Saul's ship arrived the very next day, to Madgalena's anxious delight. She cornered him almost as soon as it arrived, meeting her tall brother as he was coming down the gangplank to the docking platform. He laughed, dropping his things, as she fairly tackled him with a hug. For a Zionite, he was unusually strong-- even more muscular than Derfegertz, and with more height to make him seem more impressive-- and in excellent shape. Women joked that he looked even more fit than the famous Morpheus, whom Magdalena herself had never seen, but Saul laughed them off, denying it.

Talking hurriedly but quietly, Magdalena managed to separate Saul from the rest of his ship's crew, helping him carry his few bags. Intrigued by what little she dared tell him in a public place and so far from the dragons themselves, he agreed to come with her-- after he'd put away his things. Impatiently, she followed him back to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, waited outside while he kissed her hello and got settled for his four days of leave-time, then all but dragged him towards the dragons' lair.

The trip was every bit as grueling as she remembered, and even though this time she went more slowly, by the end she was nearly as out of breath as she had been the day before. Saul, who was only barely winded, waited patiently for her to recover, looking curiously at the portal door. Magdalena grinned and, once she had her breath back, turned the crank as Derf had. The door swung inward, and she led the way into the chamber.

The dragons had been watching this time and sensed her coming, a familiar mind inside their radius of defenses. Cel was curled around the eggs, reclining like a very long and slender cat, and Key sat hunched once again in the guard position half in front of his mate and the three precious metallic orbs. Still, the unnerving bronze's gaze settled on Magdalena and then her brother in turn, probing for hostile intentions while warning his rider of the incoming. Coder looked up, displeasure flicking across his face as the intrusion. He had been sitting beside the tired Tech till Key had rumbled the warning, rising to his feet to face the incoming. Across from himself and his lover, standing already, was a heavyset woman in her late thirties who could only be the Yana that Derfegertz had mentioned. Now three sets of eyes were watching Magdalena and Saul.

"You again. That's your brother?" Coder once again took the initiative, though brusquely, as Yana observed with sharp, unclouded eyes.

Leading her brother by the and, Madgalena waved down at the dragons and riders and the one stranger, sending down a tendril of thought in greeting to the dragons themselves, much like she had before, only this time knowing they could hear her. At the sight of them, Saul's eyes grew large. "Holy sh--" Magdalena paused and stomped on his foot, making him change epitaphs mid-curse, "--cow!" He didn't even take his eyes off the dragons.

Continuing down, Magdalena answered for her stunned brother: "Yes, me again," she said with a smile, though it was a serious smile. "And this is Saul. Saul, this is Coder, that's Tech, and you must be-- Captain Yana?" Her eyes lit on the stranger, and Derf's descriptions fell into place.

"Pleasure," Saul said absently, still staring at the dragons.

There was a sound from Captain Yana that may well have been an abortive laugh, but the woman's face stays serious as she nods. "That's me. And you must be Magdalena." Her larger-than-life presence once again sent Coder back to the shadows to keep Tech company. The blue-eyed captain of the Dragonchaser looked between the two potential candidates, assessing them more diplomatically than her crew had. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. Interested in bonding some dragons, are you?" Somehow, she managed to make light of the odd situation; some cadence of tone, or maybe it was the way her eyes sparkled.

Magdalena smiled again in response, liking this Captain Yana already. "Yes. Well, I am, and I think Saul will be once he's done being shocked." Magdalena knew that feeling well; she still felt amazed and no little awed in the presence of Key and Cel, even though neither were particularly friendly towards her. A little disappointing, but what else could she expect?

"Bonding?" Saul repeated, finally turning his focus to the human before him.

"I couldn't tell him much on the way here," Magdalena apologized. "I didn't want anyone to hear us."

Then the Captain did chuckle, wryly, focusing an empathetic gaze on Saul. "I see, I see." Her words went to Mag, and after a moment she looked back to the younger woman. "Then it's up to us, is it?" She looked up to the dragons, Cel dozing, Key suspicious. "You two?"

:Oh, I did it last time,: Cel complained, sleepiness radiating from her high mental tone. :Key, you do it.: The bronze eyed his mate and rumbled, leaning down to fix one large eye upon the two young humanoids there, with much the same look his bond would get from time to time. But his mate had requested, and he would deliver.

