After battles for showers, most of the morning was taken up by Frux, and Tantra, to a lesser extent, explaining what was in store for both boys. Daynoren had decided, with very little deliberation, that he would take classes with his brother, when the classes of the unbonded and bonded coincided, and with the other dragons, when they didn't. Catame was fascinated by all the options they had for things to learn-- there was so much more variety than at home, and from what Frux and Tantra said, the teachers were nicer, and much more interesting. Even their being dragons was more interesting than the old humans he'd been learning from, at home.

Lunchtime was fast approaching, though, and finally Frux suggested that they start out. He seemed to have an unerring sense of time, for when they stepped out into the sunshine, it was exactly when he said it was: just a quarter-hour shy of noon.

"Plenty of time to get to miss Netor," he said with a satisfied smile. "Do you remember where she's meeting us, Tantra?" Tantra's hesitation drifted through her bond to Catame, but after a moment, she nodded. Frux guided her forward with his tail. "Then you can lead the way. You're the one who found a bond, after all, and she's your mother. She hardly knows me, and probably hasn't even seen anyone else."

"I didn't do much," Tantra protested shyly, blushing but smiling as she stepped out in front of the group. Catame hurried up to join her, resting one hand on her wing as they walked side by side, letting Daynoren fall in beside Frux, and Kaur prowl around them all like a watchful mother wolf, even though the "pup" Frux was almost as big as she was, and would end up growing much, much bigger by the time he grew up.

"You picked me," Catame pointed out. "That's something."

"Frux made me," Tantra admitted with some embarrassment, and a little nervousness that he would think less of her or less of her choice. "I would have been too scared, if he hadn't."

"You had made the choice," Frux said, voice confident. "You just needed a little push to tell him, that's all."

"Yeah, what he said," Catame agreed quickly, burying her fear with love so that she smiled at him again. Then, to change the subject, he asked, "What's your mother like?"

"Oh," Tantra said, as if unprepared for the question. "She's nice... kind of quiet. She worries a lot, but that's just because she loves us so much-- me, Daddy, and Hyther, my baby sister."

"Sounds kind of like you," Catame commented, but Tantra shook her head.

"Mama is much nicer and braver than me," she said, quite matter-of-factly. That she was so utterly convinced was a little startling.

"I think you're nice and brave, yourself," Catame countered. Tantra smiled at him but didn't give him a response, and he couldn't pester her for one, because quite suddenly there was a very large, shimmering white form hurrying up to them. Apparently the dragon-lady Netor had gotten impatient, or worried, or had just seen them coming.

"Tantra!" a sweet, very motherly voice exclaimed. Tantra smiled up at the dragoness who came to a quick stop before running into the little group. Her coloring was mostly white, her pigmentation narrow along her belly and of a light orange that paled against Tantra's brightness. There was first relief on her face, then fear, then something like joy when she focused on Catame. "Tantra, darling, it's so good to see you-- come here, love." She gathered the willing dragonet up in her forelimbs, sitting back on her haunches to cradle the very small, by comparison, Tantra. Through their bond, Catame felt love, admiration, and discomfort-- Tantra almost idolized her mother, as if she was the pinnacle of dragoness-dom, but at the same time, Tantra didn't think she could ever live up to her example. It was kind of sad, and Catame hugged himself gently in his new bond's physical absence. Daynoren came up to put an arm around his shoulder, and he leaned gratefully into his support.

That, it seemed, brought Tantra's attention back towards them. She turned in her mother's arms to look down at Catame. That, in turn, distracted the lady Netor from her daughter, and she smiled down at the boys. "Why don't you introduce everyone to me, love?" Tantra squirmed a bit, nodding, and her mother set her down. She closed the distance between where she'd been set and the group in three quick leaps, starting by nuzzling Frux's shoulder fondly, her thoughts putting him in a position like a big brother, rather like Daynoren was to Catame.

"You remember Frux," she began, and the dragon-lady nodded, smiling.

"Yes, I do," she agreed. "It's good to see you again, Frux." The green-tinted Light gave her a smile that, though not quite as charming as one of Daynoren's, was still quite suave.

"And this is Deep Kaur," Tantra exclaimed, trotting over to where the daemon stood near the rear of the foursome, overshadowing the boys protectively. She didn't quite touch her, still uncertain around a daemon, but willing to give her a chance since Catame felt so strongly about her. "She's a daemon," she continued, pointing out the obvious, delighted that she could do these introductions. There was also the sense that she was enjoying pointedly not introducing Catame, her bond, who her mother obviously would want to meet the most, until last. He giggled in response to the mischievousness, watching her and glad that she even could be mischievous, even if only towards her mother.

"This is Daynoren Danui," Tantra said, moving over to the two boys and smiling shyly at Daynoren. "He was a candidate at the bonding, and he's going back next time, too."

Daynoren didn't so much as twitch at the blatant admission that he hadn't bonded, though Catame had winced in sympathy. Instead, though, his brother released him, tossed back his hair, and offered the adult dragoness his best courtly bow. "A pleasure, sky-lady," he said with his usual, charming smile. She looked torn between embarrassment and laughter, and Catame giggled. That drew her gaze down to him, pale golden eyes full of a fierce hope that Catame couldn't understand, but smiled shyly at, anyway.

Tantra finally made her way back to him, rubbing up against his side like a very, very large cat. "And this is Catame," she said, torn between an equal timidity and pleasure. She dipped her head, even while her cheek rested against his tummy, and the timidity won out in her voice as she spoke words which, in anyone else, would have probably been boldly possessive: "He's mine." The words themselves made Catame smile even more, bubbling up with shared happiness, and hug her her against him gently.

"Oh--" The lady Netor's eyes went unnaturally bright, as if she were suddenly near tears. "Oh-- gods be praised." Her voice was soft, but he could still hear the relief in it and glanced up at her. She smiled hurriedly, blinking quickly to banish the threat of tears. "Catame. I'm very glad to meet you."

"And I'm glad to meet you, too, sky-lady," Catame answered shyly.

"Oh, please, call me Abeyta," she insisted. "You're family now. Oh, I'm so happy!" As if unable to contain herself, the dragoness gathered both Tantra and Catame into her embrace, much to everyone else's surprise. Daynoren looked startled, Kaur looked alarmed, and Frux just smiled, but they all looked so small, from way up against Abeyta's furry chest.

"Um, thank you," Catame managed, clinging to Tantra a little nervously, though the dragonet seemed at home, snuggling against her mother and smiling at him.

"Come, come!" Abeyta exclaimed, spreading a wing and setting them both on it. "Sit on me, we will walk, and you will tell me all about yourself and how you and Tantra met," she said, more firmly than she'd spoken yet, and let them get settled as she rose carefully again. "We can have lunch. You all, too," she added, smiling brightly at the rest before she turned and headed sedately back the way she'd come. None of them really had any choice but to follow-- or be carried along, clinging to fuzzy wing-membranes and shoulders.