Doctor Schroeder looked on Dread's clutch of eggs with open amazement. He hadn't expected there would be so many! Though prior to today, he could have psychically counted the egg-bound minds in a moment, he'd refrained from doing so for no reason other than the fact that Dread had kept her eggs hidden throughout their incubation, and saw no harm in letting the number remain a surprise.
But what a surprise! He had expected six or nine eggs, or maybe even fifteen, as he'd been told catdragonesses generally had up to five eggs per mate they took in a flight. When Dread had finally declared her eggs were getting to hatch, though, and had finally uncovered them, no less than twenty-nine eggs had been revealed. Twenty-nine! Dread herself didn't seem surprised, but she did appear a little worried--for the first time ever in the Destiny's return to SCD, the eggs outnumbered the candidates. However, given that catdragons didn't have to bond and were quite willing to share bonds or caretakers--a fact confirmed by Dark herself--Schroeder wasn't concerned at all.
The eggs all seemed to start hatching at once and revealed--just as expected--three very distinct kinds of hatchlings, all immediately recognizable as being sired by one of the three mates Dread had taken. Dendax's offspring wobbled unsteadily on two legs, turning silver-masked faces this way and that as they took in their surroundings for the first time. Fabrymunego Nightspark's children wriggled out of their eggs like little snakes, flapped their tiny wings, and soon were magically airborne, weaving through the air just a few feet off the ground like long streamers. The most catdragon-like hatchlings were Leivin's, physically resembling him almost perfectly, but for the fact that their foreleg-wings were small to the point of uselessness, and that Dread's headfin crested their skulls, rather than their father's feathers. Little snakelike appendages--brainless limbs rather than actual sub-heads--stood out on the shoulders of all three types, though Dendax's get had four snakeheads, while the others only had two.
Dread beamed with pride as her children wobbled or darted around, figuring out how their legs or their flight ability worked. So too did Dark, Dread's mother, look proud and happy. As did a third character, sneaking around from behind the candidate-groups and sidling up by Dread.
"Finest batch of grandchildren I ever saw," smiled Fear Effect, a feline whorling identical to Dread in coloration and snakeheads.
The catdragoness jumped a little, looking away from her children in surprise and finally spotting the whorling. Dread did a visible double-take. "Dad! Where did you…?"
"Oh, you know," the whorling grinned, "heard a bit of gossip and figured I'd drop by to give my daughter a surprise. And see my new grandkids," he added, looking at the small swarm as they finally started veering for the candidates.
All the candidates were spread loosely around the bay floor in a semicircle around the eggs this time, since there was no point in trying to segregate them when a mischievous kitten might not give a damn to whether someone was "only" supposed to bond or "only" supposed to sponsor (or at least give even less of a damn than a usual hatchling, since previous clutches at the Destiny had already proved being a Bonder or a Sponsor wasn't sure-fire protection against a willful hatchling). This meant the varied hatchlings had plenty of wandering room as they investigated everyone there, in search of just the right bond or caretaker.
One of the little Nightsparks went spiraling through the air, giggling to herself and paying very little attention to where she was actually going--until she bonked right into the candidate who was the hardest not to see, the Tavrayn Jidka'Tamkah! The blue nebula hatchling bounced back with a little squeak, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
The rainbow-streaked dragoness looked down at the little mutt in concern, while her little dragonets squeaked curiously from their perches on the Tavrayn's horns. "Are you okay?"
The little Nightspark got her eyes open again, and they went wide as she finally saw what she'd run into. "Wooooow! COLORS!" squealed little Kaselanugo Nightspark. "Can I keep you?" she asked, and wrapped her long body around the dragoness's foreleg without even waiting for an answer.
A masked hatchling went prancing over to Shivaray, the bipedra envoy from Cy Dragonstake. The little hybrid's black pelt was brightly spotted with yellow leopard-like rosettes, and he looked up at the bipedra curiously.
"You like poetry?" asked the hatchling, thinking. "I think I do too! I'm Nissix Corollary! Hmm….
"Life is but a joy!
"A new adventure each day
"Waits just to be found!"
