Zandor was born male, at dawn, on the major continent of Zed IV. He was seemingly typical, with frosty white skin dotted at forehead, wrists and ankles with graphite-black markings. He had brilliantly scarlet eyes, just like his father.

And then when the first day of his life began to drift into evening, a strange transformation came over the infant. At first his parents didn't notice it, but within a few days they realized: at night, their boy changed to a girl! A minor form of shapeshifting, perhaps, it was not unheard of but certainly not common. How would they ever deal with this?

What was weirder, was that Zandor Xxy Z'bul seemed to reset during that time - mentally! What the male learned during the day - such as turning his head or gripping - had to be re-learned by the female. He/She slept equal amounts during the day and night, napping a bit mostly at dawn and dusk. Making those transformations easier perhaps?

While more science-oriented parents might have experimented with refraining from teaching one or the other during their phase, Zandor's folks were a little more practical. They had to have a kid that was able to eventually grow into their profession. As espionage specialists for their government, they were required to be on the move now and again. It would hardly be good for anyone if their son/daughter had to be explained everything twice!

By the time Zandor/a was six, he/she was able to remember body functions and things learned at a basic level. Brain comparisons would eventually show that his/her hind brain remained almost entirely the same - but the rest all but grew anew every time. By that time his/her hair had grown out into a long attractive steel-colored mop, and powers began to show as well.

Not every Zeddian had powers of some kind, but many did. Quite frequently those powers reflected their markings. Some with jagged or blocky marks might have control over solid matter, ones with cloudy patterns had command over gasses and the like. Wiht Zandor/a's sphere-shaped markings, no one quite knew what would come of it. His/her mother's markings were rounded, and she had a weak ability with liquids. His/her father's marks were more solid and in fact on his back they darkened from a simple graphite blot to a very rich onyx color - certainly not a marking seen often. (And probably one reason his wife was so attracted to him!)

Around the time Zandor/a began schooling with others, he/she had had to learn about 'their' condition and what happened during the shifting. Plus, he/she was made to sleep at more specific times of day and night. It really did seem as though both gender halves had to get some sleep - but not twice, and less than one would expect. So in a half-awake state in the morning and evening, Zandor/a changed his/her clothes and prepaired for the shift.

One fine day just before Zandor/a's tenth birthday, there was an event which marked his/her transition into a fully-powered Zeddian. A nearby collapsing wall was about to fall atop Zandor (as a male) and quite suddenly a number of spherical objects similar to those marking his skin burst out from the ground and held up a kind of shield around him! When the danger was gone, the balls tumbled to the ground and dissolved momentarily into whatever matter they'd been assembled from.

Now that was a useful power! Learning to utilize this ability took some work - Zandora the female didn't even believe her counterpart's notes, but when she tried it out herself, she was able to manipulate the balls at whim. In the time that he/she started developing these powers, their family had to move three times. Especially sensitive information had gotten out in their local area, so Zhata and Znadon had to pack up their lives and haul out of there. Assigned new living spaces were always nice, because they came with furnishings and were always stocked with food, so it was only the personal effects that needed to be packed. But you can't pack up the smell of a house, you can't pack up the view from a bedroom. Zandor/a sadly accepted the fact that he/she was going to have few friends and could never keep up on old ones. Security measures meant that addresses were wiped from books, and records of any importance were kept only by the government. In ways it was pretty obvious that the Z'bul family were something different than the folks around them...

Yet it was at the same time that Zandor/a began to hear of other worlds. Planetary contact was still fresh, less than two generations ago, but even now there were ships docking in major spaceports and bringing new business to the world. Parts of the planet were, in Zandor/a's eyes 'primative' in that they refrained from contact with alien races, but his/her family were pretty upbeat and liked new things. So it was that when Zandor/a turned fifteen, he/she and their family became not spies, but diplomats. (Well, and spies. You can't take that out of em after all, once a spy, always a spy, and they always have their uses, right?)

Relocated to a new place, this world called Twoarth, Zandor/a finally understood what it could be like to be the center of attention. He/she and the folks put down on the west coast of one half of the world's North America, where there was a school that would certainly be able to keep Zandor/a occupied. This time around, he/she didn't have to hold back - he/she could make friends and have sleepovers and do whatever it was that normal teenagers did - all while the folks were doing a job requiring minimal attention. They handled Zeddian citizens and their issues, did a lot of paperwork, but also they got a great look at how hundreds of other planets and cultures did their business. They took detailed notes on politics, governing structure, voting, everything that made the world run smoothly. Since there were already two fully formed cultures on Twoarth, the world had a good leg up for settling differences and making laws that were fair to everyone.

