Dragon Hatching and Bonding Stories, Collected Edition

Merajanay and Bales apa Larsis'Iann

Size comparison Piece and Knockoff/Pawn

Drak-like supermutt, four legs with heavy claws, fluff on back legs; four wings two main and two butt-wings, with claws on the fore and Shatternak-styled wing barbs on hind; head has two horns, ear floof, a silky mane, multicolored sclera with pupil; tail has floof and a sharp (poison?) spine; they are furry but they are also egg-layers

Naming notes: Since they are supermutt with Legend Drak bloodlines they have a given name, a clutch moniker (in this case nye standing for New Year's Eve/nt for several different pairs), an ' elide, and a parent-determined last portion (in this case females get nnay, males get aynn). If they breed with further Drak like lines, or those which have naming conventions of some sort, this should carry logically, though the complexity of the Legend Drak naming has been simplified a bit for this clutch

Knockoff stats: 3 average with one stat at 2 and one at 5 your choice; powers most abilities (telepathy, verbal speech, local teleport) at 3, but exceptionally strong specific-location Portal (6) and 5 choose what kind of spit/sting they produce; do not use or carry the shifting or genetic abilities of full pieces regardless of promotion from knockoff

This clutch is debuted in the latter portion of 4 hours until Midnight, though they take their time finding all their companions

Merajanay Sanctuary of the Sun,
fusion - silver Feyesta + Ghost of Chance
+ Oeseparamay + Viscor
Telepathy
Teleport (Local, Nexus)
Color/Pattern Shift^
Genetic Manipulation of Offspring
Poison Tail Sting
Multibond or Non-bond acceptable
Bales apa Larsis'Iann Baskar Giveaway, day Galia ilbala'Aenn
+ mud Kaion apari'Ilas
Verbal Speech (excellent)
Telepathy (poor)
Portal Production (local, w/others)
Acid Spit
Non-bond acceptable
3.24.23 NOTE that Bales is not considered a 'drak' at this point, being entirely outside of normal Icarian standards. If you wish to alter your records as such that's fine, but going forward remember that these offspring won't appear in the Icarian db.

Because Merajanay can alter her own offspring, these may choose the type of effects in sting and spit

^Color or Pattern Shifting can be carried in all, only active in some

Full Pieces
Burmei nye'aynn Bond : Dasha Hargorth, Bask ahlTahnhadaa, Voluntary Companionship, Multibond
Meeting Notes : Well, she'd signed up for this. Dasha was unsure now, whether this was all really a good idea. Thrown together with a few disparate candidates and brought to this massive place was not really on her list of things to do, but. Here they were.

They were here, she had faintly overheard or maybe faintly listened in on further discussions, because of the others - the 'why did you invite them' 'how can they possibly show up here' 'how did they even' dragons. The Death Court. So... maybe she still wanted to be here, maybe she and the others still were absolutely ready or able to find a dragon bond or companion here. But they were here as a revenge stunt ? In the long run, would that matter? Only by virtue of knowing how to filter gossip from nonsense did she realize that the many whispered rumors circling in the dining hall back home were very, very real.

Now, though, they were at the Ball and they were all dazzled and hopeful. What's this now? She recognized someone right away, at the coat-and-hat check. Lord Noone?! Here? Oh. He was handing out proper capes, fancy ruffled collars; she got the treatment too: a kind of garland in white silk that she realized had flower designs embroidered in it in satiny white thread. She wondered if she'd get to keep it. She wondered how they could possibly take anything back from people once all was said and done, so of course she'd keep it.

There was precious little lead time for them, and though they were all given the once-over and twice-checked in their (sometimes) rented gear, Dasha still felt a touch out of place. But she realized they all felt this way. This place was 'out' of their experience, after all. Mystic and her group were already present, apparently, because every one of this weird little collection of candidates could hear her simmering and heated words, over on a balcony. It wasn't hard to hear her specific voice, even among the throngs that were milling around, dancing to the music, or even performing over the ballroom's big floor. But it wasn't hard, either, to distract herself from that measured, irate voice - to watch an aerial dance, quite fun.

Dasha felt a bump at her elbow and immediately realized that she had been staring in wonder at those performers, not paying attention to where she was going. She'd put one foot in front of the other and had usually been able to avoid crashing into anyone given her upbringing in the kitchens of the Warren. Busy places, lots of people to move around, she was used to it. But this place seemed to be drawing her attention anywhere but right in front of her.

"Oh I'm sorry," she uttered and then glanced down when the bump continued at her arm. Where a shiny, satin-sparkling dragonet sat patiently looking up at her. A horse-like face, but with gigantic floofy curls around its long ears, and two small horn buds on its forehead. A shimmering mane of platinum and white tumbled down its neck, and those wings were like molten silver!

No need to be sorry, I'm the one bumped into you ! The mental voice was so gentle, slightly masculine, all very curious and a little bit tired. I've been waiting but not for very long. I don't think you were here when I first looked.

Dasha realized that... this... was her dragon? This beautiful creature like a cloud poured out of mercury?

I am! And... I think we should wait and watch. I am Burmei nye'aynn, I'll come with you wherever you wish. But there's definitely ... something.

