Zhyizt Xiivs Zhyys (shy-IST zeev's shy-us)

Gender: male

Markings: dull white skin with small solid black blotch/es, on chin and over eyes and from wrists to shoulders and over and around ears
Hair: hip length, dark graphite and weak black

Powers: very strong weather control
Mutations: no mutations

Caledrus was a big, busy place. It was somewhat overwhelming for the Zeddians, but they managed. Zhyizt was impressed that there were locations on the huge scientific starship that had their own weather patterns. And he'd been warned: leave them be. He and Xeaa had been hitch hiking, just on a whim, to see where any given ship would take them. Provided any ship came close enough to Zeddian space, of course.

One did, that was Caledrus and its improbability drive. Given that their people hadn't even known that this much weirdness even existed before a few dozen years ago, Zhyizt and Xeaa were taking this all very well indeed.

Of course, Xeaa would have anyway - she'd known they would do something big. Bigger than that. Her one impressive vision she'd had when they found the remains of an old, long-dead 'hiker on the hills near their country village, was that they would in fact be seeing things a lot differently in the near future.

How near in the future? How far would they go in space? Neither could tell. But the multi-armed pair enjoyed their stay because of not just the assortment of galactic foods and societies represented here, but because of their hostess. Woodie was absolutely a gas - they had to wonder whether she was part-Zeddian too, because of those multiple arms of hers.

It was Woodie that had suggested they head down to a dragonry for a spell. The dragons on the ship needed to get out every once in a while, and let the flight domes recover a little. They went into a stable orbit, descended a bit into the atmosphere, and opened the access area to the main dome for the dragons. And out they went: though it was a bit hard on some of the smaller ones, those who could fly well enough got the ride of their lives as they zoomed miles and miles above the planet they circled.

"We're going to Ryslen," Woodie said. "You can feel free to provide entertainment," she said to Xeaa, who giggled and nodded. She enjoyed her ability to make mental illusions so real looking and sounding that people always wondered after whether they'd really seen it or just imagined. "They might need your aid if there's a storm," Woodie gave a nod toward Zhyizt who smiled broadly. "But do try and keep to the current weather as much as you can. They're not much for big alterations."

While preparations for the shuttle down were made, Woodie made other arrangements with the Prima down there. They could always use more Novos, right? It was that time of year when gathering around the sands for warmth was more than just decorative... there were eggs.

Between the two of them, Zhyizt was like a god, he never was cold or hot, and he had supreme control over weather both near and distant. As far as he could comfortably see from the ground, was his domain. That did leave a LOT of space, sometimes, for storms to develop or die out. He'd met Xeaa that way, they chatted about it often. How several years before, they'd both been wandering around looking for more than their village could give them, and Xeaa's sudden visions showed something special. He'd asked: can I see them?

And she obliged, projecting her vision of a windswept hillside and the two of them on it, right into his mind. He brought the wind up, and they traveled carefully up the hill. Xeaa would always have a bit of trouble climbing, her single leg meant that she had to rely on the aid of others, or her canes. Some day perhaps, she would find a way to replace it - she'd been born that way, without her left leg from the hip. A nub of leg did exist, a joint but nothing more. A lesser man would have found it unattractive, but Zhyizt was, as Xeaa often said, a God among men.

He was much more handsome than she was pretty, though it could be said that his markings were sloppy at best, and his sense of fashion did drift into the weird now and then. When Zedd was opened up, even a little, to interstellar and interdimensional travel, they were able to study about other worlds. Their village neither encouraged nor shunned this knowledge, it was simply there.

Nothing ever happened there, which was why Xeaa was so pleased that when they did get a good look at this weird little cylindrical device from space, she knew they would have way more fun than their kin they'd leave behind.

This was an unofficial exit, from the world. Zeddian travel off world still isn't much better than heavily restricted. So, any chance that the common folk had to escape their mundane lives, they took.

When Zhyizt asked her, months before, "will we return?" Xeaa had no answer.

The shuttle was prepared, and they were asked to gather themselves and get ready for the cold below. The small, running-shoe shaped shuttle had to land a fair bit away from the main Nidus, but that was fine. By that time, the dragons had got there too. So they were treated to their first dragon flight as well as a spectacular flurry of snow and wind. It'd be a wonder if anyone could find the shuttle under all the falling snow, so they might even be stuck there until Spring.

