Avengaea Pre-Bonding Ceremony RP

9/13/2010

JKat:

(( Xalia, for Belaria )) "I've been alright," Itaro the Piralan responded to Belaria's query, shrugging his wing-shoulders and suddenly looking almost sheepish. "I know, I haven't been around much. Honestly, I think I'm about done here... I don't think I want to bond after all." He laughed then. "It only took me four years to figure that out! Not that there's anything wrong with bonding," he amended, looking at Nellisu, who himself shrugged, but with a smile. "It's just not for me."

"I think it's such a neat thing," Nellisu took up the string of the conversation. "My mother took me on a field trip offworld, I got to watch a hatching. My parents don't think I'm going to bond, but I'm pretty sure I will." The youngster grinned broadly. "I believe in fate. The right person will come along!"

Xalia:

(( JKat )) "I've begun to think I'm fated to be bondless, but I'm here because I still want to." Belaria smiled ruefully at the two kits and then shook her head at Itaro. "Took you long enough, huh? I'm one to talk though, I think I've enrolled in every course they could come up with for me to take by now, but then I've learned to like learning." She chuckled softly and then turned to Nellisu, "What makes you want to bond?"

JKat:

(( Dray )) The two youngsters to which Orlinton were speaking were distracted, momentarily but thoroughly, by the spectacle across the room. The Askan's eyes went wide and he rapidly looked away, while the Cascatan, Ergentu, stared, perplexed but really more amused and not at all bashful. As his Askan compatriot hid his head under his wing, Ergentu swung his gaze back to Orlinton and asked with a sardonic twang, "anyone you know?"

(( jess )) "No written history?" Wantini the Makanan looked amazed -- amazed enough to miss the kerfuffle of the naked transformation. "Honestly? Goddess, History class on your world must be so easy!"

Wevailus butted back into the conversation, the Old Cascatan grinning broadly. "You've got proper wilderness on your planet? Cool!"

(( Airy )) Tenita looked at the other gathered kits -- most of them engaged with the various humanoids there, and the rest having been caught by the spectacle unfolding across the room. She therefore gave Galasthornen a private grin and told him, "I think most of us are, well, more curious than determined to bond. The really nervous ones will probably stay here for a few years and won't choose anyone. Or wait a while till they get less scare of the whole idea. It's a big choice, after all!" She glanced at her twin, who was still talking to Jelnai.

Aluetti spoke up, drawing herself up. "I fully intend to bond. Probably this time! Well," she amended, looking around the room, "I suppose this time, or next time." She shrugged, and fluffed herself up, momentarily self-conscious. "I mean, I guess I can't know for sure, not till the actual bonding. If you were the one choosing," she looked at the elf intently, "how would you choose a bond?"

Dray:

(( JKat, for Ergentu and the Askan )) So distracted by the sudden, leaping naked human-thing was Orlinton, that for the moment he forgot that he hadn't been properly introduced to the two kits in front of him... or at least he didn't rightly know their names. ~No,~ he replied shortly, his golden gem-studded brows rising in amusement. He brought a hand to his yellow chest ruff and scritched it, feeling as though he should probably be embarrassed for the sake of Ansel... but really, Orlinton was currently as human-looking as he could get at the moment: human nakedness simply didn't bother him when he didn't possess a similar form. ~Though I think he's looking for the wrong kind of party.~ The anthro dragon kneeled to the little Askan, patting him on the shoulder. ~Don't worry, I'm sure the officials will have him out of here in a moment!~ He sounded cheerful at the prospect, though perhaps more muted than Dracothrope had been.

JKat:

(( StarFyre, Xalia )) The three kits congregated around Ansel and Kinsi all bolted to their feet; Laetora the Piralan, much to her own embarrassment, ended up falling from the sitting-nest she'd been on in her agitation, and scrambled to her feet all fluffed out. Diligia the New Cascatan exclaimed, "Aska's breath!" and looked away; Laitunis, horribly, started to laugh and then, realizing his error, slapped a paw over his mouth and mantled with pure horrified embarrassment.

The three kits took in the second transformation with a scrambling of startlement, Laitunis backing off rapidly with the giggles shaken out of him, and Laetora scrambling back up onto the nest. "I guess it's night," Diliga was the one to finally say, blinking with a mild expression on her face, and asked of Kinsi as if nothing was amiss, "But why did _you_ change?"

(( Dray, for Magpie and Mullen )) Aloia had not gotten to her age by keeping her eyes shut. She hadn't missed the look that passed between Mullen and Magpie -- but her nature was not a really suspicious one. It was apparent the two knew each other better than Aloia had thought, and that perhaps Magpie in private was less shy than she seemed to be in public... but that was hardly her business! The matron replied kindly, "well, would you like to? I could introduce you to." Perhaps she hadn't been entirely taken in, but Aloia erred on the side of kindness.