"Something, or some one?" Dasha finally found her voice, a rarity while back home. The dragon gave a furry-shouldered shrug, unsure yet.

Little Burmei did need to be fed, and then took a bit of a nap while Dasha was busy reading up on the breeds in the pamphlet they got. It was harder to study that pamphlet when the music got raucous, or when the more booming and blustery operatic performance came onto The Stage. After that though... With an hour to go, Dasha had also enjoyed some food and drink - food she neither had to prepare nor serve! bonus! - as well as hazarded a few inexpert steps on the dance floor. She was much more comfortable up on the balcony watching... and listening to the Warren's leadership gripe and grumble to each other...

As the hour bell chimed, and the acts started up once more, Burmei woke up and shook off his slumber a little. We should go down there! He bespoke somewhat urgently.

Dasha picked up the hatchling and hefted him gently over her shoulder and using her new sash to support him (oh how Noone would throw a fit if that sash got ripped by those already-sharp claws) and headed straight down to the ballroom's big - crowded - floor. The dragons who were walking there now were proud little things! Heads similar to Burmei's, well marginally, and...

That one! That one! There you are! Burmei struggled a little and then tumbled to the floor, rolled (tail and legs and wings and hind wings going all directions) and came up next to a littler one - one with the distinctive event's checkerboard pattern improbably on their body?!

Dasha watched as her faintly-older and slightly-bigger Burmei came to a halt near this dragonet and they nuzzled muzzles. Bask is ours! Yours and mine!

It settled its wings over its very boggling back, and looked up at her with big blue eyes, and nodded. "W...wait, both of ours?" Dasha wasn't sure, she'd heard about riders who had more than one dragon to their name, but was never - ever - one to imagine that one would be her !

"I didn't imagine being with anyone else!" The little dragon could speak? Already? And again it nodded, proudly. They made their second trip to the meat counter, and Dasha had to rein in Burmei from gobbling up another big share of it!

Feibuu nye'nnay

Bond : Lucius Darknoll, Multibond (see others too)
Meeting Notes (for all Lucius): It felt fairly strange to be standing at a bar picking up a dark beer with a pale head - and the bartender was apparently a raccoon woman. Now, she wasn't unattractive, in fact she was... markedly pretty. But if she seemed ill at ease with any of the humans or elves or whatever else was here, she didn't show it in any way. She had a brilliant smile with little pointy teeth, an afro which almost covered her ears, velvety brown skin with black and grey accents, and that distinct mask marking on her face; he wasn't sure whether the fur trim over her snug shiny grey dress was her own or part of the outfit. Lucius was apt to stare, but it appeared she was completely comfortable with that - or she was so used to it that it didn't seem to matter. She pushed the Guinness at him with a napkin under it and a wink. "Have some fun," she suggested.

It was less than an hour later when she took a break, found him, and dragged him to the dance floor. She had a fuller tail than any 'real' raccoon but then she was either half-human or ... something else. Not a shifter, not like him. And yet, this was the most fun he'd had in years. Brandy tugged on his elbow while they were in mid-swing, "Something is happening," she said, and glanced to the edge of the room.

Others paused in their dance too, because a pair of stunning dragons were leading their offspring out from their nook and through the big room. They were on the tall side, but long too, with tails that just kept going, and were covered in a downy fluff even as hatchlings. Most of the little ones bumbled about, occasionally staggering or pausing to gain their footing again. Some of them sniffed at a dancer, moved around, looked at those at the tables beyond, or outright stood up and gave chittering discussions to their new friend. They sure were shiny, and ran the whole gamut between rich black and sparkly white.

One of them nudged Brandy, who laughed, "well, I suppose I can give him up for a dance or two." She'd gone back to her station at the wide bar before he could even speak. But then there was something else to consider, and that was the black furred dragon who had interrupted.

"Mine," she said, "you, we wait now." Perhaps she spoke this way because - well, she was just hatched, wasn't she? She'd certainly become more adept at it with time.

Lucius blinked a few times after pondering that. "Wait, you're -"

"Mine, Feibuu's," she reiterated. And then she walked with confidence to a section of the floor that had been prepared for new dragons to feed. Lucius wasn't the only one with the baffled expression, others definitely were amused or confused in varying degrees by their new friends. He could feel the gentle ping of her mind, though it wasn't as invasive as he expected if this was a bond?

No, that came an hour or so later, when some described as 'Pernese' came out. He heard muttering that the parents were pretty far from 'pure' if that was the breed, but he didn't know what that might mean, and it didn't matter. A dragon much lighter than the first though still clearly 'dark' stomped up and sat down with a stare directly at Feibuu and then at Lucius.

"It is okay," Feibuu said. She didn't seem exasperated, but she might want to work on her inflection.

I want to come with you too. I am Mawlaeju and I am hungry.

Lucius found that he knew both of those things before the dragon even expressed them telepathically. Back to the feeding floor it was! This was one of the 'knockoff' types? Well it seemed perfectly good, if smaller than some. Checkerboard patterns improbably on its wings, now that would be ... challenging, in some settings.

