimidated by some folks, but obviously took this in stride. A dragon could choose who they left this place with, right? If they did?

"If we did not leave, that would mean someone would be going home without us," something said.

Irin furrowed her brow. On looking downward (... quite a way down in fact) she spotted a dragon black as tar save for the absolutely brilliant white wings. Big sharp claws emerged from her paws, and there would be horns on her head eventually. Irin looked around to the others of this type - and realized that she was significantly bigger than her clutch mates.

I do not have to be large to be the queen, the dragonet bespoke, but then Irin's heart skipped a beat, I will be going home with you, you know.

Irin straightened up a bit, surprised, "a... queen wants to come home with me?"

"The very one," that dark and impressively shiny dragoness said, with a very catlike purr.

Bond: Sponsored multibond to Eita (and others as collected)
Meeting Notes: "Yes I would," a tiny voice hissed.

"You don't even know what it means," another echoed back in a sing-song and oddly formed voice.

"I know better than you, you don't even need one!"

"If you want a bond so badly why don't you just get one?"

"What makes you think I didn't already choose?" The creature growled, stern and mighty and adorable. The other one gave off a scoffing chuffle.

And then it realized, "hey... waaaaait a minute!"

Voivode watched as two small dark checerkboard-winged dragonets stomped by. They apparently had bonded to one another, well perhaps a one-sided ... nah, he gave a tiny smirk as the smaller dark one nudged up against the larger (they were both tiny!) snappy-marked helper dragonet and that one nuzzled their new permanent friend protectively. When they noticed the vampire lord watching, the bigger of the pair raised its head high and proud.

The night is almost over, we want to go home with you, see what your ... kingdom? is like! I am Eita, this is Nalokeba, and I suppose we come as a team.

The darker one sat up straighter, though tiredly, We can guard things, or do jobs, or...

"You should just get some meat, and sleep it off, little ones," Voivode said softly. He could easily imagine the tiny dark Nalokeba curled up like a cat... he could imagine that because the dragon did exactly that the moment it found a lap - his.

Bond: Plover, Voluntary Bond
Meeting Notes: Plover was pretty sure that there were other elves from her bloodline here, in this bizarre undersea place. But she liked it, in fact she loved it. She could sense the tide all around, the fish and the whales and those dragons! It wasn't every day that she could stand in front of a big window observing the ocean - oh wait, actually it kind of was every day, or every other day anyway, what with Poddie's Oceanography course. She commonly spent her lunch hour before that class down in the dome too, just to enjoy the locale that much more. This one was considerably deeper and in much colder, more dangerous waters than the school's offshore science dome.

She was happy that she'd been among those students selected to come to this event, and she strongly suspected that being an aquatic born elf had a lot to do with that choice. Plover spotted her Draconic Lit teacher, Bethoi Kwaturr the wyvern-like dragon, over in the draconic area, but there was no way in for the bipeds. Those big arched magical doors separating the nests and activities only allowed dragons to move easily through them. Of course she'd tried. They all did. Any of the kids from Carramba (and some from other locations) made an attempt to sneak in there.

Plover was among those elves who had little fear of humans, she was young enough to have been exposed to them as 'kind and okay to be around' - but her uncle, her cousins that were much older... they didn't care for her being so pal-paly around human kind. Some day maybe she'd bring her best friend around to the Cove, and... well, maybe. Maybe not. Plover already had a penchant for getting into trouble, which was why her family so eagerly agreed to Ainea's request to bring her to Carramba.

So Plover mingled and even eagerly danced mostly with those rabbit-folk with their floor-pounding stomps. There were a couple handsome guys around that group too, maybe they should hang out a little more some day...

But she was distracted, her magical senses were strong, and pinged all night because there was so much going on here tonight. But there was something specific now, and sure enough one of those big archways let loose at three hours until Midnight with not one but two massive groups of rather small dragons. One pair of parents were much larger than the other, and even the biggest of the small pair were hardly a match for the checkerboard-winged dragonets of the former. They were all so pretty though! And maybe because she was attuned to magic, she had been among the few who saw all those little dragonets as they were just about to scurry to their new friends - the checkerboard ones in particular seemed so well organized. Deepest shiny black to brightest sparkly white, the only other thing they had on them were those fantastic checkered wings. And Plover counted four hands of them for each pair that time - 'sixteen' each, she counted in human to herself.