Dray:

(( JKat, for Aloia the patient!)) Magpie cast a glance to the kits, scanning the room like a con man looks for a potential rube. Really, in the end, all she needed was one who wanted to properly bond. Once that had been accomplished, she had only to wait for the aging process to occur, and then she could sever the bond and have her way with things! It was too perfect of a plan... save that Magpie hadn't heard that the bonding process had been changed. Thusly, with the wool pulled over her eyes, the little fuzzbaby replied demurely, "yes, thank youverymuch, ma'am." Her eyes fell to Aloia's slippers, as innocuously shy as anyone could hope for.

Xalia:

(( JKat, StarFyre )) Kinsi would have blushed had she the capacity but as it was all she did was manage to take control of her wings and rustle them onto her back. She turned her parrot head to regard Diliga and squawked again. She shook her head, firmly resisting the urge to flap her wings again and then found herself bobbing her head in agitation. Hunching up her wings, Kinsi made herself stop and think. She'd seen parrots before, they could mimic speech. She just had to figure out how they spoke, or try Ansel's telepathy thing...or just sit here until she figured out how to shift back... "Wrawk, startled," was all she eventually said. She firmly resisted the bird's desire to jump up on the edge of the nest and preen as doing so would probably mean losing some important tail feathers. She turned her parrot head to look at Ansel but all she could manage was a series of garbled squawks instead of the words she'd been trying to form. Her wings rustled but she focussed hard to keep from flapping them and instead ruffled all her feathers so she looked a pitiful sight indeed.

JKat:

(( Shard ))The Piralan, startled by Arick's profession of being an outlaw, smoothed his fluffed fur somewhat at learning just HOW the man was an outlaw. "Music is illegal?" He was obviously amazed. The young Askan who had been startled upon walking by and overhearing, gathered up her dropped snack but didn't walk off, instead staring at the alien with wide eyes.

Shard:

(( JKat )) Arick blinked, somewhat similarly amazed at how many places music 'wasn't' illegal. "Yeah, it's... it's been a law around our galaxy for a long time now. But we do it anyway." He grinned widely.

jess:

(( JKat )) Jelnai smiled at the makanan. "Well, we don't have a lot of "classes"; at least, not like the classes here. I think they would call it an apprenticeship? And whatever old tales the elders tell us. There are lots of them, and very detailed. I think History class referred to it as "oral history". The islanders might have something different, though." At the Wevailus' comment, the pan-thar smiled. "Yep! Plenty of wilderness. On the continent, at least, we aren't overly populous. And who knows about the islands, though I imagine if they were having overcrowding issues, we would have found out somehow. I wonder about other areas though; the island chain we know of, and our continent cannot possibly be the only land we have. And we have lots of ocean, especially if those are the only bits of land!" ((Is the makanan's name Waniti or Wantini? I think it was Waniti last week, but I want to make sure that one wasn't the typo XD))

JKat:

(( StarFyre )) "How awkward!" the young Niteshan responded, eyes still on the spectacle. "Goddess, and does the other one turn into a giant animal at night, too?" she asked, referring to the giant parrot that was now Kinsi. "I'm glad _we_ don't do that," Componu said, fluffing and then re-settling his wings and shaking his head. "Shifting without clothes, that's indecent!"

StarFyre:

(( JKat, Xalia )) Once Kinsi had stopped struggling about, Ansel finally managed to get himself off her tail, mumbling a quiet, "Sorry, Kinsi." as he did. His cheeks were red, not out of embarassment at his nudity, but out of embarassment at the situation -- he'd lost control of himself, and thus made Kinsi lose control of herself. In response to Diliga's statement, he said, "The sun went down, yes."

JKat:

(( Yakima )) "They won't _really_ just steal it it," one of the other kits in the crowd piped up disdainfully. "No one I knew ever got robbed!" In response, Justoi stuck his tongue out at the interloper. Taleabutor, his young female niteshan counterpart, piped up cheerily, "Nice to meet you, Asher! Where do you come from?"

(( Phoenix )) Tanutilli grinned, unable to /not/ respond to such beautific happiness. The two Askans, who had heard a little bit more of the words Lanithro used, exchanged a confused look; the language was unsettling, but neither had heard the Caetran speech before and couldn't place it. But even with that, the pair had to grin back at Shijet, curious but pleased as peaches. "Oh!" the elder, male Askan exclaimed, and asked Shijet as his younger female companion continued to smile at Lanithro. "Where did he grow up? On your world? Are _you_ a half human?"

(( StarFyre, for Flikk )) "Oh, good." The asandus child whuffed and flopped down on the edge of the nest, taking up not much space at all. "I mean, thank you. I don't... well, I'm not really here to bond either." He looked across the floor, filled with kits and novos, with a bit of a frown, scanning to make sure no one was looking this way. "It all seems so..." He trailed off, and finished the phrase with a shrug of his wing-shoulders, his ears tilted slightly back. This kit didn't appear to be one of the usual six types of asandae; he had a head-plate, like an askan, but it was segmented, and his colors didn't quite follow the usual pattern.