Even more challenging would be the second dragonet that insisted they come along with the existing pair. This one was bicolored with a dark body and lighter belly, but still had the checkerboard patternings on its wings and ridges. (Though apparently these were 'much more like Pernese' than before...) Their features were different, but then again weren't all species just a bit different from place to place? Taomami inserted themselves into the werewolf's mind with a gentle pleased feeling. Much more pleased when they were full of fresh cut meat, and resting with the other two.

His pack was growing, Lucius realized. At least two of them would remain pretty small, but he did wonder... how would he feed them all? Where would they roost?

As the trio snoozed and he sipped at champagne toward midnight, he decided he'd figure that out when he got home. For now, he watched the celebration with a smile.

Virz nye'nnay FRIZZ's 2024 Birthday giftie! (on Ty's pickup for info)
Corem nye'aynn Bond : Tynan, Voluntary Multibond to rabbit group (see others!)

They all had 'ears to spare', this group of rabbit-folk and their furless elf companion, but that wasn't what they would be remembered for. And from early in the evening on arrival, to halfway through the night, they danced and thumped their way through the crowd. A few attendees actually tried to join in, to limited success. They needed big feet. Heck, the orchestra between Stage sets even obliged them with a drum-heavy jig that they would try and emulate when they all got back home!

They did take breaks, there was food aplenty, there were performances on that Stage that required more silence and slow-dancing than their energetic bouncing would allow. There was even gambling to be done in another room, so they did that while they couldn't dance. Gwylfai confidently did a few jokes and gags on the small stage in there, got reasonable (if polite) laughs and applause. And every once in a while, at least twice per hour (or perceived hour, they didn't know how much time was actually elapsing here in this weird magical place) there were dragons to gawk at.

A bunch of their orphan friend group so far had hooked up with some mighty impressive dragons: black and shiny, white and sleek. But now it was growing later in the evening, even their durable feet were getting a bit numb from all the dancing. They'd selected a smaller table next to the bigger one seating Voivode and the other grown-ups, and got to watch even from there as another dragon found its friend among his cabal.

After the brief lull on the dance floor that had indicated another of the clutches were being released, it was Valmai that sighed deeply. "Wonder if anyone's gonna come home with us," she leaned back on the black-cushioned chair. "I guess it was worth a try."

"Night's still going," Tynan nudged her with his elbow, "look it's not even run an hour until midnight. That leaves plenty of time for us."

"Now now," Kelsea chided, "we are here for it, not just to dance and drink," she raised her glass at the dance floor where it looked like more dragons were filtering through the crowd, "and we're going to go home proud and happy." She nodded and that was that - apparently.

Gwylfai fiddled with the pamphlet on the table, flipping pages and glancing up occasionally, matching dragonet to advertised pair pretty easily. And something on those pages made them blink rapidly.

"We should- go," the blue-haired rabbit suggested, suddenly.

The others wondered very briefly about this, but the tall rabbit had already risen and was walking almost in a trance toward the dance floor. Well, more dancing it was, then! But - it wasn't them dancing.

It was a foursome of small, freshly hatched dragons. Two were nearly opposite in coloration, one brilliantly white, the other gritty-dark, they were bigger than the other two. Those others were both checkerboard-winged, and both in shades of middle-grey. All of them had features unique to their clutches, from extra wings to split tails and spikes and big big wings. And they...

They were doing the stomp dance. Well they were trying to anyway. They used their tails, and snapped their wings above their backs, instead of trying to hurt their paws (big as some were) on the floor. Circling, pause, stomp stomp jump, circle... The dragonets were intent on each other for the most part, but then the bigger of them looked up and gave a creeling call. They circle stomped their way toward the rabbits and elf.

You!

You're for us!

We're for you!

Come join!

Four minds, mixed together. Those among the rabbit group with any amount of empathic power - even suppressed - could tell that the dragons had already bonded one another, and now they were on the lookout for companions to help them grow! Some of those minds were much more intimately tangled with the bipeds.

You will do much for me, and I will do my best for you. I am Vrickezmeth - it was to Gwylfai that the snowy-white dragoness marched.

To Kelsea, the small grey and long-checkerboard-winged Rokante proclaimed their pride and allegiance, smacking their long tail against the floor.

The tiniest of the group did a spin and nearly tumbled into Valmai, who burst out laughing, "Lyxkeba, you need to practice if you're going to get it right!"

And the large dark drak-winged one finally bumped into Tynan, I am Corem Nye'aynn, we will keep them all safe and sound, all together.

So they did have slightly tighter connections to individuals, but by the end of the ball they knew that there was no separating this group of dragons from each other, let alone from the rabbits!

Zeos nye'nnay

Bond : Ait' Pillar-taj, Companionship / sponsor only, though Zeos isn't interested in leaving the Matriarch's side any time soon, is also not 'super possessive' should another come along (should one come along, they would really, really want to be very careful and quite strong, deferential, because queen is as queen does)
Meeting Notes : The night was young, 4 hours to midnight, and Pillar had seen shapes similar to the ones attempting to be graceful on their way around the edge of the large ballroom. Those similar shapes - with the bright checkerboard patterns? They were of little interest to the Matriarch. They were cute, noisy. And for the most part, so were these. But the ones attended by their disparate white and black parents were larger by a good bit than the checkerboard-bearers, and had plenty of noteworthy features. Those Pillar could easily see from this distance with her eyes said they would eventually all grow taller at the shoulder than any of her tribe were at the head, perhaps even higher than their long arms could stretch up. While she waited for word from Rao, Pillar allowed her eyes to continue gazing on these little dragons being carefully shown off. They were definitely pretty, and had quite a vast variety of source material going on in their genetics.

