Pond Beroul was watching over her eggs in the Lantessama
Bay and had loved every moment of living through a - for her - new
experience. Always wanting to learn and know more, she was eager to see
what would happen. Sometimes she'd noticed small tremors in the eggs. It
almost felt like her babies had been talking to each other. Beroul herself
couldn't remember anything from before she'd been born. Maybe it was a
trait from the sire's side of their genetics. But before Beroul could ask
Moeomth, something changed in the waters. The change was slight and
if she'd not been such a scientifically fuelled mind, she probably
wouldn't have noticed.
"Lief!" she called her
rider, "I think it's happening!"
The sturdy nurse was with her bond in minutes, closely followed by Zeharin
and Moeomth. Small fountain splashes signalled that the eggs were in fact
hatching and everyone scrambled to get the candidates at the scene. As
usual some approached the bay from the sea-side, while others came over
the beach. Humans, dragons, and some beings in between all rushed toward
the bay. When they arrived, they found that the hatchlings had waited...
and had made some decisions ahead of time though those would only become
apparent at the end of the hatching.
Some dragonets dove deep while others rose up, extending thin but strong
wings that could both be used to propel them through air and water.
Flippered feet, webbed ears and a set of nekrat whiskers became evident as
some of the hatchlings left the water. Some had colours that clearly
resembled the hues of nekrats, but some were most definitely different.
Like the pink male that shot up out of the water and quickly found his way
to the pacifistic fishery aid from Sunfall Isle.
"I gather you have a lot of water where you
live. I'd like to see all the pretty fishes."
"And probably taste them too." Iqaluk answered.
"That too." the hatchling
added, "My name is Quizith."
Meanwhile, underwater, a bright white male and a bright blue female were
racing to see who could catch their bond first.
"Mine is bigger, I'll get her first!"
the white cloud hatchling boasted.
"Mine is smarter, she'll know to come to
me!" the foam hatchling insisted.
The two of them zipped back and forth until they nearly crashed into their
unsuspecting bonds.
Caprice, the dappled green and grey Loch Nexian, let out a shrill warning
whistle, but it was too late. Luckily for both of them, the cloudy white
nekrat-hybrid was far from big enough to topple her. Instead he relaxed
against her hide and felt the feeling of coming home wash over him.
"My name is Wolketh and you are mine."
he sighed happily before dozing off.
Kamala, the dark brown dahkala with the bright patches had a harder time
containing the foam hatchling. The little dragonet got caught up in her
braids and it took a while to free. After having untangled a lot of beads
and other shiny embellishments, the foam hatchling was finally able to
look her bond in the eyes:
"I just love your hair and your patches. See
we match!" she happily babbled on, clearly having a lot
more energy left over than her brother.
Finally she calmed down enough to give her name: "I'm
Itriul by the way."
Floating on the waters of the bay, Krizuk, the maintenance worker of the
True Star, was enjoying the day. Bonding would happen if it was meant to
be and he would not force it. He just enjoyed the feel of the water
against his skin and the sight of the sky above him. Suddenly though, a
shadow cast overhead as a shiny beige dragonet shot overhead, splashing
water onto the green-skinned dragonkin. Krizuk laughed and went to chase
the offending hatchling, sending out some water projectiles as revenge.
Not much later, the male hatchling admitted defeat and said:
"You've won but I'll be getting a rematch!
My name is Ersth."
With their feet in the water, two young people from Dawn Cove were looking
toward the water, hoping one of the hatchlings would come their way. It
was the curly-haired teenaged girl, Zashiki, who bonded first. A peculiar
feeling of something brushing her feet turned out to be a Wave hatchling
sniffing at her feet. As she tried not to pull away, she lost her balance
and dropped into the water, much to the delight of the blue female
dragonet.
"I made you fall! I win!"
Zashiki took it in stride because she'd anticipated on getting wet,
"That's okay Ronswul." she replied, "I'll get you next
time."
