Biosynthesis 13 was one of those commissions that made Doctor Schroeder glow with pride and pleasure in his work. Chiami and Haaji'hasmel were a quintessential example of why he stuck with this line of business, even when things went wrong or people harshly censured him because they disproved of what he did, for one reason or another. But for people, couples, like the phoenix and her mate, Schroeder would endure anything. He had given them their child and there were no words to describe Chiami's happiness at a dream made real.
Little Dij'hiyaii, the tiny hybrid whose picture had advertised the clutch, was a happily purring ball of fluff in his mother's arms (she and Haaji were in their human guises) and Schroeder knew there would be no separating Chiami from her Firstborn son--or vice versa. There was also a second egg Schroeder had set aside for them, and that one rested on the ground at Haaji's feet, rather than with its handful of siblings in the center of the bay. As for the rest of those eggs, their destinies were up to no one but themselves.
Chiami and Haaji'hasmel watched excitedly as their children kicked free of their eggs with feet both furry and scaly, or pecked their way through with eggtooth-tipped beaks. The kittens looked almost entirely like tiny versions of their sira father, but their hind feet were birdlike and little half-beaks tipped their short muzzles. Their wings were awkward little things, flapping energetically at the air with nothing more than encapsulated feather-buds for decoration. Similar buds peeked from the fur over their tails and eyes, hinting at the plumage that would decorate their adult forms.
All of the kittens were solid in color, but for a few who had feather-buds of fiery hue, or in cases where the ruff of kitten-fur along their spine was darker than their body-fur. Reds, oranges, and yellows were present, their colors drawn from the natural genes of their parents, but there were several genetically-encouraged whites as well, and a few browns and greys thrown in from whatever added genes had given the kittens the ability to bond.
The first kitten to move away from the remains of its egg was a dark red male, large among his siblings, but only a few inches over a foot tall at his shoulder--very small in comparison to most newborn draconics, but then again, Chiami and Haaji'hashmel were neither dragons nor large, themselves.
With a happy chirp, the kitten headed directly towards a trio of dragons who had patiently been standing clutch after clutch for about six or seven months, having arrived when Biosynth 10 had still been in a bay. The three siblings' eyes all lit up with hope and eagerness to finally have more than passing attention paid to them by a hatchling, but it was Apollo Azonir whose paw the kitten pounced upon.
"Pretty!" exclaimed the kitten, having discovered the gemstone-inset ring on the dragon's pinky-claw. "What's that?"
"That's my birthstone, Rior'isshrai," Apollo answered, beaming. "It's a citrine."
Seeing similar rings on the claws of Apollo's siblings as well, the kitten squeaked eagerly. "I want one, too!"
A male kitten with a coat of bright yellow hue made his way over to another set of siblings, this one a brother and sister of seemingly human origin, though that was only a partial truth. He peered up at the young man, meeting the younger sibling's beast-amber eyes with nothing more than mild curiosity, before looking more firmly up at Neekaori instead.
"I'm Haasoosh!" he announced happily. "I'll find your dad, you just watch!"
The egg at Haaji'hashmel's feet rocked with great energy and vigor, so it was no surprise that it was one of the first to hatch. What was surprising was that the kitten looked quite different from all her other siblings! Her face was entirely Sira, with no half-beak at all, and she had extra feather-buds along her legs. Her eyes were also solid fire-gold, where her siblings had defined irises and pupils, and there was a strange marking like runic fire upon her chest.
"Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" she chirped, shaking off bits of eggshell. "I'm Shamis'shhra!"
"Why does she look different from the others?" Chiami asked of Doctor Schroeder, both confused and curious, when the man wandered over to see the kitten.
Schroeder only shrugged, smiling enigmatically.
Another male, this one a grey, eyed the candidates with hidden misgivings, but nevertheless approached them cautiously. Neatly avoiding those candidates who awaited him and his siblings with visible eagerness, his attention was at last drawn by a quadrupedal candidate not much larger than himself.
"MageShifter," the kitten murmured thoughtfully, eyeing the sullen Kartyn'dyrysose. "Hmm."
After some consideration, the hatchling at last took the steps needed to take him the rest of the way to MageShifter's side, bobbing his head a little in reserved greeting. "My name is Sanyurakassa."
Without even trying, the half-elf Xaira Carlsen had already attracted a little friend, and seemed somewhat unsure of what to make of it! The darkish-red female at Xaira's feet was cuddled up against the half-elf's legs, despite her egg-dampness, and purring her fuzzy little head off, and hadn't said a word! If it wasn't for the bond between them, Xaira wouldn't have even known the tiny girl's name was Shhra'yalii.
One white male was showing absolutely no interest in any of the candidates whatsoever. Having freed himself from his eggshell, he went straight to trying to preen himself and was soon frustrated by the stickiness of the albumen he was wet with. Feeling no urge or interest to bond, he scampered towards the familiar mind he was certain could help him with his dilemma.
"Grandpaaaaa!" he whined, tugging on the doctor's labcoat with one webbed hand even though the man was already looking down at him.
