Three kittens - halfbreeds born in the Healing Den's protective Nexus. All three display certain features in common: they are Cynonix's offspring after all, and are meant to have fur, tail, and tall ears. They share blue eyes of different shades, and varying degrees of digitigrade and plantigrade feet. Their hands are all 4 fingered with a thumb, with longer hard nails that are dark. They all speak perfectly well, though the split lip of Tyssix and the faintly hairliped Cryten do have a bit more fluff in their words.

Born first, Xenrai is the tallest and has the most human looking face, his muzzle is fairly flat, and he lacks the true 'teardrop' markings of his father. His hair and chest fluff however clearly reflect his sire. His feet are flatter and wider than his siblings' and they have four clawed toes, but he can seemingly stand for hours without having to rest. His ears are quite flexible, and often display his moods. He is a perceptive, fun loving half-feline.

Born second, two years after Xenrai, is Tyssix. With digitigrade feet like her father, and long arms which she did use as legs when a child, she is the most cheetah-like of the trio in appearance. She has a strong muzzle, pointed ears which can be made to move, and a slightly raspy tongue. She is the fastest of the trio. Her feet have three large clawed toes on them.

After the Interdimensional Vanya flight held at the Den, Cynonix and Tessrabia were hardly surprised to have a third child, named Cryten. Though he is almost a decade younger than his siblings, they treat him absolutely as one of their own. His ears are most humanoid, however his face is quite cheetah-style. He lacks many spots on his head, though, and his eyebrows are very expressive if his ears are not. He has fully human-style legs and feet with 4 toes without the hard claws. When he stands, Cryten is just shy of his elder brother's size, but is also built more sturdily. His eyes are a ghostly shade of grey-blue, distinct from his siblings' teal-grey and peacock blues.

"I want to go, and you really can't stop me," Tyssix said. Her tone wasn't all that nasty, but it was hardly nice. Her older brother Xenrai tapped his long nail on the desk, and his ears and tail both twitched to show his annoyance.

"Tyss, I just don't think you're ready for-"

"What makes you think you know what I'm ready for?" Tyss spat. "I'm just as mature as you, I've ..." She suddenly broke off, ears back and eyes avoiding his, she decided shortly that it was fine, what she had to say. "I've already had three heats, you don't know what that's like."

"And what makes you think I don't?" Xenrai said, quietly. "You know that we all can respond to those things. Even Cryten noticed it. It's not that I don't think you're physically mature enough, Tyss, I just don't want you out in the middle of nowhere getting jumped by those guys. You heard how Temih would talk about them."

"Temih was rather biased," Tyssix muttered. "She only wanted to have them leave her alone until she knew what she wanted out of life."

"And she was still pregnant anyway," Xenrai pointed out.

"Not by them!" Tyss said, exasperated. "Their tribe will die out, if they don't have any more females. It's a good thing that Ivo's genes knew what to do, she was lucky. It could have been half a litter of males, and then where would they be?"

The office that they sat in was rarely used, it was in the healer's section of the Den, along a rather well traveled hall. Every time they would hear someone stepping by, they would quiet down. Neither of them wanted anyone to know what they were arguing about. Such was the way for this family. Baeris' grandchildren carried a lot of her in them. They couldn't help it. She was a Sanger in mood even if she wasn't one in name. Thusly, they doubly inherited such things.

But they had long been taught by not only their grandmother but others as well, that they ought to talk first, yell later, and come to blows rarely over things. They followed those instructions, because they knew it would all be for the best. Eventually.

Xenrai knew that his sister would want to go to Planet Twenty, and 'help' their tribe. But it was a strange plan that he didn't much care for. They had grown up in the Nexus, but they frequently visited other worlds and places. She had little experience actually living off the land, none of them did really. When Temih and her daughters Mihve and Tovih all were ready to head back to the Planet, Tyssix wanted to go with.

She was able to perfectly well express why, too. The logic behind her arguments hardly had a flaw. But Xenrai was her older brother, after all, and was very protective of her. Tyssix wanted to be protective of something of her own. Her own children.

