Alexis

Alexis neared the Lav'intay Castle, he had been travelling for weeks now. His boots and clothes had undergone some dramatic changes since he had left and he thought he might as well stay a week or five at lav'intay and work to get enough money to buy some new clothes and supplies. That and he needed to rest, sleeping on the ground or in caves worrying about the dangers of sleeping outdoors didn't quite leave you rested. He could see the castle now, it's gates open, people entering and leaving.
The line to enter the castle was long, and by the time he got there, it was dark.
"Sorry, chap, no entry passed sunset. You'll have to wait." The guard closing the gates noted. He was about 40 years of age, with little grey streaks in his hair and a determined look in his eyes. All the guard saw was a rather young boy, small and thin, with shoulder long blond hair and light blue eyes. No threat to him.
"But I waited all day! Can't you just let me in?" Alexis pleaded.
"No, sorry, the rules are the rules." After that, the guard closed the doors and left, his footsteps echoing on the stone pavement.
But Alexis wasn't just an ordinary young boy from around this part of Icarus. He had travelled far and wide across the planets surface ever since he had turned 15, gradually learning important things needed to survive. Now he was 17, and unlike his looks, strong and agile. And determined to enter.
He sneaked around the castle walls, until he saw a good entry spot. A window, about halfway up the wall and underneath, a tree. He hopped on the tree and swung inside the window that was open on this summer's hot night. He had entered some kind of storage room, filled with cupboards and shelves, stocked with sacks of food. He thought he might as well help himself, honesty wasn't always the right way to go. After a quick meal, he listened at the door. No sounds penetrated from the room or hallway beyond, he softly opened the door and slipped out.
After a long winding road through hallways and stairwells, Alexis noticed he was going down. He had gone far more down then his intention had been.
Alexis cursed his sense of direction and wondered how he'd ever gotten anywhere on Icarus if he couldn't even navigate in a castle.
He sat down and decided to spend the night in the small alcove. It wasn't as comfortable as a real bed, but less dangerous than a cave. But Alexis couldn't sleep, he took a big spin round memory lane instead.

His father was shouting, he was most of the time. He and his brothers always remained vigilant in some way, even when sleeping. Alexis was only 8 years and the youngest of the 4 children in the family. But unlike his brothers, who had the dark and rough appearance of their father, he resembled his mother, a small and tender woman, who had died to soon in his life. His appearance had always ticked his father off, he tried and tried to keep out of the way, but his father always found him. It was in this night he had promised himself he would leave. Dreaming in his bed about the miracles he had heard about from the people that visited their inn. Of course an 8-year old can't survive on his own, so he would have to wait. And he had, 7 more years of avoiding and building plans. And after that the 2 years of travelling and learning.
During that period his decisiveness to become an adventurer had only grown more solid. There was still much to discover on Icarus.

Finally, Alexis fell asleep, but his dreams were frightening and endless. He shouted and kicked his legs, alerting someone in the next room.
"Istaniel, are you sure you heard someone?"
"Yesssss, Mihani, I'm sure. Ssssomeone issss there."
"If you say so, I'll check the hallways."
A short time went by and Alexis started mumbling again.
"Hey! you aren't supposed to be here!" Mihani shouted and called for the guards. But she too underestimated Alexis, he jumped up and ran away before she could grab him. The guards were closing in on him though. He could here them running and shutting down walkways, trying to trap him. They were very close too. Suddenly he knew he was trapped, the sounds of feet came from all directions, shutting him in. He did the only possible thing left for him to do, he opened the nearest door and ducked in, hoping the owner was a deep sleeper.
Again he was lucky. It was dark, but he heard a soft snoring from further in the room. He more felt than saw the night drak and immediately stopped. But he was too late. the drak opened his eyes and looked at him. It made a funny noise.
"Taigggggeee."
Alexis tried to duck back behind the drak, but the drak was faster. In the mean time the Head Judge of Lav'intay had awoken and was busy getting his head together.
"What is it Tilvem?"
"I have found the lasssst asspirantch."
At that precise moment the door opened and a horde of guards, High Princess Mihani leading them entered the room.
"Tage, explain will you."
That wasn't a question, but a direct order.
"Tilvem says we have found our last aspirant."
"Is that so? Then why did he break into the castle?"
"erm...don't know." Tage looked confused to Tilvem.
"He isss right for the clutch. He should sstand."
"If you say so Tilvem, but I'm keeping a close eye on this one. To make sure he doesn't run off."
She turned to Alexis.
"Now, I'll need your name, age and region of origin for the records. And of course, your permission to be an aspirant."
Mihani suddenly realised no-one had asked the boy yet. Normally one didn't say no, but this one was very cagey.
"I guess." Alexis said.

