Neither dark skinned Sengihr could believe their ears when they were told the sad truth. The eggs weren't going to hatch. Iva was kind of pissed, that she'd wasted her time here. Aevan was truly disappointed, but distracted by many things otherwise.

But it was the reaction that the one young Zekiran (almost pernese?) woman was having, that really bothered both of them. Siren, the daughter of Mirage and Etan, was pretty much having herself a major nervous breakdown.

Both Iva and Aevan could sense her from half a mile away anyway - she was a Zekiran, after all, and her powers were kicking in. And she was the child of two of the most powerful mentalists there...

And she was just losing it. Outwardly, Siren did nothing more than stare and shamble around the dragonry (when they were still allowed to even wander the halls). But inside, Siren's mind was a cacophony of angry voices - all her own. Demands of why! How! met up with pitiful screaming and fearful doubts.

Iva wanted to try consoling her, but she could barely even get close enough to be in the same room, before her mind had to shut the girl out. Aevan swallowed it up, the Sengihr part of him truly taking a beating. That was his job, suddenly - because Siren began pummeling his high chest with her fists.

"It's not fair!" She yelled, half sobbing, "it's not fair! I can't take this any more! I lost my dragon before, and now there won't be another and everyone promised me! They promised me!"

"Shhhh," Aevan said, trying to hold her arms. She was a lot stronger than she looked, this girl. But eventually her angry cries gave way to a softer moaning sadness.

"Your dragon died?" Aevan said, and that provoked a big wail. "Sorry - sorry, I just... didn't realise that it would be so... Traumatic." He looked at the doorway where Iva was, with a strange expression. "Iva, are you sure that you want to do this now?"

"Are you?" She replied.

Aevan sought something deeper in Siren's mind. Back behind the anguish and anger, there was something. A brilliant spark, a memory of bonding. A sweetness, fulfilment.

"Yes," he said. "Siren, there is still hope. Wherever the Protectorate can go, we can stand. It doesn't matter any more, we'll take you with us, and all three of us can go back home together."

"Zekira is ready for more offworld dragons," Iva said, but just then Siren looked up sharply at her.

"Where?" She said. Both half-siblings grew a little stiff.

".... Zekira?" Iva said. "Where we're from?"

"I'm not from this Zekira place. I am from Pern."

"But you're Mirage's daughter." Aevan said.

"Lady Holder Mirage, yes," Siren said, backing away from the tall green skinned man. "And why are you green? It's not just the light..." She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "I thought it was always just the light..."

"No, I'm... green," Aevan muttered. "My father was blue, and my other father was dark brown, like her-" He was going to toss his head at Iva, but Siren went off on that one too.

"What - are - you - talking about?!"

She then bolted out of the room, and they had to chase her down.

In the process, however, they ran into the last person they thought likely to be sulking around the dragonry. A tall, dark furred male panther morph. Sovereign Fate - the rider of the clutch's sire.

"So she's found out, has she?" Fate asked, and the pair of Zekirans nodded. "Well, that figures. I really hoped that she would find something here... But now, it's gone..."

Even he was acting oddly. Normally somewhat flamboyant and cocky, the panther Kin type breathed a deep sigh and sullenly took the pair out to the sands. What was left there, was not pretty.

Siren was there, clutching on to soft cold eggs. She would run to another, dive upon it, but even the mother of this clutch didn't seem interested in stopping her from doing this to her own eggs.

There was no point, apparently.

The gold flame black sire gave a bit of a snort, and prevented Siren from leaving, blocking the exit with his long tail. The trio cornered her, and Aevan again tried to keep her steady.

"We'll go somewhere new, and we will see what's out there," Aevan said. "Siren, it's not the end of everything. You're quite young. And..." he gave a little smirk, "don't you want to maybe see why I've got two fathers and one of them is blue?"

That made her pause. Iva thought to herself that he was being a clever devil, good job of it. Even Fate seemed to like that line.

"He's got two fathers?" He asked Iva, who nodded, "I see."

"No, you probably don't. Want to come with us?"

"I thought I was the one to bring you where you want to go?" the ex-assassin said. His tail touched Siren's leg while it waved and she stared at it too.

"What is going on here? Where are all you weird people coming from?" Siren asked.

"We're Zekiran, and I don't know what he is." Aevan said.

"I'm Kin, but don't let anyone hear you say that. Just furry, miss. My studly companion here," he indicated Assassinzeth, "will be happy to escort you away from this place. Come on. Maybe you can all take in a concert - the band that stole my name is playing again."

Since he had the keys to their proverbial car, they had to agree.

***

They decided to split up briefly, because Assassinzeth had chosen several places for them to stand. One, a more traditional place that Siren was a bit more comfortable with. The others, chosen for Aevan's free spirit and Iva's strong will, were Xidaver and the Isle of Mirrors.

Follow Siren

Follow Aevan

Follow Iva

Watch as Fate rushes between all those places! Just kidding. Actually, he doesn't want to be watched. He's fine without that.