Image Credits: Mystic

Name: Aell

Gender: Female

Age/DOB: 10

Origin: Tris'hath, Cadma, Lanutha, Terglinear

Family: brother Mayken, adoptive parents Renee and Adrian

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Icarus Processing:

Name: Mayken

Gender: Male

Age/DOB: 13

Origin: Tris'hath, Lanuthan, Terglinear

Family: sister Aell, adoptive parents Renee and Adrian

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Mayken and Aell are no strangers to dragons. They grew up in Terglinear, which is Lanuthan's largest city and home to the Audils. As such, they regularly spotted the High Prince with his blue Blakoreth sailing overhead. ?

Born the children of dock workers, they knew a hard life, but not one lacking in love. They always had food on the table and clothes on their backs, though the quality might not have been the best, and they always went to bed knowing that their parents cherished them. ?

An unfortunate accident stole their parents away when Aell was still barely old enough to understand what was going on. They were shipped off to a relative, who cooed over them and gave them condolences, and then attempted to separate them and send Mayken off to a boarding school. ?

Within days of arrival, Mayken escaped the school, ran back to his sister, and absconded with her in the night. ?

A short while later, they were found and returned. They escaped again upon being threatened with a different boarding school. ?

This time when they were returned, no attempt was made to send them off to school. They were simply relinquished to an orphanage. ?

Aell was adopted almost immediately, but within days, Mayken once again showed up to break her out. Time and again, this routine repeated, with Mayken growing more bitter and distrustful of adults with each incident. ?

Finally, they were sent off to an orphanage on the edges of the princelet, where hopefully their reputation as escape artists might not follow them.

** (copied from other pages)

“You’ll win her over,” Myia said, giving his side a gentle nudge. “You always do.”

::Perhaps you could save your focus on the matron until later,:: Penorith cut in, his mental threads wrapping tight around K’lter’s attention and drawing it toward the cloudy blue dragon. ::For now, I may need assistance with one of these youths. He is attempting to bribe us with… fish.::

K’lter exchanged a look with Myia before heading in the direction of the Warren dragons.

There were a few of the off-world dragons huddled close to them. Those who had come with riders. Two in particular stuck out to him. One was a large, mottled brown with a disapproving expression pulling down the edges of his muzzle. The other was smaller and vibrant blue, but the patterning of her scales placed her as originating from the same world as her large, brown companion.

“Your offer is impractical and insulting,” the red intoned, staring down at his feet.

“Hush. It’s not that bad an offer,” said the blue female beside him.

“How does one young human boy expect to provide us with mountains of fish?” The brown countered. The way he phrased the words put quotes around “mountains” and disdain into his appreciation of fish.

“Fine. Sheep. Goats. Bones. Gold. Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you. All you gotta do is get us out of here right now,” whispered back a young, insistent voice.

K’lter stepped through Senorith’s forelegs and half-hid behind Penorith. Just beyond his bond’s folded wings, he spotted a young, scrappy-looking boy standing in the midst of a forest of dragon legs. Behind him cowered a young girl. The same girl he’d spied waving to the couple from earlier. Though the girl shared a likeness with the boy in the brown of their hair and the lightness of their eyes, she lacked his courage and youthful belief in immortality.

The brown dragon curled scaled lips back from wickedly sharp teeth.

“I do not appreciate the attempt at bribery,” he said in a voice that rumbled with displeasure.

“Well nuts to you then. How about you?” The boy said. He turned and stared up at the blue dragoness with a defiant expression, chin jutting out proudly.

The blue dragoness chuckled in response.

“While I appreciate your offer, I must decline. Our riders would be upset if we just took off on them.”

K’lter cleared his throat and stepped out from behind his bond. He wasn’t about to let one of the children run off, with or without a dragon.

The moment the two youths spotted him, they flew into motion. The girl let out a squeak, her eyes doubling in size. The boy grabbed her hand and yanked her between the legs of the disgruntled brown dragon.

“Easy now,” K’lter said in what he hoped was a disarming voice. Judging by the way the boy backed up with his hand out before him, like he expected to hold K'lter at bay with sheer force of will, he did not succeed.

“You're not taking her,” the boy said.

