Linaeas was at it again, taking a pre-hatch recording of the two parents. Maybe he was getting a little daft in the head, but he began to think that he was actually enjoying recording these hatchings... at least, when they didn't involve Taxoness (his own xeno-dragon bond's) breed. Narafth was perched primly about her clutch, reluctant to allow the candidates a closer look. Kihiniraak, the father, all but preened from the sidelines. He was a proud father if ever Linaeas had seen one!

He flicked off his recording device and glanced up at the stands. There seemed to be more of an audience then ever! Well... if nothing, the public, offworld hatchings were certainly putting Star City back on the map amongst the Nexus worlds. He caught sight of Siche, and smiled grimly to himself. The feline anthro looked run down to the bone, and he didn't doubt that she looked how she felt! She'd taken too much on to her plate, again, like usual. Only this time, it wasn't something that she could shrug off and saunter away from. The woman had been so used to having her way, having her flings... becoming a Minister had changed her, but Linaeas wasn't sure if it was for better, or for worse. Siche caught him looking at her and shot him a glare, at which the Farahan wolf Archivist chuckled. The eggs were beginning to rock more violently, now... he'd turn his attention to that.

Sure enough, the first of the eggs cracked open, spilling its inhabitant to the soft floor. She was a bright red beast, the colour of crimson from head to toe. Like her father, she had the wyvern-style wing tines, and the silver horns. Her head was crested with a Fire Ridge dark dragon's fleshy ridges... on the whole, she was beautiful. She also didn't appear to want to bond, as, when she finally managed to get to her feet, she bypassed the candidates all together. ~Me? Stick myself with one of you?~ She cried, her voice open to any who could hear it. ~I'd rather eat my tail!~ And she was away from them.
She passed Linaeas and gave him a cool glare, and didn't bother mentioning her name. Taxoness, from his place near the corner of the hatching bay, made a skreeing noise, and the hatchling stiffened momentarily. ~She says her name's Forder~ The xenodragon relayed, before going back to surveying the hatching eggs.
Duly noted, the Archivist replied. It was good to have a persistent bond, sometimes... Taxoness seemed like a happy-go-lucky sort of creature, but when push came to shove, he could get names, if not more, out of a lot tougher opponent then a hatchling.
Another sponsor. He could almost hear Siche groan from the stands, though it surely must have been drowned out by the muttering of the crowd. Was everyone here hoping to pick up a dragon? It seemed unlikely, but...

More of the eggs were hatching, so Linaeas pulled his attention back to where it belonged. Three dragonets were now shaking off the egg shards and slime that covered them--a green female, with brown mottling along her neck and belly; another red, with similar mottling in black; and a little female who, aside from her yellowy brown colouration, had silver wings, along with the horns that all of them displayed. The three of them broke apart, or rather, the brown moved away, while the green and the red supported each other as they approached one of the candidates, in particular.

Erstens, the green, and Doppelth, the red, slowed to a stop just before a brightly coloured, two-headed Ojee. They were already more then half the size of the little maroon and lavender beast, and they were only fresh out of the shell! ~Charm!~ the red sent, ~We're charmed to bond you!~ It was a bad pun, and they all knew it. Never the less, the Ojee could feel a new link--two, really, as the green bonded to one mind, and the red to the other. The dragonets unsteadily followed their new bond(s) as Charm and Chanta moved off for the feeding tables.

~The brown one is Shutzeg~ Taxoness interrupted his bond's recording, before the dragonet had even moved out of the semi-circle of candidates.
She's not bonding? Linaeas asked.
~If she is, it isn't here. She keeps saying that she doesn't want to bond, but she's going to give a look, anyways.~
And dash the hopes of the candidates, in the process! Linaeas snorted.
The red drone mimicked his snorting noise. ~Of course!~

He wasn't going to waste time on a bondless dragonet when more of them were spilling to the ground all the time. A green and yellow hatchling, along with a deeply brown one were struggling out of their shells, while a red-green and a brown-green were already making a move towards the candidates.

The green-yellow dragonet (and what a peculiar colour combination! It was as if a line had been drawn between her front and hind ends, with the green fading to yellow somewhere in between) was stumbling, now, not to the candidates, but towards the audience. Kuhsg, for that was her name, craned her head back to look up at Aodhfin, and instantly, the bond was made. The lightning-streaked dragon was surprised, more then anything, but also pleased as came down to meet the peculiar hatchling and bring her to her first meal.