Of course, Zhyizt could just whip up a windstorm and clear it...

"These are them?" Asked a woman, and Woodie nodded - bringing their attention to the present and obvious nature of their visit. They looked around at the inside of the Nidus and realized that yes there were other dragons.

Plenty of them. Many were speckled with snowflake patterns on their skin, and most had pale shimmery snow-colors rather than the bold, dark shades of those found on Caledrus's flight domes. "They're lovely," Xeaa whispered, and Zhyizt nodded, entranced.

"They may be for you," the Prima said, indicating the wobbling eggs. There were hatchlings too, a few, this would be an odd visit indeed...

***

"I saw something just before waking up this morning," Xeaa said, as they were nearing the red, warm sands in this huge cold winter cavern. "I think it was stars, but it was like hyperspace, like ... conventional space only fast, moving around. Like... Those movies of fast forwarding a view."

Zhyizt glanced at his companion, "weird, wonder why?"

"It was these stars," she indicated the ones that had glimmered at the edges of the venue's entry, it was Winter, nights were long here. "I've never seen those stars before now, though."

"I'd rather watch the hatchlings under them," her companion grinned, "they're already coming out!"

**

(( From Flurry ))

The second of the three-headed rainbow twins looked around and saw the number of novos dwindling. He didn't like that. He needed to bond His right away, before someone else tried to snipe him.

He thundered across the sand to a novo who was very monochrome in comparison.

‘I am Zen'rixko!' he roared.

The Zeddian laughed in delight at the multi-headed dragon, and threw open all four of his arms, welcoming this chaos into his life.

‘You are mine, Zhyizt…' the dragon said. ‘Mine and mine and only mine.'

-- A third wher-lian stepped out of the shadows, looking for their person. They were a glossy white with dark silver stripes on their hide and dark silver wingsails. They looked like the gemstone howlite, to those familiar with semiprecious gems --

"some time later"

The silver-marked white wher-hybrid seemed irritated. She'd been looking for hers for a long time, and she wasn't big. Yet. She'd be big someday and fast. And then Hers would be happy. Yes. Hers would be happy.

Finally she spotted a four-armed, one legged woman whose coloration was very similar to her own. Yes. Yes! The wherlet ran right to her, stopping short so that she didn't knock over the Zeddian.

‘Xeaa, mine, I am here! I am your Xeaazk!'

** see below for further story**

"I'm so happy you learned how to fly!" Xeaa grinned from ear to ear at the sight of her lovely bond. Xeaazk flapped with determination, she was sturdier than the Lians, but there were precious few Whers that would be able to fly even a little! And they'd watched as some pure or pure-er wher types fluttered and flapped to little effect while training with the other younger dragons. Those who had remained near Ryslen for the duration of their youngest and more fragile days anyway. The way some of them pouted it seemed to remind her of herself once upon a time.

Xeaa had had to give up on pretending that she had two legs - having been giving off illusions when people might be predisposed to thinking less of her as a dragon- or wher-bond with only one. Her 'gait' was odd, she still had to walk with a cane though that only occupied one of her four available hands. But she would frequently superimpose a regular leg where there wasn't one. It was her little Xeaazk that boldly asserted If you still walk with a cane why do you pretend to have an extra leg?

"An extra leg," she laughed. "You remember that most other bipeds have two legs..."

Xeaazt tilted her head, her eternal smile and childlike curiosity never more apparent. I do now!

They continued training with the weyrlings and dragonets for a while, and within a few months many of those were ready to go wherever they pleased. Because both of these Zeddians had somewhat unusual bonds, they wanted to make sure that they had all the information and training they could get before going back to the Caledrus ship. They weren't sure how either the smaller Wherlian or the larger hydra would be received.

While Xeaazk was learning how to fly, glide, land, and navigate, Zen'rixko was developing quite the noisy speech pattern.