(( Xalia, for Belaria )) Itaro offered his friend Belaria a sympathetic, slightly ironic grin, but let Nellisu take the plate. "I think it's the perfect way to make understanding between people," he said, looking as if he was thinking hard about it as he spoke. "I think that everyone needs at least one friend they can rely on all the time, no matter what. Maybe this is the way some of us are bound to make that friend."

Yakima:

(( JKat )) Asher smiled at the kit, "I know," he said. "I don't even know if my magic would be of use to them. If they did, they would probably go for those two over their before me," he said, pointing to where Jarel and Tayenden were watching and talking off to the side with a few of the other party-goers. "They're more powerful then me because they've trained. The more we train the stronger we get." He shrugged. "I'm from a world called Sentra," he said, answering Taleabutor as well as to supply to the first kit why he really didn't fear the deamons. "The elves were created using magic their which is why it's in our blood." He paused to grin. "So in a way we are enhanced humans."

JKat:

(( Dray for Orlinton )) The horridly mortified little Askan yelped when he was patted unexpectedly, but shook it off and peeked out from under his sheltering wings. "Lords and Goddess!" was all he could muster.

Ergentu, on the other hand, snickered and flicked his tailfin. "I suppose maybe no one told him this was a bonding room, not a bathtub," he responded in kind... having entirely missed the innuendo. The both of them were children, after all!

Xalia:

(( JKat )) That's a great way to look at it," Belaria said with a smile. "Do you ever worry you'll make the decision too quickly though? Honestly, hard as it's been to sit here and wait, I can't imagine having to make the choice myself. Maybe I've just learned to doubt myself too much after all this time waiting, but does it scare you at all?" Belaria looked a little wide-eyed at what she'd said but the words were out and she tried to smile and make it seem a casual question. The last thing she wanted after being so determined to bond was to talk a kit she was conversing with out of wanting to bond!

Dray:

That was one thing that Orlinton was going to have to adjust to. Ergentu at least was somewhat familiar, and they had had some conversations in the past. Now he was still a youth, and Orlinton had had more than a world's-worth of experience. He chuckled, though, and jutted his muzzle towards the food tables. ~How about we get something to munch on?~ Hopefully that would be distracting enough that the Askan would come out from behind his wing. It would also give him a chance to swing by Dracothrope; though she was well chaperoned by his friends, he did still worry that she might be tempting the kits with extraordinary tales and even candy to attempt to lure them off-planet. It had worked for his pack, after all!

Airy:

(( JKat )) "Well," Galasthornen said. "If I were trying to bond with a dragon from the Testasodo, it would be pretty easy to find the right person." Galas could feel Rehn, and many of his other close friends through the Co'ana at that very moment. They were distant, but the harder he thought about them, the clearer and stronger their connection became. Not wanting to get distracted by what his family was doing, the elf turned his full attention back on the kits. "Most everyone is connected through a spiritual network that we call the Co'ana, and the people that I come from have a strong connection to it. Which basically means that I could sift through people until I found one that was a spiritual match for me. That's how lots of us find our mates and informal family members." It would have been nice to take a peek at some of the dragons and even the other novos here through the Co'ana. There were plenty of interesting things to be learned from each of them. Galas glanced over at Jelnai, and thought about visiting her world- it was so much easier to learn about places when one had access to the memories and emotions of the people that lived there. It was easier to get along as well.

"Here though," he said after a while. "I guess I would just try to find someone that I thought was like me in one way or another. Whatever happens, I like to think that it's all destiny. If you make a mistake, you can learn from it and become stronger." He shrugged. "Will your parents keep tabs on you all when you leave? To make sure that you are well taken care of?"

JKat:

(( jess )) ((Oh dear, sorry! Hahaha, I knew that'd happen eventually. It's Waniti.)) "Has anyone explored the ocean yet?" the Old Cascatan child asked eagerly. "I'm way better at swimming than at walking," he told her by way of explanation, earning a scoff from Waniti. "You're fine at walking, Wevi! It's just too bad you don't have wings. He's always talking about exploring, you had to bring it up and catch his interest," she rolled her eyes, though not altogether unkindly. Wevailus grinned sheepishly and almost seemed to blush.

StarFyre:

(( JKat )) "Forced?" Flikk asked in response to the kit trailing off. He turned to glance out at the rest of the gathering for a moment, letting the silence settle, then spoke up again. "The people at Akelara keep telling me to bond, but..." He gives a mirthless chuckle, "I come from a world where dragons are the mounts of knights, and can't speak. I wasn't... like this, either - I lived for decades as a human, before, well." Flikk's tail twitches at the memory, "Let's just say I ran afoul of some magic, and ended up like this."

