Xitix made a point of trying to look in on the young draklings whenever he could. He knew that not every young drak - or their mother - would allow this, but since one of the parents of this nest was... not a Drak, perhaps the rules were a bit different.

It turned out that he was right, at least in that they didn't run him off as he snuck peeks. He'd been bold enough to sit up on one of the seating ledges that would be occupied later, and still hadn't been run off. The draklings below her wings didn't really move - except for one, who poked a silvery nose out more than once, sniffing the air.

The dam of the young draks continued to look at him, almost with admiration. He felt there was something at the edge of his mind, quite a bit like when the trio of draks and their riders had Judged the troupe. But it escaped him, just what she was saying - because it turned out she wasn't talking directly to him, more her offspring in the cavern. She seemed satisfied with the results when one drakling came forward to him. The silvery hide and copper shaded wings were sparkling.

Finally the drak asked, "you are very strong, you lift things. Why?"

"Why?" Xitix asked, half surprised and half charismatically overcharming, "Well, mostly to impress the women folk!"

Tilting her head, the innocent drak asked, "what are those?"

"...Women folk are like," Xitix glanced around, how do you explain something like... "well they're like how your mother is who she is, and your sire is who he is?"

He did not stop the drakling from muttering, "they lay the eggs, fascinating."

Xitix winked, and showed her a small bracelet which had a glimmering stone set in it. "A nice one gave me this, see?"

"They are for gifts?" The drakling continued to ponder. Still not satisfied however, she added, "But why do you lift heavy weights?"

"To earn a living, plus I've been doing this all my life." To illustrate this, Xitix lifted a stone bench that was tilted a little too into the den, and adjusted it with ease as though it were made of light wood. "Like you'll be making a living, some day."

Apparently, the drak was thinking on that for a while. It would be another couple hours before anything else happened. The eggs had broken shell probably three days before, the Drak customs that Xitix knew of meant that the young would only be properly sent out once their dam had confidence they would succeed. But she'd allowed him to actively speak to her more curious child, and that felt quite different than expected. Given she was not from Icarus, and bore unusual features herself, anything could happen, anything might be true.

Eventually the presentation ceremony was to begin, and quickly Xitix and the other aspirants were led into the full chamber. Before everyone, then, Xitix felt quite at home. Though his friends were far away he knew they would be going through something similar to this, wherever they were being joined.

“Cavosth has choosen Xitix Sykhatl.” Zelyath had not even mentioned the bond before the ore-copper trotted away from the group to sidle up to Xitix and continue that converstation started earlier about what the man did.

It was as though they'd never stopped discussing it. In fact, Xitix thought, perhaps they hadn't. He'd had dreams, surely, of talking through the day and evening, showing off...

But now he had a wonderful partner, a dramatic female who had unusual abilities in need of training, to eventually return to Dun Keiba with! He wondered how the others fared.

**

They did take some time to just 'be little', Xitix really enjoyed this more than he expected he would. Even though it was said in jest a while before, he kept thinking on that woman who had gifted him the bracelet that he still wore. He was older than the others in the Troupe, he'd still be vital and healthy and strong for decades to come, but... maybe...

"You should go back to see her, when we fly!" Cavosth asserted, in her quiet way. She was practicing her wing stretches, she'd already mastered running around and climbing. It would be another few weeks before she'd be able to even try flying, but they had been at Dawn Watch for a reasonable time and both were becoming a little antsy. She wanted to meet his friends and family, and he wanted to be reassured by their presence once more.

**

When they did arrive back to Dun Keiba it was to a group that had changed quite a lot in the meantime. Not just because they all now had draks - or dragons in the shape of draks like he and one other - but because they'd all matured just a little more. Uzhue in particular, he was now seventeen? How did that happen! They all gathered, finally, and appraised their various bonds. The only larger bond here was Liekoytta, exotically colored and with a lineage that was distinctly not from 'here'.

Lineage

Mates and Descendants