Rock Adelynha
& Well Chunyon
It was early morning, the first light that announced
the arrival of the sun had just appeared on the horizon, tainting the
black night sky with a reddish glow. Not many people were awake on
Lantessama Isle, but the nekrats and dragons were awake. They waited with
bated breaths until Rock Adelynha let out the first call. A triumphant and
echoing bugle to shake every living being from their beds. Everyone should
get the message: Her eggs were hatching. She'd guarded them for months and
had carefully tended them, turning the eggs and keeping them on a soft bed
of sand. Her mate Chunyon had patrolled the area dutifully and had brought
her whatever she needed. He had offered to take her place so she could be
free from guard-duty for a little while but she'd declined.
Chunyon picked up her call and soon all the nekrats joined in the calling.
They were echoed by the dragons from their lairs, from the sky and the
mountain tops. After about ten minutes the first humans rushed out.
Hastily dressed and with tousled hair they didn't look like much but it
pleased Adelynha that they had not taken the time to get ready. The
candidates appeared both from the water and from the land. Chandravathi
and Aalok, two Kynnese merfolk swam from their temporary quarters at the
back of the island where the lairs gave direct access to the ocean. Anaro,
the selkie seal-shifter was close behind them, followed still by the
Irawella the Wyldkin Platypus-humanoid. Keshri, a Gremynian human
and Yaiman Kardunn, a space mechanic that had already impressed a gem
dragon, ran to the beach from their quarters on land.
As the sun rose triumphantly from the horizon, the splashing of the water
indicated that some or maybe all the eggs had hatched. Calm descended on
the bay afterward and people started whispering among themselves. Adelynha
would have none of it and glared at the offenders. Only birdsong and the
rustling of leaves in the wind remained until Anaro surfaced from the
water in her human form and laughed:
"Gindelo wants to say hi."
Hardly disturbing the water, a sleak and bright aqua-coloured foam leapt
from the depths of the bay and made a perfect arch before diving back into
the sea. His head popped back up and with a short call, the nekrat
returned to his bond to cuddle.
"I want to swim with you, how deep can you
go?"
Meanwhile, at the shore where Keshri and Yaima stood with their feet in
the water, a dark shadowy form appeared in the surf. The well hatchling
shimmied all the way to the waiting mechanic with the blonde-raspberry
hair and lifted her head.
"I love your colours. Purple is my favourite
colour."
Gejuisu couldn't help but grin at that comment. If that nekrat was like
her father Yaima'd be in for a load of trouble and fun. Her Aquamarine gem
dragon seemed to love the little nekrat however and was happily creating
bubbles all around for her to pop.
Near the edge of the bay, Chandravathi found herself surrounded by a
spiralling nekrat. The red-brownish male seemed to be circling her like a
shark but she was not afraid. Allowing the hatchling to come closer with
open arms she waited for what was to come. Her long blue hair floated on
the water and her tail kept her firmly in place. Finally the rock
hatchling brushed up against her and she could stroke it's sides.
"What's your name little one?" she asked.
"Shinevhi." the hatchling
replied, "And I'm not small. I'll be big and
strong!".
Meanwhile, closeby Irawella had felt the stir in the water that told her one of
the nekrat hatchlings was around. The quiet nudge that had her open her mind was
soft but restrained as if the hatchling was holding back.
"Who are you?" she asked it, taking to the challenge as she would
while on the ship, be it a chore or an attack.
"Maedine." the answer came and a
streamlined turquoise dragon tail flicked some water in her direction,
"I'd love to dive for pearls with you."
Near the shore, Keshri had noticed a slight disturbance in the water. It
was still pretty dark and he wasn't sure, but going to check it out
couldn't hurt. So he stepped to the side and suddenly felt something
smooth and slippery below his feet. The nekrat pulled it's tail free and
caused Keshri to fall.
"I'm sorry." the lake male
said as he swam up to Keshri.
"Don't worry Volludh. I'm alright."
That left one candidate out at sea. Aalok swam closer to where the eggs
were. He dove and saw that all had broken. So where was that fifth
hatchling? Behind him of course. He realised just a second too late and
the deep sea female was upon him, hugging him close.
"Let's see the worlds together."
she told him and stared deep into his brown eyes.
"I'll be happy to have you with me, Bindelk." he answered.
Adelynha let out another proud call to celebrate her offspring coming into
the world. The day had dawned and so had the next generation.
Aalok
Sahni
(m) and Deep Sea Bindelk (f)
Keshri
(m) and Lake Volludh (m)
Irawella (f)
and Pool Maedine (f)
Anaro
(f) and Foam Gindelo (m)
Chandravathi
Taksa
(f) and Rock Shinevhi (m)
Yaima
Kardunn (f) and Well Pucat (f)