“I'm not-”

“Don't lie to me!” The words roared out of the boy like a tidal wave. “All you adults are the same. Always making promises and then breaking them. I know you all like her better, but she's my sister. Nothing is ever gonna separate us.”

And for once, K’lter had no response.

It was as if the boy had sucked all the air out of his lungs to fill his own fury-laden rant. K’lter was transported back in time to his youth, where his own sister had made a similar declaration. That hadn't ended well for them.

“What is going on out here?” The matron's voice cut across the field,

K’lter came out of his reverie and stepped around the dragons to put himself in her line of sight.

“It's…” A brother trying to protect his sister. A child attempting to bribe off-world dragons. A dozen things he could have said. “It's nothing.”

“It looks like one of your children is trying to take off with another,” Myia said, throwing K’lter an odd glance as she did.

“Mayken, not again,” matron Marigold said. A heavy sigh followed her words.

She stood a short distance from the doorway, and behind her peeked the curious heads of the hopeful families. Many of them still waited within the orphanage, though they'd made room for Arinya to squeeze her way out.

Yet instead of the gryphon at her side, the matron turned to face the man and woman in white armour.

“As I said, he is a handful. His sister, however, is an angel. She's quiet and well mannered, but she speaks very little. She seems to be more at ease around her brother but he…”

Matron Marigold trailed off, her eyes sliding toward the knot of dragons once more. A few had stepped aside by then to reveal the two youths at the center of their huddle. As soon as they were exposed, Mayken wheeled around and pulled his sister toward an exit path between the brown dragon’s legs.

“Hey, woah! Penorith, stop them,” K’lter called out. Yes, he had been about to cover for them, but that was a moment of weakness. Running away rarely ended well.

Except in their case but that was a different story.

The lithe blue leapt into the air, buoyed himself up with a few flaps, then came down on the other side of the gathering. He crouched low and spread himself out as long as his small frame could manage. It was enough to at least stall the two kids. The other dragons fanned out, and soon they had formed a semi-circle penning them in.

Trapped and increasingly desperate, the boy wheeled around again. His face had taken on a blotchy red hue, and as he scrunched his features up into a mask of rage, he looked like nothing so much as a dried out tomato.

“You can’t take her away from me,” he roared. “We’ll run away again. Wherever you go, I’ll find her, and I’ll take her back. We’re family. Not you.”

“Mayken,” a soft voice cut through the growing chaos. The girl tugged at her brother’s shirt as tears welled in her eyes. “Mayken, stop, please. I want a family.”

“We’re the only family we need,” he shot back without taking his eyes off the matron.

“I want a home,” she went on, putting all of her heart into the last word. “I want a bedroom that’s all mine and toys and… and I want a mom and dad. Mayken, I won’t ever leave you, but I want a mom and dad.”

These words seemed to deflate the boy’s excitement at last. His body relaxed and he looked back at his sister.

“We’ll take them both,” Renee said into the beat of silence that followed.

Matron Marigold frowned and looked the woman in white over.

“Are you certain? He has a great deal of behavioural issues, as he’s already demonstrated.”

“We’re sure,” she said, looking up at Shep.

“A military home might suit him best,” the matron murmured, more to herself than her audience. “Very well then. I’ll finalize the paperwork.”

“You try to separate us and I’ll-”

“I know,” Shep interrupted, holding up his hands in surrender. “You’ll run away. But I’ll tell you right now, you’re wasting your time with Goose. You’ll have better luck with Osprey.”

The boy started, then scrunched his face up in confusion. He turned to stare up at the brown dragon.

“Your name is Goose?”

“It’s a fine name,” the dragon huffed.

“Yeah, for a bird.” Mayken let out a short laugh. Soon, the sound was echoed by his sister. They stood in the center of the field, hugging and laughing, as Shep and Renee walked over to join them.

**

The pair of kids were readied more quickly than some at the orphanage, likely due to the Matron's desire to stop having to chase after Mayken. She knew that Aell would do well as long as she had a stable situation, now if only her brother could manage that same stability.