~--°°--_--°°--~

The Hatching.
The sounds of the mother Water Drak had kept him awake for some time now. He kept on thinking about her and the eggs. What if he didn't pair? He had heard some draks chose to stay unpaired, or paired one of their siblings. Would they punish him then? Or would he be allowed to stay?
The noises stopped, maybe he'd get some sleep afteral. He snuggled deeper in his blankets and closed his eyes. Only to be rushed out of bed by some castle residents shouting the eggs were hatching.
Alexis jumped out of bed and got dressed, yet still he was the last to get to the deep cavern. Just his luck, maybe the little draklings wouldn't see him standing in the shadows.
To prove him wrong, the first drakling that came forth and was named Xelet by his mother rushed to him and said:
"You're lucky they didn't punish you for sneaking in here, but I'm glad you did."
Alexis could only agree as he looked at the magnificent creature that would be with him for the rest of his life.
"I'm glad I did too."
They left, leaving the other draklings and aspirants to find Fate on their own. Alexis didn't need to be afraid anymore.

~--°°--_--°°--~

Knights.
Alexis lay down, soaking in the rays of the sun. Life was good in the Castle. Life was good with Xelet. He closed his eyes and must have dozed off.
"That's a fine looking drak you have there son." a voice said.
"Don't let him hear you. He might become unbearable." Alexis joked.
"I would not!" Xelet grumbeled, turning towards them.
Alexis got up and took his time to look at the person standing before him. She was a woman and she looked totally natural in her brown leather clothes and with her hair tied back. He could see she was comfortable around Draks.
"Do you have a Drak?" he asked.
"Me? No, not yet anyway. My name is Marnys and I'm to be an Aspirant for the next Lav'intay clutch, but I've studied Draks for years."
"Really?"
"Yes, I knew I was going to ride one ever since I was three." she smiled hopefully in the distance at those words.
"So what can you tell me about Xelet, oh wise woman of the Draks." he asked.
"I can tell you he's ready to mate."
Alexis looked doubtfully at his Earth Drak. Xelet was still small compared to other Draks.
"He won't get much bigger," she pointed at Xelet's horns, "see, his horns are almost in proportion with the rest of his body."
That was true. Would Xelet really be ready to mate? Where would Alexis find a flying female for him. Mating season was running a bit slow.
"There's a duowinged Green Nexus Dragon rising at Mi'ihen if you are interested."
This was too much, it almost felt like she was pushing him into this.
"How do you know all these things?" he asked, the laughing replaced by seriousness.
"My brother is waiting for her to clutch so he can be an aspirant there."
"So how large is your family?"
"Three. Two girls, one boy. I'm the oldest. And what about you."
"All alone." he said, not wanting to share anything with her. 
"How sad, I love the company of my brother and sister. Are you going to go?"
"I suppose." he said. He wanted to see Mi'ihen Castle and the Green Nexus Dragon. How different would she be?

~--°°--_--°°--~

Finding a Life Mate
Alexis waited on the Landing Flat when Marnys circled her small Water drak Koavenei down. Alongside him were her brother Meryk, with his young wife Renylt and her other sister Myan. It was chance maybe that he had met them here at DesCas. After his mourning for Lav'intay he had pulled himself together and had known that a fresh start was what he needed to get his life back on tracks. His eye had drifted toward a small new castle at the edges of the ocean in a small sandy desert. Though it wasn't as far away from Lav'intay as he could get, it was something new entirely.
Big was his surprise when he came there and saw Marnys again. But there was something off about her, the way she walked maybe. The woman in front of him didn't have the same know-it-all spirit that had charmed him when they had first met. Myan, Marnys' triplet sister, had shown him around the castle, confessing that she had only been there for a short time, but that the armadas were so empty she didn't really have a choice.
Now, almost a year later the armadas had become slightly more populated, but there were still  a lot of open spaces. Marnys returning, and bringing in another new Knight was a good thing. The Water touched the ground, let her Knight jump of and then rapidly advanced toward his own earth drak Xelet. They had never met before, but still Koavenei greated his drak with the words:
"I've seen you lots of times."
"Liked what you saw?" Xelet grinned.
"Hmmm... a lot." the water blushed back before the couple intertwined their tails.
"What just happened?" Alexis asked.
"I'm thinking you'll get another flight soon." Marnys said, standing close beside him, "I've been thinking a lot about you and Koavenei has picked that up.", she blushed.

~--°°--_--°°--~
Alexis paired at Lavintay Castle.
Castle DesCas