Only a few minutes later, the other Dawn Cove bonder, Uor, a blond-haired
mechanic who preferred fading into the background, saw a white-blue shape
emerge from the water. Wings floated on the surface and a head popped up,
snout first, to bop him in the stomach.
"You smell so lovely, I'm certain you're
mine." the moon-coloured hatchling let him know, "My
name is Kirnath."
Litus, the silver dragon mutt who served as Sunfall Isle's lifeguard, had
been watching the commotion from the beach. He had gotten so used to
observing from a safe vantage point that the thought of joining the others
in the water hadn't occurred to him. Which is why he jumped as someone
lightly touched his mind. The touch felt faintly green and murky and said:
"I might like the land better, at least I
don't think I want to swim too deep. Who knows what's down there."
Puzzled, the silver dragon looked back and saw a female swamp-coloured
nekrat hybrid. The hatchling seemed oddly afraid of the water for one who
was in essence part sea-dragon. But he wouldn't hold that against her.
"Don't worry, Mohaul." he
said, "I'll teach you to surf."
Floating on a little bit of driftwood, Pashepe was slowly drifting out to sea.
Yet the pink frog was not worried. After all, they were a sacred guardian to a
goddess. And if all else failed, they could just portal to another place.. or
back to shore. From below though, bubbles rose, popping softly on the surface.
Pashepe sat up straighter and croaked.
"I would like to see the temple... and the
multiverse." a female deep sea blue hatchling said.
Pashepe hopped onto her back and let his bond ferry them back to the bay.
"The multiverse it is." he promised Atmaul, "The temple will
always be there."
That left only one candidate on the sands. A dark brown mudwing called
Sleetch with a knack for healing. He'd been sent as a representative and
wondered if maybe that was why he was still left. Maybe he'd need to wait
for a while for the right dragon to appear before him. Although, maybe he
should just be a little bit more inviting. His looks often made people a
little bit afraid and he just wasn't that kind of person who'd grow grumpy
because of it. Dropping down, putting his head into the water, he peered
around and spied a little dark-yellow hatchling just a few feet away.
"Hello there." he said, "Might
you need a hug?"
The puddle-coloured female blinked and then nodded slowly.
"I like your name." she
confided, "Mine is Drabul."
"Now that sounds just as delightfully
wet." Sleetch thundered.
"Is it done?" Lief asked, looking at the waters.
"No." Beroul shook her head.
Suddenly two more hatchlings popped up. One was a female pool aqua while the
other a male thistle purple. The female remained quiet, allowing her more
pro-active brother to take the word.
"We saw something we liked in the mind of
Caprice." he said, bold and prickly.
"Wonderful water." the pool added
in a whisper, cool and gentle.
"Do you want to go with Caprice then?" Moeomth
asked.
"No, we wish to go to where she once was."
"To swim with Dimsith."
"Together with Ophroul."
With the two of them registered and transported by one of the older nekrats,
Lief turned once more to her nekrat.
"Now?"
"It is done." Beroul nodded.
"Then it's time to celebrate!" Lief announced, her loud voice ringing
across the area, eliciting cheers from the spectators.
Caprice
(f) and Cloud Wolketh (m)
Uor
(m) and Moon Kirnath (m)
Pashepe (nb) and Deep
Sea Atmaul (f)
Zashiki
(f) and Wave Ronswul (f)
Pool Ophroul
(f)
Kamala
(f) and Foam Itriul (f)
Litus (m) and Swamp
Mohaul (f)
Krizuk
(m) and Metal Ersth (m)
Sleetch
(m) and Puddle Drabul (f)
Iqaluk (f) and Heather
Quizith (m)
Thistle Dimsith (m)
**Special Notes: though the girls decided to take their mother's name-ending in tribute, this is not the norm and doesn't need to happen in future clutches, neither do the offspring of the boys need to keep the -th ending**