Phoenix:

(( JKat )) After relaying a translation again, Shijet couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, no, I'm just a dragon from Lantessama. I was born on Halloween and me and all my siblings look like this," he grinned, wiggling his toes in the mossy floor, meaning 'bipedal' when he said 'like this'. Then he grew a little more serious, petting Lanithro's sleeve as the half-Askan contentedly looked from one young face to the next. "Lan's from your world, but the other end -- down where the demons live. I have to talk for him because he hasn't been escaped long enough to learn your words instead."

JKat:

(( Airy )) "Of course!" Tenita seemed surprised that Galas would ask. "They're our parents! I mean, if everyone else here is like me and Waniti, we had to _really_ try to get our parents to let us go to a bonding to try and bond." She looked at the other makanan. "I think mine and Waniti's will probably invite us and our bonded back to live at home. Or try to, anyways." She laughed, and then shook her head, and then leaned in, curious. "Your way of bonding seems so much easier than this. Really," she confided -- glancing at Aluetti first, "I'm a little afraid of choosing the wrong person."

"It's got to be fate, though," the Piralan child countered, looking up at Galasthornen with a serious look on her little face. "I think you're right. Aska wouldn't let one of us bond someone really wrong for us."

(( StarFyre, Xalia )) "Lords and goddesses all!" Diliga exclaimed, taking in the explanation from Kinsi's odd new form (not a lot of birds on Avengea) and that from Ansel, and shaking her head. "So, you shift when startled, and you shift at sundown," she nodded at each offworlder in turn, "what a very strange sort you novos are!"

"Oh wait, wait," Laitunis said, grinning widely, and he shut his eyes. While the Makanan concentrated, Laetora leaned forward from the edge of the nest, examining the bright bird that was Kinsi, sniffing at her feathers with wide eyes and side-cocked ears. A moment later, Laitunis's own form began to glow, and a moment later the makanan youngster had shifted into his own human form, a ten-year-old or so, bright yellow human with silver hair -- himself also completely buck naked!

Diligia brought a paw to her face in exasperation; Laetora looked on in fascination.

((Dray, for Magpie and Mullen )) "Come on, then," the old halfbreed smiled and beckoned for Magpie to follow as she headed away from the nest, lending Mullen a parting smile. His charge was in good -- and not totally helpless -- hands. Aloia led Magpie to the clump of kits still gathered in the center of the room, slowing so the fuzzbaby could walk beside her. "You know, I think most of them will be excited to have someone around their own size to talk to," she told Magpie encouragingly. "No need to be shy. Here, go on," she shooed as they approached the group. From the clump, a few looked up; a piralan, a makanan, a handful of others. Choruses of "hi" came from the collection, many of them seeming as shy as Magpie.

Xalia:

(( JKat StarFyre )) If the object of Diligia's comment hadn't involved herself Kinsi might have laughed, as it was though she fanned her tail feathers, preening them a bit to smooth where Ansel's weight had mashed them and was unable to stop herself from hopping up onto the edge of the nest and sliding back and forth as she bobbed her head. She opened her mouth to squawk loudly as agitated birds do, and shook her head instead, clacking her beak and blinking her wrinkly eyes. She'd watched the Makanan shift but still had no idea how it was done and she was discomfitted enough that she didn't think she was going to shift back anytime soon. Instead, she tried to get the bird beak to form some words. "Sorry! Wrawk, not in control." Embarassed by her lack of communication skills (though she should have just been glad she could talk /at all/...shifting into a giant butterfly probably would have been /much/ worse) Kinsi found herself fluffing up all her feathers and hunching her wings, partially concealing her beak and making herself look much shorter.

JKat:

(( Shard )) "How very strange!" the little girl Askan exclaimed from a few paces away. "My mother loves to sing to me. I can't imagine that being illegal!" The piralan nodded nodded his general agreement, though he seemed a little distracted by the goings-ons elsewhere. He looked back, though, and said, "Galaxy?" Astronomers, asandae were not.

(( Yakima )) "That's neat!" the male Niteshan exclaimed, waving his translucent tail. "That's like, the reverse of us. We make magic!"

"That's not opposite, silly," his companion corrected, "That's more like... uh, kind of the same..." She giggled sheepishly. "Yeah, the same, I guess." She looked up at Asher, and nodded. "I heard that offworlder magic is different than ours, though. What do you do with yours?"

(( Phoenix )) There was much exclaiming from the three kits and between the three of them, the little female Askan and Tanutilli looked at Lan in surprise, and the male Askan looked grave. "You poor thing!" the girl exclaimed, butting her head against Lan's shoulder in a gesture of comforting. "That's positively beastly. How did you escape? Oh!" She looked at his scars in a new light, and looked shocked, but said nothing, tactfully.

"They didn't eat you?" Tanu asked, wide-eyed and seeming shy about the question -- but not too shy to ask. "I heard they eat asandae. Oh, wait," he looked between Lan and Shijet in a moment of confusion, catching himself. "If he can't understand our speech -- Oh! Shijet, you talk for him!"

