Seaweed Avati and Swamp Jimwul

Avati watched her eggs stir with bated breath. She'd been a dutiful mother, guarding her eggs along with her mate Jimwul and their respective bonds, but she was getting increasingly stir-crazy. Especially when she'd learned that her bond, Emmaly, had been asking people to let Avati trick them to relieve her boredom. It was a sweet gesture, but Avati's pride was hurt and she'd need to do some actual pranking to lighten her mood. So she would just wait a bit longer before sending out the alert. After all, wouldn't it be fun to have the candidates come and there no longer being eggs? Of course they would still bond. Her kittens would wait for their bonds. She was certain of that.
The stirring in the water however, did not go unnoticed. Jimwul knew better than to thwart his mate's plans but other nekrats and underwater dwellers weren't as accommodating to the seaweed nekrat. As such a few of the candidates arrived earlier than others. Like Dikeledi and Quench, who hailed from the Refugium. The smart hippocampus and the cheeky shoreskipper did manage to see a few of the eggs before they too hatched and vanished in the screen of disturbed sand. Exuberant and impatient as she usually was, Quench dove headfirst inside the cloud of sand, looking for her bond. Dikeledi waited at the edge, certain that his bond would come when they were ready.
"I'm ready." a medium-sized bright pool kitten said, stalking up from behind the hippocampus.
"I'm glad you are." Dikeledi nodded, "I think you might want to head out before the crowd gets here?"
"Yes please! My name is Hemwei."
With a last look back, Dikeledi wondered if he should wait for Quench, but then decided there was little that could go wrong in the secluded bay. Surely the shoreskipper had learned her lesson. To be sure though, he asked Jimwul to make certain she wouldn't get into trouble and then returned his attention to his young bond.
By this time, Avati and Jimwul had alerted everyone that they should come to the bay. Avati rejoiced when she saw the puzzled looks but people caught on fast, especially when the nekrat kittens started to jump out of the water in a display of fun and agility.
Nele was standing in the surf, her naga tail out for once. She'd mainly stayed in her human form while she'd been on the island and had been delighted to get some gardening in while she waited for the nekrat clutch to hatch, but letting her tail touch the water was a treat on it's own. But she'd probably enjoyed the freedom most.
"You'll only need to look after me for a short while." a brown rock female told her, "I'll grow up fast!"
Through their growing bond, Nele got the impression of a steady, protective and practical personality along with the name Tsaya."
"I don't mind caring for others, I just don't like them doing things they shouldn't."
"I wouldn't dare."
Towering over the other candidates, half-orc Miri looked very imposing. The greenish-grey orc had expanded her network on Lantessama and though initially people had been a bit wary about the rough-looking sailor, her charming personality and willingness to play her lute had quickly won everyone over. Still, she was standing more to the side than the other candidates, afraid that she might hurt one of the others.
Suddenly, two shapes sped toward her. The gletsjer blue female reached her first, followed closely by a male green pond. The two nekrats seemed very much in sync and were a little smaller than the others.
"We don't want to separate." the female said.
"You seem like you could take care of both of us." the male agreed.
"I'm Ekruy"
"And I'm Urkey."
With not one but two bonds, the orc bard would have her hands full, but she didn't seem to care. She liked a little adventure after all.
In the deeper waters of the bay, Zerisan was walking. He'd explored the bay for quite a while so he didn't lose his bearings despite the unusual activity.
And their definitely was something strange going on. Zerisan's two pets were also about but they seemed a bit skittish, as if they were being watched. The harvester had an uncanny feeling himself. But he could do little more than walk and wait. Apparently that slow approach paid off as a dark yellow male kitten finally showed himself.
"I wanted you to find me!" he said.
"Well, didn't I?" Zerisan asked.
"You need to learn the rules of hide and seek...."
"Don't worry, Chilayn, I'll play better next time." Zerisan grinned.
Yofue stood on the beach, looking a bit forlorn. She had been waiting but not one of the nekrats had even looked her way. Would she be left standing? She'd been searching for purpose for so long and had hoped to find it here; had hoped to find someone who wouldn't judge or expect things from her. But maybe this wasn't the right place.
Just as the young sailor thought she'd better return to her quarters, a dark blue nekrat head poked out from the water.
"I... I..." the abyss female started.
Yofue turned around to look at the kitten addressing her.
"I want to be with you!"
Almost immediately the nekrat dove under water and a wave of nervous energy reached Yofue.
"You really want to?"
"Yes, if you want to."
Yofue opened her heart and figured the two of them would need to let their insecurities go. Maybe together they would succeed.
"Thank you for picking me, Kirya." Yofue whispered.
Below the surface, Quench was still swimming through the cloud of sand and sediment. She was virtually blind and she'd been hit by something. But whatever was in the water didn't feel dangerous, so Quench kept trying to catch whatever was bumping into her. It had to be a kitten.
Suddenly, a green wall stopped her.
"Careful there." Jimwul rumbled.
A giggle sounded to her left and Quench finally managed to grab hold of something solid.
"Caught you!"
"Only because I let you." a sulky voice replied, "I'm Vital."
Arriving fashionably late, the singer Sevelene Oneseral strode onto the beach. Dressed in appropriate beach attire, with some added fashionable items, the singer looked absolutely gorgeous and in control. Only appearing after just about everyone had impressed did nothing to diminish the mystery surrounding the artist and instead drew all the attention to them.
Sevelene bowed and then sang. Within seconds, another voice sang along and a bright white with red nekrat kitten popped up from the waves. The fountain female seemed to adore the tasteful human.
"I was just about to swim of on my own." she chastised her bond, "You could have come sooner."
Sevelene smiled  slightly and replied: "You wouldn't have wanted our bond to have happened any other way Scura."
"That isn't untrue." Scura grudgingly agreed.
After this, Avati and Jimwul announced that all of their children had bonded and the spectators brought ouot the food and drinks to celebrate the new pairs.

Yofue (nb) and Abyss Kirya (f)
Miri Greycastle (f) and Gletsjer Ekruy (f)
Dikeledi (m) and Pool Hemwei (m)
Quench (f) and Foam Vital (m)
Miri Greycastle (f) and Pond Urkey (m)
Zerisan (m) and Puddle Chilayn (m)
Nele (f) and Rock Tsaya (f)
Sevelene Oneseral (m) and Fountain Scura (f)

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