Shivaray blinked all three pairs of his eyes slowly. ::Not bad at all for a newborn. Needs more angst, though. We can work on that.::
The crew of the White Maiden stood near one another at one end of the semicircle. The first of their number to be approached was Midnight, by another of the masked hatchlings. This one was a female bearing rosettes of sky blue.
"There's something about you…" she murmured softly, padding up to the night elf. "Not sure what, though. I'll take you." Then Turix Corollary nuzzled at the elf's hand (her mask was warm, not cold) and set a bond between them, the first of the hatching.
Lecirera Friskers was a candidate that Schroeder was very happy to see. It was an absolute pleasure to see one of his own "grandchildren" healthily and happily out and about in the world, and he'd made sure he'd stepped aside to say hello and welcome her "home" before the hatching had officially begun.
The hatchling that padded Lecirera's way was one of Leivin's children. Her body was split with black and white in Dread's "zen" pattern, but was brightly accented with shades of golden yellow on the non-furred parts of her body, like her scaled belly and tiny headfin.
"I like you," the kitten smiled shyly, as her snakeheads hid bashfully behind her main head. "You're nice. My name's Foul Corollary… but could you call me 'Fallie'?"
"Of course, Fallie," Lecirera smiled, and bent down to pick a stray bit of eggshell from the hatchling's albumen-damp fur.
Another zen and yellow hatchling twirled about the candidates, but this time the color-pattern was on one of the serpentine Nightsparks. The little male poked at a candidate or two, even startling a few of them with a little zap of static, but finally he spiraled his way back to Dread Corollary and dropped down on her back, curling up comfortably between her snakes.
"Hi Mommy!" he beamed, as the catdragoness looked back at him. "I'm Horrid!"
"Are you sure? You look pretty sweet to me," Dread smiled back.
Horrid only giggled.
"Clearly," drawled a little voice, coming from the zen and red kitten that sat down by her mother's feet, "he's just trouble waiting to happen."
"Aw, Wicked, am not!"
One of the catlike hatchlings bounded excitedly over to Koyashiro. The little female wasn't zen-colored, but had graceful, speckled markings like her father's in a bright shade of green.
"Wow, look at your wings!" she exclaimed, prancing between the elder catdragon's legs to look up at the spectral colors of his ethereal wings. "Pretty!"
"Why, thank you," Koyashiro smiled, turning his head to watch her. "You're very pretty, yourself."
The kitten giggled pleasedly and spun a little circle. "I'm Kierin Corollary! Can I go with you?"
"But of course!"
Though in a place like Star City, abnormal sights are in fact the norm, seeing an honest-to-goodness raccoon (not of the anthro variety!) in a hatching bay is enough to attract almost anyone's attention--especially that of a curious newborn.
One of the Nightsparks glided right over, glowing eyes fixed determinately on Brianwen Lykshain's little friend Bandit, and reaching out her little silver paws with innocent curiosity before Brianwen could intervene. Bandit took one look at the incoming dragon and reacted like any small mammal reacts to a predatory creature--he backed up against Brianwen's legs, bristling, and barked a warning. The orange nebula-marked hatchling immediately recoiled in fright.
Brianwen hurried to soothe both parties, kneeling in the moss and letting Bandit join the nameless ferret in her arms, while little Westling peered up from her shoulder. "It's okay, it's okay," the shifter said, to dragonet and raccoon both, stroking the latter's fur and smiling at the dragonet. "If you want to pet him, you have to be gentle and careful. What's your name?"
The hatchling finally looked up from the little animals, drifting closer again. "Nizekevigo Nightspark," she answered, reaching out again. Bandit eyed her warily, but this time allowed the little paws to touch. "What is he?"
And so did a little mini-lesson on raccoons begin. Even before it ended, it was clear Nizekevigo would be following Brianwen home.
Though Sarah Vogel was the name of one young woman standing out in the moss, actual control of the SomeBody was today given over to Serpentine. The masked hatching that went over to her reached out and took her by the hand, placing a kiss upon the back of it as his snakeheads bobbed at her.
"Lady Serpentine, it is a pleasure to meet you. Please, call me Grim."
Another Nightspark, this one a red nebula male, was the next to approach the crewmembers of the White Maiden. "Hoist the anchor!" he cried, as he floated around Tempest's head. "Swab the mainsails! Weigh the decks! Set a course for… What?" he asked, as the sun elf chuckled amusedly.