(( StarFyre, for Flikk )) The young crossbreed looked at Flikk curiously, giving him a closer examination than he had at first. "You used to be human? That's some strong magic." He flopped his furred tail over the edge of the nest, letting it dangle as the tip twitched. His gaze eventually returned to the bulk of the room, though, and the socializing kits. "I don't really understand this bonding thing, anyway. There's no guarantee you'd get someone decent -- that you liked."

((Xalia, for Belaria )) Itaro had to grin, knowing what was coming next. Nellisu drew himself up. "I think if you wait too long, and worry too much, you'll never do it," he exclaimed. "There are some decisions that have to be made trusting that things will work out, because you'll never know for sure ahead of time. Trust yourself, and the Goddess, and all will be well." It certainly wasn't a casual answer!

(( Dray )) "That sounds great," Ergentu said, and he stood up, nudging the Askan with a wing. "Come on, Glorius, let's go eat. Don't worry, you won't have to look." The Askan finally stood, nervously re-shuffling his wings by his sides, the end of his tail twitching to bely his discomfort. But distracted he was, as he followed Ergentu, who was taking the lead, to the well-laid-out snack tables. "So where have you been that you've gotten so big, Orli?" the Old Cascatan had to ask, making conversation along the way.

(( Xalia )) Laetora looked back to Kinsi soon enough, not caring much about the pair of naked boys. She was far too fascinated by the exotic creature before her. "What... _are_ you?" the Piralan asked, all pretense of being cool and collected dropped in the face of bird!

StarFyre:

(( JKat, Xalia )) Ansel nodded at Diliga's observation, and added, "At sunset I become human, at sunrise I become the beast that you first met." When Laitunis started shifting, Ansel watched in fascination at the more streamlined method of changing form that the Makanan had available, and asked, "Is your shifting always that smooth?"

(( JKat )) Flikk nodded, accepting the scrutiny of the kit without flinching like he would have a few years ago. "I was human. A mercenary warrior, then as now." He glanced out at the collection of kits and people, then gave a small shrug of his wings, "At least you get a choice. There are races of dragons out there that bond straight out of the shell... they've never seen anyone before, let alone their parents, and they have to stumble across the sands and pick out a person from those gathered, before they even get a chance to eat."

(( JKat, responding with Treya )) Treya shook her head, "I don't know about Kinsi... I think she's an at-will shifter." She laughed at Componu's prudishness, then tapped him between the eyes, "You're like Flikk, all uptight. I bet you'd be blushing right now if you could!"

Yakima:

(( JKat )) Asher grinned. "Quite right...so, are you two here to Bond? I just came here a few weeks ago..."

Shard:

(( JKat )) Arick's eyes almost could be seen behind the metallic violet shades he wore, they were so wide. "Yeah, the galaxy!" He lept to his feet, four hands spread in excitement. He looked up, pointing, "out there!"

jess:

(( JKat ))"I don't know how much of the ocean has been explored, actually. The clans on the continent don't venture off, unless we go offworld. The islanders might have, though I don't know. They don't even have the spaceport technology, so exploring underwater would probably be very difficult. I think the few Malnev dragons were somehow water-oriented, but as they have been gone for so long, I doubt they have done much exploration either." Jelnai considered Waniti's comments for a moment. "Wings would be nice to have; I would love to see the clouds up close! Maybe I could get a better sense of the weather from up close. Though, being able to swim well would be fun too. But not having the same skills is good; it means each person can share their experiences from a different, unique viewpoint."

Dray:

(( JKat, for Aloia)) The walk form Mullen to the shy kits put Magpie on edge; for whatever reason, she had thought that she would be able to drag her human wherever she wanted to. That did not seem to be the case, here. She stared at the kits and their tremulous little greetings, wondering if she should continue with the charade or not. On the one hand, it might produce someone weak-willed enough to fall for her trickery, on the other, if she were to really bond from this, she had better get one or two things straight.

Whatever the outcome might be, Magpie shuffled over from Aloia's side and settled near to the Piralan and Makanan. Her tail-globe flickered nervously, despite every other attempt to remain composed. "Hi," she replied right back. She cast an eye over those two nearest her, trying to gage their personalities in a first glance.

Airy:

(( JKat )) "Ah," Galas said. "I hope that that question wasn't insulting; I didn't mean to imply that your parents didn't care about you." He could feel his skin getting hot and red from embarrassment. He had dealt with other cultures enough to know better than to talk about biases. Without the Co'ana to share his emotions through, the elf thought it necessary to once again explain himself to his new friends. "Lots of people in the Federation consider Nexus dragons to be rather distanced from their children," he crossed his arms and tried to shake off some of the blushing in his skin by running his hand through his hair. Nervous habit. "We are very protective of our own children... I haven't ever been there, but I think Aanu'sil is the only Federation world that openly holds bond ceremonies like this one." He was sounding rude again, wasn't he? The elf reminded himself of what Belaria had told him about having to wait so long to bond. "I heard that your people stopped the bonding ceremonies for a while, though... I was talking to Belaria. Have they not been doing this sort of thing for long?"