With that thought in mind, finding out more about this mish-mash that seemed to have turned out quite successfully, Ait' Pillar-taj stood from her place at one black-and-white-draped table, leaving her water and neatly placed empty dish and bowl behind. As each of the dragons swaggered or tumbled by, she spotted hallmarks of mild genetic engineering, and much stronger evidence that their mother was very engineered.

Pillar was aware that there were people watching her , perhaps even with the same kinds of eyes as she had. Because she felt a very distinct scan looking over her own genetics whenever she walked past that one loud-mouthed pale haired girl. Had she taken a moment or two to look back, she'd have seen not-molten-yellow looking boldly at her, amber eyes that matched a small shard of crystal draped around her pale freckled neck, focusing with curiosity and then glancing away to a slender figure up on one of the balconies. Rao would know who she was looking at, then. He was also looking at that same slinky cat-eyed man.

But what Pillar was looking at just now, was a dark and bright dragon. This one stood tall and proud, didn't look at the floor when she walked, and placed her feet carefully and methodically in time with the music that played on the opposite side of the chamber. She had confidence and sureity on her side. She was regal. She was very clearly a queen in her own right. That dragon lifted her head and gently brought herself to a halt after veering slightly off the path of the rest. They continued. She remained. The only splash of color that anyone had seen from these dragons were their eyes, and this one's had odd multicolored sclera, but bright cyan shaded irises. They were focused on the dark woman who slowly raised her brow.

"You have a place for me," the dragonet said; it couldn't have been her first words, they were too well-formed. It was also not a question.

"I like you," Pillar said to the dragonet. She made careful note of those watching nearby, and then slipped into telepathic speech to continue. Where you're bright, you're very bright; where you're dark, you're pitch dark.

Like you, the dragonet caught on quickly to being silent when there were ears on them.

Asp nye'aynn

Bond : Uto, Voluntary Companionship; Deln ahlTahnhadaa, Multibond
Meeting Notes : (see also Deln )

"Is it cheating if it's supposed to be karaoke?" Uto asked, "I mean, we've got stage experience."

The smaller casino stage where he and Oto lurked was still busy with a loudly off-key rendition of some popular tune. Oto shrugged, "I think it's fine, this one's super drunk, but the girl before him was obviously a pro too."

So they did sign up for a performance, slated just in a few minutes. They didn't have much time to prepare but that hardly mattered, they knew the lyrics of this rap and had occasionally wanted to perform it 'live' anyway. The boys weren't so young that they got kicked out of the bar area, and weren't so old that they didn't appreciate 'today's music' trends. Their audience seemed a little older, a little less rap-inclined, but still they recognized talent when they heard it, and the pair got a rousing cheer when they finished.

That cheer was accented by a knickering, almost whinny, from a sleek, black and white dragon. Oto's eyes got wide, and he scooted away - wasn't for him, nope! He felt it a bit intrusive to stick around just now. Uto on the other hand stood with his perfectly-mascara'd eyes wide open.

"You like me! I liked you! I will come with you if you want, if it's okay," the dragon spoke, pretty clearly for a young hatchling. "Can I watch you sing some more?"

"I mean, of course you can?" Uto breathed. The dragon's mind touched his with a name: Asp nye'aynn. "Asp, well you certainly have a stinger there, don't you?" Uto looked at the dragon's tail, which as an adult would probably be fully covered in that fluffy tuft of longer fur, but for now, had a visibly sharp stinger.

"I will remember to be careful with that," Asp said confidently. "Can we watch the stunt team? Can we do stunts?"

"Maybe we will later," Uto chuckled, "for now yeah, let's watch those trapeeze artists."

(Continued later on in Deln)

Nuvani nye'aynn

Bond: Shan, Voluntary Companionship (not bonded, not really sponsored, just 'hi, friendo')
Meeting Notes: The party was certainly ... a party. Not where he wanted to be, to say the least. He had to admit that everyone who'd forced him to come was doing their level best to keep him either distracted, occupied, or otherwise not attempting to flee. Was he supposed to be grateful for them for that?

He saw Shy around, but... it was just too crowded around him to bother approaching, at least just yet. Early in the evening, energy was high with those who actually wanted to be in that press and surge.

The food was pretty good, he enjoyed it. And the view of - well, everywhere that you could see from those grand ballroom windows? There were multiple worlds in sight, not merely the undersea venue's exterior. Fascinated by this, he did spend quite a bit of time ignoring the dancing going on behind him on the big ballroom floor, and instead looking through each of them in turn. This one had the sea floor - and a fair few dragons looking into the windows with curiosity - this other had a foggy beach as seen from under a long, old, wooden pier. Another still showed deep space, at least until someone yelled something on the Stage nearby and that view overtook the rest of the windows with space moving rapidly to another location... Were the windows just projectors?

