Indrid paired at Dun Keiba.
Kaeli paired at Mi'ihen Castle.

Indrid looked at the sky and nodded. Good weather for a day out in the Galaxy. He picked up the small, effective and expensive little gadget that allowed him to teleport. This gadget made his line of work a lot easier. He was a young adventurer, 24 years old. He wasn't handsome, but no-one would call him ugly. He had short black hair and pale blue eyes. He lived on a small planet called Zircon, it was a nice enough place to live, gray craters everywhere and one dot of colour: Indrid's home. He had terraformed one small spot of land, growing trees and vegetables. Smack in the middle of that piece of fertile land stood his home. His house was a one-level white structure with red tiles around it. The largest part contained computers and only one fourth was used to live in. Indrid didn't care, he was away from it most of the time anyway.
Today's adventure would lead him to a planet called Richkan where he'd need to find a special kind of plant. The plant would be used for medical purposes. Anyone could hire him, as long as it got him to exotic places to explore.
He entered the coordinates in the teleport gadget and pressed the little blue button. He waited for the odd sensation in his stomach and then pressed the yellow button. Then he vanished. The blue button had temporarily lifted him out of space and the yellow button had brought him to Richkan.
Indrid looked around. So much for adventure, he was in a thriving little city. The people looked at him and made fun of his clothes. He just turned to the nearest human and asked in his best Interstellar: "Do you know where this plant grows?"
The man nodded and pointed to the forest just outside the city. Indrid shrugged and went on his way. He looked around outside the city and saw huge mountains in the west. The sky looked dark above them. There might be thunderstorms.

Kaeli looked at the sky and winced. It would start soon! She ran a bit harder. If she didn't get home in time she would die. She was in the forest, but she didn't notice the beauty of the trees, all she saw was the sky turning red. The city of Magyln was built on the one safe place in the valley. Every Richkan year (10 terra years) the volcanoes in the west erupted. No stone had ever hit Magyln, no lava had ever burned it. The ground there was sacred. And very well protected. By some freak of nature one side of the volcano was indestructible, it protected the city. But the forest would burn.
The disaster had been said to be tomorrow, but who could trust science? She looked at the sky and stopped. She had to rest. She gathered her hair and threw it on her back. The long brown-copper strands fell down almost in slow motion, but Kaeli knew that was just the fear driving her senses to the maximum.
She started running again. She fell. She screamed. It was her ankle.

Indrid had found the place where the plants grew. He was busy gathering them when he heard the scream. That was no animal. He looked up and only then noticed the red in the sky. Sunset already? This planet revolted fast. He grabbed his plants and went looking for the screamer. He soon found her. Tall and beautiful, she first looked like a mirage, long brown hair swirling on the ground where she sat. Then he heard she was crying.
He almost didn't dare disturb her, but he didn't think it would be safe for her to stay there alone in the night.
"Hello." As good a beginning as any.
She looked up and wiped away some tears, surprised to see anyone. Then the fear returned and she asked:
"What are you doing here? You should be inside!"
"Why? It's only night...I can take care of myself."
"No! The Eruption! You don't know it has started?" Fear became amazement.
"What has started? Calm down."
"The Eruption. The volcanoes in the West." She tried to explain in as little words as possible. If he could carry her, they might both get home safe.
"Volcanoes..." Indrid started to get it.
"It's only safe in the city. We need to get to it. Can you carry me?"
"Sure." He took her in his arms. She looked 18 and wasn't at all heavy, the smaller gravitational pull of the planet might have also had something to do with it.
Indrid started running, hoping he wouldn't fall too. The walk up here hadn't seen to long, but now when he was running back it seemed to have tripled in distance. Rocks started falling all around them. Abandoning all safety Indrid ran as fast as he could. The girl didn't protest although the bumps would hurt her ankle even more.
Then they both saw the lava running into the forest. They were close to the city, but not close enough. Kaeli cried in frustration when she saw it and sat down. It is hard to be optimistic when lava comes running down towards you. Indrid just stood silent, taking in the beauty of the lava. Kaeli looked up at him and yelled:
"What are you smiling about?! We're going to die!"
"No we're not." Indrid took out his teleport gadget and set the coordinates to Zircan.
"I can teleport us out. Get up and take my arm."
Kaeli obeyed and came closer to him. She screamed as she saw the rock hit him. Indrid fell down, loosing the gadget.
"Where is it?!" He yelled.
They both looked for a moment, the lava was coming dangerously close when Kaeli finally saw the little blue light. She handed the gadget carefully to Indrid, who pressed the blue and then the yellow button.

