Most of the sponsors and candidates had lined themselves up in the hatching bay proper, though a few who had been here for some time were sitting back on the raised, permanent bleachers, reading or talking or watching the eggs move with an eerily focused intent.

The darkly iridescent father took a last moment to look over the assemblage. It was by no means perfect, but it was better then nothing. Most of these candidates would simply have to do... though he found certain of their numbers quite preferable over the common lot.

His eyes first landed on Wunelzstou and his partner, Fantredala, (Ruriluseth barely registered the child-like creature--Chibi Dark, who hovered nearby). While it was the chaos-creature--Ruri's uncle, in a sort of disenchanted way--that had done the smooth-talking, Ruriluseth had kept his eye on the Balance Daemon, and it was she that he preferred. It was true that the mutt was part chaos himself (how else the relation to Wunelzstou in all his shadowed darkness?) but the chaos incarnate in his own body was tempered with a stable conscious mind, and that was how he felt more drawn then repulsed to her. In any case, the pair were an external version of what he dealt with internally. Taking care of one of his kits would ensure a balance that would, he hoped, be healthy.

Two immortals stood well apart from one another, as Ruriluseth would have expected. They were completely unalike, from completely unalike backgrounds. One from technology, one from magic, one who imposed death on others, and one who simply attracted it. Cran Gredelle was, besides very long-lived, an Elemental creature, lost and searching for his mate and child. Ruriluseth hadn't been sure where his children fit into this equation, but Cran had never the less settled into waiting for his eggs to hatch, and perhaps a young bond would teach him some responsibility. He'd certainly need it if he were to return to Nin'Queesha!

Kaiser, on the other hand, appeared to have no responsibility whatsoever, and Ruriluseth had, at first, been loathe to accept her. She looked dead to him, though she most certainly was not, even if she smelled strongly of ammonia and surgically contained rot. There was something about her, however, that he had to admit was desirable... then again, perhaps it was that he sensed a connection between her and one of the hatchlings that had been showing glimmerings of a conscious mind. He simply couldn't be sure, and that disturbed him, so he turned his attention onwards.

A black Drasis that seemed entirely out of place here, in this manufactured haven, a rainbow dragon that, for all his ludicrous colouration, lay never the less recumbent on the warmed moss, flicking a bit of fire into and out of existence with a click of a claw... a pale-skinned little human and his dark, hulking Danachian bond, and surprisingly, an Aunt of his that sparkled more brilliantly then even Ruriluseth himself! Another creature of darkness, one Xention--much like Wunelzstou--bathed in shadows, but separate from the true chaos creature. A second Danachian dragon, this one a ghostly purple in colour but unattached to a rider, had recessed herself as far away from her black sibling as possible... though once the excitement of the rocking eggs had worn itself off on her, her attention had gone thoroughly towards Zyanualeth, even if she kept her longing gaze discreet. A single human female stood apart from the rest, looking distinctly out of place with her clashing colours. She, a native of the station, seemed the more a stranger here then any off-worlder! Lastly, just one more Danachian dragon (this one a sickly shade of green) was too busy chatting with another fur-clad human and her bond to pay much attention to the clutch. Ruriluseth snorted as his gaze paused on them. Oh, what trite he'd gone through in his interviews, and this was all that he'd been able to scrape together. Truly, it would have to do, though he doubted that some of these would pass the ultimate test, that of attracting one of his children.

The last applicant, a raptorine golden dragon, Glace Sunscale, had slipped his last sweep, but that didn't mean that she wasn't keeping her keen eyes on the clutch, and when the first egg cracked apart with a tiny 'pop', the Dyrmyst dragon perked considerably. The rest of the applicants attention was drawn to the clutch quickly thereafter as they realized that the first of the hatchlings had... well... hatched!

The kit was slicked down in its own albumen, though it was obvious from first looks that it was as darkly opalescent as its father, save for two patches of silvered white fur on her (for the hatchling was a female) head and on her haunches, as well as at the tip of her stinger-sharp tail. She struggled to her feet and wobbled there for a moment, aware that all eyes were on her and apparently feeling undaunted by it. She was deformed: the little kit had no wings, and Ruriluseth's muzzle wrinkled in distaste as he watched his first-hatched child gain her bearings and first breaths in life. He couldn't know that her heritage allowed for such structural deviations--and he would soon discover more of them, whether he liked them or not.

The kit sat back on her haunches, surveying those gathered before her, and a similar little sneer had marked itself over her muzzle. How like her father she was. She said nothing, but eventually her gaze left the humanoids and dragonoids gathered before her and turned to her egg-bound siblings.

With a slowly gaining grace, the dragonet stalked by a number of eggs, doing something strange as she passed them: the tip of her tail, as hard as a needle-tipped club, smacked against rocking eggs, and as she did this, a wave of siblings spilled out. Not a word was uttered as several kits gathered there bearings and headed out into the crowd, but it was obvious (and puzzling) that the wingless dragonet was giving a signal!

