ZAS

HATCHING
Zas walked in with the other candidates. It was barely dawn and some of the candidates were still drunk with sleep, swaying lightly and yawning wide. The Ytlip however was wide awake and light on his feet, ready to escape through the exit when things turned ugly. 
His experiences had varied at Tripaldi. Some people, mostly the native inhabitants, looked at him like he was a monster they'd rather kill. Others however seemed just as alien on this planet as Zas. For them he was thankful, they formed a legitimate cover for his questions that he feared might sound suspicious to anyone with even the smallest experience in normal conditions. But these people, these dragonriders as they called themselves, seemed to not care that their defences lay wide open for an attack from the sky.
Maybe it was a coincidence that during the time Zas had been in Tripaldi, no thread had seared the skies above the Weyr. Zas understood that the dragons warded off some danger, but whatever it was, he believed it could not compare with an Ytlip invasion. But the humans had surprised the Ytlip before in their seeming openness and cluelessness, and yet they always were ready. 
Zas decided that more observation was necessary and placed himself between the candidates, to watch the eggs. Knowledge of the primary offence of the planet was always handy for planning counterattacks.
"Welcome, everyone, to the TSCZ's first FGPC hatching. As you all know our geneticists have worked very hard to bring us new and interesting deviations from the norm and we all sincerely hope we do not disappoint. As you can see our initial egg count was a little off. We actually ended up with twenty-two eggs as the geneticists it seems were a little more eager than we thought," Reizlyn, the woman in charge of the special clutch zone announced, "Best of luck to the candidates and if the sponsors will see me after the hatching we'll see to the distribution of any hatchlings that chose not to bond." 
With that she regained her seat, opened her notebook, pulling up the small table attached to the side of her chair and resting the book on it, pen in hand ready to record what happened. 
The first egg hatched and yielded a ruby red male on the sands. The hatchling was rather big Zas could see, remembering tales from the other dragonriders he had questioned. He bugled, this one not so helpless as Zas had expected it to be. The hatchling was a little too eager even to go to the human he wanted. Zas was not impressed by the falling human, humans were always easy to topple if they let their guard down... no, he'd be impressed if the hatchling that headed for him could push him over.
Egg after egg hatched, and Zas counted them: "Two, three, four and five." 
Those last two dragons had a strange colouring, they were what the earthlings called marbled, but what the Ytlip more closely reminded of the sandy texture of the deepest ocean trenches, dark and swirling, not holding onto just one colour, but the whole range of the one.
The black marbled ran toward him, almost looking like a mudslide as he neared. He bumped into Zas, but the alien remained standing.
"Just as I thought..." he whispered, "Not as strong as they want me to believe."
"Hey!" the hatchling called in his head, "Give me a break! I was hardly able to train in that egg'."
"I can see that that might be true." Zas replied amused.
"My name is Porunth, and I'd advice you to wait with attacking the planet just yet."
"A newborn giving advice?" Zas said, arching his eyebrows and forehead.
"Well, not just me, The other dragons now and they don't want to give up the planet. They're rather jumpy when it comes to violent things coming from outer space."
"Aha."
"Yes, they're not as clueless as you might think."
"They have learned the way of the human well then."
"There are many other planets out there." The marbled black suggested.
"Maybe we will get along after all." Zas said.
"Try ditching me." Porunth said, holding his haed up high in a proud pose.


Black Marbled Porunth

ADULT
Porunth flexed his claws and yawned. He didn't know it yet, but fate had a hand in that yawn. For lightyears away, another dragon was bored and both of them would soon meet, their riders surprised to see each other again after a year of being seperated, but that is not the story yet.
So Porunth yawned. And he yawned again. And soon, his bond Zas also yawned seeing as he did like his dragon -though he would never admit it willingly- and felt his dragon's boredom through the link they shared. As an adult, Porunth had grown, but he wasn't as big as some of the more regular colours, and certainly not as big as the old world dragons. But lacking size, he made up in speed, being faster and more agile than the larger dragons, a thing Zas could appreciate.
"Bored?" Zas asked.
"As a matter of fact I am."
"Want to blow this joint?"
"That's my home you're talking about! Have some respect." Porunth grinded back.
"It's just an expression." Zas shrugged.
"Not if you use it like THAT." the dragon answered.
"Ok, Would you like to leave for a day out?" Zas humoured his dragon.
"That would be splendid."
"You know, you remind me off a fellow that used to teach me... raised pinky, lot's of tea and about as gay as humans can be."
"It's called style." Porunth added, "And I very well like females."
"Care to prove?"
"As in...?"
"A flight."
"Of course, but where, I'd like to get away. Remember you suggested a trip."
"Well, I could go for a swim, and a place a bit more moist than Tripaldi. Anything jump to mind?"
"A few places match that but there's one I particularily like, it has a plus seeing as there is a wonderfully coloured dragoness on the flight boards."
"And I take it you want to woo her."
"You're doing it again." Porunth sighed.
"What?"
"The sarcasm!"
"Can't help it. It just comes out unintended."
"Yes and on your planet you might have gotten away with it, but I'm far more stylish than you."
"That I don't deny."
"So can we go?"
"I don't see why not."


Back to Lantessama Isle
Zas impressed at
Tripaldi Weyr
**
Font used is called 'Hypmotizin' and can be found here.