The hatching progressed smoothly, and both siblings watched as the hybrids hatched and made their way across the sands to bond. Neeka glanced over at her brother, wondering at how he was taking this entire business. She knew he'd not enjoyed his time in the city where they had met Erator, and sometimes she thought that it was only his presence that had kept the boy sane inside this twisting maze of metal and... ee-lectrohn-icks.. that comprised the Abstract Destiny.

But he seemed to be holding up well, amber eyes watching the hatchlings with fascination, apparently ignoring the fact that they were in such a strange place.

Suddenly his eyes darted to a male kitten, and hers followed his, fixing on a kitten of a bright yellow hue. The kitten paused for a minute, returning Raheowl's curious stare with his own, then turned to focus on her instead.

"I'm Haasoosh!" he announced happily. "I'll find your dad, you just watch!"

She glanced nervously over at her brother, wondering at his reaction, only to meet his calm eyes and faint smile. Relieved, she turned her attention back to Haasoosh, scratching behind his ears.

Though it took a while, another kitten began approaching them. This one a female of a dark orange that verged on brown, with calm violet eyes. By the time Neekaori noticed the quiet kitten, the kitten and her brother were already staring into each other's eyes, communicating in silence.

Finally, Raheowl spoke softly, ::Shraisassa.::

The kitten simply nodded.

* * *

"Well? How'd it go?" Erator looked up from sharpening his sword, watching as the two children entered the room, followed by their new bonds.

"We're bonded," Neekaori announced happily, "This is Haasoosh, my bond, and the little female behind Raheowl is Shraisassa, his bond."

Shraisassa inclined her head slightly, then she and Raheowl went to one side of the room, settling on the floor next to each other and resuming the silent conversation that had begun on the sands, staring into each other's eyes unblinkingly.

"Erator..." Neekaori looked over at the older man - a knight, he had told them, who served a master long dead - and watched as his steady hand drew the whetstone across his already sharp blade, making her frown and rethink what she was going to say, "You're going to sharpen that blade into nothing, the way you keep doing that."

Her words made him pause for a moment, before the steady shing of blade on whetstone resumed, "What else do I have to do?"

"You could..." she sighed, "I don't know. Why didn't Selverat take you back already? Raheowl and I are fine here, now. Especially now that we have Haasoosh and Shraisassa with us."

"He said, 'Keep watch over the children if you want, but poke around here. Kerkael and I think there are things here that you'd enjoy.' Whatever that means."

Neekaori giggled, "What if he wants you to bond a dragon too?"

The silence that settled over the room was almost deafening, as the whetstone's path ceased abruptly and Erator's blue-green eyes fixed her with an intense stare.

"What could be the harm of it?" She spoke softly into the silence, then jumped as the normally calm Erator stood abruptly and stalked from the room, naked sword still in his hand.

In confusion, the two siblings looked to each other, neither finding the answer they were searching for.