Something had gone wrong. They weren't on Zircon. Indrid looked around, letting his eyes getting used to the dark. Kaeli sat beside him.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"I don't know. Hopefully out of danger."
They both kept silent when they heard a door opening.
"Are you sure you heard something Ferissa?" A young girl by the sound of her voice.
A soft chitter.
"I'll hit the lights."
Suddenly the cave was filled with light reflected by dozens of mirrors. The girl stood baffled when she saw Indrid and Kaeli on the ground.
"Who are you?" She asked in an authorative tone.
"Indrid." Indrid said, getting on his feet.
"Kaeli." Kaeli said, looking at the smoke faerie drak of the girl.
"Where are we?" Indrid asked.
"You are at DesCas, more specific in the faerie drak cave of castle DesCas on Icarus. I'm the guardian of the eggs. My name is Avalone. How did you get here?" She tried to look angry, but she was more intruiged then irritated by the two visitors.
"We teleported." Indrid said. Avalone nodded, like that was a common thing to her. Kaeli just stared at the eggs, and then at Ferissa.
"Those eggs contain faeriedraks." Avalone said.
"Can we have one?" Kaeli asked, pulling Indrid to one of the tables.
"Of course!" Avalone exclaimed, "We have too many as is."
Kaeli quickly snatched 2 eggs from the sand tables and watched as the shell on hers started to break away. A perfect little brown creature crawled out of it and scratched the last bits of shell of it's head on her thumb.
"That's a Mud, a male and a handsome one." Avalone told her.
Both girls looked at Indrid. The slightly older man watched in terror as a small white and blue faerie drak crawled up his arm and started stroking his cheek. This, being very amusing, made both girls laugh.
"That's a Wind female. And she's sooo sweet!!" Avalone said.
"We need names for them." Kaeli said, "I think mine looks like a Drendry. What are you going to call yours ... Indrid?" Kaeli realised it was the first time she used his name and felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Elya, I think, she reminds me of someone I used to know." He blushed as he said that, which made the girls laugh again.
 

WIND Elya    MUD Drendry   

Two weeks later Indrid and Kaeli decided to leave. Kaeli's ankle was strong again and both wanted to discover the beauty of Icarus. The Farewell was a happy occasion. They were accompanied to the nearest road and wished luck on their travels.
"I'm sorry to see you guys leave so soon, but I can imagine you want to see more of Icarus." Avalone said, "Remember, you can always come back."
Both promised to come again.

A few hours later down that road Kaeli finally said something about the irritating behaviour of Indrid.
"You can talk to me, you know."
"Really? That's fine." Then he looked down again.
"What are you thinking about?" Kaeli asked.
"The road."
That was were the conversation ended. The Silent Wolf-behaviour of Indrid was really getting on her nerves. He almost hadn't spoken to her after those first moments on Richkan. Kaeli was a very social and optimistic person. She needed to talk to people, not stare at them and hope they'd talk back. At least she had Drendry to take care off.
It became evening and then night. There wasn't a town in sight, so they'd have to camp. This was new to Kaeli. Indrid made her a soft bed of leaves and grasses. Only one bed? She looked at him, what was he planning? He cooked some left over meat for them and then said next to the fire and gestured at her to go sleep. He would stand guard. She blushed at the ideas she had had before. And she didn't quite get why she felt disappointed either.

