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  A mass of giggling, shouting, screaming, and otherwise noisy children and teenagers hurried through the halls at the sound of the dinner bell, still marveling at how much better their Cove was than the dinky little village they'd lived in before. For one, it was huge, at least in comparison, and they only lived in the part above the water! There was so much more in the underwater tunnels far below, not the least of which were the mighty sea dragons that had helped to create a habitable area from the maze both above and below.
It was great. It was awesome. It was-
"Supper time, ye lazy brats!" yelled one of the mothers that manned the kitchen. "And if'n I dun see yer scrawny hides here by the count o' ten, it'll be no food fer ye at all tonight!"
That put some speed in their step! They jumbled into the small dining hall just as she reached the improbable count of nine-and-a-half, shoving one another out of the way to grab the first bowls and the best seats. Hemji knew better than any of them how to do it, pushing and shouldering at the crowd with his little brown caer lizard screeching from its perch on his shoulder as he was jostled about.
Grabbing his little sister's arm, he pulled her with him as he went to claim a seat close to the window, the best possible place to be in the tropical heat. Ma would have fussed at him otherwise, about "not being the responsible older sibling" and taking care of her.
Phht, yeah right. Why should he have to be in charge of the whining little brat? She was old enough to take care of herself with the other kids at eight. It was only Ma's babying that had gotten her this far without having to stand up for herself.
 His little flitter hopped from his shoulder to the table, rolling belly-up and creeling pitifully at his master, looking incredibly cute. If his sister had been this cute, he wouldn't have had a problem with watching her since he was a sucker for a cute little kid. She wasn't cute, at least not to him, though everyone else who saw her always called her the most adorable thing they'd ever seen. They must have been blind to say something like that to her of all people, but...there was no accounting for taste.
Rayb, however, was adorable in the truest form of the word. Tiny little paws, tiny little neck ridges, a tiny little spade on the end of his tail. The only things not tiny were his wings, which had developed way before the rest of him.
The boy had their new sea dragon friends to thank for the brown's egg. They had known all the right beaches for the children to look when they'd first arrived, leading them to several nests of soon-to-hatch caer lizard and alis gryph eggs. He'd been a part of one such hunt that found a 'lizard nest already hatching, and had grabbed for one of them before another kid could. Some of the others had gotten two, but it didn't really matter to him. He was just happy to have his sweet little Rayb.
His sweet and hungry little Rayb. He pulled a small chunk of fish out of his stew and tossed it to the flitter, who jumped to his feet and caught it.
"He likes that, dunne?" Pirila giggled, watching the brown lick his lips and paws like a cat. Her brother grinned at the flit and nodded, then tossed him another, bigger piece to keep him occupied so that he could eat his own meal.
Hemji was a scrawny young teen, no longer a child but nowhere near an adult. His sandy-brown hair was often an untidy mop on his head, his brown-flecked-gold eyes always looking for the best deal he could get. A village - now Cove - brat didn't get many breaks. He had to find them for himself.
After a few minutes of eating, his sister glanced up from her food and around the room. Her eyes widened on one person in particular and he followed her look to see a strange woman sitting and talking with Covelord Diasc. She was wearing a sea dragoner outfit.
"See those little knot thingies on her shoulder?" the little girl asked in a whisper. "Those're Bond Searcher knots. I'll bet you anything she's here with her dragon to Bond Search."
"Wanna go out and see what color dragon she's got?" he whispered back, wanting to look over the new dragon, and she nodded enthusiastically. If big brother did it, she did it, even though she knew he didn't like having her around that much.
The two children quickly sucked up the last of their soup and left quietly, their seats being taken immediately by those nearby. Rayb was once again perched on his master's shoulder, burping contentedly every once in a while. When they finally got out of the building and down to the beach, a green sea dragon greeted their eyes, floating gently in the waters just beyond the shallows. It blinked as they approached.
"So the native children are already coming out to gawk at me?" Amusement colored its - no, her - tone. "I suppose that's a good thing, considering what I'm here for."
"You're here to Bond Search, aren't you?" Pirila squealed happily. "I saw your rider's knots."
"A bright little girl," the green complimented her. "Unfortunately, you're a bit young yet. That boy next to you with the little brown flit, however, is perfect." She grinned at his startled look.
"Huh? Whaddaya mean? You're Searching me?"