"What's wrong, Krishya'yauni?" Schroeder asked.
"I'm wet and sticky and not very pretty!" the kitten huffed sulkily. "I'm a phoenix, I'm supposed to be pretty!"
"You're only half phoenix," Schroeder corrected him lightly.
Krishya'yauni only frowned. "I'm a phoenix and I need to be pretty."
The doctor chuckled amusedly. "Then we'll give you a bath after the hatching. Can you wait that long?"
If he'd had them, the kitten would've pursed his lips in a disappointed pout. "I guess so," he sighed.
Another yellow male, this one of a more golden hue, confidently placed a tiny hand on Jack Tarl's shoe.
"I know just what we gotta do about that second life of yours!" Dumahar'hashmel told the man. "If memories are what make you you, then we need to make you a lot more you-memories!"
Jack looked a little confused, but Dumahar seemed to know exactly what he was talking about--or at least he thought he did.
One of the candidates on the mossy Bay floor was a gentle dragon-woman Schroeder had taken under his wing, along with two others. Emily, beautiful and corpselike at the same time, was an escaped creation of one of the few people in the world that Schroeder actually despised: the madman Faust, who had tormented the ship back when the Hathydra Biosynth had been going on. The knowledge that Emily and her friends needed a place to be kept safe from Faust was all he'd needed to know before giving them their own VIP cabins and promising them they could stay as long as they needed to.
Unfortunately, one of the friends was simple-minded and had wandered off the ship, getting lost in the decks and corridors of Star City itself, instead. Schroeder had friends and contacts in station security looking for the lost friend, since his clairvoyance only helped him with people actually from or aboard his ship, but despite being concerned for her wayward friend, Emily had still shown up to the hatching to stand as a candidate.
Now a smoky grey male approached her, showing no concern for the gaping, bloodless wound of her throat, nor the fleshless bone of her left forearm. The kitten simply cuddled up against her cold leg and gave the dragoness a smile.
"Rex'll be okay," Ismaunassa told her. "He's gotta come back and meet me, after all."
There was one candidate who watched all the kittens with something like desperation, afraid to hope but at the same time unable to keep from hoping that one of these hatchlings would bring back a tragically departed and much beloved friend, a true phoenix who had fallen into a death without resurrection.
Kith's heart took a lurch when a red kitten at last approached him, but he was to be disappointed. The kitten was a male and the steps he took towards the elf were uncertain and worried, but the bond was set.
"I'm...I'm not Gwynn," said the kitten, in seeming apology. "I'm...Shhrala'moir."
Another kitten approached his chosen candidate with far more confidence and eagerness, scampering across the moss in leaping bounds--until his kitten-clumsy paws caught upon one another and sent him somersaulting the rest of the way to his destination.
The purebred Sira Janukaen'Riyovii, who had sponsored from the Destiny before, had to quickly jump out of the way, being only a handful of inches taller than the brown kit! Only when the hybrid ran out of momentum and sprawled upon his back did she approach again.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Deik'retunakai's eyes were wide and dazed. "Oof! Make the room stop spinning, and I will be!"
A rich red male moved with confidence among the candidates, knowing exactly who he was headed for, but taking forever to get there because he apparently felt the need to say "hello" to everyone gathered, including all his siblings and the hatching attendants!
"Hey! Hi! How you doin'? You bonded yet? No? Good luck! Hi! Wow! You're fluffy! I like your mane! Hello! How're you? Fine thanks! Hey there!"
"Hello," answered Enikira, a striking creature who smiled down at the little kit, expecting him to move on for his next round of greetings.
But the kitten plopped down on his haunches instead and grinned back at her with a gaping beak. "I'm A'yannis and I'm yours!"
A rich orange female settled by one of the candidates with a happy giggle. "I think Grandpa knew I'd like you," she grinned, looking up at the canine anthropomorph only known as the Orange Boy, "because my name is Shoma'revisii and do you know what that means in my daddy's language?"
The Orange Boy grinned back at her, thinking he could guess, but playing along. "What?"
"'Orange Girl'!" laughed the kitten.
It took a while for a kitten to approach Neekaori's brother Raheowl, but one did. She was a dark orange verging on brown, and her violet eyes calmly met Raheowl's amber ones in silent communication.
"Shraisassa," the halfbreed boy at last observed quietly.
The kitten simply nodded.
Rather than investigate the candidates, one larger kitten had claimed a seat upon the moss beside one of the Archivists who was recording the goings-on of the hatching on a datapad. Wielding his stylus with telekinesis rather than his thumb-less foreclaws, Svisen was a new recruit to the Destiny who already fit in like he'd lived on the ship his entire life.
He had of course noticed the kitten beside him (Archivists had to be observant of details, after all) but was so involved in his written narrative that he didn't realize the kit was anything more than curious to watch him write.
But that was okay. Kaunalii would have a good laugh when he finally did realize he was a newly-bonded!
Tayne Peregrin couldn't believe his eyes. This was simply too ironic to really be happening. The kitten pacing towards him, placing her paws with utmost care and grace, was as pristine white of pelt and pale blue of eye as his own brother Torshael.
