It was not the prettiest of afternoons for a hatching. The rain had turned the air clammy and drawn fog from the mountainside, and the occasional splashes of sunset that could be seen through the shifting grey clouds did little to improve most of the Caerfolk's opinion of the evening. Tyler was among that majority. After Ivasheth's summoning roar went out, the Fledgling Trainers had found him at a window, watching patiently for those scattered patches of colour. After all, he was a spaceman-- he missed the stars when he could not see them.

But when the trainers had told him it was time for the eggs to hatch, he grinned broadly and followed them merrily. He no longer feared the queen-dragon, as he had when he'd first seen her. True, he couldn't look at that great black beast upon the sands and not see flames and black phantoms before his eyes again, but he had no reason to fear Ivasheth now. He understood the bonding process, at least as much as could be expected for one who'd only been in the Caer a week or so. The queen had judged him worthy of standing on the sands, and now it was time to bond one of her children.

He and the other Bonders were ushered out into the rain and mud, and led to the dim hatching caverns. Crossing into the shadows of the chambers, Tyler unthinkingly looked for Chelsey, and hurried to stand by the man as soon as he spotted him out in the sands. He clapped his friend on the shoulder, not minding the squelch of Chelsey's wet clothes, and gave him a grin that was all enthusiasm. "Here we go," Tyler whispered, looking out across the gently rocking eggs. Twelve identical eggs for twelve inimitable Bonders. Which would be his, and which Chelsey's?

The first egg hatched, splitting open like a flower but with none of the same beauty, and the first hatchling crawled out, trailing streamers of ichor. Tyler watched it intently, trying to take in every little detail of the beast before it suddenly darted off into the deeper shadows. The Bonders shifted uneasily at that, and Tyler was not the only one to give the abundant darkness around him an unsure glance. Weren't hatchlings supposed to trot over and pick somebody right after they hatched? Slinking into the shadows was something a hunter did, a predator preparing for ambush. Was the xenomorph blood too thick in their veins? Would they attack, not bond, as their mother and the Caerlady said they would?

But his concerns were for naught, at least for this one, for a girl was soon walking to the edge of the Sands, the hatchling at her heels, down the short little tunnel that lead to the feeding chamber, where the newly-chosen could feed their ravenous, newborn bondmates. Tyler ran a hand over his hair, shaking loose some clinging water droplets. Maybe this would go right after all.

Two more eggs divulged their occupants, and then a third as well. Tyler watched as one of them just about immediately started heading for the Bonders, and not just any Bonder, but Gainai'! Bet she tries to dissect the thing later, he chuckled to himself, but falling silent as the hatchling turned its head towards him and Chelsey in a sightless gaze of unmistakable malice, at which the saurian only laughed. "Don't think I'll be wanting to meet that one..." he murmured to the man at his side.

The eggs continued to hatch, each young dragonet a different colour from the last. Several of the hatchlings squabbled and fought amongst themselves, but three more bonds were sealed before Tyler's mind erupted with static, laced with words of some kind. Unprepared for the telepathy, the android had no idea who had said what, and he looked around in bewilderment as murmurs rushed among the observing guests. The strangest band of beasts Tyler had ever seen marched through the open Grounds' door, and for a moment it seemed panic would break out, but the Caerlady's gold soon had things calmed, and the hatchings proceeded as if nothing were amiss.

More xeno-dragonlets tore themselves from their fleshy eggs, more bonds were forged amidst the flashing of screeching, chitinous bodies and the telepathic speech that Tyler's biomechanical mind could barely hear. Staring in confusion at the hissing passing between Ivasheth and one of her golden-plated offspring, Tyler almost missed a brassy hatchling that slid out of the shadows and proceeded to snap at Chelsey's feet. He laughed, offering the man a thumbs-up as Chelsey and his bond moved off, watching them head into the food cavern before he looked back to the sands.

Tyler then realised that the last of the eggs had already hatched, and that since the arrival of the pack of insect-beasts, there were not enough hatchlings to go around. On the heels of that revelation came the cold bite of anxiety. Not everyone could bond now. There would be Bonders walking off the sands alone tonight.

The synthetic wasn't surprised by the disquiet that that thought brought him. Up until now, it had practically been a guarantee that he would bond one of the xenodragons. He'd been looking forwards to it, having learned of the link forged between Bonder and dragon upon the hatching. It sounded like the experience of a lifetime, and hadn't he been dying to know what it would be like to experience it himself? But now... it might not happen.