No, he held his hand on the glass, it was very solid and definitely a window. But what they showed was certainly affected by magic, technology, or perhaps something else. He heard Ilaerios shooing away some folks who appeared to be heading over to drag the man to the dance floor. Earlier, he'd done the same thing when a bunch of dragons hatched and people thought he was among the hatchlings, or something.

About three hours until midnight, however, his bodyguards and friends vanished into the dance floor and ... more than one came out of it with a dragonet held aloft by their strong arms or vanishing into the crowd with new cohorts. Great. That left Widget to distract him, and a much bigger grumpy barrier between him and the dancers and revelry was needed. Shan decided to abandon the big windows, up close anyway, and head to one of the balconies with another plate of dessert. Up there it seemed a lot quieter though no less stunning of a view.

In fact from there, he could see the patterns and formations of the dancing, which did distract him a little. He drew in a long breath, sighed it out.

I remember you, bespoke a voice. It was quiet but sure, feminine, familiar, but in a distant manner.

He didn't exactly bristle, because the voice was pleasant. Shan turned and then did a double take. He definitely recognized the outline, the fluff, the spines. "I... I don't know you but..."

We were both ... young, she gave a rumbling chuckle. This one, you missed him when I brought my clutch out. He wants to meet you, you know.

Under the silvery dragoness' main wing was a small very brightly white dragon with big paws. He'd be big, surely. He was fluffy, and - oh, now he remembered that clutch as it was brought across the dance floor, they were more... wet? Not really freshly hatched but definitely not fully preened and alert like this one. His mother nudged him with her lower wings. Go on, introduce yourself, she encouraged.

The dragonet took a few steps, not too many because the balcony booth was suited to humanoid-sized creatures. It's nice to meet you, he bespoke, I'm Nuvani, I wanted to go watch the whales with you earlier but everyone was in the way.

That caused Shan's eyebrows to go up, "Really? Well... I ... suppose?"

Don't just suppose, go do that! Alarith suggested, but from where, Shan wasn't sure. He thought he detected something in the mental background... dragons ... playing dice games? Wait, it was a Bunkers and Badasses game? What was that?

Merajanay's gentle chuff brought him back to the present, he'd become used to 'being asked to do things' after Alarith came to him. He dedicated his attention to the brightly white and black dragonet, wove down to the windows once more.

Pyrdakayu nye'nnay Bond: Barbakane Dahash
Meeting Notes: on page
Ranidetu nye'nnay

Bond: Amah, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: The presence of so many amazing dragons and people filled Amah with both joy and a touch of anxiety: don't screw up. Of course you won't screw up. You're you! The delegation entered grandly, paraded around equally with flourish and style, and finally were absorbed by the mass of those enjoying the evening.

Up on the balconies, the reason why their patron back at the Refugium remained behind - sore feelings, still-sore wounds perhaps, in the sight of Shy and ... and the Death Court that would arrive later. Amah had seen only the results of that dangerous meeting, but the dragons behaved themselves surprisingly well after all was said and done. He was going to be heading down to the speed dating event on the dragon side - and almost gloated about being 'allowed' to attend on both sides of the venue, because most of the humanoids were stopped from moving between them by ... magic? technological barriers? something else? But he shifted back to his full feathery-armored glory and was going to just stroll right through.

However even on this side of the event, Amah was a flirt and star of his own little batch of groupies when he made his presence known at the edge of the ball floor. There was room for several medium sized dragons up above, who at this point in the evening were seen in the form of a circle of small ones doing an intricate dance with a bunch of small flitters forming what looked like bright whoosh lines. Quite clever!

It was when one of those flits changed direction unexpectedly and smashed into the wing of another dragon, then fell flat to the floor, that Amah instinctively rushed over, any thoughts of going on a quickie fling all but forgotten. Though small, the little creature was still practically the only thing Amah could see. But oh how it hurt ... it was in so much pain.

And then it was abruptly covered in brightly bubbling goop. There was an audible gasp from so many people around them, Amah's included. But he looked next to him at an elegantly long dragonet - one who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere by his side. She had small buds on her head that showed she would have horns, and already bore shiny bicolored fur along her neck and tail. There was such concentration on her muzzle, and her floofy ears did all the expression that eyebrows on a human might.

"Will it be okay?" She asked, pointedly at Amah.

Who then blinked quickly and realized: that flitter was in stasis now - the pain had gone, replaced by a sort of fuzzy feeling of unconsciousness. And that was good, because it had broken its neck with that swift fall to the floor. Very carefully, Amah turned his attention on the flitter, and then its owner who was wide-eyed and in tears over it. A small pale dragon with bright checkerboard wings slunk up to the girl, apologetically whining.

"It will be all right," Amah said, shifting into a humanoid form in order to more easily manipulate the fallen (and... slimy) flitter. With his size no longer an issue, he carefully concentrated on the flitter's injuries. Very shortly, as the spit from the dragon evaporated and allowed it to breathe normally, it started making noises objecting to being handled by someone other than its owner.

He watched her collect the little black flit with such concern, and then she turned to the smaller hatchling beside her. "It's okay, I know it was an accident... it happens. We're just lucky these two were here!"

