Damn pregnancy... it didn't help that Neya had managed to concieve with that snake of a husband of hers, finally, and that Neya seemed to be perfectly fine with everything. Just dandy, the pasty-skinned woman all but glowed with her pregnancy, while Cepeo was left with every ache and pain and nauseous hiccup that she could possibly feel without dying from grief. Why, why had she chosen to stick around with Orotan and this idiotic group of would-be actors? She had 'Chibi, she could have stayed at Alabaster Aerie and perhaps started a new life for herself. But no... no, she had to come trecking out here into the jungley Weyr and its strange dragony inhabitants...

~You're sulking again!~ a more then cheerful voice entered her mind, just as she was leaving the latrines.

Cepeo grimaced and wiped her mouth off on her coarse skirt-hem. Of course I'm sulking, she shot, I'm sick as a dog. I have every right to sulk!

~You humans,~ Her bond chuckled, ~I'll never understand why you let pregnancy get you down! My clutch is doing just fine, and I had to lay three times the children that you'll ever have to!~

Cepeo moved down the well-worn trail, picking her way clumbsily over roots and detritus. She did not enjoy this. Give her a nice dry desert, if she had to be out of the city at all! At least there she could see where she was going, and she didn't have to worry about gigantic bugs in her hammock! Everything here was awful, enough so that she ignored most of what Kohoyochibiashe said. The gryphon didn't seem to mind. In fact, she babbled on as if she didn't realize that Cepeo wasn't listening! ~Oh, Cepeo darling, Orotan was saying that they're going to be moving Neya and whoever wants over to Tripaldi, while us gryphons are waiting for the hatching. Why don't you go with them?~

Cepeo paused, now on the verge of the dome's entrance. Oh, that would be nice. She could at least be around people who knew what they were doing, could enjoy the ameneties of the Weyr, and... if she could help it, could kick the cream out of the bloody rider who'd gotten her pregnant in the first place! Lousy mother-loving son of a bitch... Cepeo was already thinking of the ways that she could get him back. (Never mind if she'd had fun during the flight. The aftereffects were just too awful to let that roset-int her perspective on things.) Tell them that I'll come along.

~Oh, thank goodness.~ 'Chibi said, interrupting her own babbling. ~I was worried that you wouldn't want to go because it was Orotan's idea--~

Peh! Cepeo cut her bond off. I don't care at this point. Just give me a hot bath and a comfortable bed and, for goodness sake, a good pampering, and it could be Orotan himself who magicked it all into being. I'm sick of this place.

~I'm sorry about that.~ 'Chibi said, not sounding the least apologetic. ~But at least we'll both be having children soon! This will be exciting!~

Cepeo snorted. Exciting her foot...

Cyactin, for one, was glad that Cepeo was 'indisposed'. He didn't like dancing or acting with the woman, considering how harsh she always was with him. "No no no! That's completely wrong! Cyactin, what the hell do you think you're doing? It's step step pause step! You're not pausing!" Etc. etc. Now, with only the men performing, he felt just a little freer. Women often made him nervous... especially women like Cepeo.

"Excuse me...?" Broken out of his reverie, the Dancer glanced up from his meal. He was sitting with Xehcken at one of the many tables in the main hall, eating a quick breakfast before going out to scout the Weyr. His job was to find out what people were talking about, and how it could be put into good effect during one of their acts. He hadn't expected anyone to come up to him... most people didn't really want to approach a big man like him. Like... he was intimidating or something. So anyways, he turned around surprise at the sound of the voice--the feminine voice, no less.

A beautiful woman stood before him, blonde hair, blue eyes, surprisingly dark skin. Cyactin gulped, glanced at Myxckon, and then back at the stranger. "Um... yes?" He asked? Xehcken chuckled, but didn't turn around or otherwise help him out.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," she said, pulling a strand of blonde hair out of those pale eyes. "I just heard that you were from the gryphon place over the other side of the Weyr, here..."

"Um." Cyactin gulped again, then tried for a grin. "Yeah, we are."

~You're acting like an idiot,~ Irask, Cyactin's gryphon bond, added in a helpful manner. His attention had been perked when his species had been mentioned.

Cyactin ignored the prod and tried to continue, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh," the stranger batted her lashes and then smiled, "I was just wondering what it takes to bond a gryphon. Strength and good looks, obviously." She winked at him.

The Dancer turned bright red, and 'accidentally' bumped his elbow again Xehcken, hoping to get some help from his friend. He wasn't at all used to being flirted with directly. He needed help!

Xehcken, of course, finally turned around. He was a strange enough sight: a taller man then Cyactin, even, though with fine features and... peculiar fashion sense... he was at ease with almost any situation. "You'd guess right if you thought that." He replied for the younger Dancer. "Both of which I'm sure you have in abundance, my dear."

The stranger giggled and flapped her hand at him, though her attention remained on Cyactin, not on his companion. "Well lovely, then. And... did I hear from someone that you happen to be actors?"

"Dancers, is our title. We do folk-dance and acting, skits and plays and songs. Xehcken answered, and Cyactin nodded along with him.

"Interesting," the stranger replied, her radiant grin doing enough talking for her. "I'm Andrayss, by the way. I was hoping to watch one of your shows tonight..."

"Really?" Cyactin asked, eagerly, then shut up. He was being an idiot.

"Of course! My friends and I have been curious since we first heard of travelling actors... bonded ones, no less!" Andrayss giggled, then waved a hand to the next table over. A pair of people were sitting and nursing meals of their own--one, a man in a supportive chair who looked... painfully deformed, to say the least, and a manly little woman. Cyactin stared over at them, but all he got was a glare and a cool look, respectively. Surely Andrayss was talking about some other people!