"Well maybe we should split up!" Kaeli said.
"Fine with me." Indrid replied.
Neither of them would deny that this Farewell was rather sad. They had travelled together five days now. They liked each other despite their differences. They were right in the middle of the desert. His fault to Kaeli, hers to Indrid. Kaeli wanted to go North and see what she could visit there, while Indrid insisted on going South.
Kaeli left first, leaving Indrid to doubt. Indrid looked at her and sighed. He wanted to follow her, but his pride just wouldn't let him. He turned South and followed the dust road.

"Miss! What are you doing here?"
"Walking!" Kaeli wasn't happy at all, she just wanted to get somewhere. Two days had passed and she was running low on water.
"You shouldn't go out in the desert unless you know it. It isn't safe."
Kaeli gave him an angry stare, but that didn't hold him back. He ran after her.
"Why do you run?" This voice was different, the words slightly odd.
Kaeli looked around and saw a silver-gold drak. She had learned allot when she was recovering at DesCas and knew these were called Ores.
"My name is Gwaur " The knight said. "I can take you to Mi'ihen."
Kaeli gave up. Anything was better than walking this desert, even if it meant she had been wrong. She hoped Indrid had had better luck.

He hadn't. Two days and still in the desert. They should have gone West in stead of East at that first crossing. He had one advantage to Kaeli, he was used to rough living. He knew how to find oases too. Still, he missed her company.
3 days later he finally reached a small village on the first grasslands after the desert. The first face he saw in 5 days was rather unusual. A white-grey drak looked at him from around the corner of a house. Indrid would have jumped and screamed if he hadn't known about draks. A handsome man followed his drak.
"Hello." He said, surprised to see anyone here.
"Hi, I'm Indrid. You are...?"
"Almiron." The High Prince looked at the stranger and saw his clothes were all wrong. Browns, reds and blues? Who dared! Well, at least he seemed to be smarter than the folks here on this forced pr-trip.
"What are you doing here?" Almiron asked.
"I just left the desert and I'm looking to find another castle."
"Ahhh, I can help you with that. I'm headed back to Dun Keiba."
They shook hands and spoke no more till they landed in Dun Keiba and Elya left Indrid's sleeve. Almiron looked irritated at the Faerie Drak. Not another one!
"Just find someone to help you freshen up, I know I will." The stranger Indrid had spent some time in the desert, maybe his choice in clothing would improve. Or could be forced to improve.
When Indrid had left he asked Lauvakil: "What do you think?"
"He'll work." the Opal drak replied.
"That's settled then."

At Mi'ihen Kaeli was delighted to see the bathing facilities. She happily used them and felt clean again! Drendry hopped through the water, his wings too wet to fly. She got dressed in very pretty clothes, prettier than the ones she had had on Richkan.
She twirled to the hallways and let her hair twist around her. She felt like a princess in this beautiful setting. She was shown around for three days, getting to a new area every day. The rest of the time she was with the training draks. She loved their grace and flexible moves in the air.
"Kaeli!"
"Yes Gwaur?" She hadn't spoken to her knight in 'shining armor' anymore.
"You know I wasn't in the desert for no reason."
"You weren't?" Where would this conversation lead?"
"No, I was on my way to Judge some aspirants when I saw you."
"There's a clutch then?"
"Yes, and Jaletha thought you might be good to be one."
"Really?" She smiled as she made him ask her the real question.
"So,.. you know... would you like to be an aspirant?"
"Of course. I'd be honoured." Going with the scenery she bowed.