Sheek, on the other hand, didn't seem quite so pleased. The dark brown hatchling was curling about her feet, cat-like, while the girl remained quite still. What a lovely bond I've got myself, he announced to the rest of the bay, isn't she, though? A fine snack, maybe, if she doesn't hurry up and get me something to eat! He made a cackling noise, and then butted the girl gently. I'm joking, of course, but I'm hungry! Sheek relaxed visibly, and began to lead the male towards the tables.
"His name?" Linaeas called to her.
Sheek paused, glanced down to the silver-winged dragonet, and then said, "Meibyuk."

A quarrel had broken out between the red-green and brown-green dragonets, as they looked for, and didn't find their bonds.
~This is useless!~ the brown male exploded. ~I'm going to Shivran Aerd, there's no one to bestill my beating heart amongst these willynilly candidates!~
~How do you even know what Shivran Aerd is?!~ the red replied, blinking at him.
The brown-green, Uumkdavsth, turned up his nose. ~Because I'm psychic, obviously. I plucked it right from the mind of a golden lady amongst the restless crowds, that's what.~ His eyes went large and watery, and the red-green houghed.
~Well, if you can do it, then so can I.~ Yshkep, the red and green dragonet, closed his eyes in concentration, possibly surveying the bay with his mind. ~Alright, if you're going to Shivran Aerd, then I'm going to.... hrnt...~ (a noise of concentration) ~Calyeni! Hah, so take that!~
But Uumkdavsth was already going off for food, and Yshkep had to scramble to catch up.

Meanwhile, Keshnarmeynee Adumbra was back on the sands, again... and this time, she was bound to bond to something powerful, dangerous, and perhaps just smart enough so that she could hold an intelligent conversation? The Black Avengaean Demon was certain that she'd atract something worthwhile, at least, now that she was by herself, and there wasn't so much going on at once. She could concentrate, now, and draw a dragonet to her...
~Hi!~ a voice called up to her, from her paw. The demoness started... how had the dragonet gotten close enough to her without her noticing? She should have been able to hear him a mile away, at least his mental processes. ~You're the one who kept calling me! I'm Iszgih!~ The blue and brown interrupted her thoughts. Oh goddess. his tail was wagging his tail... this didn't bode well.
~I kept forgetting what I was doing but then you kept calling me so I came over to see what was going on, and I'm Iszgih! What's your name?~
Maybe if she ignored him, he'd go away... True enough, the little blue began to move off, as if he'd forgotten that Keshna were there. The demoness heaved a sigh of relief, and began to send out careful tendrils of thought again, testing to see if any of the other dragonets were worthy of bonding her.
...She wasn't careful enough. The blue dragonet stopped, then turned around and blinked at her with dish-sized eyes. ~I almost forgot!~ the dragonet cried, and there it was. Keshna scrambled to block the initial bond, but it was too late. Little Iszgih had already embedded his tumultuous thoughts into hers--~Hey! Who's that?!~
~I'm Verklei! Who're you?!~
Keshnarmeynee groaned as the two dragonets held an exuberant conversation, using her mind as a relay station. This was not what she'd come for...

In the meantime, Tir'Kal was being approached by a rich, light brown coloured dragonet. ~What are you looking so rotten about?~ the hatchling asked, coming to a stop a few feet away. ~Troublemaker, I'll bet. My name's Atnik, by the way, and I'll be your bond, whether or not you mind!~ He winked a pale yellow eye, and all but led the hybrid out of the semi-circle.

Another hybrid... well, more like a half-dragon, watched as a deeply yellow--almost bronze--female hatchling came to a quiet stop at his claws. ~Cyxyr~, the dragonet murmured, and bowed her head. The half-dragon puffed a cloud of steam through his nostrils, giving the little creature a look-over. He could detect strength in her, and while she bowed to him... he realized that she certainly wouldn't be, if she didn't think that he was worthy of her. He, worthy of her! She had an attitude... but he liked it. Xyretik, he thought, returning the favor. The pair of them left the glom of candidates without further incident.

Like all good and proper hatchings, by now there were only two eggs left, and Narafth rumbled gently, because like any proper high-ranking dragonet, the last two of her offspring had hatched fashionably late. A Chaos Warlord and a Chaos Queen, respectively, they were both larger then their siblings, and rather then have one or two colours, each was patterned with a dim rainbow of swirling, shifting chromatic hues. The male's body faded to a rich blue, while the female appeared to be a more of a thoroughbred. The both of them had hatched and, with the least amount of stumbling possible, had made their way out into the remaining candidates.

