Valentine 2005

It was Valentine morning and as usual with these Holiday clutches, Lucas was laying the last hand at some of the decorations in the small circular cave he called his lab. Cyan strolled in, shielding her eyes from all the sugary pink and white hanging from the walls and ceiling. Silk ribbons, paper hearts, mirrors and plaster cupid statues seemed to lunge out at her, creating a place Cyan usually called hell.
"Honey?" she asked, "Is Valentine your favourite holiday?"
Without looking up from his work, Lucas answered: "I love all holidays equally."
"You wouldn't say." Cyan said, jumping over an ivy-laced pillar that lay on the floor. "Where's that going?" she asked.
"Right here, help me a hand will you?"
Cyan shrugged, contemplating for a moment to drop the ugly pillar so it would break, but then decided to be nice. "Sure."
Seconds after the last of the decorations had been put up, the first of the Valentine eggs started rocking. Looking on his watch, Lucas smiled: "I'm getting better at this timing stuff."
"I'll alert Zaranyth and have the candidates come in."
Half an hour later the Valentine candidates were standing around the neat cluster of eggs, holding cappuccino or tea in their hands, the cups steaming from the heat.
"Now that everyone has a drink, I suggest we wait." Lucas said, "These dragons will be cat-like and we all know how cats can be if they want to make an entrance."
Most of the candidates smiled and nodded, though the two sentient tigers seemed to be a bit offended by Lucas’ statement, but couldn’t really deny that it was true.
It was then, that more than one egg split open, as if to counter Lucas’ words. Soon 4 lean cat-dragons with big ears, pointy teeth and a long versatile tail stood between the remaining eggs.
Three colours seemed to be dominant in this clutch: pink, white and red, and nothing else could be seen in the hatchling’s hides. Though every hatchling seemed to be duo-toned, having one main colour and another in a splattered, spiralling pattern above the first.
The first of the 4 hatchlings, a white-marked, red male kitten, standing decidedly on his four paws, was the first to make a move toward the candidates. From all the gathered people (and sentient animals), he chose Motoka as his bond.
"Motoka, my name is Jinoyoru." The hatchling said, "I'd be honoured to go with you."
"On the contrary, it'd be mine." Motoka answered with a small bow. Then he followed his new bond toward the feeding tables, sharing a last ecstatic look with Rekima.
The second and third, seeing their brother bond, moved out as one to different sides of the small cave. They were both females, one a soft pink with delicate white markings, the other a deep red, also marked with white spirals.
It was the red that beat her sister to the candidates. She gazed moments before her sister, deep into the eyes of Berkana, knowing her, loving her.
"My name is Margenna." She said, "Love me."
With those words uttered, her sister reached her future bond, Rachel, looked deep into her eyes and said: "Drama queen, isn't she? I'm Alanys, Mine."
"You're something else." Rachel smiled down at the pink hatchling.
"I'm innocent." She said, blinking her eyes in a way that said another thing entirely.
Rachel winked at Milo and then led her bond to the feeding tables where the pink dragon immediately attacked the cappuccino machine for a good cup of coffee.
That left one dragon on the sands, a white male with pink marks. As he moved out from the sandy pit to the candidates standing around it, his paw got caught behind a wandering strand of ivy, tripping him.
Cyan got the impulse to say ‘I told you so’, but in reality she had never said anything about safety measures. Cringing as she saw two eggs fall over and knock against each other. The two dragons hatched when the white dragon reached Elhaz.
"Did I do that?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Yes," Elhaz answered, "but it wasn't your fold, Harken. Don't worry about it."
The pair left the sands, leaving the two new dragonets, both male, to look for a bond on their own. Showing no signs of harm, the red-marked white and red-marked pink wandered between the eggs, avoiding each other in their searches for the perfect bond. Finally the pink male started running.
"Rose!" he called, "You are mine!"
"I know, Eros." The female vampire Rose Amarint said with a smile that could not be called reassuring, but also wasn’t angry. She seemed more amused with the sudden run when she answered, "Freya will love having a boyfriend."
"Freya?" Eros asked.
"What is a god of love without a goddess?" Rose answered, "Enough for now, it’s time to feed… erm, eat."
The second male, calmly strolled toward Milo, his white hide reflecting the red hearts hanging above.
"Milo." He said, "My name is Venuso and I have chosen you."
"You're very sure of yourself." The man answered, "But I guess that is cat nature."
"Shouldn't I be sure of myself?" Venuso asked, "And that's not the only thing in the nature of a cat. I'll make sure you get to know my other good sides."
"I can't wait."
Another egg burst and a small red-marked red female jumped out. She hopped with ease over the remains of the other eggs and even leapt over a unhatched one, only to jump her way to Calantha.
"Tell me." she said, "How do you fly? I keep trying, but it doesn't work."
Calantha smiled, "That's because you don't have wings, Eilloren."
"Can I still come with you?"
Calantha nodded, after all she wasn't a great flyer either, maybe fast running would be of more value to them now that people knew she had been messing with the love-lives of the locals at Starburst Weyr. Motioning Aith to follow them, the trio left for the feeding tables.
With seven eggs hatched and five still on the sands, all remaining dragons suddenly decided to hatch at the same exact moment. In a tangle of white, pink and red, one by one the dragons ran out toward the candidates.
A pink-marked white dragoness skipped toward Rekima, her ribbons flowing and bouncing around her. Coming to halt before the young woman she said:
"My name is Shiroi Suki and I'm sugary sweet."
"Daddy will love you." Rekima answered, "Can you lie?"
"Of course, mine. Don't be fooled by my looks."
The next to come out was a male pink dragon with darker pink and white scales that had only eyes for one candidate. A sentient fish in a levitated fish bowl with a crush on his owner.
"Her love might be unreachable," the dragon said, "But mine isn't so, Spike."
"I can always keep trying." Spike answered.
"Eventually she'll probably stop running and realise we are two handsome devils." The dragon shrugged, "My name is Minella."
As they left, another two cat-dragons came from the sands, leaving only one between the shards and shells. The two, a female pink with white marks and a red male with dark red marks headed toward the two sentient tigers, Maraka and Rakome. Bowing in unison the two said: "We are yours."
The pink female added: "My name is Ainorasen, Maraka."
The red continued: "And I am Rukoi, Rakome."
The last dragonet, a female white with blood-red markings on her hide looked sadly at the empty cave. There was no candidate for her, no-one to take her home. But then, a Blue head poked around the door.
"Are you free?" the dragon asked.
"Yes." The white female answered with big bright eyes.
"I'm a sponsor for Haven of Thieves, you know, there is a free place there if you don't mind riding with a demon and a rain dragon."
"I don't mind at all, Ramview. My name is Iomusa."
"Let's go then. We'll leave after you have eaten."

Rekima and pink-White Shiroi Suki (f)
Motoka and white-Red Jinoyoru (m)
Maraka and white-Pink Ainorasen (f)
Rakome and red-Red Rukoi (m)
Spike and scale-Pink Minella (m)
Calantha and red-Red Eilloren (f)
Milo and red-White Venuso (m)
Rachel and white-Pink Alanys (f)
Rose Amarint and red-Pink Eros (m)
Berkus and white-Red Margenna (f)
Elhaza and pink-White Harken (m)
red-White Iomusa (f) going to Haven of Thieves