"Riseler, there," She pointed briefly to the man in the chair, "writes things, himself. It would be fascinating, seeing how something gets from the mind to the performance. Ilidefra and I are just amateurs. We don't do much in public."

Xehcken grinned at the woman. "Avid performers don't need anything more then inspiration and the guts to get up in front of people to do their thing." Andrayss nodded, finally turning her attention to the taller man. Xehcken continued, "If you see us tonight, you'll get to see the general idea. We were actually just about to go gathering dirt on people around here--sorry, trade slang. People like to see performances on things that they know about, you know?"

Andrayss grinned. "Of course. Riseler does satires, he's got all the dirt."

"Really?" Xehcken gave the cripple a look, though he didn't linger over the man's deformities, but rather, over the sheafs of hide that were half-spread along the table. "Interesting." In a louder voice, he addressed the two natives, "Mind if I read some of your scripts? Andrayss tells me that you write, sir!"

"...I do," the man replied, his voice strong enough. The other woman gestured for Xehcken and Cyactin to join them, and so they did.

After a few moments of reading between the two Dancers, both of the Gryphon riders decided that they'd caught a surprsingly talented writer. Riseler's plays were short and to the point, funny, and with just enough wit to cloak any harmful jabs at the local populace. Now... if he could write such piercing pieces for unfamiliar populations...

"The only problem with most of these is that they require women," Cyactin murmured, after they'd spoken such thoughts. "Neya and Cepeo probably shouldn't dance right now."

Xehcken scoffed. "You couldn't get Cepeo to dance or act if you put hot coals under her feet. Not until she bears that spawn of hers! No, we could always dress up Myxckon, but he doesn't make a convincing woman. I don't think I'd fit the roll, in these. Not the right mood for someone so obviously un-female." Then, with a grin, he tapped the table with one of the rolled up hides. "You, though," he said, gesturing to Andrayss and Ilidefra, "if you're quick enough studies, you'd do quite nicely."

He paused suddenly, then looked at Cyactin. Cyactin blinked back. ~Eiriok says that Xehcken says that we ought to ask Orotan about if we can get these three to join us.~ Irask relayed, and the young Dancer nodded. It would be interesting, to say the least. New members weren't often admitted to any Dancer group unless they were born or married in. ~If they were bonded in, that could work,~ Irask supplied.

Cyactin thought about it. Andrayss did say that she'd wanted to bond a gryphon. The others... who knew? Maybe he'd bring it up to them tonight.

Speaking of which...

"Andrayss, a moment of your time?" Orotan caught the young woman's attention as soon as she was done talking with one of the Lower Caverns-workers. The girl was attractive, he had to admit. She'd make an interesting addition to their troupe--Cepeo would die with envy, of course, but that wouldn't be a bad thing. "Cyactin said that you and your friends would like to bond, as well?"

"Oh!" The woman paused, then smiled. "Well, I'm not sure about the others. Ilidefra was trying for a dragon, but I don't think they want her. I don't know about Riseler. I'd like to, of course. Why do you ask?"

Orotan couldn't help but return the smile, chuckling to himself over the hopeful look plastered across her face. "You're more then welcome to come to Avian Dome, when the time's right. You and the other two, in fact. You're all talented people..." He paused to give his words more weight. "I'd be happy to have you and the others with us..."

At that moment, Riseler wheeled over to them, picking up on their conversation. "Go where? Travel?"

The dancer cleared his throat, then nodded. He was a little uncomfortable around this man--it felt as if he were being judged, and unworthily, at that, every time Riseler laid eyes on him. "That's what we do, yes. You three were all wonderful... if you'd like to come with us once our stay at Tripaldi's finished--"

"What's in it for us?" Riseler asked, cutting Orotan off.

"Well... there's money, of course. If you enjoy travelling, there's always that. Once we get back to Star City, I'm hoping to pick up some a few conveniences, so we won't be travelling so... primatively."

Riseler peered at him. "What's this 'Star City' place?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

Orotan smiled... precious few people seemed to know about the station--or any other off-world place--around here. It seemed a shame to him that they were all so cloistered. "It's a space station, state of the art technology abounds, there. You can get anything from glo-props to magical storage, cosmetic cyborware, replacement limbs even--" He paused, glanced at the man's withered leg and arm, and began to apologize.

"Don't worry about it," Riseler dismissed, then turned thoughtful. "If you want me travelling with you, I'll go as far as this station place, providing you don't travel dirt-poor, and don't mind a useless cripple with you." Orotan began to protest the last of Riseler's words, but was cut off again. "Don't bother trying to pretty-talk to me. I don't care what you think of me. If this place of yours can make replacement limbs, then we'll see what they can do for me. I'll write for you if you provide me with safe travel."

"And I'd love to come, as well," Andrayss added.

Orotan nodded, then grinned dryly. Well, that was easy enough. Now... to see if they bonded gryphons.

~They're not bonding any of my children!~ His bond hmphed in the back of his mind. Orotan laughed, earning looks from the two native Tripaldians.

"You won't regret it," he said, and by way of explaination, "Gryphons are good bonds, and Dancing is the best pastime that I, for one, could ever hope for. We'll keep you safe, and train you up as well."

And, he added for his bond's ears (or mind) alone, If you don't want them bonding your kits, then that's not a problem. Just don't go terrorizing them in the meantime.

~I'll make a point of it,~ Zeloarah countered nastily, her voice tinged with amused malice. Oh... this would get interesting...