The crowd that had gathered began to disperse, right around the time Amah realized that yes... They were two now. The platinum-brushed dragoness looked a little tired, slightly shaken, but still deserved the attention and praise.

You certainly knew just what to do, Amah sent, that was quick thinking.

"I couldn't let it suffer like that," she said. She wrapped her tail around her forefeet, almost shy. "I am Ranidetu nye'nnay and I would like to come with you, we... make a good team?"

Others agreed, but the only one whose words meant anything to her was Amah.

Tozemos nye'aynn (open)
   
Black Pawns
Scodmeba

Bond: Sprig, Impression
Meeting Notes: (see also GESU )
They came at the same time, out from one of the dragon sided portals through the main ballroom. Couldn't have been more different in colors save for those checkerboard wings. Rather like the pair of people who slunk through the large venue attempting to avoid detection by their respective groups.

Sprig and Pebble watched as this pair of dragons mirrored their every move, dark and light, light and dark. When Sprig leaned back, the lighter dragon sat on its haunches. When Pebble peeked out from around a marble pillar, the dark dragon scooted around to the other side and peered back.

"You cannot hide from us!" That dark dragon said, and though it was small, it wasn't going to remain small all its life given the elegant shapes of its parent-clutch. The lighter one did not speak, but seemed to nod in agreement with its broad, blunt head, while staring right at Sprig.

"We will be in so much trouble," Pebble said, quietly, "how can we explain this?"

Their groups had been at this event less than an hour, and while their leaders did acknowledge that they were both in attendance (silently, sullenly) they had not interacted beyond a little glaring at one another.

But no one had counted on this pair grasping how important it was that both of their courts come to this event together. Sprig and Pebble had confided in one another, perhaps for years, perhaps for centuries. But they couldn't openly show this cooperation, could they?

Until now, perhaps... Until now.

Where the one dragon was long and lean, the other was somewhat squat and burly. Where one of them had silken hair and fluffy starts to fur trim on their ankles, the other was smooth hided and small-clawed. Yet they stood together, now, beside one another in solidarity.

I am Oaggesu, the squatter one bespoke to Sprig, You made the right decision to bring your leader here.

I am Scodmeba, the dark silken-maned one thought to Pebble, We will make a difference, as will you.

"But how?" Both Pebble and Sprig said, half surprised that the other had also spoken.

"Bring us home and find out," Scormeba announced.

We will help every way we can, Oaggesu bespoke them both.

Brilmeba

Bond : Ettrian, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes : ( also see above ) It had been a lot of work to make sure that his brother even showed up, let alone had fun here at this big party. The thought that he might have slunk away was obvious - he'd chosen a table over by one wall where the kitchens connected to the buffet area, so like him to want eyes near him but not on him. Maybe after tonight he'd realize that scars were common and people were made of more than skin?

The clock said it was four hours until the midnight bell, and a big batch of amazingly pretty dragons with more wings to go around than typical showed up through one of the archways. One was very dark, still brightly lit up the room with its checkerboard wings and silky fur.

"I am Brilmeba! Yours!" It cried, and snatched the sandwich that Ettrian was just about to munch on! With the size of the parents, he wasn't sure whether this would be a big dragon or a little one, because as he dutifully brought the dragon over to the meats and checkup area, he'd been told to expect the 'knockoffs' to remain quite small compared to their clutch mates. He wasn't sure why this would be true but it didn't matter, he had a little friend now and he was bound and determined to show them off!

PB3

(adopt)

Avirmeba

Bond: Odette, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: It was no suprise that the dancing had started early and kept going all night long. And early on as well, the first few clutches of dragons were shown off! Odette marveled at them, they were gifted with not one but two pairs of wings? Long and lean, and complete with adorable fluff on their ears and hind feet. While the dance floor cleared a little, it was obvious that the dragons coming out just now weren't interrupting, they were joining in.

One of them butted its head against Odette's hip, horn buds in two colors on its head, and lovely rainbow with yellow eyes gazed at her. "I would like to dance with you, will my tail be in the way?"

She laughed as Oswald bowed out, allowing his partner to invent a new dance with this little dragon.

Juddmeba

Bond : Menetavro, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes : With his companions just as stunned and amazed at having arrived intact and safe from that battleground, Meneatvro breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't know where they had gone, but anywhere would be good in their eyes, given what they had just been through. The area was well lit beyond their immediate area, but this room was... interesting. They'd burst through the portal just as small explosive bottles had been shattering around them, probably thrown by Grilgus, and had all but face-planted into this room. Strewn as they were, injured and ears ringing from the battle, it took a good few moments for them to realize it was quiet and sedate here.

It was an infirmary? It sure looked that way: there were comfortable beds with curtains separating them, counters with endless bottles or boxes, and the smell of antiseptic and perhaps magic in the air. The lights were bright here but they were not pointed at anything but the corners or ceiling, care was being taken to keep people from being blinded.

It was Jasmal that recovered first, the cleric who had taken their hands and with confidence pushed them away from the doomed battle. And as was her nature - very obvious even though they had all hardly even met to learn their names, breathing introductions as they dragged each other out of there - she picked herself up and examined each of them, particularly the Kenku. Thankfully that bird-girl had been on the top of the heap, and Menetavro on the bottom. Wouldn't do too well if their positions had been reversed!