"But do you have to go and stay?" Xenrai finally said, after several people had drifted past their office and into the main halls. "I just don't like you being there alone. That's all."

"You don't think I would make it on my own? I mean, it's not like I'd be 'alone' at all, the Tribe all gathers and lives together. You saw the images."

Xenrai nodded. "I know. I just..."

"You just don't want some strange male Kin sniffing at me. But you don't get to do that. I think that's why you are jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" Xenrai said, "I'm-"

"You are so jealous! Because they're going to pay a world of attention to me and the girls, but if you were to be there, they'd all glower and growl at you because your'e male." Tyssix said, almost mockingly. "Tell me that's not true?"

Xenrai was about to say something, but couldn't really get any words out. She was right of course. He wasn't really needed there. As both their parents were healers, all three siblings had a goodly amount of training in the medical arts. But they had no psionics whatsoever, which was why the Tribe was exiled to Planet Twenty in the first place. They would, in his opinion, be bringing down their genes by breeding with them. At least Ivo was a shapeshifter and had strong abilities to pass to his girls.

"I'll go with her," Cryten said, startling both his siblings. They had been so involved in staring at each other and snipping back and forth, that they didn't really notice him come in through the other door to the room. One which led to their other quarters, private areas of the Den. "I want to see this place, I want more experience than just here. And I'll tell you something that you might not have thought of. Even if," he said, clearly aware that they thought he was nuts, as he was much too young to be so calculating, "we don't have telepathy or some weird power, our mother's human. We bring that to them. The ability to breed with whomever they need to to carry on the line. Maybe it's just because we're all Sangers - the family tree doesn't split too much for us. But we're half and half, Mihve is more than both, and I only have to wonder what Tovih brings to their mix."

Cryten was young, yes. But he was clearly the smart one. Also the most patient of the three. He avoided their arguments mostly because he hated to hear his siblings fight over silly things. If Tyssix wanted to breed it was her decision to make. If she found a nice Kin, or a human, or whatever, that was her business. But obviously Xenrai wanted to keep track of her.

And he was also right about another thing: he would be more welcomed into the group of kin, because he was young and would fit into the lower echelons more easily than the older pair would. That, and he was about the same age as Mihve and Tovih, and he really didn't want to lose track of his age-mates.

"Then what am I going to do all alone?" Xenrai muttered.

Tyssix jumped into his lap and nuzzled her older brother, purring into his ear: "thank you. You'll think of something."

***

Temih's dragon could hardly carry all of this group. Tessrabia and Cynonix, Ivo and she all gathered around to get everyone back to Planet Twenty. But before they could leave the Den, something else happened that caught everyone off guard.

A contingent of Zekiran dragon masters or hopefuls showed up.

"This really changes everything," Tyssix whispered. Baeris heard, but did not say anything. She was too busy greeting and meeting and getting to know people. A couple of them looked almost human, while several looked to be catlike centaurs. Wings, multiple limbs, odd coloration on familiar features abounded.

"I should hope so," Tessrabia said, quietly. Cryten slid away from his mother and sister, so they could have a little private time. Wisely his older brother did the same.

"Mother," Tyssix grumbled, "we've been all over this."

"But now you don't have anything much to prove," Tess said. She'd grown somewhat more worldly and wise, in the time that she'd spent in the Nexus, Tessrabia looked young, yet sounded so much like her mother.

"Maybe not to you," Tyssix said, turning to face her mother. Her eyes were boldly wide, angry. "But what if I want to prove something about me, to myself? It isn't like I won't have a way home - Temih is a searcher here and she can get me back no problem. If there's something wrong, I'd be headed back here anyway. What is the problem with that?"

Tess sighed, "it's just that you will always be my little girl, and mothers protect their -"

"I wouldn't know!" Tyssix shouted, silencing all but a couple of the Zekirans, and making nearly all heads turn. "I don't have a family to take care of! And if it were up to you, I never would!"

She stormed over to Temih's beautiful speckled brown-green, folding her arms across her chest, and refused to look at her mother or father.