"You've got your terms a bit mixed there," the ship's captain smiled.
"Oh," Sonokyrago blinked. "Well, you'll just have to teach me them right!"
CD, the latest "recruit" to Shy's odd little crew of… whatevers… looked down as one of the "pure" kittens padded over to her. As Schroeder thought back to Shy's last visit and once again tried to imagine how in the world a man could get pregnant, the purple-marked kitten slid shyly up to the youngish girl.
"So… I'm only half stupid too, right?"
"Tiaran… wait, Tiaran?" CD blinked. Where had that name come from?
Tiaran's expression mixed sheepishness with hope and amusement. "Do you mind being bonded by a half-stupid dragon?"
"If you can keep me safe, won't call you stupid at all. Or… maybe only a quarter stupid?"
Tiaran chuckled. "I can live with that."
One corner of the room was dominated by a gigantic bipedra and his xenodragon bond. Most had given them a wide berth, and even Schroeder himself was not too pleased to see them there. Despite creating his yautjadragons, he wasn't the type to give a blanket statement saying all hydras and xenodragons were vicious and evil and should be exterminated, but that didn't mean he was about to relax around individuals that he didn't know personally. Nor were Samurnde and his siblings standing up on the staircase because they felt like watching the hatching.
But one of the masked hatchlings went slinking over to the pair and promptly abased herself at Shishayair's feet.
"I'm not worthy!" Ominous Corollary exclaimed, rolling over and submissively showing the adult bipedra her belly, as she looked up at him with adoring eyes.
Another Nightspark wound her way over to Inari. She was by far the largest of her sub-clutch, her zen-patterned coat was accented with green, and she dropped at the winged kitsune's feet with a deep sigh.
"Just take me with you. Wherever, anywhere, I don't care," she sighed again. "I'm Dire. Lucky me."
A kitten marked with zen and orange wandered over to Sairi'Sitawi, eyeing the glowing wolfdragon (another face Schroeder was happy to see!) with level curiousity.
"You're a dog," the kitten stated.
Sairi blinked. "You're a cat."
The two stared at each other, then Macabre Corollary shrugged and sat down. "I suppose that's alright."
"Ashi, dahling, there you are!" cried a masked male, zen-colored and accented with orange, as he strutted his way over to Ashisaki. "Sweetheart, you and I are going to pain the town vermilion from here on out!" The catdragoness blinked down at the little hybrid--her new bond--as he blew a kiss up to her. "My name, of all things, is atrocious, and I mean that literally--I'm Atrocious Corollary."
A masked dragonet, her pelt marked with deep red rosettes, wandered over to Schroeder himself, and dropped to the moss beside him with a sigh. "I can just… stay here, on the ship, right?" she asked, looking up at the doctor, glancing back at the shadow that was Valentine, and looking back at the man.
"Of course," Schroeder answered. "Is something wrong?"
The hatchling sighed again, and even her red and yellow snakes hissed dismally. "This is just… it's no good, not right, it just wouldn't work. So I'll just… stay here. I can… clean up eggshells for you, or something."
Schroeder eased himself to his knees beside her, wiping egg-goo off her mask with his hand, then wiping his hand in the moss. "Well you are certainly welcome to stay on the Destiny with us all, but if there's something bothering you, please tell me so I can try and fix it."
The hatchling shook her head. "No, no, don't worry about it. I'll be… okay, I guess. I'm Kirex, by the way."
Schroeder looked at Kirex with doubt and concern, finding only aimless discontent in her young thoughts, but was suddenly distracted when from across the room, there came a shout of, "SCHROEDER!!"
The man was on his feet in an instant and turning towards the cry. The voice was that of his right hand daemon, Devika, who was, as she always was for hatchings, spelled into her anthro form and noting everything in the hatching down on a datapad.
She was also being hounded by a hatchling that jumped back and forth so fast around her feet that it was only a blur of red and glittering silver. ::Hey! Hey!:: it jeered laughingly. ::I think I should know you! I think I should bond you! How would you like that, huh? Would that totally freak you out? HEY!::
The last was a cry of dismay, as Schroeder caught the little dragon with a thought, freezing it mid-leap in a telekinetic hold as he crossed the room, smiling amusedly as Devika fluffed her feathers and backed away from the frozen dragon.