:Do you really want to know what it is?: he asked of the boy Saul, tone ominous. He was suspicious of anyone coming to bond his children, of course - none but the best.

Magdalena kept hold of Saul's hand, anticipating how he would react to the surprising mental tone. He did, indeed, jump, succeeding this time in exclaiming, "Holy shit?!" But he figured out immediately that the "voice" was coming from the dragons, first the silver one, then the bronze-- his eyes traveled from one to the other as they spoke. With a bravery that Magdalena admired and almost knightly politeness, Saul bowed over one hand, his free one since Mag had yet to release his other, though a smile twitched at his mouth through his beard. "Yes, I really do want to know, if you would be so kind as to explain to me," he said as he straightened again.

The bronze was, surprisingly, a little appeased. He leaned back, eyeing Saul with the remnants of suspicion, but curled his tail-- which moments before had been twitching back and forth in irritation-- around his feet in a signal of calm. :Mmm. Well. The bonding is... a psiconic connection between a dragon and a human, formed at birth and that remains all through the lives of the pair. It allows a sharing of thoughts, to an extent, and emotions, and instantaneous communication.:

"There's more to it than that," Magdalena added, a little surprised at how much Key didn't mention. "It's... oh, it is hard to explain, though, just like Cel said... It feels special, Saul. Like finding the other half of your soul that you never knew you were missing. There's happiness to it, wonder--" Saul gave her a curious look, and she added, "Cel, she's the silver one, she showed me, she put the feelings right into my head."

"Huh," Saul said, eyes going unfocused briefly as he digested that in a much less emotional fashion than Magdalena herself had. She was momentarily jealous of how he could think it through calmly without being overwhelmed. He always had been more grounded in reality than Magdalena, for all her responsibility.

After a moment, he looked back up at Key and said, with equal formality to his previous statement to the dragon, "I would be honored if you would consider me to bond with one of your offspring." Then, a glance to Yana, "But there are a few things I need to know, first, if the captain would be so good as to indulge me for a few moments."

"Mm-hmm," Yana agreed with a nod, watching him speculatively before drawing him aside and leaving Mag to watch the dragons. Saul freed Magdalena's hand as he moved off with Yana, and Magdalena took a hesitant step towards Key and Cel, hoping she wouldn't be growled away. There was no way she could hurt either dragon or their partnered humans, and no way she would hurt the eggs... she just wanted a closer look. They were beautiful, dragons and eggs alike, and if one of those eggs held a creature who would someday be bonded to her for life, surely she should be allowed to come closer.

Key watched her with silent menace, seeing the girl's movements towards his mate and unhatched progeny. Cel, however, looked up with sleepy eyes and smiled her dragon smile again. The wing that she had had over her clutch was withdrawn, and the moon-silver dragoness watched the Zionite girl in the low light of the cavern-room. :Curious?: she inquired.

Magdalena could feel at least a little welcome in those great eyes of Cel's, despite Key's almost palpable hostility, and she nodded silently to the former. Then, attempting a more conscious sending such as what the dragons used, she thought, :Yes, I am... I've never been up close to a dragon-- or an egg, of any kind, really-- before.:

A hough sounded from the great dragoness, then, an amused sound that sent air blowing towards Magdalena. :Not many of your sort have. Come on, then, take a look... but don't touch. They're delicate.: Again came that possessiveness of all mother creatures, the caution that no amount of sentience would ever set to rest.

:Of course not,: Magdalena assured her, stepping cautiously closer to the three round objects, quite small enough for her to pick up if she had the inclination to, though it would have taken both arms to carry one. She had, truly, never seen an egg of any kind before-- there were very few actual animals in Zion, and none of them produced eggs. If they were all like this, then they were surely a wondrous thing, every bit as much as the wonder one felt around the rare pregnant woman in Zion. :They're beautiful,: she told Cel softly.

:I know,: the dragoness said with all the pride due to her. Taking her head and neck for a moment away from her tired bond, she moved to nuzzle over her three eggs, almost preening them as she would do to her own scattered silver scales. :And they are the hope for my kind.:

When Magdalena left with Saul, she felt lighter and happier than she could remember feeling in a long time. She was going to be part of a hope for dragonkind-- and so was her brother.