Cynonix was rather surprised. He'd felt that Tyssix could use a bit of outdoors adventures, so he hadn't even thought how much it might mean to Tess - or in fact to his daughter if denied. Temih wisely decided to stay out of this argument.

But Baeris thought it best to intervene. This time, on behalf of her granddaughter. She moved in next to her daughter, and nodded at Tyssix to give them a moment. The angry young cheetah-girl obliged her somewhat eagerly. But her ears betrayed her curiosity, they kept turning toward the conversation.

"Tess, she's a grown woman and she's made up her mind." Baeris reminded Tessrabia. "And besides, she does still have a place in their Tribe. She's far closer to them than either of us are, and ..." Baeris glanced toward the violet and golden spotted centaur-types hailing from a big generation-ship full of immortals, "she's far closer than they are. She'll be back before you know it, and she'll have such stories to tell."

"Mother, this is -" Tess started to say, but the taller raven-haired woman put her long fingers over Tessrabia's lips.

"Hush. Once upon a time I remember you wanting to see world upon world, and hoping that your exotic rider man would appear from some distant land." Baeris turned her daughter's face to look at Cynonix, who would have been blushing if his fur weren't in the way. "There is your handsome exotic prince, Tess. Now, it's time for you to allow your own daughter to find her charming lord." Baeris grinned and added quietly, "I know I didn't put up such a fuss when you wanted to go out and bond your dragon, you know. Now, go properly apologize and let her make her own way. Mistakes and all."

Humbled, Tessrabia looked at the ground and then back up at her mother. "All right, fine. But when she comes back mauled and scarred up from those predators -"

"Then Kalkin and I will just have to patch her up properly." Baeris said. "Such a scene you've made, my dear." She turned her attention onto her granddaughter, who wasn't sure whether the last comment was aimed at her, or Tess. "Your father is living proof that you can and will survive almost anything out there. Your mother's tenacity comes from me I suspect. So use it well."

"I will, I promise." Tyssix said. She threw her long arms around her grandmother, who retained all her grace and style, even though some forty years should have sent her into decline by then.

"Who all have we got here?" Tyssix asked of the Zekiran delegation. There was a tall dark skinned man, and beside him an equally dark woman, and one dragon nearby that she knew from the Naughty flight. "Vanya of Zekira, and...?"

"Viridia, my dear," the woman extended her dark hand. She was taller than Tyssix by more than a foot and a half, which made Vanya (who was taller than Viridia) rather towering in stature compared to the spotted girl.

"But you're not going to-" Tyssix said, and Viridia shook her head and laughed. It was a deep, musical voice that the woman had.

"No, no, but we have been wandering through space and time for a very very long time. We're tired of living in a starship - and we've found ourselves a planet that might suit our needs long term." Viridia said. "If those living around us on Planet Twenty agree, then we will set up a colony there. We've already begun diplomatic efforts on other portions of the world, but our ties will be closest to the Kin of this tribe." She waved a dark hand (it looked just like Baeris' only it was nearly charcoal black, Tyssix noticed - how odd.) at Temih, who nodded and grinned broadly.

"They're going to be helping out, like you. My daughters and I are ... obliged." The Kin of twelve and one (- now twelve and ... how many?) laughed.

Off they went, with Tyssix and Cryten in tow.

Baeris and Xenrai stood watching the procession of dragons leaving the big parking lot. "Do you think they'll be at a disadvantage until they bond dragons?" Baeris asked absently.

"... Should they be?" Xenrai said. "Are you saying that they should bond? I'm not paired up, and Cryten hasn't mentioned it really."

"Your parents, and grandparents, are all riders too, Xenrai," Baeris asserted, "I'm sure that a dragon will be on some sands for all of you. You might be surprised."

Baeris turned and swished back down the wide, bright hallway into the Den, as the static of the Nexus swirled about outside its bubble of air. Xenrai pondered her words, and wondered how long he would be bored before his siblings came home.

And, whether Tyssix would come back with kittens, or just what.