As they separated and prodded limbs or rubbed the backs of their heads, checking for broken bones or any open wounds, the Minotaur noticed motion at the entrance, and girded himself once more. It was so easy to fall into that battle mode, but this was no place for brandishing any weapons. The people who entered looked like physicians, though a few were of no typical race he'd ever seen. Well one of them might have passed for Tabaxi, but the other was too tall to be human, not big enough to be a giant, and had four arms?

With those she expertly held a device in one pair and ran the hands of her other pair along each of their foreheads, shoulders, another wound-check by expert eyes indeed. The feline gave a few words to the air, and the small pieces of glass that had embedded themselves in Menetavro's forearms vanished into dust. A dark-skinned human man had to finally grasp Jasmal's shoulders and sit her down so she could be examined.

Though at first they spoke strange words, soon the group could understand them - probably magic. The minotaur was the first cleared to go 'to the party', whatever that meant.

He knew soon enough... As they shunted him out of the infirmary and into the nearby hallway, told him to find a place to rest up or just go on and enjoy himself, it absolutely was a party. A big one. Apparently not even in full swing yet? But there were... more people than the minotaur could count even just on the big ballroom floor.

And there were also dragons. Not like... the ones that he had heard about. Not leaping over villages burning them down and eating all the cattle dragons. But elegant ones, long and lean, handsome ones. Some of them had bright checkerboard patterns on their wings or parts, how did that even work? Well, one of them was busy dodging another's wing, when it ran into Menetavro. The fighter was still apt to be jumpy, and it was a good thing too, because there was a dangerous looking spike at the end of the dragonet's tail. Barely covered by fluffy fur, it looked so much like the one that...

"I am sorry, I am sorry!" The dragon spoke? A rush of words, and its big clawed forelimbs quickly gathered up its long and sharp tail. "Sorry!"

"It's fine?" Menetavro said, "It was an accident, I saw them run in front of you." That seemed to bring the little mottled grey dragon some relief. "That's a mighty sharp point you have." He paused, "I once was stabbed by a stinger like that, it nearly killed me, there was poison in it."

That made the dragon's eyes go wide, "I have poison too, it wasn't me! It wasn't!"

Menetavro rumbled a long, increasingly jovial laugh. "Oh of course it wasn't!" He introduced himself, and learned that the dragon's name was Juddmeba, and that perhaps he'd like to wait for the horned man's new friends once they were all patched up.

Glowmeba Bond: (shard's)
PB7 (adopt)
PB8 (adopt)
White Pawns
PW1 (adopt)
PW2 (adopt)
Skormeba

Bond : Kreeordsun Mirrhen, Voluntary Multibond with Bos ahlTahnhadaa (EVUFAD)
Meeting Notes : The name tumbled from her lips numerous times, but she had yet to hear it repeated correctly more than once or twice. But then she was used to that. The Mirrhen family did tend to choose ... well, stupidly long names for their children. Of course they were the types that consulted with Peridian who could sense all their powers and mutations in advance of birth, and in compelling ways choosing a name became a way of nudging their kids into specific niches. Her half-sister for instance was Ohm'rix, the 'glitterstone lure' who true to her name had become rather rich from the shiny stuff she dug out of their family land holds.

But Ohm'rix wasn't animal tuned. Almost everyone else in the family had some kind of power over them, some folks even felt sorry for the stone-shaper. Even when one of the Mirrhen clan didn't choose to enter the Pelatih field and raise or train animals, they often dealt with them, betted on races, or did good business deals while hunting them. But it didn't matter here, this place was far better suited to those who had abilities like her own, Kreeordsun ran a communications array down in the offshore belt. This spot had technology coming out of its ears.

It also had dragons. Which was simply delightful for Kreeordsun, because she heard their minds singing and chittering all night long, right up until the 'one hour till midnight' bell. It was music that she preferred over the stage presentations, anyway. A few of these dragons really pulled at her powers, too. While most Zekiran dragons were... well, beasts, these were absolutely not animals. They were not to be trifled with, nor bartered, nor ordered around into battle. They might wind up in battles - those big spikey dragons that showed up and collected a batch of young hatchlings would certainly be training their brood here for dangerous combat missions. But Kreeordsun considered that many would be excellent for... well, subterfuge.

People could tell when she was listening in on things, her ears would give it away easily. But... But a dragon, in the shape that a few of these had? Oh, how people would underestimate just exactly how smart some of them were! Secrets could be told, thinking that a mount like one of them was 'merely' like a Steed.

"What is a 'steed'?" Asked a strangely muffled voice. The fact that it was asked out loud, where she'd merely been thinking on the matter, was of great importance.

Kreeordsun looked around, down, and saw not one but two small dragons... Both of whom were absolutely Steed-based!

"Why, something like you, and your friend!" She replied, and sent a mental image of one of her own prize winning show Steeds to them. The pair perked up, the one with ears tilting their head, the one with horn buds doing the same in the other direction. Kreeordsun definitely detected Zekiran genetics in the one... how interesting...