"Don't you dare let that little monster bond me. Where the blazes did it come from?"
Now closer, Schroeder finally realized it was no ordinary hatchling that he had snared. It was not masked, nor serpentine, nor purely feline.
It was, clearly and beyond any kind of doubt, part xenodragon. The furry head was eyeless and bulged slightly at the back with the hints of an adult's dome, the forepaws had visibly merged fingers, and the furless tail was ridged and carapaced. But by the fur, perked ears, and scaled belly, it was also part catdragon. There was also no doubt as to just which catdragon it was related to--a pair of snakeheads curved from its albumen-wet shoulders.
::Aw come on, I was just playing!:: it--she--pouted. Her fur was red, fading to black just before her silver-skinned forepaws, striped with black on her thighs and with a white blaze on her face. With that basic coloration mirrored on Devika herself, it was obvious why the hybrid had zeroed in on the daemon--thank the Heavens that little daemon Akija had already gone home and hadn't had to see this distorted mirror!--though it didn't explain where she had come from!
Schroeder put the hybrid down, as Dread hurried over to investigate the ruckus. Her eyes widened at spotting the creature, but not as much as Schroeder would have expected. "That was what you were working on?"
Dark, following along, did not look at all surprised. In fact, she looked… smug and amused. "That was what I was working on," she agreed. "You did say you'd rather mate with that xeno than that dogdra," she drawled.
All eyes locked on the weredragon, who only smiled and spread her hands helplessly.
"You Fused me with the xenodragon. After you added the eggs and said you'd invited her to come, I should've guessed!"
::Am I still in trouble here?::
"How could I resist?" Dark smiled.
Schroeder looked at the eggs that remained. Sure enough, more xenomorphic heads were finally poking through the shells, as if the lot had waited for the stage to clear before making themselves known. Schroeder quickly seized them all, freezing them in their tracks, and looked around to make sure no others were sneaking towards the candidates. There weren't. "How many are there?"
"Eleven."
::Can I go, or something?::
There were ten eggs left, either unhatched or with telekinetically frozen xeno-hybrids peeking out. "No wonder there were so many eggs," Schroeder sighed, running a hand over his hair. He happened to glance down at the little red hybrid, who immediately lifted a claw and pointed it at Dark.
::She did it!::
"So she did." He looked back at the woman with no little exasperation. "Whatever you decide to mix in your Fusions is your business, but if you're going to be bringing xenodragon hybrids into a clutch aboard my ship, I would have appreciated a warning."
To her credit, Dark did look apologetic. "I wanted to keep the surprise. For Dread, mostly. Come on, with a line like 'I'd sooner mate with your BOND than you!' she was asking for it, really."
The level look Schroeder gave her wasn't a laughing one, and Dark subdued herself in response.
"Alright, I'm sorry, but they're harmless. Mostly harmless. I wouldn't have added them in if I thought they'd be a danger to your ship, or crew, or anything. That's why I've been experimenting with xeno genetics--trying to adjust the personality."
This revelation mollified the doctor somewhat, but he still sighed again, regretting his choice not to scan the minds of the eggs. Perhaps if he had, he would have caught this ahead of time! "Do they have to bond?"
"They might want to, some of them, but they don't have to. They're catdragons. Xeno-catdragons."
::I was only kidding about the bonding thing, honest!::
With a little reluctance, Schroeder released his hold on the other ten hybrids, and sent his mind out across the bay. ::Ladies and gentlemen, you may note that the remaining hatchlings are part xenodragon, but Lady Dark here assures me they are harmless. Candidates, they may approach you to bond or be sponsored now, but if they attach themselves to you against your will, you may come immediately to me, and I can separate them from you.::
Dark blinked. "You can break a dragon's bond?"
"It is not a pleasant thing, but sometimes it has proved necessary," Schroeder answered. "These candidates deserve the right to say 'no' to something they weren't expecting."
"Well… again, Doc, I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?" she asked, looking concerned.