"Welcome again Indrid." Almiron said.
"Eh, thanks." Indrid said, noticing Almiron was dressed in a very expensive and probably handmade ensemble. He didn't think every knight would be able to wear these fine clothing. The things he had found in his closet weren't normal either. At long last he had gone for black trousers and a red shirt.
Almiron carefully scanned him. Black and reds, classic colours. He nodded.
"So, Lauvakill says you'd be good to be an aspirant."
This was the last thing Indrid had expected.
"Me?" he said.
"Yes you. And we have a clutch too. So what do you say?"
"Yes." It seemed inevitable. Indrid went with the mysterious ways of life and hoped the adventure would be fun.

Kaeli dreamed. In her dream she was still walking with Indrid, although all was different. They were happy together. He turned towards her and kissed her. She knew she should not want him, but it felt right. The he opened his mouth to say how much he loved her. But in stead of words squeaks of hunger came out of him.
Dreaded she turned away and...was back in her room at Mi'ihen, the squeaks still sounding in her ears. It was Drendry she realised, he wasn't at his usual spot. He was hungry. Served him right for not wanting to eat last night. She put a pillow over her ears, turned her back towards the faerie drak and tried to sleep an hour or two more.
Suddenly the door hinges sounded and she looked up. Embarrassed to be caught of guard and not tending well for her faerie drak. They could still un-aspirant her, right?
But what entered her room wasn't a human, it was a big blue and white drak. And behind it came a smaller drakling. All brown and green she was hardly seen in the soft light of early (really early) morning.
"Yachari" was said, Kaeli not quite knowing if it was mother or daughter speaking. But she knew all she had to know.
Drendry chirped and flew over the drakling, curious as ever. Kaeli wanted she could be as straightforward as the little faerie. But truth was she didn't dare, what if she did something wrong? At last she remembered the wise words someone had ever spoken to her: "Be yourself."
She jumped out of bed and touched the drakling, hugging it, knowing it was all right.

Yachari

At roughly the same time, Though halfway around the planet, Indrid was awoken by someone screaming 'Dominica' loudly through the castle hallways. Startled he looked up, jumped in his pants and entered the hallway. Like always he was wide awake from the moment he opened his eyes.
Suddenly someone yelled: "Hatching! Aspirants follow me!" and Indrid just followed the group of  drowsy people to the deep cavern.
"Come along asspirantss." The father, plant Heldiadu, urged the aspirants, "form a line. Wait for the young to look you over, they will deccide if they will pair or not. Do not try to forcce them."
"They know their namesss." the mother, Wind Zariyapar commented, "Sso when they come to you it will be their bussiness telling you."
The rest of the hatching faded out, pushed back by the intensity of the moment that followed. Indrid afterwards could remember the dry sand and the squeaks of joy, but not what types paired and to whom. And then, almost at the end of the hatching a green plant drak suddenly appeared at his side:
"I can take you to her... Eventually."
"I know. And I hope you can." Indrid said, smiling at the thought.
"I am Halzardu."
Indrid nodded and guided Halzardu to the side so the remaining draklings could make their choice easier. Indrid didn't really see the last to pairings, his mind was too busy making plants to surprise Kaeli. Little did he know she was going to surprise him.

Halzardu

"Kaeli!" the happy voice of Yachari sounded, "Look! Without falling!" She called out.
Kaeli smiled as she saw her Drak hovering. Finally! Yachari had taken much longer than other draks to learn the skill, partly because she was so excited all the time. Hovering required focus. It had driven Yachari's trainer, Transport Drendari, crazy when he saw how bad she was at it. He had hoped for a Drak who could help him fly people to and fro. In stead Yachari hadn't left Mi'ihen yet.
She ran out to her drak and embraced her tight.
"I knew you could do it!" she said and rubbed her long neckhair.
Yachari purred when she was petted and twisted her back down so Kaeli could scratch the other side too. Kaeli jumped on and scratched her until her fingertips went numb.
"Now how about showing me how it's done in full flight with Knight?" she asked.
Yachari took off and hovered till Kaeli was afraid she would strain her wings.
"I can fly good now, yes?"
"Yes, my precious."
"Then why are you still a bit sad?"
"I'm not sad, I'm just missing someone."
"Should we go find him?"
"Maybe."

