Sylira smirked and flicked her tailfin. Catrice was in one of her moods and was busy tearing Kasaopeia apart verbally. The red Lava dragoness looked like she was seconds away from tears. "Catrice, she doesn't understand. It's useless talking to her like this," she said with a smug smile.

Catrice whirled her angry glare on Sylira, but the River dragoness didn't even flinch. She arched a brow and flicked her tailfin again. "She's completely useless! First her worthless son goes and bonds that useless creature who promptly vanishes 'on assignment' and then she spends all her time crying and moaning about losing her only child! If she were smart she'd just go out and make another one!"

"Not all of us are that lucky, Catrice. Some of us have breeding issues. Just because Forest dragons are the most fertile of the Kilandaian dragons doesn't mean the rest of can just run off and have babies any time we want. Besides, it's not like any of us can meet a male without risking the Council breathing down our necks. And you know they'd tear Mykha apart in the process."

"What do I care if they do that? Mykha is certainly nothing to us."

"She's hosting us, no questions asked, and she's not charging us anything."

"Our magic is helping her out a great deal!"

"Which is hardly making up for the fact that she's harboring fugitives." Catrice opened her mouth to protest but Sylira flicked her tail dismissively and waved a hand at her before hauling herself up on her arms, her rear fins pushing uselessly against the hard stone floor. "And don't forget, you've made us all swear to stay fertile and waiting until your next grand scheme bears fruit."

With that she left, her tailfin and rear-fins scraping the floor as she dragged herself from the room.

Catrice watched Sylira go with a snarl on her lips. The River dragoness was getting to be almost insubordinate and Catrice didn't like it one bit. Recalling where she'd been when Sylira interrupted her she whirled back around but found that the sniveling Lava dragon had slunk away. Catrice snarled again and flopped down on the cushions piled in the corner. Sylira was right about the grand scheme though, she needed them fertile if her plan was going to work. However, in the meantime she'd come up with a new plan, that just might bear fruit if she could convince everyone and get them all, with Liatha in tow, to Star City.

In the end it was surprisingly simple to manage. Liatha, the immature Goprin who had literally stumbled into the Bonding Society one day, would agree to anything. The others were so glad to be getting out of the Lodge that she probably could have taken them to the lava pits and they'd have been excited!

They made their way to Star City and after a few days 'on the town' Catrice gathered the eight of them together and told them all her plan. Kasaopeia objected immediately, followed closely by Fryanthe who looked extremely nervous having spoken. Manache just shrugged, Catrice knew she could count on Manache to go along with it so long as it didn't threaten her physique and was a proactive way of furthering the Bonding Society's goals. Nasyta nodded in agreement immediately, while Iryane looked decidedly put out. Catrice took all this in and then turned to Sylira. Iryane might be the most vocal against Catrice's leadership, but it was Sylira who held the group in her hands, much as it pained Catrice to admit it. If her plan was going to work, Sylira would have to go along with it and while the dragoness certainly didn't seem to be rejecting it, she wasn't nodding either. If anything the dragoness just looked thoughtful.

"Why do this?" she said at last, interrupting the complainers. Catrice stifled a snarl at the way they all quieted and turned their attention to the River dragoness as she lounged on the dragon-sized bed, her long tail hanging off the side and flicking lazily. "I know what your plans are for the Society, but what purpose does it serve to mix our blood with Goprin blood? As if the Council didn't already have reason to hate us?"

The entire room swung their heads to look at her and Catrice nodded, acknowledging the legitimacy of Sylira's question. "A good point, and a good reason for this to happen off-world." She didn't say that this could only happen off-world, as there were no geneticists on Kilandaia that any of them knew about. "You all know as much as I know about what the Council is hiding from us all, which is why we all left and formed the Society in the first place. Kilandaian dragons used to be able to shift, just as the Goprin can until they're adults. The Diety dragons are somehow suppressing that ability in us and I think that mixing the blood of dragons with the blood of Goprin will make our combined offspring capable of getting around the limitations imposed on both us and the Goprin."

Sylira looked surprised, but thoughtfully so. Catrice kidded herself for one moment in thinking that the River dragoness was surprised by her deductions and then stifled a sigh. No, Sylira was surprised that Catrice had come up with such a plan. Though there was something else in the dragoness' demeanor that suggested more than just surprise. Catrice's eyes narrowed and she pinned Sylira with a penetrating look.

"You know something."

"I do." Sylira was not to be bullied, and she lifted her chin haughtily at the tone in Catrice's voice, but still, the varied inquiring and reproachful looks from the rest of them were enough to get her talking. "I once came in contact with a creature who claimed to be a cross between a Goprin and a Kilandaian dragon. He called himself a Garyki and he was quite the charming fellow, though much the womanizer," she smiled slightly in remembrance. "The charming scamp was a shifter and was not subject to any of the restrictions imposed on us or the Goprin."

Catrice smiled triumphantly as the rest of the Society began nodding as they considered her words.

Catrice gave the River dragon a nod and she returned it. "So, who's with me?"

Not a single argument met her question and that afternoon they made their way to the Abstract Destiny to talk to one Dr. Schroeder. The Society might be convinced, but they still had to convince the doctor to take on their extensive Synth.