Flight 13
(Melapha's Flight Story)
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One might have thought, given how experienced with the raising and breeding of animals that Ral'gi'naan and Ariella were, that the two would've known something was up with their two dragons long before they actually did. Or, perhaps it was because of how focused they were in raising their ojee and ferojilon that the two anthros failed to note their dragons' odd shifts in behaviour. Quirky blue Palydoch acted stranger than usual whenever Melapha was around, and the bipedal dragoness herself was in a perky mood that surpassed even her usual cheer. Ral'gi'naan and Ariella thought nothing of it, and besides, they had more important things to worry about than a couple of draconic mood swings. One of their ojee was carrying a full litter of twelve cubs, and having a difficult pregnancy. The hyena and the fox-spider hybrid were far too concerned with the mother-to-be to notice how Melapha spent more and more time outside the mountain Sanctuary, with Palydoch close in tow as her scales grew lighter and brighter in lustre, until they almost seemed to glow. The planet Mardusion had no other dragons like them, but lucky for Melapha, Palydoch had once returned to Star City, his place of birth, and participated in a chase, so he knew exactly what was going on, himself. He trailed after Melapha because instinct, pheromones, and her bright glow lured him like a moth to a candleflame, but his extra-odd behaviour could be attributed to embarrassment of a kind. After all, he'd practically watched Melapha grow up after Ariella had brought her to the Adoption Centre from a place called Cy Dragonstake, and it felt a little weird to be watching her with something other than a fraternal eye. He knew the time had come when Melapha soared off, complaining to him of a roaring hunger. Somehow he convinced her to only blood the large buck that she hunted and brought down, since that was what the first female he had chased had done, and he understood flying on a full belly was not a lot of fun! Melapha squawked at him at first, not understanding why he told her to do such a "silly thing", but then the urge to take to the air again overcame her, and blooding the deer was the only thing she had the patience to do! She leapt into the air, scales flashing like topazes, and Palydoch took off in pursuit. Melapha flew well for a first-timer that didn't have any older dragonesses around to learn from, but of course Palydoch caught her in the end, and instinct took over for both of them. The first inkling that Ral'gi'naan and Ariella had that anything unusual was going on was when they suddenly found themselves in each other's arms. Given that they had never been anything beyond friends before, the sudden advance in their relationship quite startled the both of them. "Ariella, what-?" Ral'gi'naan blinked in pleasantly muddled bewilderment as the black half-fox pulled him down the hallway, towards her room and away from the sparkling, knowing eyes of the ojee.
"I think... the dragons..." she breathed, then sealed his mouth with her own to forestall any more discussion of the matter than that.
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