Indrid was flying high above the castle on Halzardu, enjoying the free time of flight practice. Elya was flying along with him, straining to keep up with her tiny wings.
"You can always sit on my shoulder!" Indrid called to her.
An irritated chitter reached him, broken up by wind and distance. The little faerie drak looked around and suddenly dropped down. Indrid tried following her, but he couldn't, she had flown down below Halzardu's shadow.
"I ssee her." the plant drak said.
"What is she doing?"
"Sshe is playing with another faerie."
"One of Dun Keiba?" it seemed strange that another faerie drak had followed them this far from the castle, maybe other draks were out here as well. 
"Can we go find them?" Halzardu asked, always interested in meeting new pairs to add to his growing number of impressions. Indrid shrugged. It was ok with him. Besides, he needed to make sure Elya knew her way back to Dun Keiba before he left her here. He never said it to anyone, but the little creature had really touched him. 
They flew down and soon landed below Elya and the small mud faerie she was playing with. They seemed to have get to know each other real quick. They had skipped the traditional welcomes and were already playing in the air.
Indrid watched the two for a while, finally coming to the conclusion that the faerie must be a wild one when it suddenly flew up. Indrid followed it, but his eyes couldn't see it when it passed in front of the sun. He looked back down and smiled at Enlya:
"It seems your playmate has gone."
The wind faerie chirped again and followed the mud to the skies above the forest where they had landed.
"Even better..." Indrid said.
Halzardu grinned.
"What, does this seem funny to you?" Indrid asked.
"It sssure doesss... being abandoned by a faerie!"
"Elya will come back." Indrid said, with more feel than he would have liked to show to other humans.
"There ssshe isss already." Halzardu said, "With company."
Indrid squinted his eyes and noticed that there was a big drak following the two smaller faeries. The drak hovered and then crashed down beside them at a startling speed. Indrid jumped up and back to avoid a collision when the forest drak suddenly braced herself and landed as smooth as a butterfly.
"Made you ssscare!" it said.
Halzardu grinning behind his back again, Indrid got the feeling it was all rigged. 
"Who are you!" he called to the knight who was invisible behind the forest's hair.
"Indrid! Is it really you?" a familiar voice asked him.
"Yeah... Kaeli?"
"That's right." she said and jumped down from her drak.
"How did you find me?" Indrid asked.
"I didn't find you... Drendry did. I just lost my way, like before." Kaeli said and waited for a scold on how useless she was when he had been out of that desert in 5 hours, 30 minutes and a few seconds.
"Getting lost seems the way they do things here." Indrid smiled wryly, remembering his not so perfect escape from the desert, "Were you coming to see me?"
"I was. Who knew Dun Keiba was so hard to find." Kaeli laughed.
"In fact, Dun Keiba is a few miles to the East." Indrid said.
After that Indrid and Kaeli talked during the day. Telling each other just how they had fared on this new planet. Finally when it was time to go, Indrid offered Kaeli a stay at Dun Keiba. Kaeli, all too happy to take the opportunity embraced Indrid and kissed him. Then she blushed. As usual her impulsive nature had betrayed her. But to hers (and Indrid's) surprise Indrid didn't let go.
"Where did that come from?" she asked after the kiss.
"I honestly can't say... absence makes the heart grow fonder?"
"That's not how the saying goes!" Kaeli said laughing.
"It seems to work." Indrid said winking.
Finally the two turned to there draks to find them sleeping, tails and arms entwined.
"I think we weren't the only ones to find a mate."
"I wonder if Halzardu is ever going to make fun of Forests again." Indrid said.
"I think Yachari would actually like being made fun off... as long as she could have her revenge."
"Should we wake them up?"
"No, let them sleep.. we aren't in any danger here, right?"
"Not that I know off..."

Yachari and Halzardu are rising at Dun Keiba

Castle DesCas