"Anyway," he added. "Even if you do bond someone that you don't get along with- at least your family will be here for you. You can always come home, if you end up leaving at all, that is. And who knows, you might be a better person for it. Struggle can be a good thing... sometimes."

Shard:

(( JKat )) Arick crouched a little, looking at the two or three dragonets (whoever still had interest in him, he was certain that he'd turned off the one with his talk of outlaw-hood), and said, "there are so many planets, worlds, people! You should see them!"

JKat:

(( StarFyre )) Laitunis sat on the floor and grinned, his human expression startlingly similar to the same expression in his natural form. "Yeah, mostly! I mean, when you're learning it can get a little, well, weird, but once you learn it's real easy! We can do it all the time, though. That's stupid that you HAVE to be human at night." He paused, and his yellow cheeks oranged with blush. "Uh, I mean, not that you're stupid -- oh, Zenite's stink!" Diliga rolled her eyes.

Phoenix:

(( JKat )) Since he could understand Shijet's half of the conversation, Lanithro didn't need a translation to know why the young asandae suddenly exclaimed so. He ducked his face sheepishly inside his scarf, though he raised his head again at the female's nudge, visibly surprised and touched. He almost made as if to pat her in return, but then caught himself and pulled his hand back shyly.

Once Shijet explained things, Lanithro dared to speak up for himself -- although he had to go slowly, of course, with Shijet translating as he went. "A little one once tried," he answered Tanutilli, lifting his three-fingered hand briefly from the confines of his baggy sleeves before hiding it away again. "I got away when...when They stole a portal, and I stole the artifact that made it work." He shifted nervously. "I know They are looking for it and will want it back, but...but at least I made it to Sanctuary."

Xalia:

(( JKat )) Belaria smiled at the serious response, not in amusement but in pleasure at hearing the kit was so resolute. "I'm glad you think so. Surely you understand why I'm having doubts though, as long as I've been here." Belaria was still smiling, she'd forgotten how much fun this was, standing around sociallizing with the kits.

StarFyre:

(( JKat )) Ansel laughed and plopped down on the floor next to Laitunis. "My mother can shift whenever she wants, but my father is like me - he's stuck in beast form during the day, and human at night. You learn to live with it, I guess. Drove my mother up a wall when I was a baby... I didn't have to learn to shift, I just did it."

JKat:

(( StarFyre, for Flikk )) The young crossbreed put his ears back in shock. "That's horrible! What awful worlds those must be." He pulled his wings in tight around him, and frowned deeply. "Is that where the idea for all this came from? Oh, I suppose you wouldn't know. If that's the case," he snorted, "then it's no wonder that they almost got shut down."

Dray:

(( JKat, for Ergentu and gloooorious Glorius )) Now that Orlinton and the kits were away from much of the rest of the room, and the anthro had determined that his caregiver-turned-adventurer wasn't causing too much trouble amongst the kits, he could turn his attention upon the Cascatan and Askan properly. ~After Ampil,~ he began, searching for a haunch of meat and winding up gathering some succulent meat instead, ~we returned to Driolo, to the Ranch.~ He grabbed a pair of pear-like fruits, juggling them here and there. ~I went up to Star City for a while, and signed on with a group of mercenaries who were hunting for pirate ships, discovered too late that said mercenaries were two-timing as pirates, and had to deal with that, which took a while to sort out. The last... oh... three years now? The gang and I found a resettlement program for somewhere called 'Aleph' and settled into a Nidus. Dracothrope, there,~ he pointed at the pale-skinned woman, ~goes back and forth between the Nidus and that Ranch I mentioned. The rest of us stay and guard the land from a nearby Arx which is almost always trying to sneak some xenodragon or other in behind our backs.~

JKat:

(( StarFyre, for Treya )) The young Askan ruffled his wings and countered, "well, humans shouldn't be naked! They have no fur or anything and, and they're always -- oh, doing stupid human things and getting embarrassed." He really did look like he'd be blushing now, his childish composure entirely lost. The niteshan behind him was laughing, too.

Xalia:

(( JKat StarFyre )) Kinsi's bird eyes would have widened if they could but as it was she rustled her wings and clacked her beak at the question until she realized that Laetora had probably never seen a tropical bird like the form she was in. She stretched out her neck and squawked loudly in a way that sounded much like laughter....and just like that she was back in her own skin, falling off the edge of the nest, fortunately /into/ the nest and not atop those nearby. She shook her head and, breathing heavily from the shock of the shift, grinned at Laetora. "That was a parrot and Great Dragons am I happy that didn't last longer!"

JKat:

(( Yakima )) The two youngsters looked at one another and grinned, and then Justoi looked back to the elf with which they were conversing, and nodded his head rapidly. "Well, we'd like to, anyways," Taleabutor added, a little shyly.