Whatever the case, five young dragons had worked there way out towards the applicants. All of them were much like the opalescent kit, save that they all had a pair of wings--some with red markings, some without--that were somewhat deformed in their curious lack of webbing between second and third tines.

The first to find a caretaker was Secupoth, a little rust-coloured kit that was attracted to D'servio's flame-tricks, homing in on the rainbow-dragon's magic like a magnet.
~How do you do that?~ Secupoth asked, his little red eyes narrowed against the heat.
"What," D'servio asked, "this?" And he snapped a tuft of flame into existence not an inch away from the kit.
Secupoth wasn't easily startled--the high, kittenish hiss that escaped him was accompanied by a tiny spark of flame in return!
"Ah, I see," D'servio smirked. "Well, you have potential."
~Hmph,~ Secupoth retorted, but he'd already decided that the rainbow-bright dragon was his best choice.

A pearly white dragonet had sat himself firmly on the foot of Zyanualeth, claiming the black Danachian as if for himself. "I am Ranygarith, the youngster intoned with all the lofty regality that a newly hatched dragon could muster. "You're looking for a bit of bait, I'm your dragon!"

It was to Ceremeth that a certain young bronzeling presented himself, and unlike the first two dragonets, Hukiloseth gave a proper little bow to his great-aunt, whether he was aware of their relation or not. ~Are you my mother?~ he asked, his crimson eyes wide with curiosity.

A female kit of peculiar colouration--pastel purple and tan, to be precise--had approached Xention and was now eyeing him skeptically. She was practically his opposite: corporeal, pale, winged, short-earred, female, and with powers limited to fire alone... perhaps that was what drew her to him. ~Call me Kiek-tou,~ she suggested, when Xention was aware of her presence.
~You're going to need work,~ the shadowling said, eyeing the kit right back.
The dragonet looked offended. ~I'm willing to learn!~ she exclaimed, her sticky tail whipping back and forth in her agitation.
~We'll see about that,~ Xention replied.

The last of these kits was now approaching that lavender-coloured Danachian that had been eyeing Zyanualeth so... unhealthily. Jos-see put a small, white and black-booted foot on Myahidynuth much larger one, staring up at the larger dragon. ~What are you looking at?~ the little dragon asked on a private band.
~What?!~ Mya' asked, taken aback at being taken by surprise. ~Nothing! Nothing at all. Just the hatchlings. You. (Brat,)~ she added, only just barely to herself.
Jos-see tilted her huge ears back. "Well," she said, utilizing her little voice, "now you'll have better things to look at. Like me!"
~Yeah, right,~ Mya' replied, but bit her tongue when Jos-see bit her toe!

The last of that quintet of dragons accounted for, the dark opalescent creature still sitting amongst her siblings began more rounds. She tapped at one egg and then hesitated, tilting her head from side to side, before giving 'the signal' to two more. Sure enough, three dragonets hatched... and unlike their father, all of them had two heads, rather then one. Rurilusith gave a low growl, but silenced himself when his children looked over at him with several pairs of eyes. He should have known...

Satisfied, the opal kit sat back, licking herself as a cat might to begin to clean herself. The three two-headed siblings began to roam, and it was only a matter of time before they came to their desired destinations.

"Hey!" Ginafoyith shouted at the last Danachian--the green one--who had spotted him and immediately began cooing disgustingly. "I'm not your little fluff-muffin-teddy-bear! I'm a dragon and you better treat me like one who deserves respect!"
~Whatever you say, schnookie!~ Hitenilenth exclaimed, only retracting her muzzle when two little brass ones snapped at her. ~You're a fiesty one--ones? What do you call a dragon with two heads?~ She asked herself, confused but still entirely happy to have one approach her!
"Better then one with one," Ginafoyith retorted with one head, while the second continued to snarl and fluff at her.
~You are too cute!~ Hitenilenth replied, unperturbed by the jibe.

While Ginafoyith was wingless, the other two dragonets (the ones that the opal had hesitated to hatch, in any case) had a nice pair each, themselves. The first had no pattern--in fact, he was as dark as liquid tar, and reflected the neutral lighting of the hatching bay just like petrol might. Like a shadow, he crept towards Glace Sunscale, and like the dark to her light, he gave a short bow of both heads towards her. "I'd like to go with you," he said, quiet and respectful.
"What's your name, little guy?" Glace asked, smiling at the politeness of this youngster.
"Delaleweth," he replied, both heads uttering the name with a very faint sibilance. A tentative smile creased the corners of both mouths.