"She thinks I am interesting!" That one said, and the other butted its head against them. "Okay okay she thinks you are too," they added a moment later.

The other dragon, with four wings and two horn buds in an unusual arrangement on their forehead, curled its very long tail around its feet and looked proud of itself. Much more quiet, except for the distinct clicking of those already big claws on the marble dance floor. She caught their names, Bos ahlTahnhadaa (oh that was definitely a Zekiran name wasn't it?) and Skormeba, as they proudly strutted around with her.

Kreeordsun realized she'd need to start looking into carnivore diets, when she introduced them both to the feeding area... She couldn't afford to lose any of the animals she bred or trained, to these two hungry ones...

PW4 (adopt)
Barmeba

Bond: Imke, Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: They came out while the group was dancing, the music didn't pause. In fact the music seemed to energize these long mutiple-winged dragonets. If Imke had learned anything from her weeks of practice at the dance studio, it was to end the move before looking away distracted - so she let Isidoor swing her to a low dip and she tapped his shoulder twice to indicate a break. A lot of other couples were pausing too, as the proud little furry dragonets spread in a not-really-organized fashion out from their side nook. It was hardly four hours to midnight, and already dragons were being shown off.

All the way across the ballroom, their chipper voices mixing with laughter and cheering as they found friends among the dancers. Imke wanted to get a better look! And one of them, apparently, wanted a better look of her!

Hello! Hello! I am Barmeba! Would you show me how to do that? I might be clumsy at first.

"Well ... I was too, you'll learn!"

Clarmeba Bond: Q ? , Voluntary Companionship
Meeting Notes: on page
PW7 (adopt)
Sparmeba

Bond: Derion, Sponsorship
Meeting Notes: It was actually quite early in the evening, and while one of their little group was over enjoying the draconic section, Derion strutted about the entire venue just checking it all out. From the rafters above the main ball floor (where a couple kids were roosting between dances) and behind the casino's hidden strip club curtains (hmmm, hmmmm), around each and every one of the stunning tall arched windows bordering the Stage - offering views of worlds that could hardly be reached by flying, or even just outside at the deep sea, and finally coming to rest at one of the balcony tables above it all. He overheard quite a bit of juicy dirt from some tables - politics, business, trade. Even a couple arguments about egg-laying versus live-bearing, interesting, but not why he was here.

No, that would be more or less to show off. And as he'd wandered the areas, he got responses, oh yes. It was odd though, until he thought about it: he wasn't particularly a rarity here. This place was jam packed with a huge variety of people from any number of worlds or planets or eras. He spotted other furry types, some of them were almost like his breed, but then he knew better than to assume that they actually were. Although... his trip through the strip club, there was a gorgeous lady not stripping but instead dealing at one of the card tables: her appearance betrayed a lemur-like nimbleness and long tail - though her fingers were also sometimes a little too long, and sometimes they were bat wings. He had to blink a few times to realize that she was a shapeshifter with multiple forms. Also she was taken. There was a large tiger-elk guy who occasionally wandered by to chuckle at her about 'why aren't you dancing' and she elbowed him good and hard in the gut.

When he did sit down to eat a little, he felt pings from the dragons, that things were going smoothly for them. He felt a touch of something odd lingering in Sybara's mental touch. Not sure why. He'd find out if he found out. Maybe she'd keep it a secret. Maybe she'd gloat. Who knows?

The clock was barely touching '4 hours' until midnight (it had already been more than several hours, in his estimation, what was wrong with this clock?) when a group of springy, sproingy, gangly dragonets bounded out from the dragon sided area. A multitude of them. Flapping and scampering and sliding on the marble floor below, Derion chuckled at their antics. He went back to munching on wonderful breadsticks and dipping them in spicy cheese.

He hadn't noticed a marbled grey shape slipping up the balcony stairs, around poles and people with exactly the same ease. It moved with purpose over to where Derion was sitting, and stuck its nose between his head and his hand to chomp the bigger piece of bread Derion had just loaded with jalapeno cheese.

The dragon gulped it down and stood on the curved black booth seat, long tail draped halfway over the rest, "delicious, spicy, more," it said, sniffing at the variety of bowls and plates on the table looking for the...

The cheese fondue fountain. This dragonet stuck its whole face right into it and practically siphoned the entire supply of hot and spicy cheese down in one gulp. It couldn't speak with that much cheese in its mouth. Perfect! Still hungry!

"...Maaaaaybe you should find the dragon food? Instead?" Derion said, as casually as he possibly could given that there was a dragon almost as long as he was tall (including tail) standing on his lap. Checkerboard patterned wings obscured most of the scene for the L'meridii, until finally the dragon turned to perch on the opposite side of the table, draped its (dangerously spiked) tail off the balcony.

As it then started to preen, Derion picked tail floof out of his mouth, and looked for at least something to replace the bite he hadn't been able to take. "I'm Sparmeba, I'll find more. Bee Are Bee!" And it dove backwards in a surprisingly elegant flip to scrounge something up.

Apparently, Sparmeba was going to come home with them, because after returning (laden with meats, sauces, a veggie platter and more breadsticks, and a 'spicy sno-cone' that seemed to finally sate its desire for 'moar spice') it would not leave Derion's side.

   
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