The family, including their dragons, assembled near the fine Vask once more, and in a few beats of his massive wings, they were sent between and came out chilled but somehow not terrified. Aell clutched on to her new mother, a woman barely bigger than she was right now, but also opened her eyes with surprise and a gasp when they came out over the dry New Mexico desert plateau that would be their new home.

She gasped again when Adrian's pair of dragons flapped hard below the big copper Vask, and the kids' newly adoptive father leapt from the back of the one they were riding, to land precisely onto the shoulder of one of them!

"He didn't say he was going to do that! He just told me to hang on!" Mayken yelled over the wind, but there was not just surprise in his voice, a genuine laugh was there too. His sister, now somewhat crushed between her big brother and their new mom giggled and sqirmed.

"Before you ask," Renee said, "no I am not going to jump off onto my extremely sharp dragon's back!"

Renee knew, though, that the more active Mayken wanted to learn that trick, and it was all she could do to keep his interest on things below them, in order to make sure he didn't try jumping off and landing on a dragon that might not be exactly where he expected.

Carefully however, Drew, situated just in front of them and slightly higher up on Vask's neck, pointed out his second dragon's presence. Her wings were even wider than Vask's, though in almost the same colors. He then sent telepathically to all involved, dragons and humans alike, I will go with Victory, Vask will respond to you, Renee.

She gave a nod, but noticed that Aell did grip just a little harder when the dark skinned and strong shouldered man similarly disembarked from his dragon's neck. But elegantly, the graphite striped orange-and-beige dragoness slipped straight underneath and it was like he'd never been anywhere but her shoulders. Renee could feel the emotion coming from Mayken, awe and admiration. Well placed, she thought.

Now they went over the Rookery proper, from its large northern valley broken up by rolling hills somewhat similar to parts of where the siblings had been before, only these were dry, not barren - they could see bushes and even a few tall strange green plants. Both could see a small township to the north, and a slow, green river that ended at a dam and reservoir nearby, roads barely visible and the occasional bright sparkle of what looked like big mirrors set onto the ground. They would learn of solar power, the hydroelectric dam, even the Bayou - oh, the Bayou! Renee giggled to herself, they would love it there!

In fact, she took the pair on an extended flight over that very area, where the Pecos river was diverted and wound its way into what looked like a strangely lush patch. Aell could see the telltale signs of both dragons and a human-built structure, but they continued their tour over a vast amount of somewhat-samey desert for a time.

The dragons they saw along the way, however, were anything but 'samey'. Aell and her brother took turns pointing and showing each new discovery. That big blue one, that speedy red, what about that black one? There were so many. Renee managed to speak clearly over the still-present wind as they flew, "see those dents in the mesa's sides?"

When she knew they both saw them, evenly spaced along several layers of the mesa's geology, "those are our dens, you'll see when we come in to land." The top of the mesa had what looked like a lake, covered by foliage and structural lattices that...

"Those protect you from being seen," Mayken asserted, "the ledges on the sides, and the plants over the top both!"

"That is exactly right," Renee said, "and down there, Dry Cove," she pointed at the base of the Mesa, which looked at first like a clump of overgrowth. Bits of structures did poke through, but it looked like it hadn't been in use for a long time. When they eventually landed they would get a more proper tour, and both children seemed thrilled at the thought.

And exhausted. There was so much pent-up energy in Mayken that was spent the moment he put his feet on the dusty Mesa landing area, when they met back up with Adrian, the Corporal picked up the thirteen year old and simply plopped him on his shoulder. Renee knew that he was probably too big for that, but... he really needed it. He needed to know that this would be where he could stay, rather than run from.

The thought did occur to both adults, that running away from the Mesa would be difficult at best, and dangerous at every step, so the first thing in the morning while Renee and Aell were 'shopping' for the new furnishings that their dorm would need using the Mesa's supply computers, Shep sat Mayken down and showed him a map. A wide, three-dimensional printout of the location, formed from extruded plastics and set up with a holographic display over it that projected current hot-spots or activities.

"I don't want you to think that this is like any of the warnings you've heard before," Shep said, quietly but serious. "But even though the Mesa is a well-defended area, it's also in the middle of the damn desert. It gets very hot in the day, and damn cold at night, and there's a lot that will want to eat you out there. So if you want to explore with me, we'll go do that when you're settled in and we get you some proper gear." He flicked the kid's floppy shirt collar, "I know a tailor around here..."