The last of the trio had found himself at Sally LaTeya's foot, the black opalescence of his hide reflecting the absurd amount of light coming from the human, herself. He sat with wings folded tightly, both heads weaving almost hypnotically as he watched her with wide, violet eyes. "You're really pretty," he murmured, both heads bobbing at her in time with her clothing's shifting colour-patterns.
LaTeya shifted uncomfortably. It felt... ironic, somehow, and certainly not in the good way, that Calyzevith had taken it upon himself to search her out. Still, she tried her best to smile at him. He was no pony, but he could still be cute...
If only she could shake the impression she was getting from those two pairs of eyes!

Before LaTeya had even finished leading Calyzevith back to his first meal, more dragonets were out wandering the bay, and the opaline Basic was watching the lot of them with narrowed eyes. These new-hatched youngsters had three heads each, and it seemed like things were only getting worse--wingless as well, they seemed somehow unbalanced from front to back.

A lime green and black dragonet literally pounced Disruptor, her three heads weaving in devilish merriment. Her voice surprisingly high and with a nearly metallic burr, she exclaimed, "Hiiiiiiiii!"
Surprised, the ring-wearing young woman didn't respond immediately, and Cac-yau took the moment to begin licking the school-goer--from three different directions! "Ack--hey! Quit that!" Disruptor cried, trying to fend off the multiple lickings and having a hard time of it. It looked like she had made a friend!

Sus-sia approached Kaiser with extreme caution, eyeing the immortal with suspicion. Testing. The black dragonet wasn't sure of this creature, and so she wasn't certain whether she could leap upon Kaiser and rip her to shreds, or bow before her. She certainly looked puny, but then again, size wasn't everything. ~I could tear you apart,~ Sus-sia hissed, still testing.
"I'd love to see you try," Kaiser replied, grinning toothily.
Sus-sia, tail lashing from side to side, decided that, bluffing or no, Kaiser was bold enough to handle her. Maybe.

The last three-headed wingless git had snuck up around Chibi-Dark and now attempted to tackle her from behind, but the purple kit was entirely unsuccessful. In fact, he somehow managed to wind up with the child-like humanoid pinning him to the ground!
"Say uncle!" Chi' squeeled.
"Uncle!" Three separate heads echoed loudly, two of them straining around to see her, "uncle!" The voices held more of a whine then anything.
Chi' slipped from Ponekecoth's back, satisfied. "Good boy," she said, petting the sticky hatchling like one might pet her favorite puppy.
Sufficiently cowed (at least, for now), Ponekecoth submitted to the pettings.

There were three eggs left, and, as usual, the opalescent kit was finishing off her rounds--only to be thwarted when the first of her signal-recipients burst before she could reach it! The kit shrieked in surprise, and the coal-black creature that stumbled from its hatching place fanned its little, fragile wings at her. Three heads with needle-sharp teeth opened wide, as the Imperial dragonet attempted to put her Basic sibling in her place... but such was not to be. Ruriluseth put a stop to any fighting that might have occurred, placing one massive paw between the two hatchlings and glowering at them.

Briefly stunned, Ras-doi relented, turning six cold eyes on her sibling for only a moment before searching out the crowd. The opalescent kit gave a high-pitched snarl before finishing her task, releasing two more three-headed, winged monstrosities to the world. A red and white male and a brown female paused on the threshold from egg to the universe for a moment even as the coal kit worked her way towards the remaining applicants.

Ras-doi shortly found herself drawn to Wunelzstou and Fantredala, and before long, the two incorporeal creatures had taken the dragonet in with great gusto. Not all creatures deserved respect so newly hatched, but this one... she would have potential!

Only two applicants remained waiting. One, the Drasis, Domhar, who had been watching all of this with increasing boredom, and the immortal, Gredelle, whose expression Ruriluseth wasn't certain of. Apprehension, perhaps, but that was soothed away as Zein-mui approached him and tugged at his pant-leg with one of her three red heads. "Take me with you," she urged with one of her other two, and the kits tone of voice was more of an order then a suggestion.

Gywasesuth was the last kit to bond, and it was as if the red-white creature had done it all on purpose. He had sat a short distance from the eggy goop he'd hatched from and kept his eyes on Domhar for a full five minutes before approaching the Drasis. "And you," he said, "shall take me home."

And that was that, or so it seemed.

When Ruriluseth looked to the first-hatched dragonet, she turned her nose to him and said, "None for me."
~Is that so?~ he asked, tilting his head so that he could stare down his muzzle at her. He watched the last of the sponsors leave the Bay, and when a Ministry official approached him, he simply told them that the kit would be going with him. And then the Bay was his again, if only temporarily. ~So what is it that you are named?~
"Of course I can't tell you," his child replied haughtily, "but you may call me Jik-tow"
A small, not entirely humored smile curled at Ruriluseth's snout. ~Ah, so you're one of those.~
"And you'll be in trouble if it slips your mind, young man," Jik-tow replied.