Starship Cherry Cream

Lyndah and Nolan visit the Lian Dragon Nook!

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"If this place were to be found by the rest of the galaxy," Lyndah commented on their way over the forest, "It would be ruined in a moment. We've got to keep it a secret."

"Agreed," Nolan said, his great wings flapping strongly like his mate's. "I would be tempted to want to winter here, but even that much disruption in the ecosystem would mean disaster..."

"And here I thought you were all aggressive and bold!" Lyndah laughed. "To discover you're all just a softie!"

"I am not soft - I respect the natural order of the world!" Nolan got all defensive.

"I know that my dear," Lyndah chuckled quietly, unheard over her wings flapping. "Now... where did Woodstock say this place was again?"

"There," Nolan pointed down to a narrow ledge, where several of the beautiful Lian Nook dragons sat glimmering in the sun. They truly were amazing to behold, wide wings and elegant paws.

One of them came alert when the pair of Kthari flew overhead, and gave a pretty warning trumpet. Other Nook dragons slipped out of their hiding places, and soon surrounded the flying humanoids.

"Is it all right to come and view the eggs? We have heard there is need for bonding here." Lyndah announced, "if there is a mistake, we will leave."

"We will respect your privacy and not tell anyone where your Nook is," added Nolan. "But we hope to come in."

The sapphire nearest said, we will allow you - there are eggs and the nestbreaking will occur soon. Perhaps not too soon to help you from being impatient.

"We are hardly known for that," Lyndah said. "The Kthari have tempers, it's true," she looked to her mate and grinned, "but we usually have a long way to go before we are bored, annoyed or angry."

That is good, you will be welcome.

"Thank you!" Nolan said, and flew down in a wide spiral. The dragons swooped around behind him.

Once settled down on the slope of the hillside, Nolan and Lyndah decided that this would in fact be such a wonderful place to winter - and if they bonded to one of the dragons here, perhaps they would have an excuse to come back on a regular basis.

They learned of the history of this clutch, where the dragons were from, and how they differed from larger dragons in their lineage. Their colors and their attitudes were the main ones - but their choice of locale and privacy were important ones too.

"If we do not bond, might we try again?" Nolan asked.

Do not get ahead of yourself, the sapphire laughed. You should be more positive. Any dragon hatchling will want you to be positive. Negative ones would be ignored. Would you want to bond to someone who is always depressed and down?

"Of course not!" Lyndah said, "not that I've got any experience with that..."

"I am not negative! I am realistic!" Nolan whined, and it seemed that the Sapphire dragon also shared Lyndah's odd sense of humor. "And I don't like being laughed at." He pouted.

Lyndah ruffled her taloned fingers through his thick hair. "I am only joking with you because I know you are strong enough to take it."

That seemed to bolster his ego enough to bring him out of the pouty-pouts.

***

There was a long wait, the eggs had to harden. They sat glistening on the sands, like tiny gems. There were others at the nook now, including some aliens, elves, humans and other dragons. It was a fascinating group.

Finally, when the hatching was announced nervously by the rider of one of the clutch elders, everyone scampered or flew or crept toward the sands.

A terrific shake and rumble from one egg broke it open, to show off a beautiful garnet Lian. He chose his bond, and then another egg broke up into small pieces. A pearl chose, and then another batch of eggs all took the attention.

A trio of eggs shattered, and the tourmaline female went straight to Nolan. "I am Jerriya!" She proudly said. He picked her up in his paws, and cradled her.

Then the aquamarine male traipsed over to where Lyndah stood, and complained to her. "Stop looking at Jerriya! I am Carmle and I am yours!"

Lyndah giggled and cuddled the little hatchling and nodded. "You are mine! We'll have a great time on the ship now..."

It would be a while before the little Lians were grown enough to leave their first home, though. Happily, there was hunting and fishing, playing and the serious business of learning how to fly, in the meantime...

***

The pair of Kthari carried out their duties to their little dragonets and then got the page from Caledrus. They were to be picked up shortly, and that suited everyone.

"Where are we going?" Asked Jerriya. "Is it fun?"

"Of course it's fun, my little girl," Nolan said.

"Will it be dangerous?" Asked the aquamarine Carmle.

"I hope not," Lyndah said, "it's our home!"

***

The flight dome of Caledrus was marvelous to the pair of Lians. In fact, it was marvelous to most of the Galaxy who saw it. To the shining gemstone Lians, though, it was now a big part of their lives.

Nolan and Lyndah traded off giving tours of the dome with the Lians assisting. The tourists always loved to see the dragons of Cherry Cream flying around here. But the little charming Lians were the most popular. They were, as one young alien said, "accessable". They were small enough not to be openly scary to young kids, and mature enough to act like four-legged people. In the modern galaxy, that was something of a bonus.

They would stargaze out the top of the ship when everyone else was sleeping. They played tag with one another - and then they started playing with the bigger dragons once they awoke for the day. Their happier moments were with Woody's dragonet, though she couldn't fly since she didn't have wings.

***

It had been some time since the Caledrus and the Cherry Cream had teamed up, the flight dome was filled with plentiful wings and amazing species of dragons both in the air and on the dome's ground simulation. Because it was all 'just math', some genius had established a permanent zone of improbability in the dome, which allowed it to expand to suit the dragons as needed. They didn't realize that a very similar 'spell' of convienence lay on many other Nexus-contacted places.

In a roundabout way,the Flight Dome itself traveled around to other worlds. Whenever the Caledrus entered even a slightly Improbable space, it stretched itself at the edges to locate anything that might be good for its expansion.

It found that, along with a particularly interesting creature, and then went back to 'normal'.

It took only half a day for the Lians to notice the newcomer, and they were absolutely overjoyed. For her was not another of their breed, but a winged wolf, one which wasn't much larger than themselves at the shoulder - though they proudly displayed their much wider wings.

He announced himself with a chuffling howl as Paradel Laguna, a water mage, and he fit right in down in the pretty shoreline that appeared with him.  "I don't know how I got here," he said to Nolan and Lyndah when they discovered his presence, "but I think I will like it here. The view is terrific!"

It was indeed, and the way that the stars reflected off his little inlet made the Kthari a bit misty for home, for it really did seem to shimmer and dance the way they remembered it long ago.