**

Wilson appraised the new boy, Mayken, knowing full well that he was perhaps going to be the most imposing person they might ever meet, if he hadn't already met Matron Marigold. But massive though he was, he asked them questions first. He asked Mayken whether he wanted more than two pairs of pants, if he liked boxers, briefs, or something else underneath. Did he like woven cloth or heavier canvas or silk?

"No...one's asked me what I like," he muttered, quietly. "I don't even know. It's been so long since I've known. If... I ever did."

Carver stood, taller than Shep by at least half a head, but the way his teal colored eyes darted from the child to the wide assembly area that the Mesa had for clothing now... "I think I have something you might like, we can go from there."

He tossed his head, only then did Mayken notice how long this brick wall of a man's hair was, and Mayken followed into that brightly lit room. A tailor shop certainly, how did a guy like this get... no it didn't matter! What mattered was that Wilson was bringing out things and setting them onto a broad, low table. There was a mannequin nearby, which he then started fiddling with to make it appropriate to work on should the boy's outfits need much alteration. The first thing he picked up, Mayken was drawn to it like it was glimmering gold. A pale grey shirt with dark red arms, red trim on the neck and white on the wrists.

"Oh heck yeah that's what I thought you'd like," Wilson muttered with a grin, "that, my boy, is a Baseball Jersey and I can even hook you up with your own embroidered team name and number."

Yeah Mayken didn't know what that was, but the shirt was comfortable, three-quarter length sleeves and that nice material. He wondered what his sister would be in when they hooked back up later!

**

After Renee and Aell finished selecting some of the bed frames, mattresses, new desks and chairs suitable for the kids, Constance and Dolores came by to greet them, with Renee getting very emotional with Dolores beaming proudly. "See, I told you, I told you there would be something right for once." Dolores hugged her friend and swayed a bit, while Constance stepped a little closer to Aell.

The shy girl clearly wanted to duck behind something or someone, but she felt comforted by this brown-skinned woman, not knowing that that was actually part of Constance's Vortal power. Calm, just enough curiosity, doesn't need to be bold, just not afraid of us. No need to be afraid. She confirmed with Renee, who allowed the intrusion.

"Wilson says your brother is enjoying himself in the tailor's," Dolores said, when Renee sniffled and wiped the happy tears from her face. "Constance works there sometimes too, let's go see what they're up to?"

They were all introduced properly over the course of the afternoon, but to Aell the most amazing thing about those two women was that they glowed. Like, things hovered around one of them, and light splashed around the other... "Are you magic?" Aell asked carefully as they made their way through the facility.

"We're what we call 'Vortal'," Constance said, and it was in a tone that Renee realized she'd practiced many times - as one of the local teaching staff she was used to having kids ask questions like that. Most of the people they rescued were normal, this dimension never had the same kind of experimental genetic engineering going on, at least not above the surface of the ocean... It wasn't clear whether Aell understood everything that was said, but Renee pulled her aside a little while they were grabbing lunch.

"If you have a question, just ask it." She looked up at the sisters, "they grew up together with a lot of other kids that could do amazing things, you'll meet many of them. But what they - and I - have in common is that we prefer to just get to the point. It's hard to keep things from telepaths..."

Aell bit her lip but stared at her new mother's eyes. "Like a dragon?"

Renee nodded and smiled. "Like most dragons here, though some like my own aren't exactly as gifted as others. But we have things that are like magic, yes!"

As they reached the tailors, and Wilson was showing Mayken with Shep's help what "baseball" was, Aell asked, "what magic do you do?"

Renee grinned with a wink, "you'll see," she said, and then all but vanished as she bolted across the room, intercepting the ball that was being tossed, and hucking it directly at Wilson who grabbed it even more quickly than the eye could see.

"Hey!" Carver shook his hand, "that was a full power throw!"

"I know, I know you can take it."

Mayken looked on with a stunned wide-eyed stare, but then laughed when his new dad leaned against a wall with a fake pout and announced how he'd just be over here 'being a normal guy and all'...

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