What's counting for? A voice sent to her mind. She instantly knew it was one of the dragons, but which one?

It's... for keeping track of things. For time, and how much stuff, things like that. I think my people don't use it much, but where I live... where you'll be living? It's pretty important. She paused and giggled, If I didn't know numbers I wouldn't be able to figure out how many chunks of meat to put in this bowl for you to eat and not get sick! There was actually a guide printed up above the distribution table, showing potential breeds and their requirements with easily understood images. One, two, three, enough! She plopped that meat in a bowl - she'd wandered close to that feeding area for new bonds already, half in a daze.

The dragonet that came to her, with the shiny grey hide and long tail that ended in a fork, looked at her with interest. It was small, the size of an adult housecat about now, and wouldn't get tremendously much larger. Big enough maybe to help scout a bit but probably only barely big enough to ride, should the elfess require it. Those big wings though, even if the elf was twice as tall as the dragon, the wings would absolutely support her weight in flight!

I'm Gagakeba, and you're mine.

"I know, isn't it great? We're gonna count all the things! Claws, tails, horns, wings!"

Bond: Lux Willow, Impressed, Multibond
Meeting Notes: The middle of the evening, the height of the party, three hours to midnight - it was so busy and packed with fun, at least for most. Lux was a bit intimidated, perhaps the press of the dancers, or the drunken euphoria of the party itself led her mind to be a little overwhelmed. Her owl was somewhere nearby, but likely was hanging out with other familiars or pets up in the rafters. It was too bright and too busy for her, probably. There were mental pings of all types around her though, both in and out of the venue itself. Beyond those big (hopefully thick, definitely magical) windows it was deep sea whales and dragons, inside there were already draconic minds demanding attention.

From two sides, Lux realized there were very demanding hungry dragons heading her way. And one of them was barely half the size of Ophelia her owl! As a hatchling this seemed pretty dangerous, but the checkerboard-winged knockoff still made their way right toward Lux, confidently sidestepping dancers, drunks, and even other bigger dragons.

They will be quite speedy, bespoke a mind that was strong and sure, I bet they will give that bird a challenge.

An incredibly dark and shiny dragoness met nose to nose with that brightly white one, and put her wing over the smaller one to protect it.

Lux still felt the intense hunger coming off both of them, and realized... "Wait, ... wait, both of you want to come with me?" She asked, baffled. She didn't realize this could happen.

"Of course, I am Rhoiboth, you are both mine," the obsidian gem dragon said, with a little difficulty. Learning how to speak fresh out of the shell was really amazing too! Lux knelt and picked up the tiny white pawn, who gave off a trilling yawn, and the larger dragoness helped herself to Lux's other shoulder. Neither of them would be big, maybe not even big enough to ride, but that seemed to be fine - as, eventually, it looked as though Indigo had found herself one that would get very large!

Size isn't everything, the little white calling itself Dyalkeba sighed. Lux hugged them both, and even offered Ophelia some of that fresh-cut meat they got to eat.

Bond: Multibond with Raptor Queens and all their group
Meeting Notes: There were so many people, and dragons, and dragon people... Everything all at once, and that was exactly as the trio of raptor queens liked it. They weren't entirely clear on this whole 'telling time' thing, but the clock said it was 'three hours to midnight' when more dragons than ever were filling the ballroom's floor. The music hadn't stopped, the dancing hadn't stopped, but it had condensed over to the area with the floor orchestra. That left plenty of room, for such tiny-tiny dragons! Frou realized that the parents weren't even as tall as she was! Their offspring - and their little knockoffs - were adorable.

Two of them came to this group of raptors, but only one of them bore her own color scheme and not the checkerboard pattern. It was clear she needed help, even if they'd been hatched a while ago and were now dry and had had a snack to tide them over, the clutch, as well as the knockoffs, needed to be attached to someone more responsible. Well, more responsible than a hatchling dragon. Not ... responsible.

And 'not responsible' was what the Raptors were all about. So they welcomed this quiet but sensibly smart effervescent looking dragoness and her tinier companion into the fold. Her powers with life sense would come in so handy.

Bond: Sanuzee ahlVahh multibond with Gerflaeju
Meeting Notes: on page