"Yes indeed, she is," said a voice from behind them, and they turned to see the dragon's rider walking over, the Covelord behind her. "I'm Ytina of Vegliante Cove, and this here's Jealiness, my green. We're scouting about for any likely kids we can right now, since the clutch is so close to hatching. If you come with me now, we can probably just make it. What's your name, by the way?"
"H- H- Hemji," he managed, still taken aback by the sudden offer but wanting to go more than anything. Being Searched for any Alskyrian creature was super luck for a kid, but sea dragons had always been his favorite. He even lived in a Cove now, for ants' sake! He looked to the Covelord pleadingly, practically begging with puppy-eyes to be allowed.
Diasc's lips twitched. "Go on, boy! No sense in keeping a Searcher waiting."
He gave a whoop of delight and ran past them all to the building and his room, giving his ma a kiss on the way out. "Piri'll explain," he panted when she looked at him funny. "I gotta go!"
Then he ran back out with his small pack of clothes and treasures and practically jumped onto the dragoness who'd come closer to allow him on. She snorted, nudging him in place before starting out.
The last thing he saw before they left was Pirila standing in the shallows, waving frantically and grinning.
 "Keep your dirty mitts off those eggs, hear?" warned the mother of the clutch as Hemji and the other Bonders approached. He backed away quickly as she glared at him and the others, not at all wanting to irritate her.
What he wanted to do was Bond with a sea dragon today, and the best way to do that seemed to be staying out of the way. Seven eggs and six Bonders...he was almost sure to Bond, wasn't he? The odds were better for him than anything Lathis could have offered.
The first few hatchlings breezed by him as if he were no more than a puff of air, finding their partner in another. Blue, aqua, green, purple, they all ignored him. When there were only three of the four remaining eggs left, and none of them showed any signs of life, he could have cried.
Just then, there was a commotion to the left of the three lifeless eggs. The sand was moving around, and an occasional cry could be heard. Suddenly, spraying sand in all directions, a blue head popped out. After a minute or two he called out in a rather strained-sounding voice.
"Hemji, I'm stuck! A little help would be greatly appreciated!"
Not quite believing what he just heard, the Covebrat ran over to where the blue was struggling and dug at the sand with his hands, the blue eventually wriggling free. He was huge! No wonder he hadn't been able to get out by himself.
 "I'm Aliandirestiantiss," the hatchling told him smugly, "and you have sand on your front."
He grinned and led the hatchling towards the sea for his first meal, Rayb flitting to his shoulder now that they were safely away from the bigger dragons. "Doesn't matter, Alian. We're going swimming anyway, so the sea'll wash it off. Unless you're not hungry..."
"Food!" the blue demanded, pushing him into the water. "Now!"
 Rayb squawked indignantly as his master's blue splashed him off his perch and into the sea. The calf was older, but still enjoyed little tricks to off balance the now-grown flitter.
"You bein' mean ta poor lil Rayb again?" Hemji drawled, scooping the drenched brown from the water and trying ineffectively to dry him off.
"Nope. He just looked hot."
The boy smirked. "Yeah. Right. And I just sprouted gills and a flippered tail." The sarcasm was lost on the calf, who craned his head upwards, trying to find his friend's new tail.
"'Fraid I don't see it, Hem."
The young rider just rolled his eyes and sighed. "You wouldn't last one minute as a human kid, Alian."
"C'mon, Alian," Hemji groaned. "You can't be serious! We've been offered spots as Pod Seconds at Lathis and you want to delay accepting just because of a stupid girl?"
The large blue looked down at his rider indignantly. "I'd like a little experience before I'm thrown into life at a new Cove, thank you very much. How would it looked, an unscarred male assuming such a post? There would be no respect. I'd be treated like a calf!"
 (*cough* resized images seem to do this on my computer)
"You can get experience there! I'm sure they have females there too." As always, the sarcasm passed right over his dragon's head.
 "Of course they do, but I don't want to look like a fool who doesn't know what he's doing there. I was raised here, so it wouldn't be as bad." He paused as Rayb flitted over to land on top of his head, chittering something. "See, he wants to stay for a while too!"
"Oh, for the love of...FINE!!! We'll stay, but only until this purple swims." The boy was exasperated, but he couldn't go anywhere if Alian didn't take him. "Then you'll have slashes galore across your crest that you can take to Lathis and impress every one with. You are the most incomprehensible..."
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