But why wouldn't it? Tyler wondered, watching a yellow-carapaced dragonet slowly consider the Bonders that were left. Out of all the motley lot of us, why would I go ignored? I'm one of the normal ones! The spider-faced humanoids had bonded, the cyborg dragon had bonded, the mantis-lizard had bonded, and so had the demon-lion and half the insect-freaks! The fucking crazy dinosaur had bonded, even! What makes me different from all of them? Why not-

The yellow xenodragon had reached him, and for a moment Tyler abandoned his worries and his hopes soared, only to come crashing down harder than before as the hatchling began putting off all the signs of being ready to attack him! He jerked a step back, lifting one hand in preparation to defend himself, but one more of the insect-monstrosities stomped its feet and the yellow-black left him, and one more bond was made.

But the damage was done-- a hatchling had almost attacked him. None of the other Bonders had been attacked (not without getting 'rescued' by a different hatchling, anyhow). They don't like me. For some reason, they don't like me. Why not? It's certainly not a matter of species. Chelsey and Ariala bonded. The spider-faces bonded, and the four-armed thing, and the demon-lion and the dragon. Was it one's personality that attracted a hatchling? That possibility hurt as well as offended him. In his time, others had liked him more often than they'd disliked him. That couldn't be it. Nor could it be his career or place of origin, because Chelsey shared those traits with him, and Chels was off feeding his new bond!

With a sinking heart, Tyler realised there was really only one thing that made him different from every single other Bonder that had gathered. He knew why he was different. It was why he was always different. It's because I'm a machine, it must be. Because I started my mockery of life in an upright tube and not in some woman's womb. Even that dragon-borg is flesh and bone with some technology tacked on, but I'm the only one here entirely made of metal and imitation organics. I can't even hear telepathy for all the static if I'm not listening carefully. The demonic fellow bonded the red, and one hatchling was left on the sands, with four left for it to choose from. A woman, two insect-beasts, and Tyler. A hunk of junk that breathes and eats and has a heartbeat like a person, but it's because I'm built to mimic true life that way, and not because I need it. Because acting like that makes people comfortable around me, so they can forget my skeleton is steel and not bone. But these dragons see deeper than humans do, and they don't want to bond a fake. That has to be it.

Tyler's shoulders sagged in defeat as he looked at the last blue hatchling, silently willing it to hurry up and pick a beast or the girl, so he could get out of this shadowy place and forget his delusion that he could ever equal a creature of true flesh and blood. How cruel was it that he was human enough to know hope, dejection, and embarrassment, but not enough to be worthy of this?

Noise and chaos erupted again, this time from behind, and Tyler half turned in surprise, watching as one of the spider-face people was tossed out of the stands and onto the sands, where it convulsed on the ground in clear and terrible pain. He gawked in horrified fascination, his misery a lesser concern for the moment.

::Tyler...:: Static crackled in his mind, a telepathic connection, and the strongest one he'd ever 'heard'. It latched to his mind, making itself be heard despite the distortion his mechanical brain threw into every telepathic thought ever tossed his way. He froze in shock, unsure how to react, not knowing if he dared hope... ::Tyler Kemp... We have to go... She's coming, you see, and she won't be pleased. They're not to be trusted, the others. We have to leave.::

Something rammed the back of his thigh, a determined and powerful shove that just about knocked him over. He stumbled, gaping in amazement, and looked back over his shoulder. The blue-black hatchling butted him again, forcing him to take another stumbling step towards the feeding chamber. ::We don't belong here. Let's get some food, and then leave. We'll go back to where we came from. Space, do you call it? Was there someplace else? Oh well... you can tell me as we eat.::

The xeno-dragonet made as if to push him again, but Tyler hurried forwards to escape the eminent shove, striding towards the feeding cavern. The hatchling immediately fell in step beside him, its-- no, his-- head right at Tyler's hand.

::Sobipess,:: the queen intoned, her voice a static-y hiss in his mind.

The dying spider-face was forgotten. There was only the hatchling at his side, urging him to the feeding room, complaining of its newborn hunger. Sobipess. His bondmate. His bondmate. For now, it didn't matter that he'd been the last one off the sands. He'd walked off with a hatchling, not without, and for now the demanding but loving weight of the hatchling in his mind was enough.