Schroeder had to be honest. "A little. But I'm not going to run you off my ship, if that's what you're afraid of. I'm mad because you worried me. The fact that I created my yautjadragons should be proof enough of what I generally think of xenos. But if the hybrids behave, I can forgive you. Just, please, don't do things like this without warning. Perhaps this is your way of doing things, but it is not mine."
Dark nodded earnestly. "Alright. I had my fun. I can behave in the future. I'm sorry they worried you."
"Thank you," Schroeder nodded, and looked back at the xeno-cat at his feet. Again, her coloration jumped out at him. "I bet your name is Akiss, isn't it?"
::Um… yep. Do you, uh, think your yauties would eat me if I asked to stay here?::
"Only if you gave them reason to try. I suppose I can turn you over to Zsatephess. She's half xeno too, and works on my security team. She behaves, and is welcome here. If you behave, you can be welcome, too." Finally he managed a bit of a smile. "I suppose if you're an Aki, you can't be too bad."
Freed from Schroeder's psionic hold, the rest of the xenocats were quick to free themselves from their shells and go trotting around the semicircle, investigating paired-up and solo candidates with equal avidness.
A grey-silver hybrid pranced excitedly over to Inari and danced around his feet, earning a look of disgust from Dire. ::Hi! Hi! Hihihihihi!:: she squealed. ::I'm Keladiass!::
::You're mean!:: squawked a little purple-silver, looking up at Schroeder. But when Schroeder turned his head, just to see, the xenocat squealed in fright and bolted off across the bay, not even slowing until he'd ducked behind Jidka'Tamkah's foreleg (the one Kaselanugo wasn't wrapped around!), quivering with fright. ::He's mean!:: whimpered little Bydeniss. ::Doesn't like us just because we're xenos!::
Schroeder looked embarrassed.
"I can't believe you're letting them get away with this," came a sniff, and Schroeder turned to see the last of the non-xeno hatchlings--a Nightspark and a kitten--drifting and padding his way, with Kirex finally trailing behind. The Nightspark was the one who'd spoken. "This can't be legal."
"Well maybe grandma should've asked first," suggested the kitten, "but if they're going to be nice, they should get their chance, too, I think."
"Jeytan, this is completely against regulation," scoffed the Nightspark. "And if there isn't a regulation against this, there should be."
"Aw, Vile, give it a rest."
::If you ask me, she didn't do anything wrong,:: stated a black and purple xenocat, trotting up and sitting between Dark and Dread.
Vile wrinkled his nose. "Of course you'd say that. You wouldn't be here otherwise."
The xenocat ignored him, smiling up at Dread. ::My name is… hmm…:: Her eyeless head swung towards Dark, and then she nodded. ::Darkess!::
One of the xenocats was strikingly pure white, and she padded over to CD, rubbing against the girl's legs in a purely feline manner. ::I can keep you safe, too. I promise,:: purred Tivereness.
A black-silver male padded for the corner where Shishayair and Proquess stood, and the white drone lifted her head curiously. It was a surprise to see Dark had made children from her, but it didn't bother the drone in the slightest. She stepped forward to meet him.
He walked right past her.
Went right past Shishayair, too.
And he stopped before Uecoss, the little clawtongue hybrid that was the third member of Proquess's little "hive". His snakeheads glanced backwards in disgust.
::She's the head of your hive?:: Alladross murmured to his chosen bond. ::You have got to be kidding me.::
The rest of the xenocats made their selections with very little show. Syctriae, passed over by the hatchlings until now, found grey-silver Riashtass settling at her feet, while black-white Tiaromiss joined Grim beside Serpentine. Another black-white, female Maiadrass, padded a single circuit of the candidates, then returned to sit beside her grandfather, Fear Effect. Finally, blue-white Vorasoss trotted up to Sairi'Sitawi with an arrogant, feline strut, and yellow-white Cecheass proved the xenodragon preference to bond had won out over the catdragon refusal to bond another catdragon by snaring Koyashiro for herself.
Thank Heavens they all behaved.
Now to wait and see if anyone would come begging to be freed of their surprise xeno tagalong.
"You certainly do keep things interesting around here, Dark," Schroeder finally chuckled, able to relax in the absence of stereotypical xenodragon violence.
She smiled. "I do what I can."