Was this somebody's idea of a joke? Had the High One known it would turn out like this? For Pure and Favored Torshael to bond the foal of dull grey scales, leaving tawny and plain Tayne to bond the white?
He didn't know what to think, as the kitten regarded him silently with her eyes half-lidded. He could only stare.
Snrk!
Tayne blinked. The corners of the kitten's mouth had twitched, and her eyes started to crinkle.
Suddenly she burst out laughing--loud, open-beaked, raucous guffaws with nothing at all of class or grace in them. Then, as if she were equal in size to Tayne's current leonine form, she gave his foreleg a hard slap with one hand.
"Hah!" she crowed, tears of mirth in her eyes as she rocked back on her haunches. "Had you fooled a minute there, didn't I, you big lug? Call me Fluniarlii!"
A silvery-grey female approached the white-haired Caylin a little cautiously, though the look on her face was a hopeful one.
"You know I'm not actually a dragon, right?" the kitten asked.
Caylin nodded. "I read the ads. You're half phoenix and half Sira!"
"And that's okay?"
"Of course it is, silly!" the girl laughed.
The kitten beamed. "Good! I'm Kkauny'saa!"
With the number of unbonded (or sponsored) kittens being whittled down to the lower single digits, it became obvious that there was still one unhatched egg left. It was significantly larger than the others had been and rocked enough to show its inhabitant was alive, but apparently wasn't ready to come out just yet.
Schroeder watched the egg for a while, then shook his head and walked over to it. "Alright, you hams," he chuckled, bending over with one hand on his knees, and gently rapping the knuckles of his other hand on the pale shell. "Come on out."
A doubled giggle came from inside the egg before it shattered, and two white kittens set about untangling themselves from one another. Apparently same-egg twins could still happen even in Biosynthesis procedures!
The twins took a few moments to preen at each other, giggling and whispering to one another as they cast blue eyes of slightly different hues over at the candidates, before finally striking out side-by-side. With their tails flagging merrily in the air, both of them sidled up to Tierney McKale and twined around his (for he was being male today) legs.
"We'll keep your secret," giggled one.
"If you keep ours," the other grinned.
"One of us is Sakay..."
"...and one of us is Hushaiju..."
"...but only two people know the truth."
"Grandpa..."
"...and you!"
His jaw hanging agape in amazement, McKale might've remained frozen for a good many minutes more if his hands had not tightened on the object in his hands. The sound of crackling paper and ribbon snapped him out of it.
"Oh... dash it all!" he exclaimed. "I only got one extra Christmas gift!"
As far as Westen Malin could tell, there were only two kitten left unbonded--one of them moving in on a strange catlike creature, the other glaring daggers at a predatory-looking woman, and neither showing a jot of interest in him. With a bit of a sigh, he started to turn towards the stairs that led off the mossy floor, prepared to wait around until the next clutch and another chance at bonding or sponsoring, when suddenly he was ambushed!
"GRAR!"
Though the weight that suddenly attached itself to the back of his thigh was negligible, and the kitten growl that accompanied it was far from frightening, Westen still jumped when the tips of sharp kitten claws poked him through his pants.
"Comar'ssavi!" he yelped, not even aware he was saying a name, twisting his upper half around to stare down at the brown furball clinging to his leg. "What are you doing?"
The kitten laughed. "Being a tiger!"
A phoenix of an entirely different sort, a khaurane by name of Iarion Shadowwatcher, watched the penultimate kitten approach him with thoughtful eyes. Doctor Schroeder had spoken true--wherever they came from, the children he made all had souls. This kitten, and all his siblings, was anything but a soulless husk.
"I don't really care where I came from," Shaushassa told his chosen sponsor happily. "What matters is I'm alive and I have a life I'm really gonna live. I can't wait!"
It was clear that the final kit had her eyes on one of the remaining candidates, but that gaze was anything but friendly. A bright orange female regarded Elizabeth King with something almost like hate, and had been doing so for most of the hatching. With the rest of her siblings all paired off, however, the kitten finally moved towards the woman.
"I don't like you," she stated plainly, "but your world needs me."
It was a statement Schroeder heard and sympathized with. He'd approved the woman-pirate's application only because her frozen world really could use a creature like a half-phoenix in it, and he couldn't condemn an entire world just because he didn't like its ambassador.
"My name is Vvinu'shhraji," the kitten concluded.
Trusting Vvinu'shhraji to take care of herself, and knowing he'd know if she ever needed him, Schroeder returned to Chiami and Haaji'hashmel. The new parents had joined everyone else at the feeding tables so that their two kept children could eat as well, but they saw him coming and welcomed him instantly.
"There aren't enough words in the world to thank you," Chiami told the doctor, looking a bit like she might've had joyful tears in her eyes, "but...thank you."
"You've done us a favor we can never repay," Haaji agreed.
Smiling, Schroeder put a hand on each of their shoulders. "It's not a favor--it's a gift. It's been my pleasure to serve you."
"Thank you," Chiami said again. There was really nothing else she could say.