StarFyre:

(( JKat )) Flikk tilted his head to the side in thought, "I suppose this does have some resemblance to those other worlds." He stretched a bit and arranged himself more comfortably in the nest, being sure not to crowd the kit as he did. "The dragons there don't seem to mind much, but..." Flikk paused, wondering how he could put his reservations into words. Even if he had abandoned the way of his ancestors, he still had it, and had the memory of it to cling to even now. "I guess I'm a bit old fashioned. Family and history is very important to my people, and seeing these races that just... bond like that, without question, turns my stomach a bit."

(( JKat )) Treya snorted, "You mean they do silly human things and you get embarassed." She gave a smile to blunt her words a bit, but she was still amused at the Askan's embarassment.

Yakima:

(( JKat )) "Ah," the elf said. "I'm in no rush - I'm really just here to learn about Avengaea." Behind him [[I forgot Tiaos is here! *faceplants*]] cleared his throat. "He's here to find himself a Bond," he said, leaning over to whisper to the kits with a wink. "But don't tell him that!" "I heard that!" Asher cried. "You did set me up!" The niteshan grinned. "What? Tayenden and Jarel both thought it would be a good idea..." Asher turned to look at Tayenden who was watching the kits and novos all in his direction. Ah, yes. He had forgotten Tayenden was a Searchrider for Falas Weyr...why that sneaking little green-rider. "Yeah, well," Asher said, crossing his arms with a huff. "I'm not in a hurry to find one," he muttered, glaring at Tiaos who just kept grinning.

JKat:

(( Shard )) The man's excitement was certainly catching; the two kits who were still engaged with him both looked wide-eyed and excited, all thoughts of him being a dangerous outlaw having fled their minds! The Piralan in particular had fluffed out almost to double his size. "I heard there were dozens and dozens of worlds out there," the kit said, having no idea of the understatement he was making. "How do you get there?"

"Do you fly really high?" The little askan asked, spreading her wings and hopping forward, absolutely with these ideas. "I heard someone say once they have ships that fly!"

Shard:

(( JKat )) Arick was in full performance mode, now that he had their attention. It wasn't often that he could just let loose and be 'himself', as that often enough got the *wrong* attention

"Yes," Arick said, "there are ships, my friends and sister are up in the sky right now, in one. It's a nice ship, we go everywhere in it!"

"We go to the stars, they're very far away, but with our ship, and sometimes some weird machines and stuff I don't understand," he glanced away and gave a complicated shrug, "we can go to worlds that you can't even SEE the stars from here."

JKat:

(( jess )) Wantini had to giggle, almost beaming at Jelnai. "You think everything is good. I think you're good!"

Wevailus blinked, and then belatedly grinned as well, his enthusiasm not having waned, but his more easygoing nature having for a moment usurped his passion. "Yeah, me too. Anyways, someone should go exploring your seas -- Malnev seas?" he corrected himself. "Maybe when I'm big enough to explore on my own I could come see it."

(( Dray, for Magpie)) The Piralan smiled at her, but seemed shy, her fur cropped relatively short. Her Makanan companion seemed more nervous than anything, his tail-fin rolled up a little. There were a few gathered behind them, but for the most part those to were the front-men, as it were. Aloia stopped alongside the group, and introduced, "Magpie, this is Halia, and this is Manu," gesturing to the Piralan and the Makanan in turn. "Halia and Manu, this is Magpie. She's a novo from the Nidus." She smiled and stepped back, adding, "I think you three will like each other."

The two shy Asandus kits looked at Magpie, both with big eyes, and Halia again smiled. "It's good to meet you, Magpie."

Dray:

(( JKat, for Manu and Halia)) Magpie watched as Aloia backed away, though not nearly far enough for her to feel as though the gold-human-matriarch had left them entirely. So, that thought in mind, the fuzzbaby reigned in her nerves and eyed Halia and Manu with what she hoped seemed to be mounting confidence. "Hi... do you like jokes?" If nothing else, she could win one of them over with one of her less malicious tricks!

JKat:

(( Airy )) "Yeah, you're right," Tenita said, in a manner that suggested that she hadn't thought of the possibility of returning home if the bond she chose didn't work out. She seemed surprised and comforted by the idea, and subsided for a moment to consider the thought. She smiled. In the meantime, Aluetti responded rather more pragmatically to Galas's question, tilting her head. "I think the bonding ceremonies have been happening for like, eight years or something. Not long at all," she added, shaking her head. "We haven't been connected to the Nexus for long. You know, I suspect we're more like your people, in the Federation, it sounds like," she added. "This's the only place in the whole planet where bonding happens. Except the Nidus, I think, and that place's just offworlders bonding."

(( Phoenix )) "Oh!" The little golden female Askan exclaimed particularly when Lan brought out his mangled hand, her sympathies entirely aroused. She swept a wing up around the sitting man in a draconic hug, not at all shy anymore. "Caetrae are so horrible!" she sympathized -- never in her young life having met one, of course.