The Warlord didn't take long to make his choice. He parted from his sister and immediately went for the white-furred Tasha RaTighren, smirking all the while. ~You've been through alot,~ Bakiloth commented, looking the woman up and down. ~Let me join you on your further escapades. I think I'd enjoy them.~
Escapades... like all of the hardships that Tasha had been through was a silly adventure! She snorted and flicked an ear, "You look like a trouble-maker. Why should I accept you?"

Bakiloth, taken slightly aback, thought about this for a moment. Finally, he answered, ~Because, my bond, I won't be trouble for you.~ The way he said it, however, suggested that he'd be hell for others...

Tasha didn't quite like the thought of cleaning up after a hooligan dragonet (or worse, what if he grew up that way?), but Bakiloth was already bonding her. She'd have to just deal with him.

While the Warlord and his new bond left the semi-circle, the Queen was still going through inspections. One particular candidate watched her approach with less then an enthusiastic expression. ~Oh no,~ Hoshal moaned, watching as the Queen noticed him and quickened her pace. He was a dragon, himself... the glitzy orange had been born at this same station, and had come back looking for a bond. But not like this. Not a she-monster!
~You are such a complainer!~ the Queen said, glaring up at him. ~That's a definitely trait that I'm going to have to train out of you.~
~Train out of me?~ Hoshal barked, offended. ~I'm not a dog,~ All he while, he was thinking of ways to disappear before...
~Before I bond you? Silly male, of course you can't escape. You're too late. You're mine now. Now be a good servant and bring me something to eat.~ Hoshal spluttered. This was so not happening! ~It 'so' is, now chop chop. You wouldn't want to displease a lady, would you?~
~I'll displease you all I want!~ The older dragon shot back, but Yzhriab was already tugging on him, telepathically, towards the food table. Hoshal groaned. Great, now he was stuck with a royal pain in the tail...

With the last of the eggs hatched, the floodgates were yet again opened. Sponsors vied to pick up the two remaining bondless dragons, while Kin and Sarravei already tended to their new charges.
Siche bristled from head to tail, as one overzealous sponsor deemed to lay a hand on her to get her attention. "All right!" She screeched, holding her hands up in the air, "Enough of this madness! You all stand in line nicely, or none of you gets any of them! They aren't shiny marbles for you to collect, they're dragonets! You should be ashamed of yourselves for acting like this!" She paused and visibly took a moment to restrain herself. "Now look," she said, in a calmer tone, "either you all behave civilly, or I'm leaving this moment."

Those gathered about the Minister went quiet for few seconds, and then one small half-sized humanoid called out, "But I've been waiting for months and months, and I want to take one home now!" and broke into copious amounts of tears. With that, the rest of the sponsors all began to speak up again, complaining about the wait and other things.

Siche curled her hands into fists, nearly crushing the small notepad she was holding. Without another word, she waded through the crowd and out of the Bay, ignoring the uproar she was causing. In her place, a vibrantly crimson dragoness started shouting, and, somehow, everyone quieted to listen. "Hey now, what's the big fuss about?" She cried, her voice loud enough to carry to the back of the audience. "Now let's be patient, here! I'm Jigsaw, one'a Miss Four's assistants, okay? Let's get this all sorted out." As could be expected, people began to speak up again, but she quelled them all by holding up a red paw. "One at a time! You," she pointed at Rath, a delegate from Fire Ridge Weyr. "You want to take home a dragonet?" The representative nodded. "Alrighty..." she called up a list on her little holopad. "You'll be taking Forder, that little female red."

Again, she chose at random, and pointed to Orfhlaith of Weyr Eriol. "You... will you care for a dragon if I relegate one to ya?" The delegate nodded vigorously, but Jigsaw squinted an eye. "Are you sure?" Again, Orfhlaith nodded, though more guardedly. Jigsaw shrugged. "Alright, well, so long as you don't go leaving them somewhere, you'll get Shutzeg, that yellowy browny hatchling, okay?" To the rest of the crowd she cried, "And that's it, there's no more!"

Grumbles abounded, but the mutt dragoness wasn't finished yet! "And from now on things're going to be a little different! No more random selection! You see the Jigsaw before the next hatching, and I'll make sure everyone gets their dragonet in order!" She nodded with finality, and people began to perk. Now... all they'd have to do was to see the dragoness first, and they'd be next in line for their own new charge! Poor Jigsaw... she had her work cut out for her.