With three heads, and three potential voices, after all, there was a lot more to listen to when they spoke aloud. Usually in a strange slightly-staggered manner, they'd all say the same thing. But sometimes one would opt for 'under their breath' while another spoke something entirely different than the main communicating head. And though apparently some purebred whers were less clear with their communication skills, it turned out that Xeaazk had enough Lian to commune with her bond easily and ... well, wordily...

Eventually however, everyone was ready to return to the Caledrus, and they had been given new quarters nearer some of the dragon habitat areas. They also realized that they weren't the only Zeddians on the craft! They'd been so busy with their new dragons and caught up in the Flurry happenings, that they didn't even realize that someone else of their world was making sure that a couple of young new hitch hikers were safe and sound - and her dragon seemed as festive as either of their own! And over there, a dramatic white and black one, attended by a Zeddian who both Xeaa and Zhyizt would say was beautiful and delicate looking. A much larger white and black dragon seemed not quite aloof but was actually just watching for any signs of distress or anger from groups around the Caledrus; he was attended by a massage artist (so many people appreciated Zeddian four-hand technique!) who was quite friendly and kind. And another... oddly he was mutated well beyond Xeaa's missing leg - he had only two arms, and very long straight horns coming off his head! But he too had a dragon, in the form of a gorgeous quartz from a world they'd love to visit some day, Lantessama.

They had noticed that the Zeddians all had rooms near one another, though not necessarily sequestered that way. But that was also true of some others from specific worlds that now resided near the dragon observation dome. Easier to keep climate and atmospheric needs in one place, Zhyizt realized. That was where he could shine, and he brought this up with the crew. He could make sure that any leaks between atmospheric chambers were kept to a minimum. Didn't want that toxic smog that passed for breathable air in one floor to leak out into the somewhat explosive gasses of another, that kind of thing.

So they were made part of the crew, not just travelers on their way somewhere else. The hydra enjoyed sparring nights, while the wherlian played with the smaller Lians and pet-sized creatures, with Xeaa making sure they all were accounted for on field trips. She could see vividly when one of them would wind up getting lost, honing her power and learning to focus on details to hint at times and places more clearly.

One thing she knew though, was that there was a time and place that Xeaazk wanted to be at. Not desperately, but definitely! And that was... the Flurry!

"But my dearest one, we came from the-"

A new one! I am able to fly, and I would love to see others, not just those here. I would like to see if I could... find a mate, or maybe we could stay for the hatching if I don't!" She all but bounced around in excitement.

"Well - you're getting ahead of yourself, let's not count hatchlings until they've broken shell, right?"

But they did start making arrangements. Maybe there would be others of her type there, that would be fun! Xeaazk already started practicing her dodging and tricky half-grounded flying, just in case there was a chaser worthy of her!

Velvet Rainbow Zen'rixko
Female
13.0 feet at the shoulder
Bonded to Zhyizt (Zekiran)
Parents: Tai'nix & Gail'brytixko Breed: Flurry Hydra * twin to Mai'Dharixko
* Telepathic Speech
* Verbal Speech: The ability to speak vocally
* Teleportation (self): The ability to go “between” places to places they have personally been, or if they receive clear coordinates from another dragon.
* Unassisted Breath Weapons: fire, smoke, smog
* Bond: Preferred

Howlite (Dark Silver-Striped White) Xeaazk
Female
3.75 feet at the shoulder
Bonded to Xeaa (Zekiran)
Parents: Farlask & Ziyazh Breed: Wher-Lian
* Telepathic Speech
* Teleportation (self): The ability to go “between” places to places they have personally been, or if they receive clear coordinates from another dragon.
* Pack Bonding: Multiple Lian Minis (up to six) can bond to one human. [It is essentially a point-buy system. The person chosen by this Wherlian(?!) has four points left and can potentially bond one full-size dragon or gryphon (3 points), two more Lian-Hybrids or Whers (2 points each), or four Lians. (1 point each), or any combination up to but not exceeding six.]
* Bond Breaking (ability): Whers can sever the bond with their human handler at will. This is never done lightly, as broken bonds are a bit like nasty breakups.
* Bond Exclusion: Due to Wher ancestry, they cannot Bond to fullblooded Pernese Dragons.
* Name suffix: Wher-Lians use the name ending -zk
* Bond: Optional
* Can Fly