But this finally meant that Zandor/a would have a place for longer term, and go to a real school. That school of course was Carramba High.

With his/her unique shifting biology, it was important that the school label him/her properly. Getting classes that could be attended by both genders - physical education - was relatively easy. He/she chose basketball, because his/her innate tallness (Zeddians grew longer backs to support their two pairs of arms, but were tall and slender anyway) and boy oh boy could he/she guard a court! With four arms, one might think this was an unfair advantage. Until you look at the REST of the basketball team, and realize that only the best, tallest, fastest and most nimble students got on the team... It was filled with aliens - only one human on the team anyway, and coached by a Neko cat-boi...

Fortunately, a lot of classes were offered as podcasts for later viewing - there were a number of vampiric students (and staff), so such things were part of the norm for Carramba. So Zandora the female didn't have to miss out on all the quality education.

There was one more thing that Zandor/a learned while at his/her first all-day pep rally. If he/she stayed awake through their gender change, he/she didn't have a really good temper. Lack of sleep and everyone around watching and waiting as he turned to she... Zandor/a monstered out and became a seething, whirling ball of ... black balls. The same kind of balls as he/she summoned in other circumstances, only this was ... really big. Really really big. Suddenly he/she was there again, well, she because it was night time now, and apologetic. The admin made notes, and moved on with the rally!

***

When the dragons started to come, Zandor/a pretty much begged his/her parents to see them. Carramba, being a nexus, was one of the places where they liked to congregate. Since this was an important part of their routine at work, learning more about how different species came together and cooperated, the folks complied. There were no local dragons - except the anthropomorphic versions on the Furry side of the planet that had no real counterpart on the non-furry side. So these were dragons found on other worlds. The class loads associated with them were growing in number and helping to shape the way that the school was funded. New buildings were springing up, and the dragons were being seen more regularly. They even had an air show!

Several places around campus had tack-boards that kept up with events, and numerous fliers were sent out whenever a dragonry was looking for sponsors or candidates to bring home dragonets. One day Zandor passed by a kiosk and took one of the little rip-strips with starchart locations written on it, and looked it up.

The locale was called Falas Weyr, a genetic research facility. Shiny, shimmering dragons were shown on the full-color flier, Zandor/a recalled, as he/she sat in front of the computer. The star chart revealed the place was in another universe, but that was easily gotten around - he/she'd have to ask to be transported by a dragon rider anyway, and they knew the way. Now, all he/she had to do was get permission to Stand...

Though their precious child was everything in the world, they obliged - because he/she'd been denied for so long. It felt good to them, to let their beautiful and popular child do what ever he/she was capable of doing. And if that meant coming home with a dragon, then that would certainly be a great way to learn more about interspecies relations too! Practical, purposeful, and fun all at once.

Falas was interesting and filled up quickly with folks from many worlds. Zandor/a recognized a few from Carramba, but they were mostly mage students and a lot of the magic stuff went over his/her head. Even though she/he had a class with dispelling things, it was mostly for his/her ability to use the balls and mass out into the monster that she/he was in the class.

Eventually the eggs were begining to hatch, and it wasn't long after the first couple had opened up and found their friends when another hatched.

One of the Anarian crosses came tentively up to Zandor before sniffing him all over. He would stop, look up at the young man before going up to him again. “There is something strange about you,” the cat sized dragonet said. “Something I can’t quite place.”

Zandor smiled. “Well, I can switch genders,” he said. “I’m male right now thus Zandor, and I’m Zandora by night.”

The tavrayn-spell weaver blinked. “Wow.” He sniffed the man again, lifting a tiny paw to tug at the robes. Zandor picked him up with a little laugh. “Let’s go, Baniar,” he said. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“Yes,” the shimmer black replied with a yawn. “And hungry. My name is Baniar’Alkar, by the way…” He let Zandor carry him out wondering if one could actually switch genders.

**

The diamond dragonet was finally able to right herself as she stood and crawled away from her siblings. She stopped to look at the candidates, then at the sponsors and lastly to the stands. Tilting her head back in a wail, she sat on the sands and cried until a hatchling from the previous hatching walked forward and nipped her. “She’s right there, Laeurath!” Baniar’Alkar growled, jerking his head toward the cavern entrance where a girl was running onto the sands. The shimmer diamond stopped crying and bounded over the sands until she fell at Zandora’s feet with a delighted woof as she fell. Looking up grinning, she crooned.

“Sorry, Laeurath,” Zandora said quietly. “I…”

I know, the Pernese dragon said before growling and turning to bit Baniar who recoiled in surprise. I’m not that dumb, deadglow!

Snorting, Baniar walked off, his pride wounded if nothing else.