Deep Sea
Mazorun & Swamp Tazrin
The young woman that had once been a temple dancer, not much
more than a glorified slave, marvelled at how her life had changed as she was
standing waist-deep in water. Hanari had not looked back after she'd grabbed
Nyaka's hand. Both their lives could have taken an ugly turn. Even his family
could have been punished for having him help her escape her fate. But luckily
things had worked out and they were now living together at Dawn Cove and safe
from persecution by their unique companions.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
Mazorun told her bond.
"I don't have much to fear here." Hanari smiled.
She wasn't even on the same world as where her story had started. After Mazorun
and Tazrin's eggs hatched they would return to Gremyne but in the meantime
they'd enjoyed the vacation.
"It won't be much longer now."
Tazrin said, his olive green head popping out of the water not too far from
them.
Nyaka, Tazrin's bond and a former cattle-boy, was sitting on the beach. His bond
was right, there were unusual tremors in the water that were a telltale sign
that the eggs were rocking and getting ready to hatch.
"I'll go warn the candidates." he told the others and rushed toward
the nearest officials, followed by the low hum as the draconic message rushed
forward as well.
It didn't take long for the handful of candidates to appear. Mazorun's clutch
was small at 4 eggs but all of her offspring would be healthy and large judging
by the size of the eggs. For this clutch two people from Dawn Cove had been
chosen to try and impress and four mer-people had been found by word of mouth.
The mer-people were the first to arrive, benefiting from the currents and their
easy sea-access from the northern sea-level living areas. Orome and Tazah were
dark-skinned but that's where the comparison stopped. They came from
completely different places in the Nexus. Orome hailed from the Refugium and had
found her way to Lantessama because some of her friends had impressed at
previous clutches. Tazah's friends Vashal and Idris were lighter-coloured mers
but equally impressive in looks. The three of them had come from the Oceans on
Planet Kynn and also knew Lantessama by word of mouth. Lief and Shunki arrived a
little later from the roads as they'd been stationed more central to the island.
They would leave with Hanari and Nyaka right after the hatching and if they
bonded would raise the kittens in the Dawn Cove settlement.
Another half an hour later had the first egg hatch. The clear blue hatchling
female swam fast and skimmed the sand to fleck off any leftover shell before she
hurried to Orome and said:
"I want to look my best to meet you. My name is
Zuriya."
Two other eggs hatched in rapid succession. A purple an red male appeared in the
clear waters before their movements stirred up the sand and obscured the view.
Only seconds later though the purple well appeared next to Tazah and asked:
"Can I come with you? I will be good... most of
the time."
Which caused the Dahkala to chuckle and say: "Sure Urquar."
The red fountain meanwhile had reached the shore and made googly eyes at Shunki:
"Do you think they'll like me?" he
asked, hinting at Shunki's girlfriend and her bond who had already left
Lantessama.
"Why wouldn't they, Lizaro? You look amazing."
The last egg seemed to have waited and only hatched after the sediment had
settled. When it finally popped, a bright green female flipped her tail out of
the water. She too headed for the shore, leaving the two waiting mers to wait
for a future clutch, choosing to go to the human nurse instead.
"I'd like to learn more." she told
Lief, "You can call me Beroul."
"Just ask me what you want to know and I'll try to give you an
answer." the woman replied.
As the new pairs headed out to eat and make arrangements for their future, the
sun shone brightly in the sky, a good omen for what was to come.
Orome
(f) and Lake Zuriya (f)
Lief (f) and Pond
Beroul (f)
Shunki
(m) and Fountain Lizaro (m)
Tazah
(nb) and Well Urquar (m)