The elder male Askan tilted his head gravely. "It's good you're here. There haven't been Caetrae in Sanctuary for -- well, ever, I think," he amended, recalling his history. "They almost invaded once, but of course they didn't manage to." He sounded smug, almost, for his species, and nodded. For him, the strangeness of talking through Shijet was entirely forgotten by now.

Not as much for Tanutilli, though he had been startled out of it briefly by the turn the conversation had taken. He watched Shijet while the youngster translated, and then once he was done watched Lan, his eyes wide. The whole story was amazing -- Lan was so brave!

(( Xalia )) "I suppose," Nellisu responded, conceding the point. He flicked his ears forward and grinned, the expression more casual than his grandiose statements had been. "I guess you're at a disadvantage, being a novo! You don't get to pick. That's a bit silly," he suggested, looking thoughtful. "Maybe we should suggest that novos can choose when to bond, too, so no one else has to wait forever -- but I'm sure you had to wait for a reason." And here he looked thoughtful again, giving Bel a penetrating gaze. "I'm sure you've been waiting for someone, you just don't know it yet."

Xalia:

(( JKat )) Belaria smiled and turned her head to the side. She glanced quickly at Itaro with a raised eyebrow and then chuckled softly. "Well, I guess if I weren't waiting for /someone/ I wouldn't have waited this long, eh?"

JKat:

(( StarFyre )) "Oh jeez!" The youngster seemed covertly relieved that he was talking to someone who didn't seem to mind his social slip-ups, as it were; the conversation flowed much more nicely when he wasn't correcting himself every sentence or two! Never mind that they were two naked human kids just sitting around. "I bet that was annoying! Did it happen while she was pregnant with you too? My mom complained a lot when my little brothers were born, because she couldn't shift while she was pregnant."

Airy:

(( JKat )) Galasthornen nodded. "So, why do you two want to bond?" He asked. "You must have some pretty good reasons to want to be here, if it isn't even tradition." The elf hadn't picked up from his reading on this world, that bonding was such a new practice... but then, he supposed that for more than a few worlds in the Nexus that must have been somewhat true. There were a few dragon species that he had read about that needed to bond in order to survive, but they seemed to be the exception more than the rule. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised though... when I was young I decided to head out on my own too. I wanted to see the universe." The elf smiled at the dim memory. "I haven't been home since; haven't seen my blood family in years. But, I don't regret it; there's more out there than I could have ever imagined."

JKat:

(( Dray )) Both of the kits' eyes widened as they listened to Orlinton's tales, following to the snack table. Glorius picked nervously at the foods laid out, gathering a fruit similar to the one Orlinton had and nibbling at it, while Ergentu neglected to pick up anything at all. He was entranced. "You've done a ton," said he, and then continued in a rather subdued tone, "is time really sped up _that_ much out there?

StarFyre:

(( JKat )) Ansel nodded, "Every day she had to take her beast form, and every night she had to be a human, because I was shifting even then. It's apparently not a problem for my father's people, they'll all like that, so the parents don't even think about it." He grinned and gestured about him, "You wouldn't believe how many people get all twitchy when a naked kid shows up in their midst."

JKat:

(( Xalia )) Laetora fluffed right up again (and inwardly cursed at losing her composure again!) when Kinsi suddenly popped back into her normal form, though thankfully she didn't fall off the edge of the nest this time, either! "Good Goddess," she almost echoed Kinsi's exclamation, examining the woman with her ears back, "does that happen a lot?!"

jess:

(( JKat )) Had her fur not hid it, Jelnai would have been bright red, when she heard Waniti's compliment. As it was, she wouldn't have been surprised if her face turned an odd shade, as she was sure the fur couldn't hide it completely. "Oh, I'm sure my parents would disagree with how good I am! But thank you!" She nodded to Wevailus, who by the sounds of his comment, had decided against bonding for now. "That would be a great idea! Maybe by the time you come to explore, we'll have ways to join the exploration. we should know more about our own world."

Phoenix:

(( JKat )) The spread of a wing around him made Lanithro freeze in disbelief, though it was hardly with fear. His family gave him the same gestures, of course, but it meant much more from these kits who were strangers. Smiling bashfully, he actually allowed himself to touch her in return this time, gently petting the outermost tine of the wing around him in wordless thanks.

Shijet relayed again, and Lanithro looked up at the older Askan with a doubting but yet not unappreciative look. Lanithro knew, after all, that They were after him and found him everywhere. Everyone told him he was safe here and he wanted to believe, but belief came very hard. Still, he appreciated it. "They are still there, in the shadows, where I always see Them," he murmured through Shijet, "but--yes. Mother always told me of Sanctuary and my father's people: you. Even with the shadows, it is much better here with you."

Xalia:

(( JKat )) Kinsi sighed, "More than I'm comfortable with. My mentor says I just need to learn to control myself. The shifting happens whether I have control of it or not and it shouldn't be as exhausting as seems to be. Sorry for startling you, if it makes you feel any better it startled me too!" Kinsi looked sheepish and her tail twitched spasmodically.